WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU CONTINUE!

Okay, so I found E.T. by Katy Perry on YouTube and I was like "OMFG this song is like Spiritshipping to the 1000th degree!" Because, seriously, Jaden is an alien! After he fused with Yubel he became something otherworldly and not human. So once I got that thought in my head it was- as they say- all over from there. This…damn…plot…would not stop SCREAMING at me to write it.

And as I was planning it I was like "Ew, it sounds like Twilight." But it isn't- I swear. The only similarity is that there's this whole question of "What is Judai Yuki?" and if you know E.T. or you read the above paragraph then you know that he's an alien. Well nobody else knows that and they won't be finding out for a while.

You'll notice that Judai/Jaden is the only one who kept his full Japanese name. That's because I wanted it to be different- to stand out in an easy way that even the "oblivious" characters would realize, "He's not like us," and yes I could have had him be the only one with an English name, but Judai sounds a lot more unique than Jaden. I'm sorry but it just does. Also, I'm not calling Hasselberry "Tyranno." I'm just not. He's going to be Ty Hasselberry.

This story will NOT have- Vampires, evil aliens, mass takeovers, blood, gore or any other of those lovely things you find in a typical movie/book about aliens.

This story WILL have- Fluff. Oh god will it have fluff. In fact the plot is primarily fluff based, because the world needs more Spiritshipping fluff. That is basically another reason why I wanted to write this so badly- I NEED to write Spiritshipping fluff. And smut. Yeah. This probably going to get bumped up to M. Because there will be sex. I'm not going to go into EXPLICIT detail, but it will be heavily implied at any rate. So if your little eyes are going to be scarred by it, then I advise you to turn back now. And don't say I didn't warn you!

So I think I'm done ranting for now. Enjoy the story!

Chapter One- Different

It was a much larger school than Jesse Anderson was used to- his former one having a senior class of just 50 students and this one a senior class of 200- and he wasn't sure how he liked the large campus and it's numerous, subtly marked buildings. Jesse had no sense of direction and was sure to get lost easily in this huge and unfamiliar place. It was also his first time in a co-ed school.

'This is so far out of my comfort zone I may as well be in outer space,' He thought to himself. But then he supposed that that was the point of transferring schools- getting out of your comfort zone, meeting new people and learning more than what the world had to offer. At least, that was what everyone told him.

He wasn't going to live on campus, thank God for that. No, the whole point of the program was to experience a new culture while learning- or at least that was what the brochure had promised. So, Jesse was going to be living an apartment building a few miles away from the campus, along with the other three boys from his school who had also enrolled in the program. Small as his class was, Jesse was really only friends with one of them- Jim Cook- and even then they were really just acquaintances. As for the other two, he didn't… well it wasn't that he didn't get along with them, it was just that he didn't go out of his way to try to form a friendship with them, and vice versa. That's not to say that they were openly mean either. It was a complicated thing, and really what it boiled down to was that Jesse Anderson had nothing in common with either Axel Brodie or Adrian Gecko. And this was why Jesse was so glad that the four of them had separate apartments. Yes it got lonely at times, but Jesse had his pets- two cats, a dog, a bird, and a turtle- for company, and he was sure that in the long run he would be grateful for the privacy.

Jesse didn't know anyone personally at Kaiba Academy, but Jim Cook did- and when Jim had heard about the exchange program he had been the first to sign up. He was also the one who had told Jesse's parents about it- when Jesse invited him over to study for the hellish math final one night last spring.

"You'll get to meet Alexis!" Jim had shouted, making everyone jump.

"It's a good opportunity," his father threw in as he surreptitiously brushed the corn kernels that had gone flying from his fork off of his lap and onto the floor. "Kaiba Academy is one of the best schools out there, and this program is a lot cheaper than if you enrolled as a regular student."

Jesse had fidgeted and kept his eyes on his plate. It wasn't that he didn't want to go, but this school was so far away and he'd never left the country before. It was a very intimidating prospect- going so far away to a school that was reputed to have the brightest pupils in the world. Yes, Jesse was an amazing student, second only to Adrian Gecko, but was that good enough?

"Where's your sense of adventure?" Jim had cried, grabbing Jesse by the shoulders and shaking him with every word he said. "You only get a chance like this once in a life time; live a little bit, man!"

Of course, Jesse had eventually agreed with Jim. It hit him that he was tired of playing it safe all the time. He wanted to take some risks, to (as Jim so eloquently put it) live a little bit. But one did not become someone else overnight, and right now Jesse was still unsure about the situation.

'Well, it's too late to turn back now,' Jesse reminded himself as he put the last of his books in his bag. His first class didn't start for a while, but Jim wanted to meet some of Alexis' friends and since Jim was the only other friend Jesse had at the moment, he figured that this would be a good time to meet some new people. So he'd asked to tag along, which Jim was only too happy to oblige.

He walked out of the small apartment, calling a goodbye to his pets as he did so, and locked the door behind him only to realize that the dog had snuck out and was standing in the hallway behind him.

"Ruby!" Jesse scolded, trying not to smile while the Irish setter stood there and wagged her tail and smiled her sweet little dog smile. He unlocked the door again and tried to push Ruby inside.

"You…can't…go…with…me!" he cried, while she dug her nails into the rug. She wasn't a particularly large dog, but when she didn't want to go there wasn't much Jesse could do to make her. He fell back, sitting against the wall opposite his apartment and Ruby took the opportunity to lay down and roll onto her back.

"No! This is no time for tummy rubs!" Jesse told her seriously. Jesse heard a chuckle from somewhere behind him

"Oh, Jesse. Why is there a dog in the hallway?"

Jesse turned to face the speaker. "Because, Jim, she is a sneaky little- Ack! Rub-Mm!" Ruby had taken Jesse's lapse of attention as a chance to throw herself into his lap and lick his face. He turned his head away from her and tried to shove her snout away from his mouth.

"You-Ggk- silly dog! Quit it!"

Jesse was saved when Jim called, "Hey Ruby!" At once the dog turned her attention to Jim. He was standing next to Jesse's now open apartment door and waving a bit of bread crust back and forth.

"Look what I got! You want it? Do ya? Well, go get it!"

And with that he threw the bread into the apartment and Ruby went rocketing after it. No sooner had her tail vanished inside had Jim shut the door with a resounding crack.

"Jim! That was so mean!" Jesse yelled as he ran to the door. On the other side, he could already hear Ruby whining.

"I'm sorry, sweetie! I have to go- I'll be back later!" That was all that Jesse could say before Jim had dragged him into the elevator, laughing all the way.

"Dude! Seriously, you have to be more forceful with her. You let that dog walk all over you!"

Jesse wriggled out of Jim's grip. "You're one to talk! Who spent an entire year sleeping on the couch because he let his crocodile have his bed?"

The bickering continued all the way to the bus stop and onto the bus, where the topic changed completely when Jim teased, "Look, all I'm saying is that if your dog can do that to you, I can't image what it's going to be like when you get married! Your significant other is going to walk all over you! And don't even get me started on your kids…"

At that point Jesse had punched Jim in the arm and told him to quit talking about weird stuff like that.

"I'm not even dating anyone at the moment." He muttered. Jim still heard him though.

"Well, that can change. Alexis has a lot of friends, she can hook you up if I ask-"

"Don't you dare!" Jesse shrieked, earning some weird looks from the other passengers including- Jesse could help noticing- a teenage boy across the aisle who continued to stare long after the other gawkers had looked away. Jim laughed and let the argument drop, which Jesse was grateful for because he was busy trying to ignore the aforementioned boy's continued stare and didn't think he could concentrate on anything else. He could feel the boy's eyes on him- which made no sense at all, because Jesse was not the kind of person who felt people staring at him- and for a while he just let his gaze wander around the bus while he tried to ignore the intense look. Finally he could no longer pretend ignorance and shifted his eyes so that he met the boy's gaze dead on.

Jesse was not prepared for what he saw. Now he did not really have a particular preference for boys over girls or anything like that- he'd kissed both genders before, mostly on dares (though that was as far as it had gone)- and it wasn't like he was one of those people who fell head over heels for every good-looking person they came in contact with. But when he saw this boy all Jesse could think was

'Oh God. He's gorgeous!'

But it wasn't in the traditional sense of the word. The boy was insanely good looking, but Jesse had honestly never seen looks like that on anyone ever, and he was finding it difficult to find the correct words to describe what made him so attractive. His skin looked too smooth and flawless, his face was sharp and angular, and Jesse had never seen eyes that color brown on a person before. And just the look in his eyes… Jesse had never had anyone look at him that way before. He wasn't even sure what it was, although he didn't exactly dislike it.

Despite the fact that Jesse had caught him staring, the boy did not look away. If anything his gaze intensified. Jesse felt like he was being read, or maybe even assessed, and it didn't help when the boy broke contact only to slide his eyes over the rest of Jesse's body. Jesse held his breath and when the boy looked back up he…smiled. And…what- did he just wink?

'Crap. Do not blush. DO NOT blush. DO NOT-

Crap.'

Jesse could feel the blood rush to his face and the boy's smile only got wider. Somewhere in the back of his head Jesse was wondering why he didn't feel creeped out. Having some random guy check you out was certainly not something a lot of people were comfortable with, but all Jesse felt was exhilarated. And…okay, maybe a little turned on.

'Crap. I did NOT just think that!'

Jesse felt like he should say something, like "Why are you staring at me like you want to eat me?" but the bus suddenly jolted to a stop and Jim grabbed Jesse by the arm and started pulling him to the door.

"Wake up, man!" He snapped. "It's our stop!"

Jesse shook Jim off of him and turned back to get one last look at the boy, but there was an old lady standing in his the way of his view.

Once they were on the street and the bus had roared off, Jim asked Jesse (in a rather teasing tone) "So, who was that guy?"

Jesse felt his heart sputter. "Oh. You…noticed him?

"How could I not? You two were staring each other down for most of the ride."

"Most…." Jesse trailed off. It hadn't felt that long to him, but he shrugged and said hopelessly, "Your guess is as good as mine."

"He wasn't bad looking," Jim said, nudging Jesse in the ribs. "And he seemed to be really into you."

Jesse rammed his shoulder into his friend's arm. "Quit trying to talk to me about boys. I feel like Alexis would be freaked out by it."

Jim laughed- which annoyed Jesse to no end. Wasn't he fazed by anything?- and shrugged "Fine, fine. Let's change the subject then."

"I don't feel like talking to you right now," Jesse grumped, crossing his arms over his chest and turning his head away.

Jim didn't hear him though, because he'd just spotted his girlfriend.

"Hey, Tomorrow Girl!" Jim yelled and Jesse winced. That guy was loud! Alexis was sitting on a bench with three other boys, and when she heard Jim she leapt up and came running over.

Jesse looked away in case they decided to start making out right there, but he didn't need to worry because they just hugged. One of the boys on the bench raised a camera and snapped a picture.

"Ah, the happy couple, reunited at last! It's adorable…and it's totally going on my blog!"

Jim laughed like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard, but Alexis was far from amused.

"Atticus!" she hissed and she stalked past Jesse-who was feeling distinctly more awkward with each second- and seized the camera from the boy before smacking him on the back of the head.

"Honestly, you are the very definition of annoying older brother!" She hollered.

"Yes, but that's why you love me!" He responded cheekily, albeit while rubbing the back of his head and wincing. Alexis then turned to Jesse, and he was a little taken aback by the smile on her face. It was as if she'd never been pissed at all.

"Hey there," she said cheerfully, extending her hand. "Sorry about that, he was dropped a lot as a child. I'm Alexis Rhodes."

"Jesse Anderson," he said as he took her hand. She was a pretty girl, and she had a very confident air about her. Not to mention that, judging from the way she handled her brother, she knew how to take care of herself and didn't let anyone push her around. Jesse could already see why Jim was so crazy about her.

As if sensing his thoughts, Jim sidled up to Alexis and put his arm around her waist. "Isn't she amazing?" he said with the tone of a man swept away. Alexis rolled her eyes. "He's known me all of twenty seconds, nobody can make a judgment that fast!" but she leaned into him anyway and returned the hug.

"You'd be surprised," Jim said with a glance in Jesse's direction. "He's very good at reading people… eh, Jesse?"

"So I've been told," Jesse said modestly. Alexis shot him another grin and turned to the other three boys on the bench.

"Well you've met Atticus," she said, and the boy who had snapped the picture waved. He wasn't bad looking either, Jesse thought, and from his easy smile and relaxed posture he seemed to be a fun, take-it-easy kind of guy.

Alexis pointed to the boy on Atticus' right. "That's Syrus Truesdale." Syrus offered Jesse a shy grin and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you," he said quietly. Alexis plowed ahead with introductions.

"And the other guy over there is… not paying attention at all." And with that she marched over to the dark haired boy with his nose buried in a textbook and ripped said book from his hand.

"Oye!" he cried, looking around in confusion. "What just- ow!"

Alexis had whacked him on the head too. "Bastion, would you get your nose out of the book for two minutes! We have company!"

"I wouldn't call it company," Jesse and Jim said simultaneously and Atticus laughed. "Jeez, what are you guys, linked telepathically?" he teased. It was all in good fun, but Jesse still shuddered at the thought.

"God I hope not…" he said under his breath, but Atticus heard him anyway and laughed all the harder.

Meanwhile the third boy, Bastion, grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that," he apologized. "I get lost in those books. Anyway, I'm Bastion Misawa."

"Nice to meet you," Jesse said. "And don't worry about the book thing, I know what it's like."

The small talk continued along those lines until Alexis suggested that they move into the cafeteria. Upon arrival Jesse was introduced to two new people- Ty Hasselberry and Chazz Princeton- who had been saving a table for everyone. From the ensuing conversation. Jesse gathered that this was unusual, because Chazz was not one to hang out with Ty under normal circumstances.

"He's not one to hang out with anybody actually," Syrus muttered to Jesse. "He only hangs out with us because he had a crush on Alexis."

"I DID NOT!" Chazz yelled, shooting a panicked look at Jim. "We're just friends, that's all."

"Oh right," Syrus said in a louder tone, a teasing smirk appearing on his face. "You have a crush on Atticus, right?"

Chazz blushed a deep red and sputtered objections, to which Atticus burst into fake tears and sobbed, "That's not what you said last night!"

Jesse laughed with everyone else but in the back of his mind he couldn't help but wonder exactly what he'd gotten himself into- he'd never met anyone like these people before, they were absolutely insane!

'Oh well,' he said to himself as the laughter died down. 'I did say that I wanted to start taking risks, didn't I?'

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind did Jesse feel for the second time that day as though he was being stared at. He shivered and leaned slightly to the right, peering surreptitiously around Chazz's head.

And there, sitting not twenty feet away, was the boy from the bus. He had his hands wrapped around a Styrofoam cup and he had that same grin on his face as he had when he'd been staring at Jesse on the bus.

Jesse bit his lip to prevent his jaw from dropping and felt his shoulders tense.

'Did he follow me?' He though wildly. Then he noticed that the boy was wearing a sweatshirt with "Kaiba Academy" written on it in bold black lettering and wondered (self-consciously) how he could have missed it before.

"Jesse? What's up?"

Jesse straightened up and realized that he had the full attention of everyone at the table.

"N-nothing!" He said quickly. "I was just… um, I thought I saw someone I recognized, that's all."

"Really?" Jim said excitedly, looking around the cafeteria. "Who?" Then his gaze landed about twenty feet away, behind Chazz.

"Hey, isn't that the guy from the bus who was- Ouch!" Jesse kicked him under the table, panicking as he realized that the next words out of Jim's mouth were going to be something along the lines of "Blatantly checking you out;" and that was not information that Jesse was looking to release to the general public at the present time.

Luckily everyone else was distracted- they had all turned to see who Jim was talking about. Jesse looked up again and saw that the boy was no longer staring at him and was absorbed in a very thick-looking textbook. Jesse was taken aback- had he imagined that the boy had been staring at him?

Alexis spoke first. "Oh, that's Judai Yuki."

"Judai?" Jesse echoed, again feeling a shiver pass through him as he said the name. It sounded so exotic.

"Yeah, he transferred here about two years ago. He's a senior, like us."

"That weirdo is nothing like us," Chazz grumbled, then yelped as Alexis smacked him on the head.

"Don't be mean, Chazz! You just don't like him because he gets higher grades then you do."

"It's not just because of that," Chazz said defensively. "First of all, he barely ever comes to class and I never see him studying, yet he's always getting the best test scores…"

"Wow, Chazz," Alexis cut in, "I had no idea you paid so much attention to Judai."

Chazz gave her a furious look, but pressed on. "He's always by himself, too. And he's just got this vibe about him, you know? He's different."

Alexis slammed her fist down on the table. "Charles Jacob Princeton, would you listen to yourself?" (1) she hissed. "Those aren't reasons to dislike someone! How do you know he doesn't study at home? Or that maybe…"

Jesse stopped paying attention; not because he was trying to be rude, but because he was lost in thought. While nobody was disagreeing with Alexis, they weren't exactly backing her up either. In fact, Syrus, Ty and Bastion all looked uneasy. Even Atticus didn't look as happy as he had before. Were people really that wary of Judai? And why? Jesse didn't get a "vibe" from Judai, at least not a threatening one. Sure he seemed different- after all, Jesse had never gotten that kind of look from anyone before- but he didn't seem dangerous. So, why were people weirded out by him?

As he pondered this, Jesse found himself once again eye to eye with Judai. Jesse jumped slightly as he realized that he'd been staring, but he didn't look away. Once again he watched a grin appear on Judai's face, and this time the boy offered Jesse a small wave as well. As Jesse felt his face heat up again, he saw Judai open his mouth and Jesse leaned forward.

'Hello,' he mouthed.

Jesse glanced around and saw that everybody was sufficiently distracted by Alexis and Chazz's continued argument. His eyes shot back to Judai and he smiled shyly.

'Hello,' he mouthed back.

Judai's grin widened and he winked again. Then he closed his textbook, tossed the empty cup in the trash and walked away.

Jesse leaned back in his seat and felt the smile slip off his face.

'What the hell was all that about?'

(1)- I totally made that up, please don't quote me on it. ^^;

Holy crap, this chapter was a b!tch to write. I started it on September 12, and I only just finished it today!

Anyway, I can't promise when the next update will be…hopefully soon though.

Please drop a review on the way out! It doesn't have to be particularly long or thoughtful, even if it's just "Hey, I like it," I don't mind! (Yes, I am begging. No, I do not have any shame)

Here's hoping I talk to you soon!

~Angel