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Asuka's POV

I headed down to the beach with Kyle. After all, we were going to spend time with Ai today, whether I liked it or not. I wanted to make it very clear to Ai that Kyle and I weren't a couple, so I needed to make sure that he knew his part. I doubted he would mess up, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Now, remember," I told him. "When Ai gets here, we're not together, okay? She thinks you act like Manjoume used to with me. You know. Before he hooked up with Momoe, okay?"

While I was saying this, I was calm much calmer about it than I typically would be with my other friends. Kyle was one of the few trustworthy people I knew, after all. Fortunately he'd been okay with this act when I'd told him what had happened. He was such a great guy.

"Like Manjoume, you say?" Kyle asked. "Heh. I can do that!" He closed his eyes, grinning with confidence.

It was good that he was so sure of himself because there wasn't any time left to prepare. That little demon who had cost me a friend and made me hurt three others had just shown up, heading our way. Princess or not, I was so going to kill her after this was over.

"Good," I said. "Cause here she comes."

The both of us turned, and I donned a fake smile when I saw the little bitch heading over. Kyle just looked neutral.

"Hey, Asuka!" Ai said to me. "Hello, Kyle."

"Hey! Have a good shower?" I asked.

"Yep! So? What's wrong with Judai?"

I closed my eyes and crossed my arms, acting uncaring as I said, "Oh, nothing too serious. The idiot just stood outside alone all night and got himself sick. I think he caught a cold, from the looks of it."

Really, though, this act was even easier than yelling at Manjoume and Kenzan! This couldn't just be the reason that everyone thought I was mean. So why was it so easy to act like I hated Judai?

"Oh, poor thing. Well, it's his own fault. He could have stayed with me, if he wasn't so stubborn."

I gave a bit of a nasty grin. Judai's idiocy did reach some pretty high levels sometimes. I mean, standing outside all night, ignoring everything around him? Just because he was upset? Really? That would be a good "rumor" to tell Ai about his stupidity levels. Wow, this act felt as natural as breathing.

"Heh. From what I hear, he wouldn't budge to even bother looking for a place to warm up, let alone go somewhere he doesn't like," I said. "What an idiot."

Kyle reached out and put his hands on my shoulders, looking sympathetic. His acting was even better than mine! Was there anything he couldn't do? That romantic gesture would help my act, too.

"Now, darling, I know you're resentful towards him, but you could at least pretend to care some, couldn't you?" he said.

I pulled away, and he let me go easily. Then I turned to him with a slight glare for touching me without my permission. What was weird was that felt like an act to me, but being mad at Manjoume was easy before! What was fueling my rage during my acts?

As I spoke to Kyle, my rage started coming back. "First of all, don't call me 'darling,' and, second, why should I? He's the one who left me all alone that night. Why should I care if he gets himself sick being stupid!?" I glared at him fiercely, my arms crossed. This rage was not an act. What was I so mad at? Judai for being an idiot? That wasn't his fault! He'd always been like that!

"Oh, honey. If only you knew," Ai said, shaking her head with a slight smile. I got the feeling she loved this act of mine. Probably because she could use it against Judai.

I calmed myself down, trying to move this along. After all, I'd promised to hang out with this thing, so we had better get started. "So, anyway, Kyle, where's Junko?" I asked, trying to shatter the image of us as a couple. "I thought you invited her to hang with us today."

There. That should help. After all, around Ai, Kyle wasn't my boyfriend, no matter how badly I wanted his love. Great, now Judai was ruining my real love life, too. Oh, he owed me so badly after this, it wasn't even funny!

Kyle shook his head, looking upset. "Sadly, she still refuses to leave her room. Still shook up from that whole ordeal the other night."

Oh, this man was amazing. That cover was perfect! After all, Junko was more nervous than me, so something that bad would shake her up more. And he hadn't even hesitated before saying that. He was the best at everything he did, wasn't he?

"Yeah. I bet she is," I said, sounding guilty. "That must have been traumatizing. I should have never asked her to come…"

On that note, Junko's real reason for avoiding us was to stay out of Ai's way as much as possible. After all, her acting was horrible. I knew I'd brought the right people to help me out! They were good at everything I needed to deal with this mess.

"Aw, you couldn't have known," Ai said. "I am sorry, though, for that little prank. I found the perpetrators, however, and they've been dealt with accordingly. They get a kick out of scaring girls, sadly. They're teenagers, though, so what are you going to do?" She shrugged.

Yeah, as if teenagers like that would be working for a princess. Her cover story made about as much sense as that Sacred Beast story I'd thrown together, alright. Clearly it took some time to think of a convincing cover story, which was why the sappy love tragedy I'd made up before coming had worked.

"Yeah. I guess. Perfect timing, though. Did they know there was a suspected terrorist here?" Muttering, I added, "Yet another thing we can blame Judai for. Traumatizing Junko…"

That was true. While Junko had only been unnerved for that one night, she had been shaken up quite a bit by it, and it wouldn't have happened if Ai hadn't attacked us to try using us to get to Judai. So he'd gotten us in trouble again because he had gotten in trouble. That just figured.

Kyle's sympathy act could have earned him an Oscar at this point as he turned right to me. He looked so sorry for me that you'd think he really was. "Now, Asuka, that's not true," he said.

"Sweetheart, one day, you and I have got to have a heart to heart about that boy. But not today!" She sounded cheery all of a sudden, as if she really enjoyed holding that over my head. "Today, it's beach time!"

I closed my eyes and crossed my arms, not caring. Ai wanted to fill my head with her lies about Judai based on what she had dug up. So? I didn't need to hear it. What would a crazy stalker know about his true intentions, anyway? Besides, even if I did hear it, it would probably be something stupid and selfish, so why bother?

"Yeah, whatever," I said.

Kyle clapped his hands together, drawing both mine and Ai's attention. He was smiling, trying to lighten the mood. What a great guy he was. He even cheered me up when I faked being upset! "So, then, what do you lovely ladies want to do?"

"Well, we're on the beach! What do people usually do at a beach?" Ai teased.

"Uh, hang out?"

"Well, honestly, I was thinking of going scuba diving. Care to join me?"

And there it was. Kyle's favorite activity. He spent a great deal of his free time under the water off the coast of Duel Academy Island. Any time he wasn't with me, I was likely to find him in the ocean. In fact, I found him there more than I'd found Judai dueling during our first two years of school! This time, though, he wanted to do it in a foreign country…and take us with him? Was he actually allowed to do any of that here?

"Hold up! Don't you need a license for that or something!?" I asked, worried. After all, he could get arrested if he wasn't careful! I didn't want to have to visit a Mexican prison to see my boyfriend all the time.

Ai shrugged. "Don't know. In the states, I think, but this is Mexico. I'm not sure about down here."

Well, of course she wasn't. She was a princess. She had diplomatic immunity, so she didn't need to worry about the laws of foreign countries!

To my surprise, Kyle reached into his shirt pocket with a smile on his face and pulled out a card that looked like some sort of a license. So he had a license to dive in Mexico? But why? He was from England and he lived in Japan now! When would he need a license to scuba dive in Mexico!?

"Well, regardless of law, I do have one," Kyle said. "And it allows me to give lessons to beginners, too. What do you say? There's an amazing view down there that you'd have to see to believe."

Okay, yeah. He definitely loved diving more than Judai loved dueling! I mean, he had a license to dive in Mexico, and he could teach beginners! I know he liked diving, but this was just ridiculous!

"Well…" I hesitated, rubbing an arm.

This would be my first time trying this. I mean, it wasn't like it wasn't an exciting idea, but there was a reason you needed a license for this sort of thing! I just hoped Kyle was as good a diving instructor as he was a duel history teacher. As far as teaching went, he even gave me a run for my money, so it would be very reassuring if he was that good at teaching diving.

"Alright! Sounds fun!" Ai said.

"Well, okay, but this is not some sort of date, so don't mistake it for one, okay?" I said sternly, pointing a finger in his face. After all, we had to keep up this act.

Kyle laughed and said, "If you say so! Come on. Let's go rent ourselves some gear and a boat." He headed off to the resort, and Ai and I both followed.

Johan's POV

At the villa, we had all gathered in the lounge area with our breakfasts so we could continue our talk from the previous night. I really didn't want to think about it. I mean, what Fubuki had told us was just so depressing. How in the world was I going to tell Judai? This would crush him, and he was enough of a mess without this!

I didn't have much time to think about that, though, before Sho stormed into the villa, looking mad as hell. The first words out of his mouth were, "Whoever says the word 'Asuka' dies!"

Great. Had he found out?

Sho headed over to the couch and had a seat with his brother and Kenzan, who moved over to make room for him. He must really have been mad because he sat down with his arms crossed, closed his eyes, and let out a humph. Everyone seemed concerned, and I couldn't blame them. But, when Kenzan asked him what was wrong, Sho snapped at him that it was "none of his business" and demanded that we just focus on Judai's problems.

Clearly he was angry about something. He sounded like Manjoume!

Regardless, we all decided to do what he asked for now. After all, it was really important. So, as we all ate our breakfasts, we tried to think of some way to find Judai a girlfriend he would actually like.

Kenzan lit up with an idea shortly. "I got it! I know how we're gonna get Aniki a girlfriend he'll actually like!" He sounded so excited that he must have really thought this idea of his would work.

All I had to say was it had better be good. I mean, after I told him the truth about Asuka, Judai would really need someone who cared.

Manjoume looked over at him lamely and annoyed, playing with his scrambled eggs. "Oh, really? And how's that?"

"We call Rei in! He already thinks of her as a friend, so he's bound to warm up to her!"

Rei, huh? Well, sure, Judai and Rei were friends, but I thought Kenzan was forgetting something.

Manjoume, however, clearly knew. He dropped his fork and gave Kenzan an annoyed look that screamed "you're an idiot." "What is this? Stalker Island? You seriously wanna drag Rei into this!?"

"Rei? Really?" Akiko asked. "Who would like a girl who sneaks into your school and forces her way into your dorm so she can be close to you when you barely know each other?"

Good point, Aki! That was just what I'd been thinking! Besides, that stuff scared Judai, anyway, so Rei wasn't a good choice at all.

Kenzan shrugged and said, "It's Aniki. He sees her as a friend, for some reason."

And that was where things got weird, really. I couldn't figure that out, either! Then again, it made a lot more sense why he'd kept that friendship after the mess with Yubel had ended. Hey, when you think you've lost most of your closest friends, who wouldn't cling to a stalker-friend?

"Okay? And this translates into love…how?" Akiko asked.

Good question. I'd been wondering the same thing. Clearly this woman was a lot smarter than most of this group.

Then, sounding as bitter as possible, Sho answered, "In steps, of course. In a case like that, first comes friendship, then comes attraction, then the dating starts. Or, at least, that's how it's supposed to happen!"

Okay, that did make sense. If Rei would agree to it, that is. She'd have to slow way down to get Judai to like her that way, that was for sure. Really, though, that could wait for a minute. With how Sho sounded, I felt that needed to be addressed. I mean, what was going on? He was acting completely out of character!

"Hey, Sho, you okay?" I asked, concerned.

Kenzan turned to Sho with the same look. "Yeah. You've been in a huff since you stormed in. Care to talk about it?"

Sho slammed his eyes shut. "Hmph!"

Okay, yeah, he was a major mess. Maybe Judai would know why. I mean, Sho had gone to check on him last night, so talking to him might give me some idea what was wrong with Sho.

Jim must have decided Sho was a hopeless cause, too, because he said, "Well, in that case, we'd best make sure Rei knows to act like his friend first, and then start flirting."

Okay, Jim was smart, too. He beat me to the punch on that one, just like Akiko kept beating me.

"Probably gonna take a while, what with her trying to catch him on the rebound and all," Akiko added.

My thoughts exactly. Especially after I told Judai what Fubuki had told us the night before. Rei would have her hands full for sure.

Kenzan lit up again, probably glad that his idea had been accepted. "Great! Anyone got her number? She didn't seem all that interested in staying in touch."

And that made me wonder about her yet again. She didn't stay with the group, probably because she was only in the group to get closer to Judai. Typical stalker behavior, meaning not exactly the type of person you'd want dating the guy she was stalking.

"No," the Kaiser said, his look somewhere between annoyance and lame. "But I know where she lives."

Fubuki's eyes widened a bit, and he turned to the Kaiser, looking confused and surprised. "Wait, wait, wait. How do you know this? You met her at that tournament in—"

"I had to walk her home several times before I went to Duel Academy."

"Yeah, no kidding," Sho added, looking annoyed. "Sometimes after midnight, too, when she tried sneaking in to rummage through Nii-san's things."

Okay, well, that explained the look…and made Rei seem like an even worse choice. Why were we doing this?

Manjoume stared, looking stunned. I couldn't blame him. That was borderline Ai, after all. "Okay! Haru's not that bad, after all! At least she doesn't try forcing herself on me or doing stuff like that."

"…And we're calling her…why?" Akiko asked, stunned. "With that in mind, wouldn't it be just as productive to get him to fall in love with Ai instead?"

Man, I needed to work on speaking up. Aki shouldn't have always been the first to voice my thoughts on the subject. I mean, we were talking about my best friend! Akiko barely knew him!

"Well, he doesn't like Ai!" Kenzan said. "And she treats him badly! Rei doesn't do stuff like that, last time I checked."

And, again, someone had made sense when defending the choice. No, Rei didn't do those kinds of things.

Manjoume started, as if he'd just noticed something. He turned to Fuyuko and said, "Hey, Fuyuko, speaking of stalkers, where's ours?"

He was looking around for her. Come to think of it, she really wasn't here. I guess that made sense seeing as she wasn't even Judai's friend. She was only here to stalk Manjoume, so she really shouldn't have been here. Really, that girl needed to take the hint already.

"Hopefully finding someone better than you to 'stalk,'" Fuyuko answered.

Manjoume took a moment before, sounding annoyed, he said, "Great." Then he threw his head back in frustration, no doubt thinking of what Haruko might try next. "Argh! What do I have to do!? Marry Momoe for her to get the point!?" He sat up, holding his head and gritting his teeth, his eyes shut. I guess being stalked for so long was too much for him. Wow, who would have ever guessed that? "We've only been dating for five months now! She'd never go for that! Would she?"

While Manjoume threw his fit, I got up and got my travel bag, pulling out my teal laptop and powering it on. After all, if we were going to get Rei to come, we'd need to figure out some way to contact her.

"I don't know, but can we get back to the matter at hand?" I asked. "Are we contacting Rei or not?"

This was getting annoying. I mean, sure, Manjoume had a problem, but he didn't need to bring it up every time we were trying to figure out how to help Judai!

I opened the Internet and waited for someone to tell me if we were doing this. I mean, personally, I didn't think it was a good idea. But it wasn't my choice, really.

"That depends. Guys? What do you think?" Kenzan asked, looking around at the others.

The Kaiser shrugged, eyes closed. "She's better than Ai," he said calmly.

Well, I guess he was okay with this.

"I think it could work," Jim agreed. "But we've got to make sure she knows what's going on and doesn't just charge in offering her love."

"Right. I guess," Akiko said.

Sho mimicked the Kaiser's attitude, pose and all. So they really were related! But that wasn't normal! Ugh, Judai had better know what was going on! This was getting ridiculous!

Anyway, the little guy muttered, "Hmph. Anyone's better than that traitor, too."

Kenzan stared, worried. No duh. I mean, he was way out of it!

Wait a second, traitor? Did Judai tell him what Asuka had done? Well, that would make more sense than the idea that he knew what Fubuki had told us. After all, he hadn't been there, so he couldn't have known.

Kenzan brushed it off after a moment, forcing himself to forget it. Hey, how else could you explain his sudden switch from worried stare to nervous excitement and, finally, pride?

"Okay? Yeah! I say do it! It was my idea, after all," Kenzan said, pointing a thumb at himself with a smile.

Well, it seemed the group had made up its collective mind because no one else commented. I supposed I could live with that. After all, Rei might have been a stalker, but she was more reasonable. Besides, Sho had made another good point…I thought.

"Okay! Give me that address, and I'll see what I can come up with," I said, looking at the Kaiser expectantly.

So, once armed with Rei's old address, I got to work, hoping that her parents would still be there, at least. After all, if they were, they'd know how we could contact her. It was a good thing I was doing this and not Manjoume. I'd read all about "Detective Thunder" in Sho's book The Sacred Shadows Descend, and I didn't want him screwing this whole thing up. His detective skills were beyond nonexistent.

Ai's POV

With Kyle supervising, Asuka and I went scuba diving. We saw some of the most amazing things I had ever seen! Rainbows of coral, beautiful sea life, and even a sunken ship (technically a submarine) that we heard about from the man at the resort's rental shack.

There was no doubt about it: Kyle was trying to get that girl's attention. If only she could see what a great guy he was!

While Asuka may not have seen it, I certainly did. There were some great things about Kyle that Asuka seemed to be missing out on. Mind you, he wasn't as wonderful as Judai, but he may have been better than this Eric guy that Asuka claimed to love. He was such a gentleman, watched out for both of us the whole time, made some funny jokes about some of the things we saw. This guy was definitely a close second to Judai. Just not quite as fun, being so much more mature. A great match for Asuka, though. Maybe they should get together.

After a couple of hours, we resurfaced, ending our scuba diving lesson near the resort, and started removing our gear.

I decided to point out Kyle's good points for Asuka's sake.

As I waited for my chance, Asuka continued to marvel at what she had seen down there, tossing off her air tank. "Kyle… That was…"

How cute!

Asuka's POV

That was amazing! There were so many things under the sea that I'd never thought I'd ever see! It was a whole different world down there! We even saw a lion fish, and that old U-boat, as Kyle said, was so full of history that Kyle got a real kick out of it. The skeletons were kind of gross, but the rest was fun, at least! Honestly, that man was too amazing to handle sometimes!

We all slipped out of our gear as Kyle finished my sentence. "Amazing? I know. That's why I started. You just never know what you'll find down there. Why, it's like a whole other world, and it…it changes constantly. Sure is beautiful. Isn't it?" He put a hand to my cheek, flirting slightly.

Man, he was so romantic. His tone, that glance…he was supposed to act like Manjoume—annoying and perverted. But he was still acting like he had when we first met. That was easy to mimic, too, since I'd refused his love constantly back then, as well. Why was I so stubborn during that first year? To this day, I really didn't know. After all, Kyle was a great guy.

A little too great at the moment. I didn't want to keep up this act. I wanted so badly to laugh and agree with him, but Ai was there, so I pushed him off instead.

This act was starting to hurt. It was forcing me to push away the only man in the world that had ever made me feel special and actually stuck around.

"Now, Kyle, what did I say?" I asked.

I was much gentler in rejecting this guy. After all, he was being flirtatious, but he was doing it in a more respectful and less pushy way than Manjoume. Why should I be mean to a guy like that? It wasn't his fault he liked me and couldn't take a hint, after all… Hadn't I said that exact same like a couple of years ago? Repeatedly?

As if to prove his greatness yet again, Kyle pulled back, looking a bit upset but not totally crushed. He never got that emotional. Unlike a certain brunette I knew. Seriously, what was the guy? Did that dumb fusion turn him into a woman or something? No man in their right mind would do half of the stuff he did!

Kyle gathered up our suits, getting up while he did so. "Aw, come on. You know you like me. Why can't you just admit it already?"

Ai's servants (obviously Ai's, as their clothing bore the Misgarth crest) came and took our scuba gear, taking it back to the rental shack. They had been standing by waiting since we'd gone under.

Ai and I stood up as well. Since I'd heard that line from the guy several times during our first year working together, I knew exactly what to say and how to act—gentle and apologetic.

"I do like you, yes," I said. "But only as a friend, okay?"

"But, Asuka—"

Ignoring Kyle, I turned my attention to Ai. If I wanted that witch to think we weren't together, I needed to stop acknowledging him, after all. Oh, my heart was breaking to hear him so upset. But there wasn't anything I could do. At least this time it was just a really stupid act.

"So? How was it? Did you have fun, Ai?" I asked, smiling.

Ai just stared at me for a moment, then said, "You know, Asuka, you should really give Kyle a chance. He's a great guy, and you two would make a great couple."

I blushed. Really? Did she have to point that out? That just made this even harder for me! Really, with how good she and Judai were at making my life difficult and miserable, maybe they should get married.

"R-really…"

Yes, Kyle was a great guy. Yes, we did make a perfect couple. But this act would fail if I admitted that! Why couldn't Ai have left me alone that night? Why did she have to see Kyle come to my rescue!? This was so unbelievably unfair!

"Come on, my love, listen to the girl," Kyle said. "She has a point, you know."

Okay, Kyle, thanks again for making my stomach flutter. This act was too tough. I had to get out of here before I jumped in his arms or something.

"I've gotta go," I said. "I just found out my brother's here, too, and I wanna make sure he's staying out of trouble. See you around, guys."

I walked off, sweating and hoping they couldn't see my blush. I had to tune him out. Maybe if I thought about all the dumb things my brother was doing instead, that would help. Why, for all I knew, he was off getting drunk again and talking some creep into marrying me. Or maybe he was auctioning off my baby pictures on the Internet again. Or he could be—Yeah, I was heading to the villa to check up on him before he could ruin my image or our whole family's image.

"You don't know what you're missing, girl! Trust me," Kyle called after me.

Oh, geez! Stop it, Kyle!

Ai's POV

From the look on Asuka's face, she really wanted to accept the poor man's feelings, so why wouldn't she? What was holding her back?

Kyle sighed, kicking the dirt. He looked really disappointed. "That girl. She's so stubborn, you know what I mean? Why can't she just admit that I'm the one? Why so focused on Eric? I mean, what's she see in him? He's nothing compared to me."

His tone told me that he'd been at this for a while and was close to giving up. He looked at me, still upset.

"I can't say anything about Eric, since I haven't met him," I admitted. "But you remind me a lot of the guy I like."

Kyle raised an eyebrow at me, curious. I decided to tell him why Asuka was so tough for him to hook. After all, he was enough like Judai that she was probably worried about the same thing happening with him.

I giggled. "The only difference is you're more mature. It makes sense Asuka would go for someone like you. After all, she used to have a thing for Judai. But, sadly, the two of them had one heckuva misunderstanding. He loved her, but he thought she hated him, so he never said. She didn't speak up, either, so they drifted apart. That's why he ran off, you know."

Kyle's eyes widened and he stared at me in awe as I continued.

I shook my head, saying, "Really, she should just admit that she likes you, already. But you're so much like Judai that maybe she can't. Maybe she's afraid you'll do what he did."

Now his face filled with understanding as well, though he was still awed. He nodded.

I laughed, feeling the need to defend Judai now that I'd just kind of trashed him to this man. "Not that that's likely! I mean, you've got no reason to think she doesn't like you, right?"

"True," he admitted. "Say, uh, how do you know so much about her friend Judai? I hear he hates you, so there's no way he'd share all this information with you. So how do you know your guess is actually right? Hmm?"

Whoops. He sounded suspicious.

I shook my head and said, "Then you tell me what it was. Here's the facts. They all went to another dimension to save a friend of theirs, one Judai felt personally responsible for. He wasn't using his head, so he ran into danger without thinking about the others. He tried too hard to save his one friend and wound up hurting all of the others. The last words they said to him before they were sent away weren't exactly kind. Why, Asuka herself said that she was being betrayed and sent away by him, even though he hadn't meant to betray her. He'd simply made a mistake, one of his first, I might add. After all, he's saved the world countless times, so he couldn't have made too many mistakes throughout the course of the previous years, right?"

I'd gotten carried away here. I seemed to have forgotten that I was talking to Asuka's man, a man who hardly knew me. Why was I telling him all of this stuff and looking like a freak? Better yet, why did I care what he thought of me? I wasn't interested in him!

Kyle's POV

I raised an eyebrow, my suspicions growing stronger. How in Heaven's name did she know all of this? Surely Judai Yuki hadn't told her. He had nothing but resentment for her. And Sho's books had never said a word about Asuka saying something untrue. In fact, according to the five who had commented on it, that part of the story was quite blurry. Jun Manjoume, Tyranno Kenzan, Fubuki Tenjoin, even the author himself wasn't sure what had happened. Jim Cook, Austin O'Brien, and Judai Yuki's comments were all missing on this section. Granted, Judai's were missing from the entire story. So, bearing in mind that those who knew would never tell her and it wasn't written anywhere, she couldn't possibly have known that.

"Anyway, that was the last thing she said to him at that time," the princess continued. "The next time he saw her was back in their dimension, and neither she nor any of the others who had been there bothered to say a word about what had happened. Why, one had even said they were idiots for calling him a friend, and then they all expected things to just go back to normal. So? What do you make of that? Could it be that he felt they didn't like him anymore? And that's why he left?"

Well, that part about being "idiots for calling him a friend" certainly sounded like something The Thunder would say. I suppose that would explain why a gentleman such as Judai Yuki would suddenly "abandon all his precious friends," as Asuka had said it. Still, that book had said nothing about this. All it had said was that, for unknown reasons, Judai had sacrificed his friends, felt badly about it afterwards, and turned evil as a result. Then he had killed two of them and declared he no longer deserved friends, according to Ed the Destiny Phoenix. No one wanted to relive any of that, so they had given Judai his space when it was all over, hoping for the best as they tried to move on.

So, then, where were these atrocious words coming from? No one knew anything about them! Either Ai was psychic, or something else was going on here.

"Well, maybe," I admitted, turning to her. "But that doesn't quite answer my question, How…do you know so—"

She cut me off with, "Speaking of Judai, I should go check on him. See you, Kyle!" Then she ran off.

"Wait a moment! Ai!"

Her cleverness was quite surprising. I held a hand out as I called, signaling for her to stop, but she ignored me.

Well, she may not have been onto Asuka, but she was still quite on guard around those whom she felt might offer aid to Judai Yuki. That poor man! Would she ever leave him alone?

But…what she had said…

I kicked the dirt. "Blast. She got away. Well, I better go tell Asuka what she said. She knows far too much, all things considered. Besides, maybe she's right."

What she had said about Judai's feelings, taken in conjuncture with the missing and blurry details of Sho's fourth book, made sense. Nobody, not even such a carefree man as Judai was supposed to be, could endure such a cruel onslaught from his closest friends. Why, if Princess Ai was right, Judai's "heartless betrayal" was a two-sided incident, and he felt betrayed and abandoned as well.

With that in mind, I simply had to tell Asuka. If there was even a chance that it was the truth, she needed to know. She was always feeling alone, even when she was with me, I could tell. She always complained about the past, all that Judai Yuki had done. She mentioned both the good and the bad; and, even when I held her, I could tell she wasn't seeing me. She always closed her eyes, imagining the one who had let her down. Their friendship had been much deeper, much stronger, than either of them had ever let on, and Asuka was unable to move forward without knowing the truth. Perhaps telling her this would give her the chance to salvage their invaluable friendship and finally give her what she needed to move on.

It was worth a try, at least. After all, if that couldn't help me win this losing battle against the past, nothing would. The poor girl. Could anyone ever make her happy again?

"Well, here's hoping," I said. Then I headed off to find Asuka and tell her what I had just learned.