Early the next morning, as Yusaku stepped into the dojo, he saw a crowd of students bunched together, all talking at once.
"Unbelievable! Yesterday it was Asahi Dojo, and today it's Lion King Dojo. Do they really think Takeuchi Dojo is easy to bully?"
"If Ushio-senpai hadn't been away yesterday, Takeuchi Dojo wouldn't have been pushed around like that! He's back today, so we'll show them what we can do!"
"Should we call Yusaku-kōhai too? I didn't pay much attention before, but he's actually insane!"
"He's probably already over there. Ushio-senpai's started dueling Genichiro from the other side. Let's move and cheer him on!"
Hearing his own name, Yusaku arched a brow and followed, curious.
When he reached the plaza, he saw students from both dojos, split into two groups like yesterday.
In the center, ringed by onlookers, two yellow-uniformed duelists with very "pro-duelist" hair were in the middle of a match—one with starfish hair, the other with a hedgehog spike.
On Yusaku's side stood Ushio with the starfish hair, piloting the Amazoness deck from the DM era.
Across from him, Genichiro of Lion King Dojo was running Red-Eyes.
"You made it, Yusaku-kōhai."
A skinny, glasses-wearing student noticed him and spoke up.
"Mm." Yusaku nodded, looking toward the center. "What's this about?"
"They're testing our strength—and gathering deck intel."
"Testing strength? Gathering intel?" Yusaku blinked.
The glasses student pushed his frames up in a "tactical" motion and kept his eyes on the duel.
"You just joined, so it's normal you didn't know. Our Satellite Sector gets card resources from the Upper City, and that always brings allocation disputes.
"To deal with it, they run a Dojo Ranking Battle. It's in three days. Lion King Dojo is here to gauge our strength and scout our lists so they can counter-build later."
"I see." Yusaku nodded. "So where does our dojo usually rank?"
"Uh…"
The glasses student looked awkward.
"There are four dojos. We've been last for a while, but…"
He switched tone mid-sentence. "This time we won't be at the bottom. We're not the same dojo anymore—with Ushio-senpai here, we—"
The crowd suddenly erupted.
Yusaku turned just in time to see Ushio flat on his back, LP at zero.
Glasses Student: "…"
"Haven't seen you in a while, Ushio. I thought you'd improved." Genichiro shook his head, bored. "Guess you're still weak."
"Well, whatever. This is about your dojo's level anyway. Looks like you'll be bottom rank again this year."
He scratched his ear and looked into the crowd.
"Anyone else from your dojo want a turn? If not, we're leaving."
"I'll go!"
A broad-shouldered, square-jawed student strode up.
"AAAHHH—!"
He went down fast.
"Next?"
Another student took the stage, and was finished in under ten minutes.
"Sigh…" Genichiro exhaled. "No one? If you're sending someone, send someone strong. Stop feeding me small fry."
He swept his gaze over Takeuchi Dojo. Everyone ducked their eyes. It's not that they didn't want to step up, but they'd already lost three in a row—another loss would just humiliate the dojo.
"Damn it… Is there seriously no one who can beat him?"
"Seems no one dares. Figures—your dojo only has this much to show."
Genichiro turned to leave.
"I'll go."
The voice cut through the murmur.
Takeuchi Dojo's students froze, then quickly rallied. Someone clenched a fist. "Right, there's Yusaku-kōhai! If it's him, we might actually win!"
Yusaku unfolded his Duel Disk and walked to the platform. The crowd parted to make way.
"Hm?" Genichiro raised a brow at the approaching newcomer. "A fresh face. You must be a new trainee, right? Didn't I say it? Small fry should stay off the stage."
"Whether I'm small fry or not, you only find out after we duel."
Yusaku kept walking. "And since the duel hasn't started, how do you know you're not the small fry, senpai?"
"Big mouth." Genichiro crossed his arms with a smirk. "If you want to witness your own failure so badly, I'll oblige."
"Crush him, senpai! Show them what our dojo can do!"
"So full of yourself for a mere trainee. Guess Takeuchi Dojo really is out of options!"
…
"Go get 'em, Yusaku-kōhai!"
"Relax."
Yusaku gave a quick wave with his right hand, stepped onto the platform, and faced Genichiro. "Let's go, senpai."
"I'll give you this: guts. A trainee daring to challenge me." Genichiro slid his deck into the Duel Disk. "Come. Let's see what you've got."
"Duel!" "Duel!"
[Yusaku, LP: 8000]
[Genichiro, LP: 8000]
"Heads for Genichiro to start, tails for the other."
A coin arced up and landed with a crisp ting. Turn order revealed.
Yusaku glanced at the coin. "It's tails. I'll take first."
With turn order set, both disks fanned out as they drew their opening five.
Genichiro crossed his arms and smiled. "After you, kōhai. I want to see what deck you think warrants that confidence."
Yusaku smiled faintly. "I won't disappoint, senpai. My turn—Draw Phase, Main Phase!"
He scanned his five. Not quite "god hand," but very workable.
And that one tech he'd slotted in before walking up? Opening hand.
"First, this."
He slotted a Spell.
"Spell Card—Lullaby of Obedience!"
"I pay 2000 LP and declare a monster name. You reveal your Deck, and if the monster I named is there, I choose to either add it to my hand, or Special Summon it to my field in Attack Position, ignoring its Summoning conditions."
"The monster I declare is—Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
[Yusaku, LP: 8000 → 6000]
Genichiro: "???"
Onlookers: "???"
"I'm guessing your Deck definitely runs it. It's your ace. So—you can let me add it to my hand, or let me Special Summon your ace to my field in Attack Position, ignoring its Summoning conditions."
Genichiro: "…"
He almost spat blood.
My ace… Special Summoned… to your field?
Do you hear yourself?
Behind Yusaku, his dojo-mates stood there slack-jawed. They all knew what Genichiro was playing.
They just didn't expect Yusaku to open by yoinking the man's ace.
(End of Chapter)
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