Where am I?
"Aaaagh..."
Is someone screaming? Why? The sound came from a shadowed figure.
"Aaaarrrgh..."
This sounds so familiar...Zane! I saw my brother fall to his knees as I ran to him.
"Zane! What happened?!"
"Syrus..." He was clutching his chest where his heart was.
"It's your heart again. Don't worry, I'll get you to a doctor."
"There's...no time..." he gasped before cringing at his irregular heartbeat.
"Zane...Zane!"
•••
Syrus sat up abruptly, hitting his head on the bunk above him. Stars clouded his vision as a sharp pain erupted in his temple.
"Ow..."
"Syrus?" Jaden peered down from the middle bunk.
"Where...?" His head was hurting so much he could finish the question.
"You fell asleep on my bed so I figured you could spend the night here."
"Oh, sorry about that."
"It's cool, I got, like, three beds here." He hopped off the middle bunk and sat beside Syrus. He moved his hand past wild blue hair to where the bump was forming. "But how's your head? You hit it pretty hard."
"It'll go away. Thanks, Jay."
They sat in silently for a while. It was the first time they were alone since Zane's return from the stars. It was also the first time they shared a room since Syrus moved to the yellow dorms last year.
"Can you believe almost three years have past?" Syrus asked him.
"Yeah..."
"To think we faced sacred beasts, the society of light, the Shadow K-" he paused, forgetting that Jaden still carried the guilt of being the shadow king.
"I know what you mean," Jaden mumbled.
"Everything has changed..."
You mean I have changed. But Jaden didn't say it, he simply got up and picked up his deck from his desk.
"Jay?" Syrus asked. Did I upset him?
"Come on, Hassleberry's waiting for us."
•••
"There you guys are," Alexis scolded when she saw Jaden, Syrus, and Hasselberry approaching, "I thought I told you guys not to be late."
"It's not my fault Hassleberry had to get three plates of waffles," Jaden said, shaking his head.
"Hey, a soldier can't duel on an empty stomach," he said defensively.
"So how was the sleepover?" Atticus asked the little blue dualist.
"...fine." Atticus was about to press when Alexis continued her lecture.
"Seriously, do you know how long we were waiting for you guys?"
"Who cares? Let's go before Crowler kills us! Or gives us detention, whichever he's in the mood for," Chazz sneered.
•••
I didn't ask for everything to change. I never wanted to change. But I accepted it either way. I had no choice. I'm sorry.
"Jaden?"
He opened his eyes to see Alexis standing over him.
"Class is over."
"Oh?" He looked around, seeing the classroom now empty except for the two of them and a few other students walking past them.
"Did something happen between you and Syrus?"
"No, why?"
"I don't know. You guys were pretty quiet this morning and he went to the blue dorms early so it seemed like there was."
"I know Syrus wants the old me back, but no matter how hard I try I can't forget what I've done in the past. This is who I am now, you know that."
"I know, but I also know there's still a part of the old Jaden inside of you. You're trying to go back to the way you used to be, and I think Syrus sees this." Jaden said nothing so she kept going. "Talk to him."
"Alright, I'll go."
•••
Can't believe I let Alexis talk me into this. He was certain that Syrus wants the old Jaden to go comfort him, not the new one that hardly smiles and wanders through the woods alone, because he wants to be alone. The old Jaden never wanted to be alone. How much of me has changed?
He was on his way to the blue dorms when he found Syrus sitting under a tree, his head resting on his arms.
What is he doing out here?, he thought as he walked up to the little blue duelist.
"Syrus." He looked up, tears swelled up in eyes.
"Jaden? You're not mad at me anymore?"
"Why would you think that?" Jaden asked, surprised that he thought that.
"I-I thought you were," Syrus stammered, "I'm sorry for bringing it up the stars, I was scared-"
"Sy, calm down" Jaden said calmly, crouching down in front of him, "It's okay. I thought you were upset at me, because I was the one who changed."
"That wasn't your fault! Besides, it's not just you. Everything changed- our friends, dueling-" he paused, holding up his head.
"Dueling?" Jaden mumbled to himself, wondering what he meant until he saw Syrus. Eyes shut tightly with a hand gripped on his hair. "Sy, are you alright?"
"Yeah, it's just a headache."
"Come on, let's go to the mess hall. They have fried shrimp," he said smirking.
"Yes, I'm starving!"
The two of them headed back to the school, not realizing the figure standing behind the trees was observing them.
Alexis watched Jaden and Syrus from a distance and giggled. Jaden has nothing to worry about. No matter how much has changed, he is still Syrus's best friend.