me: welcome my f-fa-ACHOO!

SHO: are you okay?

me: a little sick is all

MANJYOME: serves you right

me: what does that mean?

MANJYOME: you were standing outside in the freezing cold for half an hour to go to a dance that had nothing but boys and a fog machine!

me: you would've liked it

MANJYOME: no i would'nt've

me: yeah, ya would! and you would've freak danced with your boyfriend!

MANJYOME: GAH! no i would not you--

---beep---

SHO: uh...s-start the reviews. AC! HIS LEG DOESN'T GO IN THAT DIRECTION!

KagomeGirl92: i'll try that link! cause, like, i wanna see season three stuff cause, like, i already took a sneak into the future and, like, GAH! SPOILER! ((sho becomes an obelisk))

Lorna Shadows: yes. and it's just cruel how he demeans himself like that. but still, i need to make Judai feel conflicted. and that's one of the ways i make him feel that way

blue-demongirl: don't apologize. i'm just glad you review at all. and your right, Judai should feel more conflicted! i shall torture him some more in the next chapter! and i don't think there are that many fics with Perseus in it. i actually think there is only one. pity

lifluvanime: yay! fun!

SHO: AC! Don't! No! leave him alone AC!

me: never!

MANJYOME: HELP ME! HELP ME! L-LOOK! CLAY AIKEN!

me: where?! (runs away)

SHO: good thinking!

MANJYOME: (nods) ow. start the fic, please

ac-the-brain-supreme does not own Yugioh. she does own a Clay Aiken cd. and it's spiffeh, man!

..:Judai's POV:..

There's nothing to do here now that Sho and Ryo have left. Nothing but getting ignored by Asuka, weird looks from Manjyome, and talking to a Daichi whose put himself into seclusion because his girlfriend dumped him for the boy she was sleeping with. I don't get it. Daichi is smart, right? We all knew that Reika was seeing that Slifer on the side, but he was more than oblivious. He was blind to it!

Actually, I'm walking to the Ra dorm to talk to Daichi. He's been in a relationship. Granted, it was one that didn't end up very good and one that he doesn't want to talk about, but it was a relationship none-the-less. And I'm desperate for some advice. After all, I don't know if this is a bad relationship or something I should hold onto. And I can't talk to any female family members for a while because my mom and my aunt and my cousin are all out on a spa trip. Don't ask me why. They just are.

"Judai." I turn and face and Obelisk girl. She has long black hair and deep green eyes. It's Reika. I cross my arms over my chest. I don't want to talk to her. She hurt one of my friends, and I can't let her get away with that. "Judai," she repeats as she rubs her red-ringed eyes, "I...you...are you going to see Daichi-kun?"

I don't answer her. Why does she deserve one? Why would she want to see Daichi? She did cheat on him and break up with him. She crushed his heart! An image of Sho appears in my mind's eye. No, not now. I have to stay angry! If Sho gets into my mind, I'd get sentimental over Camula after she bit Sho.

"Judai," she pleads, "I know what I did was wrong. It's just...Daichi was such a gentleman, and I got frustrated!" She stepped a little closer. "I wanted him so badly, but he wouldn't allow it! I had a need, and it had to be filled, or we would've broken up a long time ago!" Tears overflowed her eyelids and flowed over. "And afterwards, I felt so bad! The next day, I told him, and Daichi was still okay with it! And...and..." She was near tears when I finally cave.

"F-Fine" I say against my better judgment. "I was going to see him anyway."

Reika's eyes grew. She smiled and hugged me. "Thank you so much!"

I shrug and walked on. She followed right behind me. I hear her boots step on the dewy grass. I can sense she's nervous as the Ra dorm comes into view. I can feel her hands mess with the fingers on the other hand out of nervousness. I can hear the words she's mouthing; what she's going to say to her ex-boyfriend. I can see the reddening of her ears and the uneasy sweat that is forming on her brow. Once we get to the steps, I can tell she's absolutely terrified.

I turn to see if she's following me. She's stopped dead, looking up at the yellow three-story building that houses the man she once cheated on out of love and lust for him. "Judai" she says, "what if he won't take me back?"

I sigh and shake my head. I want to respond, but she cuts me off. "I mean, he had to dump me for a reason! Daichi-kun's smart, so he must know what he wants right? After all...I mean...what if we go up there and...J-Judai!"

I'm confused. For one, Reika claimed that Daichi dumped her. Daichi claimed it to be the other way around. And just because your smart, it doesn't mean you have to have to always know what's right. You just had to have good judgment. I believe that Daichi has good judgment. But I could be wrong. I don't know why he would dump Reika anyway. If Reika is correct, than Daichi would really have no reason to. Not that I see. Maybe the fact that Reika cheated on him, though he fogave her, it was too much and he decided that Reika couldn't be trusted. And trust was the basis of any relation. Least, that's what I've been told.

"C'mon" I say, "it's going to be alright. Most likely, Daichi is in his room doing some math problem he made up."

Reika smiled. "Maybe." She followed me up the steps and into the dorm.

It took us two stair cases and three hallways to get to Daichi's room. Once there, Reika and I did nothing but stand there and stare at the door. I wanted her to knock. She wanted me to knock. Neither wanted to be the first one Daichi asked why we were there. But, to get our questions answered, I knocked on the door. Reika was biting her lip and playing with her hands.

"Don't worry" I tell her.

She looks at me. "Why shouldn't I? For all I know a man is going to come out of that door."

Unfortunately for the both of us, a man did come out of that door. To be specific, a naked man who looked like he hadn't slept all night. Reika was near tears because of who opened the door. I was scarred because it was Manjyome who opened the door. "Crap!" he yelled once he realized that Reika was sobbing in the hallway. He disappeared behind the slammed door.

I betcha he thought we couldn't hear them. But we did. And probably so did half the Ra students in the building.

"Dammit, why are they here?" I hears Manjyome ask.

"How should I know!" Daichi yelled back. There were bangs and crashes, and all I could do was stare blankly at the wall in front of me. I did not want to hear this. In fact, I never should have come. Reika is thinking the same thing.

"What do we do?" Manjyome asks.

"Uh...act normal!" Daichi responds.

"How!" Manjyome asks.

"Just let me talk!"

There was no more talking. Not for a while at least. But then, Reika and I heard the most disturbing thing in the world. It sent her running, and made me pass out on the floor.

The last thing I heard before passing out was, "Jun, where did my pants go!"

..:Sho's POV:..

"Thank you Ryo, but I can do this on my own," my uncle says to Onii-san. Uncle Toru is making us dinner. He's a pretty good cook and since this is our first night together--Uncle Toru was away on buisness for the first two nights--he decided to make us all a feast. Me and Makoto are fine with that. We love his cooking and the fact that he's making enough food to feed everybody in town. Onii-san, though, isn't as up to it.

Ryo and I know that Uncle Toru has just gotten out of the hospital for a bad case of influenza. And he looks like it too. His skin is paler than it normally is, his eyes have rings around them, and he has to wear a mask over his mouth to not get germs from other people or give people. Other than that, he's like his old self. But Onii-san doesn't want him around the food, even with the mask. Or, he's becoming more like Daddy and he's starting to be protective of Uncle Toru's health. Either or, Makoto is starting to get angry at Onii-san, again.

Since Onii-san insulted her not even five minutes after we got to the house, he's insulted her about two more times. The second was when she showed us the costume she made for a costume party that was during our second week at her house. She said there was a prize for the best-made home costume and that she was going to win it. Onii-san had responded to that by saying, "You're not going to win. It's almost obvious that you bought it." When Makoto showed Onii-san the sketches and the used fabric, Onii-san said that "anyone can get those materials, baka. Besides, it's not all that good of a costume."

And if he couldn't get Makoto even angrier, that same night, when she was making us dinner, he pointed out every little mistake. Considering Makoto cooks nearly all the time for everyone, this really set her on edge. She had yelled at Onii-san, "Well if you don't like it, starve! I'm not cooking for you for the rest of this visit!" When Onii-san pointed out that everyone else would starve, Makoto said, "I said you. I'm still cooking for Sho and Daddy." After that, Onii-san voluntarily left the table.

Now, he's trying to make dinner himself. I fear for us all. Because no matter how good he is at anything else, Onii-san's cooking is poisonous. And my uncle is hard-headed.

"Ryo, you're the guest. You shouldn't be making dinner."

"But you're sick,"--bad move--"you shouldn't be making anything."

"I've been sick my whole life, Ry-Ry." Makoto and I giggle at Onii-san's old nick-name. "I have a feeling that it's too late for you to be doing this."

Onii-san seems a little angry at being called Ry-Ry again. He insisted on that being stopped when he was six. "Maybe, but I think it would be better if you rested."

"What you think would be better for me and what I think will be better for me are two different things Ryo." Uncle Toru's blue eyes flash as he turns them on Onii-san. "The only time I listen to a sentence like that is if it is coming out of the mouth of my doctor, Makoto, or my wife. Not you, not your father, not anybody else. Do you understand me?"

Onii-san is determined to have his way. "Well, considering that one of those positions is empty," he says, making Makoto shiver with anger, "I believe that the next best person should be able to fill in that space."

My uncle, who had stopped playing with the rice for a minute by now, picked up the spatula. He's angry. Very angry. I try to slide below the counter I'm sitting at while Makoto looks for the nearest exit or phone. "Ryo," Uncle Toru says, putting the bottom part of the spatula under Onii-san's chin, "don't you ever say that in my presence again. Shira's spot can not and will not be filled. Do you understand?"

Onii-san stares at our uncle for a second or two before turning around and marching out of the room. Uncle Toru turns off the stove and sits down on a chair, looking exhausted. Makoto walks over to her father. "Daddy, are you okay?" she asks.

Uncle Toru smiles. You can tell when he smiles. Even if that opaque white cloth covers his face, you can always tell when he smiles. He pats Makoto's head. "Ah, Mako-chan" he breaths out. "Do you think pizza is a good subsitute for a home-made meal?"

Makoto thinks. "No" she says. "But tacos are." Uncle Toru laughs and gets up to go find the Mexican carry-out menu.

"I'm sorry about my brother" I tell Makoto. She turns her head to me. "Don't be" she says. "It's not your fault Ryo ended up a bastard."

I know, but...he wasn't like this before he came to Duel Academy. He changed a little, yes, but he was at least curteous to our family. But now, he's so mean. Ever since his second year, he's been mean to anyone who wasn't his friend or his boyfriend. He's even snapped and insulted me, though it was before he and Judai were even close to dating. Then, he just stopped acknowledging me all together. Tears come to my eyes and I start to sniffle. Makoto hugs me, though she's nothing compared to the person I really want hugging me. Because, no matter how much she tries, Makoto and me is like my Aunt Shira and Uncle Toru. Uncle Toru is never going to be able to replace his late wife, and I'm never going to be able to replace Judai.

MANJYOME: the only good thing about the intro was that i got out of those ropes.

SHO: and now AC is swaying to the music of her faveorite gay Southern boy.

me: ...what do i do when lighting strikes me...

MANJYOME: you go to the hospital

me: ...what do i gotta do when sorry seems to be the hardest word...

MANJYOME: don't say it

SHO: please review