True colours

Chapter 2: Don't be Discouraged

Last Time

It felt nice, falling. But Johan barely noticed.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Yuki Juudai had always considered it to have been a correct decision to have;

Left without looking back

Left with out saying goodbye

So how was it that he'd found himself in a phone booth in an American supermarket, Tenjoin Asuka's mobile number in hand, with his finger poised over the 'call' button? He swore, vehemently, colourfully and loudly in Japanese, so loudly in fact that an elderly woman passing by with her shopping cart, jumped, glared at him and scuttled off.

Blushing furiously, he pressed the 'reject' button on the phone box, and exited quickly. He scoured the aisles for Personal Hygiene articles; Shampoo, Soap, Razor, Toothbrush and Toothpaste. These he quickly found, and paid for, with the meagre amount of money which he carried around with him, only out of necessity. Stepping out of the artificial glare of the synthetic, neon-orange lights of the supermarket, and into the undiluted, unpretentious beams of sunlight was a welcome relief. Juudai closed his eyes briefly soaking in the last dregs of a summer sun.

'Kuri kuri!'

The brunette jumped, opened his eyes and blinked, finding a small, brown-haired, shaggy ball of fluff with wings, cooing at him angrily.

"What's up, Aibou?"

It cooed furiously, gesturing –as best it could- at his red cell phone, vibrating vigorously in his hand. Startled, he snapped it open.

"Hello?"

"Juudai?!"

"A-Asuka? That you?"

"Yes, it is, Juudai."

"How have you been?"

"Well…I suppose…but Juudai."

"Yeah?"

"I need you to come back to Japan."

He blinked, startled.

"Juudai? Are you still there?"

"Y-yes, just a little…surprised is all. Can I ask why I need to go back?"

"…"

"Asuka?"

"…Johan-kun…"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Juudai felt as if the ground had fallen out from beneath his feet. He could barely hear Asuka's muffled, panicky voice through the receiver. Of all the people he had left, he had never once expected Johan to suffer the most. Slowly, he lifted the receiver back up to his ear.

"…Asuka?"

"Juudai?! Thank God, I thought you'd gone! Listen I need—"

"What wrong with him?" He interrupted her. "Goddammit Asuka, tell me what's wrong with him!!"

He was met with silence.

"Please…" he whispered. "What's wrong with him?"

"Many things, insomnia, depression, septicaemia, he's not as strong as we all thought. He could barely fight off…" she trailed off.

"You're not telling me everything Asuka…"

He heard a sharp intake of breath.

"Fine…" she muttered.

"He…he's been ill. Very, very ill. So ill in fact that we thought…"

He might've died.

"Why didn't I know?"

"We tried calling all the places you'd been sighted, any leads any hints, anything at all…that might've given us some clue as to where you were. It was only until we searched Johan's house to try to find him that we found your number."

Juudai stopped breathing.

"We found him, alone in his house" she sobbed "So vulnerable, so scared…he hadn't slept in weeks, Juudai. W-we'd rung him the week before and he said he'd got a cold. It had developed into pneumonia during the time it took, for one of us to pluck up the courage to visit him." She was nearly hysterical.

"W-Where," her voice shook. "W-where were you?! How could you just disappear like you did?! Damn Juudai, you have no idea what that did to him, to us! We're supposed to be your friends!"

"W-what did he have?"

"Complications from Adie's Syndrome. (1)" She spat. "Don't you remember? HE TOLD YOU. The day he arrived!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Ne, Johan?"

"Hm? Yes Juudai?"

"I was wondering, why is one of your pupils bigger than the other?"

Johan smiled weakly.

"Figured it was only a matter of time before you noticed."

He lent back, his hands supporting the weight of his body.

"It's Adie's Syndrome, Juudai."

"H-Huh?" Adie's..? What's that?"

"It's a neurological disorder."

Juudai frowned. "What's neuro…near..?"

Johan laughed. "It means it's a disease that affects the brain, Juudai."

"Ohh…I see. But, does it…hurt? Johan?"

"No, not really, apart from the accompanying headaches and muscles seizures, it's virtually pain free. Oh and it's not fatal." He added, smiling at the brunette. "But its effects…they will last forever."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Stunned, Juudai let his bag drop through his fingers and fall with a 'plop' onto the sidewalk.

"No…no way…" he breathed.

"He keeps calling for you"

He snapped back to reality. "Wh-what?"

"In his dreams…his nightmares, he cries for you. Begging for you to help him." She choked back a sob. "Why didn't you answer him, Juudai?"

"I'm coming back"

"E-eh?"

"I'm coming back Asuka." I'll be there as soon as I can." He said, and hoisted his bag onto his shoulder.

"A-alright."

"Oh, and Asuka?" He set off running down the street.

"Yeah?"

"Tell everyone that I'm sorry…especially to Johan…I let you all down… again. I'm truly the most idiotic person on this planet."

"I'll tell them. Thank-you Juudai."

As soon as the line disconnected, Juudai was busy punching in a different number.

"Hello? Hayato Maeda? It's Yuki Juudai. Listen, could you get me Pegasus- daìtōryō (2) on the phone? It's urgent…very urgent."

"Juudai-boy?"

"Pegasus- daìtōryō? Listen, I really need your help." He begged as he weaved his way through the hoards of people that milled along the sidewalk.

"Fire away, Juudai-boy."

"One of my friends, Johan Andersen, is…not very well, and it's urgent that I get to him as soon as I can!"

"Andersen-boy? The boy with the Gem Beasts?"

"Yes, yes, him."

"Certinateley I can help you, where are you, Miracle-boy, and where are you headed?"

"I'm in Memphis, in South America, and I need to get to Domino City in Japan."

"Well, that's convenient, I've just stationed one of my helicopters at the airfield there. It should be no problem to take you to Japan."

"Really? Thank-you very much Pegasus-daìtōryō."

"Don't mention it, Juudai boy." (3)

Juudai snapped his phone shut and continued to charge his way through the massive hoard of people.

Wait for me Johan, I'm coming back.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Author's Notes

~ I take absolutely NO credit for coming up with the idea of Johan having Adie's Syndrome. That idea belongs to Olynthus, so therefore all credit should be sent to her. Olynthus-san, if you want me to take it off, I will happily do so.

~ 'daìtōryō' stands for –according to my English-Japanese dictionary- for President. This appears to be what Pegasus is called in the anime, so I picked it up.

~ Designed to be said entirely in English…dunno why, just sounded cool. And it's very Pegasus. X3

Well, here's Chapter 2. Exactly 1000 words long…I think…but I'm not sure. At any rate, it's longer than Chapter 1, so you lot should be happy. *Crosses fingers.*.

Sorry, but Yusei won't be making his appearance in this fic till much later. Much, MUCH later. Sorry about that.

*Ducks random sharp heavy objects.*

Enjoy! Please R&R!