Judai slowly opened his eyes to the morning and noticed that Yusei was still asleep. Yusei was sleeping so peacefully which made him not want to wake him up so he quietly tiptoed from the bedroom to the living room taking the time to make as little noise as possible. Once he was in the living room he grabbed his deck and put it in his Duel Academia duel disk so he would have it for safe keeping. Ever since he leapt forward in time Judai has been dueling with his E-Heroes since that's the only deck he had before the time warp. Soon Yusei was awake and he slowly walked into the living room.
Once he was there he noticed Judai staring at his cards with an empty look in his brown eyes. His eyes that had once had life in them were now a dull, lifeless brown, and the Judai that was happy all the time was now gone. Yusei walked over to him in concern, and sat next to him in the soft, brown chair.
All my friends thought I was dead when I was gone for thirty years or more due to the time warp, and they'll probably never talk to me again, so why doesn't it hurt?
I'm just numb inside, and I can't cry even though I'm in so much pain.
Yusei watched as he absent-mindedly flipped through "The Ultimate Magazine" and never showed any hint of emotion. Yusei had been like this once after he thought Carly was dead, and even though he wanted to cry, he just couldn't find the will to let it out. Judai continued to wonder why he couldn't cry as Yusei put his hand on his shoulder out of concern.
"Are you alright Judai? You're acting strangely."He asked with concern even though he knew that deep inside Judai was in pain. Judai heard his voice but he didn't know the answer to that question so he just sighed.
"I'm not really sure Yusei."He muttered hoping that he heard that. Yusei quickly understood as he had felt the same way. He remembered that he would put on a mask when around other people in order to avoid questions, and he lied to himself that he was fine. Yusei didn't know why Judai was in pain so he hoped that Judai would answer him as he tried looking into his lifeless eyes.
"Judai, you know you can talk to me about anything right? I'm your boyfriend and it's my job to make you happy."Yusei told the boy, hoping to get him to talk. It would be nice to tell Yusei that my parents died in the year 2008 when I was eighteen before I slipped away in time. Maybe I should tell him—but wait how can I explain that to him? It was really awesome to have the King of Games dueling by my side with Yusei against Paradox before he destroyed the world.
"You may not believe what I'm about to tell you but please be open minded okay?"Judai asked the boy while nervously playing with his hair. Yusei could sense the nervousness coming from Judai so he figured that what he was about to tell him is a secret.
"Sure I'll listen, what is it?"Yusei asked the boy as the boy stopped playing with his hair. Once his pulse was at a normal pace Judai took a breath before he started to speak.
"Okay do you remember when we met for the second time?"Judai asked the boy as the memory of traveling through time for the second time replayed in his mind.
"Oh yeah, we dueled with Yugi against Paradox the first time, and then you appeared as a thirty-one year old man while I remained nineteen."Yusei remembered. Judai sighed in relief when he believed him and he took another breath as he began talking again.
"Well I was in my last year of Duel Academia and I was dueling a girl named Accalia when I ended up thirteen years in the future. I immediately recognized this place as Neo Domino city from when I had traveled here with Yugi to try to stop Paradox."He told the boy as the image of the duel against Paradox flashed through his mind.
"So what you're saying is, is that before you slipped thirteen years in the future that it was the year 2008?"Yusei asked in confusion. Judai nodded and Yusei figured out that he was seven at the time which means that he and Judai are eleven years apart in age.
"That's right! Anyway as I was saying, I recognized the town as Neo Domino City and I immediately started looking for you. Luckily you happened to be nearby so I ran over to you. You didn't recognize me right away so I introduced myself and then you recognized me. Of course you know what happened after that so let's speed up the story.
While you were sleeping I went onto the computer and looked at the news from 2008 since that was the current year before I slipped through the time stream. I found out that both my parents were killed three days before I was supposed to have my graduation."Judai explained. Yusei immediately understood why Judai woke up without the ability to cry or show any kind of emotion since he was the same way when he thought Carly was dead. He then laid his face next to his in an effort to help ease the pain, but he knew that Judai would have to heal on his own.
"Oh Judai I'm so sorry that happened to you. I know how you feel though. When I thought Carly was dead I completely shut down. I wanted so badly to just cry and let all the pain out, but something inside me wouldn't let me. Pretty soon I began to put on a mask and I lied to myself that I was fine just to avoid questions and stop the pain.
When Carly came back from death the chain inside me finally snapped and I was finally able to cry. My tears were invisible, and I cried quietly, but finally I was able to let it all out."Yusei admitted to the boy. Judai was shocked that Yusei had ever felt the way he did now but in a way he was glad that he's not alone.
"I never knew you felt the same way Yusei. You seem like the kind of person that never had any sadness in his life."Judai mumbled as he stared into Yusei's eyes.
"It may take some time before your emotions come back, but trust me they will come back eventually. I don't know that you'll ever be able to cry tears again, but I do know that your emotions will resurface."Yusei told the boy with a look of understanding. A smile came to Judai's face even though his eyes were still lifeless, and a sigh of relief came from the boy. Judai reached for his cards when suddenly everything started spinning and shaking. Yusei's scream matched that of a four year old, and Judai was suddenly fifteen years old.
"Wow Yusei you're older!"Judai gasped in shock as he stared at the form of a sixteen year old Yusei. Yusei had long, sleek black hair, and the left side of his face was hidden by part of his hair. He was also wearing a darker version of his biker outfit which looked rather sexy on him.
"Well we both haven't taken the written exam yet so we'd better get to city hall to take the written part of the exam to get into Duel Academia."Yusei stated as he watched Judai's face blank out for a second.
"So wait I have to retake the exam? Crap! I don't remember half of the stuff about Duel Monsters since I slipped through the time stream!"Judai exclaimed in a rather fast pace. Yusei put his arm on his shoulder and gave him a pleading expression.
"Relax! You've taken the exam before right?"Yusei asked him with a smile.
"Yes I have."Judai answered, still dreading the exam.
"Then what's the problem?"Yusei asked the boy with a sigh. Judai sighed in relief and he calmed down.
"You're right, it should be easy. Hey maybe you and I will end up in the same dorm since I'm getting a second chance."Judai said with a smile. His expression was still lifeless and he still couldn't properly feel his emotions but this time the smile was genuine.
