Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.
Judai's POV
I ran to the cliffs, wanting to get away from those guys for now. Can you really blame me? I mean, it wasn't like they were ganging up on me about something they were taking and blowing way out of proportion. The ocean had always been a calming place for me, anyway, so the cliffs were the best choice, considering they were less crowded than the beach. I mean, what tourist wants to hike around on a cliff-face when there's a beach? You want to go mountain climbing, you don't go to a tropical island, do you?
As I sat down, Yubel appeared beside me, her arms crossed. She almost looked concerned, which meant she probably was. Gee, I wonder why? It wasn't like I ever gave her any reason to worry about me.
Yeah, that was definite sarcasm.
"Stupid question, but you alright?" she asked.
Yeah, it was a stupid question. "Yeah. I'm fine," I said, keeping all emotion out of my voice.
Yubel looked at me. If anything, she was more concerned now. After a moment, she turned sideways and, sounding more like herself, said, "You know, I was thinking the same thing as those three, Judai. You really shouldn't have been doing that, all things considered."
Great. Now she was lecturing me. What right did she have to lecture anybody about the kinds of things they shouldn't be doing!?
"You, too?" I asked her, annoyed. I mean, seriously, she attacked all of my friends when I was a kid, and she shouldn't have done that, either! Since when was she the Behavior Police?
She gave me her usual attitude when she answered. You know, the attitude that pretty much says I'm the only one stupid enough not to know. "Well, yeah. I mean, everybody knows that, when a girl does that, it means—"
"Yeah, okay," I cut her off, pissed. "Well, maybe I don't care, alright!?"
That startled her. She moved back slightly, her eyes wide. "Judai!"
I didn't care if she was surprised by my outburst. I was sick of holding this in. If I didn't get it off my chest, I felt like I was going to explode!
"Maybe I don't care that Asuka's dating Mr. Perfect Kyle! Maybe I don't care if it's wrong! Maybe I wish he wasn't around so I didn't have to have a constant reminder that I'm a total screw-up and can't do anything right! Okay!?"
Replaced. I'd been replaced in everyone's lives. And it was my own fault, too. Kyle was Sho's new hero, Kyle was with Asuka, Kyle could calm everyone down, Kyle was even keeping everybody together as friends! I'd never been able to do that!
Yubel stared at me, stunned speechless. That was a first for her, I thought. "Wow..."
I took some deep breaths, trying to calm down. I guess that's part of why people say you shouldn't bottle up your feelings. But who would want to hear that I didn't like being replaced by some super-human whose only flaw was he wasn't a great medic?
For a minute, Yubel just stood there, too stunned to speak. Then she, apparently, decided to try and comfort me. Looking both gentle and concerned, she reached for my shoulders as she said, "Hey, it's okay. You're not a total screw-up. I mean, I still like you, and—"
Way to emphasize the word that mattered most in that, Yubel! I wasn't a total screw-up, meaning I was a screw-up.
I cut her off with sarcasm. "Great. I've got a duel spirit that I turned into a vengeful lunatic that miraculously still likes me."
She pulled back, glaring with indignation. Great, I'd insulted her. No wonder I was so easily replaced—I messed up all the time. "H-hey! What's wrong with that!? Is there something wrong with me, is that it!? Well?" she demanded, glaring at me with her hands on her hips.
"No, the problem is I messed up there, too! I screwed up! Like I always do! See!? I'm doing it right now!"
This was more than I could take. I gripped my head in my hands, wondering how many other people I was going to annoy, insult, anger, or disgust before the day was through. I mean, it was barely dawn, and I'd already managed to make four people feel one of those things.
Yubel's expression softened again. "Judai..." she said, sounding upset.
I didn't answer. I was busy trying to calm down. This day was off to a really lousy start. By the end, I'd probably have driven off about half my friends. The last time this many people had gotten upset with me in this short a time, I'd found myself all alone in Dark World.
Yubel put a hand on my shoulder and leaned over it, looking at me. "Hey. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Really," she assured me, a sense of urgency in her tone. What did she think, that I was going to do something stupid, like jump? As if that would help anything. "Look, you didn't screw that one up. I just misunderstood what you said, okay?"
I took a couple more deep breaths, finally calming down some. "...Yeah. Okay."
Yubel's POV
I was holding my breath, which is bad since I don't need to breathe. It should give you an idea of how I was feeling right then. Ever since going to that dumb island, Judai'd had nothing but problems, and they were getting worse with each passing day. First that pure evil princess trapped him, then she kept trying to rape him, then that pair of morons had to show up and force Judai to go to a bar with them, where the stupidest one of all nearly got him killed in a bar fight!
As if that wasn't bad enough, that stupid princess showed up, got that Tenjoin concerned, and he had gotten the brilliant idea to open up every old scar Judai had from high school by inviting all his former friends to help! All that had done so far was get his best friend in so much trouble he couldn't be himself in public anymore, cause him to have to run out on Judai in a time of desperate need or literally die, drive the already crazy Sho even more insane, and bring that hateful wicked witch of an old flame and her too perfect to be human boyfriend to the island. That last one had revealed to Judai that he'd been replaced in everyone's lives by that guy.
And now this. Judai's life was falling apart all around him, and now that witch had caused all of this! I had never seen anything this bad. I was deeply concerned, and Jim, Johan, and Rei had clearly made things even worse! What on earth were they thinking!? After all, he had never reacted that badly to a lecture before, so he must have been seconds away from snapping. And sitting alone on a tall cliff wasn't helping.
I waited for Judai to get a hold of himself before hesitantly asking that dumb question again. "Feeling any better now?"
Regardless of his answer, he'd better not be thinking of doing something stupid.
"Not really..." he said, his head lowered.
I held out a hand, a signal for him to get up, suck it up, and stop acting like a damn fool already. If he even tried jumping, I was going to smack him so hard, his grandkids would feel it. That body would be mine from now on, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. It would be for his own good, after all. "Come on. Let's go watch those idiots build you a house. See if any more tools are dropped on them or something."
Yes, that would be fun to watch. Those crazy friends of his were the worst construction workers I'd ever seen. With them constantly getting in each others way, the professionals constantly breaking up fights and barking orders at them after they screwed up, the utter chaos and confusion their lack of experience caused, and Fubuki, it was a wonder they could make any progress.
For the record, Fubuki was put into his own category because I wouldn't be doing him justice otherwise. He was the worst at this, making all the other amateurs look like pros. He was always dropping things, usually on somebody's head, hand, or foot; falling off things; tripping over cement bags... Yeah, he was hilarious. I'd spent the rest of the previous day watching him fumble one thing after another. After all, regardless of who was doing it, Judai had been in proper care, so I'd had time to relax and enjoy myself.
Everyone could use some stress relief at a time like this. With any luck, Judai would get a kick out of it, too, and stop whatever it was he was doing now. Luckily for me, he responded.
"...Okay," he said, getting to his feet. Then he walked slowly back toward the construction site he had just left, most likely trying to avoid running into those three again right now.
Made sense to me, all things considered. If he ran into them again, he just might try jumping next time. But the crisis was averted for now, at least. Why did he have to be so sensitive?
Asuka's POV
So even Yubel has issues with how sensitive Judai is? Good to know.
Anyway, I was at the villa when Rei came barging in, with Jim in tow. I suppose it's lucky for her that I hadn't gone to the construction site with everyone else. Well, everyone but a few. Besides me, Manjoume and Akiko had stayed behind, and Fuyuko and Haruko had left, but they hadn't gone to the construction site.
But besides all of that, what was Rei even doing here? And why was she so angry? She barged into the villa, yelling like someone had just killed her first-born child or something! I got to my feet, my attention drawn away from Ed's duel on television, and Manjoume's head whipped around to where Rei was shouting from. I'm sorry to say my eyes were practically popping out of my head when I saw Rei. Hey, can you blame me? Rei's another stalker of Judai's, and Jim was coming into the villa with her!
"R-Rei!? What on earth are you doing here!?" I turned my attention to Jim, totally lost, and asked, "Jim!? Care to explain?"
I mean, I knew Jim was out looking for help, but he needed to buy a clue if this was his idea of "help." For many reasons.
Jim sounded awkward and uncomfortable when he answered, "Uh, we brought her here hoping she could become Judai's girlfriend. And, well..."
His girlfriend!? Rei!? That was almost as outrageous as saying he should just give Ai what she wanted!
Before I had a chance to respond to that outrageous statement, though, Rei—Judai's other crazed stalker—got up in my face, glaring at me. "Asuka, what were you doing!?"
I moved back a bit, nervous. Rei was too much like Ai for my liking. What in the world had Jim been thinking, bringing her here? "What are you talking about? I haven't been—"
Rei cut me off, jabbing a finger at me. As you can imagine, I backed up yet again, startled by this. And her words...didn't help. "Oh, yes, you have! And it's dirty, too! What? Still mad about that thing where he left us after all? You lied to him about that one, too, now, didn't you!?"
She had her other hand clenched into a fist and was nearly gritting her teeth. Whatever it was she thought I had done, she was furious about it.
Still, what was she on about? Who ever said that I—Okay, yeah, so I had been a bit hurt by Judai leaving without saying goodbye, but still, who told Rei all of this!? Was she a worse little creep than I thought? Had she also snooped around in Judai's personal business, same as Ai? Or had Jim just told her what he thought had happened? Why'd he tell a creep like Rei something like that? What was he on, crack? And what did Rei mean, "dirty?" I hadn't done anything bad! I mean, not in that way, at least, and the rest had worked out fine, so what was the problem?
"What!?"
Just then Akiko came out of her room, her nose stuffed up. Sho may not have caught a cold with Judai, but he seemed to be carrying it. Some of the others had come down with minor colds the last couple of days, and Akiko had gotten it worst. She was sicker than Judai, and that was saying something since he had needed bed rest the whole day of (even if he didn't stay in bed that day). She'd stayed in bed this morning, so we'd either woken her up or she was feeling a bit better.
Her words told me which it was. She leaned against the wall, crossed her arms, and raised an eyebrow, looking as though all of her attention was focused on the situation, and asked, "Wait, what did you do?"
Rei pointed an accusatory finger at me again, still glaring daggers as she answered, "She slept with Judai, even though we all know she's got a boyfriend!" She put her hands on her hips as if to scold me. Who did she think she was, my mother? "Well, so much for loyalty! What do you have to say for yourself!?"
Well, that was insulting! Honestly, telling everyone I had slept with Judai when that wasn't how it had happened at all! I mean, yes, I slept with him, but not in that way!
"Now, hold up!" I started, trying to defend myself. "That's not—"
Manjoume stood up, looking just as indignant as I felt, but he was glaring at me in disgust. "You what!?" he cut me off. "Man. That's low, Tenjoin! Even for you."
Well, that figured. Everyone was jumping to conclusions that weren't even true and were insulting and hurtful. ...Was this how Judai had felt that day in Dark World?
"But that's not—"
Akiko cut me off this time. It seemed everyone was believing Rei's dumb story. "Geez. Seriously?"
No doubt about it. This had to be how Judai was feeling when everyone he knew ganged up on him! And this misunderstanding was mild, compared to what he went through! I could barely handle this insult to my character, so why had I ever thought Judai could handle worse? He's human, Tenjoin! People can only handle so much! So why, oh why, had you expected something so unnatural of him!? That's what you did that was wrong! This was nothing compared to that!
Uh, sorry. I went off on a bit of a tangent there, didn't I? Well, either way, these guys needed to know the truth, and since I knew they all had a listening complex, I knew I'd have to raise my voice to be heard.
In other words, I slammed my eyes shut in frustration and yelled, "Will you all just shut up!? That's not it at all!"
"Then care to tell us what it is, sheila?" Jim asked, calm as can be.
Well, it was good to see Jim hadn't changed. He was one of our more reasonable friends, always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, even when he had no clue what was going on.
I sighed, crossing my arms. "Okay. So Ai shrunk Judai's territory down so that he couldn't get to a safe place for shelter, so, yes. I took him to my room. I mean, think about it a minute, guys. Ai's after him and will look almost everywhere for him. But she thinks I'm her friend and that I hate him, so she'd never check there. So what better place to hide him than in the last place he's likely to be?"
Manjoume crossed his arms, looking thoughtful. Good, it seemed someone in our little messed up group was finally changing. "Guess that makes sense."
Akiko looked satisfied with my answer, too, so it seemed everyone was fairly reasonable today. Well, everyone except Rei, that is! She was still glaring daggers at me.
"Yeah!?" she demanded. She snapped that accusatory finger at me again, and I was tempted to snap at her. Her words didn't make the desire to bite her finger off any less powerful. "Then why'd you sleep with him after that, huh!? He says you forced him to get in your bed, then lay down with him! Care to explain that, miss Asuka Tenjoin?"
And, with that, Manjoume was outraged and disgusted. Way to go, Rei. He threw his arms over his face, throwing his head back. "Oh, geez! Seriously?"
"Well, that's not exactly how he said it..." Jim said, sweating.
So now Rei was putting words in Judai's mouth. Figures. Not that I didn't already know this. Judai would never say something like that! He always defended his friends...even when they were letting him down... But that aside for now, this situation was getting out of hand. And the Ai twin was getting on my last nerve! How dare she say something like that!
I gave all of them a stern look, my irritation showing clearly. Why did everyone need to keep jumping to such dumb conclusions? "Okay. So I wasn't planning on sleeping on the floor, either, okay? So, yes. I got in bed with him. But we were both fully clothed, and that was the end of it, okay?"
Seriously. That was all that happened! Nothing more than that. Why were my friends so stupid as to believe everything they heard? ...And why had I been that bad at one point, too?
Fortunately that seemed to calm everyone down again. Heck, Manjoume looked a bit relieved. Did he know me at all?
Akiko looked thoughtful. "...Guess that makes sense."
Unfortunately for me, Rei had more to say. And this time, I wasn't even sure how to answer her. She kept glaring at me, unfazed by anything I said. "Ha! A likely story! He said it was to keep him warm! You know, because he was sick? Care to counter that?" she said, putting her hands on her hips.
Shoot! I sweat, suddenly nervous. Rei actually had a point with that one. That was what I'd told Judai, but now I was changing my story... I-I mean, I was thinking all of that at the time...I think...
Either way, my eyes contracted to the size of pinheads as I felt a slight blush cross my face. "Well, yes, that was partly it, but—" I answered quickly—too quickly. It was obvious to me, even, that I was nervous.
Manjoume moved closer to Rei, crossing his arms and giving me a stern look. Could this mess get any worse? "Yeah, sure. Seems you're having trouble keeping your stories straight. What's up with that?"
And, like Rei, he had a point. I was telling different people different things. B-but I had been thinking that all at the time! ...Hadn't I?
I was quickly reaching the point where I was not only nervous but also confused myself. I backed away from the two of them, sweating. "I, uh..."
Rei jabbed a finger at me again, still glaring in a way that would make Darkness sit up and beg. "Ah-hah! So you admit that wasn't really it!"
I didn't know what to say. Both of the things I'd said had been right, so why hadn't I mentioned both of my reasons to either of them? As it was, it was looking like I was keeping my real reason secret! But that wasn't it! I was happy with Kyle! Just because I had two reasons didn't mean I was lying about one, did it?
I was sweating buckets by this point, my face red from embarrassment, but what was I so upset about!? I hadn't done anything wrong! I slammed my eyes shut, cringing under the pressure. "No, I didn't! They're both right, but—"
Rei cut me off, waving an arm through the air as she said, "But nothing! You cheated on Kyle and led Judai on! Fess up!"
I just stood there, nervous and shocked. From the looks of the others, I wasn't the only one, either. Akiko was never highly expressive, but her eyebrows were raised, and she was looking at me as if I were an interesting specimen she'd love to dissect. That was about as close as she usually came to surprise. Manjoume looked horror-struck. Yeah, join the club...
Jim, on the other hand, didn't seems too confused by my actions. In fact, he looked as though he'd expected something along these lines to happen. Well, gee, thanks, Jim! Wish you'd told me about what you thought I was capable of!
I didn't have any answer to Rei's accusation. The more I thought about it, why had I wanted to sleep with Judai so badly? At the time, I had thought it was just to help him, but...I'd wanted to for my own reasons, too.
"...Oh, geez..."
No, no, no! That couldn't be it! I knew better than that! I was a respectful and loyal girlfriend! I wouldn't violate something so valuable as Judai's—What was I thinking!? Kyle was my boyfriend, not Judai! He wasn't that valuable at all! But he was, but—Well, besides, I'm not that kind of girl! I have self control, right?
But then what was I doing that night!?
Akiko seemed more interested the more she watched me, and Jim's expression grew grave, as if I were proving his thoughts right.
Manjoume looked at me in disgust again before slapping a hand over his face and bowing his head. "I don't believe this... Tenjoin-kun. W-what were you—"
No more. I couldn't take anymore! I had to get out of there, now! I needed to be alone so I could sort this whole thing out.
Covering my own face in shame, I ran from the room as fast as I could, saying, "I-I've gotta go! See ya!"
I ran out, probably looking every bit as bad as I felt. There was only one place I knew of that no one would find me, and I was going there immediately to think. After all, what better place to be at a time like this than a secret hideout that even my brother had never found? Don't ask me where it is, though. That will remain my secret until the end of time.
Jim's POV
Well, that was enlightening. I'd had my suspicions before, based on how Tomorrow-Girl and Judai had gotten on back at Duel Academy. Now I knew for a fact—she was cracking onto him back then as much as he had her.
Everything was quiet for a moment after Tomorrow-Girl ran out. Manjoume looked about as lost as Sho when he walked in on the middle of something, even showing a hint of Sho's usual nervousness. Seemed role-reversal was a thing on this trip. First Sho acted like Manjoume, Asuka had just looked a fair bit like Judai back in Dark World, and now Manjoume was acting like Sho. Were any of the rest of us acting like somebody else?
Either way, I seemed to be the only one who wasn't either startled, angry, or intrigued by this. Rei was still furious, and Autumn-Girl looked as though she had just finished watching a ripper movie.
Finally, Rei crossed her arms with a humph. "That's what I thought. Nothing but scum."
Well, clearly Rei was too mad to catch the resemblance to Judai in Tomorrow-Girl's torn-up behavior. She'd looked about as lost as Johan in the middle of that Greek labyrinth.
"Hmm... Seems she doesn't even know what she was doing," Autumn-Girl mused.
Yeah, clearly, she found this whole thing fascinating.
"I'm just going to pretend I never heard about it," I said, deciding to give Tomorrow-Girl a break. After all, the way she was acting, she needed it.
Manjoume snapped his attention to me, looking startled. "Wait. Are you saying she just—"
"I don't care what she did," I cut him off. "It's not my business."
Manjoume stood there for a few more seconds, doing a spiffy impression of Sho in outer space. Finally, he threw his arms up over his head in disgust. There we go, that's more like him! This was the "my friends are all idiots and it exasperates me to no end" attitude he often used. Strange way to show your concern, mate, but what ever works for you. "Oh, geez. Tenjoin-kun."
Rei closed her eyes and said, "Well, anyway. I'm off to try to win Judai! Wish me luck, okay?" She headed for the door, smiling a bit now. At least she'd calmed down some.
"Good luck," I said sincerely. "You'll need it after what just happened..."
Rei looked back over her shoulder and winked at me, still smiling. "Don't worry!" she said with confidence. "I've already figured that one out!"
And she ran out, demonstrating perfectly how sudden mood swings can be.
I wondered how Rei thought she was going to get through to Judai after what we'd just done. After all, he was, these days, easy to upset and difficult to calm down. I wasn't sure if it was lingering issues from Dark World, the stress from this whole situation, or some combination of the two. Either way, I was tired of Judai being difficult, and I hoped Rei was right.
Autumn-Girl raised an eyebrow, staring after Rei.
Manjoume stared after her for a moment, too, before turning a lost look on me and asking, "After what just happened? What'd she do, Jim?"
Crikey, if he didn't stop imitating Sho, I'd have to smack him. Seemed he was worried Rei had done something wrong in the relationship department. Not that he would really have a right to complain about stupidity in relationships, now, would he?
"Well, basically what she was just doing in here. Scolding him for sleeping with Tomorrow-Girl."
"Oh, is that all?" Autumn-Girl asked, heavy on the sarcasm. "Geez. If we keep making him run off upset, we'll solve our problem in the worst possible way."
I didn't say anything, worried she might be right. Manjoume seemed concerned about that, as well. Couldn't say I blamed him. After all, the implication there was clear as day, and I wasn't sure it was entirely impossible, either. Johan had told me a bit about what had happened to bring Jesse into being, and that coupled with other events happening all around made me think it was...if not likely at least something to be wary of. After that phone call I'd had with him, even I'd been worried that something bad would happen. I mean, he'd spit the dummy over me being in Utah with Johan! He didn't have any reason to doubt me, personally, so he was clearly coming unhinged.
Manjoume turned his concerned look on me and asked, "Think one of us should go talk to him?"
"I've been thinking about it," I admitted. "Shouldn't be too hard to find him, what with him being trapped on the beach."
And, without another moment's thought, I set off in search of Judai. I didn't think he was in any real danger, but I wanted to be safe rather than sorry. I'd learned my lesson about leaving him to stew back in Dark World.
Akiko's POV
Damn. You're asking me to wrap this up? Well, there was a lot going through my head right then.
First, Asuka. She'd slept with another man, and even she didn't seem to understand why. What the hell, girl?
Second, Judai. What the hell were people thinking, getting him all worked up? Didn't he have enough to stress about as it was?
And, speaking of stress, did I mention I had a damn cold!? Could they have been any more inconsiderate? How the hell is someone supposed to rest when there's a loud-ass wannabe stalker lecturing people for their faults in the next room!?
Honestly, all things considered, these guys were worse than my brother.
Manjoume stared after Jim for a bit, then crossed his arms and turned to me, still looking concerned. Couldn't blame him. His friends were all messed up. "Sheesh. Think they'll be okay?" he asked me.
"Here's hoping," I answered.
