Disclaimer: I do not own YGO GX.
"Jesse?" Sheepishly, Jaden approached the jewel master.
The emerald-haired youth jerked his head up. "Yeah, Jay?"
Jaden inhaled slowly as he wracked his brain to come up with a suitable line…
"Here. It's chocolate." He offered the gaily wrapped treat to the exchange student in a purely friendly fashion—nothing more.
Yeah, right…
"For me?" Jesse looked vaguely surprised.
"Yeah. They're passing them out for Christmas."
Jesse raised an eyebrow. "Well, then I very well can't refuse, can I?"
It was a cloudy overcast day that promised precipitation of some sort. As he stood there, a chilly wind assaulted the bare skin of Jaden's neck. He was severely underdressed and was courting hypothermia, but speaking with Jesse was far more important.
"Gosh…thanks!"
Jaden watched as Jesse's fingers tear off the red foil and tried to appear nonchalant as the object of his attention's mouth bite into the creamy chocolate. It was a perfect moment watching him savor the sweet substance as his mouth chewed up and down.
And, then, just like that, it turned horribly wrong.
Without warning, Jesse's face turned a not so attractive shade of candy apple red as his hand drifted to his throat. Was he choking?
"Jesse?" Jaden sprang into action by automatically patting his friend on the back. "What's wrong, man?"
Jesse began to sputter as he near collapsed on the bench.
"Jess!"
It didn't take a star genius to guess what had happened. Jesse was obviously having an allergy attack. What was that word? Anapha—anaphy—anaphlexis shock? Whatever. He needed to do something before Jesse stopped breathing—permanently.
On impulse, Jaden started mouth-to-mouth; desperately attempting to fill his good buddy's lungs with life-giving air until he felt himself being pushed away.
"Jaden…it'll be fine," Jesse croaked as he gazed at him imploringly.
Jaden was appalled. "You don't look fine, Jess! You near fainted!"
"There…was…mint in that chocolate." Jesse gasped out. "I'm…allergic to it."
Mint chocolate for Christmas. That would explain it.
"Come on, Jess." Jaden was suddenly firm. "We need to take you to the nurse's station."
"Jay…trust me on this. It happened to me this spring too. It…shouldn't finish me." A weak smile.
None too convinced, Jaden took Jesse's hand. "I'm just worried about you. That's all."
Intending to drag Jesse over to the school if he got worse, Jaden stayed by his side. Even when the temperature plummeted even more and snow flurries began to fall. Miraculously, Jesse's breathing evened and the fiery scarlet tint faded to a dusty rose pink.
The two sat there quietly. Watching the snowflakes fall down and silently hoping for the best.
"Now, I can explain," Jesse began. "I developed a mint allergy this April. If I eat any of it; I get this reaction. It's not life-threatening at present."
Jaden was intrigued and more than a little relieved when Jesse did indeed appear to be fine. "But, don't you have that…pen thing for an emergency?"
Jesse shrugged. "It's not on me all the time. How much food contains mint?"
"Not a lot," Jaden answered feebly as he sat back in his seat. "I can't believe it. I almost killed one of my best friends."
This time, Jesse's hand covered Jaden's. "Don't worry about it. I'm alive, aren't I? How could you know?"
A beat.
"Still, I can't believe you tried to resuciatate me."
Jaden was beginning to blush. "Well, what was I supposed to do?"
Jesse wasn't going to let it slide that easily. "Yet, I think you had that one planned all along even if it wasn't a life or death situation."
Jaden was at an utter loss at words when Jesse leaned in close—lips nearly touching.
"Hey, Jaden, are you allergic to mint?"
Author's Note: This is so off the beaten path, it's not funny. But, I wanted to try my hand at some Jaden/Jesse. It's one of the better couples.