Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. If I did, I wouldn't dread watching Season 3.

Author's Note: ...I owe the fans of this series of fanfics an apology. I am truly, truly sorry for the near nine months it took for this to come out. Life... got hard. I won't go into too much detail, but the basics are that one of my family members ran away from home, one of my pets died... and then my computer went berserk and would not run programs. I thought the hardware was fried, but last week, I did a complete system reset (which I had put off, because I thought I might be able to retrieve the data I had on it), and it worked. So, I'm back. Again, I know I can not apologize enough, but if it will satisfy the fans, the Jaden from these fanfics bows in apology as well. ...Didn't work for Nagaru Tanigawa, not gonna work for me, I know.

Also, uh, sorry in advance. Let the fic begin!

Number One Duelist To Ever Exist, the Great Jaden Yuki, here to tell you more of my exploits at Duel Academy! And just like me, life can be great! If you haven't heard the tale up until now... Why are you starting here? Go... find out how I got a girlfriend in Alexis, or how I toppled Duel Academy's crazed former-king.

But, to sum it all up, going into my Third Year, things were SWEEEET! I had saved the world from the Sacred Beasts and stopped the Society of Light. I proved myself better than two Pro Duelists. Heck, I'd even beaten the King of Games, Yugi Muto's deck! As for my personal life? It was pretty awesome. Had two of the best room mates a guy could ask for, Syrus Truesdale and Tyranno Hassleberry... Yes, that is his real name. ...At least, I think it is. At the end of last year, a little girl with a crush on me, Blair Flannigan, managed to get into Duel Academy a couple years early. Parental influence or something like that. Chazz and I had mostly buried the hatchet. Mostly... And I even had a great duelist, Alexis Rhodes, for a girlfriend. Who could ask for anything better?

Alright, so, due to said crazed former-king of the Academy, Chancellor Sheppard had stepped down as Chancellor... Weird sentence. Now Crowler was Chancellor full-time! Yaaaay... But, we were cool. ...Mostly cool. Alright, so like Chazz and I, Crowler and I weren't best buds, but he didn't want me out any more. Yeah, Year Three was looking to be my best one yet.

That's why life decided I needed to be brought down.

I was sitting in the Card Shop, absentmindedly opening a couple of packs of cards I'd picked up. ...No, everything I do isn't absentmindedly! ...Okay, I'll grant, quite a few things are, but still. I didn't even plan to use any, but hey, this is my comfort. Some people eat excessive amounts of ice cream, I tear through packs of cards. That's nothing compared to what Syrus would do for comfort, snuggling with Mr. Fuzzybear.

Right about when I was halfway through looking through the last five-pack... Yeah, now it makes more sense why that's a comfort. Right about then, Sheppard walked in, carrying a suitcase.

"Dorothy!" Sheppard called out. "I've secured them!"

Dorothy walked out from behind the counter and accepted the suitcase from him. I looked up at the two.

"Don't cards usually come in boxes, or something?" I asked.

"These are packs of rare cards." Sheppard explained.

"I didn't hear anything about that." I said.

"Yes, Crowler's definitely proven himself worthy of being my successor." Sheppard said, nodding.

"Chancellor Crowler thought it would be more productive to order the rare packs before the new school year starts, rather than right before the first placement exam of the year." Dorothy explained further.

Oh, that's right. During my first month here, I heard something about a ship being attacked for them, or something. ...Yeah, we at Duel Academy take cards that seriously.

"These won't go on sale for another few weeks though, I'm afraid." Dorothy said, with a wink. Oh, like I needed them right away. I had one-of-a-kind Neo-Spacians.

Still, I had to admit, that was impressive of Crowler.

"So, why'd Chanc- Former-Chancellor Sheppard bring them?" I asked.

"He works here now." Dorothy said.

"But I thought you were gonna be the headmaster of the Slifer dorm?" I asked, looking to Sheppard.

"Where'd you here that?" Sheppard answered my question with a question. Great, just what I needed at the time.

"A- Syrus told me he heard you were gonna be the headmaster, since... well, last year, the closest thing we had was a cat." I explained.

"Silly rumors." Sheppard laughed. "I was offered the position by Crowler, but I'd rather work at the card shop."

"Why?" I asked.

"Last year, I was away, planning a tournament that never got off the ground." Sheppard said. "That was enough to let a cult form at my school. The year before that, I entrusted five teenagers to protect keys from a group of assassins. I've learnt I'm not good in a position of power."

"But at the same time, that cult began on Crowler's watch." I said.

"That may be true, but I have to take responsibility for it." Sheppard said. "Besides, there are perks to working here."

Cue Sheppard casting a gaze at Dorothy, and her laughing playfully.

"Oh, you!" Dorothy said.

"Egh..." I said, sticking my tongue out, slightly. "Uh, that's great and all, but I gotta go."

I got up and walked out. As I was leaving, I could hear Dorothy yelling behind me, "But Jaden, your cards!" I kept walking though.

Once I was far enough away, I took off running. I would have continued running, except I ran into Chazz. And I don't mean that I slowed down and walked normal around him. I mean, full on collision.

"Slacker, watch where you're going!" Chazz barked.

"Sorry, Chazz." I said, holding out my hand.

Chazz stared at me for a second, before lifting himself up.

"Whatever, just don't let it happen again." Chazz said, while dusting off his jacket. "I just got this back from the cleaners."

I knew Chazz was joking, but I just went back to heading home without making a smart remark.

Once I was back at my dorm room, I planted my face right into my pillow and let out a shout.

"I'M UP, SARGE!" Hassleberry's voice rang from above me. Uh oh.

Hassleberry jumped out of his bed, before looking around.

"Wait, what's going on?" Hassleberry asked.

"You were having another military-related dream?" I put out there.

"Maybe so." Hassleberry nodded. "But I still heard you scream, Sarge. What's wrong?"

"Oh. That." I said. "On my way back to the cabin, I ran into Chazz. Literally."

Hassleberry got a good laugh out of that.

"I sprained my knee." I said. "I didn't think it was much, but when I jumped in bed, I hit it hard."

"Is there anything I can do for you, Sarge?" Hassleberry asked, with a look of genuine concern on his face. Oh, come on! Make me feel worse!

"Nah, I'm good." I said. "Maybe all it needs is some exercise."

I leapt off my bed and walked out, hearing Hassleberry give a faint, "Wait, Sarge!" as I was getting further away.

The roof! The roof is the only place a guy can possibly be alone, right? Lying under the clouds, looking at an endless expanse of blue i- Okay, that doesn't sound like me at all. But yeah. I was now on the roof of the Academy. No one could find me here, right?

"Jaden! I'm glad I found you." Oh, boy!

Blair came running up.

"What's up, Blair?" I asked, sitting up.

"I need some dating advice." Blair said. Whoa! Whoa! Wait!

Okay, so, Blair had mentioned having a thing for another guy back during Duel Monster's Spirit Day. Alright, I get that. But what makes her think I know anything about dating?

"Well, you are the only person I know who has a girlfriend." Blair explained when I asked her.

"I'm sure that's not the case, but okay. Shoot." I said.

"What do you look for in a girl?" Blair asked, sitting down across from me.

"She has to be a good duelist." I said, nodding. "Have a great personality. She needs to be compatible enough with me, but can't be too similar. It is true what they say. Opposites attract. Of course, that gets in the way of her being a good duelist, but y'know!"

I faked a chuckle.

"How did you and Alexis become an item anyway?" Blair asked. Ooh, she doesn't hold back, does she?

"Well, I saved her from a cult, but I'm going to assume that won't work for everybody, sooo..." I began thinking over what I should say next. "Not sure what to tell you for that one."

"What do you think was the most romantic moment between you two?" Blair asked.

"Mmmmm..." I said, closing my eyes and nodding my head. "That's a good question."

It wasn't long after I beat Aster during Duel Monster's Spirit Day. Alexis and I were in her room.

"Jaden, do you know how much trouble we're gonna get in for cutting class?" Alexis asked. "Do you know how much trouble YOU'RE going to get in?"

"I'm already set to advance to third year status." I said. "Besides, absolutely no one pays attention in Mr. Whatshisface's class anyway."

"Mr. Stein." Alexis said. "But, I guess you have a point. Still, you'd better not make too much of a habit of this."

"See, this is what's great about us." I said. "I'm the irresponsible one who makes poor decisions, you're the respoinsible one who makes the boring decisions."

"Boring?" Alexis chuckled.

"I mean we balance each other out." I said, nodding. "I can get you to cut class every so often so we have time alone together, and you can keep me from completely falling asleep while ditching class... again. I've even starting arriving on time."

And then the two of us shared a good laugh.

"And then what?" Blair asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Did you two kiss, or make out, or..." Blair began blushing.

"What?!" I yelled. "NO! Why would... No!"

"Then what made it the most romantic?" Blair asked.

"Well, maybe most romantic is a little off, but it was the best moment of our relationship." I explained. "Whenever I was younger, I didn't think much about relationships. But when I did, I didn't just want all the slobbery kissing and all that. Cooties, y'know?"

Blair just innocently looked at me, like she's had marriage and stuff on her mind since she was born.

"Anyway, I always kinda just... liked the idea of just sitting around with someone and enjoying each other's company." I explained. "Whether that's in a duel, in their place or even somewhere boring, like a dressing room."

"So, if I want a guy like you, I need to be compatible with him, have a personality he likes, be an even better duelist, maybe save him from a cult, and then just have a quiet moment with him." Blair nodded. "Thanks, Jaden."

"No problem, squirt." I said, standing up and walking off.

"Oh, by the way, Jaden!" Blair called after me.

"Hm?" I asked, turning around.

"You meant to say 'greatest moment of our relationship so far'!" Blair said with a smile. "I'm sure you two will have many more great times together!"

...Ouch.

After that, since I couldn't find any place where I could be alone, I decided to go to the next best place.

"Slacker, what are you doing in my office?" Crowler asked.

"Catching up on my sleep." I said, leaning against Crowler's desk.

"You have a perfectly g- a room to do that in!" Crowler said.

"I have room mates who keep me up at night." I said with a yawn. "Unless you want me to sleep through all my tests, be held back a year and stay at the Academy longer?"

"Well, I certainly don't want that..." Crowler nodded, before realizing my trap. "But you can't sleep here!"

Crowler promptly threw me out of his office. Hey! We barely bantered! And here I thought he wouldn't even care about me being there.

With no other place I could go, I found myself knocking on Bastion's door.

"Jaden?" Bastion asked, in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I need a place to crash and just sit by myself for a little while." I said.

"What's wrong with yo- Room mates?" Bastion asked.

"Yeah." I nodded. "But I'm sure you'll let me sit back and think strategy."

"Strategy?" Bastion looked at me like I had fifteen heads. ...What? I can't say three heads. I've seen how he looks at Cyber End Dragon!

Bastion continued to stare at me, like he was figuring out a math equation. Once he got the answer, he sighed.

"Jaden, I'd gladly invite you in, but I currently need to paint my walls over again." Bastion said.

"I can help." I said.

"No, no." Bastion said. "If you want to think strategy, painting my room would be no way to do it."

"Oh, alright." I said, with a weak laugh. Bastion's a terrible liar. ...Well, guess I can't talk, huh?

As I was walking off, I thought I heard Bastion talking to someone. I'd quickly figure out who.

When I made it back to the Slifer Dorm, I was denied entry to my room by Chazz, sitting in front of the door.

"Hey, Chazz, what's up?" I asked. "Can ya get out of the way? It's getting late, and I need to get back to my bed."

"Nuh-uh." Chazz said. "You're gonna come to my place for dinner."

"...Chazz, buddy." I put my hands on his shoulders. "Look, we're good as rivals, but I don't see us together as a couple."

"I could do so much better than you!" Chazz snapped. Okay, now that's the worst lie I'd heard all day.

"If this is about your jacket, I'll pay for a new one." I said.

"You couldn't afford to buy one sleeve." Chazz said. "Especially not after wasting your money on cards you apparently don't need."

Chazz then tossed the cards I left at the card shop at me. I quickly picked up the cards and dusted them off.

"That's not all." Chazz said. "I've heard from your room mates, that little girl and Chancellor Crowler that you've seemed off. As if that wasn't enough, I got a message from Bastion awhile ago, telling me to talk to you. What's up?"

I looked up, smiling sheepishly at Chazz.

We moved the conversation to Chazz's room. Once I sat down, Chazz walked over to his mini-fridge, pulled out two sodas and passed one to me.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I really would think you were trying to romance me." I chuckled.

"Quit with the jokes." Chazz said. "And just so we're clear, this isn't going to become a regular thing! I'm only doing this to get everyone else to stop telling me something's wrong with you. Heck, Bastion outright said I was the only one who could understand you."

I smiled weakly.

"Yeah..." I said. "I haven't wanted to say anything, because I didn't want to be judged by it. But, you've got me, Chazz. I lost a duel to someone better than me."

I jokingly flinched, expecting Chazz to yell at me, but he just stared at me.

"I'm not gonna judge you on this, Jaden." Chazz sa- Wait, did he call me by my real name? "If I'm right, I'm the last one to judge you for this."

...He knew.

I sighed. "Alright, Chazz. Here's what happened."

I'm sure you've probably figured it out yourself, but here's the extra details you probably can't fill out on your own.

It was earlier that day. Alexis and I were in Obelisk Arena. The place where I had beaten her and saved her from the Society's evil hold. Truly, the place our relationship started. ...Well, not really, but saying it started in a hospital room sounds too cliche.

"So, what's up?" I asked.

"Jaden..." Alexis started. "Do you... think about the future?"

"You mean where I'm King of Games?" I asked. "Yeah."

"No, I mean... the more immediate future." Alexis said. "Like, us graduating."

"Oh, that." I said. "Meh. I don't worry about things like that!"

"Well, you're probably going off to be a Pro Duelist, aren't you?" Alexis asked.

"Probably." I said. "I mean, what else would I do? Become a hermit, wandering through a desert?"

Alexis chuckled, before stopping.

"Oh, this is just getting harder..." Alexis muttered. "Look, Jaden. When I graduate, I've been thinking... I'll go on to study to be a teacher at a Duel Academy like this." You see where this is going. I didn't.

"That's awesome, Lex!" I exclaimed. "I'll be inspiring the next generation of duelists, as you teach them!"

"I'm sure you will." Alexis said, with a sad smile on her face. "But, we'll be on two very different tracks. You'll be dueling in the Pro Leagues, while I'll probably be off at school, studying. It likely won't work out."

"Oh, of course it will." I said. "Any school would be stupid to reject you." ...You idiot!

"Jaden!" Alexis said. "I'm saying I think we should break up."

"What?!" I asked, shocked.

"I mean... Do you really think it would work out?" Alexis asked. "We'd be away from each other for so long... One of us would wind up hurting the other. I don't want to hurt you like that."

Tell her it hurts now, but you can get over it. Tell her it hurts now, but you can get over it. Tell her- "Yeah, I get ya." ...I hate myself. "But, y'know, Lex... I've had my own worries about the Pro Leagues lately. It's not like I have to go right away."

"You're probably just anxious." Alexis said. "You could easily become the next King of Games if you want to, and we all know you want to."

Oh, yeah. Become King of Games, have to meet everyone else's expectations, throw honorable duelists under the bus because they were accused of cheating, praise a real cheater because the crowd loves them, become a slave to trends... Yeah. Being a professional duelist really looked great.

"I know you have an amazing future ahead of you, Jaden." Alexis said. "I'm just... not part of it. At least, not as anything more than a friend and a fan."

"And that's what happened." I told Chazz.

"I figured as much." Chazz said. "Bastion could probably tell you felt the same way he did when that Amazoness rejected him."

"Look, I know that nothing I say or do will change anything." I said. "It'll just make me look like a sore loser. But..."

"But you feel like your heart has been ripped out, stepped on and broken into a thousand pieces." Chazz said.

"...Well, I wouldn't go that far." I said. "I just know what'll happen if I say anything. Syrus and Hassleberry will treat me special, walking on egg shells. Crowler will probably be overjoyed. Atticus will be disappointed, since he wanted us to get together so Alexis could be a star or something. Blair... will probably offer me a kiss on the cheek and let me know she's available. And the other students will either spite me for being sad that she dumped me when they never had a shot with her, or spite me for being sad that she dumped me because they think I expect her to be with me."

"Let them!" Chazz said, lifting his legs up and resting them on the table. "Then when they're dumped by their girlfriends or boyfriends, or rejected by whoever they like, turn your back on them!"

"I could never do that." I said.

"Slacker, this is your first heart break." Chazz said. "You're not accustom to dealing with something like this. There are only two things that you being hurt by this means."

"What?" I asked.

"The feelings you had, the relationship, all those were real and important to you, for one." Chazz said, before taking a drink from his can of soda. "The second is that you're still human. It's only natural to feel pain when something like this happens. Just don't go stealing her deck or something."

I looked at Chazz for a second, before smirking. "Or keys?"

"Or keys." Chazz said with a chuckle.

That's when Ojama Yellow appeared on Chazz's shoulder.

"Boss, since that only applies to humans, does that mean whenever you tell us you don't want us, you really mean you want us to steal your stuff?" Ojama Yellow asked with a huge smile on his face.

"Of course not!" Chazz yelled. "You guys might as well be human too! You certainly smell like ones!"

I let out a loud laugh. Probably inappropriately loud, but dang. I needed it.

"Thanks, Chazz." I said. "That really helped."

"Don't mention it." Chazz said. "No seriously. Don't. I have a reputation to maintain. If people see me helping a Slifer Slacker like you, I'll be ruined."

"Right." I said, getting up to leave. "I was just thanking you for the soda. I really needed something to wet my whistle."

"Oh, and Slacker?" Chazz asked.

"Yes, Chazzer?" I asked back.

"Emotional pain is just like physical pain." Chazz said. "If anyone laughs at you for being hurt by being dumped, they'd probably laugh at a guy being hit by a car. Just as long as you don't get in your own car and hunt down the driver, you're golden."

"You really think so?" I asked.

"Look at me." Chazz said. "If you work through the pain, you get over it. If you don't, you help start a cult."

"No, I meant you think I could get a driver's license?" I chuckled.

"Oh, get going!" Chazz said, preparing to throw his soda can at me. I quickly got out of there.

I returned to my room to find Syrus and Hassleberry already asleep. I figured I'd let them know in the morning and tried to get to sleep.

Despite talking to Chazz, I still had some difficulty getting to sleep. The pain was still fresh. Still, at least I was getting some. But, honestly, I should have seen this as a premonition of things to come. The last time I didn't get enough sleep, that was because of the kidnapping incident. This time... Well, at least it wasn't anything big.

The next day, as Syrus, Hassleberry and I were headed to class, we happened to bump into Alexis. ...Not literally, this time.

"Oh." The both of us said, gulping heavily. This was our first time seeing each other since the previous morning.

"Hey, Lex." I said.

"Jaden." Alexis said. "How've you been?"

"Good. A little tired, but I'll be fine." I said. Yeah, still hate how I couldn't be honest.

"I know how you feel." Alexis said, seemingly understanding the truth behind my words.

"Well, I gotta go to the bathroom, or something." I said, turning around.

"Okay, just... don't miss class." Alexis said, walking on ahead.

I stood there for about a minute, before turning my head to Syrus.

"Is she gone?" I asked.

"Of course she is." Syrus said. "What's going on?"

"Why didn't you and Private Rhodes walk together?" Hassleberry asked. "We'd have held back."

"Oh, that?" I asked. "We broke up yesterday."

"WHAT?!" Syrus and Hassleberry yelled together, attracting the attention of everybody around.

"I just told them we were getting a new room mate!" I said to everybody, as I pushed the two away. "Don't worry. We'll settle this."

"Jaden, why didn't you tell us?" Syrus asked.

"You two were asleep by the time I felt like talking about it." I said.

"First your knee and now this." Hassleberry said. "You just aren't having a good week, Sarge."

"Is there anything we can do for you?" Syrus asked.

"Don't worry, guys." I said. "It hurts, but I'm working through it. If I really need anything, I'll be sure to ask. Don't worry."

"Are you sure?" The two asked in unison. Huh, fun word.

"I'm sure." I smiled.

It wasn't a lie. I had felt better since my talk with Chazz. As long as nothing got me caught up, I'd be fine. And nothing would happen, right? ...Right?

Author's Note: ...I just love my readers so much, huh? Make people wait 9 months for the next story, and start it off by having their favorite couple break up! I'm just the greatest writer ever.

In all honesty though, this was a plan I had even before my "exile", as I like to call it. Split Jaden and Alexis up. Why? Fans of the original fics might be able to guess, but regardless, this has been something I wanted to do since before I finished Missing You. So, this was planned. The delay wasn't.

That being said, I'm kind of glad for my "exile". I feel it helped me connect to who I was back when I was first writing these. So, that can only help the remakes, right? I also had the fortune to finally be able to finish my Haruhi Suzumiya novel collection, which, for those who don't know, also features a snarky narrator who serves as the main protagonist. That should help these fics. (Number 4, that's all I'm saying.)

Incidentally, because I took so long to actually get this out, I wrote, edited and put this chapter up all in the same day. Other chapters haven't been written yet. Not usually a good thing, but something is better than nothing, and the next chapters require two things. Duels written out, and Season 3 to be watched. And I'm not gonna lie, I prefer writing the duels. I'll go over my reasons at other times, but I greatly dislike the Evangelion-esque direction Season 3 went. But this opening chapter, while originally planned to go into more stuff, could be done without delving into Season 3, so here it is. But don't worry, I will be going back and fixing typos and such later. And hey, look, it's the longest first chapter in a Jaden's Journal fic so far.

That's the last thing I'm touching upon in the Author's Note. I've figured "The Hero Series" and "The Fool Series"... those are too vague. They can apply to most things. "Jaden's Journal", while not exactly the most accurate, since Jaden is not writing in a journal... still gives a better idea on what the series of fics is about.

...Okay. One last thing. I really am so sorry, and appreciate everyone who was willing to wait this long. You guys are amazing.