Even Dr. Crowler, who rarely missed a chance to take a jab at Jaden, clapped without a single sarcastic remark after the duel.
A brilliant duel always stirred something in a true Duelist's heart—though, of course, the more pressing reason was that Chancellor Sheppard had already rushed over to congratulate Hikaru and encouraged him to keep up the good work.
"That was a splendid duel. I watched every second of it," the chancellor beamed, clapping his hands. "Jaden, Hikaru, the passion you both poured into that duel… Even I felt the fire!"
"Ah, that reminds me…" Jaden rubbed the back of his head and looked toward the stands, spotting Zane "Kaiser" Truesdale and waving. "Sorry, Kaiser!"
He had only gotten the chance to stand on that stage because Zane had personally recommended him for the Representative Duel.
"Heh…" Zane chuckled.
"You're smiling, Zane?" Alexis raised a brow. "But Jaden lost…"
Normally, the Academy's top student—Kaiser Zane—would've been the one to represent Duel Academy. But the North Academy had put forth a freshman. As a show of fairness, Chancellor Sheppard had asked Zane to recommend someone instead.
That someone had been Jaden, who he had once dueled and recognized for his immense potential. But now that Jaden had lost… surely that would reflect badly on him.
"It doesn't matter," Zane said, smiling faintly. "To think someone else could appear with talent to match, or perhaps even surpass, Jaden… How can I not be excited?"
"Geez…" Alexis sighed, watching yet another Duelist get possessed by the thrill.
Why are all the guys around me like this?
"Hikaru-kun," the chancellor turned to him, still beaming, "do you think you're ready to face your next opponent?"
If Hikaru didn't already know the truth, he might have believed the chancellor was simply acting out of concern for the school.
"Um, well… That depends on who I'm up against," Hikaru replied calmly. "I can only say I'll do my best. A duel changes with every draw—you never know the outcome until the last card is played."
"Oh?" Sheppard was genuinely surprised.
He'd expected a cocky response. After all, that kind of overconfidence was typical of young Duelists who just tasted victory. But Hikaru was cool, composed.
From his perspective, whether Jaden or Hikaru faced the North Academy rep, either one should win.
Watching Jaden chat cheerfully with Hikaru, joined by Bastion and the others, the chancellor couldn't help but nod to himself.
Victory without arrogance… defeat without despair…
The future of this school is in good hands.
Hikaru, for his part, knew better than anyone: this Jaden was still green.
Sure, he was unrivaled among the first-years, but at this point in canon, Jaden had gotten absolutely demolished by Zane. He was trounced again during the Shadow Riders arc, barely scraped by against the Sacred Beasts with a borderline broken card—Philosopher's Stone – Sabatier—and only reached Zane's level around the end of the first year.
And that Zane? After graduating, he'd gone pro and was strong enough to face real Duelists like Aster Phoenix… until even Aster wiped the floor with him without revealing his full deck. It wasn't until Jaden fully embraced his will to win that he stopped losing.
Even if beating Jaden gave him a rush, Hikaru knew he couldn't afford to get cocky.
Not in this weird version of the world.
Over the next few days, Hikaru's school life noticeably improved. Professor Hayama, the Ra Yellow advisor, treated him more warmly, and he even started getting free lunch in the cafeteria. More surprisingly, a few Fusion Department students began mimicking his deck style.
But this wasn't like the casual interest from before.
Now they were actively building all-Fusion decks, following his example.
Which… was completely unnecessary.
The only reason Hikaru ran a pure Fusion deck was because it was the only thing he could build. Even then, he had to stuff his deck with low-level monsters just to make it functional. It was only thanks to Super Polymerization warping his draws that it seemed consistent.
Most people trying to copy him quickly realized it was impossible.
They couldn't even fill forty slots with viable Fusions—his deck was on another level.
So the trend quickly faded. But in its place came a new legend—an even stronger reverence for Hikaru's "struggle deck."
He wasn't just strong—he'd clawed his way to the top through sheer will.
The Fusion Department's pride.
Even Obelisk Blue students now greeted him with genuine enthusiasm… though, oddly, some upperclassmen still gave him strange looks.
Weird ones.
Given his performance, Hikaru figured he should be considered the poster boy of "Fusion Supremacy" in the first-year class. So why did the older, more Fusion-aligned students seem… off?
Well, whatever.
That night, the day before the cross-school exhibition match—
"Hikaru-kun! Want to take this with you?" Syrus Truesdale jogged over beside him, offering a card with both hands.
It was Steam Gyroid—Syrus's favorite Fusion Monster. A Level 6 vanilla Machine-type.
"I've got one too!" Chumley Huffington jumped in. "My King of the Beasts—4200 ATK Fusion monster, man. Want to borrow it?"
"…Hey, hey, your card I can understand," Hikaru glanced sideways, "but Bastion, why the hell are you offering Water Dragon? That's not even a Fusion card."
"C'mon, chemistry's basically Fusion!" Bastion argued, a bit flustered. "Besides, I thought you liked alchemy!"
Even though they were getting his name wrong again—Mizawa "Five Rivers" this time—Bastion clearly just wanted to feel involved.
To be honest, Hikaru was tempted.
Setting Water Dragon aside, the other two were mechanically useful. Especially King of the Beasts—with 4200 ATK and no effects, it was the perfect Mutant Evolution Lab target.
But once again, the thought of Super Poly melting his friends' cards into goo made him sweat.
"Yo, Hikaru! Guys!" Jaden called out, walking into the emptying duel arena. "What are you up to?"
"Ah, we were just…" Syrus explained quickly.
With the big duel tomorrow, they all wanted to help Hikaru win—maybe even get their ace monsters to make a cameo via his Fusion trickery.
"Ohh, I see…" Jaden nodded, and then pulled a card from his jacket pocket. "In that case—here. This is for you."
Hikaru looked down. His eyes narrowed.
A purple Fusion card.
Evil HERO Infernal Wing.
"Winged Kuriboh asked me to give it to you," Jaden smiled, thumb pointing at the air next to him. "Bring my spirit with you—go win it all, Hikaru!"
In his mind, Hikaru pictured that grim-faced, black-feathered Winged Kuriboh glaring silently… then gave a nod.
Guess this was the 'dark' part split off from Winged Kuriboh's soul. That, he could accept.
"So sneaky, Bro!""Yeah, not fair, Jaden!"
"Ahahaha…" Jaden scratched his head, then changed the subject. "Oh, right—I saw the North Academy rep earlier. You guys seen him? Dude's got a beard so thick, I thought he was a teacher!"
…Beard?
That didn't line up with Hikaru's memory.
"Wait. Isn't it supposed to be Chazz?"
Wasn't the canon rival supposed to transfer from North Academy?
"What're you talking about, Hikaru? Chazz went off to train at KaibaCorp, remember?"
…What?