One – Chapter 12
(Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter! I'm working hard, and should be able to upload another chapter in just a few days, so stay tuned! (^_^)
Other than that, enjoy! And as always, reviews are appreciated! :-D )
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Once they returned to the high-school, the bell was ringing, signaling the end of the lunchbreak.
"I'm sorry Yuma" Astral said "it seems we missed the break. Are you hungry?". "Nah, I'm fine" Yuma replied, and merged as they were, Astral could tell that he was being honest.
At least he didn't have any appetite, though Astral was a little worried about this, seeing as his partner usually ate a lot doing the day and hadn't eaten since breakfast.
"I know I usually eat a lot more, but I'm not lying to you Astral. I really don't feel any hunger" Yuma said in their still joined minds, having sensed Astrals thoughts.
Astral sighed. "Perhaps not, but what if it is because of me? What if, what I am doing to you, is causing your lack of appetite?" he asked.
"Then it will pass in a few days and I'll be back to normal. Maybe I'll have lost a bit of weight, but I won't have taken any permanent damage from it. I mean, I still ate breakfast after all, and I'm also planning on eating dinner tonight, so it's not like I won't be eating anything at all…" Yuma replied and Astral accepted his answer.
"Well, let's land over there, behind the bicycle-sheds, and then I'm afraid we'll have to separate again. Will you be okay?" the human then asked and Astral, though hesitant at first, replied with "I hope so… But it is day 6 and my time is peaking right now, so I am really sorry, but I cannot guarantee anything".
Yuma just shrugged. "Oh well… If we do a constant transfer again, that should help you right?" he said and Astral nodded.
"Yes, and if you will leave our bond open like it is now, I will be able to transfer the energy more efficiently, thus theoretically making it less painful for you as well" he responded, and Yuma send him a smile.
"Thanks, Astral" he said and then they had landed and were once more two separate beings. Astral shivered briefly as the ZEXAL union was broken, but he'd shaken it off soon enough and Yuma could see that he was visibly better than he had been.
"Alright, I'll leave our bond like this Astral. You remember to do the same. But no morphing in class, got it?" the young man said telepathically.
"Of course not Yuma" Astral replied in the same manner, as they each straightened out their uniforms and then hurried back towards the school in a sprint, which served to burn a bit more energy, just like their flight had…
Astral lasted well into the second half of that days' lessons. Because he could transfer to Yuma constantly, he was able to keep his energy at a manageable level for 2 and a half hours.
But with an hour and a half still left of the block, he once more reached out for his partner over the bond they shared.
"Yuma" he said "my energy levels are rising more rapidly again. I cannot keep the transfer steady for much longer".
"I don't think the Sensei will let us leave again. Is there something we can do here, that might aid you?" Yuma asked in return and Astral thought it over for a moment before replying.
"You have our duel deck with you, don't you?" the alien requested, and Yuma nodded. "Of course! Never leave home without it! Why?" he asked.
"Let me burrow it" Astral said and Yuma opened the deck-box at his belt and handed his lover the cards.
On top of it was 15 number cards that they had selected together, as the ones they would always keep with the deck. One of them was Utopia of course, and then there were various others too.
Once Astral had been given the cards, he quickly found number 39 and holding it with both his hands, he closed his eyes and focused on reaching the monster the card represented.
"Hope" he called telepathically "come to me".
Moments later, the card shone (luckily, it was under their table) and the large monster that was number 39: Utopia appeared in the classroom.
Of course, no one but Astral could see him, as currently there were no duels in progress and so none of the students, including Yuma, had their duel-gazers activated.
"Utopia" Astral said telepathically, locking his eyes on the number before him "I am afraid I require a somewhat strange assist from you".
"You are going through your time" the number replied "you are reaching maturity. But you are still our Master. Whichever we may assist you with, we will. All of us".
Astral send the monster a smile.
"I am grateful for your loyalty" he answered it, then continued "however, I am afraid you may find it hard to comply with this particular request".
"Ask me" Utopia said and Astral nodded. "Very well. I need for you to injure me" he replied, making the number jolt with surprise.
"I cannot!" it said, but Astral broke it off.
"You must Utopia. My energy is growing too fast for Yuma to absorb it without being injured and I cannot risk harming those around us either.
I need for you to cut me with your swords, but I need you to do it here, on my chest, where it cannot be seen do to the uniform I am wearing.
Yuma will sense it happen, but the energy required to heal me, will aid me in controlling the rest, until Yuma and I can leave the school.
You are my only hope, 39.
Even now, I am losing control, so you must hurry!" the alien said, looking straight at the number monster.
Number 39 bowed as he finished, unable (and unwilling) to go against the original number, and prepared his swords.
With a quick move of hands, they slashed through the air, cutting Astrals chest beneath the uniform, without leaving a single mark on the fabric which covered it.
As they did, Astral gasped, clutching a hand to his chest and lowering his head, eyes still closed.
Beside him, Yumas eyes widened with fright at the sudden pain being transmitted to him from Astral, and he turned his head to look at the other with wide, fearful eyes.
Astral wasn't looking at him though and glancing under the table, he noticed that the alien was still holding Utopia in one hand.
The other hand had moved to his chest, as the pain occurred.
"This must be part of his plan" Yuma thought to himself, but still couldn't help but ask across their bond "are you alright Astral?".
Astral replied with "I am adequate. Fear not. I know you can sense the pain, because our link is wide open, but it is a necessity if I am to keep myself under control until the class ends. Forgive me".
"I forgive you" Yuma said in response, adding "I trust that you know what you're doing" before he returned his attention to the Sensei at the head of the class once more...
The lessons of the day ended, and the class scattered, as Astral gave their duel deck back to Yuma.
Bronk and Caswell tried to convince the alien to duel them again, but Tori was more curious about how he was feeling.
Astral wanted to be honest with them, but he couldn't.
There was no reason they should be informed of his time, as it was a very personal thing, and so he told them that he was feeling rather tired and would prefer to just go home.
Tori send him worried glances. She might be jealous of his and Yumas relationship, but Astral was their friend despite that, and she did worry for both him and Yuma. It was her nature.
Yuma assured her everything would be alright and that both he and Astral would be fine the following week and Tori bid them goodbye with a "just take care of yourselves. Don't stay up all night" before she left.
"Hey Yuma, can we come by your place tomorrow for some duel-time?" Bronk asked once she'd left, but before Yuma could answer, Astral had done it for him.
"No! That is, I need to rest to try and get whatever I have out of my system, so it would probably be best if Yuma and I just slept in" the alien exclaimed, making both Bronk and Caswell frown, though they didn't comment directly on it.
"Alllllriiiiight…" Bronk said suspiciously "well, I hope you get better soon then Astral".
Astral thanked them for their worry, then told them that he was sure he would, before turning his attention to Yuma, waiting for the other to bid his friends farewell too.
Astral wasn't certain if they'd get to see him again, or if he would become invisible again the moment his time passed, so he didn't want to say goodbye just yet.
He hoped he would get a bit more time to teach the eager young men, before everything went back to normal.
Sensing the eagerness to leave in his partner, Yuma wished the others a great weekend, before him and Astral stalked over school-grounds, towards their usual bus-stop.
On the way there, Yuma turned his head to look at the other.
"I'd like to see your chest" he then said quietly and Astral, understanding why he had this wish, stopped, loosened his uniform tie and then unbuttoned his shirt so that Yuma could see his skin.
It was covered by two red scars, that looked as though they were still mightily painful, and surprised, Yuma reached out a hand to touch them, resulting in a low groan of pain from the alien.
"Wow, you're really sore" the young man commented "what did you have Utopia do?".
"I asked him to… cut me" Astral replied, as he closed the shirt again and tightened the tie once more.
"What?! Why?!" Yuma asked, as they started walking again.
"A physical wound that required me to heal, would drain quite a bit of energy from me" the blue skinned being replied "it was the only thing I could think of at such short notice.
And I knew the uniform wouldn't be harmed by the twin sword slashes, so it was one of very few things that could have been done during class like that. But don't worry Yuma. They are pretty much healed up again already".
"I can't believe Utopia actually did it…" Yuma commented dryly.
"He had no choice" Astral replied "I am the Original Number. He sees me as his Master, and so must follow any and all orders I give.
He sees you as his Master too you know. Because you are my other half, and the numbers recognize you as so".
"He sure didn't in the past" Yuma said, voice lowered "I could only summon him when you were with me".
"Yes, but since we were officially acknowledged as one in Astral world, the numbers too, have changed their opinion about you. They know that you can control them, without losing yourself to the power they offer, and they know too, how fiercely protective you are of both them… and me" Astral replied, daringly taking Yumas hand as he did.
Yuma didn't pull away from him, just lowered his head, locking his eyes on the ground before them. "I hope I won't disappoint them" he then said, voice barely a whisper.
"You will not" Astral responded, though Yuma hadn't technically asked him to. "I trust you"…