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Judai's POV

Johan looked at me as the laughter died down. He was grinning. "Seriously, though. The barrier's down, Ai's been dealt with, and everyone's happy. So we can all go home now. I know where I'm headed, but what about you? What are you planning to do now?"

I thought about it for a minute. I mean, I had a girlfriend with a job, so I couldn't just run off, could I? But I couldn't move to Duel Academy, either. Then, while I was trying to figure that out, I remembered something—someone I'd left in the United States.

"Well, I've got to pick someone up first," I answered. "From a pet hotel in America."

Yep. I left Pharaoh at a pet hotel in America before coming down to the Island of the Maiden.

"You're kidding? So is that where Pharaoh went?" Asuka asked, looking at me in disbelief. "Everyone's been wondering back at Duel Academy for who knows how long. I mean, one minute he was there, and the next he was gone! We all thought he died or something."

Okay, her reaction made sense. I mean, I did accidentally steal the school's cat. Then again, since he was Professor Daitokuji's, did that really count? His owner was already dead.

"He stowed away in my bag," I explained.

Manjoume snickered and smirked at me. "Really, now? What? Have food in there that he wanted?" He snickered again.

Yeah, Manjoume, real funny.

"Nope. No food. A bottle of water was all I had that was even close."

Sho and Kenzan stared at me in awe. "Really? Wow. Pharaoh must have really liked you, then, to pull a stunt like that for no reason," Sho said.

"Huh. Who knew?" Kenzan added.

I wasn't sure why that was so surprising. I mean, Karen didn't usually like people, but she liked me from pretty much the beginning. She took food right out of my hand and left my hand attached to my arm, after all.

I decided not to comment on that. "Yeah, well, I had to leave him in a pet hotel because they wouldn't let pets on the ship over here."

The Kaiser put a hand to his face, turning his head away from Fubuki's balancing act—he had a spoon on his nose while he himself stood on one foot. The Kaiser looked at me and said, "Hmm... Then you better hurry back there soon. I doubt they'll hold him for much longer since I'm pretty sure you weren't planning on being away from him this long. Were you?"

He looked just as calm as always. Nothing ever rattled the Kaiser, not even Fubuki. Meanwhile, behind the Kaiser, Fubuki lost his balance and fell to the floor, his spoon falling off his nose. I wasn't sure why he acted like this when he was drunk, but I guess it wasn't too far off from when he was sober.

"No, I wasn't."

The Kaiser turned all the way around, his wine glass in hand, while Fubuki sat up and rubbed his head, grinning sheepishly at Natsuko. "And how long did you say you'd be gone, exactly? Did you remember to call in when you found out you were going to be late?"

Thankfully I did have enough sense to do that. "Yes."

"That's good. But you'd still better hurry before they decide you're not coming back at all. There's only so long a place like that will wait for you."

...Fubuki was mildly distracting. Now he was juggling wine glasses!

"I wasn't planning on staying here any longer," I said, trying to keep my focus on the Kaiser and not the show going on behind him. "I'm sick of this place!"

Seriously, if I never see that island again, it'll be too soon.

Asuka turned to look at me then, too, and she looked upset. Great, now what did I do? "So, wait. That mean you're leaving? How soon?"

"Better make it as soon as possible, all things considered," I said.

...Why was she looking at me like that?

Asuka's POV

I frowned. There was a very good reason I was looking at him like that. I should have known. Judai Yuki never stays in one place for long. What was I thinking, thinking this could work? He sounded like he was about to leave again, like he did third year. And after promising me he wouldn't, too... When was I going to learn not to trust him? He always lied to me about stuff like that!

I turned away from everyone as they said their goodbyes. I wasn't in the mood for that after everything that I'd been through. Why'd he have to go again? Why?

Judai's POV

Well, no answer from Asuka. I'd have to ask her about that later, I decided.

Sho walked up to me with a smug and either mischievous or evil grin on his face. I couldn't decide which it was. "Well, in that case, Aniki..." He snatched my phone and started messing with it, pushing buttons for some reason. The weirdest part was I didn't even have it out—How did he get it?

Sho'd make a great pickpocket—that's how.

"Sho?"

He ignored me, focused on my phone. Finally, eyes brightening, he cried, "Ah! There it is!" Smiling, he shoved my phone into my face, saying, "See this, Aniki!? That's my number! And you'd better remember to call me sometime! I didn't spend 6 years missing you for nothing!"

...And now he looked kinda crazy, glaring at me with annoyance. Given everything that had happened during our time on that island, I figured that, yeah, I needed to make sure I stayed in touch with Sho. Maybe I should call him every day. Maybe that would help stop the crazy.

Since Sho was pushing my phone into my face and leaning in himself, I leaned back a bit, my eyes widening. "Uh... Okay, Sho. Got it," I said before hesitantly taking my phone from him.

"Geez, Marufuji-senpai. You really missed him, huh?" Kenzan asked, leaning sideways toward Sho with wide eyes.

Sho glared at him out of the corner of his eye before sticking his nose in the air and crossing his arms. "Hmph!"

"What was your first clue?" Akiko asked, a lame look on her face.

Jim laughed.

I smiled slightly. "Heh..."

"And, uh, speaking of, mine's in there, too, so don't forget to call me, too, okay?" Kenzan added, smiling warmly.

Johan smiled, winking and giving me a thumbs up. "Don't forget about mine! But don't forget, a lot of places I wind up don't have phone service!" He closed his eyes and laughed as he rubbed the back of his head.

I laughed right along with him. Boy, could I relate. "Hey, I've been there, so I get that!"

When you travel the world, that happens sometimes. Especially if you're doing what Johan and I do with our lives.

Sho glared sternly and pointed a finger at me as he said, "Fine. But don't forget to call me back if I call you out there! 'Cause if that happens too often and I don't hear back from you PDQ, I'm calling the government to investigate!"

Sheesh! So, if I don't call Sho often enough, he's planning to organize a whole man hunt. I wasn't sure if he was a good friend or just completely insane!

Manjoume closed his eyes with a smug grin. "Heh. Kids these days. Always thinking they're all that," he said, walking passed Sho toward me. He had his hands behind his back.

Sho glared at him with indignation, clenching his hands into fists at his sides. "Hey!"

Manjoume stopped in front of me and said, "Ignore him. He's not nearly as important as this." With that, he snatched my phone and scanned through my contacts. Then he changed his own contact so it read "Professor Cronos." Handing me back my phone, he said, "Here. That should cover it."

He gave me a secretive look, like I wasn't supposed to say anything about that. I wasn't sure why or what his deal was, so I tried to ask, "Uh, what—"

Manjoume cut me off, giving me a mischievous smirk that seemed to be hiding a stern look. "Sorry. But no one gets my number. I'm way too busy in the pros for anything casual, so..."

His tone said it all. For starters, by "casual," he meant weird or idiotic. He also wanted everyone to think he'd deleted his number from my phone. But...if he didn't have time for anything stupid, what was he leaving his number in my phone for? Wasn't I the one he always called an idiot? Wouldn't it have made more sense for Asuka to have it?

Asuka put a hand to her head, sweating a bit. The Kaiser closed his eyes, shaking his head. Kenzan crossed his arms and stuck his nose up with a humph. Fubuki closed his eyes with a sigh. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders in a way that told me he didn't know any better than me. Johan did the same as Fubuki. Rei didn't seem to be paying attention, and Jim grimaced. Apparently everyone thought it was weird, but they seemed to think it was because of Manjoume, not because I was getting the number.

"...Okay..."

Sho gave me a reassuring smile. I think he was trying to make sure I didn't get the wrong idea about Manjoume deleting his number. "Aw, don't feel bad, Aniki. Manjoume does that to all of us."

Fubuki opened his eyes, grinning sheepishly, and said, "Yeah, it's no big deal. I'm sure if you ask real nicely, he'll give you his sponsor's number, at least." He sounded a little annoyed, but he got through to Manjoume pretty easily at the start of this, didn't he? Was there a chance Fubuki had Manjoume's number...without permission?

I didn't ask—I didn't want to be responsible for Manjoume changing his number or something. But, apparently, I was allowed to have Manjoume's number as long as I left it in my phone as somebody else.

"Is that how it works?" I asked, sweating.

"Well, these days," Jim answered. "Before we met Kyle, you had to send him fan mail and hope he'd respond to it within a few months."

"Kyle again," Yubel said in my head. "Why am I surprised?"

Well, I couldn't deny that I'd had enough of hearing about Kyle. I mean, did anyone in our group not act like a freak when Kyle was involved?

"...Kyle got him to give out his sponsor's number, but before that the only choice was fan mail?" I asked in disbelief.

"Oh, yeah. That was a fun way to reach a friend!" Johan replied sarcastically.

Sho gave a lame look and said, "Manjoume's a friend?"

Then something they'd said clicked, and I understood—even Kyle didn't have Manjoume's personal number. Kyle was able to get everyone Manjoume's sponsor, not Manjoume himself. So super special Kyle wasn't even allowed to call Manjoume? Only I had that number. Well, that made me feel a lot better about Kyle—He couldn't be my replacement if he never even reached the same level with Manjoume.

Speaking of, Manjoume glared at me in annoyance and said, "Anyway, this is yours now, too. Try not to misuse it."

He sounded exasperated and a little unsure, like he was debating if this was even something I should have. I could pick up on the hidden message—Don't share it. Whatever he was giving me was for my use only, like his personal number. I couldn't help but wonder what he was about to give me.

He pulled out a small notepad and handed it to me. When I opened it up and looked, there were names, contact numbers, and notes. The notepad had over 60 numbers, from the look of it. Now I was starting to get why everyone hated trying to contact Manjoume. If they didn't have his personal cell number, they'd never be able to reach him!

Manjoume pointed at the first name, looking serious, and said, "This one's my sponsor. Call him if I'm in a match or to schedule one yourself. Don't forget to do that often. This one's for my house in Wales. I'm only there on weekends in February, though, so—"

One of the notes in the margins beside one of the contacts said that, if Manjoume didn't answer that secret number, I was supposed to call this number before any other one on the list. It wasn't his sponsor—That one was just for if I wanted to duel him. But, if I needed something, I had permission to call Manjoume and several easy ways to do it. No, I'm not saying who that number was for. Manjoume would probably change every contact method he had if I even shared one of the notes on there.

Kenzan cut Manjoume off, looking a little annoyed and insulted. "Hey, hold up! Why's Aniki getting something like that? We only got your sponsor's number!"

Wait, was he saying they didn't even know his other numbers?

Manjoume turned to him, crossing his arms. "Well, excuse me if he's more important. You don't need ot call me all the time, so why should you get these?"

Everyone was looking upset about this. From the looks on their faces, none of them thought this was fair, and I couldn't really disagree. Was Manjoume even friends with anyone here besides Kyle and me? Even Asuka didn't have his number, and he'd had a crush on her in school! Why was I so special?

I looked around at the others as I said, "So I get notes about how to reach you? And nobody else has these, so I'm not supposed to share."

When I looked at Manjoume, he was just giving me a lame look. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. The look said it all.

"That would be a yes. Sheesh. You must be special to earn something like that. And you thought these guys replaced you with Kyle. You must be feeling really foolish right about now. But...what else is new, huh?" Yubel laughed silently at the end of that tease.

Yeah, yeah. I get it, they do still like me, I answered her in my head.

"Ever the idiot." She lowered her voice and muttered, "Missed the point completely, but what else is new? Argh..."

I didn't think too much about what she was hinting at. I was focused on the fact that Manjoume gave me notes that nobody else got, even though I was supposed to be the idiot around here. Clearly Manjoume still thought of me as a friend, regardless of what had happened between us. And he liked me better than everyone else.

While I was still thinking about that, Jim decided to move things along. "Well, like everyone else is saying, Judai, keep in touch. Alright?" he said, tipping his hat.

"Uh, right," I said, snapping my attention back to the situation at hand. "Will do, Jim!"

Asuka turned away, her arms crossed and eyes closed. She was frowning, and I couldn't help but wonder once again what I'd done wrong now.

I turned my attention to my girlfriend, hoping it was somehow not my fault she was upset. But, given how things had been lately, that was highly unlikely. "Asuka?"

"Good luck on your 'adventures,'" she said, sounding hurt through her sarcasm. "Hopefully I'll see you around." With that, she walked out.

Oh. Well, that explained it. Kind of. Why, exactly, wasn't it enough that we could contact each other? Was she forgetting that she worked on an island that I wouldn't be allowed to live with her on?

"Asuka!" I called, running after her.

Manjoume's POV

There she went again. Tenjoin-kun just didn't get it. Judai hadn't even left yet! And he had her phone number now, for crying out loud! Why was she feeling unwanted now when they're finally together!? I mean, for crying out loud! They were all over each other that morning! You don't run away from something like that, even if you're as dumb as Judai! What was wrong with her?

Apparently whatever was bugging Tenjoin-kun wasn't all that important to anyone but me. All the rest of these clowns wanted to talk about was my hidden information!

Johan turned to me, sweating. He looked like he couldn't believe I'd just done that. Gee, I wonder why? "You gave him notes? But you never do that!"

Fubuki—who you would think would care that his sister was fighting with her boyfriend hours after they got together—followed that indignant response with his own overly emotional one. He frowned, looking disappointed at me. Now that I think of it, he called my number to get me to come here! How the hell did he get that!? I might need to call Judai back up after making some serious changes to my contact info! Fubuki shouldn't have that number! That's worse than if Sho had it!

Anyway, looking at me with disappointment, Fubuki said, "Yeah, how come he gets free notes without asking?" He threw his arms above his head, adding, "That's no fair at all!"

Geez, what a drama king! And, to think, I used to look up to him because he was good with girls. Just how dumb had I been back then?

In fact, it was people like Fubuki that made me want to keep my contacts secret. If a bunch of crazed idiots can't call me, I don't have to put up with them. Really, the only one here who wasn't totally stupid was Tenjoin-kun, but she'd rejected me, and if I had given her my info, she might have told Fubuki and...I don't even want to know. I was definitely changing my number again! I was an expert at it by now anyway, thanks entirely to Ai, so why not? I didn't need stalked by Fubuki now that I was finally free of them.

I also didn't see any reason why I should answer that. My business was my business, after all. So I just turned away, crossing my arms, and closed my eyes in annoyance. "Hmph!"

The room went dead silent then, and I could feel them staring at me in jealousy, but I didn't care. These morons don't need to bug me 24/7. The only one who does is Judai, and just until I beat him. Everyone these days considers me the new King of Games, but I can't accept that title. Not until I beat him. He's the true new king because he's the only guy I haven't beat yet, so I'll always be second best unless I beat him. One way or another, I'm gonna do that and earn that title. No more of this outdated "Manjoume Thunder" stuff. I'm gonna become the King of Storms! The mighty Thunder King of Games! So you better watch out, you idiot! 'Cause I won't stop until I win! I'll put up with his idiocy until then. That's all that really matters.

Besides, if he doesn't call someone, who knows what could happen? He got stuck with Ai the last time he was left alone, and I'm not letting that happen again. Ever again.