A/N: Sorry for the wait! Hope the chapter length makes up for it. Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX.
The next day at school, Kathleen was dealing with the repercussions of her little coffee discovery.
"Come on, Aki! It was my first time drinking the stuff's all! I had no idea it was that strong! Honest!"
That's right. Akiko wasn't going to let that coffee thing drop any time soon. In fact, she had spent the night at Kathleen's house, showing up at her house with a rather large suitcase—and her schoolbooks. She had moved in for the time being. Currently, she was checking Kathleen's locker, bag, and desk for any traces of "the forbidden substance."
"Aw, come on," Johan said. "Cut the girl some slack. I doubt she'd ever even seen coffee before yesterday. Since her family never drinks it and all."
"I don't care," Akiko told him, not even caring that he knew this fact. "Better to be safe than sorry. So, Kathy, no more caffeine for you, unless it's in pop, and even that's barred off after this first week! I'm staying with you to make sure yesterday's insanity doesn't happen again! We don't need drugged gingers!" Her voice rose an octave there at the end.
"Hey, if you're really that worried, I could stay with her!" Johan offered.
"Yeah, sure! I trust you!" she told him, heavily sarcastic. Boyfriend and girlfriend in the same house... Oh, hell no!
Johan blushed. "I-it's not what you think! I-I was just thinking, maybe, I, uh... Look, Kathy's my friend, too, and I just want to make sure she's okay on my own."
Kathleen looked at her friend. "Johan..."
"I can do that, Johan," Akiko countered. "And I'm less likely to get lost on my way to or from her place and then get killed by Yubel."
"Good point," Judai interjected. "I'm with Akiko, guys."
"Hey, I'm not that bad in the woods! Kathy's place is on the other side of them!"
"Okay, first off, yes, you are that bad," Judai said. "You got lost with me and Ruby. And—"
"And second, how do you know that!?" Akiko demanded.
"Easy, luv, I'm sure it's not what you think," Jim soothed.
Johan blushed again. "Well, I—"
"How's he know?" Kathleen interrupted. "Simple! He's been there! And guess what? He didn't get lost once!" She smiled.
"Kathleen..." Johan sweat, still blushing.
Akiko gaped, for multiple reasons. Okay, he's been to her house...without getting lost...meaning that he had to have headed there alone sometime...meaning he's been there multiple times...meaning...!
"What?" Amon asked.
"But he sometimes forgets where he lives!" Sho protested. "How come he didn't get lost way out there!?"
Haruko looked rather naughty as she said, "He found his way in there...if you know what I mean..."
"WHAT!?" Akiko demanded, outraged even more at someone voicing her suspicions. "Oh, that better just be you rambling, Haruko!"
"Quit it, guys!" Johan demanded, blushing furiously at the accusation. "That's not it at all! Her place is just easy to find. That's all!"
"And, yet, you can't find your own apartment after having lived there your entire life?" Akiko asked, hands on her hips.
Johan rubbed the back of his head, sweating and laughing slightly.
"Pinch me! This can't be real!" Sho said, stunned.
Akiko shook her head. "I'm gonna go see the nurse... Clearly I'm sick or something."
After all, how could Johan find his way anywhere without getting lost?
"And you're worried about me," Kathleen said, grinning.
"Oh, shut up. You're the reason I'm sick, idiot."
Johan stared for a moment before turning to Judai for help. "Come on, pal. Back me up here. I'm sure you ran across her place before! I mean, there's a forest path that leads straight to it!"
"Uh...no," Judai said. "No, I usually was in Yubel's territory. Besides, I tried to avoid Kathleen, not find her."
"You can say that again," Yubel said in Judai's head, thinking of how big a nuisance Kathleen was.
"So, you never ran into her out there?" Johan asked, sweating.
"When I ran into her, it wasn't at her house, and I was hoping to either lose her or not be noticed by her."
Johan paused before, "Jim! What about you!? You're always searching for traps in the woods, right!? Perhaps you've seen a small house out there that greatly resembles a log cabin at the end of a wide dirt trail?"
"I might have," Jim answered. "Can't say for sure, though, mate."
"S-so, then, you know how easy it is to get there, right!?"
"What does that matter? Even when I give you a well thought-out and detailed map and instruction booklet, you still get lost looking for the place marked with a big, red X," Amon pointed out.
O'Brien nodded in agreement.
"Aw, come on, guys!"
"You've got a knack for getting lost, bub," Akiko said. "Admit it."
Johan crossed his arms, humphing.
"So, Aniki," Sho said, changing the subject, "could you read that booklet? 'Cause I rewrote it for you if you need an easier copy..."
"Nah, I got it," Judai told him, smiling. "Thanks, though, Sho."
"Oh. About that, I went down yesterday to sign up, and it turns out that today's the final day they'll be taking any more contestants," Johan said. "So, if you don't sign up today before 5, you won't get in."
Judai's eyes widened. "What!?" he demanded. Maybe I should skip school to go enter...
"It's okay, Judai," Asuka told him. "No need to worry. There's still plenty of time after school to enter. Okay?"
"Oh, no, there isn't!" he protested. "Cronos is gonna hold me over an hour after school, and then Misawa gets another two hours of my time!" He let his head fall onto his desk with a thump. "Ugh... I hate studying..."
"I told you so," Yubel taunted before giggling.
"Well, all things considered, I think we'll be taking a field test today," Misawa told him. "I'm sure there's going to be paperwork you'll have to fill out. And, if you can't read or write well enough yet, then you'll need me to be there to help you."
"That's a great idea!" Asuka said, smiling at Misawa. "So, Judai. You think that'll work?"
"Yeah, okay."
Manjoume humphed. "I say it's a waste of time trying to teach this guy anything. After all, he grew up raised by wolves. And Tarzan sure as heck couldn't learn anything useful. So why bother teaching him how to do anything?"
"Hey, I resent that," Judai said. After all, he was reading at a fifth grade level now.
"Yeah, Manjoume," Asuka said. "Why are you always picking on him? He's not that primitive, after all."
Judai wasn't sure if she was defending him or teasing him.
Haruko looked sympathetically at Manjoume. "Aw, Manjoume-chan! If you're that upset, I could date you!" she said, holding her arms out for a hug.
"No, thanks. I'm not that desperate! Go bother O'Brien over there, you little pest!"
"Hey! Watch it, Manjoume!" Akiko warned.
Manjoume humphed again. "Sorry if your friend's a boy-crazed stalker, but that's not my fault."
Akiko's hands, clenched into fists at her sides, started shaking. "Get out of our group, if that's how you feel!"
Sure, she teased Haruko about that, too, but she was always just joking. Manjoume was completely serious.
"Whatever," he said. "I wasn't really in the mood to hang out with you losers, anyway. See ya."
He walked off. Good thing, too, because Akiko was still trembling with anger.
"If that...creep...ever dares come near us again..."
"Easy, sheila."
"Jim's right!" Kathleen said. "Calm down. He so didn't mean it. Not about most of us, at least..." She eyed Judai as she added that last part.
"Why does he hate me so much?" Judai asked, confused.
"He doesn't," Asuka answered. "Don't worry about it."
"Okay."
"Yeah, Aki, what she said," Kathleen said to the still-fuming teen. "He's just in a bad mood and taking it out on us, is all. Like last week when you were having a bad day and yelling at everyone, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah..."
Knowing she was the only one who could quell Akiko's temper right now, Haruko said, "It's okay, Aki. I don't mind."
Akiko shrugged. "Whatev."
"Although, Haru may have a point," Kathleen said. "He might feel better if we got him a girlfriend..."
"Like who? 'Cause he only likes Asuka," Sho said.
"Hmm..."
As Kathleen thought about who to pair Manjoume up with, Judai was starting to put two and two together. I'm not sure I like the sound of all that...
"Really? And why's that? Could it be that maybe your so-called 'friend' is trying to be more than that?" Yubel asked, and he could just hear her grinning, taunting him. "Maybe because she likes you the same way Rei and I do? Hmm. I wonder." She laughed a bit.
Don't joke about that! Asuka's just a friend!
"Oh, really? Then why don't you ask her? Watch closely, though. See what happens." She laughed through her lips.
Judai looked at Asuka uncertainly, thinking that maybe he just didn't want to know. She caught his expression and looked at him.
"Huh? Is something wrong, Judai?"
"Ask her."
It took him another moment to work up the courage. "Uh, what's all this about Manjoume and me...and you?"
Asuka started sweating. "I'm not sure! Why do you ask!?" She laughed nervously.
"Thought so," Yubel said. She giggled slightly.
The shock wore off after a moment, and Judai decided to suck it up and give this whole "dating" thing another try. After all, dating Rei hadn't been so bad, and Asuka was his friend.
"You want to... You want to...go...see a movie sometime, or something?" he asked—Rei had told him movies were a good date choice.
Asuka blinked. "W-what?"
The whole group stared for a moment.
Sho was the first to recover. "Aniki? You feeling okay?" he asked.
Judai didn't answer him—he just kept staring at Asuka, waiting for an answer.
After another moment, Asuka answered, "Uh, sure, I guess. Say, Judai, what brought this up all of a sudden? I thought you hated dating."
"Well, I...got a lesson on that subject."
"Ah-hah!" Kathleen said, getting up in his face. She had "I told you so" written all over hers. "So I was right, then! Going out with that kid wasn't so bad!"
Judai stared at her for a second before saying, "Kathleen, if you ever make me do that again, I'll make Yubel look nice. Let's put it that way."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
Kathleen backed away, laughing nervously.
"Well, anyway, guys. Let's finish this later," Asuka said. "Class is about to start."
"R-right!" Kathleen said.
They all headed off to their seats. Akiko grinned at Kathleen—she'd gotten Judai to threaten her. That wasn't easy, and it was very amusing. Kathleen glared at her, then sat down.
At lunch, Johan said, "Now, I know it's none of my business, and you're probably gonna kill me for asking, but how did your date go?" Silently, he added, After all, he just asked Asuka out, so it couldn't have been too bad.
"It felt more like just hanging out with one of you guys," he answered. "I mean, when you aren't tutoring me. Until the end when she got kinda weird...but that's besides the point!" he finished, determined not to be asexual.
"So, wait," Asuka said. "Are you saying she liked you, then?"
"I guess..."
"And how do you feel about her?" Amon asked. "Because, in this world, a guy can only have one girlfriend. Otherwise, they're considered to be dirty, good-for-nothing creeps. Also known as cheaters."
"I don't...she's nice, but I'm not interested."
"Oh, okay, then," Asuka said. "So, when were you planning on doing this? I mean, seeing this movie?"
"Uh... How about this weekend?" he asked.
Asuka giggled. "You mean before or after our study session? Or we could do it all at once." She giggled some more.
Judai sweat. "Uh..."
"Well, let's try this, then. The movie theaters around here usually play their movies around 6. So, how about you come pick me up around then?"
"Okay, sounds good."
"Great. Then here's my address," she said, writing it down on a napkin. "Oh, and try to wear something nice, okay?" She smiled, then handed him the napkin.
Judai blushed slightly. "O-okay," he said, taking the napkin.
Asuka smiled again. It turned to a frown after a moment, and she turned to Jim. "Say, uh, Jim? Could you help him get there on time? Seeing as how you live around there and all."
"Sure, Tomorrow-girl!" he said. "I'll make sure he gets there alright."
"Thanks. I appreciate it. See ya, then, Judai," she said, getting up and heading off to sit with her (gawking) girlfriends.
"Great!" Kathleen said. "Nice to know you're finally getting it! Now, finish your meal quickly! 'Cause today, we get to learn all about verbs!"
The excitement in her voice wasn't because she enjoyed his suffering—it was because she liked school way too much.
Judai groaned.
After school—and his session with Cronos—Judai walked past a store window on his way to Misawa's. There were television sets on display in the window, showing the news, which caught his attention.
"Over the course of just a couple weeks, 40 percent of the population here in Egypt has vanished without a trace or any clue as to what caused it," the reporter said. "And still others here believe there were more people here than are known to be missing."
As she went on, Yubel humphed. "A bunch of useless garbage. You don't need to be watching this. Move along," she said sternly.
How much is 40 percent? he asked her, deciding this was a good time to practice a bit of math—made for a good cover-up, after all.
"You're not seriously taking a math lesson right now, are you?" she asked, looking at him lamely.
How much is 40 percent? he repeated.
Yubel sighed. "A little under half. Now, can we go?"
There was a witness on the television, along with an interpreter. "I saw it with my own eyes!" the man was saying. "There was a man clad in black armor, wearing sunglasses, with spiky hair, right in front of her before she disappeared!"
Judai looked back at the television.
"Alright! Move along! Nothing to see here! Let's go, boy." Now she was being even more stern with him.
So, almost half the population... What's that word?
"Now you're taking a Japanese lesson!?* Population! People that live there! But this doesn't concern you, so back off!"
"My wife vanished in a pit of shadows!" another witness said.
Vanished in a pit of... Do shadows even form pits?
Yubel growled, "Judai..."
He kept staring at the TV until the bomb started beeping.
"I'm warning you. Get away from there at once!" Yubel ordered.
Judai walked along, and the beeping ceased.
"Good. Now stay out of it. It doesn't concern you, anyway, so stop listening to it," she said, glaring at him.
Why are you so concerned about it?
"That also doesn't concern you. Just stay away from it, you got that? Otherwise, I will blow you up, are we clear?" she said, sounding serious.
Crystal, he answered.
"Good. Although, if you already have some hidden plan or something, then I can't do anything about that, right?" she asked in one of her weird moments. "Can't do a thing about what you don't know, after all!" She giggled some, as if she liked the idea of that.
Judai didn't know what was going on. He knew she was being controlled by some evil force, but he didn't understand why she was acting like that—she kept implying that he had some sort of plan, as if she didn't care or even approved of it.
What the heck is wrong with you?
Instead of answering, she said, "Hey, look. It's that oaf Hayato."
Judai looked. Sure enough, there was Hayato, sound asleep on a bench, a book on self-confidence lying open on his chest. Judai walked over.
"Hayato?" he asked.
Hayato moaned. "Go away. Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?"
"Actually, it looks like you were trying to read."
"Aw, forget about that. It's just another dumb book, anyway."
"Uh...you sure about that?"
"Definitely. No one can possibly benefit from such a stupid book. See for yourself, if you want."
Judai picked up the book and flipped through it. From what he could understand of it, it had some great advice in it—if Hayato would just pay attention and take it.
"Okay, maybe I just can't read at all, but I'm seeing some great advice you're missing, Hayato," he told him.
"Yeah, right. Great for you maybe. You're always happy, right?" He looked at Judai, still lying on that bench, and said, "Well, I hate to break it to ya, but not everyone can benefit from some dumb confidence book like you can. Besides that, you don't even have that problem, do you?"
Tired of this guy, Judai said, "Okay, you want to know something? I'm no good at anything. I can't read, I can't write, and I don't get math or science at all."
Hayato laughed shortly. "Join the club, then. I—"
"But I'm not letting that stop me!" Judai cut him off. "I may not be very good at these things right now, but I'll get better at them if I keep trying! I mean, it's not like you're born knowing how to do everything. Could you walk and talk when you were born?"
"How can you be so confident?" Hayato asked, sitting up. "You're something else, alright." Then he shrugged and added, "Yeah. Whatever. Well, let me tell you, that might work for guys like you, but it doesn't work for guys like me. I'm no good at anything, and I never will be. So says my dad."
"So? You believe him?"
Hayato was silent for a moment before saying, "Well, like I said before. He's right."
"How do you know?"
Hayato didn't answer.
"Everyone has something they're good at," Judai told him, "but it takes time to find out what that is! Sure, you aren't good at the things your dad wishes you were, but that doesn't mean there aren't other things out there that you're great at and your dad can't do."
"Oh, what do you know. I bet you can do anything you put your mind to. Me? I can't even pass a simple class and move up a grade. So I'm still in tenth grade..."
"What class? I mean, I'm failing everything."
"Really?"
"Yeah. And I've got three tutors, plus one of my teachers spending extra time on me, to prove it."
"Why don't you just give up now? It sounds like you're majorly behind. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't get demoted by a few years, even. Face it. Like me, you'll never amount to anything."
"I don't know about that," Judai told him. "See, I'm going to try my best until the end. I mean, if I give up, I'll never know if I could have done it, right?"
Hayato was silent again, thinking about that.
"Well, I gotta get going," Judai said, walking off. "I'm meeting up with one of my tutors now. See ya!"
Hayato watched him go. Judai Yuki... Huh.
He smiled.
When Judai finally got to Misawa's house fifteen minutes late, he found the boy in question waiting outside.
"Ah, Judai. There you are. What took you so long?" he asked.
"Sorry," Judai said. "I got a little distracted.
"Not exactly the best time for that, you know," Misawa told him. "After all, we need all the time we can get to get you signed up for this thing."
"Right, sorry."
"Well, anyway, we should get going, then. The sign-ups are being held at KaibaCorp, near the park. We should hurry over there before they close."
Judai nodded, and the two headed off to enter him in the tournament.
Paperwork: Judai's newest foe. He didn't have a clue what he was looking at, so Misawa had to help him fill it out. It took them awhile, but they finally finished it, making Judai entry number 1000, the last one allowed. He thought about just how lucky that was as he walked home.
He got a rather nasty surprise near his house—a new neighbor, a girl with tanned skin, green eyes, purple hair, and a gem on her forehead. She stood in the yard of the place next door, talking to another girl, one he also knew—little Rei.
"So, is it true?" the girl asked. "My new neighbors have a son who's really cute?"
"Oh, he's not just cute. He's the sweetest boy I've ever met!" Rei said. She blushed just thinking about him.
"I see, so is that why you're waiting for him?"
Judai stopped dead in his tracks, spotting the girls. He paled upon seeing the green-eyed girl.
"Hmm. Well, that's a little weird," Yubel observed in his head. "What's she doing here?"
"Yup!" Rei answered. "I was hoping to see him again. Oh, my darling Judai. I sure hope he gets home soon."
"Hmm," the other girl said. "Well, good luck with that, then. He sounds real nice."
"So, are you going to stand here all day or go see what's going on?"
Judai didn't answer—he was still too stunned and freaked out.
"Hello? Anybody home? Judai?"
When he still didn't answer, Yubel slapped him. Strange that she could, though, being in spirit form at the moment.
"Alright. Wake up, already! It's just a couple of good-looking girls!"
Uh, yeah, okay, he responded before walking over.
"Hey, Rei!" he called.
The girls both turned.
"Judai-sama! Hi!" Rei said, running over to him. "Bet you're surprised to see me! Well, surprise! I came to see you, Judai-sama!"
"Why?" he asked.
Rei laughed. "Silly boy! I wanted to see you again, of course! You're a really cool guy, and I was hoping to spend some more time with you!"
Judai hadn't yet had the chance to grasp how ominous this statement was when the other girl walked over, saying, "So, your name's Judai, huh? Well, it's nice to finally meet you properly. I'm Ayumi. I just moved in next door."
Judai was still pale, and her being so close to him didn't help, either. Ayumi, as she called herself, noticed this.
"What's your problem? Why is it, every time you see me, you act like such a freak?"
"Wait," Rei said. "You two know each other?"
"Yeah...I think..."
"What? Is there something wrong with me?" Ayumi demanded, glaring at him in annoyance.
Judai backed up. "Uh..."
"Honestly, Judai, is that any way to treat your friend and master?" Yubel asked in his head. In what could only be called a mutter, she added, "Even though she really shouldn't be here."
Wait, you don't know why you're—she's—here!?
"Beats me. This wasn't part of the plan."
"Hello?" Ayumi asked. "Anyone home?"
Judai started. "Huh? Uh, sorry. You say something?"
"Judai-sama? Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just... This girl...she's... Remember that 'bad experience dating' that I mentioned earlier? Well, she's it," he said, half-lying to cover up his nervousness.
"Really?" Rei asked.
"I did what now?" Ayumi asked.
Inching away, Judai said, "Yeah, I'm just gonna leave now..."
"Uh, excuse me for asking, but what exactly do you think I did to you? 'Cause all I ever did was ask you to help me find my boyfriend." Muttering, Ayumi added, "Dumb creep ran off with another woman, too."
"Really? 'Cause I was out with a girl I know, and she said someone told her that I was her boyfriend," Judai countered. "That someone looked exactly like you, from what she said."
"What? Really?" Rei asked.
Ayumi humphed. "I can't believe you. Telling lies like that. You should be ashamed of yourself. I never did anything of the sort."
"Then do you have a twin or something? Because I'm definitely not making this up. She got really mad at me for lying to her!"
"Well, maybe she just wasn't interested in the first place," Ayumi said. "She could've been lying to you so she could break it off faster."
"I'm not so sure about that," he answered levelly.
"Okay. That's enough. You're gonna make me look bad." Muttering, she added, "Although, granted, I shouldn't be here in the first place, but still."
"Well, did she seem interested? Or was she wishing she was somewhere else all night? Trust me. Girls will do anything to get out of a bad date sometimes."
"Okay, I'm out of here," he answered, walking off. He wasn't sure why, but he was genuinely offended by that.
"Interesting. Did I say something to upset you for some reason?" Yubel said. She laughed through her lips.
"Hey," Rei said, putting her hands on her hips. "That's no way to treat your new neighbor, Judai. What did I say about being nice to girls? Well?"
He didn't stop. "I know that one, and I'm not going to be nice to her."
"Ah! How rude can one guy be!?" Ayumi said. "You've never been nice to me! Maybe I should stop trying to be nice to you!"
There was a hidden message there, which Judai, stopping and looking back, decided to return. "Quit being so forward."
He started walking again.
"I'm not," Ayumi said, crossing her arms. "You're just being a jerk."
"Hey, didn't we agree you'd leave that behind, boy?" Yubel asked, referring to the bad attitude. "Cut it out."
"Judai! I thought you were better than that!" Rei snapped. "Was everything we went through just an act!?"
He stopped and looked at her, hurt. "So a girl says something, and she's automatically telling the truth; but, when I say something that goes against it, I'm lying?" he asked, remembering saying something similar to Asuka earlier. "Rei, you don't know either of us, so don't be so quick to take sides. And, Ayumi, I'm sorry."
Though I still think you're too forward...
Ayumi humphed. "You should be."
"I guess you're right," Rei admitted. "Sorry for being so quick to judge."
"It's fine," he told her, heading back to his house.