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Natsuko's POV

I found Ai on the beach. But she wasn't alone. That crazed red-head was with somebody I knew all too well—Haruko Ishiyama. The girl was like a little sister to me, having been friends with Akiko since kindergarten. We'd basically grown up together, so her best interests were just as important to me as my actual sister's. In short, seeing her with Ai was bad.

"I'm telling you, he's a jerk!" Ai said.

"You don't know him like I do!" Haruko cried. "We went to school together, and he's not as big a jerk as you think! He's compassionate and caring and a good friend! He acts big and tough, but he's really a sweet and kind guy underneath!"

The way that she was going on, I knew the topic was her latest crush. I also knew this one must have been serious because she was being more enthusiastic than she ever was when talking about her latest infatuation. Normally her "crushes" blew over easily, with one notable exception. Two, now. Damn, that meant I'd have to actually meet this guy so I could decide if he was worthy of her heart.

"Whoa… Toots has a crush, alright…" I said. I mean, it was pretty strange to see her that enthused over a guy. I walked over, seeing my target and a friend in need. "Yo, Haru!"

She turned quickly, smiling when she saw me. "Natsu! Hi!"

"Didn't know you were on the island, kiddo! Where you staying?"

"Uh…" She sweat, and I knew she hadn't thought that part out. Just following her heart, like always.

I laughed. Man, this was too like Haru! "With us, it is!" I decided. "But, first…" I turned to Ai, turning on the charm. "Ai. Can we talk, babe?"

"What about?" she asked, her tone showing me she was on guard.

"You. Me. Maybe a few…other things."

She looked at me suspiciously. Well, first time I've gotten that reaction from a woman. "Aren't you one of Judai's friends? Where is he!?"

"Babe, come on! Forget about him! Let's talk about us."

"Is this some sort of a joke!? I don't even know you! Get out of here!"

"Aw, come on! Don't be like that."

"I'm not falling for it, whatever it is."

Well, this wasn't going well. It looked like I'd be buying Aki that mansion in Europe she'd always wanted, after all.

"Falling for—"

"Don't even finish that."

Aw, man, this was not going well.

"Ai, there's no trick!"

"Really? Then you aren't trying to get me to lower the barrier? Or tell you how to lower the barrier?"

"Barrier?" I asked, playing dumb. "What barrier?"

"Good question," Haruko said.

"Oh, like you don't know!" Ai said. Turning to Haru, she added, "Not you, of course, you don't, but he does." She turned back to me. "Get out of here, and take your little friend here with you! If she wants Manjoume that badly, then that's her loss!"

And, with that, she stormed off. Well, this was going to be embarrassing. Aki and Fuyu would never let me hear the end of it.

I stood there, staring after her and thinking of the millions I'd be losing to my sis and my best bud. "Dang. That didn't go so well…"

"Natsu, what's going on?" Haruko asked.

Suddenly I realized that Ai had said Haruko liked Manjoume. Well, shoot, knowing my luck, it was the Manjoume back at the villa. Hell, no. He wasn't her type, and he didn't want her! If he didn't want her, you could bet he wouldn't treat her right! It was time to get her back on track—get her going after her first love again. After all, I knew that guy would treat her right.

"Aw, I'll explain on the way back to Fubuki's," I told her. "Come on, Haru. Aki and Fuyu are there, too."

"Fuyu-chan!?" Haruko cried, just like I knew she would. Then she grabbed my arm, jumping up and down, as she said, "Let's go, let's go!"

I knew she'd like that! Fuyuko was the only other guy she ever talked about with such enthusiasm, after all. She'd had a crush on him since she was eight; and, even though Fuyuko was too shy to admit it, I knew the feelings were returned. I laughed and took her back to the villa, explaining the situation to her along the way.

Judai's POV

Since there wasn't anything we could do about the situation until we heard from Natsuko, everybody was just sitting around, catching up. Most of them were talking with everyone else that was there, but a couple of people seemed to have lost sight of the rest of the world—the only person Sho and Kenzan were talking to was me. Well, it was great to be back with them after so long, but it was kind of awkward that I was the only person they seemed to see in the entire world.

A lot of excitement happened when Manjoume paled and turned to the door. Ryo and Johan, his conversation partners, both turned, too.

And, just like that, we all knew Natsuko was back. Everyone stopped talking and looked.

Natsuko wasn't standing there alone. He'd brought Haruko back with him. Geez, now I could see why Manjoume was upset—his stalker was here, too. And she was, apparently, staying with us, considering she had a suitcase with her.

"Hey, guys," Natsuko said.

Akiko groaned. "Oh, for the love of—You picked up my best friend on the way here!? No hitting on my friends!"

"Whoa, sis!" he said, throwing his hands up in defense. "I wasn't hitting on her!"

"Aki! Fuyu!" Haruko cried.

"Hello, Haruko. How have you been?" Fuyuko asked.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Manjoume exclaimed, glaring at Natsuko. "What ever happened to finding Ai? Or did you bring her here, also?"

The way he was acting, it was like Natsuko had just won Manjoume's Idiot of the Year award. Funny, I thought that was usually mine.

"Uh, well, I found Ai. She…didn't fall for it."

"Huh," Akiko said. "And this was the one time that I wanted the girl to be dumb enough to like you."

"Jun!" Haruko cheered. "You're here!?"

Fuyuko's expression lit up. "Wait, you like him, too?" he asked, sounding…hopeful? So Fuyuko was her first victim? At least, before Manjoume. Haruko had a reputation for doing that back at Duel Academy, so I wasn't sure Fuyuko was the first victim.

Fuyuko wasn't the only one who was hopeful. Manjoume's head snapped to him, and his expression was the same. "Wait, what do you mean too? Haru. You never told me you had a boyfriend. Well, don't let me stand in the way. You two make a much cuter couple," he said, pushing Haruko over to Fuyuko. He had a huge grin on his face.

Suddenly, this situation had gotten a whole lot more complicated.

Fuyuko smirked. "Oh, no. She and I aren't together. Besides, she clearly likes you more."

"It's true, Jun! Why won't you accept my feelings!?" Haruko cried, hugging Manjoume.

Clearly he wasn't comfortable with it. I mean, obviously, considering this was his stalker we were talking about.

"Because I've got a girlfriend! That's why! Now get off already!" He pushed her off.

Yubel was laughing her head off at this. I had to agree, it was pretty comical. I mean, Haruko had a reputation for being annoying, but she'd never actually hurt anybody, so there wasn't really anything to worry about when she was stalking you. She was just…clingy. Besides, throwing Fuyuko into the mix made this a complicated mess, which actually made it fun.

…Why did I feel like this was some sort of crazy foreshadowing?

"But, Jun! I'm way better than her!"

"Haru, get off him!" Akiko snapped.

"Uh, anyway, guys," Johan cut in. "As interesting as this new development is, it's not gonna help Judai any, is it?"

Oh! Yeah, we were dealing with my issue with Ai. The excitement almost made me forget that.

"Yeah, guys! Your plan failed, and Manjoume's stalker's here now, too!" Sho said, gesturing to Haruko. "Got any more bright ideas?"

"Well, let's ask Natsuko!" Fubuki suggested. "What happened, Natsu?"

"She said I'm one of Judai's friends, so I must be after information to get the barrier down. I tried acting like I didn't know what she was talking about, but she didn't buy it. I don't think she'll listen to anyone she knows is friends with Judai."

Shit!

"Oh, great!" I said. "Then she's not gonna listen to anyone because she probably knows everyone I know!"

"Calm down," the Kaiser said. "You don't know that."

Oh, yeah, I knew that, alright!

"She's a stalker! She's already shown me that she knows me better than my parents! She knows where I was born, where I went to elementary school, who my parents are, how much I weighed when I was born, where I grew up, and who I was friends with back in my hometown before Yubel scared them all off! She even knows that Yubel scared my friends away and I sent her into space! SHE KNOWS EVERYTHING!"

The whole time I was listing things that Ai knew about me, Manjoume was nodding. When I finished, he humphed. "Yeah, no kidding. Along with the stuff he mentioned that's relevant to my story, she also knew my exact height year after year, my status in school, all my grades and duel records, how much money the Manjoume Group makes every year…"

Aside from that last one, I was nodding to all of them. She knew those things about me, too.

"You see!? She's got all kinds of information! If she knows who I hung out with when I was a kid, why wouldn't she know who I hung out with in high school!? She might even know what I'm doing right now!"

"I doubt that, Judai," Fubuki said. "She probably can't even find this place. Or do the words 'private villa' mean nothing to you?"

"What's private in this world? I didn't know anyone was documenting who I was friends with!"

"It's okay. This is new information. She can't just look it up and know that's where you are. Only us Tenjoins even know we have this place, alright? There's no way she would know."

Okay. Okay, he had a point. Geez, I needed to stop being so paranoid. I mean, she hadn't found me here yet, so why would that suddenly change?

"Hmm…" Johan said. "Speaking of which, that gives me an idea. Why don't we call the other Tenjoin in to help with this? After all, she won't need an escort to find this place, so I doubt she'll need to ask anyone where Judai is."

I was about to say that she'd already been called when Fubuki said, "That's a great idea! I'll call her right now!"

What? He hadn't called her? He'd called everyone else, but not her!? Why not!? Was…was it something I did? Was she the only one who really did hate me?

"Wait! Won't she be in class right now? She's teaching summer school this year, isn't she?"

Oh, okay. So, maybe, he just hadn't called her because she was working. Yeah, that could be it. That probably was it.

"Nah," Fubuki said. "That ends at 4." He waited a moment for her to answer, then said, "Hey, sis! Guess what!?"

While I was busy trying to convince myself that the only reason Fubuki hadn't called her earlier was because she was at work—which, apparently, hadn't stopped anybody else from coming—Yubel appeared, her arms crossed and a thoughtful expression on her face. "Hmm. Your so-called girlfriend in high school, huh? This seems doomed to failure, too."

Okay, so I'd had a crush on her back in school. Big deal! It wasn't like we'd ever actually dated! She'd never been interested, anyway, and I'd never told her how I felt. Ai might have known about my feelings for her, though—I mean, she knew everything else about me. So, yeah, this wouldn't go well, either.

Zip it, I told her.

"And I was wondering if you could try it," Fubuki was saying. "Maybe, with the right cover story, she'd warm up to you!" He waited while she said something, then, "Really!? You will!?"

Okay, that was a good sign. I mean, she wouldn't help somebody she hated, right? So, maybe, this was a good thing. I'd finally have a chance to tell her how I felt.

"There's no way Ai's falling for that one," Yubel said, a lame look on her face. "Wanna go see if we can find a ring?"

"I'M NOT MARRYING HER!"

Seriously! I'd sooner jump off a cliff and die!

"It's okay, Yubel," Johan said. "Trust me."

"If you say so, Mr. Andersen."

"Who's Yubel?" Fuyuko asked.

Oh, great.

"Ever hear about an incident where the whole Duel Academy Island vanished into thin air?" Manjoume asked, seeming annoyed. Yeah, it wasn't my favorite topic of conversation, either. So why was he telling this guy!?

"Yeah! Good idea, sis!" Fubuki said on the phone. "That should work."

"Yes?" Fuyuko said, his tone saying Manjoume should continue.

"Well, Yubel's a Duel Monster that was behind all of that," Kenzan said.

"And now she's fused with Aniki to keep her under control," Sho added.

Well, that was one way to look at it. It wasn't totally accurate, but it wasn't like I needed to correct them. I mean, if that's why they thought I did it, let them think that.

Fuyuko didn't look like he knew what to say for a moment. Finally, he said, "I'm sorry?"

"Dude, that's harsh. And weird," Natsuko said. He laughed once and turned to Akiko, adding, "And you thought Waru was weird!"

Waru? Who was Waru? Didn't that mean evil? Did I really want an answer to these questions?

I decided I didn't.

"He is," Akiko said. "And so's Judai, but that's been a normal thing since day one at Duel Academy."

I didn't know if that was supposed to be a compliment or an insult, so I chose to just let it slide.

"I chose it, so there's no reason you should be sorry," I told Fuyuko.

"Um, Judai?" Haruko asked. "Why would you choose to seal evil inside of you?"

See, this was why I didn't want to talk about it with other people. They never understood, and I couldn't explain it in a way that would make sense to them. Yubel said it was because nobody else in the world thought like I did, which was probably true. I mean, there weren't a lot of people who would voluntarily fuse with someone who had hurt their friends, no matter what the circumstances.

"She's not evil!" I said. "It's… What happened was my fault. It's hard to explain."

I didn't even want to try with Haruko. I seemed to remember her grades in school were even worse than mine. How she avoided expulsion, I never did figure out.

"Well, that's good enough for me," Akiko said.

Wait, really? It was? Damn, she was a lot nicer than anyone at school had ever thought.

"After all, Natsuko's got some 'hard to explain' stuff, too."

…Okay, yeah, I really didn't want to know.

Haruko didn't look convinced. "But…"

"Uh, guys? May I interrupt?" Fubuki asked. Apparently his conversation was over because he was holding his phone away from his ear.

Everyone but Haruko turned to him. I could feel her stare on me, instead.

"Thank you. I just got off the phone with Sissi, and guess what?"

From the way he was grinning, I figured I knew "what."

"What?" I asked. Hey, better to let him tell me than to guess, right?

"She's coming over, too! But she said not to wait on her, as she didn't want to tell me when she was coming. Said it was better if we didn't know."

Oh. Well, that probably meant that we'd have to wait until she got a break from work. At least she was planning on coming.

"Great," Johan said. "Then what's the plan?"

"Well, she said she was going to try to make friends with Ai. She didn't tell me the details, but she promised me she'd have the information we needed soon enough."

Make friends with Ai. She was going to make friends with Ai!? Was she insane!? Ai would never become friends with the girl I liked in high school! She wasn't even close to that gullible! All that would do is get somebody hurt!

"So your sis is coming…and she's gonna try being friends with Ai?" Natsuko asked.

"Yup. Pretty much," Fubuki said, grinning confidently.

Oh, that was just great! It was never going to work!

"Great," Manjoume said. "What do we do until she gets here?"

Was I the only one who saw the problem with this idea? Really?

"Well, you and I could go down to the beach and hang out!" Haruko suggested, sounding suspiciously like she was trying to get Manjoume to like her the right way instead of the crazy stalker way. Man, I wished I had his stalker!

…Uh, not that I wanted a stalker at all, but, if I had to have one, I'd rather she be like Haruko.

Manjoume's answer was sarcastic: "Or I could go hide in my room alone all day, how about that?" He turned an annoyed glare at her as he finished that.

"I wanna go sightseeing!" Sho said.

"Yeah!" Kenzan agreed. "This place is pretty cool! I wanna go fishing, too!"

Did I mention both of them stood up? They were sounding—and looking—like a couple of excited tourists. I sure hoped they didn't want me to go with them, seeing as I was sort of in hiding at the time.

"I'll hand out on the beach with ya, Toots!" Natsuko told a disappointed Haruko. "Don't let that mean ol' Manjoume ruin your day!"

"I suppose you'll want me to come along?" Fuyuko sighed.

"Dude, of course! You're my best bud!"

"I'll pass on the beach time," Akiko said.

"Aw, come on, Aki!" Natsuko whined.

"Yeah, come on!" Haruko agreed.

Were we sure they weren't the ones that were related?

"I'm going," Fuyuko said to Akiko. "You'd better have a good excuse not to."

She shrugged and said, "I don't want to hang out with my idiot brother?"

Man, was this what people did when they came to help me? How was this helping!?

While everyone else was planning their vacations, Johan looked at me, worried. "Judai? You okay?"

"Oh, yeah, fine," I said, though sarcasm might have leaked into my tone. "It's not like there's a crazy girl on this island or something."

"It's okay, pal. We're here to help now."

Yeah. Sure. That was why everyone was talking about their sightseeing plans and their beach gear.

"Come on. Let's go do something fun while we wait for backup to arrive. There's a private beach just outside with your name on it." Johan was grinning, trying to get me to go out and have some fun with him. Guess his idea for how to help me while we waited was to get my mind off the situation.

"…Okay," I agreed.

Hey, what else was I gonna do? It wasn't like I could make Asuka come faster by sitting around all day doing nothing.