chapter 4 i just got outta the shower and i am sparkling clean

alternate title: by the time i finish this chapter i will no longer be sparkling clean

alternate alternate title: i'm kind of grody actually

alternate alternate alternate title: the other author just got showered and is in fact sparkling clean

Manjoume made dinner and they ate together in silence. Once Judai had DEVOURED most of the food Manjoume had made he looked across the table at him and pointed his chopsticks at him almost threateningly.

"We need to talk to Saiou."

Of course they did, Manjoume thought, but that didn't mean he wanted to. And besides his own reluctance to get in touch with the man, there was another problem.

"I don't have Saiou's number," he said. "I don't even know if he has a number."

"Edo does," Judai shrugged. "We could call him."

Manjoume paled. He was worried about Saiou spilling the beans, but Edo… Edo was another problem entirely. He knew that Edo probably knew what he'd written to Saiou - the two were like, BFFs, despite being a weird combo of pro duelist and psychic cat man. Manjoume tried to worm his way out of calling, thinking that he could do so later on his own, but Judai kept prodding him until eventually he threw his hands up in the air and gave an exasperated cry of "Fine! We'll do it your way, then!"

Manjoume put his phone on speaker and set it in the middle of the table as it called, the dial tone making Manjoume weirdly nervous. Eventually, though, it went through to voicemail, and he breathed a not so subtle sigh of relief.

"Let's try again!" Judai said, immediately reaching to grab the phone as Edo's prerecorded message about calling his agent if it was a professional enquiry played.

The phone buzzed in Judai's hands and he dropped it in his surprise, and Manjoume took the chance to snatch it up. He swiped over to open the message he'd received.

can't take calls in hair and make up. what's up.

Manjoume rolled his eyes, typing back: Hair and make up? Really, Edo?

pro duelists gotta look good lol … maybe that's why u didn't last long on the pro circuit?

Manjoume grit his teeth, practically feeling the enamel wear down. Judai let out a good natured laugh, then prodded Manjoume. "Come on, ask him about Saiou."

Manjoume would much rather have responded to the SICK diss, but instead he just replied, I need to speak to Saiou.

why? Edo shot back, and then, let me guess, swapped again?

"That's too good for a guess," Judai said, frowning.

listen, Edo went on, not waiting for an answer from Manjoume. Listen, this dude is a busy man. saiou's impossible to keep track of. he went missing a few days ago and his sis doesn't even know where he is. dude doesn't even have EMAIL.

Manjoume let out a frustrated sigh. You're saying you have no way of contacting him?! Judai had to stop him before he added more punctuation to that message. He couldn't help it, he was just PISSED.

sry, lol, Edo said, accompanied by an OBNOXIOUS emoji. That's what Edo was. An obnoxious emoji. he might come to the reunion, though. ur comin to that, right?

"What reunion?" Judai asked.

Manjoume got up from the table and returned with two envelopes, previously stuffed into the depths of a kitchen drawer. They'd arrived a few weeks ago, one addressed to him and one to Judai (Manjoume had thought that was a little wasteful - why not one envelope for the both of them? Asuka was a mystery). They had the OFFICIAL DUEL ACADEMIA seal on them, and it was made out of wax and everything, because Duel Academia was just that fancy.

Judai ripped his envelope open, breaking into a grin when he saw the letter it contained.

"A school reunion?" He said, eyes scanning the enclosed letter. "That's so cool! I haven't seen anyone from school in forever-"

"I have," Manjoume interrupted. "Judai, if we go to this, you have to keep this whole thing under wraps. I don't want everyone knowing what happened to us."

"Manjoume," Judai said witheringly, "After all we've been through with our friends, I don't think-"

"No."

"-I mean, we went to an evil alternate dimension with them-"

"No."

"-have you forgotten about Darkness?"

"Judai," Manjoume warned. Judai pouted, and Manjoume was annoyed at him for putting such a stupid expression on his face.

"Fine," Judai said, "I'll keep it a secret. I don't see why it's such a big deal, though."

Manjoume didn't really know why it was such a big deal, either, he just knew he didn't want people to find out. Besides, if they found out about this time, they'd have to tell them about the last time, too, and Manjoume didn't want to admit that he'd only gotten a bf (boyfriend) because of some supernatural hijinks. That just seemed kinda… pathetic.

"Thanks," Manjoume grumbled. Hopefully, they'd be un-switched before the reunion even arrived, but if not… this was going to be a LONG two weeks.

"You need to know what to do at my job," Manjoume said, practically falling into bed that night. The last time they'd been swapped, he'd gotten sick a lot, and he worried that it was coming on again - he felt tired and gross in the head, but maybe that was just a side effect of being Judai, and Judai was just too stubborn to be brought down by it.

"Oh yeah," Judai answered, sounding distant, more interested in the copy of Duel Monthly he was reading. "I forgot you had one of those."

"Most people do." Manjoume snatched the magazine out of Judai's hands, and the other looked back a little indignantly. "I can't afford to take any sick days. Work's so busy now that they'll just fire me and hire someone else in my place."

"That's so harsh!"

"Capitalism is harsh, Judai," Manjoume said, solemnly. Like it or lump it, that was the way the business world operated. A comparatively low-level office worker like Manjoume wouldn't be missed, not in a huge corporation like Kaiba Corp. That's right, THE Kaiba Corp. Accept no substitutes. "Anyway, it shouldn't be too hard, even for you. Just find my cubicle and look busy."

"What?" Judai frowned, propping himself up on his elbows to look at Manjoume. "Seriously? Nobody will notice if I'm not actually doing work?"

Manjoume shook his head. It wasn't like the numbers he was putting into the system really mattered - most of his workday he spent goofing off and playing with the duelling software that was installed on all the office computers because Kaiba was one weird boss.

"Just look busy. Keep your head down and don't talk to people."

"Your job sounds depressing, Manjoume," Judai said. "You should come travel the world with me."

Manjoume tensed, rolling over. He didn't want to have this discussion again - it never ended well.

"Some of us have lives here, Judai," he said, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice and failing.

"I guess so." Judai sounded disappointed, but he let it drop. Manjoume was relieved - it wasn't like he wanted to argue with Judai - but at the same time, it would have been nice if Judai had fought him a little more on it. It'd have been nice to feel like he was really wanted.

a/n thanks so much for the fave, follows and reviews, guys! ^_^ this chapter doesn't have much going on in it, but next chapter we'll get to see judai go to work, and manjoume meet up with an old friend.