A/N: Wow, this chapter started off as a pain in my ass but I eventually smoothed it out. Towards the end was my favorite. I thought about trying to do a different character's POV, in which I did: Jaden's. It was fun! I might do a whole chapter based off his POV because he's more fun to write about than my own damn OC. Oh and I also found it so cute how he had no clue what to do with Esme and how he's so curious. It makes him that much more innocent and sweet. I'm leaning more into a Jaden x Esme ship but I'm still thinking about Zane. Not entirely sure yet but, I hope you enjoy the chapter! Cheers!

Chapter 4: The Love Doctor?

It's been two weeks since the the battle with Camula and since then 5 more Shadow Riders arrived at Duel Academy. There was good news and bad news, the bad news being they lost 3 sacred keys and the good was school resumed. In addition to that, the professors decided to postpone their finals in favor of their students. With all that was going on, who could blame them? The test would be held until further notice once the Shadow Games were through. For now, everyone learned new lessons and reviewed frequently. That way, there was no excuse for anyone to fail their finals.

Besides school and dueling to save the world there was one good thing about all of it. Over the long few weeks of the Shadow Games, Esme and her friends have grown closer. All her friends would always walk in groups, and not only that they would help and train together. But today was a rest day, it was Duel Monsters Spirit Day, therefore a festival was going on. Everyone would cosplay as their favorite monster and whoever won would win a prize! It was rumored to be a booming event for everyone and of course a few duels as well. Now, the question was: Who would Esme go as?

For those of you who aren't familiar with the monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh, I'll give a brief description on what Esme chose to dress as. Esme decided to cosplay as the famous, Injection Fairy Lily! A nurse-like monster who is dressed in a short white and red dress. Instead of having a Red cross on her hat, it was a heart and attached to her costume were two white wings, after all, she was a fairy!

Without further ado, Esme slid into her dress, pulling it down until it tightly fit her figure; exposing the upper half of her thighs and down. The dress didn't necessarily cover up all of her chest either, so just as a mere tease, her cleavage would show. Surely she would win the contest now as the best dressed monster! Before Esme left she grabbed her hat, setting it above her head and grabbed her white gloves. From there she was ready for the fun!

The female duelist headed into the direction where she heard music and voices. In hope that she wouldn't miss anything she jogged over and entered the crowd, "Excuse me, sorry, coming through!" Esme said.

As she made her way through the crowd of cosplayers she heard many comments concerning her costume.

"Wow, who is that?!"

"She makes a great Injection Fairy Lily."

"Is that Esme?!"

The last voice she heard was a familiar one, it made her cheeks grow an even darker shade of red. She turns around and notices her friend Jaden, who was also dressed up as something. Not entirely sure of what he decided to go as, Esme laughed.

"Nice outfit!" Esme spoke

"Oh me?! Thanks! I decided to go as all my favorite monsters combined into one." He said puffing his chest, "But you? You look great!" Jaden walked closer to Esme, rubbing her wings behind her back. "This is totally sick Es! I think Alexis has some competition. Lexi decided to go as a Harpie Fairy. .but in all honesty, I'll make sure to cast my vote to you."

Esme brought her medical object closer to her chest, holding it tightly. "Well, I guess I'll have to give her a taste of my medicine huh?" She shook her flask.

"Hey, woah! Watch where you're swinging that thing! I don't do to well with shots around me." He flailed his hands around.

"Esme?!" A few more voices came from the other side of the festival. She turns to her left watching as Chazz and Syrus rush over to get a full look at the fairy.

"I saw her first! Don't you dare get thoughts!" Chazz snapped

"No way, she's so beautiful. I think I'm in love." Syrus responded with a soft set of eyes on Esme.

"Beat it! Injection Fairy Lily is mine!"

Esme stood in her steps, scratching her cheek. "There's enough medication for everyone. Just get in line and I'll check your temperature."

After she had said that a whole line of men stood in front of her, eager to let Esme do a check up. They all wave and blow kisses to the fairy, enchanted by Esme's costume and looks. When she told Syrus and Chazz to get in a line she didn't mean the whole school to!

Chazz did his best to make his way over, however, he dressed up as a monster too. Guessing by his costume he went as the XYZ Dragon Cannon and it looked to be heavy and well oversized so it made him walk slower. Meanwhile, Syrus could easily run over and hug Esme. He wrapped both his arms around her frame, his head pressed against her stomach.

"So cute! Oh Injection Fairy Lily!" He held his friend tightly.

"Hey Sy," Esme cooed resting her hand over his forehead. "You seem warm. .and, ugh! Not so tight, the dress is already tight as is."

Jaden chuckled loudly, pointing at Syrus. He ran over and pulled Syrus away from Esme with full force. "Alright! Don't go gaga! We need you to be the speaker for our duels! Can't have you catching a cold from the love doctor can we?" He shot a quick wink to Esme

"But Jay-!" He cried, "I want to stay! You know, on second thought I don't feel too well. I think I need an appointment with Esme!"

"Nuh-uh! You're doing just fine, I'll get you some medicine after the duels."

And just when she turned away from her friends, another voice calls, "Wow Esme! You look great!" A familiar voice came afloat, as she turned around she saw Atticus Rhodes. The older brother of Alexis, surprised and nearly baffled she rubbed her eyes, shaking her head. There was no way! When did he leave the infirmary, or feel well to walk again?

' S - P O V

I couldn't believe Atticus was actually here, live and well. He wore his Blue Obelisk uniform with his brown hair behind his shoulders. His smile bright as ever and growing by the second, he waved me over his direction. Without hesitation I walked over setting down my heavily crafted weapon, opening my arms.

"Atticus? Is that really you?"

"Of course it's me! Who else would you think I am? Here, I'll prove it right now!"

His large arms carefully found its way around my frame giving a nice tight squeeze. He always had the best bear hugs when it came to showing affection. Lifted up from the ground he held me shaking my body back and forth; his face pressed against the sides of mine. Yep! This was Atticus, he had his cheeky personality and hugs to prove it all.

"Okay, okay! Yes, I believe you, hello Atticus."

He finally eased off my waist to set me back down on the ground. Curiously he pulled on both sets of my wings grinning, "Hey! Nice set of wings and costume! You're totally killing it Es. Man, you sure have grown up since the last time I saw you. How long ago was it? Like a year or so. . You're a total doll. Let's take a picture!"

Around his neck was a camera, he raised it up and inches closer until both of our arms touch, "Alright say cheese!" With the camera aimed up I smiled into the lense until the flash went off.

Click!

A photo came out from the bottom of the camera, he shook the picture until it came to light. "Well would you look at that." Atticus showed Esme. "We look great! This one is for the books! We should take another one."

"Another?"

"Yeah, maybe something with more affection. After all, you are dressed as Injection Fairy Lady! This is a perfect chance Es. Plus, it's not like it's nothing new. .We've had our past." He grinned.

Well he did have a point. Believe it or not, last year Atticus and I had a thing going on. Not many people knew about our relationship and that was how I liked it. I always felt that getting others involved with your relationship was setting yourself to fail. But, the thing was we weren't an official couple, only because I was afraid to fall in love. Not then or now was I prepared to let someone in, giving them the advantage to hurt me.

Despite that, Atticus and I were still close. I guess you can say we always will be, after all, he was my first friend at Duel Academy. From there it was all history.

"So?" He asked, snapping his fingers to catch my attention, "You alright there Es?"

"Oh yeah, err, I'm fine but maybe later okay?"

"Later?! Aw come on, please! Just a peck Es!" He points to his cheek. "I need the famous Injection Fairy Lily to show some love to her favorite patient."

I knew that if I didn't answer he would keep asking, so I gave in. "Fine, only because I know you won't stop asking."

On the tips of my toes I leaned over kissing the cheek of Atticus. He held the camera up and pointed over in my direction wearing a shocked expression. As though the REAL Injection fairy Lily would kiss Atticus. He grabbed the photo and held it to his chest.

"Sweet! It came out just perfect! Now, where is Lexi? I need to take some embarrassing photos of her too. Thanks again Es! You're the real MVP you know?" He waved his hand as he walked off. "See ya later!"

"Later Atticus." I waved back as I watched him run out into the distance.

While Atticus went off to look for Lexi, I decided to look for Jaden and Syrus. With all the students around it made searching harder than usual. Nevertheless, I wouldn't give up, this would just be another hurdle I would have to conquer. Pressing through the crowds I found myself nearly crawling past everyone, not wanting to take another photo or be noticed. If I've known cosplaying as Injection Fairy Lily would bring me this much attention, then I would have dressed as someone else.

"Get lost?" A cold voice strained out

I looked up from the ground and instantly stood up, I dusted the dirt off my dress and said, "No, I just didn't want to encounter another person asking for a picture."

Zane chuckled, folding his arms. He seemed happy, and that was always a rare sight to see. I'm familiar with seeing his dull and expressionless face but today was a different story. Maybe that night I told him about Syrus really did change his perspective. I tilted my head lightly to the side, watching as my black locks of hair followed.

"What?" I asked, "What's so funny? Did you want a picture?"

"No, It's fine Es. You just never cease to amaze me."

What was that suppose to mean? I dumbfoundedly blushed a red hue, looking directly into his azure orbs. "I think that's a good thing right?"

"You tell me." Zane shrugged

I opened my mouth ready to reply but nothing came out, instead I just pressed my lips roughly together and bit my tongue. Zane either made me feel dumb or embarrassed, there was no in between and I hated it. Finally gaining enough courage I said, "I guess it's a good thing. I never knew you were so easily impressed unless it had to do with a duel."

"I'm a human just as you Esme. Sure I love to duel but I do enjoy the presence of my friends too. And if you're looking to compete in the best cosplay you better hurry. Syrus is calling all final contestants."

"I almost forgot, thanks for the reminder!" I told Zane as I rushed over to Syrus tapping his shoulder

I explained to him that I wanted to be apart of the contest and apologized for running a little late. Syrus only smiled and insisted me to collect a card number and get in line. From there the judges and students would collect a ballot and cast their votes. In the far distance I saw Jaden waving both his hands to catch my attention. He gave me a thumbs up and began to write on his paper dropping it in the box.

I followed Syrus' directions I grabbed the number 21 and stood beside Alexis. I guess we were competing after all. I looked at all the other contestants and noticed they were all girls, which said a lot. When you go to this school you're surrounded by nothing but fanboys and that proved so today. Once all the votes were counted the numbers were given to the judges. From there there Syrus approached the rectangular table to collect the card with the winners name on it.

Syrus walked out on stage with a microphone in his hand and the other with a card. "Alright! I have our final results for the winner! Our judges have spoken and in my hand I will reveal the name of our winner for the best cosplay!" He opens the white envelope and reads the name, "And our winner is. .drum roll please, Esme Vanchester!"

Syrus turns around to face me, clapping his hand grabbing a bouquet of flowers from the end table beside him. He walked over and hands the flowers, "Great job Esme! You're costume was really the best. Would you like to say anything?" The microphone rises up to my lips.

"Thank you all so much! I appreciate your votes and you electing me as the best cosplayer. I really put some time into the costume but to know you all appreciated it means a lot." I said as I spoke into the microphone, then looking down to Syrus.

"Thanks Sy." I leaned down to press a soft kiss upon his cheek as I accepted the bouquet of flowers, waving once more.

Bashfully he rubbed his cheeks laughing in a shy tone. "Aw, don't mention it."

ESME'S - POV

I gathered my books and stacked them all into two piles. To the left was the books I already read and the one on my right were the ones I needed to read or finish. Most of the books were gifts from my father, I was too young to appreciate them at the time but now that I'm older, I'm entirely grateful. In a way it made me feel as though part of him is in these books, silly to think I know but I wanted something to latch on when it came to my father. All I had was stories my mother told and old photos. I relied on the information of my mother to truly understand what kind of a man my father was; before all hell broke loose.

A knock rid the back window of my balcony, I turned around to notice Jaden standing there with a vase and a bottle of water. I walk over and opened the back door letting in the brunette. He walked inside, taking off his shoes and headed for the small table.

"I brought you a vase for your flowers! Congrats on winning today Esme. I knew you would."

"Thanks Jay, how did your duel go? I left the festival early to get a head start on some homework."

"It went by great!" Jaden spoke as he filled the clear glass vase with water, then setting each and every rose inside of it. "I ended up playing against a girl who looked just like Dark Magician Girl. It was a great duel, I even thought she was going to beat me." Shaking the vase he turned over his shoulder to look at me. "Syrus totally has a crush on her. After the duel he went off to look for her. I'm not sure if he found her because after that I went to look for you. Then when I asked Alexis where you where she said your dorm. So, I decided why not bring you a vase and come see why you ran off so early."

My lips pulled into a small smile as Jaden spoke, I grabbed my duel book and sat down at the table where Jaden held the vase. I wrote down the answers to the questions that quickly came to mind pressing the pencil to paper. Occasionally, if I didn't know the answers I would look it up in the book but I tried my best to avoid that.

"What class is that for?" Jaden asked taking the second wooden seat of the table and bringing it closer to where I was. He brought his palm up holding his head as he leaned over to look at my notes and book.

"Crowler."

"Wait, when did we get that?!" He spazzed out.

"Calm down, it's extra credit." I reminded Jaden giving him a soft nudge. "It's nothing special, just me being a nerd is all. You know everyone calls me that Jay, that's what I'm known for." I refocused on the assignment, pressing the eraser to my lips; thinking.

"Nerd? No way, sure you're smart but you're no nerd! You're cool and easy to get along with. You just have a niche to learn is all and it comes in handy whenever I need help on past assignments." He reassured, "Don't get so caught up on what others call you. For the longest time I've been called a slacker, scum, idiot, lazy and all these other words but I don't let that define me."

Those words were true, you should never allow someone's words affect the way you think of yourself. After all, what do they truly know about you? Nothing. They know nothing about your past, what you do out of school or what you truly are deep inside.

"Yeah, you're right."

Jaden yawned and rose from the chair, heading over to the bed. "Hey, so when are we getting some sleep?" He asked taking off his red jacket and hanging it over the coat rack. Jaden then rolled into the bed with his hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling.

"Whenever I'm done of course." I replied

"And when do you think that is? An hour? Thirty minutes? One minute? Right now?"

I furrowed my brows trying to focus harder and ignore Jaden. However, he continued to talk making it all impossible to even concentrate. I sat down the pencil in defeat and closed my book. I only had three more questions anyways, I guess this would be a good place to stop.

"Alright, alright, I'm done. It's hard to focus with you blabbering anyways." I teased.

"Hey! I'm not all that bad Es, take that back!"

"No way you slacker." I pressed on, giving a playful yet evil grin. "I now know the reason why Syrus is so far behind in class. Probably because you talk too much whenever he tries to study." I began to unbutton the top layer of my uniform, I removed the coat revealing the black tank top underneath. It matched Jaden's but mine was more feminine.

"Psh, be quiet It's more fun with me around and you know it. If I wasn't then you wouldn't have let me inside in the first place."

The look of defeat plastered over my face, he had a point there. I crawled into bed lying over the blankets and rest my head right beside Jaden's. I folded my arms across my chest and looked up towards the ceiling, watching as the fan spun in a single rotation.

"You know, we're the only ones with our keys." I told Jaden as I held up my sacred key. "I wish that we could go back to when dueling was fun and it wasn't all about winning."

"You're telling me, heh, I was about to say the same thing. Now it's about winning or knowing about the consequences that are to come." He shifted his gaze over to me. "But yeah, I know exactly how you feel. It's up to us now Es and I know with your help I can do it." Jaden pulled one of his hands out from behind his head and reached down for mine. He held it in place, rubbing his thumb across my knuckles; resting our hands in the middle between us.

In return I squeezed his hand and shifted my hues to find his own. My chest burned with a soft yet blazing feeling that grew with power by the second. I found myself lost at words, wanting to speak but nothing coming out. Foolishly I laid there with an embarrassed look on my face, my anxiety rising. Just when I was going to burst, Jaden then rolls on the side of body to stroke my hair from my face.

"Relax, you know I'm not going to hurt you. .You don't have to say anything Esme. Just know I'm watching out for you through these final dark days. I know you're overwhelmed with all that's going on but relax." He continued to pull back my long strands of hair, even getting his fingers tangled within it all.

As Jaden reassured my emotions and stress I found myself moving closer to bury my head into his chest. The hand that was on my face moved to curve around my figure and the other still holding our hands in sync. I felt the weight of his head rest above mine, rubbing my back. Hesitantly I began to close my eyes, each blink longer than the next until it was entirely closed.

JADEN'S - POV

In all honesty I didn't know why I truthfully came to Esme's dorm. Part of me just wanted to be in her presence and see her face. She had a persona and attitude like no other which made her unique and special. In everything she did, whether it be helping Syrus and I or dueling against her, she always stayed humble and kind. And if there's one thing I like in a female it's a girl who knows how to duel with some heart and passion.

During the whole night I couldn't sleep. The only thing I wanted to do was stare at Esme and watch her dream, curious to know what she was dreaming about. It was my first time inside of a girls dorm and part of me wished I came earlier. If I would have known it would be this much fun I would have went sooner; but for now, this was perfect. The light still being on I got to examine Esme fully and carefully. I cautiously shifted away from her to get a better view eyeing her dark raven locks of hair that had the scent of blackberries. I combed my fingers through her hair to get another whiff of that dramatic scent, smiling all the while. From her hair I stared at her long eyelashes that moved occasionally as she continued to dream. Her lips would purse frequently as well, mumbling words or noises in general. I tried to make out whatever she was saying but it was too hard. One thing I did want to do was feel her face again.

I ran my fingers out of her hair then down to her ear, however I didn't stop there. From her ear to her neck I continued to trail further and I stopped at her shoulder. I never noticed but Esme had a tattoo. Curiously I continued down to her soft skin and gently stroked the inked art. She had yellow blooming flowers all attached by a single vine, flowing down until the upper half of her arm. It stopped about midway on her arm, that way her t-shirt would still be able to cover it. After examining her tattoo I began to wonder what it meant and why she got it?

My journey continued and I went back up to her pale cheeks. Those cheeks that would bask in a thick red batter whenever she never found the words to come. Next stop was her lips, she spoke soft and kind words; careful with what she said. Never did Esme use her words to downgrade or hurt anyone, instead she gave words of life and positivity. Her subtle lips always in some form of a smile, it gave me reason to smile too. My thumb gently stroked against her bottom half of the lip, those pink petals softer than her face. My curiosity peaked wanting to know how they would feel against mine. I've never kissed or been kissed by a girl and if I was going to try it I rather it be when she's asleep than awake. But then again, that might be weird!

I groaned softly rolling my eyes. Man, days like this I wished I had more experience when it came to females, guess I would learn as I go. For now, I would restrain myself from pressing forward and hold Esme just as she was. I took one final look at the woman beside me, not just bits and parts of her but her whole frame. From head to toe I admired her physique, even the flaws she carried, if she had any!(?) But from my view there was not a thing missing. Esme was perfect, and I wanted to tell her that. I wanted to tell her that she made me feel happy and confident in everything I did. Not that I wasn't confident, I always felt pretty good when it came to dueling, but her? She made me feel like I could duel, pass classes, cook, clean, juggle eight balls and never miss a beat!

Esme began to shuffle, turning to the other side and I stopped moving. I wouldn't dare wake her up. I know I'm inexperienced but I've read books and seen movies. Waking up a girl would be one of the worst mistakes in your life and I would make sure to stay clear of it.

"Mew!"

"Oh, hey Kuriboh." I waved to the small brown creature.

"Mew!"

"I know, she's a real cutie. .but she's sleeping we ought to be quiet. I don't want to wake her up and trust me, you really don't want to wake her up either."

The Kuriboh circled around Esme keeping his mews to a minimum, he flapped his small wings gently snuggling her. Before I could say anything he flew off vanishing in thin air. Since Esme turned the opposite way of me, I thought I would look around her room to see what I could find. I still wasn't tired so until I felt the need to rest I decided to find something to occupy myself with. I headed over to her bookcase knowing Esme was in love with reading. Maybe I could find out why her nose was always in a book. I picked up the novel, Romeo and Juliet and began to read. With just the first few pages I found it boring and returned it to its place.

"Man, how can she read that? It doesn't even have proper english." I grabbed another book, this one being The Great Gatsby. I gave the first paragraph a try before I simply tossed that book over my shoulder. "Nope, where are the pictures?"

After a few minutes I decided to give up on reading a book, maybe reading wasn't my specialty. I looked over the room and found a few photos that stood on Esme's shelves. Most of the photos were of her friends, some were just her and one of them looked like her family. I never knew Esme's background information but the older woman looked very similar to Esme, and of course the child was her.

It made me wonder, what Esme was going to do when school was out. I rarely hear her talk about her family, so it made me curious to know if she was going to stay on campus or do some family bonding. I continued to search around her room and stumbled upon an undergarment of Esme's. Not too sure what it was at first, I picked it up and deeply examining it. It had two cups and straps on either side. Wait, this was a bra and not just any bra, it was Esme's!

My face lit up as fast as it possibly could, from ear to ear I burned a dark unforgiving red hue. Hell, maybe even some steam came out from my head. There has never been a time in my life that I've seen a woman in a bra, let alone touch it and see it up close. Innocently I shook my head of the dirty thoughts that came to mind. Esme merely in her undergarments, her bra and undies walking around her dorm in that way. Talk about hormones! Without further precaution my nose bursted out gushing blood from the thought of Esme. I covered my nose and ran to the bathroom, turning on the water. At this point I didn't even care if Esme woke up. All I knew was I needed to get rid of this bloody nose here and now. I ran the facete, splashing gallons of water over my face; pinching the bridge of my nose to cease the blood.

Esme moaned in her sleep which made me panic even more. I grabbed one of her cloths pinching it against my nose, hiding in the shadows of the dark. She moved her leg up and hung one of her arms off the side of the bed. Do all girls sleep like that?

Exhaling, I brought the cloth down when I realized my bloody nose had came to an end. I was finally getting sleepy, yawning as I tossed the stained cloth into the hamper. I walked back over to Esme wanting to fix her sleeping position but not entirely sure how to. At first I was confused on how I would move her without getting her to wake up but eventually It all came to thought. I could easily wrap her into a burrito blanket! I took the blanket that she laid on and rolled it over her small physique, tucking in each ends of the blanket underneath her.

"There." I said pridefully. "You learn something new everyday." For first timers, I didn't too bad. Before I rolled back into bed I switched the light off and walked to the open side of the bed. Even though I was a bit chilly I thought it would be best to allow Esme to have the blankets. However it didn't stop me from syncing one of my arms underneath her and the other over her, bringing her back into my chest. Already I was getting warm from having her so closely against my body. I took a deep breath and brushed her hair to the side, caressing her silky cheek.

I know that Esme might not return the feelings I have pent up inside, it's not even clear for me to explain the warm sensation that burned in my chest. But even if she didn't return those feelings, I still would want to enjoy my time spent with her as a friend. There was just one thing I needed to know, the question that I'm dying to ask. I would finally close my eyes and take a deep breath asking the darkness that surrounded Esme and I.

"How does a moment last forever?"