Floating, falling… But wait, there's a light far into the distance… Must…press…onward…

The door to the café swings open, and Yusei strides towards the counter, flattening the front of his work apron. Wait, work apron? Do I…work here?

As if on autopilot, Yusei leaps over the counter, earning a nasty glare from his manager. "What? It saves time," he explains, pulling his visor down as he reaches for some latex gloves. How do I even know where the gloves are? I've never worked here before…

By now, Yusei's come to the conclusion that apparently, not only does he work in this dingy café, under some sour-puss manager, but that he's been working here for quite some time, judging by the occasional waves from various patrons seated in the café. Moreover, the outfits of the customers seem to be strangely…foreign to him. Foreign? If this is my life, why does everything feel so…alien?

Lost in thought, Yusei suddenly jerks back to reality, thanks to an obnoxiously-close hand waving mere inches in front of his face. He slaps the hand away, only to realize with chagrin that the offending hand belongs to a patron of the café. Uh oh…

Expecting the worst, Yusei is surprised to find in the eyes of the stranger a sort of optimistic twinkling, an implicit understanding of Yusei's abrupt actions. The stranger is a young man, a brunet with a red jacket (not unlike the red jackets he sees scattered on the shoulders of other café customers) and rich auburn eyes.

Yusei knows what he's supposed to say next: Welcome! Would you like to try our new caramel macchiato? But instead, he blurts out, "I'm lost." As the words spill out, he tries to cover his mouth, as if to trap the words back inside, never to leave.

Yusei stares wide-eyed at the stranger as he belts out laughing. Well, this wasn't what I was expecting. Then, the stranger says, "No worries, man. Let's grab a table so I can help you out." He smiles kindly back at Yusei, and pivots on his heel to seek out an empty table for two.

As the stranger walks away, Yusei can only stare after him dumbfounded, wondering what exactly he'd gotten himself into.

"I'm Judai, a student at the Duel Academy. But you should know that, since you go there too, Yusei!" Judai chirps brightly, tilting his head slightly to gauge the other's reaction.

"How do you even know my name? Ugh, my head hurts," muses Yusei, reconsidering whether this was even a good idea at all to ask a stranger for help on his…odd predicament. He supposed it was good fortune that the stranger at least was a fellow student like himself. Holding his head in his hands, he closed his eyes, trying to think as far back as he could recall. He remembered walking into the café…but what about before that?

Suddenly, images pummel his senses all at once: a garage; speeding down the highway; a beautiful dragon made of stardust…

I don't belong here. This isn't my time.

"Uhhh…say what?" asks Judai, a puzzled expression lingering on his features. Yusei starts, then realizes he had spoken aloud his thoughts.

"I'm from what you might call the future. I know that sounds weird but… I don't know how I got here, but I just wanna go back to where I came from…god my head hurts…" Yusei trails off, massaging his temples with the heels of his hands.

While Judai was skeptical of Yusei's words, he couldn't help but sense they were coming from a genuine place inside the other man, as if he believed in the validity of his own words. Armed with this information, Judai comes to a decision.

"Alright, bud, let's head back to where I bunk. I don't know where you're assigned a bunk at Duel Academy, but let's see if you can't sleep near me for tonight. I have a feeling you have a lot to say on where you come from, so it might be more convenient for you to just bunk near me tonight," Judai gives him a gentle wink before standing up, lightly nudging Yusei to do the same.

Yusei glances up at Judai before resigning himself to his fellow classmate's proposition. At any rate, finding a place to sleep tonight was of critical importance, and even better if his tour guide to this past world was bunking nearby.

As he follows Judai, Yusei hopes fervently that he can find his way back home to his own time.

Hi, all! Just some notes on this fic:

Pairing(s): Judai Yuki x Yusei Fudo
Universe: AU where time travel is a thing
Disclaimers: Lots of OOC-ness, fluff becomes abundant eventually, slightly PWP, and features a boy-boy romance. Don't like, don't read.
Also, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or Yu-Gi-Oh! 5DS - they belong to Kazuki Takahashi, not me.

Thanks for reading!