"Ahh, Professor Crowler is such a pain."
Jaden grumbled as he walked, kicking a pebble.
"He wants so many words for the duel theory report, and he wants it by the day after tomorrow. Ugh, writing reports is such a headache."
He rubbed his head, messing up his jellyfish hair even more.
Then, suddenly thinking of something, he glanced at his friend: "Hey, Sy, how about helping me out?"
"Eh? But I haven't even started my own yet, big bro…" Syrus pulled a long face.
"Yeah, true."
Jaden sighed and kept kicking the rock.
The little pebble bounced away, trailing a line of dust.
"If only I could duel instead of writing reports…"
Chumley sweated: "If it was a duel, no one could beat you, Jaden. Even Professor Crowler himself…"
"Nah, there are still some really strong guys at this school. Like Sy's brother—the guy they call Zane. He's amazing."
Jaden's eyes sparkled with admiration.
"I just dueled him not long ago, but he's really strong. I lost—he summoned Cyber End Dragon with 8000 ATK and piercing damage. I lost in one turn."
Carefree as always, Jaden didn't seem bothered by his loss—he even looked eager for a rematch.
"If even you couldn't beat him, that Zane must be something," Kira nodded.
"Haha, but don't worry Kira—you'll get a chance to duel him too! And we still haven't dueled. How about—"
"No rush." Kira smiled. "Let's wait for a bigger stage for our duel. I think that chance is coming soon. You should start getting ready."
"What do you mean? I'm always ready!" Jaden declared, full of confidence.
Kira nodded.
That's true—Jaden was the type who worked best when playing freely.
During Zane's graduation duel, he picked Jaden as his opponent. The night before, Jaden tried to strategize and adjust his deck, but that was the only time he tried to duel with his head and ended up disappointing Zane, who regretted picking him for the graduation match.
According to Zane, maybe he thought Jaden was better at improvising—just playing as he liked was when he was strongest.
"Hey, are you going to drawbread too, Kira?" Syrus asked.
"Yeah, it's good training for drawing cards." Kira smiled.
The so-called drawbread was a special activity at the school store.
The shop's specialty breads all looked identical from the outside, but each had a different filling. You wouldn't know what you got until you bit into it.
The school's lore said the Academy kept a magical golden chicken that laid a single golden egg every day. So, every day, only one bread would contain a golden egg—the rarest bread everyone wanted.
The teachers encouraged students to practice their draw luck at the shop daily, so it was always packed during the event.
Of course, there were rumors that the school's support for the shop was due to some special relationship—like the legend that Ms. Dorothy at the shop had a history with Chancellor Sheppard.
Some even claimed there was a secret tunnel from the chancellor's office that led right behind the shop counter.
But since that sounded ridiculous, most students dismissed it.
However, Kira, having seen the anime, knew it was true. But to this day, no one knows the real reason for the tunnel.
Even though the event hadn't started yet, the store was already packed when they arrived. Students lined up outside, all eager and excited.
"Don't push, everyone! One at a time!" The lady from the shop tried to keep order.
Jaden started blowing into his hands.
"Alright, this time—I'm going to—"
Kira glanced at Jaden. "You didn't get it the past two days either?"
"Yeah, weird, right?" Syrus said. "Big bro had a streak of twenty wins before. He was called the King of the Golden Egg Bread."
Jaden's face fell: "That's a terrible nickname, Sy."
"But even big bro hasn't gotten it in days," Syrus added.
Kira thought for a moment.
It must be about time for that drawbread maniac from the anime to make an appearance.
That was Damon, a student who had disappeared from the Academy a year ago. He'd gone to live in the mountains, practicing the art of perfect draw power.
Now, having mastered it, he'd returned to test his skills—sneaking into the shop every night before the event to draw the golden egg bread and prove his power.
Kira stroked his chin, considering.
During early GX, Damon was a duelist he wanted to face—not because Damon was super strong, but to experience firsthand the aura of a master of draw luck.
It would also be a test of his practice so far.
"Draw!"
Jaden drew a bread, tore open the bag, and took a bite, full of anticipation.
"Ahh—chestnut bread!"
He slumped to the ground, defeated.
"How could this happen, my right hand of the gods…"
Kira wasn't surprised.
Of course—there was no golden egg bread in the box; it was already stolen. Even if you were a cheater with perfect draw power, you can't get bread that's not there.
Well, maybe you could.
This event further proved that destiny power lets a duelist rewrite their destiny to some extent—not just in duels, but even in drawbreads. Jaden's twenty-win streak proved that you could cheat fate, even with bread.
Kira himself had never drawn the golden egg, but neither had anyone else. Since the event began, the big prize was always taken by Jaden.
However…
Kira drew a bread, tore it open, and took a bite.
Pizza bread. Not bad.
So far, he'd never drawn a flavor he didn't like.
Guess his training was paying off.
"Sorry, everyone. There's no golden egg bread here today," said Ms. Dorothy apologetically.
"Actually, for the past week, the golden egg bread's been stolen every day."
"Eh? Only the golden egg bread was stolen?" Syrus asked, shocked. "That thief must be amazing."
Jaden immediately looked annoyed.
As if his king-of-draws status had been challenged.
"Alright, tonight we'll camp out here," Jaden declared, clenching his fist. "We're going to catch that damn golden egg thief together!"
====
Next Goal: 2500 PS; 2 chapters