"You're sure you don't mind this?" Asuka asked Edo worriedly as they both made their way to school; the early morning sunlight was shining down on them, and it looked to be a beautiful day weather-wise.
Edo sighed, half-amused and half-exasperated. "Asuka, I already told you before that I don't mind. I want us to start doing more things together, and this is as good a start as any."
Asuka couldn't stop the light flush on her cheeks at Edo's insistence that he enjoyed spending time with her. "I know… It's just that you're a celebrity, so this is going to end up getting out everywhere eventually. I guess I'm just worried that it's going to cause even more work for you with explaining us to reporters and stuff…"
Edo gave an easy laugh. "Oh, don't worry about that. I'm used to dealing with the press by now. If anything, it will be a relief to not have to worry about them making up anymore rumors of who I'm seeing every week or so now that I have you. Believe me, I'm quite tired of hearing about all of those fake girlfriends," he reassured Asuka.
Fake girlfriend? Isn't that what I am, though? Asuka couldn't help thinking to herself, surprised with the slight guilt that she felt. Edo had made it perfectly clear to her multiple times now that he was hoping their arrangement would turn into something more eventually. But she still wasn't sure just how she felt about that herself…
Xxx
Once they reached the school building, Asuka paused briefly. "Just around here, the initial attention will be a bit annoying at first. But more than anything, be prepared for Fubuki to make a big scene and grill us," she cautioned Edo.
"Might as well try to move this along faster then. Here," Edo held out his hand to Asuka.
Asuka looked at Edo questionly. "People will notice us more quickly if we hold hands. Plus, you look like you could use something to hang onto right now," Edo explained, smiling a bit at the last part.
"Okay," Asuka agreed somewhat warily as she took Edo's hand. To her surprise, it didn't feel uncomfortable. Edo's hand felt warm, yet not sweaty or clingy. And his grip was just firm enough to be reassuring without being tight. It felt nice and…safe, somehow.
It didn't take long for people to start noticing them once Asuka and Edo were going through the gate. A hiss of whispers spread through the crowd of students that soon gave way to excited shouts and gasps. It was already rare enough just for Edo to even attend classes at all thanks to his arrangement with the staff, but to now see him walking hand-in-hand with the most popular girl in school-not to mention her being the one who had repeatedly denied any interest in seeing someone-was sure to cause an uproar. Asuka felt as if the gaze of every single student had zeroed in on the exact point of their linked hands.
Just like that, bursts of excited comments and questions bombarded Asuka and Edo on all sides. Everything from, "Is Asuka-san really seeing Edo Phoenix!? Just when did that even start!?" to "It's not fair! Why does it have to be him!? Now I'll never get a chance to be with her!" Eventually, it all just blended together until it sounded more like a buzz to Asuka, who was trying desperately to drown it all out. She glanced quickly at Edo to see how he was taking it, but he just had a slightly amused expression on his face. Asuka guessed that Edo must have been used to this sort of thing too much already to let it frazzle him.
Amidst the chaotic babble of voices, a shout rang out. "DO MY EARS DECEIVE ME, OR DID I JUST HEAR THAT MY PRECIOUS LITTLE SISTER HAS FOUND SOMEONE TO CALL HER BELOVED!?"
Asuka groaned internally. Just great… Onii-san is only going to turn this into even more of a spectacle.
Fubuki came dashing through the crowd at a speed so fast it left a cloud of dust behind him. He then pushed them aside with one hand with a force that made them topple backwards like dominoes all at once.
"At last! I knew this day would come, Asuka! You have finally fully embraced your youth to its fullest in order to enjoy the wonderful adventure of romance!" Fubuki said ecstatically as tears of joy streamed down his face.
Before Asuka even had a chance to respond to Fubuki's ridiculousness, he turned his attention solely to Edo. "And you're with a celebrity whose popularity exceeds even that of my own! I suppose if anyone could capture my stubborn little sister's heart on such short notice, it would be you, Edo Phoenix! Tell me, just how did you accomplish this incredible feat!?"
Feeling more than a bit awkward under Fubuki's expectant gaze, Edo fumbled with his words. "Well… I…expressed an interest in seeing Asuka after our first few meetings. But I knew that it wouldn't be as simple as her agreeing to it right then, if at all. So I realized I had to get creative if I wanted her to accept my offer."
"So, what did you do!? Don't keep me in suspense now!" Fubuki urged Edo excitedly.
"I…challenged her to a duel. And the conditions were that if I won, we'd at least try seeing how things work out," Edo answered lamely. It had to be the most unromantic way possible of getting a girl to go out with him, and having to tell it out loud to someone else like this only made it seem even worse somehow.
For a moment, dead silence reigned. Fearing the worst, Edo hastily tried to defend his actions. "I know it sounds awful, but I just didn't see any other way to-"
Before Edo could finish, Fubuki interrupted with a burst of laughter. "Oh, I see! You dueled her! You know how it's done with her! That's the perfect way to go about things with Asuka!" He then clapped a hand down heartily on Edo's shoulder, causing him to buckle a bit.
"Onii-san, stop embarrassing him," Asuka scolded Fubuki in annoyance.
Seemingly unperturbed by his sister's words, Fubuki changed the subject. "And what do you think of Edo, Asuka!? I suppose now that you're with him you won't be needing my offer for us to debut as idol stars anymore since you're going to be even more famous just with him!"
Asuka rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Thank goodness for that…"
"Well, it's obvious that we have much to discuss about this. But for now, I'm afraid I'll have to take my leave with classes starting soon. I'm sure you two lovebirds won't have any problem with getting more alone time, though! Until then, congratulations to you both!" Fubuki waved a cheerful goodbye before sprinting off into the school.
Asuka and Edo stood in dumbfounded silence as they both stared at the spot where Fubuki had just been. "Well, he's…different," Edo managed to get out awkwardly.
"You don't know the half of it yet…" Asuka replied wryly.
Xxx
Once they had made it to the classroom, Edo calmly took a seat next to Asuka, as if he had been doing it for ages now. The initial exclamations and questions thrown at them had died down now, but there was still a buzz of excited whispers and pointing directed towards the pair that Asuka was trying her best to ignore.
From their place not far from them in the aisle above, Judai, Shou, Misawa, and Kenzan turned to greet Edo and Asuka.
"I guess the rumors were true after all. This is quite a surprise, I must say. But just when did the two of you decide to start dating, if you don't mind my asking?" Misawa inquired curiously.
"Forget dating and rewind a minute, saurus! Just when did you guys even meet each other!?" Kenzan blurted out before Asuka or Edo could even answer Misawa's question.
Edo laughed lightly at Kenzan's confusion. It was only natural that he'd wonder about it since he and Asuka had kept everything secret until now. "We met up after my second duel with Judai. Let's just say that Asuka wasn't too pleased with me initially, so I guess you could say we "exchanged words" with each other about the matter. And then eventually after my last duel, she wanted a chance to duel me again to finish what we started. I was impressed by her spirit, and we hit it off from there," Edo explained.
Asuka couldn't help blushing slightly from Edo's explanation. "It's true that I wasn't exactly impressed by Edo's attitude the first time we met. But he has a way of getting me to want to push myself further as a duelist somehow. And…I really do enjoy his company."
An awkward silence reigned among the group until Judai broke it. "So…who won that duel?" he asked curiously, seeming to completely disregard the main topic.
Edo sighed exasperatedly at Judai's seemingly one-track mind before answering. "Do you even need to ask? I did, of course."
Some time ago, Asuka would have found Edo's words annoying, especially since they were at her expense this time. But by now, she had gotten used to being around him enough to be used to his lack of tactfulness. It wasn't always his intention to sound superior; he just could be extremely blunt about things.
Judai was oblivious to Edo's exasperation. "Cool! Wish I could have seen it! At least this explains why you haven't really been around lately, though. Because you were busy seeing Asuka along with all your Pro League stuff!"
"I'm sorry for not telling you guys about this earlier," Asuka apologized guiltily.
Shou shrugged his shoulders carelessly, a smug "I-told-you-so" expression on his face. "I'm not surprised it happened. I knew you'd get hooked as soon as you left your seat that day during the duel to get the fangirl perspective from Momoe and Junko long enough. I told you, "If you leave now, we're afraid you'll never come back". Remember?"
Asuka bristled uncomfortably a bit at Shou's reminder. Her face was bright red. "You don't have to put it like that…"
Shou's comment caused something to stir in the back of Edo's mind. Saiou had said that a change in decision in Asuka's actions had caused a rare shift in the future, causing her destiny to become intertwined with his own. Had that one simple action on her part-going to watch their duel from somewhere away from her friends' focus on Judai-really influenced her to reach out to him? Because now that Edo thought of it, it was after that duel that Asuka had scolded him, and then she had wanted a rematch after the next duel. Edo didn't know exactly what to think of this, but he felt like it was worth noting at least.
"If anything, I don't think that he is very happy about you guys being together," Shou warned Asuka quietly as he pointed not-so-subtly to where Manjoume was sitting across the room along with the other Society of Light members.
Asuka followed Shou's gaze and was surprised to see Manjoume shoot her and Edo a disgusted glare before turning back to one of the other Society of Light members and whispering scornfully in their ear. She knew that Manjoume had been carrying a torch for her for awhile now and had been particularly worried about how he would take the news of her being with Edo. But it was even more worrying to see that the cult had warped him to the point where he seemed to take her actions more as a personal insult against his beliefs for not wanting to join up in it. She knew that Edo had already cut ties with Saiou and dismissed him as his manager once he found out about him leading the Society of Light, and that probably made her choice in him look all the more unfavorable to Manjoume.
Asuka sighed to herself. Will things ever go back to normal around here?
Xxx
Later that day between classes, Asuka was on her way back from the restroom when Momoe and Junko caught up to her.
"Asuka! Just when were you planning to ever tell us that you were dating THE Edo Phoenix of all guys!?" Junko exclaimed excitedly.
"She's right! We're your best friends, and this is like, HUGE!" Momoe chimed in agreement with Junko.
Asuka sighed wearily. "I didn't mean to keep this from you both. It's just that it's not the big, romantic love story you're probably imagining it to be, so you're going to be disappointed. I'm not even sure exactly what this is myself…"
Momoe and Junko looked puzzled. "What do you mean? Don't you like him? I mean, that's why you're going out with him, right?" Momoe questioned.
"It didn't exactly happen like that. Edo said he was interested in me, and I agreed to at least give him a chance to see where things go between us for awhile, nothing more. We've mostly just been hanging out and doing duel-related stuff together so far. He's a good friend and easy for me to get along with, but I'm just…not sure how I feel about him any more than that," Asuka explained truthfully.
Junko looked flabbergasted at Asuka's words. "How can you NOT!? This is Edo Phoenix we're talking about, Asuka! And he very clearly is smitten with you!"
Momoe nodded vigorously at Junko's words. "It was so sweet how he held your hand every chance he got whenever you walked to classes together! And he's so protective and caring with how he's watching out for you against all those other guys!"
Junko's eyes suddenly widened in realization. "He was the one who gave you the flowers the other day, wasn't he!?"
Asuka couldn't help smiling slightly at the memory of Edo's gift. "Yes, they were from him. Although I wasn't completely sure when we first found them, so I had to ask him first."
Momoe sighed dramatically. "You're so lucky, Asuka. You have a boyfriend who is the most handsome, rich, smart, and perfect gentleman in the world! I wish I could find a guy as wonderful as him…"
"Yeah! You have to promise us that you'll at least let us be maids of honor at your wedding!" Junko urged Asuka.
Asuka's cheeks took on a slightly pink tinge as Junko's comment brought her mind back to her first duel against Edo when she used Ritual Sanctuary against him. "You're being ridiculous now," she complained.
"Ha! You say that, but I think you really do like Edo at least a little right now. Otherwise he never would have managed to get even this far with you!" Junko teased Asuka triumphantly.
"She's right! We know you too well, Asuka. And just the fact that you even agreed to giving him a chance shows that a part of you is interested in seeing what could happen between you yourself, even if you don't realize it yet," Momoe pointed out.
"Okay, maybe I do. But it's way too ridiculous to even think about a wedding, so don't let your imaginations run away, please," Asuka conceded with a warning.
Xxx
"So, are you glad that we finally got that out in the open?" Edo asked Asuka with a slightly mischievous grin as they walked down the hallway together.
Asuka couldn't help grinning. It was strange how now that she was back alone with Edo again, she felt completely relaxed despite him being the initial source of her stress with having to worry about everyone's reactions to them together earlier. "Yeah, better to get it over with than going on worrying about it longer," she replied.
"You know, maybe you could try this more often. You know, attending classes," Asuka suggested teasingly.
Edo looked thoughtful. "Usually my schedule doesn't allow it, but I guess I could try to make more of an exception for you."
"Who knows? They might even start making you wear the school uniform if you show up often enough!" Asuka teased.
Edo chuckled at Asuka's joke. "That would be the day!"
"But really, thanks for coming with me today, Edo. I like spending time like you with this," Asuka admitted softly.
"Well, then I suppose we'll have to do even more of that. How would you feel about coming to watch a match with me this weekend at the Kaiba Dome? We could even meet some of the other duelists backstage like I said before," Edo offered.
Asuka's face lit up in excitement. "Really!?"
Edo smiled warmly. "It would be my pleasure."
As they continued to iron out the details of their arrangement, a small part in the back of Asuka's mind amidst all the dueling details couldn't help feeling excited about the fact that this would be her first date with Edo. Were Momoe and Junko really right about her starting to like Edo after all?
