Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

"O'Brien, besides me, has anyone else come looking for you?"

Still with his hands behind his back, Professor Cobra turned to O'Brien and inquired about the identities of the people he had been in contact with that day.

Without hesitation, O'Brien handed the report on the table to Professor Cobra.

"...Amon Garham? Did that representative from the East Campus come to see you? That guy is supposedly pretty smart."

Looking at the report O'Brien handed him, Professor Cobra was silent for a moment before continuing, "I see. Looks like he's a busybody..."

"Never mind him."

Returning the report to O'Brien, Professor Cobra narrowed his eyes: "More important than this, once you get to the Duel Academy, O'Brien, you must immediately begin that duel, understand?"

"..."

Without answering Professor Cobra's question, O'Brien simply stared straight at the professor in front of him.

That attitude seemed to be saying... "Are you teaching me how to do things?"

Professor Cobra, who noticed O'Brien's expression, paused for a moment before laughing: "Heh, sorry, I was being a bit too formal... I almost forgot, as my most prized creation, you are flawless."

"Ah."

Upon hearing this, the taciturn O'Brien nodded, acknowledging Professor Cobra's assessment.

He was indeed perfect, at least the best student at the Duel Academy West Branch; otherwise, he wouldn't have been qualified to come to the main campus of Duel Academy with Professor Cobra.

……

"...!!!"

On the rooftop of Duel Academy, Jaden Yuki, who was taking a leisurely afternoon nap, was suddenly awakened from his dream.

Beside him was Yusei, who was also looking bored and slacking off, with a blade of grass dangling from his mouth.

Today is the day of the freshman welcome ceremony. Saotome Rei, as the freshman representative, went to the auditorium early to prepare, while Yusei and Yuki Jaden, who were bored while waiting, went to the rooftop to slack off.

Now that they're in third grade, they have plenty of free time, so there's no need for them to act as eagerly as first and second graders.

With his arms behind his head, Yuki Jaden lay on the rooftop basking in the warm sunlight, having unknowingly fallen asleep. He seemed to have had a nightmare and woke up with a start.

Noticing this, Yusei asked curiously, "Hmm? Jaden, did you have a nightmare?"

"Ah...that seems to be the case..."

Following the direction of his head, Yuki nods at Yusei.

He didn't remember the specific details of the dream, but he vaguely sensed that it was a dream he absolutely didn't want to recall.

Whenever he tried to recall the events of his dream, an unprecedented sense of sadness would surge into his heart, overwhelming him and making him so sad that he could hardly breathe.

The sadness was so intense that even someone like Jaden Yuki, whose emotional intelligence is practically nonexistent, could clearly perceive this emotion, which was mixed with a variety of complex thoughts.

“Yu...Be...Er…”

As if possessed, Yuki Judai called out someone's name intermittently.

This name did not exist in Jaden Yuki's memory, and he was quite certain that he had never heard of anyone with this name before.

However, Yuki Judai, who called out the name, suddenly froze on the spot.

He had seen this name before.

However, it doesn't exist in my memory.

“Yubel…”

Hearing the mutterings of Jaden Yuki as he awoke from a nightmare, Yusei, with a blade of grass in his mouth, remained silent for a moment before ultimately choosing not to continue the conversation.

As a transmigrator, he naturally knew Yubel's identity, and that Yubel was Jaden Yuki's lover in his previous life, and the spirit who still coexists with him in this life.

As a child, Jaden Yuki was unable to handle Yubel's overwhelming spirit power, which often caused various accidents and resulted in injuries.

While Jaden Yuki's parents were working at the Kaiba Corporation, they took advantage of the launch of the "Synchronizer" series of cards created by Jaden Yuki into space to receive the fluctuations of the Darkness of the Universe, and also sent "Yubel," which was influencing Jaden, into space along with it.

They hoped that through this method, [Yubel] would be baptized by the darkness of the universe and transformed into a benevolent spirit.

Furthermore, in order to prevent Jaden Yuki from being affected by his terrible past memories, they erased all of Jaden Yuki's memories of Yubel.

Therefore, Jaden Yuki forgot that he actually had a companion Pokémon before he met Winged Kuriboh and the new Spacers.

However, even if Yusei knows about this matter and the truth, it would be better for Jaden Yuki to recall it himself.

If he were to convey it, the meaning would be different.

"What exactly was that dream...?"

"Curry, curry~~~"

Just as Jaden Yuki was pondering this, Winged Kuriboh's voice suddenly echoed in his ears.

Jaden Yuki, noticing the sound of the Winged Kuriboh, looked towards a spot on the roof in the direction he indicated.

Yusei, who is also a Spirit User, saw the same scene reflected in Jaden Yuki's eyes, guided by the spherical Kuriboh.

In their eyes, a small blue cat with a hazy body and a red gemstone inlaid on its tail was rolling back and forth on the roof with its back to them.

Upon seeing Yusei and Jaden Yuki, the cat immediately trotted over to them on its short legs and quickly started playing with the two Kuribohs.

Jaden Yuki: "Four ears... What is that? A blue squirrel?"

Yusei: "Hmm...aren't they cat spirits?"

After exchanging bewildered glances, Jaden Yuki and Yusei simultaneously offered their guesses.

Yusei recognized it; the spirit in front of him was [Jade Beast/Red Jade Beast].

Since this elf is here, it means that John Anderson, as its family member, must also be nearby.

In fact, Yusei always thought that Rubymon was a cat, but Jaden Yuki seemed to think that the Pokémon in front of him was more like a cute squirrel.

Although it has four ears and its tail isn't as bushy as a squirrel's...

"Hey Ruby! So you've come all the way to the rooftop!"

Just as Yusei and Jaden were observing the Rubymon playing with the Kuribohs, a cheerful boy's voice suddenly echoed around them.

Upon hearing the voice, the red jade beast immediately wagged its tail, took a step and ran towards the direction from which the voice came, and climbed up the person's trouser leg onto their shoulder.

Yusei and Jaden Yuki also turned their gazes in that direction and paused for a moment.

Appearing before Yusei and Jaden Yuki was a handsome young man with light blue hair, wearing a white and blue uniform. He looked energetic, with delicate and beautiful features, and his face was more feminine than that of a man.

If it weren't for noticing the boy's exposed Adam's apple, Yusei would have almost mistaken him for a beautiful girl disguised as a boy, just like Miss Yui back then.

"Oh, so that guy's name is Ruby."

Jaden Yuki greeted the boy, who appeared to be the master of the spirits, with great enthusiasm, while Yusei nodded slightly as a greeting.

Pretty girls are one thing, but Yu, who has a normal sexual orientation, has no intention of actively trying to build good relationships with men.

“Yes, it’s my family, Ruby from Carbuncle (Ruby).

With a warm smile, the blue-haired boy pointed to the red jade beast on his shoulder, then walked up to the two and introduced its identity to Yuki Jaden and Yusei.

"Those are winged chestnuts, and there are also spherical chestnuts..."

Noticing the appearance of the Kuriboh floating beside the two, the boy, who could also see spirits, had a look of realization flash across his face: "I see, you must be Jaden Yuki and Yusei, right? The heroes who defeated the Three Phantom Demons and the Light of Destruction..."

"Huh? You know us?" Jaden Yuki was taken aback by the boy's words. "Besides that, you can also see the Kuribohs, right?"

"Ah, I've been able to see the Pokémon from Duel Monsters since I was a child." Nodding, the blue-haired boy asked the two, "You two must be the same, right?"

No, I'm really different.

When I was a kid, I was probably still squatting at the village entrance playing in the mud...

After internally complaining about his childhood, Yusei nodded slightly in response, without refuting the boy's question.

"Hmm, I also started when I was very young... Huh? When did it start? Manjoume can't remember?"

Subconsciously, Jaden Yuki gave the same response as the blue-haired boy, but the moment he said those words, a sense of incongruity suddenly flashed through his mind.

When I was a kid...

Who am I...?

With his palms on his temples, Jaden Yuki tried hard to recall his childhood.

However, he couldn't recall how he came to see the elf.

After shaking his head, the optimistic Jaden Yuki decided to temporarily forget about this trouble and put it behind him.

"Speaking of which, I don't think I've seen you before. Are you a freshman who came here this year?"

"Well... I guess I'm new here, so I guess I'll say I'm new."

The boy shrugged, smiled, and gave a noncommittal answer.

"Really? Is that so?"

Jaden Yuki smiled and extended his hand toward the boy, saying, "Well then, as a third-year student, welcome to this Duel Academy!"

"Hmm... I have a strange feeling about it."

"Me too, I also feel like this isn't the first time we've met."

Grasping the outstretched arm of Jaden Yuki, and witnessed by Yusei, John Anderson, using the [Crystal Beast] deck, and Jaden Yuki, using the [Hero] deck, had their historic first meeting.

662 Undercurrents

After exchanging pleasantries, Yusei and Jaden Yuki learned the name of the blue-haired boy from him—John Anderson.

Like the other two, John also has the ability to see the spirits of the Duel Monsters.

What he possesses are seven Duel Spirits born from seven rainbow-colored gems of different colors.

The Ruby Beast that appeared before the two of them just now, which John called "Ruby," is one of these seven spirits, the "Red" Gem Beast representing the seven colors of the rainbow.

After the introductions were finished, the three of them didn't chat for long.

Because at this moment, Kenzan and Sho had already found the rooftop and were reminding the two to attend the opening ceremony of the Duel Academy.

After being reminded by the two, Yusei and Jaden Yuki remembered that today was the opening ceremony, so they waved goodbye to John.