Aichi was standing before Kai.

He was pretty much still the same Aichi, blue hair, pale skin, and a small and elegant figure wrapped by black and red garments. As expressed, you would think he was perfectly normal. But he wasn't.

He was the embodiment of Link Joker.

Kai growled, eyebrows furring angrily. He wasn't upset about how Link Joker wanted to envelope the world, or how it influenced him to turn against the little blueberry. But he was steaming at one thing, that Link Joker had changed completely.

His eyes.

Hollow and empty from Link Joker, dulled to an unnaturally lifeless grey, and shadowed by his dull forehead. They weren't even giving off a gleam from the lights wafting from the ceiling. They were just cold and desolate, and were fated to be.

The brunet grit his teeth, his fist trembling angrily. It was painful to even stare into his eyes for one second, because it was painful to accept how Link Joker could change him like this.

It could have just been Kai overreacting, but he didn't care. Aichi's eyes were the one thing that never changed, always shining and sparkling with happiness and wisdom, a gentle white gleam resting on his beautiful azure hues. Aichi's eyes were the things that expressed him, and showed what he was deep inside.

And now even that was gone.

He grit his teeth so hard that he felt like they would break, pulling out his deck.

"Aichi... No.. Link Joker!"

That seemed to make Aichi respond, his eyes widening slightly and staring at him, silently questioning why he was called.

Kai lifted up his deck, directly pointed at Aichi's face.

"I'm going to bring you back! And not just you! Your smiles, your glow, your eyes!"

Aichi's lips curved into a coldly amused grin, pulling out his own deck, those empty orbs once again staring directly at him.

The floating red rectangle serving as a table appeared, as both of them placed their decks on top.

"Stand up."

"The."

"Vanguard!"

Almost immediately the background shifted, crumbled palace ruins being blanketed by stars, white dots shining over darkness.

Kai narrowed his eyes, the fire in his heart lighting once more, wanting to burn away the Link Joker inside Aichi with his flames.

Aichi, I swear I'll get you back!


I feel so nostalgic writing this.