ix. nine; reverse

"You forgot?" Manjoume's voice deadpans from his phone, face dull. "You forgot," he repeats again, more as a statement than a question. "You forgot."

Judai smiles sheepishly at the screen of his phone, grateful that Manjoume can't hop through the screen to throttle him. "...Yes?"

"You forgot what time and which channel my two hour special was on, even though I plainly told you to your face already."

Some people say that four is an ominous number—signifying 'death' in other countries—and Manjoume pointing out four times that Judai forgot is definitely a bad omen. He shifts on the guest bed. "...Yes?"

"Congratulations, Judai," Manjoume says with obvious, fake enthusiasm. "You unlocked a new level of stupidity that I didn't think was possible! If I weren't holding this phone, I'd be clapping right now!"

He's starting to regret calling Manjoume to let him know that he watched his show. Judai whines, "Oja Manjoume shouldn't say things like that! What would your fans think? Think of the kids!"

"There aren't any kids here," Manjoume scoffs, but he pauses. "Unless I count the one I'm talking to right now. He's a… special case."

"Hey!" He tries to give Manjoume a dark look.

All he gets in return is a shrug. Alright, Judai needs to work on his dark looks more— "Maybe if your memory wasn't already reaching an elderly man's level, I'd take you more seriously." Judai rolls his eyes. "I'm older than you anyway, so you'll always be a kid, I guess."

He doesn't like that smug smirk. "Only by thirty days," mutters Judai. Idly, he looks at the background behind Manjoume, observing the neatness of the bedroom. "Are you in Germany already?"

Manjoume tilts his phone camera to show off his neatly-made bed and unpacked suitcases, and says in his matter-of-factly voice, "Finished unpacking yesterday. Don't underestimate the speed of jets employed by the Manjoume family. Besides, I wouldn't be Thunder if I weren't fast, y'know." As Judai nods, his friend inspects him in return. "What happened to your chin, by the way?"

"Hm?" Brushing a finger against the band-aid, Judai laughs in realization. In the midst of everything, his chin bruise slipped his mind. He'll have to take off the band-aid later today since the pain had greatly dulled by now. Good thing Asuka placed it on him in an angle that hides the band-aid unless he tilts his head up. "I slipped."

Piqued, Manjoume raises an eyebrow. "On what?"

"The floor." He looks down, embarrassed. "Asuka was mopping."

Manjoume openly snorts. "Since you're being an idiot, like usual, I'm guessing things are okay again?"

Softly, he smiles. "Yeah."

Evident in his eyes, it's apparently all that Manjoume needed to know. "You're stupid to slip."

Patiently, Judai responds, "I know."

"You don't think things through."

"I know."

"You can be insensitive."

"I know."

Pause.

Manjoume's stare is careful. "You rejected her."

There is no pause as he says, "I know."

"You probably made her cry."

"Probably," he agrees, simply.

Studying him, Manjoume starts wearing a small smile. To Judai, it looks a little sad and tired. "You like her."

Judai smiles back with an apology. "Yeah."

Exhaling slowly, his long-time friend looks away and says, "It's always you somehow."

Not entirely sure what that means, Judai puts his hand behind his neck. That sounded like a personal thing, and he knows he shouldn't tread on it. He likes joking about it, but on a serious note, he does know that Manjoume has feelings of his own. He thought Manjoume would be angry at him, but that's the old Manjoume he was thinking of. In fact, the whole topic of Asuka should be sensitive around him, but he is only proving to Judai that he definitely did do some growing up in order to have this conversation right now.

Shaking his head, Manjoume points at him across the screen threateningly, "I won't forgive you if you act like a dumbass again, Judai! Y'hear me? Unforgivable!"

He softens his eyes, aware that it means something else. "I hear you."

"If you do, I'll sucker-punch you as Oja Manjoume."

He laughs, lighthearted and sincere. "Right, Thunder."

"I'll do it on stage, right in front of the kids."

"Wow." Judai feigns fascination.

"On live camera."

"Evil," he simply comments, amused.

"I'll have my cameraman take a picture of it, and I'll send a copy to Tenjoin-kun as a gift so that she remembers who's the big idiot she has to deal with all the time. In fact, maybe I'll personally invite her to be there in person so she can see the black eye I'll give you!"

Sparing Manjoume's feelings, he plays along once more, pretending to be mortified. "No."

"Yes." Nodding, Manjoume flickers a look at his window. "Now that we have that established, I'm going to bed." He squints his eyes warningly one last time. "And for future reference, my next show will also be on the same channel. I don't trust your brain, so I'll text you if I can get a time confirmation for the airing whenever filming is done."

Rolling his eyes and nodding as Manjoume ends the video call, he inwardly thanks his friend for lasting bravely as long as he did. He really is a good guy, no matter how much Manjoume tries to deny it for his image. Although… He was probably super serious about that sucker-punch. Oh well. Judai can handle a sucker-punch and a black eye if it means Manjoume will feel better.

Putting his phone away, Judai decides to go to the living room to see if he can look at the TV guide for any sort of entertainment. He brings his deck box with him in case the commercials bore him.

But when he exits his room to walk down the hallway, he hears, "You said you took plenty of photos when you took them out on a school trip two months ago." That's Asuka's voice.

Stopping, Judai raises an eyebrow at her door. It's not fully closed, just opened by a crack.

Another voice speaks up, sounding rather familiar to him: "That's right, I did! We went to Kyoto—they all adored the deers! I have a lot of other photos, so I sort of forgot about it."

A third voice: "Other photos?"

He leans closer to the crack of the door, prying it open a little bit more to take a peek. If he's correct, those voices are…

"I also kept the photos we took in our last year back at Duel Academia. I asked Rei-chan for copies of pictures with us in them, and also the ones from the graduation party since I wanted some memories to keep with me. I keep them all in here!"

He sees… Momoe smile brightly? Graduation party? Gosh, how long has it been since he's seen Junko and Momoe? Those two are in Japan, right? He knows the time zone from here to Germany was already pretty late for him and Manjoume, but America and Japan? That's even further apart!

With her back towards him, Asuka remains oblivious to his presence as she suggests, "We could go through them today. It would be a nice trip down memory lane."

Quietly, Judai parts the door open to lean against the frame and observe with great interest. He hasn't seen her talk with Junko and Momoe for so long that he can't help but watch. Not to mention, the conversation is starting to make him nostalgic.

Junko is the first to see him, doing a fast double-take without Asuka noticing, but she oddly does not comment on his appearance. Momoe does the same, taking a quick glance at him and looking stupefied for a moment. Junko blinks before composing herself quickly. "Momoe, did you also keep the pictures of Asuka in that dress?"

That dress? he echoes, tilting his head. She wore a dress?

Asuka chokes on her coffee as Momoe cheerfully lifts up some photos. "Of course, I did! They're right here! Dressed like a true queen, wouldn't you say, Junko?"

"Stop…" murmurs Asuka, sounding highly embarrassed.

When Junko and Momoe both look at him again as she stays distracted, Judai casually smiles, lifting up his finger to his mouth. He hopes the wink he gives them will relay the message to play along. They seem savvy enough to understand it, giving him amused nods before sharing a shrug and a why-not look.

"But Asuka-sama," Junko teases, trying to have her fun. "You look like the belle of the ball there. If it weren't for your brother, then we wouldn't have seen this!"

He doesn't really know what dress she's referring to, but he can't deny that he's piqued. He tries to squint at the photo from his spot by the door, but part of Asuka's hair is blocking his line of sight.

"Ah, Fubuki-sama!" Geez, it's been so long that he forgets Momoe is loud at squealing. "He was dressed as the prince! Personally, I think he could be a king! You two would be the perfect royal sibling duo. The photos say it all, Asuka-sama!"

Asuka sighs, trapped. "Stop exaggerating. He was just being dramatic and wanted me to go along with it."

Gently, Momoe smiles. "Still, though. You looked beautiful in these. Do you still have the dress?"

"I gave it back to Nii-san." Sipping more coffee, Asuka adds, "I never want to wear it or see it again."

Judai shakes his head disappointedly. Oh boo, there goes his chance to see it himself—

For some reason, Junko looks at him over Asuka's shoulder before regarding her. He quietly returns the look with an arched eyebrow, head tilting. "That's too bad. I'm sure there are others who haven't seen you in that dress and would love to see you wear it."

"No there isn't," denies Asuka, making Judai perk because he finally understands what Junko is doing. All right, he'll ride with it.

"Yes there is."

He stifles a laugh behind his fist at the insistence, folding an arm at his chest. Momoe looks like she's torn between telling Asuka about him or playing along some more, so she seemingly plays middle man by sitting and smiling amusedly.

"No there isn't."

"Yes there is." Junko ups her volume dramatically: "Isn't that right, Judai?"

Despite his cover being blown, that laughter finally lets out when he sees Asuka slam her mug down on her desk, his shoulders quaking. Turning her chair around, she sends him an aggravated glare, which would normally look threatening on any other day, but today's not any other day. With one last laugh, he positively beams at the three girls with a friendly wave of his hand. "Right, Junko!"

Asuka sinks into her chair, like humanity has lost reasons to give her hope. Man, he's never seen someone so passionate about a dress before. She asks her friends flatly, "Why didn't you two tell me?" Before anyone can say anything, she turns to him and doesn't let him off the hook either. "And when did you come in?"

Junko looks like she's hiding her giggles behind her bagel whilst Momoe tries to play peacemaker, "We couldn't find the right time to tell you."

Judai decides to spare her half the trouble of explaining things, cutting in with a merry: "And I got curious when I passed by and heard you talking about Fubuki-san placing Asuka in a dress that I never remembered her wearing!"

Freely walking into the room, he stops at her desk and fixes his eyes on the photo in Momoe's hands, who welcomingly lifts the photo up for him. Smiling his thanks, he notes the white ruffles accented on the dress— Oh, is the dress red? Red? It seems to be a cooler shade of red, but he never bothered to memorize all the variations. Seeing Asuka in red… Strange, but in a good way.

She's smiling in this photo. Her smile looks embarrassed, but it also looks like she's having a good time. He wasn't there for this; he couldn't see this smile, but deep down, he also has no regrets either. It was important for him to do what he did that night—it was something he decided for himself. He wanted to be free, he wanted to move on, he wanted to help the world, he wanted to help spirits. He couldn't have stayed then.

But now, he stays more than he thought he could. He's not sure how he feels about that.

Nevertheless, he smiles because he's glad that she has some happy memories stored in these photos. "They're right, though. You look good in it."

"I said she was beautiful in it," Momoe unnecessarily corrects him with a giggle.

As Junko nibbles on her bagel, she apparently mocks his vocabulary, "And I said she was the belle of the ball. You just said good." Her eyes closing, she talks with some dramatic flair reminiscent of Fubuki: "I would think that Asuka-sama is more than just good."

Judai rolls his eyes, unable to determine who among the two girls is the lesser of the two evils. Junko and Momoe seemed pretty equal to him when he talked with them at school on occasions, but now he's leaning more towards Momoe. At least Momoe doesn't mock his vocabulary. Teachers these days. "Fine. Pretty."

This seems to satisfy Momoe. "Much better! If I were there with you, I'd give you copies!"

"I'd take them and frame them!" he chirps, cradling his chin for the fun of it.

"Hang them in the living room so she can see them everyday! Make a collage!"

He raises an intrigued eyebrow at Junko's (evil) suggestion, nodding thoughtfully. Asuka would probably kick him if he tried, but there is some funny potential in the idea. Maybe if he hung the photos high enough where she can't reach with a stool—

Something grabs his shirt from behind, dragging him backwards. Stumbling a little, he widens his eyes the moment he is dragged past Asuka's empty chair as Junko and Momoe watch in fascination from her unattended laptop. It pieces altogether in his head quickly.

"Not again!" he helplessly wails, feeling uncool and lame as he gets dragged off to his doom.

It was bad enough that she managed to lift him up in front of Rei and Rei took lots of pictures of the offending scene that pierced right through his male pride, so he really doesn't need a repeat of it again. Sure he's taller than her now, but she can still drag him. Case in point currently happening! Having witnesses around to seeing Asuka drag him by the shirt isn't really an appealing idea, even if he has feelings for her now. Especially if the aforementioned witnesses this time are her close friends, because he knows where their loyalty ultimately lies. Gah! He's just outnumbered no matter what!

Momoe pleasantly waves goodbye at him, and Junko doesn't bother to hide her amusement as she does the same. That's the last he sees of them as Asuka pushes him through her door, him standing in the hallway while she faces him seriously.

"Stay out," she sternly instructs, like he's in time-out.

Rolling his eyes, he complains, "You're not being a good roommate right now." Osiris, this is what he gets for calling her pretty and joking around? It was originally Junko's idea, so he was never even going to hang up those hypothetical photos on her walls in the first place—

She slams the door on him, and the click of her lock sounds ghastly loud in this silence. Judai stares in disbelief.

Wow.

A ball of light floats up to him. "Judai-kun, it's never smart to annoy a girl like that, nya."

Casually dusting off his turtleneck, he resumes his journey to the living room and sits on the couch. "I wasn't annoying her." He takes the remote and quickly lowers the volume after turning on the TV. "I was joking around." Studying the remote, he clicks on the button that brings up the guide with the airing times for upcoming shows.

"Mhm," Daitokuji-sensei hums, trailing, like he doesn't believe Judai at all. How supportive.

Scrolling through the guide list, he's a little disappointed that there's nothing interesting today to watch. There are some duel tournaments listed for later, but he feels like he saw them before. You'd think there would be more things to watch during summer because of summer vacation. He flips through other channels, wondering if there are any cartoons on instead.

"You could go fishing," Yubel suggests.

"Yesterday tired me out," he says, languid.

"Ah," they calmly say, considering it. "Yes, it must have been tiring to hold hands."

Judai immediately drops the TV remote on the couch with wide eyes while Daitokuji-sensei materializes into human form.

"Nya?!" Looking flabbergasted, the deceased teacher looks frantically between Judai and Yubel. "Hold hands?! What did I miss, nya?!"

Instead of answering, Judai gives his spirit companion a flat, tired look after seeing Daitokuji-sensei's reaction.

Arms crossed, Yubel lazily floats in the air, lounging around. "Oops."

That did not sound apologetic at all.

Eyebrow twitching, he sighs and unlatches his deck box from his pants, prying it open for his deck. Soothingly, he shuffles it. As he does so, his spirit partner and teacher are muttering on the side, mainly Yubel stringing Daitokuji-sensei along for some sort of entertainment. Strange how those two interact, but Daitokuji-sensei never feared Yubel seriously, given his real identity and past experiences prior to his death. Judai's fine with them interacting like this, but two spirits versus one guy is just so unfair in trying times like these. See? Always outnumbered.

Probably sensing the chaos, Winged Kuriboh appears by his side, like a puppy. Weary, Judai shares a look with it before petting its head. It may not feel it physically, but the sentiment is there. "At least you're still on my side, right?"

"Kuri!" it chirps, looking happy as it perches on the empty cushion next to him.

He smiles at Winged Kuriboh before tending to Pharaoh, who crawled near him moments ago. It's been a while since everyone came out like this, in Asuka's living room no less, so he's thankful that she can't see or hear them except Pharaoh, especially Daitokuji-sensei right now. Obviously, peace is not a concept today. Well, for him at least. Judai sits back up after patting Pharaoh's back.

"Nya! You really won't tell me, Yubel-san?!"

A scoff. "I've said all I needed to say."

Focus on the TV.

Daitokuji-sensei flails, and Judai adamantly tries to put all of his attention onto the TV despite not knowing which channel he landed on. "But 'hold hands' is just too suspenseful, nya!"

"Because it's all that happened," shrugs Yubel.

Focus on the TV, and not on Winged Kuriboh's gaze of pity.

"How disappointing, nya…" Daitokuji-sensei sighs loudly. "Poor Asuka-san."

Focus on the TV— "I'm right here," Judai reminds everyone, strained.

"Oh, you were? I couldn't tell from the way you were intensely ignoring us, nya!" his ex-teacher cheerfully replies.

No, I'm just intensely ignoring you! he bemoans inwardly. "How come you're so interested anyway, Daitokuji-sensei?" He can't believe he's even having this conversation with his teacher. His dead, cat-obsessed teacher. (Yubel quietly lets them talk, floating with Winged Kuriboh by their side.)

Daitokuji-sensei wears a broad smile, looking at him. "Well, only you seem to know that I'm still around, and I've already been sticking around you for a while now, Judai-kun. You asked me a while back if I should've been looking for a way to pass on peacefully, but I'm comfortable like this, nya." There is something soft in the way Daitokuji-sensei looks at him, despite his eyes being closed. "You're like a son to me." Judai's eyes widen. "Is it wrong for me to be excited for you, nya? Especially when it seems like things are looking up for you."

A son, huh? He wonders if his father is doing okay at home with his mother—wonders if they miss him anymore, wonders if they still think about him, wonders if they kept his old room and old belongings even if some of those things are junk by now. He wonders how long it's been since he last had a talk with someone he calls 'father.' He wonders how it's possible for himself to feel like this because of one simple comment.

Feeling unbelievably happy, Judai averts his eyes and quietly looks at his hands. "I guess that's not wrong," he murmurs, finger at his cheek.

"Right, nya," Daitokuji-sensei hums lightheartedly. "I'm free to support you. I'm not saying this as your former teacher, I'm just saying this because I want to, nya."

Quietly, he smiles. "I see."

"Moving on to be happy, and to be happy moving on. You can't have one without the other if you want to reach for that, nya," Daitokuji-sensei recites, finger in the air. "I've seen your progress through the years, you know. So, let me cheer you on a little longer, 'kay?" Judai's about to nod to that— "This also extends to your love life, nya! From what little I've heard today, heavens know you need cheering!"

Had he been drinking anything right now, Asuka's TV probably would've been covered in it.

His former-teacher-slash-undefined-surrogate-father bursts laughing with some tears in his eyes at his flabbergasted reaction, making Judai apprehensively wonder if that whole moving speech was made just so it could lead up to this very moment for him to be laughed at. That'd be even more evil than Manjoume sucker-punching him as Oja Manjoume in front of kids on camera. It honestly wouldn't be the first time Daitokuji-sensei pulled a prank on him either. (Yubel shakes their head and Winged Kuriboh weaky chirps, but neither attempts to step in.)

After turning off the TV, Judai stands up and marches himself to the kitchen and grabs a banana off the counter before attempting to head back to his room. As he walks down the hallway, he expertly ignores the wailing ("I made him mad at me, nya!") in the living room. Geez, is this what it feels like to have a father figure around, or is he just a special case for everything?

Just as he's about to walk past Asuka's bedroom, he hears a high-pitched squeal and wonders if he imagined it. Asuka obviously doesn't squeal often, so he really only has two suspects right now, both sharing equal chances of being the squealer. Shaking his head, he's about to walk on to leave the girls alone to whatever-they're-squealing-about and entertain himself as he snacks on his banana, but what Judai hears next stops him: "Falling in love is wonderful, like looking at shooting stars!"

Blinking, he remains standing outside, puzzled.

This next voice is Junko: "Enlighten us."

"Stars are always in the sky—" That's Momoe. "—so people sometimes don't pay attention to them since they're always there. No matter what, they're still going to be there. Not shooting stars, though." Leaning himself against the wall, Judai absently twirls the banana in his hands as he listens. "A shooting star flies by super quickly and you might miss it if you didn't pay attention to it—but when you do see one, it's like being in a dream. They're a once-in-lifetime sort of thing, so you need to put in extra effort if you want to see them. Everything happens so fast. When that shooting star flies past you, it'll take a long time for it to come back—so it's important that you don't miss it if you want to see it."

Huh…

He knows that stargazing was something he— Haou and Yubel liked doing back then, but he never really thought of it that way. They saw more normal stars than shooting stars, sorta like that night on Asuka's birthday. Judai himself hardly sees shooting stars, but he might've seen some by pure coincidence when he's traveling outside at night, so he'll agree with Momoe that seeing one is like being in a dream. They're not something he'd wish to see, but it's nice when he does see them by chance.

"I think you need to lay off the romance novels and films for a while," Junko says, sounding exasperated. "But I guess I see your point, no matter how terribly cheesy that was."

Momoe defends, "It's not that cheesy! Is it…?" (Sorry Momoe, but he's with Junko on this one.)

Junko lets out a sigh. "Anyway, Asuka. If you ever find yourself struggling about it, don't forget what you said during graduation. If we're ever in trouble, it helps to remember everything we've been through; let your bonds guide you." He can vividly recall those words during Asuka's graduation speech. "It's one thing to fall in love, but it's also another thing to act on those feelings. We can't read minds, so remember to be patient. I won't ask what happened, but Momoe is right in a sense. Be patient, but don't miss your opportunities."

Be patient… Don't miss your opportunities…? Fall in love?

What are they discussing in Asuka's room?

Wait.

It… couldn't be him, right…?

No, no. Judai shakes his head vigorously and stops leaning against the wall to enter his room right across Asuka's room, shutting his door softly. That sounded like a private conversation. He only overheard because of Momoe's squealing that would make any squealer proud. Not because it seemed weird to discuss love and stars in Asuka's apartment when these very two things had something to do with him this whole week in passing. He doesn't even know what girls normally discuss by themselves, so this is probably just a big coincidence.

No, he's not curious at all. He isn't. No.

Nope.

"Yes, you are," Yubel sighs gravely, tired of him and his thoughts.

Feigning nonchalance, Judai flings himself to the bed and sinks his head on the blankets, his banana resting next to him like a fellow silent comrade. "What happened to Daitokuji-sensei?"

Yubel knows this is a hook, line, and sinker to change topics. "He's moping inside the cat's belly again."

"Good for him," he replies distractedly, staring at the ceiling.

They give him a flat stare. "He bemoaned some nonsense about how he'll never be able to grow old peacefully with the cat."

"That's nice." Judai sits up and starts peeling the banana.

"He uttered something about how parenthood is difficult because of you."

He has half a mind to roll his eyes as he chews on his snack. And to think, he was actually happy about having a surrogate father a few minutes ago. He'll never understand Daitokuji-sensei, and that's saying something coming from Judai. Swallowing, he complains, "Well, he's not really making it easy."

"I believe the saying goes: pot calls the kettle black," Yubel muses, and he does not like the implication it gives him.

Indignant, he takes a bigger bite of the banana. "Where did you hear that from?"

"From the one constantly dressed in black," they casually say, like it's all that's needed to define Manjoume's whole existence.

His head shakes. Judai has to keep track of all the strange monikers Yubel comes up with for his friends most of the time, always feeling a little sorry for everyone. "Will you ever use their names?" he asks, rhetorical.

"Only when they matter," comes the ambiguous reply.

"My friends matter," he mutters, half-finished with his banana.

"To you, they do." Yubel surveys the room quietly. "Those are connections that I have no part in."

He hums lightly, "My friends are your friends." As they grimace, he smiles. "Aw, c'mon. They're all nice!" Judai pauses. "Okay, maybe not Manjoume, but he's nice on the inside! There's gotta be someone among them that you, at least, tolerate." He actually knows Yubel's preferences already, but he wants to hear it. It'd be nice if Yubel can, at least, think of his friends in a semi-positive light. He's a little tired of hearing descriptions than actual names. For example, Johan is not a fool or ant, Jim isn't a roach, and Sho isn't a pipsqueak.

"I'm starting to sympathize with your teacher," they grouse, clicking their tongue. "You were always this troublesome, even when I helped raise you."

"They do say kids take after who raised them—" Judai feigns contemplation. "—so, I guess you can thank yourself for that." He's pretty sure his humor and fishing hobby came from his father in this current life while his niceness and fondness of food came from his mother, but Yubel gave him a feel of friendship and safety as he grew up. "But that's not the main topic right now." Deviously smiling, he annoyingly adds, "C'mon say one name of someone you tolerate."

Knowing it's a losing fight, Yubel sighs. "Asuka."

Appeased, he nods approvingly and inquires, "Why her?"

He gets stared at. "She seems to matter more to you."

Judai knows better than to lie to Yubel who can sense his soul. "I guess she does." He smiles.

It's peacefully quiet until: "You should dispose of that."

Blinking, he looks at the banana peel he's holding. If he walks out to toss it away now, who knows what else he might end up overhearing from Asuka's room. It's bad enough that he overheard once. (No, still not curious...) Maybe he'll just entertain himself with his laptop instead. He hardly ever uses it unless it's to access the database managed by Manjoume's family or for saving-the-world occasions.

"I'll do it later," he decides, lifting up the empty peel for emphasis. "Not really peeling like it right now. Get it?"

He erupts with snickering as Yubel miserably puts a claw over their face.

.

.

His laptop died, Yubel got tired of his jokes, he's not in the mood for fishing, and it was already established earlier that there's nothing on TV right now. He even came out of his room to toss out the banana peel just in case it attracts ants, covering his ears when he walked past Asuka's room.

He's bored.

So, after about three hours, Judai hopes that Junko and Momoe have gone to bed as he knocks on the door across from him. "I don't hear talking anymore, so is the coast clear yet or did you decide to ban me?"

He waits for a few seconds. Then: "No, you're not banned. The door is unlocked now."

Bravely, he opens the door. "Still mad?"

Asuka is reading as he walks in. "No. State your purpose or leave," she says, in a joking way, looking like she has better things to do.

Falling backwards, he flops onto her bed. It's almost the same softness as the guest bed. "I can't just come in for no reason?" Arms folded behind his head, he recalls today's events. "I need a break. I've been playing by myself for a while and there's nothing on TV right now, and I'm bored! Yubel keeps shooting down my jokes and Pharaoh is too lazy to do anything. You're my last hope, Asuka."

"What am I supposed to do?"

He ponders suggesting that they should use her laptop to browse through funny blooper videos cut from official dueling tournaments since he was doing that before his laptop died, but thinking about dueling makes him light up. "Duel with me! You can even use that new Cyber Tutubon card you bought!"

She doesn't even look enthusiastic about it. "Hm, do I continue reading in peace or do I let you demand me to duel you like a barbarian?"

Barbarian?! He collapses back down and hopes he can pass off as miserable. "Not you too! Asuka, you disappoint me!" Sitting up again, he leans his back against the wall and takes out his deck, the final resort. "Fine, I'll just organize my deck on your bed."

"Go ahead," Asuka smiles, serene.

As he lays out cards on her blanket, Judai pretends that he does not see the corkboard on the wall next to her desk because it strangely makes him sad. It looks exactly as it did when he first inspected it several days ago: same pictures, same occasions captured, same faces, same everything. Same everything he did not see himself. They aren't his pictures, but it makes him feel a little lonely, like he's starting to become far away from everyone.

But that's a silly thought, because he's right here.

Quietly, he eyes the empty spot next to him on the bed and then looks at Asuka hunched over her desk, back to reading. Of all the people, he chooses to stay with her. It makes sense—she's the third person he's befriended at Duel Academia, the third person whom he's known the longest. Sho has Kaiser with him, Misawa is staying behind with Tania, and Asuka is here by herself. Judai doesn't know where he is right now, but maybe Fubuki wouldn't mind it if someone stepped in to be a presence for Asuka like Kaiser and Tania.

Well, Judai's here.

He could fill that role while he's still around.

She became his pillar when Johan wasn't around as they talked at the lake that day, so Judai thinks he can do the same for her. That way, it wouldn't be so lonely. Because loneliness sucks. She's lonely because she's trying to carve out her life in a brand new country, while he was lonely because he was being alienated. He doesn't have much of a future like her—at least, not one with a working career—but it gives him something to relate to with her on a better level than he did with Sho or Misawa. Sho always depended on him too much while Misawa's scientific interests kept Judai from relating too much with him. He understands Asuka more.

Maybe this is why he wants to stay?

"Asuka," Judai wills a smile on his face and says, "sit here." Looking startled, she abandons her reading to give him a stare. Grinning, he pats the spot on the bed welcomingly. "It's more comfortable than a chair over here."

"Why?"

He won't tell her, but it'd be less lonely if she sat here next to him. Another part of him wonders if her neck is ever strained since she reads often; he's not ignorant to her sitting posture when she's deep in work either. Hunchback.

With his best joking tone, he suggests, "Roommate bonding time?"

Looking amused, she finally indulges him: "You say it like it's a game."

A game… He'll roll with it. "Hm, alright. Roommate Bonding Time is a game where I convince you to sit on the bed because it's bad for you to keep leaning your neck down like that." Easily, he feigns looking disappointed at her book, wearing the same look that he has for scolding Pharaoh after scratching up his jackets. "So far, I'm not doing so good."

She also plays along, "Even though you invented this game?"

"I can't help it if you're bad at this game, Asuka," he replies, gravely.

She shakes her head. "Well, I wasn't aware we were playing a game to begin with, Judai." When he's about to smartly retort that she gave him the idea to make it a game, Asuka starts standing up from her chair. Mildly stunned, he lets her walk to the bed and lets her occupy the empty spot he'd gestured to. "Happy?"

Raising an eyebrow, he scoots to inspect her book and distastefully narrows his eyes. The tiny words and letters are back. "No, because you're still leaning and reading!" he whines, rolling his eyes. He's surprised that she doesn't need glasses or anything.

"Then what should I do? It's pretty late to do anything." He opens his mouth— "I'm not really in the mood to duel either," she knowingly denies, making him sulk.

With enough theatrics that would make Fubuki proud of him, Judai sighs resignedly. "Fine, keep reading. One of these days, I'll be able to tell you an I-told-you-so and call you Hunchback."

All she does is roll her eyes before going back to her book. He sulks and goes back to his cards.

'Pretty late to do anything,' he mockingly quotes Hunchback Girl. Bah! Sometimes, they dueled until dinner time!

Pouting, he wonders how late it really is for her to turn it down. Both sitting in the silence, he takes note that Asuka seems to look more relaxed than earlier. Maybe her talk with Junko and Momoe was all that was needed to cheer her up lately. Seeing familiar faces always cheers him up, in a pleasant way. He never knew the whole conversation the girls had earlier, but at least it seems to have given Asuka a peace of mind. Judai never really knew how tight those three are, so it's nice to know that Junko and Momoe are reliable. They deserve gold stars or something.

It makes him think of a joke, so he lightens the mood by saying, "By the way." Languidly, he grins and starts taking more cards from his pile into his hand. "Thanks for being such a star!"

She looks bewildered, but it takes her only a few seconds to understand it: "You heard?"

He leans away at the sound of her tone, nervously smiling. "I only heard the part about the stars because I walked past your room to grab a snack. It really did sound cheesy." Mentally, he apologizes to Momoe.

For some reason, Asuka starts sulking, looking disgruntled and embarrassed. "Roommates don't eavesdrop."

"Well, in my defense, Momoe wasn't really being quiet!" Judai complains, feeling wrongly blamed. (Despite being put in hot water, he sends another mental apology to Momoe.)

She refuses to answer him, so he gives her a look when he sees her sulking again. It's all he really needs to confirm his earlier curiosity. If she's this sulky over it in front of him, then maybe it's not too much of a stretch to say that the girls really did talk about him, no matter how much he wants to think otherwise. He talked about her too, to Manjoume, so they're technically even.

He softens, tapping her head with a card. She gets another gold star for overreacting. "Y'know, the sky would look pretty plain without you there."

She tilts her head until she looks at the ceiling. "It would be plain without you too."

His hand twitches and he stops for a moment, unable to respond. That sentence seems to stir something in him. It was plainly stated, but it sounds honest and it makes him feel welcomed.

She did this to him a few times: she laid the truth down on him and didn't mince her words, no matter how sad or angry she became. He could never forget how hard she tried to snap him out of his funk during that tag duel. She was fed up, she was angry, she was frustrated—she was being human. She's his teammate. She's his partner. She's been there by his side for a long time, longer than Johan. Asuka reminds him what it feels like to trust someone, to work together as a team. To be a team, you must understand your partner.

And he understands Asuka.

He might not have had these current feelings for long, but a part of him was always grateful to her for being there. She always had. She still does. It took him this long to really notice and appreciate that. "Asuka," comes his murmur, voice thick.

Lifting her eyes from her book once more, she curiously tilts her head. "Yes, Judai?"

He really means this: "Thank you."

It probably confused her, which is evident on her face as she mulls over it, but he can't find any other way to convey everything he's feeling right now. This is the simplest way he knows of. Quietly, he sits there on her bed, letting his gratitude sink in for her because she deserves the gratitude even if she doesn't know the impact of how much she does for him.

It's odd. His parents never found the right time to discuss this sort of thing with him, so Judai was on his own. He left it alone for years because love didn't spark anything in him; it sort of zapped excitement out of everything for him instead. TV shows portrayed it as something cutesy, people around him made him think it was mushy, and Yubel made him fear it. As a result, he never really had a solid understanding of it, nor did he ever cared about it. At most, it was something lighthearted he could poke fun at, like all those times when he teased Sho over Black Magician Girl or when Kenzan went head-over-heels for that doll girl, Alice, after the field trip they took to Domino City. Love was trivial to him, and that was all there was to it.

Then Asuka confessed to him. Then everything started to get out of control because he lacked this understanding to begin with. But she still kept trying to help, because she wouldn't give up on him.

Asuka made him see that love can be really simple and earnest. It can be making him his favorite foods whenever he visits, it can be helping him talk about his personal problems he struggles with, it can be reminding him that it's okay to make mistakes, it can be letting him into her apartment without berating him, it can be forcing him to sit down as she tends to his wounds, it can be yelling at him about taking care of himself, it can be telling him to be careful on his travels even though it saddens her, it can be still trying to reach out to him even after he rejected her—it can be as simple as sharing set cards in a tag duel.

It's that simple.

Asuka tentatively asks him, "For what?"

Thank you for helping me. Thank you for sticking by me. Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for setting me back on track. Thank you for being there. Thank you for choosing me. Thank you for being you.

"Just…" He cannot choose one, so he smiles and says, "Thanks for everything."

She still looks a little confused about it, but she still tells him, "You're welcome." She goes back to reading, and he lets her this time.

Her question from a while back echoes in his head: So, why did you stay this time?

He keeps smiling, soft.

Because I want to.

Going back to his cards in this peaceful silence, he feels glad that he stayed this time.