Pharaoh's Owner

                                    

                                          
5/28/19
                          
After an hour or so, Pharaoh finally got used to the collar for the most part, only picking at it occasionally instead of trying to tear it off constantly. Yusei was lying down on the bed, his head in Judai's lap while Pharaoh rested on his stomach, and both of them were enjoying the feeling of having their heads scratched.
                          
Yusei opened his eyes for the first time since lying down, and upon seeing Judai's sparkling eyes and bit-back grin, gave him a tiny glare, "Not a word."
                          
Judai looked off to the side, not saying anything in response and simply smiling wider while still biting his lip as if to keep from laughing. Luckily he didn't pursue the matter any more though, and eventually his smile turned into a small, relaxed one that Yusei loved - he'd been able to see it a lot more recently, which was a stark contrast to the beginning, where Judai's smiles always seemed to be tainted with some sort of sadness or felt faked.
                          
The utter fondness in Judai's expression was a huge part of why Yusei loved that smile, too.
                          
They fell into a peaceful silence for a while after, until Judai hummed softly, gaining Yusei's attention.
                          
"Thinkin'?" Yusei asked quietly, not wanting to break through the silence too much.
                          
Judai hummed affirmatively, looking down at him and brushing a few strands of hair away from his face before replying, "Thinkin' bout what might've happened to Pharaoh's actual owner."
                          
"I... vaguely remember you saying something about your professor and his soul," Yusei admitted, getting a soft chuckle out of Judai.
                          
"I didn't really say much about that, huh?" Judai agreed, moving on to explain, "You remember the shadow riders I talked about? He was one of them, it turned out, and he'd used alchemy to stay alive for a really long time. When I defeated him, Pharaoh pretty much just... ran up and chomped on his soul before he could pass on, causing them to be linked."
                          
Yusei raised an eyebrow, looking down his chin at the cat on his stomach with a baffled look, "Pharaoh... ate him?"
                          
"Pretty much, yeah. Sounds weird, I know, but... honestly it's not even on my top ten list at this point."
                          
"I understand that one."
                          
"Anyway, Pharaoh's actually his cat, but he was forced to go where Pharaoh went and Pharaoh went with me travelling, so that's what happened. Luckily we got along really well, so it's not like he wasn't a welcome addition at all," Judai shrugged, "Plus, he didn't judge Haou at all considering he was once on the opposing side too. He ended up helping a lot in teaching Haou and Yubel about the modern day."
                          
"Sounds like he's a good person," Yusei concluded, grinning at a sudden thought and adding on, "And a good professor, it would seem."
                          
Judai laughed at that one, ruffling his hair happily, "Best teacher I ever had! He realized pretty quickly that I was a hands-on learner, so that helped a lot... plus, once he was in spirit form he may or may not have helped me cheat a bit on some tests that he didn't agree with. Mostly tests from professors that were notorious for grading Reds like me too harshly."
                          
Yusei narrowed his eyes, wanting to judge yet he couldn't help but think that it was probably for the best if the other professors were already rigging the test anyway. Judai just gave him an unashamed grin upon seeing his look, so he settled for an exasperated smile before motioning for him to continuing.
                          
"Anyway, back to the point - before I time-hopped he'd opted to stay in one of the spirit realms to continue his research because this place in particular had spells and stuff that let him interact with the world as if he were solid. Pharaoh seemed to get the point and was willing to stay there so he could, so that was the last I saw of either of them until now," Judai said, glancing over at Pharaoh with a curious look, "Pharaoh said that he hadn't passed on when I asked him, which means he must've figured out something with his research. Dunno if we'll ever see him, but at least he's definitely out there somewhere."
                          
"I'd like to meet him, if only to get more stories about the things you've done," Yusei stated, causing Judai to pout down at him and hold a hand to his chest as if he were wounded.
                          
"Yusei, that's not fair! I've only gotten stories about you from Martha and occasionally Crow, and those don't add up to the number you've heard about me at all!" Judai complained, poking Yusei lightly in the chest with every point he made.
                          
"It's not my fault you've got so many people excited to tell someone about your shenanigans," Yusei countered, smiling mischievously, "Haou, Yubel, all your friends... they're very eager to embarrass you, huh?"
                          
Judai froze suddenly, staring at him like a dear caught in the headlights, "...Haou and Yubel did?"
                          
Yusei let the silence hang in the air for a bit, building up suspense before finally asking with a smirk, "Hey Judai, what does 'fiancee' mean?"
                          
"...No," Judai whispered, and Yusei drank in the way his whole face flushed pink, starting from his neck and reaching the tips of his ears.
                          
"How can you tell if someone's flirting with you?" Yusei continued, snickering as Judai continued to look at him in utter embarrassment and horror, "Like that one girl in Europe when you were nineteen... oh wait, you didn't realize it at the time, did you? You hadn't had 'the talk' yet, my bad."
                          
"Yusei-" Judai whined, letting out a pained noise as he buried his face into Yusei's neck, physically dragging Yusei up so he was sitting on his lap instead so it was easier to do so. Yusei could feel just how warm Judai's face was, and it only spurred him to continue asking more questions that he knew would get to him.
                          
Eventually Judai smothered him with kisses to get him to shut up, and Yusei couldn't help but feel proud of himself for turning the tables again - his goal of being able to embarrass Judai just as often as he embarrassed him was finally starting to become a reality, it seemed.