Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX except for Fukugawa Nao. All Naturia Synchro Monsters are changed to Ritual Monsters and Tuner Monsters are converted to regular Effect Monsters. Credits go to Takahashi Kazuki and Director Tsuji Hatsuki.

Chapter 10

Moments Over Earl Grey Tea

Nao and Shō's eyes shifted left and right at the countless Society of Light members walking together in the hallway. They were leaving the main building when they were nearly knocked over by students in the new pristine white uniforms. The heiress had a slight remorse against them after the two most recent events against Judai. Asuka, the newest member of the society, led him, herself, Misawa, Shō and Kenzan to the Dueling History Reference Room. There awaited the former Shooting Game World Champion Gin Ryusei as Judai's opponent.

After conquering him, the group was also led into a cave by Manjōme's message and a Pro Duelist, Professor X, waited there to duel Judai. Ed Phoenix also gave his penny of thoughts about the fatal dangers of dueling the eerie pro. When Judai's deck became victim to deck destruction, the others understood as to why other duelists all over the world never wanted to duel him. Nao watched Judai overcome hurdle after hurdle like a rabbit, and watch the most lethal duelists crumple to the ground in defeat.

The most unusual event of that time was when Saiou Takuma had came to the Red Dorm himself to duel not Judai, but Kenzan. Ed stood further away from the duel just to keep an eye on his suspicious manager who was supposedly the Society of Light's leader. Judai, Shō and Nao watched the duel continue on, and observed that Saiou's deck derived from the Tarot Deck's Major Arcana. Each monster, magic and trap card had both an upright and reverse ability based on luck, or in Saiou's terms - fate. Kenzan had fought valiantly, but his opponent seemingly had the entire duel predetermined to his victory.

The surprising part of that day was that Kenzan did not convert to the Society of Light, much to Saiou's bafflement. It was then revealed that Kenzan had been critically injured from a landslide. From the dinosaur fossils he recovered, the surgeons had transplanted a dinosaur's leg bone to save him, thus having its DNA running through his system. When Saiou left the area and past the others, his bright violet eye trailed on Nao as she approached Kenzan with Judai and Shō. Ed had caught onto his actions just barely, realizing that she may be his next target.

Back to the present, Nao snapped out of her thoughts when Shō started to stagger sideways from the vast amount of white.

"I'm getting dizzy," said the smaller boy, who nearly went cross-eyed.

"Maybe we shouldn't stay here for long. Others will think we are admiring them like this," she sighed.

"Manjōme and Asuka are part of it now. Just when the Red Dorm is saved for good, they both left the dorm," he pouted.

"Don't worry, Shō. As long as we have Judai and Kenzan on our side, then we might have a chance to bring them back to their senses. There must be a right time to do it."

"A right time? You've seen how Manjōme defeated every Obelisk student and Asuka. There's no way we can win."

"Where did the brave and cool Shō go?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Brave? Cool?" he stared, dumbfounded.

"I mean when you bested Kochō Ran and advanced to Ra Yellow," she poked at his yellow blazer, but it didn't budge him when he mumbled 'brave and cool' dreamily to himself with pink cheeks.

"What happened with him?" asked Kenzan accompanied with Judai, queering curiously at the boy, whose head was in the clouds. "He looks like he's going to sway out of control."

"I just said 'brave and cool'," she shrugged but the underclassman threw Shō on his broad shoulder.

"Anyway, let's go back to the dorm. Tome's making a lot of food for dinner today. You coming, Nao?" Judai grinned at the thought of filling his stomach.

"I'll be there later. I just want some time alone for a bit," she tiredly refused and left in a different direction outside. Judai and Kenzan watched her retreating figure and looked at each other knowingly. "She's been like this since Asuka-senpai moved to the White Dorm."

"If it's because she's lonely, then what are we?" he tilted his head to the side in wonder.

"It's not that, Big Bro. You just have too much energy compared to her," Kenzan deadpanned but winced in pain on his backside. Apparently, Shō snapped out of his dreamlike state and pounded on Kenzan to put him down.

Elsewhere, Nao had been spending her time at the lighthouse, even though it reminded her too much about Ryō. She reminisced of the most helpful and memorable times she and the Kaiser shared by the seaside, starting from when they only talked without seeing each other face to face. If she compared the current moment to the first night at school last year, she was only back to where she started.

A very small bit of herself wished for her kind stranger to talk with the deep and mellow voice she loved to hear - an older brother figure to communicate with. It was one of those moments when she wished she had a sibling, whether he or she would be older or younger. From when she was young, she didn't particularly like the fact she was an only child. If she felt so lonely all this time, then who would have filled up that hole just enough to keep her happy?

Nao thought of her parents over how they interacted with her. She had her share of her mother's warmth and her father's protectiveness. It lasted long enough but they were away at the company for most of the day, so she barely saw them until just before her bedtime. Nevertheless, she cherished her parents, even if they tried to make her life more bearable.

Ultimately, they did, but it didn't seem enough for her.

It was not because she was selfish, but rather she felt as if someone else was missing. When she realized it, she thought of the memory of Ed Phoenix she encountered during the rematch duel between him and Judai.

Nao didn't know any method of finding answers, but the least she could do was to start with the seemingly unapproachable Pro Duelist.

It was what she thought when she felt some rain fall on her for a few seconds and it suddenly stopped by a shadow and footsteps.

"If you stay here any longer, you'll catch a cold - in or out of the umbrella," said Ed, surprisingly anticipated. She looked up at the ebony umbrella and then behind her to face him. The first thing she saw was the collar of his black shirt and unique tie.

"I didn't know it would rain," she muttered unknowingly. Ed's steely expression softened significantly and gazed up at the darkened clouds. He listened to the rain gradually getting heavier and glanced at his yacht a short walking distance away.

"It looks like it's not going to stop anytime soon. You should stay in my boat until it lets up." Nao lifted her head to meet his gaze questioningly.

"Is it alright with you?"

"I don't think you have any options in your current position. I would take you back to the Red Dorm, but you'll still end up with a cold," he lightened up and led her away from the lighthouse towards his yacht.

"Wait, what made you think I would come with you?" she stopped him for a moment.

There was a beat of silence when his tone lowered just a little, "You're lonely, right? And you looked like you wanted reserved company like the privileged heiress you are."

"That is true that I don't think Judai can cheer me up this time, but I do not want to be addressed as a privileged heiress in that tone you used on me."

"Of course you don't. You never liked to speak down, even back then," he gave a distant smile and started to walk again. This time, he took her hand to hook it around his arm so that she wouldn't get caught in the rain - or better yet that she wouldn't refuse him.

Strangely to him, she didn't resist and followed obediently.

"You knew," she stuttered. "Maybe more than I know myself."

"I wouldn't know that, now would I?" he inquired.

"Yes, you would and I want to know more."

"I wish that is easy, Nao. There are things I can tell you, but there are ones that I can't."

"I don't mind, and not everything has to be told today," she squeezed his arm gently. The more she relished his warmth between her small fingers, the more comfortable she became.

"To me, I have all the time in the world until you get what you want," he quietly whispered, startling her greatly but pleasantly. They turned at the warehouses and led her up the ramp inside the much warmer yacht. Ed shook the umbrella outside before setting it in the corner. He also pulled out a towel to place on her shoulders from the chill she endured.

Nao sniffed the soft but faintly bristly fabric, fresh from the hot dryer preserved inside the cabinet. The scent of soap was enough to calm her shivering for the time being. She then followed Ed to an adjacent room where dinner for two awaited them, still warm.

"You wanted me to come even when it wasn't raining," she mused.

"Caught red-handed in the biscuit tin," he riddled without the slightest sound of guilt while draping his blazer on his chair. He pulled out her seat for her, like a gentleman he adapted to becoming. She smile in amusement but gratefully accepted the gesture. She had been to countless dinners with her parents and many men had seated her, but Ed had made her seemingly effortless movements tremble. He tucked in her chair and slid into his own seat across from her.

"Biscuit tin, huh? I can see a slight trend in you," she giggled. "Your chivalry, the Clocktower of Seclusion Field Magic and also your wide arrangement of tea displayed on the kitchen counter." She spotted the colourful array of different tins and bottles of tea from the traditional jasmine to the modern chai.

"You really have sharp eyes for a girl with high social status."

"You give off a British vibe," Nao explained, "For a Pro Duelist who traveled the world."

"Only a worldly person can catch on so quickly," he added, hinting that he wasn't the only one who traveled so far and wide.

"Touché," she sipped the soothing drink and paused, "Earl Grey." Ed smirked at her statement and took a bite out of his baked salmon. The dinner etiquette Nao practiced for many years kept her busy from asking him more questions, but they both enjoyed each other's company by the time they finished.

When he took the two plates to the sink, he then said, "I've stayed in London for two years in the middle of my World League career. DD had a long-term stay in England and brought me along to spend some more quality time together. It was then that etiquette for young boys was introduced to me through DD." He didn't seem to mind it, but it at least gave a better image as the Noble Youth of the Duel League.

"Sounds like I am not the only privileged figure in this boat," she stood up with the cup of tea still hooked on her fingers, the plate supporting the porcelain.

"My father would have laughed wholeheartedly," he said and stayed rooted in his position in front of the counter.

His train of thought led to the day he passed away and the atmosphere slowly turned more sombre with the pounding rain dribbling down the windows. It was painlessly shattered when Nao set her tea back on the dinner table and pressed her hand against his lean back. "You mentioned your father at that time, and you said that he was attacked by something in your home. Was I there?"

"No," he answered. "But when you and your parents arrived at the funeral, you never said a word."

"Was it because I couldn't understand how you must have been feeling?"

"It was because you cried more than I did," he revealed in a reserved tone. "He was an important person to both of us."

Nao bowed her head to the point where the crown of her head also touched his back. She saw from the corner of her eye a picture frame of Ed and his father, truthfully happy with genuine smiles that made her do the same. "He must have been a kind man."

"He was a very kind father." Instead of the pain he was so used to exhibiting, the feeling of fondness filled his heart full. It may have been from the earl grey's caffeine, or from Nao's compliments and respect to his father. A part of himself still craved for vengeance, but with her touch calming him down, it felt very easy to set it aside and face it later.

That was when he remembered the conversation he had with her father. If what Chairman Katsumaru said was true, then the psychological symptoms wouldn't have any negative effect. Ed turned around and grasped both her hands with his. 'She's so small,' he thought as his warmth mixed with hers.

"Were you scared of me when we met that night?"

Nao kindly shook her head. "You were troubled when the hairpin slipped out of your pocket. There was nothing to be scared of."

"Did you figure out about what I said? About the hairpin?" he scrutinized his gaze to her eyes as she thought. She remembered asking if the person it belonged to knew him, and he answered that she probably didn't. It made sense because after finding out that Ed apparently was a part of her past, and that she couldn't recognize him for who he was to her, not to the world.

"I think it'd be better if you hold onto it for a little while longer."

"Why?"

"Because you once said that I had been killed by the person who took your father's life. My mother once said that there is a time and place for everything," she paused to slip out one hand from his grasp and layered tenderly on top. "But I believe the hairpin's true owner will be saved. I believe she will return."

For a second, Ed thought she could read his mind like an open book, but it turned out that she was just smart enough to know what he was trying to do. By the time their vulnerabilities embraced each other, the rain had stopped for Nao to return to the Red Dorm. It took a little while for her to shake off the feeling of missing Ed's company already, but knowing that he wouldn't go anywhere anytime soon, she was able to sleep at night.

However, that warmth was soon shaken on the next day, when the entire student body assembled in the main auditorium. Chronos had taken the microphone and tested the volume with a few Italian terms before announcing, "Buon giorno, ladies and gentlemen of the academy! You all now have a new companion, do you not?"

"Hey, c'mon, are we grade-school kids?" Judai joked beside Nao.

"Well, one of us is," Kenzan eyed on Shō.

"And who's that supposed to be?" he retorted.

"If you are grade-school kids, then I'll treat you like one," Nao quieted them down.

"With that, I shall now introduce to you our transfer student, no? Admitted here as a third-year student, this is Saiou Takuma! Now, everyone, let us welcome him with a clean slate!"

The four companions gasped in confusion as to what exactly was going on. Saiou just stood where he was with an indifferent expression and a slight curve of his thin lips. Nao gripped on her seat in slight fear that reminded her of when Asuka converted to the Society, convinced that she had seen it again.

Devil, was what she described him only.

A cunning devil.

A/N: The plot thickens with a little interlude that still feels a bit out of place. I'll probably create year 2's interlude but probably not anytime soon story-wise. Finished all chapter summaries for the rest of year 2 and most of year 3. Need to tweak up some parts or choose between a few options of the storyline.

Also I just want to clear up something quickly. Apparently, I've been minimally plagiarized but after looking it over, I don't think it's too bad to take action. Plagiarism is dangerous to attempt and also very offensive to not only readers but to other writers too. I rarely became a victim but I've seen many attempts and it's pretty crazy if you ask me. Anyway, to aspiring writers, have a bit more confidence in your style, alright? That's going to make you more noticeable as a writer.

yuuki01200 - that is agreeable but also arguable. I don't have anything against the age gap, but I'm just putting in my own point of view about love and friendship out there.

Reviews are welcome but not obliged.