Under the Rain [Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS]

S1-15✩ Happy Birthday, My Dearest.

Ryoken gasped as he was forcibly logged out of LINK VRAINS. Playmaker did it again; he defeated him in a duel, this time for good, and with his loss the Hanoi Tower was successfully stopped from its completion. As he fell down to one of his knees, panting, he glared angrily at Yusaku, who was still enveloped in a sphere of light.

"Playmaker defeated you, huh?"

Ryoken turned to the source of the voice, finding Tsubaki sitting down next to their father's bed. He saw that her phone was playing the footage of LINK VRAINS, but what caught his attention was that she was holding an opened photo album on her lap, and she seemed to be more focused on it rather than her phone. His eyes narrowed.

"Yeah... he defeated me, fair and square. That means Tou-san's wish to crush Ignis will have to wait. I won't give up until I've made it come true."

When Tsubaki heard this, she let out a weak chuckle. "I see... I guess you do have changed, huh. But... then, please tell me. The passcode of this house... is still the date of my birth. Why didn't you change it?"

"That's because," Ryoken slowly stood up, wobbling a bit. He could faintly hear hasty footsteps approaching them from inside the house that probably belonged to Spectre, and knowing it had somehow set his heart at ease. A small sad smile was present on his lips as he continued, "Even if you eventually come to hate us, this place is still your home. Happy birthday... Mirai."

Tsubaki bit her lower lip as finally, she could no longer hold back her tears. As she began to sob, the girl clumsily wiped the tears away from her cheeks before they could wet the photo album that she was holding. "You dummy brother... just go! Kaa-san and I will take care of Tou-san's funeral... now go before Fujiki-kun logs out!"

"Thanks. I owe you one," Ryoken's smile quickly widened in relief. At the same time, Spectre arrived at the scene and saw the siblings talk to each other, but before he could do anything or react Ryoken had already grabbed his wrist, urging him to follow him outside. "Then we'll be going for now!"

And so, that day became the last time Yusaku saw the Kogami siblings.

✩

Three days had passed since Playmaker defeated Revolver and saved LINK VRAINS. Yusaku returned to his daily life as a student of Den City High School and a member of its Duel Club. He was now sitting in one of their duel analysis while trying his best not to nod off. He started to wonder why he still bothered with that club even though he no longer had any business with it. If Ai were still there, he would definitely ask the same thing.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?"

Yusaku lazily glanced at his right side, meeting his emerald-green eyes with Aoi's curious amber eyes. She was giving him a friendly smile as she waited for his answer. "Is our president's duel analysis too boring for you?"

"Not that it's boring or anything..." Yusaku murmured, averting his gaze. "But I guess, I'm quitting this club."

"WHAT?!" was the response of the other club members who somehow could hear his muttering. Thanks to that, Yusaku's eyes were wide open now, even more when Shima stood up and slammed his desk, "You want to quit just like that? You're not even one month in the club!"

"Now, now, please calm down, Shima-kun," President Hosoda quickly spoke before anyone could bombard Yusaku with more questions, looking at him, "Fujiki-kun, why do you suddenly want to quit? If there's anything you don't like here, we could try to make this club more to your liking."

"No, not really..." Yusaku straightened his posture as he shook his head. "It's just... after what happened in LINK VRAINS, I just can't look at Duel Monsters like a simple card game anymore. You guys saw that too, right? How LINK VRAINS almost got destroyed."