Chapter 2: My Job is Never Easy
Richua's POV
I sit in the corner of my favourite ramen store and waited for my bills to be processed. Downing the last drop of my green tea, I take out my Duel Disk to check my memo and remind myself on the things I need to do. Ever since my senpai's abrupt retirement, and my promotion following his retirement, my schedule has been busier. At first, I thought that I would struggle with my new role, but as it turns out, my senpai has already prepared me for this role. During my internship with him, he had mentioned that one day I will lead some people and had even taught me a few moral and practical lessons on leading. To this day, I have been applying his teachings. Gosh, I really miss him.
On the other hand, it has been a year since he left and in that amount time, things has changed. We have new batches of students and teachers alike… while new faces are a good change of pace, sometimes you could not help but to think of the good times. Then again, not all changes are pleasant. Especially with that one new guy…
My thoughts were then interrupted when the entrance of the ramen store slide open. I better be going now. I packed my things and prepared to leave until a very nostalgic voice brings back the good old times.
"Ittsumono," the voice spoke with familiarity and nostalgia. I could see a grey figure passing by me and then sat down at the corner of the store just opposite of my seat. He has an expecting smile mixed into his gentle and relaxed posture. He looks up at the television and rests his head on his knuckles.
Upon closer inspection, while he still have his glasses, his hair no longer looked like wings and is combed to his left. Next, his apparel is significantly different than his work clothing. Gone were the male version of our work uniform, and in its place was a black turtleneck and a grey leather jacket with blue hexagonal patterns. The only similarity between his casual and work apparel were his glasses, pants and shoes.
Oh my gosh! It's him! My senpai! Calm down, Richua! Calm down. Deep breaths.
I cannot believe it. He's here! In this restaurant. I'm so glad to take that break! Alright, here goes.
"Ara, what a coincidence." I called him out as I approach him.
He turned to me and there was a silence. I then study his appearance. His face is angular, his green eyes has a mix of strictness but also kindness which then turned to nostalgia and closes. His corner of lips slowly arches upwards and he greeted me just as I have remembered.
"Richua." This is my former senior, whom has retired from LDS and despite his absence, still holds the position as the strongest teacher in LDS. In fact, after his departure, everyone has agreed to give him a title befitting of his position – The Machine Emperor.
Yuuki's POV
I decided to have my fill of some divine ambrosia on a whim and who would have thought that I would reunite with my former cute junior and crush. If I want to describe and compare her to the day I last met her, she has definitely refined a lot.
The atmosphere around her has this commanding aura to her, befitting of a leader. She has grown more confident, as evident in her posture. But most importantly, her experience has flourished with leaps and bounds.
"May I sit here?" she inquired.
On one hand, my playful side wanted to reject her or make some inappropriate and cringy one liners as a prank. However, my rational and simpleton side is superior. "You may." She sat down.
Let's just say, I can't my eyes off her now.
"To think that I would be meeting you again when I was reminiscing the moment of my retirement. I suppose I should do it more often if it means I can meet you again." I started the conversation.
"Ara, that is indeed a coincidence."
My Duel Spirit, her voice! And she said Ara! Now do it twice!
Ahem.
"Yes, a very very good coincidence." I then turned to the TV that is now broadcasting the duel between the champion, Strong Ishijima and my student, Sakaki Yuuya. "Ah, its starting." I nod to the TV and she turn to see my point of interest.
"Is that Strong Ishijima? The current champion? I didn't know you were interested in this? Wait…" She seem to have a revelation but I'm already ahead of her.
"No, of course not." I shake my head, "My interest is his opponent."
"His… opponent?" Richua turned to the TV again and by great timing, the shot cuts to Sakaki Yuuya, who is riding on a hippo and is dashing away. "He looks familiar…"
"Of course, we met him before on our first date, 3 years ago." Oh yes, we dated alright. "His father did not show up."
"Ah him." She said but had a faint blush on her, recalling our date. We did many things on that day, dressed to impress, met up at the station, take a train, have breakfast, watch the duel, hear the kid yell (we were near him at that time, more coincidence) and finally walk back home together, while holding hands. But sadly, I don't feel ready to advance our relationship yet. Call it a... beta instinct.
"But still, I don't see why the boy should be of interest to you." She questioned me curiously as she has known my personality and interests like it was the back of her hand.
"Well, let's just say, I'm his teacher now." My attention is caught again when the chef has prepared and served my usual meal. As I dug into my ramen, I could hear my former colleagues confused yet curious questioning.
"You're back to teaching? Which school?"
"You Show Duel School. Soon after I retire, I was asked by my friend to be a substitute teach for his school. I made a promise to him a long time ago and I accepted the position immediately." I spoke between mouthfuls of noodles and before you know it, I finish the entire bowl of noodles. Using a soup spoon, I started scooping spoonful after spoonful of miso soup and ingest it. "Thank you for the meal."
"Huh?" I heard Richua's gasp of surprise. "Wait, how did he summon all those monsters?"
Oh, Yuuya already Pendulum Summon huh. I suppose I can spoil it all to her.
"Ibi-sensei," normally, outside of work, we would call each other by our name, however when it is work related or we need a serious conversation, we refer to each other by our family name. Judging by the way how I suddenly call her like how we used to as colleagues, Richua turned to me in surprise.
"Ah, Yu-, Kyou-sen-, sensei-…" I guess old habits die hard, but I don't blame her.
"Just Yuuki is fine. In any case, keep watching and tell me what can you observe on his field." This has always been my method of teaching. Provide a visual representation, have them describe and relay what they observe, and then correct their observations and mistakes.
Richua tried her best to gather all the information she could see and when the duel is over, she turned to me and answered, "He has three monsters on his field, all of them were summoned at the same time. I don't think they was Special Summoned by a card effect or an action magic."
"What else can you see?"
"Well…" I supposed due to the limitation of watching the duel from a TV is limiting in its own way so she's bound to miss a few things. Moreover, considering that this is a new summoning method, not everyone is knowledgeable enough to know the full picture.
"You did well enough," I told her, "Yes, they were not summoned separately but in a way, they are special summoned and not by a card effect."
"Is that possible?" Richua questioned curiously but her skepticism was there.
"Oh no, that wasn't possible. Until now."
"Until…"
RING
Well, just when I am about to get to the good part, I got interrupted. Richua quickly rummage her bag to fish out her Duel Disk. She taps and answered the call. While I am unable to hear what the other side was talking, I could tell what the contents were about based on the responses Richua gave which includes:
"Discovery?" "Now?" "Alright!"
And the clues and events that has transpired.
"Duty calls huh."
"Yes, I'm sorry but I must leave now. They wanted me back immediately because of a new discovery." She quickly put away her Duel Disk and stood up.
"Pendulum huh, of course, I'll see you again. Don't forget to call me when you're free. I get a little lonely at night." I teased.
"N-N… Geez!" she stuttered and storms out of the restaurant.
Now I'm left alone to myself again.
Richua's POV
"Geez, Yuuki-senpai."
I fumed at his not-so-subtle teasing. In any case, for now, I should focus on getting back to work. I got a call earlier and they tell me to return for a briefing about a new discovery. Speaking of discovery… I was thinking back to the duel I watched on the television earlier. Then, when I thought about what he said…
"Wait…" I paused. "What did he mean by… Pendulum? Why did he say that all of a sudden?"
I only mentioned that we have a discovery, but I didn't say anything about Pendulum, so why…
No no focus. Let's hurry back first.
A few minutes later, I returned to LDS, my workplace and quickly enter the meeting room. This meeting room is unlike the teacher's lounge's because here, I can be facing some important figures, namely the CEO of Leo Corporation. I took a seat next to one of my superiors, who much like the rest of the people currently in this room, except me, wears the standard blue uniform, which signifies their status as the elite force of LDS. In fact, I am the odd one out of the group but it is within my position nonetheless as I am the representative of the teacher's department. I take out my Duel Disk and prepared to take as many notes as I can catch.
We waited for another few minutes before the most important person of this building come in.
A teen entered the room first, followed by a large imposing man-in-black, as Yuuki would call them due to their appearance. Most outsiders would wonder why a teen, whose no more that 20 would be here of all places. To that, I would answer that this teen, is the CEO of Leo Corporation.
Akaba Reiji, is a thin young man with pale skin and grey hair with the front having lighter grey layers than his back. He has purple eyes and wears red-framed spectacles. His ears are pierced with black studs. On top of that, despite being a CEO, he dresses casually with navy sweater, white pants and white shoes with no socks. He also has a red scarf wrapped around his neck.
If I were to compare him to Yuuki, I could say that they could be siblings in a way.
He took a seat in front of the meeting table and began.
"I apologize for calling everyone back on a short notice."
The way he spoke really does reminds me of how Yuuki speak. Confident and knowledgeable. The difference between them is that Yuuki's speeches would make him more approachable while Reiji's speeches commands respect and are more businesslike.
"Without further delay, I will brief everyone on our main topic today." The screen behind him flickered and it shows a video of a familiar scene. "As most of you here are familiar, during the Championship tournament, Sakaki Yuuya, the opponent of Strong Ishijima, has managed to win the duel. Please observe."
To clarify his point, the video played and I'm hit with a severe sense of déjà vu. It all plays out accordingly, and how his dragon was destroyed, bringing his Life Points down to 400. Then, after his draw, he did something and was about to summon 3 monsters at the same time. This was the part I missed. When he put down two cards, I can see two transparent pillars, each with a spell caster in it rise up. The white one has a 1 underneath him, while the black one has an 8. Was that… how he was able to summon them at once?
"As many of you may guess," Reiji continued, "Our research department believe that this is a new discovery and Sakaki Yuuya may be the key to this new summoning method."
New summoning method? Can it be…
"Um," I raised my hand as I wished to clarify something that has been nagging at me the entire time, since my meeting with Yuuki, "By any chance, is this new summoning method called… Pendulum?"
The room became silent and I felt everyone's eyes on me. Most of them were that of confusion while the most prominent one, coming from Reiji and his men-in-black, were that of inquisition and curiosity.
"How did you know?" surprisingly it was the man-in-black beside him who was asking the question, "How did you know about the name of this summoning method already when we are about to reveal it in this meeting?"
I take in a mouthful of breath and steady myself before revealing everything. "My old colleague told me the name of the summoning."
"Who is this old colleague you are talking about?" this time, it was Reiji who inquired.
"Kyou Yuuki."
Another pause and then whispers.
"Kyou Yuuki, isn't he…"
"Wait, he's the guy who…"
"… from a year ago…"
"The Machine Emperor…"
"Nakajima, bring up his profile." Reiji's order seems to have killed the whispers. The man-in-black, now named Nakajima, starts tapping on his tablet and the screen behind him changed to a complete character profile of Yuuki.
"Here it is, Mr. President. Kyou Yuuki. 28 years old. He was a teacher here in LDS for 7 years before announcing his retirement a year ago." His man-in-black announced. "After the stunt he did during his retirement, LDS starts calling him as the strongest teacher in LDS and also gave him a title - Machine Emperor. He has no records of dueling in any competitions."
"What about his duel records during his time in LDS." Reiji inquired.
"Here they are." He tapped on the tablet again and a is now displaying his win records. "Wait, this is…"
"100%..."
I could hear Reiji blurted that number out with a slight disbelieving undertone and I was shocked to hear about that. I thought Yuuki would have at most 80% win rate but to think that he has never lost once… But that wasn't the shocking part.
"T-That's not all. According to the data," Nakajima continued as he recovered from his surprise, "all of the decks that he has been using for all these duels were different. Some of which were trial decks that were prepared for the students' examinations. Moreover, he has even won by implementing multiple limitations and restrictions on himself."
He was able to use the trial decks to that extent? I have personally tried some of the trial deck before and it was rather difficult to get the hang on using cards that I am not used to. Yet, Yuuki was able to use them like it was his own. Wait… didn't he used a trial deck that one time and even set a condition to limit himself? Holy crap…
"He did all that too… Which class did he teach?"
"All of them sir. But most importantly, here." Another tap and this time, it was a thesis report with the title, "True Facts about Super Polymerization – by Kyou Yuuki." "He has submitted this thesis under the pretense of true facts but the research department was unable to carry out and prove his theories therefore this thesis report was placed under an indefinite review."
Super Polymerization… I have come across the term a number of times and like most rumours, I simply ignored them. However, I never knew that Yuuki had written something like this. If my time with Yuuki had taught me anything, its that despite how outlandish he may sound sometimes, the things he had taught me and in class, were never wrong unless he states otherwise.
"Send that thesis to my office at once. Also, do we know where he is now? Or his new employment?" I believe I can help… I do have some questions of my on for Yuuki.
"No sir, but we will find out about-"
"Um…" I called out again, and once more all eyes are on me, "It's You Show Duel School. He's now working at You Show Duel School as an assistant teacher."
Another silence until Reiji rests his elbows on the table, his eyes shined with great interests as he stared at me. "Is this also fate? Did he teach Sakaki Yuuya how to perform that summoning?" he asked.
"I'm… I'm not sure." Was all I could answer.
"Kyou Yuuki…" Reiji's eyes closed for a moment before he opens them again, "For now, I want everyone to find out more about this Pendulum Summon, also I want to know everything about both Sakaki Yuuya and Kyou Yuuki's personal life, no matter how trivial." Then Reiji's cold stare turned to me. "You, I have an assignment for you."
Yuuki's POV
In my entire time here at You Show Duel School, things were and have always been slow. The reason being is that this place is just like every other duel school, with some exceptions of course. Competition is fierce and despite dueling being a passion for everyone in this world, it is also a business. Championships and events in Maiami City are mostly centered around dueling. That is not to say that there are no standard educational system for linguistics, mathematics, sciences and so on.
To clarify, these dueling schools can be viewed as cocurricular activities outside of school. Unlike the standard cocurricular activities, dueling can be optional as I've met my shares of kids and teens who have shown no interests in dueling and plans to pursue other interests.
In any case, You Show Duel School is not popular per se, rather is similar to most duel school sans a few that stood out. However, today, or more specifically, the day after Yuuya's victory in the Championship, and the debut of Pendulum Summoning, we at You Show Duel School has grown popular overnight. And with this new gain in popularity, comes new applicants.
"Attention!" I barked to convey my message across the huge crowd that has gathered to this school. And as you expect from a huge crowd, there will be chaos. Fortunately, unlike my previous life, the kids here are more well-mannered and actually listen. Probably the perks of anime, or Japanese culture. "Anyone who wish to apply for our Duel School must fill out these application forms with your name!"
Cue everyone in the crowd raising their hands.
"LINE UP! LINE UP!" I raised my voice, "Form a line and take a form. Pencils will be provided for those who did not have any!" The crowd did just that and everything becomes just as orderly.
"Sensei!"
"Yuuki-sensei!"
I heard a boy and a girl called out my name. Turning around as I multitask while facing the two owners of the voices. Both owners are kids, with one of them being a chubby round yellow themed boy while the other is a smaller but cuter red themed girl. These two are my students here along with Yuuya, Yuzu and occasionally Gongenzaka.
"Futoshi, Ayu." I called out their respective names, "Yuzu is in the back making preparations with Yuuya."
"You seem busy. Can we help?" The girl offered and the boy nodded. Well, aren't they the cutest.
"How wonderful. But that's not necessary, leave this to the adults. You kids should be having fun." I grabbed another stack of forms as the ones I have on hand are depleted, "Speaking of fun, don't you two have homework from school?"
The boy, Futoshi, answered "The principle told 'everyone' to come, even though its only you guys, Yuzu, Yuuya, me and Ayu."
"Ah right, that." I sighed, "I guess our passionate coach just want to find some excuse to flex on his newly acquired Solid Vision System." I turned to the direction where room with the system in question is installed. It did not take me long to install the piece of hardware… but the principle has been spreading his skin diseases on the machine by rubbing it with his cheeks like a cat. "He's been in there since I installed it last night. When I came in this morning, I found him clinging to that da- that thing while drooling."
"Geh." "Ew."
The part with the drool was a lie. But NOT the sleeping and clinging part, in fact I plan on making him clean that bloody thing before anyone else touches it. Who knows what else other than his skin, may have come in contact with the machine.
"But still, thanks to Yuuya and his… Pendulum Summon, he saved this school."
"Yeah, that Pendulum Summon he did was so awesome. Shibireru~" That's the boy's motif right there.
At the mention of Pendulum Summon, the crowd who is lining up and filling the forms inquire if Yuuya will be performing the summon. To that I gave a mischievous know it all smug huff as I already know the results of it but nonetheless confirm their inquiries.
Half an hour later, the briefing begins while I am left at the counter arranging the new applicant's form… BAH who am I kidding. There's only one form I need to worry about. I rummage through the form and found the person in question – Yamashiro Tatsuya, a blue haired boy wearing a brown sleeveless jacket over his white collared T-shirt.
Setting the entire forms other than the boy's form aside, I start inputting his particulars into the system. Before I can finalize his registration, I need his and his parent's approval. And once I've input his particulars, wouldn't I know it, a huge crowd pass through the counter, their faces are an assortment of disappointment or anger.
"No surprise right there." I took the forms that I set aside and feed them to the shredder.
Exiting the counter and arriving at the point of interest, I could see that Yuuya is now trying to master his newly found powers, so to speak.
I wonder, should I try to intervene?
I guess not. After all, Yuuya, Yuzu, and Gongenzaka, who has arrived earlier and was in the Solid Vision System control room, are having fun right now.
Instead, I turned to see the new boy who decided to join us.
"Oh hello there Tatsuya, I see you decided to join our school." I greeted with a bow.
"Um, how do you know my name?" the boy asked.
"I remember every kid who comes and goes from this school. And you were here a few days. I still remember the bright look on your face when you watched Yuuya duel. Amazing, isn't he?"
"Yeah, Yuuya-niichan is amazing." He agreed.
"Speaking of amazing, Futoshi, Ayu, would you like to spend some time with your new friend? Maybe help him explore this school while you're at it." I suggested.
"Of course, sensei!" said Futoshi.
"Great idea! Come on Tatsuya-kun."
"Shibireru~"
Later that day, the children were picked up by their parents and have left the school. Yuuya, along with Gongenzaka, stayed behind with Yuzu to continue their training. Yuzu tho, left them a bit earlier because she needed to prepare for school tomorrow.
Oh yes, the You Show Duel School, is both a school and home for the principle and his daughter, Yuzu.
On the other hand, I decided to stay with the two boys as they continue to, even now, fails to perform a Pendulum Summon. This is take number… 289… oh… well this won't do at all. In fact, it is already midnight and they are still at it…
On a side note, I remembered my first night here in this dimension. Well, the first night after I regain the memories of my previous incarnation, I have quite the shock of my life. Imagine this, it's the middle of the night, everything was quiet. The air is fresh and cool. The room and sky is dark with the moon illuminating the darkness. And me, sleeping peacefully for the night. Now… imagine a giant explosion erupting on the street.
Naturally, I panicked and opened my windows to find out what's going on. To my surprise… there was a duel going on, in the middle of the night. Isn't there some kind of rules that prohibits dueling at night? Especially when the duel itself produces explosive noise pollution. What I did next… well… I just curl into my bed and hope the duel is over. Nothing else happen afterwards… until it happened again in the morning.
Another explosion but this time. I came out and panicked. While the people passing by me, either think I was the idiot or move along to avoid eye contact with a weirdo like me…
Not the best first day but you would grow to acclimate to these kinds of noise pollution eventually. Nowadays, when I hear explosions in the background, I use my superpower from my previous incarnation of "manufactured ignorance" or in simpler terms "make don't know". That was a cultural language joke that means "pretend nothing happened" or "ignore".
"290."
Ah, already… Ok I can't this anymore.
"Stop! STOP! I can't take it anymore. Yuuya!" I cried out, "Let me show you what you did wrong!"
So I gave them the tip that they overlooked. I point out the scale at the side of the pendulum card and explain that the level of the monsters they are trying to bring out were not in between both scales. For example, Stargazer Magician has a scale of 1 while Timegazer Magician has a scale of 8. Therefore, when they have a scale of 1 ~ 8, they can pendulum summon monsters between Level 2 to 7. On the contrary, if they replace Stargaze Magician with Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon with a scale of 4, they can only pendulum summon monsters between Level 5 to 7.
When they realize this mistake, they grew silent presumably questioning their life and why are they so stupid, they decided to put my teaching to practice. Needless to say, their 291st attempt was a success. And with that, I decided to bug out but not before reminded them to tidy up their mess before heading home… much to their dismay.
As I was on the way home, I got a call. To my surprise, it was from Richua… Oh… then again I did tell her to call me so…
Ahem.
I picked up.
"Good evening," I greeted as I leaned against the lamp post.
"Good evening Yuuki," man to hear her voice again, especially at night. "Say, are you free tomorrow?"
"Oh? Is this a date?" I teased but couldn't help but be giddy at the thought. To spend time and have fun with her again, just like the old days. "I must say, this is… surprising but a good one."
"Oh shush, I'm too busy to have a date ever since you push all your supposed responsibility on me." She argued but in a low voice.
"Yeah, I did. But you are the only person I can trust those responsibility with at that time."
"Oh, but to retire at the same time!?" she sounded frustrating… I don't blame her.
"…Sorry…" was all I can say.
"Oh, it's fine. Thanks to you, I am where I am now. Instead, thank you."
I smiled as I hear her say that.
"But that's not why I called. Are you free tomorrow?" she asked but this time, I can detect some seriousness in her tone.
"I can always make time just for you. What do you need Richua?"
"Well… our president wants to speak with you, face-to-face."
Oh…
Our president huh… that means I caught the attention of Akaba Reiji…
"Ibi-sensei, tell YOUR president that instead of meeting me in person, he should observe me at the LDS Center Court instead." I informed her and I could hear her confusion at my implication. "He will know why. Let's see… junior high school will be over at around 3.15 and the time needed to reach the court will be… after the sightseeing should be around 3.40 to 4 in the afternoon… Hmmmm…"
I contemplate and arrange my thoughts on how I want to approach this. On one hand, I want humiliate a certain privileged boy. On the other hand… there is a certain "spy" will be joining us soon.
"Tell him that I will meet with him after the due- on second thought, I think its best I enter the court AFTER his former interest leave. I do not like to stand out and if he cannot respect that privacy, then consider our deal voided."
"That's… alright, I will tell him about it. Anyways, good night." She ended the call.
… Love you.
Sigh, damn it… to think an OP isekai protagonist like me who can take on a legion, still couldn't utter those words.
Well, there's always next time…
Tomorrow… is when a certain blondie decided to do something he is about to regret. I best get home now…
Richua's POV
I ended the call and turned my superior. "Was that to your liking Mr. President."
Reiji's pose did not change. One could imagine what could he be thinking behind those flashing glasses. In fact, the more I look at him, the more I could see Yuuki on Reiji, especially with how they carry themselves. Until suddenly, I could swear I saw the corners of his mouth arching upwards ever so slightly into a faint smirk on his ever-cold stare. Was that a trick of the light?
"Nakajima, cancel all my meetings for tomorrow and get me in contact with Shingo Sawatari. Ibi, you may leave."
I stood up and bowed before leaving. Once I have left the room, I could only sigh in relief after being in the same room with my superior for such a long time. This has taken everything out of me. Seriously, my senpai… well former senpai, if only you would know what had you done… then again maybe he does know. Sigh…
Men…
It was also one of the reasons why I love him too… I really need that date. Let's see, tomorrow I have…
Ugh…
With him… I might as well get home now. That "man" is going to be the death of me.
Author's Notes: First of all, good day everyone. I understand that I have not responded to some of your review and message a long time ago. But do know this, time and again I kept having thoughts on how things can and should play out throughout my fiction. For those of you who were once a fan of Archaic's Virtue please accept my apologies for discontinuing that series as I felt that the fiction gave me some cringy feelings as I read it.
Next, I must also state that as of now (28th July 2023), I have wrote up to Arc 1, Chapter 5. Only reason why they aren't posted yet is because I am reinspecting for inconsistencies. Also do note that they will be posted sparingly so that I can have a consistency in quality and speed.
Thirdly, this fiction will follow a majority of the main canon but due to the inclusion of my self-insert, I will be adding and altering certain scenes in order to fit the narrative of this fiction. Think of it as a butterfly effect.
Lastly, I hope everyone (new and old readers) enjoy this fiction.
I will not be placing any author's notes or announcements in my future chapters unless it is to announce any important real life troubles that may or may not cause an unintended hiatus on my end.