Hero
Author's Note: Wrote this sixteen years ago and never finished it. Enjoy the story and R&R.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to or of the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX series.
Pairing: Established Judai x Sho.
Summary:
Edo Phoenix grew up believing his brand of justice could avenge the tragic loss of his father. Will Yuki Judai's relationship with Marufuji Sho show him what makes a true hero shine?
Chapter 3
The rain poured without end, turning dirt to mud and soaking from head to toe the boy who intended to pay his respects to the recently departed. Each droplet that touched his pale skin brought him more pain; his sad sapphire eyes, moist with tears, refused to leave the grave of his father.
"Edo." Saiou held his umbrella over him. "This hardship…It was destiny's doing."
"Destiny?"
The newcomer was also clad in black. Tears escaped from his eyes as well. "There is a talent lurking within you. An exalted purpose. And through these hard times, I will be your guide."
…
Edo awoke to distant moans, Judai's scent invading his nose once more. The memory of the darkest day in his life lingered briefly, but disappeared completely from his thoughts the second another wail flew past his ears. There he was, shaking off a nightmare, only to be thrown into another!
"Come on, Edo! I'm starving!" Judai's voice came from the other side of the door. "Just let me grab some crackers at least! They're under the covers!"
The Pro Duelist winced, springing up off the bed. "That pig!"
"Please?" Judai resorted to a more polite approach, hoping the other would fall for his ploy. And to his delight, Edo opened the door, albeit in frustration.
"You can have it back! It's a dump anyways!"
The brunette stuck out his tongue, crawled into the room, and immediately stuffed his face with as many salted crumbs as he could find that were left on the mattress.
"Barnyard animal." Edo shook his head in disbelief.
"SO GOOD!" Judai was in bliss.
"I'm leaving. It was a mistake to come here."
"No, wait!" Judai glued himself to the other's leg. "Don't go yet!"
Edo squirmed uncomfortably in his grasp. "Get off of me!"
"No, no, never!"
"What possible reason could you have for wanting to keep me here?" He did not relent in his efforts to pry Judai off his leg.
"It's not often we get to see each other."
Edo froze. Judai's grip loosened.
"What did you say?"
"I said it's not often we get to see each other!"
Edo freed himself from Judai's clutches. "Go fetch that pipsqueak of yours. He's actually willing to play your weird games."
The brunette sat up, somewhat offended by the remark. "That's not why I want you to stay! Besides, Sho would kill me if –"
"Then why do you want me to stay?" Edo was all too happy to skip the details of their relationship.
"You shouldn't listen to Saiou!" Judai blurted out.
"He's my manager. It's his job to –"
"He's using you!"
SMACK!
Edo applying pressure hesitantly to the area Judai's fist had struck. The punch had left a bruise, not terribly obvious, but still more or less disfiguring, at least to Edo, who cherished the sense of perfection that came with his untouched visage.
Judai was panting heavily, his teeth bared. He expected retaliation from Edo, but chose to take the impending backlash with stern defiance.
"Moron." Edo removed his hand from the red mark on his face.
SMACK!
Judai could not believe what just happened. "Y-you hit me!"
"Well, aren't you a genius?"
Instead of fighting back, Judai repositioned himself at the bedside. He sighed and opened a bag of chips, his mouth at work again.
"So I can leave?"
"I didn't say that." Judai purposely made crunching noises. "Come on, I'm just worried about you. Like I said before, Saiou's using you! Heck, if I can figure that out, it should be a cinch for you!"
Edo stared at the floor, assessing the situation.
"There's always a better way, Edo. I know you want to find the guy who killed your father. Whoever he is, he has the one card that no one else has in the world. He took everything from you and I totally feel you, but you can't go through life fostering a grudge."
"You could never understand what I've been through Judai. Justice is all I have left."
"That's not true. You have your D-Heroes. They've been there with you since the beginning."
"The D-Heroes are my justice, Judai."
"Sometimes heroes do things that may seem right to them, but those things are not always honourable. But in the end, it's really up to us to make that decision. Everybody has the potential to be a hero within them, but it takes real guts to use that potential wisely. Saiou is up to something. You can't trust him!"
"Makes sense. I'll give you that."
"Then you'll be more careful?"
"I'm more careful than you. Does that count?"
"Okay, wise guy! You can go!" Judai snickered. "But can I ask you one more question?"
"What's that?"
"How 'bout a goodnight kiss? Right here?" Judai joked, pointing at his cheek.
"No, I don't think so. Don't want to upset Shrimpy!" Edo feigned a laugh.
"Aww…You're no fun!"
The door flung open to reveal a sweating blue-haired boy with glasses, gaping in horror at the sight before him.
Edo smirked.
Judai gawked.
"Speak of the devil."
"Oh shit."
