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

S2-23✩ Breaking a Promise, At What Cost?

On that fine noon, Zaizen Akira clocked out of his work earlier than usual. He, who had been reinstated as security manager--his former position before the Knights of Hanoi infected Aoi with a dangerous computer virus, was secretly going to meet her and his college friend and also former bounty hunter co-worker, Bessho Emma aka. Ghost Girl, at the park to discuss something about the Ignis.

Zaizen had always wanted to know about the truth behind the Ignis and now after the appearance of Soulburner, a duelist who was in possession of an Ignis like Playmaker, he knew he had to act now if he wanted to satisfy his curiosity. Not to mention his company had discovered the destroyed Cyberse World and now was in pursuit of the missing Ignis. He was certain the higher-ups would turn the Ignis into their assets as soon as they caught them, and that was something that he wanted to prevent. However, as SOL Tech's security manager, he knew there was no way he could do that freely, so he was hoping Emma and Aoi would help him with this.

Zaizen had just finished telling the two girls about his plan and much to his relief, they were eager to cooperate. Emma especially, being a bounty hunter, was excited to get yet another mission worth millions of yen from him after he agreed to triple the fee. "Got it. I just need to go to this restricted area and find the Ignis before your company does, right?"

Zaizen nodded. "Correct. Thank you for accepting this mission, Emma. Now I will send you an emergency log out program, in case you need it during the mission."

Emma readily downloaded the program that he mentioned, but when she realized he was also giving it to Aoi, she couldn't help but protest. "Akira, don't tell me you want her to come with me? She's not ready for this! She'll just hold me back!"

In response, Zaizen made a small smile for her. "Emma, why do you think I invited her to this meeting? I trust she can take care of herself just fine."

Aoi blushed slightly upon hearing his compliment and receiving his head pat, in contrast to Emma, who groaned in frustration. "Sheesh, fine. Give me three days to make my preparations. Three days from now at this hour, we'll be logging in from my headquarters. Understand?" she finally said to Aoi.

The girl smiled widely, determined to prove herself useful for both her brother and Emma. "I promise I won't hold you back, Emma-san. And Onii-sama, I will return with the info you need, you can count on it!"

"I appreciate it, Aoi. Return safely, both of you!" Zaizen nodded to them.

When Emma heard that, she quickly burst out laughing, confusing him. "Thank you for the early send-off, Akira, but we still need to go home and prepare, remember? Those programs aren't gonna write themselves you know," she playfully teased him, making Zaizen awkwardly feign a cough and Aoi chuckle while the three of them started walking together to exit the park. The woman turned to Aoi then, offering a kind smile for her as a way to apologize for her condescending comment earlier, "Anyway, it's okay if I call you Aoi, right? When I was around your age, all I did was goofing around with my friends. Are you the lonely type who doesn't like mingling or what?"

"How rude, I do have friends! Well, not many, though..." Aoi bashfully pouted, "One of them is in the Student Council, so we rarely hang out, but when we do it's always fun. She's the cheerful type after all."

"She's Tsubaki Mirai, the silver-haired girl, right? I'm glad to know that you're getting along well," Zaizen smiled fondly for his sister before looking at Emma again, "Aoi often talks about her during dinner... wait, what's the matter? Why are you staring at me like that, Emma?"

"Akira! I can't believe you!" Emma exclaimed, surprising both the Zaizen siblings with her outburst, "Didn't you know? Tsubaki Mirai is the name of our college professor's daughter! Professor Tsubaki, remember? She has a daughter around Aoi's age!"