Yusei stretched and yawned, burrowing himself further into the comfort of his pillows, and warmth of his blankets. He tried to find that comfortable position again, the one he could just fall right back to sleep in, but something seemed determined to keep him in this part-conscious, part-unconscious state. Finally giving in to the conscious half, he sat up and ran a hand over his face. It was so bright in his room. Maybe that was why he couldn't fall back asleep. What time was it anyway? There was way too much sunlight in the room for it to be morning. Did he forget to turn off his light again?
Turning to look at the clock on the nightstand that separated his and Judai's bed, he realized there was so much light in the room because it was almost 12 o'clock. That explained a lot. He remembered his client the other night talking about what a beautiful day today was supposed to be.
Yusei blinked the sleep out of his eyes and looked over to see Judai still curled up fast asleep. That made sense. He was normally just waking up when he would come by from school to eat lunch…school…
"Shit."
Yusei scrambled out of bed and looked at the clock one more time just to be sure with himself that it really was, in fact, 12 noon, and he was late. He'd entirely missed his first classes, actually. The raven skidded across the floor to the closet and quickly grabbed a clean set of clothes. He started to get dressed as quickly as he could, not really paying much attention to anything other than the fact he was late and needed to get out of there and to school or work or wherever he needed to be as quickly as possible.
"Nng, Yusei?" Judai questioned, sitting up groggily and yawning. All the racket the other was making made it impossible to get those last 5 minutes of sleep. He looked over to the other and froze up completely. A dark flush spread from ear to ear as he watched the other strip almost completely before throwing on a new set of clothes. He'd hardly ever seen the other without his jacket let alone without his shirt. The toned muscles and scars that riddled his hands and back caught him off guard and it took Yubel appearing next to Yusei with a warning look to realize he was staring.
"I-I'm sorry!" He quickly cried out, throwing himself back into his pillow face down to hide his embarrassment.
Yusei jumped hearing the other. He'd completely forgotten Judai was there at all, and it was his turn to flush a little. He hadn't meant to make the other uncomfortable. In all honestly, he'd gone blind to his appearance. He didn't like to think about it most times. "N-No, I'm sorry. I'm late. I have to get going."
He grabbed his bag and ran out into the kitchen, nearly running into Martha in his rush.
"Yusei!" She protested, stepping out of his way. The older woman put her hands on her hips and frowned at the other in that mothering, demanding way she had. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
"I woke up late, I have to-"
"Have to what? It's Saturday." Martha cut in, looking about ready to grab him by his ear for being so reckless.
Yusei paused and stared at his mother figure as his brain processed what she'd just told him. It was Saturday. He didn't have to go to school today. He didn't have to go to work either. All this panic was for nothing. He was honestly about to laugh at himself when the toaster popping made him jump out of his skin. He stared at the toast in alarm instead, mind still in a frazzled state of panic.
At least Martha started laughing at him for that, her scolding, angry face gone as quickly as it had come. Judai's laugh was quick to join hers, making Yusei's head whip around to look to the kitchen entrance. His eyes immediately darted down in embarrassment, and he rubbed the back of his neck. For some reason, it was fine for Martha to laugh about this blunder, but Judai laughing felt different and left his ears hot with embarrassment.
"Maybe you should go back to sleep, sweetheart," Martha joked, reaching over and patting his shoulder, bringing him back to himself.
Yusei shook his head, "I think I slept too much honestly." He confessed. "I need to get back to work. I have-"
"Oh no you don't." Judai interjected, going over and slinging his arm around the other's shoulders. "You're not even going to look at a textbook today. Today, you're going to show me around."
Yusei felt a shiver run up his spine at the sudden close contact with the other. He was still getting used to how physically affectionate Judai liked to be compared to everyone else in his life. Even Martha reserved hugs for special events like when they hadn't seen each other in a long time or Yusei was admittedly falling to pieces. He carefully shrugged out from under the other and gave him a confused look.
"Show you around? What do you mean?" He asked.
Judai looked almost heartbroken, and Yusei feared he might have forgotten something important to the other. "Yusei! I've been here almost a month and I still haven't been anywhere but here and to the store with Martha." Judai complained, pouting at him.
Oh, so that's what this was about. Yusei hadn't forgotten something. That was good.
"N-Nothing's been stopping you from exploring, Judai. Why do you want me to show you around?" Yusei tried to dodge. He really wanted to get his work done now, rather than later.
"Yusei, knock it off and take a day off. You have all day tomorrow to take care of whatever you want. You need a break. You haven't even gone out with Crow lately." Martha insisted, once more taking on a scolding tone that left the mechanic little room to argue with.
Yusei's shoulders dropped in defeat, and he looked between them at a loss. The teenager shook his head and sighed, finally looking to Judai. He supposed he did owe him at least this much. Judai was misplaced in time. All of his friends were in their late 40s if not early 50s, so it wasn't as though he could go hang out with them or ask them to show him around. In all honesty, they'd probably be alarmed to see that he hadn't aged at all if he went and saw them.
"Alright, alright. Let's go after we eat." Yusei conceded.
"Yes!" Judai's childlike cheer brightened the room immediately.
Yusei gave a small smile in response and went back to fixing himself and the others something to eat for a sort of brunch with how late they were eating. He had to shoo Judai out of the kitchen a couple times as the other tried to snag or steal food while he was making it.
After they ate, the two bid Martha farewell and went out into the garage. Yusei threw a helmet to Judai and put on his own. He figured his motorcycle was going to be the fastest and easiest way to get around town.
"Where do you want to go?" He asked the other while he got on his bike.
"Everywhere!" Judai chimed, slipping onto the bike behind him and wrapping his arms around his waist as naturally as if they did this all the time.
Yusei pulled out and started down the street towards town, not minding the other's closeness this time. It was safer for him this way. "You're going to have to be more specific than that. I can't show you everything in one day."
Yusei held a certain pride about the city, especially since he had played an instrumental part in designing the way Neo Domino would connect with the Satellite and erase their boundaries. There was still animosity here and there, but that was to be expected. Change couldn't happen all at once. Still, it was more progress than he ever thought he'd see in his lifetime, and he was proud that a lot of it was because of his and his friends' efforts.
"Yusei," Judai called to him. "Hey, are you spacing out? That's not safe while driving, you know."
"I-I'm fine," Yusei cut in, rolling his eyes. "So, did you decide where you wanted to go first?"
"Geez, you really weren't listening to me." Judai huffed, dramatically laying his head on Yusei's back. "I was telling you I wanted you to pick your favorite place and we'd go from there."
Judai would leave out for now that he'd also decided to randomly say things like 'your hair looks like a crab died on your head' and 'oh look there goes a stop sign' when he was sure the other wasn't listening to him. As much fun as it would have been to hear Yusei's reactions to his banter, he wasn't so sure he should repeat himself when the other was driving.
"If you're sure," Yusei sighed and took a turn onto the highway which would lead them out of town. Ironically enough, his favorite place in town was just on the border. He loved the hills and cliffsides up there where you could see the entire city. It was much prettier at night in his opinion, but Judai said he wanted to start there. Maybe they could go back later and Yusei could show Judai Neo Domino's real beauty.
He pulled over into the grass once they'd reached his favorite overlook and parked. The wind was gentle today, making it rather pleasant up there. Yusei got off after Judai did and put his helmet on his bike. He walked over to the ledge and rested his arms on the railing.
"Woah!" Judai ran over excitedly, breaking the peaceful atmosphere with his hyper enthusiasm. "You can see the whole city from here! Yusei, this is beautiful!"
"It is," came the other's quiet reply.
He looked over at the mechanic whose gaze seemed to only be for the advanced and flourishing city bellow. Judai really couldn't blame him. It was gorgeous down there. He watched Yusei's normally stoic expression soften with an almost prideful look a father would give their child, and Judai couldn't help but snicker at the thought. Even though he was only younger by a year, it amused Judai that Yusei could look so much older than what he was. He wished he could get Yusei to act more his age every now and again, though. It would be a nice change of pace in his opinion.
That settled it. Judai's new goal for the day would be to get Yusei to behave like any normal teenager.
"Yusei, are there any arcades around here?" Judai asked, figuring it was kind of a dumb question, but he still wanted to ask.
Yusei's brow furrowed and he frowned a little in thought, "I think there is, but I'm not exactly sure where it is. I've heard some of my classmates and Rua and Ruka used to talk about one."
Judai just stared blankly at Yusei. He didn't even know where the arcade was. "Yusei… Do you know what an arcade is?"
"Of course I do," Yusei huffed at him. He might have been sheltered growing up in the Satellite, but Jack was sure to explain to him and Crow what arcades were when they were all reunited and friends again. He just hadn't gotten around to taking any of them to one before something or another got in their way, be it someone kidnapping Yusei or the entire world trying to end.
Judai looked completely lost for words, but he was quickly back to smiling brighter than the sun. He clasped a hand on Yusei's shoulder, remembering how the other had shied away earlier. "Then let's go find it and have some fun!"
"Alright, alright," Yusei gave in and walked back towards his bike, waiting for Judai.
It took about 20 minutes for them to even find the arcade, but once they arrived, Judai was off the bike and inside faster than Yusei could even park. He would have scolded the other for being reckless, but Judai was out of sight.
He found Judai waiting for him at the counter, all smiles.
"Yusei, over here. We have to buy tokens first to be able to play the games." He informed him, gesturing to the prices above.
Yusei looked them over before picking the middle package, that way they could split the tokens 50/50 and still have a sizable amount. He handed half the cheaply made golden coins to Judai and followed him into the arcade. It was a bit stuffy and loud, but there was a wide array of games all around them ranging from pinball to Left for Dead.
There were so many people milling around and talking, it was hard to hear anything, and the air was rather thick and hot. All a bit overwhelming for the introverted mechanic, and he found a part of him was beginning to wonder if this really was such a good idea.
"This way," Judai said into his ear from behind, taking his wrist and leading him off into a more spacious, out of the way corner were few people were congregating. "There we go."
Yusei took a breath of relief, casting a grateful look to his friend before looking over the arcade from this new, safe distance.
"What kind of games should we play first?" He asked after a moment. He was glad there were several multiplayer games that seemed interesting.
"Oo! How about that motorcycle one? I bet I can beat you." Judai challenged, gesturing to the game in question.
Yusei raised an eyebrow at him and shook his head. "Considering it appears I'm the only one with real experience driving on, I'm pretty sure I would win, Judai."
"Game on then," Judai grinned, walking with him back into the throngs to get to their destination and wait their turn.
Yusei would admit they did look a little out of place as they were probably the oldest people there, but he couldn't bring himself to care too much. There wasn't an age limit specified on anything.
The motorcycle game turned out to be nothing like driving an actual motorcycle and Judai beat him rather soundly the first two or three times they played. Yusei got the hang of it after that though, and Judai quickly decided it was best to switch over to a different game.
"Man, you're ruthless," Judai laughed brightly as they went through a few others.
Yusei found he was rather good at the shooting games. Maybe it had something to do with when he and the others were part of the Enforcers and had to shoot their hooks out to grapple other people's duel disks.
"I don't know about that. You're not too bad at these yourself." Yusei assured. So far, they were tied wins to loses over every game they'd played. Judai seemed insistent on everything being a challenge, and Yusei went along with it. The other seemed happy enough and he was beginning to enjoy himself as well.
"Oh my god you still have that?!" Judai suddenly grabbed Yusei's wrist and dragging him up onto a stage platform game. "Dance with me, Yusei!"
Yusei glanced over at the screen to try and figure out what Judai was talking about. "I-I don't know about this one, Judai."
"Pleeeaase? It's super easy. It's just a rhythm game. You tap the arrows with your feet when they line up with the bottom area. See?" Judai pointed to the demo playing before giving Yusei the biggest puppy eyes he could muster. "Come on? Just one song?"
How was he supposed to say no? There were already people staring and telling them to either play or move so others could.
"Alright," Yusei sighed a little and stepped over to where his set of arrows were, letting Judai get the game set up.
"Yes!"
Judai put their last coins in and scrolled through the songs until he found something that sounded fun. There obviously wasn't anything he recognized, but he made sure he could see Yusei's expression in his peripheral and chose a song that the other appeared to like.
Yusei would never again trust Judai when he said a game was easy. There was a timing lag between when his foot would touch the arrows and when it would register on the screen, not to mention there were several combinations of multiple arrows that flew by faster than he could really process them for trying to figure out the game. Judai, on the other hand, seemed to understand it completely, dancing freely and hitting the arrow with confusing ease. He would admit though, that it was a lot of fun, especially when he started to get the hang of it.
Judai looked over at Yusei during their last song, smiling at how carefree the other looked. Yusei's eyes were fixed on the game screen in front of him, and he would put money on the fact Yusei was probably mentally calculating the timing for everything down to the last detail. He was glad the other finally seemed to have something other than school on his mind. Again, he found himself entranced, just staring at the other to the point he lost this final round.
Both of them were exhausted and panting when the song ended, and they each jumped when people around them started clapping. Judai looked behind to find they'd drawn a bit of a crowd with their skill at the game, and he saw Yusei do the same next to him. The blush that spread across the other's cheeks made Judai's heart skip a beat. He didn't think Yusei would be bashful over something like this.
"Come on," Judai encouraged, guiding him away from the game and back outside. "That was fun~"
Yusei nodded, looking around himself as if he were surprised it was already getting close to sundown. Time had seemed almost nonexistent while they were inside the arcade. Apparently, what he perceived as an hour or two, turned out to be several. Brunch seemed so long ago now that he realized what time it was. Maybe they should go find somewhere to eat or go back to Martha's.
"Man, I'm hungry," Judai complaining, voicing Yusei's thoughts as he thought them.
"We could find somewhere to eat," Yusei offered, going back to his bike.
"Yes please," Judai chimed and settled in behind him once more. "So, Yusei. When do you think I get to learn how to drive one of these things?" He asked after they were on the road again.
"You? Drive a D-wheel?" Yusei asked, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice. Just the thought of Judai even owning one for some reason seemed very out of place. "I don't know how well that would end."
"Aw, come on! I creamed you on that game." Judai pointed out.
"Driving a real one is very different than that game," Yusei pointed out. "What do you want to eat?"
"Honestly, I could really go for a burger and some fries. Oo! Or maybe pizza!" Judai started rambling about several varieties of junk food he felt like eating or that sounded good to him.
Yusei personally didn't too much care of half of what he was talking about. It all was usually pretty greasy and left a heavy feeling in his stomach, but Jack had at least taken him to one burger joint that hadn't made him want to throw up, so he figured that might as well do.
He listened absentmindedly while Judai rambled about this that and the other. Yusei couldn't really bring himself to pay too much attention, far too lost in his own thoughts. It was hard to believe the other had been there for over a month. He'd honestly expected Judai to just come to visit him in his time before returning to his era, but it didn't seem like Judai had any ambitions to do so just yet. It almost felt like he was wanting to stay by the way he brushed off being much younger than his friends. That part still bothered him, since friends were meant to be treasured, but at the same time, he didn't exactly want Judai to go back either. The excitable brunette had already pointed out that if anything was going to happen with the timeline due to his being here instead of in the past, it would have happened by now or they would have noticed something amiss. It didn't save Yusei from worrying though. It might not be an immediate effect like with Paradox, but what if it were delayed?
"Yusei? Yuuuuseeeeiii!" Judai squeezing him from behind brought him back out of his thoughts and he realized he had already parked in front of the burger place. "Geez, dude, do you space out like that all the time when you're driving? That can't be safe. What if you didn't notice something and got into a wreck?"
"I'm sorry," Yusei glanced back at him, surprised to find he actually looked pretty concerned about him. "J-Judai…It's fine, I swear. I don't space out like this every time I'm driving, though I admit I do often drive when I need some space to think."
The other still fixed him with an unreadable gaze for a moment longer before reverting back to his usual bubbly self.
"Alright, if you swear it's not all the time," Judai gave in and got off so the other could follow him.
They each went in and ordered their food. Yusei ate quietly while Judai chattered on again. This time he made an effort to actually listen and pay full attention to what the other was talking about, occasionally taking a break from eating to comment or add to the conversation. It seemed Judai just wanted to talk about his adventures around the world before he got there. It was hard to believe the other had been able to go out and see so much in the span of a couple years.
"Honestly, Yusei, it's so beautiful out there!" He said after relaying a story of his first night in Italy before Paradox. "The culture is so rich out there."
Yusei smiled and tried to picture everything Judai was describing to him. Traveling the world sounded like a far away dream, and it was something he'd never dared to allow himself to hope for. It just wasn't something a kid from the Satellite had time to dream of.
"Thanks for today, Yusei," Judai said after a moment of silence, taking a sip of his milkshake. "I'll have to pay you back somehow."
Yusei shook his head, "There's no need, Judai. This…This was actually really fun. I've enjoyed myself."
Judai smiled. He'd achieved his goal. "Well, I'm glad you're having fun, but I still want to pay you back for all of this. Come on, please let me one day?"
Yusei could already tell he'd be fighting a losing battle if he continued to try to argue against Judai, so he decided not to answer him. At least then the other couldn't tell him that he'd said he would let him pay him back.
They drove back home after they were done eating and got ready for bed. Yusei sighed as he got back into their room after a shower, his towel still draped around his shoulders. He looked over at Judai, already passed out on top of his bed, and smiled fondly at the other's snoring. It seemed Judai'd worn himself out today.
"You should at least get into bed before falling asleep…" He chided softly, grabbing a blanket and draping it over him.
He laid down in his own bed and curled up with a yawn. He had a lot of work to get done tomorrow, but after today, he decided it really could wait until tomorrow. A part of him was upset he hadn't been able to take Judai back up to the cliffs to see the city at night, but something told him he'd get another chance and it would be well worth the wait.
Lunara: Yay, they had fun~ I haven't been able to write like this in forever. I really hope you're all enjoying this as much as I am.
Thank you for reading! Favorites and reviews greatly appreciated!