Hikaru was tidying up in the activity room.
The school had assigned them a small activity room, though "small" was relative, since it actually had four or five rooms, and counting the Duel Arena, it was even bigger than the space Hikaru had used in the Fusion Club.
Even though Duel Academy was rich and powerful, usually, an activity room of this scale wouldn't be so easily granted to a student club with fewer than ten members.
But, as the academy's highest (self-proclaimed) authority, Professor Crowler's power was limitless!
Right now, Hikaru was organizing the cards given to him by his teacher and a few friends.
There were cards from the Ancient Gear archetype, as well as others, like HERO cards.
Jaden had a huge collection of HERO cards, and Bastion had a wide variety of miscellaneous cards. They were happy to share, and if others were willing to join, even better.
After all, this was a real club, where anyone willing to join could enjoy playing cards happily. You didn't even need a Duel Disk, like Jaden, who could sit at a random table and duel the entire day.
His card addiction was no joke.
Moreover, this was one of the very few places where Hikaru could freely duel with Zane without being interrupted by Obelisk Blue students, which made him like it even more. Before, when Jaden had gone to Obelisk Blue to find Zane for a duel, he was knocked to the ground and splashed with cold water by the dorm's gatekeepers.
Not that it mattered much, considering his superhuman constitution, he wasn't going to catch a cold anyway.
"It should be fine placing it here." After putting stuff away, Hikaru wiped some sweat and spotted Syrus sneaking around, looking suspicious.
"Syrus?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow and called out.
"Ah! A-A-Amagi!" Syrus jumped back two steps, scared out of his wits.
Earlier, riding the group's enthusiasm, Syrus had applied to join the Fusion Club, though after hearing Hikaru had invited Zane back when they were in Neo Domino City, he became too intimidated to follow through.
He never knew how to face his brother, especially since Jaden was about to go to another dimension for a Tag Duel, and Zane had barged into Slifer Red to order Syrus not to follow, telling Jaden to find someone more trustworthy.
That led to Jaden finding Hikaru, after seeing how interesting his duels were, the two became friends.
All in all, this dimension's Syrus was even more afraid of his brother than in the original.
Whether that meant Syrus was too timid or Zane was too protective was hard to say.
After all, in the original, when Zane dueled against Vampire Camula, even when he had the upper hand, Camula kidnapped Syrus's soul to force him into defeat, and Zane willingly lost, turning into a puppet just to save his brother's life.
As an older brother, he was absolutely faultless.
Or rather, Zane Truesdale was someone beyond reproach, it was no wonder he retained so many fans and "faithful believers" even after the original story ended.
But still, as the saying went, "Zane himself had no flaws, he just happened to have a younger brother."
Oh, speaking of which, Hikaru suddenly had an idea.
"Syrus, you want to improve your relationship with your brother, right?"
"Uh, yes?"
He had mainly come to check things out since Jaden had been hanging around lately. If his brother wasn't around, he might have considered reapplying.
"Then how about this? Join the Fusion Club."
"C-Can I?! I can join right now?"
"Uh, did you hear me clearly? I said the Fusion Club."
"!?
"Amagi, didn't you just leave there..."
Hikaru stroked his chin and said, "Exactly because I just left, someone needs to stay behind."
"Eh?"
"I created the NEO Fusion Club because the original Fusion Club wasn't really about fusion anymore, and it had gotten too weird. The seniors there are odd, but flipping it around, those odd seniors are actually quite impressive.
You think your brother always sees you as too timid, right? This could be great training for you."
"I-Is that so?"
"Also, since I'm setting up a new Fusion Club, we can't coexist peacefully with the old Fusion Club, right? If anything happens, you'll definitely let us know, won't you?"
"I-I guess?"
"These past days, I've received a ton of applications to join, largely first-year students, even some Obelisk Blue students, and… well, a bunch of girls who adore Zane, Uh… that's not important.
The important thing is, if you join the Fusion Club now, it's like sending charcoal in the snow. You're Jaden's friend, and joining will be great publicity for them."
"W-Will it?"
Hikaru shook his head and continued, "Most importantly, you've always wanted to prove yourself to Kaiser, right? Joining the Fusion Club gives you a chance to duel us directly. That oh, look, here they come!"
As Hikaru spoke, a group of students in purple uniforms began approaching the activity room, their faces stern, their movements neat and disciplined.
Leading them was a senior Hikaru had met before, a third-year Fusion Club member, Kaname Kanbayashi.
"Kaname-senpai, long time no see," Hikaru greeted.
"Long time no see." Kaname stood tall, but the academy representatives behind him didn't look so steady.
Kaname glanced at Syrus, who was hiding nearby, and frowned.
'Kaiser's brother?'
As Kaiser's brother, a mere Slifer Red, he still dared to show his face at the academy?
"Amagi, immediately apply to disband your club."
"?"
Hikaru looked puzzled. "Did you take the wrong medicine today?"
"There's already a Fusion Club at the academy. There's no need to establish another. I can't believe Professor Crowler approved your application."
"Hey, hey, hey, President," a Ra Yellow rep quickly pulled him aside and forced a smile at Hikaru. "You know, Kaname is always so blunt.
It's the professor's order for us to come here. Mainly, you see, 'Fusion Club' and the 'Neo Fusion Club', it's easy for students to get confused, right?
Maybe just pick a different name?
Like, uh, Simple Fusion Club? Or Machine Fusion Club?"
"Senpai, you should know why I left the Fusion Club and why I created this club!" Hikaru stared directly at the Ra Yellow rep, making him nervously lower his head, "From my perspective, your Fusion Club is neither about fusion nor is it a real activity club!
The ones who should change their name are you guys, not me!
Ah, on that note."
He suddenly smiled thoughtfully.
"Yes—New? No, that's fallacious. I'm a freshman, but I shouldn't be the 'new' fusion, I am fusion!
Since you're all here, let's settle it now. From today on, you change your name!
My club is the Real Fusion Club!"
At the end, he pointed fiercely at Kaname.
"Y-You…" a few representatives stammered.
"Hmph." Kaname snorted coldly and prepared to equip his Duel Disk without another word.
"Wait, Kaname, he's just a first-year." Although they weren't certain they could beat Hikaru easily, it still felt wrong for upperclassmen to bully a freshman.
"My brother went to the coliseum with Jaden today." Syrus mumbled.
Though they were indeed both dueling addicts, but also responsible, seeing Bastion drifting off even after only a few days of enthusiasm, they had even dragged him to the coliseum.
"Don't get it wrong. I'm not challenging him as a student, but as a President!" Kaname's eyes burned as he stared at Hikaru. "Amagi Hikaru, let's duel, wagering the club's name!"
Zane might be the academy's number one, but Amagi Hikaru? He was just a first-year and only temporarily!
"I couldn't ask for more!"
Hikaru, ignoring the Ra Yellow representative's protests, lit up his Duel Disk and shouted at Syrus, "Go call Professor Crowler!"