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

S2-50✩ Blooming Companionship Amidst Contemplation

Three days later, on a mildly hot Summer morning, Ryoken sat down on a park bench outside of Den City Hospital's greenhouse. A few minutes ago he was taking a stroll by himself in that place which looked like a giant dome made of thick glass, but after he felt like he couldn't take on the humidity that surrounded him anymore he decided to end his small tour and find himself a more comfortable place to cool off and wait for his sister's discharge time to come. He had planned to spend the rest of the day with her before sending her off back to their mother's arms.

Ryoken closed his eyes, leaning back as he recalled when he finally met his stepmother again after 10 years, at Mirai's ward. His first impression of her was her warmth and beauty were still the same as he remembered. If his birth mother was still alive, she definitely would look just as pretty and kind. By looking through the photo albums that he kept in his house, he knew that she had the same fair skin, eyes, and hair like Mirai's mother. Yes, Tsubaki Hinami and Tsubaki Hinata--their mothers--were identical twin sisters. He got his blue eyes from his grandfather from his mother's side, who passed away when the twins were still young. Hinata once said that was the reason she loved Ryoken like he had her own blood, aside from being her dear late older sister's son. She wanted him to live together with her and Mirai, but while it had delighted him, he declined her because he still needed to settle many things and he knew that living with the Knights of Hanoi would help him more in achieving his goal. Still, he promised to visit them occasionally later, earning a tight hug from her that made him sheepishly smile at the simple thought of it.

Ryoken next recalled about the night of the raid. He knew that everyone that got turned into data and swept in by the Neuron Link when Playmaker dueled Bohman was saved after Playmaker won the duel, but to be honest he could barely remember anything else after witnessing what happened to Mirai. He had to listen to Spectre's report to know the events that happened after his duel against Windy. It intrigued him when he learned that their enemies weren't so shy in revealing their motives by their own accord. Lightning, especially, was very open when he was about to defeat Spectre in their Battle Royal. He said he felt guilty for being late in disciplining Windy, so he wanted to make up for it by confessing everything to the Knights of Hanoi. Immediately after hearing that from Spectre, Ryoken scrunched his eyebrows, repulsed at the thought of being pitied by Lightning.

Lightning revealed that he was hiding a big secret--the flaw in his program that Ryoken was already aware of--and he created Bohman specifically to fix it, by becoming a vessel to unite the six Ignis. He was also the one who infected his father with a virus to prevent him from finding out and getting rid of him, then put all the blame on SOL Technologies. Ryoken was furious when he learned that because that meant he and his knights had been directing their anger towards the wrong people this whole time, but he was quick to decide not to regret it. After all, they did play a part in complicating the Ignis hunt and for that, they deserve it.

Ryoken opened his eyes to reveal his sharp glare. Even after learning all that, he wasn't satisfied just yet, because there was still one more thing that Lightning didn't mention: it was about his sister. He had already suspected that Lightning was hiding more secrets the moment he went out of his hideout to greet her in LINK VRAINS and his suspicion was later confirmed when he learned about the promise between the Ignis. It was obvious now that the Ignis knew her way before their recent declaration of war but what made her so special to them, that Lightning had to meet her personally, make that promise, and severely punish Windy for breaking it? He tried asking Flame, thinking he would give him an answer because he had sided himself with the humans, but he didn't answer until it was too late.

"But I guess that doesn't matter anymore, huh?" Ryoken sighed thinly, looking up at the sky behind the rustling leaves. "Only the DARK Ignis remains now. It took us a decade and half a year, but... Tou-san, I might be able to fulfill my promise to you soon..."