disclaimer: C'mon, you guys! You know the drill! Emerald Twin Blade doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or anything from the show that pops up in this fic. The only thing she owns in the idea that created this fic in the first place. XD!
Emerald's News & Nonsense:
AHAHAH!! Okay, this chapter came out a little shorter than intended. O.o XD!
Well, it also came out longer than I thought it would, too... I mean, page-wise. I was hoping to put a little bit more ideas into this chapter, but then I thought "Hey, it's already 7 pages and I haven't gotten to the part I wanted to put here... I guess, to make it longer, I'll just stop here and put the other part in the next chapter!" XDDD!
Okay, as opposed to what some people might've thought happened to Judai and Johan in the last chapter... No, they didn't get separated again. They're both completely fine, well... for the most part. Things will go back to normal... kinda. LOL!
I'll let you guys read now. XD!
: Fragment No.06 : Welcome Home
"Waaah!!" cried Anderson Johan as he somehow reappeared in the infirmary of Duel Academia, flying backwards from the bed and falling back onto an empty one.
The momentum from the fall made him flip backwards and land, sitting on his knees, on the now-ruffled sheets of the bed. With one hand pressed down on the soft blankets beneath him and the other held lightly to his temple, his vision slowly went back to normal from the dizziness he got as he flipped a moment ago. Shaking his head for a second, he opened his eyes to look around, recognizing the quiet setting. Emerald hues darted to the wall clock, noting that it was now 6:30 AM.
Had he really been inside of Judai for so long? Time must have gone by faster when a soul was not in its proper body… The blunette froze as he remembered why he was even there in the first place.
"Judai!" He stumbled out of the bed, his legs getting tangled in the sheets and making him trip onto the floor, "Ack!!"
His hands grabbed at the sheets and shoved them to a side, pulling his feet out from them and getting up to his knees. Johan walked on his knees over to the side of Yuki Judai's bed, looking over to the sleeping brunette's face.
He was no longer crying and his shallow breathing had become steady and deep, like every healthy person did when sleeping. A smile spread across his face when he saw his friend turn onto his left side and hug the sheets to himself, mumbling something about a fried shrimp eating contest. Chuckling quietly, he pulled himself up to his feet and leaned over Judai's body to look straight down to the side of his face.
There were so many things he could do right now to wake him up, but just as he had decided on how he would do it, the sound of the lock on the sliding door beeping unlocked stopped him.
Crap! The blunette cursed mentally, scrambling around to the other side of the bed so he could sit in the chair by his bedside. He instantly took one of Judai's hands, holding onto it gently so he wouldn't awaken him. Johan leaned back against the wooden chair and let his head fall limply to the side. Emerald eyes fell closed as he pretended to be asleep.
The door slid open to reveal the copper-haired nurse yawning groggily in the hallway while slipping her key card back into her pocket. Rubbing at her eye a bit, she took a couple of steps into the room before freezing in place with a low gasp. What was Anderson Johan doing here? Hadn't he departed back to North Academy last weekend? Blinking a few times, she concluded that she was not dreaming.
"Johan-kun…" she whispered, approaching the seemingly sleeping blue-haired boy and shaking his left shoulder lightly in an attempt to wake him.
Johan's eyes tightened shut for a few seconds before he opened them sleepily, acting very convincing. A small yawn escaped him before he looked up at the older woman.
"Ayukawa-sensei… good morning." He said good-naturedly, smiling tiredly at her.
"Good morning, indeed! When did you get back to Duel Academia?" she asked him with an incredulous look on her face.
The teenager shrugged and chuckled quietly, "Last night… Samejima-kocho let me in here, but I guess I fell asleep."
The Obelisk Blue dorm advisor put her hands on her hips as she managed a small smile for the Crystal Beast Duelist, "You've heard, right…? He hasn't woken up since he had that seizure in your old room."
In my old room? Johan was taken aback when he heard this, "What're you talking about? I knew he had a seizure, but…"
Ayukawa Emi put her hand over her mouth; maybe she wasn't supposed to tell him that? If the principal didn't tell the North Academy student, then maybe she just slipped up, "Umm… well, you see… Judai was found in the dorm room you'd been given while staying here with us and he apparently had a seizure. We don't know the cause, but delirium or epilepsy often leads to them, so…"
She didn't need to finish speaking for Johan to put two and two together. Judai must have gone to Johan's room and thought that he was back. As for what could have caused the seizure, he guessed that the poor brunette found out that Johan wasn't really there. The blunette frowned, feeling even worse about this whole experience. He turned his eyes to look to the sleeping boy and saw the lazy smile plastered over his lips; how could someone so innocent and happy go through something like that and still come out smiling?
"Johan-kun, are you feeling alright? You don't look well…" the nurse pointed out, picking up her hand to check his temperature.
Johan watched as the brown-haired teen shifted beneath the sheets and turned to lie on his back again. A tiny grin curled on his face, feeling that the other, even unconscious, was much too cute to stay serious around for long. He hadn't even realized that the nurse stopped reaching for him in favor of gawking at the boy in bed.
"D-did he just move?!" Ayukawa-sensei asked, excitement evident on her features, "He's moving!! He's fine! I have to go tell the others!"
With that declaration, the copper-haired teacher ran out of the infirmary with her clipboard under her arm. That left the two boys alone in the room again.
"Judai…" Johan cooed as he leaned over the bed to look down on the other's angelic face.
The Anderson boy had always cared for Yuki Judai… even when they first met. The moment they shook hands, he just had a feeling that this excitable Slifer student would be someone very important to him in the future. Imagine his surprise when he figured out that he had a crush on his best friend, always trying to decide on whether or not he should tell him how he really felt.
Now, things were different from before… much different. Johan's crush on Judai had grown to the point that it just didn't seem possible that the feelings would go away. So many thoughts ran through his mind, trying to come up with possible outcomes with the different ways he could confess.
Eyelids fell to close over half of his eyes, a light red blush painting his cheeks as his face was directly above the other's. Their noses were barely an inch apart and he could feel gravity pressing down on his elbows, trying to make him give up their support and fall right on top of his best friend. The thought was actually starting to look attractive, but he forced himself to ignore it.
"Nngh…" came a sleepy groan.
The blunette froze; it was already too late to move, not that he wanted to, though. Emerald hues widened as clear chocolate ones slowly blinked open, green staring into brown. Johan's blush darkened, but the look on the brunette's face showed that he was plainly confused. One brown eyebrow was raised while the other pressed downward, but then a bright smile of slow epiphany formed on his face.
"JOHAN!" he shouted with glee, loud enough to make the older boy above him flinch back enough for him to launch himself upward and wrap his arms around his neck in an enthusiastic hug, "You're back! You're really back!!"
"Waah!! Judai!" Johan laughed as he was pushed backward onto his back toward the foot of the bed by the weight of the other, "I'm here! You don't have to hold onto me so tight!"
Judai chuckled, letting go of his best friend and sitting up straight to let the older boy do the same, "I'm sorry, I just really missed you! I know it's only been a few days, but…"
"Whoa, whoa, hold on there! It's been a week since I left, but I came back last night to help you." The blunette corrected, tilting his head to the left some and raising an eyebrow.
"… huh? But today's Friday, isn't it?" the innocent youth asked, blinking.
Johan reached out his right hand and put it on Judai's left shoulder, wincing a bit. Judai noticed the flinch and picked up his hand to take the other's wrist. Pulling it into view, he gasped at what he saw. Johan's hands were completely liquid paper white, the condition running all the way up to his forearms.
"J-Johan, what happened to you?"
Anderson Johan delicately withdrew his wrist from the brunette, looking over the damage down to his limbs. The noticeable line that separated his normal colored skin from the white parts was gradually falling lower, beginning to go back to its usual color.
It was then that he remembered the freezing water that he had to overcome inside of Judai's mind. The temperature hitting his warm body took away all of his heat and chilled him to the bone. The rest of his body must have looked just as bad as his arms earlier… that explained why Ayukawa-sensei asked if he was okay.
He made a puzzled look as he looked to his friend, "You… don't remember?"
"What do you mean I 'don't remember?' I saw you last Saturday!"
Johan pulled his sleeves down further to hide all but his hands, the frills half-hiding his palms, "Judai… what's the last thing you remember?"
He folded his arms over his chest, leaning his head from side to side with his eyes closed as he tried to recall, "I… remember leaving Sho and the others to go back to my dorm room because I had a headache… but I kept ending up in front of the Obelisk dorm."
"… and then?" the blunette urged him to continue; whatever happened in the Obelisk dorm, it obviously led to Judai's coma.
"I went to… your old dorm…" the brunette admitted, his cheeks reddening slightly, "and when I went in… I swear that… I saw you there."
Johan bit his lip; so he'd been right. Judai did think that he was there, and when reality hit him, he had that seizure and fell comatose.
"… a-and I can't remember passed that point." His cheeks were even redder as he turned his face away from the other, signifying that he did remember a little more than he let on, but Johan wasn't going to ask him. He didn't want to make him any more uncomfortable.
"Judai, you… you were in a coma." The older teen informed, concealing his hands in his lap, "You've been asleep since Friday afternoon and… it's Sunday morning now."
"What?" Judai's surprise was enough to make Johan begin to regret telling him.
The blunette mentally shook his head, thinking to himself, Well, he has a right to know what happened to him… and how he goes about it is completely up to him.
"While you were asleep," he went on explaining, hoping to make things a little clearer for his best friend, "Ayukawa-sensei pieced together all of your symptoms to say that you got Hypoglycemia, which is a really fancy way of saying that that shot you got by mistake last week? That's what got you sick, and you getting depressed over me leaving was likely what made it start hurting you inside."
Judai put his hand over his chest, "But… I feel fine. I don't feel sick at all anymore!"
Johan nodded, a weak smile coming to him, "When Ayukawa-sensei figured out what was wrong with you, she cured you while you were asleep, but… you still didn't wake up. At least…" a light red blush surfaced over his cheeks as he continued, "at least, not until I came back to see if you were okay."
"That's so cool! You came back right when I finally woke up, then, right? What a coincidence!" the brunette laughed, pulling both of his hands up to rest behind his head.
The older boy nodded; his smile still a meek one. Truth be told, he was just a little bit sad that Judai didn't remember what happened inside of his mind. It meant that the younger boy didn't remember how Johan saved him… or how Johan had literally spilt all of his feelings out to him and came very close to confessing how he felt about him.
According to how things went in there, however, Johan could possibly try to reenact what happened there! Well, of course, he wouldn't make Judai drown somewhere purposely just so he could save him, but he would have to tell the other just how his departure had affected his own health and mind.
"Judai…" he began, seeing Judai's chocolate brown eyes open to look to his emerald ones, "I feel like… I should tell you that—"
"ANIKI!!" screamed a familiarly high-pitched voice from the mechanical sliding door as it came open and a short boy in an Obelisk Blue coat ran in.
With tears in his steel gray eyes, Marufuji Sho scurried to Judai's left side and threw his arms around his neck, sobbing into his shoulder, "I-I thought you… w-were gonna die!"
Judai snickered at how he thought the small boy was overreacting, but went on to reassure him that he was fine with some cheerful teasing, "Oh, c'mon, Sho! Give me some more credit; I wouldn't let any sickness bring me down!"
Sho picked up his head from the other and sniffled, trying to get himself to calm down. He had seriously thought that the brunette wouldn't come out of that coma and would eventually die. Maybe he was right, though; Sho didn't give him enough credit, even though Judai had been the one to save the school and the world a few times so far.
"I-I guess… you're right. I don't know what made me think for the worst."
Johan smiled empathetically, "It's alright now. Everybody's just really glad that you're finally awake again."
As Tenjoin Asuka and Manjoume Jun entered the room with Ayukawa Emi following not far behind them, they were all relieved upon seeing the Slifer student sitting up in bed.
It was then, however, that Sho noticed Anderson Johan sitting across from his best friend on the bed. His eyes went wide at the sight as his chest tightened in jealousy.
"J-Johan-kun… You're… here." He trailed off without any expression on his face or in his voice, staring at the teal blue-haired teen. On the inside, he was glaring at the other blunette, When in the world did he get back?!
Johan didn't catch how his voice held no emotion, "Sure am! I came as soon as I heard that something was up with Judai. When I got here, it didn't take long for him to wake up, though, so how lucky was that?"
"Yeah… lucky…"
Judai blinked, noticing how his long time friend didn't look too happy or sad anymore. As things began to get quiet, Asuka chose that moment to come up to Judai's right side and give him a hug, as well.
"Judai! You're awake!" she exclaimed, a wide smile on her face.
"It's about time! Things were getting really boring around here; you better not pull another stunt like you did last week again." The black-haired Obelisk student said, folding his arms and turning at a 90 degree angle away from the others in the bed from where he stood by the door.
Judai laughed happily as Sho and Asuka started to pull at him, making him sway from side to side as they had a mini-tug-of-war over him, "Yeah, yeah, I don't plan on it!"
Ayukawa-sensei stepped up to the foot of the bed and warned them feebly, "D-don't do that! You might hurt him!"
The two Obelisk students didn't hear her and continued pulling Judai towards themselves until his neck started hurting. The look on his face told the nurse and the others in front of him that he was beginning to have difficulty breathing. It was Johan who leaned forward and took them both by the wrists and pulled them off of the brunette gently. The blonde and mint-haired teens looked at him confusedly, only to be met with a firm look in eyes of bright emerald.
"You guys are hurting him. He's been asleep for a long time and is a lot weaker than you or me right now, so fighting over who gets to hug him is probably not the best idea right now." He informed, but there was a hint of protectiveness in his voice.
Asuka and Sho pulled their hands away from Johan and Judai, folding their arms and looking away with pouts on their lips. At that moment, both of their thoughts were the same: You're only saying that so you can hug him yourself!
Judai coughed quietly, putting his right hand to his neck and wincing with one eye closed. His two pouting friends made worried looks at him, feeling guilty for not noticing that they were harming him unintentionally. The brunette, however, looked up at Johan, who placed both of his hands over his shoulders and was looking directly into his face with concern.
"Judai… are you okay?"
A light blush arose over his cheeks, but he nodded, "Y-yeah… I'm fine."
The copper-haired nurse clapped her hands together, getting everyone's attention in an instant, "Alright, I need everyone to leave now. Judai's been in a coma and just woke up, so there are a few things that I need to check for him to make sure he really is alright now."
"Awww!! But Ayukawa-sensei!" Sho protested, standing up straight and looking at the Obelisk nurse with a hurt look.
"I'm sorry, but you all should get out now."
Sho and Asuka sighed in defeat, getting up and walking slowly toward the sliding door. They could hear the bed sheets rustle as Johan also got up, but when his boots hit the floor, it got quiet. Manjoume blinked, having been the only one who didn't turn his back on them.
Johan looked back to his best friend in confusion, "Judai…?"
Judai smiled weakly, his left hand grasping the blunette's sleeve to stop him from going on, "Would… it be okay if you stayed?"
The Anderson boy blinked, still a little bit shocked from the request, but he smiled gently in understanding. If it was true that he'd been the reason for Judai's illness to surface, then it probably wasn't a good idea for him to leave now. Nodding, he approached his side and sat down in the chair again, his hands taking a hold of the hand that had held onto his sleeve a moment ago.
"If that's what you want, then…"
The three Obelisk students stared at the scene, blushing in embarrassment. As Asuka and Manjoume began to exit, Sho just pouted, not happy that Johan got to stay with Judai, but he did turn around and leave. Ayukawa approached Judai's right side and instructed him to lie back down. The other obeyed, but his hand never left Johan's grasp.
Emerald's Notes & Nonsense:
Okay, see? Short. LoL!
At least this fic'll come out to be an 8-Chapter Fic now! In actuality, the next chapter will be the Final Chapter and the 8th one will be a Bonus. XD! At least, that's what it looks like from my POV. o.o;
Anyway! I'm gonna get to work on Fragment No.07 - Warm Embrace now! X3! Lots of interruptions and fluff, Dearies! Be prepared!