Hi, this is Rine-Line, bringing you a new Yu-gi-oh GX fanfiction!

Like all my previous works, this is Spiritshipping! But this secret major project is slightly more special and different. You'll find out why later. xD Oh and, as much as this story's title resembles a certain favourite anime/manga of mine called Pandora Hearts, the plot has nothing to do with it.

Fandom: Yu-gi-oh GX

Type: Alternate Universe (AU) Multi-chapter

Genre: Romance/Adventure/Humor

Pairing: Spiritshipping (JudaixJohan)

Rating: T

Warning: Shounen-ai (Is this really a warning? xD), some swearing

Summary: Johan, an orphan in his village, finds his life changed when he meets Judai, a duelist-in-training. Suddenly finding himself involved in a dangerous and dark plot in this world of cards and magic, love might just be a heartbeat away. Spiritshipping AU

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh GX.

Important Note: Notice one of the differences of this story from just the data above? If you haven't, it's that this story is JudaixJohan. My other Spiritshipping stories had the pairing the other way around, so this is my first attempt. Why the sudden change? It's because the plot called for season 4 Judai. So don't be surprised if you find Judai to be slightly more mature, silent, and badass than usual. xD

I hope you enjoy!

Fusion Hearts

Chapter 1: The Complicated Day

'Once upon a time, an evil dragon reigned over the land. It caused destruction and sadness everywhere. Houses burned to the ground... Fields wiped out of plant life... People began to fall in despair and lost all hope...

But a mighty being came down to save everyone. Shining brightly in seven colours, it was another huge dragon. However, this dragon was different from the evil one, it was pure white but its body was embedded with seven colourful gems. It was very magnificent and its light saved the suffering people.

The dark dragon challenged the white dragon but the good one was more powerful. With its brilliant and great light, it defeated the wicked monster. The evil dragon, however, swore that it will return as it disappeared.

Its job done, the dragon god returned to its realm. But it never stopped protecting the people from the imminent return of the destroyer. It always watches over everyone and gives light and hope, making its presence known whenever a rainbow appears in the sky...'

"And that's the end of the story."

"Wow, that's really cool, big brother Johan!"

"Yeah!"

Johan, the storyteller, smiled at the five kids gathered around him, sitting cross-legged on the floor with innocent and happy grins on their faces. He himself was seated on a small wooden chair inside the cramped room. The whole place wasn't very big even though many of them lived there but no one minded. It was still home for all of them, who lost their first home and their family.

Just then, the door opened and in came a silver-haired teen. His blue eyes swept across the room, taking the scene in, before smiling with amusement. "So this is where everyone was. Again."

One of the young kids seated on the floor suddenly stood up and ran over to the newcomer. "Big brother Edo!" He tugged on the teen's gray shirt. "Big brother Johan was telling us a story. Come join us!"

He laughed lightly before saying in an apologetic tone, "Sorry, everyone, but Johan and I need to go out now. Go back to your rooms and wait for Aunt Mizuchi to make lunch, all right?"

There were several cries of protest from the gathered children but then Johan backed up the other teen, saying, "Don't worry, I will tell you guys another story later."

"Yay!" Two boys shouted before all the kids started getting up one by one. They then piled out of the room. The last one to leave was a blue-eyed blonde boy whose hair was permanently up like a flame. "That's a promise!" He said before closing the door.

When everyone was gone, Edo crossed his arms and turned to Johan with a seemingly exaggerated sigh. "Daytime stories? Since when did bedtime stories go out of style?"

But his companion only laughed, rubbing the back of his head in apology, his wild teal-hued hair parting as his hand ran through it. "They insisted on it. You know how easily I give in when they beg for it like that."

The silverette rolled his eyes. "Obviously."

Johan frowned. "Hey! You're no different from me. You played with them the other day when you were supposed to help me clean the kitchen."

A light blush of embarrassment spread on Edo's face but he tried to deny it. "Whatever." He covered it up by keeping his cool as he huffed. "Anyway, we really need to get going now. I've already got my books." Then he raised a delicate eyebrow at his companion. "Where's your flute?"

The bluenette got off the chair and went over to the nearby bed, pulling up the pillow. Underneath it was a white flute with seven holes. "Here it is," he said before putting it in his pocket, one end sticking up.

Edo just nodded before starting to leave the room. "Don't forget to close your bedroom door." Then he grinned mischievously. "The kids might give you another heart attack if they hide inside your room and surprise you as you come in. It was worth it hearing you squeal like a girl though." He laughed as he calmly walked ahead as if he hadn't just said something scandalous about his companion.

Johan was just about to lock the door when he froze at hearing Edo's words. With a horrified face, he turned to face Edo. "You... You planned that?"

The silver-haired teen turned back, having walked farther a bit. "They were willing to help." The annoying triumphant smirk was practically plastered on his face.

"You..." Johan growled.

Edo snickered as he started to run down the stairs and out of the house, an angry and embarrassed teen following not too far behind.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Johan yawned as he stretched his arms up while walking. It had been a tiring day, and it was now late afternoon. He looked upwards using one hand to partly shield his light green eyes from the sun's setting rays.

'Looks like I still have time to relax for a little while before I go back to the orphanage...' he thought.

He'd just finished his day work: playing the flute for the local bar. Edo was probably nearly finished teaching in the local school. The silverette was younger than Johan by one year but he was very smart, so intelligent that the principal hired him. Edo was more than willing, since it would mean extra income for the orphanage his adoptive guardians, Takuma and Mizuchi Saiou, manage. Johan himself was one of those orphans, and was actually the oldest among them, being sixteen years old at present.

The siblings both have work to keep the orphanage running but it was just enough to keep everyone satisfied with daily needs. So Edo and Johan decided to help in their own way as well by working. Lucky for the bluenette, his flute-playing was well-loved by many people so the manager of the bar allowed him to play for entertainment, most often giving him a tip as well.

He continued walking, occasionally waving or saying hi to the people who recognized him. He was pretty famous in their little village, the Ruby Village, for his music, just as Edo was known for his smarts. People said his music was heavenly, and it always calmed them down and soothed their minds when they were tired. Johan was just happy for that, he wanted the people around him to be happy and that was what he always thought whenever he played.

After quite some time, he reached his destination (he was unfortunate to be born having no sense of direction, something Edo liked to tease him about). It was a clean, flowing spring, located near the end of the village. The pure water flowed down from the mountains, glittering and sparkling in the sun's rays. What was unique about this particular body of water, however, was that its bottom contained, not a bed of stones but of jewels in different colours. However, no one dared to take any of those gemstones because according to folklore, whoever did would incur the wrath of their god. There were no plants or animals in the water, and when light shined upon the spring, it would glimmer in the colours of the gems, almost like a flowing rainbow.

This was the Gem Spring.

Right beside the spring was a huge, sprawling tree. It was not ordinary either. Its leaves were of different colours of the rainbow. Its foliage was thick that its branches couldn't be seen. Its flowers were beautiful, and the resulting fruit was very sweet and delicious. The tree was the pride of their village and there was a plantation of it managed by the villagers higher up in the mountains. But this Gem Tree growing beside the Gem Spring was the biggest of them all.

Johan climbed up the tree, settling himself on one of the lower branches. Because there were so many leaves on the tree, his vision of the area was almost completely blocked but he was content with it, as he leaned backward, propping himself on the thick trunk. A cool afternoon breeze was blowing, carrying with it the scent of the Gem Tree's blooming flowers. Johan closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the wind as he put his hands behind his head, relaxed. Calm and peaceful days were nice and rare, in his opinion, especially with the recent troubles in the entire kingdom. Ruby Village was a small one so it wasn't very much affected by the rumoured unrest that mostly took place in the capital city.

He was about to fall asleep when his ears caught the sound of rustling somewhere far below. There was the occasional grunt of discomfort as well and curiosity prompted Johan to open his eyes and look down, just in time to see someone trying to climb up the tree but suddenly losing their grip on the branch they were holding for support.

"Aaaah!"

With speed he never knew he had, Johan stood up and held on to the branch he was previously sitting on with his left hand as he jumped down catching the falling person with his right hand. He managed to grasp the other person's hand in time. He grunted, whoever it was sure was a bit heavy. Or maybe not, since it was only one hand of his that was pulling up the unfortunate climber.

"Uhh..." He muttered, eyes closed, trying to withstand the strain.

The unknown person must have noticed the difficulties Johan was having so he tried to set his feet on the branch right below his feet, but he put too much forward force that ended up dislodging Johan's grip on the branch he was hanging to, and making the both of them tumble, him forward and Johan backward, toward the spring.

Johan opened his eyes and looked up as he fell, only to be met by a pair of round, brown eyes that were staring at him with equal wonder. It was not an ordinary brown, to Johan, it looked like dark amber flecked with almond, a mysterious and intriguing blend that enveloped Johan in its warmth. And he really would have remained lost in gazing at them had both of them not finally reached the water in their fall. The splashing water brought the teal-haired boy to his senses. The spring wasn't too shallow or deep, it was the right height for them to recover from the tumble down the low branch as they came up for air, the water level wavering somewhere around their waist. Johan sat down on the bed of gems, feeling the water to be around his chest, coughing out water he accidentally swallowed. He vaguely heard his unexpected companion coughing as well. Flattening his wet hair backwards, he looked up to face and finally see whoever it was clearly.

And it was like his whole world froze over.

It was a boy around the same age as him. His unique coffee-coloured orbs were once again met by Johan's own eyes. His hair matched the hue of his eyes, with the top matted by a slightly lighter orange colour. Droplets of water were everywhere, slowly sliding down the strands of his brown hair till they reached the end tip and fell to the spring water, creating small ripples continuously. Mini-rivers of the liquid also ran down his black shirt and long-sleeved red jacket. The entire sight his eyes were taking in was sending tingles throughout Johan's body. If his mind had been more coherent, he would have thought it weird that the other teen was staring at him, studying his features, as well.

And then the brunette suddenly sneezed.

He didn't know why he did, his mind was completely blank and his body intensely cold, but he just laughed with all his heart. The happy feeling was spreading to the deepest depths of his soul. Why? He just couldn't help the laughter that burst out of him.

Pretty soon, another voice joined in the chorus of vocal glee. Johan, finally getting his mind back into working mode, noted the deepness and firmness of the voice, and it sounded so... fitting.

Finally, his laughter died down and so did the brunette's. Both stared at each other again but this time, with a smile on both of their faces.

The brown-haired teen, abashed, rubbed the back of his head. "I guess now would be a good time for me to say thank you for saving me?"

Johan's smile, if possible, got wider. "You're welcome then." He was about to offer a hand for a handshake by instinct when he felt his hand stuck. He looked down and saw that their hands were still intertwined, never separating when he first grasped the other hand to save the brunette from falling and even when they fell to the spring. But the brown-haired teen just chuckled and shook it all the same. "You know... Somehow, I've got a strange feeling about you."

At that statement, Johan tilted his head. Strange feeling? Was that what he felt too while they were falling, when he saw those coffee-coloured orbs?

"Me too," he said, still beaming. Even though he still had no idea what it really was, and only knew that it was just there.

They finally let go of their hands, and Johan suddenly had a mental illusion of something like a tie being cut. Really, did he hit his head on a rock or jewel or something? Both of them stood up and got out of the spring, water dripping off their hair and clothes. The brunette removed his jacket and wrung it. "Oh man, this is bad. I didn't bring any extra clothes. Looks like I'll have to travel with my clothes dripping wet."

Johan turned to him at that moment, trying hard to ignore the tingling in his chest. "You don't have a place to stay?"

The russet-haired teen draped the jacket over his shoulder; his left hand clutched to the sleeve, and carried it like a rucksack. It looked more like a lopsided red cape in that way though. "Actually, I only came here for a day and I was planning to leave when night fell."

Before he could stop himself, Johan blurted out, "You can stay the night at my place."

He got a delicately raised eyebrow of confusion in return.

Despite the coldness of the water all over him, he felt light warmth in his cheeks. Embarrassment? What? "It's dangerous on the road, right? With the Dark Army and all that." Why did it seem like he was rambling? Why?

"Really? Do you manage an inn or something?" Brown eyes shone in an odd mixture of surprise, curiosity and relief.

"Ah, no. It's an orphanage," Johan replied as he leaned against the Gem Tree's trunk. "I don't manage but the ones who do are really kind people, they wouldn't mind for you stay over." He left out the part about the place being not too large, but he'd already made the offer, and saying that would sound rude. Besides, the younger kids were only glad to meet new people, especially around Johan and Edo's age. Majority of the population of Ruby Village were either old people or young children.

For a few minutes, the brunette remained silent. 'He must be considering it,' Johan thought. 'But really, he could do that without staring at me, could he?' Not that he completely minded, but then no matter who, you'd always be even the least bit comfortable if someone you just met was scrutinizing you, bad intentions or not.

Just when the teal-haired teen thought that the conversation was going to make it to the night, he received his reply. "Sure, why not? Thanks for the offer." He flashed a bright grin that froze Johan for a minute or two.

When Johan realized what happened to him, he quickly shook his head to get himself back to normal. What the heck was going on with him? Was this some sort of curse? But he thought that people were only allegedly cursed when they took gemstones from the Gem Spring, not when they accidentally fell into it. His knowledge of it was believable; after all, he lived in the village. But then, he had to admit that this was the first incident of anyone taking a splash in the spring. For a small village, news travelled around pretty quickly. If the two of them walked into the streets, their clothes wet, people were bound to make speculations and rumours would spread faster than wildfire.

"By the way, what's your name?"

Johan instinctively whipped his head to the direction of the voice. Bad move, for it only got him stuck looking at that smile and those eyes again. Finally realizing the intention of the question, his heart skipped a beat and a wondrous feeling spread throughout his body. It was mixed astonishment and happiness. It seemed stupid to feel like that because the query was the simplest of questions, but to Johan, it felt special.

Why? Because apart from one time, no one had ever asked for his name.

It was something both good and bad about living in a tiny village. People knew you from talks alone. Whatever you did was news and wherever you went, you were not an unknown. Proof of this was the friendly waves and the quick greetings he got whenever he went out.

'Hey, Johan!'

'Hi kid! Nice morning, isn't it?'

'Johan, can you play the flute for us, please?'

'Oh, aren't you that flute player in Carbuncle Bar? Johan-kun, was it?'

'Johan! Give our regards to Takuma and Mizuchi!'

'Johan, could you probably introduce my friend and me to Edo-kun? He's so amazing!'

"Hello?" the bluenette's train of thoughts was interrupted by a concerned voice. Oh, did his surprise show up on his face?

"Ah, sorry, I spaced out." If Edo were here, he'd be laughing at me, Johan thought. Laughing while still looking like the gentleman he was, that was like Edo's super skill or something. Aside from his intelligence. "My name... Johan." He smiled warmly. "You can call me Johan."

The anxiety on the russet-head's face was displaced by relief and glee. "Nice to meet you, Johan."

"What about you?" He asked, finally getting off from leaning against the tree.

The brunette smiled.

"Judai."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Apparently, Johan's inborn lack of sense of direction liked to work when he least needed it, because it was nightfall by the time the two boys managed to reach the orphanage. It was a two-storey building standing by itself in the eastern part of the village, surrounded by lush outgrowth of plants and trees. There were no neighbours or nearby houses. Of course, their drenched appearances raised a few questions on their way, but Johan tried to avoid them by saying it was nothing. Keyword here was tried. Because when he opened the door, even before he could shout "I'm home!"—

"Big brother Johan, is it true that you were fighting a Water Elementist?"

"Did you really go to Dewdrop River for a swim? But that's in the Emerald Town! How did you go there so fast, Big Brother?"

"Johan dear, were you bullied and someone dumped a bucket of water on you?"

-Simultaneous questions by the kids and Mizuchi greeted him. He felt so overwhelmed by the onslaught of questions that he literally took a step backwards. While the lady was worried, the orphans wore faces of excitement, thinking he'd been on some sort of adventure. Which was not true.

With a nervous smile, he raised his hands in a pacifying gesture. "Calm down, everyone. Nothing like that happened, really. It's just rumour. Um... Yes, I was drenched but nothing bad. I don't know any magic, there's no way I'd be fighting an Elementist, Rick. And you all know me, no sense of direction; I wouldn't be able to get to Emerald Town in half a day. And Mizuchi-san, there are no bullies in Ruby Village."

The black-haired lady gave a reassured sigh. "Thank goodness, Johan."

Rick, the blonde kid, looked disappointed. "Aww... I thought that you just had a grand adventure, and that would be the story you promised to tell us tonight!"

Johan laughed, ruffling the child's hair. "Sorry to disappoint. But I didn't forget that promise. The story I'll tell you is something equally good, you can bet on that!" He winked.

Shouts of happiness came from all five children before they were told by Mizuchi to go to the dining room so they can start dinner. The teal-haired teen sighed. "Rumours are really crazy. Thankfully, that's all there was."

A cool, smug voice cut in. "There's one more, unfortunately. Is it true that you found yourself a boyfriend, Johan?"

Almost immediately, Johan could feel his cheeks go aflame, even as he glared at Edo, who was walking down the stairs. Regrettably for him, it didn't work against the silverette, given that he was blushing, and Edo's smirk only grew wider at that. Well, that was typical of him, he never passed an opportunity to tease Johan about anything, be it his scrambled sense of direction, or his nonexistent love life. Johan never had anything that resembled a love life and he was never interested in that way about anyone, so Edo practically ate up this chance with glee.

Mizuchi, on the other hand, looked at him curiously. And because fate decided there was not enough fun at this situation and Johan needed to be embarrassed further, right at that moment, Johan's unanticipated companion stepped into the light. He was too far behind Johan before, so he wasn't seen at once. He looked confused. "Is something wrong, Johan?" he asked. He must have been waiting far too long outside and thought there was trouble by the entrance of the building.

It did more bad than good, unfortunately. The raven-haired woman gasped from shock. Edo looked surprised too, but kept his calm exterior and only raised an eyebrow as he stood at the bottom of the stairs. After a while, he said in an amused tone, "Oh my, I didn't think this one was true."

Throughout all this, Johan was just mortified. He didn't know how to act in a situation like this. Truth was, he'd never brought any person home with him before and this was an entirely unfamiliar situation. What should he do to settle the awkward situation? What was he going to say? His brain wasn't processing words properly so he let loose the first thing that he thought made sense.

"THIS ISN'T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!"

Oh, fate was now rolling around in laughter, and for added entertainment, decided to bring the orphans and Saiou Takuma along. The more, the merrier, right?

The dark blue-haired man came rushing out from the kitchen, kids in tow. "What was that abou—"

He stopped his question when he finally saw the entirety of the scene by the door. In reaction, he simply stood on the spot, frozen by disbelief. The orphans had varying expressions of childlike amazement.

Amazingly, it was the visitor who ended the silence, wearing a smile. "Sorry for intruding. Johan kindly offered me to stay here for the night. But I don't think I have your consent yet." He chuckled.

Fate was not happy about this but decided to stop for now. It wouldn't be good if Johan died of embarrassment now, the way his face was red like that. There'd be no fun in the future! So yes, enough this time. There are, after all, other opportunities in the future, and fate just cackled at the prospect.

Johan coughed, trying to get rid of the blush on his face. "Mizuchi-san, Takuma-san, Edo, and everyone, this is Judai. I met him at the Gem Spring and we... fell at the spring by accident." Remembering said accident was making him blush again but he beat it down. "And he said he didn't have a place to stay so I thought he could spend the night here. Sorry I didn't ask your permission first."

The two adults looked at each other for a brief moment before nodding. Takuma said, "It's fine with us, Johan. This is a place that accepts everyone, after all." Mizuchi smiled.

The youngest orphan, a boy with a brown mushroom-cut hair with the bangs parted, piped up, "Big Brother Johan, is he really your boyfriend? Because Big Brother Edo told us we cannot ask that, he wanted to do it himself. Umm... What is a boyfriend anyway?"

Edo's face practically said 'Oh shit, you did NOT just reveal that I was behind this, kid, I'm in some deep shit now.'

"Oh?" Johan was all smiles, but the way his eyebrow was twitching said that his mood was far from happy. "Is that true, Nero?"

But of course, the silverette still was able to keep his cool, or he wouldn't be worthy of his title "Gentleman Prodigy"... with emphasis on the gentleman part. He merely coughed before saying, "Perhaps we should start dinner now?"

The two adults nodded. Mizuchi turned back to smile at the brunette. "Oh, Judai-kun, you can join us at the dinner table. There's plenty of food for everyone."

"Really? Thank you!" Judai gave a cheery smile.

'He seems like a good kid. I'm glad he met Johan. The poor kid really needs to have more friends his age besides Edo.' she thought before ushering the children.

Johan begrudgingly let Edo, who smirked, set out ahead to the dining room. He sighed. This was the first time his life got this complicated.

In all the drama, no one noticed that little Nero's question remained unanswered though.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Dinner was eventful and noisy. Although that was to be expected when you have five little kids, two teens and two adults at one table, this particular dinner was much more boisterous than usual.

Judai and Johan came later than everyone because they had to get out of their wet clothes. Much to the teal-head's surprise, his clothes fit Judai perfectly. Of course that fact only sent his heart thumping a wee bit faster. He scowled at the weird sensations he was experiencing. What was going on, honestly? He'd never felt like this before. And to be frank, it was partly scary and partly exciting.

When the two of them entered the dining room, everyone almost thought that they were seeing twins, instead of Judai and Johan, which only resulted in laughter. But rather than entertain the situation, they all decided to satisfy their hunger first so the issue was dropped, much to Johan's relief. The younger orphans were always noisy when eating, the complete opposite of Edo who ate like a refined man, occasionally dropping a comment or two. Eating time was never quick when you have five curious kids who kept on asking Judai questions. The two adults also had queries of their own and Judai was only glad to answer as he ate.

"So where are you from, Big Brother Judai?" Nero asked with an innocent and excited smile.

Johan paused mid-way to bringing his food to his mouth. That was surprising, he thought, for Nero to be calling their guest a big brother. The kid was not one to be easily open to strangers, and yet he seemed comfortable around Judai. But the brunette did have a soothing air around him. Maybe that's the strange feeling he felt back at the spring?

Judai chewed and swallowed before answering, "Sapphire City."

'The capital?' the bluenette wondered. The distance of Sapphire to their little village took half a day by foot. What did Judai come to Ruby Village for? And he realized that he never asked his new friend that.

Rick's baby blue eyes shone in admiration. "Wow! That's so cool! I've never been there!" He was the adventurous type of kid, who liked exploring and playing out.

The head of the household asked the next question. "Judai-kun, did you come here by yourself?"

The brunette nodded politely. "I really did intend to come back before night, although this village is the farthest from the capital."

"Well, you'd have been really tired then. Luckily, Johan here found you," Mizuchi said.

At the mention of his name, Johan perked up and looked at the brunette, who only smiled. He gave a nervous smile in return.

This time it was the visitor who enquired. "Say, is this the only orphanage here?"

The black-haired woman nodded. "Yes. It is hard to manage with just my brother and me but we get by."

Judai's eyes widened in surprise. "Brother? You're siblings?"

Everyone at the table stopped their movements for a minute. Suddenly, the children laughed loudly while the two adults couldn't help but chuckle too. Johan chortled over his food whilst Edo snickered and spoke up in behalf of the 'family', "You thought they were married?"

The brunette turned slightly red from embarrassment. "Um..." He began rubbing the back of his head. Johan noticed he did that too back at the Gem Spring. So that was his habit when he was self-conscious? 'Cute,' his mind uttered. Then he blinked when he realized what he just mentally said. ... What? No, no, no. He wasn't noting Judai's behaviour or anything like that, and he certainly did not say any word that resembled cute... Did he?

The silver-head gracefully brought a clump of rice to his mouth. "You shouldn't feel embarrassed about it. You're not the first one to make that mistake, I assure you."

'Liar,' Johan's mind immediately retorted. Judai was the first to do that, that's why everyone was laughing. After all, this was Ruby Village, where information went around like the wind. But he let Edo be with his smugness, Judai would be more mortified if he knew the truth, anyway. Although he couldn't say he didn't mind that happening, because Judai with flushed cheeks was quite cu—

Tom, one of the kids, was grinning as he asked, "How did you meet Big Brother Johan?"

Like fate decreed (again?), Judai and Johan looked at each other. Brown eyes met green, and they stared at each other for a minute before Johan broke the gaze, turning away with a cough, "Why don't you start?"

Judai grinned before telling the tale.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Just when he thought it couldn't get any more complicated, it did. He really must have been cursed when he fell at the spring! Either that, or there was some minor deity conspiring to suddenly make his life a wild ride. (He had no idea how right he was... Wait, was fate a deity? Or just some cracked-up no-form maniacal sadist?)

First, the night bath. There was only one bathroom at the house, unfortunately, so they all had to take turns. Considering that there were ten of them (nine originally, plus the guest), it was a long wait. Fortunately, most of the kids bathed in groups, particularly the trio of Nero, Tom and Rick. It didn't help that the three boys spent half of bath time playing and would only stop when Mizuchi told them so. Edo always took his sweet time too (the arrogant idiot! he thought with a growl) so Johan was nothing short of frustrated when he finally got to use the bathroom.

He took off all his clothes and turned on the shower to full, allowing the water to wash away the fatigue of the day. And perhaps his worries too. And the craziness that came with the arrival of Judai. He closed his eyes as he just stood there, letting the water fall. 'Wait, why am I thinking about this?'

In his excitement and hurry to take a bath, he forgot to close the shower curtain, not caring about the water spilling around. But then, if you add in the following facts: that he also often had the tendency to leave the door unlocked, that there was a guest in the house who didn't know about this habit, and that there was a silverette who took pleasure in getting his brother of sorts embarrassed, you only get one answer and one situation. And it's not pretty.

Apparently, fate does not know how to keep promises. What a sad fact.

The sound of the door opening was not heard by Johan over the din of pouring water and only opened his eyes when he heard a gasp of shock.

It was Judai, towel draped on his shoulder, having just opened the door, with an expression of utmost astonishment on his face. And yes, he was blushing. Out of shame or some other possible reason, it's unknown, however.

"..." - Johan

"..." - Judai

Both boys just stood flabbergasted, unaware that they were wasting precious water from the still turned-on shower. They had near-similar looks of mortification, and appeared like they were competing with a strawberry the way their faces were red like that. Why did it seem like they always had some staring session? From the time they met, it had already been four times. First was while they were falling, the second time when they finally fell on the water, thrice when Johan offered him to stay over at the orphanage and the most recent one was during dinner.

Well, if the current situation was to be added, it's actually five.

Reality struck the brunette first as he broke the gaze by looking upwards and to the side, which was basically anywhere but Johan, rubbing the back of his head while saying, "Sorry, I didn't know you were here. Edo told me there was no one at the moment and I could use it, and the door was unlocked, so um..." He hurriedly backed out and began to close the door. "Sorry!" And the bathroom door was slammed shut.

It was a good few minutes before Johan recovered. And when he did, only two thoughts crossed his mind.

One, Judai really did have the habit of rubbing the back of his head when he was embarrassed.

And two, Edo was going to pay for this.

~0~0~

The unusual day was not over. Nor were the mishaps it brought along.

The second event that made Johan's night more complicated was storytelling time. Currently, all five kids were there, seated on the floor. Edo chose not to come, saying that he had some school-related work to do, but Johan knew he was just trying to avoid revenge for the bathroom stunt. However, Judai was there. The brunette was seated on the lone chair. The chair faced backwards, so Judai rested his arms, crossed, on the back of the chair. With his usual seat taken, Johan settled himself on his bed.

He told another story related to the one he said during the morning. It was about seven beings related to the good white dragon. They were its faithful servants, who helped greatly in defeating the evil. While it was normal for the children to be mesmerized by his tales, for some reason, Judai also looked fascinated.

When he was done with the story, as if on cue, there was a knock on the door and Edo promptly entered. He had one hand behind his back, as if hiding something there. What was that? Johan raised an eyebrow in question. Edo only smirked in response to that before turning to the orphans with a smile, "I'm the messenger who is declaring bedtime, kiddos. You can continue tomorrow." It was amazing how he could go from conceited to caring in a beat with his facial expressions. Yep, another super-skill of Edo. He mostly showed his smugness only around Johan, while he was a big brother when it came to the younger ones, which in the bluenette's opinion, was totally unfair. But then if one were to consider the fact that Johan was older than Edo, then maybe that was valid reason.

The teen waited for all the kids to leave out the door before turning to the two remaining occupants of the room. Mischief twinkling in his blue eyes, he whipped out whatever he was holding behind him and threw it in the air. "Catch!"

Judai and Johan were startled by this and automatically assumed receiving positions, although the intended receiver was the brunette, who caught it with ease. Confused, he looked at what was thrown to him. "A pillow?"

Smirk still in place, Edo stated coolly, "You're sleeping in Johan's bed."

One.

Two.

Thr—

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!" Johan yelled disbelievingly. Judai just blinked, baffled.

Edo sighed exaggeratedly as he crossed his arms. "Do you intend to wake up the whole village? It would have been nice if this loud sound was your flute, instead of a shout from an overstated reaction but oh well..." He rolled his eyes. "Look, before you chew me out, which I'm pretty sure you've wanted to do since this morning, and which you'll never succeed in doing, hear what I've got to say first, okay?"

He jerked his head in Johan's direction for indication to explain, which the bluenette begrudgingly permitted with a nod. "Like I said to the kids, I'm just a messenger. This decision did not come from me but from Aunt and Uncle. We have a spare room but since Aunt was cleaning the attic yesterday, she moved the things from there to that room and she didn't have time to return them to the attic so they're still there. We can't very well have our guest sleeping in a room full of boxes and littered with dust, can we? There are only six bedrooms in this house. One is the cluttered guest room. Aunt and Uncle each have their own. There's the kids' fully occupied bedroom, five of them already in there and we can't possibly squeeze him in further." He ticked them off with his fingers, counting. "There's mine and yours. That's six. My room is full of books for my work, it's cramped in there. So that only leaves yours. Not to mention you were the one who invited him, so it's only right he sleep here." Edo looked smug.

"Wait—" Johan began but he was interrupted.

"Would you rather have him sleep on the couch?" The challenge was directed without any falter in tone.

"Well, no..." he trailed off. That would be rude. But...

Edo grinned, his voice laced with glee. "That settles it, then. Judai is sleeping here. Then, I take my leave and bid you two a good night." He was about to leave when he stepped back in. "Oh, I almost forgot... Judai, sorry that's the only spare pillow I could give. Take care of it and make sure to keep it away from Johan. He drools in his sleep, you see." He snickered before closing the door to avoid the pillow chucked at him by Johan.

The bluenette pouted. "Idiot." He stood up and strode over to the door to pick up the pillow he threw. Then he sighed before turning to face Judai, who was still clutching the pillow that Edo flung him. "Sorry, Edo's really like that. But he's actually a good guy; life's just been hard on him. Though he has a really twisted definition of fun, and I'm the unlucky victim." He looked sideways. "If you're uncomfortable about this, I'll go sleep on the couch."

Judai blinked before laughing nervously. "No way, this is your bed. I'd feel bad if you did that. I'm fine about this. Are you?"

"Okay with it, I guess." Judai was a friend; there was nothing wrong with that was there? Though, this was the first time he was ever going to sleep with someone beside him, he found that he didn't mind because it was Judai. Weird, but he let it pass as he turned off the light, letting clear moonlight illuminate from the lone window. He plopped himself on his bed and Judai followed suit. There was only one blanket but it seemed big enough to cover both of them.

He took the left side, his back turned on Judai and facing the window. It wasn't cramped or spacious, if both of them were on the edge, they wouldn't hit each other but if he turned the other way, he would be in front of his bed mate...

The bluenette curled up lying on his side. It had been a really strange day. His days were mostly normal, with just work to worry about. It never got this... lively. Even inside the orphanage. The sudden change could have made him uncomfortable but for some reason, it didn't. Rather, he felt happy about it. If only his days were like this...

"Johan?" a soft voice called in the dark.

"Hm?"

"Thanks. And good night."

He could feel the smile behind that statement, and it made Johan's heart race. He calmed it down by taking a deep breath. "You're welcome. And good night too. Oh, and don't believe what Edo said, I don't drool in my sleep, really."

With that, green eyes closed with a happy smile, letting sleep take over.

Unbeknownst to him, the complication was just beginning, as five dark figures cut through the night.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Somewhere in a road, there is a man walking with a worried face. He had long black hair tied in a ponytail, two long strands framing his face on each side, with eyes that appeared perpetually closed from behind glasses.

"That kid really likes his freedom-nya... It would have been okay to just let him be, if only he wasn't being chased by the Dark Army to force him to join them-nya..." He turned to the fat orange cat trotting beside him.

"Do you think he's in trouble now-nya, Pharaoh?"

The feline only gave a low meow of agreement, as both master and pet quickened their pace.

To be continued...

Chapter Notes:

-The orphan kids are NOT OCs. They are minor characters in the anime series. If you don't recognize them:

1) Rick- He is Professor Cobra's stepson who died in an accident.

2) Nero- A young boy in the Dark World arc. He wants to be a duelist, and his only relative is his grandfather, an old man who wants to protect him from Haou's army.

3) Tom- He is shown in Johan's flashback in that super special awesome Spiritshipping scene in Episode 115 (after Judai's duel with Prof. Satou Kouji). He's the original owner of the Jerry Beans Man card that Giese won in the duel that had the ante-rule.

I've only introduced 3 out of 5 orphans, but rest assured the remaining two are also minor characters in the anime. Want to take a guess? You have a girl and another boy.

-Some of the significant places are based on cards.

1) Gem Spring- this is one of Johan's spell cards. He used this in Episode 172, when Judai mistook him for Mr. T. If you look at the card's picture, it shows a circular body of water while a cluster of gems lay submerged in the middle.

2) Gem Tree- another Gem Beast deck spell card. It was shown in Episode 130, The Awakening of the Rainbow Dragon, and helpful in Johan's quest to gather the seven Gem Beasts and summon Rainbow Dragon. Once again, look at the card design, and you'll see the resemblance to the fic.

3) Ruby Village, Emerald Town and Sapphire City- I think you know where this is going ;)

4) Carbuncle Bar- Refer to number 3. xD

Dewdrop River is the only one that's partly original here but heck; it's just a body of water. xD

There'll be more of these popping up in the later chapters. If you want to see them more clearly, you can visit the Janime website.

-Johan having no sense of direction: While this provides fuel to the humour of this fic, it is something I did not completely make up. In Episode 106, where Johan is introduced, he is late to the opening ceremony. His dialogue went somewhat like this: "Ah, I'm late, I'm late! I've got no sense of direction!" It's funny, anyway. xD

-Judai not being his hyper self: Like I said before the fic, he is based on season 4 Judai. Watch him in episodes 157-160. I'm writing him here using that attitude as basis in my mind. While he still smiles and stuff, it's less childlike. And, this is why this fic screams JudaixJohan.

Now, about this chapter... It was so fun to write! It's so fun to write Edo like this, and fate too (sadists!). Edo has a lot of super-skills, and that's what gets him lots of fangirls. So... what do you think of the story so far? I think there are a lot of magic world stories in the Spiritshipping fandom, and I hope mine finds its own place for readers to enjoy.

Review if you please. All comments and suggestions are appreciated.

~Rine-Line