#principal samejima

Yugioh GX season 1 is so funny when you watch with the knowledge that the protag has a secondhand bodycount that only the principal knows about.

The kid with a secondhand bodycount is applying to your school? Sure, but he only gets in if he makes the grade - but oh no, his train is late and your elitist teacher is trying to reject him before he even gets a chance? Well, maybe you can grease the wheels a bit.

Your elitist teacher is openly cackling about the matched he rigged to get the kid with a secondhand bodycount expelled? Do nothing, say nothing. Make a snippy comment when the kid with a secondhand bodycount wins anyway.

Need some top-tier duelists to protect the keys to unleashing the god cards lite? Okay, maybe the kid with a secondhand bodycount does make sense here. Or it could still be a terrible idea.

...

...

...You know what? Originally I left it here for the joke but actually no, I'm gonna pull out my tinfoil hat and talk about the other kid at DA with a dueling bodycount. No, not Hell Kaiser. Not the abandoned dorm stuff. Not any of the kids who hold seances to summon duel spirits for a winter horror episode or anything. I mean:

Motegi, AKA Belowski. The season 1 opponent who's introduced for a one-off episode and then left to cameo a couple times in the rest of the series, mostly in crowd shots. He's at DA as late as the series finale, at which point he's been a student for six years (Judai's first year is his fourth). And he might be there even longer! I'm not even sure he's even allowed to graduate, as opposed to being indefinitely contained at Duel Academia.

If Judai still had Yubel around when he started at Duel Academia, and they were found to be causing problems...would Judai be isolated the same way Motegi does? It's not like DA has the resources to actually handle their spirit problems, and yet the resources it does have make it a better place than most to keep them in the meantime.

Principal Samejima knew that something had changed.  It had been a week already since the vast majority of his students had returned from that other world.  They'd told him what they could about what happened.  He knew that Juudai would return, sooner or later.  He had faith in that young man, who had already accomplished so very much. 

His attention dropped to the potted plant that concealed his favored hiding place for the Sangenma.  He'd hoped that when the students returned that so would they.  Yet there hadn't been a sign of them either.  No one knew where they were, though Johan Andersen had given his opinion that they still remained in the possession of Yubel.

That worried Samejima more than he wished to express.  While a human could not play those cards without them draining the life-force of all the spirits in the vicinity, a creature like Yubel had no such limitations.   From what O'Brien and Johan had been able to tell him, Yubel certainly controlled the three cards effortlessly. What could come of that, he had no idea.

But something had changed.  He'd heard a loud noise from outside but by the time he'd reached the window, whatever it was couldn't be seen.  He considered his options, then decided as Principal, he needed to go see what it was himself.  Straightening his jacket, he headed out with a decisive step.

When he stepped out of the main doors of the building, he saw something he truly hadn't expected.  Or in fairness, someone that he hadn't expected.

"Juudai-kun?"  He regarded the young Osiris Red as Juudai approached.  "You've returned?"  He knew what his eyes told him but he wasn't going to rule out the possibility of someone somehow pretending to be Juudai.   It wouldn't be at all the first time that illusions or shapeshifters or what all turned up.

But that brilliant smile told him otherwise - though he thought perhaps it's brilliance dimmed a trifle.  He'd heard what had happened in the other world, and he had a good idea of who else looked out from the world alongside of Juudai. He didn't let his guard down for a moment.

"Hey, Principal Samejima."  Juudai greeted with a wave.  "It's been a while." 

Samejima agreed.  He could see Marufuji Shou lurking not that far away, looking far happier than he had in the last week.  That definitely helped him believe this was truly Juudai.  "It's good to see you again." 

"Glad I got back."  Juudai shook his head for a second, then squared up his shoulders.  "There's something I need to give you.  Well, something someone needs to give you anyway."  His eyes flicked to one side and for a heartbeat, Samejima thought that he saw them flicker in two different colors.  

Then a tall creature stood there, a strange mix of dragon and demon, wings spread out over Juudai, arms folded over their chest. It had been ages since he'd seen even a picture of the card, but he knew who this was at once - Yubel.  The stories the others told had been very clear about what the powerful spirit looked like. 

"Yubel."  He wasn't sure if he said it with fear or respect.  Shou-kun hadn't said much about the final duel, only that Juudai ended it in some fashion and then 'went off on a journey to become a man'.  He'd suspected - but he'd had no evidence until now.

Juudai nudged the spirit lightly, a fond little smile on his lips.  "Go on.  Do it."

Yubel sighed a great and deep sigh before holding out their hand.  In it there rested three cards.  Samejima took a moment before he understood what they were, then quickly took them.  "The Sangenma..."

Juudai nodded, then nudged Yubel again.  Yubel glowered at him, but not in a way that made Samejima fearful for his student.  It really looked more like a pair of old and close friends, or even - even - well, he'd never thought of that before.

He shook his head to clear his mind before Yubel spoke.

"I took them to facilitate finding my beloved Juudai again.  I - should not have."  It seemed as if the words were being wrung out of them.  Samejima had no idea himself of what to say. 

"Thank you,"  he managed, tucking them into a pocket.  He would return them to their hiding place in due course.  For now, he glanced to Juudai.  "Is there anything else that you need right now?"

"Not now.  I just want something to eat and some sleep.  Tome-san's still awake, isn't she?"  Juudai wondered as Yubel faded away, clearly not thrilled with speaking to people.

"I believe so."  Samejima agreed.  Even if she wasn't, she would gladly have gotten up to fix Juudai something.  That was just the kind of person that she was.

Those eyes I saw before.  Those were Yubel's eyes.  In Juudai's face.  He didn't want to think about this a great deal.  He'd suspected something would happen that would bring Yubel back into Juudai's life sooner or later, but he still wasn't sure about all the details of what had happened, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know.  He would figure it out later, perhaps.   For now, it was getting late, and he had a very full day coming far too soon.

Juudai nodded and raised one hand in farewell before turning and heading away, Shou joining him before he'd gone too far.  Samejima watched the two of them until they were hidden by the curve of the path, then turned and headed inside.  He could feel the weight of the Sangenma in his pocket and wanted them back into their sanctuary as quickly as he could.  He didn't have the talent to see spirits that others did, but he could feel their regard on his back no matter what.

Sometimes he wished there was someone else who could guard them, but he didn't know if even someone like Juudai could keep their power properly contained.  He didn't want to find out that any number of spirits died because of being in the wrong hands.  It had already come close to happening once before.  Perhaps it had been just as well that when they were stolen this last time, it was when they were in a world where their powers could be contained by other means. It could have been far, far worse.

At least Juudai had returned now.  Whether it were possible for Marufuji Ryou or Amon Garam to do so remained to be seen.  Though also from what he'd heard from Edo Phoenix, few people would miss Amon Garam if he didn't return.

But I will have to explain this to his family.  Garam Finance would not be easy to deal with.  He wondered if he could get Juudai to help with that. 

But that remained in the future.  For now, he headed to return the Sangenma to their proper resting place, and get on to his.  Tomorrow was a school day.

The End

(Previously: Episodes 80-81 Subbed [Finalized])

(Check out my Subbed!GX Stream Masterpost!)

82: Misawa VS Manjoume -- The Assault Cannon Beetle

As a consequence of being the only one uninvited by the Society of Light, Misawa anxiously wonders if he is being thought of as weak.  He confronts Saiou himself, who says that he will leave the island if beaten in a duel, but Manjoume duels Misawa in his stead.  Manjoume fuses his three new Union Monsters to summon “Assault Cannon Beetle” (ATK/ 2800), using the Ojamas as bullets to reduce Misawa’s LP down to 1600.  Misawa’s intellectual “focus ahead” plays get him far, but...

83: Hell Kaiser Ryou VS Master Samejima

In search of a powerful, locked-away deck, Hell Kaiser Ryou pays a visit to his old Cyber Style Dueling Master--one Principal Samejima--and the teacher and student duel.  Ryou summons Cyber End Dragon right off the bat, but Samejima defends himself with a copy of his Monster.  Playing to the “soft and fair goes far” proverb, Samejima’s Cyber Ogre absorbs the ATK of Ryou’s Monster, its own ATK reaching 4000, but Ryou evades that using Cyber Laser Dragon.  Samejima snatches Ryou’s Cyber End Dragon with a Trap Card, leading to his final decisive moves...

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Episodes 82 and 83 are now finalized! Misawa’s anxiety over the way he’s perceived leads him to join the Society of Light, while Ryou decides he’s come as far as he can with just Cyber End and visits his dojo-master-turned-Principal Samejima for some secret cards.  Manjoume’s Beetrons were actually neat, and while I’m sure I was doubtful of how Misawa joining the SOL made sense years back, I do think it does now given the context of Misawa’s wanting recognition and not being the odd man out (and Ed’s putting it into words also puts a different lens on his early Season 1 self).  For 83, admittedly the Cyber Style stuff does come a bit out of nowhere (the Japanese blog I reference for lines occasionally also thought so lol), but it’s believable enough for GX, and does give us some more background on Ryou’s childhood to juxtapose with his current “I only need victory, respect be damned” self.  Samejima finally making his return after Season 1 as his dojo master was also a bit cool, ngl, and hey, turns out he was working on our upcoming tournament arc!

Had a few animation/card and other quality-of-watching fixes I handled for each episode, hence the slight delay, and for 83′s hardsub, I also translated an article Shou was reading about Ryou’s rise as Hell Kaiser.  Details below the cut, as usual, for the curious.

Enjoy, folks--with these done and the GeneX arc about to start, I think the next release will just be episode 84 to set it up and also take a light breather, and then I’ll resume my catch-up double-releases with 85 and 86, which’ll coincide with an update to the OP (plus, that way I also don’t leave half of Judai vs Manjoume or Judai vs Asuka hanging on a cliff later lol).  Stay tuned!

One more time. Again. Samejima sat back in his chair and observed the monitor that showed the practical exams. The exams that he’d seen so many times and could practically recite how they would go from memory. Faces that were familiar to him – but they would not have recognized him - showed, along with the varied fates they’d endured.

So, so many of them fallen to the Light, far too many times. Should they survive that, then other fates awaited them. Dead of starvation and thirsts in a world of sand. Captured by spirits and worked to death or worse – and he knew very well how much worse it could get.

He’d seen it all, so many times. He’d lost count of how many times he’d watched the world burn or fall to darkness – that hideous wrong darkness, not the one that he knew could save them all, if only matter turned out right this time.

Where was he? Was he going to show up this time?

Samejima hadn’t forgotten the thousand or so timelines where Yuuki Juudai never came to Duel Academia and they’d never managed to get through the Seven Stars. In a tiny handful of those, someone managed to face Kagemaru – he could not forget the one timeline he’d thought would work out when Johan Andersen came to his school instead. That had been amazing but for all of his skills, Johan couldn’t manage what needed to be done on his own.

He’d truly hoped then. Johan had a way of sparking that in people. But that timeline convinced him of one thing – that Yuuki Juudai was who they needed.

So he’d done his best. Everything always cycled back to when he was a young man, before Duel Monsters itself ever exited. He fought timeline after timeline to make certain that Yuuki Juudai came to Duel Academia and he tried so very hard to make certain that Marufuji Ryou learned the right things about respect. He’d managed to get good at the first one, connecting to the boy’s parents and suggesting that he attend the school.

Sometimes he wondered if they knew what was going on as well. It was easier sometimes than others to convince them. One time they’d practically packed up and left Japan, making certain that Juudai went with them. Samejima hadn’t heard about them after that, and in that timeline, everything fell to light so much sooner.

When he thought about it, he wondered if he had heard about Juudai. Because the harbinger of the Light in that timeline hadn’t been Saiou Takuma.

Making sure Ryou knew about respect had differing results. It seemed that being Hell Kaiser was integral to Marufuji Ryou’s proper timeline, for reasons that Samejima couldn’t properly understand. So he stopped trying to stop that.

As the timelines ticked by, he got very used to pretending that he didn’t know what was going to happen. He had more than enough experience to be able to fake it all, and sometimes he got surprised anyway. He couldn’t control every outcome – he really only had influence on events that happened at Duel Academia and a little at the Cyber Dojo – and often things happened that were outside of his sphere of influence.

Such as the time when the plane bringing the new students over had suffered engine failure and fell into the ocean, resulting in the death of everyone on it. That had not been a fun timeline. In fact, most of them weren’t. Something always went wrong along the way. Something always failed and he searched over and over for what he could do to stop it.

He’d made a list of everything he could remember. He kept the list where only he could access it – he’d never seen any solid proof that anyone else remembered the way time looped back on itself. It started when he was a young man and always, always ended the night of graduation – if they even survived that long.

He was always one of the last to die. He didn’t know why. He’d learned a great deal but not who started him on this loop or why. He suspected that he would have several words for them if he ever learned.

For now he watched as the students went through their exams. Marufuji Shou just managed to squeak through – Samejima hopped matters would work out better for him than in the last timeline, when he’d been converted to the Society of Light and ended up – well, he wasn’t going to think about that.

It would hurt to see Marufuji Ryou become Hell Kaiser once again. Perhaps this time he would survive the heart surgeries and go on to a life of some sort. So far no timeline had gone on long enough for him to have an idea of what might happen to him after his brother’s graduation.

He also wondered what fate had in store for Misawa Daichi. He’d tried a few time to get the boy upgraded to Obelisk Blue, but those timelines always failed for reasons unknown. The most successful ones he’d seen were where he stayed in the other world to be with Taniya. Perhaps that would be best for him.

Samejima tried very hard not to get nervous as the time clicked closer to the end, and there still wasn’t a sign of Yuuki Juudai. He didn’t want to see another one of those timelines where something interrupted him before he arrived – there had also been too many of those. Once he’d seen a timeline where the treatments to block his memory of Yubel ended up being fatal…

Then Juudai raced inside, a bit unkempt, but there. Samejima forced himself not to sigh in relief. No one would hear him here in his office but he preferred not to take chances. Not now.

He’d seen Juudai defeat Chronos so many times. A tiny part of him anticipated it again – Chronos needed this loss.

Here they started, one more time.

The End

So I'm at least going to write one or more fics featuring Samejima for GX Week & maybe more for a later time.