Chapter 49: Hayato: I Predicted Bekas's Move

Hayato led Ji Jiang and the others out of the living room and closed the door. Almost simultaneously, Yugi placed the videotape he was holding into the television.

The screen erupted into static, but soon, through a wave of distortion, the figure of a silver-haired man emerged. The man waved at Yugi through the screen with an air of casual familiarity, greeting him with a smile: "Hello~ Yugi boy, you've certainly kept me waiting for a long time."

"The one who just appeared on the TV... Bakura!?" Yugi had considered many possibilities, but he never expected that this videotape would contain the image of the Father of Duel Monsters—Bakura. Seeing a great figure he had just been discussing with his friends appear, Yugi was somewhat taken aback.

"Nice to meet you, Yugi boy~ This is a videotape I've sent to dear Yugi boy. The reason is just as Hayato boy explained earlier: it is because of my recognition of your dueling strength, having defeated Kaiba boy." While his face wore a smile, Bakura inadvertently uttered words that caused Yugi's expression to change drastically.

"Just now... Hayato explained?! This is clearly just a videotape."

Yugi murmured the thought subconsciously, but to his surprise, the Bakura in the video actually answered him: "Of course, it's just a videotape. It's just that I predicted long ago what would happen in the future—whether it be Hayato boy's explanation, or any action you, Yugi boy, are about to take next."

"For example, your next words will be: 'Predicting the future!? How could such a thing be true!'"

"Predicting the future!? How could such a—how could it!" The words tumbled out of Yugi's mouth, but halfway through, he realized with horror that his subconscious reaction was identical to Bakura's "prediction."

"While we could chat for a long time, I'm afraid my time is very tight, and the length of the videotape is limited." As Bakura spoke, the smile faded from his face, leaving only a slight curve at the corners of his mouth. "Now then, let us quickly start the test for you, Yugi boy."

Yugi was about to say that he had no intention of participating in the competition Hayato had mentioned; in his heart, a nebulous title like "King of Games" was not particularly important. But just as he was about to refuse, an invisible ripple suddenly surged from the television screen, spreading rapidly and filling the entire room in an instant.

Outside the room, Hayato was explaining to Jonouchi and the others why he had brought them out.

"Ah~ I'm so curious about what was actually on that tape." Jonouchi felt as if a cat were constantly scratching at his heart; although he had walked outside the door, his eyes kept glancing back toward the living room.

Hayato pulled over a chair for Grandpa Muto to sit down and explained to Jonouchi: "Think, think, Jonouchi. What kind of person would have the status to invite Yugi to that competition, and what would be his reason for recording a tape?"

"Even if you ask me, I wouldn't know!"

"Actually, the answer isn't important. What matters is that the opponent is definitely a big shot to some extent. The tape he sent to Yugi might contain extremely confidential information. If we can, it's best to—"

Mid-sentence, Hayato suddenly felt a powerful dark force emanating from behind him. He could feel his consciousness becoming sluggish, and his body became unable to move even a fraction.

The others in front of him were affected as well. As the invisible ripple swept over Grandpa Muto, Anzu, Honda, and Jonouchi, their bodies instantly fell into a state of rigidity, and their eyes turned hollow, as if they had been frozen in time.

Although Hayato's situation was slightly better than Jonouchi's, allowing him to sense that something was happening, his thoughts were undoubtedly being frozen bit by bit. Seeing that he was about to completely lose his self-awareness and become unable to perceive his surroundings, Hayato used his last ounce of strength to shout

"You guys, get out here and work!"

Following his command, five orbs of light flew out from Hayato's pockets, each attaching itself to a different part of his body.

The taciturn [Dark Knight Gaia] restored freedom to Hayato's left hand;

The [Chaos] brothers each grabbed Hayato's left leg, right leg, and right hand, while simultaneously performing a strange, self-indulgent dance;

Finally, a multi-colored [Kuriboh] landed on Hayato's hair.

The five monster spirits protected parts of Hayato's body, combining their powers like [Exodia the Forbidden One]. Under the convergence of spirit power, Hayato's limp hair stood straight up, looking like someone who had used an excessive amount of hairspray.

The dark force spreading from the living room clashed with the power of the five spirits, but a winner was quickly decided. The power that seemed poised to freeze time was shattered by the combined spirit energy. Hayato's body shuddered violently, and he fell to one knee on the floor, his clothes soaked in sweat as if he had just been pulled from water, gasping for breath.

"Whew~ That was a close one. It's a good thing I had [Gaia] awaken before today, otherwise the others wouldn't have been enough to hold it off." Looking at the five cards that had slid out of his pocket, Hayato smiled wearily. Looking at the figures before him, he said, "Thanks for your hard work, [Gaia]."

"I... did not fail my mission." [Dark Knight Gaia]'s face was obscured by his helmet, so Hayato could not see his expression; he could only hear his muffled voice emanating from within. [Gaia] accepted the praise stoically, but the others were somewhat displeased—

[Chaos Yellow] jumped down from Hayato's arm and stood with the other brothers, protesting to Hayato: "Ani, that's too harsh! We worked really hard too~"

"Exactly! I'm so tired I've lost all my muscle mass!" [Chaos Green] flexed its arm, seemingly trying to show off muscles it didn't actually have.

"Ani, we won't forgive you unless you treat us to a meal. Oh, right, what should we eat?" [Chaos Black] opened its tiny dot-like eyes, struggling to put on a serious expression, but the saliva dripping from the corner of its mouth quickly betrayed its goofy nature—though it had never really tried to hide it anyway.

Hayato ignored the antics of the [Chaos] brothers and looked toward the rainbow-colored [Kuriboh] flying into his palm—[Rainbow Kuriboh]: "I owe you one too, aibo."

"Ah, completely ignoring us?" "And calling the newcomer 'aibo'!" "We were here first!"

"Kuri~ Kuri kuri~" [Rainbow Kuriboh] squinted its eyes cutely at Hayato, nuzzling his finger, before casting a contemptuous glance down at the three [Chaos] brothers, as if to say

"This is exactly the expression I wanted to see—that look of jealousy! Hahaha~"

"So annoying, that guy!" *3

The protagonist's spirit squad +1, or rather +2; the standard Kuriboh "aibo" of Yu-Gi-Oh novels has finally made its debut.

(End of Chapter)