disclaimer: Emerald Twin Blade does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or any of the characters your recognize from the show in this fic. She does, however, own a handful of characters that you don't recognize from the show. ;D
Emerald's News & Nonsense:
Wow... Look at this quick update! 8D! And this Not-Chapter came out to be 25 pages, too! XDD! I just happened to finish it a little bit faster than I was able to finish the Prologue. ;P
Here's the fun thing about this Not-Chapter, though... We're following Judai while he goes to St. Fordé's! Watch his bad luck unfold! XD
ALL OF THIS HAS TO HAPPEN! This stuff'll explain what happens when the actual fic starts up. ;P YUP! That's right, this fic hasn't yet started up! This is just the stuff that'll make you understand why certain things happen in the later Actual Chapters. Haha!
Okay! You can go read now! XD!
: Element : Dark : Solitude – Have I Been Abandoned?
How long had it been since he first left the huge white house that stood alone on the countryside? How long had it been since he last saw his mother? Or heard her voice? How long had it been since he watched his absolute best friend chase after the large city bus he was currently in and then disappear after falling down?
All of these questions ran through the mind of the young Judai Yuki, who sat at the front of the long, red and white bus that drove along a quiet, lonely roadway. He leaned his temple up against the window to his left side, pulling his feet up onto the seat so that his short arms could wrap around his knees. During this long ride, they had stopped a handful of times to take detours and pick other people up. By now, they were far enough away from the Andersen mansion that the weather should have been clearer, but the sky was still quite cloudy and it was still very, very dark.
Judai's eyes looked upward toward the wide mirror at the front of the bus, using it to look at the bus driver. The skinny man who drove the bus had introduced himself as Mr. Daitokuji earlier that day and he seemed like a nice enough person, but he had not spoken a word to him since they left. This bothered the little six-year-old as he pouted.
"… How long has it been?"
"Hm?" the black-haired man asked, wondering if he had been talking to him, "Oh, well… since I picked you up at around four o'clock… and it's seven fifty-five now… It's been almost four hours!"
The brunette let out a soft whining sound as his chocolate brown eyes moved away from the mirror and back to look out the window. It may have been dark out, but the lights of buildings and streetlights were enough to comfort him. He had developed a great fear of pure darkness thanks to what happened the previous night, and without his best friend or any of the Light spirits to protect him, he did not know what he would do if Dark Spirits decided to show up again. His grip around his legs tightened as he tried to suppress the horrible memory of being corner by several frightening creatures.
"Now, now, Judai… There's nothing to worry about! Saint Fordé's is a very lovely school and all of the students enjoy it there. I'm sure that if you just give it a chance, you could love it, too." Mr. Daitokuji assured him, a pleasant smile widening over his lips as he kept his invisible eyes on the road, "We're almost there, too, so it shouldn't be much longer."
"Hmph…" the little boy mumbled as he lowered his chin to rest behind his knees.
He did not want to give this school a chance; he wanted to go back home to where his mother was… to where the Hero spirits were… to where his best friend was. He could feel his sadness begin to bubble inside of his heart again as tears formed in his eyes. Chocolate eyes fell closed, however; he did not want to cry anymore. It was not helping him in the least. Crying would not make Mr. Daitokuji turn the bus around to waste another three and a half hours in order to take him back to the Andersen house.
"Are you okay there? Judai?"
Judai reopened his eyes, now clear of tears, to look up at the mirror again. The man driving the bus was still not looking at him… or at least not tilting his face upward to show that he was watching him at all.
He really just wanted to ask the other person if there were spirits at the academy they were heading to. Good or bad, it did not matter, because as long as there was one, there had to be the other. Just as he thought he might actually go through with asking aloud, he remembered how his mother had told him not to tell anyone that he could see ghosts. She said that people would treat him differently and that they would not like him. The thought of being disliked made him sad, but since he was going to a place where no one besides this one teacher knew him, he would not have any friends. He would be completely alone.
It was this thought that made him feel even worse about his current situation. He missed his best friend… He missed Johan so, so much.
"Ah! We're here!" came the soft voice of the bus driver.
Since it had been such a long ride from the countryside to their destination, Judai leaned over his luggage and craned his neck to his right so that he could see out the huge front window of the bus.
His eyes went wide in awe at the sight, "Whoa!"
Two tall, silver metal gates gleamed from the headlights of the vehicle, standing wide open to either side of them. The view behind the gates was definitely something to behold.
There were several large, two-story buildings set next to one other, all made of beautiful ivory brick. Millions of windows were lit up from the inside with golden light radiating from each one, signifying that many students were still awake. Off to the sides of the structures were many clusters of trees that could pass for small forests, but placed in the same general area were numerous stone statues. Sculptures of angels, saints, and many other things were scattered across the courtyards, filling the spaces that grass and trees did not. A small sign had been posted up a little ways from the gate to the side of the road, reading "Welcome to St. Fordé's Catholic Academy for Boys."
Mr. Daitokuji's smile widened when he heard Judai's reaction to the appearance of the school, "Lovely… isn't it?"
"Un!" the little brunette nodded as an excited grin came to him, "It is so big! Is this really the school? Honto, honto??"
The black-haired man allowed a small chuckle to escape him, "Of course! Sit back, now, though; I'm going to stop the bus here in a second and I don't want you to hurt yourself."
The young one backed up into his original seat and put his right arm over the stack of three suitcases beside him. He looked out the window to his left again, watching as trees and odd statues passed them by. It all looked so amazing and new to him! He had grown up in the Andersen mansion and would occasionally go to the supermarket with his mother, but never had he seen a place as big and beautiful as this!
His thoughts were interrupted when the bus came to an abrupt stop, the brakes screeching loudly enough to make everyone on the bus wince. Mr. Daitokuji laughed embarrassedly as he quickly opened the doors and stood up in the isle.
"My apologies! This bus is quite old… but we made it back all right!" He stepped closer to the driver's seat again as people started getting up to walk out, "Welcome to St. Fordé's!"
Judai watched as the older people and the teenagers exited the bus, noticing that there had not been any other kids around his age aboard. He blinked, wondering why that could have been, but then he realized that he and the tall man were the last ones. Looking upward, he saw that the other had picked up two of his suitcases already and was watching him intently. All the child did was blush before hopping out of his seat and taking the last of his luggage in hand.
"You don't have to worry about a thing, Judai… I'll tell you everything you need to know while you're here. But right now, we should get you to your new room! It's getting late."
"Hai!" He nodded, following Mr. Daitokuji off of the bus.
Standing toward the front of the bus was another man, one that did not have a very friendly look on his face. Mr. Daitokuji tossed him the keys to the bus, his kind smile still in place as he spoke.
"She's all yours, Giese!"
The spiky red-haired man caught the keys with his left hand, grumbling something under his breath as he climbed into the bus and closed the doors. Judai tilted his head at this, intentionally watching the muscular man inside of the vehicle. The history teacher beside him followed his gaze and then shrugged.
"Let's get going, shall we?"
The brunette looked back to the person who would lead him in, scurrying along beside him in an attempt to keep up with him. As they walked up the maroon red brick pathway, Judai noticed that the entire first floor of the main building was built with see-through, glass window walls. One could be standing outside and still be able to see what was going on inside, but all they could see were many closed doors within long hallways.
However, they were not heading to the main building. Mr. Daitokuji turned down a different path when their current one split into three, walking to their right. This confused the young boy; where were they going? He opened his mouth to ask, but the other seemed to have read his mind without even looking at him.
"It's too late an hour to go in there… I'll show you to your class tomorrow, so I'm taking you straight to your dorm."
"Dorm…?" Judai asked, not knowing what he was talking about.
"Ah! Dorm is short for dormitory; it's where your room is and where you'll sleep from now on. There are several other kids who live in the dorms, but I don't remember hearing that you would have a roommate… so you'll have a room all to yourself."
A room all to himself? It sounded just like home… but Judai did not like to be alone. Having a roommate sounded like a very appealing idea, but if the school did not assign him one, then it was probably best not to ask. He sighed quietly to himself.
The building off to the right side of the main one was apparently the dormitory he had been placed in. This one did not have the window walls to see what was inside, but the door that led inside was of glass. With Mr. Daitokuji's hands full, he politely asked if Judai could pull it open for him. The little boy walked up in front of the black-haired man, reaching up and pulling the heavy door backward to its limit. Once the older had gone through, Judai quickly followed after, the door closing behind him.
There were several doors to see just from standing on the inside of the front one, and from what he could see, there were three hallways to go down. They were standing in the middle of one, and then to either side of them was a hallway that led straight ahead. Blinking at this, it took him a few seconds to notice that his guide had started walking again. He jumped slightly before running up to Mr. Daitokuji's side, following him down the right hallway. The brunette looked from side to side, finding more wooden, maroon red doors closed shut with white numbers glued to them. His curious frown twitched into a tiny grin; this reminded him of the maids' quarters at the Andersen mansion.
"Oof!" he mumbled, running into the history teacher's long right leg. He had not been aware that he had stopped walking, but it was a good thing he had, "Huh?"
Mr. Daitokuji moved to his left a bit so that the young one could see what their next obstacle was; a long, winding staircase stood in their way at the end of the hall, "We have to climb up these stairs because your room's up there. Be sure to hold onto the railing! Several students that aren't careful have fallen."
Hearing that, Judai gulped nervously; he had a problem with falling… He did it often, but he had not gotten hurt in the past because his best friend was always there to catch him. How would he handle this new predicament?
"Come on, now! Don't be scared; you just have to be careful!"
Nodding, the little brunette started up the staircase, his right hand gripping the railing firmly with every step he took. His small legs, still cramped from sitting on the bus for about four hours, started to hurt after going up the first ten steps. His mouth opened slightly as he breathed in small pants, trying to catch his breath. These stairs that spun around in an odd shape were a lot more tiring to walk up than the simple straight stairway back home.
He could feel himself slowly losing balance as his head suddenly felt lighter, almost making him feel a little bit dizzy. Trying to take another step forward, his body fell backward as his right foot wound up leaning back, as well. His right hand, however, was still clamped onto the railing, so all he did was turn at a 90 degree angle and fall back against the railing. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm down.
"Judai, are you feeling okay?"
Reopening his eyes, he saw two blurry Mr. Daitokujis leaning over him to see if he was already, but he closed them again and shook his head, trying to focus. Chocolate hues opened again and he saw normally; he nodded in reply to the other's question.
"Y-yes… I am fine."
"There aren't many more steps left to go, so don't worry too much. Just a little more and you can rest in your new room."
Judai pulled himself back up straight, starting to walk up the stairs again. The man had been right; it had not been long until they reached the second floor and stood in another hallway that split to their left and their right. Mr. Daitokuji immediately started walking off to the left, turning the corner to another corridor. Judai pouted, running as fast as he could after the man. He had taken a little too long a rest and hoped that the other had not gone too far. However, when he turned the corner, he ran into the man's left leg, this time. Mr. Daitokuji looked down at him with that smile of his, chuckling at his cuteness.
"We're here!"
The brunette looked up at the door, seeing the number 40 nailed to the wooden door in white. Apparently, his room was located beside the one to the farthest left corner on the second floor. Blinking, he looked to the man again with a confused look that simply asked "what do I do now?"
Mr. Daitokuji's smile faltered for a moment and then he laughed in epiphany, lowering Judai's luggage to the wine red carpet floor. His now-vacant hands slipped into the pockets of his black slacks, and then his right hand pulled out a small key ring with a key hanging off of it that had the number 40 painted on it in red. He quickly put it to the door's lock and unlocked it, pushing it open.
The room inside was a small and cozy one, a lot like his old room. He did not want to enter it, though, because it was so dark. The man noticed this and stepped inside, flipping the light switch so that the ceiling fan and light turned on. Now that the area was lit up, Judai walked in and looked around at what was inside of it. There was a full-sized bed centered against the west wall with a small bedside table to the left of it and an outlet to the right. Against the north wall sat a long working desk, probably for doing schoolwork, with a black rolling chair pushed in under it. Above the desk was a window that was currently hidden behind maroon red curtains. Positioned against the eastern wall were two chests of drawers for clothing and in the corner to the door's left was a dresser with a mirror nailed to the wall. All in all, it was a simple room.
Judai had been so busy studying the room that he did not see Mr. Daitokuji bring in his suitcases and put them next to the bed. The man smiled at him as he approached him, placing his hand over his mess of orange and brown hair to ruffle it.
"There you go! Now remember, the bathroom is down this hallway to the left. You can't miss it because it has the Boys Restroom sign on the door."
The young one let out a small whining sound as he took a step to his right, away from the black-haired man and his hand. This only made the other laugh again.
"I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning… You only have to attend have the regular school day on your first day since we have to look through a few things, though." He explained over his shoulder as he walked toward the doorway. He turned and put his right hand over the doorknob, holding the Room 40 key in his left hand, "And before I forget!"
In an instant, he tossed the key to the six-year-old, who turned his head and would have been hit in the face with it if the object had not bounced off of something invisible in front of him and then hit the floor. He blinked down at the key before looking back up, seeing a familiar brown fur ball materialize there with its back to him.
"Kuri, kuri, kuri!!" it thrashed in midair, shaking its fur out and shaking its green paws angrily at the teacher.
"Hane Kuriboh!" Judai exclaimed, chocolate eyes wide with the same delighted sparkle they had held back at the Andersen manor. He jumped up into the air as it turned around to face him, only to throw his arms around it and pull it close to his face, hugging it tightly, "I thought I would never see you again!"
"Kuri, kuri! Kuri, kuri!" the spirit piped, giggling happily at the big welcome it got.
"I knew it…"
Judai froze when he heard Mr. Daitokuji's voice, the bright shine in his eyes turning into fear. His mother had told him not to tell anyone that he could see spirits… but he had accidentally given away the secret by greeting one.
"O-oops…" he mumbled, still holding onto Hane Kuriboh.
The black-haired man shook his head, his smile still there, "Nothing to worry about. I won't tell anyone. The truth of it is that I can see them, too."
"Honto?!" The brunette's fear melted away as his excitement built up again; so grown-ups could see them, too? He thought that only special children like his best friend and himself were able to see them.
"Mm-hm! Imagine my surprise when I saw this little guy following you onto the bus and sticking with you on the way here."
There were so many questions popping up in the young boy's mind right then, like "were you born with this gift?" and "are there other people here who can see them?," but unfortunately, the man was able to read him like an open book. All Mr. Daitokuji did was pick up his left hand and place his index finger in front of his nose.
"Shh… You can ask me all the questions you want tomorrow after your class, okay? Right now, you should get some sleep. Tomorrow's your first day, after all!"
Judai let go of Hane Kuriboh and let his arms hang loose by his sides as his excitement dissolved from view. He merely watched the man as he bade him farewell and closed the door behind him. Looking down at the key, he bent low and picked it up, staring at it as he held it between his index finger and thumb. He had to make note of not losing this key, lest he may not be able to get into his room.
"Kuri?"
Pushing himself back up to his feet, he approached the side of the bed and hopped onto it, bouncing lightly, "Haha! This bed is a lot bigger and more comfy than the one back at home!" Saying this aloud, his smile slowly died away.
He turned his head so that he looked toward the window, which was closed up with dark red curtains. Sliding off of the bed, he approached the desk and leant over it, pushing aside the curtains so that he could look out to the darkness. Apparently, the clouds of the day had disappeared and all that was left was the midnight blue sky and many twinkling stars. The view from where he stood was very beautiful, and looking downward, he was able to see another little courtyard with trees and sculptures.
"Pretty…" he whispered, but then he looked up to the sky again with a worried look on his face, "I wonder… if Jo-kun is okay. I know that he has the Crystal Beasts and Jim-onii-san there with him, but… I am sure he feels just as bad about me leaving as I do."
"Kuri…"
Judai turned around and walked back to the bed, pulling off his jacket and tossing it over the desk, "I will unpack tomorrow… Too sleepy to do anything…"
He then fell forward onto the bed, crawling over it so that he laid correctly on it and his head was on top of the hidden pillow beneath the comforter. Rolling over to lie on his right side, he curled his knees inward some as Hane Kuriboh floated in front of his face.
"Kuri, kuri?"
"Yes, you can sleep here… Come on, You!"
The little winged spirit floated down until it was on the bed, wedging itself under the young boy's chin and against his neck, "Kuri…"
"Oyasuminasai, Hane Kuriboh…"
As the brunette slowly fell asleep, his spirit partner faded away into invisibility, leaving him to sleep soundly with the belief of his little angel being there with him.
-------[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]-------
How had he gotten himself into this mess? Judai Yuki groaned inwardly as he dropped down each one of the steps of the winding staircase for what seemed like the thousandth time that day, but it had only been the second. He just was not used to going up and down stairs like that.
He looked down at his clean black T-shirt and fitted white pants; luck had not been on his side earlier. When Mr. Daitokuji had come to get him at 9:30 AM, he had still been asleep. Due to the fact that he had done absolutely nothing the previous night, he had to take a quick shower and get himself downstairs into the main building to eat a "well-balanced breakfast," as the older man had put it.
Going down the stairs the first time had been a little bit easier since he had gotten rest, but once he got to the large cafeteria inside of the center structure he had not entered during the night, he experienced what one could call a "rude awakening."
Mr. Daitokuji had stood along with him in the breakfast line and put everything that Judai should eat onto his maroon red tray, which was pretty much almost everything they had out. The boy did not mind, because his stomach was a black hole and he was not a particularly picky person when it came to food.
He followed obediently behind the history teacher toward an empty round table that they had been picked out while still in line, but on the walk to the table, Judai had already started eating. The eggs on his plate had somehow mixed with the bacon and made them look very odd, but being the curious little boy he was, he picked at it for a few seconds until he picked up a piece with his fork and ate it. Though weird as it had looked, he thought it tasted wonderful, so he kept shoveling it into his mouth with his right hand manning the silverware and his left holding the tray up with perfect balance. However, he had been too preoccupied with his food to notice one of the students near him get up from their seat and start to walk passed him.
CRASH!
"HEY!!"
"Aagh…!"
Judai fell back onto the tile floor with his tray upturned over his foot. A slimy scrambled egg had fallen onto his black pants around the left pocket and there was a wet spot slowly growing around his ankle from where his orange juice spilled on him. He tried to move his left arm forward, but winced from how hard he had run into the other boy.
"Watch where you're going, Kid!" the preteen growled, glaring down at the brunette for a few seconds before walking off.
"Are you alright, Judai?" Mr. Daitokuji asked as he bent down in front of him, careful to avoid the fallen drink.
"Hai…" Judai replied slowly, looking to the adult before looking around at his surroundings.
Several students, young and old, were making dirty looks at him; they made him feel quite uncomfortable and very unwelcome. Gulping, he looked back up to Mr. Daitokuji with a sad look on his face.
"Oh… I don't think it'd be a good idea to go the rest of the day wearing these clothes… You can go ahead and eat my food on the table; I'll just go get some more."
"D-demo!" the boy tried to protest; he did not like taking other people's food, especially if he did not know them very well.
"No buts! You're a growing boy and need to eat, and if I send you back in line to get more, you'll have wasted more time than necessary." The man explained, getting up to his feet and pulling the young one up, as well, "Now go ahead, and when you're done, we'll go back to your room so you can change."
Once Judai had unwillingly agreed, the teacher went back to the breakfast line as the brunette took his seat at the table, staring at the food sadly. His stomach, however, moaned loud enough that he thought everybody in the cafeteria could hear it. The funny thing about it was that they could, and many of them were laughing cruelly at him, whispering things about him. He ate the food quickly enough to satisfy his appetite, and quickly enough that once Mr. Daitokuji had come back to the table, he was done.
"My! You must've been hungry…" he laughed, sitting down beside him with his food.
Judai pouted, eyeing a piece of buttered toast on the other's tray. The teacher blinked at this, noticing right away and picking up the bread. When he did, innocent chocolate eyes watched like a dog watches a bone. A small snicker escaped him as he held it out to the young one, earning a thankful, teary-eyed smile.
The brunette gingerly plucked it out of the other's hand and took a bite out of it, sighing amiably afterward, "Aah… There's nothing like buttered toast to make a good morning!"
It was then that another preteen student walked passed him from behind, elbowing the back of his head. Judai yelped at the sudden unpleasant pressure that materialized behind his head, making him drop his half-eaten piece of bread to the floor due to his loose hold on it. Tears filled his eyes; what a waste of some perfectly good toast! He turned quickly at a 90 degree angle to glare at the other boy, only to receive a smug smirk and a half-hearted apology. He then left, quietly laughing at the younger boy.
Judai looked back to the teacher, seeing a look of sympathy on his normally contented face, "Maybe we should go back now…"
The little one nodded in agreement, being led back to the dormitory. Mr. Daitokuji had said, once they got there, that he would wait for him outside the glass door while he went on to change, which leads us back to where we started.
Now that Judai was wearing a clean set of clothing, he walked out of the dorm to meet with the black-haired man again, looking up at him with sad look that most puppy dogs were able to pull off. Mr. Daitokuji smiled comfortingly, ruffling his hair for a moment before gently placing the same hand onto his shoulder and leading him back to the main building. Their next objective was to get the boy to his class. Judai had not started school yet and had just been learning the basics from his mother and best friend back at the Andersen mansion, so he was almost a blank slate… albeit a very friendly and sensitive blank slate.
Once they reached the classroom that would serve as Judai's class for the year, Mr. Daitokuji told him to wait there by the door while he called the other teacher out. The boy nodded, leaning his right shoulder and the side of his head against the wall. The black-haired man opened the door and politely asked for the teacher inside to come outside for a moment to talk. Judai watched curiously until a tall, young man exited and closed the door behind him. Chocolate eyes blinked up at him, noticing how pretty this man looked. He had been told, time and again, by his mother that boys were not 'pretty,' they were 'handsome,' but he was having a very hard time convincing himself that this particular man was handsome instead of pretty.
The teacher was probably around his mid-twenties, but he looked young enough to pass for an older high school student. He had straight, waist-length blue-grey hair with the center of his snow white bangs gelled together over his forehead and had big, beautiful violet eyes. Long earrings hung near his ears, a crescent moon their main charm. His clothing was of a light blue work shirt with a white scarf wrapped around his neck like a tie and a pair of matching white slacks. His overall presence was of an important person with much to do, but from the radiant smile on his face, Judai's first opinion of him after a glance was completely altered.
"Takuma-kun, this is your newest student… Judai Yuki." Mr. Daitokuji introduced, motioning toward the little brunette.
Judai could feel the sides of his lips twitch upward into a shy smile as he took a hesitant step forward, "A-ano… ohayo…"
The blue-haired teacher smiled down at the adorable child, nodding, "Ohayo, Judai-kun… My name is Takuma Saiou, but you'll have to call me Saiou-sensei."
The boy tilted his head to the side some, "Saiou-sensei!"
Mr. Daitokuji nodded to himself, satisfied with their introduction, "Alright! Be sure to be good, Judai! After what happened in the lunch room, please try not to take any of the other kids seriously; they don't know what they're doing."
Judai did not understand what the history teacher was talking about, but before he could ask, he got a quick pat on the head before the black-haired man sped off down the hallway. He blinked, watching after him until he heard a soft ahem beside him. Turning to look up at his new teacher, he was met with a sincere smile.
"Come join the class, Judai-kun… I'm sure that your classmates will love to meet you." With that said, Takuma Saiou reopened the door and held it open, watching as Judai walked on through into the room.
The moment he stepped inside, he immediately regretted it. The class must have been made up of about eighteen or nineteen kids around his age, so before he entered, they had been loud and chatty. Once he had become visible to them, a hush fell over the room as every eye locked onto him. A blush of embarrassment rose over his cheeks as he stood frozen in the doorway. The teacher closed the door behind them and placed his hand over the boy's shoulder, steering him to the front of the room where his podium was.
The blue and white-haired man stood behind the podium with Judai standing beside him in clear view; none of the children took their eyes off of him.
"Class, we have a new student joining us…" he announced, smiling down to the brunette, "Please, introduce yourself to the class!"
Judai had been frozen with fear once he made it to the front of the room, finding it very uncomfortable to be watched by many people he did not know. The way everyone just stared at him was quite unnerving and it reminded him of whenever Topaz Tiger would wait to capture him when his best friend needed his help. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Anxiety made his chest tighten, but he closed his mouth and cleared his throat before trying again with a little more success.
"M-my name is Judai Yuki."
The entire crowd of children stayed quiet except for one person sitting to the left of the room near the center of his row, who laughed aloud. The brunette looked to the amused, short black-haired boy who stuck out like a sore thumb now, wondering what was so funny. Had he done something wrong? All he did was say his name…
"Yuki, huh? Sounds like yucky to me!" the tan seven-year-old snickered, making everyone else besides Judai and the teacher laugh, as well.
"Yucky…?" Judai mumbled in confusion; what was yucky?
He had never heard that word before… at least, not at the Andersen mansion. His curiosity began to get the better of him so he was about to ask what the word meant, but he was cut off when the same little boy spoke in a language he did not recognize.
"Es una persona sucia! Nadie le gusta gente sucia!" He said loudly with an air of arrogance about him as he raised his chin upward and held a smirk over his face.
The class laughed even harder at the boy's words, but Judai took a frightened step backwards. What was going on? What language had he been speaking? And what did he even say? The fact that he could not understand made him feel even more confused and a little bit threatened; was he talking about him?
"N-nandatte…?" he asked so quietly that it came out a whisper.
"Eh? ¿En qué idioma estás hablando?" the strange, older boy questioned, raising an eyebrow at the brunette for a moment before epiphany lit his light blue eyes up and his smirk widened, "Aah… Yo veo… Tú no puedes hablar español! Y no puedes entenderlo tampoco!"
"Santiago, please be quiet!" Takuma Saiou commanded, his violet eyes narrowed with irritation, "There will be no making fun of our newcomer!" His firm look turned back into his previous gentle one as he looked at the poor Japanese Catholic boy beside him, "You can sit in the empty seat at the middle of the room, Judai-kun…"
The fear inside of those innocent chocolate brown eyes only increased when he realized that the boy he now knew as Santiago sat only a row away from his designated seat. He could feel his lower lip jutting out in a pout as he slowly walked up the line of occupied desks, ignoring the continued stares he was getting as he moved toward his chair. The six-year-old could hear Santiago chuckling evilly, but he kept himself from looking over to him. He did not want to see the face of someone would bully him.
Just as he reached his desk, a ringing sound echoed through the room. His eyes darted to the furthest corner to his teacher's left, seeing a circular patch of metal on the wall with several tiny holes on it. The noise seemed to be coming from it… He studied it for a few seconds longer, until the blue and white-haired man at the front of the room clapped his hands together and explained what the sound meant.
"Well, that's the bell! Time for recess, everyone! Play nicely, now!"
All of the kids rushed out of their desks and out the door, all exiting the building to play out in the courtyard. Judai blinked at the suddenness of it all; he had only just gotten there and it was already recess? Shrugging to himself, he walked outside, as well, watching everyone else.
They had all broken up into little groups of friends that likely had more in common with one another than with others, but the orange and brown-haired boy did not think he could fit in with any of them. Although they looked like they were having fun, they would notice him watching them and whisper something among themselves, making everyone in their group laugh.
He felt a wave of sadness settle over him; the academy was such a beautiful place… Why were its inhabitants unfriendly? Was this not a religious school? He had always thought that people who went to church were kindly people who welcomed others, even if they were strangers from a foreign culture.
So far, the only people who had been nice to him were Mr. Daitokuji and Mr. Saiou. Judai took a deep breath and let out a long sigh, his eyes falling to stare down at the bright green grass beneath his feet.
"Oi'! Yucky!"
Judai suppressed a groan of discomfort; what did this guy want now? Turning slightly to his left, he faced the taller, older boy who did nothing but confuse him and blinked inquiringly at him. He did not even try to say anything, for fear of being made fun of in that language that he did not understand.
"What did you come to this school for? This place is bilingual, as in for English and Spanish speakers only!" Santiago spat with his hands on his hips and nose held high.
"Spanish? Was that the language you were speaking earlier?" the brunette asked before he could stop himself, but he did not move a muscle besides his mouth. In fact, from where the others could see him, he looked downright indifferent.
"It sure was! Not that a weird foreigner like you would know, though!" He picked up his arms to shrug, his white T-shirt moving upward from the motion, "What kind of last name is Yucky, anyway?"
"The name is Yuki! Judai Yuki! And it is Japanese, if you have to know!"
"Hah! Japanese? Then you must be a big-time foreigner! How did you get here to America, Yucky?" Santiago continued to stab at the other with his words, obviously trying to make him feel bad.
"Just because my name is Japanese does not mean that I am from Japan!" Judai snapped, anger boiling up inside of him at the other boy's constant bullying, "I was born here! I just happened to pick up on the Japanese language instead of Spanish!"
"Oh, so are you saying that Spanish is not as popular as Japanese in these parts?" the black-haired seven-year-old asked, taking on a threatening look in his eyes as he walked closer to the newcomer.
When he noticed Santiago begin to approach him slowly, Judai started to back up, taking shaky steps backward in an attempt to keep distance between the two of them. Something was giving him a very bad feeling about the other boy.
"N-no… I did not say—"
The older boy had already reached him and stood directly in front of him, raising his arms and pushing Judai by his shoulders, "C'mon! Say it! Say that Japanese is better than Spanish! I dare you!"
The brunette stumbled back from being shoved, landing himself against the glass wall of the building. He bounced lightly against it, wincing as a small pain that erupted on his back from the collision. One chocolate eye closed from the flinch while the other looked downward toward the ground.
Santiago had taken this as Judai refusing to reply, "Hah… I knew it. Y'see this, Guys?" He called to all the other students around them, getting their attention, "Judai Yucky thinks that he is better than us because he can speak Japanese!"
All of the kids made offended looks, whispering harshly to each other and beginning to uproar over what the arrogant boy had said. Judai looked from group to group of boys, trying to explain that he had not said any of that and that he did not feel that way, but no one would listen to him.
Tears swelled in his eyes, pooling to their sides at how absolutely hopeless the situation was. Turning around, he ran back into the building, reentering the small classroom and sitting himself in the corner near the intercom. His legs were pulled up against his chest as his arms wrapped around his knees, making him look like a little ball from the way he leaned his head forward over his arms. His shoulders shook as he sobbed; how could anyone be so cruel? He had thought that the Lady Andersen was bad, but this Santiago-guy was evil in comparison! At least nobody believed her stories about him being a troublemaker back at the mansion, so he at least had friends there… Here, however, was a totally different story.
I wish I had never come here… I wish I were back home with Jo-kun and the Elemental Heroes! He cried in his mind, unable to say anything coherent aloud.
Although he sat in a room with its light turned off, he was not frightened by its dimness. In fact, he thought that the environment suited the way he felt.
Creeeeeak! The wooden door creaked open slowly, but Judai kept from looking up. His already pounding heart began to beat faster in fear that Santiago had followed him to further hurt his feelings. Quick, heavy footsteps clicked against the tile floor as whoever it was approached him, bending down beside him.
"Judai-kun, doushitan? What's wrong?" A soft, deep voice asked him.
Judai allowed his head to move upward slightly, just enough to show his watery chocolate eyes to the grown-up, "S-Saiou… s-sensei…"
The teacher leaned forward and put his arms around the little boy, pulling him into a comforting embrace, "Are you alright? Why are you crying?"
The brunette wondered whether or not it would be a good idea to tell him; his mother had always told him that if anything bad happened to him, he should tell an adult. However, he also wondered what Santiago would do to him if he told on him. Judai had always put his faith into his mother and lived happily without fail, though, so his decision was an obvious one with the next thing he said.
"S-Santiago… a-and the others… were b-being really, really m-mean to me…" he stuttered, pausing to sniffle between words, "S-Santiago… said untr-untrue things about me to everybody… n-now they all h-hate me…"
"Oh… Judai-kun, its okay... I'm sure that no one hates you! No one even knows you, so they can't hate you! They just need time to get to know you…"
Judai wiped his tears against the teacher's shoulder, accidentally leaving damp spots there. He sniffled loudly again as he pulled away from the man, looking up at him with bright red cheeks shining from crying so much. The sympathetic look in Takuma Saiou's violet purple eyes made the little boy feel like he truly cared, so his sadness was able to dissipate some.
"A-arigatou… Saiou-sensei." He managed to smile weakly before getting up to stand, clearing his throat to calm down.
"You're welcome… and if anyone does anything mean to you again, please tell me. The kind of behavior that Santiago Aguilar exhibits is the kind that is not tolerated here at Saint Fordé's!" the teacher informed, wagging his left index finger in emphasis.
The brunette nodded, his smile gaining a little more confidence as the bell rang again. The loud sound occurred just above him, making him flinch and clamp his hands over his ears. The blue-haired man laughed, standing back up and taking the little one by the shoulder again. He guided him to his seat and then walked back to the podium at the front of the room, just in time to watch all of the other students scurry back into the room and to their seats.
Santiago Aguilar entered the room last, his smug expression still in place, "What happened to you, Yucky? We were just about to have some fun when you left!"
From where Judai sat in his seat, all he did was lower his head closer to the desktop in hopes of hiding himself; he highly doubted that the older boy had anything fun in mind to do with him. Before anything else could be said, Takuma Saiou cleared his throat loud enough to get everyone's attention, making everyone fall quiet.
"Don't think that I don't know what happened during recess… All of you know better than to be mean to a new student! What's one of our sayings here? Oh, yes, I believe it went something like 'If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all!' And what's the golden rule?" he ranted sternly.
"'Treat others the way you want to be treated.'" The entire class said in unison, with the exception of Judai, who had heard these sayings only a few times at home.
"Good! You all know it! Now follow it!" the adult ordered, but just when everyone started to calm down from the toughness their teacher was unexpectedly displaying, his violet eyes turned on the black-haired, blue-eyed troublemaker who started it all, "And you! Santiago, you get a Time-Out because you're the one who started bullying Judai-kun and then persisted throughout recess!"
"What?!" Santiago Aguilar shouted, "I did not do anything! It was all Yucky's fa—"
"And that's two Time-Outs! For talking back to an adult, now go!" the man pointed to the corner Judai had been sitting in a moment ago.
The seven-year-old grumbled angrily as he got up from his seat and crossed the classroom to sit down in the corner, facing the wall with his legs and arms crossed. Judai had brought his head back up to see what was going on once he heard the teacher punish the boy who nearly ruined his day. Maybe now he could make friends! His usual pleasant smile came to him as he looked around, only to revert into a frown again. All the other boys were glaring at him, probably for telling on Santiago.
The brunette sighed, lowering his head again; at least it could not get any worse. Nobody in the class besides Takuma Saiou would talk to him, but no one was making fun of him anymore, thankfully.
"Alright, Class; now that we have that out of the way, we'll continue reading the Book of Beginnings… Genesis." The teacher said, opening up a large orange book on the podium.
Genesis? The Book of Beginnings? Judai could have sworn he had heard of them before… After a few seconds, he remembered that his mother once read some of the Bible to him when he was younger. He grinned slightly; at least he would be able to understand a few things, considering he was not there to hear the beginning of the book.
"Okay, so a quick recap… The Lord our God has just given Adam, the first man, a woman to be his wife, Eve. Now, let's go on…" Saiou began, looking down at the book and reading aloud, "Genesis 3, The Man and Woman Sin. 'Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the creatures the Lord God had made. 'Really?' he asked the woman, 'Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?' And then the woman told him, 'Of course we may eat it. It's only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die.' The serpent hissed at her, "You won't die! God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil.'
The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it, too. At that moment, their eyes were opened…"
Judai blinked as he listened; this had been how the serpent was cursed to crawl on its belly without limbs. Who could have known that animals could be wicked? He knew that animals had to survive on their own, but what good did tricking Eve and Adam do for the serpent? In the end, he was cursed… He shrugged; sometimes, things just did not make any sense to him, but then again, he was only six-years-old.
The rest of the class went on as he had predicted; no one spoke to him and they just listened and discussed what the teacher had read aloud. Nothing too big happened, so by the time the clock struck 3:00 PM, the bell rang again. Apparently, that was the time class let out for the day, so Judai left the room after everyone else did. When he exited, he was met by none-other-than Mr. Daitokuji outside by the glass door.
"So! How was your first day?" the black-haired man asked cheerfully, expecting quite the positive answer from a boy like Judai.
The brunette, however, merely shrugged, "It was… okay, I guess."
Mr. Daitokuji frowned, "What? Just okay? Did anything good happen? Anything bad?"
A memory of being made fun of when he first introduced himself flashed through his head, and then turned to one of when he was being accused of thoughts he did not support. Judai did not really feel like reliving any of those moments, so he decided to shrug again and keep quiet. This made the man worry about the boy.
"Well… alright, I guess. Are you hungry? We could go get some lunch at the cafeteria and I could answer those questions you had last night!"
The little boy shook his head, looking up at the man with a forced smile, "Naa… I am just going back to my room for a while… You can go ahead."
"Are you sure, Judai?" Mr. Daitokuji continued, knowing now that something bad had happened. When the child turned down food, something was wrong.
"Yes. See you later, Sensei." He said as he turned his back on him and walked back to the dormitory to the left of the main building. As he walked, his familiar Spirit Partner appeared, "Well, Hane Kuriboh… It looks like you're my only real friend here…"
"Kuri…"
-------[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]-------
"Kuri, kuri! Kuri!!"
"Aagh… Hane Kuriboh, doushitan?" Judai Yuki groaned, sitting up in bed.
Rrrr… The half-asleep brunette was suddenly wide awake when he heard, and felt, the sound through the quiet darkness of his room, "Oh… that…"
After class had let out, Judai had gone back to his room and fallen asleep again. The day had been a horrible one, and after all the crying he did, he had been exhausted. His eyes looked over to the digital clock that glowed bright red over on his desk, reading 10:37 PM. He reached his arms upward to stretch, mouth opening wide to yawn.
"It looks like I slept longer than I planned to…"
Rrrr! His stomach growled again, making him chuckle embarrassedly, "Alright, alright! I heard you the first time…"
"Kuri, kuri?" the transparent spirit asked, tilting his head to the side some.
"Huh? You wanna come with me?" the boy asked, only to receive an excited nod. All he could do was smile apologetically, "Sorry, Hane Kuriboh… You remember what Mom said, right? It is okay that Daitokuji-sensei knows about you, but I do not want anyone else to see you, if anyone else can."
Hane Kuriboh looked downcast as his wings stopped flapping, making him lose a few inches before starting to move them again. Judai laughed, reaching out and patting the spirit on its head.
"Don't worry! I will be right back, okay? If anything bad happens, though… you will come right away, right?"
"Kuri!" Hane Kuriboh nodded with a confident look in its big purple eyes.
With a genuine smile directed to it, the spirit disappeared and Judai started for the door. Opening it slightly, he peeked into the dark hallway, seeing it completely empty and not hearing anything but a wall clock tick-tocking away. He would then open it just wide enough to slip out and close it behind him. His chocolate eyes looked down the corridor that led to the staircase as he quietly bounded over to it.
Over the course of the day, he had learned a new, faster way of getting down the stairs, so he decided to try it out then, since it was as good a time as any. Putting his hands on both sides of the rail, he swung his legs forward and jumped down the furthest he could without hurting himself. He managed to grab onto the other rails quickly enough to catch himself so that his feet would not stomp against the hollow stair steps, sighing in relief as he tried to pull it off again. This time, when he jumped, he could not quite catch the rails correctly. His hand slipped, and when his feet hit the mid-step of the entire case, his knee bent forward and nearly made him fall. His left hand, however, had a good grip on the bar, so he was able to save himself. Wincing from the loudness of the drop, he stood still, trying to listen for anyone he may have woke up.
… Nothing. There was still no sound in the building, as far as he could tell. Sighing silently, he quickly hopped down the rest of the steps as carefully as possible and then rushed out the door.
Once outside, the cool night air hit his face; it was pretty chilly out for an August night… but he could not complain. He liked it when it was like this; not too hot, but cold enough to be comfortable. He started walking down the brick pathway in his black T-shirt and white pants, half-invisible to anyone who might have been watching. The orange patch atop his head was completely noticeable in the darkness, and his white pants made his legs glow against the dim hallways in the main building.
Ffft! Judai came to a stop, having heard an odd sound. He turned his head toward the building, wondering if it came from there.
Ffft! There it was again! He turned his head in the opposite direction, to his left, and saw the same courtyard his class had been playing in during recess. It almost sounded like something was scrapping against glass… or stone.
Curious as to what could be making the sound, he slowly walked into the courtyard, passing as few trees until he wound up surrounded by them. He blinked as he looked around; there seemed to be five statues standing in the circular clearing within the trees. If one were to look down on the spot, they could connect the white stone sculptures to create a star. Looking off to the statue which stood directly ahead of him, he squinted through the darkness when he heard the sound come from it.
"Hey… Is somebody there?" he asked innocently, completely unaware that there was a chance that if someone was there, he could get in trouble, or worse, killed.
The scrapping sound continued one more time before it occurred a second time, but much louder and faster. He flinched back at the sound, raising his eyes from looking at the ground to look back at the statue. In the blink of an eye, the top half of the sculpture slid off sideways, hitting the dead grass and leaves with a loud thump! His chocolate eyes looked passed the lower half of the ruined stone, seeing two small orbs glowing brightly.
One was a brilliant oceanic blue-green while the other was a vivid neon orange color. Judai tilted his head to the side; what were those lights? He had never seen anything those colors before… Perhaps the Lady Andersen's eyes were close to that oceanic color, but not nearly as bright.
"Hello…?" he asked again, having a feeling that there was someone there.
Crrack! A step had been taken toward him from somewhere behind the broken statue; he could hear covered feet walk over dead leaves and make them crumble. His stance did not change, though anyone else could have been a little more cautious. A moment later, a boy with long, chin-length purple hair emerged from the black of the small forest. His bright oceanic eyes shined with an unknown power, an unknown sparkle; a dark amethyst jewel glimmered at the center of his forehead, giving off the same color as his hair. He had a calm smile on his face as he stood between the two halves of the sculpture.
Judai was taken aback by something about this boy, his eyes narrowing for a moment, "Who… Who or… what are you?"
The young boy, who stood there in a violet purple T-shirt and black pants, merely allowed his smile to widen at him, "So… it seems that you can see me for what I truly am… You're good, Little One... very good."
A second after he spoke, the jewel at his forehead dissolved into a long slit over where it once stood. The brunette watched inquiringly, only to jump back when the slit snapped open to reveal a third eye with a crimson red iris. The purple-haired boy's appearance vanished, and in his place stood a tall being with the colors black and pale rose pink covering its skin. Black spikes poked out of its shoulders, elbows and hips, making it look dangerous. Its wavy hair was spiked out in several directions, the right half of it snow white while the other was of the same dark purple it had all been a moment earlier. Two demonic wings were held wide open at its back, resembling the wings of a bat or a gargoyle. Lastly, one eye had remained its dazzling blue-green color while the other burned neon orange in the darkness.
Judai's wide chocolate eyes held fear so clearly in them that, even in the dark, it was visible to anyone who saw him. His body froze in its place; this was no person… this was a spirit! And a bad one, too! His heartbeat increased as memories from his last encounter with Dark Spirits rolled back into his mind.
The malevolent-looking creature that stood before him smiled knowingly at him, "Don't be afraid, Little One… I won't hurt you, I promise!"
The familiar echo that followed the male spirit's feminine voice was almost something that the brunette missed hearing, but the sincerity that followed his voice was enough to calm him down some, "O-okay… but… wh-who are you?"
"I am Yubel… a Fallen Angel." He replied, closing his glowing eyes and inclining his head forward a little bit in emphasis.
"Fallen… Angel…?" Judai repeated, suddenly feeling a bit more cautious. He had heard something about Fallen Angels in class, but he could not remember what.
"Yes." Yubel answered, reopening his eyes and raising his head along with his outstretched arms. With this motion, several other ghostly spirits appeared around them, "We are all Fallen Angels… and some day…"
Judai looked around, watching as several of the Dark Spirits spun around his body. His hearing suddenly sharpened as his fear began to climb again; he tried to keep his attention off of the ghosts surrounding him and on the one speaking to him. When he heard the friendly Fallen Angel pause, he tore his chocolate hues away from an especially scary-looking spirit that flew near him in order to focus completely on him.
"Some day, you will save us."
Confusion passed over his features as Yubel's extended right hand started to glow. After a few moments, a small golden orb floated in the palm of his hand. The Fallen Angel pulled back that hand and swiftly swung it forward again, throwing the glowing sphere straight at the six-year-old.
Judai's eyes snapped open as wide as humanly possible as the orb hit his chest, entering it as if he were nothing but a puddle of water. For a second, nothing happened as he picked up his right hand and held it over the spot it had penetrated, but then he felt a pulsing pain strike through his entire body.
"A-AAGH!!" he cried aloud, falling to his knees and breathing heavily in an attempt to cancel the pain ripping him apart from the inside. All the light in his youthful eyes disappeared as his pupils grew small; he turned those almost soulless eyes on the Fallen Angel who had done this to him, "Wh-what was that!?"
Yubel frowned as he noticed tears begin to fog the dismal chocolate hues of the young boy, feeling somewhat sympathetic. He drifted across the dead undergrowth, stopping in front of the whimpering child to bend down and wrap his arms around him. Pulling him into a warm embrace, his demonic wings enveloped them and concealed them in complete darkness.
Judai found the pain increasing to a point that he could no longer feel it, as if he were going numb. Suddenly, he could no longer feel warmth and felt a freezing chill crawl up his spine as he heard the wicked whisper of the Fallen Angel that held him.
"One day… I will return to you," he said silently, "and through my power, you will awaken… my little Haou."
At the sound of the name Haou, the brunette felt a gigantic pulsation occur inside of his chest. His deathly eyes once again opened wide, but to the point that his back fully straightened and forced him to look up to the face of the darkened angel. However, he saw nothing… nothing but two orbs of neon orange and oceanic blue-green glowing visibly in the pitch darkness.
His eyes rolled backward as his eyelids dropped closed, his body falling limp. The Fallen Angel eventually evaporated into the air, leaving nothing behind that it had ever even been there besides the unconscious child and the broken statue.
-------[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]-------
The night outside was a quiet and clear one, but it was much colder than usual. Mr. Daitokuji sat at the window of his room in the dormitory to the left of the main building. His black hair was held up in a high ponytail, but his long bangs still hung low by his face. His glasses had slipped to the tip of his nose, but he had not noticed. All he did was stare out into the black.
"Kuri, kuri!!" the voice of a spirit echoed in his head.
"Huh?" He turned around in his rolling chair, seeing the little newcomer's Spirit Partner appear before him in a frenzy of emotion, "What is it, Hane Kuriboh?"
"Kuri! Kuri, kuri!!" it cried, waving its arms around frantically before turning around and flying through the room's door.
I think it wants me to follow… The blackette thought, getting out of his seat and hurrying to the door.
It did not take long for him to completely exit the building and catch up with the anxious winged fur ball. If it had gone all the way to find him, then something bad must have happened to its Human partner, Judai Yuki. This thought made the teacher's worry increase, making him run even faster.
Mr. Daitokuji came to a stop by the courtyard assigned for Takuma Saiou's class to have recess in, looking around for the spirit that had disappeared on him again, "Hane Kuriboh! Hane Kuriboh, where'd you go?"
"KURI!!"
Looking between two trees, he noticed a bright white wing poking out from behind it. Slowly walking over, he could hear Hane Kuriboh's desperate cries toward something lying on the ground. Once he had gotten passed the trees, he gasped at the sight; Judai was collapsed on the grass and did not seem to be moving.
"Judai!" he called, running to his side and picking him up bridal style, "Judai, wake up!"
The young brunette did not stir; all he did was lie there in his arms, breathing roughly. From the boy's condition, whatever had happened to him really did a number on him. The man turned around and ran to the main building's door, forcing it to open with his boot and effectively shattering the glass in the process. He ignored the loud sound of the material hitting the ground in tiny pieces in favor of dashing down the left hallway and passed the cafeteria to a spiral staircase.
Already used to it, he easily made his way up to the second floor and crashed through a door with a large red cross carved into it. The adult inside stopped what he was doing and immediately turned to look at Mr. Daitokuji, wondering what matter could be so urgent as to damage the door.
It was then that he saw the unconscious boy in the teacher's arms, realizing that the problem must have lain with him. Getting up from his rolling chair, his dark green bangs swayed into his eyes for a moment before he swept them back as he approached the blackette and who he assumed to be his next patient.
"Who's the kid and what happened?" His deep voice asked as he instantly placed the back of his hand over the sleeping brunette's forehead.
"His name is Judai Yuki and he's a new student. I don't know what happened; I just kind of found him this way in one of the courtyards…"
The male nurse sighed restlessly, "Well, that doesn't help me with what I'm supposed to cure him with… Did he show any signs of a cold? The flu? Maybe even a fever?"
Mr. Daitokuji looked up at the ceiling for a moment in thought, "Come to think of it, he was a little red yesterday… and he lost his balance and nearly fell down the stairs."
Pulling his hand back from Judai's forehead, he shook his head out in the air, "… okay, he has a fever. Put him on the bed over there, the first on the left. I'll do what I can."
-------[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]-------
Tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet! A bird sang cheerily outside, flying by the windows of the Hospital Wing and into a nearby tree. Sunlight streamed into the huge room of several beds, illuminating the entire room in warmth. The sleeping brunette smiled at the feeling, his body heat having returned from what had happened to him the previous night. The sound of the bird, however, woke him up.
Chocolate brown eyes blinked open sleepily until he sat up in the bed and yawned, "What time is it…?"
He had not been expecting an answer, for he was asking himself aloud as a reminder to look at a clock.
"It is twelve twenty-seven!" a high-pitched voice squeaked somewhere to his left.
"Wah!!" Judai Yuki jumped, turning his head and flinched to his right a few inches.
"Eek!!" cried the voice from before, the blankets of the bed next to Judai's throwing themselves up and over a shivering lump.
He blinked at the bulge on the next bed before chuckling embarrassedly, "Hahaha, gomen ne! I was surprised; I thought I was the only one here!"
Through his peripheral vision, he noticed all of the empty beds in the large room, "Huh… I thought I was back in my room, too… Where are we?"
"W-we are in the Hospital part of the school…" The little voice stuttered from beneath the blankets.
Judai stared at the blankets, "Hey, c'mon! I am sorry for scaring you! Can you please come out? It is weird talking to a lump…"
A small giggle came from the other bed as the little boy under the sheets popped his head back out in the fresh air again, "Haha, you said 'lump!'"
"Yes… What about it?"
"That word sounds funny…"
The brunette thought it over in his head, his confused frown turning into a small grin and than breaking out into an all-out smile as he began to laugh, "Hahaha!! You are right! It does sound funny!"
The two boys laughed for a few moments longer before Judai finally calmed down long enough to get a good look at the boy before him. He was a lot smaller than him… but seemed to be about the same age. He had huge light blue hair that almost seemed to eat the top of his head and he wore small glasses with circular lenses. Big grey eyes watched him with the same innocent and youthful spark he himself had as stout arms moved his body to sit up against his pillow again.
"So! What is your name?" Judai asked straightforwardly, smiling eagerly, "My name is Judai! Judai Yuki!"
"M-my name?" the other stammered, looking down at his hands nervously as he replied, "A-ahm… M-my name is Sho Marufuji."
"Ha! Sho, ne? Marufuji, too! That means you're Japanese like me, right??"
The little blunette nodded shyly, "Yes…"
"Oh, wow! I was scared all day yesterday! I thought I was the only Japanese kid in school! Especially with the way this one guy, Santiago, kept picking on me…" the brunette started saying with a frown on his face.
"Y-you, too?"
Judai blinked at the other boy, "Wait… Did he bully you, too?" Come to think of it… "How did you wind up here in the Hospital? He did not put you here, did he?"
With all the questions he was throwing at Sho, he did not once think that it was too much. Sho was a kid, too, though, so it was not too bad.
"He did not hurt me… He just… kind of bothered an old owwie I got a while back and I had to come here."
"Aww… That sounds really bad! What kind of owwie did he—"
Creeeeak! The door to the Hospital Wing fell open as a certain black-haired teacher came walking in, carrying two trays of food, one on top of the other. He peeked over to the brunette's bed and smiled.
"Ah! Judai, I'm glad you're awake!"
"Daitokuji-sensei!" Judai smiled, watching as the man approached his bed side and put the two trays down, "Are those for me??"
Mr. Daitokuji pulled a chair up to Judai's right, sitting down in the backwards seat as he picked one tray up and placed it in the six-year-old's lap, "No, Silly! One of them is for me! I know you can eat a lot, so I brought twice as much food as you got for breakfast yesterday. Since you slept through the morning, I was able to get one of the lunch ladies to make some brunch up for you."
The brunette stared hungrily down at the food, seeing six pieces of buttered toast piled up on top of each other to the side of a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and beans. For some reason, there were two tortillas wrapped in a long napkin beneath the plate, but he did not know what they were for. He was too preoccupied with staring at the bread.
"Huh?" the man asked, noticing the student's gawking, "Oh! I remembered how you loved the toast from yesterday, so I brought you lots of it!"
"Daitokuji-sensei…" the boy began, turning to give the teacher the same sparkling happy look at he had day before, "Arigotou!!"
He picked up the top most piece of buttered toast and bit into it, chewing on it and feeling the butter melt onto his tongue. He could have cried at how delicious it was to him at that moment. Having not made it to the cafeteria the previous night and missed breakfast that morning, his stomach was that much hungrier than normal.
Rrrr…
Judai stopped his eating, blinking curiously as he turned his head to look over to the other bed. It seemed as though he had completely forgotten about his new friend Sho in favor of paying attention to his food. He could see the little blunette blush in embarrassment as he lightly slapped his stomach and silently scolded it for being so loud. All he did was laugh, though, getting the other's attention.
"Hey, Sho! Do you want to come eat some with us? There are lots!"
Sho merely stared at the brunette for a long time, but slowly, a smile formed on his face. Nodding, he slipped out of the bed and walked over to Judai's. The slightly older boy handed him a piece of toast, which Sho took happily.
"Arigatou gozaimasu!"
Emerald's Notes & Nonsense:
Aww... Happy Ending! XD! Well, for this Not-Chapter, at least.
GUESS WHAT, GUYS! In the next Not-Chapter, we'll be following along with Johan to see how he's handling not having Judai around! I wonder if it'll be as long as this Not-Chapter was... Haha, dunno, but from the ideas I got for it, I hope it'll be a little shorter. XD
DON'T FORGET TO DROP A REVIEW! :D! Reviews make me smile and make me proud to write this fic...
SPECIAL THANKS TO KyoxSakiFan, THOUGH! Because she's one of my favorite authoresses here and she kept e-mailing me to ask about this Not-Chapter. XD!
AND HAVE YOU GUYS READ "Mistletoe Kiss"?? She wrote that Christmas Spiritshipping fic and dedicated it to me! THAT'S AWESOME! X3!!! I want ot publicly thank her for that, so... yeah. I THANK HER FOR THAT! XD!
I'll post up the next Not-Chapter when I can, Folks! Until then, tell me what'cha thought of this one! Tell me what y'liked & what y'didn't like... -is actually expecting a lot of "I really, really hate Santiago!" comments- XD! Actually, I based him off of one of the kids at my high school. O.o;