Although the three-way duel had ended, no one in the crowd looked particularly surprised by the result. If anything, most of them had already expected it the moment they saw who Kazuko was standing next to.
By now, there was a quiet but widely accepted rumor spreading through Duel Academy. Anyone who could stand side by side with the She-Devil or Slifer for a long period of time would naturally end up far stronger than the average duelist of their generation.
At first, it sounded like one of those exaggerated school myths people liked to pass around. But the more people paid attention, the harder it became to dismiss.
Zane was the first example.
For three years, after Atticus and Yusuke disappeared, Momoyo didn't really interact with anyone else. Zane was the only one who stayed around her consistently, the only one who could keep up without getting dragged into something he couldn't handle. During those years, his growth was steady, then sudden, then overwhelming. By the time he graduated, he stood at the very top of Duel Academy, widely regarded as the perfect duelist.
People used to think that was just his own talent.
Then came Yumi's year.
At first, nothing seemed different. But slowly, people began to notice a pattern again. The ones who regularly stayed around him, trained with him, or even just hung out with him started improving at a rate that didn't make sense.
Jaden and Celina. Both from Slifer Reds.
And yet, both reached a level where even top students had to take them seriously or risk getting overwhelmed in just a few turns. That wasn't something Slifer Reds were supposed to do.
The first time might be a coincidence, but twice is a pattern.
And now Kazuko had just stepped onto the stage and casually proved the same point all over again. Her Red-Eyes deck wasn't just strong; it was clean, fast, and efficient. She brought out a 3500 ATK monster like it was part of a normal opening, while many second-years were still struggling to even summon something that could match a Blue-Eyes.
At that point, the "rumor" didn't really feel like a rumor anymore.
Of course, realizing that didn't make things easier for anyone watching.
Because now the question became… how do you even approach someone like that?
Most students didn't even dare to get close to Momoyo or Yumi due to the overwheling different in strength. And now Kazuko was sitting right between them, laughing and talking like normal.
Yeah… no one was volunteering to walk up to that.
"So Baldy invited you to Duel Academy early, huh?" Momoyo said casually, leaning back on her seat, one leg over the other.
"Yup!" Kazuko nodded immediately. "The Chancellor was so impressed that he invited the three of us to join Duel Academy!"
She puffed up slightly, looking proud of herself.
Yumi clicked his tongue lightly, elbow resting on his armrest, his head leaning slightly against his hand. "Tch. He should've just invited you. Not those two weaklings."
Momoyo gave a small nod like that was a perfectly reasonable take.
"Yeah, waste of space."
Kazuko blinked, then let out a small laugh. "You guys are being harsh, again."
Yumi didn't look particularly concerned.
From what he remembered, Blair wasn't much of a factor. She got into Duel Academy early, sure, but most of her wins were either off-screen or against background NPCs who didn't matter. As for actual, meaningful duels… he couldn't recall anything worth noting.
And Aki… Aside from the name and appearance lining up with Akiza Izinski from 5D's, he didn't really have any reason to pay attention to her. He was already moving into his second year, second semester. Things were about to get more complicated, and he wasn't interested in picking up extra baggage.
If someone wanted to stand with him, they needed to already have something to offer. Strength, skill, or at least something useful.
Otherwise, it just wasn't worth the time.
The three siblings continued talking casually, completely ignoring the stares from the surrounding students.
After a while, a waiter approached their table, carefully carrying a tray with three glass bottles of cola. She stepped closer, placing them down one by one, and reached for the bottle opener.
Then she paused.
Kazuko had already picked up her bottle. With one hand.
There was a small pop as she casually pulled the metal cap off using her fingers alone, like it was nothing.
The waiter blinked.
Before she could react, Momoyo flicked her finger lightly against the neck of her bottle. The top half separated cleanly and flew off to the side, leaving the lower half perfectly intact, cola still inside like nothing had happened.
The waiter froze.
Yumi didn't even bother with his bottle.
He summoned out Ha-Re the Sword Mikanko, who looked at him for a second, clearly unimpressed, before letting out a small sigh. With a quick, clean motion, she swung her blade.
The top of the glass bottle slid off smoothly.
Then she disappeared.
To anyone who couldn't see or interact with Duel Spirits, it just looked like the bottle had been cut by absolutely nothing.
The waiter physically took a few steps back in shock and fear. She stared at the three siblings for a bit. Then, without saying a word, she quietly turned around and walked away a bit faster than before.
The three continued chatting for a bit longer before deciding to head back. Once they rejoined the group, Kazuko didn't look out of place at all. She already knew Zane from before; he had visited the Kawakami Temple with Momoyo after she returned from Duel Academy, so she greeted him like it was nothing new.
As for everyone else, Momoyo and Yumi casually introduced her around. Atticus, Celina, Jaden, Rio… and thanks to them, she gets to meet her other seniors, her older siblings' friends' friends.
"Nice to meet you! I've heard a bit about you from Onee-san," she said, smiling as she shook Atticus's hand.
"Oh? Only 'a bit'?" Atticus smirked. "Now I'm curious what kind of stories she's been telling."
"Mostly the embarrassing ones," Kazuko replied without missing a beat. Causing Atticus to pause, then slowly turn toward Momoyo, standing in the back.
She closed her arms, then looked away. "I don't remember saying anything."
For the most part, she took it all in stride, chatting naturally as if she had known them for a while already. While Momoyo shifted her attention toward Yumi, arms crossed as the two stood together in the back.
"You seriously don't have more friends?" she asked, glancing at him.
"You're one to talk," Yumi replied immediately.
"That's different."
"It's really not."
She clicked her tongue, but didn't argue further. Instead, her eyes drifted down slightly before narrowing.
"When did you switch to black pants?"
Yumi blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Your pants weren't this black when we sat together a few minutes ago," she murmured, rubbing her chin as if she was trying to figure it out.
Yumi looked down at himself and then back at her.
"You're imagining things," He said flatly, not even bothering to check.
He didn't notice it, the faint, slightly darker marking along his right pant leg. A subtle "No. 96" that hadn't been there before.
Momoyo stared at it for another second, then shrugged. "Weird."
Before that thought could go anywhere, a sudden gust of wind picked up behind them.
The group turned almost at the same time.
A massive jet descended from above, its design unmistakable, sleek, white, and shaped like a mechanical dragon. It hovered briefly before lowering, the engines humming loudly as it stabilized.
"…Is that..." Jaden started.
"That is so cool..." Celina muttered.
The hatch opened midair, and a figure jumped out without hesitation.
He landed cleanly a short distance away, coat settling behind him as he straightened up and pressed a button on a small remote. The jet responded instantly, shifting into auto-landing mode.
The group instantly widened their eyes, realizing the figure standing before them was none other than President Kaiba.
Before anyone could even say anything, the President swung his left arm forward, his futuristic Duel Disk flaring to life as the hologram interface appeared above it.
"You've got some nerves ignoring my call. Yu↑mi↓ U↑zu↓shi↑!"
Yumi: "..."
Yumi has completely forgotten that he has turned his phone to silent and ignored the President's calls; he has also ignored Midori's panic messages about answering the President's calls.
Now, Kaiba had gotten tired of waiting and had decided to come here in person.
The silence from the group lasted just long enough for everyone to realize that the President was in a very specific mood.
Suddenly, Celina flinched, her face turning red for no immediately obvious reason.
She tilted her head a little, seeing that Yumi's hand was touching her butt, but still she kept her mouth shut to avoid drawing attention as everyone was currently too focused on the President. Before she could slap his hand away, he pulled out her phone.
"Huh, I think my phone's dead," he said, raising it up for everyone to see.
The screen was completely filled with cracks.
Yumi's friends and family instantly knew that this wasn't his phone, but they chose to say nothing. Rin and Zuzu looked like they wanted to say something, but Celina quickly clamped a hand over both of their mouths before they could get a word out.
Kaiba narrowed his eyes. "That is not your phone."
Yumi raised an eyebrow and said without hesitation.
"Of course it is. I swear, if this isn't mine, then I'll drop my Duel Disk and never duel again!"
A few people in the crowd widened their eyes at that.
Momoyo, Kazuko, and Celina, however, didn't react nearly as much. All three of them knew perfectly well that Yumi was a natural liar. You couldn't really trust everything that came out of his mouth, and if you didn't know him well enough, it was nearly impossible to tell whether he was being serious or not.
Still, the one who looked the most shocked was President Kaiba himself.
After the Pharaoh returned to the afterlife and Yugi retired, Kaiba's already tiny circle of card friends had shrunk even further. At that point, the only thing keeping him busy was dueling AI bots he could beat every day without much trouble.
Then Yumi came along. A duelist with multiple decks, with many different strategies and playstyles, extremely skilled and powerful, whose many decks reminded Kaiba of his old card friends. And, most importantly, a duelist who still wasn't done growing.
For Kaiba, that was the interesting part.
Just taking Yumi's duel records and turning them into data had already forced Kaiba Corp to upgrade its servers, expand a few more satellites, and improve his Duel Disk technology just to keep up with the load. The idea of Yumi simply putting down his Duel Disk and retiring early was almost unthinkable.
So when he heard that, even Kaiba's expression twitched for a second.
"I see," Kaiba said after a brief pause. "Then when you're ready, come to Kaiba Corp. Prove yourself, and I'll give you a new phone."
Then he turned away, his long coat waving behind him as he started walking back toward the Blue-Eyes jet.
Even though he didn't fully believe Yumi, Kaiba wasn't taking any chances.
At this point, if that phone had suddenly lit up and shown a picture of Celina, Kaiba probably would have crossed his arms, huffed, and lifted his head without looking at it properly.
Then he would have said something like, "I'm not interested in your girlfriend. I'm more interested in you, Yu↑mi↓ U↑zu↓shi↑!"
Yumi watched him go, then shrugged. "Sure. Let's just have a fun duel next time. I'm not in the mood for anything serious."
Kaiba paused, glancing over his shoulder. "…Then don't make it boring."
With that, he leaped back onto the jet. Moments later, it lifted off and shot into the sky, disappearing just as quickly as it had arrived.
As the wind settled, the silence lingered for a second.
Then Jaden scratched his head. "So… how did your phone break?"
Yumi turned toward him and handed the phone to Celina. "…No idea."
Celina stared at him, her grip tightened on his arm, and she stepped on his foot, grinding her shoe in annoyance.
"You're unbelievable." She said, putting her phone away.
The group slowly relaxed again, the tension fading just as quickly as it came. Around then, a few students and teachers finally rushed over, after seeing the Blue-Eyes jet from a distance, but by now, it was already gone.
...
A few days passed, and just as promised, Yumi headed to Kaiba Corp to play cards with the President, and Kaiba got to face Yumi's Labrynth of Darkness Deck.
It can be said that the President was so happy, he dragged AI Yumi out and had a few more rounds with him after their duel, going all the way from that evening to the next morning without rest.
AI Yumi: "You anger the Boss, and I got punished!?"
After their duel, Yumi learned the reason behind his 20% share of Kaiba Corp.
When he had used Kaiba Corp's supercomputer to scan his D-Wheel, the system had also recorded the small advance Moment engine built into it. From there, Kaiba had quickly realized two things. One, the D-Wheel was hiding more than it looked like. Two, the energy system inside it had serious potential. Not just as an energy source, but as something that could open the door to a new kind of summoning method for Duel Monsters.
And since Seto Kaiba was Seto Kaiba, he wasn't about to let Yumi walk away empty-handed while he benefited from it.
So, in his own way, he transferred some shares over to Yumi and treated it as thanks. He wasn't afraid of Yumi taking over his company since both he and his brother's shares had reach 60%.
A few hours later, Yumi returned to Duel Academy on his D-Wheel.
By the time he reached the school grounds, it was already nighttime. The campus was quieter than usual, the walkways mostly empty, and the dorms dimly lit under the dark sky.
He landed in front of the Slifer Red dorm, stepped off his D-Wheel, and let Dark Law take it back into his shadow. Without saying anything, he walked inside the dorm and headed toward the cafeteria.
The moment he entered, he stopped.
"You're late."
The voice came from one of the tables.
Yumi looked over and saw that the cafeteria was mostly empty, with the exception of Celina sitting alone at one of the tables. Plates of food were already sitting in front of her, covered up to keep them warm. Well, it's all become cold by now.
For a second, neither of them said anything. Then Yumi walked closer toward her.
"You waited for me?" he asked.
"Well, duh. Of course I waited for you." Celina rolled her eyes, though her expression softened almost immediately after.
She looked away for a second before speaking again, her tone quieter this time.
"You've always looked out for us. It's only natural that we look out for you too."
Her cheeks flushed faintly, and she quickly turned her head aside while rubbing one elbow with the other hand, clearly trying to act casual and failing at it. Celina was still not good at expressing her feelings as her sisters or friends were, and she knew it.
After everything that had happened, she had realized something she probably should have noticed earlier.
Somewhere along the way, she had started liking him.
Not just as a friend. And definitely not in the simple way she could explain out loud without feeling awkward about it.
She glanced at the food again, then at him, then away once more.
"So…" she muttered, trying to sound normal and not quite succeeding. "Welcome back."
Yumi looked at her for a moment, noticing the way she was clearly trying to keep herself calm. He didn't tease her about it, which probably made it worse for her, but he also didn't look away.
Instead, he sat down across from her. The chair shifted softly as he did.
"Yeah," he said after a moment, his voice quieter than usual. "I'm back."