(Okay everyone! Here is chapter 9. It is way longer than I expected! I hope you enjoy it! Oh, and there is the word penis in this chapter. I don't know if that bothers people but just a fair warning! )
(I don't own Yugioh GX, any of its characters or the card game. I also don't own any Disney movies I may have mentioned.)
Chapter 9
It had been two day's since Johan had last seen Judai, but despite not seeing each other, they had kept in contact via phone. The day after the party was a strange one for Johan. He had promised Bret that he would finish off the Christmas movies with him before Bret left for home. At first Johan had been nervous about watching movies with Bret. The kiss from the night before was still fresh in his mind. Johan had told himself that it was just Bret's normal way of kissing and would kiss anyone like that, but despite what he told himself, Johan could not calm down. It was not that he was growing feelings for Bret, it was just that Johan had never done anything this imitate with anyone and it spooked him a bit. Johan knew it would have been a different story if Judai was the one who had kissed him like that. Despite Johan's nervous behavior, Bret acted as if nothing had ever happened. They had watched three movies before Bret left for home and there were no mishap. Johan had also calmed down a bit and felt silly for being worried to begin with. As Bret left, he reminded Johan that he would come and get him on the 27th.
At the moment, Johan was heading over to Judai's dorm room. It was Christmas day and the two boys planned to spend the day together around town and then hang out and celebrate with Jim, Asuka and Fubuki in the evening. Johan had only seen Fubuki and Asuka since the party and was pleased to be able to spend the actual Christmas with everyone, especially with his crush. Apparently Jim and Judai were busy with something that kept them away for two days. Fubuki and Askuka seemed to know why but would not tell Johan what it was. Fubuki had wanted to tell Johan but Asuka would not let him. "It's Judai's surprise, so we should let him reveal what it is!" Asuka had said when Fubuki tried to let the secret slip. Johan was very curious as to what it was but also though it would be more fulfilling to hear it from Judai's mouth.
Johan looked up at the clear blue sky as he walked. It was a crisp cold day and at the moment he could see his breath. He knew that once it was noon, it would warm up. Back in Norway this would have been considered fall weather but in the bay area of California, it was winter. Johan sort of missed the cold weather but at the same time enjoyed the warmer climate. It reminded him of Duel Academy. Johan started to hum as he walked. He was very excited to see Judai. Johan had bought Judai a special Christmas gift. It was a small hand carved Hane-Kuriboh keychain that was sold at the duel café near the beach. Johan had helped Risa make this particular keychain yesterday. Parts of it were a bit sloppy but Johan had put his heart into making it. It was nothing special but Johan hopped that Judai would like it. He had put it in a small box and wrapped it up himself in shiny gold wrapping paper that Liz gave him. At the moment it was tucked away in his backpack.
Johan picked up the pace as Judai's dorm came into view. Judai had told Johan to meet with him at around 11pm. He said that the surprise should be fully ready by then. Johan was over excited about what it could be. As he came closer to the dorms, his fast walk turned into a jog. Once he made it to the dorm he let himself in and made his way to Judai's room. He greeted the RAs at the front desk as he made his way to the stairs. He leaped up the stairs two at a time in an attempt to reach his destination faster. Once at Judai's door he took a moment to catch his breath before nocking. He was both excited and nervous to see his crush. Johan knocked on the door a bit too hard and took a deep breath as he heard footsteps come to the door.
When the door opened, Johan was greeted by a bright faced Judai. Asuka and Fubuki had warned that, despite the surprise, Judai had been a bit mood-swingy the last two days. Judai was wearing his normal outfit of jeans, boots, a black shirt and a jacket. It was what he always wore but once again, Judai seemed to glow. Judai smiled brightly when he saw that it was Johan at the door. Johan blushed a bit and returned the smile.
"Merry Christmas! Glad you finally made it," Judai greeted as he opened the door wider. "I am ready to head out if you are," he said as he adjusted the backpack he had on.
"Merry Christmas to you, too! Yeah, let's get going! I really want to see what that surprise is," Johan replied with a playful wink.
"You're going to think it's awesome, believe me!" Judai sang as he stepped out of his room and locked his door. "And if you don't think it is awesome, I will have no choice but to disown you as a friend," he then joked as he dropped his key into his backpack.
"Disown me? I don't know! I don't think there is anything in this world that is better than my friendship," Johan joked back.
"Well, we will just have to see about that," Judai said with a silly smirk. Judai then stood up straight and looked fully at Johan. He then took Johan's hand in his, causing Johan to blush even more. "Come on. It's out the back at the parking lot," he said, his voice full of excitement, as he took off with Johan in hand.
"What!? The parking lot?" Johan gasped in surprise. He almost thought Judai was about to confess or something. He should have known.
Judai dragged Johan all the way to the first floor and stopped at the back exit. "Okay, now, close your eyes and don't open them till I tell you too," Judai command with a wide grin.
Johan gave Judai a suspicious look. 'What does he have up his sleeve?' Johan thought as he looked Judai over once more. He then slowly closed his eyes. 'Maybe he will kiss me,' he thought, knowing that that was never going to happen.
Judai waved his hand in front of Johan to make sure the teal haired boy could not see. Once he was satisfied he went behind Johan to help push-guide him out the door. "Okay, no peeking until I tell you it's okay!" Judai commanded yet again as he guided Johan out the back door and too the parking lot.
Johan kept his eyes shut as tight as he could as he walked along. Every now and then Johan could feel Judai's warm breath on his ear. He could not help but blush at how close he was to his crush. 'What could it be?! What could it be?!' Was all that ran though Johan's mind in an attempt to distract himself at how close he was to Judai!
Judai then placed his hands over Johan's closed eyes. "Okay! When I take my hands off your eyes, you can look," Judai said into Johan's ear.
The tickle of Judai's warm breath on Johan's ear caused a shiver to travel down Johan's spine. "O-okay," Johan replied, trying not to sound too excited by the close contact with Judai.
"Okay then! Here we GO! One…two… three," Judai sang and on three he lifted his hands from Johan's eyes.
Johan cracked his eyes open when he felt Judai's hands lift off them. He blinked the fuzziness from his eyes as they adjusted to the bright sunlight. Once his eyes adjusted, he looked in front of himself and was greeted by a shiny red motorcycle parked nicely in the parking lot. It took Johan a few minutes to process what was going on. With his mouth open wide, he looked from the bike to Judai and then back to the bike. "Is this…." He started to say but found it a bit hard to speak "yours?" He finally said after a couple second of silence. He looked to Judai for a reply and was met with a big toothy grin.
"Isn't she beautiful," Judai sang as his eyes lit up.
Johan had noticed that since Judai had helped him get Rainbow Dragon back from the masked guy over the summer, Judai had taken a sudden interest in motorcycles. When Johan had asked him about the sudden interest, Judai would just smile and shrug. Johan could not help but smile back at his crush. "It's so cool Judai! Where did you get it!? Can you ride it? Do you even have a license?" Johan asked all these questions as he walked over to the bike.
"I kind of got her as a gift from my family. They know it's hard to get around in America without some means of transportation so, with a bit of coaxing, they helped me buy this bike," Judai said as he shot a loving look at his motorcycle.
Johan could not help but feel a bit jealous of the bike. He wished Judai would look at him that way. He quickly wiped the feeling form his mind knowing it was silly. "WOW! So, do you have a license? Can I touch it?" Johan asked with excitement as he examined the bike yet again.
"Sure, go ahead," Judai said as he nudged Johan a bit closer to the bike. Johan placed his bag beside the bike as he examined it even closer. It was a bright red motorcycle, its finish shined brightly in the sunlight. It had a big leather seat that was big enough to fit two if needed. It had a small basket-thing to hold stuff on the back that locked closed and match the bike. "And yes! I do have a license, three…. ish… to be exact," Judai replied with a pause as he thought for a second. " I have my Japanese license. I also I came here with an international permit and over the last semester I studied and took the test to get my California license," he said as he counted the number of license and permits he has on his fingers.
Johan gave Judai a surprised look. "You study? Is it the end of the world?!" Johan asked in an overly dramatic shocked tone.
Judai lightly blushed and gave Johan a stern looked as he puffed out his cheeks. "I can study when I want to, you know," Judai huffed as he crossed his arms.
Without thinking Johan swung his arm around his crush's shoulder. "Ah! Come on man, you know I only kid," Johan said as he winked one eye and stuck out his tongue.
Judai could not help but laugh at the teal-haired boy's silly face. He playfully tried to pull away from Johan's hold but as he pulled, Johan put him into a headlock. "Hey!" Judai playfully shouted as he struggled against his friend's hold.
"What ya gonna to do about it?" Johan sang as he ruffled Judai's soft two toned hair. 'Like silk,' he thought with a blush.
"I'll do this," Judai replied as he grabbed Johan around the middle. This caused Johan to gasp a bit and loosen his hold. Judai took the moment of weakness to lift Johan off the ground and up over his shoulder.
"WHAAAA!" Johan shouted as he was lifted off the ground. He always forgot how strong Judai actually was. "P-Put me down!" Johan shouted as he flailed in his crush's arms.
"What ya gonna to do about it?" Judai sang as he mimicked Johan from earlier.
"I'll do this!" Johan shouted playfully as he wiggled like a fish out of water, making sure not to kick Judai in the face.
"Wha! Whaaaa OOooohhh!" Judai said as he tried to keep hold of his wiggling best friend. Judai suddenly lost his footing and started wobbling around in an attempt to prevent himself from falling over but to no avail, the two boys went down! "SHE'S GOING DOOOOWN!" Judai shouted as the two boys fell onto the patch of grass that was located next to the parking lot.
"OOF!" Johan gasped at he hit the soft grass and felt something heavy land on top of his stomach, semi knocking the wind out of him. He gasped for breath as he coughed. He opened his eyes to find Judai sprawled out perpendicular across his stomach. "J-Judai…" he coughed. " I can… breathe," he desperately wheezed
"Oops, sorry!" Judai said as he pulled himself off of Johan and sat beside his best friend. Johan slowly sat up as he caught his breath. He then looked at Judai as if to ask 'Why?'. "What?! It's your own fault for wiggling like that! I was going to put you down nicely but you wouldn't let me," Judai said playfully as he pouted yet again "Oh! And thank you for catching my fall," he added with a goofy grin.
The two boys looked into each other's eyes, completely silent. Then, without any warning, they busted into laugher. Johan fell back onto the grass and held his stomach as he rolled around laughing like a crazed person. Judai had fallen forward and was laughing just as wild. "Ju-da-i!" Johan gasped between laughs. "You're a-ass is a d-dangerous wa-weapon," he gasped as he laughed uncontrollably. "You al-most k-killed me with it," he joked as he wiped tears from his eyes and sat up.
"Hey! Don't disrespect the ass or I will have to sit on you!" Judai play threatened as he too tried to regain his composure.
The two lay down on their backs in the grass next to each other. Both their chests were heaving up and down as they calmed themselves. Every few seconds Johan or Judai would giggle a bit. After about a minute of laying and not saying anything Judai turned to Johan so that he was on his side. "So, are you ready to get going?" Judai asked with a raised brow.
"And where will we be going?" Johan asked as he too turned over onto his side to face Judai.
"It's a surprise," Judai said with a bit of a wrinkle in his nose.
"Another surprise?! Will this surprise also involve you knocking the wind out of me with you iron butt?" Johan asked as he sat up to a sitting position.
"I don't know… You will just have to wait and see!" Judai replied with a sly smirk.
It was moments like this that made Johan fall in love with Judai yet again. Judai was someone he could relax around a just be himself. "Well, I can't wait to see what it is…" he said as he looked into Judai's brown eyes. He could not help but smile lovingly at Judai, his green satire was as soft and sweet as cotton candy.
Judai returned Johan's stare. He had only ever seen this look on Johan's face when the boy talked about his beloved gem beasts. 'I wonder if it's because of the… what's it called… Christmas spirit…' Judai thought, secretly knowing the real reason. Though he often denied it, he knew that Johan had grown feelings for him. Judai just didn't know what to do about it. He normally just ignored it. Being that he did not know how he felt himself, he did not want to jeopardize their friendship by bringing it up. Judai knew he had to settle his own feelings before confronting Johan about it. The only problem was, he did not know how he truly felt. He had never really dealt with this before and he was sort of at a loss. He often thought if he ignored it, maybe it would go away and things could go back to how they used to be. Whenever he thought this, a sinking feeling would settle into his heart.
"So, are we going to sit here all day, or are you going to show me that surprise?" Johan said as he gave Judai a sudden pat on the back.
Judai was shot out of his thoughts by the sudden impact on his back. "Oh! Yeah," he replied as he stood up. 'What's the use of worrying. I want to make sure today is a fun day for Johan!' He thought as he patted the loose grass from his cloths. "So are you ready?" He asked as he turned to Johan.
"I was born ready," Johan said as he jumped to his feet in one motion.
The two boys made their way to the motorcycle and gathered their luggage. Johan put his backpack back on and prepared to walk to the surprised. Judai then produced two helmets, one blue and one red, from the carrier on his bike. He received a wide eye look from Johan. "Wait? We are going to take your motorcycle?" Johan asked as he looked at the blue helmet.
"Duh!" Judai said with a dramatic roll of his eyes. "Here catch! Safety first, right!" Judai sang as he tossed the blue helmet to Johan.
"Yeah, I guess," Johan said as he caught the helmet and smiled. He examined the helmet a bit before putting it on his head. It was a deep blue color that glittered in the sun. The part that protected the eyes from the wind was black. He then placed it on his head and adjusted it till it was comfortable. The helmet covered his whole face and head. Johan looked over at the bike to see that Judai already had his helmet on and was on the bike.
"Here get on," Judai said as he patted the empty space behind him. Johan scooted closer to the bike and looked at it for a second. The seat looked a lot smaller now that someone was sitting on it. It seemed that if a second person were to join, they would be very close to the person in front. This made Johan's hear skip a beat. "Just kick your leg over and get on!" Judai said with a smirk as he watched the spaced out Johan.
"I-I know how to get on a motorcycle," Johan snapped despite the fact that he had never really been on a motorcycle before. He clumsily swung his right leg over the seat and pulled himself on. Not to his surprise, he was very close to Judai. He scooted back as far as he could to give the brown haired boy more room but there was still not much space to spare. There was a bout three centimeters between him and Judai if he leaned back.
"What are you doing? Don't lean back like that! You need to put your arms around me. It will help keep you stable and from falling off," Judai said as he looked back at Johan.
Johan was so happy to be wearing the helmet because it hid his red face. "O-Oh right," Johan stuttered as he scooted closer to Judai and wrapped his arms around his crush's stomach. "I-I think I am ready!" he stated once he felt secure.
"All right then! Let's get rolling!" Judai said as he started his motorcycle. The roar of the bike's caused Johan to jump a bit. It's not that he was scared of the motorcycle; he just forgot how loud they could be. Judai revved the engine a few times before kicking up the stand and taking off.
At first Johan held Judai around the middle in a tight hold and hid his head a bit on Judai's back. It was Johan's first time on a motorcycle and he did not really know what to expect. Johan could not help but notice how strong and well-built Judai's mid-section was as he held him. He unconsciously rubbed Judai's stomach, felling the boy's abs. They felt perfectly shaped to Johan. He also fell in love all over again with Judai's sent. It caused him to relax a bit. Johan felt that Judai getting a motorcycle was the best Christmas gift for both of them, Judai got a nice means of transportation while Johan had a free reason to hold his crush tightly. After a few minutes his grip on his crush loosened just a bit but he still rested his head oh Judai's back so that he could enjoy the boy's sent.
As Judai drove on he could not help but notice at one point Johan rubbing his stomach. The feeling of the teal-haired boy's arms around his middle and hands rubbing his stomach made Judai's stomach do a funny flip jump. 'It almost feels… good,' Judai thought with a sigh. He then regain his composure 'What am I talking about! He is probably just adjusting his hands… not feeling me up!' Judai thought, a bit embarrassed. 'But I wonder why he isn't lifting his head at all…?' Judai pondered. He had noticed that since turning on the bike and taking off, Johan had had his head rested against Judai's back the whole time. 'Maybe he is just scared…' Judai thought imagining a scared Johan and thinking how cute it would be.
After about 15 minutes of driving Johan lifted his head to see where they were. He was met by a beautiful sunny coastline. The road was only meter from the sea. Most of the coastline was rocky with a few sandy patches her and there. Every few seconds the waves would crash against the rocks, sending white sea foam into the air and filling it with a refreshing salty sea sent. Johan's rested the side of his head on Judai's back as he took in the scenery. As they went on, the rocky coastline turned into cliffs and Johan was able to see far out over the ocean. At one point he thought he maybe saw a dolphin jump but he was not sure. After another 15 minutes of driving Judai stopped at a small path by a cliff. There were a few parking spots for cars on the side of the road by the path.
"We're here," Judai said as he turned the bike off and pulled off his helmet.
Johan leaned back on the bike so that he was not on top of Judai anymore and pulled of his helmet as well. "Wow, it's beautiful but where is here?" Johan asked as he looked around. The path seemed to lead down the side of the cliff to what seemed to be a sandy beach. Johan jumped off the bike and looked around a bit more.
"Once we make our way down this path, you will know where 'here' is!" Judai said with a wink. He then took the helmet from Johan and stuffed it, with his own helmet, into the basket on the back of his bike and locked it. He then extracted his backpack from the caring space under his seat. "Are you ready to go find out?!" Judai asked with excitement.
"Yes!" Johan said as he nodded with big joyful eyes and a goofy grin.
"Then let's go!" Judai said with a wave of his arm. "Be careful on this path, some of the steps are wobbly and it is a long fall to the bottom. Also I was told that there may be rattlesnakes here so keep an ear out!" Judai instructed as they made their way down the path.
The two boys joked and laughed as they made their way down to the beach.
Johan could tell that there was a beach at the bottom but it was hard for him to get a good look at it. The path curved around a bit and part of the cliff jetted out to block the view of the beach but Johan could still look out over the ocean. It took them a good 15 minutes before Judai stopped, almost causing Johan to run into him. The brown haired boy turned to face his best friend. "We are almost there," he stated with a wide smile. "Now you have to close your eyes! I will guide you the rest of the way and you can't open them… Okay?" Judai said, his smile growing a bit bigger.
Johan gave Judai a suspicious look, not saying a word. Walking along the side of a cliff with one's eyes closed did not seem too safe. Johan looked from Judai to the side of the cliff then back to Judai. "Ummm…" was all that came out of his mouth.
"Aw come on! You can trust me," Judai said as he smiled and put out his hand.
Johan could not help but feel that the situation was becoming quite romantic. He almost felt like Jasmine from Aladdin, when Aladdin asked the princess if she trusted him before jumping off the building. Without saying a word, Johan closed his glittering green eyes and took Judai's hand.
"I promise I won't let you fall," Judai said as he gave Johan's hand a reassuring squeeze, causing Johan to blush a bit. Judai noticed that Johan's hand was strong but the skin was soft as silk. Judai smiled sweetly as he turned and started to lead Johan down the path. For some reason Judai's heart was pounding. Just a second ago he felt quite normal but once he took his best friends hand, his heart sped up. 'Maybe I am just excited about the surprise… Yeah, that must be it,' he told himself as he led Johan round a corner. "Watch your step here, it dips down a bit," Judai said as he turned a bit to make sure Johan did not fall.
"Okay…" Johan replied as he carefully walked behind Judai. Johan lost his footing a few times due to loose gravel but every time Judai would catch him and help him regain his footing. Johan' heart was swelling with joy as he followed behind his crush. Despite the fact that he knew it was not a date, he felt that the situation was very romantic. His heart beated wildly against his chest the whole way down the cliff.
After about 5 minutes of walking Johan noticed that the gravel under his feet changed to what felt like sand. 'We must have made it to the bottom,' he thoughts as he took in a deep breath of fresh sea air. Johan's feet sunk into the sand, making it hard for him to walk. He stumbled a few times but Judai made sure he didn't fall over.
"Okay, keep your eyes closed until I say so!" Judai said as he led Johan a few more steps forward. He then stopped and turned to face Johan, almost causing Johan to run into him yet again. "Okay I am going to count to three and when I hit three, you can open your eyes," Judai said with excitement. For a second Judai admired his best friend's features. Judai had never really noticed till now but Johan's skin and hair looked silky soft. Johan's soft teal hair fluttered delicately in the sea breeze while his ivory skin glowed under the midmorning sun. Judai wanted to reach out and touch Johan's face. As he thought this, he felt the happy pukey feeling overtake him yet again. 'Get a hold of yourself, Judai! He is your best friend for crying out loud. Who cares if he likes you!' Judai mentally yelled at himself. Judai had decided that the funny feeling he got in his stomach was probably nerves that came from know his best friend liked him.
"So, are you just going to make me stand here with my eyes closed all day or are you going to let me see the surprise?" Johan asked sarcastically as he shifted his weight to one hip.
Judai snapped out of his thoughts and came back to reality. "Oh…..Um…. right," Judai said with a sheepish grin. "Okay are you ready…. One… Two… Three!" Judai shouted as he reluctantly let go of Johan's hand and stepped to the side.
For the second time this day, Johan's gem like green eyes fluttered open and focused on yet another surprise. 'Is this snow?' He thought as he took in his surroundings. 'No! It's too warm for snow so it must be...' He thought with a gasp. "Is this… sand?" Johan asked as he looked around yet again. Never in his life had Johan ever seen a beach with such white sand. The ocean waves were just as stunning. It was a brilliant blue-green and the water was as clear as a swimming pool. The majority of the beach was soft fine sand but Johan could see that there were some tide pools in the far of distance. He also noticed that they were the only ones who seemed to be on the beach. "What… How… Why…" was all Johan could get out as he turned to look at Judai.
"It's so white, it looked like snow! When I first saw it, I knew I had to take you," Judai said, smiling sweetly at Johan.
Johan felt his heartbeat increase yet again as his gem like eyes locked with Judai's chocolate brown ones. He was overwhelmed by the beauty of the beach and the fact that Judai so desperately wanted to share this secret cove with him. But Johan could not really grasp why Judai was so insistent on taking him here and making it a surprise.
A small blush sneaked across Judai's cheeks as he looked away from Johan and turned his gaze to the ocean. "Wh-what! Didn't you say something about wanting a white Christmas or missing snow or something like that…" he said with a pout in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.
Had Johan mentioned missing snow? He could not remember. He may have mentioned the fact that it always snowed at his house on Christmas. Did Judai think Johan was homesick? Had his crush been worried about him? Johan's eyes softened as a warm smile spread across his face. "Yeah, I guess you're right, I did want a white Christmas," Johan said, his eyes fixed on Judai. He badly wanted to lean over a plant a kiss on Judai's sun kissed cheek but refrained from doing so. He didn't want to ruin the moment.
After about a minute of pleasant silence, Judai took a deep breath and turned to Johan. "So…. Do you want to try building a sand snowman?" Judai asked as he produced a toy bucket and two toy shovels from his backpack.
Johan was yet again surprised by Judai's creativity. 'A sand snowman…? Judai, sometimes you are brilliant,' Johan thought as a childlike smile spread across his face. "It wouldn't be a white Christmas without a sand snowman," Johan joked as he took one of the shovels from Judai. The two boys laughed as they started planning how to build the snowman.
Judai was the most experienced of the two when it came to building things with sand. During high school, he had gone to the beach many times and built various structures when he was bored. They first walked along the beach and gathered various items, such as shells, sea glass, and kelp, to decorate the snowman with. Once all was gathered, both boys took off their shoes off and rolled up their pant legs so that they could enter the cold ocean to gather wet sand and water. Both boys made girly squeaky sound when they entered the cold ocean to gather the water. It was colder then Johan had expected. At one point a particularly big wave snuck up on them and almost took them out. Johan got away relatively unscathed but Judai's butt was a little wet. They then found a nice firm area of sand, not too close to the shore line but not so far back that the sand was unstable, and prepared the area for building. They spent the next 45 minutes gathering sand, building, and decorating. Despite Judai's expertise at building sandcastles, this was his first try at building a sand snowman, and the two boys soon found out that sand did not like to stay in a ball shape. Once they finished their sand snowman creation they stepped back and gave it a good look.
Johan could not help but laugh when he saw what they had created. Instead of looking like a snowman, it looked more like a deformed penis with a face! "Oh my lord, what have we made!?" Johan said as he burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"I-I-It's t-t-terrifying," Judai said as he fell to his knees and laughed like a maniac.
The two boys laughed and made jokes about the abomination for a good 15 minutes before their laughter died down. "Oh god Judai! First you iron ass, now this! If you keep making me laugh like this, I think I am going to die from the lack of air," Johan said as he lay in the snowy white sand next to Judai, not caring that his clothes and hair were probably collecting loads of sand.
"What?! Me? You're the one who keeps making all the jokes," Judai said as he playfully shoved Johan's arm. The two boys bickered playfully back and forth for a while before Judai sat up. "So… What to do next… We could… Take a walk…or duel each other, eat some snacks… or duel each other, climb on the rocks… duel each other…" Judai listed off. Every time he mentioned dueling he would glance at Johan and smile.
"How about….. we go for that walk," Johan teased as he watched Judai's smile fall. "Or… Maybe we should have a duel first," Johan slowly said as he glanced at Judai from the corner of his eye.
"Well, we really don't have to but… if you insist! LET'S GO!" Judai shouted the last part and in one motion jumped up and produced his duel disk from his backpack.
Johan followed suit and produced his duel disk and deck from his bag as well. They then placed their luggage next to their sands penis man and found a nice spot to have a duel. "Since I won 'rock, paper, scissors' I get to go first!" Johan announced as he adjusted his duel disk on his arm. He was pumped to have a duel against his best friend! It had been a while since they dueled each other one on one like this. They then both took their stance and faced each other. They then made eye contact, exchanging confident and excited stairs. "Duel!" They both shouted simultaneously.
The duel lasted a good 30 minutes before Judai made Johan's life points reach zero. "Gaccha!" Judai sang as he made his signature winning pose at Johan.
"Whaaa! Curses! Not again!" Johan scream dramatically as he fell to his knees and flung his hands to the heavens.
Judai laughed at his best friend as he jogged over to his side. When he got to Johan he gave him a pat on the back. "Good game buddy!" he said with a toothy smile.
Johan dropped his arms to his side and looked up at Judai with the evilest look his pretty face could muster. "You may have won this time, YUKI JUDAI, but next time I shall be victorious! Bwahahaha," Johan said in a deep voice trying to sound as vileness as he possible.
Judai could not stop the laugher that overcame him. "Johan! S-some-times y-y-you can be so w-w-weird!" Judai gasped as he ruffled Johan's soft teal hair and laughed.
Johan tried to swat Judai's hand from his head as he laughed along with his crush. All of a sudden the boy's laughter was stopped short by the growling of two hunger stomachs. A pink blush spread across Johan's ivory cheeks as he held his stomach. "He-heh, I guess I am ready for lunch," Johan said as he stood up, still with his hand on his stomach. He looked to his backpack when he suddenly remembered something very important. "Oh, crap…" Johan whispered as his stomach growled yet again. "Judai! We forgot to bring lunch," Johan said as he gave his stomach a gloomy look. Johan looked up from his stomach to Judai and was met by a wide grin.
"Me!? Forget lunch?! Are you crazy," Judai said as he poked Johan on the forehead. Johan just sired at Judai with a derpy look, not understating what was going on. Judai rolled his eyes and slung his arm around Johan's neck. "It's all good, bro, I brought us a nice Christmas lunch!" Judai finally said with a proud grin.
"What? You?" Johan said a bit dumbfound.
Judai tried to not be insulted by his best friends reaction as he walked on over to his bag. He pulled out a plastic bag with Tupperware in it and placed his duel disk in his back, so as to keep it from getting sandy. He then held the plastic bad in his hand and showed it to Johan. "Lunch is served," Judai sang.
"What? Did you really make us lunch?" Johan asked, as his heart beat like crazy at the idea of Judai cooking for him.
"Well… Sort of… I did cut up some of the vegetables…and put together most of the sandwiches" Judai said as he sat down and opened the bag to look into it.
Johan put his duel disk back into his bag and then sat next to Judai. "So… if you didn't make it all… who did?" Johan asked with a mocking grin on his face. He should have known that Judai only helped in making whatever it is he made but Johan was happy nonetheless.
"Oh, well, Jim, Asuka and I all made it together… They seemed worried about me cooking on my own… I don't know why…" Judai said as he pulled out a juice box and handed it to Johan.
Johan knew why they were worried about Judai cooking on his own. Judai was known by his whole dorm for burning everything he puts on the stove or in the oven. Judai has yet to start a fire but did set off the first alarms a few times. Johan took the juice from Judai and saw that it was a pineapple orange mix. "So… what did you make me?" Johan asked as he shoved the straw into the juice box and took a sip.
"Here, take a look," Judai said as he shoved the bag under Johan's nose.
Johan noticed right away that Judai had not made anything too fancy but Johan's heart swelled with joy nonetheless. His crush made him lunch, just like in those dramas Fubuki watched on TV during high school. He knew that it was an affectionate gesture in Japan. Johan saw that there were many sloppily made sandwiches with various vegetables, meats, and cheeses. There were also some strawberries, some pasta salad and a bag of jalapeño chips. "It all looks wonderful," Johan sand as he reached in and selected one of the sandwiches.
Judai felt his heart beat a bit harder at Johan's words. "Oh, it was nothing really… I made it this morning and most of it was just store bought," Judai said nervously as he scratched the back of his head and smiled. Why was he feeling so nervous?
"Well, I'm still very… touched… That you would go so far as to make lunch as well as plan out with whole day," Johan said as he smiled sweetly at Judai.
Judai felt his hear skip a beat as Johan's soft green eyes dug into him. 'Am I blushing? But why?' Judai thought as he quickly looked to the ocean. "I-It's nothing really…I just… Wanted to share a nice Christmas with you…" Judai said as he tried to control his heart. 'I wonder if this is what they call 'the Christmas spirit'?' he questioned to himself as he look out over the sea.
"Thank you Judai…" Johan said as he unwrapped the sandwich and stuffed it into his mouth. To most people it would have tasted like a normal sandwich made from normal store bought bread, but to Johan it tasted like heaven. "Mmmm… It's really good!" Johan moaned as he took another bite.
Judai shot a surprised look at Johan. "R-Really?" he asked, his voice a bit higher then he intended.
"Yes! The best sandwich I have ever had," Johan replied with a wink.
Judai then hastily dug another sandwich out of the plastic bag and examined it. He then took a bit and was disappointed. "What, it tastes normal to me," Judai finally said as he swallowed. "You must have not had many good sandwiches in your life," Judai joked as he took another bite.
"Whaaat? I've had plenty of sandwiches in my life, thank you, and THIS is the best of them yet," Johan replied with a nod. He then took another big bite from his sandwich to prove his point.
The two boys carried on for about an hour munching on the sandwiches, picking away at the snacks and sipping on juice. After they were done eating they decided to explore the beach a bit.
"Hey, let's go check out the tide pool over there before we leave! Maybe we will find something cool, like a shark!" Judai exclaimed as he swung his backpack onto his back.
"Judai, I highly doubt we are going to find a shark in a small tide pool like that," Johan said as he too put his backpack back on. He then glanced over to find a slightly dejected Judai. "But… Maybe we should check to find out! I mean…. Just in case there is a shark," Johan said with a childish smiled.
"And if there IS a shark, you have to make me lunch the next time we plan an outing," Judai said with a wrinkled nose.
"Fine, and if I am right… You have to….give me a massage! My back has been killing me from all the water polo I play," Johan said with a smirk.
"YOU'RE ON!" Judai sang and started running off to the tide pools.
Once the two boys got to the tide pools they looked around in the different pools of water and at the various animals living in them. There were starfish, crabs, hermit crabs, small fish, an overabundance of sea anemone, barnacles and mussels as well as many other creatures, but Johan had yet to see a shark. Johan was pretty sure that there were no sharks in this tide poop. He could feel the back massage now. The idea of Judai's strong hands on his back sent a funny shiver down Johan's spine. Full of confidence in his bet, he bent down and examined a sea urchin.
"YES! I FOUND ONE!" Judai shouted behind a big rock.
The sudden shout startled Johan, almost causing him to dive headfirst into the tide pool. He then stood up and made his way to where he heard Judai. "What is it? What did you find?" Johan asked as he climbed down to Judai.
"A SHARK! A SHARK!" Judai shouted, despite the fact that Johan was next to him. Judai pointed to a large tide pool that had a small channel at one end that led out to the ocean.
Johan looked to where Judai was pointing and sure enough, there was a small baby leopard shark, less than a foot long, tucked snugly under a rock. "B-B-But!" was the only thing Johan could say.
"Looks like I win! I can't wait for my special lunch form Johan," Judai said as he playfully shoved Johan.
Johan could not believe Judai found a shark. "Yeah, Yeah. You win," Johan said defeated. He was sad that his chance at a massage from Judai had slipped away. He did not mind losing though. It filled him with such joy to know what Judai enjoyed his cooking.
"When you make my lunch, make sure there is ebi fry! It has been ages since I last had it," Judai said with hearts in his eyes.
"I will keep that in mind," Johan replied as he giggled at his crazy crush.
The boys spent a bit more time jumping around the rocks before heading back to the sandy part of the beach. They splashed around in the cold water a bit and duel some before deciding to check the time. "Fubuki, Jim, and Asuka wanted to meet for dinner at around six," Judai told Johan as Johan checked his phone.
"Let see… It's only 3:30 now so we still have some time. What should we do?" Johan asked as he looked from his phone to Judai.
"Well…" Judai said as he thought a bit. "We could… Drive down the coast a bit more on my motorcycle. It's a pretty view and the cliff get bigger further on," Judai suggested.
Johan thought it sounded quite romantic and was more than willing to jump on the idea. "Sound good to me," Johan said with an excited smile. A romantic ride on a motorcycle, down the coast line, with his crush; Johan could not ask for more.
The two boys gathered their items and made their way back up the path to Judai's motorcycle. They packed their things away into the bike and put on their helmets. Once all their preparation was complete, Johan took his place behind Judai. A hot blush spread across Johan's face when he wrapped his arms around Judai's strong waist. Judai started up the bike and took off further down the coast line. As they coasted down the coast at a relaxing speed, Johan subconsciously rested his head on Judai's back, his head turned to the side a bit so he could take in the view of the ocean over the cliffs. The smell of Judai's enticing scent mixed with the crisp scent of the sea was heavenly to Johan. He felt all stress and worry leave him as the ride went on. A few times throughout the ride, Johan would subconsciously rub his hands down Judai's hard stomach, enjoying the feel of Judai's well-built body. Though he knew it was wrong, Johan could not help but pretend this day was not just an outing with his best friend, but a date with his lover. The idea set Johan's heart aflutter as the ride went on.
After about 20 minutes of traveling down the coast, Judai found a nice place to stop his bike so that they could take in the view together. He stopped at a little outlet at the top of a steep cliff that overlooked the sea. Throughout the ride he felt Johan's hands exploring his stomach. He wrote it off as Johan just readjusting his grip and what not but Judai could not help but feel butterflies every time Johan's hands rubbed over his abs. "How about we take a bit of a rest before we head back?" Judai said as he parked his bike and turned it off.
Johan had been in somewhat of a daydream and had not realized Judai had stopped. "Huh!?" he said as he shot his head up form Judai's back and looked around. "Oh, yeah! A rest! Sure," Johan replied, trying to play it off that he had not spaced out but was failing badly at it.
Judai pulled off his helmet as he turned a bit on his bike to look at his best friend. He could not help but smile as he watched Johan come back to reality. "Did you fall asleep or something? You kept rubbing my stomach during the ride as if I were a cat or something," Judai commented as he pulled himself off the bike.
Johan was glad that he still had his helmet on because his face was probably a deep crimson at the moment. He had not realized that he had been feeling up Judai throughout the ride. "What!? I-I w-what?" Johan stammered, stunned and extremely embarrassed. He then regained his composure as he shook his head a bit. "Oh… I mean, um, yes! I fell asleep…um, sorry if it bothered you," Johan said as he fought the blush from his red cheeks. 'Thank god for this helmet,' he thought.
Despite the fact that Judai could not see Johan's face fully, he had the strange feeling that his best friend was probably blushing. Judai smiled at the thought of a blushing Johan. "Hey, I'm just pulling your leg, so no worries," Judai replied after a while. "I'm flattered to know that my riding is so smooth that has caused you to fall asleep," Judai said as he hung his helmet to his bike.
Johan chuckled at his crush as he wiped the blush from his cheeks and pulled off his helmet. "Oh, yeah! The best motorcycle ride I have ever been on!" Johan replied jokingly as he hung his helmet on the bike. He then remembered the gift he had for Judai. 'Oh crap! I should give it to him now!' Johan thought as a romantic image of him exchanging gifts with Judai on this cliff sent his heart a flutter. He then pulled his bag from the side basket.
Judai watched with curiosity as his best friend collected his backpack from the bike. 'Maybe he brought some snacks,' he thought as he studied Johan.
Johan felt Judai's eyes on him as he slipped his backpack on. Afraid to look at his crush, he turned to the ocean view and stopped a small wooden bench by the edge of the cliff. "Hey, wanna sit," Johan said as he motioned to the bench.
"Um, sure," Judai replied as he studied Johan a bit more. He then shrugged off his suspicions as he followed his best friend to the bench.
The two boys sat down and took in the view. From where they sat they could see out over the vast sea. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but fresh blue water that stretched out for miles until it faded into the horizon. Johan felt his breath catch as he took in the vast beauty of the Pacific Ocean. Johan then looked down to see waves crashing wildly against the foot of the cliff. They were too high up for any of the spray to hit them. He noticed that there were many rocks at the foot of the cliff and a further away from the cliff, past the wave brake, there was a great bed of kelp. He noticed two small fuzzy creatures wrapped amongst the kelp. "Hey look!" Johan abruptly said as he pointed to the kelp bed, causing Judai to jump a bit. "Judai! I think those are sea otters!" he exclaimed with a childish glow. Johan had always enjoyed spotting sea creatures when at the beach.
"What!? Where!?" Judai said as he squinted his eyes and looked in the general direction of where Johan pointed.
"Look! Right there in the kelp bed!" Johan said as he shot his hand out further.
Judai squinted his eyes even more as he studied the kelp bed. He then noticed the creatures as they floated lazily in the water. "Wow, sea otters! This is my first time seeing them!" Judai said as he too smiled like a small child.
"Aren't they cute?" Johan exclaimed as he wish he had brought some binoculars. From where they sat, the sea otters were just little brown bodies in the water that moved around every now and then.
"Yeah, they are! I wish I could see them better," Judai said as he tried to get a better look at them.
"Hey, I think they have a sea otter exhibit at the aquarium near here. We should go sometimes," Johan suggested as he turned to Judai with a big smile.
"Oh really? Yeah, maybe we should," Judai replied, returning Johan's smile.
The two boys chatted about sea life and fish for a bit before Johan remembered his gift. "Oh! Right," Johan abruptly shouted, catching Judai off guard. "I um… hey! Close your eyes and put out your hands!" Johan said.
"What? Why…? What are you going to do?" Judai asked, eyeing Johan suspiciously.
"Oh! Just do it," Johan said with a small pout.
Judai could not help but smile at the cute pout on Johan's face. "Oh fine!" Judai replied playfully as he closed his eyes and put out his hands toward Johan.
"Okay, no peeking! Okay?" Johan said as he dug through his backpack for Judai's gift. Once he found it, he pulled it out and placed it into Judai's open hands. "Um, okay you can open your eyes!" Johan said with a jolly grin.
Judai opened his eyes to find a gift that was neatly wrapped in golden paper. "What…?" Judai said as he examined the gift in his hand.
"M-Merry Christmas, Judai!" Johan exclaimed with a big smile. "It… um, my Christmas gift to you," Johan then added, his smile wavered nervously a bit but didn't break.
"What? For me?" Judai said, not meaning so sound as surprised as he did. "Can… I open it?" he asked as he turned the small box around in his hand.
"Oh, well yeah. It's Christmas, so go ahead," Johan said as he made a gesture with his hands to prompt Judai to open the gift.
"What could it be!?" Judai said with childish excitement as he shook the box a bit. He then started to unwrap the gift in excitement.
"Um, it's nothing big… I mean… Um… it nothing too impressive either," Johan nervously said as he watched Judai rip the paper off the boy.
Judai held the unwrapped box in his hand as he looked at it for a second. He wondered what it could be. 'Maybe it's a card… It's the right size and shape…' he thought as he opened the small box. He was surprised to find that it was not a card but something else. He picked it up and saw that it was a small wooden, hand carved figure of Hane-Kuriboh. He then noticed that the figure was in fact a keychain. He held the keychain by its chain as he examined it, with wide eyes.
Johan felt his heart beat madly in his chest as he looked at his crush. He could not tell if Judai liked the gift or not. He then felt a wave of nerves rush through him as the thought that maybe Judai didn't like the gift. "I um… It's… Risa… She showed me how… to make it," Johan said lamely as he looked away from Judai and to the floor, not quite sure if what he said made any sense at all.
Judai looked from the cute figure hanging in his hand to his best friend. "You mean… you made this?" Judai asked in wonder, his brown eyes studying Johan.
Johan then looked shyly from the ground to his crush. "Um… well… most of it, yes," Johan replied as a pink blush spread across is fair cheeks. He felt his heart skip a beat as he watched Judai's eyes change from wonder to joy.
"It's wonderful Johan! How did you even make it!?" Judai exclaimed as he examined the figure once again. He noticed that much detail had been put into the keychain to make it look as if it were a small replica of the real Hane-Kuriboh.
"Oh well, Risa first showed me…. And I just… Carved it with a knife," Johan said as his heart swelled with joy. 'He likes it,' Johan thought as he felt a sudden need to cry with both joy and sadness. A mixed feeling of joy and pain swelled up into his chest as he looked at the joyous face on his crush. He badly wanted to hug his crush and share more than just a moment of friendship on this cliff. This was like a picture perfect date in his eyes and it pained his heart a little to know that Judai probably would never view him as anything more than just a friend. He sighed as he fought to keep the smile on his face. 'I will never be more than just his friend…' Johan thought hopelessly.
"It's wonderful Johan… I will treasure it forever… so, thank you!" Judai finally said as he looked form the figure to his best friend. He noticed that Johan had a strange expression on his face. Johan was smile but he also looked like he was going to cry at the same time. Something about Johan eyes seemed so sad at the moment. Was Judai just seeing things? "Hey… you okay?" Judai asked as his gaze went from joy to worry.
Johan shook his head as he came back to reality. "What… oh yeah! Sorry… I was just, ummm…." Johan stammered as he tried to cover up his strange behavior. "Must be… the Christmas spirit or something," he lamely joked. He then quickly wiped the depressing thought from his mind and smiled joyously at Judai. "Hey, maybe we should head back to campus and get ready for dinner," Johan said, wanting to change the subject.
"Oh, yeah! Good idea," Judai replied as he shot one last worried look at his friend. 'What was that about?' Judai thought as he placed his gift safely back into its box.
The two boys took one last look out over the ocean before gathering themselves and heading back to campus. On the ride back, Johan made sure not to snuggle as close to Judai as he had done before. He also minded his grip on Judai and made sure not to do anything too odd. He also kept his head off of Judai's back and gazed at the sea as it rushed by. The pain from earlier still hung heavy on his heart as he sat behind the perpetrator of said pain. 'What am I going to do? I can't keep this up much longer,' Johan thought hopelessly as he gazed out over the sea. 'Maybe… I should… just…. tell him,' the idea made Johan's heart beat awkwardly in his chest. He knew he could not keep this up much longer, not with this pain he was feeling.
After almost 40 minutes, the two boys finally arrived back at school with about 40 minutes to spare before the designated meeting time. During the ride Johan had been able to place his feeling aside so as to not make the evening too awkward. Johan and Judai spent the remainder of their time waiting in Judai's room planning out tag duel strategies. At six o'clock the two boys met with their friends and headed out to dinner in Jim's car. Though it was Christmas, many of the restaurants in the area were open for business. Mist Town was a place many people went on vacation, even during the holidays, so many of the restaurants took advantage of it. They enjoyed a nice seafood dinner at a fancy restaurant that nobody but Asuka and Jim were dressed for; the waiters and staff did not seem to mind. After dinner, Jim dropped Johan off at his dorm. Judai followed Johan out and told Jim that he would walk back and not to wait.
"What? Why did you follow me Judai...? It's too cold for you to walk back," Johan said as he watched Jim and the others drive off.
"Oh, I don't know… I just, ya know, I'm going back to Japan for a few weeks and won't be able to see you," Judai replied as he smiled weakly at Johan. He also didn't know why he got out. Judai had made plans to travel back to Japan with Asuka and Fubuki. He had told Johan that he would be in America until the 28th, and he would be, but not at school. Fubuki and Asuka planned to head back to Asuka's school tomorrow for a few days before going home and Judai was made to tag along with them, meaning that tonight would be the last time he would see Johan until after the New Year. He just felt a sudden tinge of loneliness when he realized he had to say bye to his best friend, it's almost like he didn't want to be away from Johan for even a second. 'Probably because today was so much fun,' Judai thought as he tried to find an excuse for this sudden wave of loneliness.
Johan examined Judai as they made their way to the entrance of Johan's dorm. "Oh yeah… But it's only for what…? Three weeks? We can email and talk on skype," Johan said as the joyful-pain entered his chest yet again.
"Yeah…You're right," Judai sighed as he opened the door to the dorm building to let Johan in. Despite the fact that he knew he could keep in contact with Johan, the idea of not physically being with his best friend still made his heart feel heavy.
The two boys then made their way up the elevator and to Johan's room. They then stopped outside of his room to say their farewells. "So, you leave tomorrow, right? Have a safe trip and a nice time in San Francisco," Johan said as he dug his room key out of his backpack.
"Yeah, it should be fun. We are going to visit a five storey card shop before heading back to Japan," Judai arbitrarily replied as he tried to buy himself some time.
"Sweet! Let me know if you find anything good," Johan replied as he pulled his room key form his bag.
"So, um, are you staying here for New Years…?" Judai asked in an attempted to buy more time. He immediately regretted his question when he heard Johan's replay.
"Oh! No, I'm not. You see, Bret's family was kind enough to invite me to their house for New Years, so on the 27th I am going to be with Bret until school starts back up," Johan replied as he fiddled with is keys.
Judai's loneliness was quickly replaced with rage as he heard the dreaded name. Something about just hearing Bret's name causing Judai to become possessive and angry, but why? "You're what?" Judai replied, sounding angrier then he meant.
Johan jumped in surprise at Judai's reaction. 'What? Did I say something wrong?' Johan thought with a shock. "I'm… Um… going to… Bret house for New Years," Johan said nervously as he studied Judai. Sometimes Judai's demeanor changed from calm to anger whenever Bret's name was mentioned. "Are you okay?" Johan asked as he turned his head the side.
Judai fought the rage he felt as he noticed the concerned look on his best friend's face. "Yeah…! I'm fine," Judai replied as he rubbed his eyes with is hand in an appetent to collect himself. There was an awkward pause as Johan studied Judai a bit more. "Listen Johan, if that guy ever does anything to you, let me know and I will put him straight!" Judai suddenly said without thinking.
Johan's eye widened in surprise as he heard the words come from Judai's mouth. 'Is he worried about me? But why? Could he be jealous for some reason?' Johan thought as he tried to think of something to say. "Why would Bret do… anything…? Judai, Bret and I are just friends…." Johan said with a giggle as he examined the jealous look on Judai's face. "What? Are you jealous or something?" Johan asked playfully as he tried to get a better look at Judai's expression.
"WHAT?! NO!" Judai shouted a little too loudly. He felt his cheeks go a bit red with a mix of frustration and embarrassment. 'Why would I be jealous of him!? So what if he is going to spend time with my Johan!" Judai thought as he tried to control these strange feelings. "Listen, I just…" Judai started to say as he tried to control the red in his cheeks. "He just…. I don't trust him is all," Judai finally said as he looked away from Johan in an attempt to further collect himself.
Johan smiled widely at the way Judai was acting. He leaned in closer as he tried to make eye contact with Judai again. "Hey, don't worry. No one will ever be able to replace you, okay! Not even Bret," Johan said in an attempt to reassure Judai that he had no need to be jealous.
Judai felt his heart and stomach both do crazy flips as he listened to Johan. He then turned his head to Johan and accidentally made eye contact with Johan's reassuring soft green gaze. His stomach did another crazy flip yet again; as his brown eyes got lost in the pool of Johan's comforting bright green stare. For a moment he could barely breath as he tried to find his voice. "I..." was all Judai could get out as he desperately tried to find his voice. The two exchanged glances not speaking a word, both lost in their own thoughts.
The two boys jumped when they heard a loud sound from down the hall, breaking their eye contact. "Well, I don't want to keep you," Johan said as he collected himself and situated his keys. "You probably still need to pack and stuff," he then turned and shoved his key into the lock.
Judai looked up at the ceiling, away from Johan, and casually scratched the back of his head. "Y-Yeah, packing, right," Judai replied as he tried to erase all the strange feeling he had felt in the past 5 minutes.
Johan unlocked the door and opened it up. He stepped into the doorway in an attempted to keep the door from closing so that he could bid Judai a goodnight. "Well, um, thank you for today Judai! It was the best Christmas ever…" Johan said with a sweet smile as he tried to control his racing heart.
"Yeah… I'm glad you liked it… I had a good time too… and thank you for the wonderful gift," Judai replied as he tried to sound normal, his heart was beating madly against his chest too.
The two boys started into each other's eyes yet again, both not wanting to say goodbye. The pain from earlier overtook Johan's mind and body yet again as he looked into Judai's strong brown stare. Johan badly wanted to leap from the door and hug Judai but refrained from doing so, his heart was heavy in his chest. "Well… Um, goodnight… and… Merry Christmas," Johan finally said as he broke eye contact with Judai.
"Um, yeah… you too," Judai lamely replied.
The two boys sat in awkward silence for a second, not looking at each other. "Bye," Johan whispered, breaking the silence. He then shot a sad look at Judai before shutting the door. He then hastily locked it. He slammed his back on the door, slid down to his butt and curled up into a pathetic ball. "Why? Why? Why?" He whispered to himself as he rested his face into his knees and wrapped his hands around his legs. 'Why does it hurt so badly? Where did this pain come from?' He thought as he tried to fight the unexplainable sad tears that threatened to spill from his face and down his cheeks. Today had felt like the best day of his life. He had spent such a wonderful time with Judai so why did he feel like crying? He knew why. He knew that he could not keep up with this 'just friends' act much longer. He was crumbling. He took a deep shaky breath in an attempt to gather his feelings. He then stood up and made his way to his side of the room.
XXX
"Bye," Judai quietly replied as he caught a glance of Johan's sad expression and the door slowly shut in his face. Judai stood outside of Johan's room for several seconds, just staring at his best friend's door. Where were all of these crazy feeling coming from? First he was happy, and then he was lonely, then angry and now sad! What was wrong with him!? Why was he feeling this way? And it only happened when he was around Johan, or heard Johan's name, or thought about what Johan was doing. Where was this all coming from?
He then felt a sudden strange feeling that snapped him out of his thoughts. He felt like he was being watched. He looked down the hall both ways to see if anyone was there, but there was no one. He then realized the feeling was coming from behind him. He turned around and was greeted by a door with a sign on it but nobody was there. The sign read 'Welcome to the Lair of Miguel Bubbles'. Judai turned his head as he studied the sign. He then looked through the crack in the door to see if anyone was home but the lights seemed to be off. "I need to sleep," Judai said as he shook his head and rubbed his eyes. These feelings were taking a toll on him. He then made his way down the hall and to his dorm.
XXX
Judai looked around to find himself at the cake party yet gain. The frantic feeling of finding his teal cake overtook him as he realized where he was. 'Where is it!? Where is it!? I must get there before Bret!' he frantically thought as he looked for his cake. He then saw it at the end of an aisle with no Bret in sight. He felt a wave of joy spread thought his body as he skipped to his cake. 'Yes, YES!' he thought when he was a few meters away from the cake. Suddenly, he lost his footing and a feeling of dread overtook his being. 'No, no, NO!' his mind screamed as he fell to the floor. His eyes shut as he hit the floor. When he opened them, he found what he had been dreading. There Bret was yet again eating the last slice of teal cake.
"Hey, Happy New Year's Judai," Bret sang with a taunting smirk as he shoved the last bit of teal cake into his mouth. "Mmmm… so sweet… and is that cinnamon I taste?" Bret taunted as he swallowed the last bite.
Judai felt rage rush thought his body as he tried to pick himself up off the ground. He badly wanted to beat the smirk off of Bret's cocky face. Despite his efforts to get up he was unable to control any of his limbs. "Ahhhhhh!" He shouted in frustration as the thrashed around.
"JUDAI!" He heard someone shout his voice and he shot up in bed!
"WHAT!?" he shouted as he looked around his dark room. He then realized the voice was from Yubel.
"Judai, what has gotten into you?" Yubel asked her voice full of worry. For the past few months Judai would wake up from the same reoccurring nightmares. Though she tried to ignore it, she had been able to see the change in Judai's behavior towards Johan and it worried her. She was afraid Judai was going to get sick from it all.
"I… it was just a dream Yubel," Judai replied as he turned on the lamp on his side table. "You can go back to sleep."
"Judai, you know I don't sleep," Yubel said sounding a bit annoyed. She paused for a second before speaking again. "You know Judai, you can always talk to me if you need to…" she said in hopes to comfort the boy that meant the world to her. She cared about Judai and didn't like seeing him in such a mess.
"Yeah… Don't worry Yubel… I'm okay… probably just worried about traveling back home… plane rides exhaust me," Judai said lamely as he looked around his room yet again.
"If you say so…But remember that I am always here for you… okay," She said reassuringly.
"Thanks, Yubel," Judai said as he felt Yubels presence receded back into him. The feeling of rage towards Bret that he had felt during his dream had yet to fade, despite the reassurance form Yubel. 'Why do I feel this way? Why do I hate Bret so much?' Judai thought as he looked around his room. He then spotted the gift he got from Johan on the dresser next to his bed. He picked it up and opened the box. He pulled out the small Hane-Kuriboh figure from the box and looked at it. Then the words he heard earlier that evening from Johan echoed in his mind. 'No one will ever be able to replace you, okay! Not even Bret…' For some reasons these words erased all of the anger and sadness he had felt just moments ago. A sense of calmness overtook Judai as he smiled and looked at the keychain. Its delicate details glowed in the light from his lamp. He sighed again in content as he placed the keychain back into the box. He then put the box on the side table, turned off his lamp and rested his head on his pillow. He wondered where this calming feeling came from as he drifted off to sleep.
((And there you have it folks! Chapter 9! I hope it was all you wanted and more! It really did come out much longer then I meant it to be. I was going to have chapter 9 include New Years as well but it just did not fit! Chapter 10 will be about Johan's New Years! I will try to have it up by next week or sooner if I am lucky!
Also, I am needing to prepare for an upcoming con, Comiket, and will be prioritizing my cosplay over anything else until after the con. So for the next two weeks I may be slow with updating unless I get my sewing done faster than I expected. Just wanted to let you all know so you don't worry that I just stopped writing… though I am sure no one is really worried.
Also, thank you for all the wonderful reviews and follows. They all make me so happy. I love the passion coming from you all! Keep it up!
Anyways, everyone take care and see you next week!))
((I want to thank Judaisbutt for being my beta and helping me plan things out when I got lost.))