When Hikaru Amagi returned to the academy, he was greeted by a crowd holding banners in his honor.
At first glance, Hikaru thought he'd somehow been transported to another dimension again.
Once he landed, he learned the truth: the school had orchestrated a full-scale welcome for him, personally arranged by none other than the Chancellor himself.
...Of course.
That man always did act on impulse.
Fortunately, the students were mostly just along for the spectacle. After a bit of cheering and messing around, they quickly scattered to get back to their own activities. Of course, not without a few complaints—some had wasted time they meant to spend on dates, others had planned to study or hit the library.
"Hikaru!" Professor Crowler was walking beside him toward the Fusion Dorm. He kept dabbing at the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief, teary-eyed and visibly emotional. "If Sartyr were watching from the heavens, he'd be so proud of you...!"
"Uh... r-right."
Hikaru wanted to tell him that Sartyr hadn't really died, just reincarnated, but held his tongue. It wasn't like Crowler would immediately understand concepts like "spirit realm" and "rebirth through dueling."
After sharing a few personal thoughts, Crowler began asking questions about the trip—how the cooperation with the Windlight company went, what Hikaru had experienced there.
To be honest, Crowler had wanted to accompany him. But with Syrus Truesdale's current situation on the pro circuit, Crowler had been too busy managing things back at the academy to travel.
"I mean, technically this is the faraway land for me, Professor..." Hikaru interrupted the professor's rambling with a dry look.
"No, Hikaru," Crowler said, uncharacteristically serious. He wiped away the last of his tears and stared him in the eye. "This is your home. Duel Academy is your home. You're welcome here always. You can live here, return here—this will always be your home."
"Don't lie to me, Hikaru," he added in a tone full of sincerity.
Ever since Hikaru had turned over those valuable gem cards and asked Crowler to be his guardian for contractual purposes, Crowler had run a thorough background check.
It came up blank. No parents. No history.
Hikaru was a self-made student—accepted into Duel Academy through sheer skill.
He had no home.
So Duel Academy would be it.
"...Professor." Hikaru took a deep breath, finally understanding the depth of it. "You're the best teacher I've ever had."
Crowler grinned widely, his pride palpable. "But of course."
When they reached the Fusion Dorm, Hikaru noticed the place was festively decorated—streamers, banners, and party colors. Some were from the earlier company open house, but there were new additions too, including a massive banner: "WELCOME BACK, OUR VICTORIOUS CAPTAIN!"
Oddly enough, though, no one was outside to greet them.
"Mamma mia, what's going on?" Crowler looked around, surprised.
Shouldn't the return of the Fusion Dorm's head warrant a full reception?
As they stepped inside, the reason quickly became obvious.
"Why'd he use Card Destruction at that point? Didn't he already have enough monsters to hit 4000 damage without it?"
"He probably had more plays in mind. We should ask Hikaru later—he'd know best."
"Whoa, field nuke! Hikaru's Ultimate Ancient Gear just got flattened!!"
"Shame. If he'd had a second Ancient Gear Golem in the graveyard, he would've won right there!"
Lively chatter and play-by-play commentary rang out—
"Overload Fusion! Haha, of course—when in doubt, bring out the Cyber Dragons!"
"Whoa, he actually won! He won!!"
"Hikaru beat a legendary duelist! Amazing!"
Crowler cleared his throat loudly. "AHEM."
At first, the students waved him off, not realizing. But as they turned to see him and Hikaru at the doorway, someone shouted, "He's back—Hikaru's back! And Professor Crowler too!"
"The captain's back?! Wait, weren't we supposed to have people out welcoming him?"
"Uh... we kinda got caught up watching the replay..."
The student scratched the back of his head, clearly embarrassed.
Real.
"Hikaru! You were incredible! I can't believe you beat an actual legendary duelist!" Jaden Yuki shouted, practically bouncing with excitement.
"It was just luck," Hikaru shrugged. "If we had a rematch, I don't know if I'd win again. Dino Ryuzaki was strong."
"Well done, Hikaru," Syrus's older brother Zane Truesdale added with a nod. "With that win, you've opened new paths for the rest of the students. Your duel was inspiring."
Zane had returned to the academy after finishing his match on the pro circuit. After hearing about Hikaru's duel, he watched the recording with the rest of the Fusion Dorm. Seeing someone face off against a legendary duelist like that—it made his blood run hot.
And the final attack was with Cyber Dragon support. Zane couldn't help but feel a strange sense of pride, even though he hadn't participated.
"That a replay?" Hikaru asked, peering at the screen.
"Yeah. Footage of your duel with Rex Raptor. Looks like someone recorded the whole thing. It's been getting traction online," Chazz Princeton muttered. "I found the clip trending and figured I'd show the dorm."
Judging from the angles, Hikaru suspected it wasn't just some passerby with a phone. Probably promo footage from Windlight—trying to cash in on the hype.
He nodded, then answered one of the questions someone had raised earlier. "Rex had Tyranno Infinity in hand. That card gains 1000 ATK for every banished Dinosaur monster."
"In other words, he was banishing monsters not just for cost, but to fuel Infinity," he added. "If I hadn't finished him off that turn, he would've summoned a 4000 ATK monster next turn. I'd have been done for."
"I see... so he held back the summon and used the board wipe trap instead," Zane mused. "Classic dueling instincts. No wonder they call him a legendary duelist."
"He's so cool... I want to duel him someday too!" Jaden shouted.
"If you really want to, you might get your chance," Hikaru chuckled. "He said he might visit during the holidays. Or maybe even tomorrow, since the KaibaCorp event's still going."
"Ooooohhh!"
The group watched the replay one more time, growing more fired up with each pass.
As evening fell, Hikaru checked the time. "Hey, Jaden—have you decided where your next dimensional trip's going to be?"
If Hikaru had to pick a partner for cross-dimensional travel, he wanted the strongest, most reliable ally possible.
"Oh, you mean the place you mentioned—the 'Mountain' dimension, right?" Jaden folded his arms, thinking. "Uhh... well, actually, Fubuki-senpai wanted me to ask you something."
"Fubuki-senpai? You mean Atticus?"
He looked around. The Tenjoin siblings weren't here.
Hikaru never would've guessed that the usually goofy, guitar-strumming, prankster of an upperclassman would ever volunteer for a dimensional trip.
Still... maybe it wasn't so bad.
After all, he was upperclass, and more importantly, one of the known hosts of Darkness. His spirit level would be no problem at all.