SS: Believe it or not, I have the next two chapters of this already typed out. Buuut, I won’t be posting them yet. Reason being, is because I need to do My Sanctuary as well. I’m so into HFM right now that if I havent done any of my other fic! Anyway, there’s Jim x Kenzan in this chapter. I think it’s a cute pairing.

Disclaimer/Note: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX. NO FLAMES or I'll file ABUSE! Please ignore any grammar and/or spelling errors I missed.

Chapter 4 A Plot Thickens...

The three boys didn’t quite know what to make of the voice at first. They were scared. Very scared. It sounded like some sort of creepy horror movie guy’s voice and quite frankly, it didn’t sound human. “Three little monkeys have stuck their noses in things they shouldn’t be involved in. What a shame.” The voice trailed off a bit on those last words, giving the surrounding area an even more eerie feeling. “Well, now that you’re here, I suppose I must dispose of you quickly.” The trio made themselves ready to run, but paused when it said, “Come now, you’re not even going to put up a fight? You’re just going to run? That’s a shame, as well. Little primates, why won’t you be brave and make this worth my while, hm? Show me your strength.” It stopped for a moment, and then continued, a slight sigh starting the sentence off. “I guess you really aren’t worthy. Well you all do seem quite idiotic looking. A bunch of lost fools, I suppose.”

It was at that moment that Judai felt that nagging voice in the back of his head saying, Come on, man! You’re not going to let him talk to you like that, are you? Bust out some monsters and kick his freakin’…! “Hey, I may not be as smart as certain people, but I’m certainly not a monkey! Nor am I a lost fool. I’m with my friends trying to find our other friends whom mysteriously vanished! Maybe you should tell us who you are and stop hiding like a coward!” His voice sounded angry, and his face now looked a bit blank, tinted with some of the ‘oh crap, what’d I just do’ look.

“Ha, ha, ha! Judai Yuki, I thought that was you.” The horrific voice screeched with a delighted and deep laughter. “They told me you were somewhere here… I just wasn’t expecting that I’d be graced with your immense presence so soon in this game.” Footsteps, heavy ones that sounded like military boots, made their way out into the open shadowy arena. The only light in the large room was from the two flashlights Sho and Johan gripped. All other light sources were not working or blocked out somehow and the figure used that to its advantage. It continued to get closer and closer to the boys, psychotic chuckles echoing off the walls.

Johan, with a shaking hand, slowly moved his flashlight up, shining it toward whatever it was. “W-what… how do you know Judai? What do you want with him? And who are you--?!” Before he could even finish, the figure had suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking the light of the small device and startling the European so much, that he tripped and fell backward. He slowly sat up and rubbed the back of his head, which had been slightly slammed off the floor. Before he was able to rise, he yelped, feeling the shadowy being begin to pick him up. “AHH!! W-wait, let me go!! What are you-?!”

“Ah, Johan Andersen, I presume? The North Academy transfer student. Ah, yes, yes.” A toothy grin sprouted onto the shadowed figure’s face, reflecting in the small dim-lit area left from Sho’s plastic light. “Sleep…” It whispered, spraying a strange bottle into the greenish blue haired boy’s breathing space. He hadn’t gotten to say another word before passing out on the spot. “That’s a good boy.” The creature wrapped one arm under the teen’s legs, then another under his back, raising him up all the way. It stared at his sleeping face, silent for a moment. Then after a few seconds it said in a whisper, “I feel bad for you and Mr. Yuki...”

Judai, who feared for his friend and lover, quickly dove for him, not realizing what had happened. Obviously his attempt failed, as he missed the two completely, unable to see well in the dark room. “JOHAN!!” He shouted in an upset tone. “Johan, Johan! What are you doing with my Johan!?”

“Don’t fret…” The presence said calmly. “I will not hurt him. You just have to do exactly what I say, Mr. Yuki and I promise I’ll keep him, along with your other friends, safe.”

With a clenched fist, Judai jumped up and back over to his best friend, making sure the boy with glasses didn’t get caught, too. A frown stuck itself onto his face when hearing those words. Seeing as he didn’t have any choice, he nodded. “Alright.” He didn’t like this one bit. “I’ll do anything you want, just please don’t hurt my friends…” His voice trailed off for a moment, and then it regained all its strength beaming out in a cruel sounding threat. “…or I promise you, you’ll regret it so bad!”

“Oh my… is that a threat, Mr. Yuki?”

“No, it’s a promise.”

A chuckle escaped the creature’s mouth. “Oh, you really are just how they said you’d be. A real charmer. I must say, I’m quite entertained already.”

“Shut up! Just tell me what you want!”

“Fine, fine, no need to get so angry with me.” It licked its lips, thinking for a second, then spoke once more. “My name is Gearfried… the Swordmaster.” Slowly, he noticed the flashlight pointing at itself, going up and down examining him. His long black hair shined a bit, as well as his skin. His pointy elf ears stuck out between his back hair and very long bang-like pieces of hair that hung past his waste. His hair in the back was just about past his knees and his skin was tanned. His outfit was simple. It consisted of white bandages on each his arms that were acting as gloves, straps connecting across his bare chest holding up a loin cloth, and dark brown boots that almost reach his knees.

“So you really aren’t human!” The Japanese teenager shouted, not really surprised, but just more or less, saying it simply because they’d been right on their assumption. “So then, from your name I’d assume you’re a duel monster?”

“Yes, I am,” He said, clenching Johan tighter in his arms. “Now listen carefully…” He began to back away, slipping towards one of the exits. “The masters request that you play with them… Just meet them in your dorm room at this time tomorrow…”

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“Hey! Dino-boy!” Jim chuckled seeing Kenzan almost fall flat on his face, startled by the voice of his friend sneaking up behind him. “What’s wrong? You seem frightened.”

The muscular teenager just barely kept his balance and had to catch his breathe before yelling, “THAT WAS NOT FUNNY-DON!!” The dinosaur loving teen made an annoyed face, turning to the other. “You almost just gave me a heart attack!!!” He clenched his chest and stood still, trying to calm his speedily beating heart. “You jerk!”

The Australian couldn’t help, but laugh again. “I’m sorry, I just thought you’d be expecting me. Were you waiting for Sho? I think he might have wandered off looking for Judai, Manjyome and Johan.” He gazed down the dark halls.

“What?!” Kenzan shouted, jumping and becoming worried. “We can’t just let him wander through the halls alone-saurus! Let’s go after him before he gets hurt!” Just before he was about to dart down the hall, he felt a firm hold gripping at one of his arms. “H-huh?” He blinked a few times fast, noticing it was the South Academy student who was grabbing him like this. “What are you doing, Jim? We need to go find him, don’t you agree? I mean, it’s dangerous-don!”

The blue eyed man sighed. “It is indeed dangerous…” He paused, tugging Kenzan back next to him. “…and that’s exactly why you’re staying put. I could always send a monster to scout ahead for us.”

Kenzan shook his head rapidly. “No, no, NO!! That won’t do! I don’t want anything to happen to him-saurus!”

“Ah, I know.” A comforting smile spread across the older man’s face. “That’s why I need you to trust in me, Kenzan. I wouldn’t be saying this if I didn’t think it was the best thing to do.”

“Why can’t we go together, then?” The second year growled, ripping his arm from Jim’s grip. “Marufuji-sempai is my friend, and I’m sure aniki wouldn’t be happy to find out he ended up hurt because we just sat back like a bunch of cowards-don.”

Cowards. The word crossed Jim like an arrow piercing through someone deeply. He didn’t want to go bolting down the hallway blindly, but at the same time he knew his friend had a good point. Judai was the type who’d do just that and he’d be angry knowing they just let Sho go. Being the smart person he was, Jim decided against his earlier thoughts. “Alright, alright,” He said, giving in. “Let’s go look for him together.” Maybe this was the better idea. After all, they could stop by the generator room to check on O’brien and Misawa while looking for the small duelist.

“YES! LET’S GO!!” Kenzan almost gave Jim a heart attack this time because he’d shouted so loud. Noticing this, the tan skinned boy couldn’t help, but laugh as Jim had done to him before. He stopped after a few minutes though, feeling the need to apologize and said, “Oh… ha, ha… sorry about that, Jim. That was pretty fun seeing the look on your face-saurus!”

Jim clenched his own chest and shook his head, laughing. “It’s alright! I suppose I deserved that! Ha, ha. Did my face look funny? I’d imagine it would’ve judging from how you reacted when I scared you.” The Australian wrapped an arm around one of the other teen’s shoulders and smiled. “Let’s get going, shall we?”

Kenzan felt a bit awkward feeling the other’s arm tightly around his shoulder. In fact, he was so close that he could feel the other’s warm breathing. He nodded slightly, beginning to walk along with his friend. He started to feel stranger and stranger by each passing second. He was never the type to like such close contact, but over his time spent at Duel Academy with Judai, he’d started to change a little. In all honesty, he even started to like hugging people sometimes. Sometimes. This was different, though. It was only a simple arm wrapped around his shoulder, right? It wasn’t like a hug or anything. Though at that moment he was starting to think more and more about the other man. Jim was similar to him, muscular, but much taller. His grip was possibly even a bit stronger than his own. Just thinking about this was giving him the chills. He began to remember the doll that had came to life, Alice, biting down onto his lip as he did. This was a lot different, though. Jim was a guy, too, just like himself. So why exactly was he getting the same feelings that he’d felt before towards that girl? “Um, Jim…” He said quietly, but just loud enough for the other to hear, “…could you let go of me? I feel a little awkward walking like this.”

Jim stopped in place. “Oh, sorry!” He let go of the other and stared at him thoughtfully. Just what was wrong suddenly? “Hey, Dino-boy, are you ok?”

“H-huh?!” Kenzan choked, realizing that with the way Jim was looking at him, his face probably looked a little strange. “U-um… no, well, uh, actually…” He quickly thought up an excuse to try to trick the other duelist. “I think I feel a little woozy. I might have a fever or something. I’m fine though! I am a man after all. I can handle it--!” His words were interupted feeling his bandana being pushed up a bit and the other’s hand touching his forehead. He practically jumped. Damn, Jim’s hand felt cold!

“Well I guess you do feel a little warm.” The tall duelist pushed the other gently to the ground by his shoulders, leaning him against a wall and pulling his bandana back down. “I think we should just wait here. If you’re feeling sick it’d be better not to move around a lot... even if you are a man. You can still pass out, you know?”

“Ok...” Kenzan replied in a whisper, staring up at the other. He really only remembered feeling this way around cute girls, but it seemed that he was feeling shy right at this moment. Imagine that! Him feeling shy in general was really odd. Or maybe it was half shy, half embarrassed. Whichever it be, Jim wasn’t stupid. He probably suspected that the dinosaur loving teenager was lying and that he didn’t really have a fever. He probably knew. In fact, he’d probably ditch him right then and there for acting so strange. Then again, Jim wasn’t mean like that. He was actually too kind for his own good. Wait, why was he thinking such things?!

“Kenzan?”

“Huh?” It was then that he’d realized he’d been staring into the other’s bright blue eye. “S-shit! Sorry, Jim!!” He turned away quickly, knowing he was blushing. Ugh. This was really embarrassing. Get ahold of yourself, dinosaur man! “I’m not acting like myself and I must be freaking you out... Sorry-don!” He instantly rose to his feet, feeling ready to bash his head off a wall.

“Whoa, don’t keep apologizing,” Jim said, crossing his arms and giving Kenzan the 'it’s fine' look. “Something’s on your mind, I see. Don’t worry about it, I understand and I’m not going to ditch you or anything.” He smiled noticing a sigh of relief escaping the other man’s mouth. “So would you mind telling me what it is, exactly?”

Kenzan froze in place. Tell him what was on his mind? Oh boy, how could he? Jim wouldn’t believe him anyway. He’d probably just laugh and think he was kidding around. “I can’t!” Kenzan said, his voice almost at a level of shouting. “If I told you, you’d laugh at me.” He felt like he was going to die right there because one of Jim’s surprisingly smooth and cold hands was now gripping his chin, pulling him back into eye contact. “J-Jim?! What are you--?!”

“I won’t laugh…” The Australian said, sounding serious. “I promise.”

The tan skinned teen felt like shutting his eyes tightly or punching something. Either one. But at the same time, he couldn’t bring himself to do either. He was too mesmerized by the look on the other man’s face to do such a thing. “Um, I…” Without thinking for another moment, he lunged forward, clinging to Jim like his life depended on it. “I want to hold onto you like this. Don’t you dare push me away.” Those words had come out as a growl without a single bit of hesitation.

Jim blinked, a bit confused by the actions of the other duelist. “I won’t,” He replied anyway, wrapping his own arms around the other. Thoughts started pouring into his head. There was one of two things going on right here. The duelist was just worried and needed a little comfort or… he was hugging him just out of affection. Was he thinking too much? “Kenzan, why do you want to hold onto me like this?” He asked, really curious now, especially after the opinions that were sticking inside his head right now.

“I just… need to? I don’t know how else to explain it...” The other answered softly, clinging tighter and digging his nails into the man’s back. “I really just can’t. So... you’re going to let me stay like this a little longer, ok-saurus?” He nudged his face into Jim’s chest, hiding it from view. Ah, he knew he’d hate himself later for this. It felt comforting being embraced, though. Even a guy like him was enjoying this, which more than surprised him. In fact, it was even starting to calm the teen down. This was good. Very good. He’d now be able to walk next to the other down the halls with ease.

“K-Kenzan…” The exchange student winced feeling the other’s nails grinding into his back. It caused him to arch his chest forward a bit. Not really knowing what to do, he simply replied, “Ok, sure. I’ll let you, just could you please stop hurting me?”

Kenzan loosened his grip when he heard that. “Right, sorry ‘bout that-saurus…”

“It’s no problem…” The Australian sighed quietly and pulled back against a wall, letting himself slip to the floor. He could feel the other mimic his moments, following him to the ground. This wasn’t all too bad. It was actually pretty relaxing. Both their bodies being so close together like this was causing a sort of heat. A soothing one. “Hey, dino-boy…” Jim said gently.

“Yeah?” The reply, short and simple, but also gentle.

“I think I kind of like this. You…?”

“Yeah-don… but don’t you dare tell aniki or the others or else I’ll remind you why my name’s Tyranno Kenzan, croc-man.”

Jim started laughing and leaned his head back against the wall, gazing up at the ceiling. “I don’t want to be ripped into shreds, thank you. I’ll pass on telling anyone.” After those words, the two became silent just enjoying each other’s bodily contact. They did still have to look for Sho and so they knew this wasn’t going to last much longer. Why not enjoy it for now?

Judai: If you liked and want more, please review!