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Judai's POV

After that day, I went to bed. All I did was lie there, though—I couldn't sleep. My mind wouldn't stop running around in circles.

Here's how it went: I started by thinking about how things could have been different if I'd told Asuka how I felt. Then I started trying to convince myself that she didn't feel the same way that I did, so it wouldn't matter. Then I started thinking that I'd never really know for sure because I never said anything. Then it cycled around to the start again, with me wondering what could have happened if I'd said something.

Finally, around dawn, sheer exhaustion took over, and I fell asleep.

I woke up to Sho shaking me. "Aniki! Come on! You said we could hang out today! Get up already!"

I groaned, cracking an eye open. "What time is it?"

"Almost ten. Come on, Aniki, you've already slept in an hour longer than most of us. Let's go. We're burning daylight here!" Sho whined.

"Alright, alright…" I said, sitting up.

"Huh. That's a first, even for you," Yubel said. "What? So busy thinking of Ai all night that you couldn't sleep? She ain't found you yet, you know."

Well, no point in correcting her. Yeah, well…

"Judai, she's not gonna find you here. This place is too well hidden and too unknown. Besides, you know Ai. If she ain't found you yet, she's not going to, okay? Now grow up. You're acting like Sho."

I wasn't thinking of Ai, alright?

"Great!" Sho said. "I'll go grab us some breakfast and pack our lunch, okay!? Come meet me in the kitchen when you're ready!" He ran out, just as excited as ever.

I got out of bed and got dressed.

Yubel was quiet for a moment, reading my silence. "Again, grow up. Past is past. Leave it there," she said lamely.

Oh, yeah, she was saying this? She had no right!

"Yeah, says my past life's lover who was in love with me when I was five because of that," I reminded her.

Seriously, see what I mean? She didn't have a right to complain, given what she did to my friends and me because of that.

"That's different."

"It's the past. I didn't remember that promise until way later in life. How's it different?"

In fact, I didn't remember it until she'd hurt my friends while trying to get to me.

"…Well, at least you remembered it! So it was still there! This, however, ended six years ago and never returned! Your promise was true and lasted til death! Meaning we never fell out of love, like you and her did!" Yubel said, getting defensive now.

Well, she had a point. At least, as far as she and I were concerned.

"…I never fell out of love this time, either… She just wasn't interested."

"Ever the idiot…" Yubel muttered, rolling her eyes. "Well, whatever. Point is, that one's over. Ours isn't. Drop it."

I finished getting dressed just as she said that.

I stood there a moment, thinking about that. "You're cruel sometimes, you know that?" I told her.

"Oh, come on. It was just a high school crush. There'll be others."

"Yeah."

But none like her.

Just then Sho called, "Breakfast's ready! Come and get it!"

Yubel smirked. "Like, for example, that guy. He might make a good wife, don't you think?"

I blinked, then nearly busted a gut laughing. She had a point—Sho sounded like a mom calling their kids down for breakfast before school!

"Aniki! Come on! It's getting cold!"

"Alright, I'm coming, Sho!" I called back, heading down.

Asuka's POV

Come ten o'clock, I was waiting on the beach, hoping that creep Ai would show. After what had happened, I had decided to act scared, so I was rubbing my arms and acting anxious. Maybe I could turn Ai's attack into sympathy.

Sure enough, she came walking over. "Hey, there, Asuka," she said.

I started, turning slowly, acting like I was on guard. After what I'd been through during high school, it was easy enough. I'd had plenty of practice being on edge, so acting like I was didn't prove difficult.

"O-oh. It's just you, Ai…" I sighed, closing my eyes and looking relieved.

Ai raised an eyebrow at me. "Something wrong?"

"N-no. Nothing's wrong. It's just…" I looked away, holding my arms.

The more pathetic I acted, the more likely I'd get Ai's attention. Oh, the things I did for that man. If this worked, he owed me big time! I had to act as helpless as Junko or Momoe to pull this off!

Ai cast me a sly look and said, "Having troubles with your boyfriend?"

I started, my eyes widening again. W-was she onto me? She already knew who Kyle was! Great! Now I not only had to act pathetic, but I had to come up with a cover story for Kyle! Oh, yeah, Judai owed me for this. Maybe he could buy me a house when this was over. That might cover it. I was too nice sometimes.

"M-my what?"

"Don't play coy with me. I know all about Kyle! I mean, that chaos last night—first off, let me say I'm glad you're alright—but Kyle was just fawning over you! There's no way it's a coincidence that he happens to be in the room right across the hall. You're here with him, aren't you? And a friend, for some reason."

I stared at her in disbelief. That was what I was afraid of. Kyle's cover story wouldn't work well for us. I'd have to say that he liked me, but that I didn't feel the same way. Well, with any luck, I wouldn't have to tell him.

"What, me and Kyle? No, we're not—" I sighed, looking like I'd been caught. Oh, this story I was about to tell her was going to be a real doozy. "Can you keep a secret? I'm…not really here to have fun…"

"Oh? Why are you here, then?"

I sighed. "Promise not to tell anyone?"

"Honey, my lips are sealed."

I looked around. "Okay. But…not here. Come on."

I got up and headed for somewhere a bit more private. A tale like this was sure to cause a panic. Ai followed me down the beach toward the cliffs.

Once we were safely away from the crowds, we sat down to talk.

Personally, I thought this story sounded really stupid, but I didn't have time to think of anything else.

"Okay, Ai. Here's what's up. I'm Asuka Tenjoin. I teach at Duel Academy Island. The school that had the Sacred Beasts sealed under it."

"Alright, go on," she said.

"Well, we've had recent reports of strange happenings taking place on this island from some of our friends who happened to be vacationing here, claiming that someone around here's been using those monsters and hurting innocent people. So I volunteered to investigate, and they told me I'd need a team that I thought could be useful to keep me safe, in case the guy found out I was here, and that I'd come for the Sacred Beast cards. That's why I brought Kyle. He's trained in all things combat and has a serious crush on me, so I just knew he'd keep me safe. And Junko's a very light sleeper with a loud, alarming voice, so I asked her to come, too."

Yes, that's right. That was the best I could come up with. If I'd had a little more time, I could have come up with a better story. But I'd spent too much time answering the police's questions last night. Maybe I should have come up with this story before I came here.

"Uh-huh. Honey, I'm not buying it," Ai said. "Your brother called you because of your high school flame, didn't he?"

Oh, great. Now I'd have to fake trauma! Judai just had to get a stalker this suspicious!

I looked at Ai in disbelief, my eyes wide and full of hurt. "Ai, I can't believe you don't trust me! I mean, I was attacked last night, and you know it, too! Well, me and poor, poor Junko! And, most likely, it was the guy who has the Sacred Beast cards so he can keep us from retrieving them! I've never been so scared in my life! Well, other than when I was in Dark World, that is. Ai, I thought you'd be able to understand me, given our talk yesterday, but, I guess…"

During most of that, I was trembling, and I started crying when I finished. I sat there with my legs pulled up to my chest, my head against my knees.

This was humiliating. I'd been through way worse! The only way I could pull this off was to think of everything that had happened to me over the course of three years as though it had all happened at once!

…That was a scary thought.

But I was fine! It was Fubuki that saw a psychiatrist after graduation, not me! I was stronger than this! All of that would have been gone from my life for good, if not for a certain man that force me to relive this! Oh, man, did he owe me!

Ai looked at me and said, "Well, I can personally guarantee you that won't be happening again. You and your friends can enjoy yourselves. I'll take care of your 'Sacred Beast' problem. I think I know who attacked you last night, and I'll take care of it." She smiled at me. "And, on a plus side, I know how I'm going to get that stubborn boy of mine to finally stick around!"

"B-but you can't! The guy's clearly psycho, a-and besides, this is my p-problem, not yours! I'll j-just call in more back-up, that's all! An old f-friend of mine's a trained m-mercenary, s-so he should be able to do it safely…"

Could I have been acting more pathetic? No. Now I was acting like only O'Brien could help! If Ai didn't fall for this, I was going to kill somebody.

"No, honey, trust me. The attack had nothing to do with the Sacred Beasts, which I haven't heard a thing about, and I've been here a few weeks."

I looked up. "W-what? Th-then who?"

Not that I didn't already know. Only one person I knew could draw enough attention to make my cover story make sense.

"I've got some…pranksters on my payroll," Ai said, wording it carefully. "It's not something I'm proud of, and, I can assure you, this is the last straw. They're fired. You won't be hearing from them again."

Either her hesitation was because she was acting like she had a stronger word she could have used for these so-called employees of hers, or she was as bad at coming up with cover stories as I was. Given that she was a sneaky, conniving princess, I figured it was the first.

"O-okay… Th-then what do you suppose my f-friends were referring to? They made it sound r-real bad…" I said, calming down slowly.

Finally I could regain some dignity.

Ai shrugged. "Could be the Four Monarchs guarding this place, preventing their prisoner from escaping."

"What? But I-I don't see…" I looked around.

That probably was it, really. I mean, some of my friends could see duel spirits, and, after what happened during my third year, I knew they weren't pretending or crazy. I'd finally seen their duel spirits at that time.

"Only spirit-seers would see them," Ai said. "Though, with that boy trying to escape, it has caused quite a bit of ruckus. Several homes were flooded by his first attempt, and there was what people called a 'freak storm.'"

Really, Judai? You could do that?

"Wow. This guy sounds real dangerous. Are you sure the thing last night wasn't him?" I asked, still acting a bit nervous.

I sounded totally pathetic! I wasn't scared of some overpowered freak of nature!

"It wasn't. It was just the guy I'm looking to make mine. He's the stubborn one, like I said. This way, he can't run away."

"Wow. That bad, huh? Are you sure he's not dangerous? If he can do stuff like that—"

Now I was sounding worried. Maybe now all of this degrading behavior would pay off. After all, if I was worried about what this guy could do to me, I could easily pretend to be just as concerned about Ai.

"Sweetheart, you went to school with him. You tell me."

"Y-you mean Kenzan? I didn't know he was that bad. Unless, of course, you're referring to…"

I drifted off a bit there at the end, as though I was hurt or betrayed. That lie was perfect! After all, Judai had run off and left us all after graduation. He didn't even bother keeping in touch, unlike the rest of us. A hateful reaction to that man should convince Ai that I didn't care about him and might convince her to let me "help" her pin him down.

Yes, this was going to be much easier. Hating jerks was my specialty.

"Judai Yuki," Ai said, just like I knew she would.

I stood up, smiling coldly. "Oh. Well, in that case, whatever. Not like I care, anyway. He's the first guy to ignore my feelings and leave me heartbroken, so…" I crossed my arms and closed my eyes. "Heck, with all he's done, he deserves this! Did you know he left us all without saying goodbye?"

Yes, this act was much easier. I just had to pretend I was hurt by Judai back then and hated him.

Ai giggled and said, "Yes. I believe I said that he ran away from his first love, didn't I? So, of course, I know he ran away from you!"

Oh, that was a laugh! First love? As if Judai knew the meaning of the word! If he had, he wouldn't have made me his fiancé in that duel and left me behind. That man would be single for his entire life!

"Heh. Not just his first love, then, his first friends, too. And, besides, he never loved me. We ended that relationship as nothing more than good friends and rivals. At least, that's what we settled on, anyway."

"Yes…and that gives me the perfect chance to catch him on the rebound!"

I waved a hand through the air, turning to face her with a glare on my face. There must have been something fueling this false rage because this act was so easy, it hardly felt like an act. If Ai didn't buy this one, she wasn't going to buy anything.

But…why did this act feel so much more real?

"Go ahead, then! See if I care! I just hope you like this island a lot. I mean, you know, since you'll be stuck here with the creep if you manage to win him," I said, crossing my arms again and closing my eyes with a humph.

Ai sighed. "Clearly you don't know how shy boys can be. Regardless, I take it you won't mind if I tell him that you've got a boyfriend? It will make it so much easier to get him to like me so that we won't be staying here any longer."

As if that would work! He wouldn't care, anyway! Besides, he already knew about Kyle. I'd seen that he was just fine with the idea of me having a boyfriend.

I glanced over my shoulder, adding some sarcasm to my tone as I said, "Oh? But what about the guards? Also, don't go around spreading rumors about me and Kyle! You'll put ideas in his head."

"That's what I'm hoping for!" Ai said. "There's nothing in this world more vulnerable than a boy with a broken heart! Why, he'll probably do what most boys do when they hear something like this and turn to alcohol for comfort. Then I'll show up and offer him what he's missing in his life, and he'll be mine! Then I can lower that barrier!"

Clearly she didn't know Judai as well as she thought she did. He didn't strike me as the type to drink his problems away. But, either way, we were getting close to the topic I was after.

"Lower it? Yeah, right." I laughed a bit. "As if you can do that. And did you miss the part about Judai never acknowledging my feelings? Or was I speaking gibberish when I said that?" I asked her, sarcasm easing back in.

Yeah, this act was way too easy. But, whatever. If it got that idiot out of this mess, that was good enough for me.

"Oh, honey! If only you knew… But that's beside the point. The fact of the matter is, I put that barrier up, so I can take it down whenever I want!"

"Well, if that's the case, then I say leave it up. He deserves this, anyway! Take away his 'hero' dream, like he took away all of mine! Trust me, you'll never pin him down if he can go wherever the hell he pleases," I said, sounding betrayed. For good measure, I waved an arm through the air. Hopefully it would help this act along since it felt pretty sincere.

"Don't worry about that, sweetheart. He'll be bound my Misgarth law to remain by my side. If he doesn't obey, my brother will have to take legal action, and I'm sure he doesn't want that. He'll be marrying me before we leave here."

Her brother? I got the feeling she meant Prince Ojin. If he would be taking legal action, that was probably the case. Which would mean that Ai was a princess.

I shrugged, my eyes closed. "Whatever. I just hope he doesn't elude you before that happens. He's pretty clever, so, if there is a way, he'll find it in time." I laughed a bit.

I was making Judai sound like some sort of a super genius, even though he'd barely graduated high school. But, hey, sounding arrogant and nasty should get Ai's attention. If I was lucky, she'd tell me the spell she'd used to try and defend herself. I mean, messing with Judai was a death wish, given that his powers could prove deadly.

"Then, oh, boy, will you be in trouble," I continued. "I'd watch myself if I were you." I gave another slight laugh.

Ai didn't respond the way I expected.

"Oh, dear. I sense a terrible misunderstanding." She shrugged and continued, "Should I tell you his reason for running off? The reason he was avoiding all of you during the second half of your third year? Should I tell you what he never thought to say, and what none of you ever thought to ask?"

Oh, please. As if I needed to hear that. Besides, she sounded like she was toying with me, maybe even testing me to see if this act was true. Better make sure I passed this test.

"That's okay, Ai. I don't care about that anymore. But good luck. Don't get killed when he escapes."

I started walking off, hoping to scare her into spilling the beans. Judai's wicked other half was making this a walk in the park!

I stopped for a moment, looking back. "…If you live through this one, you wanna drop by my place sometime? I'll introduce you to Eric, if you'd like."

I was hoping that acting like I cared and wanted to be her friend would convince her to tell me. Granted, even if it worked, there was still a way it could bite me. I'd have to stick around for awhile to keep my new "friend" safe from Judai. So Kyle would probably wind up hearing my lie, and I'd be spending a lot more time with Ai. In addition, I'd have to act like I hated Judai if I ever saw him when Ai was around.

Could this mess get any worse?

Ai stared at me for a moment. She looked like she finally believed one of my acts.

"If you really want him to stay trapped, don't let him find a girlfriend other than me," Ai said before getting up and walking off.

A girlfriend, huh? So he could break that spell by finding a girlfriend?

"Will do," I said. "See ya."

I headed off the other way, planning on telling the others the news as soon as possible. At least I'd gotten what I was after. Granted, it probably wouldn't make any difference because Judai was too dense to ever get a girlfriend. At least, not without some serious schooling.

Ai's POV

Wow. Who would have thought? Asuka's little trauma act hadn't fooled me. But that other half of our conversation...

Maybe she meant it. That part about hating Judai didn't feel like an act. It rang far too sincere for that to be the case. If she hated him that much, she wouldn't be trying to help him. And, even if she told him how to lower the barrier, it wouldn't help any because he'd be left with a broken heart when he found out about her boyfriend. And he'd be feeling even worse if he found out how she really felt about him...

I could use this, I realized. If Judai knew Asuka hated him, he'd be easy prey.