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

S2-41✩ Silent Kindness

When another Sunday morning came, Mirai found herself helping out at the small orphanage that her neighbor was running. Her mother was the one who suggested the idea of her volunteering there, after seeing how depressed she was to the point she locked herself in her bedroom for days. Mirai couldn't say no anymore after she was told that their neighbor's orphanage was understaffed and in dire need of help after its usual volunteer was hospitalized.

And so there she was, making lunch for the orphans and watching them happily gobble down her cooking. It warmed her heart to see their smiles, but that wasn't enough to cheer her up. After all, she was still traumatized by what happened to Earth. If she was there when Onizuka challenged him and took part in the duel as his partner, would the outcome be different? That question had been haunting her for the past three days, along with other what-ifs that would never happen.

"...rai. Mirai, hey?"

She, who got lost in thought, was snapped back to reality by a light nudge on her right hand which held her wooden chopsticks. Her gaze traveled to her right side, where she found a pair of familiar emerald-green eyes staring worriedly back at her. Those clear orbs belonged to Yusaku, who tagged along with her--also because of her mother's suggestion--and currently was having lunch with her and the orphans. While her task there was to prepare their meals, his were to read for the younger orphans and kept them company.

Mirai quickly put on a fake smile to reassure him. "Sorry, I zoned out for a moment there. What were you saying?"

Yusaku briefly stared at her before he replied by shaking his head. "You haven't touched your food. You need to eat, too."

"Oh... right."

"Here, have some more of the karaages. They're delicious."

"Eh? T-Thanks, Yusaku."

After their short exchange, the two of them didn't talk the entire time they had lunch, instead letting the kids' boisterous chatter fill the silence between them. Normally Mirai would make small talks with Yusaku during lunch, like asking about how his day went or telling him something that intrigued her, but since she was only there to stop her mother from worrying, the thought of doing that didn't cross her mind. Yusaku seemed to catch on that she wasn't in the mood for talking, as he didn't attempt to strike another conversation with her and just let her be with her own thoughts. Mirai would appreciate this gesture of his later.

When they had finished their lunch, the owner of that orphanage suddenly made an announcement in the dining room before anyone would leave the table. "Everyone! Someone special has just gotten back from the hospital and now is visiting us. Can you guess who it is?"

The kids immediately cheered loudly in anticipation like they already knew the answer while Yusaku and Mirai had contrasting reactions: he stared at the door in curiosity while she only spared a side glance, but both were equally taken by surprise when a certain someone entered the room in a wheelchair and immediately got swarmed by the kids. He was GO Onizuka, in the flesh, the bounty hunter who defeated Earth and ultimately fused with him to become a human-Ignis hybrid. He looked much livelier now compared to his last LINK VRAINS avatar but was still scrawny, with a wide happy grin across his lips.

Panicked, Yusaku quickly turned to Mirai. As he had expected, she tensed up at the sight of Onizuka, but before he could say anything to her she had already stood up and went back to the kitchen in silence. He stared at her in concern while unbeknownst to them, Onizuka had noticed them and planned to go talk to them later.

✩

When the kids took their afternoon nap, Onizuka finally got his chance to talk to Yusaku. They were actually inside the same room the whole time but barely had the chance to chat since they were playing with the kids. Once they had moved to the dining room to have their break, he happily greeted Yusaku with a hearty laugh. "Hey! I didn't expect we'd meet again here of all places, uh... sorry, I didn't quite catch your name last time."