Domino High School—
"Yo~ Yugi, good morning!" Jonouchi waved habitually at Yugi as he entered the classroom.
"Good morning, Jonouchi. You're not late today," Yugi responded with a smile.
"Well, it's the first day of school. Jonouchi even swore yesterday that he wouldn't be late and made me wake up early to get him," Honda, who entered with Jonouchi, also waved at Yugi.
"Of course! In this new semester, I, the great Jonouchi, will wash away my past reputation at school!" Jonouchi said with enthusiasm, clenching his fists. "After all, I, Jonouchi, am reborn! I'm no longer the delinquent I once was, but a dueling expert who made it to the top four in the Duelist Kingdom tournament!"
"Can you call someone who relied on luck to get to the top four an expert~?" Anzu, standing behind Yugi, looked at Jonouchi with disdain.
"Luck is a part of skill too, you know!"
"Well, it's good that Jonouchi has such a positive outlook," Yugi said, trying to mediate between them.
"Women just don't understand a man's desire for glory!" Jonouchi, annoyed, turned his head toward the group of boys chatting at the front of the classroom.
"Hey, any of you guys wanna hear about my heroic deeds at the Duelist Kingdom? I'll start with how I defeated the national runner-up, Dinosaur Ryuzaki!"
But no one paid him any attention...
"Do none of these people care about the Duelist Kingdom tournament?" Jonouchi grumbled awkwardly.
"No one cares about a top-four finisher, especially since the media only covered Hoshino, the tournament champion. Hardly anyone knows that Yugi was the runner-up," Honda poured cold water on Jonouchi's excitement.
"Is that true? Then did I get into the top four for nothing?"
"It wasn't for nothing, Jonouchi. Don't forget..." Anzu reminded him, "Pegasus fully covered your sister's surgery costs."
"Oh yeah!" Honda suddenly remembered. "How's she doing now?"
As soon as Shizuka was mentioned, Jonouchi's previously disappointed expression was replaced by a soft, gentle look.
"Shizuka's arrangements have been made for a hospital in Germany, and she'll have the surgery soon. The doctors said that as long as she gets the surgery, she'll recover, so there's nothing to worry about."
"That's great news, Jonouchi!" Yugi beamed with joy, genuinely happy for his friend.
"Hehe, when I think about it that way, my efforts didn't go to waste after all!" Jonouchi laughed and scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"I was wondering what all the noise was about this morning. Turns out it was just a bunch of nobodies making a fuss." With an annoying, arrogant tone, Seto Kaiba walked into the classroom, carrying his briefcase.
"Kaiba!" Jonouchi snapped at Kaiba, glaring at him. "What's the occasion today? Even the CEO of KaibaCorp remembered to come to school."
Although Kaiba was in the same class as Yugi and the others, he seldom showed up at school. To him, attending classes was probably just a way to kill time or gain some life experience.
"It's the first day of the semester. I understand the significance of checking in," Kaiba replied, sitting straight in his seat with his arms crossed.
"Kaiba, has the internal strife at KaibaCorp been resolved?" Yugi approached and asked with concern.
"Hmph, the Big Five's souls are now trapped in another dimension. The parasites within KaibaCorp have been eliminated," Kaiba said, unable to suppress a satisfied grin. "That's what happens when you oppose me, Seto Kaiba."
"Hey, Kaiba! We still haven't heard your thanks yet!" Jonouchi insisted, determined to get something out of Kaiba.
All he got in return was silence.
"..."
"By the way, have you guys heard? We're getting two transfer students this semester!" Anzu changed the subject to ease the sudden awkwardness. "Yugi, did you know?"
"Transfer students, huh..." Yugi scratched his face awkwardly, avoiding Anzu's gaze without giving a direct answer.
"Two transfer students? And they're both joining our class?" Honda stroked his chin, puzzled. "It's pretty rare for two transfer students to join the same class at once, isn't it?"
"Shh, the teacher's here!"
As the classroom quieted down, the previously scattered students quickly returned to their seats.
"Ahem~" The homeroom teacher cleared their throat as they walked up to the podium.
"A new semester, and I'm happy to see all of you again~" The teacher began with a typical introduction, followed by some routine greetings.
"I'm sure you've all heard by now that we'll have two new students joining us this semester. Please be kind to them and help them quickly integrate into the class so that we can all progress together."
After saying that, the teacher waved toward the two students standing outside the classroom.
"Wow, he's so handsome!" The instant the transfer students entered the classroom, the girls erupted in excitement.
The boy had a tall, slender build, sharp features, and hair that looked like he knew how to play card games. His aura of a rich boy immediately captured the attention of the girls.
"Tch, you girls are so shallow!" Jonouchi clicked his tongue in annoyance, turning his head away from the scene.
"Hello, everyone; my name is Duke Devlin. Please take care of me this semester." His warm, magnetic greeting caused the girls to squeal again.
"You girls, can't you calm down?" Jonouchi muttered in jealousy, keeping his voice low.
"Didn't they say there were two transfer students? I hope the other one's a cute girl," Honda, though not as openly irritated as Jonouchi, was also not fond of characters like Devlin.
"Hehe, hehe..." Yugi continued to smile awkwardly.
"Chiyuki Hoshino, you can come into the classroom now," the teacher called out to the other transfer student, seeing that only one had entered the classroom.
"Hoshino? Who's that?" The class froze in confusion.
Outside the door, Hoshino, dressed in a pink school uniform, took a deep breath, preparing herself mentally.
"I can do this. It's just going to school. Besides, Yugi and the others are in this class, so I'll get used to it quickly!" Encouraging herself, Hoshino took hesitant, mechanical steps into the classroom.
"She's so cute!!" The reaction from the boys was almost identical to when Devlin walked in, except the excited crowd was now made up of the boys.
"Ugh, you boys are just as bad..."
"Hey, Yugi, I've never heard anything about Hoshino coming to our school!" Jonouchi, sitting next to Yugi, asked in a low voice.
"Hehe, that was a last-minute decision by my grandpa," Yugi replied with his usual awkward smile.
"Not fair, Yugi, you've been keeping this from us all morning!" Anzu pretended to be angry as she also started to complain to Yugi quietly.
In contrast to their hushed discussion, the rest of the class reacted with excitement.
"Hoshino Chiyuki? That name sounds familiar!"
"Isn't that the Duelist Kingdom champion?!"
"Huh? The Duel King transferred to our class?"
"Oh my God, I can't believe I'm seeing a celebrity in person!"
"..."
"Hello, I'm Hoshino Chiyuki. I look forward to studying with you all this semester~" Hoshino gave a stiff bow and recited the line she had practiced in front of the mirror a dozen times the previous night, sounding very robotic.
"Whoa!!" Following her introduction, not only the boys but even some of the girls who were into Duel Monsters erupted in excitement.
"Quiet down, quiet down! It's class time!" The teacher waved her arms to calm down the excited students.
"The Duel King..." For some reason, when Devlin heard that title, a dark glint appeared in his eyes. "This feels like fate, doesn't it?"
"Now then, let's see where to seat Hoshino Chiyuki..." The teacher looked around the classroom, scanning for an empty seat. She adjusted her glasses.
"Alright, you can sit next to Kaiba Seto."
"Huh? Kaiba? There's someone in this class with the same name as that Kaiba Corporation president?" Hoshino's first thought when she heard the name was, "It must be hard sharing the same name as that Kaiba."
Following the teacher's gesture, Hoshino turned her gaze in the direction she pointed.
"..."
"It's actually Kaiba Seto!" Hoshino couldn't hold back her shocked exclamation as she stared in disbelief at Kaiba sitting upright in his seat, arms crossed, maintaining an arrogant posture even during class.
"Yo~" Kaiba barely lifted two fingers in a greeting as he made eye contact with Hoshino.
"Haha, don't get too excited, Hoshino. Yes, Kaiba, the president of Kaiba Corporation, is quite famous," the teacher commented. While everyone reacted similarly the first time they saw Kaiba in class, it was the first time she had seen someone as shocked as Hoshino.
"No need to be nervous. Even though he's the president of Kaiba Corporation, here in school, Kaiba is just another student. You don't need to feel any pressure, just get along," she reassured, though this was more of a formality. Even the teachers felt immense pressure when interacting with Kaiba on campus.
However, the teacher's concern was unnecessary. For Hoshino, Kaiba might have had a stern face, but he wasn't any different from anyone else. Her earlier shock had only been because she didn't expect to share a class with him.
"I never would've guessed that the head of Kaiba Corporation would lower himself to attend a regular school like this," Hoshino teased lightly as she walked to her seat next to Kaiba and placed her bag on the desk.
"Hmph, and yet, the Duel King has also transferred to this school," Kaiba retorted with a smirk. "Looks like this semester won't be as boring as before."
"Alright, alright, everyone!" The teacher clapped her hands once Hoshino was seated. "Next up is the part everyone's been waiting for…"
"The term-opening exams!"
"Huh? Exams at the start of the term? I've never heard of this before!"
"It was mentioned in the holiday message the school sent."
"Holiday message? I didn't notice anything like that!"
The excited atmosphere in the classroom, stirred by the new transfer students, suddenly turned into groans of despair.
"Those complaining clearly spent the entire holiday goofing off without studying!" The teacher adjusted her reflective glasses, a satisfied grin spreading across her face.
"It's time to give you all the punishment you deserve! Anyone who fails will have to attend remedial classes for the whole week!"
"Remedial classes?! I'm doomed!" Jonouchi, slumping over his desk with his head in his hands, had already resigned himself to fail. "Having to stay behind for remedial classes in the first week, this is a nightmare!"
"Exams, huh… It's been a while," Hoshino thought to herself as she looked down at the exam paper in her hands, reminiscing.
The classroom was quiet the entire morning, the only sounds being the scratching of pens on paper and the sighs of those, led by Jonouchi, who were struggling.
Lunch break—
"Ugh, having exams on the first day of school… I forgot how tough school is," Hoshino stretched in her seat, her arm feeling sore from writing so much after such a long time.
"How'd you do, Kaiba?" Since they were seated together, Hoshino naturally asked Kaiba how he fared.
More importantly, the idea of the president of Kaiba Corporation being held back for remedial classes after school was just too amusing.
"These questions were so simple I could've answered them with my eyes closed," Kaiba replied confidently, his tone full of disdain for the exam.
"Hoshino, are you settling in okay?" With the lunch break underway, Yugi and the others naturally gathered around her.
"Well, it's only been half a day, so it's hard to say if I'm settled in or not," Hoshino answered honestly, scratching her head. "But yeah, school's exhausting, especially exams—such a terrible thing."
"Hoshino, I'm doomed!" Jonouchi, looking utterly defeated, lamented, "I won't be able to walk home with you guys for a whole week!"
"Heh, that's too bad, Jonouchi," Hoshino said, though there wasn't a hint of sympathy in her voice.
"Hoshino, come with me." Unexpectedly, Kaiba's voice interrupted their conversation, catching everyone off guard.
"Huh? You want to talk to me?" Hoshino, utterly confused, tilted her head, unable to figure out why Kaiba wanted to speak to her.
"The lunch break is long. Come to the courtyard." Without waiting for a response, Kaiba turned and walked out of the classroom.
"Kaiba has no manners," Honda remarked, annoyed that Kaiba had left without giving Hoshino any chance to refuse or even explain.
"Hoshino, are you going?" Anzu asked, looking a little worried.
"Yeah, I'll go. Who knows? It might be something important," Hoshino replied, though she doubted it would be anything significant. Still, her curiosity was piqued by Kaiba's sudden invitation.
As rumors tend to spread quickly and exaggerate, news of Kaiba's invitation took the school by storm before Hoshino even made her move.
Soon, the entire class—and even nearby classes—were buzzing with a sensational story: Kaiba Seto, the president of Kaiba Corporation, had invited the transfer student Hoshino Chiyuki to the courtyard during lunch to confess his feelings...What a terrible misunderstanding.
(*****)
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