A/N: I probably won't be updating either of my stories tomorrow. I've got two finals, then I'm moving out, so I probably won't find time to write until sometime this weekend. Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX.
It didn't take long for Judai to understand why Yubel had been saying that he wouldn't like school. It was boring, and he was having a really hard time with it seeing as he was so far behind. Add to that the fact that his many tutors were overworking him, with Kathleen and Misawa giving him homework and Cronos giving him extra homework, and he hardly had any time for anything besides school. Asuka didn't give him homework—she spent her sessions with him, which were never at her house as she seemed to have changed her mind about having him over there, helping him finish the work everyone else was giving him. Though, with all of that work, he was able to read at a second-grade level after only a few days.
On the bright side, he wasn't Akiko. For the last few days, people had been making comments about how they had always thought she was asexual. One guy was stupid enough to say that he had thought she was committing bestiality with a lion or something—he was still in the hospital. Although nobody else was dumb enough to say that, they were still teasing her about her boyfriend...as long as they had somebody tough there to defend them, or one of the few friends she had that could stop her from killing them was in the room.
"I swear, if I ever get my hands on the blabber mouth who thought it was her business to spread, I'M GONNA THROTTLE HER!" she exclaimed as the latest person to tease her about her boyfriend ran out of the room. "I know it had to be a girl! Probably that stupid Momoe! Why does she always think that everyone else's business is her own!?"
In a corner of the room, the black-haired girl in question fidgeted.
"Now, come on," Kathleen said. "Is it really that bad if people know?"
"Uh, Kathy..." Johan warned.
Akiko glared daggers at her, just as Johan had known she would. "Do they all need to know!?"
Haruko even seemed nervous for once, and she was Akiko's best friend. "Aki, sweetheart, calm down..." she said hesitantly.
Sho stopped in the doorway of the classroom, took one look at Akiko's expression, and bolted. A moment later, they all heard a locker door slam shut—Sho had just slammed himself in a locker to avoid Akiko.
"Akiko, luv, just—" Jim started.
"JIM!" she cut him off. Apparently it wasn't wise for him to call her "luv" right now.
He took the hint and shut up, figuring this was one of those times when she'd just have to blow off some steam in some way or other—probably by kicking the crap out of somebody at her martial arts class after school or something.
"As bad as that is, who started the rumor about me dating a kindergartener!?" Asuka demanded, bringing up a rumor Judai hadn't yet heard. "I'm not dating anyone! Especially not some little kid!"
The irate Akiko said, "If I had to guess, I'd say ask Momoe. She's the rumor queen, after all. Remember when Jim was 'dating' Karen? That was her."
Judai wasn't sure he wanted to know when, how, or why that rumor had gotten started—in fact, he'd rather forget he'd ever heard it in the first place.
"I know," Asuka said. "But she said I was dating—" she stopped herself, apparently rethinking what she had been about to say, then went on, "someone new to this school, not a kindergartener! Who started that!?"
"Huh? Who are you dating?" Judai asked. After all, he was new to this school.
She tensed. "Uh, well." She laughed nervously and, sweating, said, "Just some upperclassman, that's all."
"Oh. Okay."
"Uh, anyway, pal—" Johan started.
"Who said that!?" Kathleen demanded of Haruko, who had apparently just told her something bad. "We are so not! Are you sure, Haru!?"
"Huh!?" Johan looked, wondering what exactly was going on and why he got the feeling it involved him.
Haruko started nervously playing with the braid hanging over her shoulder. "Well, I heard it from—"
"Let me guess...someone who heard it from someone who heard it from someone all the way back to Momoe, yes?" Akiko interrupted.
Twisting her braid around her finger, Haruko hesitated before saying, "Yes."
Kathleen growled, then turned to Johan. "Hey! Johan! Did you know we're getting married!?"
"What!? Who said that!?" he demanded, jumping out of his seat.
"Someone who heard it from someone who probably heard it from Momoe!"
He and Kathleen glared across the room at their rumor-spreading classmate, who was hiding behind her auburn-haired friend. They, along with Akiko and Asuka, went over to confront her.
"Hmm," Kathleen said. "Ya know, you and Junko here spend an awful lot of time together," she said, indicating the friend behind whom Momoe was hiding. "Are you two together!?"
Nervous, Momoe started, "Uh, no, see, it's just that—"
"Yeah," Akiko interrupted, "you're so cute together, and Junko doesn't like boys, right? You must be dating. I think I'll go tell everyone!"
"Hey," Junko protested. "Leave me out of this! I'm not the one who told the whole school all those rumors!"
"Y-yeah... Besides, I didn't say you were getting married... I said you were dating."
"Yeah, well, we're not doing that, either!" Johan snapped.
"And I'm not dating the new kid!" Asuka told her. "You got your facts messed up!"
Walking over, Manjoume said, "Really, Tenjoin-kun? 'Cause I'm not too sure."
Akiko rolled her eyes. "Oh, get over yourself, Manjoume!"
A few feet away, Judai just stood and watched, not sure what was going on. "Huh?"
"You get over yourself!" Manjoume retorted. "At least you've got someone! I have to compete with that idiot if I want a girlfriend!"
"Excuse me?" Asuka asked, eying him. "But you never had a chance, Manjoume. I'm just not interested. Get it through your head, already."
"Yeah!? Well, you were more interested before he showed up!"
As they kept arguing, Judai wondered, Before who showed up?
He made up his mind—he had to know what was going on. Cautiously, he approached the scene. As he walked over, Kathleen and Akiko left, presumably to do the whole "eye for an eye" thing that was supposed to make the whole world go blind.
"Hey, what's going on?"
"None of your business!" Manjoume snapped at him. "Get lost, you idiot! I think I hear your mommy calling!"
"Hey, what did I do?"
"Nothing," Asuka said. "He's just being a jerk again."
"Hah! I knew you'd defend him! Proves my point!"
"No, it doesn't. I'm just tired of you bullying everyone all the time!"
O'Brien walked into the room, sweating, a tool kit in hand. "Jim, I'm not sure what's going on, but let me know when it's over," he said lamely.
Jim sweat. O'Brien had been trying to get Sho out of that locker, hadn't he? Hoo boy... Everyone's throwing a wobbly today...
"Of course she defended me!" Judai said. "You're being a real jerk, Manjoume! What's your problem!?"
"What kind of an idiot are you!? That should be obvious! You're stealing my girl away, that's my problem!"
"I'm not stealing anything! I didn't even know you had a girl!"
With his track record, everyone was sure that meant "owned," as in there was a girl who belonged to Manjoume. After all, that's usually what he thought someone meant when they said something like that.
Asuka sweat. "Judai...that's not what he meant... Besides, he's wrong, anyway. I was never his girl. He just likes to think that."
"But, Tenjoin-kun—"
"Well, why not?" Junko asked. "Better than some kid, at least."
"Yeah, Asuka! Please reconsider!" Momoe begged. "You two are exact opposites! I mean, look at him." She looked at Judai. "He's so childish, and you're—"
His eyes widened. "Wait, what!?"
"It's nothing," Asuka said quickly.
"But—" her friends started.
"I said, it's nothing!" Asuka snapped, blushing. "When will you two learn, I'm not interested in dating!"
"Dating..." Judai paled as he realized what those girls were saying. "So I'm the one they said you're dating?"
"No, of course not! Calm down. We're not dating, okay?"
Thinking about it, all of the extra time she spent alone with him was starting to make sense. He probably shouldn't have been thinking about it because it was reminding him way too much of Yubel and her feelings for him. Could Asuka want the same thing? Oh, he hoped not. He still didn't know anything about the subject, but, from what he kept hearing, only one person ever had a say in the thing—Manjoume saying Asuka was "his girl," Yubel forcing Judai to date her, that game show where a guy picks a girl and she has to go on a date with him...
"I'm not into dating..."
"I know. And we're not, okay?" Asuka told him. "It's just a nasty rumor my idiot friends started. Are Johan and Kathleen getting married?"
"No..." he admitted.
"But Akiko and Jim are together!" Momoe pointed out.
"And you are spending a lot of time alone with him, so—" Junko started.
"Can it, you two!" Asuka cut her off. "You're not helping!"
"Spending time alone with someone is dating?" Judai asked, nervous now. Had she been doing the same thing as Yubel, dating him without his consent, only with more subtlety? Was he being forced into some relationship he didn't even want?
"No! Well, yes, but only if a girl and a guy do it, and not always! Friends can do it, too!" Now she was nervous. That didn't come out right...
Granted, that wasn't entirely true—she knew full well that a date didn't have to be between a girl and a boy, but she wasn't about to tell Judai that. Then he might start getting nervous about spending time alone with his male friends, too!
Judai thought about that for a moment, then asked, "So are we dating or not?"
"Ye—" Momoe and Junko started.
"No," Asuka interrupted, sweating, eyes closed. "No, we're not."
"Okay," he said, relieved. After all, if Asuka was saying they weren't dating, then they weren't dating.
Kathleen and Akiko came back into the room at that moment, looking pleased.
"Okay!" Kathleen said, looking at Momoe and Junko. "That's done. Now everyone knows just how you two feel about each other."
"Yep. Don't worry, you can 'come out of the closet' now," Akiko added.
"What!?" the two demanded.
"Oh, no, you didn't!" Junko said before running out to crush that rumor as fast as she could.
Asuka sweat. "Are you two trying to make Judai nervous again?" she asked. "'Cause that could sure do it."
"What?" Akiko asked.
Asuka sweat again. "Don't ask. Just, watch what you say around him, okay?" She walked over and whispered to the two, "He thinks a guy and a girl spending time alone is the only kind of date there is. Let's keep it that way for now, okay?" She headed to her seat, leaving Kathleen and Akiko slightly confused.
"So, what did we miss?" Kathleen asked.
"Judai and Manjoume got into it a bit before Junko and Momoe nearly scared Judai," Jim summed up the last ten or so minutes. "In short, more rumors."
Kathleen stared for a moment before O'Brien stood up, taking out his tool kit again.
"Sorry to interrupt, but is it safe to get Sho now?" he asked.
Kathleen, stunned, answered, "Yeah, sure. Why not?"
"Go ahead," Akiko said, heading to her seat. "I've calmed down."
Kathleen stood there for a bit longer, still too stunned to move. O'Brien nodded and headed out to get Sho.
Amon sighed. "Judai, we have got to do something about your naivety on the subject. Really, it's not that bad."
Cronos entered the classroom about the same time O'Brien and Sho did. Why didn't he stick them in the hall for being late? Because O'Brien had a tool kit in one hand and was holding Sho's hand in the other.
Cronos stared for a moment before saying, "I don't even want to know. Just sit down, you two."
At lunch, Kathleen said, "Okay, Judai! You're coming with me 'cause I am so tired of this!"
Judai groaned. "Come on!" he complained—the first time he'd complained about having tutoring every day from morning until dinner. "I need a break!"
"Don't worry!" Kathleen told him, grinning. "That's not what we're doing!"
"Huh?" He blinked at her. Lunch time...she's my tutor...and she's supposed to be tutoring me during lunch time... What does she mean that's not what we're doing?
"You'll see," she told him. Quietly, she said, "And, hopefully, feel."
With that unusual statement, she dragged him off.
Kathleen took him to the computer lab where she got on a computer and headed to a website where she could play music.
"Now, for today's lesson, listen to these and tell me what you think," she instructed.
She started playing love songs, picking a few really romantic ones, favorites of hers. Judai listened, noticing that they were all about love and most had some slow, gentle melody to them that nearly put him to sleep.
"Well?" she asked after the last one. "What do you think, kid?"
He didn't know what he thought. Well, okay, he did, but it wasn't an answer so much as it was another question. "Why are we doing this?"
"Answer the question," she said, although that's exactly what he had just done. "Didn't you feel anything? Anything at all? Come on! Those were some of the most beautiful ones out there. Don't you agree?"
"I guess..."
His tone clearly said otherwise—he didn't get it, so this wasn't working.
"Okay, forget the music! Come on!"
She grabbed his hand and dragged him off again.
They stood in the hallway, peeking around a corner at a boy and girl sitting on the stairs, going over their homework and laughing.
"Okay, see those two over there?" Kathleen asked. "How they're having fun and laughing? What does that look like to you?"
His attention focused in on the papers, the textbooks. "...Studying?" he asked, confused.
"Yeah, but see how much fun they're having? Now, can you tell me why?"
Judai suddenly wished she'd just make him do math or science or something. At least that made sense when she explained it.
"They're...friends...?" he guessed.
"They used to be, but look closer."
Judai looked back at the two as the girl leaned her head on the boy's shoulder, smiling. He smiled, too, taking hold of her hand. Then they got back to work.
Noticing a pattern here, Judai asked, "Are they...dating?"
"Yes," Kathleen answered. "But not right now. Right now, they're just happy being alone together. They sure look happy, don't they? Doesn't that make you jealous of how happy they are?"
He looked at her, confused as to why he should be jealous of their happiness. He was happy—he had friends he could spend time with. How was this any different?
"...What...?" he asked finally, wondering what was wrong with her.
"Don't you wish you could be that happy, too!? Love is really just the highest level of happiness that ever existed! Why, you've never known true joy until you've been in love! I should know. I've got Johan!" She sweat, blushing, realizing what she just said. "Oops!" Quickly, she glanced around, hoping no one else heard that.
Judai looked at her for a moment, processing that. Finally he asked, "Wait, are you two getting married!?"
"No! I already told you, that's so the last step, and you only do it if you like each other so much for so long that you, like, never want to be apart! You want to be a part of the same family, so you get married! Johan and I are nowhere near that, so quit it, already!" she protested, blushing.
Judai just stared.
"Uh, sorry 'bout that," she apologized. "Totally lost my cool back there. So, uh, just forget what I said about Johan, and let's try one more thing."
For the third time that day, she dragged him off.
Kathleen dragged him into an empty classroom and said, "Okay, now, I'm gonna ask you a series of questions, and you're gonna answer them truthfully, okay?"
"Okay."
"Okay. First question. What do you like to do for fun? And where do you like to go to do it?" she asked, reading off a piece of paper she had.
"Uh, duel?" he answered, not sure what this had to do with anything.
"And?" she prompted, waiting for the answer to the second half of that question.
"Doesn't matter where."
She scribbled that down.
"Okay, and which do you like better? A mountain, a field or forest, or the beach?"
"Um...field or forest."
"Okay... What's your favorite food?"
What was it, Random Question Day? "Um...fried shrimp or anything spicy."
Kathleen kept asking him a bunch of questions like those, jotting down his responses. When she was through, she looked over her notes and gawked.
"Kathleen?" he asked, wondering what was wrong.
"No way..."
Before she had grabbed him to try her hand at teaching him about love, she had called up some local schools and found out that they had given these matchmaking quizzes to the students for fun. She had managed to convince the principals of these schools to give her the results for the girls at each school—persuasion was one of her strong suits. She had also been secretly taking the test herself while giving it to Judai.
That can't be right! Either me or a 12-year-old? Really?
"What?" Judai asked.
"Uh, Judai... What say we skip the rest of class and visit a school on the other end of town..." she said, sweating.
"I thought you were against skipping school?" Judai thought, remembering how she wouldn't skip to help him confront Yubel, saying it would have to wait until after school if it wasn't an emergency—although, in his opinion, that had been.
"Yeah, well," she said before giving a nervous laugh. "This is a school survey, and there aren't any home addresses, and the place we need to go's kinda far to walk, and..."
He looked at her for a moment, trying to figure out how this constituted an emergency, but those horrible nightmares he'd been having because of a duel spirit that had kidnapped him and stuck a bomb on him didn't. "Is this really that big of a deal?"
"Yes. Now let's go." Muttering, she added, "You're driving me nuts."
She grabbed his arm again and dragged him off, this time dragging him halfway across town.
She stopped outside of a small grade school next to a park—which, in Judai's opinion, was way more interesting than the school she had dragged him to.
"Well, here we are. Nakamoto Elementary School. This should be the place." Quietly, she said, "Assuming she didn't transfer."
"Who?" Judai asked.
The bell rang, and a bunch of kids came running out of the building. Kathleen scoured the crowd before calling out. "Stop right there, Miss Saotome!"
"Huh?" a young girl with purple hair and brown eyes asked, turning.
"Hi!" Kathleen said, walking over and dragging Judai. "Just the person I wanted to see!"
"Why? Do I know you?"
"Not yet, kid. I'm Kathleen, and this is Judai." She grinned at him, still holding his wrist.
He looked at her nervously, getting a bad feeling, before asking, "Do I wanna know what you're up to...?"
"You see, kid, he took that matchmaking test, and your name came up in the top 2!"
"What?" Saotome asked.
"So I thought I'd be super nice and introduce you to him! So, kid, what do you think?"
"Uh..." she hesitated.
Judai, worried, asked, "Wait, what test did I take!?"
Matchmaking. That sounded suspiciously like it was related to dating. And Kathleen had tricked him into taking it. Oh, dating was the ultimate evil, and girls weren't much better.
"Judai. This is perfect!" Kathleen told him, confirming his fears. "She likes almost everything you do. Also, your personalities can be similar at times! So I think you should get to know her better."
"Uh, okay, I guess," Saotome agreed.
"Are you trying to... I DON'T WANNA DATE HER!" he panicked, trying to pull away from Kathleen's grip.
Saotome put her hands on her hips, clearly insulted. "And what, pray tell, is wrong with me? You think I've got cooties or something?" she demanded, glaring at him.
Judai cringed, suddenly reminded of Yubel.
"Judai! That is so rude!" Kathleen said. "She's not a monster or anything! Apologize to her now!"
"A what!?" Saotome demanded.
Kathleen glared at him. "Judai..."
"Maybe she's not, but I'm starting to think you are!" he said to Kathleen. "What are you trying to pull!? I don't want to be a dad! And I don't want to date!"
"Oh, suck it up," Yubel said, getting involved in this as well. "You're overreacting, and you're gonna make that poor kid cry if you don't stop this. Do you wanna look like me, too?"
Judai, properly chastised, said, "Sorry..."
Kathleen let go of his wrist. Saotome just stared at him for a moment.
"What's your problem, anyway?" she asked finally. "Still think girls have cooties or something? Aren't you a bit too old to be acting like that?"
"I just...haven't had very good experiences with the whole 'dating' thing...and, clearly, Kathleen's up to something," he answered, glaring at his red-headed friend.
"Really? Is that all?" Saotome asked, her attitude changing drastically. "Then you've come to the right place! I'm an expert at dating and stuff! So, how about you meet me at the park tomorrow at 4, and I'll show you what a real date's like!" She grinned.
"Uh, I don't really wanna..."
"Say, Yubel?" Kathleen said quietly. "Want your beloved to learn what dating really is?"
"She's right. Accept it. That's an order," Yubel commanded.
But—
The beeping of the bomb cut him off.
"Alright!" he yelled, clearly irritated. Turning to Kathleen, he said a familiar statement—one he hadn't said since the days when they had been enemies. "You really are the devil, you know that?"
Kathleen just grinned, pleased. The beeping stopped.
"So, it's a date, then?" Saotome asked.
Judai sighed. "Uh-huh..."
"Great! The name's Rei, and I'll see ya then! Oh! And wear something nice! See ya!" she told him before running off.
"Well, you just got yourself a pity date. Should be fun," Kathleen said, sweating.
Judai, feeling angry and betrayed, said, "Kathleen, have I ever told you just how much I hate you?"
"Hey, you'll thank me for this someday."
"She's right, you know," Yubel agreed, leading Judai to believe the world was about to end. After all, they were enemies, yet they were working together to torment him.
"Both of you shut up," he said.