#crystalties

          since leaving duel academy after being discharged, ryo found himself not keeping up with many of his peers. the people he kept up with the most were edo (they lived together after all), asuka, fubuki, and sho. with everyone else, he would only check in every now and again. though something had been weighing on his mind for quite some time. 

            shortly before they were brought to the dimension world, the transfer students showed up. one in particular, johan anderson, caught his attention. he remembered things from his childhood: hearing his father yelling on the phone, claiming the woman’s son wasn’t his (he heard the name johan a couple of times) as well as seeing a check to a woman whose last name was anderson. perhaps it was mere coincidence, but ryo found himself curious. he asked samejima about johan’s parents and quickly learned his theory was right, the two shared the same father. he wanted to bring it up, but everything went downhill before he ever got the chance. 

            when everything was said and done, it seemed like johan was avoiding him. had he blamed himself for what happened when ryo dueled yubel? ryo figured that was the case. he wished he had the chance to talk to him, but such an opportunity never arose and soon, he and everyone else graduated and left. 

            he heard about johan’s return from jaden shortly after they moved in together and ryo was happy for the two of them. anyone could see how much they meant to each other so it was wonderful that they were finally together again. now, since some time had passed since then, ryo figured it would be the perfect time to talk to johan. a few days prior, he asked jaden if he could talk to johan alone, which was met with skepticism, but he agreed since he trusted ryo. jaden didn’t mention anything about it to johan, instead just claiming he was going to do some shopping. so here ryo was, knocking on the apartment door. he hoped this would go well. 

it had been a few days since jaden returned to his own time. the events were still fresh in his mind. dueling alongside yugi and yusei...dueling paradox to stop him from accomplishing his goals. still, it felt surreal. despite everything he had been through, everything he had seen, what had happened didn’t seem real. a duelist from the future saving him...and the two of them going back to the past...it was crazy. his mind was still reeling, trying to process everything. 

one thing that stuck out vividly was that paradox had had rainbow dragon. johan’s ace monster. his blood boiled just remembering such a thing. he stole that. he took away a member of johan’s family. he had felt angry, horror, guilt, so many emotions when paradox summoned the card. since gradating, he and johan’s relationship had been strained. a text here, a conversation every now and then. it was nothing like it used to be. jaden felt he didn’t deserve johan’s friendship. he caused so much pain and suffering. johan probably hated him for it. so he created distance between them. johan never tried to close it, so in jaden’s mind, that confirmed his assumptions. 

how long had it been since they had last spoken? jaden couldn’t recall. a couple of days? a week? a month? or perhaps even longer. he felt an ache in his chest. he wanted to talk to johan. he wanted to see him so, so bad. was he okay? had paradox hurt him? since everything was fixed now, would he even remember what had happened? questions kept piling on top of one another in his mind as he stared at his phone screen before he began typing out a message.

contact: JOHAN

          > are you hurt? are you okay? i’m really worried about you i’m sorry i’m such an idiot

[MESSAGE DELETED]

          > i’m so scared something happened i miss you so much i want you by my side again

[MESSAGE DELETED]

          > are you busy?

[MESSAGE SENT]

where was johan anyways? jaden had no idea. he had never asked, and johan never mentioned it. it had been around a year since graduation and they never ran into each other. perhaps johan had gone back home. that was possible. could jaden even reach him? would johan let him? did he even want jaden to? casting aside his doubts, he took a leap of faith, typing out a second message.

contact: JOHAN

          > i want to see you.

mokuba you are so fucking valid

paleontologiist replied to your post :❝ I’ve known Johan for, like, 2 weeks, but...

extremely valid

jaden was somewhat snapped out of his daze the moment johan pushed him away. was that johan? as he looked at him, he seemed to become someone different. someone with blond hair. he looked near identical to johan, but...he was different. he watched as johan(?) moved away from him, wishing he could help. he was able to get on his feet, however he felt like he barely felt like he was even in his own body. it felt more like he was watching all of this happen. this didn’t feel real, but even so, jaden (haou?) had to help mamoru johan him. he managed to make his way over to the other man, shaking arms wrapping around him. “joha--” his voice was cut off by a pounding headache. 

he didn’t know what was going on. his eyes eyes squeezed shut as he felt memories forcibly coming to the surface. he saw the blond haired boy smiling at him, speaking to him, but jaden couldn’t process any of what he was saying. then the scene switched. suddenly his face was wet and the man was in his arms, bleeding profusely. his hands were stained with blood. he did this, he did this, he killed him, he murdered him. jaden felt his blood run cold as he watched the life leave his best friend’s eyes. the man was saying something, but jaden couldn’t hear it. he could only hear someone screaming. it was him, he was screaming as more tears ran down his cheeks, his grip tightening so much that his nails dug into skin.

“at long last, we can be together again. i would never even dream of leaving you, beloved. to be by your side is what i have wanted since we parted. from now on, we will always be together. anyone that dares to separate us will be punished. i promise you that.” and if anyone tried to harm yubel, they would suffer. haou would protect his lover until his dying breath. 

“tell me, what do you know of this boy you inhabit? does he have some sort of connection to you? or perhaps to...” he couldn’t help his curiosity. this boy’s appearance was far too coincidental. he knew how precious he was to jaden. haou had felt a flutter in his chest when he first laid eyes on him, even before he realized it was yubel. it seemed his incarnation still influenced him to some extent. he supposed it was only natural, considering it was jaden’s body he was possessing. “you look beautiful. though you always would, no matter what form you may take.” he leaned forward to press a chaste kiss on yubel’s lips. “together we will rule the dimensions. it is our destiny. none will get in our way.”

“i know you’re hiding something from me.” the two had been sitting in silence for the past few hours, but jaden finally decided to break it. this had been eating at him. ever since he and johan reunited, he could tell something was off. he knew something had changed. whenever they went anywhere, johan seemed to get tired much more quickly than he used to. he would try to push himself, but jaden instead insisted they take a break. however, whenever jaden asked what was wrong, johan would give a vague answer or change the topic entirely. and it wasn’t just that, he felt like johan was tight lipped about a lot of things. “i don’t know what it is exactly. it’s something with your body. i...i don’t understand why you won’t tell me.” he didn’t want to force johan to do so, but he couldn’t help but feel hurt every time he was shot down. “i’m worried about you...”

NO!!!!!!!!!!

im gonna KISS YOU