ii. two;

"I said I was sorry!" Judai half-apologizes and half-whines, following her into the room at the end of the hallway near her bedroom and his guest room. Asuka curtly flips on the lightswitch and she starts throwing a familiar blouse and pair of pants into the washing machine. "I didn't know, honest!"

Sighing, she tiredly measures the detergent before tossing it in with her ill-fated clothes that still smelled of lake water and trout. "It's fine," dismissively says Asuka, stiffly, as she turns on the washing cycle after closing the lid of the machine.

It's a bad idea to let Judai do the laundry, she's learned since yesterday when they had come back to her apartment.

Mournfully, she thinks briefly about how one of her favorite blue blouses still radiates the smell of fish because someone had forgotten detergent yesterday. The pants, though, are just a regular pair of jeans so it's forgivable—but, the blouse. The blouse. Now, that just strikes a nerve.

"What your face looks like doesn't really match with what you're saying," he murmurs from the doorframe of the room, feeling small.

Taking some pity on him, Asuka sighs inwardly and purposefully slackens her pout-slash-scowl to something more neutral. "This blouse is one of my favorites," she explains, placing the detergent aside. "I got it as a housewarming gift from Junko and Momoe."

Judai mutters, perplexed, "Clothes for a housewarming gift?"

Involuntarily, she smiles with fondness. Junko told her that she and Momoe spent about two hours scouring brand stores just to find her this particular blouse after seeing it in a magazine because the color is Asuka's favorite. "They're still hooked on fashion." She goes to exit the laundry room after flipping the light off, going to the living room where she had been before he had interrupted her with comments of why it smelled of fish. Knowing he is following her, Asuka chuckles, "I don't mind, though. I'd rather have new clothes that I can wear instead of something that would sit and gather dust on a shelf."

Judai hums, distractedly. "Come to think of it, I never got you a housewarming gift."

"Don't worry about it. I don't mind," she reassures languidly, looking at the bookshelf in the living room to find a suitable book to read.

It's the start of her summer vacation, so she plans on reading her afternoons away. Many series sat on this shelf, mainly gathering dust through the year because it's certainly not easy maintaining a work schedule and free time schedule during a bustling school year. She'd like to take advantage of her free time while it lasts.

"Is reading that fun?" Judai inquires, watching her quietly beam at the cover of the book she's looking at.

"Mhm," Asuka says, contently seating herself on the couch and carefully opening to the first page. This book is an adventure story, so there's going to be a fair amount of plot and thick drama. She likes those stories—not really the drama part, but she looks forward to characterization and the plot and lore.

"So many words," he remarks, and she jumps.

Turning her head, she wonders why he had decided to lean his chin on the back of the couch to look over her shoulder. Close. He is close to her. But he's always been close to her before, so she clears her throat and goes back to reading the first chapter.

"It's shorter than a textbook?" she offers.

He's still there, behind her, scanning the book and its tiny font. "How many pages?"

"About four-hundred." He gives a wide-eyed stare. Asuka adds defensively, "I've seen textbooks with a thousand pages before!" He now looks mildly stunned, awed. Perhaps she should mention that some philosophical books can outnumber three-thousand pages sometimes.

"How do you sit there and read so many words in one sitting?" he asks skeptically.

Asuka raises an eyebrow. Four-hundred pages isn't too bad to her. But in retrospect, she likes to read. "How do you sit still for a while when you're waiting to catch a fish?"

He shakes his head. "Alright, you win," he humbly surrenders with a humored smile.

Judai pushes himself off the back of the couch and goes to sit on the floor at the low table in front of the couch so he won't disturb her, and takes the remote for the television.

Before he turns it on, Asuka tells him, "I like reading—" He looks at her over his shoulder. She admittedly feels a little embarrassed to reveal something like this, something a bit trivial and personal and mundane. "—because I like being able to imagine the story. I think it's amazing that people are able to create their own world using words, and I like to read about them. Even something like an informative book is nice to read sometimes. People can share their knowledge on paper."

Truthfully, she hadn't read much back in Duel Academia aside from assigned readings or researching in the library. Normally, books about dueling had her attention foremost. But college opened a new perspective on reading other books, and she had been sucked into it after wandering a bit through the campus library on her days off. It became a habit that stuck until she graduated.

Thoughtfully, Judai smiles and nods. "That's cool. I hadn't looked at it that way."

She tentatively smiles back, still feeling exposed and awkward. She supposes it's for the best. If he had told her something personal about him and fishing, then she could do the same with her and reading. It's a part of this getting-to-know-each-other thing.

"Not going to convince me to give it a shot?" he asks amusedly, somewhat rhetorically.

She almost laughs. It's one thing to persuade her to try fishing, but it's another thing entirely to convince him to read. "I won't even try," indulges Asuka, flipping a page in her book. "You can sit still to fish, but I know you won't do that with a book."

"Books just remind me of school." Scrunching his nose, he looks distastefully at her book. "And we all know how my grades went."

Gravely, she nods. "I sometimes wonder how you graduated."

"I wonder the same thing," Judai easily grins, conversationally.

"Maybe you'll be more interested if you find the right book," she suggests offhandedly. "There are lots of books out there. I'm sure you'll find one that you'll like." It would make her day if he gave something she does a try sometimes like she had done for him.

"I've passed by bookstores and magazine stalls before," he muses to her. It seems like a safe response. "Never went into the bookstores, but I flip through the magazines to pass time."

"You need to touch and look through a real book some time. Not even read through it. Just... skim," Asuka says, determined. "And no, manga doesn't count."

Rolling his eyes, he snickers, "Jokes on you, since I don't even own manga or look through them." He pauses, the corner of his lips slightly down for a moment. "At least, not anymore." Quickly, a smile comes back on his countenance. "But anyway, I'll look through a book or two someday if it'll make you happy, 'kay?"

Elation bubbles up inside of her. She knows he won't read through a whole book for sure, but it's good to know that he's willing to at least skim through some for her. It's a pleasant change for her, leaving her feeling touched. He doesn't like books—but here he is, promising to go through some for her because she wants him to skim through some. "You better keep your word, Judai."

"You know I would, Asuka," he says casually. He resumes taking the remote and turning on her television, respectfully lowering the volume. The television screen absorbs his attention by then, so she goes back to reading.

When she looks down, the words of her book are incomprehensible to her for a moment. I just had a conversation with Judai about books. Books. How bizarre. She can probably talk books with Johan and not bat an eyelash if they end up engaging in some semi-deep conversation about reading, but with Judai?

Lifting her book to cover her face, Asuka musters a silly smile and beams as he watches pro-duels on her television and she resumes reading with something of a cozy feeling frothing in her chest.

Idle chit-chat with him isn't something that she minds at all.

.

.

In the following day, standing on a stool, Asuka reaches up to take her photo album that she keeps on a high shelf. Opening it, she flips through the pages idly as she hops off the stool and goes back to the couch quietly, being mindful of a napping Judai on the armchair.

Today, her brother sent her another postcard and some photos in her mailbox. She has yet to read his letter, but she did pry open the thick envelope to unravel several new photos Fubuki had taken of himself and of his idol endeavors and shenanigans. Flipping photo from photo, Asuka endearingly smiles, a tender nostalgia filling up her chest. On the couch, she begins to insert each photo into the album.

It makes her wistful, the more she looks at these pictures. She seldom takes photos of herself anymore, so most of the recent pages of her album are primarily photos her sibling sent her. She doesn't mind, though. Asuka is perfectly aware of how peaceful her life has gotten while Fubuki's only became more interesting—as such, she'd rather see photos of his life than hers. Although, she does have an occasional photo of her students and class pictures.

She takes Fubuki's letter off her low table and reads it to herself, eyes drinking in the words he uses to depict his life so far and smiles for every joke he inserted in it. It's just not something from Fubuki if it doesn't have his corny lines and jokes in there somewhere, after all.

He tells her, with grand and excited sentences, of how he bumped into Sho and Ryo during a performance of his and they all had hung out for a few days on their days off. He tells her of how Ryo misses her company, the old friendship they had, and how Sho misses her too. The pro-dueling business the Marufuji brothers started is going very well. Fubuki also mentions that he would convince the two siblings to take a picture together to send her for the next postcard, and he also takes the time to write a reassuring sentence about how Ryo's heart condition is significantly better than before. (She sighs in relief.)

She briefly thinks sadly, I've missed you all too, in her head because she can't be there with them.

Asuka continues reading, and Fubuki's handwriting tells her about how he is currently back in Japan for a few weeks' of rest. He tells her how Duel Academia hasn't really changed since they had graduated. Chronos-sensei is still there, Samejima is still the principal, Ayukawa-sensei is still the nurse, Tome-san is still in charge of the shop—the only thing that really changed is the students. One of Fubuki's ending notes remarks about how she would fit in if she were to be a teacher back here.

Pausing in her reading, Asuka absently stares at the sentence, not really seeing words anymore.

She's content here in America. Yes, everything is different—but it is also not. She had played with the idea of moving back to Japan, which she would like to do in the future. But that's not for now. Chronos-sensei and Samejima both recommended her here because they believed in her and her abilities, and she thinks she can believe in herself too if she has gotten this far. Gotten this far without losing her way.

Asuka thinks her gratitude should go to Judai. Her decisions had been quite wayward, whether to stay home or go elsewhere, and even though he never knew about that, Asuka thinks he has helped her make a firm decision. He helped shape her future, and she's really happy about that. His growth, as well as their friends, inspired her to find her own growth. She's very grateful; and, her heart is swelling with warmness when she thinks about it.

And maybe she really did fall in love with him at some point between all of that. His determination inspired her to try harder. He's, by all means, not perfect—but she feels like he tries harder than anyone she's ever met and his efforts come through in the end. It leaves her in awe and she thinks it's one of his strong traits. She wants to try as hard too; not saving-the-world-from-an-apocalypse sort of hard, but in a mild I-can-make-something-out-of-my-life sort of hard.

She is happy right now and making something worthwhile out of her life on her own like all of her precious friends. She has not wavered in her life after that day. Maybe she can go back to Japan after having a few more years of experience in a distant future. But as of her life for now, she's truly content with herself and her progression. As a studious person, it makes her happy to be able to lend her guidance towards students and watch them seek for their own futures too like how she did. She didn't think she could make it this far by herself, but here she is. She doesn't want to fall behind from her friends, after all.

Although, maybe she really does miss Japan. She misses everyone, always. Simply having pictures doesn't seem to be enough.

She misses greeting Ryo by the hallways, chit-chatting with Sho and Kenzan, hanging out with Junko and Momoe, nagging her brother, cooking with Rei, and even Manjoume being goofy around her. She misses all of that. All of those memories made Duel Academia so memorable to her—everyone may have grown distant, but distance also makes the heart fonder; that's how the old saying goes and Asuka thinks she's definitely fond of everyone by now in her life. She really meant it when she said that they would always stay friends back when she had given her graduation speech.

"Are you crying?"

Startled, Asuka drops Fubuki's letter on her lap and looks at the armchair nearby the couch. Everything is blurry. She sees blurs of brown and black, but hears Judai's voice. Why is everything blurry?

Blankly, her fingers brush at her cheeks and she feels wetness. The blurs of brown and black seem closer to her now, so Asuka turns her head away and wipes her tears with her sleeve before reclaiming Fubuki's letter in her hands. She doesn't feel her face contort with a frown or feels herself blubbering messily. Her eyes are simply leaking tears after she had felt herself grow wistful—of Japan, of everyone.

Asuka fingers the paper and attempts to look as calmly as her countenance would let her. "I'm fine," she mumbles.

Everything looks clearer now with her tears gone. They were only a few small tears, but each one had been heavy with feelings of her heart embedded. Her homesickness and thoughts had been overwhelming, even more so when Fubuki's letter made her ache more to see Duel Academia. She's not normally this sentimental, but the letter from her brother really affected her more than she would've thought. A woman's heart can be quite sentimental, people sometimes say. She wonders if she is no different herself.

Scoffing, he retorts while looking down at her with a slight frown, "Yeah, right. You're not the type of person who cries over nothing, Asuka." Judai plops heavily onto the couch next to her, no longer able to nap. He looks a little disgruntled, running a hand through his bangs, but she can't really tell because she doesn't want to look at him and she feels a little bit ashamed.

It was a moment of weakness, her mind says but her lips do not. Somehow, it just doesn't feel like a sufficient-enough answer. She decides to skim through her brother's letter again instead so she doesn't feel as awkward because she can feel eyes on her.

There is also silence.

"One time, I accidentally caught a piece of a steak Edo was eating when I was fishing," he casually blurts into the void of silence, of two excruciatingly long minutes, they sit in. He says it with the air of someone remarking comments about the weather for an icebreaker.

Blinking, Asuka stops reading. "Eh...?"

Nonchalantly, Judai continues to reminisce while looking away in thought, "I think he sliced my line off with his knife and fork. It was like he's a ninja."

Involuntarily, her lips slowly twitch up and she imagines the story in her head. Judai with his fishing rod and the hook snags a piece of steak right off a plate in front of Edo, then Edo takes his knife and fork to chop off the line and Judai wails in desperate despair. It's rather funny, actually.

"I was sooo hungry, too. I thought I caught a big fish for a moment." He uses his hands to measure an invisible fish in front of him.

Asuka quietly smiles wider, eyes still scanning Fubuki's letter, yet she is not reading anymore.

"I didn't realize I lost my hook for about five minutes because I thought some fish stole it. That was how hungry I was," he deadpans with a casual flourish.

She lets out a tiny, muffled noise. Her jaw hurts.

He gives her a quick glance, a playful gauging look. "I thought I was going to faint, dreaming about food and fish instead. Maybe a fish empire—"

Dropping the letter, Asuka grabs his sleeve and she notices that her lips ache from smiling. "Okay, stop!"

"Feel better yet?" inquires Judai with a grin, triumphantly. She musters a nod, letting go of his sleeve. "Good. I'm guessing you won't tell me what's wrong, so I might as well tell you fishing stories to cheer you up."

A little guilty, Asuka softly says, "I was just… thinking about my life, that's all." He is quiet. "I'm just proud of how far I made it to be here."

Judai teases gently, "So much that you cry about it?"

"I put in a lot of work to be here! I had a lot of support too," she says, sheepish. She feels lucky that she, of all people, even got a recommendation to America. She knows that she is persistent and a good-working student, but something prodigious like an international recommendation had not been something she ever considered before.

"And that's good!" He nods approvingly, in a placating manner. "I know you work super hard, so I always knew you'd be successful." A pause, and then a truthful, "I believe in you. The Asuka I always know never gives up."

Something fizzes joyously in her chest, heart contentedly thumping. Eyes softened, she slips Fubuki's letter back into the envelope and says with heartbreaking sincerity, "Thank you." She beams happily to herself, appreciative.

Judai is always kind to his friends, and she knows he is usually genuine when he compliments people. It touches her to know that he is supportive of her personal growth as she is to him.

Nodding, he drops the seriousness and lightly comments, "You sure worry about the littlest things."

"What do you mean?" Asuka says somewhat self-consciously, going back to inserting Fubuki's photos into her album so she can busy herself.

She hears him say, "If you're proud of what you're doing and how you're ending up, then even bother worrying about it? Shouldn't you focus that energy into making sure that you're doing your best for the next day?" Asuka looks over her shoulder, pausing in her photo sorting. Judai looks at his hands absently. "That's what I say, but I guess I shouldn't be talking about that, huh?"

"No—" she cuts in very softly, sort of like a butter knife with no intentions to harm. She focuses her energy on a lot of things. Thinking about stuff and contemplating on her life are some of those things. Asuka knows she's somewhat of an overachiever: always trying to be patient in her life, yet striving to make her own successes. Sometimes, it's hard to balance everything. "—I think you have a point." Inserting the last photo in the album, Asuka closes it gently. "I'll work on that. Being more positive, I mean. It's just in my character to worry. Nii-san told me that a few times." She smiles nostalgically.

"Okaa-san," he stage-whispers to her, amused.

She gives him a look before shaking her head because he always tells her that at some point at least once due to how often she worries about things. In her defense, it would be worse if she didn't care. Someone has to keep things in order around here, and it can't be him with how he runs things. Hmph.

She decides to stand up so she can use the stool to put the photo album away.

As she stands on it, Judai looks at her and pipes in, "How come you didn't ask me to put it away for you?"

"Because I'm... taller?" she wryly offers, raising an eyebrow. Even back then, she could still tower over him, barely, without her heeled boots.

While standing next to someone like Ryo makes her feel short, standing next to Judai gives her some semblance of equalness. Sometimes they don't see eye-to-eye with their opinions and that's fine; she thinks their heights are perfect, not only for them to talk easier, but also because it makes her feel like they're both on equal footing. He can disagree on something and so can she, but they can also find a decent compromise in between that works for the two of them. Teamwork, it's called.

In a moment of proudness, Judai stands up and saunters over with a smirk. "That's what you thought, but I think I grew a few inches after graduation. See?" Gently prying the album from her hands, he extends on his tiptoes and successfully inserts the album back. She's actually a bit incredulous, blinking. "Told ya!"

Amused, she fights back a scoff. "You used your toes."

"Ah, but did I use a stool?" he counters in a non-serious manner, grinning with smugness.

Hopping off the stool in question, Asuka rolls her eyes. If she uses her toes, the most she can achieve is letting her fingertips brush against the spine of a book that high. Alas, all of her other shelves are full of other books or gifts from Fubuki. He always likes sending her souvenirs. "Are you just gloating now?"

Now that he had pointed out his apparent growth spurt, she notices that the top of her head is near his eyes if she were to guess an estimate of their heights. And to think, she used to be the taller one.

"Maybe?" he tentatively offers, playfully. He uses his hand to measure their heights. "Just wanted to show you that I've done some growing."

His height had grown, but she thinks he is still a teenager on the inside. Still the same smiling goofball from back then. "Congratulations on growing up," she jokingly says with a smile, turning on her heel to go back to her room where she plans to write a response to Fubuki's letter. She casually ignores him whining behind her. ("I don't like your tone!")

When she closes her door, she wonders why she had never noticed the height growth until now.

She would now have to be aware of the fact that she would need to look up at him whenever they talk. She wonders if she had stopped growing at some point back in school. It makes her feel a bit awkward because she always simply looked forward in front of her to meet his eyes and exchange words. Now she has to actually tilt her head; tilt by a few centimeters, but still tilting nonetheless. He still talks with a casual lilt; still jokes around like how he always does back then, but he also says things that remind her that he isn't the same fifteen year old she remembered him to be.

Fifteen year old Judai didn't make her feel like this.

Asuka goes to her desk and sits down and hums to herself, not really paying attention to the piece of paper in front of her. The paper for Fubuki's response is still blank and the pencil is still lying down, and all she can think about are red blazers and strange orange-brown hair.

Perhaps, he really did grow up and she shouldn't call him 'grown up teenager' anymore, after all.

Not to mention: if he showed signs that fishing is no longer his coping mechanism, then he is perhaps still in the middle of growing up—because if he hadn't been growing up, he would've gone fishing by himself without her. He wouldn't have suggested for her to come along, nor would he tell her all the things he told her that day.

He wouldn't.

She shakes her head and finally grabs the pencil to write in her sentences.