# Reiji's Office
"We still don't know how he got here," Reiji said, not looking up from the reports on his desk.
Ryo stood near, arms crossed. "Someone might have helped him. Or he could've already been here longer than we think — maybe even before the Battle Royale started. If he only just arrived, there's nothing left for us to trace back to his origin." He paused. "Our machines confirmed one thing, at least. He wasn't lying about any of it. Not where he came from, not whether he knows anyone, not even how he got that deck. He genuinely doesn't know."
"The deck's not what interests me most," Reiji said. "It's his dragon."
He tapped on his desk, and a holographic screen bloomed to life above it — footage from the night before, a coiled dragon defeating all three Obelisk Force soldiers.
"We have no data on it," Reiji continued. "No card record, no summoning precedent. But its effect, and the advantage it gives in a duel, is obviously significant." He glanced up. "You noticed it too, didn't you, Ryo?"
Ryo was quiet for a moment. "Yeah."
"Its effect is close to a few others we already know," Reiji said. "Sakaki Yuya's Odd-Eyes doubles battle damage against any Level 5 or higher monster it destroys. Kurosaki Shun's comrade—the one called Yuto—his dragon lowers an opponent's Attack and adds the difference to itself. And the Synchro anomaly that appeared out of nowhere during the fight against Academia, the one who saved Yu Sakuragi—his dragon also destroys Level 5 or higher monsters outright."
"And that's not all of them," Ryo said.
"I know. You watched watched the footage after the Battle Royale ended." Reiji folded his hands. "Their effects are more than just similar. They're connected. Almost like variations of the same idea. There's also the one from the Ice Area, the one who mistook Hiragi Yuzu for Celina."
"Right. He had a dragon too," Ryo said. "The duel ended before he ever used it properly — Yuzu lost too fast for that — but I could still tell. Same pattern. And the names line up as well," Ryo added. "Each dragon carries the name of its summoning method somewhere in its title. Xyz. Synchro. Ritual. Sakaki Yuya's Odd-Eyes didn't have a name like that at first, I watched his match against Strong Ishijima, the day the Pendulum method first appeared. His dragon's name changed that day — or rather, the word 'Pendulum' was added to it, and its effects changed right along with the name."
"Like it was the start of something," Reiji said quietly.
"And now a boy shows up who looks like both Yuya and Yuto, with a dragon carrying the same kind of pattern as all the others. I think it's all connected. I just can't prove it yet. And we don't have the time to try."
"Yeah," Reiji said after a long pause. "All of this traces back to that man's ambitions. As Kurosaki Shun talked, during my duel against Yuya, that Celina looks like his sister, Ruri. And Celina looks like Hiragi Yuzu. That man went to considerable lengths just to bring Celina back during this championship. Whatever his goal is, he needs them for it."
"We know for certain Kurosaki's sister is at Academia," Ryo said. "So he already has one lookalike of Hiragi Yuzu in his hands. Celina is with us, which is one advantage in our favor. And there has to be a version of her from Synchro Dimension too — but as far as we know, Academia hasn't captured her. That's good news, at least. Or we just don't know."
Something else occurred to Ryo as he said it. "There's another connection between the girls, beyond their faces. Celina and Yuzu both wear bracelets. I wanted to study Yuzu's properly, but Yuzu's gone now, and Celina—even on our side—still won't cooperate. Not yet."
"I suppose that's as far as this conversation can go for now," Reiji said. "We don't have time to waste, and there's nothing left to do but wait for the two days to pass."
Ryo nodded once and headed for the door.
The moment the automatic door slid open, Celina was standing there waiting, her emerald eyes sharp with an unspoken question.
"Yuzu really isn't at Academia?" she demanded, the words coming out fast. "She wasn't captured?"
"No, she isn't," Ryo said plainly, no attempt to soften it or dodge it.
"Then why didn't you tell the others? Especially her friends. He was crying over it, Ryoho!"
"Call me Ryo. That other name's strange to hear," Ryo said, his tone even.
"I'll call you whatever I want to call you. That doesn't answer my question." Her glare didn't waver. "And if it is strange and you don't even like it, why do you still carry it? Just change the name."
Ryo held her gaze for a moment before answering. "My father named me Ryoho. If I'd had a say, I probably would've picked something like Ryo instead. I don't know why he chose Ryoho specifically. But by the time I realized I didn't like it, I'd already accepted it as mine. So now I just ask people to call me Ryo instead."
"The Professor," Celina said. "If you don't like him, why do you still carry the name he gave you?"
"Because I already told you. I've accepted the name. Changing it now would feel more uncomfortable than keeping it."
"Fine. Forget the name. What about Yuzu? Tell me!"
"When she was defeated by an Academia soldier," Reiji said, stepping in behind Ryo, "a boy from Synchro Dimension appeared. We can't confirm it completely, but his energy readings and his summoning wavelength matched that dimension's signature."
"He saved her, along with a few others from Standard Dimension," Ryo added. "He isn't an enemy, and he isn't dangerous as far as we can tell. When he saved her, Hiragi Yuzu vanished along with him."
"Vanished?"
"The same way you break apart into particles of light when you travel between dimensions," Reiji said. "Like that."
"If she's not at Academia, and not in Fusion Dimension," Celina said slowly, "then where could she have gone?"
Ryo studied her face for a moment. There was nothing but genuine confusion there. "She really doesn't know," he thought, in disbelief. "Not even a little."
"We'll find her," Reiji said. "So don't worry about that part."
"As for why we didn't tell Sakaki Yuya," he went on, "it was a test. I needed to know whether he was fighting for his home, or only for the people he cared about personally. When he thought Hiragi Yuzu had been captured, his emotions ran strong enough that for a moment, he forgot everyone else standing around him. And yet he still fought well. He isn't the type to abandon someone just because he doesn't know them personally — but believing his friend had been taken gave him a reason powerful enough to push through everything else. There was no guarantee he'd join the Lancers otherwise. So I let him believe what he believed, and it made him stronger for it."
"So the two of you just played everyone," Celina said flatly.
"I'm angry about it," she added, "but I can't really blame either of you. I was on the same side as Academia not long ago. Believing in their methods too." She didn't finish the thought. "But I'm telling him the truth. In two days, at the gathering. Even if the two of you try to stop me."
"You could tell him tomorrow," Ryo said. "But you're choosing to wait until the gathering instead. Because you think it'll give him something to push against. Make him stronger before this war really starts. Isn't that right?"
"Don't act like you understand me." Her voice hardened. "I only came here to ask about your plan. Now I know the truth, and that's enough. Don't think you know me, Ryoho."
She turned and walked off without waiting for a response.
"She still doesn't understand," Ryo thought, watching her go. Whatever he'd said, none of it had landed the way he meant it to.
This whole time, before Celina arrived, Reiji was watching and listening everything clearly, what Ryo was telling.
# A Guest Room, That Night
Yume sat cross-legged on the floor of his room, two cards resting in his open palm.
"Cradle Guardians," he murmured. "And Aether Genesis."
He turned them over slowly, studying the artwork like it might finally explain itself if he looked long enough.
"What's any of this supposed to mean?" He said quietly. "I don't even remember how I got this deck. These two cards — I know they're mine, somehow, even though they just appeared in my pocket out of nowhere. But the rest of it..." He frowned. "I don't know why, but looking at it makes me feel guilty."
The night stretched on. He went through every card one by one, reading the effect text carefully, trying to piece together a real strategy instead of relying on instinct the way he had in that alley.
"I could ask someone for help," he thought. "But I've already used up more than my fair share of goodwill. Ryo doesn't talk much, and I get the feeling Reiji Akaba isn't exactly the kind of person who does the right thing for the right reasons by right ways — even if he's not the kind who does the wrong thing either. And I've already given Vance more trouble than I should have."
"If I can't even manage this much on my own, figuring out my own deck, my own duel style, then there's no point asking anyone else to carry it for me. I'll be the one dueling. So I need to understand this myself."
# The Next Morning
A knock came at Vance's door. He opened it to find Razz standing there, grinning.
"Yo, Vance. Morning."
"Morning," Vance said.
"I wanted to ask you something."
The door was closed.
"What is it?"
"First — you made sure there's nothing hidden in here, right? No cameras, no mics?"
"I checked. There's nothing." Vance leaned against the doorframe. "Even Ryo-san couldn't manage that much here — even if there was — He couldn't had removed or interrupt it. But Reiji Akaba's actually giving us real privacy. That said, if anyone tries to sneak out or do something they shouldn't, he'll know about it."
"Fair enough." Razz crossed his arms. "So — why were you and that boy, Yume, trying to stay hidden before? And it looked like you were the one helping him. That's not even rare for you, honestly. Kind of a legendary habit at this point."
"It wasn't purely goodwill this time," Vance admitted. "Ryo-san asked me to."
"Ryo Akaba, huh. So you just followed his lead?"
"I didn't follow him blindly. I did what made the most sense for the situation, and it happened to be what he asked for."
"Makes sense, I guess," Razz said.
Vance continued. "If a kid just shows up out of nowhere and Reiji Akaba finds him, he could've had his memory tampered with, or been treated as a threat and dealt with. Reiji's not exactly known for gentle solutions. Ryo-san figured it was better if the boy helped us because he genuinely wanted to, not because he was forced into it. Making someone believe in the cause on their own terms works better than making them comply."
"Tell me one thing, how did you know that Ryo Akaba? It feels as friends not just working on same level."
"I can't tell. Not telling anyone is also part of a pact we made. In order to have me aid in this war."
"Huh? When did you even met that guy?"
"I told you I can't tell."
Razz said after being quite. "Getting people to help willingly instead of ordering them around. I get that much now. So when Academia's people attacked, and the boy fought them off on his own, that's what convinced Reiji he could be trusted — at least to a point."
"Right. He isn't the type to trust blindly," Vance said. "No one really is. But he'll find some way to understand the boy properly before this goes much further. He probably already has, honestly. Just enough to confirm the boy's help is real. Nothing more than that."
"That also explains something else that's been bugging me," Razz said. "Why LDS sent out special invitations for the Maiami Championship in the first place. He needed strong duelists on hand."
"Yeah. I figured being strong wasn't reason enough on its own for him to cover the entry fees and everything else," Vance said. "He wanted to be sure the investment was worth it."
"But then why didn't he send you an invitation?"
Vance was quiet for a beat. "Probably because he already knew about me."
"...Wait, seriously?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, that explains a lot." Razz threw his hands up. "But he still wants you in the war? Joining the Lancers?"
"He does. And I said yes."
"Figures. Doesn't matter how unfair a match looks from the outside — all that matters is winning it." Razz smirked. "Everyone at the stadium looked so confused seeing someone who never even competed just walk in and join up. Quite a scene."
"There's still something bugging me, though," Razz added, more seriously. "How did he even know about us in the first place? Being strong is one thing, but our village made absolutely sure no one outside would know about... that. So how'd he find out?"
Vance's eyes drifted toward the window, calm and unreadable.
"I don't know," he said. "He's Reiji Akaba. President of the largest corporation in the world. Even a small, out-of-the-way village like ours isn't exactly a mystery he couldn't find and solve if he wanted to."
"Yeah, but this feeling won't go away," Razz pressed. "Even with everything explained, something's still bugging me."
"There's more to it than that," Vance admitted. He looked out at the morning sky. "Maybe... Koundri."
# The Day of the Gathering
Everyone arrived together, dressed the same as before, carrying themselves the same way. But something in their eyes had changed. The resolve in the room was heavier now, sharper, ready.
# Synchro Dimension
"Argh! Anyone out there?!"
The shout came from a girl clinging to the back of a motorbike that looked like a strong white tiger. The wind tearing at her hair under helmet as it roared down a narrow street.
"Oi, Yuzu! Don't shout, you'll get us both caught!" The boy driving snapped, his voice muffled behind the halmet of his rider suit.
"Where are we even going?! We ran from police back there! Do you get that it's a bad thing?!"
"You don't get it, the name's Security." He shot back.
The girl pressed. "Sure, but you just beat him. Fair and square."
"Yeah, and that's exactly the problem!" He yelled over the engine. "I beat him, so now Security's whole reputation's on the line. Which means they're not gonna stop until they catch us!"
"So they'll come after you no matter what," she said. "But why me!? I got dragged into this! I didn't do anything to that guy!"
"You were there, on Tops territory." He said. "That makes you a criminal too, whether you like it or not.
"Don't worry about it too much, though," he added, easing the throttle back as the street began to narrow. "People forget stuff like this. It happens all the time around here. It wasn't even that dangerous, not really. Just dangerous in the eyes of the Tops.
"Until things cool down," he said, "we're gonna keep a low profile. No one finds out who we are or where we're hiding."
"How?" Yuzu asked, gripping his shoulders tighter as the bike leaned into a turn.
"Because we're heading somewhere I know," he said. "The place me and Rin grew up. Trust me, even most of the Commons down there will help hide us if it comes to it."
The bike slowed and eventually got at halt to a stop as a small house came into view, a modest church standing quietly beside it, half-lit by the light of night.
They'd arrived.