365 Days of Starshipping (Part 1)

Finally Able To Relax

3/19/19

Judai's phone weighed heavily in his pocket as he watched the door close behind his friends, filled with new contact information and new group chats. It felt like a weight had been lifted from his heart, knowing that they were all still wanting to be friends and didn't hate him.

Sure, he fully expected to get a talking-to once they managed to get him alone and not attached to Yusei's side like a leech, but that was besides the point - they still cared about him, even if he'd jumped twenty years ahead and was now significantly younger than them.

Everyone retired to their rooms, tossing out some quick 'goodnight's before escaping behind their doors. Almost immediately Judai dragged Yusei down onto the bed, burying his head into his chest with a deep sigh.

"I did it," Judai mumbled, and now that he could finally relax he was realizing just how tense he'd been for the last however many hours they'd been there; he could feel himself shaking slightly too, which meant he'd had some sort of adrenaline running through him to this point. He hadn't even noticed until just now, but now that he had he felt the need to latch onto Yusei lest it get worse.

"You did," Yusei replied, kissing him softly on the forehead and running a hand gently through his hair. He rested his head lightly on top of his afterwards, nose digging into his hair.

They stayed quiet for a bit, though Yusei did pull him down so they were lying on the bed instead of sitting on it, holding him close like he was a stuffed animal or something again - it did wonders for helping Judai calm down and relax. He took a deep breath as he felt himself finally stop shaking a minute or two later, wriggling his way up a bit out of Yusei's grasp so he could look at him in the eyes.

"Thanks," Judai said, a small smile forming on his face, "And also thanks for letting me give the reasoning I did."

"I figured you didn't want to tell them about the... specific circumstances," Yusei explained, lips twitching into a smile as he loosened his grip so he could pull back Judai's hair from his face, "especially considering you barely told me in the first place."

"Even I have to admit it sounds ridiculous, but with all the stuff we've gone through, we both know it's a very real possibility - unlike us, they probably would've never believed it, let alone entertained the thought," Judai replied, laughing a bit at the thought, "I figured this was a better way of explaining it."

"You did a good job," Yusei said, cupping his face lightly. Judai felt his breath catch as they stared at each other, face warming as he became hyper-aware of the hand on his face and the thumb latched under his chin; it pushed his chin up lightly as he was drawn into a soft kiss, eyes closing as they threaded their fingers together.

Judai could feel his heart fluttering in his chest as it became long and drawn-out, and when they parted he was only barely able to open his eyes back up, feeling slightly like he was on cloud-nine.

"Love you," he breathed, tightening his grip on the other's hand for a moment in emphasis.

"Love you too," Yusei murmured back, staring at him for a few seconds longer before smiling and saying, "Come on, let's go change so we can go to sleep."

Judai hummed in agreement, though he hugged Yusei closer before he could move, "In a minute."

"Okay, but only a minute," Yusei replied, grinning at him, "Surely you don't want to sleep in those clothes, you've been in them all day."

"More like I don't wanna try sleeping with you wearing those stupid knee-pads," Judai pouted, causing Yusei to laugh softly.

This was a nice way to end an emotionally taxing day, at the very least - actually scratch that, it'd been an emotionally taxing couple of weeks. Judai'd been worrying since the time Akiza came over, after all, so it was nice to finally be able to relax with the knowledge that everything'd worked out just fine.

He hugged Yusei tighter, never wanting to let go.