Jaden began to change.
Not only did Kira and Joey—who accompanied him to the Supreme King's castle—notice, but even those around Jaden sensed it faintly.
The change was subtle, more in his aura. Even his roommate Syrus only vaguely felt that the big bro seemed different, but if pressed, he couldn't say how.
"How to put it…"
Chatting with friends, Syrus scratched his head.
"It's like… on the surface he's the same—always happy, thinks of nothing but eating, sleeping, and dueling. But something inside feels different…"
He slapped his forehead.
"Oh, right. Sometimes I see big bro talking to himself when no one's around. He didn't used to do that."
Just then, Kira passed by, patted Syrus's shoulder, and smiled.
"Don't worry, he's fine. If anything… he's grown."
Syrus, Chazz, and the others looked at him, puzzled, nodded as if half-understanding, and didn't press further.
Yes, the most accurate description was probably that: growth.
Although at a glance his behavior looked unchanged, Jaden now radiated an intangible air of maturity.
Like the max-level "Season 4 Jaden" making an early appearance.
But Kira knew: although Jaden had soared several levels as if epiphanied, approaching his peak, he wasn't fully complete yet.
Now he had the Supreme King. He had Spacian. All Jaden lacked was "Yubel."
But that was fine. Kira felt Jaden had already crossed his toughest threshold. Yubel was a yandere madly in love with him. From here on, he just needed to lie still—Yubel would fall from the sky on her own.
In the anime, early on Jaden had amnesia about his childhood and didn't realize the arc boss was Yubel when the other-dimension saga began.
Now Jaden had powered up massively, and Kira could help him prepare in advance.
Just Yubel shouldn't be as troublesome as in the show.
The semester was drawing to a close. Barring major incidents, Yubel should appear early next term.
…
One morning, Kira woke up, yawned through his wash, and left the dorm. As he went down the stairs, he noticed something was different.
From the corridor to the stairs to the lobby, the Yellow Dorm was spotless. The marble floor shone like a mirror; the entire hall was so clean it seemed to sparkle with starry effects on the lights and walls.
The Yellow Dorm had always been decent, but this level of brand-new shine—this was a first since he'd arrived.
What's going on? New cleaning staff?
He headed to the cafeteria and found it even more unusual.
It looked like practically the entire dorm had gathered there, forming a long line, buzzing with excitement. Some faces were flushed, eyes twinkling with cartoon heart effects.
Kira was even more confused.
What is this? An idol meet-and-greet?
He snagged a familiar student to ask. The kid turned and, seeing the Lord of Yellow, stood at attention.
"What's going on here? Is there an event?"
"Event? No, you might not have heard," the student said, eyes lighting up. "A super amazing transfer student arrived today!"
"A transfer student?"
Kira was intrigued. In anime, transfer students often played extraordinary roles—and why would one transfer student excite everyone this much?
"You don't get it—she's a dream transfer student, a heaven-sent gift to our Yellow Dorm!" the student said. "To greet the upperclassmen, she got up before dawn on her first day and cleaned everything. The whole dorm is like new, even the cleaning auntie was stunned."
Kira blinked. "So the cleaning was the transfer student?"
He glanced at the cafeteria line.
"And this line?"
"Oh, she came early to help the cafeteria too—food made by her own hands. You don't know, it's super delicious—just one bite and… words fail me."
The student was in bliss.
"Alice-chan is an angel. She's impossibly pretty, so capable, and so capable, and also so capable…"
Kira pondered.
Either he was too excited to talk straight, or at least a couple of those "capable"s weren't PG-rated…
Kira was curious now. From the description, even he wanted to see how peerlessly beautiful this transfer student was, to stir the entire dorm like this. But the crowd was too thick; getting in would take time, so he dropped it.
Whatever. Just a new girl—not worth wasting dueling time. At the Academy, he'd see her eventually anyway.
So Kira went to the usual counter, got a simple meal, and sat in a corner to eat alone.
While eating, he opened his student terminal, checked the Academy's new card inventory as usual, and looked for anything eye-catching.
As he scrolled, a notice on the news board caught his eye—a lost-and-found.
Posted by Ms. Dorothy at the campus shop.
["The doll is missing. If anyone has seen it, please contact the shop. Thank you!"]
Kira tapped it. It said a doll that had been displayed in the glass case at the shop—some kind of "dueling doll," though who knew why—had disappeared two days ago, leaving an empty case.
Ms. Dorothy wrote that the doll seemed quite valuable and asked any student who saw it or knew of its whereabouts to contact her ASAP.
Kira frowned, as if some distant memory had been stirred.
Wait, he vaguely remembered this plot from the anime…
Just then, a clear, pleasant girl's voice sounded by his ear.
"Senpai."
Kira looked up.
A petite girl in a black lolita dress stood before him, her face so perfectly beautiful it was almost inhuman. She held a bowl in both hands, eyes blinking like stars, and asked softly:
"May I… sit next to you, Senpai?"
Kira's eyes narrowed.
He remembered now.
This should be the legendary transfer student, Alice.
Also known as the missing "dueling doll" from the campus shop.