Chapter 49:

"-and with that the festival can begin! Have fun everyone!" Kami announced through the microphone. Cheers were all over the place, followed by lots of people shuffling around. With stores and attractions everywhere, there was something for everybody.

The student council had transformed the whole beach section to the east of the Obelisk Blue dorms into an avenue for Spirit Day. Small stores had been put up either by the academy's staff or clubs, featuring a plethora of food both warm and cold, classic carnival games with a touch of Duel Monsters, as well as lots of decorations resembling a large amount of both famous and not so famous Duel Monster cards.

Aside from that …

"So, where's your costume, Blake?" Bastion asked his best friend, who had a hard time masking a laugh when he saw what Bastion was wearing. He'd chosen to wear something resembling his de facto ace monster: Nine-Tailed Fox. However, Bastion had held onto what his canon counterpart had been wearing, thus creating the Nine-Tailed onesie. Fluffy, beige and red, the tails put up and fixed, along with a hood that got a little face mask resembling a fox attached to it.

"I …" Blake coughed to fight against his own laughter. "Couldn't decide on one …" Which was a complete lie. He never had the intention to dress up for this. Then again, he wouldn't even know what to dress up as. Some spiked armbands like the ones Dark Armed Dragon had?

"That's a shame." Bastion seemed a bit downcast by that. "Then we can't participate in the costume contest together." Right, Atticus had been very insistent on that one.

"Eh, I'm sure you and the boys will manage without me." Blake replied. "Speaking of the others, where are they?" He couldn't see the former Slifer boys anywhere, nor Chazz.

"Jaden had some issues with his costume, so Syrus went to help him." Bastion explained. "And Chazz should be around here somewhere."

"Probably near Alexis." Blake mused.

A small hand patted his shoulder before pointing to the right. "Then you might want to look over there." Kami said, wearing her usual uniform just like Blake.

He followed her directions, where the trio of Alexis, Jasmine, and Mindy were swarmed by male students. Likely the side effect of dressing up as Harpie Lady Sisters. While they'd kept it tasteful and wore something under their costumes it didn't change their overall appearance. Luckily for them, The Chazz was there to break up the commotion.

Chazz was wearing the coat he'd received from Santa, which was perfectly split in half between pure white and black. He'd since then added a pair of wings to make it a costume. This was nowhere near as unwieldy as the XYZ-one Blake remembered him wearing originally.

"Ah. Looks like something for him to worry about." Blake chuckled before turning to Kami. "Good thing you stuck to your uniform. We wouldn't get anywhere otherwise."

"I'll have you know that I would've worn a costume if it hadn't been for all the work to get this done in time. Work you've skipped out on, I may add." Kami grumbled. "Besides, the boys don't go anywhere near as crazy about me like they do with Rhodes."

"Blind, all of them." Blake shook his head.

"More like afraid you'll do something to them …" Bastion mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing! Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a date." Bastion announced.

Blake and Kami blinked simultaneously. "You have a what?!"

"Eh, I mean, meeting up with my fellow Ra's." he deflected immediately. "Make sure to give us high scores during the costume contest!"

With that, their friend ran off into the masses, disappearing between all the Flame Swordman, Dark Magician, and more.

"So, do we have anything else to worry about?" Blake turned to his girlfriend.

"We need to be around for that contest, the small-scale tournament later, and to close off the celebrations with the fireworks." Kami counted down her fingers.

"That so …" Blake mused and held out his arm like he'd seen guys do in Kami's manga. "Then we have no time to waste."

She linked her arm with his and chuckled. "Indeed. I hope you're good at games other than Duel Monsters. I saw they have a big selection of … items to win."

"I'm sure they do." Blake said before hurriedly pulling her along. "Let's get going; I just saw Miss Dorothy as Dark Magician Girl and need to bleach my eyes."

Kami's laugh could be heard all over the place.

"You don't need to escort us, Chazz." Alexis said to her ever-vigilant friend who's busy keeping other people far enough away from them so they could move from place to place.

"I'm just doing my job of making sure these punks behave." Chazz replied, doing his best to keep his eyes to himself. They both knew about his crush, but he'd progressed from being an annoyance to Alexis to being a friend who can be awkward at times.

"Have you seen Umino earlier?" Jasmine gossiped the moment the person in question was out of sight. "So much for her usual frosty demeanor. Something's going on there."

"She looked like she's enjoying herself quite a lot recently." Mindy added, holding her finger to her chin in a thinking pose. "Do you know something we don't, Lexi?"

Chazz and Alexis shared a look, both having witnessed Kami's prolonged stays at the infirmary due to Blake.

"You might want to ask her yourself." Alexis decided. "She's a lot more approachable these days."

"Pff, yeah, sure." Chazz snorted, having seen just how "approachable" she was ever since joining the student council. Truth be told, it still irked him how similar they'd been. Rich, overconfident, thinking less of anyone around them. Seeing others as trash at worst, tools at best. The only times she was approachable was when her pet Hound was around. Speaking of him …

Chazz hadn't forgotten the humiliating defeat Blake had handed him without even trying. It had been what caused him to reclaim the deck he'd been playing before the academy and his most trusted partner, Light and Darkness Dragon.

A soft hum echoed in his ears, bringing a smile to his face. 'Thanks a lot, partner.'

And while he thanked Blake for giving him the much-needed reality check, he never thanked him in person of course. There's no way he'd take the defeat lying down either. He'd since been training and improving, but after Blake's defeat of Zane he'd felt completely eclipsed. It had been a … frustrating time. Something he sought to rectify when the time was right. Jaden, Zane, Blake, he'd beat them all. He already had plans for their break between years. And when he returned, he'd do so as the strongest.

"- earth to Chazz, you alright?" Alexis poked at him with a small frown on her face.

"Huh?" Chazz blinked, taken by surprise.

"You've been spacing out with that usual frown of yours for a while." She remarked, her frown turning into a smile. "This isn't the day to think about … you know, that stuff."

"I wasn't." He denied, not even entertaining the thoughts of his duels with Camula and Kagemaru. Stomped one, got stomped by the other. And who managed to beat the old man? Blake did.

Alexis raised her hands and lightly clapped his cheeks, causing him to blush. "Hey, eyes on me." As if he'd ever have them elsewhere when she's around. "You need to cheer up. If Kami and Blake can, so can you."

And hadn't that been a sight to see? The prim and proper Umino heiress reduced to a blushing mess when they thought no one was looking. Chazz never thought he'd see the day that would happen. At least not with him around, due to their families' history. Hopefully Blake would never find out …

But Alexis was right. If those two resting bitch faces could be happy and enjoy themselves, so could he.

A big grin appeared on his face. "You're right. Let The Chazz show you how you have some real fun."

Alexis shook her head, though her smile didn't falter. "Lead on. Just don't overdo it."

"Don't feel bad, it's fine." Kami said, clearly amused.

"I couldn't hit a single can." Blake grumbled, loudly slurping from his drink to mask his own annoyance. "Those things were fixed, I tell you."

"Yes, that's why I managed to win what I wanted myself." She laughed, patting his shoulder lightly.

"Howdy, boss and other boss." A gruff yet familiar voice greeted from behind.

The two of them had sat down somewhere away from the masses to get a short moment of peace. With almost all students of the academy around, there was just so much going on even getting a snack was hard to do without getting run into.

When they turned towards the voice, both of them narrowed their eyes.

"What're you doing here, Don Zaloog?" Blake asked.

"What'cha mean, boss? Your little event is a celebration for us spirits, isn't it?" The spirit laughed, the four other Dark Scorpions appearing behind him.

"Though it is a bit silly for my taste." Another voice purred. "Where's the duels?" A large tiger pushed itself between the spirits before morphing into a tall woman.

"Tania." Blake nodded in greeting.

"Hound." She did the same, before her eyes fell on Kami. "I hope the little lady's been treating you right? You know you'll always have a place with my tribe if she doesn't"

"Excuse me?!"

"I'm peachy, thanks." Blake laughed, putting his arm around Kami. "You should be careful though; Kami doesn't like competition." That earned him a punch to his shoulder, only making him laugh louder.

"As if I would let some ruffian like her take away what's mine." Kami huffed, sending a challenging glare towards the amazon.

"Got some fire after all, eh? That's good." Tania joined in on the laugh. "Make sure you keep it stoked, else someone with a stronger drive might take him from you."

"So, you guys are here because of the festivities?" Blake asked.

"That and because Jinzo wanted us to take a look at something." Zaloog replied. "Apparently there's a lot of stuff hidden on this island, not just the prison of the Sacred Beasts. Loot ripe for taking- I mean, lots of adventure and secrets to uncover."

"And since we've agreed to working for you-" Meanae chimed in "he's reached out to us. That weird alchemist fellow had some really nice payment for us too."

"S-so no harsh feelings, right?" Chip added.

Blake and Kami shared a glance, before he rolled his wrist towards her to handle business.

Kami raised her head, trying her best to look down on them. "If you perform adequately, I believe we can keep this arrangement."

"See? Told you the boss would see value in our work." Zaloog laughed.

"Just don't scare the other guys when you show up." Blake added. "An apology might be in order."

The Dark Scorpions nodded in unison. "You can count on us, boss. For now we'll have to hurry so we don't miss the illustrious Dark Magician Girl. Heard she was going to duel that one tiny guy. But if you lovebirds have anything else for us to do, have your brainy spirit reach out to us!" All five of them plus Tania scattered before Kami's wrath could rain upon them.

"Lovebirds ..." Kami grumbled.

"Teasing you is just too easy." Blake laughed. "Your reactions make it worth it too, princess."

"Ass." She hissed at him.

"Should that be 'your' ass now? Quite possessive I must say." Blake poked, having way too much fun.

"Shut up!" One could mistake her for a tomato as she looked up something on her PDA. "You better make sure those guys don't cause any trouble while I take care of the contest."

"Leaving your pet out alone in the wild is a criminal offense, you know." He continued.

"You're impossible." She sighed loudly before pulling him in by the collar, giving him a short peck on the lips. "There. Now do your job or I'll have you clean up everything by yourself." With that, she stomped off.

"I hate to see you leave but love to see you go." He said out loud, prompting her to look over her shoulder and stick out her tongue at him before hurrying up.

Blake shook his head, not yet able to hide his grin, when heavy steps made their way towards him. The rustling of metal grew louder with each step.

"Alright, who's next?" He turned towards the noise, only for it to abruptly stop. Instead of seeing someone approach him, he was greeted by the sight of someone … kneeling?

A figure clad in a full set of black armor with spiky shoulders and silver highlights, along with a black and red cape waving in the wind kneeled before him. Even the helm had horns as the figure raised its head, its red eyes gazed upon Blake.

"This knight hath returned to his liege's side." The knight spoke with a deep voice. "He awaits punishment befitting the treason he committed by leaving without permission."

"… what?" Blake blurted. Out of the corner of his eye he saw light coming from his second deck box. Blinking, he opened it and pulled out the card that was shining. "Dark Blade?"

"Yes, milord." The knight nodded. "It saddens me how long it hath taken to reach you, thus I await your judgment."

"What're you talking about? You've done nothing wrong." Blake frowned. "If anything, I failed you and the rest when …"

"When I and the others failed to stop it from happening." Dark Blade interrupted. "Alas, not even the dragon could stop what happened and his highness is forbidden to interact with your world."

"Exactly, so stop trying to take the blame for it. I got payback on the scum responsible, though not as much as I would've liked." Blake shook his head, the memories of that day riling him up more than he wanted to admit.

"We are aware. It fills us with joy that you care about us so much as to risk your own station at this place." Dark Blade held his head even lower than before.

"Please don't …" Blake sighed. "Wait, who's this 'highness' you're talking about?"

"The Monarch of Shadows, milord." The spirit replied. "Unlike his brethren, he honors the laws of the worlds."

"… Caius?" Blake blinked.

"Aye." Dark Blade nodded. "He hath watched you from afar and seen your progress. As such, he's sent me to you with a message."

Blake was getting more confused by the minute but waved at the knight to continue.

"His highness offers you his allegiance in exchange for dealing with his treasonous brethren. Whether they rebelled out of their free will or have been seduced by powers as evil as those they're supposed to keep at bay, they need to be dealt with. If you find, beat, and send them back to the Spirit World, he'll take their place in this world and lend you his power." The spirit said. "As I will right now, if you'll have me, milord."

'Interesting.' Dark Armed Dragon rumbled as he appeared next to Blake in spirit form. 'I always knew he's there, but it felt like he wasn't. He's masked his presence well.'

"What's your opinion?" Blake asked his partner, trying to remember if the Monarchs ever made an appearance in GX.

'Always wanted to kick those high and mighty asses.' The dragon bellowed. 'It'll be worth that alone. Guess it'll be a good way to test how far you've come with handling your energy too. Who knows, maybe 'his highness' even gives away a few secrets so you can improve even more?'

Blake nodded along. 'Monarchs … didn't appear in the Spirit World, I think? Gotta be something with the Society of Light then, but I can't remember anything for the life of me …'

"Well … I see no reason to deny either offer." Blake said eventually.

"Thank you, my liege. I'll always stay vigilant." Dark Blade stood up and bowed before turning translucent and disappearing.

"… I should've seen today being crazy coming." Blake sighed. "Now, where was that contest again …"

Kami was watching the contest unfold only halfheartedly. Some were good, some were bad, some were the age-old classics, others something more original or rarely seen. Regardless, her mind was elsewhere.

'That stupid dork!' She thought to herself, tuning out the other judges sitting to the right of her, those being the respective dorm heads.

It felt wrong to be angry at Blake, but at the same time it didn't. And all that because of that spirit's silly words.

'Lovebirds … yeah …'

Despite what others might hold against her, she was certain of her feelings for her partner. Some might say it's uncharacteristic of her given her usual cold demeanor and no-nonsense attitude. There were reasons she didn't show her emotions to just anyone, one of which being her current predicament.

She hated feeling like some lovesick school girl she'd labeled others people as in the past. But the truth of the matter was … she wasn't sure about Blake's feelings and that bothered her to no end. Yes, they're a little physical with one another, using every chance to sneak in some contact when their busy days allowed it. Yet despite that, they've never actually … talked about it. After what had happened at the rooftop, they just … continued on without a word.

Obviously they're both aware of and had silently agreed to their relationship. They're also careful in their respective approaches … most of the time. Neither wanted to make the other uncomfortable and it showed. It had been especially hard to get Blake's attention at the start because he hadn't reacted to her touch, which was why she did so more deliberately and with more force. He'd told her it's hard for him to feel faint sensations due to the damage his body had suffered through which just … hurt to hear him talk about it.

Yes, he was teasing her and she shot back accordingly. The compliments he'd given her up until now had been honest as well, much to her delight. But she'd never heard those silly little words from him …

She jolted in her seat when a familiar hand grasped hers under the table in front of her. Turning to her left, she saw Blake who must've arrived while she'd been in thought, looking at her with a puzzled look.

"Something wrong?" He whispered before turning towards the contest and holding up a plate with the score he gave the costume presented, prompting her to do the same.

"It's nothing." She replied.

"Doesn't look like nothing." Blake shot back, side eyeing her.

Kami huffed. Of course he didn't know what's bothering her. Then again, how could he if she wasn't telling? Her mind was telling her one thing while her heart said something else. What should she do?

She heard him quietly hum for himself, the gears in his brain turning slowly by the looks of it.

"No, I honestly can't think of anything, sorry." He apologized.

'Why are you telling me you're sorry? You don't even know what's going on?!' Kami thought. 'That's the problem! Of course he should apologise if he can't see what's bothering you!'

A sudden jerk in his hand caused her to look at him. He was staring wide-eyed towards the contestant, who looked like some guy wearing super edgy black armor with golden highlights and lots of spikes. The helmet even had a mask, which when pulled up revealed the Yuki boy. Looked like he'd gone all out with some freaky gold-colored contact lenses to boot.

"What's that about?" Kami asked in a hushed voice, causing Blake to shake his head.

"I was just … surprised by Jaden's outfit. Expected some superhero getup." He replied slowly, something in his voice she couldn't place.

Kami nodded at that, it really felt out of character for the cheery boy.

Turned out he's the last participant too, so they wrapped up the competition. The first place went to Alexis and her friends, due to a lot of points coming from the onlookers and the whole male student body going crazy for them. Second went to the Yuki boy, both due to the quality of his costume and apparently the total switch it presented. Lastly, third place went to Bastion and the Ra members of the student council, who'd all followed Bastion's lead and came up with their own onesies.

Of course Bastion came over to them afterwards. "Well, I guess I should've seen Alexis and Co winning, though Jaden really surprised me."

"Should've seen it coming from a mile away." Blake laughed. "If the students were as interested in improving as they're in Alexis's looks, we'd have a way higher average."

"Heh, true enough. So, what've you two lovebirds been up to in the meantime?" Bastion asked, clearly amused. "You know you aren't subtle at all the way you're looking at each other the whole time?"

Kami's left eye twitched. There it was again.

"Screw subtle." Blake snorted. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find time for us between all the student council stuff and homework? Of course I use every chance I get to throw all my love her way."

Wait, what?

Kami tuned out the two boys banter, feeling the warmth not only rushing to her face but all over her body. Her heart had been beating fast a number of times before, but never as fast as it did now. Did he really just-

"You alright, princess?" Blake's face came into her view, a hint of concern in his voice. His hand touched her forehead gently with a tender look when their eyes met. "You're burning up."

Before she knew it, she'd grabbed his face and planted a kiss on it.

While they're standing in the middle of the crowd …

And now everyone was staring at them …

That was simply too much. She took a step back, turned around, and bolted out of there and into the mass of students nearby, ignoring the shouts behind her.

'That idiot. I'm an idiot. That idiot. I'm an idiot. That idiot-' Kami thought on repeat, not getting his face out of her mind until she collided with someone.

"Kami?" The voice of Alexis came before taking her arms and stopping her from running along. "What's wrong?"

Kami stammered, opening her mouth only to close it again several times. "He- … I- … but … I don't know." She whined, completely lost.

Alexis looked her over and pulled her along, away from the other students. She sat her down on a bench a bit to the side of the festival and handed her a can of cool beverage.

"Okay, take a long, deep breath." Alexis told her, and she complied. "Again. And again. Now take a sip, breathe again, and then tell me what's going on."

Kami would've normally fought against being ordered around like that, but she wasn't normally so flustered and out of her element.

"... I was … overwhelmed …" Kami said slowly.

"By what?" Alexis questioned gently.

"... by that dolt …"

The other girl looked at her with a confused frown. Then she nodded. "I see. Go on."

"... he just said … those words out of nowhere and … he'd never said anything like that and … I don't know …" Kami muttered, never having felt so embarrassed.

"But they made you happy?" Alexis asked.

"O-of course!" Kami jolted up without a second thought before blinking and sitting down, hiding her face in her hands. "It's just … I've been waiting for something like this and it never came up."

"Ah, I see." Alexis nodded sagely. "Don't worry, I've heard stories like that plenty of times."

"So what should I do?" Kami whined. "First I was angry with him and gave him the cold shoulder, then I leave him standing and run away … he's gonna be so-"

"I believe you don't need to worry about Blake reacting negatively." She was stopped immediately before her head could continue and come up with even more negative ideas.

"But-"

"No." Alexis interjected again. "I won't pretend to know either of you well enough to make too many assumptions, but from what little I've seen of the two of you I'm certain you'll be fine. It surprises me it took so long to get this far, honestly. Bastion might've actually won that bet …"

"How can you be so sure-" Kami began when her brain caught the last sentence. "… wait, you were betting on us saying …"

"It was just in silly jest." Alexis waved, now being the embarrassed one. She cleared her throat and changed the subject. "What I was saying is, from the way I saw you two interact I can't imagine Blake being mad at you."

Kami let out a sigh she didn't know she was holding.

"But-" the other girl continued.

Oh no, there was a but!

"You should explain to him why you reacted the way you did. Your thoughts on him saying what he said as well." Alexis concluded. "I don't need to know Blake well to know the only emotions he's usually showing are anger or contempt. My brother called him a, and I quote, 'aloof bad boy' and I can't help but agree with his notion. Him not knowing how to express himself makes sense. But you know your boyfriend better than we do, so you should know how he usually expresses his feelings."

'He doesn't.' was Kami's first thought, but then she shook her head. 'No, he does show his feelings regularly, he just doesn't talk about them.' Several scenes of him visibly reacting to something came to mind, although most of them being awkward or uncertain. His reaction to the Yuki boy and the gentle worry he'd shown towards her being the latest of those.

'What a fool I've been. Of course he doesn't know how to express himself properly, you know about how he lived in the past and how that witch is treating him.'

Kami angrily shook her head and emptied the rest of the can in one go, before looking at Alexis. "Thank you." She told her honestly. "I needed to hear that."

"You're welcome." Alexis smiled.

"And … sorry about how I've treated you in the past." Kami continued, unable to hide a small smile when she saw Alexis's eyes widen. "I … hope we can… talk some more in the future? Like this?"

The other girl blinked at her a few times before nodding. "I think I'd like that, but only if you can play nice."

Kami huffed. "I'll have you know I can be quite courteous."

"I'll hold you to it." Alexis laughed. "Maybe you can help me find a way to keep all the guys at bay. Poor Chazz had to do overtime today just so we could move around the area."

"Sounds like a solution, doesn't it?" Kami poked. "Honestly, if you just got yourself a boyfriend you should be fine. Just look at me."

Alexis sweat dropped at that. "I'm not sure about that. You know that almost all the boys are terrified of Blake, yes?"

"Excuse me?!"

"Later".

That had been everything Blake had gotten out of Kami when he'd asked about what had happened earlier today. She'd quickly excused herself when the celebrations were over as well, giving him no chance to question her any further. Since then, all he got was that exact word, even when he'd tried texting her.

He'd opted for a cold shower in hope it'd clear his thoughts as he had no idea what's wrong or what he could've done to elicit such reactions.

'She's acting weird during the contest.' Blake thought, staring at the wall in front of him as the water poured over him. 'She only ran after my talk with Bastion … but why?'

'Should've kept your attention on her rather than your friend.' Dark Armed laughed in his mind.

'Not helping.' Blake brushed him off. No, he'd tried to talk up a topic to take her mind away from whatever's been bothering her. Not like it'd worked …

'Teased her too much, then?' DAD suggested, surprising Blake. Since when did he care about … ah, her dragon.

'We go back and forth all the time, that shouldn't have been an issue.' Blake shook his head and turned off the water. 'Then again, maybe she didn't appreciate the offhand compliment.' Now that he thought about it, her reactions towards them getting called 'lovebirds' had been weird …

He got out of the shower and dried up, throwing a towel on his wet hair once he's got his pants on again. Then, his PDA hummed to life. A new message.

"Open the door."

Blake blinked at that. It was past ten and way past curfew. Surely she wouldn't-

"Preferably before someone sees me.'"

He left the bathroom, his room cast in only the dimmed light from the lamp above, and opened the door, pausing when he saw Kami standing on the other side. Of course it was her, but he hadn't expected her to be wearing her gym uniform and carrying a rather large bag with her.

"Finally, do you have any idea how long-" She hissed but stopped midway through only to blush up a storm.

Taking her hand, Blake pulled her into the room and closed the door as quietly as he could.

"What are you doing here at such an hour?" Blake asked. "What if anyone had seen you?"

"I-It wouldn't have been a problem." She huffed, looking anywhere but at him for some reason.

"... sure." He shook his head, crossing his arms. "So, is it now 'later'? And what's with the bag?"

"It is, as a matter of fact." Kami said, walked over to the couch and sat down, patting the space next to her. When he shot her a confused look, she pouted. "Get over here already."

Rolling his eyes, Blake sat down, just now noticing he'd forgotten to put on a shirt. "So?"

"So … my apologies for running off on you like that." She began with a sigh. "I shouldn't have done that and then not even explain myself."

"Duh." He replied, turning towards her and giving her forehead a light flick. "Then why did you?"

Kami glared at him, rubbing the spot he'd hit ever so slightly. "Because you surprised me. In a way that was too overwhelming to handle."

"How?"

She mumbled something too quiet to hear. If her lips hadn't moved he wouldn't even know she had done so at all.

"For Ra's sake …" Blake grabbed her by the chin and turned her towards himself. "What did you say?"

Kami's blush intensified before answering in the tiniest voice he'd ever heard from her. "You told him you'd throw all your love my way."

"Of course I did, why's that-" Blake shot back but stopped when Kami put her hand on his. "... I never said that out loud, did I?" She shook her head ever so slightly. "Ah … I … thought that was obvious … sorry."

"It's alright." Kami replied after a few moments. "I didn't say anything myself and you're showing your feelings rather openly in hindsight."

"But it still irritated you that I didn't say it out loud." Blake wanted to confirm, to which she nodded. "I know I'm not one to talk, but we really gotta work on our communication skills. How long have you been carrying that with you?"

"... only a few … weeks." She answered sheepishly.

"You're an idiot." Blake deadpanned.

"Hey!"

"But since I'm your idiot I'd say you're mine as well." Whatever retort she tried to give was snuffed out with a kiss. "So, just so we're on the same page: I love you. A lot. Got that?"

Kami's face was getting hot in his hand, her eyes turning watery. "Yes. I love you too."

Whatever cold had been left from his shower evaporated in an instant. Judging by her blinking and the smug face that followed it, he's blushing too. Great, she'd hold that over him forever.

"Good. Glad we could talk about it, I guess." He let go of her, only for her to crawl into his lap and put her arms around his neck. His arms moved around her without a second thought. "What-"

"I'm staying the night." Kami said matter-of-factly. "That's what the bag is for."

"But-"

"No buts!" She hissed. "The only butt here is the one you think you're sneaky enough to touch without me noticing."

"Guilty as charged." He chuckled and did so anyway.

Kami jolted for a second, giving him a hot glare before leaning into him, their noses almost touching.

The soft scent of lavender, which always accompanied her, had never been so strong before. Before he knew it, they're making out, her soft and warm body pressing against his own. It lasted until both of them were out of breath, a fine line of saliva between them as they parted.

During their brief pause, her fingers traced his scars slowly. It made him incredibly self-conscious about the rest of his body looking just the same; bad.

She must've noticed his reaction as she gently placed another kiss on his lips. "Don't worry about them."

"... they're ugly. They're everywhere."

"But you're not." She rested her head on his shoulder, one hand drawing circles on his chest as the other explored his skin further. "They're horrible. What's been done to you is horrible."

A sudden shiver overcame him, but it was soon soothed by her squeezing him tight. A kiss on his shoulder, one on his neck, on his cheek.

"But it changes nothing about my feelings for you." She whispered gently. "If anything, it makes me want to be the one protecting you for once."

Blake's right hand combed through her hair before he pulled her into another kiss. "Sorry, but it's my job to protect you, so we can't have that." He then traced her neck downwards with kisses of his own. Somewhere between those, Kami had pulled down the zipper of her gym uniform.

"Who else is gonna put up with a pushy little princess like you?" He joked, resting his head on her shoulder for a moment. "Demanding and mean, always needing to be the smartest in the room. Never wanting to show your feelings, shutting them away to appear proper although you carry so much emotion with you. Sometimes I worry you'll explode from bottling up everything."

"... does it really look that bad?"

"You for sure don't-" She hit him playfully "but it's gotten better, I think. You're much more open. All that sass on full display, makes me fall for you over and over again."

She pulled up his head and locked lips with him once more, even more heated than before. Quiet, cute moans escaped her lips a few times before they had to separate again. If only they didn't need to breathe-

"Hey Blake?" Kami wheezed.

"Hm?"

"I don't think anyone's going to interrupt us now."

It took a while for him to make the connection. Only when she parted the sides of her jacket with nothing but her bra underneath it finally clicked.

"You mean-"

She squirmed on his lap, which didn't exactly help holding himself back. Any second now she'd-

"Eep!" She jumped, raising herself just enough to confirm her suspicions before looking back up at him, a mix of embarrassment and judgment on her face.

"... now that one's your fault." He chuckled, not even trying to hide it. "But are you really sure? We just talked about being clearer-"

"I … want to stay the night." Kami interrupted. "With you, in your bed, inside …"

Putting his hands around her, Blake stood up, just like the tent he'd made due to her movement. Kami found herself in a princess-carry shortly after. He'd learned from her extensive library, after all.

"Last chance to stop me." He said as he carried her over to his bed.

"I don't think anything I could say would make a difference now." She teased, but he shook his head.

"It would." Blake stated clearly before setting her down gently. "When it's too much, say it. If you don't like something, tell me. The last thing I want is for you to be uncomfortable."

Kami looked at him sheepishly before hanging her arms around his neck once more.

Her eyes held a warmth he'd never seen anyone else give him before, or anyone else for that matter. "Don't worry about it, you know I can be quite … demanding. But the only thing I don't like right now is you making a lady wait."

"Oh? What happened to taking it slow?" He teased.

"Shut up and take me already!"

She let out a shrill 'eep' when he pushed her down immediately. What followed were sweet words and even sweeter moans.

This would be a long night …

And so the S.S. Dark Waters sails full speed ahead … or something. Now, I won't go farther than this last scene in this story. Should there for whatever reason be a lot of "please write that lemon out" I guess I could put that in a sort of "cut content" sidestory? I for one think this was enough, for some maybe even too much already, so I'll leave that up to you guys.

Got some of The Chazz resolving himself similar to Zane last chap, along with a neat moment with Alexis, who's playing support this chapter pretty good. Writing awkward teenage romance is … a challenge, any feedback on that is appreciated. Given the two characters in question having quite the baggage … well, y'know.

Next chapter will close off year 1 for real this time and we'll head into the break to set up year 2.

Reviews:
Raidentensho: Gotta elaborate on that Abyss deck, please. I do need some additional characters for what I got planned for the GX tournament, so I'll look at everything I can get.
Quarttzblade12: We'll see about that.
Capito Celcior: Yeah, the Cyberdarks didn't really fit him. Then again, they're a split-second decision with the main objective of keeping them from Zane.
D2268: Changing the win-loss stuff was more about putting them off-screen, rather than giving Zane a deserved on-screen win. This also served as a way for our resident Kaiser to progress more smoothly. The way I'd presented it I just felt it was lackluster and didn't do either character justice. Getting the Cyberdarks to someone else … difficult for sure, even Blake needed his spirits to hold them down so they wouldn't go against him. FFnets system in itself is buggy, I feel you.
Grim1298: Glad you enjoy the story so much! Maybe when I'm done with this, there could be a sequel going into 5Ds featuring older GX support cast and their spawn?
demissedwaifu: No way only Kami gets to suffer from Blake's puns, her spirit needs to share that burden :D
Kazikamikaze24: Thank you 3. I didn't handle the Cyberdarks all that great, maybe if Blake had used them more (perhaps in darker ways too) they could've gotten more chances to shine. Sheppard can go eat dirt for sure.
Peter Kim: That's an interesting tech. Just getting that thing out … oh well, Blake's getting some new moves soon, so I'll see what I can do.

That's it from me! See you next time!