Categories > Anime/Manga > Yu-Gi-Oh! > Love In Dueling
Chapter 2: Shipped-In Friendship
“Oh, my God! It’s such a beautiful view, Dee. You need to see it.”
“No thank you. I think my sea sickness will actually come up if I do.”
“So? Are you going to see that boy again?” Lauren slipped in slyly. Lauren was petite with brunette hair and hazel eyes full of knowledge, curiosity, mischief, and excitement. She was 16 years old and in the Obelisk Blue Dorm.
“Lauren! The chances of me seeing Jaden there are a million to one.” Deanne cried. Deanne had gotten older since the last time her and Jaden had met. She was now 15 with the same blue eyes and brunette hair but she was taller and not as gangly. She got landed into the Slifer Red Dorm because of her low scores on the entrance exam but passing scores on the dueling.
“Well, then there’s still a chance.”
“Will you quit it Lauren?”
“I can’t help it if you think of that boy 24/7!”
“Can I help it if I miss him?”
“Do you know why you miss him so much?”
“Don’t even say it!”
“To quote Ashley Simpson: Let me hear you say L-O, L-O, L-O, L-O-V-E!”
“Lauren, me and Jaden are friends. That’s how we’re going to stay because we haven’t seen each other since I was eight. Besides, don’t you know what happens when a girl wants to get involved with a romantic relationship with a guy friend or if it’s the other way around? If they don’t return each others feelings, it can destroy the friendship. Jaden and I had a perfectly good friendship and I don’t want to ruin that.”
“Yeah, but you’ll be wanting to spend more time with him, and when that happens, your feelings will keep growing stronger.”
“Lauren, unlike you, I want to keep my friendship the way it is. Anyways, if he did see me, he probably wouldn’t remember me. It’s been seven years after all.”
“It hasn’t been that long.” Before Deanne could reply, Lauren changed the subject, “Oh, we’re here.” Deanne sighed as she grabbed her bag and duel disk as she stepped off of the ship with Lauren and marveled at how large the Academy was. When she turned to Lauren, Lauren had ventured off. She searched for a little bit before Lauren came back and dragged her off somewhere.
Rewind:
Lauren had marveled at the size of the Academy and moved to a less crowded area to take a picture of it. She heard a gasp and turned to where it came from. She saw Jaden Yuki (Deanne had a picture of them two).
“Oh, sorry. I thought you were someone else, someone I knew.”
“Hold on for a minute.” She said holding a finger up. She went back to Deanne and dragged her back to where she had seen him without saying a word of explanation to Deanne. “You mean her?”
“Jay Jay!” Deanne cried hugging him. He looked stunned and then returned the hug.
“Dee Dee!”
“Okay, I know how much you both want to be back together but we have to get ready for the ceremony.”
“Does she always do that?”
“Make most stuff sound dirty? Yeah, it’s a gift.”
“Blame my spirits. Now, let’s go!” Lauren said as she dragged Deanne into the Academy towards the stage. Jaden was about to ask what Lauren meant but decided he would ask later after the ceremony when he could introduce the others to Deanne. He sat with the other Slifer Reds and watched as the principal and Crowler made the same welcoming announcements they made every year. When Jaden’s other friends saw how impatient and nervous he was acting while they were with their dorm mates, they all looked at each other with concern.
“Does anybody know what’s been up with Jaden lately?” Alexis asked.
“I don’t know but he did act a little weird when I saw him. He was wearing something with a silver chain under his shirt, but when I asked him about it, he said it was nothing and just tucked it back under his shirt.” Syrus answered.
“I’m saying that Yuki lost his mind.” Chazz spoke.
“Well dudes, what I can tell you is that J-dude’s been staring at that stage and hasn’t taken his eyes off of it, not once.” Atticus interrupted. They all went back to the ceremony. When it was finally over, everybody saw Jaden literally jump out of his seat and run into the hall. They followed him and saw him hugging some girl. There was another girl standing next to them with a smug look on her face with her arms crossed.
“Will you quit looking at us like that, Laur?”
“Like what?” Laur asked innocently.
“I guess you were right, Dee Dee.” Jaden said. He turned to Lauren. “There was something I wanted to ask you about. You said to ‘blame it on my spirits’. What did you mean by that?”
“I have four duel spirits, just like you have your little winged fur thing over there Yuki.”
“Four? Holy shit!”
“Yeah; Amazon Archer, Dark Elf, Fire Princess, and Mystical Elf.”
“Wow!” Alexis let slip. They turned to the noise and saw a whole group of people standing there.
“Oh, yeah! I meant to introduce you guys to my friends.” Jaden said rubbing the back of his head. “Dee, Laur, this is Alexis Rhodes and her older brother Atticus, Syrus Truesdale, Chazz Princeton, Tyranno Hasselberry, and Blair Flannigan. Guys, this is Deanne Hailer and her cousin Lauren.”
“Hi.” Lauren said in the silence that followed the introductions.
“So, how do you two know Jaden?” Alexis finally asked breaking the silence.
“Jaden and I met when I was eight and went on summer vacation with my mom and dad in his neighborhood. We met each other through a friend of my parents who knew Jaden and when we met, things just clicked into place. He just met Lauren through me today after we haven’t seen each other for seven years.”
“Now that that’s over, want to get something to eat?” Lauren asked Alexis.
“Fine by me.” As they were walking away the group could hear some of their conversation before they started following. “What’d you think of the ceremony?”
“Well…the speeches were a little long but it was very nice. There doesn’t seem to be very many girls here.”
“There’s not a lot but every now and then someone new comes along. We’re starting to catch up with the number of boys, finally.”
“You’re in Obelisk Blue Dorm!”
“Yeah and so are you.”
“A lot of people say the test was hard but it was super easy.”
“For you maybe.” Deanne said catching up with them. “I was only able to get in because of my dueling results.” Jaden smiled and put a hand on Deanne’s shoulder.
“There’s no need to worry, Dee Dee. It’s not the written results that matter; it’s how well you duel. And I know it’s been a while, but if I recall you were always a fantastic duelist.” Jaden said with a reassuring smile. Deanne smiled back at him and looked at him. Deanne saw Lauren make a kissy-kissy face. Deanne glared at her and so did Jaden.
“You know, sometimes I wonder if she really cares about how I feel when she does that.”
“You know I love you Dee.”
“You have a strange way of showing it.”
“If I may butt in here, but are you two always like this?” Hasselberry asked.
“Half of the time.” Lauren replied.
“Yeah, we usual get along just fine and we don’t have a problem with working together as partners. She’s the brains behind the operation and I’m the heart.”
“I guess I should have seen that coming.” Jaden said.
“Don’t you go saying stuff about her. Heck, you thought I was her but then you got a really good glimpse of me.” Lauren commented. Deanne rolled her eyes.
“Let’s just get to the hall before all the good stuff’s gone.” Deanne said as she walked next to Lauren. “Then afterwards we should get to our dorms and settle in.”
“Well, yeah or somebody might steal our stuff.”
“Well Jaden, it looks like you picked up a new comrade and a new girlfriend.” They turned to see a boy with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes in a white suit walk up to them.
“Hey Aster, and Deanne is not my girlfriend. She’s a girl who’s my friend you know how many of those I have.” Jaden said as he watched Aster’s gaze jolt from him to Deanne. “Aster, this is my friend Deanne Hailer. Deanne, this is my friend Aster Phoenix.” Deanne looked at him and held out her hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Deanne said. Aster looked at her for another second and shook her hand.
“Likewise, I’m sure.” he replied as he took his hand away from hers. “So what’s the history between you and Jaden?”
“Could I explain while we get something to eat? Because I’m starving and I haven’t had anything to eat since we left.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to say.” Lauren exclaimed exasperated before walking with Alexis towards the buffet. Deanne went off in the direction of the desserts area and Jaden was about to follow her there when someone grabbed his shoulder. He turned and saw all of the guys giving him a serious look.
“So Jaden, what’s the deal with you and Deanne?” Aster asked with a sly smile on his face.
“What?!?!?!” Jaden said in shock.
“Yeah, J-dude. What’s the 411 on you and D-dudette?” Atticus said with a look on his face.
“I’ve already told you guys. Dee and I are just friends. We barely even know each other and the knowledge we have of each other is about seven years old.” Jaden explained with an upset look as he tried to explain it to them again.
“Don’t pretend with us, Jaden. We saw the chemistry between you two. It was clear as a crystal chandelier.” Chazz said as he leaned against a table.
“Yeah Jay, it seems pretty obvious that you two have something between each other besides your friendship.” Syrus replied.
“I agree with Private, Sarge. It seems a little obvious that you two have some what of a romantic relationship.” Hasselberry stated.
“Why do you keep saying that? There’s nothing between us!”
“I’m sure.” Lauren said walking past to go get a table for her and Deanne.
“Man, L-dudette has got it right.” Atticus informed.
“How many times do I have to tell you guys? We are just friends! What do I have to do? Paint it on the hallway walls just for you to see it?”
“No but you could spend a night alone with her in the same room to prove that there isn’t anymore than friendship.” Alexis said as she sat down with a smirk on her face.
“I’ll do anything but that. That would be just too awkward.” Jaden said as he felt his face get redder from the anger and embarrassment that swam through him.
“What would be awkward, Jay Jay?” Deanne said as she got close to the table with a tray of different desserts on it.
“It would be awkward if you and Lauren got roomed with people you weren’t, even slightly, acquainted with.” Jaden said covering up his remark.
“Well, Lauren and I think that we’re bunked together.” Alexis commented.
“That’s right.” Lauren said smiling.
“Plus, I’ll be fine. It never really mattered to me where I slept so long as I slept.”
“Hey, that’s my motto.” Lauren joked making the three of them laugh while the boys looked on confused.
“I guess my sis needed females to talk to.” Atticus commented to the others.
“You think so?” Syrus asked.
“Everybody needs somebody to talk to no matter who they are.” Deanne said as she bit into a slice of cake.
“My sediments exactly, Dee.”
“It’s like I said before though, we might want to finish eating so that we can get settled in our dorms.”
“I agree with Dee, so hurry up and stuff your faces so we can leave. We still need people to show us around.” So when everyone finished eating, they all split into groups to show the girls around. It was a strange coincidence that it was just Jaden who would be showing Deanne around.
“So how have you been?” Deanne asked as Jaden walked her towards the Slifer Red Dorm.
“If you don’t count being sent to another realm, dueling a mutant duel monster, having to go back to that world to save one of your friends, being taken over by an evil king, being rid of that king, and then dueling the spirit again before you absorb her, yeah I’ve been okay. A lot more happened before that but I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“You sure have been busy.”
“What about you?”
“I’ve had way too many experiences too count but otherwise, I’ve been good. Oh, here’s my room, I guess I’ll see you later then.”
“Yeah, see you.” Jaden said as she softly closed the door. Then, he went to sulk in his own dorm room.
*
“Okay, we have got to find a way to hook those two up.” Lauren said to Alexis who was looking at the pictures Lauren had of Deanne and Jaden. Atticus was also there but just observing.
“Tell me about it. Those two deserve each other. Atticus, you better not tell them about our plan.”
“Hey, A-dude is just listening. I’m here to help you dudettes.”
“Anyways, we need to have a well-developed plan for those two to realize their feelings for each other. I’m emphasizing well-developed.”
“Deanne loves him, she just won’t admit it, even to herself. She doesn’t and I quote ‘want to ruin the friendship.’ You can tell just by looking at Jaden that he also loves her. He’s probably just too quiet to say it.” Lauren glared at Atticus.
“What’d I do?!”
“Most guys ignore girls’ feelings; I just need someone to glare at.” She said shrugging.
“Back to the task at hand, we know the situation, we just need to find out a way to break down that wall and get those two together.”
“That’s going to take a lot of work, sis.”
“Well, then, let’s get started.” They brainstormed for a long while and then ended up falling asleep where they were; Lauren and Alexis on their beds and Atticus on the floor between the two beds.
“Eureka!” Lauren cried as she woke up in the middle of the night. She wrote down her idea so she wouldn’t forget it later. Atticus awoke with a jolt scared.
“Oh, man! I’m not supposed to be in here! I’ve got to get out of here before one of the professors find me!”
“You’re just in your sister’s room, so it’s not that big of a deal. Anyways, go now because everyone’s probably asleep already.” While all of this was going on, something else was going on between Jaden and Deanne at the same time, though it was something very different than you may think.
“Oh, my God! It’s such a beautiful view, Dee. You need to see it.”
“No thank you. I think my sea sickness will actually come up if I do.”
“So? Are you going to see that boy again?” Lauren slipped in slyly. Lauren was petite with brunette hair and hazel eyes full of knowledge, curiosity, mischief, and excitement. She was 16 years old and in the Obelisk Blue Dorm.
“Lauren! The chances of me seeing Jaden there are a million to one.” Deanne cried. Deanne had gotten older since the last time her and Jaden had met. She was now 15 with the same blue eyes and brunette hair but she was taller and not as gangly. She got landed into the Slifer Red Dorm because of her low scores on the entrance exam but passing scores on the dueling.
“Well, then there’s still a chance.”
“Will you quit it Lauren?”
“I can’t help it if you think of that boy 24/7!”
“Can I help it if I miss him?”
“Do you know why you miss him so much?”
“Don’t even say it!”
“To quote Ashley Simpson: Let me hear you say L-O, L-O, L-O, L-O-V-E!”
“Lauren, me and Jaden are friends. That’s how we’re going to stay because we haven’t seen each other since I was eight. Besides, don’t you know what happens when a girl wants to get involved with a romantic relationship with a guy friend or if it’s the other way around? If they don’t return each others feelings, it can destroy the friendship. Jaden and I had a perfectly good friendship and I don’t want to ruin that.”
“Yeah, but you’ll be wanting to spend more time with him, and when that happens, your feelings will keep growing stronger.”
“Lauren, unlike you, I want to keep my friendship the way it is. Anyways, if he did see me, he probably wouldn’t remember me. It’s been seven years after all.”
“It hasn’t been that long.” Before Deanne could reply, Lauren changed the subject, “Oh, we’re here.” Deanne sighed as she grabbed her bag and duel disk as she stepped off of the ship with Lauren and marveled at how large the Academy was. When she turned to Lauren, Lauren had ventured off. She searched for a little bit before Lauren came back and dragged her off somewhere.
Rewind:
Lauren had marveled at the size of the Academy and moved to a less crowded area to take a picture of it. She heard a gasp and turned to where it came from. She saw Jaden Yuki (Deanne had a picture of them two).
“Oh, sorry. I thought you were someone else, someone I knew.”
“Hold on for a minute.” She said holding a finger up. She went back to Deanne and dragged her back to where she had seen him without saying a word of explanation to Deanne. “You mean her?”
“Jay Jay!” Deanne cried hugging him. He looked stunned and then returned the hug.
“Dee Dee!”
“Okay, I know how much you both want to be back together but we have to get ready for the ceremony.”
“Does she always do that?”
“Make most stuff sound dirty? Yeah, it’s a gift.”
“Blame my spirits. Now, let’s go!” Lauren said as she dragged Deanne into the Academy towards the stage. Jaden was about to ask what Lauren meant but decided he would ask later after the ceremony when he could introduce the others to Deanne. He sat with the other Slifer Reds and watched as the principal and Crowler made the same welcoming announcements they made every year. When Jaden’s other friends saw how impatient and nervous he was acting while they were with their dorm mates, they all looked at each other with concern.
“Does anybody know what’s been up with Jaden lately?” Alexis asked.
“I don’t know but he did act a little weird when I saw him. He was wearing something with a silver chain under his shirt, but when I asked him about it, he said it was nothing and just tucked it back under his shirt.” Syrus answered.
“I’m saying that Yuki lost his mind.” Chazz spoke.
“Well dudes, what I can tell you is that J-dude’s been staring at that stage and hasn’t taken his eyes off of it, not once.” Atticus interrupted. They all went back to the ceremony. When it was finally over, everybody saw Jaden literally jump out of his seat and run into the hall. They followed him and saw him hugging some girl. There was another girl standing next to them with a smug look on her face with her arms crossed.
“Will you quit looking at us like that, Laur?”
“Like what?” Laur asked innocently.
“I guess you were right, Dee Dee.” Jaden said. He turned to Lauren. “There was something I wanted to ask you about. You said to ‘blame it on my spirits’. What did you mean by that?”
“I have four duel spirits, just like you have your little winged fur thing over there Yuki.”
“Four? Holy shit!”
“Yeah; Amazon Archer, Dark Elf, Fire Princess, and Mystical Elf.”
“Wow!” Alexis let slip. They turned to the noise and saw a whole group of people standing there.
“Oh, yeah! I meant to introduce you guys to my friends.” Jaden said rubbing the back of his head. “Dee, Laur, this is Alexis Rhodes and her older brother Atticus, Syrus Truesdale, Chazz Princeton, Tyranno Hasselberry, and Blair Flannigan. Guys, this is Deanne Hailer and her cousin Lauren.”
“Hi.” Lauren said in the silence that followed the introductions.
“So, how do you two know Jaden?” Alexis finally asked breaking the silence.
“Jaden and I met when I was eight and went on summer vacation with my mom and dad in his neighborhood. We met each other through a friend of my parents who knew Jaden and when we met, things just clicked into place. He just met Lauren through me today after we haven’t seen each other for seven years.”
“Now that that’s over, want to get something to eat?” Lauren asked Alexis.
“Fine by me.” As they were walking away the group could hear some of their conversation before they started following. “What’d you think of the ceremony?”
“Well…the speeches were a little long but it was very nice. There doesn’t seem to be very many girls here.”
“There’s not a lot but every now and then someone new comes along. We’re starting to catch up with the number of boys, finally.”
“You’re in Obelisk Blue Dorm!”
“Yeah and so are you.”
“A lot of people say the test was hard but it was super easy.”
“For you maybe.” Deanne said catching up with them. “I was only able to get in because of my dueling results.” Jaden smiled and put a hand on Deanne’s shoulder.
“There’s no need to worry, Dee Dee. It’s not the written results that matter; it’s how well you duel. And I know it’s been a while, but if I recall you were always a fantastic duelist.” Jaden said with a reassuring smile. Deanne smiled back at him and looked at him. Deanne saw Lauren make a kissy-kissy face. Deanne glared at her and so did Jaden.
“You know, sometimes I wonder if she really cares about how I feel when she does that.”
“You know I love you Dee.”
“You have a strange way of showing it.”
“If I may butt in here, but are you two always like this?” Hasselberry asked.
“Half of the time.” Lauren replied.
“Yeah, we usual get along just fine and we don’t have a problem with working together as partners. She’s the brains behind the operation and I’m the heart.”
“I guess I should have seen that coming.” Jaden said.
“Don’t you go saying stuff about her. Heck, you thought I was her but then you got a really good glimpse of me.” Lauren commented. Deanne rolled her eyes.
“Let’s just get to the hall before all the good stuff’s gone.” Deanne said as she walked next to Lauren. “Then afterwards we should get to our dorms and settle in.”
“Well, yeah or somebody might steal our stuff.”
“Well Jaden, it looks like you picked up a new comrade and a new girlfriend.” They turned to see a boy with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes in a white suit walk up to them.
“Hey Aster, and Deanne is not my girlfriend. She’s a girl who’s my friend you know how many of those I have.” Jaden said as he watched Aster’s gaze jolt from him to Deanne. “Aster, this is my friend Deanne Hailer. Deanne, this is my friend Aster Phoenix.” Deanne looked at him and held out her hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Deanne said. Aster looked at her for another second and shook her hand.
“Likewise, I’m sure.” he replied as he took his hand away from hers. “So what’s the history between you and Jaden?”
“Could I explain while we get something to eat? Because I’m starving and I haven’t had anything to eat since we left.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to say.” Lauren exclaimed exasperated before walking with Alexis towards the buffet. Deanne went off in the direction of the desserts area and Jaden was about to follow her there when someone grabbed his shoulder. He turned and saw all of the guys giving him a serious look.
“So Jaden, what’s the deal with you and Deanne?” Aster asked with a sly smile on his face.
“What?!?!?!” Jaden said in shock.
“Yeah, J-dude. What’s the 411 on you and D-dudette?” Atticus said with a look on his face.
“I’ve already told you guys. Dee and I are just friends. We barely even know each other and the knowledge we have of each other is about seven years old.” Jaden explained with an upset look as he tried to explain it to them again.
“Don’t pretend with us, Jaden. We saw the chemistry between you two. It was clear as a crystal chandelier.” Chazz said as he leaned against a table.
“Yeah Jay, it seems pretty obvious that you two have something between each other besides your friendship.” Syrus replied.
“I agree with Private, Sarge. It seems a little obvious that you two have some what of a romantic relationship.” Hasselberry stated.
“Why do you keep saying that? There’s nothing between us!”
“I’m sure.” Lauren said walking past to go get a table for her and Deanne.
“Man, L-dudette has got it right.” Atticus informed.
“How many times do I have to tell you guys? We are just friends! What do I have to do? Paint it on the hallway walls just for you to see it?”
“No but you could spend a night alone with her in the same room to prove that there isn’t anymore than friendship.” Alexis said as she sat down with a smirk on her face.
“I’ll do anything but that. That would be just too awkward.” Jaden said as he felt his face get redder from the anger and embarrassment that swam through him.
“What would be awkward, Jay Jay?” Deanne said as she got close to the table with a tray of different desserts on it.
“It would be awkward if you and Lauren got roomed with people you weren’t, even slightly, acquainted with.” Jaden said covering up his remark.
“Well, Lauren and I think that we’re bunked together.” Alexis commented.
“That’s right.” Lauren said smiling.
“Plus, I’ll be fine. It never really mattered to me where I slept so long as I slept.”
“Hey, that’s my motto.” Lauren joked making the three of them laugh while the boys looked on confused.
“I guess my sis needed females to talk to.” Atticus commented to the others.
“You think so?” Syrus asked.
“Everybody needs somebody to talk to no matter who they are.” Deanne said as she bit into a slice of cake.
“My sediments exactly, Dee.”
“It’s like I said before though, we might want to finish eating so that we can get settled in our dorms.”
“I agree with Dee, so hurry up and stuff your faces so we can leave. We still need people to show us around.” So when everyone finished eating, they all split into groups to show the girls around. It was a strange coincidence that it was just Jaden who would be showing Deanne around.
“So how have you been?” Deanne asked as Jaden walked her towards the Slifer Red Dorm.
“If you don’t count being sent to another realm, dueling a mutant duel monster, having to go back to that world to save one of your friends, being taken over by an evil king, being rid of that king, and then dueling the spirit again before you absorb her, yeah I’ve been okay. A lot more happened before that but I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“You sure have been busy.”
“What about you?”
“I’ve had way too many experiences too count but otherwise, I’ve been good. Oh, here’s my room, I guess I’ll see you later then.”
“Yeah, see you.” Jaden said as she softly closed the door. Then, he went to sulk in his own dorm room.
*
“Okay, we have got to find a way to hook those two up.” Lauren said to Alexis who was looking at the pictures Lauren had of Deanne and Jaden. Atticus was also there but just observing.
“Tell me about it. Those two deserve each other. Atticus, you better not tell them about our plan.”
“Hey, A-dude is just listening. I’m here to help you dudettes.”
“Anyways, we need to have a well-developed plan for those two to realize their feelings for each other. I’m emphasizing well-developed.”
“Deanne loves him, she just won’t admit it, even to herself. She doesn’t and I quote ‘want to ruin the friendship.’ You can tell just by looking at Jaden that he also loves her. He’s probably just too quiet to say it.” Lauren glared at Atticus.
“What’d I do?!”
“Most guys ignore girls’ feelings; I just need someone to glare at.” She said shrugging.
“Back to the task at hand, we know the situation, we just need to find out a way to break down that wall and get those two together.”
“That’s going to take a lot of work, sis.”
“Well, then, let’s get started.” They brainstormed for a long while and then ended up falling asleep where they were; Lauren and Alexis on their beds and Atticus on the floor between the two beds.
“Eureka!” Lauren cried as she woke up in the middle of the night. She wrote down her idea so she wouldn’t forget it later. Atticus awoke with a jolt scared.
“Oh, man! I’m not supposed to be in here! I’ve got to get out of here before one of the professors find me!”
“You’re just in your sister’s room, so it’s not that big of a deal. Anyways, go now because everyone’s probably asleep already.” While all of this was going on, something else was going on between Jaden and Deanne at the same time, though it was something very different than you may think.
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