"Hmm…"
Principal Sheppard (Shark) fell silent for a long while, then said thoughtfully:
"Unless someone of your father's rank intervenes, the only way to resolve this is to have Judai and his partner compete in a tag duel, and win the duel to avoid punishment. Of course, even if the punishment can't be completely lifted, at the very least it could be significantly reduced."
Yuuya: "..."
Have someone of my father's rank step in? Yeah, no thanks. I really don't want to trouble those old folks.
Besides—
"Winning the duel is all that's needed, right? That's not too hard."
"＜{=.........(Gah~ gah~ gah~)"
The moment Yuuya said that, the entire principal's office fell silent. The other three people all stared at him with strange expressions.
"Uh… what's with those looks?"
"...Sigh."
Hayato let out a long sigh, then said:
"I hate to say this, but I think you should know… when it comes to Judai, we have full confidence in him handling a one-on-one duel."
"Mhm, mhm, mhm!"
The other two nodded in agreement with Hayato.
"But the other guy—Sho—his skills are about the same as mine. If he has to tag duel with Judai, I'd say their overall strength would be lower than if Judai were to go it alone."
"Uh… yeah."
This time, both Asuka and Principal Sheppard hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly.
Although it felt a bit unfair to Sho, what Hayato said was true. A tag duel between the two might be less effective than letting Judai fight solo—even in a 1v2 situation, they could always tweak the rules to give Judai an advantage.
"So what about your skills…?"
Yuuya already had a bad feeling, but he still asked.
"I'm from the previous year's intake."
With that single sentence, Yuuya immediately understood the level of the speaker's skill, and why the three were so worried about a tag duel—
Marufuji Sho… is a burden!
"…Fine, whatever. I've got nothing else to do anyway. I'll help Sho catch up a bit and see if some last-minute cramming can improve his dueling skills."
For Judai and Ryo's sake, I'll give this Sho kid a bit of tutoring! As long as he can be grateful to me later in his heart, that's good enough—after all, I'm not even charging him for it.
——Scene Change——
"You're actually willing to tutor me?!!"
Looking slightly up at Yuuya, who was about half a head taller than his older brother, Sho's eyes widened to the point they nearly popped past his tiny glasses perched on his nose.
"I've got plenty of free time. Plus, I'm doing this as a favor for your brother."
Yuuya tugged at the brim of his cap, trying to keep the lower half of his face the only thing visible.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Not even bothering to ask what kind of relationship Yuuya had with his brother, Sho dropped into a full dogeza bow to express his thanks. Just a few weeks ago, this guy had seemed so cold and aloof—and now he was actually willing to help him cram for dueling… what a great person!
"No time to waste. Grab your deck and duel disk and follow me to the beach below your Osiris Red dorm cliffs. We're going to duel."
"Eh?"
Sho, Judai, and Hayato—along with Asuka who had tagged along to see what was happening—all froze at those words.
Wasn't this supposed to be a tutoring session? Why are we suddenly dueling?
"I don't know you very well, so I figured a duel would be the fastest way to understand you. After all, rather than you telling me what your weaknesses are, a real duel will show me exactly what you're lacking! That way, I can prescribe the right fix."
"Sou ka! I got it!"
Realizing Yuuya's intentions, Sho climbed up from the floor, grabbed his deck and duel disk from his bunk, and followed Yuuya to the beach at the edge of the Osiris Red dormitory.
"A duel between Sho and Yuuya? This is gonna be exciting!"
The moment he heard there was going to be a duel, Judai was the first to get excited. He didn't care who was dueling or how strong they were—watching a duel was never a bad idea.
"To be honest, this probably won't be a very thrilling duel," Hayato said with a nervous sweat on his forehead. Beside him, Asuka scratched her fair cheek with a slender finger and added:
"It might be something Sho himself is looking forward to since it's part of his tutoring, but for us spectators… this duel is likely going to be a one-sided beatdown."
With Yuuya's current full strength, there might be students in the academy who can stand up to him, but there's no one who can beat him!
Even if this is just a friendly duel to get to know Sho better, Asuka didn't believe Sho could even last a few turns against Yuuya.
——Scene Change——
At the beach near the Osiris Red dormitory.
"You ready?"
"Yes, Teacher Yuuya!"
Due to the tutoring context, Sho had temporarily started calling Yuuya "Teacher."
"Duel!"
Yuuya Sakaki: 4000 LP
Sho Marufuji: 4000 LP
"Looks like I go first, huh?"
Seeing the duel disk system eventually grant him the first turn, Yuuya smiled and drew his card to begin this friendly duel.
"My turn, draw! I summon Elemental HERO Burstinatrix in Attack Position!"
Just like in his duel with Judai, Yuuya didn't set any monsters. Instead, he summoned the 1200 ATK Burstinatrix directly in Attack Position.
"Then, I set three cards face-down. Turn end."
Though the monster up front was exposed, the three face-downs in his Spell/Trap Zone… gave off serious goosebumps. Once again, Yuuya was not playing like a normal human being.
"My turn, draw!"
He drew a monster card—a humanoid police car robot monster.
Next, Sho glanced at his left hand—at the five starting cards he had drawn at the beginning.
One of them had a green border and a cross icon at the top right corner—a Spell Card that synergized perfectly with the police car monster he had just drawn.
'A two-card combo, way stronger than Teacher's Burstinatrix! If the attack goes through, I can score an opening win!'
Powered up by the Spell Card, the police car charged forward, slamming its tire-like fist straight into Burstinatrix and knocking her out with ease!
Yuuya, now sitting on the ground in mock defeat, looked up at the towering Sho—his figure seeming heroic in the sunlight—and with a face full of admiration, he said:
"Sugoi! Honda ni sugoi, Marufuji Sho! You're an amazing duelist! I truly believe that one day, you'll surpass your brother, Ryo Marufuji!"
"Ehehe~ Hehehehehe~"
She giggled like a fool, imagining the scene where he defeated his new tutor Yuuya. This kid's daydreams were always top-tier.
"SHO! What are you even doing?!"
Judai, who had been watching, couldn't help but shout when he saw his little buddy just standing there giggling. Looking over at Yuuya—though his face was mostly obscured by the brim of his hat and his position—it wasn't hard to guess that he was probably a little annoyed.
"Ah? Oh—my turn! I summon Patrol Robo in Attack Position!"
Snapped out of his fantasy by his big bro's shout, Sho instinctively wiped at his mouth (even though there was no drool) and quickly played the monster card he had just drawn—summoning the humanoid police car robot in front of him.
'Robo… humanoid vehicle-themed monsters…'
Yuuya began forming a hypothesis in his mind. Now it just depended on what other monsters Sho would summon next.