"Hey, Thomas!" you yelled trying to get the boy's attention.

You'd been invited to watch the tournament -since your friend was a participant- and you'd never expected to see your childhood friend there. You hadn't even seen his name on the participant list, so how could he- then you noticed a name: IV (Quattro).

He changed name?

He turned around, a surprised look on his face, which turned even more surprised when he saw you. "Wait... Y/n?" he asked, uncertain. It seemed like time stood still for a moment, because all he did was stare.

You nodded, and before you knew it you were pulled in a big bear hug. You 'uhmfed' in surprise.

"Woaaaaah it's been sooooooooo looong~!" he sang happily.

You blinked a couple of times. He hadn't changed one bit since you two were little.

You, Thomas and his little brother Michael had been in the same orphanage, however, unlike them, your stay wasn't temporarily. At the age of 16, you finally were able to find a home, give or take 3 years after the brothers had left. You remember the big amount of time you'd spend with the two, Thomas in particular.

"I missed you too," you laughed, placing your chin on his shoulder. Proportions hadn't changed either, he was still equally tall as you.

He grinned widely, his eyes gleaming. "So tell me princess, what brings you to a tournament like this?"

Your facial expression turned very sour as you absolutely hated that nickname and he knew that all too well. However, putting that aside, he had a point. You weren't a very good duelist, but you did have a f/a(rchetype) deck.

"A friend dragged me, since she's participating."

"Then I guess I'll let you get back to her," he said, a very small hint of sadness only you would notice in his voice. He took a small step backwards.

You were just about to object when you felt your D-gazer buzz in your pocket. You picked up, only to see the angered expression of your best friend, who yelled: "Where in the name of Duel Monsters are you?!"

You sweat dropped at your friend's short temper.

"I'm sorry, I just happened to run across a really old friend of mine," you sighed.

A cough was heard next to you, as well as a soft "Hey, I'm not old!"

The expression of your friend softened. Not quite

calm yet, but it was a start.

"Who?"

You grabbed Thomas' arm and pulled him into the view of the D-Gazer.

You almost dropped your gazer upon hearing the squeal on the other end.

"You're friends with THE Quattro?!" she exclaimed.

"Uhh... Yes?"

Looking at Thomas, he smiled sweetly, an innocent look on his face as he talked.

"Ah, hello there, I'm sorry to keep your friend away. I guess we'll have to catch up another time,"

What?

Just... What?

Thomas... Thomas never smiled just sweetly! He never had an innocent look. Not even when he tried convincing the caretaker that he hadn't stolen all the cookies.

And he certainly never apologised.

"Uhh... Yeah...?"

"Why didn't you tell me?!" she yelled excited, making you both flinch.

"I... Didn't know..?" you answered with a cheap smile.

Your friend's expression turned somewhat serious, a smile present on her face.

"I forgive you. You can spend your time there, if you want. But..."

she gestured you to come closer to the D-gazer, which you did slowly.

"Promise me to tell me everything about it later!"

You smiled back at her, feeling grateful.

"Thanks. Will do."

"Later y/n!"

"Later!" you said and ended the call.

"Some friend you have, princess!" your sole company spoke up as he ruffled his hand through your hair.

"Yeah yeah," you said quickly, "but what was up with that?"

"With what?"

"That act, of course!"

Thomas grinned widely and with that, his voice went back to its usual tone as well. "Well I can't disappoint my fans, can I?"

"Disappoint, or scare?"

His expression turned into a scowl, which made you giggle softly.

"Hey, I was just teasing you! Man, you took that one serious..."

His expression softened a bit. He seemed at a loss of words, though.

"It's none of your business!" he suddenly exclaimed, turning away with his arms crossed.

You had a confused expression. Something wasn't right.

"Anyway, how's Michael?" you asked, keeping your suspicion in the back of your head.

"He's doing well," he answered flatly, "he's made some new friends at his school."

"Really? That's great to hear!" you said. Despite Michael's caring nature, you remember him never having much friends. Quite the contrary, he was often bullied by the others, including his brother.

Then you remembered hearing things about another sibling. "And what about... Uhm... Your older brother..." Unfortunately you couldn't remember his name, as you'd never met the person.

"Chris?"

"Yeah! At least, I think..." you said, sheepishly scratching the back of your head.

"He's doing fine as well, I guess. Bossy as usual." Quattro shrugged.

You grinned. "Finally someone you have to listen to?" you asked, poking him in the side.

"Ha, I've always had to. At least this time it's not a demanding princess", he shot back in a similar tone.

You were reminded of your time as kids, having similar conversations and a small part of you wished you two were kids again, or at least you could've made sure to keep contact.

You were about to say something, a voice, it sounded like an announcer, spoke up. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Time to start this tournament!"

"Looks like I'll be off," the boy said, flashing one of his grins before turning around and putting up his innocent façade again.

You couldn't help but hope this wasn't the last time you'd see him for another 8 years, however there wasn't much to do about it now.

You cheered for both Thomas and your best friend as hard as you could, something you'd never thought you'd be doing during an event like this.

In the end Thomas managed to come out victorious, while your friend also managed to get pretty far in, but lost thanks to a technical disadvantage deck-wise.

"So how was it?!" your best friend exclaimed after the tournament.

"How was what?" you asked in return, not sure what she was talking about.

"Quattro! How was he?" she yelled is excitement, almost deafening you.

You winced for a second before answering.

"He was..." you paused, not sure what to say exactly. You could tell her the truth about his actual behaviour, however if you did that you'd surely disappoint both your friends.

"...exactly the way I remember him." Your friend grinned happily.

"On that note, would you mind if I go say goodbye? I'd rather not have him leave again without being able to do so."

"Alright. Tell him I said hi! But in a slick way! Not like I'm a desperate fangirl or anything!" she rambled on.

"Even though you are one", you winked.

"OH SHUSH YOU!"

you giggled. Your friend always behaved like that, which was probably one of your favourite things about her.

After she gave you a pat on the back, you were off.

"Heyo Quattro!" you yelled upon seeing the red-and-blonde. He was about to enter his dressing room, probably to pack his stuff.

"Hey Princess! Missed me so much you had to come see me again?" he said without looking up, opening the door of his room when he saw you approaching him.

"Oh shush you", you started as you entered, the door closing behind you, "don't tell me you aren't feeling the same."

"I could, but then I'd be lying", he answered with a teasing grin. "What did you think of the tournament? It looked like you were enjoying yourself."

"I did", you admitted a bit surprised. "Makes me want to try the game myself, actually."

Thomas chuckled. "Well you know I can always teach you if you'd like."

"Well now I do," you answered, giving him a teasing push.

In return Thomas picked you up, bridal style. He then nudged his cheek against yours. "Maybe we could start right away~"

Your face turned bright red.

"T-Thomas! Put m-me down!" you stuttered.

"But princess, what if I don't see you again?" he answered with a frown, though his grip didn't loosen.

You flailed your arm and legs in the hope to free yourself, but failed. If anything, his grip only got tighter. "You know I can't just run of! I have people that I need to come home to!"

He narrowed his eyes, seemingly considering your words.

"Nope, not risking it~" The male then started walking.

To god knows where from your point of view. All you saw was either Thomas' jacket, or his neck and the bottom of his face.

Knowing that you weren't going to be released anytime soon you stopped resisting, and rather crossed your arms over your chest and were now glaring at the boy with a huge pout on your face. Thomas however seemed unfazed by it.

"A goodbye kiss", he suddenly spoke up, surprising you.

"Huh?" confusion was clear in your voice.

"If you want me to let you go, you have to give me a kiss." His voice was nonchalant, but he had a faint tint of red on his cheeks when you took a closer look.

"It's a way to say goodbye", he added, this time sounding a little sad.

He seemed troubled, somehow. You had no idea what it was, but it seemed to be a big deal given how much he was showing it. Your expression softened.

"Alright", you then said, much to his surprise. He looked at you, flustered. He never thought you'd go through with it. He carefully put you back on your feet. You looked around, finally able to take in your surroundings. You found a mass of water to your right, and a steep grass patch leading to the road. You know this place, you should be able to find your way home.

You turned back to Thomas.

You leaned forward slowly, Thomas still surprised. You closed your eyes as your lips made contact with his. The kiss was short, only lasting a few seconds, however it felt like it was minutes. You two broke apart, gasping for air with hot red faces. You looked at the flushed boy, and started giggling.

"You should…", you paused for air, "see your face right now!"

"Oh shut up Princess, it's not like your any better!" he exclaimed laughing, giving you a small push before pulling you into a hug. You felt surprising comfortable in his arms like that.

You tried to copy one of his characteristic grins and looked up at him. "I'm not really going anywhere far anytime soon, though."

AN: You know, it's surprisingly easy to write one-shots on my phone at school XD

So yeah, the main reason I started these was out of boredom, combined with the fact that most Zexal Reader shots (and pretty much any other shot in general) are fairly crappy.