Starting Notes:

Welcome back! In this chapter—we start with an interlude! :D

#5: A Quiet Interlude

In another world:

A lone figure rushed through buildings. At a single glance, it was obvious that he was not in the real world—or at least, not in 'reality'. The world around him was made of glaring blue light, streams of data flowing around him and around the buildings. In this virtual world, the boy ducked through buildings. He had dark blue hair—or at least, the avatar that he had on had dark blue hair. He was wearing a black and grey bodysuit with blue and gold accents. Golden eyes peered forward determinedly.

"Alright," the boy murmured to himself. "So, with where the data is going…" He glanced at the data streaming through the air. While they might have just looked like a few stray threads in the wind, if one observed them carefully, they were all heading towards the same direction. This was a stealthier form of information transfer within VRAINS—unless one was paying attention to it, they wouldn't realise that this was encrypted data, being sent from server to server. "The SOL Technologies data bank is that way then!"

He urged his hoverboard forward, riding parallel to those twin streams of data.

SOL Technologies, also colloquially known as the SOL Corporation. In Den City, the boy's hometown, they were practically a pseudo-government. While the city was technically run by a group called the Grandmaster Council, SOL Technologies was the corporation that provided most of the technology that was used by the city. One of those important inventions, naturally, was 'VRAINS'. Standing for Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Network System, it was essentially a replacement for the classic internet—a virtual reality that could contain information, transfer it, and affect many things in the real world as well. It was also where SOL itself kept its data, because if something was kept in VRAINS, it couldn't be hacked through normal means—it had to be accessed in VRAINS itself.

That was the world that the boy was currently in. The server that he was in was the private server of SOL, which he had gotten into through 'perfectly legal means', which would be the excuse that he gave if he was caught.

He made it to the building that stored all of SOL's data eventually. He reached the door.

Right. Spectre told me that the scanner takes the digital avatar signature of anyone that goes through it. In other words, I have to be prepared, so that I won't send out an alert.

He reached out a hand, running a program. A single hand appeared, pressing to the scanner.

"Avatar data detected," a voice said, sounding rather robotic. "Avatar ID: Faust. Identity approved."

The boy sighed in relief. He had gotten this program from his sister—a one-time data copy of the digital signature of one of the members of SOL's special security unit, the Knights of Hanoi.

"Door openi—"

Then, the robotic voice cut off, before it spoke up again.

"Security override. Override. Admin access. Door sealed."

The boy blinked. Then, the familiar scent of cherry blossoms drifted to his nose through the air. He saw some pink petals floating through the air.

The boy sighed in defeat.

A crimson-haired figure landed above the door, hoverboard dissolving into particles. They were wearing a crown of flowers and leaves, and dressed in a long white kimono. The figure adjusted the veil covering their face—though the boy knew very well that there was no face under the mask at all. It was intended to make her avatar more unsettling, after all.

"Dazzling Spring," he greeted. Then, in a softer voice, he said: "Hey, Miharu."

The second-in-command of the Knights of Hanoi looked at him. There was something awkward to the interaction—after all, the two of them had known each other for a very long time—in fact, ever since they were both ten. However, in this world, one of them was a thief attempting to get into a database that they should not be able to access, and the other was the one in charge of the digital security of the database in the first place.

Perhaps it was inevitable that they would have met here.

"Yuno," Dazzling Spring said—a moment of acknowledgement of their ties in real life, before she went back to her brisk, professional tone. "Number 2 Charisma Duelist, Boundless Sea. You… most certainly do not have permission to be here."

Boundless Sea cracked a half-hearted smile. "Would you believe me if I said I was on vacation?" He joked.

"In SOL's personal server?" Dazzling Spring said. "Absolutely not. What is your business here? I assumed that the Charisma Duelists all had their own orders already." She didn't sound like she was that entertained—but she also didn't sound like she was going to report him to the higher ups at SOL, which, uh, at least was a good thing? Maybe he wasn't going to get in trouble after all.

… speaking of trouble…

"I don't suppose you could let me peek in for a moment at the database?" Boundless Sea asked. "I need to check something very quickly."

Dazzling Spring tilted her head. She seemed to metaphorically see through him—not literally, since her avatar, once again, did not have a face. "… access denied," she said after a moment. "Go home, Boundless Sea. This doesn't concern you at all."

"It concerns me when my sister goes to SOL and doesn't come back for days on end," Boundless Sea snapped back, protective as ever—before he backtracked a moment later, catching a hold of his temper. "K—Cloud Piercer isn't even an official Knight of Hanoi. What kind of mission did she get sent on?"

"The matter is classified," Dazzling Spring said—not quite sharp, but there was no hesitation to the words.

"Miharu!" Boundless Sea exclaimed in frustration.

"… can you stop mixing up our names?" Dazzling Spring shook her head. "I don't owe you explanations, Yuno Kazuhara. Your sister has already caused enough of a mess—go home."

"I can't go home without answers," Boundless Sea said, rubbing his forehead. "Everyone keeps asking me where she's gone, and I don't have an answer—it's just like back then—"

"I already helped you find out who did that to your family back then," Dazzling Spring said bluntly—though there was a stutter at the end of the sentence. A moment where her coldness wavered in sympathy, because perhaps out of everyone that knew him, she understood his feelings from that incident best. "And I told you that was the end of anything between us in the real world. What happens in either world stays there."

"And I told you that I don't accept that!" And it had been a conversation that Boundless Sea had never forgotten, because of how cold Miharu had become after that day, and he still didn't understand it at all—

The Miharu that had gently helped him teach his sister to duel, and the one that had crushed Cloud Piercer mercilessly under her heel—those were two very different people. He almost hadn't recognised her then. Not to mention the damage which that defeat had done to Cloud Piercer's self-esteem as well…

"Just…" Boundless Sea flew up to right in front of her, reaching out for her hand. Dazzling Spring drew back, but Boundless Sea didn't let her drive him off—he lifted her hand in his. "Please. I don't care if you don't want anything to do with me anymore, but I need to know what happened to her, and the only ones that know are you all. Please help me. If my sister dies too, I'll have no one."

"… I always forget how important you two were to each other," Dazzling Spring murmured. "So close that there was never any room for anyone else to be by your side."

"… huh?"

" … log out," Dazzling Spring finally said. "Tell Spectre to stop leaking our company secrets to you. Come to SOL. I'll put you in touch with Ry—Revolver."

A wave of relief washed through Boundless Sea's body. He nearly crumpled from the force of it—as though energy was sucked straight out of his limbs. Only Dazzling Spring instinctively grabbing his side as he nearly fell stopped him from falling right off the gate. "Thank you," he breathed out.

"Stop leaning on me," Dazzling Spring muttered, and Boundless Sea managed to find his footing a moment later. Then, somewhat quieter, she replied: "No need to thank me."

Boundless Sea took a moment to just hold onto her—to treasure this moment when she wasn't pushing him away. For a moment, it felt like back then, before everything had become so complicated. That twist of fate that had caused her to close herself off.

What happened to us?

In Maiami City:

They had headed back to You Show that day, to make sure that the rest didn't worry too much about them. However, Yuzu hadn't elaborated about what exactly she had seen—there was just a thoughtful look in her eyes, and she looked distracted a lot of the time. Keika had also heard rumours at school about Sawatari skipping school over the last few days, and considering how Ayu had anxiously told them that Yuzu had gone in to yell at Sawatari, clearly, the two of them had encountered… something.

"I wish that she would just tell us what happened," Keika murmured one morning. Sora and Yuya both weren't up yet, but Kanae was. The brunette watched over her shoulder curiously as Keika packed a lunchbox with a ham and cheese sandwich in it, along with two orange slices and some sausages.

"Just grab her and shake her," Kanae suggested, as brazen as ever.

"I'm not that confrontational." Keika passed the lunchbox to Kanae, who stared at it in surprise. It only lasted for a moment though, before Kanae spoke up again.

"Yeah, you're the 'sulk in a corner' type, aren't you?" Kanae hummed. "Do what you want then. Still though, if you're just patient and waiting for something to happen, you'll let things pass you by."

Keika glanced at her. "You sound like a motivational speaker."

"Maybe that's why you like me so much. You're the kind that needs a motivational speaker in your life." Kanae folded her arms. "Seriously. You only have two moods. Calm and angry. You need to smile more."

What is there to smile about?

Still though…

Taking action… it was somewhat unlike Keika's nature. She defended her people—that was Yuya, her mother, and perhaps to a lesser extent, the other students of You Show. That included Kanae (unsurprisingly) and Sora (reluctantly) now as well. She responded to what she saw as attacks with, well, violence. Such as punching an adult man for upsetting Yuya, and so on.

At the same time…

"I have an idea," Keika said. "Do you want to visit LDS with me after I'm out of school today?"

"LDS? That famous Duel School I heard about?" Kanae smirked. "Sure. I'd like to see how weak they are."

"… someday, I'm going to watch you duel for the first time, and you're going to fall flat on your face," Keika replied. It was just one of the normal jabs that they usually exchanged. To her surprise though, Kanae didn't respond for a brief moment. "… you good?"

"… you know, if I was actually that weak," Kanae murmured, "I might have died back there." She seemed like she was in a trance for a moment. "Died on the ground, stomped on by those that thought that they were above me…"

Keika noticed that Kanae's hand was shaking.

"My pride wouldn't have been able to take it," Kanae said, her eyes looking at something far away. Her speech was getting faster and faster. "Him being looked down on, her being unable to see how hard he was trying and constantly condescending to him and thinking that he wasn't treating things seriously, all those people who told me that I was unworthy. A city that never accepted me as I was…" Her voice was building up—something uncontrollable was boiling up within it—and it was odd, seeing the usually unflappable girl like this. Keika hated seeing her like this—there was something seething and yet fragile there. "And her, that person that I could never tolerate…"

"Heavy. So, you have that feeling, huh? Maybe we share more than just a face then."

Was this what Kanae had meant? Was this the weight that she carried—the ugliness that she felt on the inside, the same way that the desertion of Keika's father had also placed that terrible weight on her shoulders?

In that case…

Kanae had heard her out by the ocean, and had validated those ugly feelings that she held towards her father. And more importantly, she was Keika's only actual friend, considering her own antisocial nature. Keika didn't want to just leave her there.

"Hey, Kanae." Keika reached out a hand, grabbing the girl's shoulder, trying to snap her out of her reverie. "Kanae. Breathe."

"I hate them," Kanae muttered, and it didn't even sound like she was the one saying it. It sounded like someone far away, someone speaking through Kanae's lips. "I hate her. I hate everyone but him. They can all burn in hell."

"If you hate them so much, they can burn," Keika replied in agreement, her other hand patting Kanae's back softly. "If there's a group that can make you this angry, then yes." She didn't stop to consider her words—right now, she could just hear the echo of her own resentment in Kanae's voice, and she didn't know what could have started this, but it was more important to make it stop. "Breathe. It's me. Can you hear me?" She tried to soften her voice, but it was difficult.

Kanae breathed out slowly. Keika didn't know if that meant yes or not.

"I don't know what you're thinking about," Keika said, "but I'm here." She squeezed Kanae's shoulder, trying to ground her. "I'm right here."

Kanae nodded after a moment. "I can hear you," she murmured.

"Alright." Keika let out a sigh of relief. "What do you need?"

" … I have a small tube in my purse," Kanae said after a moment. Keika nodded. She didn't let go of Kanae—one hand still held onto her shoulder, as though afraid that the other girl would slip back into that episode again. Keika found a thin tube and picked it out of the purse. Kanae opened it and swiftly took out a tablet. "Water."

Keika quickly poured her a cup, and Kanae popped the tablet in her mouth, before drinking from the cup to wash it down.

There was a period of silence where Kanae closed her eyes, before the brunette spoke up again. " … sorry that you had to see me like that." She sounded like the words were being pulled out from her unwillingly. Kanae was not the type to apologise, and Keika already knew that quite well.

"No problem," Keika said. She didn't know how to be soothing, so she just poured another cup of water and hoped that it would help a little. "Do you want to talk about—I mean, if you don't remember—"

"It all just came out," Kanae said, holding a hand to her forehead. "I don't know—I blacked out somewhat, it was all going so fast—" She turned the bottle around. " … I just assumed this would help, since I found it in my pockets after I woke up here." It was a very small bottle. "Patient details are inked over, but it does say the dosage and what it's meant to be used for." She turned the bottle towards Keika. "I didn't take it seriously… maybe that's why it hit me like a truck." She was still talking rather fast now, meaning that the episode hadn't actually stopped. However, she had at least snapped out of that strange reverie. "I guess I'll have to remember to take these, but there's not many left…"

Keika leaned forward and read the label. "Lithium," she murmured. "For… treating bipolar disorder?"

"Mm. You know my secret now, I guess." Kanae tilted her head. "Or, I guess, I know my own secret now? I really should properly look through the stuff I had when I ended up here." She snorted. "Bipolar disorder, huh? Makes a lot of sense."

Hmm…

Bipolar disorder meant that a person would have manic episodes and depressive episodes—essentially, sometimes falling into a 'high energy, good mood, impulsive' state or a 'low energy, bad mood, closed-off' state.

Still though, Kanae had been mostly cheerful and snarky the entire time that Keika had known her. If Keika had not seen what had just happened, she wouldn't have considered the idea at all.

"I'll skip school today," Keika decided after a moment. She turned to make Yuya a sandwich as well. "Let's go to a pharmacy. We'll get you some more of those—enough to last a while."

I never want to see you collapse like that again, she did not say. After all, she had read that bipolar disorder could not be cured. The symptoms could only be mitigated. It would happen again.

So all that she could do was help in the ways that she could.

… hmm.

She was being oddly kind to someone that wasn't Yuya, for once.

Maybe there really was something that resonated with her, when it came to Kanae. This girl with the same face as her. Maybe they had really been destined to meet.

Kanae sighed, leaning back on the counter. She did not argue, and perhaps that was the biggest sign that she was not feeling well. "What did I say?" She asked.

Keika sifted through her memories, though most of them were coloured with panic. "Uh. You have a brother, I think?" That was what had really stood out to her, because what was the likelihood that both of them looked so similar and both had brothers? "You said something about him being the only person that you cared for—and something about growing up in an unfair city, I think—"

And reflecting on all of that, if that was truly something that had come from Kanae's subconscious, what kind of life had she led before she ended up here?

What did it say about Keika herself, if she could understand those feelings? An unfair city that looked down on her for something that wasn't her fault, struggling to be strong to be acknowledged—

Even if, hypothetically, Keika Sakaki had somehow never felt the motivation to become the strongest, she would be lying if she said that her resentment hadn't pushed her to prove others wrong.

"I only care about being strong. Stronger than anyone. Stronger than that man, too."

When her mother came downstairs, Keika quietly confided in her about the situation. Yoko Sakaki was nothing if not efficient, and so, with a sunny smile, she burst into the kitchen, where Kanae was now looking through her belongings. "Kanae-chan!" She greeted. "We're going out on a girls' trip later, okay?"

Kanae snorted, which was—a good sign? "To the pharmacy?" She said, cracking a smile. "If I knew that being open about my mental health troubles would earn me a girl's day out, I might have cracked sooner." It was a very bleak joke, but it at least showed that she was a little better than before. "Sure, sure. Weren't we going to go to LDS though, Keika?"

"We can go tomorrow," Keika said. "I was just going to shake someone down…"

"Aww, channelling my spirit? I like it!"

"We can go around the malls in the morning, and you two can go in the afternoon," Yoko suggested, and well, with an adult around, that was settled rather easily.

Yuya complained a bit about her getting to skip school while he was stuck, while Sora complained about being stuck home alone. To the first, Keika just said 'tough luck', because she was pretty sure that if she shared Kanae's issues with Yuya, the brown-haired girl would probably murder her in her sleep and smile. To the second, Keika considered spilling more cereal on him, but decided to be nice and offered him a lollipop, which seemed to be enough to ensure his compliance.

So, the three of them went out for a fun day. Keika's mother cheerfully took the chance to dress up Kanae, and while Keika privately worried about the price tag, she knew better than to say it aloud. And it seemed to make Kanae happy to look at clothes with Yoko anyway, so who was Keika to interrupt her fun?

As the two looked at cute clothes—Yoko had always wanted to go clothes shopping with her, but Keika had never been too interested in clothes, anyway—Keika turned to look at some of the pop-up shops around them.

One of them caught her eye. It was a shop selling hairpins. She walked over, picking up one of them. It was a rabbit—rather mischievous-looking, pure white, with red eyes. Then, she picked up another one—a rooster, with resplendent gold feathers. It was rather cute as well, with beady black eyes.

She glanced at the price tag. 300 yen each. Not that bad of a price tag.

Before she could second-guess herself, she put six hundred yen on the table, and took the two pins. Kanae, who was trying on a long skirt, turned to look at her.

"Hmm? Did miss 'I don't care about appearances' buy something after all?" Kanae teased.

Keika wordlessly reached up, and she brushed some of Kanae's hair fringe to the side. The rabbit hair clip fit perfectly, and she drew her hand away.

Kanae tilted her head. "What's that for?" She asked.

"I thought it might look nice on me, but my hair colour doesn't work with it," Keika said. "You have the same face as me. You'll have to do."

Kanae snorted. "What a liar," she said, but there was no heat to it. "And what a bad liar too. But it'd be even more embarrassing to refuse." She glanced in the mirror. "You're right. It would look ugly in your hair."

Keika glanced at the rooster clip. "Help me with it," she said. Her mother was still on the other side of the store.

Kanae rolled her eyes. "Your depth perception must be awful if you can't even put it on yourself," she said. But she raised a hand obligingly anyway.

After all of that—and going to the pharmacy, Kanae seemed slightly less high-strung, so Keika thought that it would probably be fine to head to LDS. The two of them walked along the street towards the school.

"So," Kanae said, "what are we doing here?"

"Like I said, we're shaking someone around," Keika said. "There were a few other witnesses other than Yuzu, so if we don't want to bother her—"

"You don't want to bother her," Kanae interrupted. "I'd totally be fine with it—she's been so distracted lately. I bet that I could slip wasabi into her food and she'd eat it without any reaction at all."

"Do not," Keika said, but she had to hold back a laugh anyway. "But anyway, between her and someone else… well, it'd be awkward seeing that someone else, but at the very least, he's more likely to spill the beans."

Kanae blinked. "Oh! Your secret admirer?"

Keika grimaced.

"I actually meant to ask, but are you not interested in him specifically or in guys in general?"

"Me?" Keika shrugged. "I don't care what gender a person is. To be honest, I don't really hang around people, so I've never thought of dating someone either."

"Hmm, fair enough!" Kanae tilted her head. "Maybe I have a boyfriend or girlfriend back home, and I just forgot them… that'd be trippy, huh?"

That'd be sad, in Keika's opinion, but she didn't burst Kanae's bubble for now. Considering Kanae's earlier episode and how she had claimed to hate everyone back home but her brother though, it didn't seem likely that Kanae had dated anyone before being here.

Keika glanced around. She didn't see Sawatari anywhere, and she was both relieved and annoyed at that. Really, why did he always have to be around when she didn't want to see him, and not around at this exact moment?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice from nearby. "You're not LDS students, are you?"

Keika turned over—

Oh.

A black-haired girl was looking at them, her arms folded. Her skin was rather dark, and her eyes were red. She was wearing a blue shirt and light yellow shorts—

And Keika's brain promptly imploded.

… pretty.

Kanae glanced over at her, before laughing. "Well," she said, "isn't that an answer for that question earlier? I'm rooting for you!" It was definitely said in a mocking tone, but the girl that was looking at them seemed confused.

"Rooting for her? Is she here to duel someone?"

Keika had the presence of mind to shove aside her momentary shock and nod, quickly saving herself from awkwardness. "Yes. I'm here to duel Sawatari and interrogate him."

"Sawatari? I don't think he'll be a challenge for you, Keika Sakaki."

Keika blinked. This girl knew her name?

The girl raised a hand and pointed it at her. "Your brother is certainly better known," she said, cutting to the point. "But you are You Show's true ace, aren't you?"

"… I might be," Keika said with a shrug.

"She is," Kanae said.

"… you've been a student at You Show for a good total of two weeks, Kanae."

"And I am always correct," Kanae retorted. "You have the most skill out of them, Keika."

The black-haired girl nodded. "I thought so," she said. "In that case—don't waste your time with Sawatari." She smiled, and there was competitive spirit in her eyes. "Why don't we spar, firefly?"

… well, that was one way to wake her brain up from its stupor.

"If you can book a court," Keika replied calmly.

"No problem." The black-haired girl held out a hand, and Keika shook it. "I'm Masumi Kotsu."

"Keika Sakaki," Keika replied. "… though you obviously already know."

As Masumi let go and walked off to book a court, Keika looked down at her hand.

" … I'm not surprised that we're already distracted, but if you brought me here to third wheel you and a cute girl, I'm going to be very upset," Kanae said. "Is there anywhere that sells popcorn nearby?"

End Notes:

Six Dimensions!Miharu: "I'm going to change everything about my avatar's appearance, but I'm still going to have a human face!"

Twin Dragons!Miharu: "What's a face?"

And yeah, I bet there was one interesting thing that stood out immediately, huh? Spectre exists in this universe! And for people who are wondering how that's possible when Miharu's usual deck is… well, what it is, you'll have to wait and see.

What Kanae suffers from is bipolar disorder. Essentially, she has periods where she swaps between manic episodes (a sense of heightened energy and impulsivity) and depressive episodes (sadness, anger, etc) What happens in this chapter is the effect of suddenly stopping her medication—since she forgot to take it for a while, she had a major episode. Medication usually only works when you take it for a prolonged period of time.

I think most of you have a good idea of what Kanae's backstory is, so I won't elaborate for now. :) Let's just say that I was interested in how the world that she came from might aggravate her episodes.

Reminder that Cloud Piercer's face is an avatar, and thus, while we all know that she's Keika's counterpart, there is no misunderstanding that Keika attacked Sawatari or something. We will get the fallout of the Cloud Piercer situation, and the LDS duels will still happen, but they're slightly delayed.

I will mention what I said in an earlier chapter—there is only one pairing set in stone, since the story is going to focus a lot more on the relationships between the twins and their dynamics. I'm not going to elaborate too much more.

Next chapter will definitely have a duel, haha. It was all meant to be one chapter, but I got… a bit carried away with character interactions.

Also, I don't know if I ever mentioned this explicitly, but Keika is definitely stronger than Yuya. Are the other K-counterparts stronger than their brothers? That's a good question… that I'm not answering. :)

Thank you to LHOCIN and Roy Mustang for reviewing! To LHOCIN, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! Yeah, I'm stealing the K-counterpart name from your review, since I don't have a good name to use for the six of them. :) For whether or not those four characters are different... you'll have to wait and see!