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

S2-28✩ Caught Off Guard!

That day, a certain ferry docked at the Den City pier. A man in his late forties stood alone on its deck, looking at the clear sky with a hand shadowing his eyes from the strong light. The sky was dark with rain just a few minutes ago, but now the sun had once again graced it with its golden-yellow rays. That man sighed at himself in relief.

A familiar call from inside the cabin snatched his attention. "What are you doing there, Aso?"

The man turned around to see his two approaching colleagues and fellow faithful knights of the Hanoi, Dr. Taki Kyoko and Dr. Genome, and shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just glad the rain's already stopped so our young master can take his stroll leisurely. I reckon neither he nor Spectre bring an umbrella on their person."

"The weather has been unpredictable lately," Kyoko commented with a sigh while worriedly hugging herself. "I told them to just wait in the ship while we order food online, but they insisted on going shopping. They didn't need to go through such a trouble just to throw a welcoming party for me..."

"Naw, don't say that. We've worked ourselves to the bone for three months to get you out of that hole, y'know? That welcoming party isn't just for yourself, but for us as well," Genome snickered as he patted her shoulder. "Besides, didn't you hear Aso? Those two must be bored for being cooped up in here. They're still young, after all."

When Kyoko saw Aso nodding along with Genome, she finally relaxed and let out a small amused chuckle. "If that's what it is, then I won't protest. Anyway... it's been a while since the three of us gather like this, huh? It feels nostalgic."

"That, I agree. Let's put aside work for now and just enjoy ourselves."

Genome, Aso, and Kyoko continued chattering, spending their day off peacefully not as knights of the Hanoi, but as old friends.

✩

An hour had passed since the fight that took place at Café Nagi. When Yusaku offered to escort Mirai home, she told him with a plain smile that he could go home first because she had to buy some ingredients for dinner at the supermarket and rejected him when he wanted to accompany her. He finally said that he would go, but after saying goodbyes, he actually had been following her from a safe distance since then. So far, he had seen her occasionally space out while she was picking groceries, something that he had worriedly expected would happen. What if some bad people were to take advantage of her vulnerable state? Preventing that was why he was tailing her right now.

"Hey, Yusaku..." Ai weakly called from inside his duel disk--which he wore around his left wrist now--while he hid at one of the aisles. "I'm really sorry for what happened. It's my fault... I couldn't distract Takeru, let alone stop him."

Without looking at him, Yusaku replied, "If you want to blame someone, blame me. I brought Mirai to Café Nagi even though I knew very well that Takeru could always show up without telling us first."

"Still, you came to pick me up," Ai sighed. "Anyhow, did you really mean it when you said you're calling off your cooperation with him? Please tell me you were only saying that in the heat of the moment..."

This time, Yusaku's eyes narrowed at Ai's remark. He stared down, recalling the other boy's furious outburst. He actually had never felt this conflicted before. As a victim of kidnapping himself, deep down he understood Takeru's frustration and didn't want to antagonize him; but he couldn't sympathize with him for what he had done to Mirai, either. In any case, he knew that whatever confusion he was having back then had already been cleared up when he landed that punch on Takeru's cheek. "I really meant it. The cooperation between Playmaker and Soulburner is a no-more."