Staring out the window over his shoulder, Ken caught sight of the massive island slowly coming into view below.
And once again, he couldn't help but mentally comment on Kaiba's absurd level of obsession.
The man bought an entire island and built city-tier infrastructure on it. All of that just to train up-and-coming professionals in a trading card game.
Just... wow. That was some next-level dedication.
Before he could get too deep into judging Kaiba Corp's budget allocations for the island, a hand thumped against his shoulder, then lazily slid off. He sighed, already having a good idea who it was.
Glancing to his left, he spotted Judai and Sho passed out cold, heads tilted at awkward angles, snoring away without a care in the world.
They had met up earlier during boarding and decided to sit together. Ken didn't mind the company, but he hadn't expected them to actually sleep through half of the ride. Not with how rocky the flight had been so far.
It took another hour before the plane finally touched down on solid ground. Seemed like the landing hadn't woken the two up, even after the landing gear had thudded against the runway.
Ken shook his head as he reached forward to jolt the two awake.
Then came another thirty minutes of painfully slow orientation. He even saw Judai sleeping while standing upright from all the talk by the principal, Samejima-shuyō.
By the time they were dismissed, the sun was already halfway to reaching sunset.
Receiving something called a Personal Dueling Assistant (PDA) device that was given to each student, Ken booted it on after instructions were given out by the staff members of the school.
It was basically a phone for school, in a sense, strictly made for Duel Academy, so there were only a few apps on the device.
The PDA booted up in his hand, the Duel Academy logo flickering on its screen before loading into the main interface with icons in a 3x2 format.
Academy Schedule, Duel Shop, Student Directory, News Board, Mail, and Student Profile.
Pressing the Student Profile app, it took the device less than a second to load up the application, showing his full information on screen.
[NAME: Yusou Ken (15)]
[RANK: 2/8 Stars (71/130)]
[POINTS: 0 DP]
[COLOR: Slifer Red]
[DECK: Silent Magician (+)]
2 out of 8 stars. He sighed at the ranking.
After gifting his old Duel Disk to Rei, he gave the supposed good news of his admission to Pegasus... He didn't expect his employer to spit out his tea in laughter.
As it turns out... Kaiba didn't like that a kid fought and won against his rival, so he deliberately bumped his rank down to 2 Stars, which was the average amongst students in the Slifer Red division.
To be fair, he was initially supposed to start out at 4 Stars, anyway. He didn't join any U-15 competitions and workshops, and since the majority of time was spent anonymously as his Red_Hat persona, his records as a Duelist were nonexistent.
Pegasus did assure him, though. Ranking up from Slifer Red to Obelisk Blue, the highest tier in Duel Academy, should be simple for a person of his caliber... The only problem was the multi-billionaire that was breathing down his neck.
On that topic... Well, Pegasus did say that he'll handle it, so Ken will just have to wait and see.
Walking together with Judia and Sho, who were staring at their PDA devices, Judai spoke out loud.
"So the dorms we'll be staying in are divided into three buildings; that's cool. Oh, it looks like my dorm is in Slifer Red!"
"Ah, I'm in Red too!"
Misawa walked past them dressed in a yellow jacket. Looking at his different uniform, Judai couldn't help but call him.
"Hey, Number 2! What dorm are you in? Your uniform is yellow, unlike ours!"
Stopping for the conversation, Misawa smiled as he patted his uniform.
"I'm in Ra Yellow. Students are sorted based on their uniform, after all. Though, it's a mystery to me why you're Red. You too, Yusou. From what you two displayed, I was sure that Ra Yellow would be the bare minimum."
He hummed in thought before waving it off.
"Well, don't worry too much about it. I'm sure there'll be a time when we'll have the same colors. See you all."
============================================
So this is the dorm that he'll be living in for the foreseeable future...
"W-What's up with this?"
Sho muttered as he dropped his bag in shock.
Very run-down was the first thought that came to mind. Sure, it looked like it was regularly maintained, but the paint of the building had faded in places, metal parts were slightly rusted, and the wood pillars that supported the building were creaking with the breeze.
He could see the other dorms from here. Ra Yellow looked like a proper shared prep school dorm, and Obelisk Blue looked more like a luxury hotel than student housing, with two buildings separating the two genders.
Walking up the stairs to the second floor of the old dorm, Sho ran his fingers on the metal railing, wincing as the railing shifted loosely under his touch.
"Does the Slifer Red dorm seem kind of run-down to you?"
But Judai was staring at the amazing view of the sea behind the dormitory with a grin.
"You think so? It has a great view and lots of character too!"
Ken looked at his PDA, scrolling through the Student Directory for information regarding his room.
"Room 2-C. Looks like we're bunking together."
Flipping his PDA to show the two the occupants of the room, Judai patted Sho's back.
"Alright! Come on then, bunkmates! Let's go!"
Their room was on the second floor, third from the left. Easy to access, easy to remember. It wasn't too close to the staircase either, so there'd be less foot traffic passing by. A quiet spot, all things considered. No complaints there.
The door itself was secured by a PDA-locked mechanism, a small scanner panel mounted beside the handle. It only recognized the registered devices of its dormmates, which were the three of them and the one other occupant they hadn't met yet. It should be secure enough unless someone got their hands on a stolen PDA. But surely, things wouldn't go that far.
"Here it is, here it is!"
Opening the door after the lock opened, Judai opened the door and stepped in, with Sho and Ken following in afterwards.
"It's smaller than I expected."
Judai commented aloud as Ken scanned the room. It was definitely on the small side for four people.
There were only two desks, each paired with a lamp and a chair, each facing the curtained window, which meant someone would have to do their work from bed or elsewhere.
Still, the layout wasn't too bad. Two bunk beds were positioned on opposite sides of the room, which at least helped open up the center space a bit. Built-in cabinets filled the remaining walls, providing just enough storage space for four people to live without tripping over their own belongings.
"But it has all the necessities, so I still kinda like it!"
Judai sure was an optimistic person, huh?
"So, how about you and I bunk together, aniki? Then Yusou..."
"Just call me Ken. I'll take this one."
He thumbed toward the bottom bunk on the left side. Bottom bunks were always better, in his opinion.
"Sure, Sho! But I'm taking the top bunk bed—"
Judai cheerfully strode over and yanked open the curtains, flooding the room with warm sunlight.
"Agh! It's too bright! Shut those curtains, please!"
All three of them jolted as a voice groaned from above. Judai quickly yanked the curtains back into place, with their eyes turning upward to the top bunk above the left double-decker frame.
"Sorry, I didn't know you were sleeping!"
The blanket on the bed shuffles before a person emerges from beneath it, looking down at the trio.
... A koala. He looked exactly like a koala!
"D-Des Koala!"
Sho and Judai blurted out in perfect unison. The boy's eyes twitched as he barked.
"Don't call me a koala! I'm Maeda Hayato! And I was here first, you know!"
Bashful, Judai laughed sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck, introducing himself.
"Oh, sorry. I'm Yuki Judai."
"I'm Marufuji Sho. Nice to meet you."
"Yusou Ken."
But instead of acknowledging them or continuing the conversation, Hayato turned away without a word and rudely yanked the blanket back over himself, clearly signaling the conversation was over.
"... Rude."
Ken muttered as Judai and Sho looked at each other in confusion.
"Do you guys even know what the Slifer Red color means?"
Hayato's voice echoed throughout the room.
"No, not really."
"Is there some meaning to it?"
Ken crossed his arms. Did the two not do any research about their school? This is common knowledge, you know?
"The red is for "red zone." It means you're constantly in danger. In Duel Academy, you're assigned to one of the three dorms, Obelisk Blue, Ra Yellow, and Slifer Red, based on your grades in both the theory and practical tests. Obelisk Blue is occupied by those with excellent grades since middle school. For Ra Yellow, when new students enter via entrance exam in high school, those with excellent grades are initially placed there."
So Obelisk Blue is basically for exceptional students with potential since they were 12? Hmm, how exceptional was exceptional?
He summoned a 4000 ATK fusion monster and OTKed the finalist back then, and personally speaking, that was really simple to achieve, so he was wondering how good those in Obelisk Blue were.
"Then what's Slifer Red?"
Hayato sighed at Sho's question.
"It's where they put those with awful grades, who are expected to drop out."
... And that's weird, since Slifer the Sky Dragon was by far the best OG Egyptian God card. And he specified OG, because of the Winged Dragon of Ra — Sphere Mode monster that plagued the bottom ranks of Master Duel.
"Get it? If you're sent here, it means you have no future."
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Deciding to explore more of the school grounds after hearing the depressing talk from Hayato, Ken silently followed Sho and Judai, who were leading the way since he had nothing better to do.
"Man, are you still depressed?"
"But you heard what he said..."
Sho trudged forward with slumped shoulders, only for his back to be slapped by Judai.
"I love red, though! Burning flames, hot blood... I think it's perfect for a passionate guy like me! Besides, classes haven't even started. It all starts from here on out!"
"T-That's true."
Ken tilted his head toward the main campus building. He could hear the sounds of a Duel, with the echoes of monsters clashing and the loud "boom" resonating in the air.
That's interesting. He wondered how a Duel would play out in such a prestigious school meant for Dueling. As Sho was standing still with determination filling his spirit, Judai seemed to also hear the Duel that was going on as he started running towards the main building with an excited look on his face.
"People are having a Duel somewhere! I've gotta see it!"
It took them half an hour to navigate through the main campus before they finally reached the inner block of the school grounds. Most of the doors they passed were firmly locked, except for a massive, open gateway that led into a stadium-like Dueling arena.
"Woah, this is cool!"
"It's a Duel Field with all the latest equipment! Their sound equipment and immersion systems are all cutting-edge, not to mention the technology to feel the damage inflicted by a monster's attack even though you physically don't take damage!"
Ken whistled at the explanation by Sho; this does sound nice.
"I can't take it anymore! Sho, Ken, let's Duel! Right now!"
Judai suddenly shouted, bouncing on his heels.
"Eh, are you sure we can?"
"Of course! We're students of this school, remember? And equipment should be used instead of just sitting around collecting dust! Ken, I'm Dueling you first!"
Judai pointed at Ken, brandishing his red Academia Disk. Ken himself gave a smirk as he pulled the sleeves of his jacket to display his own Academia Disk.
The two of them were about to get on the opposite sides of the arena when a voice echoed sharply from across the arena.
"We can't let you do that, actually."
Two students dressed in Obelisk Blue colors emerged out from behind the arena platform.
"This is no place for drop-out boys from Slifer Red! Look up there; can't you see our Obelisk crest? This Duel Field can only be used by Obelisk Blues, so scram."
The larger Obelisk Blue student sneered as he waved the three of them off. Sho quickly apologized.
"S-Sorry, we didn't know. Let's go back to the dorm, guys."
Ken, however, was staring at the large, buzz-cut guy. He felt like he'd seen him before...
Said person locked eyes with him before the guy actually hissed.
"You! Yusou Ken, right? You bastard, dare show your face in front of me?!"
Ken blinked, slightly taken aback at the sudden explosion of rage, and pointed at himself in confusion.
"Me?"
The larger Obelisk Blue student took a step forward, his face twisting uglily.
"Don't play dumb; you know damn well who I am! I'm Mototani Raizou! You humiliated me back in the Annual Domino City U-15 Tournament! I've been waiting for a chance to pay you back! Torimaki, let me go!"
The person next to him had to pull the agitated person back as Judai whispered in his ear.
"Do you know this guy?"
Ken pondered for a second before snapping his fingers. The guy that called him a girl!
"Oh, you're the first guy that lost to my Fairy Tail — Luna and Snow."
That was so long ago that he forgot about his ancient deck that relied heavily on the two monsters. Ah, good times. Speaking of which, he should really upgrade that deck to add the new Fairy Tail support cards—
"Hey, don't ignore me, you bastard!"
Right, back to the topic in hand.
The Raizou fellow growled and brandished his blue-variant Academia Disk.
"I've leveled up my gameplay for years, trying to get revenge, but you didn't show up after that tournament! Get up on the arena now; I'll put you down like the bitch you are!"
Oh, trash talk. And the guy called him a girl again. Too bad he's a grown person now; he's immune to such berates...
"… Bring it."
Well, he was immune to it, but that doesn't mean that he was going to let that slide, though.
"What's going on?"
From the stands, a person revealed himself with a question.
"Manjome-san, it's the bastard that I've been talking about! He's here!"
Ken and Manjome locked eyes with each other as Raizou stepped forward again.
"Are you just going to stand there? Hurry up and get onto the arena—"
"Be quiet, Mototani. Calm down."
Manjome stopped Raizou as he started walking down the stairs.
"This Yusou beat an instructor rather well with most of his Life Points remaining; at your level, you'll never beat him."
"... Tsk!"
Clicking his tongue, Raizou stepped back with gritted teeth, glaring at Ken, who simply ignored the lesser man of the conversation.
"Who is this guy, anyway?"
"This is Manjome-san; he's a fellow first-year, but he's the number 1 of the super elite, a dedicated player who's been in the program since middle school. So you better show respect!"
As Torimaki hyped Manjome up, the person in question glanced over to Judai, who met his eyes without any fear.
"And you are Number 110, the one who beat Instructor Cronos, right? Even though your victory may have been due to carelessness and luck."
"Hah, that was all skill, you know?"
Manjome snorted as he crossed his arms, a smug expression on his face.
"I'd like to have a look at that skill. Both of yours."
"Sounds good. You ready, Ken?"
Judai, with an excited grin, looked over at him, who simply raised his left arm where his Academia Disk was.
"Let's do this."
The soft clicks of high heels against the tiled floor echoed as heads turned toward the source.
"What are you guys doing?"
Crossing her arms, the blond girl in Obelisk Blue colors asked with narrowed eyes. Sho couldn't help but admire her beauty aloud as Manjome gave her a smirk.
"Tenjoin-kun... Well, these newbies seem rather naive about how the world works; I was thinking I'd teach them some of this school's harsh realities."
But instead of replying, Tenjoin simply looked at the three Slifer Red students.
"It's almost time for the dorm welcoming parties to begin, so you three better get a move on."
Seeing her ignore him, Manjome clicked his tongue at the disrespect before gesturing to his minions with his hand.
"Oi, let's go."
They reluctantly left, but not before Raizou gave Ken a heated glare. Ken returned the glare with an expressionless wave of his hand. Once they were gone, Tenjoin sighed at their behaviors.
"You three, I'd recommend trying not to get riled up by Manjome's provocations. They're... a bunch of good-for-nothings who bought their way into this Academy, after all."
She seemed to have some history with Manjome from how she glared at the spot he was at.
"Going out of your way to tell me that... Did you fall for me at first—"
"Aniki, that's very unlikely, you know?!"
That seemed to cheer her spirits up as she chuckled at his remarks.
"Are you sure you three have time to spare? Your dorms are quite far away."
"That's right! Let's go back to the dorm!"
"W-Wait up, aniki!"
Before disappearing into the corner, though, Judai stopped as he asked for her name.
"Oh, yeah! What's your name?"
Surprised by the question, Tenjoin gave her name with a smile.
"Tenjoin, Asuka."
"I'm Yuki Judai! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"You think you're so smooth."
Sho retorted with a disappointed tone as Ken gave her a nod before they turned around the corner, disappearing from her sight. Asuka stared at the spot where the trio had vanished before giving a laugh.
"Yuki Judai, huh? How interesting."
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Sorry for the wait.
NEXT UPDATE: Take a Deep Breath, Deep Breath, The Butler Who Can Bend Fire (28 Jan, Wednesday)
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