When Manjoume woke up, he expected to be in his apartment all alone.

But the scent of eggs and coffee had refreshed his memory of what happened the night before.

He quickly got up, went to the bathroom and tossed a comb through his hair. He exited his room with a rather large yawn, finding Judai in the kitchen flipping some eggs.

"Morning," Judai greeted. "Hope you don't mind, I'm a breakfast kinda guy."

Manjoume rolled his eyes in amusement. "And a lunch kind a guy….and a dinner kind a guy, with a passion for snacking whenever you can."

"You know me so well," Judai smiled. "I cooked up all the eggs, but if it's a problem, I can go buy you some more."

Manjoume waved in dismissal, "I don't eat breakfast often. In fact, I'm glad you're getting rid of the eggs for me. At least they're going to good use."

"That's one way to look at it," Judai nodded, flipping the eggs onto a plate that he had by him. "Thanks for helping me last night. I never mean to get that drunk when I go out gambling, but it always happens."

He shrugged in response. "Don't mention it."

"Well, I oughtta," Judai countered the statement, turning off the stove and pouring a cup of coffee. "You helped me win 362800 yen last night. I want you to have a few thousand."

"No, it's fine."

"Come on, Manjoume. It's my pleasure, really."

"Judai, you need it more than I do. I have a full time job and make lots of cash from duel competitions. My brothers pay me to advertise their business. I'm set for a while. Keep it all, okay?"

Judai looked up at him with an unsure gaze.

"Besides, I actually kinda had fun last night."

Judai's eyes widened. "Really?" He took his food to the couch and sat it on the coffee table. "Made you some breakfast, by the way."

Manjoume peeked his head at the one egg that Judai left for him, and a cup of coffee that rested in the pot. "Thanks…" He took the food to the coffee table as well. "You know, I never thought that a drunkard could have that good of skill in pool."

"My hands are a lot more quaky when I'm sober, not sure why. Emmanuel noticed that right off the bat. He said I'd fix up a lot nicer after a few drinks."

"Emmanuel," Manjoume tasted the name on his mouth. "Who is this Emmanuel you keep talking about?"

"Hm?" Judai hummed while stuffing an egg in his mouth.

"Well, you couldn't quit yapping about him last night," Manjoume gestured with his fork. "Who is he?"

"My good friend from Amsterdam. We met at a bar. He noticed I was trying to make some money from playing pool, but he called me out on how bad I was. He told me that he was the same way. Always shaky when sober, and still when drunk. It defies logic, but he said that's why people like us were special."

"Sounds like he was trying to hit on you," Manjoume rolled his eyes.

Judai shrugged. "It worked."

Immediately Manjoume regretted his words and shoved the lone egg into his mouth, chomping at the bit.

Judai laughed in response. "I'm just messing with ya—"

"So you've been in Amsterdam for the past six months?"

"And Germany, France, Sweden, Spain, and Italy."

"Shit," Manjoume followed with a sip of coffee. "That's insane. What made you come back?"

"Expired visa is the big one," Judai revealed. "Money was always attainable, but getting kicked out was my biggest problem. At the time, I figured coming home could be good for me." He hesitated for a moment. "But then I got home, and I was proved wrong pretty fast."

"If your folks were still home, yah think it woulda been better?"

"Probably not," Judai admitted. "I'd like to think so, but at the end of the day, it probably wouldn't have changed anything."

Manjoume looked down into his black coffee. "Judai, how does it feel to always be on the move?"

'Um, weird," he replied honestly. "It's weird because, you can have a lot of fun, but you can go through a lot of shit too. Nearly every morning I wake up and I don't know where I am. I'll picture myself in one of the many places I stayed, but never the right one for the moment being. And the weirdest part is, whenever you find a place that is willing to have you for long term, something inside just makes you want to leave again. I can't put my thumb on why."

Silence rang through the house.

"It's like, there's so much to see in this world…staying put just means growing comfortable. And being comfortable means you fall into routine, and that gets boring. I mean, come on, Manjoume. Don't you ever just get home from a long day and wonder what life is all about?"

Manjoume turned to match Judai's gaze, looking deep into his eyes.

"Is it really about living the same day over and over again? Working 40 hours a week just to keep up the same routine?" Judai broke the stare and looked away. "That's what I liked about being on the move. When I worked, I worked for a new experience. I worked because if I didn't, I'd be on the streets that night. Or I'd have nothing to eat. I had to make every day count. But at the end of the day, if I wanted to leave, it was easy."

"So you picked up little tricks like last night just to make ends meet?"

"Yeah, pretty much. How'd it go by the way? I remember making money, but that's about it."

Manjoume laughed at the thought of it. "Well, you kept flirting with me."

"Oh," Judai chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," Manjoume waved it off. "In fact, it made me more confident, so it worked out."

"Oh good!"

"You tried to make me take a shot every time we won a round."

"I did?"

"Yeah. I took one shot of tequila with you, but every time after that, I told the bartender to put water in my shot glass and call it vodka."

Judai rustled his hand through his hair in embarrassment with a flushed smile, "Gee, sorry about that."

"It's fine," Manjoume smiled. "One of the guys who challenged us was an angry drunk. He lost a couple hundred thousand yen and threw a beer at yah."

"Phew, sucks to be him."

"Yeah, he's probably really regretting those drinks today."

"Yeah. Good thing I never go to the same bar twice. Hopefully we'll never run into each other again."

"The sucker probably wouldn't recognize you sober anyways."

The two laughed at the ordeal. They took a few minutes to finish their drinks in silence.

"So, where do you go from here?" Manjoume broke the silence.

"Well," Judai yawned while stretching. "At 11 I need to head over to Ren's diner to start washing some dishes. If I do that, they'll let me crash in their loft."

"Oh. You're not going home?"

"Home? What home?" The words felt familiar on his lips. "I have no home."

Manjoume raised his eyebrows. "Judai…if you want, you can crash here. You don't need to work at some rusty diner."

"No. I appreciate the offer, but I like to work to make my living," Judai declined straight up. "I appreciate your help last night, but I won't be extending my stay."

The teen threw up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. Let me at least give you a ride to this diner."

Judai raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Are you sure?"

"Course I am. Is it a deal?"

After a moment of hesitation, the brunette extended his hand to shake on it. Manjoume accepted with a soft smile. "So, seen anyone else besides me and Sho?"

"I saw Asuka."

Manjoume nearly gasped at the words. "You did?"

"Yeah, but it didn't go so well," he lowered his head. "I think I really hurt her feelings."

"Why? What did you do?"

"I didn't realize that just reappearing in her life for a day was going to make her emotionally attached. I told her I had to leave because I didn't want to hurt her. I don't think I can stay in Domino, Jun, and telling her that made her upset."

"Well of course it did! She really cares about you….and you kinda just fucked everyone over by leaving, yah know? Not your smartest move."

"I honestly didn't think many people would care," Judai revealed. "At the time, I couldn't think of anything to say to anyone. So I figured leaving would be the easiest option."

"Maybe for you it was, but a lot of people wanted to say bye to you…wanted to wish you well and see you smile. We know shit got real that last semester, but running away just makes you selfish."

"So I've been told," Judai sighed. "No one's perfect, Jun. Everyone gets selfish sometimes, wouldn't you say?"

Manjoume bit his tongue upon being asked. The answer was a clear yes, considering he himself was pretty selfish during most years at Duel Academy. He raised his arms to prop behind his head. "I guess."

Judai snorted in response, getting up to bring both of their dishes to the sink.

"I'll get that."

"Nah, it's the least I can do," Judai reckoned while squeezing some soap onto a sponge.

Manjoume sighed in response. "So you're going to leave Domino?"

"Eventually."

"Where will you go?"

"I don't know."

"Do you ever plan on settling down someday?"

"Maybe, guess it depends." He turned on the sink to begin washing.

"What would make you stay?"

Judai looked over his shoulder to smirk at Manjoume. "Not sure. Maybe a special someone. Or a once in a lifetime opportunity that would assure that every day would be a new adventure."

"If you find the right person, they can make every day like that," Manjoume gulped, speaking from the heart.

"You don't say?" Judai giggled. "Well, I guess if I did, maybe I would stay."

Manjoume blushed at his words, staring at Judai until he broke contact and continued washing the dishes. His gaze still lingered, but he shook himself out of it.

"I'm gunna go shower. You can go after me, if you want."

"I'll take you up on that!" Judai called without turning. Manjoume shoved his hands into his pant pockets, turning away to head towards his room.

His mind kept racing with thoughts that he attempted to ban from his consciousness, but they kept finding new ways to reappear.

Manjoume had always thought highly of Judai, even though he was rather an annoying guy for a long time. It wasn't until they had went through all that shit together when Manjoume realized how dependable and wonderful Judai really was. He knew the guy had lost a lot of his old persona when the ordeal was over, but somehow, it made him more desirable. Manjoume personally felt like he wanted to restore Judai to his old self. And now that he was back, he figured that maybe he could reach out to him…touch his heart, give him a reason to stay. Everyone would like that. Everyone.

Especially Manjoume.

Once the two had both showered and prepared for the day, they headed towards the door to leave.

"I'm doing your laundry today. If you want your clothes back, you'll just have to come visit me again."

"Sure," Judai winked playfully. He was wearing one of Manjoume's maroon shirts and black jeans. "I'm digging the red, by the way."

"It's one of the only things I have that's not black," Manjoume explained. "I figured you should make a good impression on these strangers you'll be living with."

"So thoughtful, I love it," Judai chuckled. Manjoume blushed at the random compliment.

The two slid into the car. The ride was relatively quiet. It took about 25 minutes before they rolled up to Ren's diner.

"Thanks again, Manjoume," Judai smiled.

"Yeah, anytime."

Do something, Manjoume thought. Tell him you're coming over in a couple days to check on him. Tell him his laundry will be ready tomorrow if he wants to swing by. Tell him about that dinner party with Asuka, Kaiser, and Fubiki next Friday. Tell him-

"You don't have any regrets, do you?"

"What?!" Manjoume nearly imploded.

"About not taking any of the money I promised you. It's not too late, if you want some."

"No, you're fine."

"Okay, see yah around!" Judai slid out of the car.

Manjoume began tapping his hand aggressively on the door. "Wait, Judai!"

Judai lowered his head to the window, putting both hands on the car. "Yeah?"

Just let him go, it'll be easier this way. He's not yours. And nothing will make him stay.

"Be careful," Manjoume ordered.

"I will," he assured, flashing him a smile before walking away.

Manjoume took in a deep breath, watching Judai as he disappeared inside the diner.

"The one that got away," he sighed, igniting his car and putting it in drive. He took one last glance at the diner before driving away.