Chapter Text
Makes Perfect Sense To Me
downwithwritersblock May 2018 Prompt Set
- Emerald
Emeralds. That was the first thing Jaden Yuki noticed about the new guy in school. A pair of bright, mischievous emeralds sparkling in the light of the classroom from underneath a teal blue fringe. Jaden didn’t even realise his chin had come up from the palm he’d been resting it on until Syrus hummed questioningly at him.
“Jay, you okay?”
It took a nudge from Syrus’ elbow to bring Jaden out of the daze he’d fallen into. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs from his brain and looked over at Sy questioningly.
“Sorry, Sy. Spaced out for a minute there,” When Jaden looked toward the front of the class again, the newcomer was making his way between the rows to the nearest empty desk. Which happened to be in front of Jaden’s own spot. When emerald eyes looked his way and warmed in a smile, Jaden couldn’t help the flush that crossed his cheeks.
“Looks like this year might be a little interesting after all,” Jaden mumbled to himself, as his chin found its way back into his palm again. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t keep the excited grin from his lips as he eyed the back of a teal coloured head curiously.
- Knight In Shining Armour
It started pouring rain during the last half hour or so of business hours. Since the shop wasn’t in the internal heart of the mall, Jaden’s boss decided they should shut the card shop up a littler earlier than normal that day. Jaden sighed tiredly, stretching his arms over his head as he stepped out under the awning, digging into his backpack for his umbrella.
He blinked in surprise when he saw a familiarly striking colour from the corner of his eye. He looked across the street to see the new guy from the other day, huddled under one of the shop awnings across the street. The shoulders of his hoodie were dark with water, and his hair was halfway to soaked.
Jaden’s heart pounded nervously with every step he took across the walkway. Despite that, he managed to keep a friendly grin on his face as he waved on his way across the street.
“Hey, new guy,” he called. Emerald eyes looked up in surprise.
“Howdy,” the teal haired boy answered. The southern lilt to his voice did something to Jaden that almost made him falter. Almost.
“Need a ride somewhere? My car’s not far from here, and I have some space under the umbrella too,” the brunette offered, indicating the umbrella with a wave.
The smile Jaden got at his offer made the brunette’s heart stop.
“Thanks, I’d really appreciate a ride if ya don’t mind. Gotta ask though, what’s your name?”
Jaden laughed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
“It’s Jaden,” the green-eyed boy grinned at him, and Jaden couldn’t help grinning goofily back at him.
“Nice to meetcha, Jaden. My name’s Jesse,”
Jesse. His name was Jesse. Why did that one name sound so ridiculously perfect to Jaden?
As they made a mad dash for the beat up old car Jaden drove on days when he couldn’t ride his motorbike between bouts of laughter and conversation, Jesse turned warm green eyes on him.
“Thanks for the save, by the way. You’re a regular knight in shining armour, Jay!”
Jaden blushed, a goofy grin stretching across his face.
- Daggers
Jaden was not happy.
The university’s big shot rich kid, Aster Phoenix, was currently chatting up Jesse. And Jesse was smiling at Aster.
Jaden glared so many daggers during that lunch break that Syrus started worrying he’d offend somebody enough to end up in a brawl before the next classes began.
- Crossroads
It’d been a few weeks now since Jesse Anderson had transferred in and thrown Jaden for a loop with his bright eyes and warm, easy smile.
Up until then, Jaden hadn’t really had an interest in romance or dating like most guys his age. He had his job at the card shop and his friends, and seasonal sports when he wasn’t in classes, and he’d been happy with that.
Now, when he wasn’t distracted by his friends or his job or sports, his head was filled fit to bursting with thoughts of Jesse.
“Ya know somethin’, Sy?”
His blue-haired best friend hummed questioningly, turning curious eyes towards him.
“I think I’ve reached that crossroads in life people say is s’posed to happen sometimes,” Syrus looked at his friend worriedly.
“You sure about that, Jay? It isn’t gonna be dangerous for you, is it?”
Jaden tilted his head as he considered the question. After a moment, he shrugged, crossing his arms on his desk to use as a pillow.
“Who knows,” he mumbled, resting his chin in his arms and turning his eyes toward the centre of his every waking thought.
- In The Woods
It was early one Saturday morning when Jaden decided to go for a jog. At this point he was desperate for anything to distract him from thinking about Jesse for longer than strictly necessary.
His feet pounded the earth in time with his heartbeat and the EDM beat he had blasting through his earbuds. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and his calves were beginning to burn. At this time of day, the woods near his house were dark and cool, with tendrils of fog curling around the tree trunks.
If he were any sort of artist or photographer, he’d definitely be out here more often with a sketch pad or a camera. He smiled to himself at the implied joke.
Half an hour into his jog, he slowed to a stop in a clearing when he came across something he wasn’t expecting to see.
Jesse.
The green-eyed boy was in the clearing, sketchpad and pencil in hand. A bag lay on the ground by his feet. Jaden huffed in air, bracing his hands on his knees for a moment. He pulled his earbuds out of his ears when Jesse looked up and noticed that he wasn’t alone anymore. The boys smiled at each other.
“Well, howdy there, stranger,” Jesse greeted teasingly. Jaden chuckled and walked across the dew-damp grass toward the other teen.
“Hey yourself,” Jaden grinned, peeking over Jesse’s shoulder at his sketch. The brunette whistled lowly through his teeth. “That’s pretty impressive,” he praised, brown eyes rising to meet green ones. Jesse smiled at him again, and it warmed Jaden down to the tips of his toes.
“Thanks,” Jaden blinked in shock as something warm and soft pressed against his cheek for the barest second. Jaden looked over at the boy standing beside him, who had ducked his head back to his sketch to try and hide his blush. Jaden could feel his own cheeks heating up.
Well, that was something he hadn’t been expecting. All things considered he hadn’t gotten to spend a lot of time with Jesse and still didn’t know a lot about the new kid on the block.
As Jaden watched the boy return to his sketching in earnest, he couldn’t help thinking that he should make an effort to change that.
Jaden watched on as Jesse started adding details to his sketch, and smiled to himself at the feeling of peace that washed over him.
- Names
“Hey, Jay,” Jaden hummed and looked up at the sound of his name. He’d been so focused on improving his Duel Monsters deck that he’d zoned out of his friends’ lunch conversation. So, of course, he hadn’t noticed that Jesse had joined them at their table. Jesse was looking at him curiously.
“I was thinkin’,” Jesse rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “You’re Japanese, ain’t ya?”
“Uh huh,” Jaden affirmed, taking a moment to have a bite of his sandwich.
“Well, don’t that mean that ‘Jaden’ is a nickname, rather than your actual name?” Jaden looked up again at that, nodding at Jesse’s question. He swallowed his mouthful before answering.
“Yeah, that’s right. Jaden’s pretty similar to my given name so it’s easier to just go by that,” Jaden shrugged, “still answer to both names, but most people call me Jaden.” Jesse leaned forward, his eyes sparkling eagerly.
“So what’s your actual name then,” Jesse asked, grinning. Jaden laughed, his cheeks pinkening.
“It’s Juudai,” he mumbled, turning his gaze back to his cards. He snuck a glance up at Jesse through his lashes to see the green-eyed boy was smiling off into the distance.
“Juudai,” Jaden jerked his head up. Jesse was still off in his own world, that smile still on his lips, but he could’ve sworn …
Jaden shook his head to bring himself back to the here and now. Nah, he couldn’t possibly have heard Jesse saying his name while that smile was still on his face.
- Metal
Jaden paused to wipe the sweat from his forehead. It was tennis season, and it was hot out today. He spun his racquet in his hands while he waited for Sy to serve.
“C’mon, Sy,” he called teasingly across the court. His best friend groaned in frustration.
“Why do you make everything look so easy,” Syrus grumbled as he finally managed a serve. Jaden ran across court and returned the serve easily. Sy just barely managed to return his volley. Like a flash he was across the other side of the court returning the ball to Sy’s corner. Sy returned the volley with a tired huff. On the next return from Jayden, as Syrus went to hit the ball, he managed to smack his forehead with the metal rim of his racquet. At Sy’s pained cry, Jaden let the ball fly past him and into the court fencing as he ran around the net to check on his friend, who was currently on his butt on the AstroTurf.
Syrus was rubbing his forehead and grumbling about not being any form of physically fit when Jaden reached him.
“Why did I join the tennis club anyway, I don’t even like sports.” Jaden laughed as he crouched in front of his friend.
“Well, Sy, we gotta get you fighting fit somehow,” Jaden joked, helping his friend back to his feet and leading him to their bags courtside.
Jesse watched on as Jaden sat Syrus back down and flagged down their coach to let them know that Syrus needed a break. To him, Juudai ‘Jaden’ Yuki was an enigmatic guy he still hadn’t quite worked out yet. The goofy jock who was best friends with anyone and everyone, and spent his afternoons working at a shop that sold every kind of card game under the sun, from Pokémon to Magic to Duel Monsters.
Jaden broke the mould that was pretty much every clique trope known to young adults across the world, and Jesse got all warm and tingly whenever he thought about the enigmatic man. Especially since the first morning they met in the woods, when he’d snuck out of his parents’ house to go exploring and sketching in the early hours of the morning.
He’d kissed Jaden on the cheek that morning too, which had him blushing at the memory. Good thing it was hot and he was running from one side of the tennis court to the other, or his opponent would be giving him a funny look right about now.
He chanced a glance at the Japanese enigma again to see him laughing with Syrus, who was nursing a cold water bottle against his tender forehead. Jaden was twirling his tennis racquet lazily, grinning as he chatted away with Syrus. Jesse was surprised at the clenching feeling he got in his gut at the sight, and rubbed the back of his neck when he realised that it was jealousy he was feeling.
What did he have to be jealous about? Not like he and Jaden were dating or anything. Jesse looked over at Jaden again, and quickly turned away when Jaden’s eyes turned in his direction. He glanced around again to see a smaller, more whimsical smile on Jaden’s face.
Jesse wasn’t sure if Jaden was looking at him or staring into the distance. Either way, he felt tingles shoot through his body again after one look at that smile.