Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

"I'm so... so sorry!!!"

With his hands clasped in front of him in a gesture of apology, Jaden Yuki, who was standing guard by the door, wore an embarrassed expression.

He does bear some responsibility for this incident. Now that the boy who suddenly appeared has already run away at lightning speed, he's the only one who'll come to apologize to Professor Kunonos...

"If 'sorry' could solve the problem, what's the point of having police?"

“Listen up! I am…%&￥&*&＃@…”

Professor Kunonos, who was about to continue his outburst after being completely unmoved by Jaden Yuki's sincere apology, was abruptly interrupted by Emi, who was also the school doctor, who forcibly turned his face away.

"Ouch...it hurts!!!"

"...Um, Ayukawa...could you please be a little gentler...?"

As the alcohol-soaked cotton ball made intimate contact with Professor Kunonos's "handsome" face, Professor Kunonos, feeling intense pain once again, couldn't help but let out a scream filled with complaints.

“Judai didn’t do it on purpose. Let’s forgive him since he apologized so sincerely… Professor Chronos!”

After disinfecting Professor Kunonos's wound with alcohol without any gentleness, Ms. Huimei immediately placed an ice pack on Professor Kunonos's eye socket.

"No! No! No!"

Professor Kunonos, feeling the burning sensation of the alcohol and the chill of the ice pack, and enjoying the exhilarating sensation of both fire and ice, uttered three consecutive denials.

"If I just forgive him like that, wouldn't it be like spilled beer?"

Professor Kunonos glanced at Jaden Yuki standing to the side out of the corner of his eye and suddenly uttered some rather inexplicable words.

"...Huh? Beer?"

Hearing the inexplicable words coming from Professor Kunonos, Ms. Huimei couldn't help but show a puzzled expression.

As a Japanese person, she couldn't quite understand Professor Kunonos's dry humor.

"What you just said meant... the beer that was going to spill—half-baked..."

Professor Kunonos stretched out his finger and shook it, revealing a comedic expression. Combined with the comical look on his face, he looked exactly like a clown!

"...What a terrible joke!"

Sighing at the void beside him, Jaden Yuki finally understood what Professor Quinnos was trying to say.

That's such a lame joke!

"Huh? Did you just say something? You bad student!"

Professor Kunonos, who was chatting with Ms. Emi, vaguely heard Judai Yuki's mutterings and quickly turned around to listen to him.

"Speaking of which... even if you want to hold me responsible... I wasn't the one who hit that ball in the first place, was I?"

Recalling that flamboyant boy, Jaden Yuki couldn't help but show a look of disgust on his face.

When it's time to fight, they run faster than anyone else; now that it's time to take responsibility, they've vanished without a trace...

"Dama (Shut up!)!"

With a drawn-out tone, Professor Kunonos, feigning nonchalance, removed the ice pack from his face, stood up from his chair, and walked towards where Jaden Yuki was, saying, "Isn't it a bit too late to say it's someone else's fault now?"

With his hands on his hips and his face close to Jaden Yuki's, Professor Kunonos, looking every bit the villain, pinned Jaden Yuki against the door!

"A transparent world, a heart as clear as a mirror, the power of a hero, right... You think you're so tough?"

Recalling Jaden Yuki's previous chuunibyou (delusional) remarks, he continued, "As punishment! You brat, why don't you try your hand at the tennis club for a day!"

A new idea seemed to have formed in his mind, and Professor Kunonos's lips slowly curled up into a smile.

"What?! What is that? This is so absurd..."

Just as Judai Yuki, looking puzzled, was about to refuse Professor Chronos's request, Professor Chronos, who had anticipated this, quickly said in a threatening tone in a low voice, "If you don't agree... hehehehehe... you'll lose your credits..."

"..."

"……Fine."

With a conflicted expression on his face, and looking at Professor Kunonos's sinister smile, Jaden Yuki finally reluctantly agreed to a one-day club experience.

"Okay! Then it's decided!"

As if afraid that Jaden Yuki might change his mind, Professor Kunonos, having received a positive answer, nervously patted Jaden Yuki on the shoulder, and then left the infirmary whistling as if nothing had happened.

"Are you alright, Judai? Professor Kunonos didn't give you any trouble just now, did he?"

Seeing Professor Kunonos leave so readily, Ms. Emi, feeling somewhat puzzled, couldn't help but ask Jaden Yuki, who was left standing alone.

Because Professor Kunonos and Judai had been talking in hushed tones, Ms. Emi hadn't heard the specifics of their conversation.

Just a moment ago, he looked furious and ready to confront her, but how come he turned around and left with a big smile on his face?

Could it be that those two just made some shady deal?

Could it be... that Professor Kunonos has taken a liking to Jaden Yuki?

Otherwise, why would the teacher target him?

Ugh! This is so intriguing!

"It's nothing... Professor Kunonos just told me to go to the tennis club for a day to experience it..."

Looking at Ms. Emi, whose face was flushed and seemed a little abnormal, Judai Yuki couldn't help but scratch his head.

"What... So that's all there is to it..."

Ms. Huimei couldn't help but sigh softly when she didn't hear the exciting news she had imagined.

Just now, when she saw Professor Kunonos pinning Jaden Yuki against the wall, for some reason, she suddenly felt a strange and indescribable feeling.

The feeling was as if a sealed switch had been pressed, opening a forbidden door that could not be looked at directly...

Her inner fangirl seems to be subtly awakening...

"Ahaha... um... Ms. Huimei..."

"If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now..."

Seeing that Ms. Emi seemed somewhat disappointed, Jaden Yuki couldn't help but break out in a large bead of sweat on his forehead.

After letting out two dry laughs, Jaden Yuki fled the infirmary as if he were escaping a disaster, quickly returning to the stadium to reunite with Yusei and the others...

At this point, tennis class had ended, and the girls seemed to have already left. Now, only Yusei, who was waiting for Jaden Yuki, and Sho Marufuji were left here.

"……call!"

Recalling the scene just now, Jaden Yuki still patted his chest with lingering fear.

Although he didn't know exactly what had happened, his intuition told him that the best choice he had made was to leave from there...

If I stay any longer, I might really be mistaken for a gay man...

"What's wrong? You look out of breath."

Seeing Jaden Yuki running back from the infirmary, Yusei couldn't help but ask curiously.

“ε=(?ο｀*))) Ugh... What a disaster…”

Upon hearing Yusei's question, Yuki Jaden quickly recounted his ordeal in detail.

"Hey! So, big brother, you're going to the tennis club for your induction experience next?" Marufuji Sho exclaimed in surprise upon hearing Yuki Judai's complaint.

In tennis, Jaden Yuki is only slightly better than Yusei, who is a novice, and Jaden himself, who is a complete novice. If he were to face a professional, Jaden Yuki's level would be completely outmatched...

Professor Kunonos, this is a case of settling a personal score while on official business!

Unable to defeat Jaden Yuki in a duel, he decided to humiliate him in other ways!

“It’s started again…”

Touching his chin, Yusei analyzed Professor Kunonos's plan and immediately made a decision: "How about this, I'll go with you!"

"If any problems arise later, having one more person means having one more way out."

"Yusei...you're so good to me~~~"

Hearing Yusei say that, Jaden Yuki couldn't help but shed tears of emotion. Such a selfless roommate who had helped him time and time again was hard to find even with a lantern!

"Xiang, what do you say?"

Yusei asked Marufuji Sho, who had not yet expressed his opinion.

Marufuji Sho, who has a talent for being rebellious, is the kind of person who would easily choose to give up or run away if no one pushes him from behind.

They can share the good times, but not the bad.

To Yusei, Marufuji Sho was just an ordinary classmate he didn't intend to get to know better.

"I...I...I..." After hesitating for a moment, Sho Marufuji, who was being watched by Yusei and Jaden Yuki, stammered, "Of course...I'm going too!"

"...OK! Let's do it this way! We'll all go check out the tennis club later. That kid who ran away earlier, he's probably connected to the tennis club too!"

Having made his decision, Yusei led the two away from there, heading towards the tennis club.

……

"Asuka, I know who that boy was!"

Inside the girls' changing room, Asuka, who had just changed into her gym clothes and put on her Obelisk blue school uniform, turned around and heard Momoe's slightly excited voice.

"...A boy? What boy?"

Feeling somewhat puzzled, Asuka tucked her tracksuit into the closet and then approached Junko and Momoe, who were walking up to her.

"That's the boy who just saved you!"

She held out her finger, a gossipy expression on her face.

"Hey! You two, don't talk so loudly! It's embarrassing... You're talking like I asked you to do the investigation..."

Feeling the gazes from the girls around her, Asuka, her face flushed slightly, covered her head and gave her best friends a reproachful look.

"But it's really fun!"

"Wait... let's talk somewhere else!"

Seeing that Momoe, unable to contain her excitement, seemed to be planning to announce the information she and Junko had collected right there, Asuka, realizing what was happening, quickly waved her hand to interrupt her.