Jaden: The Fallen Angel of Destruction

Chapter Nine

By Kellyq

Jaden slowly opened his eyes to see Jesse leaning over him, a smile on his lips. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," the teen teased. "You've been resting all day."

"Sorry about that. I haven't been fun to hang around with lately ..." Jaden smiled. At least he's okay, he thought, as Jesse leaned in and kissed Jaden on the nose.

"Don't worry about it. We'll figure what's going on together, Jay," Jesse reassured. And I'll make sure to help you fight Haou. The passionate teen had a keen eye on Jaden. "Besides, I can tell that something's bugging you ..."

Jaden looked away before deciding to tell Jesse about Haou. "It's hard to explain ... but every time I try to even get some rest ... this Haou thing talks to me, saying that I'm weak."

Jesse narrowed his eyes. "You know that's a bunch of bull ..."

Jaden sighed."I know. But I have been feeling that way for awhile, and if I'm going to protect my friends ..." Jaden paused and stroked Jesse's cheek as he played with a strand of hair that curved around Jesse's cheek bone. "To protect the people I care about, I'm going to need different training strategies."

Jesse took Jaden's hand - the one that was playing with his hair - and kissed it. He then helped Jaden into a sitting position. "Are you sure you want to be Cobra's trainee? He is rough and he doesn't hesitate to get in your face if you don't shape up - and I know how much you hate that."

Jaden sighed. "You do have a point there. But I do want to get stronger ..." The brown haired teen wanted to say more, but his stomach growled. "And I'm hungry."

Jesse leaned in with a sexy smirk playing on his lips. Jaden felt a rush of heat coming to his cheeks when he felt the boy's lips barely touching his. I'm hungry too, Jesse thought, and it's you I want. "Is there anything specific you want?"

Five minutes later a large plate of fried shrimp was placed in front of Jaden. "Wow! Do I feel spoiled," he said with a big grin. Jaden looked at Jesse. "But how did you know I like fried shrimp?"

Jesse smiled. "Let's just say a certain someone with pretty brown eyes and black hair told me."

"I'm flattered," came a feminine voice from the doorway. Both boys turned their heads to see princess Blair standing there. She walked up with a concerned look in her eyes. "Are you alright?"

Jaden popped a shrimp in his mouth as he nodded his head. "I'm fine."

"That's good," Blair said, sighing with relief. "I need help with something ..."

Jaden stopped eating altogether to give the princess his full attention. "What is it?"

"It's Marcel. I'm worried about him. He's been acting weird since he met that Yubel chick." The two boys could see jealousy flash across her face.

Hmm. It sounds like my sister is up to something. And your poor weak pathetic friend is asking you to save her ass ... Haou snickered.

Jesse and Blair watched Jaden's facial expression change. She frowned. "Jaden, are you listening?" the princess asked.

Jaden blinked, and stared back at Blair. "Sorry about that. I spaced out."

"You've been doing that a lot lately," Jesse commented. Haou, you better not be lying to Jaden. "I have an idea. I'll help you figure out what's going with Marcel ... but I need to talk to Jaden in private first."

"Thanks. I would ask Alexis, but she's training with Miss Mai and she doesn't want training to be interrupted with something stupid."

Before the two boys could protest that asking for help wasn't stupid, Blair walked out.

"What is it that you wanted to talk about?" Jaden finally asked, popping the last fried shrimp into his mouth.

Jesse bit his bottom lip. He wanted to bring up the subject of Haou, and tell Jaden that he didn't have to listen to that thing. "Jaden," Jesse finally spoke up. "What do you think of everything this has been going on?"

Jaden blinked. "To be honest, I'm scared," the brown haired teen admitted. I'm scared for you, Jess, Jaden thought, watching Jesse nod. "And the last thing I want is for someone to get hurt ... and when that time comes, I want to be strong enough to protect my friends."

Jesse only smiled and moved strand hair away from Jaden's face. "If you feel that strongly about wanting a new trainer ... whatever decision you make, I'll support you."

The vibes right then changed, and Jaden felt like he needed to rethink his choice. He watched the green-eyed teen walk out. What choice do you have, Jaden? You want to show people that you are strong, right? Even Jesse thinks you could get stronger than you are now, Haou pointed out. Jaden blinked a few times. That couldn't be true. Could it?

Yugi lay in bed, staring at the empty spot where Yami would lie. He really wanted to talk to Yami and find out what was going on.

Aibou? came Yami's soft voice. Yugi sighed. You should be resting, Yugi.

I know, Yugi responded telepathically. When I didn't hear from you, I had the feeling that there's more to what's going on.

It was Yugi's turn to hear Yami sigh. I'm going to have to stay a little longer than planed. I don't have all the details but when I do, I'll let you know.

Blair and Jesse walked into the main school building. The princess looked at Jesse's body to notice that he was tense. He must be really worried about Jaden, she thought. "Jesse ...? Are you alright?" Blair asked.

The passionate teen tried to give the princess the convincing, warm look, that he always gave people. "I'm fine, princess ..."

Such a typical boy ... Blair stopped walking, and the young Anderson stopped too. "You don't need to lie to me, Jesse. I know that you're worried about Jaden."

Jesse sighed, knowing that it was no use to lie. "I don't like it that Jaden is going to have Cobra as his new trainer. I've heard not so good things about him ..."

"Have you talked to Jaden about it?" Blair finally asked.

"He just told me that if he had Cobra as a trainer, he would become stronger," Jesse clarified. He wasn't going to mention anything about Haou to the princess. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her.

To Be Continued ...