As soon as Yusaku woke up after logging out of Vrains, he went downstairs from where he could smell the aroma of Aoi's cooking. He went downstairs and saw Aoi cooking something, but he couldn't piece together what. She also had a book open. "What are you cooking?"

"Yusaku, your back. Why didn't you tell me you were going in link vrains? But it did give me time to practice making something new. I studied it hard before making it but I think I got it right. It's chicken and rice." Aoi said as she had kept messing with the food.

Yusaku went closer to look at it. "Looks good."

"Thank you. I hope it meets your expectations. I'm actually enjoying cooking." Aoi said with a smile.

"It all depends on the taste in the end." He said.

"Well I tasted it myself already and it seems fine." The brunette said as she got out a plate and bowl for the two of them. She poured some rice into the bowls and placed some pieces of the chicken on the plates. She then brought it to the table.

Yusaku sat at the table and looked at the food before him, then tasted it. "It's good." Was his reply, making Aoi smile knowing she was able to please her boyfriend's stomach.

"Thank you. I'm glad that you find it to your liking. I want to ask though because I haven't yet, what is your favorite meal? I can try to cook it for you some time once I practice it enough." The brunette said with a smile.

"..." Yusaku was silent for a bit. "I don't know, really...I do enjoy a good bowl of spicy ramen."

"Alright. I promise to make that for you sometime and I'll try my best to make it meet your expectations." Aoi replied.

"Thank you. By the way, there is something I should tell you…"

"Yes, what is it? Is the food not to your liking?" Aoi replied in a worried tone.

"Not at all. The food is great. But something happened today that you really need to know about." Yusaku said with a more serious tone. "Shima found out about our relationship."

"What?! How?! No…. He must have overheard us when we were in front of the bathrooms! We need to do something!" Aoi replied as she started to panic.

"We shouldn't have to worry about that. I've seen to it that he won't speak a word about us to anyone." Yusaku said.

"How can you say that for sure? This is SHIMA We're talking about here! He's got the biggest mouth around! There's no way that he'll keep quiet if he found out about us! So how can you be so certain?!" Aoi replied in a panicking tone.

"..." Yusaku inhaled, readying himself to tell her. "Because I told him that I'm Playmaker." Yusaku exhaled and readied himself for what he knew was coming. But Aoi could feel that there was a 'but' about to come.

"But?" She asked, foreseeing the continuation.

"Now he won't talk. His admiration of Playmaker won't allow him to tell our secrets. Not to mention his admiration of you as well." Yusaku said as he basically just admitted that Shima knew that she was Blue Maiden.

"Wait…" Aoi took a moment. "He knows I am Blue Maiden?" She asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry. It was the only way to make sure that he wouldn't tell anyone about us being together. But if it helps, he figured out you were Blue Maiden by himself."

"..." Aoi did not know what to say at first. Did the man she loves betray her? Did he do this to hurt her? She couldn't help but have those thoughts run through her head. "Are you sure he won't talk?"

"Yes. I even promised him to become his friend to keep him quiet. I'm sure you can imagine how I felt during that." Yusaku replied.

She winced hearing that. In hindsight, Yusaku sacrificed something to keep the secret. "I see...Well, I guess as long as he doesn't talk."

"Shima is a simple guy, but from what I gathered from him today, he doesn't feel like the kind of guy to break a promise to someone he considers a friend. I'm sure we'll be fine." Yusaku said in a calm tone to help Aoi feel better about the situation.

Suddenly, a knock was heard on the door. "I'll go get it," Yusaku said as he got up from the chair, going to the door. Aoi simply resumed eating, but then Yusaku's voice echoed once again. "Aoi, can you make some tea, please? We have a guest. "His voice was tenser than usual as well, which grabbed Aoi's attention.

A man with white hair entered their kitchen. "Good afternoon." He said.

"Good Afternoon," Aoi replied and looked at Yusaku who was looking somewhat tense around this man. "Yusaku, who is this? You seem to know him."

"Aoi, this is Ryoken Kogami. Also known as Revolver." Yusaku replied, to which Aoi immediately jumped, alarmed by Revolver's presence in their won house. Well, a house they got from Art, but still.

"Relax," Ryoken said putting a hand up. "I am not here to do anything to anyone, I am here to talk to Yusaku about something."

"And why would you need to do it IRL?" Aoi asked, a cold sweat running down her face.

"Because Link Vrains is not a safe option at the moment." This got their attention, and Aoi went to make the tea while the 2 men sat at the table.

"So what's the issue, Ryoken?" Yusaku asked.

"I will cut straight to the chase," Ryoken said. "Ai is alive." Yusaku's eyes shot open.

"What?! Impossible! I saw him vanish right before my eyes! I was the one to defeat him!" he shouted.

"Allow me to explain. Ai, the Dark Ignis, has been defeated and his body destroyed, yes. But his very data was not." Aoi came with the tea, sitting at the table as well. "From what we can gather, he is piecing together the remnants of the Earth Ignis' data which were used by SOL to enhance their network to rebuilt himself."

"How long has this been going on for?" Yusaku asked.

"Quite some time." Ryoken replied.

"And you didn't think to tell me?" Yusaku asked, his voice rising in tone.

"I told Soulburner as well, but told him not to tell you." He said, shocking Yusaku. Takeru knew? "At first, the process was slow. We didn't want to tell you in fear of you doing something reckless."

"So?"

"Ai is almost complete again." Ryoken said. "And we even managed to pick up his signal, locating the place where he is bound to resurface at."

"That's great!" Aoi cheered. "Ai could potentially join us back, right?"

"No…" Yusaku said, his hands shaking. "It only means that he might try to end himself again to prevent the outcomes of the simulations."

"Simulations?" Ryoken asked. "Is there something you are not telling me, Yusaku?" Yusaku sighed and told him about Ai's reasons. Ryoken was stunned to find that out, never having found such a path for the Dark Ignis himself. "I see...That is troubling."

"So what are we going to do?" Aoi asked. 'Is there a way to bring back the other Ignis then? The simulations were if Ai was the only one left, so maybe-"

"No." Ryoken cut her off. "Ai is able to return because he was not completely erased, but the others are gone...There is no return for them."

"I see…" Aoi said in a sad tone. She missed Aqua.

"But to answer your question, we are going to meet him before he returns," Ryoken said. "The location where he will appear again, the place where the Cyberse originate from, the Cyberse World."

"The Cyberse World?" Aoi asked. "Wasn't that place destroyed?"

"It was," Yusaku replied. "But that is what makes it a good place for Ai to return in, giving that it has a lot of places he could be hiding."

"Exactly," Ryoken said. "For that reason alone I had my Knights secure us a path into it. But only we are going to go, Playmaker."

Yusaku's eyes narrowed. "Very well, Revolver." Ryoken drank the last of his tea and sat up.

"Thank you for your hospitality." He said then turned to leave. Yusaku and Aoi were left to think about what he just said.

Ai was alive. But the other Ignis were lost.

Yusaku didn't know what to make of this, but he knew that he had to be there. Even if the chances are 1 in a million, he might be able to prevent the simulations. A slim chance, but he has to take it.

"Yusaku? Can we log into Vrains so I can get new Marincess cards?" Aoi asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. At first, it seemed like a selfish question judging by the situation, but Aoi knew what she was doing.

Yusaku realized it too as he looked into her eyes. She was trying to distract him from the issue at hand. What happened, happened, and he understands that now. No matter the past, the only things that matter are today and tomorrow. "Sure," he replied to her, the 2 going upstairs after finishing the rest of dinner and doing the dishes.

"Into the Vrains!" Both said after they attached their duel disks. The two were now in Link Vrains, riding their D-Boards. They were surfing on a strong wind, trying to locate the data storm. But Yusaku learned more from Revolver.

"Maiden, get closer to me. I am going to accelerate things." Playmaker said.

"Alright" And Blue Maiden agreed, now sitting behind him. Playmaker put his hand forth and closed his eyes, feeling the pulse of the Cyberse.

Revolver was right, they evolved to be able to maintain their existence without the Ignis, and even evolve. But that didn't stop Yusaku's Link Sense, and that was the only thing he needed to use the Ignis Algorithm to its fullest potential.

The wind picked up as his hand glowed a dark blue, then Maiden looked up to see more streams of data coming together, forming Playmaker's symbol; The Datastorm.

Playmaker had just been able to control it and summon it to them. "There." He said, the 2 now riding around it. "This is it, Blue Maiden! Listen here, once you are inside the Data Storm, don't lose your focus! One moment of carelessness and you will be swallowed up by it."

"Understood!" Aoi said and plunged into the storm, Yusaku behind her. She put her arm up as the wind was blowing in her face, but Yusaku didn't seem to mind much, being used to such winds already. "Here goes nothing…" She said and put her arm forth, then tried to use Playmaker's new Storm Acces program. "STORM ACCES!" She shouted and the program activated, a card beginning to materialize in her palm, but she got too relaxed seeing the progress, and her board wiggled, making her lose focus before the program was finished.

She nearly fell off, but Yusaku was there to steady her. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yes, I only got distracted for a second." She said, her heart pounding. That was scary. But for a moment, she felt it. The pulse of the Cyberse. She had to try again. "Yusaku, let's try again, together." She asked, and he nodded at her, placing his palm around hers as she went for another try.

"STORM ACCES!" Thye 2 shouted in unison and the card began to form once again, but this time with success. The image of a female-like monster appearing in the wind and spreading her arms around, and in doing so she split the storm, allowing them to get out.

"I did it!" Aoi cheered, proud at her realization.

"Indeed." Yusaku said. "What did you get?"

Aoi looked at her new card, curious. "It's a Marincess monster. And quite the good one to that." She slid the card into her deck. "Let's keep going! I am going to need a few more!" She rode off in the distance, Yusaku sighed seeing her go, like a child at a toy store.

But hey, it's one of the reasons he loves her.

In the meantime, however, in the ruins of the Cyberse world, a sphere of data could be seen in the center. Slowly it began to pulse until it burst open.

"Woah!" And a black, purple, and a bit of orange on its stomach area, popped out and fell face-first on the ground. "Ouch…" he whined, rubbing his head, but then he stopped and looked at his hands...He was alive? No...This was not good. "How?"

"Hello?" Ai turned around, seeing a man dressed in a strange attire with his face covered and a large hat sitting on his face, but a glowing red eye could be clearly seen. "Glad to see you are ready. But unfortunately, it is not your time yet, little Ai." the man snapped his fingers, a light enveloped them, taking them both away.