The sun was already sinking toward the horizon by the time Reiji stood before the cameras, Himika beside him, and told the people of Maiami what had really happened the night before.
The crowd murmured through most of it — questions, disbelief, a few scattered tears.
As everything came to an end, somewhere near the back, one voice rose just loud enough to carry.
"...Hey, doesn't that one in the white jacket, with the blue hair, kind of look like Sakaki Yuya?"
"Nah," someone answered. "We're too far away to see properly."
But on the big screen above the stage, where the whole Lancers team stood lined up for the announcement, the resemblance was hard to miss.
No one dwelled on it for long. The speeches finished, the crowd dispersed, and the sky kept sinking toward night.
LDS, That Evening
"So, how'd it go with Principal-dono?" Gongenzaka asked as they walked.
"Easier than I thought it'd be," Yuya admitted. "He agreed almost after a ruckess. My mom handled most of it, honestly. And Celina came and explained things too." He gave a small, tired smile. "The moment Principal heard something was wrong with Yuzu, he didn't even hesitate."
"A father's love for his daughter is something else." Gongenzaka said.
They passed through gate after gate, security checkpoint after security checkpoint, without a single guard stopping them or asking a single question. LDS clearly already knew exactly who they were.
The room they were led to wasn't a proper meeting hall — just a large, comfortable lounge, the kind you'd expect in a nice hotel rather than a research tower. Everyone was already there. Only Mieru wasn't present.
"The people who have come here, I believe that you have resolved to aid and take part in this war." Reiji said once the door closed. "First, I need all of you to understand something. This isn't a war we can win through luck, or through resolve alone. Academia has technology, numbers, and years of preparation behind them. If we go in unprepared, we lose people. That's not a threat. It's simply the truth."
Yuya looked around the room as Reiji spoke. Everyone was here — Gongenzaka, Sawatari, Dennis, Shun, Celina, Tsukikage, Razz, a boy in sky-blue jacket, Ryo standing quietly near the window. And by the far wall, saying nothing, stood the boy who had appeared out of nowhere today.
"Now," Reiji continued, "our Research and Development department needs each of your Duel Disk. They'll be upgraded to handle and to stablize cross-dimensional travel."
Nakajima stepped forward, collecting each one as it was handed over.
"I don't need mine touched," Shun said flatly. "It already travels between dimensions."
"It needs to work the same way ours does," Reiji said. "Our method only functions if every Disk is synced to it. Besides you need yours to be like us in order to travel dimensions by our technology."
Shun scowled but finally handed his over.
The boy by the wall finally spoke, his head lowered slightly.
"I probably startled all of you earlier, and the trouble I have ve caused," he said. "That wasn't my intention."
He paused, then started again. "My name is..."
Vance, watching quietly, wondered. "Had his memory really come back? Or just a piece of it?"
Ryo was wondering the same thing.
"...Yume," the boy finished.
No one reacted much. It was just a name.
"But I don't regret what I did earlier," Yume added, a small grin breaking through. "It felt good, honestly. Don't worry, though — I'm here to help."
Tsukikage's stance shifted, alert, ready to intervene if needed.
"Okay, hold on." Sawatari crossed his arms. "Just giving us a name doesn't explain anything. Where'd you come from? And why do you look like Sakaki Yuya?"
It was the question everyone had clearly been waiting to ask.
"Yeah," Gongenzaka added. "You really do look like him."
Yuya wasn't nearly as surprised as the others — he already knew what it meant to have a face like someone else's.
"I don't know," Yume said. "Shouldn't I be the one asking why he looks like me?"
"Our specialists have already gone through this with him," Reiji interrupted. "He isn't lying — that much we've confirmed. He genuinely doesn't know who he is." He adjusted his glasses. "What we do know is that he isn't from this dimension."
"And he's not from Xyz Dimension either," Shun added. "I asked him myself."
"Wait, not from any dimension we know?" Sawatari's eyes widened. "So he could be some kind of Academia spy!"
"We can't rule that out," Reiji said, "but we've found no trace of Fusion Dimension energy on him either."
"I don't know everyone from Xyz Dimension," Shun admitted. "I can't say for certain who might have survived the invasion. So that doesn't prove anything either way."
"Then how are we supposed to trust someone we know nothing about?" Sawatari pressed.
"I trust him."
The voice was flat, carrying no particular warmth. Celina.
"I'm in the same position he is," she said. "I don't know everything either. But I can tell he isn't lying about wanting to help." She looked around the room. "Everything Shun told me about what Academia did to Heartland, what we did to them—I believe it's true. So I want to do something that will stop Academia forever. And it's my fault that Yuzu is in danger now. I want to find her. That's not a lie either."
Yuya let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Dennis looked genuinely surprised.
Yume glanced at Celina for a moment, something flickering behind his eyes. "She looks like someone... from that game, maybe?"
"That's enough for tonight," Reiji said. "Everyone here is part of Lancers. Trusting each other is the first thing a team needs. Two days from now, ten in the morning, we gather here again."
"Why not tomorrow?" Shun demanded. "Why not right now?"
"Because we need time," Reiji said simply. "To prepare. To finish what we need to do. To make the travel system ready. Use the time however you need to." He glanced around the room one last time. "That's all for tonight. Celina, Vance, Dennis, Razz, and Yume will be staying here at LDS for now. Separate rooms, same as Shun's arrangement. Everything you need will be provided."
A Motel, Later That Night
A knock came at the door.
Yuto didn't answer right away. Something about it felt wrong.
A second knock. He sat up fast.
A third. He got to his feet and crossed the room, checking through the peephole. No one there.
He opened the door anyway, ready for a fight — but the hallway was empty. Down at his feet sat a black metallic Duel Disk, a folded note, and a single card, one clearly not meant for dueling.
He read the note slowly. When he finished, he let out a quiet breath.
"...So the time's finally come, huh."
Streets Near the Youshow School
Celina walked between Yuya and Gongenzaka, the evening lights flickering on around them.
They found Shuzo outside with the kids. When Celina told him plainly that she wasn't Yuzu, Shuzo's face went through several stages of disbelief before finally settling into something like reluctant understanding.
"I still see her in you," he admitted. "But I believe you."
Celina handed him the clothes — the ones she and Yuzu had traded at Ice area. Shuzo took them carefully, like they were something fragile.
LDS, Before the Youshow School
A female bodyguard was waiting outside Celina's door with a folded set of clothes in her arms.
"Orders," she explained, laying them out on the bed. A jeans-skirt. A plain black t-shirt. A red jacket to wear over it. A belt, sport shorts, and a pair of golden-brown leather boots.
"Thank you," Celina said, running a hand over the jacket.
"You get used to unknown eventually," the female bodyguard said, a little more casual than protocol probably called for. "It's a lot at first."
"I imagine so." Celina glanced at her. "Have you worked here long?"
"Long enough." A faint smile. "You'll be fine. Get some rest."
She left Celina alone with the new clothes and the quiet hum of the building settling in around her for the night.
Down the Rooms
Vance was shown to his room without much ceremony. Razz made a show of inspecting his like he owned the place already. Dennis looked around for any hidden cameras or microphone while acting just innocent admirer, only to find nothing. Yume lingered in the doorway of his own room a moment longer than the others, looking back down the place where Yuya and everyone had disappeared earlier—before finally stepping inside and letting the door close behind him.