A/N: New chapter! Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX or Yugioh 5D's.
"Yusei! You can't be serious!" Aki said, incredulous. "Tell me you're not really asking me out while we're on an important mission, are you?"
"I know," he answered. "We're not really here to have fun, are we? But we can't do anything until that card comes back into range, so I thought we could pass some time that way."
Granted, he wasn't sure what to do for a date on a space ark, but he'd think of something.
"And what about your recent run of bad luck?" Aki asked, crossing her arms. "What happens if we try this, and it causes us to lose the card or get into trouble again? Then what? Well?"
"Aki, I really think my bad luck changed after talking to Judai. I mean, we've spent a lot of time together as friends, and nothing's happened yet. We can at least try again, can't we?"
"I suppose... Okay."
"Great. Then how's Friday sound?"
"Sure, why not," Aki said with little enthusiasm—she wasn't getting her hopes up that this one would be any different.
"Okay. See you then," Yusei said before walking off in search of somewhere he hadn't yet found.
Asuka and Judai, meanwhile, had reached the cafeteria. Apparently, though, they weren't the only ones seeking food just then. Out of all the round tables in the large room, only one wasn't full—it was small, probably big enough to sit four, max, if they squeezed in around it. For a moment, Asuka thought it would be fine. That was before she saw Judai lick his lips as he looked at the food on one end of the room.
Asuka looked at him, concerned. "Uh... I...think I'll come back later..." She started inching away.
Judai looked at her, confusion written on his face. "Why? Aren't you hungry?" he asked.
"Well, it looks a bit crowded right now, so..."
"There's room enough for both of us over there," he said, pointing at the empty table. "Come on."
"Uh... You sure?" she asked, not wanting to upset him by opening old wounds.
Judai smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm sure."
"I don't know. Won't this..." She trailed off, not wanting to finish that.
"Asuka. What did I just say about leaving the past in the past?" he answered, still smiling. He held a hand out to her.
Asuka hesitated, still unsure about this. "Okay...," she said at last.
Judai gave her a reassuring smile. "Just don't ask me too many questions about the past, and we should be good."
"...Okay."
She took his hand, and the two went and got some food before heading over to the small table and sitting down across from each other.
As Judai started scarfing down his food, Asuka stared. Judai scarfing down food once was one thing—she could always put it down to him not eating earlier. Judai scarfing down food twice was harder to explain.
"Do you always eat like that?" she asked.
He stopped eating for a moment and looked at her. "Huh?"
"Uh, no," she said, closing her eyes and grinning. "Never mind!"
Judai cocked his head.
"Ah. The joys of being naïve. You never know what anyone's saying," Yubel teased.
Funny, Yubel.
"So, you're a hero, then?" Asuka asked in attempt to make conversation.
"Yeah, pretty much," Judai answered.
"And what's that like?"
"It can get pretty crazy sometimes. I travel all around the world, just helping out with whatever's going on wherever I am."
"And what do you mean by crazy?"
"Well, I've met guys who bring duel monsters to life here on Earth, aliens, and basically anything sci-fi you can think of."
"W-what!?"
Judai laughed at her reaction. "Yeah. That's actually how I met Yusei, too. Some guy from the future—even Yusei's future—went back in time and was stealing duel monsters from friends of mine, so I checked it out, got blasted by real dragons, and got saved by Yusei."
"So that's how, huh?"
"Yeah. We had to go further back in time, chasing after the guy, to save the world."
Asuka stared at him a moment, stunned, before she said, "Your life's crazy..."
Judai just laughed again.
Sho burst through the door. "FINALLY!" he exclaimed.
Asuka turned. "Huh!? Sho!?"
Judai stared at the panting blunette.
"See, little guy?" Crow said, coming in behind him. "I told ya we'd find it."
"I'm just glad we found anything familiar," Sho answered. "Remind me to thank Yusei later."
The two headed over to get some food. Judai watched, sweating.
"Yeah, I figured he was lying... Wonder why?"
Asuka stared at the boy in question, the kid who had claimed he wasn't hungry only to burst in shortly after they had arrived, as she realized what he had done.
"Oh, no..."
"Huh?" Judai turned to her. "What?"
"J-Judai... Notice anything about this setup here? Well, I think he..." She trailed off.
Judai looked at her questioningly, ever the naïve one.
"He might have...felt like a third wheel." She finished in a mumble.
Judai's eyes widened slightly. "Oh."
"...I should probably leave...," Asuka said, standing up.
"No," Judai said, stopping her. "Don't."
"Huh?"
"You don't have to go."
"But wouldn't you rather not—I mean, doesn't this—" She cut herself off. She was sure this would hurt him, but she didn't want to say it.
Judai shrugged. "We hung out all the time as friends before," he told her. "There wasn't always someone else around."
That was especially true after graduation. They had all gone their separate ways, and Sho wasn't tagging along anymore, even though he and Asuka had eventually settled down in the same town.
"...Okay, then." She sat back down.
Sho and Crow walked over, each carrying a tray of food. "Uh, 'scuse us, but can we..." Not wanting to intrude, Sho trailed off.
"Yeah, sure," Judai said.
Sho's eyes bugged out of his head. "Wha!? Really!?"
"Great!" Crow said, needing no further invitation, as he took a seat.
"Crow?" Sho asked.
"What's wrong, Sho? No need to be shy. He doesn't bite," Asuka teased Judai with a grin. "Just don't mess with his food, and keep your hands away from his mouth, and you'll be okay."
"Ha ha, real funny, Asuka," Judai said, grinning as well.
Sho looked at them questioningly.
"Come on, pal!" Crow said. "Have a seat already! They're only joking."
"Uh, okay..." Sho sat down. He was quiet for a few seconds before adding, "Sorry about this."
"About what?" Judai asked.
"It's fine, Sho," Asuka said. "We were getting a little bored, anyway."
"Wha!? Really!?" Sho exclaimed. "But that means—"
"We wanted more friends to hang out with besides each other," she cut him off.
Sho just stared at her.
"After all, it's more fun in a larger group, right?" she finished.
"...But I thought—"
"Yeah," Judai said, cutting Sho off. "What she said, Sho."
He stared back and forth between the two for a moment before looking down.
"I just don't get it," Sho said to Judai later in their room. "You were alone with her, and you didn't do anything? Why?"
"Sho, technically, none of you guys should even know me yet," Judai pointed out. "What do you expect me to do? Hook up with Asuka before she goes to school and meets this time's me, who doesn't know her yet?"
Sho stared at him for a little while. "But isn't that part of some unfinished business you have?" he asked at last.
"Yeah, well, I'm still not even sure it's a good thing that you guys know me..."
"Huh? Why?"
"Space/time stuff. That's why." Thinking about the three times in life that he had met Yugi, he added, "Then again..."
Okay, he had met Yugi when he went to take the entrance exam for Duel Academy. That was when Yugi had given him Winged Kuriboh. Then again, had Yugi given it to him because he knew him? Because they met in the past? But he didn't know Yugi...
Tired of giving himself a headache, Judai shook his head and gave up on sorting through that.
"Oh. You mean what's going on right now," Sho said. "Okay."
"Yeah. And it's really confusing..."
Sho sighed in relief. "Good. 'Cause, for a second there, I thought you meant everyone would be better off if we never meet. I mean, obviously you would..."
Thinking of his third year, Judai said, "There was a time when I thought that... Hopefully, what we're doing right now will keep that time from happening..."
"I hope so..."
Well, it's a good thing I sleep in my pants, Judai thought, irritated, as he searched the room for any of his clothes. Now if I was only smart enough to wear a shirt to bed...
When he had woken up that morning, Judai had found that all of his clothes were missing, save the pants he had slept in. His shoes were even gone. This was bad, considering all he owned was about six shirts, two pairs of pants, some socks, and his old Duel Academy jacket and shoes—sort of. What really ticked him off was the jacket—he'd had that thing for 2000 years, getting it patched up so much that it hardly counted as the original anymore, keeping it as a reminder of happier times. The shoes had been fixed a lot, too, but he didn't care so much about those. He wanted that jacket back. His few shirts, pants, sock, and shoes, too, while he was at it, but especially that jacket.
"I swear," Sho said, an evil gleam in his eyes, as Judai cast a glare upon him. "I have no idea what happened, Aniki. Honest."
Judai put a hand to his head. "Ugh..."
He didn't buy it, but he couldn't really force Sho to tell the truth.
"Maybe someone else saw who did it," Sho suggested.
"Yeah, okay," Judai said, heading out to find his clothes.
Crow was rocking out to what he believed were a bunch of cool "oldies." They weren't old in this time, but they were for him. Even with his door shut, the music could be heard clearly out in the hallway, and Judai was pretty sure he heard the guy singing, too. He knocked on the door, unheard by the occupant.
"Crow! Hey!" Judai called, pounding on the door.
Crow opened up, blasting his music out into the hall, still rocking out a bit. "Yo, dude! What's shakin'!?" he asked over the music.
"You wouldn't know what happened to the rest of my clothes, would you!?" Judai answered loudly, trying to be heard. "They're all missing!"
Crow cupped a hand to his ear. "WHAT WAS THAT, BRO!?"
Judai frowned. "WHY DON'T YOU TURN THAT DOWN FOR A MINUTE!?"
"OH! OKAY! ONE SEC!" he said, heading back into the room and cranking down the volume. He walked back over and said, "Okay. You were saying?"
A lame look on his face, Judai said, "My shirts and jacket seem to have 'gone missing.' Any ideas where they might be?"
"No, sorry, buddy," Crow said. "I wish I could help you, but I don't know what happened to 'em." He looked at Judai's feet and added, "Might want to put some shoes on, though. The floors up here get pretty cold."
"Yeah, those are gone, too."
"Well, who the heck steals centuries-old clothes?" Crow asked. "What's wrong with people 'round here?"
Judai muttered, "The only 'centuries-old' things are my jacket and my shoes...and those have been fixed so many times, I'm not sure they count..."
"I don't know, pal. I could help you look for 'em, though."
"Thanks," Judai said.
The two split up to search. Crow asked Jack. Judai, on the other hand, had a more awkward moment with his next encounter.
Out of all the things Aki had expected to see that morning, a half-naked Judai wasn't one of them. Granted, he wasn't bad-looking, dressed in nothing but black jeans. Without a shirt and that ratty jacket on, she could see how well-toned he was. A half-naked man was definitely not what she'd had in mind for this morning, though.
"What?" she asked after he posed his question, staring at him in surprise.
Maybe I should borrow a shirt, Judai thought. "You haven't seen the rest of my clothes around, have you?" he repeated, a lame look on his face.
"That's what I thought you said," Aki said. "No. Sorry, I haven't. Why did someone steal them in the first place? Who'd do something like that?"
"I'm thinking Sho, though I don't have any proof...or a reason..."
"What?"
That's the second time she's asked that... What, does she go deaf when she sees a shirtless guy?
Aki stared another moment before saying, "Sorry. I don't know."
Judai sighed. "Okay, then."
He headed off to ask someone else. Or find a guy with a shirt he could actually fit into. He was getting a bit cold running around here without one.
Yusei was planning for the date he had tomorrow when he heard a knock at his door.
"It's open," he called.
Judai opened the door and walked on in, wearing nothing but black jeans. "Hey. You wouldn't have a shirt I can borrow? Or any idea where mine are?" he asked lamely.
Yusei sweat. "What happened, Judai?"
"Somebody stole my clothes."
"Why?"
"Don't ask me. All I know is, when I woke up, all I had was the clothes on my back..."
"I might have a shirt you can borrow," Yusei told him. "What size are you?"
"Medium," he answered.
Yusei nodded. "Okay, give me a minute to see what I can come up with." He dug through his closet and pulled out a black and red tank top. "Will this do, pal?" he asked.
"Yeah. Thanks, Yusei."
Tossing Judai the shirt, Yusei said, "No problem. So, any guesses on who the clothes thief is?"
Judai caught the shirt and pulled it on, saying, "Only guess I've got is Sho, though he denies it, and I can't think of why he'd do it."
"Hmm. That's weird. Need some help searching, then?"
"I'd appreciate it, if you're not too busy."
"Nah. That's tomorrow. I just hope it works out this time." He looked away, thoughtful.
Guessing what "that" was because of Yusei's attitude, Judai said, "Good luck with that, man."
"Anyway, bro, we should get looking for your missing clothes," Yusei said. "Any ideas on where to look?"
Judai stood there for a moment. "Nope," he answered at last, sweating. "Not a one."
"Then let's get looking. We've got a lot of ground left to cover. Assuming he didn't throw them into space, we should be able to find them," Yusei teased, grinning, as he walked out.