If you were to ask what the most idle group is, high school students during lunch break would rank high.
Even though Hoshino hadn't even arrived at the school's courtyard yet, the students eager for gossip had already filled the area. The courtyard, the nearby corridors, and the windows facing the courtyard had all been claimed as the best viewing spots.
"Wow, it's so lively here!" Hoshino, who had never been to the school's courtyard before, looked up at the packed crowd around her, led by Yugi and the others. "Does everyone usually come here during lunch?"
"Hehe, actually, not really..." Yugi, who had a hunch about what was going on, quietly laughed it off.
Standing right in the middle of the courtyard was Kaiba's tall figure. Probably due to his imposing aura, despite the size of the courtyard, no one was standing near him. It was as if he had the whole courtyard to himself. Even students who usually ate lunch there had been pushed to the surrounding corridors.
"The main character has arrived!" someone in the crowd, quick to cause trouble, was the first to notice Hoshino.
"That's the transfer student who supposedly caught Seto Kaiba's eye? She's pretty cute," a guy with bleached hair leaning out the window commented to the blonde delinquent girl next to him.
"Hmph, what's so cute about that? She's nowhere near as cute as me," said the girl, disgruntled, turning her head away in frustration.
"KaibaCorp's president and the King of Duelists, huh..." Devlin, who was also at a window, was thinking about something completely different than the other students.
"Why do I get the feeling that a storm is about to brew?" Devlin murmured while biting his nails, his expression growing more serious.
"Kaiba! What's so urgent that you called me out here in the middle of lunch?" Hoshino, a bit annoyed with Kaiba's attitude, shouted. She had come all the way here, but Kaiba was just standing there like a statue, not saying a word.
"If I miss the chance to buy something from the snack shop later, you're buying me lunch." After all, as Yugi mentioned, the bread from the school's snack shop was a hot item. If you didn't rush, it would be sold out quickly.
Still, Kaiba remained silent, standing, as if waiting for something.
"Is Kaiba just messing with Hoshino?" Jonouchi, watching the unmoving Kaiba from not far behind Hoshino, had a head full of questions.
"I don't think Kaiba's the type to be that bored." Yugi shook his head, denying Jonouchi's theory. "Let's wait a bit longer."
"Hmm? What's that loud noise?" With so many students gathered in the courtyard, it was already very noisy. But a sudden sound from the sky drowned out the chatter of hundreds of students.
"What the heck? Why is there a helicopter flying over the school?!" someone screamed, drawing everyone's attention to the sky.
A blue-and-white painted helicopter hovered right above the center of the courtyard, flaunting a wealth beyond ordinary standards.
"No way, did they seriously remodel that thing to look like a Blue-Eyes White Dragon?" Hoshino exclaimed as she shielded her hair from the wind, looking up at the familiar-colored aircraft. "I didn't think you'd be such a Blue-Eyes fanboy on top of being a bro-con, Kaiba!"
"President Kaiba, the items are ready and can be dropped at any moment!" a loud voice from the helicopter belonging to a KaibaCorp employee echoed down.
"You kept me waiting long enough. Get on with it!" Kaiba's commanding voice rang out in response.
"Roger!"
Two silver cases were tossed down from the helicopter with no protection, crashing heavily into the ground beside Kaiba. The weight and force of their fall sent a cloud of dust swirling around the courtyard.
Without a word of explanation, Kaiba casually picked up one of the silver cases and threw it toward Hoshino.
"Catch!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Hoshino was caught off guard, stumbled back two steps, and barely managed to catch the case, keeping her balance.
"What is this? At least give me some kind of explanation, Kaiba!" Hoshino, puffing up her cheeks in anger, felt irritated by the whole series of events—especially by Kaiba's barely three-word communication the entire time.
"It's for you. Just open it and see," Kaiba said without looking up as he opened his case.
"For me? This thing?" Completely confused, Hoshino silently examined the silver case in her hands. It wasn't heavy—actually, it was quite light. From the outside, there was no telling what was inside.
"If you're just giving me something, was it really necessary to make such a big commotion?" With a resigned sigh, Hoshino bitterly smiled and opened the case after hearing Kaiba's reason.
"Huh? This is!!"
Hoshino pulled out a strange-looking white object from the case. It looked familiar, but there were some subtle differences from her memory.
"A Duel Disk?" Searching through her hazy memories, the word slipped out of her mouth.
"That's right. It's the latest model Duel Disk. Put it on!" Kaiba, who had already strapped the Duel Disk to his left arm, displayed it to Hoshino.
"Wait, you want me to wear it now?" Hoshino, sensing something was off, felt like she wouldn't be able to avoid what was coming next...
"Let's duel, Hoshino!" Kaiba's fierce gaze locked onto her.
"I knew it!" Hoshino sighed deeply, her bad premonition instantly coming true.
"Seriously, Kaiba? Do you have any common sense at all?! Calling me out here during lunch just to duel in front of the whole school?!" Hoshino shouted in frustration.
"Because I'm skipping class this afternoon, and time's tight!" Kaiba declared his intention to skip class without a hint of shame, completely missing the point of Hoshino's complaint.
"The condition for me giving you the latest model Duel Disk is that you help me test it. I want to see if this latest version can handle the power that even the Duel Arena couldn't withstand from you."
"Oh? So that's your real motive, huh?" Hoshino finally understood why Kaiba would give her such an expensive-looking piece of equipment. Turns out, she was being roped into helping with his testing.
"Well, the best way to teach someone like you, who's obsessed with duels, a lesson is through a duel!" Mimicking Kaiba's earlier move, Hoshino strapped the Duel Disk to her left arm as well.
"I have to admit, it's pretty cool. Whether in terms of design or practicality, it blows your old frisbee-like version out of the water."
The angular white Duel Disk fit perfectly on Hoshino's arm. Most importantly, even someone with Hoshino's weak physique found it light and easy to handle, showing that a lot of effort had gone into the craftsmanship.
Excitement surged within Hoshino as she slotted her Heroic Spirit Deck into the Duel Disk.
"I just remembered—this is my chance for a rematch!"
"Is Kaiba going to duel Hoshino? During lunch break? In front of so many people?" Finally understanding Kaiba's intention, Jonouchi instinctively looked around. "To cause such a commotion on her first day after transferring, as expected of Hoshino!"
"Jonouchi..." Anzu glanced at the oddly excited Jonouchi, not knowing what to say.
"Tch, I thought Seto Kaiba was going to confess, but it turns out it's just a duel. How boring!" Most of the girls who gathered to see the gossip started complaining in low voices.
"Even if it's not a confession, suddenly starting a duel is pretty interesting too." Contrary to the gossip-hungry girls, the boys became even more intrigued after Kaiba issued a duel challenge.
"The president of Kaiba Corporation versus the King of Duelists—you don't get to see a duel like this just anywhere!"
[Hoshino Chiyuki LP 4000]
[Seto Kaiba LP 4000]
"Duel start!!"
"I'll go first! My turn, draw!" Who knows how many times Kaiba secretly practiced snatching the first turn, but he seized the moment when Hoshino was unfamiliar with the Duel Disk and quickly drew a card from his deck with lightning speed.
"Damn, he got the first turn!" This was probably the first time Hoshino had her first-move advantage taken after understanding this world's duel mechanics.
"Kaiba, you take this seriously, even with card games!"
Kaiba quickly scanned the card he drew, then chose one to place face down on the Duel Disk.
With Kaiba's move, a face-down card appeared on the previously empty courtyard floor.
"I summon a monster in a face-down defense position!"
"Wow, the cards appear! How do they do that?" one of the students watching exclaimed, clearly seeing a portable Duel Disk for the first time and filled with curiosity.
"This new Duel Disk doesn't need to be thrown? That's so convenient," Jonouchi and the others, who had seen the old Duel Disks, also marveled at this latest high-tech version from Kaiba Corporation.
"Kaiba has expanded the possibilities of dueling! It's amazing!" Yugi was even a bit emotional at the sight before him.
"Next, I set a card, and end my turn!" Kaiba inserted a spell/trap card into the Duel Disk slot, signaling the end of his turn.
Kaiba's hand: 4 cards remaining. (In the anime, duels start with 6 cards, while in the TCG. Players begin with 5 cards.)
As the Duel Disk sensed the card being inserted, another card image appeared in front of Kaiba, representing the set spell or trap.
Standing across from Kaiba, Hoshino watched his series of moves, starting to get a better feel for how to use the new Duel Disk. "The finished version is different from the prototype. Kaiba, you're truly a genius!"
"Hmph." Kaiba slightly smirked, silently accepting Hoshino's compliment.
"But... my Duel Disk seems to be a size smaller than yours." After closely observing Kaiba's Duel Disk, Hoshino quickly noticed the difference. While the key areas for card placement were the same, the overall size was noticeably more compact.
"Since it's a gift, I had a special model made just for you." Kaiba's previously haughty tone immediately softened as his secret was discovered.
But he quickly recovered, "Someone as weak as you probably wouldn't even be able to lift a normal Duel Disk! I, Seto Kaiba, always ensure perfection, even when giving gifts!"
"Huh? I didn't expect you to be so considerate about something like this, Kaiba." Hoshino squinted and smiled teasingly at Kaiba.
Now she understood why her Duel Disk felt so light and convenient to use. It wasn't just the manufacturing process—it also involved considerable effort and expense to shrink down such a precision instrument.
"Well then, I'll gratefully use this Duel Disk to defeat you, Kaiba!" Hoshino suddenly fired back, mimicking Kaiba's movement and dramatically drawing a card from her Duel Disk.
"I activate the spell card [Voyage of the Flowers] from my hand!" Carefully selecting a spell card, Hoshino placed it into the Duel Disk slot.
The Duel Disk's advanced system detected the card's effect in an instant.
"Due to the effect of [Voyage of the Flowers], I special summon [Heroic Spirit - Artoria Pendragon (Lily)] from my deck!"
[Voyage of the Flowers – Spell Card
Effect: You can only activate one card with this name per turn. Special Summon one [Heroic Spirit - Artoria Pendragon (Lily)] from your hand or deck.]
A road symbolizing the journey of flowers appeared.
As the Duel Disk's holographic system activated, soft petals began to drift in the once plain courtyard. The petals quickly bloomed upon touching the ground, and soon, a pure and graceful girl appeared on the field.
[Heroic Spirit - Artoria Pendragon (Lily) ★★★★ (4-star)][Light][Dragon/Effect][ATK 1200/DEF 800]
"We meet again, Master~" Lily's warm smile seemed to heal all wounds.
Seeing Lily materialize before her, Hoshino was almost moved to tears. Unlike the summoned monsters in the Duel Arena, the Servants materialized by the Duel Disk felt almost indistinguishable from their real selves. Standing by Hoshino's side, Lily looked incredibly real.
"What's the matter, Master?" Lily tilted her head, concerned for Hoshino, once again displaying her angelic charm.
"It's nothing, I'm just... I'm just so happy." The thought of being able to interact with her beloved characters up close from now on made Hoshino's hand tremble slightly as she gripped her cards.
"Please lend me your strength, Lily!"
"Yes, Master!" At Hoshino's command, Lily raised her golden sword in front of her.
[Heroic Spirit - Artoria Pendragon (Lily) Effect: When this card is successfully Special Summoned, you can add one [Heroic Spirit] monster from your deck to your hand.]
"The monster I'm adding to my hand is…!" Hoshino quickly searched her deck, soon finding her most cherished target. "It's [Heroic Spirit – Siegfried]!"
"Last time, I lost to you because Siegfried was at the bottom of my deck. This time, I'm going to crush you, Kaiba!" Adding Siegfried to her hand, Hoshino silently rejoiced.
(*****)
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