On the first day of the new term, just after classes ended and signups for the tournant began, Chazz approached Hikaru.
"There's sothing I want to talk about with you."
"What is it?" Hikaru assud it was a challenge. "You're entering the tournant too?"
"No." Chazz shook his head. "Of course, I want Mr. Yugi's card, but if I actually joined, I think my master would be pretty upset."
Hikaru personally thought Seto Kaiba wouldn't care about sothing so petty.
"It's sothing else I need to talk to you about."
Now that was odd.
What could Chazz possibly want to discuss with him?
Was this like the original, where Chazz had a crush on Alexis Rhodes and needed his advice?
In the original, that did end up leading to the Egyptian Gods' reappearance, but that couldn't be it, right? If anything, he'd go to Atticus for that.
"It's about Chairman Kagemaru." Chazz hesitated, arms folded, voice low.
"Chairman Kagemaru!?" Hikaru's eyes briefly widened before he composed himself and feigned ignorance. "Chazz, why bring him up? He's already passed. What could still be unresolved?"
Chazz nodded, uncertain but serious. "I once saw him at KaibaCorp—well, not in person. I had a video eting with him over the network."
"I see..."
"He was absolutely terrified of death. My master has a terrible opinion of him, says he's worse than worthless. Every so often, his life support system would get swapped out by his company's robots. The entire process was fully automated. Logically, a chanical failure shouldn't have been possible. Based on the reports I've reviewed, even if there was a failure, he still should've survived at least another month."
"Chazz…" Hikaru blinked, surprised. "You're saying... the Chairman didn't die of natural causes?"
Chazz nodded emphatically. "I suspect soone behind the Shadow Riders did it!"
He raised his hand and continued, "Rember what Professor Banner said? Soone was funding his research. That ans at least one person knew what he was doing. Banner becoming a Shadow Rider couldn't have been unrelated. And Banner also said this world is filled with arrogant fools trying to exploit other dinsions, like Professor Leo Akaba?"
"Chazz, you're a genius detective."
Hikaru stared at him in awe.
No wonder they called him Detective Chazz.
Hikaru already knew about Leo Akaba and Kagemaru. So for him, this wasn't too surprising.
He rembered clearly that Kagemaru was still alive even in the original series' finale. The man could really cling to life. So once the shock of his death wore off, Hikaru started to suspect Leo Akaba might be involved.
But Chazz?
He deduced all this just from past details and observation!
"I suspect Professor Akaba might be the one behind Banner," Chazz said gravely. "If that's the case, everything he did in the Polyrization Club would make sense."
Though Hikaru's understanding of the tiline was different, Chazz had already reasoned to an impressive degree.
"You never fail to amaze, Chazz."
"So you weren't surprised," Chazz said, relieved. "That confirms it. You suspected Professor Akaba all along, didn't you? That's why you ford the new Fusion Club and had Syrus transfer to the Polyrization Club."
Hikaru did think Leo Akaba was likely responsible for Chairman Kagemaru's death. Given his scheming nature in the original, secretly taking out a dying man would be entirely within character.
But Hikaru had no knowledge of any connection between Kagemaru and Leo Akaba. All he knew about Akaba in this world was that he had once modified the Dinsional Gate system and earned recognition from KaibaCorp.
"Chazz, I have my doubts too, but I don't have a shred of proof."
That was Hikaru's dilemma.
He had told Crowler about the attack on him in Neo Domino City. Crowler even reported it to KaibaCorp.
But Super Polyrization had erased every trace, to the point KaibaCorp couldn't investigate a thing.
And the dinsion where the Parasite Lab was hidden—Celina didn't know its location.
After all, she was a prisoner, not a gatekeeper.
"I ca to you because I needed soone I could trust and talk this through with," Chazz said seriously. "If you thought it was nonsense, I might've dropped it. But since you suspect Leo Akaba too, I'll call my master myself. Ask him to investigate Akaba's connections."
He feared Seto Kaiba deeply. In aura, ability, and wealth, Kaiba was like a MAX version of himself. Training under such a person only intensified that fear.
Kaiba's words weren't exactly gentle. His physique didn't even seem human, as he once lifted Chazz with one hand to duel an AI.
Without support, Chazz would never dare bother Kaiba with a hunch.
"I see."
Hikaru wanted to keep discussing, but a teacher's voice rang out from outside.
"Amagi Hikaru, please report to the Duel Field. It's your match!"
"Coming!" Hikaru shouted, then turned to Chazz. "Chazz, don't tell Jaden or the others yet."
"I know. That's why I ca only to you. I didn't want to worry them unnecessarily. After all, this might still involve Professor Banner."
Hikaru couldn't help but admire him.
Chazz, trained by Kaiba, was turning out to be incredibly reliable.
Maybe Hikaru could eventually share more of what he knew with him, then they could work things out together.
And in fact, Chazz had reminded him of sothing important:
Back in canon, most of the academy students were sidelined by the later arcs. But they had potential. Chazz's deductive skills, Bastion's computational ability, these were talents that mattered outside of Dueling.
One shouldn't treat them like ordinary students. They all had their own value.
For now, Hikaru hurried to the Duel Field, where his next opponent waited.
A student from Ra Yellow with a bizarre hairstyle.
Speak of the devil, soone with a "special talent."
'That is... Dimitri, wasn't it?'
Dimitri, the Copycat Duelist!
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