This card wanted to come home with me?

Only when his phone alarm rang for the third time did Yūki reach out from under the covers and turn it off.

The screen still displayed the last message Jaden had sent him the night before.

[Ten tomorrow, at the entrance to Kaiba Land! Don't you dare be late!]

Three exclamation marks followed it. He could feel the guy's energy through the screen.

After washing up, Yūki stuffed his deck boxes into his backpack and checked them over.

HERO, Hand Destruction, card milling, burn, and the unfinished Thunder Dragon he had only put together yesterday.

Five deck strategies, all weighing heavily on his back.

"Which deck should I use for the entrance exam? Should I act a little more wholesome?"

Muttering to himself, he shut the door and headed downstairs.

The street corner where they had agreed to meet was easy to find.

Sporting his signature Jellyfish Hair and carrying a Booster Pack, Jaden was crouching by the roadside, playing with an orange cat.

The cat barely acknowledged him, but Jaden was having a lively conversation with it.

"So Duel Academy really is on an island!"

"Meow."

"You think that's awesome too, right?"

As Yūki approached, Jaden happened to look up. He immediately stood and waved.

"Yūki! Over here!"

"I see you."

Yūki glanced at the orange cat, which was rapidly fleeing. "You won't even leave cats alone?"

"It understands me!" Jaden looked utterly serious. "And it was definitely cheering me on just now."

"Sure. May every card you draw in the exam be Catgirl."

"What card is that?"

"...Forget I said anything."

The two headed toward Kaiba Land.

Jaden never stopped talking along the way. First he discussed which question on yesterday's written test had been the most ridiculous, then whether he would face any strong opponents in the practical exam. By the end, he was patting his Booster Pack, practically floating with excitement.

"Yūki, which dorm do you think I'll get assigned to? I think red looks pretty cool. Really gets your blood pumping!"

"Your hair color goes well with the Red Dormitory."

"Right!"

Jaden had barely enjoyed two seconds of happiness before Yūki added something else.

"And I hear it's perfect for students with average grades and exceptionally loud voices."

"Hey! I passed the written test!"

"What place did you get?"

Jaden's smile froze.

"Well... passing is what matters, right?"

Yūki didn't twist the knife any further, but his gaze drifted toward the park ahead.

Green shade covered half the sidewalk. Several children chased one another around a fountain, and a straight-backed boy stood beside a bench.

He had the unmistakable Black, Red, and Gold-Bordered Spiky Hair and wore simple casual clothes.

Yūki stopped short.

Starfish hair.

And a live specimen, at that.

Yugi Muto!

More precisely, Little Yugi, who hadn't switched into his Pharaoh State.

Yūki stared at that hairstyle, his mind already racing.

In the original story, Jaden had run into Yugi on the way to his exam and received a Kuriboh.

But the question was, would someone of Yugi Muto's stature really just happen to be taking a walk here?

Besides, the future Jaden had traveled through time and space with Yugi and fought a Big Boss by his side.

Was this meeting a coincidence, or had the King of Games foreseen something?

More importantly!

Would an Underworld Man like him, who had barged into the GX timeline midway, end up displacing the Kuriboh that should have gone to Jaden?

While Yūki pondered this, Jaden was still talking excitedly beside him.

"I was thinking yesterday, it'd be great if I could use Flame Wingman in the practical exam! He's been in really good form lately. Maybe he could..."

Bam!

Jaden crashed headfirst into someone who had just walked away from the fountain.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, sorry!"

Clutching his forehead, Jaden hurriedly backed up two steps. "I was so busy talking I wasn't watching where I was going! Are you okay?"

The boy he had hit steadied his backpack, looked at Jaden, then at Yūki, and gave them a gentle smile.

"It's all right. I wasn't paying attention either."

Only then did Jaden get a clear look at his face. He blinked.

Watching from the side, Yūki felt his mouth twitch.

Seriously, Jaden.

You talk about dueling every day, and you can't even recognize the legendary King of Games, Yugi Muto?

Yugi had kept such a low profile in recent years that he was practically a recluse, and his appearance differed from his teenage years when he had shared a body with the Pharaoh. That explained it a little.

But only a little.

In Domino City, that starfish hairstyle was as recognizable as someone walking down the street with a Blue-Eyes White Dragon on their head.

Besides, Little Yugi's mild-mannered appearance was not to be trusted.

This was a genuine Underworld Man.

On the surface, it was, "I activate a Spell Card."

Behind the scenes, he could have your Graveyard, hand, deck, and fate all neatly arranged.

Yugi looked at Jaden. "You're both in quite a hurry. Are you going somewhere?"

"Kaiba Land!"

Jaden immediately answered, "Duel Academy's practical exam is today. I only just managed to pass the written test, so I absolutely can't be late!"

"The Duel Academy exam, huh?"

Yugi nodded. "Then you'll certainly have to do your best."

Yūki stopped pretending to be a passerby.

The opportunity had landed right in his lap. If he missed it, every time he saw Lava Golem afterward, he would have to wonder whether it had burned his brains out.

He took a card from his backpack, fished out a pen, and stepped forward.

"Um, Mr. Yugi Muto."

Jaden was still nodding, but his whole body froze when he heard the name.

Yūki offered the card, putting just the right amount of excitement on his face.

"I'm a fan! Could I have your autograph?"

Yugi blinked, apparently not expecting to be recognized in a park.

He accepted the card and looked down at its face.

[Lava Golem].

The Lava Demon with three thousand attack points stood in the middle of a volcanic crater. Just looking at the artwork gave off the distinctly dubious air of "I won't hit you; I'll make you serve your own prison sentence."

Yugi studied the card for two seconds, then looked at Yūki.

There was nothing oppressive about his gaze, yet Yūki felt as though he had laid his deck list out on the other boy's desk.

Shit!

Had Little Yugi really seen through his entire deck?!

"That's quite a rare card."

"I got lucky and found it."

Yūki made it up on the spot.

"Found it?"

"Yeah. Maybe it wanted a new owner."

Yugi smiled.

"Then make sure you treasure it."

He took the pen and signed his name beneath Lava Golem's card frame.

Yugi Muto.

The handwriting was flowing, the strokes smooth.

Yūki took the card back and almost put three layers of sleeves on it right there.

This was no longer Lava Golem.

This was the Autographed Limited-Edition Lava Golem.

If anyone dared call it underhanded now, he would shove that autograph in their face.

Jaden finally caught on, his eyes widening.

"Wait! Yugi Muto?!"

He looked at Yugi, then at that starfish hair, his voice suddenly rising.

"The legendary King of Games, Yugi Muto?!"

Yūki remained expressionless.

"Yes. The legendary one."

"I actually crashed into Mr. Yugi Muto?!"

Jaden frantically rummaged through his Booster Pack. "Um, um, could I have an autograph too? Please! I've always really admired you!"

He pulled out an [Elemental HERO Flame Wingman] and offered it with both hands, so nervous he nearly dropped the card.

Yugi accepted the card, his smile growing as he looked at the red-and-green HERO in the artwork.

"Of course."

The pen tip glided over the card frame.

Jaden took Flame Wingman back, holding him more carefully than if he had just drawn Pot of Greed.

He solemnly tucked the card into the innermost part of his deck, then pressed down on the deck box.

"Now the exam will definitely be no problem!"

Yūki looked at him. "Does this count as bringing outside help into your deck before the exam?"

"It's called the blessing of the legendary King of Games!"

Yugi laughed at that.

He looked at the two of them, then down at his own deck, as though listening to something.

A few seconds later, Yugi drew two cards from it.

He held one out to Jaden.

The other, he held out to Yūki.

"If you don't mind, I'd like you to have these two cards."

Jaden waved his hands repeatedly. "I couldn't! I bumped into you, and I've already gotten an autograph. How could I take your card too?"

"It's all right."

Yugi extended the cards a little farther. "This is what my partners want."

Jaden froze for a moment.

Yugi looked down at the cards in his hands, his voice soft.

"They're the ones who want to go with you."

Yūki's hand stopped in midair.

They?

Cards with spirits!

The one originally meant for Jaden should be Winged Kuriboh.

But which one was Little Yugi offering him?

His face full of curiosity, Jaden accepted his card first and turned it faceup.

"Winged Kuriboh?"

In the artwork, the round little fellow had wide eyes and a furry body curled into a ball.

Jaden stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly smiled.

"So you're the one who wants to go to Duel Academy with me!"

Yūki had no time to comment on how Jaden had already started chatting with a card he had only just met.

He accepted the other card Yugi offered.

The instant his fingertips touched its surface, the wind passed through the park's leaves with a faint rustling sound.

Yūki turned the card over.

In the artwork, a silver-haired girl raised her staff, her cloak billowing beneath the starlight.

[Silent Magician].

Yūki stared at the card, not moving for a long while.

Wait.

You're a Silent Magician. Why would you want to come to my deck box, complete with Hand Destruction, card milling, burn, and Lava Golem?

The atmosphere in here wasn't remotely wholesome.