Heroic Spirit Deck in Yu-Gi-Oh!
Author: Heroic Spirit Deck in Yu-Gi-Oh!
Chapter 505 - 505
Inside the Pyramid of Light—
"I see... so even you, Da Vinci-chan, can't figure out the cause for now..."
Half-collapsed on the bed, Hoshino let out a troubled sigh after hearing Da Vinci's definitive reply.
"I can't determine the exact cause, but that stiff old detective in the black suit told me to pass along some advice: When you can't uncover the truth of an incident, try thinking in reverse—after it happened, who stood to gain the most?"
"The one who benefits in the end... meaning someone with a motive to do this? Sorry, but even if I flip the logic around, I can't think of anyone who could pull something like this off."
To trap Atem and herself, sealing off their ability to exchange souls with the outside world—who would even do something so pointless? At least, Hoshino's memory offered no one who fit the bill.
"But why... why now of all times..."
What weighed on Hoshino's mind most was tomorrow's duel against Kaiba.
"Other me, are you really going to be okay?"
Two years had passed. In Hoshino's eyes, ever since the end of the Shadow Games of ancient Egypt, Hoshino Alter hadn't actually dueled seriously.
For two years she had been nothing more than a salted fish, like a retired pro. How much of her peak remained was anyone's guess.
Sure, she had looked decent today against Diva—but in the end, that guy was just plain weak.
[Duelist Rank evaluation complete. Duelist: Diva. Overall Rank: C. Victory reward: 30 Saint Quartz. Current total: 65.]
A C-rank... To put it in perspective, even Hoshino's very first opponent in Duelist Kingdom, Ryota, was around C-rank—and back then Hoshino barely scraped out a win.
By Duel City, even Ryota had trained himself up close to A-rank. In this era, C-rank was nothing noteworthy.
Granted, thanks to the special rules of Dimension Dueling, plus a deck specifically built for it—the Cubic deck—Diva was tougher than his rank suggested.
But still, Hoshino Alter's victory had been far from easy. Her Life Points had been forced down to 2000 at one point. If it had been under the old 4000 LP system, she would've already lost. Hoshino, meanwhile, was confident Diva wouldn't have lasted two turns against her, let alone touched her Life Points.
The only reassurance Hoshino felt was that after returning to the room, Hoshino Alter had pounded her chest and vowed, with absolute conviction, to use the remaining time to recover her form, fine-tune her deck, and face Kaiba at full strength.
...That reassurance lasted all of five minutes.
"Bring it on, Kaiba! I won't lose to you... (.--)zzz"
"Wow, Hoshino fell asleep so early tonight. Guess she really did wear herself out during the day."
Mana, unusually gentle for her, wore a motherly smile as she carefully tucked Hoshino Alter back into bed instead of waking her.
"Mana, you—why are you suddenly being so gentle now, of all times?! You should be yelling at her like usual! She can't sleep yet, she can't stop now!"
But with Hope's Flower playing softly in the background, Hoshino Alter slept peacefully, never touching her deck again that night.
"This is it... we're doomed. I'm destined to end up working at Duel Academy..."
Hoshino rolled in despair. No matter how much she raged here, Hoshino Alter, fast asleep, could not hear her.
"So the collapse of the world line is unavoidable after all... Could Kaiba be the one who sealed me, just so I couldn't become headmaster of the Academy?!"
She had considered the possibility—but quickly dismissed it.
Not only would Kaiba never stoop to winning by such means—it simply wasn't his style. Most importantly, he'd never believe in supernatural soul-swapping to begin with. In his eyes, it was probably just a simple case of dissociative identity.
"You look restless, girl. Since I happened to stop by, why don't I keep you company?"
A silky, sultry voice brushed against her ear.
The Evil God, half-dressed and wearing an oversized, ill-fitting nightgown instead of her usual gothic attire, leaned close. The sagging collar revealed pale, radiant skin normally hidden beneath her dress.
"Every guest deserves proper hospitality. As a resident of this place, allow me to entertain you properly~"
"Entertain...? What kind of entertaining could you possibly mean?"
Hoshino, feeling the warmth of her breath against her ear, frowned. "This is just a void space for spirits. There's nothing fun to do here, is there?"
With a sly smile, the Evil God's slender fingers reached for the buttons at Hoshino's collar.
"Even in a spirit space, pleasures can be created. Relax. Just like always—start by taking your clothes off~"
"J-just like always... t-taking clothes off?!" Hoshino's face turned bright red at the sudden indecent twist. "Wait a sec—what have you two been doing when I wasn't around?! Why don't I know anything about this?!"
"Your mouth says no, but your body isn't resisting, girl. The time has come for us to bare ourselves to each other~"
"I-I'm not mentally prepared for this! ⁄(⁄⁄•⁄⁄•⁄⁄)⁄"
...
"So, what do you think of this place?"
"=_= ...Honestly, it does feel surprisingly authentic, like a proper hot spring..."
"How's the water temperature? Not too hot for a first-timer?"
"=_= A bit hot, but that's good—it really melts away fatigue. But still..."
"—Why the hell is there a hot spring in here?! This makes no sense at all!"
Even while soaking in the hot spring, Hoshino's urge to rant couldn't be suppressed. So this was what the Evil God meant by "baring ourselves." After the tension faded, all that remained was an odd sense of disappointment—like her heart had been toyed with.
"At first, I was surprised too... fuu, bliss, pure bliss!"
Leaning back with her arms spread along the edge of the spring, the Evil God sighed in satisfaction. Despite her petite form and girlish voice, she looked and sounded like an old man relaxing in paradise.
"That Chaldea really is something. When they remodeled the room for the other girl, she casually mentioned wanting a bath. The very next day, a bunch of tall, burly Heroic Spirits hauled in supplies and built this Japanese-style hot spring."
"So it was Chaldea's handiwork... That explains it."
Hoshino finally solved the mystery in her heart. Knowing the energetic bunch's usual way of doing things, helping Hoshino Alter build a home inside the Pyramid's space was nothing more than a flick of the wrist. Of course, how they had even managed to "dig out" a hot spring remained well beyond Hoshino's understanding.
"Fuu—!" Mimicking the Evil God's motion with a sigh, Hoshino tilted her head back, gazing up at the wallpaper that reflected a starry sky. "So much happened today, yet somehow I feel like the world is at peace... is this the charm of 'naked encounters'~?"
As her mood gradually settled, Hoshino began to think that maybe things weren't as bad as she had imagined.
Maybe in these two years, Kaiba hadn't gotten that much stronger?
Perhaps it was exactly because she'd seen through this that White Star could sleep so peacefully, saving her strength for tomorrow's duel.
In life, the most important thing is confidence~
The Next Day—
"(ﾟДﾟ＃) I'm doomed! I actually fell asleep without realizing it—I'm dead!!"
Hoshino Alter snapped her eyes open, showing none of the confidence Hoshino had expected.
The bright sunlight pouring through the window pierced her guilt like knives. It was just like a student who hadn't studied before finals, swearing to cram all night, only to wake up to morning light in despair.
Sitting up slowly, Hoshino Alter's eyes were lifeless, her pupils dimmed of all shine.
"My duel... it's already over before it even began... No, I can't give up yet. The duel's only tonight! If I start practicing hard this morning, maybe I can still make it."
Clinging to the optimistic thought of let's just check the time, maybe I can still make it, Hoshino Alter turned her gaze to the digital alarm clock on the nightstand.
「15:36」
"(´ཀ`」∠) ...So I'm already completely, thoroughly dead."
Thinking it over, it made sense. Even Mana, who usually lazed in bed, was already up, so there was no way it was still early. And since she was supposed to duel Kaiba tonight—Yugi must have assumed Hoshino was locked in her room carefully planning strategy, and hadn't wanted to disturb her.
After a quick wash, Hoshino Alter pushed open the storeroom door—only to be greeted by countless eager eyes.
"Duel King, tonight you're dueling Kaiba with the new Duel Disk, right? That's so cool!"
"We finally get to see Hoshino-san duel again on stage, I'm so hyped!"
"With the Duel King's level, you'll definitely beat that Kaiba!"
"Yeah, serves him right for pricing Duel Disks so high we can't even buy one."
Even with tonight's exhibition match, the Game Shop still ran as usual during the day. And on a Saturday with no school, the place was packed with idle kids.
All those innocent, expectant gazes pushed Hoshino Alter's pressure gauge up another twenty percent.
"Are you ready, Hoshino? Doesn't seem like much time is left before the event," Yugi asked from behind the counter, helping out in the shop.
Hoshino Alter forced an awkward smile. "I-I guess I'm ready... at least I got plenty of rest."
Yugi continued, "By the way, Hoshino, do you want to ride your D-Wheel to the venue? I remember you said before, without it you can't Synchro Summon monsters, right? Of course, Honda can drive it for you, since you don't have a license."
Among their friends, only Honda had managed to get a motorcycle license—supposedly motivated by the idea of taking Shizuka for a spin, which drove him to study extra hard. Whether a D-Wheel even counted as a motorcycle, however, was another question entirely.
"If it's possible, I'd like to ask Honda to help. And maybe he can give me a lift too, so I don't have to walk that far."
"There's no need for you to worry about transportation, Miss Hoshino."
A deep male voice suddenly came from the shop entrance. A towering bodyguard in a black suit and sunglasses, nearly having to stoop to enter, respectfully addressed White Star.
Beside him, a tall, curvy blonde woman with blue eyes, dressed in a business suit and sheer black stockings, gave a polished report with equal courtesy.
"Mr. Kaiba has sent us to personally escort you to the event venue. We'll be waiting outside, and you may depart whenever you're ready."
She gestured toward the sleek luxury sedan parked at the door, her lips curling into a standard corporate smile.
But inside the shop, the kids ignored the elegant, sexy bodyguard onee-san entirely—instead, their eyes sparkled at the ridiculously flashy car outside.
"What kind of car is that? I've never seen anything like it—it's so long~!"
"They came just to pick up Duel King? That's insane!"
"No time to explain, hurry and get in!"
Yugi, a bit embarrassed, tried to point out, "Um, could you not park right in front of the store? It's kind of bad for business."
"Ah, that hairstyle—you must be Master Yugi Muto!"
The female bodyguard enthusiastically grabbed Yugi's hands, leaving him even more flustered. "Mr. Kaiba specifically instructed that you must come with us as well!"
Sensing danger, Mana immediately dashed over to intervene. "You vixen, let go of my adorable Yugi!"
Laughing as she released him, the bodyguard gave Mana a once-over. "Ah, youth really is wonderful. As long as you're friends of Master Yugi and Miss Hoshino, you're welcome to come with us to the venue."
Planting herself in front of Yugi, Mana declared sternly, "Of course not! How could we let a lustful wolf like you snatch Yugi away all by yourself? Hoshino, you should be more careful too—the modern world is dangerous!"
Mana, you're from ancient Egypt, why are you acting like some modern adult?!
"Well, since there's a private car waiting, that is convenient. I don't really have anything else to do, so let's head out now."
With so little time left, even cramming last-minute strategies was impossible. Giving up on further planning, Hoshino Alter hopped into the extended luxury car's backseat.
"When the boat reaches the bridge, it naturally sinks. I'll just have to cover the gap in strength with sheer guts and determination~"
As Hoshino Alter settled inside, her attention was instantly caught by the limo's luxurious features—even a built-in fridge. But before she could explore, a small figure slipped into her lap like a kitten.
"Meow =w=, surprise, Oneechan! I rushed back from America just for you!"
The golden-haired short-cut beauty before her, almost unrecognizable from her last appearance nearly a year ago, was none other than Akasha.
"Akasha, you cut your hair short? It looks amazing on you!"
"I see... so even you, Da Vinci-chan, can't figure out the cause for now..."
Half-collapsed on the bed, Hoshino let out a troubled sigh after hearing Da Vinci's definitive reply.
"I can't determine the exact cause, but that stiff old detective in the black suit told me to pass along some advice: When you can't uncover the truth of an incident, try thinking in reverse—after it happened, who stood to gain the most?"
"The one who benefits in the end... meaning someone with a motive to do this? Sorry, but even if I flip the logic around, I can't think of anyone who could pull something like this off."
To trap Atem and herself, sealing off their ability to exchange souls with the outside world—who would even do something so pointless? At least, Hoshino's memory offered no one who fit the bill.
"But why... why now of all times..."
What weighed on Hoshino's mind most was tomorrow's duel against Kaiba.
"Other me, are you really going to be okay?"
Two years had passed. In Hoshino's eyes, ever since the end of the Shadow Games of ancient Egypt, Hoshino Alter hadn't actually dueled seriously.
For two years she had been nothing more than a salted fish, like a retired pro. How much of her peak remained was anyone's guess.
Sure, she had looked decent today against Diva—but in the end, that guy was just plain weak.
[Duelist Rank evaluation complete. Duelist: Diva. Overall Rank: C. Victory reward: 30 Saint Quartz. Current total: 65.]
A C-rank... To put it in perspective, even Hoshino's very first opponent in Duelist Kingdom, Ryota, was around C-rank—and back then Hoshino barely scraped out a win.
By Duel City, even Ryota had trained himself up close to A-rank. In this era, C-rank was nothing noteworthy.
Granted, thanks to the special rules of Dimension Dueling, plus a deck specifically built for it—the Cubic deck—Diva was tougher than his rank suggested.
But still, Hoshino Alter's victory had been far from easy. Her Life Points had been forced down to 2000 at one point. If it had been under the old 4000 LP system, she would've already lost. Hoshino, meanwhile, was confident Diva wouldn't have lasted two turns against her, let alone touched her Life Points.
The only reassurance Hoshino felt was that after returning to the room, Hoshino Alter had pounded her chest and vowed, with absolute conviction, to use the remaining time to recover her form, fine-tune her deck, and face Kaiba at full strength.
...That reassurance lasted all of five minutes.
"Bring it on, Kaiba! I won't lose to you... (.--)zzz"
"Wow, Hoshino fell asleep so early tonight. Guess she really did wear herself out during the day."
Mana, unusually gentle for her, wore a motherly smile as she carefully tucked Hoshino Alter back into bed instead of waking her.
"Mana, you—why are you suddenly being so gentle now, of all times?! You should be yelling at her like usual! She can't sleep yet, she can't stop now!"
But with Hope's Flower playing softly in the background, Hoshino Alter slept peacefully, never touching her deck again that night.
"This is it... we're doomed. I'm destined to end up working at Duel Academy..."
Hoshino rolled in despair. No matter how much she raged here, Hoshino Alter, fast asleep, could not hear her.
"So the collapse of the world line is unavoidable after all... Could Kaiba be the one who sealed me, just so I couldn't become headmaster of the Academy?!"
She had considered the possibility—but quickly dismissed it.
Not only would Kaiba never stoop to winning by such means—it simply wasn't his style. Most importantly, he'd never believe in supernatural soul-swapping to begin with. In his eyes, it was probably just a simple case of dissociative identity.
"You look restless, girl. Since I happened to stop by, why don't I keep you company?"
A silky, sultry voice brushed against her ear.
The Evil God, half-dressed and wearing an oversized, ill-fitting nightgown instead of her usual gothic attire, leaned close. The sagging collar revealed pale, radiant skin normally hidden beneath her dress.
"Every guest deserves proper hospitality. As a resident of this place, allow me to entertain you properly~"
"Entertain...? What kind of entertaining could you possibly mean?"
Hoshino, feeling the warmth of her breath against her ear, frowned. "This is just a void space for spirits. There's nothing fun to do here, is there?"
With a sly smile, the Evil God's slender fingers reached for the buttons at Hoshino's collar.
"Even in a spirit space, pleasures can be created. Relax. Just like always—start by taking your clothes off~"
"J-just like always... t-taking clothes off?!" Hoshino's face turned bright red at the sudden indecent twist. "Wait a sec—what have you two been doing when I wasn't around?! Why don't I know anything about this?!"
"Your mouth says no, but your body isn't resisting, girl. The time has come for us to bare ourselves to each other~"
"I-I'm not mentally prepared for this! ⁄(⁄⁄•⁄⁄•⁄⁄)⁄"
...
"So, what do you think of this place?"
"=_= ...Honestly, it does feel surprisingly authentic, like a proper hot spring..."
"How's the water temperature? Not too hot for a first-timer?"
"=_= A bit hot, but that's good—it really melts away fatigue. But still..."
"—Why the hell is there a hot spring in here?! This makes no sense at all!"
Even while soaking in the hot spring, Hoshino's urge to rant couldn't be suppressed. So this was what the Evil God meant by "baring ourselves." After the tension faded, all that remained was an odd sense of disappointment—like her heart had been toyed with.
"At first, I was surprised too... fuu, bliss, pure bliss!"
Leaning back with her arms spread along the edge of the spring, the Evil God sighed in satisfaction. Despite her petite form and girlish voice, she looked and sounded like an old man relaxing in paradise.
"That Chaldea really is something. When they remodeled the room for the other girl, she casually mentioned wanting a bath. The very next day, a bunch of tall, burly Heroic Spirits hauled in supplies and built this Japanese-style hot spring."
"So it was Chaldea's handiwork... That explains it."
Hoshino finally solved the mystery in her heart. Knowing the energetic bunch's usual way of doing things, helping Hoshino Alter build a home inside the Pyramid's space was nothing more than a flick of the wrist. Of course, how they had even managed to "dig out" a hot spring remained well beyond Hoshino's understanding.
"Fuu—!" Mimicking the Evil God's motion with a sigh, Hoshino tilted her head back, gazing up at the wallpaper that reflected a starry sky. "So much happened today, yet somehow I feel like the world is at peace... is this the charm of 'naked encounters'~?"
As her mood gradually settled, Hoshino began to think that maybe things weren't as bad as she had imagined.
Maybe in these two years, Kaiba hadn't gotten that much stronger?
Perhaps it was exactly because she'd seen through this that White Star could sleep so peacefully, saving her strength for tomorrow's duel.
In life, the most important thing is confidence~
The Next Day—
"(ﾟДﾟ＃) I'm doomed! I actually fell asleep without realizing it—I'm dead!!"
Hoshino Alter snapped her eyes open, showing none of the confidence Hoshino had expected.
The bright sunlight pouring through the window pierced her guilt like knives. It was just like a student who hadn't studied before finals, swearing to cram all night, only to wake up to morning light in despair.
Sitting up slowly, Hoshino Alter's eyes were lifeless, her pupils dimmed of all shine.
"My duel... it's already over before it even began... No, I can't give up yet. The duel's only tonight! If I start practicing hard this morning, maybe I can still make it."
Clinging to the optimistic thought of let's just check the time, maybe I can still make it, Hoshino Alter turned her gaze to the digital alarm clock on the nightstand.
「15:36」
"(´ཀ`」∠) ...So I'm already completely, thoroughly dead."
Thinking it over, it made sense. Even Mana, who usually lazed in bed, was already up, so there was no way it was still early. And since she was supposed to duel Kaiba tonight—Yugi must have assumed Hoshino was locked in her room carefully planning strategy, and hadn't wanted to disturb her.
After a quick wash, Hoshino Alter pushed open the storeroom door—only to be greeted by countless eager eyes.
"Duel King, tonight you're dueling Kaiba with the new Duel Disk, right? That's so cool!"
"We finally get to see Hoshino-san duel again on stage, I'm so hyped!"
"With the Duel King's level, you'll definitely beat that Kaiba!"
"Yeah, serves him right for pricing Duel Disks so high we can't even buy one."
Even with tonight's exhibition match, the Game Shop still ran as usual during the day. And on a Saturday with no school, the place was packed with idle kids.
All those innocent, expectant gazes pushed Hoshino Alter's pressure gauge up another twenty percent.
"Are you ready, Hoshino? Doesn't seem like much time is left before the event," Yugi asked from behind the counter, helping out in the shop.
Hoshino Alter forced an awkward smile. "I-I guess I'm ready... at least I got plenty of rest."
Yugi continued, "By the way, Hoshino, do you want to ride your D-Wheel to the venue? I remember you said before, without it you can't Synchro Summon monsters, right? Of course, Honda can drive it for you, since you don't have a license."
Among their friends, only Honda had managed to get a motorcycle license—supposedly motivated by the idea of taking Shizuka for a spin, which drove him to study extra hard. Whether a D-Wheel even counted as a motorcycle, however, was another question entirely.
"If it's possible, I'd like to ask Honda to help. And maybe he can give me a lift too, so I don't have to walk that far."
"There's no need for you to worry about transportation, Miss Hoshino."
A deep male voice suddenly came from the shop entrance. A towering bodyguard in a black suit and sunglasses, nearly having to stoop to enter, respectfully addressed White Star.
Beside him, a tall, curvy blonde woman with blue eyes, dressed in a business suit and sheer black stockings, gave a polished report with equal courtesy.
"Mr. Kaiba has sent us to personally escort you to the event venue. We'll be waiting outside, and you may depart whenever you're ready."
She gestured toward the sleek luxury sedan parked at the door, her lips curling into a standard corporate smile.
But inside the shop, the kids ignored the elegant, sexy bodyguard onee-san entirely—instead, their eyes sparkled at the ridiculously flashy car outside.
"What kind of car is that? I've never seen anything like it—it's so long~!"
"They came just to pick up Duel King? That's insane!"
"No time to explain, hurry and get in!"
Yugi, a bit embarrassed, tried to point out, "Um, could you not park right in front of the store? It's kind of bad for business."
"Ah, that hairstyle—you must be Master Yugi Muto!"
The female bodyguard enthusiastically grabbed Yugi's hands, leaving him even more flustered. "Mr. Kaiba specifically instructed that you must come with us as well!"
Sensing danger, Mana immediately dashed over to intervene. "You vixen, let go of my adorable Yugi!"
Laughing as she released him, the bodyguard gave Mana a once-over. "Ah, youth really is wonderful. As long as you're friends of Master Yugi and Miss Hoshino, you're welcome to come with us to the venue."
Planting herself in front of Yugi, Mana declared sternly, "Of course not! How could we let a lustful wolf like you snatch Yugi away all by yourself? Hoshino, you should be more careful too—the modern world is dangerous!"
Mana, you're from ancient Egypt, why are you acting like some modern adult?!
"Well, since there's a private car waiting, that is convenient. I don't really have anything else to do, so let's head out now."
With so little time left, even cramming last-minute strategies was impossible. Giving up on further planning, Hoshino Alter hopped into the extended luxury car's backseat.
"When the boat reaches the bridge, it naturally sinks. I'll just have to cover the gap in strength with sheer guts and determination~"
As Hoshino Alter settled inside, her attention was instantly caught by the limo's luxurious features—even a built-in fridge. But before she could explore, a small figure slipped into her lap like a kitten.
"Meow =w=, surprise, Oneechan! I rushed back from America just for you!"
The golden-haired short-cut beauty before her, almost unrecognizable from her last appearance nearly a year ago, was none other than Akasha.
"Akasha, you cut your hair short? It looks amazing on you!"