hey there. if you haven't seen episode 77 and 78 of VRAINS, this might confuse you. so I recommend
It had been about a week since Playmaker defeated Bohman. Link VRAINS was shut down, and everyone had been returned. Emma Bessho was nervous as she stood in front of a door holding a bouquet of flowers. Why was she nervous? Well, let's go back a day.
(20 hours earlier)
"Ah, I'm so bored," Emma said as she flopped on her couch. "Link VRAINS is closed today, so I can't even go treasure hunting today. What am I gonna do?" Then her doorbell rang. "Probably just a door-to-door salesman. Eh, whatever, better than sitting around doing nothing." Emma put on some shorts and walked over to the door. "Helloooo..." Emma slowed her speech as she saw the person standing in front of her. "Niisan?"
Yes, standing before Emma was Kengo Dojun, Emma's older half-brother on their father's side.
"Hello, Emma," Kengo said. "May I come in?"
"Oh, of course." Emma moved aside and let him in. "Sorry. I wasn't expecting to see you."
"I understand, Emma," he said, sitting on her couch as he surveyed the area. "I see you keep the place clean."
"Yep. Would you like something to drink? I have a pack of Orange-Vanilla Coke."
"That would be nice, thank you."
Emma brought a can to him, and sat down. Then things were awkward. The only sounds being the hiss of the can opening and the street noise below.
"I'm... I'm glad you returned."
"Thank you. I assume you were the one who found my body."
"Yes. I hacked VRAINS to find where you logged in from. I tried to visit you, but there was someone else there."
"I wouldn't think that would stop you."
"Well, the person who was in your room was..."
Kengo understood who she was talking about.
"I see. I suppose that would have been awkward. Which makes the purpose of this visit more awkward."
"Huh?"
"I haven't visited my mother since about a week before Bohman and Soulburner's appearance. I've been thinking a lot. For better or worse, you are my sister. So I thought it would be best for you to come visit her."
"Huh? Me?"
"Yes."
"But why me? I mean, I'm the daughter of the man who left her alone to take care of you by herself."
"I considered that. You felt awkward coming to the hospital with her there. The sooner we take care of that, the better."
"That's a fair point I suppose."
The room once again fell silent until Emma let out a giggle.
"What's so funny?"
"Look at us. We're siblings who came to terms some time ago, but we're acting like strangers who met on an online dating website with nothing to talk about."
"Hmm. I suppose you're right. I should go."
"Wait. Before you leave, there's something I wanted to ask you. When the two of us and Akira went after that criminal, you pushed me out of the way and took the hit. Why did you save me?"
"I don't know. Before I realized it, my body moved on its own to protect you. I hated our father, but I suppose deep down I knew you were not to blame for his actions. Perhaps it was some sort older brother instinct. Anyway, I'll be going now. I'll be at the hospital around ten tomorrow morning. I hope you come."
So Kengo walked out, and Emma felt ansty for a different reason.
(Back to the Present)
Emma took a deep breath. She had gotten on her motorcycle and stopped to buy flowers. She had already come this far. Might as well go for broke.
"H-hello," Emma said walking in to see the woman she came to see, Ms. Dojun. The woman looked at her confused, and Emma noticed her brother wasn't here. 'Great, he's not here yet. It's just me alone with my dad's ex. Could this get any weirder?'
"Hello there. Who are you?"
"Well, we never met before. I saw you visiting your son when he was unconscious, but couldn't bring myself to enter."
"Are you Kengo's girlfriend?"
"No. Actually, I'm related a different way. Well, half-related. Your ex-husband who passed a year ago?" The woman nodded before realizing the implication. "Yeah, he was my father. I'm your son's half-sister. That's why I had a hard time visiting."
"I see. So he did have another woman."
"I'm so sorry for what he did, but before he passed, he asked me to look out for your son. He said his one regret was leaving him and you like that."
"You don't have to apologize. I came to peace with it long ago." The room fell silent between the two women. It was two minutes before the silence was broken. "So why did you come today?"
"Well, niisan came to my apartment yesterday. He said he was coming to visit and asked me to come too. He said he was going to be here now."
"He might be caught in traffic. Ever since the accident, he's been extremely distrusting in AIs. He lost his arm. My legs are still there, but I'm paralyzed from the waist down. So it's not like it matters that I still have them."
"It must be tough if you hear a catchy song on the radio that makes you wanna dance," Emma said, earning a laugh from her.
"Yeah, it is." Silence once again filled the room until Emma giggled. "What is it?"
"This happened yesterday. We talked small and then fell into silence."
"I see, I suppose it is kind of funny. I noticed your eyes are a little black."
"Yeah. I had a hard time sleeping last night, wondering if I should come. So around five this morning, I decided to get on my motorcycle and take a ride to clear my head. By the time I had decided to come here, it was already nine. I saw my tank was low, so I went to get some gas and flowers before coming here."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, uh..."
"Oh, right. I can't believe I haven't introduced myself. That's so rude of me. My name is Emma Bessho."
"Well, Emma, I'm glad to meet you. If it makes you feel any better, I feel a little awkward too."
"Thanks."
The two of them trying different topics to talk about, and about half an hour later the door opened.
"I'm here," Kengo said as he walked in.
"Oh, Kengo you're finally here," his mother said before whispering something to Emma.
"Sorry, kaasan. There was a delay on the road. An eighteen-wheeler ran over some broken glass someone threw out their window and had to replace nine wheels."
"Wow, what are the odds?" Emma said. "Anyway, your mother was just telling me about when you were eight and painted yourself camo to play with your jets."
"Kaasan!"
"Sorry, Kengo, but we had to break the ice somehow. So we decided to talk about you and that just came up."
"Well, I guess that delay was a good thing for you."
"Excuse me," a voice said from behind Kengo. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you both to leave. We need to give her treatment."
"Well, I'll definitely come visit again," Emma said. "It was a pleasure meeting you. Hopefully it'll be less awkward. I'll dust off some of my old cards and we can have a duel. No duel disks, just old-fashioned cards."
"I'd like that."
So the siblings walked out of the room and went to the elevator.
"I'm sorry I couldn't get here on time, but it looks like it worked out for the best."
"Yeah. What are the odds an 18-wheeler would lose half its wheels? Thank goodness no one hurt though."
"Indeed. It was most fortunate."
"There was no 18-wheeler. You were late on purpose."
"I wasn't late. I actually got here before you. I was going to wait five minutes to ten before entering if you didn't show. I decided to give you two some time."
"For a guy who isn't used to being a brother, you're pretty good at it."
The elevator door opened and Emma was surprised.
"Emma-san? What are you doing here?"
"Oh, Aoi-chan. Well, I was visiting someone here at the hospital."
"My mother," Kengo said. "I'm Emma's half-brother, Kengo Dojun. I invited her to come visit."
"I see. Nice to meet you. I was coming to visit my friend. She's been in a coma, and woke up awhile ago. I should hurry. Bye, Emma-san."
"Bye, Aoi-chan." After she was out of earshot, Kengo had a look on his face. "Yes, she's Blue Maiden."
"And her friend?"
"The human Aqua was created from."
"I see." And another moment of silence for 30 seconds. "So what now?"
"I know this great place with good hot dogs and coffee."
"Sounds good."
and that's the end of that. hope you liked it. as some might guess, this chapter is inspired by a scene in the current ending used for Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS anime. hope you enjoy this. oh, and I'll try to continue "Burning the Bugs", but I'm going on vacation soon to the beach for the week before Father's Day. my dad and his girlfriend are coming down. my dad's girlfriend's daughter might come too, but it's gonna be a fun five days at Ocean Lakes in Myrtle Beach.