Shadgirl2: This chapter is pretty long.

Midna: Yeah, and there's a bit of fluff, so enjoy that. There are a few POV shifts in here, but it's all the POV of two characters. As always, I indicate in bold whose POV it is at the start of each switch.

Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.


Judai's POV

In the morning, I asked my dad's assassin to meet with me privately. Usually, he'd only take orders from my dad, but he was willing to talk to me when I told him it was about finding a way to end the feud between us and Kalmar.

So that's how I found myself in a dimly lit room with Austin O'Brien, a dark, muscular guy with a gun for a duel disk and an air about him that said he could rip you in half without hesitation. I made sure he locked the door behind him so nobody could walk in on us.

"So? What do you need, my prince?" he asked, looking at me with intense hazel eyes.

"When this feud started, two decks were stolen," I began. "Ours and Kalmar's. I want you to look into this and try to find out who really stole those decks because I doubt they took ours unless we took theirs, which, the last time I checked, we didn't."

O'Brien nodded and answered, "Alright. I'll see what I can come up with."

"Good. Then you're dismissed."

He nodded and headed out. I followed him out of the room, only to be greeted by my least favorite person.

"So? How'd it go?" Yubel asked me.

"He's on it," I said simply.

"Good. Then maybe we can finally put an end to all this crap. Really, I'm surprised we're allowed to have Kalmarians in Neospace, aren't you?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said, thinking it was kind of a miracle my family hadn't heard that Sho was from Kalmar and just shipped him on home in a blind rage. It was even more impressive that they hadn't done that with Asuka, considering she'd arrived with Johan, the prince of Kalmar.

"Well, now that that's settled, ready for your before-breakfast class on economics this morning? You've got ten minutes til it starts," Yubel reminded me, grinning.

I groaned, wondering once again why I had so many stupid classes all through the day. Was this because I'd skipped so many lessons when I was younger that I was now really far behind or something?


Asuka's POV

I'd managed to get some less princessy clothes from the staff without going as far as Yubel's style, so I felt a little more comfortable out and about. My latest dress was a perfect example of Neospacian culture—older in style with a modern flair. I was starting to wonder how the old style had actually made a comeback after so many centuries.

Regardless, I was sitting under a tree in the garden with Sho, talking about his perspective on what was wrong with his relationship with Judai these days.

"It's like he's got no time for me as his friend or brother. All he ever does is work..." Sho said, dejected.

"Hmm. I see."

There were clearly issues on both sides, it seemed. Judai resented Sho being treated differently than him, apparently seeing Sho as the favorite (which was absurd, given who was actually blood royalty around here), and Sho didn't like how busy Judai was with princely duties all the time (which he should have seen coming with Judai being the crown prince). Both boys had some personal issues they needed to resolve. Hopefully, they'd be able to figure it out.


Judai's POV

Once I finally had a break from classes, I went out to the garden, where I found Sho and Asuka under a tree. Well, since I had some time and she'd come to see me, anyway, I headed over to join them, laying down in the grass.

"Hi, Prince. How are you?" Asuka asked, not even bothering to use my name with the title.

The best I could figure, she felt the need to use my title because some people were gardening nearby. Either way, I hated it when my friends used my title, so I wasn't about to let that stand.

"Don't call me 'prince.' Nobody does."

"Uh, Aniki," Sho started to correct me. "That's not—"

"Yeah, well, they're not supposed to," I amended.

He was probably thinking of not only the servants, who did address me by title, but also the visitors to the castle who did the same. Either way, I'd told some of them, at least, to just call me Judai. Generally, I did that if I was hoping to make a friend, which never really went all that well, so I still heard my title from nearly everybody.

"If you say so," Asuka conceded. "Anyway, you didn't answer my question. What's up?"

"Not much. What's up with you?" I returned, staring up at the tree branches above me.

"Well, Sho and I were just talking about how things are run around here. Sounds like it's not that easy being royalty, is it?"

Wow, she'd just figured that out? "What was your first clue?" I asked sarcastically.

"Well, you said something about it yesterday, and then Sho..."

I glanced at Sho in time to see him look down, apparently upset about something. I figured I knew what it was. "Yeah. I never have time for him, right?"

"Well, that's what he said, but..."

I looked back to the sky and said, "I need a break."

"But, Aniki. Aren't you on one right now?" Sho asked.

"What are you thinking, Judai?" Asuka asked, sounding wary.

I sat up, hands on my head, and said, "I'm thinking that I gotta get out of here before I go insane!"

Asuka stood up, saying, "But, Judai! You can't do that!"

At the same time, Sho said, "Aniki! That's crazy! What if Dad finds out?"

"Relax, I've gotta find a way out first," I told them both. "It's not like Yubel doesn't tell him everything. Besides, I don't care if he finds out. If nobody sees me sneak out, he can't prove anything."

Asuka looked away, apparently unsure about my crazy ideas. "I don't know."

"But isn't that dangerous? Remember what happened the last time?" Sho asked. "What if—"

"Hey, I learned my lesson," I cut him off. "I'll be more careful. Besides, it's not like everyone in the world has those kinds of powers."

"If you say so... But how are you gonna do it?"

"Sho. You can't seriously be okay with this," Asuka said, turning her attention to my adopted brother, and I was starting to get a feeling that I shouldn't have said anything around her.

"Why not? He says it's okay," Sho answered.

"Yeah, but he—"

Given that Asuka was still adamant about me not sneaking out, I got the feeling I wouldn't be getting away with much while she was there and aware of my plans. From the sound of things, if I tried to sneak out of the castle, she'd either follow me or go tell someone what I'd done. It was almost as if I'd told Yubel what I was thinking of doing. The only difference was she sounded worried about me instead of mad at me for it.

"Ugh... Never mind," I said, realizing this.

Asuka turned to me, probably hearing from my tone that I wasn't happy about that. "Hey, I'm just saying that—"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," I cut her off again. "It's irresponsible and not how a prince should behave and dangerous and about a million other things. But do you have any idea what it's like to have your home be your prison?"

"What?"

"Half the time, it feels like the guards are here to keep me in, not keep troublemakers out."

"Aniki, that's silly. It's not that bad around here," Sho said.

I retorted, "You only have, like, three hours of classes a day, and some of that is stuff you chose to learn! I have to learn a lot more, and I don't get a say in it! And even when I've got a break, there's still a chance somebody will try to get me to do more work!"

Like my dueling instructor adding "help Sho build his confidence" to my list of chores.

I guess my outburst was shocking because Sho just sat and stared at me in silence for a second. Hey, what can I say? At that moment, I felt overwhelmed, and that wasn't an unusual feeling for me. The pressures of being royal were often difficult to deal with, especially when you consider the other issues I had outside of normal royal duties—you know, my family hating my new friend, my ridiculous jealousy of my adopted brother, my feelings for a girl from an enemy kingdom...those things.

Asuka moved closer, putting her hands on my shoulders, and said in a soothing tone, "Now, Judai. It's okay. Just try to calm down. It's not as bad as you think."

I snapped my attention to her and answered, "Wanna bet? You try it for a week! I mean, why the heck do I need to know how to play the violin!?"

Seriously, with all the other lessons I had, why was that still considered important enough to take up more of my time? Did my parents just want me to have less time on my hands in which I could possibly get into trouble?

"You can do what?" Asuka asked, letting go in surprise.

I groaned.

"You really had to learn that, Aniki?" Sho asked. "Can you play the piano, too?"

He sounded excited, so I guess I could add that to the list of things Sho'd be learning soon. At least, after his broken hand finished healing. Either way, that question set me off again.

"Yes, I can play the piano! Along with reading, writing, math, science, history, geography, and why I should hate Johan!" I bellowed, listing off a bunch of subjects I'd been learning my whole life. "Other parts of the standard curriculum for a real prince are horseback riding, sword fighting, dueling, economics, politics, manners, dancing, how to sneak around and not get caught, picking locks, escaping from captivity—because those are two separate things. I've had training in hand-to-hand combat, learned how to paint, play tennis—which I hate—along with other games—"

I could have gone on all day, and if Asuka hadn't taken that moment to stop me, I probably would have. She put her hands on my shoulders again, saying, "Judai, Judai, Judai. Deep breaths. We get it, okay? It's a lot harder than we first assumed, okay?"

I did as she said, taking some deep breaths, as I tried to calm myself down. Sho just sat there, staring at me. I couldn't really blame him, especially since that was as close as I'd ever come to admitting to him that I was jealous of him those days. But the sheer amount of information my parents wanted to dump on me, along with the random activities they insisted I learn so I could be more well-rounded, was more than I could take at times. Sure, I wasn't taking all of those courses at the same time, but it didn't change the fact that I had more coursework than I could stand. I never really liked school all that much—it's boring. At least, most classes are.

"...Whoa..." Sho said.

"Better, Judai?" Asuka asked me when I seemed a bit more relaxed.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Wow, Aniki. I never knew. I'm sorry."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I just didn't say anything. A sarcastic remark came to mind, but I hadn't sunk so low that I was going to take my frustrations out on Sho. I'd wanted him to get treated better, not worse, and he wasn't responsible for the way I was feeling. It wouldn't have been fair for me to go after him.

"Well, I guess that explains why you want out of here so badly. But I still think it's a bad idea," Asuka said.

"Of course, you do," I said flatly. It figured she would.

"It's just, with a dad like that and lots of enemies out there, I—"

She sounded like she was worried about me, which was fair, I guess. I mean, she'd only met me because I'd been kidnapped by some enemies when I left the castle unsupervised the last time. Still, I figured I could set her mind at ease.

"Asuka, I've been sneaking out since I was eight, and nothing happened until that one time."

She looked away, saying, "But, still, I—"

"Huh? What is it, Asuka? You worried about him or something?" Sho asked.

"I never said that," she said, her attention moving to him.

"But, then, why—"

"I just don't think he should be doing stuff like that, that's all. Besides, I..." She looked away again as she trailed off.

Sho grinned and teased, "You like him, don't you?"

Asuka blushed suddenly. "N-no, I don't."

Well, that was a new one for me—sure, people always tried to stop me from slipping out unguarded, but I'd never seen one blush before. "...Huh."

"Oh, yeah? Then why are you blushing so badly?" Sho asked, still grinning, as he pointed at her accusingly.

"I'm not!" Asuka protested, still red in the face.

"Oh, yes, you are. She's red as a tomato, isn't she, Aniki?" Sho turned to me, still grinning.

If anything, Asuka blushed deeper at that, sweating. I just blinked, not totally sure what was going on here. What was so embarrassing about Sho saying she liked me? Weren't we friends? Shouldn't she like me, considering we were friends?

Asuka looked off behind us suddenly, then asked, "Say, Sho, isn't that your history teacher over there?"

Sho looked startled. "Huh? W-where?" He turned to see what she was seeing.

"He just went that way," Asuka said, pointing off toward the castle. "And he didn't look too happy. You might want to go see what he wants." She gave an evil grin, and I could tell she was just trying to get rid of Sho.

Still confused about what was going on, I didn't say anything as Sho got up, looking nervous. "Oh, great. What'd I mess up on now?" he asked himself as he walked off to go find the history teacher who probably hadn't just been spotted.

Once he was out of earshot, Asuka sighed, apparently relieved. "Thank goodness, he's gone."

Okay, I had to ask. "Why?"

"So, anyway, Judai, didn't you say you needed a break?" Asuka asked as she got to her feet, ignoring my question completely. "What say you and I sneak into town for a little while and have ourselves a little fun? Sound good?"

"I thought you were against me sneaking out?" I asked, now about as confused as I'd ever been.

"Great!" she said, pulling me to my feet. "Then lead the way!" She started pushing me toward the castle wall, as if she hadn't just been telling me that I shouldn't try to sneak out again.

"Huh? Hold up, I haven't found a way!" I said, still recovering from the whiplash she was giving me with this complete 180 of hers.

"Well, you'd better find one, then. Come on, let's go. We're burning daylight here," she said as she kept pushing me toward the outer wall.

No, I was totally lost. This didn't make any sense, considering what she'd been saying a few minutes ago. Since when was she okay with me doing this, let alone willing to tag along? I hadn't even said she needed to or suggested that I wanted her to. Where had this attitude change come from?

"...Okay," was all I said, lost as could be, as I gave up on making sense of her new attitude.


I wasn't even sure I could have pulled that one off, but somehow, I did find a way out of the castle. How I did it will remain mine and Asuka's secret until the end of time, for reasons I hope are obvious. Anyway, once we were out of the castle and across the moat, we finally made it into the capital city of Kodaiko, where I gave Asuka the grand tour. After all, she hadn't really seen much of the town yet, considering Johan had brought her straight to my home. Since she seemed interested in history and such, I gave her the historical and architectural facts about the town square as we stood on the cobblestone road, looking at the fountain in the middle of it.

"Wow. That's amazing. To think they could build such an elegant-looking water fountain out of nothing but clay, sand, and mud. And it's exactly the way it was when it was built today?"

The fountain she was talking about wasn't circular in shape. It was more of a hexagon for the ground level. Sitting inside of this hexagon full of water was a three-tiered fountain, where water came out of the top and cascaded down into the level below, filling its basin before it overflowed into the one below, and so on. At the very top of the fountain, where all that water came from, was Elemental Hero Neos, posing rather dramatically. The water came out of the area where Neos' mouth would be. Around the ground level of the fountain, six statues also spewed water into the fountain. These statues were shaped like the six Neo-Spacian duel monsters—Flare Scarab, Aqua Dolphin, Grand Mole, Glow Moss, Dark Panther, and Air Hummingbird. Each had water coming out of their mouths—or, in the case of Glow Moss, who didn't have a mouth, where a mouth would be—and they were all facing toward the center of the fountain because of this.

"Well, it's had to be fixed up a couple of times, but yeah, pretty much," I answered Asuka's question. No changes had been made to the fountain, just some repairs.

Sometime during my boring monologue, I'd put a foot up on the fountain's wall to point out some of the details for her, and she'd taken a look before, eventually, sitting down on the same wall.

"Amazing. You guys sure know how to preserve the more meaningful things in life. Guess that explains the lack of cars and all the horses and buggies and bicycles that take their place."

"Yeah."

"Judai-sama!" I heard a familiar, young girl call. "Hey!"

I tensed, then turned with a forced smile to greet the speaker. "Hey, Rei."

Saotome Rei, a girl several years younger than me, had come running over, a big smile on her face. Her long, dark hair hung loose about her shoulders, brown eyes full of excitement. She tended to dress in a more modern style, not the older outfits—that day, she was wearing black shorts, a yellow blouse, black socks that went up past her knees, and white knee-high boots. As she always did when she saw me around town, she pounced me in a hug.

"Hey! Word on the street is you saved the world! Guess who was helping you out? Eh?" The look she gave me made it obvious she was trying to hint at something—her eyebrows twitched upward a couple of times, and I knew she was expecting some show of gratitude from me.

Asuka stood up, asking, "Judai, who is this? Friend of yours?"

"Uh, this is Rei," I answered, unsure what to call her. "She's...in a category all her own."

I'd met Rei when we were both kids, and we'd hit it off at first. We'd been friends up until the point she found out that I was the crown prince. She'd started acting differently toward me then, just like everyone always did. These days, she wanted to marry me and actively claimed to be engaged to me.

Hugging me tighter, she started, "That's right! I'm his—"

"Don't finish that, Rei," I cut her off. "You know it's a lie."

"Aw, come on!" she whined slightly.

Asuka stared at us for a second longer, probably debating whether she believed it or not. Considering I'm pretty sure my exasperation showed on my face, she better have believed me. Finally, she said, "Okay."

Still holding onto me, Rei turned her head to look at Asuka, curious, and asked, "So, Judai-sama? Who's the blond? I've never seen her around before."

Since it was obvious she wasn't going to let go any time soon, I pushed Rei off as I answered, "This is Asuka. She's a friend of mine."

"Oh. Since when do you make friends with strange girls you barely even know?" Rei asked. "For all you know, she could—"

Apparently, Asuka took that personally—she cut Rei off with, "Be the girl he met who helped him find out who he was when he lost his memories and helped him beat the Light of Destruction?"

Rei's head snapped around to look at Asuka, eyes wide. "W-what!?" She stared at my friend in disbelief.

"Yeah, Rei," I confirmed. "That's who she is."

Rei turned her disbelieving stare on me next. "You had amnesia!? When was that? And I'm the one who helped you beat the Light, Judai-sama! I took out all those Light followers for you!"

"Heh. Big deal," Asuka said, crossing her arms. "I did that and so much more! Tell her, Judai!"

I had no idea why Asuka was suddenly so eager to brag about herself to Rei, but...

"Yeah, she actually kept me from falling. And helped me out when some Lights attacked and I still had amnesia. Twice."

Rei looked like she couldn't get any more shocked. "W-w-what!?"


Asuka's POV

Okay, so Judai's little girlfriend was a bit annoying with that uncalled-for comment about "strange girls," so, of course, I decided to tell her who I was. Still, I wasn't really expecting, when I listed everything my brother had said I'd done for the Neospacian prince, that he'd actually think it was all worth mentioning.

No way. He just mentioned everything my nii-san said! Could it be?

The shocked little girl, Rei, asked Judai, "You almost fell, even? But, Judai-sama! You're supposed to be immune to that! Your power—"

Judai's patience with this girl seemed to be running short (or maybe that was just my wishful thinking) as he cut her off, "They were using lasers to zap people into the Society. I'm just lucky Asuka was there. If not for her, I don't know what would have happened."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Wouldn't anyone have done that? I mean, the Light of Destruction was a problem for everyone, not just Neospace. "Judai..." I said, feeling...I wasn't sure how I was feeling, but it didn't feel bad.

Rei stared at him, apparently shocked into silence.

Judai turned his attention back to me and asked, "Anyway, Asuka, weren't we busy?" He took my hand and started pulling me off, sparing Rei a parting glance as he said, "See you around, Rei."

He did that so casually, like he had every right to. And he didn't let go as we walked away, either.

Behind us, I heard Rei growl. "Well, fine, then! See if I care! Hmph." The last thing I heard from her, I'm pretty sure, was her muttering, "Stupid blond."

That might have bothered me more if not for everything that had just happened. He's holding my hand. And he said— I blushed.

Judai was back to being a cheerful tour guide, pointing out another building (still holding my hand) and saying, "And that's the library. Not really my kind of place, but—"

"Judai," I cut him off. "I, uh..."

"Huh?" He looked at me and asked, "What is it?"

"Uh, about what happened back there. With Rei. You, would you say you, I-I mean, that you're..."

"Hm?" He cocked his head, clearly not understanding what I was saying. How could he, considering how much I was stammering.

The truth was, given how Rei had greeted him, I was worried about what their relationship was.

"N-never mind," I said. "Forget I said anything."

Judai looked at me for a long moment, probably still wondering what it was I was trying to ask, but he finally said, "Okay." He didn't let go of my hand, though.

I looked down at our interlinked hands, thinking, What are you thinking, Asuka? There's no way he's interested in someone like you. Besides, he's got Yubel, right?

"Anyway, I wanna show you something else," he said, apparently accepting that I wasn't going to say what was on my mind. "Come on!" Then, still holding onto my hand, he dragged me off again.

"Uh, okay!" I answered a bit nervously.

Having a crush on the prince of Neospace was hard, especially when I was so sure that we would never work out.


Judai's POV

I took Asuka to a place just outside of town—a hill with a cherry tree on top of it, which was in full bloom at the moment. The pink petals kept getting caught in the wind, blowing around.

"Here it is," I said, glad I'd brought her here in spring. Sure, I liked the place year-round, but it was prettier in spring.

"Oh, Judai, it's..." She stared, and, as I let go of her hand, she let it fall to her side.

"This is my favorite place," I told her. "It's always peaceful, and it's the only place where nobody ever bothers me. The tree's always beautiful at this time of year, and the breeze blowing through... Not to mention this is a great place to watch the sunset." I flopped down on the grass under the tree, making myself comfortable.

Asuka stood there for a second like she didn't know what to do. Then, in a tiny voice, she said, "Judai."

"Come on, relax," I said. Then I looked up in the tree and added, "I think there's a bird's nest up there."

Asuka hesitated a bit longer. "Uh...okay," she finally said, and she came and lay down beside me.

Success! So far, this wasn't going too bad. Sure, Rei showing up had been a bit annoying, but everything else was going well.

I lay there, enjoying the moment—watching the clouds roll by and the petals fall while enjoying the breeze. I didn't have a lot of experience with this kind of thing, but I figured I'd give it a shot. "The way the sun's shining on those petals, it looks like they're changing colors. It's beautiful, isn't it?" I asked, drawing attention to one of the more visually appealing things here.

"Yeah..." Asuka answered. "I like the way they flutter down like a bunch of little butterflies, too..." She turned her head to the side, looking at me, and asked, "But why are you showing me all this?"

"Just thought you'd like it. Besides, I've never really had anyone to share this place with before."

She sat up, looking surprised. "You're kidding. What about Yubel or Rei? I'm sure they'd love to—"

I laughed. Leave it to her to suggest I bring the two people who weren't even close to friends to a place I liked to hide. If I shared it with either one, they would ruin it by coming looking for me whenever I was there. "Rei's not really a friend. She falls into that category I call 'fake.' And Yubel's my babysitter, and I'm way out of the phase where I drag my mom around."

"Oh..."

"But they don't need to know about this place, anyway. If Yubel knew, she'd just come out here and drag me home all the time, and Rei would jump to conclusions and get the way wrong idea."

She'd probably take it as an official proposal and think she was destined to be my queen someday if I even considered bringing her out here.

"Oh. Okay."

We stayed there in companionable silence for a bit, and she lay back down beside me.

Finally, Asuka asked, "Judai?"

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you share this place with me if you don't want to share it with anyone else? I-is there something s-special abou-about me?"

She was getting more nervous as she went with that question, and I couldn't blame her. Honestly, hearing her ask that made me a little nervous.

"Well...yeah. I mean, you're..."

"Judai..." She blushed. "A-are you trying to say y-you're—"

My stomach growled, cutting off whatever she was about to say. "Heh..." I put a hand on my stomach, a bit embarrassed. I glanced at Asuka and asked, "You hungry?"

"Judai," Asuka said, grinning, as my stomach growled again.

I sat up, saying, "Alright, I guess it's time to eat.

Asuka giggled slightly and said, "Okay." She sat up again, too.

I got to my feet and held my hand out to her, offering to help her up. She looked at my hand, seemingly a bit surprised, then smiled and took it, letting me help pull her to her feet.

"Okay, guess we'll continue the tour with...um, someplace we can get food! Come on!" I said, then I ran off, heading back to town.


Asuka's POV

I stood there on the hill for a moment after Judai took off. Then I giggled, partly because of his stomach and partly because of him not knowing where he was planning to go eat, then followed him. "Wait for me, Judai! You silly..."

So, since he was still running, we ran back to Kodaiko.


"So where do you want to eat, Judai?" I asked as we walked down the cobblestone street. "Should we head back and—"

"I've got a place in mind. Come on!" he said, then he grabbed my hand again.

"Hey, Judai," I protested. "Wait a—"

But he was already dragging me off to wherever we were going next.

We stopped in front of some kind of business, a building made of stone. There was a sign hanging above the door that said nothing but a person's name—Rika's. I guessed that was the owner's name and, therefore, what she called her business. I stared at the building, not sure what to make of it.

"Judai. Where are we? And why do I have a bad feeling about this place?"

The way he was acting, I was sure he was up to something. I just wasn't sure what.

"You shouldn't," he said teasingly. "The food's not gonna kill you or something! I've eaten here before."

"So does that mean we're at a—"

"When I sneak out, I make a point of not going home to eat. So I've hit pretty much everywhere in town. This is one of the best."

Well, at least I now knew for sure this was a restaurant. "...Okay..."

"Come on," Judai said as he dragged me inside.

Once inside, I saw some signs that this wasn't just a casual diner. For one, the décor was fancier than you'd see at an average restaurant. For another, there was a podium set up with what appeared to be a reservation book, and a middle-aged woman in a suit standing there to greet guests.

She smiled when she saw us and said to Judai, "Hello, sir. Long time, no see."

"Hey, Julia. Got a table for two?" Judai asked.

Julia? He knew the employee's name? How many times had he been to this particular restaurant?

"Why, certainly, sir," she answered. "Would you prefer a window or private booth?"

Yet another weird development.

P-private booth? W-what's this guy up to? I wondered. He couldn't really be thinking of—

"Private," he answered simply.

Julia nodded and, taking a couple of menus, came out from behind the podium, saying, "Right this way, please." As she passed Judai, she paused and whispered, "Will you be using your family's secret table or the common ones?"

"One of the common ones," Judai answered in a whisper, giving me the feeling I wasn't supposed to be hearing this. "Don't wanna freak her out too much."

Julia laughed and said, "If you say so, sir! Right this way, please."

Okay, so Judai's family had their own table at this restaurant. I guess that explained it. He'd probably been here a lot because of that. Still, since I was obviously not supposed to have heard that, I chose to ignore it and just followed as Julia led Judai and me into the restaurant, earning a few curious glances, before we reached a curtain in the back of the restaurant. Julia pulled it back, revealing a table with a white silk tablecloth covering it and black wooden chairs with elaborate designs carved into them and cushions on the seats. A light fixture on the wall provided light to this isolated little corner of the restaurant, which, apparently, wasn't the only such area in the place, if Julia's and Judai's earlier conversation was anything to go on.

I just stared at this setup, wondering what Judai thought he was doing right now. Didn't he already have a girlfriend?

"Please have a seat," Julia invited us as she gestured at the table. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

Judai took a seat in one of the two chairs at the table, but I was still shocked. "I, uh..."

"I'll have my usual," Judai said, further confirming that he was a regular at this restaurant.

As Julia jotted that down, I just stared.

Our waitress turned to me, grinning, and asked, "Well, my dear, do you want something to drink also?"

She sounded amused, like she thought I was a nervous girl on a first date or something.

"Uh, r-right," I answered at last, taking a seat opposite Judai. "I'll have an iced tea."

I didn't know exactly what they served in restaurants in Neospace, let alone fancy restaurants, but I was sure that tea and ice would both be available, so it was a safe bet to say they'd be able to fill that order, at least.

I guess I was right because Julia wrote that down, too, then said, "Alrighty, then. I'll be back shortly to take your order. Try to relax and enjoy yourself in the meantime. He doesn't bite." She winked, grinning again.

I blushed at that. "R-right..."

Julia, who was apparently familiar enough with Judai that she didn't feel the need to act very formal with her own prince, giggled and walked off, leaving us in the privacy of our curtained-off table.

I waited until I was sure she was out of earshot before I said to Judai, "Alright, genius. What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, apparently confused.

"I mean, what are we even doing here? I thought you had a girlfriend, so why—"

He cut me off, "I don't have a girlfriend. What made you think I did? Don't tell me it was Rei!"

The look on his face made me wonder if Rei had driven off past love interests of his by saying she was his fiance or something. I guess that answered the question of how he felt about her, at any rate.

"N-no...I just thought..." I looked away, unwilling to finish what I was saying.

"Thought what?" he asked, cocking his head.

I hesitated a bit longer. I didn't really want him confirming that my crush was just that—a crush. "You, and Yubel..."

"What, her? She works for my father." Judai shrugged, like it didn't matter, and added, "We aren't even friends, let alone a couple."

I looked back at him, surprised. That didn't make sense to me, considering what I'd seen up to that point. "What? Really? Then why'd she—"

During the fight against the Light, she'd been helping him. She goofed around with him afterward, joking around, like all of us did. She even seemed genuinely concerned about his well-being, so what did he mean they weren't even friends?

"She's my babysitter," Judai said. "It's her job to keep me out of trouble."

"Oh. Then that thing about her telling Sho you—"

"She gets a kick out of teasing me," Judai cut me off before I could finish. I guess he still didn't want to hear about that particular embarrassing story from his childhood.

I just looked at him for a minute, scrutinizing his expression as I tried to figure out if he was trying to pull one over on me. Then again, Judai didn't seem to have it in him to trick a girl like that. "...Okay."

The curtain shifted, and Julia came through with a tray bearing our drinks. She took one glass, full of carbonated liquid that I definitely hadn't expected here, and set it in front of Judai as she said, "Here you are, sir. A nice, cold Coca-Cola."

Go figure. They had soda pop in Neospace.

"And, for the lady, iced tea," she said as she set the other glass in front of me. She then took a couple of bowls of soup and set them down in front of us, although I knew full well we hadn't ordered soup.

"Thanks, Julia," Judai said, not commenting on the soup, either.

I took my cue from him, figuring that was just something they did at this place, and simply said, "Thank you, ma'am."

"No problem," she answered. "So, are you ready to order?"

I glanced at the menu, which I hadn't even started looking over since we'd gotten there, unsure.

I guess Judai saw the look on my face because he answered, "I'll have the steamed lobster, and how about chicken Parmesan for my friend here?"

His tone gave me the chance to change that if I wanted, but I didn't say anything. I appreciated the fact that one of us, at least, knew what was on the menu.

Julia wrote that down, saying, Okay. And does that work for you, dear?" She looked at me.

I stammered, "Th-that's fine with me, thank you."

"Great. Wait here. It'll be ready for you shortly," she said, and she left to deliver our order to the kitchen.

Once she was gone, Judai looked at the soup. "Hmm..." He picked up his spoon and tasted it, then said, "She brought the lobster bisque."

"The what?" I asked. That wasn't something we had in Kalmar.

"It's a kind of soup. Try it."

I did as he suggested, tasting the rather creamy soup. "Hm. Not bad," I admitted. If I stayed in Neospace long enough, I could see myself eating it again. "So, Judai, if you don't have a girlfriend yet and your 17th birthday's coming up, then shouldn't your father be looking for one? A kingdom needs a queen, after all," I commented as we ate our soup.

I guess I hit a touchy subject—Judai's shoulders slumped, and he said, "Yeah. If I don't find someone before I turn 18, my father picks my bride."

"So does that mean he's already got someone in mind? You don't look too happy about it."

"Why would I be? Just another way for my father to control my life."

"Come on, Judai. It can't be as bad as all that. Who'd he pick?"

"Yubel."

My eyes widened. "Oh."

I should have seen that coming. Based on what Judai had just said, he and Yubel didn't really get along at all, so of course he'd be upset about his father choosing her as his bride.

"Yeah. So, basically, if I don't have a girlfriend by the time I turn 18, I'm gonna marry Yubel."

I was starting to think I knew what Judai was doing, and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. "Well, that sucks. So is that what you're really up to? Dragging me all over town like this?"

"Huh?" he asked, looking lost again.

"You keep taking me to romantic site after romantic site. Is that because you're looking for a future bride?"

If the only reason he was doing all of this was to avoid marrying Yubel, I didn't want any part of it. I wasn't planning on marrying anyone just for political reasons.

"Uh, actually, I wasn't even thinking about that until you brought it up..." he said awkwardly.

I blushed, my eyes widening. "W-what!?"

Was he saying what I thought he was saying?

"I just thought, since you came all the way here, you should have a good time," he said, blushing himself.

Well, that was unexpected. I felt my face get hotter. "Judai..."

Julia came back in with our food then and set it before us, saying, "Here's your order, sir. One steamed lobster and one chicken Parmesan. Can I get you anything else? I know how hungry you can get, sir." She smiled slightly, apparently teasing Judai.

"Nah, Julia," he answered with a slight smile of his own—apparently he was fine with her teasing him like that. "I'll let you know if we need anything else."

She bowed politely and said, "Enjoy your meal," before she left us again.

Whatever chicken Parmesan was, we didn't have it in Kalmar. I stared at the food in front of me. It was some kind of pasta—long, thin noodles—with meat that I assumed was chicken sitting on top of it covered in cheese and a red sauce.

"Judai, what is this?" I asked uncertainly.

"Chicken Parmesan. It's some kind of pasta with chicken in marinara sauce."

"Okay." I gave it a taste, and I loved it instantly. "Mmm. Now that's good stuff, right there. Do you always eat like this?" I asked, thinking of the fancy meal they'd had for dinner at the castle last night as well as the one before us right then.

"Most of the time, yeah," Judai answered.

That shouldn't really be surprising, given that he was a prince. I suppose it was kind of a silly question.

I didn't worry too much about that, though, because I was still enjoying my meal. "...Wow. This is so good," I said, and I kept eating.

Judai just laughed, apparently finding my reaction amusing, and started on his own food.


Judai's POV

I hadn't really expected it to be so funny to see Asuka's reaction to Neospacian food. Still, it was cute, and I was glad I'd ordered something for her that she actually liked. I'd figured she wouldn't really know what to make of the menu, given that this was her first day in Kodaiko, but at least we'd found something she liked.

Julia, who always seemed to be working when either me or my entire family stopped in for a meal, came back with a grin on her face. In her hands was a tray with a black bottle and two wine glasses. She set the glasses down in front of Asuka and me, then opened the bottle and poured us both some of its clear contents, saying, "Here, dears. This is on the house. Compliments of the chef." She set the bottle down on the table when she was done.

Well, it sounded like someone was going around telling her co-workers that I was on a date.

Asuka blushed and, apparently at a loss, said, "Th-thank you?"

"Your welcome, dear. Enjoy the rest of your date," Julia said with a smile before she walked off.

Asuka tapped the cup a bit, setting off some bubbles. "J-Judai, is this what I think it is?" she asked, blushing furiously and sweating now, too.

Well, I was pretty sure I could answer that question already, but I looked at my glass, then looked at the bottle. Uh-huh, sparkling wine. "Yep. Looks like," I answered.

"A-are we actually allowed to have this stuff? 'Cause, back in Kalmar, we—"

"That depends, you 16?"

Her eyes widened. "S-sixteen? Isn't that kinda early? I thought most places wanted you to be at least 21?"

Ah, cultural differences. I always forgot that the people of Kalmar had the highest drinking age in the world.

I laughed and said, "Maybe where you come from. But, around here, the only reason we've even got a drinking age is because parents wanted one. My parents, on the other hand, didn't care, so I'm the exception to that law."

In the past, a lot of places had let kids drink, although that was a really long time ago. Drinking ages became a thing eventually, and just about every country had one. However, since Neospace had sort of stepped backward in time, there'd been some debate over whether we'd even have a drinking age since kids drank, regardless. Most adults, especially those with kids, had agreed it was a good idea to have some kind of legal drinking age, so the number had been set at 16. I'd had a few drinks over the years—never a lot, but, like I'd told Asuka, my parents weren't too worried about the drinking age. They just didn't let me drink excessively.

Asuka still seemed unsure about this whole thing. "...Okay." She picked up the glass, looking nervous. Then she looked at me, as if she needed permission or wasn't sure she should even try it.

I nodded and said, "Go ahead," before picking up my own glass.

Asuka swallowed nervously, then slowly took a sip. From the look on her face, she loved it. I took a taste and instantly knew why—Julia had probably brought the best they had. Made sense, considering I was her prince and seemed (according to her, at least) to have finally found a future queen. I wondered briefly if they'd had that sitting around, waiting, for a while for this very purpose.

"Oh, wow. This is..."

"Pretty good," I said.

Asuka set the glass down and went back to her meal, asking, "So what's it like being a prince? I get that it's a lot of work and difficult decisions, but surely there're some good qualities that go with it, aren't there?"

I thought about it for a second as I ate. She wasn't wrong, it wasn't all bad being a prince. "Like what, exactly?" I asked. "How about you tell me what you think it's like?"

Unlike people I'd asked in the past, she just shrugged and said, "How should I know? You're the prince, after all." Then she took a sip of her tea.

I laughed and said, "Yeah, but most people have some idea of what it would be like. I've heard all sorts of guesses over the years."

"Really? Such as?" she asked as she cut another bite of her chicken.

"Well, everyone always says that I get anything I want, that I can boss people around, that I'm probably the most popular guy around... Things like that."

"And none of that's true, is it?"

"I get a lot of things, but it's not necessarily what I want. I can boss people around, but not the way everyone always imagines it. Though they were pretty accurate on the popularity bit. Being royalty tends to make people want to be your friend."

Sort of, at least. It sure made them want to be around you, at least.

"Well, at least that's a good thing, then," Asuka said, apparently looking for a positive spin. "Bet you've got tons of people who—"

I didn't say anything. I just shook my head, and she cut herself off.

"What? Why not?" she asked, apparently at a loss. "I thought—"

"Let me put it this way. If you and I had met under different circumstances and I had known who I was at the time, I still wouldn't have told you."

She stared at me but didn't say anything. I guess she'd already forgotten about Sho's reaction to finding out his new friend was a prince. Then again, she'd had more pressing concerns at the time than my relationship issues, so that was fair.

"More than once, I've met someone and started calling them a friend only to have them find out who I am and start acting totally different. Suddenly they didn't care about me so much as they cared about the perks they could get being friends with a prince."

Asuka stared at me for a moment longer before asking, "Really?"

"Yeah. Rei was one of those cases. We were friends before, but then she figured out who I was, and suddenly she wanted to be my girlfriend. Then there were some others who started asking for money or favors or a trip to the castle when they found out."

All of those were still better than the time one of my friend's dads tried to kidnap me and hold me for ransom, though.

Asuka looked at me, sympathy showing in her eyes. "...I'm sorry."

I shrugged and said, "Just part of being a prince."

"But still. That's just plain sad. How can you tell who your real friends are with that in mind?"

"Basically I've decided that whoever keeps asking for money isn't really my friend. It's not a foolproof method, but it gives me a better idea, at least."

"Wow...that's..."

She didn't need to finish that. The look on her face said she thought that was sad. I mean, yeah, it sucks never knowing who your real friends are and always feeling the need to hide who you are so nobody finds out. Still, that wasn't something I wanted to focus on all day. I wanted her to have fun, not sit around feeling bad for me, so I decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, you want any dessert?" I asked, seeing as we'd both finished our meals by that point in the conversation.

"Uh..." She blushed, apparently thinking about it.

I didn't know what was so embarrassing about being asked if she wanted dessert, but I didn't ask. She probably just didn't know what she'd order if she did get something. So, since there was an easy fix for that, I just pushed a button on the wall that I, at least, knew would let the staff know we needed something.

Shortly, Julia came through the curtain. "Yes?"

By this point, Asuka was sipping some more of the wine Julia had brought earlier.

"Can she get a dessert menu?" I asked, gesturing to Asuka.

"Certainly, sir. Be right back," Julia said, and she disappeared once again.

"Judai..." Asuka said, still blushing.

Seriously, what was so embarrassing about this?

Julia was back in a second. She handed Asuka the dessert menu, saying, "Here you go, ma'am." Then she turned to me and asked, "And what about you, sir? You want anything?"

As Asuka looked over the menu, I smiled and answered, "I could really go for a piece of raspberry cake."

"A-and I'd like to try the chocolate mousse, if that's okay."

"Certainly, ma'am," Julia said, taking the menu back. "Be right back." She left again, this time to get our dessert.

I turned my attention back to Asuka and, tired of talking about myself, said, "So, enough about me. How about you tell me what it's like not being royalty? What do your parents do? What are you planning on doing with your life?"

Since I was interested in dating this girl, those were important things to figure out. I mean, if she had big career dreams, then this crush of mine wouldn't work out, anyway. As queen, she wouldn't have time for another career.

Asuka sweat and answered, "Uh, well...my dad's kind of a...deadbeat? He spends all day goofing off and enters all sorts of tournaments for a living. Surfing, skateboarding competitions, dueling tournaments; really, if it wasn't for our mother, I don't know how we'd get by."

"Really?" I asked.

"He's a bit too carefree, if you ask me."

I guess that explained her brother. He must take after her dad.

"Now, my mom, on the other hand, has a steady job as a landscape artist and is always showing me and Fubuki any new designs she comes up with, wanting our opinions on them. They're usually pretty good-looking."

"So your mom's a landscaper?"

That explained why their yard was so well-kept back in Tiller.

"Yeah. And a good one, too. A lot of people love her work, so she's pretty busy all the time."

The curtain shifted then as Julia returned. "Here you are. One raspberry cake and a chocolate mousse," she said, placing the desserts in front of us.

"Thanks, Julia," I said.

She bowed and said, "Call me if you need anything else." Then she cleared our used dishes and left us to our dessert.

As I started on my cake, I said to Asuka, "Your mom sounds pretty cool."

"Thanks. I think so, too," she said, eating her dessert, too.

"So what about you? What do you like to do?"

"Well, I read a lot for one thing. Mostly romance novels, like Jane Eyre and The Notebook. I guess I just enjoy the drama and beauty that all relationships have. I just love seeing the way couples show each other how much they love each other. The romantic gestures, the way they touch, how they'll do anything for each other. It just gets you right there. You know?"

Not really. I hadn't pegged her as a fan of romances. But I could tell she was into it, and I could see what she meant. It wasn't my thing, but I was still happy to hear her talk about something she liked so much.

"Yeah," I answered simply.

She put her spoon down, her mousse gone, and said, "Well, that was good." She folded her hands in her lap.

"I'm glad you liked it," I said.

Since we'd both finished, I called Julia back so I could get the bill.

"So now what should we do? Do you think it's time to head back before your father really gets mad?" Asuka asked as I handed Julia a credit card.

As Julia left to run the card, I answered Asuka, "Yeah, I guess it probably is about time. If we stay out here too much longer, Yubel might find me."

In fact, she was probably looking already.

Asuka nodded. "Good idea."

Julia came back and handed my card and receipt to me, saying, "Here you are, sir. Have a nice day."

"Thanks, Julia. You, too," I answered. Getting up, I said, "Come on, Asuka."

She got up, and we headed out of the restaurant. Unfortunately for me, we walked out just as Yubel was coming over to check for me, apparently, because she greeted us right outside the door.

"Oh, my gosh. Now you're dragging girls along with you?" Yubel demanded, exasperated. "Really, Judai? What's wrong with you?"

I groaned. It figured she'd find me just as I was getting ready to head home. "You're getting better at catching me."

"Well, duh. You had class an hour ago, didn't show up, no one knew where to find you; put it all together, and it's not hard to guess where you are. Though how you keep finding ways to break the rules is a mystery to me."

"Yeah, I'm not telling you," I said. It could just stay a mystery to her.

"Well, hope you've enjoyed this little date of yours 'cause when your father hears about this, I'm sure he's gonna—"

"Oh, come on, no! Please don't tell him!"

"Why not?"

Simple—he'd kill me, especially after what happened the last time I did this. It wouldn't matter that I'd taken a friend along for the ride. I'd still broken the same rule that had gotten me kidnapped by the Light of Destruction. Somehow, I doubted Yubel would care about that, though. She loved getting me in trouble. Even pointing out that I was just heading home wouldn't stop her from ratting me out, I knew.

"Because, uh...I..." I sighed, unable to think of any reason that Yubel would take as a good one. "I got nothing."

She smirked and said, "Well, then." She grabbed my arm and looked at Asuka, saying, "Come on, Asuka. You better come, too. I'm sure the king will just love hearing this one." Then she started dragging me off to face my maker.

Asuka cleared the lump out of her throat, obviously nervous now, and followed, saying, "O-okay..."

Great. Yubel was probably about to get Asuka and me both in enough trouble that I'd never be able to convince my dad to let me marry her even if she agreed to it.

"Have I mentioned that I hate you?" I asked, glaring at Yubel.

She just snickered.