"Mr. Yugi?"

Marik and Ishizu looked over, momentarily dazzled by the light streaming through the door, shielding their eyes. But as the light faded, there was no one at the door.

They looked at Kira in confusion. Kira didn’t say anything, just walked out, looking around. Outside, there was no sign of anyone, only a few Tomb Keepers glancing over in curiosity.

If someone had shown up, they wouldn’t have escaped notice. Kira figured he must have imagined seeing Yugi.

He didn’t mind and smiled at the empty air, as if talking to himself. "Thanks, Mr. Yugi."

Everyone was puzzled. Marik patted Kira’s shoulder. "Did Yugi Muto just come by?"

Kira shook his head. "No idea. Maybe I was seeing things."

He turned back inside.

Marik looked around again—no sign of anyone. He too went back in, even more puzzled.

Elsewhere, at a distant vantage point, a slender figure watched them from afar, lips curling in a faint smile.

"You’re welcome."

...

Afterward, Kira declined Marik and Ishizu’s invitation to stay longer, heading home the next morning.

He didn’t return to Duel Academy right away, but first visited KaibaCorp. Even though they’d just fought side by side, Kaiba was already abroad on urgent secret projects.

Kira didn’t ask. That was normal. Seto Kaiba was almost the world’s top technologist now—biomedicine, aerospace, physics, whatever the field, Kaiba was there.

If it had anything to do with dueling, Kaiba was a key developer. And in this world, everything was related to dueling.

But Kira wasn’t there to see Kaiba. He just wanted to use KaibaCorp’s equipment to test the three Wicked God cards’ danger levels.

Of course, being mysterious magical items, the test was only a reference. They were certainly dangerous, but the tests would see if Kira could control them. Back when KaibaCorp tested the Egyptian God Cards, they were at full power; now the Wicked Gods were sealed and heavily weakened from being beaten by Jaden, Kaiba, and Kira.

In such a state, they might still drive regular card designers mad, but they couldn’t threaten a duelist of Kira’s caliber.

Still, Kira stayed cautious. He kept the three cards close, but would use them carefully.

After some busy days, Kira almost forgot—

Final exams.

Another semester gone in a flash. Back at the academy, Kira was surprised to learn he’d missed finals.

Not that it mattered. The Chancellor and professors already treated Kira as special—he was still technically a student, but as the Duel king, he was basically the academy’s face.

Even Chancellor Sheppard often considered Kira the academy’s true leader.

So, no one had even notified Kira about the finals. He hadn’t skipped on purpose—if he’d remembered, he’d have gone.

Oh well, it didn’t matter.

After finals, the academy was quiet. Many students left, most others stayed in their dorms.

Kira stood on the roof, looking out over the woods and the distant sea.

The roof was usually deserted; after finals, even more so. Kira liked to come here—being the highest point, it made him feel he held the whole island in his hand.

It helped him clear his mind, reflect on the past, and think about the future.

"Three years already..." Kira muttered.

It was his last semester. After this, he would graduate.

He had handled all his challenges so far. If following the original story, the final boss this semester would be Nightshroud, who had already awakened, as expected, since Kira had fought his minions before.

In the anime, Nightshroud wasn’t much as a duelist, but his power to erase all human existence was formidable.

Looking back, Kira felt he had grown a lot, but had also lost much.

The door to the rooftop opened behind him, and someone peeked out.

"Kira?" Jaden said. "Why are you in my spot?"

"Jaden? Your spot?" Kira looked at his feet.

"Haha, yeah. Every time I wanted to skip class and chill, I’d come here. Even now, with no classes, I’m used to it. If I don’t come here every few days, I feel off."

"Is that so? Well, you’re just in time—I was going to ask you for a favor." Kira smiled.

Jaden waved it off. "No problem!"

Kira said, "I haven’t even said what it is yet."

Jaden grinned, "Your business is my business. No need for words between us!"

"Haha, thanks in advance. It’s nothing big, really."

Kira chuckled.

"I just want to borrow your Yubel for a bit."

"Huh?"

...

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