"Brother!"
Mokuba waved. Kira turned and saw Kaiba at the door.
"How's the AI situation?" Mokuba asked.
"Just some boring tricks," Kaiba said coldly. "A bunch of clowns—they won't last much longer."
He paused, looking at Kira.
He seemed to notice Kira picking the brand-new Kuriboh deck, and a faint smile tugged at his lips.
Like he appreciated Kira's taste—or maybe it brought back memories of his long feud with the Kuriboh maniac.
Maybe, just maybe, seeing Kira pick that deck, he saw a little of an old friend in him. Kaiba again reminded him not to disappoint him in the tournament, then turned and walked out.
Kira suddenly realized, that saying Kaiba never lost his way during his dark climb wasn't quite right. Back when he first appeared, Kaiba had lost himself.
After losing to Yami Yugi, he took a hit to his soul. His inner darkness was torn apart, but his determination survived. In a way, it was Yugi who helped him find his true self again.
Maybe that's why Kaiba could never forget Yami Yugi.
"Oh right, the link system I showed you before—the hardware is nearly done," Mokuba said, walking over to the console. He opened a box and took out a headset device.
"This is the new model—we've finished debugging it and it can directly link with the new Duel Disk you received," Mokuba explained. "It's still in beta.
If you have time, you can log in and try it—duelists from all over the world are online."
Kira looked at the device with interest. "The beta testers—are they all strong?"
"Not necessarily. Some slots were given out by lottery, so player skill varies. But some are pro league duelists, and they'll be more competitive.
There are also partners from business and politics and so on…"
"I see." Kira stroked his chin.
Sounded like a diverse player pool—a good place to practice online.
At Duel Academy, he could still find opponents, but he was already so famous at school that students were used to being beaten by him. It was time to broaden his horizons—and let duelists all over the world enjoy the fun of dueling.
"Well, I have a meeting. You can head back if you want."
Mokuba stood up and gave a mysterious smile.
"By the way, your school might be in for a surprise tomorrow."
"Oh?" Kira asked. "A new card box?"
"Heh, not exactly," Mokuba grinned. "You'll see tomorrow."
But even if he hadn't said it, Kira could guess.
The legendary original Duel King—Yugi Muto's deck replica.
If you followed the main plot timeline, it was about time for that. The infamous Yellow Dorm student Dimitri stealing Yugi's deck.
Honestly, Dimitri used Yugi's deck surprisingly well—he pulled off all the right tactics, and despite the deck being full of high-level vanillas, never bricked. But in the end, he just couldn't out-topdeck the real thing.
If Kira got the chance, a duel with Yugi's deck would be fun.
…
"Did you hear? Yugi Muto's deck is on display!"
Hearing the news, Jaden was so excited he couldn't even nap through class. At lunch, he said, "Tomorrow we'll get to see Yugi's legendary deck! The greatest duelist of all time…"
"Bro, you've said that a hundred times already," Syrus laughed.
Chumley said, "Actually, it's arriving tonight. The exhibition opens tomorrow, but the deck is coming to the island tonight."
"For real?" Jaden got even more excited, "Great! Then let's sneak in tonight for a look…"
Syrus: "Eh? Isn't that breaking the rules…"
"Come on, what's the big deal?" Jaden waved dismissively.
As if to say, "It's not like we haven't broken the rules before!"
"Hey, Kira! Over here!"
Just coming into the shop, Kira immediately spotted Jaden waving at him.
"What a coincidence—you're having lunch here too?" Jaden squeezed Syrus aside to make room for his buddy.
"No, I'm just here to pick up my pre-ordered cards," Kira replied. "I ordered them ages ago—they just arrived."
"Oh, speaking of cards…"
Jaden's smile faded as he thought seriously.
"The other day, that machine that invaded the academy—I could sense it had a power similar to what you mentioned before.
Dueling it felt dangerous—like the Shadow Game you described."
Kira nodded. "Yeah. There's a dangerous group behind them, but KaibaCorp is on the case."
"Mm. After dueling that thing, I remembered what you said: don't let cards fall into the hands of evil. So…"
He took out a deck.
Kira: "!"
Damn, I was just talking, and you did it?
Kira looked Jaden up and down, seeing his jellyfish hair in a new light.
Is this the Jaden I know?
"But it used some sort of Virus Lock deck—not my style, I couldn't do anything with it. So I thought, maybe you'd be interested."
Kira: "…"
He wanted to say, "Are you sure?"
But then he remembered—Jaden's loaded, he doesn't need to trade for cash.
So—no problem.
Taking a deep breath, he accepted the deck from Jaden, gripping his hand firmly.
The look in his eyes said: From today on, we're brothers for life.
It was so solemn that Jaden felt a bit awkward, scratching his head. "Ah, I didn't do anything… If it helps you, that's great, haha…"
For a moment, Kira felt bad about all the times he'd snatched Jaden's cards.
Ah, whatever.
Tonight, he'd let Jaden have his fun.
Kira knew, per the original plot, that most of the academy would try to sneak into the exhibition tonight to see the Duel King's deck. But Dimitri would beat everyone to it and steal the deck.
The first one to find him would be Jaden, and that's how Jaden got to duel Yugi's deck.
In a mostly slice-of-life first season, that was one of Jaden's most important duels.
So he decided to let Jaden have it—no point in ruining his fun.
…
That night, Kira just stayed in his dorm.
But sometimes, fate finds you anyway.
After dinner, as he was taking a walk, someone suddenly crashed out of the bushes.
Kira stopped and frowned slightly. "Dimitri?"
Why aren't you dueling Jaden? What are you doing back at the dorm?
"Yellow Dorm's No.1, Fujiki Kira!"
Dimitri brandished his Duel Disk, chest out in pride.
"Now that I've obtained the strongest deck, I have unprecedented power! I won't lose to anyone!
Come—this is my duel of revenge! This duel will decide who is the new king of Yellow Dorm!"
Kira: "…"
Next Goal: 500