After achieving a perfect score in the practical exam, Youmi was placed in...
Slifer Red.
Strictly speaking, based on his performance, he should have been assigned to Ra Yellow and later promoted to Obelisk Blue; despite that, due to some dormitory allocation issues this year, Youmi was temporarily assigned to Slifer Red.
His uniform was also changed to red at his own request—students of strong caliber were allowed certain privileges at this academy, after all.
Although Bastion suggested that Youmi share a room with him, since Slifer Red still had an empty room available, Youmi simply moved in.
It's worth noting, however, that Youmi's actual dorm assignment was Ra Yellow, and he was allowed to eat in Ra Yellow's cafeteria. Once the dorm expansion was complete, he would move into Ra Yellow properly.
As for Jaden...
Even a perfect score in the practical exam wasn't enough to offset his written-test ranking of 110th—he was a highly imbalanced student. Thus, together with Syrus, he was placed in Slifer Red.
"Oh~ My dorm is Slifer Red!"
Looking at his dorm placement, Jaden still didn't realize he had been assigned to the lowest dorm. He was simply excited about starting school.
"Yeah… I'm Slifer Red too… though I hope I can move up later?"
Knowing he'd been placed in Slifer Red made Syrus a little downcast, though he still held onto some hope.
"Move up?"
Jaden asked out of habit, but before Syrus could answer, Youmi—wearing the red uniform like a cape over a sleeveless black shirt—arrived together with Bastion in his yellow uniform.
"Yo, Youmi and… Sanze… Deku! You two are Slifer Red too?"
Bastion pressed his fingers to his forehead helplessly. No matter how he calculated it scientifically, he could not fathom why everyone kept getting his name wrong. It wasn't as though he gave off some kind of memory-warping electromagnetic field, right?
"It's Bastion Misawa… What is with today? Almost everyone I've met has called me by the wrong name. And…"
He pointed at his uniform. "You can tell from the clothing, right? I'm Ra Yellow. As for Youmi, his circumstances are a little different."
Being brought into the conversation, Youmi tugged at his red coat. "I'll be staying in Slifer Red for quite a while this semester since Ra Yellow has no space left. The teachers actually wanted me to wear the yellow uniform, but I figured I'd go with the local style. And red looks better anyway. More importantly…"
Bastion asked the question on his mind. "Why would an excellent student like you, Jaden, end up in Slifer Red…? It's unthinkable…"
Even an idiot could hear the disdain toward Slifer Red in his tone, which made Jaden—now realizing he was in the lowest dorm—feel annoyed.
Direct as always, Jaden shot him a look. "Hey, what's with that tone? What's so bad about Slifer Red?"
Bastion simply smiled and pointed to the side. "You'll understand soon enough~ Ah, by the way, Slifer's in that direction."
The three arrived at the Slifer Red dorm. Jaden admired the seaside view, Syrus lamented how it was compared to Obelisk Blue—his brother's dorm—and Youmi entered the empty room assigned to him and began organizing his Deck.
As a Duelist entering a new school, he didn't research the faculty or facilities first; he examined his Deck. Just like how, when he first started college in his previous life, the very first place he had visited was the local card shop.
After pulling out a few cards and swapping in different components, Youmi slotted the updated Deck into his academy-standard Duel Disk. Satisfied, he stepped out of his room with his Deck and Duel Disk—only to see Jaden and Syrus emerging as well, with Syrus looking despondent.
"What's wrong? Why so down?"
He could guess they'd probably just spoken to their roommate, Chumley, but GX was something he had watched many years ago; he didn't recall the details of that conversation.
Jaden glanced at Syrus. "Ah, probably because he found out Slifer Red is the lowest dorm. Anyway, you looked like you already knew that when Chumley mentioned it, Syrus… why?"
"Well… my big brother is a Duel Academy student, an Obelisk Blue, so I knew some things beforehand. But knowing your dorm is the kind with no future for upgrades… it's still kinda depressing, haha…"
Syrus rubbed his hands awkwardly.
"If it's Jaden-nii, you'll probably get into Ra Yellow soon… you did beat Professor Crowler. And Youmi-nii, you were Ra Yellow to begin with, so maybe you'll get moved to Obelisk Blue before the expansion finishes… But me? As for my own ability…"
Youmi stepped forward and patted Syrus's shoulder. "Don't get discouraged. We haven't even taken a single class or exam yet, right? As long as you work hard, you can definitely move up later. Having zero expectations of yourself right from the start is a terrible idea~"
Jaden also patted Syrus's shoulder. "Yeah, Syrus. Our new school life is just getting started! We haven't even toured the academy yet. Let's go out for a walk! Clear our heads. Youmi, want to come?"
Since both of them made good points, Syrus didn't overthink it. He nodded. "Y-yeah…"
Soon after, while wandering around outside the dorms, Jaden caught the scent of a Duel and immediately dashed toward the academy.
Keeping pace behind him with the stamina of a small dragon-human—thanks to the power of [Fallen of Albaz]—Youmi followed without even getting winded. "Hey, Jaden, running around randomly isn't a good idea, y'know? But wow… this place really is advanced…"
Syrus, however, did not have that stamina and was struggling behind them, panting hard. "W-wait for me, Jaden-nii! Youmi-nii!"
The three arrived at a large hall—the academy's Duel Arena—where several Obelisk Blue students were gathered, chatting.
"Oh? Why are you in Slifer Red, Examinee No.2, Youmi?"
Noticing them enter, Chazz stood up from his seat and approached. "Your written score was slightly below that of Sanze or whatever, but I'd still say your results were worthy of sharing first place. For someone like you to end up in Slifer Red, shouldn't you ask the teachers whether there was a mistake?"
Youmi wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but Chazz seemed noticeably less hostile than his original-series counterpart.
After politely giving Youmi a suggestion, Chazz turned toward Jaden. "And you, Jaden Yuki… To think you defeated Professor Crowler yet didn't even make it into Ra Yellow. Your written score must have been terrible. Was your victory just luck?"
Jaden couldn't deny that luck was a factor… anyhow, his attention was focused elsewhere. "Eh? You know me? And you are…?"
A nameless Obelisk Blue stepped forward to flatter Chazz. "This is the undisputed Number One of Obelisk Blue—Master Chazz Princeton! He's even received personal guidance from KaibaCorp's Seto Kaiba himself, and is expected to become the next Duel King! To come to Duel Academy and not recognize Master Chazz—you truly are ignorant!"
"Seto Kaiba's guidance, huh…"
Youmi recalled that in early drafts of GX, Chazz was meant to be Kaiba's disciple. It seemed that in this world, the setting was modified slightly—more 'guidance' than a formal apprenticeship, but still a notable background change.
"Ohh, so you're that amazing? Nice to meet you, Chazz! Anyway, if we're talking about who's really Number One—" Jaden extended a hand for a handshake while pointing at himself with the other, smiling brightly. "—that would be me~ And if we're talking future Duel King, that's also gonna be me."
Chazz's extended hand froze in midair. His expression shifted from neutral to amused. "To think you'd be that arrogant right out of the gate. Beating a Professor who wasn't even going all out must have filled you with confidence. Then allow me to teach you what a difference in skill really looks like."
Chazz pulled out his Duel Disk, clearly intending to Duel.
"Hold it right there, what do you think you're doing?"
...
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