One – Chapter 8

(Hello Everyone! New chapter is up! This one is a bit longer than the last, but it introduces Astral to Yumas class and re-introduces him to Yumas friends 😊

Yes, I know that the others could see Astral from roughly mid-way through the series, and heads to Astral world WITH the rest of the gang in the very last episode, but I imagined it like this: In order for them to return to a semblance of a normal life, after everything that happened with them and then the subsequent battles in Astral World, Astral/Eliphas/Enna/Astral World in general modified their memories, so they wouldn't suffer under them.

Again, this is just MY imagination after all, so I hope you can enjoy the story anyways 😊)

8

8

8

8

In the end, they arrived 5 minutes too late for the first class of the day.

Being late wasn't new to Yuma though, so he just took a deep breath and walked in.

The door hadn't been closed yet, so it wasn't as embarrassing as it could have been, but it was never pleasant anyways.

Once inside, naturally all heads were turned towards them, including that of the teacher, who was opening a book at his desk.

"Ahh, Tsukumo. Glad you could make it" he said, and Yuma send him an embarrassed smile, scratching the back of his head slightly.

"Sorry Sensei" he replied. "I trust this means that you are better then?" the teacher commented, and Yuma nodded in acknowledgement.

Then the teacher locked his eyes on Astral, who immediately tensed up noticeably.

"And who might this be?" he asked, eyebrow raised suspiciously.

Astral didn't answer, but Yuma was quick to jump in and help him.

"Oh this? He's an exchange student from up north. He's staying at my place for a bit and seeing as he's in the same year as me, he figured he might attend my class whilst he's here, so that he doesn't miss any school.

I lend him one of my uniforms" the young man replied, adding "his name is Astral. His parents are pretty crazy about numerology and stuff" before he silenced again, so that the teacher could speak.

As he mentioned the name Astral though, both Tori, Bronk, Caswell and Flip seemed to tense up in their chairs and their eyes widened noticeably, as they looked from Astral to Yuma and back again.

Astral felt his heart hammering in his chest again and once more brushed his fingers against those of Yuma for comfort, though he did so behind their back so that no one would see.

For some reason, he was extremely self-conscious at the moment, probably partly spurred on by the fact that he knew Yuma didn't like him being present doing the school-day because it distracted him, which made Astral already feel unwanted.

And now, with the way this teacher was questioning them, his anxiety grew and his fears of forcefully being separated from Yuma, manifested themselves in his thoughts again.

"I see" the sensei said "would you like to tell the class a bit about yourself Astral?" he asked "like why your complexion is so special for an example? I would like that question out of the way now, so it doesn't distract the other students doing the lesson".

Astral swallowed hard, feeling as though his heart jumped into his throat, but Yuma once more, was his salvation.

"He's a little shy Sensei. I think he'd like to get to know the school and things a bit better before talking about himself. His complexion is the way he expresses himself though, so it's just who he is" his partner said and Astral lowered his head, so he wouldn't impulsively grab Yuma out of sheer gratefulness.

"Is that so?" the teacher said, and for a few tense moments, Yuma thought he'd keep questioning them.

But then he just said "welcome to Heartland High then, Astral. You can take the seat next to Tsukumo. As you are staying at his place, it seems fitting to have the two of you beside one another.

Tsukumo, would you mind being Astrals mentor whilst he's here? Show him around, tell him about school-rules and so on?". "No Sensei, I'd love to" Yuma replied, at which the teacher nodded.

"Take your seats then. Class is about to start" he said, before turning to the blackboard and starting the lesson.

Yuma breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to Astral and grabbed his arm gently.

"Come on" he said across their bond and Astral followed on somewhat stumbling feet.

At Heartland High, luckily all tables were two-man ones, and so once they sat down, Yuma immediately took Astrals hand under their desk, though he found his books with the other hand, pretending to do nothing out of the ordinary.

Astral squeezed the hand tightly, feeling himself shiver with excess energy after the recent pressure he'd experienced.

"You okay?" Yuma asked across their bond, once his lovers grasp became painful, but Astral shook his head faintly.

"No" he replied, utilizing the same connection "I… I need you".

Yuma swallowed, glancing up at their teacher, even as he flipped to page 45 of the book he'd just taken out of his bag.

"We can't Astral, not here" he responded, glancing at the one beside him, who, at his refusal to aid him, moaned quietly under his breath and closed his eyes, head

lowered, hand still squeezing Yumas painfully.

Yuma could see as much as feel, the other shivering, and his heart ached for his beloved.

After a moment, he said through their bond "maybe we can do like at home? And you can transfer a small amount to me, every few minutes?".

Astral again, shook his head, barely noticeably.

"It… it would have to be a constant flow, as things are right now…" he replied, faintly and Yuma swallowed.

At the others suggestion, he felt his heart skip a beat in sudden fear, but as he felt Astral tense beside him and turn his head to look directly at him, he forced these worries to the back of his mind.

Astrals eyes were a mix of pleading, fearful and worried and for a moment, Yuma could have sworn he felt him attempt to separate their hands, but Yuma didn't let him.

"Alright" he instead said, determination clear in his stature and thoughts. "If it will make you feel better, go ahead. I can take it".

Astrals eyes widened at his words.

"Yu… Yuma…" he said, unable to find the right words for a moment, but then he added "are you certain of this?".

Yuma nodded once. "I won't have you suffer for hours when I'm right here. If it can help you, I want you to do it" he replied and Astral moistened his suddenly dry lips.

"Very well. Thank you…" he whispered across their bond and then he released Yumas hands slightly, though he still held on to it, before taking a deep, calming breath and starting the transfer.

At first, it got out of hand quickly, resulting in the lights of the classroom flickering briefly, before Astral managed to get control over the energy again and make the transfer a steady, constant flow.

It was stronger than the flow from the previous night, but he knew it was necessary in the beginning, even as he worried it might cause Yuma pain.

But the young man had willingly offered himself as his conduit and that was what kept Astral calm enough not to make every lightbulb on this floor of the building

blow up, like the one in Yumas room had earlier…

"Yuma, Astral, wait up!" Bronks voice sounded behind them, as they all but fled the classroom.

"Yuma, I can't!" Astral commented sideways to his partner.

"I know, I can feel it" Yuma replied "just keep moving, we'll be there soon".

"Yuma!". This time it was Tori. "Sorry guys, need bathroom badly! Wait for us out here!" Yuma called over his shoulder as he kept running, Astral straight ahead of him.

As they reached the bathrooms for the boys, Astral was crying out in pain every other second and several lights went out as they passed beneath them.

"Yuma!" Astral moaned and Yuma kicked open the door and pushed Astral into the stall furthest away from it, locking the door behind them.

Instantly, Astral lost control over his energy, and with a cry of pain, there was a sound of shattering glass, before Yuma could wrap his arms around Astral and lower them to the floor.

"Transfer all that you need Astral. I'm here" he whispered and try as he may, Astral couldn't stop himself from doing just that.

A few minutes later, Astral had tears running silently down his cheeks as he felt Yuma twitch in his arms. The transfer had been too much, too fast and Astral knew it.

Yuma was hurt, and all he could do was hope that it wasn't anything permanent.

For 10 whole, long minutes they stayed on the floor like that, until Yuma finally stirred awake again and groaning, ran a hand over his eyes.

"Whew… That was crazy…" he mumbled and Astral, still crying, said "I'm sorry Yuma. I'm so sorry. I won't ever harm you again. I swear. I'll never let myself hurt you… Please, forgive me…". Yuma froze. He'd never seen Astral in such a state and it freaked him out.

He wrapped his arms around his partner again, pulling his all but limp body into a tight embrace.

"There is nothing to forgive. Absolutely nothing! And don't you dare pull away from me! I will help you, always, no matter what! Now, kiss me!" he said and Astral, startled by his sudden fierceness, did as he was told, planting a long, passionate kiss on his partners lips.

Once he pulled away from him again, Yuma took a few deep breaths, before he rose, helping Astral up as well and brushing off both their uniforms, straightening their ties.

Once he'd done so, he ran a hand through Astrals amazing hair, kissed him again, though briefly this time, and then unlocked the door.

"Ready to go face the others?" he asked and Astral, still dumbfounded at Yumas behavior, nodded. Then they left the stall and exited the bathroom.

As soon as they stepped outside, they were met by their friends, who stood, arms crossed over their chests, staring straight at them.

"Yuma, what the hell took you so long?! I almost stormed in there to see if you were hurt!" Bronk complained as he looked them over from a distance.

"Is that really Astral?" Flip asked, obviously in disbelief and Caswell nodded his agreement with the others question.

Yuma glanced around. "Not here guys, let's go outside for a bit" he said, and let the way out into the pale sun of the near midday.

Once they were somewhat isolated from the rest of the students, Astral sat on the grass, head lowered, without uttering a word, as Yuma stood beside him, facing

the others, his shadow falling over his partner.

"Flip" he then said after a little, once the others were silently awaiting his answers to their previous questions "you're right.

This IS Astral, THE Astral, the one I've been dueling with for the past 4 years.

Tori, you know this, you've seen him properly before, and spoken with him to, but I'm glad you didn't tell the others about that.

Of course, you've actually all seen him before, but after we came back from Astral world, you kind of forgot it again. That was for your own safety though, so don't get mad at us for it, alright?

Anyways, let me just formally re-introduce you to him now. Astral, come".

With that, he leaned down, offering Astral one of his hands. The alien lifted his head, and upon looking into familiar, comforting eyes, accepted the offer and allowed himself to be pulled up once more.

He didn't fail to notice though, that Yumas pulse was rapid and that goosebumps covered the patches of skin which Astral could see.

"Everyone, Astral. Astral, everyone" the young man then said and finally moving his eyes away from Yuma, Astral focused on the others.

"Hello everyone" he then said, raising a hand in greeting.

Then he looked at Tori. "Tori… it has been a while" he said gently, not wanting to upset her needlessly and knowing that she wasn't very fond of him for snatching up

Yuma.

"Yeah, it has" she replied "it's… good, to see you are alright. Except for the, you know, unusual visibility…". Then she silenced and Bronk took over where she had left off.

"Yeah! It's really weird seeing you Astral! How come you're suddenly visible to everyone?!" he asked, confused.

"I'm afraid that is quite a story" Astral responded "but I suppose it will be enough to tell you that it's nothing to be worried about. It should only be for a short while".

"Did Yuma do something to cause it Astral?" Caswell asked "because you know, in the end, he has a tendency to get everyone around him in trouble after all".

As he finished, he send Yuma a very disapproving glance, though he didn't say anything. "Hey, that's not fair Caswell! I can't help that trouble is actively seeking me out all the time!" Yuma complained, but then Astral cut him off, looking at Caswell now.

"I assure you Caswell, Yuma has nothing to do with the cause of this, rather, he is the solution" the alien said, resulting in raised eyebrows from all of Yumas friends.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Flip asked as the first, but Astral simply replied with "I am afraid I cannot explain it further. But I will be coming to school with Yuma for at least the rest of this week".

"Well, I'm just happy to finally meet you properly!" Bronk exclaimed after a bit, and all the others, except Tori, chimed in with their agreement in this. All of them moved to shake Astrals hand and Caswell even went as far as complimenting him on how neat the school-uniform looked on him.

"So, can we hang out after school maybe? I'd love to duel YOU Astral!" Bronk asked once the introductions were dealt with.

"Me too!" Caswell agreed "and me!" Flip joined in.

"That's a great idea guys" Tori said, arms crossed over her chest as she stood a little withdrawn from the others "maybe he could give you some tips for improving your decks and skills.

After all, he worked wonders with Yuma!".

Yuma was about to protest Toris' harsh words, but Astral spoke before him, turning to look at her.

"I only managed to teach Yuma so much, because those skills were always inside him. I simply helped awaken them, but thank you for the compliment Tori" he said, mirroring her posture. "Ehh, okay then guys…

Now, why don't we all just chill for a bit?" Yuma said, trying to mediate between his old crush and his partner.

Astral looked at him, then sighed, uncrossing his arms and allowing them to hang loosely at his sides before he turned back to the other young men.

"I'd love to duel all of you, but I'm afraid it will have to wait for a bit. Yuma is still recovering from his cold, so we promised Haru and Kari that we would come home directly after school. My apologies, everyone" he said, aimed at them.

Though they seemed deflated at first, Bronk soon recovered and raised an upright thumb towards him.

"We get it Astral. After all, we can just do it some other time, when Yuma is well again, right?" he said and Astral send him a small smile and nodded. "For sure" he responded, "we'll duel someday, I promise!".

Then he too raised a thumb at Bronk and winked. Bronk blushed slightly, but then just nodded, before lowering his hand again.

Yumas eyes were locked on Tori and he could see the hurt, and was it jealousy, on her face, but she had lowered her head somewhat and seemed to be trying to hide it with her hair, now slightly longer than shoulder length.

So, he didn't say anything, instead turned back to the others and frowning as he saw Astral wink at Bronk.

"What the?" he thought, but then just shook his head, as he saw the smiles on everyone's faces.

He'd heard Astral of course, as he answered the others request, and he found himself slightly worried at how easily lying came to his lover.

In the past, when they'd first met, Astral hadn't lied at all, but now… Yuma sighed softly, but then decided to back the other up on his story, as he knew the true reason for why Astral wanted to return home as soon as possible.

"Yeah, I'm afraid big blue here is right" he said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly like in the past, and smiling just like always, as well.

He never did have the ability to kick that particular habit. Not yet, at least.

"No worries Yuma. We'll just duel some other time. We all want you to get well again. You really didn't look good when you were send home by the school-nurse that day" Bronk replied and Caswell and Flip nodded.

"That's right" Flip said "but on the flip side, you've looked worse as well".

Yuma chuckled nervously at their words, but then lowered his hand once more and seemed to turn serious again, though he was still smiling faintly.

"We should probably get some food before classes start again. Let's go" he said and the others, even Tori, agreed as they moved back into the school, Astral walking as close to Yuma as possible, though he'd put his hands in the pockets of the uniform pants, in order to keep himself from grabbing Yumas hand instinctively…