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

S2-38✩ Shattered: The Consequence of Letting Your Guard Down

The black limousine that took Mirai was indeed a property of SOL Technologies, the multinational company that managed LINK VRAINS, the largest virtual reality world currently existing in the globe.

After Mirai got out of the car, she was led by two men in black suits--the same people who kidnapped her--to take the elevator up the building and was left by her own in a wide guest room. She restlessly glanced around, unnerved by the foreign place even though the room she was in looked just like any regular office meeting room. The see-through windows caught her attention then, beckoning her to touch them and look outside. She could see most of Den City, even the ferris wheel that she once rode with Ryoken from where she stood, but seeing it wasn't enough to calm herself. After all, never had she imagined she would be visiting her parents' former workplace in such a brusque way.

"Are you loving the view, dear?"

She recoiled, surprised by the sudden lulling voice and turned away from the windows. Her eyes quickly widened as they met with a pair of enticing light blue, almost gray eyes that reminded her of a wild cat hunting down its prey. Those eyes belonged to a slender fair-skinned woman with short green and blue hair, who after casually greeting her, sat at the center of the meeting table. She pointed at one of the chairs while smiling at her--a smile that didn't reach the eyes, and slightly tilting her head to the side. "Please, do take a seat."

When the woman saw how Mirai stood still in her place and avoided eye contact with her instead, her smile faded, but a small chuckle quickly escaped her lips. "No need to be alarmed. Mirai-san... right, dear? You may call me Queen. I used to work with your mom here until she quit."

Mirai perked upon hearing Queen's brief explanation, finding a closed-eyes smile on her face as she finally looked at her again. She gulped. "Queen-san... you know my mom?"

"Yes. We were highschool friends, in fact," Queen chuckled again, intertwining her fingers and propping her chin on them. "I have to say, you really take after her, both looks and personality-wise. Or maybe not?"

Mirai didn't answer with words, but she eventually pulled the chair next to Queen and sat on it, making the woman smile. The nervous girl peeked at her from the corner of her eyes and watched as she called over an intern and told him to bring them refreshments. She quickly averted her gaze again, looking at her hands on her lap when Queen gave her attention.

"I'm really sorry for the inconveniences. I told my employees to be gentle with you but foolish men just don't know how to treat a woman properly. Sigh... you're my precious guest, too. I have to give them strict warning after this."

Queen narrowed her eyes at Mirai when she didn't get yet another reaction from her. "Now then, I suppose I shouldn't beat around the bush. You must be wondering why you were brought here, right, Tsubaki... no... Kogami Mirai-san?"

At the moment Queen called her name, Mirai quickly broke into cold sweat and gulped. She squeezed her hands, trying to reassure herself while Queen calmly continued, "For the record, I've already run a background check on you so I know basically everything about you, including the fact that you've recently made contact with the EARTH Ignis and even assisted it in finding one of its kind."

"How did you--!" Mirai snapped her head towards Queen's direction, but stopped her question midway when she saw her wide, triumphant smile that immediately sent chills down her spine. She gasped; it was then when she realized that Queen had just misled her with her words. "No way... don't tell me, you...?"

Queen smirked in response, satisfied to have her plan worked on the clueless girl. "Fufu. Mirai-san, you're like an open book. I have been observing you ever since I entered this room and just by seeing your reactions alone, I instantly knew my assumptions--my lies were correct. I only needed to push the right button to make you expose yourself. So, it's true that you were MIRIA, then? Her face did look a lot like a younger version of you, so I'm not surprised."