Prologue.

It all started with a knock on the door. At least that's how Aoi saw it. It had taken her two weeks to build up the courage to come here. It was a nice neighborhood. The buildings were well kept and everyone she had walked past on the way there had a smile on their face. So why did the one building she had come to visit feel so …. Sad. The walls on the outside appeared worn down and the building itself seemed to be in bad shape. Aoi briefly thought about asking her brother if they could help get the place renovated or fixed up a little bit at least.

She heard some shuffling behind the door. She realized that it had been at least a couple of minutes since she knocked and it had taken a while for anyone to respond. She went to knock again but as she did the door opened revealing the person she had come there to see. The look on his face was one of surprise. Clearly he hadn't expected to see her. However the dark circles under his eyes indicated that he hadn't slept much if it all recently and he looked like he was struggling to keep his eyes open as a result.

"Aoi?" He asked the look on his face changing to his normal passive look but there were traces of confusion on his face. He clearly wasn't expecting to see her. Not that Aoi blamed him of course. She had had to ask his friend who ran the hot dog stand for his address.

"Yusaku, how are you doing?" She asked. She could tell he wasn't doing well but she wanted to see if he was willing to open up to her.

"Fine." was the short reply he gave her. Seemingly trying to avoid talking about himself "What are you doing here?" He asked

Aoi Sighed. This was Yusaku after all. Quick to the point and very unwilling to share anything about himself. "I came to check on you. Kusanagi said he hasn't heard from you since…" She hesitated before continuing onto what she knew would be a touchy subject "Since your final duel with Ai two weeks ago".

Yusaku visually cringed at the mention of AI. His duel against AI wasn't known about by many but the few who knew had great respect for Yusaku as they knew what he must've been going through before,during and after the duel. His face quickly returned to the stoic expression he normally wore "I'm doing fine. Tell Kusanagi I'm fine and that I'm sorry for worrying him" Yusaku responded

Aoi raised an eyebrow at that statement "Fine?. You look like you haven't slept in a week. You clearly haven't been taking care of yourself" She told him "Can i come in? I'll make you some tea and you can talk to me about what's bothering you" she offered, gesturing to the bag she had brought with her.

She doubted her offer would work but she had to try. Yusaku had done so much to help her and her brother both inside and outside of Link VRAINS The least she could do. Yusaku seemed to study her for a moment. Trying to figure her out. After a few seconds he let out a sigh

"Fine. But we can skip the tea. There's something I figure I need to at least tell someone about before I do it" He told her, stepping aside so she could enter.

After getting over the brief shock that he actually agreed to let her in. Aoi quickly walked into Yusaku's house. The first thing she noticed was that the interior of the house was incredibly run down. The walls hadn't been painted in what looked like years and patches of the wall had been worn down to reveal the bricks of the exterior. In the room. There was a small desk with a computer resting on top. Yusaku walked over to this desk and sat down on it. He gestured to the chair that was a few feet away from where he was sitting. Obviously inviting her to sit down.

She took his invitation and quickly sat down "So what is it you wanted to tell me? She asked curious as to what was so important that it had convinced him to let her in.

Yusaku let out a deep sigh before speaking "Soon it will become widespread information that I have decided to take a personal journey into LINK VRAINS. In an attempt to better myself." He told her

"A journey into link VRAINS? Why would you want to do that? '' Aoi asked. She knew Playmaker had a much stronger connection to Link VRAINS the most but she still didn't understand why he would do this.

"Like I said , it will soon become widespread information. This information will be a lie." He told her "While I do plan to take a journey into the VRAINS. My true purpose isn't self discovery. My purpose is to find AI" He told her

Aoi recoiled at this. He wanted to find AI!?. The same AI who had almost taken her brother from her as well has harmed so many others.

"You want to find AI. But he wasn't deleted. And why do you even want to find him!." She nearly yelled. "Don't you remember what he did?. He nearly took my brother away from me forever and he hurt so many others in the process!. So why do you want to find him!. She asked getting increasingly angrier as she went on

"BECAUSE HE DID IT ALL TO PROTECT ME!" Yusaku yelled out loud.

Aoi recoiled at his sudden shout. Yusaku rarely raised his voice but when he did it was always a shock. Aoi looked into his eyes. She gasped at the amount of pain she could see within them.

"During our final duel. AI told me something. He told me that he ran multiple simulations after our battle with Bohman and they all led to the same thing. Humanity would go to war with the Ignis if he lived and…" He Paused for a second. Seeming struggling to find the right words. "and in the process he would witness me die. He run hundreds of simulations to try and see if there was a way to prevent this outcome…. But there wasn't. So Ai did everything he did. In order to force me to duel him and defeat him. So that future couldn't come to pass." He vented tears forming in his eyes.

"Yusaku" Aoi muttered sympathetically, placing a hand on his shoulder which he immediately shrugged off. He was on his feet now. All the pain from the events with Ai coming to the surface.

"Now do you see?!. Why do I have to at least try to find him?!. To show him that humans and Ignis can live peacefully?" He asked. His voice was loud and angry. Tears fell down his face as he vented his anger. " I know he's out there and I at least have to try to find him because he would've done the same for me!"

Aoi looked at him for a few seconds. It was a little hard to see Playmaker. The Hero of link VRAINS and the person who was always calm and collected losing his cool like this. She wanted to reach out. To hug her friend and tell him that everything would be ok. But judging by how he had shook her off the last time she realized it probably wouldn't go well. She thought carefully about her next few words, "I see," she said slowly. "I can't say I fully understand but I have to know why you chose to tell me this? Surely it would make more sense to tell someone like Kusanagi or Soulburner, Right?" She asked curiously

"I… I had to at least tell someone. If I told Takeru there's no way he would let me do it. We'd probably end up dueling and No matter the result of our duel, I don't think he would forgive me. Kusanagi will probably know the moment the news breaks. He knows me too well". He explained as he wiped his tears with some tissues that were on his desk. "And of course if i told someone like Revolver we'd have even bigger problems"

Aoi went to argue but the more she thought about it the more she realized he had a point. She had seen how Takeru had reacted when he first met Revolver. His anger issues where apparent and telling revolver would likely lead to all of the Knights of Hanoi hunting down Yusaku to stop him. Yusaku had thought this through and his reasons for trying made sense although she still couldn't say she agreed with his decision.

"Aoi i…." He spoke, dragging her out her thoughts. He paused for a few seconds to gather his thoughts "I know I have no right to ask this of you. After all, we aren't exactly friends."

Aoi's head snapped up "Is that what you think?" She asked cutting him off. He looked briefly stunned for a second before nodding slowly. She sighed before speaking gently "Yusaku with all we've been through together and worked together to do. I think we at least have the right to consider each other as friends. At least that's how I view it"

He hesitated before briefly looking ashamed. The look passed quickly and he spoke again so after "I… I need a promise from you" He explained, suddenly looking at her directly. "You can't tell anybody about this. Not Kusanagi, Not Soulburner. Not even your brother. I know I said Kusanagi will probably figure it out but I'd like to delay that as long as I can. This is something I have to do alone."

Aoi looked down for a second in thought. Could she really keep this a secret? That he was trying to find the Ignis who had done such awful things. She looked at Yusaku. His face had returned to its neutral expression but she could see the nervousness in his eyes. She wanted to try and talk him out of it. To tell him that this was crazy. But at the time she felt she had to do this. Yusaku had done so much for her and she felt like she owed him. Still that didn't mean she had to make it easy.

"OK. I'll keep it a secret on one condition" She told him which caused Yusaku to raise an eyebrow. She got to her feet and reached into the bag she had brought with her and pulled out her duel disk. "You give me a rematch" She told him a confident smirk appearing on her face

"A rematch?" Yusaku asked clearly, not expecting the conversation to go in this direction.

Aoi nodded in response. "The last time we dueled was back when I was being influenced by the Knights of Hanoi's virus. I feel like I've grown so much since then. So I want to see how good I am compared to Link VRAINS' best duelist now" She explained. "You have my word that I wont say anything to anyone. All i want in return is to see how much I've improved and how i stack up against the best duelist in Link VRAINS"

Yusaku watched her for a short period of time. "And what happens if I lose?" He asked cautiously.

Aoi rolled her eyes at the statement "Deal stays the same. Like I said I just want to see how much I've improved" She explained slightly frustrated "Even if you decline the duel I'll still stay quiet. This is more me asking a favour in return"

He was still for a moment, As if contemplating whether to accept her offer. Finally he got up and walked over to his bed. She saw him pick up his Duel disk and stare at it for a few seconds, Staring into the glass orb in the center before strapping it to his arm.

"OK then" He said calmly "I suppose I can afford one last duel before I leave but don't think I'll allow you to win." he said, turning to face her and raising his arm.

For the second time that day Aoi was surprised that Yusaku had accepted one of her offers. However she couldn't contain her excitement as a large smile appeared on her face "Alright let's do it then" she told him excitedly, Equipping her own duel disk and holding it up. "You ready?" She asked

He nodded intro response

The two of them both looked each other in the eyes before letting out a familiar cry,

"INTO THE VRAINS!"