The Void Duelist

Chapter 23 - Smiles

Aria's POV

I cracked my eyes open to see light streaming through the window. Apparently I had fallen back to sleep at some point. But once I did wake up, I could still feel the grip of Jaden's hand on mine.

I can't believe I actually fell asleep like this. Oh god I hope nobody came in and saw us like this!!!

My face flushed pink and I attempted to remove my hand, but he just held it tighter. I gave a sigh, knowing I couldn't win. Then smiled because of just how peaceful and calm he looked asleep, as well as the fact he didn't wanna let me go.

Though my arm was staring to feel very numb and tired, since our hands had been like that for at least a few hours.

I sat on the side of my bed and looked at our hands. Fingers still perfectly intertwined. I suddenly saw movement coming from the corner of my eyes. I looked to see Jaden lifting his other hand to rub his eyes. He slowly propped himself up and opened his eyes, and immediately looked at me.

"Oh hey Aria." He smiled.

I'm so glad he's alright.

"Good morning." I smiled back.

"Hey, you smiled."

"Did I?"

"Yeah. You look nice when you smile."

"...Thank you." I blushed, looking at our hands again.

Jaden followed my gaze and spotted our hands too.

"Gah! I'm sorry!" He panicked, about to let go.

"I-it's fine!" I said quickly, stopping him from removing his hand.

"Really?"

"Y-yeah... It feels warm."

He seemed both stunned and embarrassed by my remark, but left his hand in mine none the less.

"Hey Jaden... What happened to me yesterday?"

"Huh?"

"Last thing I remember is beating Chaz up a little again. He was on his knees, then everything is blank from there."

"Aria I...I'll tell you later, okay? I just don't think your in the current condition to know."

"You're in a worse state than me, and I feel as though I am responsible for it. At least tell me if I'm the one who caused you this much...damage. Please."

"No, it wasn't you. Technically."

"What do you mean?"

"As basic as possible, you had another soul living inside of you, from your deck. That's probably what made you hurt Chaz the first time. Also why you were so cold, even if you said it was to protect yourself. I know you wanted to be happy really." He smirked. "Anyways, this other soul was called Aiko, and she took over your body."

"So...all this time I have been being pulled to the floor by another soul?"

"Mhm, but don't worry about it. I took care of it. She won't be bothering anyone anymore. Promise."

I was speechless. This whole time I had another soul inside me and I didn't know it... No. Somewhere inside me I knew someone else was there. That this soul had been controlling and manipulating my emotions and thoughts... I wasn't sure how she got attached to me in the first place, but since it had something to do with my deck I had to be pretty young. Either way, I was glad Jaden managed to beat and get rid of her.