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

S1-17✩ Heart-to-Heart Exchange

"Here's your order! Please come again!"

Kusanagi happily sent off his satisfied customer with a closed-eyes smile.

It was just another busy day for Café Nagi, the food truck he had been running for years. It wasn't just any normal food truck though; it also functioned as his and Playmaker's base of operations. He wouldn't be able to provide him with any support if it weren't for that truck. He knew well that he could earn more if he were to focus on his programming skills, but he still preferred running that small business and serving food for people to enjoy. Perhaps he just loved seeing other people smile with his cooking.

Still, every busy days eventually would come to an end. Kusanagi peered at the sky from inside his food truck and noticed the dark clouds had become even thicker than the last time he checked. There were even crackles of lightning now. He sighed; it looked like it was time to close his shop for today. He began busying himself by tidying the tables and chairs that he set up around his food truck. Once done, he sat in the driver's seat. "I guess I'll pay Jin an earlier visit, then," he nodded to himself as he started the engine and got ready to steer the wheel. However, when he heard a loud thunder, he was instantly reminded of that one time when Yusaku came home drenched and soiled. He pondered for a moment. "I wonder if he brought an umbrella..."

A few seconds later, Kusanagi took out his phone and texted Yusaku. Then without waiting for his reply, he finally started driving his truck towards his school to pick him up. Even if Yusaku brought an umbrella, in this weather it'd be much better to get him home in his car, he thought. Now that he thought about it, three days had passed since Playmaker's duel against Revolver and that was the last time the boy came over to his shop. It would be nice to see how he was doing now.

The rain had already poured heavily when Kusanagi reached a crossroad with red light. His truck was the only car there, but being a law-abiding citizen, he intended to wait for the lights to turn green before proceeding. While waiting, he checked his phone. Still no response from Yusaku, even though he was already this close to the school. He just needed to make a right turn after this, and he'd soon arrive at Den City High School. He looked up from his phone screen to see the street again, and his eyebrows promptly furrowed upon seeing a familiar teenage girl, wearing Den City High's uniform, running towards the crossroad from the right side of the street. There was also another teenager chasing after her, a boy with hair color that reminded him of a wisteria tree...

...wisteria tree?

"Yusaku and Mirai-chan? Why are they running in this storm...?" He muttered, watching as they raced to cross the empty street. Suddenly he could feel immediate chills down his spine as he was struck with an ominous feeling. His eyes glanced to his right side, where a car quickly drove past his truck and headed straight towards Tsubaki. Frozen in his place, the horrified Kusanagi could only exclaim, "WATCH OUT!!!" as the scene unfolded before him, his voice drowned out by that car's blaring horn and braking.

Screeeeeeeech!!!

Right before that car could run Tsubaki over, Yusaku let go of his bag, shifted all his weight to the upper part of his body and leapt forward, wrapping her in a protective embrace before falling back-first onto the sidewalk with her. Yusaku gasped as adrenaline left his body. For a moment he just laid there, panting. He did a similar thing when he saved Blue Angel from Cracking Dragon's attack and now that he did that in the real world, he realized just how reckless he was, back then and now.

"You... why..."

Tsubaki slowly pulled herself away from his embrace, staring teary-eyedly at him. While Yusaku, despite feeling numb all over his body, managed to also get up and directly look at her in the eyes. This time, he knew what to say to her.