iv. four; reverse
Scrutinizing himself in the tall mirror next to the dresser inside Asuka's guestroom, Judai makes a face as he readjusts the collar of the dress shirt she lent him.
He personally doesn't have a problem with wearing something borrowed from Fubuki, but it never occurred to Judai how skinny he was until he actually tried the shirt on. The shirt isn't abnormally large on him like an actual dress, but it's still a bit more open and loose than his usual black turtleneck or the black t-shirts he used to wear. Being so used to the turtleneck, it feels really weird to suddenly have his collarbone exposed like this. It's so… not him. At least the black slacks aren't so bad in comparison since his normal jeans are a dark gray.
"You look like you just came back from a miserable day at work, nya," comments Daitokuji-sensei, amused. "You're just missing a tie."
A tie? Gah! No. No, no, no. Seems too formal and stiff for him.
"No," he frowns disapprovingly, feeling silly, because does he really look like a depressed office worker dressed like this? Geez, what sort of clothes does Fubuki keep here? Asuka wouldn't tell him why it took her so long to search for these clothes, so he hadn't thought to ask yesterday. It also felt weird sleeping in these last night. He hopes that Asuka's washing machine will hurry up and finish washing his fish-stained clothes already.
"But you'll look nice with it! Distinguished even, nya!"
Pausing with the collar, Judai flatly observes Daitokuji-sensei's own outfit. "If I wanted to cosplay you, then I wouldn't look so miserable, Daitokuji-sensei." Aside from Fubuki, who'd want to wear these?
Looking attacked, his deceased teacher complains, "But I have sharp tastes for a teacher! I used to put in thirty minutes to get everything just right, nya!"
"Thirty…?" he echoes, raising an eyebrow.
"Twenty-five for making sure my hair doesn't have tangles, three for changing into this outfit, and two for the tie." Daitokuji-sensei even uses his fingers to keep count, wagging his hand.
Judai blinks, wondering where Pharaoh is hiding. Maybe Pharaoh would be kind enough to swallow his ex-teacher's spirit this time as a favor for him. "But you don't have to worry about getting dressed anymore now."
"Which means I can always look like this without needing to do anything. Less work, nya!"
He quietly stares at Daitokuji-sensei for about five seconds before shaking his head and exiting the room while continuing to mess with the collar of Fubuki's shirt. He hears wailing in his room, but Judai sees that Asuka is in the hallway near the laundry room, looking oblivious. Maybe it's good that she can't hear or see spirits since Daitokuji-sensei's miserable office worker comments would've made her laugh at him.
Still fidgeting with his collar, the first thing he says is: "Are you sure Fubuki-san won't mind this?"
She smiles. "He won't. I think he would be flattered instead."
Flattered how? Flattered that Judai can't fit into his clothes? Flattered that Judai could apparently pass for a tired office worker in these clothes? "Okay, but did you have to give me these?" he whines, gesturing at himself with his open palms.
Appearing amused, Asuka looks at him, like she's not telling him something. "I don't think you would like the other clothes he left behind here."
If he's being honest, he's not sure if he's brave enough to ask what she means by that since it sounds rather ominous. Instead, Judai plays the safe card by standing at the threshold of her door, rolling up the large sleeves to his elbows. "Why does he even keep these clothes here anyway?"
Unplugging her laptop, she tells him, "Because he stays in the guest room sometimes when he visits. He's family, so I let him leave a few things here just in case."
Family, huh? He wouldn't really know much about that since he's an only child.
Stepping aside to let her walk past him, he follows her to the living room. "Darn," Judai sighs disappointedly. "I was hoping I could leave some things behind too, so I don't have to wear these next time." Maybe if he did, Daitokuji-sensei wouldn't mock him so much.
Plugging in her laptop charger, Asuka sounds like she's considering the idea: "I think there might be a drawer or two empty if you want to do that."
He blinks dumbly, trying to somehow stay on track of this conversation. "You mean you're fine with it?" Looking at her, he arches an eyebrow.
Maybe he said the wrong thing, because she looks offended. "You drop by a lot lately, so why not?"
Well… he lamely thinks, unable to continue the sentence.
Judai just wanted to complain for a bit because he thought he knew her well enough to expect a no for an answer if he brought up the topic of leaving his things behind—but she didn't, and it only made him more self-aware instead. He was never conscious of it before, actually. Is it really significant to note? Does he need to have a reason to visit her?
Besides, he thinks that he's been a witness to enough of Fubuki and Asuka's antics together to have an understanding of how she functions around her brother. All of Fubuki's doting made it clear that he adores her, which she apparently doesn't like and complains about. Judai's first exposure to that side of Fubuki was during the Academy Festival when Asuka got roped into cosplaying as a Harpie Lady and Fubuki took pictures of her before she intensely chased after him. Knowing that, it makes sense to him to imagine Fubuki poking fun at her relentlessly if he ever found Judai's hypothetical things lying around in her apartment. All these signs just made it pretty certain to him that she'd tell him no about leaving his things behind.
But she didn't.
He averts his eyes, still unsure of how to answer her. "I thought you would've said no because you don't like it when Fubuki-san teases you."
"I don't like that," she confirms, turning on her laptop. "But, I wouldn't be a good hostess if you're not comfortable here."
She's willing to put up with possible teasing from Fubuki just for him?
Awkwardly, he replies, "Then… I'll bring extra stuff next time to leave behind." He could've sworn he left a spare shirt or two with Johan a few months ago since his bag couldn't hold Pharaoh, his duel disk, the olive-green jacket, and laptop at the same time. Maybe he can grab the second spare next time he visits Johan so he could leave it with Asuka. Two spares in two places seem more ideal.
Nodding, Asuka seems all right with this idea. She starts typing something while he watches.
Tilting his head, he looks bewildered. Judai remembered to check the date and calendar this time before he came over; he even asked Jim for the date confirmation before he scheduled for his ship to America. She can't still be working, right? "I thought you were on vacation?"
From what he can see, it looks like she's checking her email. "I am, but the teachers all decided to keep in touch so we can exchange lesson plans for the next school year and other school things that would bore you to sleep." She casually resumes typing.
Geez. "I should take offense to this, but it's also very true," he sighs, feigning resignation.
He would say a comment about how school always bored him to sleep, but it might come out as rude since she's a teacher herself. It's hard to ridicule school anymore for that reason, because he knows that Asuka really likes her job. He doesn't want a repeat of last time, honestly. She doesn't ever listen to him when he says that she does too much work!
Once, he commented on her ruthless overworking habit, and she had proceeded to shove a pile of tests at him with a pen before challenging him to grade one test without an answer key to see how it feels. Blanching the moment he read the test contents, Judai promptly gave back the pen and test pile before officially surrendering and vowing to himself to never make her mad again. She victoriously said something about how she has to do this for twenty-or-so other students, and his sympathy and respect for her skyrocketed ever since. (He understood the overworking when he read those test questions, but it's still unhealthy for her. Maybe she should stop trying to use free response questions for less stress intake?)
Based on this traumatic experience, he does not bother to stop her this time from 'working' as he walks back to his room to grab his deck. (Daitokuji-sensei is, miraculously, absent.)
When he comes back into the living room, deck in hand, he opts to go through it on the couch to pass time. Since she's just emailing a few peers, he figures he could kill some time like this until she's done so he can safely watch TV without bothering her. Compared to those test questions, emails aren't as sad and complicated. At most, he is betting for thirty minutes until she's done. Nodding to himself, he settles on the couch behind her and starts making piles with his cards.
However, when he looks up at the clock later, he finds out that an hour passed.
Giving her a quick glance, he goes back to splitting his deck up into more piles. So far, he had been making piles of monsters he would probably want as pets, monsters that would make Amethyst Cat scream if they snuck up on her, and monsters that would look awesome if they were featured in movies. With only his deck on hand, a guy has to entertain himself somehow, y'know. (Yubel enthusiastically volunteered their card for the Amethyst Cat pile, which he had to reject because Johan would be heartbroken.)
Since Asuka finally stops hunching over her laptop, he asks, "Are you done?"
"For now, I am," she responds softly, like she's sleepy. He almost shakes his head, but that's just how Asuka is. Even when she's not at work, she's still tired. She probably wanted to spend time writing a detailed email back to her peers or something.
When Judai doesn't hear any more keyboard-typing noises resuming, he stops messing with his cards and curiously looks down from his spot on the couch. This time, he really does shake his head at her, more fond than actually annoyed. The floor can't be that comfortable while she's sitting up like that. He's napped like this before with his back against trees, and it always aches whenever he awoke. She doesn't even have a pillow. Even he had enough common sense to use his traveling bag as a pillow if he's sleeping outside on the ground.
At least sleep on the empty armchair over there, he thinks while cradling his chin as he watches her nap.
She left her laptop on the home page of her email inbox, which makes him wonder if she trusts him so much that she'd leave her laptop on like this, or if she just simply forgot to lock it before falling asleep. Whatever reason it may be, it's not like he'd go looking through her email anyway. He came here to relax, not go sneaking through her things like some creep.
Gathering his cards, he clears the couch and goes to the kitchen to put his deck on the dining table. Reentering the living room with hands on his hips, he glances between Asuka and the couch for a moment before he bends down to pick her up as gently as he can while she sleeps. Despite the alarming, strong tackle she accidentally gave him from that trout incident, Asuka herself is light. Judai carefully sets her on the couch and makes his way to her room. He doesn't know where she normally keeps her spare blankets since there was never a need to know that, but something is better than nothing, so he figures that she'd sleep more comfortably with her own blanket, especially since the air conditioner is on.
When he opens her bedroom door and flicks on the light, it occurs to him that he hardly ever got to inspect her room before. Sure, he's stepped in here once in a while to give her something or to ask about something, but he never really got to… inspect it. As far as normal goes, her room definitely fits the image: cream walls, semi-messy work desk of papers, dressers, closet, books— Oh, there's the bed. He walks over to the bed, lightly snatching the blue blanket to hang over his arms.
It's when he absently looks at the wall next to her work desk that he stops.
While he knows that she has a corkboard with photos on it, he never really checked to see what sorts of photos they were. Judai sees himself in some of those frames, along with others like Junko, Momoe, Kaiser, Fubuki, Sho, Manjoume, Kenzan, and Rei. There's even a few of Johan, Jim, and O'Brien. The timeframe for all of these photos seem to vary, like she's kept them through the years.
Now that he's thinking about it, does Asuka ever get lonely here? She's never said anything about it at all, but Judai hardly sees her… interacting, for a lack of better words. Or maybe it's because he doesn't really visit her while she's teaching at school, where she's expected to interact?
He never considered it since he didn't want to put himself and Yubel in an environment full of unknown people, so he typically hangs around her apartment or takes walks around her neighborhood. On days where he doesn't visit at all, it's because he can be busy himself, like that one time when he was teamed up with Yugi-san and Yusei-san against Paradox in another dimension. If anything, he would assume that Fubuki visits her often. During a previous time, Judai coincidentally met up with him when he came to visit her just as Fubuki was leaving from her apartment, and Fubuki cheerfully mentioned something about using up his vacation time for Asuka. (Clearly, no matter where Fubuki may be, he's still doting on her.)
Gaze straying, Judai looks at the calendar hung next to the corkboard of photos. There's a sticky note on the fifth day slot, saying that Fubuki will call her on this day. In fact, Asuka's birthday should be really soon, on the fifth of May. That's good, because that's why he's visiting her this time. Since he missed last year, he figures he could drop by this year because O'Brien suggested for him to take a break a while back so that he doesn't burn himself out.
Prying his eyes away from her calendar, he turns the light off and quietly walks back to the living room after closing the door. Upon reaching Asuka at the couch, he gently drapes the blanket over her, a faraway thoughtfulness in his eyes.
To him, this is like any normal visit he gives her. But after seeing these photos of everyone, he can't help but think that maybe these visits mean something to her because it's proof that she's not alone. Judai used to be alone. He would know how it feels. It sucks. It would also suck if Asuka felt the same.
Knowing this, how is he going to make sure that her birthday will be a good one this year? He isn't sure if she even celebrated her birthday last year, but he'd like to make this year a good one for her. Partially to make up for his blunder last year, but also because those photos in her room let him see just how much Asuka treasures her friendships. He can't fill in for Fubuki or someone else that Asuka considers close, but Judai can at least be here for her as her friend. He'd like it if she can be happy while he's here.
Walking away to let her sleep, he sits himself at the dining table to mess around with his deck while entertaining himself with more possible birthday ideas for her. To be honest, he doesn't have much of an idea yet, but he does know one thing.
Asuka's birthday will be a happy one this year. It will.
.
.
Boredly, Yubel deadpans to him, "No."
He pouts, shuffling his deck again. "Why not?" It seemed like a good idea—
"I don't think she'd appreciate a cake shaped like a large Duel Monsters card for her birthday."
Rolling his eyes, he whines softly, "But she's a Duel Monsters teacher! It's perfect!" It took him some time to even think of that, but it's not even a real idea to begin with because he's been getting fed up with his lack of inspiration. His originality must've died at some point. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that it's a bad idea."
Yubel, indeed, calmly looks into his eyes and clearly says, "It's a bad idea."
At the sidelines, Winged Kuriboh squeaks bashfully. Judai doesn't need anymore evidence to know that this is a cruel case of two versus one. Why do spirits always gain solidarity against him? Yubel didn't even need two seconds to say that. Gosh. What do they know about cakes anyway?
Exhaling soothingly, he needs to remind himself that he can't scream because Asuka is still asleep in the living room. "Okay—" Sulking, he starts making two card piles from his deck on the table: spells with spells and traps with traps. "—then what ideas do you have?"
They float next to him, arms crossed. "I don't see why I need to contribute."
"Well, you seem to be contributing a lot already by rejecting all of my ideas," he casually remarks, making another pile for his Neo-Spacian cards. "The least you can do is offer some suggestions too." (Winged Kuriboh looks between the two of them, like something in the room will explode if it makes a single, wrong move. No really, whose side is it on?)
Now it's Yubel's turn to roll their eyes. "You asked for an opinion. I gave you one."
He sighs again. This is an endless loop for him: he offers ideas and Yubel (heartlessly) shoots them down while Winged Kuriboh plays peacemaker-slash-spectator. "You're no help." He would've asked Johan instead because Yubel obviously doesn't understand birthdays, but Johan should be asleep right now because of time zones. If only time zones weren't a concept.
They have the audacity to shrug at him. "She's your friend, not mine."
He pouts strongly. "And by extension, she's also your friend." He lost count of how many minutes had passed while he'd been brainstorming for some birthday ideas. Probably more than forty minutes passed, but he's too lazy right now to check the clock and count. Besides, Yubel is making it hard for him to think anyway.
Sighing, his soul companion comments, "I miss those simpler days where I could just gaze at the stars instead of worrying over trivial things like birthdays." (Winged Kuriboh makes a chiding squeak at Yubel.)
Judai is about to retort something— Then, he pauses.
Gaze at the stars? Stars…
What if he could take her outside to see the stars? He remembers Asuka used to like being outside during night to look out at the ocean or at the sky when they were still back at Duel Academia. Sometimes, they gazed together on the cliffside if they bumped into each other. She even has a balcony in this apartment, so they wouldn't even have to leave to go anywhere if they're stargazing! Would that work for a birthday idea?
Before Yubel could offer anymore of their (bad) two cents, Judai hears: "You're still going through your deck?"
A bit startled, he looks up to see Asuka walking over to the counter where her coffee machine is. He's not sure when she woke up, so he doesn't know if she heard his one-sided conversation with Yubel. Even with just his side of the conversation, she'd know that he's planning something. Well… Trying to plan, if Yubel would just stop sniping down his ideas left and right.
"Well, I couldn't really watch TV while you were asleep," he replies casually, placing Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird's card in the Neo-Spacian pile. Yubel fades back into him by this point while Winged Kuriboh curiously stays out to observe the two of them.
"So you spent the past hour… doing what exactly?" She starts grinding up some coffee beans.
Judai uses his fingers to count each one, placing his cards on the table momentarily. "Talking with Yubel and Winged Kuriboh, and rearranging my cards—" At this point, he starts making it up: "—going over strategies, wondering why Sho wears glasses when his glasses don't even cover his eyes, wondering if Edo even likes colors because all he wears is gray, wondering how Manjoume styles his hair every morning like how he always has it, wondering how Kenzan's dinosaur DNA works, thinking about how SAL the Monkey is doing, and trying to figure out where Pharaoh is hiding." They technically aren't lies since he's actually wondered about all of these at some point of his life. The last one is still very true, though. That sneaky cat.
"How productive. That's a lot of thinking." Asuka doesn't even sound surprised, like Yubel whenever he says something.
Feigning seriousness, he says, "I know. I hardly used my brain this much." Yubel always lets him know that at some point each month. He sets Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab next to Air Hummingbird.
"Anything else happened while I was sleeping?" she asks, scouring in a cupboard.
He contemplatively looks up. "I think your phone went off a while ago." While he and Yubel conversed earlier, he vaguely remembered hearing a notification noise from the living room. Taking the H - Heated Heart spell card for a new pile, Judai tells her, "It was a text—" Abruptly, he beams widely at her because she's scary when he peeks at her stuff. "—which I saw on your lock screen! I didn't touch it!" In fact, he peeked so fast this time that he didn't even see the sender's name at all!
"Okay," Asuka simply says, sipping her coffee after blowing at it.
Okay? His eyebrow raises. "You're not mad?" In a previous visit, he got his hand slapped away when he tried moving her laptop. (Or maybe it was because she had some important report opened up when he did that?)
"Why would I be?" She sips more coffee. "I trust you," she says with a shrug, like it's no big deal.
"...I'm touched," he smiles weakly. (Does she trust others as much as she does for him?)
She sips more coffee, her smile looking more confident than his.
A silence envelopes them.
He quietly goes back to his cards because he can't think about her birthday with her in the room, however he does glance up again when he hears Winged Kuriboh chirp. It looks curious as it floats near Asuka, inspecting her. There's nothing wrong with its curiosity, so Judai is about to mind his own business until Winged Kuriboh sits on her head… like a bird returning to its nest.
Unable to cast away the mental image, he snickers.
Looking a little startled, Asuka eyes him with skepticism. "What?"
Cheeky, Judai gestures to his head with a hand. "Winged Kuriboh is sitting on your head."
She sounds sulky, rinsing her mug at the sink. "I wouldn't know that."
Her reaction is justified, he supposes.
Back at Duel Academia, he used to talk with the spirits of his deck before—sometimes in front of Sho and Kenzan—but that's the thing: Sho and Kenzan didn't know about spirits at the time when he did that, and being in the Dark World gave them a disturbing reality check about spirits. Everyone spent most of their time there being scared or doubtful of what would happen, so it certainly unsettled most of them. Same with Asuka. While his friends generally know about the existence of Duel Monster spirits now, they still can't see them in everyday life like him or Johan or Manjoume, and this is what Judai needs to remind himself whenever he visits.
Normally, he doesn't talk about spirits in front of others since it could rouse up attention, and attention is something he doesn't need because he's pretty easy for trouble to find nowadays. Still, it's a little sad that his friends were mostly exposed to the morally-terrifying spirits and he feels guilty because he's responsible for it. To his knowledge, Asuka's only exposure to spirits had mostly been those kinds too.
Whenever he tells her a story involving spirits, she'd sometimes have this faraway gaze, quietly wondering and imagining. He had explained once that it takes a very strong spiritual bond in order to see them like how he can, and she had nodded in understanding before commenting on how it's much easier said than done. As far as Judai knows, there's no other way to make it happen, unless he takes into account Yubel, who can. That's why their powers are needed for him to summon spirits at will outside of dueling. He seems to be the only person who can do this, as stressed by Darkness, so Judai's aware that he's pretty unique.
Winged Kuriboh seems to like her, so maybe…
Slowly grinning, Judai asks, "Would you like to?" Inside of him, Yubel catches on and sighs, but does not stop him. Good. He was going to resort to compromising next if asking didn't work. "To see Winged Kuriboh, I mean."
Drying her mug with a towel, she looks piqued. "Sure?"
Maybe using his powers to let Asuka be able to see spirits—at least once—would make her happy. He'd rather have her happy when her birthday's so close, or else it wouldn't really be called a 'happy' birthday. Going through his deck, he finds the right card and holds it up. Closing his eyes and reopening them, Yubel's powers flow through within himself briefly. It resonates with Winged Kuriboh's card, pulling its spirit into this dimension temporarily.
"Kuri, kuri?" The spirit blinks at Judai, probably not expecting to be introduced like this to her. Nevertheless, Winged Kuriboh goes along with the flow and lets Asuka lift it off her head.
Interestedly, Judai watches the interaction.
While she's seen Winged Kuriboh before in that other dimension, he never really saw her interact with it because she was too busy with other pressing matters and Winged Kuriboh often went to play with Ruby Carbuncle. Lucky for her, Winged Kuriboh is probably the friendliest little spirit around. Out of the trio between Yubel and Daitokuji-sensei, Winged Kuriboh is the most open and social. Ruby is its playmate, but Winged Kuriboh also enjoys occasionally hanging around humans since it likes making friends. (Johan doesn't mind at all, but Manjoume sometimes calls it a 'furball.') It makes him wonder if Winged Kuriboh takes after Yugi-san—since it used to be his card—or if it takes more after Judai himself in that social aspect.
Winged Kuriboh waves at her for a greeting, appearing bright-eyed. Based on her smile, it must've charmed her. "Hello there, Winged Kuriboh." Asuka pets it on the head, like a puppy or a cat. (Maybe she would've also liked to see Ruby had Johan been here.)
Affectionately, Winged Kuriboh nuzzles her face. "Kuri!"
Judai cannot resist smiling. Even though he already knew that things would turn out all right, this is going much better than he initially thought. "It likes you!"
Fondly, Asuka says, "It's really cute," and softly strokes Winged Kuriboh's head. "I didn't think you'd actually show me it."
"I normally don't do this," he admits, flashing his eyes back to normal. "At most, I summon Neos whenever I'm in a serious pinch." Really, he would think stopping some time-traveling lunatic from destroying Venice and the whole history of Duel Monsters altogether by killing Pegasus would qualify as a serious pinch. (Not to mention, the aforementioned lunatic stole Johan's Rainbow Dragon. That's just solidifying a secure spot in Judai's list of bad people he'd summon Neos on anyway.)
"But…?" she says, coaxing.
With a shrug, he leans back into his chair and drums his fingers on the table. He actually hasn't summoned Neos for a while lately, but that's not his reason though. "But it seemed like you really wanted to see Winged Kuriboh, so I made an exception this time."
"How many people do we know that can see spirits naturally?" Walking over, she sets Winged Kuriboh on the table.
Yubel's power fades away when Judai blinks this time, making Winged Kuriboh look translucent again as it lazily sits on the table. "Johan and Manjoume. I think Edo can see them too. Three."
Her eyes look far away again: not really sad, but also not really happy either. Pensive. In a way, it makes him feel like he and Asuka are in two different worlds, despite being in the same room. She looked pretty happy when she met with Winged Kuriboh. It really seemed as though she wanted to see spirits herself—
Judai immediately stops this train of thoughts, rewinding himself.
See spirits herself…
Wait. That's it.
That could be her birthday present!
The idea still fresh in his head, Judai clumsily rises from his chair and quickly follows her to the living room. "Are there any Duel Monsters from your deck that you really want to see? Like Winged Kuriboh?" If it's going to be her present, then it might as well be a monster that she really likes.
Stopping, she contemplates, "Maybe Cyber Tutu? I'm attached to her." Kneeling down, Asuka starts checking her phone.
He continues standing, trying to make sure he has a plan for tomorrow. It's not perfect, but it's still something to roll with. He just needs the pieces before putting it into action. Nodding to himself, Judai inquires, "Can I borrow Cyber Tutu's card?"
She doesn't bother to hide the suspicion on her face. Gosh, who is he? Fubuki? "What for?"
Giving a hum, he smiles blithely at her, hoping that he looks innocent enough to not be suspected even more since that's supposed to be her brother's role and not his. She tends to lump him and Fubuki together, which Judai finds pretty funny and annoying, depending on his mood. "A surprise for tomorrow!"
Immediately, she only shakes her head in surrender. "I'll go get her..."
Blinking, he's not sure if he should be offended or relieved that it was surprisingly easy to get her consent despite her finding enough exasperation to sigh at him as she stands up to walk to her room. Maybe she already knew he would be persistent? He would've sighed back dramatically to play along—but still, she agreed to it and that matters more! He'd need the extra time to get Cyber Tutu ready anyway, so everything is still working out for him.
I do not get a say in this, do I? Yubel dryly remarks, rhetorical.
Knowing that he needs Yubel's powers to pull this off, Judai puts on his biggest and perkiest grin. Just for today and tomorrow?
They are unamused. Whatever happened to staying lowkey?
He whines, It's been quiet for a while, so I doubt the world is going to coincidentally be in danger tomorrow! The last thing he needs is to believe that Asuka's birthday is cursed. Besides, it'll only be for a few hours.
Fine, sighs Yubel. I'll let you use my powers, as long as you take responsibility for anything that happens. I would rather not be involved with human affairs.
Deal! he agrees, optimistic. They make it sound like the worst will happen. What could go wrong anyway?
Hearing footsteps, Judai brightens up when he sees Asuka walking back with a card in hand. "Thanks!" He happily takes Cyber Tutu. "What are you doing tomorrow, by the way?"
Thoughtfully, she answers, "I was going to meet up with some colleagues for a get-together. They wanted to celebrate the school year ending."
Nodding, he thinks that's fine. If anything, it'll give him more time since it needs to be evening for stars to come out anyway. Besides, he's glad that she's going outside once in a while. Ever since his discovery of those photos in her room, it relieves him to know that she's made some friends within her job. Unlike him, she can't travel and visit everyone whenever she wants—but at least he can come to her occasionally. Sometimes, in passing, she mentions her teacher acquaintances and meeting up outside of work hours, but he can tell that Asuka typically spends her non-working time alone. It makes him wonder if Junko and Momoe are still in Japan, given their loyalty to her.
He points Cyber Tutu's card at her lightheartedly. "That's good because you need a social life, Asuka. Seriously." He won't say that she's a loner because she's obviously not one, nor is she anti-social, but he can't help but feel like this is vaguely familiar to him in a personal sense. "You're always cooped up in here!"
"Well, I live here," she smartly retorts.
Bah. Johan lives in a smaller place than her apartment and he likes being outside a lot. (Then again, Johan isn't a teacher cooped up in a school for five days a week…)
Judai wags Cyber Tutu at her face again. "You live in this neighborhood, but I bet you never went out to see it for yourself, hm?" He sometimes takes walks regardless of who and where he visits, so he feels like he's probably seen more of Asuka's own neighborhood than Asuka herself, given her current silence. He doesn't want to antagonize her, but he singsongs, "Your silence means yes," because he now knows why this feels really familiar to him and it used to be something he did not like for himself. "Hermit."
Type, type, mouse click, type, type, scrolling noises. "Busybody." She still doesn't look up from her laptop. More scrolling noises, type, type, type.
Indignantly, Judai pouts and complains, "Hey, I'm a busybody because I care! We can't have you staying inside 24/7." Because it was how he used to cope.
And maybe that was obvious, because she mutters, "You didn't have a problem with staying inside 24/7 back then either." He doesn't ask what she's referring to, and she doesn't elaborate more than that.
Resignedly, he sighs because she has him cornered. "I know. That's why I don't want to see a repeat of it in others." He stayed inside 24/7 not because he didn't like talking to people. Not because he had something against the world, not because he was being a typical teenager, not because he wanted to. It was because he had to. It was his way to protect everyone after what he did to them. She's one of the people he had been trying to protect, but it apparently only made her angry at him. He could only make one choice, so it's not like he wanted all of that to begin with. "Especially since you seem to have everything planned out for yourself, y'know?"
Unlike him.
For Asuka, everything seemed to work out well for her. Back at Duel Academia, being the student representative for their grade level was a status that exemplifies how hardworking she is.
When Judai dueled against him, Satou revealed that he trapped Asuka in an underground chasm of flooding water, which would end up drowning her completely if Judai lost their duel. Satou had said that Asuka was the only student who even bothered with his classes anymore. Even though she also gave up with his class eventually, as claimed by Satou, it must have taken a lot of willpower for Asuka to give up in a class.
She's always been driven like that: seeking to succeed, no matter how mundane or tedious it may be. She gives people chances. In this perspective, he can't help but look on with admiration. When has Judai ever felt that dedicated himself without something to act as a catalyst? Asuka is hardworking because she wants to be, while Judai can achieve the same thing if something is at stake or if something enforces a type of hardship on him. Asuka has self-drive.
So really, he means it when he says that she seems to have everything planned out for herself. Even if she had been unsure at some point, she has managed to get it together and decide what she needs to prioritize. She has a secure job, consistent way of making income, a roof over her head, cooking skills, responsibility, stability, and structure.
Meanwhile, with Judai? He travels everywhere, always wandering. He's not really dirt-poor since he earns money on the road from occasional duels and such, and he can cook very basic things, and he technically has a roof over his head right now, and it's like a responsibility for him to help spirits or people in need to keep the world safe. While there are some similarities, it goes to show how there's nothing too concrete for Judai like how it is for Asuka. In a sense, he's more free than her—in that wandering aspect of his—but he thinks she has it easier because at least Asuka is normal.
His thoughts jumbled, Judai stands there awkwardly in her living room, unable to find coherent words and sentences—unable to convey himself because it's like they're a part of two different worlds. But if that's the case, then how is he able to relate with her so much?
Jumbled. He feels jumbled.
Looking significantly calmer than him, Asuka gently says, "I appreciate the sentiment. But if you didn't notice, I have been going outside more." He quietly looks at her, mind boggled. "I came along with you when you went fishing, and I enjoyed it." Halting her typing, she shows him a smile. This is a different smile, much more genuine. Much more real. "Sometimes, I think it's just a matter of finding the right company. So… Thank you for that."
For some reason, he freezes.
He knows he got her to admit that she likes fishing before. He knows. It was him who invited her both times when he went fishing. He knows. They're friends, so of course he would try to include her in things and hang out with her, because it would defeat the whole purpose of his visit if he didn't spend time with her. He knows all of this.
So why is it that he can't seem to reply to her genuine 'thank you' this time? Why is it that he froze when she said that it was only a matter of finding the right company? Why? Why?
Quelling this foreign nervousness inside himself, Judai lamely replies, "Well, er— You're welcome?" Rubbing the back of his hair, he briefly wonders if his health is okay. He's probably been cooped up in here too long like her. It wouldn't be good if there were two hermits here. Maybe going back to planning out her birthday surprise would help him feel better. "Call me when dinner's ready," he distractedly says, going back to the kitchen to fetch his deck before walking back to the guest room with a nod to her.
What was that all about? he absently thinks, closing his door and reflecting on the weirdness he felt earlier out there.
Sentimentality, answers Yubel.
Sentimentality… He must be getting too soft or something. Making a defeated face, he goes to place his deck on top of the bed before looking at Cyber Tutu's card in his other hand. Now that both Yubel and Asuka gave him their consent, two steps that he assumed would take long, he actually has loads of time to spare now to make it work.
Cyber Tutu must have sensed that she's in the hands of another person other than Asuka, because her spirit comes out on her own in front of Judai. She blinks at him and tilts her head, her curiosity conspicuous.
He wears a friendly smile. "Would you like to help me with Asuka's birthday tomorrow?"
It only takes a few seconds for her to understand his question, and Cyber Tutu nods enthusiastically after showing a glimpse of recognition in her eyes. Do you have something planned? she asks with telepathy.
When he glances at the window of his room at the darkening sky, he grins at the outline forming in his head. "Yeah!"