"You were angry, weren't you?" Ai clapped her hands. "Because you saw me as a partner, but I kept going on about gods and calling you a mortal~ Did it make you feel like there was some distance between us? It really can't be helped. You're such a sensitive, fragile child, so let this goddess comfort you with a hug~"
As she spoke, Ai spread her arms and tightly hugged Hara Shichi.
But since she was a spirit, she could not touch him.
"Don't worry, Ai will always be your best partner. But this is my first time becoming someone's partner, so... please be understanding of this goddess!"
"You never had any before? Friends, I mean?" Hara Shichi asked instinctively.
"No." Ai laughed at herself. "After all, I'm a goddess, aren't I? Whenever humans met me, they only wanted me to grant their wishes. I'm not some wishing machine."
"I see. Then I forgive you," Hara Shichi said.
"You really were angry just now? A-Qi, you're such a petty man." Ai giggled.
"What the hell is A-Qi?"
"Don't you call me Ai too? It's a nickname. Now we're even!"
And so, the entire morning slipped away in playful bickering with a certain goddess.
"Feels like I didn't learn anything," Hara Shichi said as he ate in the cafeteria.
"I... I think I learned a lot..." Yukikaze said with a slight tremble. Ever since sitting beside Hara Shichi, she had felt the countless gazes around them prick her like silver needles.
So scary... so scary. Why is everyone looking at us?
"Is that so? What class do we have this afternoon?" Hara Shichi asked.
"It's... duel training under a teacher's guidance..." Yukikaze stammered. "Um... Hara Shichi, could you accompany me during this afternoon's training class..."
"Accompany me..." Yukikaze abruptly stopped halfway through her sentence. Cold sweat beaded across her forehead. She had a feeling that if she said the rest aloud, she would be killed! Killed by the gazes around her!
"Hey, you've been talking strangely since earlier. Are you okay?" Hara Shichi asked with concern.
"Idiot, look at how many people are watching you two," Ai could not help reminding him. "You're a duelist capable of using Xyz Summon. Everything you do draws attention."
Hara Shichi instinctively turned his head. Sure enough, although the duelists at the other tables appeared to be quietly eating, pairs of green-glinting eyes stared straight at him. The first-year students dressed in black especially seemed to be scrutinizing him like he was an unrivaled beauty.
"Looks like everyone wants to experience Xyz Particles up close and master Xyz Summon." Ai seemed to enjoy the sensation, the corners of her lips rising wildly. "But so what? Duelists without talent cannot learn Xyz Summon even if they come into contact with Xyz Particles. Only this goddess can master every summoning method as she pleases!"
"Didn't you bring me into this world to help you because you wanted everyone to find happiness through dueling? Shouldn't you be fiercely criticizing this whole talent argument at a time like this?" Hara Shichi asked suspiciously.
"That's a separate matter!" Ai declared. "Gods sometimes like finding a little sense of superiority over mortals too."
"What a godly bad habit." Hara Shichi sighed, then stood up from his chair.
The crowd's gazes rose along with him.
"Hello, everyone. I'm first-year student Hara Shichi. Does anyone want to duel me?" Hara Shichi asked with a smile.
The air fell silent for an instant, but then thunderous noise erupted throughout the cafeteria.
"Me, me, me! Hara Shichi, please duel me!"
"Your dueling skills are terrible. Let me do it!"
"Yours are even worse! Get lost!"
"Hey, hey, hey, you can't make so much noise in the cafeteria."
"..."
At that moment, in a corner of the cafeteria, a girl in a crimson kimono sat in her chair and watched the scene with interest. Her flame-like long hair spilled behind her petite shoulders, while one slender, jade-like arm rested on the table and supported her delicate cheek.
"He's the Hara Shichi you mentioned, the one who used Xyz Summon?" the girl asked the purple-haired girl standing beside her.
"That's him!" Julie gritted her teeth. "If it hadn't been for that Xyz monster, I wouldn't have lost at all."
"Julie, don't make excuses for your failure." The girl shook her head. "Whatever the reason, a loss was a loss. No one listens to the cries of losers."
"But Xyz Summon..." Longing appeared in the girl's eyes. "I wonder whether Xyz will accept me, someone rejected by Polymerization and Synchro?"
Julie remained silent. She did not dare respond to that topic.
"I've decided." The girl smiled at Hara Shichi amid the crowd. "I want his Xyz card."
"Oh, right. That Xyz card might have some special summoning condition." As if recalling something, the girl added, "Then that can't be helped. Take his deck along with it."
"Then let me—" Before Julie could finish, the girl pressed an index finger against her lips.
"You've already become his defeated subordinate. Leave this matter to someone stronger." Without turning back, the girl called, "Nero Arisa, can I entrust this to you?"
Behind the girl, a little girl in a black uniform silently set down the bread in her hand and answered in a somewhat hoarse voice:
"Yes."
A Secret Date? A Secret Date!
Inside the Duelist Academy training room.
"I activate Tiramisu of the Tiara's effect and remove one Xyz Material..."
"Ahhhhh! I surrender!" Yukikaze raised both hands in despair. "Hara Shichi, you're way too strong! I can't win at all! How about... you duel me without using Xyz Summon?"
"But then you won't be able to experience Xyz Particles. Didn't you say you wanted to learn Xyz Summon?" Hara Shichi said helplessly.
"But... but I want to win at least once too!" Yukikaze complained. "We've been dueling all afternoon, and I haven't won a single match!"
"Yukikaze, if you don't want to duel, you can switch opponents with me." A first-year male student beside them waggled his eyebrows. "I guarantee you'll win to your heart's content!"
"What do you mean by that? Are you saying I'm bad?" The girl practicing with him narrowed her eyes.
"Ahem, this is merely a temporary measure. Think about it—if I learn Xyz Summon while practicing with Hara Shichi, wouldn't I be able to teach you... Wait, matters between duelists should be settled through dueling! Don't hit me! At least don't hit my face!"
"They seem close," Hara Shichi said, watching the two bicker beside them.
"He's Aoshi from our class. If I remember right, he uses a Red-Eyes deck."
"I know. He was one of the people who dueled me at lunch." Hara Shichi nodded. At noon, he had dueled over twenty duelists in a row in the cafeteria, not even taking a single bite of food in between.
"Really? Why don't I remember that?" Yukikaze asked curiously.
"I think he opened with three Red-Eyes Black Dragons, bricked his hand, and got OTK'd by me," Hara Shichi recalled.
"That's awful..." Yukikaze mourned for him.
"All right, training ends here for today. Students who haven't finished their duels, hurry up. I'm closing the doors soon." The teacher in charge clapped her hands.
"Hara Shichi, are you free tonight?" Yukikaze suddenly asked before leaving.
"Hm? I am. What's up?" Hara Shichi replied.
"Then... then let's meet under the Blue-Eyes White Dragon statue in the academy plaza at eight tonight!" After saying that, Yukikaze pattered away on her little legs.
"Hm? So what was it about?" Hara Shichi asked, utterly confused.
"I know. This woman definitely... has the hots for you!" Ai somehow produced a deerstalker hat and put it on her head. With a ceramic model pipe in her mouth, she pretended to deduce, "She's asking you out for a secret date late at night, then you'll do naughty things!"
"You... really are a goddess?" Hara Shichi asked disdainfully.
"What's with that look? You don't believe this goddess's deduction?" Ai pushed up her hat. "Fine, then let's make a bet."
"What do you want to bet on?" Hara Shichi asked cautiously.
"If she really asked you out for a secret date late at night, you have to bark like a dog three times." Ai grinned wickedly.
"What if it's something serious?" Hara Shichi countered.
"I'll meow like a cat three times!" Ai patted her flat chest. "This goddess never goes back on her word."
"It's a deal."
And so, when eight o'clock arrived that evening, Hara Shichi quietly left the dormitory and went to the plaza. Under the gentle moonlight, he found that a petite figure had already been waiting there.
"Am I late?" Hara Shichi asked Yukikaze.
"Wah!" Yukikaze jumped at the suddenly appearing Hara Shichi, but quickly calmed down. With a smile on her face, she said, "No, I just got here too early."
"So, why did you ask me to come out tonight?" Hara Shichi asked.
"A secret date! A secret date! A secret date!" Ai shouted from beside him.
"Huh?" Yukikaze parted her small lips slightly. "Didn't I tell you?"
"No?" Hara Shichi said.
Yukikaze immediately froze. After a long while, her little face flushed red as she said, "Sorry, sorry! I left too hurriedly... Do you remember what I told you last time?"
"Duel Spirits?" Hara Shichi asked.
"Yes, Duel Spirits!" Yukikaze explained as she walked. "Our school is located at the edge of Elcrain Great Forest. The back mountain is actually part of Elcrain Great Forest, only separated from the school by its walls."
"And there are actually many Duel Spirits inside Elkland Forest. When the school was built, quite a few Duel Spirits ended up enclosed within the back mountain by the school walls. From time to time, Duel Spirits also cross the walls and move into the school's back mountain."
"If that's the case... there are a lot of Duel Spirits in the back mountain. Isn't that dangerous?" Hara Shichi asked.
"Yes. That's why, after an incident several years ago where Duel Spirits caused trouble at the school, the back mountain became a forbidden area of the academy." Yukikaze nodded.
"But don't worry. I actually found a secret passage leading to the back mountain." Yukikaze grew a little more excited as she spoke. She held out her hand to Hara Shichi. "Would you like to come with me?"
"See? It's something serious," Hara Shichi quietly said to Ai beside him.
"Tch. A young man and woman going on an adventure in the back mountain late at night—if that's not a secret date, what is?" Ai protested.
"Who was it that said she never goes back on her word?" Hara Shichi shrugged.
"Waaah... Well, we'll talk about it when we get back. I'll fulfill my promise then," Ai said unwillingly.
"Y-you don't want to come with me?" Yukikaze saw Hara Shichi standing there without responding for a long time, muttering to himself instead, and asked awkwardly.
"What are you talking about? Of course I'm coming with you. It sounds like too much fun to miss." Hara Shichi smiled.
"Oh, okay, then hurry and follow me." Yukikaze led Hara Shichi behind the Blue-Eyes White Dragon statue. She looked around while shaking her head, and only after confirming that no one was nearby did she place her hand on the statue's pedestal and shout:
"O gate leading to the abyss, by the name of this snow spirit, I command thee to open before me the gates of sin!"
The stone slab on the statue immediately glowed, and the next second, a square opening appeared before Hara Shichi and Yukikaze.
"Quick, let's get inside while no one's around," Yukikaze urged.
"Okay, but Yukikaze, I have a question." Hara Shichi said.
"What?" Yukikaze blinked.
"That thing you just recited, was it an incantation or..."
"Ahem, ahem, ahem!" Yukikaze quickly coughed several times. "Hurry up and get in! Don't talk about that!"
With that, she immediately crouched down and crawled into the opening.
"According to this goddess's observations, as long as enough Duel Power is poured into this statue, the entrance appears." Ai covered her mouth and laughed beside him.
"So that line just now..."
"Was eighth-grader syndrome."
"It was eighth-grader syndrome."
"..."
Yet in a place Hara Shichi had not noticed, a pair of dark crimson eyes watched it all.
The Girl in Wooden Sandals
In the forest blanketed by night, a little girl slowly walked along a rugged path in wooden sandals, wearing them on her pair of soft, pale little feet.
The little girl had white hair tied into twin tails, and a pair of small red horns protruded from her smooth forehead, making her look like a monster from a story.
"This is that incredibly strong Duel Spirit I told you about!" Yukikaze whispered.
By now, they had passed through the tunnel and entered the back mountain. Under Yukikaze's guidance, Hara Shichi quickly met the so-called "powerful Duel Spirit" she had mentioned.
"Don't think she's weak just because she looks like a little girl. Based on my observations, most of the Duel Spirits in this forest probably wouldn't even last one move against her!"
"No, I wouldn't think she's weak." Hara Shichi looked at the familiar figure ahead of him.
White hair, twin tails, little red horns, wooden sandals, ghost rabbit... Wasn't that Ghost Ogre, one of the hand trap sisters?
She was absolutely UR-tier!
"So, how do we tame her?" Hara Shichi asked.
"Show her your strength as a duelist. Make her believe you're a powerful duelist and willingly follow you!" Yukikaze said.
Before you continue