There are so many things that season three left out. I swear, these characters could be so fleshed out and three dimensional and I feel like they…aren't. I wish Yu-Gi-Oh could be a little less about the cards and more about the characters, but I guess that would kind of defeat the purpose -_- Oh well, I suppose that that's where fanfiction comes in! So, enjoy this random plot that has been tapdancing around in my head!

Diclaimer: I don't own anything pertaining to Yu-Gi-Oh! GX nor do I claim to.

Johan glanced around to see if anyone was looking, and once he was satisfied that they weren't, he quickly stabbed the sushi with one of his chopsticks and lifted it to his mouth. He promptly choked and spat it out.

'God, I hope nobody saw that,' He thought frantically. Another glance around the room reassured him that still, nobody was watching him. He looked dejectedly back at the food in front of him and poked it with the utensils. He really should have thought to try and grow accustomed to the food and the ways of eating it before he came to Japan.

Having finished what he could of his food, Johan decided to take a brief walk around the campus. He felt awkward walking around without a heavy jacket on…it had been his main article of clothing ever since he'd enrolled at North Academy, and he sort of missed it.

"It's too damn warm here," he muttered to himself. He missed the snow and spontaneous snowball fights that would sometimes break out on campus. Yeah, you wouldn't think of it considering that most of the boys who enrolled at the academy looked more like motorcycle gang members than anything else, but when you were surrounded by all that snow it seemed like it was a waste not to use it. Not to mention that aside from dueling and school work, there wasn't much to do up there; they didn't get TV reception, and it wasn't like they could go swimming or play tennis or anything like that. Johan grinned to himself, remembering just how serious some of the boys had been about it. They would divide themselves into teams- anywhere from three to eight, depending on how many people played. Never two teams though, because that was considered too "tame". Some guys would even insist on being called "Captain" or "Sargent" and would literally map out attack patterns in the snow. Usually whoever won the fight got to have first pick of the food at dinner. Sometimes they would just play with everyone for themselves- and THAT was an all-out war.

Johan wondered briefly if any of the other new transfers felt at all out of place like he did. He felt a little depressed when he realized that they probably didn't. He certainly couldn't picture Austin O'Brien as being homesick- he probably didn't have time for such feelings. And he really couldn't imagine a bright and cheerful guy like Jim having any trouble adjusting. Heck, he seemed right at home in this school. And Amon Garam…Johan thought about the party invitation that was sitting in his back pocket. Apparently Amon was hosting a party that evening and had invited every student at the academy. If he felt at all out of place now, he surely wouldn't feel that way after the party- everyone would probably love him.

'Heck, they probably already do,' Johan realized. Amon had the whole package- he was rich, smart, a powerful duelist, and honestly, he wasn't that bad looking either. Johan bet that he already had a fan club. Not that Johan was envious of that, but still…he felt like the other students had put him on some unreachable pedestal. "Johan of the Crystal Beast Deck." Newsflash! He wasn't really that special! Sure, at North Academy he had been respected as one of if not the best duelist there, but he'd never been called by a title before. And what made it worse was that he'd noticed that already he seemed to have garnered "fan-girls." He'd noticed this as he was walking down to breakfast that morning- some of the girls when he walked by would look at him, then just as quickly look away with a blush on their faces and grin at each other as though they'd just seen a celebrity…and having gone to a boys school for most of his life, Johan wasn't quite sure what to make of that.

By this time Johan realized that he had walked too far from the Obelisk dorm and had no idea where he was anymore. He cursed softly, damning his inaccurate sense of direction. It had been so much easier back North- it was impossible to get lost up there (as long as you didn't go out in a snow storm) because there was simply no place to get lost!

"I wonder if I'll ever get used to it here."

"Who are you talking to?"

Johan swore his heart stopped beating for a second. He whirled around only to find Judai standing a few feet away from him, a sheepish grin on his face.

"You-" Johan gasped, putting a hand on his chest to see if his heart had indeed stopped. "How did you- What are you- When did-" He ran over to Judai and shoved him. "Don't sneak up on me like that, you creep!" He yelped, punching Judai softly in the arm. Judai winced and pouted.

"Hey! Don't hit me!"

Johan rolled his eyes. "I didn't hit you that hard. And anyway, you almost gave me a heart attack just now! Why are you out here? Are you following me?" he asked shrewdly.

Judai held up his hands. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to scare you, I just saw you walk by and thought I'd say hello."

"And why are you out here?" Johan asked. They were a little ways into the woods, and Johan thought it was strange for Judai to be out here alone (never mind that Johan himself was also alone, but he had only wound up in the woods because of his poor sense of direction, not because of intention).

Judai smirked at him. "I live out here, Johan." He gestured over his shoulder. "The Osiris dorm is back there, you walked right past it."

"I did?" Johan asked in shock. He wracked his memory, trying to recall doing so, but all he could think about was snow and winter jackets and forks. "Wow, I guess I was more distracted than I thought," he said, more to himself than anything.

"Yeah, I noticed that," Judai said suddenly. Johan looked up and felt himself blush a little under Judai's scrutinizing look. "You seem kind of sad. What's on your mind?"

Johan thought about laughing, brushing it off and telling Judai that he was being silly…but he found that he really didn't want to do that.

"I guess I'm just a little homesick," He confessed. "I've never gone so far from home before, and it just…" he looked down at the ground, scuffing at the dirt with the toe of his shoe. "I'm not used to it," he finished softly.

He heard Judai walk closer and felt an arm around his shoulders. "Yeah, I can understand that," Judai said sympathetically. He began walking out of the woods and Johan let himself be pulled along.

"It's really only natural when you think about it," Judai continued. "You are a long way from home…" he abruptly stopped walking and grabbed Johan by the shoulders, turning him so that they faced each other and staring him in the eyes. "You just need to give yourself some time to adjust," Judai told him firmly but kindly.

"I get that," Johan said, "But I just feel like…like I don't belong here." There was silence for a moment and Judai let his hands drop from his shoulders.

"It might be better if I weren't so alone," he said to himself. He thought he said it to himself anyway, but he must have spoken out loud because Judai suddenly looked shocked.

"You're lonely?" He asked, and Johan hastily covered his mouth, as though he could swallow his statement.

'Crap, how do I explain this?'

"Not lonely," he said from behind his hand. "Just…distant."

More silence.

"How so?"

Johan dropped his hand and tried to find the words. "Like even though there's a lot of people around me, I'm also separated from them. Like there's some sort of wall keeping me away from them…does that make sense?"

He didn't think that it would, but Judai nodded. "Yeah, I've felt that way too."

Johan found that hard to believe- Judai was such a likeable person, how could anyone not instantly connect with him?

"Not so much anymore," Judai clarified. "But when I was younger I felt that way a lot."

A few moments of quiet, then…

"It sucks."

"It sucks!"

They looked at each other in shock and then doubled over in laughter.

"I can't believe we said that at the same time!" Johan said between laughs.

"I know!" Judai said, standing up and leaning closer to Johan. "Hey, follow me," he said, and then took off running.

"Where are we going?" Johan called after him.

"To have a duel!"

"Why?"

Judai was still a few feet ahead of him when he paused and turned around, a bright smile on his face and the wind gently ruffling his hair.

"Because!" He yelled happily, turning around again and running.

"Because why?" Johan asked in exasperation. "Hey, Judai!"

"Hurry up, slow poke!"

Johan felt a grin spread over his face as he threw his hands in the air, surrendering to the light tone of Judai's voice and running after him.

"Alright, wait for me!" He yelled after Judai. A warm feeling invaded his stomach and spread throughout the rest of his body. Suddenly, he wasn't feeling so lonely anymore.

Just a nice, fluffy, cute little one-shot for all you lovelies. And now it is almost 1 AM and I am tired beyond words, but I just had to get that down. It's been bugging me since 10:00 last night.

So, I have a poll up on my profile, and it I would really appreciate it if you guys could go check it out. Also, I'd really, really like some reviews…even if it's just one word.

Happy holidays!

~Angel