Disclaimer: I only adore GX; I do not own it or the characters. I do own my OCs. Thx for R&R last chapter. Please do so again!
Chapter Three
Heart as Black as the Night
"This is such a large campus." Azura commented.
Kamiko nodded and said, "You can get lost real easily in these woods. That's why you gotta stick to the trails. No wondering off."
Sho walked next to her, his hands clenched nervously at his sides, and his cheeks were starting to feel warmer. The group emerged from the forest, right near the Red Dorm, and Kenzan began to lead the way. Entering the dorm, Kenzan collapsed on his bunk, his feet dangling off the side, with Kamiko lying next to him. Azura and Sho both sat down on Judai's bunk and let out small mushroom breaths of relief.
"Um, Kenzan-san?" Azura piped up.
"Yeah?" He replied from above.
She bit her lip before asking, "Are you and Izumiya-san a couple?"
Kamiko shot up quicker than a dart and nearly fell off the bunk. Kenzan shot up as well, whacking his head on the ceiling, and chaos broke out. Sweatdropping, Sho watched as Azura leapt to her feet to help her new friends.
"Suna… what do I do now…?" the bluenette asked himself. Sho then checked the time. "Hey, shouldn't've Aniki and Arisho-chan gotten out of detention by now?"
Kamiko blinked her green orbs in surprise, "Yeah. They only had a two hour detention today. Chronos was supposed to release them about forty-five minutes ago. And we planned to meet up here afterwards so…"
Kenzan looked worried, "Want to go and look for them?"
"I'm calling Anesan!" Azura exclaimed, getting her PDA, and calling Asuka immediately.
-Main Building-
"Ichikawa, I really don't want to hear about you're absurd studies!!" Chronos finally cried, stress marks forming.
Kelley glanced at the clock and smirked, "Just fifteen more minutes and I'll let him go." She thought before saying, "Why? Afraid I may be telling the truth, Ruffles?"
Chronos cringed and let out a hasty, "N-No!" Before trying to evade her.
"Ah. I see. You can't stand your old college nickname, can you, Chronos?" Kelley's smirk widened.
"Shut up, Ichikawa!" Chronos snapped.
"Ruffles, Ruffles, Ruffles!" Kelley teased, jabbing him in the chest repeatedly.
"What did I do to deserve having to deal with your presence once more, Ichikawa!?" demanded the blonde.
Kelley narrowed her eyes and placed a hand on her hip, "You didn't believe and still don't. Even after we found the kingdom when we were in college. How can you still deny it, Chronos? How can you? We saw it… Both of us…"
Chronos scowled and spat, "I saw nothing."
-Chronos' Classroom-
"Okay, don't panic, Chronos must be a little late… or he forgot… whichever one he'll be here eventually." Arisho said, wringing her hands. A few seconds later she was pounding on the door shouting, "Someone! Let us outta here! Fire! Wild Wolf! Anything! Just let us outta here!"
To Judai's and Arisho's surprise, a startling familiar person appeared on the other side of the door. It was Jun Manjyome and he was smirking at seeing Judai and Arisho trapped within Chronos' classroom.
"Manjyome-san! Please!" Arisho begged with pleading eyes.
His lips formed a "no" before he turned and walked away.
"JERK!!" exploded the brunette girl. "GET BACK HERE SO I CAN DUEL SOME SENSE INTO YOU, MANJYOME!"
Judai grabbed her shoulder, "Arisho! Shouting won't help!" She stopped yelling and turned to look at him. "Listen to me. We need to be calm. How about we have a duel while we wait?"
Sasha meowed loudly at their feet, Arisho bending down to scoop his up, and her eyes met Judai's. Very slowly, she shook her head.
"No, Judai-kun, I refuse to duel you." She then added mentally, "I refuse to duel the Prince of Duel Monsters…"
-Ra Meal Hall-
"Impressive." Daichi commented as he looked over Sesuna's research project.
Sesuna smirked and replied, "I know."
Daichi turned to give her a look, "Now you get to see my project, Sesuna-san."
Her deep brown eyes blinked in surprise, especially when Daichi grabbed her wrist, steering her down the hall. She felt a b-bmp and felt confusion. Daichi slowed down to a walk just outside of his room and entered it. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of all the formulas on the walls.
"So this is Misawa Daichi's famous workshop." Sesuna replied, clearly amazed, as she pulled her hand free. The pale silver haired girl walked into the middle of the dorm and smiled. "You really are as smart as they say."
"From what I've heard, you're one of the smartest Obelisks here." Daichi replied.
"Huh. Guess it's from my report card and my IQ." Sesuna replied nonchalantly.
"You're also one of the prettiest." Daichi complimented.
Sesuna felt her cheeks grow incredibly warm as her gaze met his. Daichi smiled at her and she slowly returned it. Unfortunately, the Ra didn't know his mere words would unlock a mystery for Matsukami Sesuna.
-Duel Academia Halls-
"Found 'em!" Fubuki said excitedly, looking through Chronos' door window.
Takami grinned and said to Asuka on her PDA, "Chronos must've forgotten about them. The door's locked. Can you guys find him and remind him?"
Kamiko nodded, "Sure thing, Takami-chan!"
Kenzan and she then headed for Chronos' office. Asuka, Ryo, Azura, and Sho all waited patiently in the main lobby. Ryo watching his brother's actions with some interest.
"How's your tutoring coming along?" Asuka asked, stroking Azura's hair.
Azura replied with, "I'm learning at a good pace. Judai-kun's very patient with me." She then turned and smiled at Sho. "And Sho-kun is good at explaining this to me that Judai-kun confuses me with."
Sho blushed and managed to say, "Somebody has to."
Ryo surprised everyone when he reached over and ruffled the bluenette's hair. Azura's amethyst eyes widened slightly. All the times she had been around Ryo and heard about him from Asuka, she had never expected him to show brotherly affection to Sho. Once Asuka's PDA started to ring, they all answered it to see a relieved Judai and Arisho hugging Fubuki and Takami.
"Ichikawa-sensei was holding him up. Sorry guys." Kamiko apologized to the two Osiris duelists.
Arisho only twitched, "Manjyome-san is so dead when I get a hold of him! How dare he just leave us in there?"
Kelley rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, "My bad."
"I don't know about you guys, but I want to head back to the dorms, eat, tutor Azura-chan, and get some sleep." Judai replied.
-That Night-
"Oh… I get it…" Azura said slowly, quickly finding the strategy to destroy Sho's combo. "Hehe. This is fun."
They both turned when they heard soft snoring. Sweatdropping, both chibis sighed when they saw both Judai and Kenzan were knocked out cold. Sho began to gather his stuff when Azura grabbed his wrists.
"Oh, please don't leave yet, Sho-kun." She pleaded. "We'll go down into the meal hall so we don't disturb Judai-kun and Kenzan-san."
"O-Okay." Sho replied quietly.
Sho and Azura headed downstairs, entering the room quietly, and seating themselves at one of the tables after turning on the lights.
"Do you like Duel Academia?" Sho asked suddenly.
"Yes." Azura replied before adding under her breath. "Almost as much as I like Judai…"
Sho felt as if his heart had shattered, "W-What did you say?"
Her entire face turned pink and Azura looked down, her heart hammering in her chest, and she bit her lower lip. She hadn't meant to tell Judai's best friend.
"What did you say about Aniki, Azura-chan?" Sho prompted, praying that the painful words he had heard where just an illusion.
Azura finally choked out, "I-I think I l-like Judai-kun…"
Sho tried not to show the jealousy and pain in his silver eyes. He collected himself in a matter of seconds before beaming at Azura.
"I hope Aniki likes you too." Sho managed to say with a straight face.
"Really? You're cheering for me, Sho-kun?" Azura looked shocked.
"Why wouldn't I? You're my friend… someone I care about… and I want you to be happy."
Sho reached across the table and boldly put his hand over her warm one. Her amethyst orbs locked on his silver ones and both stared at one another for a few moments. Sho then retrieved his hand and looked down at his lap.
"I better head back to my dorm. It's getting late. And we have class tomorrow." He said softly.
"Wait!" Azura grabbed his sleeve and looked up at him. "Why don't you spend the night with me? I'm sure Kimana-san won't mind. We have the extra bunk and… and I want to thank you for all that you're doing for me, Sho-kun."
Blushing, the bluenette lost his voice for a moment or two, before finally he took a deep breath.
"Thank you, Azura-chan." Sho then followed her out of the meal hall, up the stairs, and into the dorm.
-Blue Dorm-
"It's great that we're all together again." Fubuki said happily.
Ryo, Asuka, and Takami all nodded in agreement. Having been childhood friends with Ryo and Fubuki, Takami was considered one of the family, for she had no siblings herself. The closest she had was Kelley, but she was more of friend than a sister figure.
"Izumiya and Kenzan are hiding their feelings from each other." pointed out the chocolate brown haired teen suddenly. "And Kimana and Judai seem to be getting on well.
Ryo frowned and said, "I'm concerned about Sho. Azura's the first girl he's really ever liked besides Black Magician Girl and that minor crush he had on Asuka." Said girl made a face at that. "But she seems to be falling for Judai, who doesn't even realize what's going on."
"Want to know what I think?" the group of four turned to see Kelley.
"What, Ichikawa-sensei?" Asuka dared to breathe.
Kelley ran a hand through her deep red locks and smiled. Her eyes looked towards the starry sky before locking on all of their faces.
"I think that Azura-san will come to her senses in no time and realize what she feels for Judai-san is nothing more than attraction. And that her real knight in shining armor was and is right at her side the entire time." Kelley whispered softly.
Takami bit her lip before saying, "Hate to break it to you guys but, um, Yuki-kun's not in just one love triangle, but two." Asuka's eyes widened. "See, Sho-kun likes Maruzakashi-chan and she likes Yuki-kun… but both Maruzakashi-chan and Kimana-chan liked Yuki-kun."
Kelley sighed and said, "Yes. I saw those Arisho-san's signs while passing Chronos' room. That's why I was stalling Chronos… just to give them a little more time."
"What did we tell you about meddling?" Ryo smirked with Fubuki.
"Hehehe…" Kelley rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Sorry…"
-Yellow Dorm-
"Wow…" Sesuna breathed before stifling a yawn. "It's getting late. I better head back, Daichi-san."
Daichi frowned and stated, "It's a long walk back to the Blue Dorm."
She yawned again, trying to keep her eyes open, "True…"
He gently led Sesuna over to the bed.
"You sleep here, Sesuna-san. I'll sleep on the floor." Daichi whispered softly. She opened her mouth to protest but the genius placed a finger to her lips. "I want you to so nothing happens. Good night, Sesuna."
-Red Dorm-
"Meow… meow…"
Sasha climbed into the bunk that Sho occupied and nuzzled against his warm face. The only other sounds were Azura's and Arisho's deep breathing. Sighing, the bluenette tried getting his raven-haired crush's words out of his mind. But they remained. Jealousy and anger made his heart darken.
"Aniki gets everything…" Sho whispered bitterly.
"Not everything." Arisho's head appeared at the side from below. "Hey. You okay, Sho?"
He blushed and jumped slightly at her sudden appearance. Arisho climbed onto the bunk and lay next to Sho, gently brushing her fingers across his face, and staring at him with her ice green eyes.
"Tell me." She ordered.
"Azura-chan told me she likes Aniki, not me, and it just really hurt." Sho choked out, tears starting to roll down his face.
Arisho shushed him as she held the crying boy close, "It'll be alright… I promise…"
Sho sniffled and said, "But how can you promise that?"
His cheeks darkened even more when Arisho placed a chaste kiss on his brow.
"Because I'm going to protect you from the pain, Sho-chan. I swear it." The brunette pressed Sho into her bosom, singing a lullaby softly in his ear. "Your heart will soon shine with love, Sho-chan."
Sho closed his eyes and inhaled Arisho's scent. She had a motherly tenderness when it came to him. Normally she was rough and hardheaded but when it came to being there for him… Arisho was a nurturer and motherly.
"Thank you, Arisho-neechan." Sho whispered before falling into a dreamless slumber.
Sho: still blushing "Uh…"
Arisho: "Are you screwin' with their heads again, authoress?!"
SF4E: hastily "Of course not!"
Sho: "Phew."
Arisho: "Yeah you better not be. You try pullin' that and I'll drop kick you. I like Judai-kun, not the chibi."
Sho: "Hey! I'm not that short!"
SF4E: rolls eyes and smiles "Please R&R!"