Darkangelsonic: I'm so-so-so sorry it took me so long for this chapter. I had my finals. I so happy I got good grades!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Gi Oh or Yu Gi Oh GX!! I only own my OCs and plot. hehehe
ani-sand: I've thought about what you said and... grins Oh, you'll find out soon enough. hahahaha
Bane-Teller: Unfortunately, I didn't get to put Crowler in last time but I will next time.
Ashley caught up with the two Ras.
"Hey wait up!" Ashley shouted at Raiki and Bastion
"Who are you?" Bastion asked
Ashley giggled, as Raiki looked at Bastion as if he was crazy.
"It's Ash, Bastion."
"Nice to see you at last, Bastion." Ashley grins
"Ashley?"
"Oh, pardon Bastion, Masseur Rai, Bastion was busy during my grand performance." Ashley teased Bastion as she winked at Rai to play along
Raiki and Ashley laughed; Ashley soon took a deep breath and grabbed Bastion's hand. Bastion blushed as Ashley smiled and took out her iPod.
"Hey Bastion, Wake up your Heart." Bastion's eyes grew wide.
"It is you…"
"Are you distracted?!"
"I don't get distracted, Raiki!"
"Yes, you are."
"Ashley… Not you too!"
"See! You ARE distracted even Ash agrees with me!"
Ashley smiled at Raiki continuing to tease the now blushing Bastion as they walk to their dorm.
They had reached the dorm only to be swarmed by a group of fan boys, to Bastion's surprise.
I wonder if Alexis has this kind of problems too… Ashley anime sweat drops as she smiled as she patiently listen to them talk simultaneously.
"Ashley, they didn't hurt you did they?"
"Do you want some of my pancakes?"
"Hey, Ashley, can you be my girlfriend?"
I think this is not Seto-sama's term of laying low.
"Come on guys break it up! You'll scare her away." Raiki shouted as he separates Ashley from the raging group of Ra fan boys.
The fan boys dispersed while complaining, Raiki turned to Ashley and Bastion, Bastion still in shock and Ashley uncomfortably smiling at the Raiki.
"I think we shouldn't stay here for long." Raiki suggested
"I agree; I don't like being the center of attention…"
Besides that I can't maintain a low profile like this.
"Raiki, can I ask for a favor?"
Ashley walked over to Raiki.
"Can you please look after my puppy for a while? I need to go to Jay's and help him and Sy with his report on duel theory." Ashley whispered on his ear
"Sure, Ash, no problem." Raiki exclaimed with a smile
"Oh, and we have to talk later, ok?" Ashley mused with a big grin
Uh-oh, looks like she remembers me.
"Uh—s-sure!" Raiki answered nervously
Bastion snaps out of his shock state.
"Well, that took you a while." Raiki teased
"Bastion, we need to hurry we promise Jaden that we'll do the report on duel theory together, remember?"
"O-of course."
Ashley went to the counter and bought some chips and quickly grabs Bastion by the arm.
"We'll see you later Rai." Ashley smiled at the brownish blonde haired boy
"Yeah, see you."
Then the two left the Ra dorm and headed to the Slifer dorm.
As Bastion and Ashley walked to the Slifer dorm, Ashley's thought couldn't help but linger on the previous event.
"Hey, Bastion, do you like Alexis Rhodes?"
"WHAT?!" Bastion blushed as he looked at the girl accompanying him
"Don't lie I SEE how you look at her…" Ashley said suspiciously with a giggle
"I—Um—Oh no—" Ashley laughed at the now troubled Bastion
"So does that mean you LIKE her?"
"I have to admit she's pretty amazing."
"You're NOT answering the question!" Ashley pouted at her best friend
Bastion looked at Ashley awkwardly and slowly losing his will to keep the secret, as Ashley put on her best puppy dog eyes.
"Please… Tell me the truth; I'm not going to tell anyone else."
"F-fine…" Bastion sighed, as Ashley smiled brightly
"So… You like her right?"
"...Yes."
"I KNEW IT!!"
"ASHLEY!!"
"Oops…" Ashley laughed nervously then looks around
"It seems that no one is here at the moment, you can relax, Bastion. Besides that why haven't you ask her out?" Ashley squeezes his arm, making Bastion blush even more
"I-I'm too busy for that, beside that I have to keep an eye on you too."
"EH?! B-but…"
Bastion looks over the path.
"We're here."
"Oh!"
Ashley looked over and saw the slifer dorm.
"Come on, Jaden and Syrus must be waiting for us inside." Ashley nodded at him
So they headed to Jaden's room.
"Jay, Sy? Are you guys here?" Ashley shouted as she poked her head from the door
"Ash, Bastion, come in!"
"We were just getting ready to start on the report."
Sy was on the study table while Jaden was on his bed munching away some sandwiches.
"We brought chips." Ashley and Bastion entered
Ashley gave the chips to Jaden and walked over to Syrus.
"So, where did you stop?" Ashley asked as she browsed the paper
"We haven't—Jaden keeps on going down stairs to get some food…" Syrus muttered with a hint of complaint
"But I was hungry!!" the brunet complained
"Ok… Jaden, I promise to buy you lunch tomorrow if we finish before dinner." Ashley bribed
Jaden flashed a big grin across his face and hurried over to Syrus side to work on his report.
"Let's get started on that report then." Bastion said
After 8 hours of grueling work…
Jaden was sitting on the bed as Syrus was sitting near the study table, while Bastion and Ashley sat next to each other on the floor.
"Is it done yet?" Jaden whined
"No," Bastion answered when he was cut off by the sudden weight that was put on his shoulders
Ashley's head was now on Bastion's shoulders, her eyes we half way shut.
"Ashley, don't fall asleep. We need to finish the report; just a little more ok?"
Ashley slowly nods her head and sat up once again.
"It would help if you helped too, Jaden…" Syrus muttered
Ashley rubs her eyes, and looks at Syrus.
"How many pages left?"
"Jay still has 6 more." Syrus answered
"You still have 4 more pages to go." Bastion softly said
Ashley stretched her arms.
"We better work on Jay's then…"
"Ash…? Is that the 'sleep' talking?" Syrus mused
"If we want to finish early we have to do this in a way he'll be interested in." Bastion suggested
"But in Jay's case all I see he's interested in is dueling and food!" Ashley whispered at Bastion's ear, but still everyone in the room heard
"HEY!!"
Bastion smiled at her; that was definitely the 'sleep' talking.
"I think we better take a break and make Ash drink some coffee." Syrus suggested with a smile
Everyone agreed, so Syrus and Jaden went down to the cafeteria to get some food and drinks, while Bastion and Ashley stayed in Jaden's room. They were both silent at the moment; Ashley was looking straight on the floor very much deep in thought, while Bastion was looking through Jaden's report.
"Bastion?"
"Yes?"
"I'm a big burden, aren't I?" Bastion looks over her
"What do you mean?"
"I cause so much trouble for you guys… Even Jay's looking after me…"
"You're not a burden, Ashley. Your fan boys are the trouble… Sometimes."
"I'm sorry… Ever since I got here, I always bring trouble to you guys…"
Bastion walks over to Ashley, then kneels down next to her and held her hand gently.
I must be the reason why he can't ask Alexis out… I depend on him too much… He knows that too well…
Bastion looked straight in Ashley's eyes; her sad eyes were look straight at his brown eyes. Ashley looked away from Bastion, her eyes stammering to the floor.
"You know what?"
"…"
"You'd make a great boyfriend for Alexis."
"…"
Ashley tried her best to keep her emotions in check, especially her tears.
"She's very lucky." Ashley gave him the best smile she could manage
Bastion looked at her as if his eyes were created to only watch her.
"And I'm glad we met, Bastion…"
The door slammed open and Jaden came in with a big bag of nachos, behind him was Syrus carrying some sodas and dip. Ashley took her hand away from Bastion.
"Now, we can start doing our work again." Syrus said
Ashley pulled out one of the books on the table and started to read, while Bastion stood up and gave Syrus Jaden's report. Jaden jump on his bed and started scarffing down the nachos and dip.
"Sy, Jay."
The two slifer and the Ra looked at her.
"Thank you, for always being there for me."
The two slifer smiled.
"Don't worry about that, Ash, we're like family, you know."
"Yeah, that's true."
Ashley smiled at them.
"Then you won't mind if I have some of this." Ashley grabs some nachos with dip and casually puts them in her mouth
"THAT'S MINE!! ASH!!" Jaden whined, while everybody else laughed
They started to work on the reports. It was all thanks to Professor Crowler that they had this long assignment plus the exam coming up on Friday in the same week.
It was sunset, and almost time for dinner when the foursome finished the report, with only 30 minutes to spare. Their minds were all tired with the exception for Bastion's, of course; Ashley had this strange feeling all of a sudden.
"Well, I think we should head back to the dorms now…" Ashley stood up suddenly and almost fell down again if it weren't for Bastion catching her
Strange... My head's starting to spin... Ashley shook the thought away
"Slow down, Ashley."
"Sorry, I was feeling a little light headed…"
"Yeah, Bastion's right Ash, besides that you still owe me lunch!"
"Yeah, yeah I know. I'll take you guys to the beach tomorrow for some well earned rest."
"And don't forget to study for the upcoming exams we don't want to have you two sleeping over it again."
Right, I missed our first exams because I couldn't see… It's such a drag I didn't see Jay's field test against that obelisk… Who was it again…? Ashley's attention was caught by Syrus
"Yeah, come to think about it—I haven't seen Ash duel before."
"Yeah! I want to be the first to duel you, Ash!!"
"Um—didn't you have a roommate here? I didn't see him today." Ashley suddenly switches the topic
"Oh, Chumley? He's at the cafeteria."
"I see. So I'll see you tomorrow then!"
Bastion and Ashley exits the room and head to the Ra dorm. Bastion holding Ashley's hand just like before and holding her report on his other hand.
"Do you think those two will end up together, do you, Jay?"
Jaden shrugged at the blue haired boy.
Ashley and Bastion were walking to their dorm, quietly. Ashley was carefully observing Bastion as he led the way to their dorm.
He's definitely thinking I can't do anything without him around… Or at least subconsciously thinking it...
"Ashley?"
"Eh?"
"If someone were to confess to you right now… Would you accept him to be your boyfriend?"
Why am I asking her this right now?!
"Well… If I were Alexis…"
Bastion abruptly stops in his tracks, Ashley bumps into him again.
"Ite…" Ashley muttered
"I didn't say you had to be Alexis!" He shouted sternly
Why is he so mad? I didn't do anything… Did I?
"Well, I thought you wanted to know since you like her and all…"
"I wanted to know if you were going to accept… Not her."
"Wait, what do you mean by that?"
"Never mind, let's just go back to our dorm."
"Why are you so mad? Did I do or say something wrong?"
"… No."
"Then what is it?"
"…I don't know." Ashley grabs Bastion's arm with both her hands and squeezed it a bit
He looks completely confused… I want you not to worry about me Bastion, and have your happy ending.
"Bastion, if it were someone like you or Rai or Jay or someone close to me, I'd definitely think about it. But if it were other people then no."
"…I see."
There was a moment of silence, and then they started to walk to their dorm again.
"Does it bother you?"
"…"
Maybe I should keep my mouth shut for once…
Then Ashley saw the Ra dorm.
"Bastion, would you mind if I go to my room now? I don't feel like eating tonight… And besides I'm a bit sleepy."
"Sure, I don't mind."
Ashley squeezed Bastion's arm again giving him a worried look.
"I'm going to be fine, Ashley."
Ashley nodded hesitantly then walks to her room as Bastion made his way to the dining hall.
What's going on with me?! Bastion scratched his head furiously with his free hand.
Ashley knocked on Raiki's door and Raiki opens it. Ashley was surprisingly welcomed by a lick from her puppy that Raiki had carried to her face.
"Hey, Rai."
"What took you so long? This puppy is driving me crazy! He chewed my rubber shoes and ate my papers! Oh and let's not forget! HE PEED ON MY STUDY TABLE!!"
Ashley laughed as she took the puppy away from Raiki.
"It's not funny. My room will be smelling like piss for weeks!"
"You can stay in my room then."
"Tempting but would you really want me there? I could possibly abuse you or something like that…" Raiki threaten just to make sure she's ok with it
"OH—I know you wouldn't dare!" Ashley grinned
Raiki anime sweat drops.
Yeah, she knows alright…
"Come on, get your stuff and move in for a while…"
"I'd rather not." Raiki points nervously at a nearby video camera, Ashley stares at it for a moment.
"Right…" Ashley waves at it.
"I'll just open my window."
"Come in my room for a sec we need to talk."
Raiki nodded and closed his room as the both transferred to Ashley's room. Ashley closed the door behind her; Raiki bangs his hand to the door making Ashley jump and the puppy fall down the floor, making him growl at Raiki.
"We're alone… No cameras no people… Just us." Raiki whispered on her ear
Ashley took one step backward and stepped on his foot.
"Ou—" Raiki knelt down and rubbed his foot before standing up again facing Ashley
"Oops… Did that hurt?" Ashley giggled as she turned towards him
"I was joking!"
"You made me drop my puppy!"
"Well, I can't do that to you even if I wanted to…" Raiki muttered as he looked away from her
"Oh? Why is that?"
Maybe if I don't depend on them too much then maybe...
"Because…"
Seto Kaiba would probably have me assasinated if I did that!
Raiki looked back at Ashley as he noticed her shaking.
"Rai, do I depend on people too much?"
"Not really... Why?"
Ashley shrugged.
"No reason... So want to read the letter and watch the video with me?"
"Sur… WAIT, you haven't watched it yet?!"
"That's why I'm asking right? It's better if you and I watch it, since you know… My little secret."
Raiki's eyes widened.
She's completely figured it out?! Already?!
"I'm so glad though. I'm so relieved I could kiss you! But… That wouldn't lady like of me, would it?" Ashley giggled as she curtsies at Raiki, obviously teasing
Raiki smiled and then shrugged at her, before Ashley grabs his hand and drags him over the bed.
"It's only fair, to keep each others' secrets right?"
Raiki nodded as he sighed heavily, Ashley took out the letter and laptop plus the CD that was previously delivered and placed them on the bed. The puppy had settle itself to his own bed as it lay down.
"Let's start with the letter first." Raiki suggested
Ashley sat next to Raiki and started to read out loud, enough for both of them to hear…
"Dear Ash,
We hope you're ok in Duel Academy, and we hope you aren't too lonely…
But just so you know we're terribly missing you, especially Tristan and Joey.
They keep saying it's not the same without you. It's not been the same since you left.
Remember to believe in the heart of the cards. Come visit soon. -Yugi
Our threesome with Joey isn't the same without you, Ash.
Who's gonna stop us from beating the crap out of each other?
We miss you, I miss you. You were like the little sister I never had!
Beat everyone at Seto's Duelist Academy, alright? -Tristan
Hey, Ash. We were talking and I guess… I miss you too.
How you manage to pop out of nowhere…
You always surprise everyone with your mischievous antics.
Remember to be the best, show them what you're made of!
We love you and miss you. -Joey
Ash, show them girl are no push over and how the pro's do their stuff.
Duel like there is no tomorrow! -Mai
Ashley, we're cheering for you so do your best! –Tea and Serenity"
Ashley could barely hold back the tears.
"Well, that was nice of The King of Games and his friends writing you a letter."
"They're my friends since I started dueling. They were my brother's classmates and close friends. I didn't have much friends, I was home schooled, until now."
"I see… That seems like a lonely life."
"It was."
Raiki couldn't help himself and hugged Ashley from behind.
"You seem lonely now so… I hope you don't mind."
Ashley held one of Raiki's hands.
He's right in a way… I'm deeply missing everyone back home… And I'm feeling a little lonely without them…
"I'm here. So… You don't have to be too lonely."
Ashley nodded.
"Well, let's watch the CD, ok?" Raiki said as he took the CD with his free hand and played it on her laptop.
It was a video of their adventures, before Atemu had to leave. The duels and everything in between with the song Jikan yo Tomare by AZU feat SEAMO playing in the background, Ashley couldn't help but burst out crying.
(A/N: Jikan yo Tomare is from Itazura Na Kiss, it means freeze time. I thought it was a perfect fit since one of the line meant 'Please God freeze time when we are together.' Or something like that. Hehehe)
She's hurting, maybe I should leave her alone for a while…
Raiki turned off the laptop and stood up to leave when Ashley grabbed his hand.
"Don't leave… Please?"
Raiki turned around and faced her, then to his surprise, embraced him by his waist while she cried. She needed someone who cared for her and accompany her in her misery of her homesickness. She was starting from scratch that was her wish from the start… To make her own path and be who she wants to be.
"Would you feel better if I stayed here for the night?"
Ashley nodded and both sat down on the bed again. Ashley was now on his lap crying her heart out. She didn't notice until now, how homesick she really was under the circumstances, but now that she does her heart felt like it was going to break into shattered pieces.
RAIKI POV
After an hour or two, Ashley had cried herself to sleep in my arms. I saw the 'devil' puppy was asleep in his little corner too. So I properly put her to bed and put the sheets on her so she won't catch a fever. I unexpectedly stared at her for a moment.
You're so fragile, Ashley. I get it why 'HE' wants someone to look after you. I just wished it wasn't me… I might not complete hold my end of the bargain if this keeps up.
I tried to shake the thought away.
No, I mustn't give in to temptations… Even if it's you Ash… Amazingly, you can easily touch hearts with your charms; you've even manage to touch Kaiba's and even an obelisk… Like Chazz. I wish I had met you before all of this, before the deal... Maybe we might have even become…
Was I going to say 'Lovers?' No, I couldn't have… I tried to erase THAT moment from my memory as I slowly and quietly left the room and went to mine to get some well earned sleep.
Darkangelsonic: So... Yup this is it! hahahaha I'm still working on chapter 6 but I think it's about done. Thank you for the reviews and support coming from ani-sand and Bane-Teller!! Please review!! And seriously, please write a review. I like getting review even if it's critics.