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

S3-53✩ Welcome to Den City High School Festival!

After months of preparations, the long-anticipated Den City High School Festival was finally commencing today. Many colorful Duel Monsters-themed decorations and welcoming banners adorned the school grounds and the many food, accessories, and game booths that stood on both sides of the main road towards the school building. For today and the next day, the students were allowed to come at any time of the day and wear anything they wanted; hence why many of them came while cosplaying as their favorite Charisma Duelists or even cards. There were also some students flocking around the 'Duel Corners' that were made to accommodate those who wanted to duel offline or watch without disturbing the flow of the festival. As if everyone there had forgotten about the recent incident that happened in the new LINK VRAINS or the fact that it had been permanently shut down because of it, the atmosphere was just as lively as how a festival should be.

...except, Yusaku didn't pay attention to all the festivities around him while following behind Takeru's bouncy footsteps as he browsed the accessories booths and admired the quality of the cosplays that occasionally passed by. Even when Takeru gave him a Playmaker mask that he just bought as a gift, Yusaku only stared blankly at it until he decided he didn't want to carry it around for the rest of the day and wore it on the upper right side of his face just like Takeru and everyone.

"Psst, Onii-san! How about trying your luck?"

Yusaku glanced to his side, finding a short boy wearing a baseball cap and inclining a small box filled with a lot of shredded papers to him. He recognized it as the notorious 'gacha box', where if you were lucky, you would find a prize among the paper trash. Yusaku actually had zero interest in it but decided to humor the boy and pull once. He could feel a small sphere in his clutch and when he took it out and saw his palm, indeed there was something there: a small semi-transparent purple plastic capsule. As that boy excitedly congratulated him and left, he observed its contents for a while without opening it and could make out a silhouette of a keychain; probably a toy at most.

"Oii, Yusaku! Over here!" Yusaku could hear Takeru calling him from afar, which made him shove his prize into his pants pocket and walk to where Takeru was. When he reached him, he realized he had arrived at a hotdog booth that was run by their one and only reliable supporter: Kusanagi. The man grinned sheepishly in return as if he was already expecting Yusaku to stare at him. "Huh? Why...?"

"I guess you couldn't hear me with all the noises around us, eh, Yusaku?" Takeru teased him, "I was saying we're here to meet up with our friends. Here's one of them! Go ahead, say hi!"

Yusaku wasn't exactly asking about why Takeru brought them there, but decided not to say anything when he could see Kusanagi slowly nodding and glancing at the teenage boy who stood next to him. That boy was Kusanagi Jin, Kusanagi's younger brother, the one they were trying to save and the patient whom he visited a couple of weeks back at the rehabilitation center. Jin looked completely different now with his messy purple hair having been trimmed neatly and his round deep purple eyes brimming with vitality. He waved in a friendly manner at Yusaku as he beamed, "Hello! I've heard a lot about you from Takeru-kun and my big brother. You're Playmaker... I mean, Yusaku-kun, right? I'm Jin! I'm so grateful for everything you've done for me and my brother!"

Takeru quickly whispered to Yusaku's ear, "Jin-kun completely forgets the mind torture that Lightning did to him during the Lost Incident but still remembered he was kidnapped. We suspected it was due to Lightning's interference to his memory during the time his consciousness was stolen."

Yusaku was still at a loss of words so he could only stare when Jin extended his hand towards him, seeming hesitant to shake it. Though, before things could get awkward between them, Takeru suddenly pulled their hands closer to each other and wrapped his own hands around them as he turned to Jin, "My bad, Jin-kun! Yusaku can be shy sometimes, even though he must have realized how cool he is by now! He may be quiet but he's very happy to see you!"