"Two Senseis?!"
"How is this possible? Am I dreaming?"
"This is... double the joy!"
The bizarre scene before them naturally caused a commotion among the female students.
"Although, looking closely, this Hoshino Sensei seems a little smaller compared to usual~."
Even with Akasha's height-boosting insoles, Hoshino was still shorter than her future self. This left her feeling oddly conflicted—neither like a victory nor a loss.
"This is bad... We've ssed up big ti..." Realizing the situation was spiraling out of control, Akasha quickly ducked her head, trying to slink away into the crowd.
Of course, before leaving, she grabbed Hoshino's wrist, dragging her along.
"Anyway, let's retreat first, Hoshino-chan! Back to the room to prepare for battle! The enemy's counterattack will definitely be ferocious, and there may even be sacrifices!"
So... is my future self so sort of terrifying monster? Hoshino thought, confused, as Akasha dragged her down the hallway.
That said, if sacrifices were indeed necessary, she secretly hoped Musashi would step up for the role.
Bang!
Akasha slamd the door shut with all her might, transforming it into an imaginary barrier between ti and space.
"Yo~ You're back so soon. What's with the terrified expressions?" Musashi greeted them nonchalantly, still lounging on the sofa, having rely swapped her previous snack for a new one.
"We saw... !" Hoshino blurted, still in shock.
Musashi casually tossed a peanut into the air, catching it in her mouth. "Crunch, crunch~. So what? Isn't eting yourself the whole reason you ca here?"
Hoshino: (._.)?
"Yeah, why am I freaking out like this?" Hoshino realized she had completely fallen into Akasha's panicked rhythm.
But while the thought seed simple enough, the actual experience of eting oneself was entirely different. It wasn't sothing anyone could truly prepare for.
Akasha, still jittery, crossed her arms in righteous indignation. "With so many people around, of course, Hoshino-chan, as the fake, had to escape first! Otherwise, it'd be super awkward!"
"Why are you so quick to call the fake? I'm also the real Hoshino Chiyuki!"
Knock, knock, knock~
Gentle yet rhythmic knocking ca from the door. But to the two hiding behind the sofa, it sounded like the ominous chi of impending doom.
"They're here! What do we do?!" Hoshino, who had just resolved to stay calm, was now trembling behind the sofa with Akasha.
Sure enough, eting oneself wasn't sothing ordinary people could handle. Especially when it was your future self—the version of you that held all the answers to the next ten years while you knew nothing. It felt like facing an invisible enemy.
Musashi, on the other hand, looked at the two of them with utter disbelief. "What's wrong with you two? It's just soone knocking at the door."
With a nimble flip, Musashi stood up and dusted off her hands. "If you're both so scared, let handle this~."
"Musashi?" Hoshino hesitated, rembering Akasha's earlier dramatic talk of sacrifices. Should she stop her?
But Musashi waved dismissively. "Don't worry. I'm not afraid of anything~."
The crisp sound of the lock turning echoed ominously, and the barrier between ti and space was breached.
"Ahhh!!!"
Hoshino: "It's over—Musashi-chan has been sacrificed!"
Akasha: "Wahhh! It's all our fault, Musashi!"
"I'm not sacrificed!" Musashi retorted, annoyed. She turned toward the two Hoshinos now standing in the room, one by the door and one still peeking nervously from behind the sofa.
"There really are two Masters. How fascinating! So you're the Master from the future?"
"Musashi? Future?" The Hoshino at the door tilted her head slightly. "I don't rember summoning you yet."
Musashi's cheerful expression turned stormy in an instant. "So cruel! Ten years and you still haven't summoned ?! Master, you don't love at all!"
Hoshino facepald. "You've never been in the banner! How could I summon you? Anyway, if Musashi is here, that confirms my suspicion."
Future Hoshino—Hoshino-Sensei—calmly stepped into the room and locked the door behind her. "Nice job cleaning the room, Akasha-chan. Looks like you actually listened to what I said this morning."
So, the fight you two had wasn't just about last night's injuries—it was also because of this yellow-haired girl's ssy room?
No response.
Hoshino-Sensei adjusted her glasses and placed her hands on her hips. "Stop hiding, you two. Your ahoge is sticking out."
"Eep! Hehe~. Hello, Sensei!" Resigned, Akasha forced a nervous smile as she stood up, scratching her head sheepishly.
"And the other one?"
Peeking out from behind the sofa, Hoshino stared at her future self. "This is future ? Surprisingly calm and cool—truly worthy of being ..."
Hoshino-Sensei sighed, eting her gaze. "And this is from the past? Surprisingly cute and youthful—truly worthy of being ..."
The awkward first eting left both Hoshinos oddly captivated by each other.
.
..
...
After recounting her experience since crossing over, Hoshino finally sighed in relief.
"So, you're from ten years ago? It's hard to believe, but..." Hoshino-Sensei gently removed the black-rimd glasses from Hoshino's face. "With this level of cuteness, it's not sothing easily faked."
Blushing furiously, Hoshino's heart raced. "This is bad—I'm feeling chard by myself?! Calm down, Chiyuki! Being moved by your own cuteness is way too narcissistic!"
After removing the glasses, Hoshino-Sensei continued. "But I can say for certain, I've never ti-traveled."
Hoshino blinked, puzzled. "Never ti-traveled? Not even after collecting the Egyptian God Cards?!" With her personality, there was no way her future self wouldn't have taken advantage of that opportunity.
Hoshino-Sensei gave a wry smile. "I never collected the Egyptian God Cards. I lost to Yugi during the Battle City Finals. And as for using the cards to travel through ti, this is the first I'm hearing of it."
"How is that possible? This is completely different from my experience..." Hoshino stared at the calm, serious expression of her future self. It didn't seem like she was joking.
Hoshino-Sensei adjusted her glasses, her tone analytical. "It actually makes sense. Have you ever heard of parallel worlds? Depending on choices made at certain monts, two entirely different futures can arise."
"Ah! So I ended up in the wrong tiline, Sensei?"
"That's right, Chiyuki-chan. You're quite the little scatterbrain, aren't you~."
The two spoke in sync, their identical tones making Akasha and Musashi stare in silent disbelief.
Akasha interjected, "So, that ans this version of Hoshino-chan not only collected all the Egyptian God Cards but also defeated Yugi! She's way better than Sensei here!"
Playfully hooking her arm around Hoshino, Akasha stuck her tongue out at Hoshino–Sensei, still clearly holding a grudge from their earlier argunt.
Hoshino scratched the back of her head with a sheepish laugh. "I wouldn't say I defeated him exactly... at the ti—"
Back then, Yugi could have forced a draw but chose not to.
"If that's the case, then the crucial decision that split the tilines must have been this event?" Hoshino asked thoughtfully.
Hoshino–Sensei waved dismissively, looking incredulous. "No, no, no. What you're describing is sothing I'd never do. Challenging both Yugi and Kaiba on my own? That's just reckless. The tiline must've diverged long before that."
Hoshino flopped onto the sofa with a groan. "Ugh, it's impossible to figure out where it all went wrong. So many things happen every day—how am I supposed to know the exact mont that changed everything?"
This would definitely be a job for Sherlock Hols.
Hoshino–Sensei gently patted Hoshino's head, her tone soothing. "Even if we can't figure it out, it's okay. The tilines have already split. What's important now is finding a way to send you back."
"Wow, you're so reliable, future !" For once, Hoshino felt she could depend on soone other than her Servants. It was strange but comforting to entrust everything to herself—or rather, her future self.
This person might just replace as the protagonist!
"Master, have you already figured out a way to send her back?" Musashi asked curiously.
"Haha, who do you think I am?" Hoshino–Sensei adjusted her glasses confidently, then sighed with a wry smile.
"I'd love to say I have, but sorry, I don't have any leads. Like I said, this is the first I've heard of the Egyptian God Cards being able to cross ti."
Hoshino slumped even further into the sofa. It made sense, though. If the tilines were different, her future self not knowing about this wasn't surprising.
"Does this an I'll have to use the last resort—collect the Egyptian God Cards again?" It was the only idea Hoshino could co up with, though it would be a hassle. At least she still had the three Wicked God Cards in her possession.
"About that..." Hoshino–Sensei's expression turned awkward. "Unfortunately, that won't work either. The Egyptian God Cards no longer exist in this world."
Hoshino froze, as if struck by lightning. "What do you an they don't exist anymore? How is that possible?"
"Because Yugi—no, the Pharaoh—he's already..."
BOOM!
A deafening explosion rattled the room, as if a bomb had detonated nearby.
"Ahhh!!"
Screams of terror and despair echoed throughout the dormitory.
Musashi imdiately drew her blades, her entire body tensing. "Careful, Master. This is the densest concentration of killing intent I've ever felt."
"Outside!" Akasha stamred, pointing a trembling finger at the window before collapsing to the floor in fright.
A massive black chanical dragon was barreling straight toward the Obelisk Blue dormitory—its trajectory aid directly at their room.
"An enemy attack?" Musashi declared, leaping through the shattered window.
"Then let , Shinn Musashi, face you! Niten Ichi-ryū—"
The clash between Musashi and the chanical dragon was over in seconds. With incredible speed, her twin blades slashed into the dragon's tallic head, sparks flying from the impact.
"—Ishana, Daitenshou!!"
Musashi's technique was sharp and precise, cleaving the dragon cleanly in half. Its segnted body crashed heavily to the ground, split in two.
Hoshino let out a sigh of relief. "Musashi really is reliable in critical monts. If it weren't for her, we might've been turned into a Hoshino pancake just now."
"Master, now's not the ti to relax," Musashi warned, her gaze fixed on the blackened sky. Her eyes trembled slightly. "In fact, you might want to tense up even more."
Daylight had turned to darkness—the sky completely obscured. The only explanation was...
"A monster swarm? Why is there another monster swarm?!" Despairing cries echoed from outside.
The blackened sky was teeming with Duel Monsters, so densely packed they blotted out the sun. Only now did Hoshino and Musashi understand why the academy called it a "beast wave."
It was a true, unrelenting tide of Duel Monsters, their numbers beyond comprehension.
"What the hell is this?!" Hoshino's jaw dropped at the sight. "I thought the Duel Monster attacks here would only be slightly worse than the ones in Domino City..."
If the incidents in Domino City were like monster brawls, then this was a full-scale war.
To put it in perspective, this was the difference between facing 20 monsters and facing 20,000. Hoshino had no way of counting the swarm.
Hoshino–Sensei clicked her tongue, her brows furrowed. "I knew it. The previous attacks at night were just to mislead us into thinking the monster swarms only happened after dark."
Hoshino felt a chill. "If this is all being orchestrated by Paradox, then..."
"Then he's not pulling any punches. He waited until the academy was at its weakest to launch his final attack. Looks like this is the real deal."
The sheer scale of this assault made it clear: Paradox was ready to sound the final trumpet of war.
Akasha clutched her injured arm, trembling uncontrollably. "Sensei, what's going to happen to us? There's no way we can win this, right?"
"Mm, normally it would be impossible to win." Hoshino–Sensei activated her Duel Disk, glancing at her younger self with a sly smile.
"But Paradox made a miscalculation. Our hope has traveled through ti to stand with us!"
(*****)
If you'd like to read 25 chapters ahead, please consider joining my Patreon: /ANeet. Your support ans a lot. Thank you!
User Comments
0 comments from readers