"Only two days have passed, and already two of the Shadow Riders have been defeated?"
Lying flat inside the life-support pod, the centuries-old man could only maintain his failing bodily functions through the dense oxygen tubes barely keeping him alive.
"Headmistress Chiyuki Hoshino… That Seto Kaiba brat certainly planted a troublesome piece inside this academy."
The man in the white coat, busy adjusting the apparatus, replied respectfully,
"Chairman Kagemaru, even though the former Duel King has long retired from the professional scene, her strength remains formidable."
The one addressed as Chairman Kagemaru was the frail old man submerged within the life-support machine.
He had once collaborated with KaibaCorp to establish Duel Academy on this island, his true purpose being to seize the three Sacred Beast cards sealed beneath it.
By nurturing duelists with the power to command Duel Spirits, he intended to accelerate the revival of the Three Sacred Beasts—and ultimately use their power to prolong, or even achieve, eternal life.
That was why the wealthy and self-indulgent Kagemaru invested in Duel Academy.
But what Kagemaru never expected was that Seto Kaiba was even more cunning than he was.
Kaiba had already seen through both the danger of the Sacred Beasts and Kagemaru's malicious ambitions. While accepting Kagemaru's funding, he secretly added seven additional layers of seals on top of the original one.
Thus, even when sufficient Power accumulated, the Sacred Beasts could not fully awaken. At best, fragments of their strength could be manifested through the Shadow Riders.
The white-coated man continued,
"And the most critical issue is that Hoshino is carrying all seven keys needed to release those seals. This shows she is completely confident in defeating all of us by herself."
"Heh… how amusing. A mere human attempting to challenge the might of the Sacred Beasts."
From within the life-support device, Kagemaru's decayed body released a chilling, twisted laugh.
"Then command Nightshroud to harness the power of Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, and burn that arrogant girl to ashes."
"Uria, Lord of Searing Flames?"
A flicker of shock flashed in the man's deep eyes. "Forcing a Sacred Beast to manifest in an incomplete state is extremely dangerous."
"No matter. Those pawns were meant to be discarded from the start.
We may as well squeeze out whatever value remains before they break."
(***)
Hot Spring Inn —
"Ahh~ A soak after dinner really is heavenly."
With the starry night overhead, the open-air hot spring felt even more dreamlike and enchanting.
"Soaking three times in one day… I feel like I've gotten younger."
"If you get any younger, Senpai, you'll revert into a child," Alexis teased.
Every time she looked at Hoshino's cute, youthful face, she struggled to associate her with a Duel King in her twenties.
Was this the legendary 'ageless beauty'? It was simply too unfair…
"I'm done! You two can keep soaking if you want!"
Barefoot, Akasha hopped across the slippery floor and slipped out of the pool.
"That was only a few minutes…" Alexis blinked. "She was the one begging to come here, and she's the first to run off?"
Hoshino sank lower into the water until only her eyes peeked out like a floating frog. She glanced sideways at Akasha's retreating back.
"Blub—blub—blub. (She probably ate too much at dinner and got dizzy.)"
Her mouth was submerged, so Alexis heard nothing but bubbling nonsense.
Hurriedly slipping on her yukata, Akasha grabbed her phone from the changing basket and messaged Jaden.
"(ﾟ∀ﾟ)ﾒ(ﾟ∀ﾟ)ﾉ Stick to the plan. Ready, Jaden?"
Waiting outside the hot spring entrance, Jaden checked his vibrating phone.
"Standing by anytime. —Jaden."
"Love is a duel, and this is the card I've set face-down!"
Back in the room, Akasha pulled out her "secret weapon" hidden in the cabinet.
"Since Alexis kissed Hoshino-nee for that reason, I can't fall behind! Jaden, you definitely need to stall Alexis later!"
.
..
...
Walking leisurely out of the bath, her hands tucked into her loose yukata sleeves, Hoshino spoke with anticipation:
"This time, I'll buy you a bottle of ice-cold milk after the bath, Alexis~"
Strangely enough, this luxurious hot spring inn allowed unlimited fancy dinner refills, yet the traditional post-bath milk still required a coin purchase.
Perhaps it was to preserve the 'authentic hot spring experience'?
Hearing their conversation from the entrance, Jaden seized the moment and boldly charged forward alone.
"I've been waiting for this moment—Alexis, duel me!"
"Jaden?"
Both Alexis and Hoshino froze at his sudden appearance and dramatic declaration.
"After watching today's duel, I can't suppress the duelist spirit burning inside me!
Come—let's settle this, Alexis!"
"You really are duel-brained…" Hoshino muttered. But knowing Jaden, this wasn't surprising at all.
"A duel with you? Sure."
Having been crushed by Akasha earlier, Alexis also wanted to vent a little.
"But my Deck and Duel Disk are in the room. I'll need to go back and grab them."
"Ah—go back to your room—wait!"
Jaden quickly blocked her path. "Before we duel, let's warm up first! With this inn's specialty—ping-pong!"
"…How is ping-pong supposed to warm you up for a duel?"
"Because when you think of hot spring inns, you think of ping-pong!
Or… is Alexis afraid to face me?"
To help Akasha's plan succeed, Jaden even resorted to such a clumsy taunt.
Alexis's long, elegant eyebrows twitched twice, and the corners of her lips curled upward.
"Oh? Saying that I'm scared? How amusing. Back in grade school, they called me the Ping-Pong Princess."
No one expected Jaden's clumsy provocation to work perfectly on Alexis.
Hoshino proudly raised a small hand.
"Ping-pong after a hot spring? That's the true full-course experience! Let me join too!"
"Ah, Sensei… could I trouble you to go back to the room first and grab Alexis's Duel Disk and deck?"
Hoshino puffed out her cheeks unhappily.
"(○｀3′○) Eh? You're not letting me play? How stingy."
But then she remembered her own ping-pong "skills." She could barely serve straight—and showing that embarrassment sounded far worse than running an errand.
"All right then. My turn—serve incoming, Alexis!"
"Bring it on, Jaden."
DUEL (Ping-Pong)!!
Far from the heated "battlefield," Hoshino returned to the inn room door and pushed it open.
"Ugh—what's this smell? So sharp!"
With the door tightly shut and even the windows sealed, Akasha sat with her feet soaking in the room's foot bath, giving Hoshino a sultry look.
"Probably some new incense the landlady replaced. Don't mind it—come soak your feet with me, Hoshino-nee~"
She eagerly patted the empty space beside her.
"You rushed out of the hot spring earlier, and now you came back to soak your feet. Akasha, your tastes are really weird… Are you into your own feet or something?"
Hoshino shook her head. She was only here to fetch Alexis's Duel Disk and deck anyway. And soaking your feet right after a full hot bath… no matter how she thought about it, it was strange.
"Jaden and Alexis are about to duel. Don't you want to go watch?"
Seeing Hoshino refuse to take the bait, Akasha immediately grabbed her legs dramatically and wailed:
"ヽ(.>д<)ノ My leg—my leg is cramping!"
"Huh? You can even get a cramp while soaking your feet?"
Reaching forward to help her up, Hoshino suddenly found herself pulled tightly into Akasha's arms.
"Hehehe, caught you. Stay with me~ You clearly kissed Alexis this morning!"
"Akasha, are you a child? Why are you this clingy?"
"(ﾉ´▽｀)ﾉ I don't care~ In front of you, I'll always be a child, Hoshino-nee!"
So children will light that kind of suspicious incense in a sealed room?
That was… an extremely pure interpretation of "childlike."
Tugging at her yukata collar, Hoshino's cheeks warmed.
"By the way, isn't it a little too hot in here? Maybe open a window for some air?"
"If you're hot, just take off your clothes. You were naked in the hot spring anyway."
Licking her lips, Akasha—one step away from seeing her plan succeed—gently slipped the yukata off Hoshino's pale shoulder.
The sharp scent clouded Hoshino's mind, her thoughts turning hazy. Akasha's beautiful face looked even more irresistible than usual.
Maybe taking some clothes off would feel cooler… and more comfortable…
Her body began to follow Akasha's rhythm on its own.
(***)
Nursery Rhyme: "⁄(⁄⁄•⁄⁄•⁄⁄)⁄ Oohh~ So this is that legendary impure same-sex romance, right, Jack-chan?"
Jack: "Then between Akasha and Master, who's the mom?"
Jeanne Alter Lily: "Shh! We agreed to watch quietly! Why are you two talking now!?"
Paul: "Let me see too! You three are blocking the front—I can only see your butts…"
"Don't push, Paul! It's just getting to the good part—this is way more exciting than books!"
"Quiet! If you're too loud they'll notice."
"Wait—I'm falling—Paul, calm down!"
"Let me play too!!"
BOOOOM!!
The closet door burst open, and all four Lilies rolled out one after another like a snowball.
The loud crash jolted Hoshino back to full clarity.
"Whoa—dangerous, dangerous. I almost did something that would make this chapter unpublishable."
So close to success, Akasha—who had hoped tonight would be the night she finally stepped onto the path of adulthood—puffed up angrily.
"What were you all doing hiding in there!?"
The Lilies exchanged glances and answered in perfect unison:
"Field trip. For educational purposes."
Hoshino frowned.
"Educational trip… inside a closet?"
Nursery Rhyme explained,
"Akasha secretly lit weird incense earlier."
Jack nodded,
"Yep yep. It's so strong that even Heroic Spirits get dizzy from it."
Jeanne Lily delivered the finishing blow:
"She wants your body, Master!"
These little brats were very skilled at selling out their teammates at critical moments.
"Weird incense? That explains why I smelled something so sharp the moment I came in… And Akasha, you even shut the windows tightly."
With the whole plan exposed, Akasha immediately fabricated a noble-sounding excuse:
"I just saw how hard Hoshino-nee has been working lately, so I picked incense with a strong relaxing effect to help you unwind!"
"So this sauna-level room temperature is also part of your special relaxing incense? It feels like a steam bath in here."
Hoshino picked up a paper fan and fanned her flushed cheeks.
"No, Hoshino-nee…" Akasha glanced around and said firmly,
"This heat can't be from incense. The temperature has been weirdly high from the beginning."
"Anyway, open the window first. With this heat and everything sealed, it's hard to breathe."
Hoshino slid open the wooden window—
and a blast of burning air lifted her snowy bangs.
Instead of a peaceful garden, a landscape of roiling flames stretched outward.
"Is the inn on fire?"
Hoshino's first thought was immediately rejected.
This wasn't fire.
It was as if the entire inn had been thrown into a volcano.
"It's a Duel field… just like that ice arena before. Stay close, Akasha!"
Understanding instantly, Hoshino strapped on her Duel Disk, grabbed the deck from the table, and bolted out of the room.
"Two Shadow Riders in a week, huh? Working this efficiently actually saves me a lot of trouble."
Earlier, Kaibaman had stolen a target from her—
and even scolded her for it—leaving a lingering frustration.
Now the third one had shown up on their own. Convenient.
Just as she expected, the moment they stepped outside, the entire environment shifted—no longer the inn corridor.
A pillar of rock surrounded by surging magma was the only place Hoshino and Akasha could stand.
"Sensei!"
"Senpai!"
On another isolated rock, Jaden and Alexis were trapped inside a reinforced steel cage.
"Duel King… welcome to the Magma Duel Arena!
Now, in the name of Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, I pronounce your fate sealed."
Standing on the opposite rock, a long-haired man wearing a Dark Mask had his Duel Disk prepared, already waiting for her.
The three rocks formed a triangle amid the boiling sea of lava.