Returning to school, Tenjo Hikari saw a large crowd on the island holding banners welcoming Tenjo Hikari.
With such a formation, Tenjo Hikari glanced and thought he had traveled through dimensions again.
Only after arriving ashore did he realize that the school had learned about the incident and specially arranged this welcome for Tenjo Hikari, reportedly organized by the principal himself.
Eh–
That principal, really has a 'whatever comes to mind' kind of style.
Fortunately, the students were just there for the fun. After playing around for a while, they went back to their own tasks. Of course, there were some complaints — about wasted time on a date, planning to make up classes, wanting to go to the library...
"Hikari-san." Tenjo Hikari and Professor Cronos walked together towards the Fusion Department. Along the way, the professor couldn't help but take out a handkerchief and continually wipe the corners of his eyes, his eyes brimming with tears, indescribably moved, "Daitokuji would be proud of you if he were watching from the heavens..."
"Eh... uh... um."
Tenjo Hikari wanted to tell him that Daitokuji hadn't "died completely" but "reincarnated," but the words stuck to his lips. He guessed the professor might not think along the lines of Spirits, so he didn't dwell on it.
After discussing some emotional and personal perspective matters, Cronos kept asking Tenjo Hikari about his experiences on this trip, including interactions with Fengguang Company and local anecdotes.
Honestly, he really wanted to go with Tenjo Hikari, but he couldn't let go of Marufuji Ryo's issues. During this period, he was constantly busy with matters concerning Marufuji Ryo.
He didn't have the capability to be in two places at once, so no matter how worried he was, he could only let Tenjo Hikari embark alone to far-off places.
"Eh, Professor... I'm actually the one who traveled far here, right?" Tenjo Hikari couldn't help but interrupt his ramblings.
"No, Hikari-san, this is your home," Professor Cronos seldom showed such seriousness, wiping away his tears, straightening his face, and facing Tenjo Hikari directly, "Hikari, this is your home. Whenever you want, you can come, you can stay at school."
"Don't lie to me, Hikari-san." Cronos said seriously.
Since Tenjo Hikari obtained a bunch of gemstones and specifically found him to act as his guardian for gemstone transactions, Cronos had investigated Tenjo Hikari's background.
A blank slate, no parents, he became a student at Duel Academy through dueling.
He didn't really have a "home"!
Since that's the case, then the school is his home!
"...Professor." Tenjo Hikari realized his deeper meaning and took a deep breath, "You are definitely the best professor I've ever met."
Professor Cronos' mouth curled into a surprising arc, saying to Tenjo Hikari, "Of course."
After concluding that discussion, Tenjo Hikari and Professor Cronos returned to the Fusion Department. Before entering, he noticed that the department was "decked out," everywhere filled with various decorations. Besides the previous company visit embellishments for welcoming new students, there were some newly added banners, "Celebrating the Minister's victorious return."
However, no one was guarding the entrance.
"Mamma mia, what's going on?" Professor Cronos was surprised.
Tenjo Hikari returned to the Fusion Department, shouldn't there be a crowd of students to welcome him?
Upon entering the Fusion Department and hearing the voices inside, both he and Tenjo Hikari understood the situation.
"At this moment, why did Mr. Dinosaur use Hand Destruction? Clearly, a Normal Summon could have been enough to gather 4000 ATK, right?"
"He probably has follow-up tactics in his hand; let's ask Hikari about it later, he should know better."
"Wow, a Full Field Destruction move, Hikari's Ultimate Giant is down!!"
"What a pity, if Tenjo's Graveyard had a second Ancient Gear Golem, it would've been a win now."
Intense discussion—
"Cyberload Fusion! Ahaha, as expected, this moment calls for Cyber Dragon!"
An excited voice arose.
"Wow, he won! He actually won!"
"No wonder it's Hikari. He even defeated the Legendary Duelist!"
Tenjo Hikari and Professor Cronos walked into the Fusion Department. Cronos softly coughed, "Ahem."
Upon hearing this cough, initially, many students shouted not to spoil the moment. But when they turned their heads to see, they exclaimed, "Brother Hikari is back! Ah, and the professor—"
"The Minister's back!? What's going on, where's the welcoming crowd?"
"Uh, watching the footage—"
The student who asked awkwardly retracted his hand and embarrassedly scratched the back of his head.
Real.
"Hikari! You're amazing! You actually defeated such a powerful Legendary Duelist!" Judai shouted excitedly.
"It wasn't much, this time was purely luck." Tenjo Hikari tilted his head; Dinosaur Lyuzaki was indeed formidable, "If there was another round, I can't guarantee I'd win."
"Nicely done, Hikari," nearby, Marufuji Ryo expressed approval, "With this big victory, I'm sure our schoolmates will have more choices ahead."
Caesar finished some procedures after concluding a duel in the professional arena, then returned to the academy with Professor Cronos, heard of Tenjo Hikari's story, and watched Hikari's duel with the department members.
Being able to duel with such a Legendary Duelist fired him up.
More importantly, Tenjo Hikari employed a Cyber Style deck!
This gave him, despite not participating in the duel, a curious sense of involvement, truly excited.
"What's that?" Tenjo Hikari scrutinized the footage, "Footage?"
"Yeah. It's the recording of your duel with Mr. Dinosaur Lyuzaki; someone seemed to have specifically captured it, it's been quite popular online these days," Manjome commented casually, "While searching online, I stumbled upon this increasingly viral video, so I streamed it for everyone to see."
Tenjo Hikari carefully examined the footage. From the shooting angle... isn't this likely filmed by a passerby?
Probably a company's promotional clip, taking advantage of trending traffic.
Tenjo Hikari nodded and revisited a previous question raised by a student: "During that time, Mr. Dinosaur had a card, [Tyranno Infinity], which changes its original ATK based on the number of Dinosaur-Type Monsters banished times 1000 points.
So Mr. Dinosaur not only Special Summoned powerful Dinosaurs but also conveniently banished Dinosaurs."
Tenjo Hikari stroked his chin, recalling further: "Later, upon reviewing, I realized if during that turn I couldn't defeat Mr. Dinosaur, then the next turn he had the possibility to summon Tyranno Infinity with a 4000 ATK level. At that point, it'd be a definite loss."
"I see, because he had a card capable of Full Field Destruction, he retained that card and didn't summon?" Marufuji Ryo instantly pieced together the sequence, "Dinosaur Lyuzaki... truly worthy of being a Legendary Duelist."
"That's cool, I so want to duel him just once!" Judai enthused.
Tenjo Hikari laughed and replied, "If you really want to, there's a chance, during the holidays, Mr. Dinosaur might come for a visit—possibly even tomorrow considering Kaiba Company's event hasn't ended yet."
"Ohhhh!"
Everyone reviewed the entire duel again, the more they watched, the more thrilling and exciting it seemed. As dusk approached, Tenjo Hikari checked the time and asked, "Judai, have you decided where to go for the next Dimension Travel yet?"
If he were to find a partner for another dimension journey, Tenjo Hikari would definitely choose the strongest and most well-coordinated teammate.
"Ah, the place you mentioned previously… the dimension of [Mountain], right?" Judai contemplated, crossing his arms, feeling slightly torn, "Hmm, uh, I really want to go there, but Senior Fubuki asked me to see if you could let him go?"
"Eh? Senior Fubuki?"
He looked around, doing a quick sweep, and discovered the Tenjouin siblings weren't present.
Tenjo Hikari never expected that person, who sometimes jokes around, plays music, pranks his sister or buddies, would actually proactively want to embark on a dimension travel.
But it's good.
Regardless, he's an upperclassman. Besides, he's one of Darkness's host bodies, there's no worry about Spirit strength.