Title: Sleep
Friendship: Johan & Ruby Carbuncle
Chapters: 1-1||Words: 2,136
Genre: Friendship, Humor||Rated: G
Summary: Johan doesn't want to get up. It's still summer vacation. Can't he sleep just a little longer? Not according to the Gem Beasts.

October sunlight, bright and sharp and a hint warmer than Johan especially liked to deal with, slipped in through the window and landed directly on his face. He groaned and threw himself to the side, pulling both blanket and pillow higher up. He didn't have to get up. School hadn't started yet. He'd stayed up most of the night trying to decide whether or not to put that new trap card Pegasus had sent him into his deck. He really wanted to; Pegasus didn't send cards that often, but would it throw off the balance of his deck? He hadn't figured it out until the small hours and now he wanted to sleep.

As soon as blessed darkness enfolded itself around him, Johan sighed a content little sigh and curled tighter into himself. He wasn't entirely asleep yet, but he was in that wonderful gray area between asleep and awake, where he knew he'd be asleep in a very few minutes, and he looked forward to it. He'd dreamed about Rainbow Dragon and he hoped to find a way back into the fantasy. Would the real monster be anything like what he'd seen there? He couldn't remember the form entirely, but glistening white scales and wise eyes flickered through his memory. Maybe if he could dream that dream again, he'd get a better look.

Beep, beep, beep, beep. Johan turned slightly at the sound, shooting a glare at his alarm clock that by rights should've shredded the blanket he looked through.

"Who was the idiot that left that on?" Johan muttered under his breath as he pulled one arm from the comforting nest of blankets and fumbled around for the clock. He already knew the answer; he was the idiot. No one else lived here who would be able to leave it on.

His fingers brushed up against the clock and he tried to remember which one of the buttons would make it shut up. Every moment he failed to get the right one just made the noise louder. Or it seemed that way to his sleep-fogged mind anyway. He fumbled a little more, trying to pick up the clock and get a better look at it without actually moving from his warm and comfortable cocoon.

Before he could find it, Ruby Carbuncle appeared on his chest, swatting at his hand. Johan frowned, tilting his head so he could see her better. "Something wrong?" The Gem Beasts generally let him know if he needed to take care of anything important that he'd forgotten. So if Ruby was there now, he probably had something that he needed to do.

She swatted his hand again, trilling imperiously at him. Johan wriggled more to get to the clock. "Can't it wait? It's not time to get up yet." The clock slipped a bit out of his reach and Johan groaned, dropping his head back against the pillow. Was today going to be one of those days? He didn't want it to be. There were still a few days left of vacation and he wanted to enjoy every single one of them.

There! He managed to close his hand firmly on the clock and brought it closer. He hated mornings; he could never quite get his body parts to work properly. More than once he'd fallen out of bed right on his face. At least at North Academy he didn't have to fret about a roommate. The idea of sharing a room with someone else who could see his morning waking up antics didn't appeal to him.

"Johan." Amethyst Cat appeared, curled up at the bottom of the bed. "You need to get up. It's almost time."

Johan fiddled with the controls on the clock, finally silencing the incessant beeping. "Almost time for what?" Breakfast would be whenever he made it, and he'd already planned for cereal. He ate that most days when he wasn't at school. Cooking wasn't one of his favorite activities, or talents, and the sooner he could head out to do almost anything that wasn't cooking, the better he liked it.

"For you to leave." Topaz Tiger threw in his comment, looking up from where he lounged on the rag carpet. He lifted one great paw to run his pink tongue across it. "Or did you forget?"

Oh, great, they were all coming out now. Not that Johan didn't love his family; he did, with all of his heart. But for all of them to turn up generally meant something impressive. Usually only Ruby appeared, unless he specifically asked one of the others to show up.

Johan wriggled around enough to put the clock back down and started to pull the blankets back over his head. "Where am I supposed to go?" Wherever it was, it could wait until tomorrow. Or later today, at the earliest.

Amber Mammoth nudged him; he couldn't actually feel the great beast, of course, but it was more like a brush against his mind or his spirit. "Duel Academia. The boat leaves in one hour."

Johan remained where he was for another few heartbeats before he threw off the blankets and leaped to his feet, swearing fluently in two different languages. "Why didn't you get me up sooner?"

"You had an alarm clock." Sapphire Pegasus pointed out, swishing his tail in amusement. "Which you weren't paying attention to."

He hated it when they were right like this. He dismissed it for now though; the boat wouldn't leave in precisely one hour; he probably had a few minutes to play with. But he needed to get there as soon as he could nevertheless.

Shower, shower, shower, did he have time for a shower? Maybe a quick one. He dug his clothes up from wherever he'd dropped them the night before and padded swiftly to the bathroom. The various Gem Beast spirits faded away, except for Ruby. She liked to play in the water when he showered anyway so that didn't bother him.

Duel Academia. The whole idea of going there sent a thrill through every part of his body. He'd heard so much about the place, both from fellow students and from Pegasus. I'm really going there. Now that he was awake and hot water poured over him, he didn't want to risk closing his eyes again. If he did, this might all turn out to be one of those delicious pleasant dreams and he'd wake up for real to find himself not going to Duel Academia, that someone else had won the honor, and he would have to sit at North Academy for his last year.

He didn't let himself stay too long in the shower, though the hot water definitely helped to wake him up. Ruby splashed a little in the puddles he left behind, while he toweled himself dry and sorted out his clothes.

The trip's supposed to take about three or four days. Wonder if I should bring some snacks. The thought was tempting, but with the yacht belonging to KaibaCorp, it was a fair bet that there would be plenty of food available there anyway. What he really needed to bring were all of his spare cards. Maybe he'd get a chance to do a little trading with the other transfer students. Sure, his deck was a little more unique than most of them, but it wouldn't hurt to try anyway.

Johan tried not to look at the clock as he poured cereal into a bowl and rummaged in his refrigerator for the last of the milk. He knew time was ticking away and the sooner he got out of there the better. But staring at the clock would just make everything seem even worse.

He'd spent the part of the night not involved with fixing his deck up cleaning his tiny apartment and packing his few possessions. Several school uniforms, the books and other supplies that he would need, and his cards. All of his lovely, wonderful cards.

Well, almost all of them. One deck he never took anywhere; not because he didn't care about it, but because they always insisted on remaining behind so they could watch over the place while he was gone. He didn't know what they thought they could do if anyone broken in, but maybe they knew something he didn't. No one had ever tried to break in, so he didn't know.

He stifled a yawn halfway through breakfast; the shower had woken him up, but clearly not enough yet. Amethyst Cat's voice whispered through his mind. Don't fall asleep.

"I won't, I won't!" Johan half-sputtered through his cereal, trying not to spill anything. He didn't think he'd have time to clean it up if he did, and he didn't want to come back in a few months to the scent of spoiled milk on the floor.

His thoughts darted off to what else he needed to take with him. Duel Academia had sent a package, including a PDA and a brand-new Duel Disk. He didn't have to wear the same uniform that other third-year Blues did, even though he'd be counted as one of them. Most of the other information he would need, like his dorm room and a map to the school and island, he could find on the PDA, or so the note tucked in with everything else said.

"Johan." Emerald Turtle flickered into appearance before him on the kitchen table, waving one flipper to indicate the clock. Johan wouldn't have looked otherwise, and it was just as well that he did, since he realized with one glance he had only half an hour to grab everything and get to the docks.

He shoved the bowl into the sink, giving it a quick rinse before he stumbled back to his room to grab everything.

"Duel disk, deck, clothes," he recited the list to himself. "PDA, spare cards…" Was that everything? He thought it was and maybe he could send back for whatever he missed. Or just do without it.

He barely took the time to lock his door behind himself before he scampered down the stairs, jumping the last four to land on the sidewalk and head pell-mell through the streets. Plenty of people moved around at this unholy hour, and Johan had to weave around them all. He mumbled apologies as he did, though he never stayed in one place long enough to actually hear what they said in return.

"Johan!" Cobalt Eagle hovered ahead of him and Johan followed where he led without question. He'd lived in this city his entire life, and he still took directions from the Gem Beasts when he needed to.

Exactly how they would be able to help them once he was at a school where none of them knew their way didn't occur to him. He had far too much else on his mind.

Yuuki Juudai. I could meet Yuuki Juudai. The faster he moved, the more he remembered of what Pegasus had told him of the young star of Duel Academia. He had a Hane Kuriboh, and could apparently see spirits just as well as Johan himself could. The idea of spending a year with someone like that made Johan move just a little faster.

The yacht rested at the end of a small pier, with a man in a KaibaCorp uniform and a captain's hat standing at the edge of the ramp that led down to it. As soon as Johan came within speaking distance, the other looked at him.

"Johan Andersen?"

"That's me!" Johan dropped everything but his deck and duel disk to dig into his pocket and pull out his identification. The captain checked it against something on a clipboard he had, then nodded.

"Welcome aboard. We're going to Domino City to meet up with the other transfers, and then on to Duel Academia." The captain turned toward the yacht, waving to someone Johan couldn't see, then shook his head as Johan started to gather his bags. "I've got someone who can take care of that. You should get on board."

Johan blinked, but had no time to question matters, as a couple of young men emerged from within the ship and came over to him. One brought along a trolley, on which they loaded everything of his save what he had on him, then pushed it onto the ship. He watched for a few moments, then shrugged. At least he'd made it in time.

He followed the captain on board as well, accepting guidance to his cabin, and headed right there. Ruby Carbuncle sat on his shoulder as he made his way through the richly carpeted corridors, trilling in curiosity at everything around them.

"I'll look around later," he promised her as he entered his temporary quarters. "Right now, I think I need a nap."

The End