365 Days of Starshipping (Part 1)

Meeting Akiza

2/22/19

"Hey! Long time no see!" Crow greeted, opening the door the second he'd heard a knock. Judai looked up at that, watching as the newcomer stepped in with a tired, but clearly happy smile.

"Hey, sorry I haven't been around much," she replied, dropping a rather large messenger bag off on the entryway's side table; from the sigh of relief she gave, it must've been pretty heavy. It probably held a laptop or something of the sort - Judai had lugged one around for years and sometimes its weight was really annoying to deal with, though it was definitely worth it to be able to check in with people whenever he got a connection.

"Don't worry about it, we know you've been busy," Crow said, waving her over towards Judai and Yusei who were sitting on the couch, "Anyways, we've got someone for you to meet!"

Taking his cue, Judai stood up and met her halfway, holding out his hand to shake with a grin, "Hey, the name's Judai! Nice to meet you."

Akiza shook his hand firmly, giving him a smile in return, "I'm Akiza, nice to meet you too."

Judai suddenly yelped as found himself getting pulled into a headlock, Crow cheerfully adding, "He's also Yusei's boyfriend!"

"I could've told her myself, you know," Yusei sighed, joining their little circle in the middle of the room. Akiza laughed as Judai did his best to get out of the headlock despite not having a good grip while Crow teased him about 'not being shy about it!' and messing up his hair in the process. Finally having enough of this, Judai secretly let a shadow trail out and pull Crow's arm back just enough for him to slip quickly out of it and hide behind Yusei.

"Not fair!" Crow whined, though Judai warily watched as his face was quick to brighten once again, "At least I still have fodder against you! Maybe you'll be less shy about it if I show-"

"No!" Judai exclaimed, giving him a slightly pleading look, "You do not show those to anyone!"

"You guys... Sorry Aki, these two seem to feed off each other's energy. Judai has just as much as Crow," Yusei said, giving her an apologetic smile.

"I don't mind at all," she replied with a grin, "It's actually rather refreshing, to be honest. I've been stuck working on a project for the last few days and the entertainment is welcome." She glanced around the room for a moment before asking, "What happened to Jack?"

"Oh, we uh... almost forgot to message the twins about today?" Crow replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, "He drove off about five minutes before you got here to go get them, so it'll probably be another twenty or so minutes before they're back - you know how long it can take to get Lua out of bed sometimes."

"They also said something about a board game they'd found that they wanted to try, so they're bringing that with them," Judai added, moving so he wasn't hiding behind Yusei anymore, "Anyway, in the meantime, you want anything? Water, tea, coffee, snacks?"

Akiza blinked at him in suprise, "You mean they have something other than water, coffee, and instant ramen now?"

He broke down laughing on the spot, tears coming to his eyes from the fact that she'd had the same exact reaction as Lua and Luka. Yusei looked at her in slight betrayal before burying his head in his hands once again from the embarrassment, though this time the reaction was even better because Crow choked on nothing, coughing while his face turned pink in embarrassment as well.

"That reaction will never get old to me," Judai mused, wiping the tears from his eyes as he calmed down and explained to the confused girl, "Lua and Luka reacted the same exact way. Go have a look at the kitchen - it's my pride and joy and my contribution to this place."

She did so, giving it an owlish look before turning back to him, "It's a completely different kitchen..."

Judai laughed again, motioning for her to go in, "Come on, let me show you what we've got in here. There's an actual selection of food and drink now, after all."

He grinned as he went about getting drinks, listening in to the hushed conversation Crow was having with Yusei back in the living room. Little did they know that he could pick up on it just fine thanks to his slightly enhanced hearing from his powers.

"Did he just call the kitchen his pride and joy, Yusei?"

"...Yes. The very first thing he vowed to do when he got here was fix the kitchen, hence the reason he started dueling in tournaments in the first place."

"It was so he could get money to fix the kitchen?!"

"He said that there was no way he'd let me continue eating instant ramen everyday, and that he'd help my 'misery end soon'."

"...He kind of acts like a housewife to you."

"...Bad Crow, that's rude-"

Aw, Yusei was defending his honor-

"-though I will admit I wouldn't mind that, his cooking's spoiled me."

Now Judai just felt torn between being proud and wanting to strangle him for agreeing that he was like a housewife.