It had been a few weeks since she'd last laid eyes on his lean figure, witnessed the intense nature of his emerald-green eyes, saw the wind sweep through his blue locks, and to Skye Zaizen, it soon became apparent that when Yusaku Fujiki didn't want to be seen, he wouldn't be. Granted, she'd never really paid him much attention before. He had always been so standoffish, so quiet, so somber, minding his own business and not interfering with anyone else's. However, after she learned that he and Playmaker were one in the same, all those minute idiosyncrasies soon made much more sense.

Now, as she raised her gaze and made direct eye contact with the very boy who had done nothing but invade her thoughts for the past few weeks, she found herself at a complete and utter loss for words. Of course, Yusaku could have acknowledged her had he wanted, but she wasn't entirely sure if he wanted by the way he merely stood still and held her gaze, seemingly staring into her soul with that same intense, unwavering blank expression.

"Y-Yusaku!" She stammered, not quite sure what to say at the moment. She had nearly bumped into him just now, taking a step back and attempting to relax as she tightened her grip on her bookbag, slightly averting her gaze to hide her slight blush. "I-I didn't realize you'd returned to school." She huffed a breathy laugh, attempting to lighten the mood. Losing Ai – his best friend – hadn't been easy on him, she imagined.

A feeling she knew all too well.

Skye raised her head as Yusaku's gaze seemed to soften ever so slightly. He hummed, placing his free hand in his pocket as he broke the contact, glancing up towards the nearest interesting object – an overarching tree.

"I… decided that… it was time." He spoke slowly; somberly.

"Time?" She raised her brow ever-so-slightly.

"To let him go." He had said it with every sense of finality he could muster, but considering their surroundings, she knew it wasn't appropriate for him to divulge in the context, either. His identity as Playmaker was still very much private.

"Oh." She didn't know what else to say, lowering her gaze to the ground, hugging her bookbag against her chest. "I'm sorry, Yusaku. I… know how hard it is… to say goodbye to someone you… care about." She remembered nearly losing Akira, losing Miyu, losing Aqua...

He returned her gaze at this statement, not attempting to hide his frown as he breathed deeply through his nose. This was a sensitive topic for him, but he steeled his expression with determination.

"Despite that, there are three reasons why I must now move on:" He began to walk forward, passing beside her as she turned and fell into pace next to him. He raised one finger. "One: I cannot let the impact of Ai's friendship die simply because he is not around to fulfil the role." A second finger. "Two: Even if I never see Ai again, I will always have the memories we made together to remind me of him, and three:" The final finger, "Ai would want me to invest in my own future, just as I would want him to invest in his own were he here."

Yusaku paused, eyes glued to the pavement as Skye stopped beside him, leaning her head slightly to try and get a reign on his thoughts, curious regarding the direction of the conversation.

"Coming to that conclusion, I realized that – though it often felt like he was all I had – Ai was not my only friend, that there were others that had stood by me in the past, and I was reminded of those people during my time away." He reinitiated eye contact for a brief moment as Skye blinked, eyes widened in curiosity as the two continued walking.

"I once sought you out solely because of your brother's ties to SOL Technologies."

Skye remembered this. It was the one time she'd been hopeful that someone had actually wanted to be her friend simply because she was a living, breathing human being and not some relative to one of the most important people in a big-wig company. However, Yusaku had quickly (and unintentionally) made it apparent that he hadn't intended to truly befriend her, and it had hurt.

"…Yeah." She stated quietly, sadly.

The two were silent as they approached a bench, Yusaku easing his bookbag off his shoulder and setting it by the bench's leg as he seated himself, eyes focused ahead as Skye smoothed her skirt and seated herself a respectable distance from him, sitting her bookbag atop her lap as her eyes followed wandering classmates.

They stayed like this for several moments, neither speaking as they listened to the wind rustling through the trees, of people talking as they walked by, of a wayward bird chirping as it flew from a nearby branch, of cars driving through the bustling streets of Den City.

"When you… tried to 'befriend' me then," she smiled slightly as she heard Yusaku lightly gasp, apparently catching him off guard despite using the softest tone she could, "did you actually want to be my friend?"

She met his gaze as his brows furrowed slightly in confusion, relaxing as he considered her question. He lifted his head as he watched a bird flitter by, shaking his head ever-so-slightly.

"No." He stated firmly - yet somehow, still softly. He wasn't one to sugarcoat things.

"Oh." She couldn't express her melancholy any deeper than that. Outside of Link VRAINS, she really had been – perhaps still was the least likable person. She was a plain Jane; very little personality. She wasn't very attractive, and she wasn't as mature in some areas as some of her female classmates. She was quiet, reserved, and conservative. Hence, why she didn't have many friends growing up. Even now, aside from Miyu, it was still hard to meet new people at school who actively enjoyed her dull presence.

"However," she turned as she didn't realize he had been intently staring at her, "while I did not desire to truly befriend you then, I… would like to do so now." He gingerly held out his palm.

She blinked, wondering if she had misheard him. "Yusaku, are you offering me… your friendship?"

"If… you'll accept it." He almost stuttered, a child-like gleam of hope flickering in and out of his gaze.

"I thought we already were!" Skye smiled softly, laughter jingling like a bell. "But then again, we… didn't exactly meet on the greatest of circumstances back then, so how about we start over?" She gently clasped his palm, shaking it. "My name is Skye Zaizen. I'm sixteen, my favorite color is blue, and I like dueling in Link VRAINS."

The corners of his lips raised slightly. "Yusaku. I am sixteen, blue is my favorite color, and I also favor dueling in Link VRAINS."