Epilogue
A week had passed since the end of the Astraea Star Cup, and life on the island had more or less returned to normal. Though there were a few changes that had occurred. Because Tamao had been injured in her duel with Jaden and lost a good chunk of her memory she had to step down as student council president. Jane was named student council president in Tamao’s place, as she had not been officially been expelled from the Miator Student Council. Meanwhile, Jaden continued to tend to Tamao as she recovered. That particular day Jaden was walking outside carrying a book when he ran into Chikaru and her usual entourage of Kizuna, Remon, and Kagome.
“Hello Jaden.” Chikaru greeted. “What’s that book you have there?”
“Just something I got from Miator’s library for Tamao.” Jaden explained. “There weren’t a lot of people there today.”
“Oh, well if what I’ve heard is true it’s probably because of Mika and Hiyori.” Chikaru chuckled. “I heard they were making a bit of ‘noise’ in one of the private study rooms.”
“This is what happens when you suppress things for too long.” Yubel commented to Jaden with a wry expression as she appeared.
“Well, I guess that means those two are doing well.” Jaden pointed out. “How’re things on the student council?”
“Actually it’s been running the smoothest it’s ever been.” Chiakru answered. “Jane is way more cooperative than Miyuki and Tamao ever were. I guess that’s because Jane is so shy. She’s a really nice girl though, hard to believe she was once the most feared member of the Four Witches.”
“No kidding.” Jaden agreed. “Well, I better get going. Tamao is probably wondering where I am by now.”
“Okay, we’ll see you later then.” Chikaru replied before Jaden headed off. Moments after leaving Chikaru and her little gang, Jaden glanced and saw Jane and Tomoyo under a nearby tree making out.
“Those two seem to be doing well too.” Yubel observed.
“Yeah, we should probably leave before they see us.” Jaden told her.
Jaden continued on to where Tamao was waiting until he saw someone else standing in a nearby clearing. It was a woman with shoulder-length very dark-blue hair wearing a short-sleeved black dress with a long skirt. Jaden recognized the young woman as the former president of the Miator Student Council, Miyuki Rokujo, and he was at the very least surprised to see her on the island.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.” Jaden called as he walked over, getting Miyuki’s attention.
“I’m surprised to see you here as well Mr. Yuki.” Miyuki responded with her usual stern expression. “I take it you’re not exactly happy to see me.”
“Not really, considering you helped resurrect an ancient demon the last time I was here.” Jaden reminded her. “Not to mention you caused that mess with Nagisa and Tamao.”
“I don’t blame you for disliking me for that, and I have done what I could to try and make up for it.” Miyuki replied. “But everything I did then I did for Shizuma. You see the fact is I was in love with Shizuma, and I guess that was the main reason why I never disapproved of her relationships with Kaori and Nagisa.”
“Oh there’s a shocker.” Yubel said sarcastically with her arms crossed.
“Okay, but that doesn’t explain why you’re back here on the island.” Jaden pointed out to Miyuki.
“I’m here to try and find new strength.” Miyuki revealed. “My career as a pro duelist is not going well at the moment. For awhile I was doing fine, but a few days ago I participated in a special duel…”
* * *
Five days before in Domino City Stadium, Miyuki was dueling a man with brown hair and piercing blue eyes wearing a white suit with a blue tie. Miyuki’s side of the field was empty. While on the other side of the field Miyuki’s opponent had a large white dragon with a pair of massive wings and three heads. The eyes on all three of its heads were blue.
“Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, finish this duel now!” Miyuki’s opponent commanded. “Neutron Blast!”
The dragon reared back all three of its heads, and from all three it breathed out a destructive blast of white electrical energy. Miyuki fell to her knees after the attack. Her life points had fallen to zero.
“And the winner of the duel is… Seto Kaiba!” the MC of the duel announced.
The crowd cheered as Kaiba walked over to a completely defeated Miyuki. He looked down on her with his cold blue eyes.
“How pathetic.” Kaiba said with an arrogant sneer. “You’re not the first duelist who graduated from Miator I’ve run across. There are a few who I consider decent duelists, but like you many of them are just caged birds. Those who simply bow to the expectations of others can never defeat someone like me who has carved his destiny with his own hands.”
With that, Kaiba walked off the stage. It was quite some time before Miyuki had gotten back to her feet.
* * *
“…Kaiba was right about one thing, all my life I’ve done what my family has expected of me, even when I had decided to become a duelist.” Miyuki continued. “And when I came to Miator I did what the academy expected of me. Not once have I done anything for myself, and thinking about that has made me realize how weak I am. So I came back to this island to try and become strong. But what I would like to know is why you’re here Mr. Yuki. As far as I know the Astraea Star Cup ended a week ago.”
“I’m here to take care of Tamao.” Jaden revealed.
“What do you mean?” Miyuki asked.
“It’s a long story.” Jaden began, and with that he began to tell Miyuki everything that happened during the tournament and about the Orichalcos.
“I see…” Miyuki said with a look of shock. “Were it not for what happened with the Wicked Gods I would not believe your story, but as it is…. How is Tamao doing?”
“She still doesn’t remember anything from the last two years, but other than that she seems fine.” Jaden told her.
“I can’t help but feel that most of this is my fault.” Miyuki said sadly. “I tried pushing her and Nagisa together, knowing full well that Nagisa did not return Tamao’s feelings. I… I would like to see Tamao.”
“…Okay, c’mon.” Jaden agreed after a moment.
Moments later Jaden and Miyuki came to the top of a hill overlooking the ocean. Atop that hill was Tamao in a wheelchair wearing a powder blue robe. A bandage was around her head and her left hand was wrapped in a cast due to broken bones. Tamao looked back and it could be seen that her eyes had returned to their original blue.
“There you are Jaden.” Tamao said with a warm smile. “You were gone so long I was starting to worry.”
“Sorry, I ended up stopping to talk to a few people.” Jaden explained. “In fact, someone is here to see you.”
“Really? Who?” Tamao asked with a quizzical expression. Jaden stepped out of the way so Tamao could see Miyuki. “Oh! President Miyuki. I wasn’t expecting to see you.”
“I’m not the student council president of Miator anymore Tamao.” Miyuki reminded her with a warm smile.
“That’s right, they told me you graduated.” Tamao recalled with a look of embarrassment. “I really forgot about a lot after my accident.”
“It’s understandable.” Miyuki said after walking up to Tamao and kneeling down so they were both at eye level. “It’s going to take time for you to recover.”
“You’re right. So… what’re you doing here?” Tamao asked.
“It’s a long story.” Miyuki answered. “But since I’m here I think I’ll take over for Mr. Yuki in caring for you assuming he’s okay with it. I’m sure he’s been wanting to get back on the road.”
“Let her take care of Tamao.” Yubel cut in before Jaden could say anything. “It is about time we got going. Plus this might be the best thing for both of them.”
“What do you mean?” Jaden whispered.
“When you think about it, those two are kind of alike.” Yubel pointed out. “They’re both sort of caged birds, and they were both in love with people they never had a chance with. Who knows? It might turn into something.”
“…Okay Miyuki, I’ll leave Tamao in your hands.” Jaden finally agreed with a smile.
“I’ll make sure she’s well taken care of.” Miyuki assured him.
“So does that mean you’re leaving Jaden?” Tamao asked.
“Yeah, but I’m sure we’ll run into each other again.” Jaden assured her. “We’ll always be friends Tamao, no matter how far apart we are.”
“Then I guess I’ll see you later.” Tamao replied with a smile. And with that Jaden gave Tamao his trademark victory pose before walking off to make travel arrangements. His second visit to Astraea Island had come to an end.
FIN
