Hey, everyone! Glad to see your all still loving Nobody But You, which is why I'm bringing to you the chapter everyone's been waiting for! Chapter 10: Confessions. The name is kinda self-explanatory, and I hope this confession doesn't sound too cliché.

Anyway, this is my christmas gift to all of my followers on Fanfiction, for all of you who enjoy the gift that is fluffy Spiritshipping! Happy holidays, you guys! You all rock!

P.S. (No Pun Intended): I included some Arc V fanfiction in this latest chapter. Now this crossover includes or mentions an overlap with all five Yugioh universes! Am I creative or insane? WHO KNOWS?!

-x~X~x-

Jaden and Jesse stood face-to-face, at opposite sides of the duel field. Jesse appeared determined to win and ready for whatever happened, but Jaden could not be more nervous for what was about to happen.

It was now the final round of the school duel, with each school having a single win under their belts. Chazz and Kenna's duel was almost pitiful to watch. Chazz had managed to hammer down Kenna's defences with his union monsters, and even managed to break out the powerful and incredibly long-named VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon and use it and his other cards to completely clear Kenna's field. However, it all ended when Kenna used Alien Ammonite's effect to summon Alien Hunter from her graveyard and use both to synchro summon her ace monster, Cosmic Fortress Gol'gar. She used Gol'gar's effect to place an A-counter on Catapult Cannon, and then used Trap Booster to activate Brainwashing Beam from her hand to take control of it, and knocked Chazz out with his own monster, while Kenna never lost a single life point throughout the entire course of their duel.

Arron and Aster's duel was somewhat more entertaining. With Arron constantly tagging his Gladiator Beasts in and out with their effects, it was hard for Aster to keep up his momentum, especially when Arron used cards like Half Shut, Pianissimo and Waboku to keep his monsters around. It became especially difficult when Arron managed to essentially lock out his spells and traps with his own ace, Gladiator Beast Heraklinos. However, Aster managed to bring out Destiny Hero – Plasma in order to equip Heraklinos to itself, nullifying its effect, and then surprised the crowd by fusion summoning Destiny End Dragoon to finish off Arron.

This duel, on the other hand, was the most anticipated one of the day. Jaden and Jesse had long since been knows the top duelists of their respective schools, and with Jesse's deck now housing the infamous Rainbow Dragon card, it was unknown if Jesse or Jaden was the better of the two. Of course, Duel Academy and North Academy students were rooting for their own representatives, but they couldn't help being curious as to which one of them was really the better duelist.

Jaden could honestly say that he and Jesse were roughly evenly matched under normal conditions. If Jesse had had Rainbow Dragon in his deck during their first duel at the beginning of the year, things could have ended a lot differently. And now, he was about to find out exactly what result that single addition would have on Jesse's deck… Well, almost…

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Crowler sang into the microphone in his hand. He stood at the edge of the stage, an equal distance between the two duelists. "We will now begin the final match of the day! Jaden Yuki will face off, once again, against Jesse Anderson, and determine the winner of this year's school duel!"

The crowd began to cheer loudly, each side of the stadium cheering for their respective representative. It was clear that everyone in the arena was eager for this match.

"Before we begin, I'd like to introduce a special guest! She's been sitting in the shadows, waiting for just the right time to come out and introduce herself and her generous donation to our prestigious academy! Esteemed chancellors, students and faculty, let's give a round of applause to the chairwoman of the Leo Corporation and Institute of Duelling, Mrs. Henrietta Akaba!"

The woman in question walked out from one of the corridors, just as a round of clapping confused stares went around the arena. She waved to the crowd, up until the point when she stepped onto the stage. Crowler handed the microphone over to Henrietta, who accepted it gratefully and addressed the audience. "Thank you, Dr. Crowler," she said. "As most of you should know, I am the chairwoman of the Leo Corporation, which produces all the latest in duelling technologies, including the Augmented Reality Combat, or ARC system for short. This device has made the ability to become one with the monsters in your deck a reality, by using Real Solid Vision to give life to your duel monsters and with it brought forth a new way of duelling, Action Duelling."

Jesse was paying close attention to what Henrietta was saying. North Academy had been lucky enough to be the first of the Duel Academies to receive an ARC system and to practice Action Duels. He had even been one of the first to be part of an Action Duel on the day the ARC system had been installed. Henrietta had been present the day the system had been installed as well. Did her presence here mean that…?

"Duel Academy's Chancellor Sheppard sent me a very extensive email, telling me how talented the DA students have become, and, after seeing the last two duels, I concur. That is why I have seen to the installation of Duel Academy's very own ARC system! Which, as of right now, will be fully functional and available to all students at the academy!"

The Duel Academy crowd began going ballistic at the news of having their very own ARC system. It was well known that North Academy was the lucky duel school that received a free system in a raffle draw several months ago, sponsored by the Leo Corporation. Nearly every duelling school in the world, save for the ones that already owned one, submitted an entry for the prized technological advancement, but NA was the lucky winner, and as such was one of the few duel schools in the world outside of Miami City to be able to practice Action Duels with Real Solid Vision. Now, Henrietta Akaba was personally giving Duel Academy their own model, and the students couldn't be more thrilled.

"And now, I would like to treat everyone to a surprise Action Duel between these two aspiring duelists!" Henrietta exclaimed. She turned to face Jesse. "Mr. Anderson, I believe we've met before when I unveiled the ARC system at your school. I trust you've had enough of a chance to practice?"

Jesse bowed respectfully. "Y-Yes, ma'am!" he stated. "Thank you, again, by the way. All the fellas at NA love the ARC system. We always make sure to take good care of it!"

Henrietta smiled. "That's good to hear. I hope to see how well you've learnt the sport of Action Duelling." She turned to face Jaden. "Sheppard went into exquisite detail about how particularly talented you are when it comes to Duel Monsters, and that you learn best by experience, and that you can pick up on something your passionate about practically on the spot. I hope to see that in your duel."

Jaden grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. "Oh, you're gonna see something…" he replied, feeling even more nervous about what he was about to do. He would love to be the first student at Duel Academy to test out the new ARC system, not only because he loved the idea of Action Duelling but also for the bragging rights, but… He loved Jesse more.

Chancellor Sheppard stood up from his seat and held a microphone to his mouth. "Now, without any further delay, let's begin the last duel of the year, and the first Action Duel in Duel Academy's history!" he announced.

Foster stood up as well, and he too held a microphone. "And we can determine just which school produces the better duellists!"

Two men in Leo Corporation uniforms walked in, each holding the latest version of the D-Pad, and delivered one each to Jaden and Jesse, exchanging them for the duel disks issued by Duel Academy and then leaving. The boys strapped the D-Pads to their arms and placed their decks inside them. Jaden was amazed when he saw his deck shuffle itself by function of the D-Pad, however Jesse was unfazed by it; he and every other student at North Academy were required to use this version of the Duel Disk when using the ARC system, as the newest D-Pad was the only Duel Disk model compatible with the system.

The duelists activated their respective Duel Disks; the blade of Jaden's Duel Disk was bordered with a bright red light, and Jesse's was bordered with a greenish blue.

As the boys readied themselves, Henrietta had walked up the sides of the arena and took a seat with the chancellors, next to Sheppard. The two exchanged a brief handshake.

"What a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Akaba," Sheppard said eagerly as Henrietta sat down. "And thank you so much for delivering the ARC system, especially on Christmas Eve."

"Oh, it wasn't a problem at all, Sheppard," she replied. "My sons are off on a vacation with their friends, and my ex-husband is who-knows-where, so I had to keep my hands busy. And how could I say no after everything you sent in that email? ...That young man down there, the one in the red, is he really undefeated?"

Sheppard chuckled softly. "More of less. Not that he's never lost, but he's proven to be our best duelist by far. It'll be such a shame when he graduates, but he'll be our proudest student since Zane Truesdale."

"Don't count my boy out just yet, Sheppard!" Foster interjected. "Jesse has been undefeated since he added Rainbow Dragon to his deck. Not to say anything bad about the quality of our other students, but Jesse is just a cut above the rest."

Henrietta smiled with a look of intrigue in her eyes, which, for some reason, Foster found quite alluring. "Well, I'm most certainly looking forward to this match now..." She took a glance at the field. "And it looks like it's about to begin."

Crowler, once again, took centre stage as the boys took their places. "Since the Duel Academy team won the previous round, the North Academy representative may decide the turn order!" he declared. "Mr. Anderson, will you be going first or-"

"Second," Jesse answered coldy, interrupting Crowler's question abruptly.

Crowler let out an annoyed huff, muttering something about 'two of a kind' under his breath, and gestured to Jaden. "Very well then; Jaden Yuki will be the first duelist to start Duel Academy's first ever Action-"

"H-Hold up one second," Jaden interjected, his cheeks growing redder by the second.

"Oh, come on!" Crowler screamed in frustration. "What is it, Slacker?"

Jaden's throat ran dry as it slowly sank in what he now had to do. It was now time for Atticus' plan to get underway, and just knowing that fact only made Jaden even more nervous. What he was about to do would likely turn every student at both academies (except maybe his friends… maybe…) against him, he might get insulted by everyone that crossed his path, he might even get beat up… but it would be worth it, because, if this worked out, he would be with Jesse. For that, he would endure anything the other students would throw at him.

Jaden walked towards the centre of the stage, his body movement becoming ever more stiff with each step. The crowd watched in confusion as Jaden moved across the stage in a way like he was mocking the movement patterns of a robot, and the latter could feel their eyes leering down on him. He could practically here Hasselberry saying "What in sam-hill is the sarge doin'?" He didn't care, though, and if what he was about to do killed him… so be it.

When he was close enough to Crowler, Jaden shakily held out his hand, pointing weakly at the microphone in his hands. He kept his face to the ground as he did so. Crowler was just as confused as the crowd, but he handed the microphone to Slifer and stepped off the stage.

Jaden held the microphone to his mouth. He looked cautiously to Jesse; he, too, was confused, but he had a hint of anger still mixed in. "I-I have something to say… before o-our match begins…" Jaden stated, his voice echoing throughout the arena.

Jesse scoffed. He had nothing left to say to Jaden, and he didn't want to here anything he had to say. Jaden had made his decision and lived his life, and he decided to live it without Jesse. Even so, that little piece of hope that was still inside of him was the only thing stopping him from telling Jaden off. He sighed. "What do you want, Jaden?" he asked with somewhat of a snarky attitude.

Atticus grinned, and looked to his sister. "This is it," he said.

Alexis gasped. "Is he doing what I think he's doing?" she asked. Atticus only replied with a chuckle.

"Th-There's something you need to know… A-A-And I wanna explain it i-in full before we go on," Jaden said, taking a final deep breath. "Little over a month ago, after you went back to NA… Alexis and I started dating."

The Duel Academy students, even a few North Academy students, gasped at this sudden confession. It wasn't at all a surprise for most – there were rumours of the two of them secretly dating long before Jesse went back to North Academy – but it was still an eye-opening shock for those unprepared to hear it. By the feeling of pure malice that Jaden could feel behind him (where he knew Chazz was standing), he could tell that Chazz was not too happy about the news, but continued.

"Alexis and I were very happy together… she helped me to understand myself a little better,and she made me feel happy whenever I was around her…"

Jesse could feel his teeth clenching as he listened to Jaden practically parade Alexis as his girlfriend to the entire school. "Yeah, I kinda figured it out on my own, pal," he scoffed. He raised his out the arm that carried his Duel Disk and held it in front of his body. "Are you gonna duel, or are you gonna keep prattling on about yer girlfriend?"

Jaden frowned, a little disheartened by Jesse's attitude. Jesse really was mad with him. He prayed to the duelling Gods that this worked. "In a minute," he answered. "Anyway, up until about two weeks ago, things were going fine… But, then I realized that I was just using Alexis as a diversion, I didn't care for her anymore than any of my other friends. She was in love with me, but I wasn't in love with her…"

"Oh, hogwash!" Jesse spat angrily. He marched across the field until he was looking Jaden square in the eye, glaring furiously at him. "I heard you say that you loved Alexis with my own ears! I saw you kiss her! Keeping secrets from me is one thing, but… how can you just lie right to my face?!" With each point he made, he poked Jaden angrily in the chests with one finger. "I thought you and I were friends, Jay… but-"

"Alexis and I broke up!" Jaden interjected, earning another round of gasps throughout the crowd.

Jesse's eyes shot open with a look of astonishment spreading across his face. His muscles suddenly became limp, and the hand he was using to poke Jaden's chest dropped to his side. He took a step back to regain his balance. "W-What…?" he asked, too stunned to do or say much else.

Jaden quickly grabbed hold of Jesse's wrists, keeping the latter in place. Both if their cheeks began to flush. Jaden sheepishly looked to the floor. "Last night… That was me breaking up with Alexis," he explained. "Apparently, y-you only saw part of that conversation… am I right?"

It was Jesse's turn to feel flustered and embarrassed, most of it coming from this discussion happening in front of two schools and a well-respected business woman. "I, um, saw up to the… the kiss…" he mumbled.

"I figured…" Jaden sighed. "…I do love Alexis, but I'm not in love with her. I never was in love with her. And that kiss… I don't know, it was kind of a kiss 'goodbye' to Alexis, you know? I felt like I owed her at least one more kiss before I broke up with her and broke her heart…" Jaden quickly shook his head violently and stared Jesse right in the eye. Jesse could see the latter's eyes getting watery, and that was making causing his own eyes to get misty. "I'm getting off topic! What I'm saying is… I'm single, and there's only one person that I love, and I want to be with them more than anything! And do you know who that person is, Jesse?" Just as Jesse could see tears running rolling down Jaden's face, the latter stretched his arms around Jesse and squeezed him tightly in ragged embrace. "It's you! I'm in love with you!"

The crowd went silent as they watched Jaden bury his face in Jesse's vest, sobbing like a young child, but no one was even remotely as shocked as Jesse was. Here he was, standing in front of two academies with the person he thought had no respect for him with him professing his love for him. He was simply at a loss for words.

"Jay…"

Jaden lifted his head just enough to look at Jesse's face, his eyes already growing red from all the crying. "I-I'm sorry... I stopped talking to you, Jesse… I-It just… It hurt so much, talking to you when I know I can never see you, or be with you… It was torture!" he screamed. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, Jess… I can't live my life without you! I need my best friend! I need the guy I love more than anything! I'll do… whatever you want me to, if it means you'll forgive me. J-Just say the word… and I'll forfeit this duel and your school can have the win… I'll even give up Duel Monsters entirely… just say you'll forgive me for being so stupid…" Jaden dropped to his knees, suddenly finding his legs as limp as Jesse's jaw, still looking up him. Before he went into another sob fest, he finished off, saying, "Please… Please forgive me, Jesse…"

All Jesse ever wanted was for Jaden to fight for him; his love; his friendship; him. Now, he had Jaden begging on his knees, threatening to give up the game he loved more than anything… because he loved Jesse more than that…

For the first time since the night before, Jesse felt the ends of his mouth pulling up into a warm, genuine smile, as he knelt down to Jaden's eye level. Jaden managed to choke back any more sobs for a short while as Jesse gently lay his hand on each of Jaden's shoulders and pressed his forehead against Jaden's, eyes closed. "W-What…?"

"We're alright," Jesse spoke softly.

A surprised gasp escaped Jaden's lips, and, as if he was terrified that Jesse would suddenly disappear and leave him, he wrapped his arms around the bluenette's torso and pulled him close, going right back into his sob fest. Jesse followed suit, letting his friend drench his vest with tears of joy.

It felt so perfect to Jesse, having Jaden finally opening up to him again after so long. He couldn't believe that he had ever had a single doubt about his bond with Jaden. He felt like an idiot for thinking Jaden would ever want not to be his friend. Now, he couldn't be more sure; Jaden cared more about him than anything in the world; he was Jaden's world; his air; his everything; his. If he had any say in it, he would spend every moment he had left on earth with Jaden in his arms…

"Ahem…" The sound of Crowler faking an awkward cough brought Jesse and Jaden plummeting back down to earth, reminding them that they were under the watchful eyes of two academies worth of students. "If you two are done…"

The boys took turns looking around the arena, feeling embarrassed as never before when they saw everyone looking at them with wide eyes and limp jaws (and, for some, bright red faces). Some of them were cursing at Jaden for even thinking of giving up the match and letting North Academy win, though nothing utterly insulting.

They looked towards their friends; they didn't seem too fazed by what had happened. Jesse could even make out Syrus reluctantly handing over a bundle of Duel Monster cards to a grinning Hasselberry, hypothesizing it as a lost bet (which he'd be finding out the inner details of later on). Jaden could see Alexis staring back at him. She appeared to be holding back a few tears, but she was smiling; not a faked one, but one that was nothing but pure and genuine. It was as if she was giving them her blessing; giving Jesse her permission to make Jaden happy, and that fact made him even happier than her… albeit still embarrassed.

The three chancellors seemed to be in good spirits after watching the Slifer's confession. Henrietta even found herself chuckling, but still holding a hand over her mouth to hide it. "My, Sheppard. You did say that the boy could be quite bold when he wanted to be, but that was certainly unexpected."

Sheppard grinned sheepishly. "Believe or not, this doesn't even crack his top ten..."

"Mrs. Akaba, I noticed that you seem not to have a problem with the fact that… well, there are two boys down there, expressing love for one another," Foster stated, voicing his observation to Henrietta. "Not that I mind, myself. A good few of my students have… lets say, the same tastes. Any particular reason that this doesn't faze you?"

Henrietta chuckled once more. "I'll give you a hint: my eldest son, and one of the male students at the Leo Institute, are constantly fighting over the same boy from one of our rival schools, You Show Duel School. It's actually quite adorable to see them glaring daggers at each other whenever they get together. The boy they're fighting over, actually, is a lot like Jaden. I wonder if he's as good of a Dueltainer…"

Jaden turned back to Jesse, giving him his signature grin. "So… um… We'll talk later?" he asked.

Jesse nodded. "Definitely… Right now, we got us a duel to settle!"

"Correction: we've got an Action Duel to settle!"

"Just remember, Jay, I've been doin' Action Duels for months. So don't get too fussy if I beat'cha!"

"I like a challenge, haha!"

Jaden and Jesse shared a quick laugh and helped each other stand up, an action that made crowd cheer in joy. They were happy to finally have the School Duel reach its conclusion after such a cliffhanging event, but Jesse was just happy to have his friendship with Jaden back to the way it was; sweet, playful and making him feel utterly joyful and childishly giddy..

Henrietta reached into the bag she had been carrying and handed Sheppard a tablet of some kind. "Here, Sheppard, this is the control tablet for the ARC system," she said, hitting a small button on the side as he took it from her hands. It lit up shortly after, displaying many different field spell cards upon it. "Just select the field spell you wish the boys to duel in and the system will set itself up automatically."

"Why, thank you," he replied. He looked over Henrietta's shoulder to look at Foster. "Do you have a problem if I select the field?"

Foster shook his head. "Not at all. Jesse is the best Action Duelist at North Academy, and he can work with any of the fields, so you could use the advantage."

Sheppard browsed through the numerous field spells until he spotted one that stood out. "In that case, I'll go with something neutral for a balanced game." He selected the field spell, Cross Over, and sat back to watch the ARC System activate.

The floor below Jaden and Jesse began to glow. Many bright lights shot out through the floor as the ARC System became visible. Everyone watched in amazement, even the North Academy students and staff who had already seen it happen before. It was just beautiful and shocking enough that it could take anyone's breath away.

Quickly, small, blueish-green platforms began to appear all throughout the arena, some almost as low as the floor while others were almost touching the ceiling. The were scattered about the arena in no discernible pattern, however they were laid out so one could easily jump from one to another in any fashion one desired. In the centre of it all, a sphere that was made entirely of unknown Action Cards was spinning slowly.

"Duelists locked in battle!" Jesse began. He gave Jaden a quick wink, hinting to carry on.

Jaden nodded and continued. "Kicking the earth and dancing alongside their monsters! They storm through this field!"

"Behold!" the boys said together. "This is the newest and greatest evolution of Duelling!"

"Action~!" the crowd said slowly, yet dripping with excitement. The sphere of cards quickly burst, scattering Action cards all over the field.

"DUEL!"

And so began the most deck of Jaden's life. Not because his school was counting on him to bring them to victory, not because it was the first Action Duel of his life, but because he was sharing the sport he loved with his one and only love…

-x~X~x-

Finally done! I've been fine-tuning this chapter for weeks, and I can honestly say that I'm pretty pleased with it. I didn't force a quick kiss between them, I just let them decide to settle their relationship after the school duel and I feel that's really a good pace for these two. Jaden and Jesse are fluffy before anything else!

…Although, I will admit that I was thinking of having Jaden shout out to Jesse, in front of everyone, "I WANNA SLEEP WITH YOU!" We all know Atticus takes advantage of any opportunity. A late-pubescent boy with no knowledge of sex etc. who would think "to sleep with" is a way to say that he would get to wake up and look into his lover's eyes every morning if told so. Who WOULDN'T take advantage of that?! I mean, come on, Jaden, go to Sex Ed. already!

As for who Henrietta was talking about before, I was making a poke at my love for Dartshipping while also keeping in the reality that Henrietta probably wouldn't know about it unless Declan (Reiji) or Riley (Reira) were somehow involved, and Pendulumshipping made more sense. Plus… just LOOK at Declan! He wears capris, a scarf and he basically stalks Yuya for a good part of the series (pendulum cards my ass)! UGH! So, to clarify: Eldest son = Declan (Reiji). Male student: Sylvio (Shingo). Boy they are fighting over: Yuya.

I hope to get the rest done before new years, but I can't make any promises. In any case, Merry Christmas, everyone, and Happy Holidays! Hope you all enjoy your winter breaks, for those who have them, and for those who don't I hope that Santa brings one for you! Sayonara!