Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX. All OCs in this story belong to Midna Azusa except for Kyle. He's mine.
Judai's POV
I groaned as I regained consciousness. My head was throbbing, and, at the moment, I didn't remember why. It was quiet except for seagulls and the ocean, and I could feel the ocean breeze and the sun on my skin. Slowly I opened my eyes, but, as I did, I remembered why my head hurt—Ai had gotten hold of me. I sat up quickly, my eyes wide, and something fell to the ground beside me.
The first thing I saw was Asuka, sitting by my legs with her back to me and her legs folded beneath her. She also happened to be shirtless, which confused me. She was just wearing a white bra and pleated skirt, arms folded over her chest in an attempt to stay warm. She started, glancing over her shoulder at me, then she smiled gently and turned to face me. She looked uncomfortable. Gee, I wonder why? It wasn't like she was half naked!
"Morning, Judai. How are you?" she asked.
From the looks of it, the sun had just risen maybe an hour ago, so it made sense she was chilly. But, still, why was she dressed like that?
I stared at her for a bit, at a loss, before recovering enough to say, "You're not wearing a shirt."
Wow, Judai. Nice observation. Not like that was totally obvious or anything!
Asuka closed her eyes. She was still smiling and shivering, but now she was also blushing and sweating a bit. "I know." She shivered again, then opened her eyes, just smiling as she asked, "How's your head? Feeling alright?"
She was still shivering, and I knew why. When you didn't have a shirt, the breeze off the ocean around here was a pain. I didn't answer her question. Instead I looked down beside me and saw what had fallen off me when I sat up—Asuka's shirt. Guess that explained why she wasn't wearing it. I picked it up and handed it to her.
She took it, smiling sweetly, and said, "Thanks." She looked a bit relieved, and she started putting it back on while I thought about why it was beside me.
From the fact it had fallen off when I sat up, I figured Asuka had used it as a makeshift blanket for me last night. What I couldn't figure out was how I'd gone from being at Ai's mercy to lying on a beach with Asuka beside me.
"What happened?" I asked.
Asuka rubbed her arms to warm them up, looking at me over her shoulder. She was now fully clothed again, which was a relief for both of us, I'm sure. "Ai knocked you out," she answered, her expression and tone both neutral. "But it's okay. I took care of it. You don't have to worry about her anymore, trust me. After last night, there ain't no way in hell she's coming back."
She closed her eyes and frowned at the word trust, looking disgusted. Then she sounded annoyed for the rest of that. But I was more concerned with what she meant by "took care of it."
"...What did you do...?"
Hopefully she wouldn't be the next one going on the run.
She turned to face me, smiling sweetly again, and answered, "Oh, don't worry. It's nothing like that. I just told her to hit the road or I'd pummel her, and she left, plain and simple."
Oh. That...sounded way too easy. Since when did Ai leave just because someone told her to?
Asuka closed her eyes again, sweating and looking a bit nervous. "That, and I..." She trailed off, lowering her head slightly, and I couldn't help but wonder what she was getting at.
"You what?" I asked, wondering what was wrong now. She seemed nervous again, and I was starting to wonder if I'd ever be able to make sense of her again.
"I..." Asuka looked at me apologetically and asked, "Remember yesterday when I yelled at you?"
Yeah, I remembered. Yelling at me was becoming a common thing for her.
She looked off to the side, her gaze dropping again. "Well, I've been thinking about something for some time now, and..." she said, closing her eyes, "let's just say, Ai's helped me make my decision."
Decision? What decision? Her neutral tone didn't give me any clues there. What was she trying to decide?
I couldn't ask before Asuka got up, her expression determined but otherwise unreadable. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go talk to Kyle," she said, and then she walked off.
I just sat there, trying to make sense of what had just happened. I wasn't really having any luck. I mean, what in what she had said made any sense? What did her yelling at me have to do with her decision? How did it get Ai to leave me alone? And how long would Ai actually leave me alone, considering she never left me alone for long?
Yubel appeared then, her arms crossed and a grin on her face. She was staring after Asuka, and I felt like she might know something I didn't. "Hmm. Interesting. I wonder." She laughed a bit, closing her eyes.
Well, apparently there was something amusing going on because she seemed entertained. I didn't find anything about this whole situation funny, personally, but I'm glad she was amused.
Hoping she'd have an answer, I asked, "...Wonder what?"
"Oh, nothing," she answered, laughing through her lips.
Nothing. Great. My favorite answer. She still looked amused, and it wasn't making any sense. I was definitely not in the mood for that, considering Ai had just tried to kidnap me the night before! Seriously, she'd knocked me out! Who knows what she would have done if Asuka hadn't gotten involved? And I was still stuck on that beach at her non-existent mercy! Meanwhile Asuka, who had, apparently, been protecting me while I was out cold, was off with her stupid perfect boyfriend again, leaving me to hope Ai didn't show up again with an even more evil plot to get her way.
I just stared at Yubel questioningly, trying not to think about the desperate situation I was in. Yeah, Manjoume's card would probably be seeing some use if I didn't get out of here ASAP. Hell, it might be seeing some use, regardless.
Fuyuko's POV
This was getting old fast. Ever since mine and Haruko's first "date," Manjoume had been even more of a pest than previously. He'd bother us at dinner, before bed, during breakfast, and just about every hour in between about our new relationship. He always asked the stupid questions, too, like, "Did you two really start dating?" or, "So what did you two do last night while everyone was sleeping?" or, "Are you sure you don't want to?" Honestly, the implications of that one were irritating enough without his tone adding to it.
Then there were the open-ended questions about him and his situation, such as, "Do I need to change my," a sentence that ended with a variety of things he might need to change, such as his name, address, sex, identity. The most common such question was, "Can I stop worrying about," which always ended with something Haruko did, like sneaking into his room at night or digging through his trash in search of something for her Manjoume shrine (which, I can confirm, she never had).
Thus far, this morning was shaping up exactly like all the rest, aside from the fact that I had started packing the moment I got out of the shower. I'd had enough of him, and it wasn't like either Haruko or I were of any use in this situation. I certainly wasn't about to become Judai's girlfriend, and Haruko was spoken for. Even Natsuko wasn't my concern now, considering his sister was here and he'd gotten married. Let his wife worry over him instead. Besides, I wasn't interested in finding out what other trouble that man could get himself into. I was sick to death of his antics, especially those that involved jail time in foreign nations, so it seemed like a good time to bail before I needed to find bail money.
Haruko's irritation with Manjoume just gave me one more reason to leave, so I suppose I should thank him for saving me from the insanity that comes with being Natsuko Tokugawa's best friend.
Still, it was irksome, as I finished packing my suitcase, to have Manjoume standing in the doorway, looking as anxious as always when he interrogated me about Haruko. "So you guys are really serious about this. You're really together, and I can stop worrying about Haruko showing up with a boxed lunch, wearing a red dress, in my living room when I come home from work."
Oddly specific. I suppose she had done that one at least once. It wouldn't have been the first time. I'd come home to find her with dinner on the table, fully prepared, in a similar outfit once or twice. The difference was I was coming home from school, meaning she was just a child. A strange, obsessed, sneaky child.
Manjoume sounded hopeful yet nervous, a fact he tried to cover up. However, I'm good at reading people. In my line of work, I have to be, so I could see right through him.
As he was talking, Haruko pulled her bags into the hallway opposite my room. Knowing she had heard, I asked, "Haruko, were you doing that again?"
Manjoume crossed his arms, looking annoyed. Haruko just gave a nervous laugh, which I knew meant that she had resumed that unusual behavior. Here I thought we had broken her of that after middle school.
I sighed, "Yes, Manjoume. You can stop worrying."
As if I'd flipped a switch, Manjoume went back to his former attitude, this time masking it with a bit of annoyance. "And you're sure about that? This is really the end of the endless phone messages professing her love for me, right?"
"Yes," Haruko answered firmly.
"And no more—"
"Manjoume!" the both of us cut him off, tired of his interrogations. I understand that he was used to being stalked and was concerned it wasn't really over yet, but this was more than annoying!
He smirked then, looking less nervous and more happy and hopeful. Maybe we were finally getting it through his thick head. "That's a yes, then?"
"Stop worrying about it," I said. "In fact, you won't even see her again after this. You and I aren't friends, you and her aren't friends, so she's walking out of your life forever. Alright?"
At the time, I thought that was accurate. Sad to say, other friends of mine and Haruko's kept in touch with that group—and I don't just mean Natsuko—so there's a possibility Manjoume might see Haruko again someday. Still, that won't happen if I have any say in it. The only one of these yahoos I'm still in contact with is the Kaiser.
Manjoume stood there for a second, his expression neutral, like he was taking that in. Then he closed his eyes, a wide grin spreading across his face as he danced around a bit. "Alright!" He clenched a fist in front of his face, grinning from ear to ear, and exclaimed, "YES!" Then he threw his fist into the air, adding, "Manjoume Thunder's free at last!"
Yes. And it's about freaking time you got that message. I was starting to understand what Akiko had meant about "Detective Thunder" and his misadventures. He wasn't an idiot—most of the time. But he certainly had his moments.
He laughed, his head tilted back and hands on his hips. This ended his interrogation, which freed me up to think about the fact that I'd just seen Jun Manjoume, the pro duelist, dancing around like a kid who'd just gotten exactly what they wanted for Christmas. I'm fairly certain not many people can say they've had that experience.
Jim's POV
Well, from the sound of it, Manjoume was at it again. We all knew the pattern by this point. After all, it was his usual behavior when both Fuyuko and Spring-Girl were in the same area. He'd drop everything, run up to them, and ask about a dozen different questions that all boiled down to, "Are you sure I'm not being stalked anymore?"
I can't say I really blame him, honestly. He'd been stalked by Ai for six years, and, from what he'd said, Spring-Girl wasn't much better. Sure, she wasn't trying to rape him or anything like that, but she had admitted to a number of other questionable things while assuring Manjoume they were over now.
Mostly, though, we were ignoring the Manjoume business. We were all tired of hearing it after the first day, and Spring-Girl wasn't dangerous. We could all tell she was over him. That being said, we were all gathered in the lounge or the kitchen. Natsuko and Fubuki were cooking breakfast, which Fubuki was apparently good at. Rei was sitting between Sho and Dino-Boy, putting on her makeup. She'd said she wanted to look pretty for Judai today, planning some big "surprise" for him. Hopefully it wasn't anything rushed.
Sho was chugging a glass of water, washing down his new medicine for whatever strange condition it was he had. The Marufuji brothers were deflecting all questions about said condition, so we weren't sure what was going on. All Ryo said was not to anger Sho on a full moon, so the whole thing was clear as mud. Speaking of Ryo, he'd gone off early to see Ai and tell her what the doctors had said to Sho, whatever that was.
Autumn-Girl was sitting beside me with a box of tissues in front of her, still getting over that cold everyone was blaming on Sho. Thinking about it, though, Sho never got sick—maybe it came from Judai? Not that I was going to pose this idea. After all, these drongos blamed Judai for enough already. Sure, this was minor, but I wasn't going to feed the Judai blame.
Just about the time Manjoume screamed about being stalker-free, Jesse came walking into the villa, carrying—of all things—a Slifer Red jacket and a black, long sleeve shirt. Now, I'm fairly certain only one person on that island was wearing either of those, given the temperature. There were definite questions to ask here, I'd say.
Before that, though, let me tell you why Jesse walking into the villa wasn't considered strange. It goes back to when we'd first gotten back to the island with Rei.
When I'd first gotten back with Rei, I'd walked into the villa, giving her some privacy so she could work. I needed to unpack both mine and Johan's things, anyway. "Jesse" said he'd be sleeping outside, so he didn't have anywhere to keep his travel case. I'd brought it with me, knowing the contents could easily reveal who he really was. After all, Johan had said he'd need it right away when this whole bizzo was done.
Back in the airport, he'd said, "Can you watch my clothes and hair dye, Jim? Thanks, you're a pal. See ya when Jesse's finished existing."
Crikey, mate, I sure hope you know what you're doing... I'd thought as I headed to get my luggage—and Johan's.
The moment I walked into the villa, Manjoume got up in my face, looking worried. "Jim!? Did you find Judai yet? Is he okay?"
For context, this was the same day that Rei had lectured Asuka and Judai. I'd been by earlier, but I'd left to find Judai. The last time Manjoume and Autumn-Girl had seen me, Judai was alone and upset.
"Yeah, I found him," I answered. "He's alright, Manjoume, don't worry. Rei's with him the last I saw."
"Oh, gee, that's comforting!" Manjoume said with sarcasm. "Leave him alone with another stalker in that state! Brilliant, Jim! Just brilliant!" He threw his arms up in exasperation. He was also being loud enough that Autumn-Girl, sick or not, had come to investigate.
"I take it something dumb happened," Autumn-Girl said, poking her head in. She sounded stuffed up, and I couldn't help wishing Manjoume had just kept it down so she could rest.
"I thoroughly discussed behavior with Rei already, Manjoume. She's been behaving like a model citizen today," I assured him.
"Sure! While you're with her, she sometimes can!" he'd answered, and I could tell from his tone he thought I was a nillwit. Sadly, I was thinking the same thing about some of these blokes right then, too.
"She knows he's having problems, and she knows that he needs someone calm who's willing to take it slow," I said, trying to ease Manjoume's worries. "Her intentions in this are pure, and she's nothing compared to Ai either way, Manjoume."
"True, considering that princess would probably have a lot of restraining orders against her if she wasn't royalty," Autumn-Girl intoned. "I don't think Rei's got any yet."
Manjoume smacked himself in the head, apparently giving up the argument. "Argh." I heard him mutter, "Idiots."
"Well, if you don't mind, Manjoume, I need to put these away," I told him, heading for my room.
Once I put my bag down, I headed over to the second room, where I put Johan's bag on the chest at the foot of the bed. While I was there, I heard Manjoume and Autumn-Girl talking some more, and their conversation told me they were curious.
"What's he doing?" Manjoume asked.
"Hell if I know," Autumn-Girl answered. "But isn't that the room Andersen was using?"
After that, I heard footsteps coming, but I decided to worry about that later. First, I had things to unpack. Manjoume and Autumn-Girl weren't likely to tell any secrets, after all. I saw them appear in the doorway while I was putting Johan's clothes—too small for me—into the dresser. The hair dye and the contacts, I put on top of it.
"What are you doing now, Cook? Seriously, I thought you were sane," Manjoume asked, exasperated yet again. In a mutter, he added, "Other than your extra baggage, that is."
"Yeah, is there something we should know, Jimbo?" Autumn-Girl asked.
I turned, startled, though it wasn't their spying that surprised me. I was more surprised at Autumn-Girl's nickname for me. She had just used Johan's surname, after all. Apparently she liked me better or something. "Crikey, should have known you'd follow. Spying's a common thing with this group."
"Just answer the question, Cook! What are you doing in here!? What's that stuff for!?" Manjoume demanded, pointing at the teal hair dye, clearly frustrated.
I looked from Manjoume to Autumn-Girl, then said, "I'll explain when everyone else is here. I don't want any miscommunication impacting everyone on my part."
"Yeah, okay," Autumn-Girl responded. "Guess I'll go back to bed then, if you're both through yelling." She glared at Manjoume, who crossed his arms and glared at the both of us, clearly annoyed, as he gave a humph.
Later that night, Manjoume had filled everyone in about Tomorrow-Girl's behavior as they came through the door. You know, the sleeping with Judai thing? He'd also harassed Fuyuko and Spring-Girl, asking where they'd been. Needless to say, nobody was thrilled about Tomorrow-Girl's behavior, and Fuyuko and Spring-Girl weren't thrilled at the questions aimed at them.
There was, quite frankly, a lot of trash being talked about Tomorrow-Girl that night. It was a fair bit like the night everyone was talking about Judai having changed, and Sho was the worst culprit. I suppose he was still furious at Tomorrow-Girl, and I wondered if and when he'd get over that. Clearly that bloke was a mess, to say nothing about the rest of them! I mean, if they had a single negative thought about one of their mates, they couldn't keep it to themselves. They had to verbally destroy the person, even if that person wasn't there to defend themselves.
The unfortunate fact about Manjoume's gossip? Tomorrow-Girl arrived last. The moment she came through the door, Manjoume and Fubuki were all over her, glaring in disappointment or disgust, depending on which one you looked at. Needless to say, Tomorrow-Girl was startled by this greeting and leaned back, eyes widening some.
"SIS!? What's this I hear about you and Judai sleeping together!?" Fubuki demanded. "Shame on you!"
"Yeah, what were you thinking, Tenjoin-kun!? That was—"
As I was starting to worry that everyone was going to get up on Asuka, similar to how they trash-talked Judai earlier, Autumn-Girl interrupted with, "Uh, guys? This was covered earlier today. Can we move on?"
Well, admittedly, it would be ripper if we could have a civil conversation when we had issues with each other instead of tearing each other to shreds like a pack of dingoes.
"Alright, calm down," I said. "Manjoume, you've already had a chance to talk to her about that earlier, and, that being said, Fubuki, it's been covered. Besides, I don't think she needs this right now, if you know what I mean." I looked at Tomorrow-Girl as I finished, trying to draw their attention to something I'd seen the moment she walked in—she looked distressed already.
Asuka looked down, seemingly ashamed, but said nothing. Looking in her eyes, I could see hints of sadness that I didn't think was related to this issue. My concern for her increased, but there wasn't a chance to ask her about it now.
Sho crossed his arms, glaring like a certain other someone in that room. "Yeah. Who cares about that, anyway?" Looking more like himself, he looked at me curiously and asked, "Jim? Why were you in two rooms unpacking? Was yours too small?"
Crikey, mate! First off, he had two personalities those days. Depending on the topic, he was either him or Manjoume. Second off, who did he think I was, Manjoume? I didn't own that much!
"Good question. And what'd you need teal hair dye for?" Dino-Boy asked. "That's kinda weird, you know."
"Planning on trying a new color?" Autumn-Girl asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Because, if you are, I'd recommend a burgundy or something," Spring-Girl added. "Teal would look bad with your skin tone."
What was I supposed to say to that?
"Thanks for the advice, Spring-Girl, but I'm not dyeing my hair. That case wasn't mine. It was Johan's."
Manjoume started, his eyes widening. "Hold up. Johan's? Didn't he leave this place because he's too stupid to know better?" Muttering, he added, "Seriously, I punch Ai all the time. It's not that bad. Sheesh."
...I didn't even have a comment for that one. Hitting a sheila wasn't okay, in my book, but I could make an exception in Ai's case, I suppose.
Tomorrow-Girl stared at me as if I'd started speaking another language. "Johan? B-but I thought—!"
"Why's his stuff here again?" Sho cut her off, looking equally as puzzled. "He's gone on the run!"
"I don't think he understands how to go on the run…" Spring-Girl said.
I looked around at them all and observed, "I take it someone told you all."
"Yeah. I did," Tomorrow-Girl answered. "I was there, Jim. I saw the whole thing."
Manjoume whirled on her, glaring in annoyance at her as if he thought she was a drongo. "You should've kept your mouth shut! Ai wasn't gonna—"
Not wanting anymore fighting and knowing I'd have to speak up to be heard, I loudly said, "Right, well, Johan's back in disguise! So if you see a cowboy with brown hair and freckles, that's him."
"Boys with freckles are cute," Spring-Girl observed innocently.
Manjoume whirled on her next, glaring with anger as he pointed an accusing finger at her. Apparently that comment wasn't so innocent. "Don't even start that again! You've got a boyfriend now, and—!"
"Yes, and I'd rather if we stayed on track, Haru," her boyfriend cut Manjoume off.
"Okay, Fuyu-chan."
Natsuko shook his head. "Dude, I'm having a hard enough time following stuff as it is. Can we stay on topic?"
A fair question. It wasn't too far-fetched to say this group had a habit of getting off the rails during conversations.
"Right, well, he's back with some secret plan he doesn't want to tell me about. I'm hoping it's legal."
"Bet you 5,000 yen it's not," Autumn-Girl said.
Sho started, his eyes widening in concern. "Wait, Johan's breaking the law?"
Tomorrow-Girl looked worried as well. Her eyes widened. "But he's already hit a princess! Isn't one crime bad enough!?"
"Ai don't care, Tenjoin-kun," Manjoume told her. "Anyway, we don't know that's—Oh, who am I kidding? Urgh." He put a hand to his head, looking exhausted. I couldn't blame him for that "surrounded by drongos" look he had on, although I considered him one, too.
"Uh, Jim?" Dino-Boy asked. "Why'd you say that, anyway? Did he say something suspicious?"
"He's wanting to give Ai a taste of her own medicine."
Nobody spoke for a moment, absorbing this. After a bit, Autumn-Girl said, "So he's planning on stalking her?"
"Or worse?" Fuyuko added.
Apparently that was the last straw for Manjoume. He walked over to the wall and started beating his head against it.
"I don't think it's a good idea to stalk Ai," Ryo said. "That's bound to get him into trouble."
"Yeah, no duh! What on earth is he thinking!?" Rei demanded.
"He isn't! Is he?" Fubuki answered.
Manjoume stopped beating himself up and glared at Fubuki in annoyance. "What was your first clue, Tenjoin? The fact that we live in a world of stalkers now?" He then returned to his head-banging.
For good reasons, Spring-Girl laughed awkwardly. She was one of the stalkers he was talking about, after all.
Natsuko shook his head in disbelief, his eyes wide. "Dude, that just ain't right!" He looked disgusted.
"Either way, that's the situation with Johan," I finished. "Hopefully he'll be alright, and, if all goes well, he'll be needing that stuff I brought in."
"Alright, yeah, that explains it," Autumn-Girl said.
Manjoume threw his arms up in surrender. "That's it. I'm going to bed. Let me know when he needs a lawyer." As he walked off, I heard him mutter, "Would've been better if he'd just—"
I didn't hear anymore of that before he was out of earshot.
Dino-Boy stared after Manjoume, looking concerned. "Right. Okay." He turned to look at Tomorrow-Girl. "So, Asuka-senpai, why did you—"
And we were back on that topic. This group really couldn't let anything drop, could they?
Tomorrow-Girl put a hand to her head, looking tired and upset. I couldn't blame her. Everyone was getting up on her again, treating her no better than they had Judai back in Dark World. I thought it was a bit ironic, really, and I just hoped she'd understand Judai a bit better after this experience. Either way, I wasn't a big fan of this side of my friends.
"Not now, Kenzan… I have a headache," Tomorrow-Girl said.
Rei crossed her arms, glaring at Tomorrow-Girl again. "Hmph. Gee, I wonder why, you—"
No, that was enough.
"I think we should all go to bed," I cut her off. "There's no point in dragging this up again, alright?"
In spite of my best efforts, it took hours of arguing to get everyone to settle down. Thankfully Tomorrow-Girl and I weren't alone in trying to get the others to leave her be—Autumn-Girl joined in, and Fuyuko managed to stop Spring-Girl easily. Once we'd finally settled down, I was all in favor of just going straight to bed, but Fubuki and Natsuko cooked dinner for us all first.
Needless to say, that was the most uncomfortable meal I'd ever had yet. Sho was furious and essentially trash talking Tomorrow-Girl throughout the whole meal, telling us how she was a player and a "selfish bitch." How she'd engaged in behavior that was "borderline rape." I think you get the idea by this point.
All the while, Tomorrow-Girl was drowning in guilt and shame, and she seemed upset about something else, too. The only consolation is that the rest of the group (minus Sho) realized how bad she was feeling once they finally settled down, about five minutes before we all went to bed.
At least it got resolved, unlike the Judai mess. That would, likely, be hovering over our heads for the rest of our lives.
Before I went to bed myself, I sent Johan a quick text to let him know that everyone knew his new identity. He needed to know he could return safely to the villa without these blokes ganging up on him for trespassing or breaking and entering.
So, since everyone was well aware of Johan's new identity, "Jesse" walked into the villa as if he were a guest. Really, since Johan was, he was well within his rights to just waltz in.
As Jesse walked toward the rooms, he smiled and said, "Speaking of, guys, he's not the only one who should be free of their stalker soon."
We all turned as Jesse stopped at the end of the hallway, finishing with us before heading back to his room. Manjoume even peeked out from down the hall, curious, and Spring-Girl's curiosity was written on her face.
"I just talked to Ai, and let's just say she's decided to back off," Jesse elaborated. "For good this time, so I'd say that barrier will be coming down real soon."
With that, he turned the corner and pushed past Manjoume and Spring-Girl, entering his room.
Manjoume stared after him, looking curious and confused. The whole room was dead silent as we tried to figure out what Johan had meant. Rei looked a bit worried in addition to everything else.
After a couple more moments, Autumn-Girl said, "Great."
"Do I want to know how you pulled that one off, mate?" I asked, positive the answer would be no.
As Manjoume and the other two moved out of the hallway into the main room, Johan poked his still-brunette head out from around the corner, eyes closed and laughing. He was heading for the bathroom at the end of the hall, his hair dye in hand, a towel and change of clothes slung over his shoulder. He'd also left his lasso and gun holster in his room, which was just causing my bad feeling to get worse.
He stopped in the doorway to the bathroom, his free hand on the wall, and looked over at us with a mischievous grin—the look both he and Judai tended to give when they'd been up to something. "Well, let's just say that Jesse's left the building. Johan should be a lot safer from now on." He held his index finger up and winked, giving a playful smile as he added, "Though I will say this. Judai's got a girlfriend now."
As should be expected, this comment garnered mixed reactions from the crowd. Most were startled and surprised, like Sho, Fubuki, Rei, and Dino-Boy. Their eyes widened as each gave a start. Others were more stunned and amazed, like Manjoume, who just gaped, his mouth forming a perfect circle and eyes wide.
Sho also had a verbal reaction. "Really!?" he said, and there was no doubt he was surprised.
"Then there really is no reason for us to stay here," Fuyuko said, his arms crossed.
Dino-Boy recovered quickly, closing his eyes and shrugging calmly with his hands up. "Guess not." He opened his eyes, looking curious, and I knew what he was going to ask before he said, "But who is it? 'Cause it can't be Rei! She's right here!" He gestured at her, his eyes wide again.
Rei didn't seem to have any words for this, sitting there with a hand to her cheek and her eyes wide in surprise and horror, making her the only one of us unpleasantly surprised by this news.
Johan just gave that mischievous grin again and said, "You'll see."
Before we could ask anything else, he headed into the bathroom and shut the door. The sound of running water told us all he was taking a shower.
Manjoume stood in front of the wall near the hall, arms crossed and a curious look on his face. "Hm. The idiot has a girlfriend. Wonder who she is?"
"I think I know…" I answered, grinning.
About then, Natsuko sniffed the air and commented on the smell of burnt bread and the sight of smoke, reminding Fubuki that he had pancakes on the stove. He rushed to flip them, hoping to salvage them. Since this meant he was frantically returning to cooking, his cooking skills actually matched his construction skills for the first time all trip. Fortunately he and Natsuko caught them in time, so we only had slightly burnt pancakes to eat.
The lesson here: Don't get so distracted that you forget you've got food cooking and risk burning your food and your house down. Really, we all needed to work on that. After all, most of the problems in this group had to do with distractions of one kind or another—Judai's preoccupation with saving Johan distracting him from his other friends, everyone's distraction with their futures preventing them from noticing Judai's distress, me being distracted by Sho running off when Judai's need was clearly greater… Really, when you get right down to it, distractions and our group just didn't mix.
Asuka's POV
Okay, yeah! Distractions...are definitely a bad thing for all of us! I mean, just the night before, I'd been so distracted by Ai's awful words, I'd not only let her take Judai away from me, but I'd let her hurt him by knocking him out! Thanks, Jim, for pointing that one out for me. I am definitely going to work harder on that!
Anyway, not long after leaving Judai, I headed to the villa to see my boyfriend, Kyle...and dropped the bombshell on him the moment he answered his door.
His reaction was harder to take than I had thought it would be. He frowned, eyes widening in surprise. "You're leaving me? Asuka, have I done something wrong?"
No, this was really hard to do. Normally telling a boy that I'm not interested was an easy task, but this was about as easy for me as letting Judai go had been, mostly because Kyle wasn't like other guys. He was about as close to perfect as anyone could get…
I couldn't take it. I had to look away, or I might change my mind again, drawn back in by those sweet, gentle eyes. But I knew in my heart I was making the right decision now, so I closed my eyes to avoid any further temptations and shook my head sadly.
"No, Kyle. It's not you, it's me," I said the stereotypical line for a gentle breakup—and found it to be true. I lowered my head and continued, "See, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately...and I've come to a conclusion…"
I knew I shouldn't look at him. I was sure I couldn't handle it. But I had also learned that avoiding uncomfortable things leads to more problems, like the ones I had with Judai because I hadn't spoken up all those years ago. Thanks to that, I'd nearly destroyed everyone's friendship, broken Judai beyond repair, and had given Ai the perfect opportunity to do everything she'd been doing to him. That, of course, led to more problems, like losing Sho's friendship again; breaking Judai some more; frightening Junko; and, of course, causing Johan to nearly end up as Misgarth's most wanted criminal. I really needed to talk to him and assure him Ai wasn't against him.
Either way, the night before, I had realized that I was the one to blame for this whole thing because I hadn't faced my fears of discomfort. It was time I got over that. It's time to be bold, Asuka. After all, if you can't face this small challenge, how will you ever be able to face up to Judai?
Stealing myself the way I should have years ago, I slowly, hesitantly, raised my head to look Kyle in the eye, to stare into those sad, gentle eyes once more while I broke his heart… Argh, this was so hard!
"While you're a great guy, Kyle, you could never compare to Judai."
He looked so sad, I couldn't stand it! I was breaking another man's heart because of my bad decisions! Now I felt an overwhelming need to defend myself, so I closed my eyes again and started talking about Judai. Ah, Judai… Thinking of him always brought a smile to my face...at least, when we weren't fighting.
Now smiling, thinking of my sweet Judai, I got right to the point. "He's naive and careless and can drive you crazy sometimes." I opened my eyes, giving Kyle and apologetic smile as I continued. My thoughts were still on Judai in an attempt to take some of the sting out of this for myself, at least. "But I've realized that's just the way I like it. My life's too perfect for my liking, and I could use some chaos in it to make it interesting." I closed my eyes again, a bit exasperated at the thought of the chaos I'd face, but in a good way. "And, when it comes to chaos, nobody's life's more chaotic than his. Trust me."
With those interesting thoughts fueling my resolve, I felt confident to face Kyle now, so I opened my eyes and gave him a neutral but apologetic stare, ignoring the sadness in his eyes and knowing I was making the right decision this time. "So, you see, Kyle, while I do still like you, I just like him better. You understand, right?"
I was expecting some sort of protest. After all, ever since I'd met him, all Kyle really knew about Judai was the stories I'd told him, including the fact that he left me behind that night. He also knew how much I supposedly hated the brunette, so he should have tried harder to talk me out of this. With the kind of guy he was, I was certain he'd be worried about my sudden change of attitude. I was sure he'd be concerned I'd end up hurting myself by chasing a dream from the past that would never work out anyway, that he wouldn't want me to get hurt. But, to my surprise, he merely closed his eyes and smile at me!
"I suppose," he said. He opened his eyes, smiling sadly at me as he went on, "Well, good luck with that. I wish you the best."
...Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable! Not only did he not attempt to convince me I was wrong, but he also wished me luck, as if he thought my decision was okay! What kind of a man was I letting go of here!? His maturity and wisdom mirrored that of princes in popular culture. And how ironic was that statement…but we'll move on since I'm not a spoiler kind of person. Forget I said anything, okay?
Anyway, feeling a lot better now, I nodded my head and returned the sad smile. Hey, it seemed appropriate for the moment, right? "Bye, Kyle. I really enjoyed our time together."
As if to prove my prince thought right, Kyle closed his eyes, smiling gently, and bowed, crossing an arm over his chest. "Me, too. See you around, princess." He straightened up and looked at me sadly, waving a gentleman's goodbye at me as he turned to head back into his room. "See you around."
And, with that, he went back inside and closed the door, both literally and metaphorically. This relationship was closed for good. I felt bad for him since he was such a kind, caring guy. But, at the same time, I was hugely relieved. Kyle had taken our breakup way better than I'd been expecting, and that gave me the courage to go see Judai again. After all, the two were very similar, and the night before gave me this impression that Judai may have had feelings for me after all. So what I had to say to him should be okay.
Sighing in relief that everything was going well so far and glad the first hard part was behind me, I smiled and walked off to find Judai, preparing for phase two by daydreaming of all the wonderful things we could do together.
Jim's POV
Breakfast at the villa had everyone talking about one thing—Judai's new girlfriend. All anyone wanted to do was take guesses about who she was. Spring-Girl was in her element—she loved a good love story.
"So who do you think it is?" Spring-Girl asked over our lightly burnt pancakes.
"How should I know?" Dino-Boy asked. "Like I said earlier, it's not Rei since she just left, upset!"
Yes, that was true. Rei had run outside, upset. I figured she wasn't too thrilled about the idea of Judai having a girlfriend. She still fancied him, after all.
"Could be Tenjoin-kun, all things considered," Manjoume voiced my suspicions.
"Heh. Yeah, right. Not even Aniki's that stupid," Sho said, once again sounding like Manjoume.
It was getting a little tiring thinking of Sho as having Manjoume's bad attitude when it came to Tomorrow-Girl, but he still wouldn't tell anyone why he hated her so much. I was concerned about the fact that he wouldn't tell anyone, and I was equally as concerned about the lack of mention from Tomorrow-Girl. Thinking Judai might know, I made a mental note to ask him about it later. We had enough problems in this group without more springing up when we start trying to resolve some, after all.
"I could have swore he was pretty stupid," Autumn-Girl countered. "And trusting people comes naturally to him, so…"
"I don't think we should rule out Tomorrow-Girl, Sho."
"Oh, come on. You know Aniki holds a grudge!"
Dino-Boy looked upset and said, "Yeah, now that you mention it…"
I figured Sho was speaking this way out of anger, not out of spite, but it still warranted comment, given that Dino-Boy agreed. "I'm sorry," I asked, "are we talking about the same Judai?"
"The guy who made friends with Kagemaru after the guy tried to destroy him?" Autumn-Girl asked, giving a shining example of Judai's inability to hold grudges for long. "Yeah, sure, Judai holds a lot of grudges."
"Actually, I'm with Sho, you guys," Fubuki said, prompting a slight glare from me. If this was about to turn into another discussion defaming Judai's character, I wasn't going to have it. "Well, not necessarily that Judai holds grudges, but my sister sure does!"
Oh. Well, that was fair.
"There's no way she'd go with him! He broke her heart! Remember!?"
"Then why'd he sleep with her the other night?" Ryo asked.
"Uh, w-well, I…" Fubuki sweat. Apparently he didn't have an answer for that.
"I'd say she's over it," Fuyuko said.
"I mean, I can tell you who he's not dating—Rei, me, Haru, or Ai," Autumn-Girl listed. "Meaning it's either Asuka or some random girl from the island."
"And that makes no sense since Judai never does that!" Manjoume added. "Only these two yahoos date or marry random girls who they just met." He glared and pointed at Fubuki and Natsuko.
Natsuko sweat and asked, "Dude, can you stop bringing that one up?"
"So it has to be Asuka! There's nobody else!" Spring-Girl said.
"I'm telling you for the last time, Aniki wouldn't date someone who hurts him! Nobody's that dumb!"
"Yeah, good point…" Dino-Boy admitted. "But, then, who is it? Did he run into that girl I tried introducing him to the other day and like her after all?"
Nobody had an answer for that. I knew it was more possible than just about everything else anyone had said, and I figured a lot of them were starting to think that was probably the most sensible answer. But I knew better. I'd talked with Tomorrow-Girl just the night before, and she'd gone looking for Judai because of it. The fact that he suddenly had a girlfriend about twelve hours after I'd spoken with Tomorrow-Girl was just too coincidental.
As everyone was trying to figure out the identity of the mystery girlfriend, the one bloke in the building who should know it came out of the bathroom. His hair was dyed back to normal, and he was dressed in a teal T-shirt and white shorts. His dirty clothes were slung over his shoulder now instead. The first thing he did was return to his room for a minute. Then he came back out, holding the Slifer Red jacket and black shirt he'd brought in before.
He walked over to the dining table and held out the clothes, saying, "Hey. Can someone do me a favor and give these back to Judai? I'm gonna lay low here until it's time to go."
"Sure, mate," I said, getting up and taking Judai's clothes from Johan.
Johan headed over to the counter to get a plate and some breakfast, and I made my way out to deliver Judai's clothes to him. I didn't even want to know why Johan had them—it probably wasn't good news, considering this meant Judai was half naked somewhere. I highly doubted anybody had taken mercy on him and just given him a cooler shirt to wear while he was stranded on the beach, after all.
Come to think of it, why hadn't we at least made that offer? That's not exactly fair, now that I think about it.
Sho turned to me, looking a bit nervous but also curious. "C-can I help, too? I wanna see who this girlfriend of Aniki's is."
I certainly hoped he was nervous about the idea of meeting Judai's new girlfriend and not about intruding on my business. Sure, I've got a live crocodile on my back at all times, but that doesn't mean I'm dangerous. Did anyone trust me around here besides Autumn-Girl? They're all just lucky that I'm not as sensitive as certain other friends we've got.
Dino-Boy clearly trusted me. He stood up, smiling excitedly. No signs of nerves there. "I wouldn't mind knowing that myself, actually. Mind if I tag along?"
"I wanna come, too!" Spring-Girl said, getting to her feet.
As Johan filled his plate with pancakes and eggs, Natsuko got to his feet, looking overly enthusiastic at being given an excuse to hunt down Judai and pester him. "Hell, we might as well all go, if that's the case!"
"Really?" Autumn-Girl said, a bored look on her face. "I don't want to go."
That made sense. She wasn't friends with Judai, so knowing he was alright was enough for her.
"Agreed," Fuyuko said. But then he eyed the shirt I was holding and said, "Then again…" He got to his feet, finishing, "I should go."
Well, that was an interesting reaction. He seemed to think something bad would happen if he didn't tag along, but only after eyeing Judai's shirt. For a moment, I wondered why. Then I remembered who his girlfriend was, and I suddenly understood—he was worried Spring-Girl might find another man to start crushing on and possibly stalking, I suppose.
Johan poured honey on his eggs as Manjoume, still sitting at the table, crossed his arms and smirked. "Heh. I could care less who that idiot dates." He closed his eyes and got up as I thought about the fact that he just implied he did care at least a little. "But I would like to see the look on his face when that barrier finally breaks."
I suppose that was a good cover, especially if I didn't point out his word choice. Still, we all knew his real reason. He was one of the ones who couldn't stop talking about this new girlfriend all morning during breakfast. Knowing he loves teasing Judai, though, that could be part of it.
Fubuki rose from his chair, then closed his eyes and smiled widely as he raised a fist into the air over his head. "Then it's decided! Let's go find Judai!"
And so all of us, minus Johan and Autumn-Girl, decided to go find Judai. I caught a mischievous smirk on Johan's face while he mixed mustard into his eggs (a habit I found disgusting, but to each their own, I suppose) It seemed he really did know who Judai's girlfriend was. And, from the look in his eyes, it was going to leave people speechless. That was all the more I needed to know that I was right.
Seriously, though, honey and mustard on eggs?
Sho and Dino-Boy, a bit more excited than the rest, mirrored Fubuki's pose and screamed, "Yeah!" as all the rest of us just nodded in agreement.
Johan sat down with his plate of pancakes and eggs drenched in honey and mustard as we headed out. Autumn-Girl eyed Johan's eggs with an expression that told me she agreed his tastes were extremely questionable.