Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.

TRIGGER WARNING: Attempted rape.

Edit: I forgot the beginning of this chapter, so it's been added.

Ai's POV

My phone rang bright and early in the morning, waking me up. Glancing at it, I saw it was an unknown number. Not the most uncommon thing in the world—people found my number from time to time and passed it around. Usually the ones who called were admirers wanting a date, and I usually accepted those as they were pretty cute. Though most turned out to be jerks seeking money or power, but I was an optimist—I hoped that, one day, one would call who actually liked me, not my status. Either way, these calls happened from time to time, so I'd changed my number a few times to get rid of the unwanted onslaught of calls.

Regardless, I answered. I mean, the way things were going with Judai, having a fallback couldn't hurt. "Hello?"

Unfortunately, the voice that answered was the last one I wanted to hear.

"Howdy. How's it goin'?" a deep voice answered with a Southern drawl, sounding a wee bit nasty. Jesse laughed, sounding cold here. From his tone, I didn't doubt he would take advantage of me the first chance he got. I made a mental note to change my number immediately.

"What are you doing? What do you want?"

Jesse's response was still a bit cold, but he sounded like he was attempting to sound attractive halfway through. "Relax, sugar. All I want is y'all to be my girlfriend. Come on, I know ya want me. Why keep resisting, darlin'?"

This went beyond unnerving—this was terrifying. "I don't know you! Besides, I already have a boyfriend! Leave me alone!"

"A boyfriend, ya say?" Jesse said, and he didn't seem fazed. His manner of speaking hadn't changed at all. "Well, sugar, I don't know who this tramp is, but I can assure ya, I'm better. You'll see in due time." With that spooky statement, he hung up.

Suddenly I wasn't sure if Judai was worth the risk. I thought about going home, where secure castle walls would keep Jesse away from me, along with guards all over the place. Jesse was dangerous, that call was more than enough to prove it. If only I'd recorded it.

"...He's crazy..."

Johan's POV

No doubt about it! This plan was working perfectly. Ai sounded so nervous on the phone, and she should be, too! After all, if this was ever going to work, I'd have to act on these threats eventually. Yeah, I know, it was illegal, immoral, and just plain wrong to actually do that, but who said I was gonna? You'll have to wait and see. I left that island with my virtue intact, thanks very much!

Anyway, after scaring Ai out of her mind again, I hung up the payphone, grinning. Sure was glad the Tenjoins had installed one of those old things, otherwise she could have traced my call, and this would be over before it even began. I stood there a few seconds, just enjoying Ai's reaction as I remembered it. The wicked grin I surely had on my face showed my excitement that my evil plan was working.

I laughed slightly. "She's so nervous. Won't be long."

With that established, I walked off, hiding out in the droves of tourists again as I plotted my next move. It wasn't quite time for that one yet, so I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to do, but I'd think of something! Ai needed taught a lesson as if it were really happening. No need to rush the process and get her suspicious of me, after all.

Ai's POV

When I was released from the hospital, it was actually quite a relief. I mean, if I wasn't there, that man should have more difficulty in finding me. This island, being a resort, had decent crowds, after all. I sometimes had trouble locating Judai, hence the reason I kept restricting his movement. But, since Jesse couldn't do that to me, I knew I would have an easier time staying clear of that guy now.

The doctors had told me to take it easy so that my wounds would have time to heal properly. I wasn't, however, told that I needed to stay in bed all day, so I went to the beach to see if Judai was ready to give up yet. Hopefully he'd be more cooperative. Then he and I could leave this island and go back to Misgarth, where I'd be safe from Jesse. I must admit, that morning, I was a little desperate.

When I got to the beach, a surprising site met my eyes. There, on the edge of the beach where sand met pavement, were four tall pillars cemented in place and walled off by a fence and some construction signs. A large section in the center was covered over with a large blue tarp, and construction materials lay around—bags of cement, piles of wood, a crane, and an excavator. In front of the whole mess, a sign read "Tenjoin Construction Beach House."

I didn't know the Tenjoins were building a new building just 40 feet away from the resort! Briefly, I wondered if this wasn't some sort of plot. After all, surely somebody would have mentioned something about this construction project—everyone here either worked for the Tenjoins or rented their land from them. Why would it be such a secret that they're building a house on the beach? Was it possible that this was a hiding place for somebody, such as a two-tone brunette I was sick of chasing down? As he wasn't anywhere else on the beach, he could easily have been under that tarp, fence or no fence.

Because I did find this highly suspicious, I slipped through the fence (no lock; even more suspicious) and took a peek under the tarp. Sure enough, Judai was sleeping inside, lying in a wooden box roughly the size of a king-sized bed with sand for a floor. Upon closer observation, the tarp was held up by nothing but four unstable beams of wood forming a large rectangle. When I really thought about it, the work didn't look at all professional. The rest of the construction site was much like the outside, with scattered materials all over—piles of cement bags and wood were all over, with plenty of opportunities to hurt yourself. I wasn't certain this was even a good place to be sleeping, even if the part where Judai was laying was clear and safe.

There was no way this was a real construction site, I decided right there. I mean, everything under this tarp was too...amateur. Unprofessional. There wasn't any way they were serious about building a house here. This had to be set up as a hiding place for Judai. I mean, even those wooden beams were slanted in such a way I could tell they hadn't hit bedrock. Well, that was a good reason why Judai's friends were a nuisance. Something to keep in mind for the future.

I decided to forget about all of that for now. After all, I had found Judai, anyway, so it didn't really matter. I crept over to the wooden box and crawled on top of Judai.

Ah, if you're sensitive to such acts, you may want to stop reading now. You see, once I was there, I started removing Judai's jacket. Obviously, that woke him up.

"Wh—" he started as his eyes opened.

"Good morning, sweetheart!" I said. "Have a nice night?"

"Oh, for the love of—GET OFF ME!"

"Hold up! Before you attack or anything, keep in mind that this is a construction site," I said. "I could hit my head off something in here and bust it open, thus killing me. Do you want that to happen?"

The instability of this construction site was working to my advantage. I decided I should thank whoever had come up with this idea—after all, they'd given me a place to go with Judai where nobody would find us and he wouldn't try to resist. He didn't want to hurt anyone, after all.

Judai's POV

You want to know my thoughts on her question? I'll tell you my thoughts on her question! I actually wished I could!

It's tempting, really...but then I'd be in trouble with Misgarth...

No matter how good of a guy Prince Ojin was, I doubted he'd be okay with me hurting—or, more specifically, killing—his sister. The last thing I needed was to become guilty of regicide.

Ai's POV

Since Judai seemed to agree that we'd get hurt by him fighting me, I ignored the dangerous area—seriously, was that blood on some of this stuff?—and tore off his jacket, saying, "That's what I thought." Trying to seduce him, I let my hand wander up his shirt and onto his bare chest.

"Ai, if you have any morals at all, you'll get off me now," Judai said, trying his best to sound firm. Isn't it cute when boys play hard to get?

I started to unfasten his pants. After all, if he was going to keep playing hard to get, I needed to give him a taste of what he was missing out on. Besides, if that didn't work, there was still a chance he'd get me with child, and then he would have to marry me, according to Misgarthian law. "Whatever you say, honey."

"Don't call me that!" he said, grabbing my hands to stop me.

Apparently he wasn't going to hurt me, but he wasn't going to make this easy, either.

Before either of us could make another move, we were interrupted.

"Judai? You in there?" a cheerful female voice called from outside.

Well, talk about horrible timing. She'd ruin everything! I finally had Judai right where I wanted him, alone and trapped, and one of his friends had to pop out again? Even worse, it sounded like Rei, a known stalker. What was she even doing here, let alone casually seeking out Judai as if she were his girlfriend?

"Rei!?" Judai called, "Hey, can—"

I covered his mouth, silencing him.

Third Person POV

Rei's eyes widened in shock. That didn't sound good to her. "Huh!? What's going on!? You okay!?" she asked, reaching to lift the tarp as she spoke.

Underneath, Ai dragged Judai, kicking and wresting, out of the safe box and behind a pile of wood so they would be out of site.

"Judai-sama?" Rei called, poking her head under the tarp. "You in there?" Rei lifted the tarp over her head and stepped into the construction zone. She then straightened up and looked around for Judai. When she didn't immediately see him due to the obstacles and dim lighting, she carefully walked through the minefield that was this disaster of a construction site, looking behind objects and being mindful of where she stepped.

Ai, for her part, was restraining Judai's arms with one hand and covering his mouth with the other. He was struggling against her, but clearly this princess had taken too many combat classes—most likely a kidnapping class, as well, if you ask me—because her grip wasn't easy to break, especially since he didn't want to risk hurting her badly—there were dangerous materials all around, after all. To avoid detection, Ai dragged her prisoner around the side of that wood pile as Rei walked passed it, continuing to use it as a hiding place. She watched Rei for any sign that she was about to enter their line of site, ready to force her struggling prisoner to move with her once again.

"Judai, you idiot!" Yubel yelled in anger and irritation. "Just hit her with it! No one's here to see, and it's only mental, anyway! Do it now!"

Judai took Yubel's advice and activated his powers. His eyes glowed orange and green, Yubel's colors, and vines wrapped around Ai as Judai attacked her with Yubel's signature move, Nightmare Pain. Ai screamed and let go. Meanwhile, the screaming and glowing alerted Rei to their location, and she hurried over, carefully leaping over a triangle in the sand so she could get there.

"Judai-sama! What's going on!?" Rei called, worried.

Judai's POV

Holy shit, Manjoume was right! If I wasn't always watching my back, I'd find myself in bed with Ai sooner rather than later! That crazy "princess" wasn't above rape, for pity's sake!

Now fully aware of just how far Ai would go to get her way, I darted away from her as fast as I could as my attack stopped and Ai caught her breath. Leaving Ai next to the pile of wood she'd been hiding behind—and holding me hostage behind—I moved to a clearer area, where she wouldn't be able to hide.

Rei came around the wood pile just then and stopped, her eyes wide with horror and a hint of disgust. "Judai! W-what's going on here!?" she asked, and the look she cast me said she was appalled by the sight. It was the kind of look you might see right before the cops get called.

That look was reassuring, at least. She sure as hell didn't look like she was okay with rape, so at least one of my stalkers—or former stalkers, in Rei's case—had some decency.

I pointed at Ai, not sure if I was more pissed or freaked out by what she'd just tried. I mean, it wasn't like she would have succeeded, but it didn't make it any less...upsetting. Risk of hurting her, maybe killing her, or not, there was no way I was going to let Ai violate me like that! "Ai here just tried to—"

Looking very concerned, Rei rushed to my side, shoving Ai aside in the process. I got the satisfaction of watching "Princess" Ai eat sand as she face-planted. Rei grabbed me by the shoulders in a comforting manner and spoke softly, her tone reassuring, as she massaged my shoulders. "Hey, hey. It's okay. It's over. I'm here now, okay? She's not gonna do anything with me around."

Normally a comment like that would make me feel pathetic. I mean, I was a lot tougher than Ai, so she shouldn't have even been able to come that close to what she was aiming for. The idea that I needed protection from her usually bothered me, but Rei said it with nothing but sympathy and concern in her eyes, and it made me feel better. For once, I didn't feel like a weakling because somebody was promising to keep me safe from Ai. Suddenly, I was grateful Rei was the one to find us in this embarrassing and...unnerving position.

Speaking of this problem, I fastened my pants as Ai sat up. Seriously, she'd just tried to—

"Get out of here, Ai!" I yelled, trying to keep the fear I'd been feeling out of sight and show only my anger. "Honestly! How can you and Ojin be related!?"

I met Prince Ojin during my second year at Duel Academy. When he wasn't controlled by the Light of Destruction, Ojin was a really nice guy. From what Linda had said, he was blatantly self-sacrificing. In other words, he was the exact opposite of Ai.

"Judai!" Ai said, and I could tell she was going to argue about why I should give her what she wanted already. Geez, couldn't she just get the fuck away from me!?

"I could've swore she went this-a way. Where are ya, my precious!? Ai!" a fake Southern accent called, saving me the trouble of finding an escape route.

As Johan, disguised as Jesse, continued calling for Ai, I could just see the wicked grin on his face. There was a hint of playful taunting in his tone—this was obvious to me because Johan and I had so much in common. So he was giving Ai a taste of her own medicine, huh? Suddenly I was perfectly fine with him being here in disguise and running around doing his own thing.

Ai tensed, looking a lot like how I felt when she came near me. Rei stopped rubbing my shoulders and gave Ai a look, her hands still resting on my shoulders.

I grinned. "Seems the tables have turned. Well, in that case..." I took a deep breath and yelled at the top of my lungs, "SHE'S OVER HERE!"

Her hiding place revealed, Ai ran for it, going in the opposite direction of where Johan's—or Jesse's—voice had come from. Well, gee, I wonder why?

Rei let me go and moved to stand beside me, looking at me in concern. She had a hand clenched in front of her chin.

The tarp lifted up, and Jesse's brown hair popped under. Looking ridiculously excited, he asked, "Really!? Where at, partner?"

Oh, yeah, he was definitely giving Ai a taste of her own medicine. If I didn't know that there was no way he'd go as far as she would, maybe I'd have been more worried. As it was, I was just glad somebody was showing her what it felt like to be hunted.

I pointed off to my right and answered, "She went that way."

Jesse put a hand up as if to block the sun so he could see better—under a tarp, yeah—and looked off the way I pointed. Then he gave a kind of nasty grin, and I figured he saw Ai. The sound of fabric moving told me she'd just gotten out from under the tarp and was on her way across the beach.

"Thanks, partner! I think I see her now!" He lowered his hand and looked at me in concern before asking, "By the way, ya okay?"

Same as Rei, gentle and concerned. Like with Rei, the implication didn't bother me, but I got the feeling he was also making sure I was okay after our conversation the day before. In fact, he seemed like he was apologizing for upsetting me, like he was worried I'd do something crazy.

Crap, look at the mess Ai made! I hated worrying my friends, but that seemed to be all I was doing anymore. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Rei glared violently, stepping to the side a bit. She looked at me with pure, disgusted anger—not directed at me, of course. "Fine? Fine!? Ai just tried to—" She cut herself off, gesturing at me.

"It's nothing, Rei," I lied. "Don't worry about it."

Truth be told, I was still shook up from that whole thing. I mean, I'd just had somebody trying to strip me, molest me. But I didn't need Johan worrying about me again—I'd be okay. She hadn't gotten very far, it was fine. I tried to calm myself down with those kinds of thoughts.

Apparently it was working well enough to hide my fear. Rei gaped at me, her hands falling to her sides, totally oblivious to my discomfort. Good, I could still act.

Jesse cocked his head, looking more concerned. Well, that didn't work. "Well... Anyway, Ai!" he said, his tone switching over to his Ai-chasing excited one when he said her name. He dropped the tarp, and I heard his footsteps as he ran off. "Come on, darling, can't you see I'm the..." The farther he went, the harder it was to hear what he was saying. That's all the more I could make out.

Rei turned her disbelief on me, looking more angry and disgusted than ever now. "Nothing!? Don't worry!? What are you talking about!?" she shrieked, obviously furious at Ai. "She was trying to—"

"I know," I cut her off—it wasn't really something I wanted to talk about. "But I'm fine, so it's not that big a deal."

Rei gaped at me some more, her jaw once more hanging loose. Her concern was touching, definitely, and her fury on my behalf was even better—it definitely showed me she wasn't the type to violate anybody.

I wanted to get out of there and do something else—anything else, as long as Ai wasn't around—so I asked, "So? We gonna stand here all day?"

Frozen as she was, Rei took a moment to say, "...What are you made of...?"

Really? New topic, please!

I shrugged. Rei gawked at me some more.

Once again, new topic!

"Let's get out of here," I said, going to get my jacket and leave—wouldn't be staying here again, that was certain.

"...Okay," Rei said quietly before following mechanically. Guess I'd shocked her into auto-pilot. Good, my acting was back up to snuff.

When we crawled out from under it, we found Fubuki and the others, ready to get back to work. The looks on the real construction workers' faces told me this wasn't their favorite thing, but they let my amateur friends help, anyway. Apparently perfect Kyle was good with heavy equipment because I saw him driving the crane. Meanwhile, Fubuki was back on "busywork," hammering together some random pieces of wood that he thought served a purpose. Hey, it may have been a waste of wood and nails, but it kept him out of their way most of the time—what's a few planks if it saves lives?

Fubuki looked up and smiled warmly in greeting. "Hey, there, you two! What's happening?"

"Not much," I said. Like I said, I don't like worrying my friends.

Rei crossed her arms, pouting. "Not much for him, at least," she muttered.

If only she knew.

Kenzan walked over, looking concerned and abandoning the cement he'd been mixing. "What was that? Something happen we should know about?"

Rei glared, nodding her head toward me as she started, "Yeah, he was—"

"It's nothing," I cut her off.

"That's what he thinks, at least!" she said with disgust. "But really Ai tried to—"

Enough was enough. I covered her mouth so she couldn't blab this to these guys. They didn't need to know. Nothing had happened. I was fine. I didn't need everyone knowing I'd just had a girl try to rape me, especially considering how close she'd gotten and that I should have gotten her off sooner.

For obvious reasons, Rei was startled and Kenzan raised a confused eyebrow. Rei tried to pull my hand off her mouth, presumably so she could finish telling people about the event I didn't want to talk about, think about, or have anybody else learn about. Sure, it scared me, but it was also embarrassing. Like I said, I'm stronger than Ai.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," I said, trying to sound casual. "She was here again. That's all."

Yep. That's all. Nothing more to report. It wasn't a big deal, I was fine, really!

Kenzan's eyebrow rose even higher, disappearing behind his bandanna as Rei, frustrated, started growling as she tried to get my hand off her mouth.

"What? Again? But I thought she was in the hospital."

There was no way I was letting Rei talk right now. The way she was struggling, I figured she'd shout out exactly what had happened if I did. "Guess she got out," I said to Kenzan, pretending I didn't notice Rei trying to talk.

Kenzan scratched his head, looking a bit concerned—hey, better than he'd be looking if he heard the real story, so I counted it as a victory.

Just about then, Manjoume appeared, standing on top of a pile of wood, which he must have climbed up from the other side. With his arms crossed up there, he looked kind of like a king or something, even though he was wearing black shorts and a deep blue shirt and sandals. It looked like he'd climbed the wood like it was a staircase. Typical for him, really. He gave me a neutral look, a hint of annoyance in his eyes. "Hmph. Well, that sucks. How close did she get this time? 'Cause, judging by the looks of you two, she—"

"Not too close," I said.

Rei finally broke free of my grip then, yanking away from me and stepping just out of my reach as she demanded, "Are you kidding me? She had his pants undone!" She pointed at me, her eyes focused on Kenzan and Manjoume.

Yeah, thanks for the reminder, Rei. As if I needed it this soon.

Manjoume raised an eyebrow, his mouth forming a perfect circle. Kenzan's eyes widened as he cried, "What!?" They both had varying levels of concern on their faces as the looked at me, with Kenzan looking panicked and Manjoume surprised. Rei glared at me, looking kind of miffed. Well, seeing as I was forcibly keeping her quiet, I couldn't really blame her. Probably she was frustrated with my attitude. Sorry, Rei, but it was something you'd have to experience to understand, and I wouldn't ever wish that understanding on a friend.

I sweat. "Rei..." Once again, worrying people—not my thing.

Manjoume closed his eyes, grinning some. So this was funny now? "Heh. What did I tell ya? It's only a matter of time." He opened his eyes and looked back at me, his neutral concern back. "Better get a girlfriend before she scars you for life."

I could just hear the word "too" in there, which reminded me that Manjoume had said he woke up in bed with her a few times over the past six years. Did that have more of an impact than he was letting on, like this one time did for me? Suddenly I wasn't all that worried about being judged by Manjoume, at least. I also felt bad for Manjoume because his experiences had to be worse than mine—he woke up with her.

Kenzan turned a glare on Manjoume, his fists clenched. Guess he didn't catch the hidden message. "Do you find something humorous about this, Manjoume!? Maybe someone should go rape you!"

Too far, Kenzan.

Manjoume frowned a bit as he looked at Kenzan, apparently hurt by that, and said, "I never said it was funny. Only that he should find a girlfriend, stat." Turning back to me, he added, "I mean, it's only a matter of time before the damage is irreversible, if that's any indication, right?"

Kenzan turned back to me, looking worried. Rei's annoyance turned to worry, too, as she cupped her hands under her chin. Suddenly I had all three's undivided attention and concern. As much as I hated worrying them, it made me feel a little better seeing how concerned they were about me. Suddenly I knew that, if Ai miraculously did manage to get what she was after, I could turn to any of these guys—they'd understand, they'd help me through. I'd be okay.

"I'll be fine," I said. "I can take care of myself."

Kenzan looked sad now, like he was feeling sorry for me. "Aniki..."

Manjoume humphed, reaching into a pocket of his shorts. His eyes were closed. "If you say so," he said, pulling something out of his pocket. "Here." He tossed the object, some kind of card, to me.

I caught it and looked—a psychiatrist's information. This was a business card for a psychiatrist. Kenzan and Rei looked at the card over my shoulders.

Manjoume looked at me again and said, "Just remember to give him a call if you need him. He's good. Trust me."

From that, I figured this guy was a specialist in trauma.

Concerned looks turned to Manjoume now as Rei and Kenzan put two and two together. Good, let's worry about somebody else...but the fact that he had a card for a psychiatrist after being stalked by Ai wasn't a good sign.

I looked at Manjoume in concern, hoping my guess was wrong as I asked, "And how do you know this...?"

Manjoume closed his eyes, turning away with another humph. Kenzan's eyes softened into the same look everyone gave me these days—sorrow and helplessness. "Manjoume-senpai..."

Rei gave him much the same look. I was feeling about the same as them, honestly. Now I knew how they felt trying to help me.

"...Okay."

Ai was definitely sub-human, and this is coming from the guy who's half Duel Monster. That witch deserved whatever Johan had planned for her.