Shadgirl2: Since Fanfiction has pretty strict limits on such things, I'm including the fandoms and main characters of this story here.
Midna Azusa: Yep, probably not a bad idea since we couldn't even decide who to list as main characters when you were putting this up. There's a lot of characters in this story.
Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh, Yugioh GX, or Yugioh 5Ds.
Fandoms: Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh GX, Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds
Main Characters: Yugi, Yami Yugi, Jonouchi Katsuya, Mahad, Mana, Yuki Judai, Izayoi Aki, Fudo Yusei
Major Pairings: Vaseshipping, Peachshipping, Faithshipping
Edit: Flipped the given names and surnames of Japanese characters to reflect how they introduce themselves in Japanese.
An alarm clock blared, the glowing numbers on the display showing it was 6 in the morning. A sleepy blond teen reached over and shut it off, grumbling as he sat up. "Ugh... Man, I hate mornings..."
Jonouchi Katsuya was not a morning person, at least not when the morning was this early. Still, the 16-year-old got out of bed to get ready, knowing he couldn't afford to be late today. He wasn't going to school today, despite the fact that it was only Tuesday. He was going to take an entrance exam for a different high school, one that he'd been hoping to attend but that was rather exclusive with their applicants—Duel Academy. If he didn't have to be there by 8 to take the exam, he'd have slept in longer. He got cleaned up, dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a white and blue T-shirt, and made himself as presentable as he ever was before heading out the door.
A voice behind him called, "Hey, you brat! You forgot to make my breakfast! Get back in here!" The speech was slurred, which told Jonouchi all he needed to know even before he heard the man hiccup—his dad was already drunk.
"It's in the fridge, Pops! Just heat it up!" he called back before shutting the door behind him. He then ran down the stairs and a couple of blocks over, where he slowed to a walk.
"And you have your GPS!?" a worried man asked from a house Jonouchi was passing. The teen stopped in front of the house, waiting.
"Yeah, Dad, I've got it," came another voice. "Don't worry! I can find my way to the entrance exams."
A woman joined in, asking, "So does that mean you remembered your compass, too, in case there's no phone sig—"
"Come on, Mom, it's not like I'll be leaving town today!" The door opened, but nobody came out just yet.
"How do you know!? You know you have no sense of direction!" the dad asked.
Jonouchi shoved his hands in his pockets as he listened to the commotion, just waiting for this guy to hurry up. This was typical for him, though—he was easily lost, so his parents wouldn't let him leave if he didn't have all of his supplies. "Geez, same as always. Johan really needs to learn how to find his way around without a hundred gadgets..."
Johan Andersen, despite being 15, was frequently treated as a much younger child by his parents simply because his sense of direction was terrible. He could get lost walking home from a block away. He'd been living in Japan for a few years, but that didn't stop him from finding new ways to get lost in his own neighborhood.
Finally, the door opened wider as the green-eyed teenager stepped out, smiling reassuringly back at his concerned parents. "Don't worry, don't worry! I'll be fine, I promise!" He shut the door behind him before his parents could question him any further.
Jonouchi raised a hand in greeting, still standing by the street. "Yo."
Johan turned to look at him, then smiled. "Jonouchi! You ready for this entrance exam?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," Jonouchi answered. He wasn't really that great at tests, so he couldn't even be sure he'd pass.
"Come on, be a little more enthusiastic," Johan encouraged as he walked over. "This is the first step on the road to becoming duelists! It's not your average test, you know."
"Yeah, yeah, it's still a test. Let's just get going."
"Right," Johan said, and he took off in the direction he thought was right.
Jonouchi gave a start, surprised. "Wha—Hey, get back here!" he called, chasing after his friend. "You didn't bring your compass, Johan!"
Soon, the two boys were walking along to the entrance exams. Johan had a compass in his hand.
"Okay, so you did bring your compass," Jonouchi relented.
Johan laughed, putting it away. "Yeah, and my road map, my wilderness survival guide, my GPS and backup GPS... You know my parents won't let me leave without any of it."
"Yeah, for good reason," Jonouchi said.
Suddenly, Johan heard something. It took a moment for his brain to process the zapping sound that he heard and realize it was a foreign language. "S-someone! A-anyone! Heeeelllp!"
"Huh?" Johan stopped walking and looked toward the right. What's that?
He heard it again, this time just one word: "Heeeeellp!" It was coming from somewhere far off in the distance.
Not one to ignore a cry for help, Johan took off running.
Jonouchi stopped and turned, hearing the footsteps. Seeing his friend bolting off in a random direction, he demanded, "Johan!? Where the hell do you think you're going!?" Frustrated, he chased after the younger teen.
Three blocks away, Johan went dumpster diving, a small purple carbuncle with rubies for eyes joining him, looking through the trash anxiously.
Throwing your card away... That's not something any true duelist would ever do, no matter how they feel about the card! Johan thought. He couldn't believe people sometimes. Making sure Jonouchi wouldn't hear, he quietly asked the small creature, "See anything, Ruby?"
Jonouchi put a hand to his head, exasperated. "Man, I never thought I'd have to ask this, but why are you digging through the trash?"
"I might! Over here!" said Ruby in her own language as she poked at a spot right in front of her.
Johan looked at where she was indicating, then dug through the trash until he saw the card as well. It was deep down, hard to reach, but he wasn't just going to leave this Duel Spirit trapped like this.
"Hey, man, I'm talking here!"
"Sorry, Jonouchi. Just...gotta...get..." Johan struggled through the garbage, straining to reach the card, until he finally got his hands on it, "this!" He pulled it out and dusted it off, looking at it. An Oscillo Hero card, carelessly tossed in the trash. "Wow, someone really did a number on you, huh?" he said to the card.
Jonouchi groaned. "Again with the card-chasing? Look, man, I know it's kinda your thing, but we actually have somewhere to be right now!"
This wasn't the first time Johan had gone looking for a card without having any justification for knowing it was there. Jonouchi was getting used to this, given how often it happened. He wasn't sure why his friend seemed to have the ability to sense abandoned Duel Monsters cards from far away, but it normally didn't bother him. Today, however, was a different story.
"Right, right! Sorry!" Johan apologized to Jonouchi with a smile.
In truth, Johan's secret was one he would rather keep a secret, even from his friends and family. He was what people called a psychic duelist, a group that was greatly feared by the general public due to their powers—they could bring Duel Monsters to life and attack anyone they wished. Attacks from psychic duelists were always breaking news coverage, and, despite how rare they were, they got everyone worked up every time.
This wasn't the only power a psychic duelist could have, even if it was the one most people thought about. There were really only three powers associated with psychic duelists: seeing spirits, bringing cards to life with a duel disk, and visiting the Duel Monsters Spirit World. While everyone feared them for the ability to bring their cards to life, the mere mention that a person had one of the other two abilities was enough to get them ostracized by society.
The problem was that most psychic duelists had one, maybe two of those powers. None had all three, and not all psychic duelists could bring their cards to life. Still, knowing that people would fear him if they knew that was how he found these things, he often found himself pretending to have a weird psychic power that let him sense lost Duel Monsters cards. Psychics were viewed very differently from psychic duelists, after all, so nobody cared if that was where the power came from.
The Duel Spirit appeared in front of Johan, a little yellow creature with a blue cape. "Whew! Thank you! I thought I'd never get out of there! I've only been buried for 4 weeks."
The dumpster hadn't been emptied as it should have been the last few weeks. That did explain why it was overflowing, but now Johan had to wonder who was supposed to be taking care of that. Really? That long? Sorry, little guy, Johan thought, knowing that Duel Spirits could use telepathy to communicate. I'd have gotten you out sooner if I'd known. He climbed out of the dumpster and, addressing Jonouchi's earlier comment, asked, "Speaking of, where are we?"
Jonouchi jumped, startled, then looked around. He growled, whirling on Johan, and said, "Damn it, Johan, now you even got me lost!"
Sensing trouble, Ruby disappeared, uttering a quiet, "Uh-oh..." as she did.
Johan sweat. "...Uh..." He reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, saying, "Hang on, I'll just pull up directions..."
He never got the chance as, at that moment, an angelic female voice spoke from behind Jonouchi. "Pardon me, gentlemen, but you sound quite distressed. Is everything alright?"
Johan sweat. Unfortunately, he knew that voice. Oh, come on, no!
Jonouchi looked over his shoulder, and his face lit up. Standing behind him was a beautiful girl with wavy white hair and pale blue eyes. She was dressed in pastel colors—white slippers, a sleeveless lavender dress that reached her knees, and a blue ribbon in her hair.
"Oh, yeah, everything's great now," Jonouchi answered the girl.
The girl, skin so pale it was practically translucent, looked at him curiously and asked, "Pardon?"
"Uh, we're good, miss," Johan said, feeling awkward. He had met this girl too often and didn't really want her coming to help him out of another tight spot.
"Yeah, just a little lost, that's all," Jonouchi added. "No big deal."
No, don't tell her that! Johan thought, frustrated.
The girl blinked, looking concerned, and asked, "Lost, you say? Is there any place in particular you're trying to get to?"
"Yeah, we're trying to get to the Duel Academy entrance exams."
Johan interjected, "It's fine. I can just pull up the directions on my phone. Really."
The girl blinked again and said, "Well... If you say so..." She didn't sound convinced, but she turned to leave.
Johan was relieved. He'd managed to convince her that he didn't need her help for once. Now he could get on with his day.
Of course, Jonouchi had other plans as he said to the girl, "Actually, we could probably use a little help. You wouldn't know how to get to the Kaiba Dome from here, would you?"
Johan gave a start. "Jonouchi!"
The girl stopped, looking back. "The Kaiba Dome, you say?" She turned around fully, smiling at the two, and kindly answered, "I know where that is. It's on the other side of town from here. If you'd like, I could take you to it."
Johan tried to decline, "No, really, we—"
"Yeah, that'd be great! Thanks for the help," Jonouchi cut him off, heading over to the girl.
"Jonouchi!" Johan cried out, exasperated. Come on!
The girl closed her eyes, giggling. "Oh, it's quite alright. I'm always happy to help." She started walking off, saying, "The Kaiba Dome's in this direction. Right this way, please."
Jonouchi followed without any hesitation, all too eager, in Johan's opinion. The Norwegian immigrant sighed as he followed along reluctantly. Ugh, of course. Every time I get lost, Yang shows up! And Jonouchi isn't getting the—Wait... Is he...? Upon closer inspection, Johan realized that Jonouchi appeared to be flirting with this girl, as if he hadn't noticed the obvious signs that this was Yang, the spirit of light. He was smiling, trying too hard to be cool, and definitely standing closer to this girl than necessary. Now that Johan thought about it, that first thing he'd said to her had been a clue—he said everything was "great" now that she was there. Johan's eyes widened. Oh, boy. Does he not know who that is?
"So tell me, gentlemen," the girl, Yang, said, "are you off to take the Duel Academy entrance exams? Today is a very special day for young duelists, you know."
"Yeah, that's where we're headed," Jonouchi answered. "We're planning on going to Duel Academy, but we gotta pass this test first."
"Ah, I see. Glad to hear it. I wish you both the best of luck!"
Jonouchi laughed, apparently pleased at the positive attention he was getting from such a pretty girl. "Thanks! I'm Jonouchi, by the way. Jonouchi Katsuya. And you are...?"
"Uh, Jonouchi, are you serious?" Johan asked.
"Jonouchi-kun, huh? What a lovely name! You know that means 'conquer the castle?' You must be quite a strong warrior, with that in mind."
Jonouchi rubbed his head, laughing. "Yeah, I guess you could say that!"
He was definitely flirting, Johan realized. "Jonouchi!"
"Huh? What's up, Johan?" he asked, looking back at his friend.
"Oh! I'm sorry! Have we been ignoring you, sir?" Yang asked, casting a concerned and apologetic look at Johan.
Not wanting her attention, Johan sweat. "Uh, no, that's..." He sighed, giving up. "Never mind."
Jonouchi just looked confused. "Uh...you good, man?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Silently, he complained, I wasn't upset that you were ignoring me, Yang!
Yang blinked before saying, "Alright. Just let me know if you need anything, alright?"
"Yeah, okay."
"O-kay..." Jonouchi said, apparently lost, but he turned back to Yang. "Uh, anyway..."
As the two continued their conversation, Johan sighed, tuning them out. Why is he flirting with Yang? Does he seriously not realize that's Yang, or does he just not care?
"Oh! Look, gentlemen!" Yang said finally. "The Kaiba Dome is directly in front of us!" She pointed ahead.
Jonouchi looked, seeing the building, and noticed the time on a digital clock over the door said 7:50. "Hey, what do you know? We made it on time!" He turned to Yang and said, "Thanks again, miss...?"
Johan started fidgeting, eager to get away from the spirit Jonouchi clearly thought was a human girl.
"You're quite welcome! I wish you both the best of luck!" Yang answered with a polite smile and a bow.
"Yeah, thanks," Johan said to her. Then, to his friend, he said, "Jonouchi, come on, we still need to get in there and sign in!"
"Oh! Right, yeah."
Johan ran off, heading for the entrance.
"Geez, man, wait up, will ya!?" Jonouchi called after him, annoyed. He looked back at the girl and said, "See ya around!" before running after his friend once again.
Yang giggled. "Just as I thought! Those two will be friends for life!"
She thought back to the day a couple of years ago when those two had first met. It wasn't the most pleasant of beginnings, but it could have gone far worse, all things considered. After all, bad things tended to happen when unsuspecting people wandered into gang territory.
In truth, Johan had been having encounters with Yang since he was a young child in Norway. Given that the boy's sense of direction was atrocious, he'd easily attracted the light spirit when he was in distress.
Their first meeting, Johan was 5 and got himself lost in the woods. Yang appeared to him as a white doe and guided him back to safety.
They had met again when Johan was 8. He'd been separated from his parents in a large shopping mall and was attacked by a strange man. Yang appeared to protect him, turning into a mighty phoenix and driving the man away with nothing more than a threatening glare. Then the spirit had turned into a dove and taken the boy back to his mother.
The meeting that Yang was thinking of, however, was only a couple of years old. When Johan was 13, his family moved to Japan. A few days after he had started school, Johan had been on his way to the store to pick up something when he got lost and found himself wandering through the warehouse district of Neo Domino City. Unfortunately for him, that happened to be a rather unsafe neighborhood where some of the nastiest gangs in the city's mainland spent much of their time. Even more unfortunately, Johan wasn't aware of this fact.
"Oh, man," the young teen said to himself. "Did I ever mess up. Which way do I go, Ruby? Any ideas?" He held up the card and looked at it. Since no one else was around, it was safe enough to talk to his Duel Spirits, and the little carbuncle had been helping Johan find his way around since the day he got it.
Before the spirit could answer, however, a menacing voice spoke from between two nearby warehouses, "Well, well, well... What have we here? A little boy out lookin' for his mommy?" The person snickered.
Johan turned that way, eyes widening. "Huh!? Who said—"
The person stepped forward—a boy around his own age, with spiky brown hair and a cruel sneer on his face. He wasn't alone, though, as other boys stepped out from around. They all wore the same black middle school uniform, which looked familiar to Johan, although he generally thought that all Japanese school uniforms looked the same except for the color. All looked much stronger than Johan, and all had looks to kill on their faces.
Another one, this one wearing glasses, laughed a bit and said, "Looks like."
"Aw, what's-a matter, wittle baby? You get separated from your precious family or somethin'?" said a third, a rather larger boy with brown hair slicked back.
Nervous now, Johan started backing up, looking for an opening. "S-stay back! I'm warning you..." He reached for his deck box nervously, hoping that maybe he could scare them off if he pretended to bring his spirits to life. After all, that was the power most people feared. Unfortunately for Johan, he didn't have that power—he could just see and talk to them. But what these thugs didn't know wouldn't hurt them, and who cared if a bunch of dangerous gangsters who didn't even know him found out about his powers?
"Hah! You're warning us!? Man, that's a good one!"
"You think you're so tough? Bet you bleed as easy as all the rest of 'em."
"Yeah. He probably does."
"Wanna find out?" The punk who said this snickered as he moved forward, apparently intent on testing this "theory."
Johan backed away from these people a bit further, stuttering, "I-I'm warning you! You better stay back or else I'll—"
He was cut off by a boy with brown eyes and messy blond hair saying, "Geez! Quit whining! It's really pissing me off!" He cracked his knuckles and added, "You think you're so tough, then show us what you got!"
Johan knew he was in trouble. Oh, this is bad! W-what do I do—
His thought was cut off by a rugged voice saying, "Hey, Jonouchi. Hold up. You can't start the pummelin' without my permission, ya know." Yet another boy with a cruel sneer on his face came out of the warehouse, a cigarette in his mouth. He had black eyes that showed no emotion beyond amusement at his friend's overly eager desire to pound an unknown kid to a pulp. His blond hair was pulled back in a short ponytail, and he wore a beaded necklace multi-tiered necklace and earrings in his left ear, all of which only made him look more menacing.
Johan sweat, looking around. He was surrounded. Worse, the way these guys were acting, they were more likely to call his bluff than run away. He couldn't shake the feeling that they would just think he was pretending to save himself. Oh, man. I'm in for it now! Why don't I ever—Ruby!
The carbuncle appeared, giving him a serious look. "You want me to call Yang again!? It looks like you could—"
"Feh. You're no fun, Hirutani," said Jonouchi. "This punk's challenging us! He's 'warning' us, didn't you hear?" Jonouchi smirked, adding, "If he thinks he's all that, I say we let 'im prove it already."
Hirutani crossed his arms, a wicked grin of amusement on his face now. He didn't argue.
Johan knew he couldn't handle this on his own. Call her! Hurry! These guys mean business!
"I'm with Jonouchi, boss!" another thug said. "Let us rough him up a bit!"
"Yeah! Enough talkin'! Let's show him—"
Ruby nodded and cried out loudly, "YAAAAANG!"
Suddenly, as the gang started advancing (minus Hirutani, who simply did nothing to stop them), a burst of white flames shot out of the sky right in front of Johan, startling all of the gangsters.
"W-wha! Th-that's—!" one stammered.
"N-no way!" another said, looking uneasy.
The flames spread into a phoenix that towered over them. The creature was about ten feet tall, and covered in flames. Its long, white neck and body were similar to a swan, but its blue crest tail was more like a Huma, its bluish-white beak like a woodpecker. It had long, thin legs the same color as its beak that ended in blue talons, and long, white wings with blue-tipped feathers. The flames covering the creature were mostly white, but starting at the back of its head and running jaggedly down its neck were blue flames, like some kind of flaming mane. On its head were two long white plumes that fluttered back like ribbons, ending in flame-like tips. Its stomach was blue, as were the oval-shaped eyes, pale blue except for what should be the pupil, which was dark blue instead of black.
The creature glared at the gang for a moment before letting out a screech that sounded like an eagle, spreading its mighty wings in a rather menacing way.
The thugs backed up, looking terrified.
"I-it's Yang! What's it doing here!?"
"D-don't know, man! But we better hightail it outta here before someone gets hurt!" The boy turned to run as Yang looked down to glare at the entire assembly. "Like me, for instance! Every man for himself!" He ran off, screaming in terror.
"Y-yeah, I'm out!" said another as he ran off.
"Wait for me!" a third said as he, too, made a break for it.
Hirutani backed up, growling in apparent frustration, but even he looked scared. "Grr... It's no good! Retreat! All of you! This kid's too dangerous to mess with!" Without another word, he was gone.
"R-right!" said most of the remaining members of his gang before they followed his lead.
Only one of them didn't listen, staring, stunned, at the phoenix. Jonouchi seemed more surprised than afraid, for some reason. He looked at Johan, then back at the phoenix, then back at Johan again. After a moment of stunned silence, he finally looked annoyed, crying, "Oh, come on! Are you seriously that bad!?" He waved his arms at the phoenix as he asked that. "Damn! And you had me thinking you could actually fight! What the hell are ya doing out here, egging on gangs, you moron!?"
This was definitely an unexpected reaction from a member of a dangerous gang, and Johan might have called him out on that, curious, if not for the fact that he felt insulted. Instead, he looked annoyed as he put a hand to his chest, answering, "Hey! It's not my fault I got lost! I've got no sense of direction whatsoever!"
He wasn't insulted at being called a moron—he was insulted at the implication that he was so bad that he had Yang on call. After all, he hadn't called the spirit, so he certainly wasn't on what he thought of as Yang's Endangered Human List. The spirit didn't come if he called it on his own, so he could tell he didn't belong on that list, and he didn't like that this guy now thought he did.
Yang, for its part, kept glaring at Jonouchi, its eyes indicating that he should run away with the rest.
Jonouchi, apparently unbothered by the spirit, put a hand to his head and sighed. "Man, talk about lame!" He stood there for a second, apparently thinking about something, then looked at Johan and said, "You know, you really don't belong out here. We go to school together, don't we? What's the name, Andersen?"
Johan blinked, giving a start, and looked stunned. It had suddenly dawned on him that this boy wasn't acting normal, considering what he'd been about to do. "Wait a—Weren't you telling those other goons that they should clobber me just a moment ago? What are you on?"
Another thing dawned on Johan right then—if this boy went to his school and was wearing the same uniform as the rest, then that meant the entire gang went to his school. He made a mental note to talk to his parents about changing schools when he got home.
While Johan was realizing that a dangerous gang that wanted to pummel him went to his school and at least one was his classmate, Yang looked at Jonouchi curiously, too, before closing its eyes. Unbeknownst to either boy, it started using its powers to scan Jonouchi's heart, trying to better understand this unusual youth. As it was currently right in front of the boy, the spirit could learn Jonouchi's true nature without any difficulty.
"Yeah, that was when I thought you could fight! I didn't know you were one of those wimps that are so bad at taking care of themselves they've got Yang on call!" Jonouchi said, gesturing at the spirit. He sounded a bit insulted himself, like Johan had accused him of something heinous that he hadn't done. "I don't beat up dudes who can't fight back!"
Having once again been accused of being on Yang's List, Johan started, "Hey! Who said I—"
Yang opened its eyes then, cooing out harmoniously and drawing the attention of both boys. Then it whooshed around behind Jonouchi, changing into the form of a white deer as it looked at him with gentle, caring eyes now.
Puzzled, Jonouchi looked over his shoulder at it. "Uh... Can I help you?"
"Yang? W-what are you—" Johan asked.
Yang bleated out a bit with confidence and nudged Jonouchi toward Johan with its antlers.
"Look, I ain't takin' on babysittin' duty! I got better things to do!"
"Jonouchi-kun... This is Johan-kun... Your new friend," the spirit said in a gentle, caring, feminine tone.
Looking indignant, Jonouchi snapped, "You don't get to make that choice for me!"
Johan stared at Yang, unsure of this decision himself. Most people wouldn't question Yang's judgment when it came to a person's true character. After all, the spirit had never been known to be wrong. However, in this particular instance, Johan had his doubts. "Uh...Yang? W-what are you..."
The spirit simply nudged Jonouchi closer to Johan before turning into white flames and surrounding them both. Apparently, it wasn't letting either leave until they made peace.
Jonouchi gave a start, then grew frustrated. "Oh, come on!" He groaned and thought about how to satisfy this stupid spirit. After a moment, he said, "I'll help him find his way home. But that's all I'm doin'! I got a reputation to keep, and this punk'll kill it in a day if he's one of yours!"
"Hey! For the last time, I'm not that bad! I didn't call for help, in case ya missed that!"
Yang giggled, amused, the sound coming from the flames surrounding the boys. "Yes. You are quite the danger-prone one, aren't you, Johan-kun?"
Johan looked at the flames with indignation. "What!? No, I'm not! I'm tougher than I look, you know!"
Yang just giggled some more, amused by Johan's act of feigned strength.
Jonouchi looked like he wanted to start unleashing a string of profanity on the spirit, but he held himself back. After a second, he said, "I told you I'd take this idiot home. Take it or leave it. That's as far as I'm goin'."
"And I don't need that, either! I can take care of myself, so stop acting like I'm completely hopeless! I'm not that bad, so go bug someone who actually needs it!" Johan crossed his arms, annoyed.
Jonouchi rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, this comin' from the guy who just got ambushed by the roughest gang in town because he's in the roughest part of town. I think you do need it!"
"Aw, I could've taken you guys. I'm used to dealing with stuff like this by now!" Still irritated, Johan started walking toward the wall of flames surrounding them both. The flames dispersed as Yang, rather than burn Johan, turned into a dove and flew up to perch on the roof of the warehouse, where it watched the boys.
"Oh? Care to test that?" Jonouchi asked.
Johan stopped and turned to the other boy. "What was that?"
"If you really think you could've taken my whole gang, let's see if you can even take me." Jonouchi was one of the toughest members of Hirutani's gang, if not the toughest. He knew this kid wouldn't have an easy time against him.
Johan turned to face him, grinning with confidence. "Well, alright, then. Don't say I didn't warn ya!"
Then he lunged, determined to prove to Yang that he didn't need the spirit protecting him. He tried to punch Jonouchi in the face, but the blond leaned to the side, easily dodging the blow, then brought his own fist up from his side, driving it straight into Johan's stomach. Johan doubled over from the impact, letting out a pained groan.
Jonouchi lowered his hand, still clenched into a fist, with a smirk on his face and asked, "You were saying?"
"Tch! I was just warming up!" Johan said, straightening up. What do you think of this!?" He went for Jonouchi again.
Yang was generally not a fan of violence, being the spirit of light, but even it had to admit that the two boys were impressive. By the end, though, Johan had been beaten badly. He'd only managed to hit Jonouchi once through the whole thing.
Lying on his side, Johan said through heavy breaths, "N-note to...s-self... Never do that...a-again..."
As Johan tried to catch his breath, feeling a considerable amount of pain from that stupid stunt of his, Jonouchi touched a hand to his left eye, where Johan's one and only successful hit had landed. He was pretty sure the kid had hit him hard enough to bruise, and he could already feel it swelling up. "Damn. Heh. Guess you aren't a total wuss," he said, smiling a bit despite the black eye he'd received.
Yang flew down and landed on Johan. It cooed out gently and started to glow. As it did so, Johan's body glowed a warm blue, and all of his newly-acquired injuries healed miraculously.
Now feeling considerably better, Johan got up, saying, "Argh. Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up! I didn't do that bad."
Yang landed on Jonouchi's head next. The gangster ignored this cute creature sitting on him, addressing Johan instead with, "Yeah, you actually managed to hit me. It's not every day that happens."
Then the spirit started glowing again, and Jonouchi felt a strange warmth around his eye, which started glowing the same way Johan had been just a moment ago.
Jonouchi, startled, jumped a bit. "...Uh..."
As the bruise around Jonouchi's eye healed, Yang flew back to its perch to continue watching.
Jonouchi touched the formerly-blossoming bruise again, feeling no pain from it at all and no sign of swelling. "...Huh..." Putting that aside, he looked back at Johan and said, "I guess you're not that bad."
"Thanks. You, too," Johan said with a smile.
Jonouchi then heard Yang's voice in his head, saying in a gentle, caring tone, "Take him home, Jonouchi-kun. It's only a couple of blocks from where you live, and I promise it will be worth your while."
Relenting, Jonouchi said, "Yeah, whatever. Come on, Andersen." He started walking off, adding, "Apparently you live close to my place, so I might as well take you home on my way."
Johan started, eyes wide. "Wait, who told you—" He cut himself off, looking up at the dove, and sweat. "...Oh..." That explained it. Aw, man! Why's Yang still here!? Don't tell me she just added me to her—But I'm not that bad!
"Yo! Andersen! You lookin' to meet more gangsters? 'Cause that's the only reason why you should be standin' there like an idiot!" Jonouchi yelled from several yards away, looking at Johan with impatience.
Johan gave another start, his eyes widening again. Then he turned and took off after Jonouchi, saying, "Er, right! My bad!"
Shortly, they walked up to a corner house, and Johan said, "And here we are! My new home! You can go home now, Jonouchi. 'Cause even I'm not dumb enough to lose my way from here!" The last was said with a smile as he joked around a bit.
"Dang," Jonouchi said, stunned. "You really do live close..."
"Whoa, really? So where do you live, Jonouchi?"
The blond nodded his head off to the right, saying, "Exactly two blocks that way."
Awestruck, Johan looked that way for a second before saying, "Huh. Small world."
The door opened, and a man with green eyes and blond hair stepped out, saying, "Is that you, Johan? You're running awfully late for someone who was just going to get some milk for his mother." Seeing the lack of any evidence his son had done any shopping, the man crossed his arms, concerned, and asked, "Did you get lost again? Johan, what am I going to do with you? You're always doing this!"
Johan rubbed the back of his head, grinning awkwardly. "Heh. What can I say? I left my compass at home." He laughed a bit more, sweating.
His dad's eyes wandered over to Jonouchi then, and he raised an eyebrow as he asked, "And who might you be? Did you help my son find his way home?"
Deciding to leave out the part where he was ready to ambush and beat up the man's son, Jonouchi answered, "Yeah, you could say that. I'm Jonouchi Katsuya. We go to school together."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Jonouchi! And thank you for bringing Johan home! I swear, that boy would lose his head if it wasn't attached to his shoulders! His sense of direction is about as good as the Minotaur's in the labyrinth! He has no idea where he's going sometimes!" He put a hand on the back of his head and laughed a bit.
Jonouchi wasn't sure what the Minotaur was or what labyrinth Johan's dad was talking about, but he didn't have any real motivation to ask.
Johan sweat, giving his dad a lame look. "Gee. Thanks, Dad. Always wanted my classmates to think I'm completely hopeless," he said, heavy on the sarcasm.
"Hey, it's not like I didn't already think that, Andersen," Jonouchi said with a smirk.
"Well, anyway, since you're here now, why not escort Johan here to the market? He could use all the help he could get, especially given that we just moved here recently."
Embarrassed, Johan protested, "Oh, come on, Dad! I'm not that bad!"
"I guess I could," Jonouchi answered thoughtfully. "It's not like I've got anything better to do."
"Aw, come on!" Johan whined.
"Thank you, young man. I greatly appreciate it."
Once again, Yang spoke in Jonouchi's mind, "There, you see, Jonouchi-kun? It feels pretty good to receive such praise. Much better than having everyone fear and hate you. Don't you think?"
Yeah. That does feel pretty good, Jonouchi silently admitted.
"You and Johan will be the best of friends. Let this friendship be your guide to a brighter future for the both of you. For the more you get others to like you, the more you'll learn to love yourself. And, when it comes to friendship, none is better than Johan. You couldn't ask for a better friend."
Yeah, whatever, Yang. I'll give him a shot, I guess.
Yang cooed out from a nearby tree before bursting into flames. Then both boys heard its voice in their heads, saying, "It's up to you now. Make this newfound friendship last, and you'll never feel alone again. I'll be watching over you, always."
Johan sweat upon hearing that. Oh, great. So she did add me to her list. Man, I gotta toughen up before everyone finds out. This is so humiliating.
"Come on, Andersen! Let's see if you can make it to the store with an escort," Jonouchi teased as he turned and took off.
"Uh, right. Wait up, pal! I can't follow you if you're too far away!" Johan called, running after him.
From that day, the two were the best of friends, much to the surprise of their classmates at school. To protect this new friend, Jonouchi quit Hirutani's gang, and the both had chosen a different high school from Hirutani to help with this.
Johan started training in combat and survival skills and studying more about how to deal with supernatural threats, all in an attempt to get himself off Yang's Endangered Human List. As embarrassing as it was to have Yang show up all the time, though, Johan kind of appreciated it, at least if there wasn't an audience to his humiliation. However, his training paid off, and he started seeing Yang less and less over the next couple of years. It did check in on him when it was in the area, but it didn't feel the need to guard him like before.
Johan didn't know it, but the spirit of light had taken quite a liking to him and Jonouchi and wanted to keep an eye on how both of them were doing in life. Seeing them both trying to make something big of themselves, it couldn't be prouder. They'd come a long way since that day in the warehouse district.
"Good for you, you two," Yang said, watching them leave for the entrance exams. "You're both growing into fine, young gentlemen the world can be proud of. Go on and chase those dreams. I'll be rooting for you." It giggled, then closed its eyes, concentrating. Okay! Now that that's taken care of, time to locate Yin! Five to one says he's off to transfer people to Satellite again. He always does that on Tuesdays in Japan!
The spirit turned to light and took off to find its dark side, hoping to locate him before that could happen for once. Why Yin was so consistent in this matter, Yang didn't know, but it wasn't complaining.