Conquering the Crests of Life

Turn 12 | Akira's Dilemma

The night that follows Blue Angel's bold challenge to Playmaker and receiving that weird card (from someone who is apparently "her biggest fan"), Aoi receives a call.

She scans the caller ID and quickly picks up the phone. "Akira. How are you? I haven't heard from you since yesterday."

Remembering their last conversation, Akira clears his throat awkwardly. He had reprimanded Aoi for Speed Dueling. She blatantly ignored SOL's policies, and most importantly, potential injury to herself. She also jeopardized his career. Knowing he may likely not be her favorite person at the moment, Akira had to carefully broach the topic of Hanoi.

"I am... doing fine. I wanted to ask: how are your studies?"

Aoi perks up, surprised. "It's going alright. I passed my last math exam with high marks." Nowadays he rarely asks her about her schoolwork.

"Congratulations. That's something to be proud of. What about your Duel Club friends? Did they enjoy beta testing the unreleased duel disks?"

Akira mentioning her clubmates as friends was a stretch, though Aoi doesn't bother correcting him. "Yes, they were very excited and grateful. I told them what you told me, to keep news about the duel disks inside our club, but there was this one member..." She talks about Shima and the two new club members. Akira is glad; it seems like she's enjoying time outside of school.

But as she begins to talk about dueling, his paranoia takes over the conversation before he can help it. "You haven't told them you're Blue Angel, right?"

Aoi's eyes cast downwards. "I haven't." He's asking her this again. Having to cover up her secret identity felt like hiding a part of herself. It's not like Aoi really did want to reveal her idol persona, but the fact it's not even an option due to her brother's insistence makes her feel trapped. Like she could never have a choice to truly be herself, in-person or in Link VRAINS.

Her brother notices her forlorn look. "You know it's imperative you do. Speaking of, has anything of note happened in Link VRAINS recently?"

Aoi opened her mouth, intending on mentioning her encounter with someone who was likely a part of Hanoi, but reconsidered. Akira would think she couldn't handle herself and take it upon himself to investigate on top of his usual workload. She didn't want to worry him. And she could handle herself just fine.

"Nothing beside that new duelist Symphonist showing up. Everyone else is taking the spotlight nowadays..."

Akira slowly nods and scans Aoi's face, looking for anything to contradict his concerns. "It's good in some ways. Less attention on you."

"Right..." Aoi drawls. Looking at the time, Aoi notices dinner must be ready now. "Should I go eat dinner now? I assume it's another late night?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. Have a great night, Aoi."

The call ends. Aoi sighs and drops the phone next to her.

Either Aoi is lying or truly doesn't know about the trace of Hanoi in her deck, Akira cannot discern which.

Akira frowns as he walks into his office and sits down. Either scenario means he must somehow investigate this himself without endangering his position.

Hayami, an equipment manager at SOL and his subordinate, peeks her head through the door of his office. "Zaizen! Upper management requests a meeting with you post-haste. They want a debrief on the newest duelist and Ignis duo, and apparently have a task for you."

Akira pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs deeply. "Of course. I will be there in 10."

Quickly, he puts together his debrief on his laptop and walks to the executive's office.