JC: Sad to say that I'm not yet done with my GX wallpaper. Damn, my Photoshop is being a #$%&! Putting that aside, I'm pleased to present chapter 4 of White Vow. The Duel's conclusion! And I have some brief, sweet moments between them everywhere. I seriously won't go full blast and make Jaden fall in love with her in a snap, then take her in his arms and whoosh! I want to take things slowly for him, make him understand the feelings he has and make his own realizations. After all, Jaden is still new to the love thing. Of course, Alexis is aware of her feelings for Jaden, but she is reluctant to tell him about it because she thinks that Jaden is not interested. Okay, enough of me rambling. Let's get on with chapter 4.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, people, or its characters, but the plot is mine. All rights belong to Kazuki Takahashi.
White Vow
Turn 04: Mutual Feelings Abound
She was a true Duelist, Jaden reminded himself. Confident, steadfast, and strong—Alexis would not hesitate in the face of hardship. Jaden had been admiring her for that and he will continue to admire her. He thought for a second that he was going to obtain victory in their duel. However, Alexis had a trap laid out and she activated it without waver. The duel was heading towards an interesting direction.
"I'll be the one to decide that!" Alexis exclaimed, her lips curving into a smile. "I activate the Trap Card Doble Passé!"
Jaden's features softened as he smiled. "You never give in, don't you?" he said, as his Elemental Hero Neos went past Cyber Blader. Neos towered over her and launched a knife-hand strike at her. Alexis blocked his attack from reaching her face, but his strength managed to upset her balance a little.
"I'm a Duelist, Jaden, you should know that," she said, leveling her gaze with his. "Now then… It's time for my counterattack. "Doble Passé redirects an attack from a monster to the player and allows the targeted monster to launch a direct attack on you! Cyber Blader, attack Jaden! Skate Blade Slash!"
"One of the most awesome duelists ever," he muttered under his breath, as Cyber Blader skated towards him with magnificent grace and launched a back kick at Jaden.
Due to Doble Passé's effect both players received battle damage from their monsters, dropping their life points to zero. The effect of the trap has been resolved. Hence, the duel ended in a draw.
Raising a fist into the air, Jaden yelled out, "And that's gamed! It was a sweet duel!" He looked at Alexis and performed his signature pose. "Let's get our game on again sometime!"
"It was close, but I really enjoyed the duel," she said, crossing her arms. "I hope you won't barge into someone's hotel room next time."
Jaden chuckled. "Unless needed." He walked up to her and held out his right hand. "Thanks for the duel, Alexis. You sure gave me a hard time."
"That's what rivals are for, right?" Alexis said, taking his hand.
It was déjà vu. He remembered this similar scene back at Duel Academy, right after their Pair Duel.
They've been labeled as the strongest pair amongst the seniors. They got off to a rocky start, with him disregarding her cards and feelings. Although they won every duel, there was no teamwork because of his tactlessness. In the final round of the Pair Duel, Alexis had expressed her concerns for him, telling him that he wasn't having as much fun in duels as he used to. True enough, he had admitted, he had forgotten the excitement of a duel, and Alexis was the one who reminded him again. They had won that Pair Duel competition, which made them the best Tag Team partners in Duel Academy.
"Thank you for today, Jaden," she had said to him when he came across her on the way to the Slifer Red dorm. It seemed like she was waiting for him. "Thanks to you, I was able to clear my doubts." She had been having second thoughts on whether to take up the offer to attend Duel College after graduation or to stay as a researcher in the academy. Jaden was sure he didn't do anything special, but she was very grateful to him.
"Doubts?" he asked her at that time, blinking in curiosity.
"It's over with now…" She had turned her head to the ship in the docks, and he followed her gaze. "Jaden, you know…I've always…" Her voice had trailed off before she continued. "I'm glad that I met you, Jaden. Let's stay as good rivals forever." She had smiled, holding out her hand to shake.
She was trying to tell him something at that time, then changed the subject. What did she want to say?
"Hey, Alexis, how about we get out of here and party?" he told her. "The night's still young."
"Huh? Where—Ah!" She wasn't able to get a full sentence out because Jaden had whisked her away. She seemed to be putty in his hands, and the next thing she knew, she was hurrying out of the Kaiba Dome with one of those same hands planted squarely between her shoulder blades. He was still bubbly and full of energy. There was no way she could say no.
"Is that your ride?" she asked as he took his red motorcycle from the parking area.
"BMW brand," he said, smiling proudly. This was a gift from the rich man who hooked him up with Alexis. "Like it?" He started the engine and hopped on.
She slightly flushed as she sat down right behind him. Riding on a motorcycle with Jaden meant she had to hold onto him. "So, where to?" she asked, forcing herself not to stutter in spite of her pounding heart.
He lowered himself and leaned forward to punch the address he was aiming at into the GPS, then peered over his right shoulder to look at her. "You'll see once we get there."
Joyriding around the city at night, together with the guy you loved—it was like a dream. The wind felt good against her skin as they sped down the road. Her arms were wrapped securely around his waist, her chest dangerously pressed against his back. Jaden drove with just the right speed, skillfully overtaking vehicles along the way. Once they turned into a dark, creepy area, a flash of lightning lit up the horizon.
The weather wasn't looking good, she thought as she saw dark clouds dominating the sky, covering the brilliance of the moon.
"Are we there yet?" Alexis asked.
He shook his head. "It's still a few blocks away."
Before she could ask where exactly they were going, her phone chimed. Jaden heard the ringtone and immediately pulled over to the side of the street. "It's probably my brother." Taking off the blue helmet, she took out her phone and looked at the screen. "Dad?" she muttered, flipping the mobile open.
"Your dad?" Jaden gaped at her. He'd never heard of her father before.
"Yes, dad?" She exchanged a greeting with her father. Jaden couldn't make up the conversation, but he watched her expression changed from sincere and serene to sad and angry. She kept denying about something with her father. Suddenly she pulled the phone away from her ear and shouted, "You can't tell me what to do!" She then clicked the phone shut.
He gazed at her in surprise. She had just yelled at her own father? What did her dad say to make her so upset?
"On a scale of 1-10, I'll give my dad a score of 7 for being the worst father ever," she said, her gaze pinning to the road.
"He couldn't be that bad," he said, and she quickly shot him a glare. "Um…Okay… Maybe he is… Well, I have no right to judge since I haven't even met the guy."
"It's better if you don't meet him," she said, her lips curving to a thoughtful frown.
He lifted a gentle hand to her shoulder and gave her a smile and a long look, one that made her feel calm, despite how annoyed she was with her father. She had to admit Jaden had the charms to erase all her irritation.
"I don't know what's going on between you and your old man, but it's best to forget about him for a while and focus your attention on me," he teased, grinning like a fool.
Alexis giggled. Focus her attention on him? Was he being serious on that account?
Heading into the road again, Alexis leaned her body against Jaden and thought about their accidental kiss once more. She never did ask Jaden about it after their duel. It slipped through her mind because she had too much fun with the duel. He had said that the kiss meant something. Maybe it was time to ask him.
Before she could open her mouth to speak they've arrived at their destination. She looked up at the building before them. It was a game shop, and not just any game shop. It was the Muto family's Game Shop. In other words, this was Yugi Muto's home. "I thought we were going to get something to eat," she said, "but this is way better.
"I dropped the old man a call earlier and he said he'll wait for us." Taking his red helmet off, he shut down the engine and looked back at Alexis.
Getting off the motorcycle and walking up to the door, Jaden pressed the doorbell. He gazed at her as she came to join him, noting how her hair danced along with the light, cold wind. Her skirt followed suit with an elegant wave, which made him a blush a little. He couldn't help but feel the rush of heat throughout his body, which constantly reminded him that he was a teenager with raging hormones. Self-control was becoming a bit of an issue. He had almost gone off the rocker when Alexis accidentally pressed her breasts against his back during their ride.
A cool gust of wind swept past them. She shivered and looked up at the sky. "It's going to rain soon."
"A little rain never hurt anybody," he said. "Besides, don't you want the King's autograph? The King isn't present at the moment, but we're more than welcomed to tour the house."
She arched an elegant brow. "If the King's away, then how am I supposed to get an autograph?"
"His grandpa has tons of autograph boards signed by him. The old man's selling them for a nifty price. It's good business, you know, and he's giving us one for free. I figured you should take it, Alexis."
"Are you sure? The King is like your idol, isn't he?"
"No worries."
An old man came to answer the door for them. He had extravagant gray hair, featuring multiple layers including crooked, pointy locks for his fringe while the rest featured a set of large spikes. He was rather short, standing about 151 cm in height. He had a pair of purple eyes. He wore a yellow bandanna on his head, a grey shirt, and a green jumper. There was no doubt in their mind that this was the King of Duelists' grandfather, Solomon Muto.
"Jaden, my boy, I've been expecting you," he said happily before looking at Alexis. "And this must be the girl you were talking about. My, she's a keeper all right. She's as pretty as Tea."
"Tea? Tea Gardner, the famous dancer in New York?" Alexis asked.
"Yes, that's right. Tea's my soon-to-be granddaughter-in-law, you know," Solomon explained. "Now why don't you come in?" He stepped aside and gestured his hand for them to enter.
Jaden and Alexis followed Solomon into the living room of their house upstairs, totally excited for what they would find there. When they caught sight of the trophy case and the picture frames, they walked up to it without a second thought. Excitement fluttered in their chest. The Duel Deck of the King, the trophies, the medals and certificates were like treasures that sparkled in their eyes.
"All right, you two, turn around," Solomon said. When they did, he quickly snapped a picture with the use of a digital camera. "Good thing Yugi thought me how to use this."
"You caught us there by surprise, grandpa," Jaden said, chuckling. "Shoot us again, okay?" He smiled up at Alexis. "Make sure to smile, okay, Alexis?"
She nodded and turned to the camera, smiling beautifully. On the other hand, Jaden did his signature pose. After snapping the picture, Jaden motioned over to Alexis' side and draped his arm on her shoulder.
Her heart skipped a beat. "Jaden?"
"Say cheese, Lex!" He smiled widely as he did a peace sign, and Alexis shyly smiled, fully aware that her cheeks have pinked. "Sweet! Grandpa, where's the computer? I'd like copies of those pictures you took."
"My grandson's laptop is on the table," Solomon said, pointing at the table in the center of the living room. "You can use that. Here's the camera." Handing Jaden the camera, he walked over the Alexis and pulled out a laminated card with the King's signature on it. "As promised, this is for you."
"Thank you," Alexis said, bowing her head. "It's quite an honor really."
The old man shook his head. "The one you should really thank is that young boy," he said, peering over his shoulder to look at Jaden, who was busy connecting the camera and his USB to the laptop. "He was the one who asked me to get an autograph for you and to take your picture next to this trophy case. I owe him much, so this is the least I could do."
Alexis held the card close and sighed contentedly. First, it was the duel, then the joyride, and then a trip to the King of Duelists' house. Jaden had made this day more exceptional for her. He may think of this as nothing more than a simple hangout between friends, but, to her, it was a special date.
Turning, she looked at the pictures frames, which were all filled with photographs of Yugi Muto and his friends. There was one particular photo that caught her attention. It was a photo of Yugi Muto and Tea Gardner together. Judging from the background, Alexis could tell that the picture was taken at the park. Yugi was seated on the bench, while Tea was standing behind him with her arms around his neck. Both of them were smiling brightly. She felt quite envious towards their relationship. She could see it in their faces that they were in love with one another. Closing her eyes, she remembered the scene where she nearly confessed her love to Jaden. She shrugged, wondering if things would be the same if she had actually gone through with the confession.
He never thought he would see the day of Alexis posing for the most famous Duel Magazine in the world. He noticed the gazes of admiration coming from the males as she came to pose and turn on the runway. She was clad in a tight strapless blue dress with a black band around the waist and a biker-style vest that hang a bit above her waist, along with a pair of black boots. She wore black duel disk shaped like a crescent blade with silver jewels on it. He had tagged along with the Rhodes siblings to the photo shoot. Well, Atticus had pretty much insisted that he should come.
And it was really a good thing he came along.
Alexis' outfit suited her perfectly, with the dress hugging those beautiful curves and exposing those creamy legs. She looked so irresistible that he felt like jumping into the scene and gathering her in his arms. Such thoughts still surprised him. Atticus had told him that physical attraction was a natural occurrence in society. In addition to that, he had explained things like chemistry and pheromones and had assured him that guys sometimes find themselves uncontrollably attracted to a woman.
Atticus had craving for the spotlight and being a model was the perfect job for him. Of course, he had to involve Alexis in the business too. Alexis was never the type to be interested in modeling or beauty. However, Atticus can be very, very, very persistent.
Alexis was doing fine in her shoots. Every time she posed, she looked very serene and beautiful, and Jaden had kept his eyes on her the whole time. Alexis had the looks of a movie star. He wondered if he deserves such a girl. Well, that MAN certainly thinks so. Nonetheless, the men gawking at Alexis sure made his patience a little thinner than usual.
When Alexis went to change in her dressing room, Jaden scanned the place and noticed Atticus on the phone in one corner. Atticus seemed a bit worried and annoyed for some reason, reminding Jaden of the conversation Alexis had with her father. It wasn't his place to meddle into family affairs, but he couldn't help getting curious. The moment the call ended he saw Atticus sighed in relief. It could be their dad again…Should I ask?
Atticus looked thoughtfully at his cell phone before he put it away.
"Hey, Atticus!" Jaden greeted.
A smile quickly cracked Atticus' face. "J, my man, what did you think of Alexis? Pretty hot, right?" he said with a smug.
"Yeah, I guess," replied Jaden.
"She'll be the cover girl for next month's issue," Atticus said. "Be sure to buy a copy."
"No, I'll buy five of them!" Jaden said excitedly.
"Buy five of what?"
Jaden turned at the sound of Alexis' voice. She had come up behind him, and he couldn't help his big smile of admiration. She'd come this time dressed in red top underneath a gray cardigan, with brown shorts and gray flat shoes. "Buy five packs of cards!" he told her, chuckling.
Alexis tilted her head, then said, "I was planning to stop by at the card shop today too. Let's go together."
"Together? As in another date?" Atticus teased, winking playfully at Alexis.
"Do you want me to hit you?" Alexis said curtly, her voice carrying a note of steel. "It's not a date, so get that straight." She crossed her arms.
Jaden chewed his bottom lip and lowered his head. Not a date, huh? No surprises there since we're not official yet.
"Sure, it's not," Atticus said. "Go and enjoy yourselves now."
Jaden sighed. Was Atticus really suggesting that he and Alexis were a couple?
After visiting the card shop and buying some pack of cards, they sat in one of the assembly rooms of KaibaCorp. Alexis had told him that she was going to meet with someone there, the same person who didn't come for her on the day they first met in Domino City. The person was supposedly a friend of hers, and he wondered what kind of friend he was.
Alexis studied the cards she bought. She recognized a few new ones and figured it would be of great use in her deck.
"Sweet card, Lex," Jaden said.
She looked at him. "My thoughts exactly."
Her phone suddenly rang, and Jaden hoped it wasn't her father since he didn't want her to be in a bad mood. It was pretty obvious that the Rhodes siblings were not in good terms with their father.
"It's dad again," she muttered under her breath as she rose from the chair. "Please excuse me…" She crossed the room and leaned against the glass wall. She took a deep breath before answering the call. "What do you want?"
It had to be her father, he thought wryly. He'd been thinking of ways to open up the topic about her father without offending her, but he wasn't sure how to go about it. A frown had greased her face as she listened to whatever the man was telling her on the phone. Though putting on a brave face didn't hide the fact the hazy look in her eyes, Jaden noted that she still look commanding.
"Nothing's going to change my mind, dad," Alexis said. "You're just doing this for your own selfish reasons." She tore the phone away from her ear and hung up. "Dammit…" She raked a hand through her blonde locks. She wished her father would stop pestering her.
Lifting her head, only to find Jaden standing right in front of her, much to her surprise, Alexis felt a shudder of sexual awareness that went through her.
"I don't know the problem between you and your father, but I just want you to know that you can always talk to me, Lex," he said, clutching onto the rounds of her shoulders.
His eyes, his touch, his smell, his words—it all made her heart go wild. She felt her phone slipping from her fingers, and Jaden caught it before it hit the floor. "Sorry about that…" She reached out for her phone, and he stood up at the same time, lifting his head.
Then it happened!
They both paused, staring wide-eyed at each other, because they found themselves locked in a kiss once more.
His heart drummed in his ears. "S-Sorry!" he exclaimed, breaking away from the lip contact, as he fell down on his butt. "That was so not on purpose! Believe me!" Yes, it wasn't intentional, but his body loved it and he wanted more, which was kind of scary and amusing at the same time.
She touched her lips, and his eyes homed in on the movement of her delicate fingers.
"Alexis…" In a smooth motion, he stood up, and she turned her away from him. "Alexis…I'm sorry. Man, I'm so stupid. How could I let this happen again?" He scratched his head in frustration.
Alexis squeezed her eyes shut as she clutched her heart. This was bad. Her body was crying out for him to touch her. She recalled the scene when she nearly confessed to him and decided that it was best to tell him now or never. "J-Jaden…I…" She peered over her shoulder to look at him. Her lips parted, but the words refused to come. This was too difficult for her.
"Alexis, I'm gonna be honest here," he said. "When we kissed just now…I felt as if my heart was gonna burst."
She turned to face his soft gaze. "To think you'd actually say things like that…And I thought you were all about dueling," she said in a low voice.
"Well…I…when I'm with you, I feel—"
"Excuse me."
Jaden choked on his own words because of the sudden interruption.
Willing her heart to calm down, Alexis turned to the direction of the voice and found a woman, dressed in formal business attire, standing next to the door. She had long blonde wavy hair and a pair of lavender-hued eyes.
"I'm sorry for the intrusion, but my boss sent me here to inform you that he cannot meet with you today," the woman explained. "And he also ordered me to hand this invitation." She approached the pair, pulling out a beautiful invitation card.
"An invitation to what?" Alexis asked, as Jaden peered at the card.
"A wedding," the lady said, and Jaden's heart skipped a beat. "My boss wishes for you to attend this wedding on his behalf. You may bring a guest if you want."
Alexis read the names of the couple on the invitation and sighed. "You know, that guy is never fond of weddings and birthdays. Akilljoy if you ask me…"
"Whose wedding is it, Lex?" Jaden asked.
"A wedding of a rich couple. The groom is a business tycoon and a rather good associate of Mr. No Show. He's about thirty, and the bride is twenty-eight. They're having this big reception after the grand wedding."
The lady in the business attire checked her watch. "Oh, I must be going now. If you'll please excuse me," she said, bowing her head, before making her exit.
As soon as the lady was gone, Jaden questioned Alexis again. "So, when's the big wedding?"
"This Saturday."
"That lady said you may bring a guest. Mind if I tag along?"
She raised a brow. "Are you sure? You never stuck me as the romantic type. I don't think you'll enjoy watching a wedding."
True to a point, he was rather clueless on that subject until he realized what love and attraction is. "No sweat! I've always wanted to attend a Big shot's wedding. Plus, all those yummy food at the reception! I can't wait." He kept his tone cheerful.
There was a short pause. "All right…I guess there's no harm bringing you along," she said, and she thought it would be another good chance for them to spend time with one another.
To be continued…
JC: That's that. I just love Doble Passé! I love the card design and effect. Too bad it didn't make it to the OCG. I would so want that card even just as a collection. I currently have all of Alexis' Cyber Girls (except for the Cyber Angels duh since they're on Video Game/Anime-only cards). I used to run a Cyber Girl deck three years ago. It was fun to use. It'll be a while before another duel comes up in this story. I don't want duels to take up much space. Oh, my friend actually suggested the part with Yugi's grandfather. She wanted a cameo appearance. One of Alexis' suitors from the Anime would appear in the next chapter. Feel free to guess. Please do review. No Flaming!