Nobody But You: Prologue

Spiritshipping Xmas fanfic (Jesse x Jaden / Judai x Johan)

-x~X~x-

There was no place he'd rather be than where he was going. There was no one he'd rather meet than the friends he was about to reunite with. There was no person that he could even compare his feelings for than the man he was ready to face once again.

As he gazed across the sparkling blue sea, sailing on a luxurious cruise ship headed for a remote island in the middle of the sea, Jesse Anderson looked up at the clear, winter night sky and smiled warmly. Even though it was very cold out on the top deck of the ship, Jesse was surprisingly warm and tingling with excitement. He felt like nothing could dampen his mood.

It had been several months since Jesse, the three elitists from the other Academys and the others from Duel Academy had arrived back from the other dimension, the one Jesse found himself in after Yubel had taken possession of him. It had been hard on him, not being with the friends he'd gotten so close to during his excursions at (and away from) Duel Academy, but he was glad that it was about to end.

That day's date was December 22nd. Three days until Christmas Day, but less than two days until the long anticipated grudge match between Duel Academy and North Academy. Little over twenty-four hours from that moment would mark the beginning of the annual School Duel.

Jesse and the rest of the North Academy students and faculty were on their way to Duel Academy for the match. As opposed to using their private submarine, Chancellor Foster managed to borrow, for the entire school to ride, the SS Mokuba. Despite being no bigger than the average ferry, and much slower than the submarine, it was one of the most elegant cruise ships that Kaiba Corporation had ever put into production. There were spacious suites, luxurious hallways, even a five-star restaurant; that ship had it all, and over the next two days, North Academy residents would call it their "Home away from home."

The students from both schools were excited to learn that this School Duel would be much different than the previous ones. Instead of a single exhibition duel between two opposing student, each school would represent three of their top students to duel. The match-ups would be randomly selected, and the first school to take two wins would be victorious.

Jesse was one of the lucky three people that made the cut to represent North Academy. He was not only chosen due to his one-of-a-kind deck, but also because, with Rainbow Dragon now a part of his deck to give it the power boost it needed, he was now considered the top duelist of his school. He felt honoured by all the fuss they were making over him, and that he was now considered a celebrity in his own school, but he honestly couldn't care less about his Duelist Status or his popularity. The only thing that mattered to him was seeing Jaden again.

The bluenette flushed as he reminisced his times with his best friend at Duel Academy. Jesse couldn't think of a time, during that period, that he wasn't spending time with Jaden; the latter had practically made it his personal mission to be Jesse's escort during his stay. The boys sat next to each other in every class; they spent their nights together in Jaden's Slifer dorm; they pulled pranks on Syrus; they even went to the hot springs once or twice; not to mention the deal with the different dimensions, sacrificing themselves and whatnot.

Jesse, in all honestly, had never been so relaxed around anyone that wasn't his Crystal Beasts. Before he met Jaden, he had a difficulty trusting most people. He would talk to anyone, but he always felt that he needed to keep his guard up around them, like they might hurt him in some way or another. However, the minute he saw Ruby playing with Jaden and Winged Kuriboh, Jesse knew for a fact that Jaden could be trusted without a doubt and opened up to him.

Jaden became one of the few people in the world (not including the Crystal Beasts) that he got close to on a personal level. He told Jaden things that he had never told anyone before; he let Jaden in his personal space, even so much as letting Jaden throw his arm over his shoulder (something he never let anyone else do before). Sometimes, Jesse couldn't help but think that he and Jaden were destined to be as close friends as they were by some overseeing eye, because he was happy that Jaden was now a part of his life.

At that last thought, Jesse couldn't help but feel saddened and frown. Ever since he returned to North Academy, he had barely heard from Jaden at all. He had sent Jaden a number of letters and email after returning home, each delicately worded and often rewritten to truly explain what was going on in his life that he wanted to share with Jaden. Half of the time, Jaden only sent him single paragraph (sometimes even single sentence) responses, giving him a quick summary on the classes he slept through, the amounts of food he'd eaten and the duels he'd won; nothing at all personal.

The fact that Jaden put so little effort into their communications gave Jesse an uneasy feeling, as if it was some indication of the value Jaden put on their relationship, but he tried not to worry about it. It would take a lot for Jesse to lose the faith he had in Jaden, and a simple lack of communications certainly wasn't going to do it.

"Yo, Jesse!" a voice called out.

Jesse, leaning against the rails of the ship, turned his head in the direction of the familiar voice. He saw a tall man in a brown North Academy jacket, black pants and dark brown winter boots walking up to him. He had a head of short, messy red hair that covered his ears, and bangs that hung just barely over his light-blue eyes.

He walked up to Jesse and leaned against the railing next to him, giving him an excited grin. "You ready for the School Duel?" he asked. "I just know that this is gonna be our year. No way we're gonna lose to anyone at DA!"

Jesse grinned back at him. "Don't go bettin' you're boots on that, Arron," he said teasingly. "Duel Academy has a number of students that are just as strong as any of us, maybe even stronger. And don't you dare forget about Jaden Yuki as well, he'll definitely be a challenge."

That boy was Arron Pearce, and he happened to be Jesse's closest friend at North Academy. They shared a dorm room, all of the same classes, and a spot high in the school's ranking. In a way, he was a substitute best friend for Jesse to fill the spot for Jaden.

Arron was considered the second best duelist of the school, a very close second to even Jesse, despite being only a second year student. He was almost considered to send to Duel Academy instead of Jesse, but was turned away because of the fact he was a year behind the other exchange students. He was also chosen as one of the three representatives for his school.

Arron's grin changed to a smirk. "Don't worry about me, not even Jaden Yuki can take me down! Bring him on!"

Jesse laughed. "All right, but it'll be you're funeral."

Arron gave Jesse a pouting look; his cheeks puffed out and eyes narrowed. "Come on! You don't think my Gladiator Beasts can take him down?" he asked.

"The Gladiator Beasts aren't the problem; it's the guy who runs them."

Both boys turned their heads behind them, watching a mid-length blonde-haired girl walk up to them. She was wearing a North Academy jacket with the same colour scheme as Arron's, but instead of pants was wearing a brown ruffled skirt, as well as a pair of black high-heeled boots. She had her hand on her hip as she gave Arron a condescending look, staring at him with a confident smirk.

Arron scoffed, glaring back at this girl. "Well who asked you?!" he screamed frustratedly.

Jesse laughed cheerfully and patted Arron on the back. "Easy there, partner. Save all the energy for the duel," he said teasingly. He turned to face the blonde girl and smiled. "Ya know, Kenna, you might not wanna criticize the few friends you have, or you might find yourself up the creek one day if your in a pinch."

The blonde shrugged. "Whatever, you big babies," she said nonchalantly. "I just came out 'cause Foster told me to fetch everyone for dinner. Unless you wanna turn up free lobster and steak, I suggest getting a move-on."

Kenna Powers, despite her slightly obnoxious attitude, was a close friend of Arron and Jesse. She tended to speak her mind, no matter where she went or who she was taking to or about. She was, for all intents and purposes, the school's local tomboy, and she'd pin anyone to the ground if they didn't believe her (which she demonstrated on Arron at one time).

Kenna was originally a student from East Academy, but she transferred to North Academy as a third year student after learning that the school was extremely lacking in female students. She had a burning passion for introducing more and more female students into the world of duelling, as the current ratio of male to female duelists was 8:2; not to mention that most of those females tended to be, in Kenna's words, "Too weak to even hold a duel disk." Since arriving at North Academy, she'd managed to convince a large number of female students from overseas to join the school, bringing the ration of males to females from 9:1 to 7:3

Arron's eyes lit up at the sound of delicious (and free) food, and Jesse resisted the urge to laugh at the dribble of drool that was falling from the edge of his mouth. "Holy cow!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, thats what people are saying is in the steak," Kenna stated, her voice dripping in sarcasm. "Now hurry up, or you'll be eating the stuff they cleaned out of the propellors early."

Arron mocked Kenna with a fake salute, grinning like an idiot as he did so. "Yes, ma'am! Lead the way, oh Alien Queen!" he said teasingly.

Though somewhat annoyed, Kenna smirked at Arron and folded her arms across her chest. "Very good, you Mindless Beast," she teased back. "Now follow your queen so that you can feed on some raw meat or something."

Arron rubbed his hand over his stomach and growled hungrily. "Oh, yeah! I haven't eaten raw meat in a long time. Thank you so much, my queen! How can I ever repay you?"

"Jump overboard and we'll call it even. I'll dump the meat in after you."

Jesse could never not chuckle whenever he got a chance to watch the little dance that Kenna and Arron did, as it was too funny to resist. Arron would act like a hungry tiger from a roman colosseum, and Kenna would assume the roll of his queen. Their nicknames were somehow inspired by their respective decks; Arron's Gladiator Beasts and Kenna's Aliens. How it started, no one knows; but since the two had met, they go though that routine at least once a day. It was essentially their way of flirting.

This would, however, lead to something else...

Arron grinned and looked over at Jesse, licking his lips. "I don't know, your highness," he said before flinging an arm over Jesse's shoulder and pulling him close. "As much as I love wet, salty meat, I could never leave my precious little jewel behind. I'd miss him too much, and I know he'd miss me, too." Arron cupped Jesse's chin in his hands and turned the boy's head to face him, giving Jesse a flirtatious look. "Isn't that right, my beautiful little gem?"

Jesse flushed a brilliant red as he stumbled to find a way to respond. Arron, being bisexual, flirted with both Kenna and Jesse on a regular basis. Jesse would normally become embarrassed and be at a loss of words, and Kenna simply went along with it and flirted back with a snarky attitude. He was viewed, more or less, as the switch-hitting Atticus Rhodes of North Academy.

As the bluenette managed to pry Arron off of him and step back a few feet, Kenna huffed, turning a heel and heading back inside. "Suit yourself," she said nonchalantly. "Stay out here and starve with your precious gem, but don't be surprised if there's nothing left when you get there."

Arron almost gasped. "Like that's gonna happen!" he shrieked. He grabbed Jesse by the wrist and hauled him across the deck. "Meat, meat, the wonderful food, the kind that puts you in a wonderful mood~!" he sang, skipping happily across the deck after Kenna.

Jesse laughed and tried to keep up. "I'mma comin'," he replied. As he followed Arron and Kenna, ignoring the former's off-pitched singing about various food, he went back to thinking about Jaden.

The reason Jaden had barely talked to him was something that eluded him, but Jesse didn't care if Jaden was a lousy communicator; all that mattered was that he was about to see his best friend again. Jesse was going to see the man he'd grown incredibly close to, and he didn't care if seeing his cheerful smile and hearing his wonderful voice were the last things he would experience; he would be happy, regardless.