Starting Notes:
Welcome! In this chapter, we'll be introducing the Link counterparts. Hopefully, you enjoy meeting them! There are some differences to how VRAINS works that will be explained within the story too. This chapter and the next chapter were originally one chapter in the first few drafts (this chapter gave me such a headache) but have since been split up! Chapter 4 and 5 are the same—the first draft for them has already been written, but I'm probably going to split it in two for… reasons. :) Plus, shorter chapters means that I can hopefully update more often! I try not to post a chapter until I have the first draft of the next one done, so that I can go back and correct anything needed.
Chapter #2: The Link Dimension
Ten years ago:
"What the hell is this?"
The door to the laboratory was flung open. A middle-aged man with greying hair stormed right through the lab, even as anxious scientists followed behind him, trying to stop him. He ignored all of them, coming to the final set of doors. He swiped his keycard across the reader, opening up the door.
Sitting in the middle of the room was a small, young blonde girl. She had a silver bracelet around her wrist like a laurel wreath, a blue gem glowing from within it. She looked empty, as though her soul had been sucked out of her. She was unmoving.
The man looked at her, thinking about his son back at home.
He leaned down, holding out a hand to the girl.
The girl slowly tilted her head towards him, dull green eyes blinking slowly.
"Hey," he said. "Want to get out of here?"
Slowly, as though afraid that he wasn't real, the girl lifted her hand. Her small fingers pressed against his, and the man pulled her to her feet. Then, glaring at the rest of the scientists and challenging them to stop him if they dared, he led the girl out.
Out of this hell that she had been in, and into a new life.
In the present:
As the school bell rang, signalling that it was time for lunch, a blonde girl began to tidy things up at her desk. Her hair was let down, and was incredibly long, straight down to her waist. (Her best friend had made a joke about her being Rapunzel quite a few times at this point.) At the sides of her hair, there were side-braids that were tied horizontally, joining together at the back of her hair and being braided together as well. She had a hair clip with a pink flower pattern, though it was clearly there for aesthetic reasons rather than actually being useful, considering that most of her fringe still covered her face. She was wearing a green jacket with a hood, a white shirt, long brown skirt and white covered shoes. She was wearing a silver bracelet on her wrist as well.
Once she was done packing up, she looked towards the other back corner of the class. There was a lot of noise there—many people were talking there, though all of them were clearly there to talk to just one person—the boy sitting in the middle, at his desk, with a sunny smile on his face.
The girl sighed.
… maybe she'd head off for lunch first. If she got it first, then he could just sit down once he got there.
She stood up, leaving the classroom. She barely made it five steps away from the classroom before the door opened. The boy ran over to her side, his bag clearly having been hastily packed, still smiling brightly.
"Yuno," she said in surprise.
Yuno Sugisaki smiled at her brightly. His hair was mostly light orange, with short bangs hanging over his forehead. It was somewhat short, stopping at the top of his neck. There were red highlights in his hair, along the 'edges' of his bangs and the ends of his hair. His eyes were bright gold. He was wearing a black t-shirt that was rather loose-fitting on him, long dark jeans, and he had a pair of chain-link bracelets around his wrists. He slung his bag over his shoulder. "Don't tell me that you forgot about lunch, Miharu!" He said cheerfully.
"... I was going to get lunch for us first," Miharu Kogami said, glancing away from him. "... you could've carried on talking."
"Oh, you were going to just buy it for the two of us? I appreciate it!" Yuno slung an arm around her shoulders, the two of them walking along towards the cafeteria. "But nah, I'd rather walk with you! I can always talk to everyone later!"
The scary thing about Yuno, Miharu thought, was that when he said he was going to talk to everyone back there, he actually meant it. It was something completely incomprehensible to her. Not the fact that everyone liked Yuno—he was her best friend, after all, she understood perfectly well why people all liked Yuno so much. He was so warmly honest, enthusiastic and outgoing. All things that Miharu had never really been. The part that was incomprehensible was why he would even want to talk to so many people in the first place.
People were boring.
"Alright," Miharu said, not sharing any of those thoughts.
They sat down for lunch at a long table, and Yuno cheerfully chatted with the entire table, while Miharu ate her food. Yuno occasionally tossed a question her way. He was clearly trying to keep her involved in the conversation, which was nice of him, and since it didn't take much energy to answer, Miharu did.
"I never see you duel, Yuno," one of the assorted classmates said. "Or, come to think of it, Kogami-san doesn't duel either!"
"Ah…" Yuno chuckled awkwardly. "Well, I like dueling, but I'm not good at it when people know it's me! So I normally duel with VRAINS, instead of as myself."
"Ooh, makes sense. Not going to tell us your VRAINS account then?"
"Ah, maybe someday," Yuno said, neatly evading the question while still being perfectly honest. He managed to shift the topic away, even as Miharu tilted her head, leaning on her arm.
VRAINS. Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Network System. The name was a little of a misnomer—VRAINS was both a virtual reality system and an augmented reality system. The augmented reality part allowed holograms of monsters to be summoned in real life and to be visible to everyone. It also allowed people to create avatars that would be overlaid on their physical appearance, to hide themselves while dueling. Some people became Charisma Duelists through this—idols, essentially, who were admired by all kinds of people. The virtual reality part was a server that people could use their duel disks to send their consciousness to, though their physical bodies remained in the real world. Charisma Duelists worked in both versions of VRAINS.
It was a very basic part of their lives now. Charisma Duelists like the Number 1 Charisma Duelist, Blue Angel, or the Number 2 Charisma Duelist, Boundless Sea, were as much part of the cultural consciousness as characters in famous movies and books.
Miharu lost herself in her own thoughts for a moment, and then she blinked as Yuno tapped her shoulder, coming back down to reality.
"Are you free to watch tonight?" He asked.
"... I'll be going over to my dad and brother's side," Miharu said. "I should be watching. I think."
"Great." Yuno smiled. Miharu's cheeks went red—she had always liked Yuno's smile. "Then I'll be sure to put on a nice show for you."
"... you always do."
After school, Miharu headed over to the SOL Corporation's building. She didn't necessarily hold any position there—she was only sixteen, after all. However, she was around the building enough that most of the employees knew who she was. The receptionist in the lobby was no exception, smiling at her as she walked in.
"How's our little 'ojou-sama' doing today?" The receptionist teased. Most of the employees called Miharu by that nickname—many of them had worked at SOL for a long time, after all, so they had seen Miharu grow up.
Miharu nodded politely. "I'm doing fine," she said. "My brother…"
"He and your father are upstairs in the VRAINS monitoring room," the receptionist said. Miharu thanked her and walked to the elevator, heading up.
The SOL Corporation was the corporation that had created Link VRAINS. They were mostly an independent business, though the government body—the Grandmaster Council—did send inspectors to look over it occasionally. However, since their main product and creation, VRAINS, was such a universally used system, SOL still had a certain level of power within Den City. And her father was one of its leaders. Miharu herself had grown up sitting in during meetings, back when she was too afraid to go anywhere without her father or brother around. Now, she was a little more independent, but sometimes when she was alone in a place that was too quiet, it felt like she was back in that white room again.
The quieter the world was, the more silent Miharu Kogami became.
The elevator music continued, until there was a clicking sound and the doors opened. Miharu walked out, striding through the corridors. She walked to the labs, only to see a person get tossed back by an attack from a monster, with several people watching. Her brother, Ryoken, was the first one to notice her. He was a man with white hair that spiked outwards and backwards, though still looking quite neat. There were purple-blue highlights in his hair, and his eyes were light blue.
"Miharu," he said. There was a small smile on his face—Ryoken had never been one for strong expressions of affection, after all. "Perfect timing."
"Is there something that I need to look through the code of?" Miharu asked. After all, firstly, everyone at SOL was well aware that she was a very good hacker, especially when it came to hacking VRAINS itself—she had practically grown up looking at the code. Secondly, the fact that VRAINS was about to get a new update on the AR front of duels soon also suggested that there would be some coding issues. Thirdly, the fact that she had just walked in on what looked like a dueling test made it clear that there was something being worked on here.
"Oh, we've mostly settled the coding front," Ryoken said. "Although I would like you to go through it later and point out any flaws from a malicious point of view."
So, to find any possible vulnerabilities… alright.
"We're inventing a system of full 'Real Solid Vision', as our father has named it." Ryoken glanced at the robot nearby. "Essentially, it'll allow for monsters to have real mass as they fight in real life, not just for Duel Boards to be manifested in real life."
"... that sounds like it would cause a lot of property damage."
"Oh, we've coded in precautions for that," one of the programmers said. "The holograms will turn back to normal holograms within ten centimetres of solid mass if they're moving above a certain speed. So if someone shakes hands with a hologram, it's fine, but if it's crashing down, it won't break the ground."
Miharu nodded. She stopped to consider it. "... so it's for a more immersive AR experience," she said. "So, what do you want me to do, big brother?"
"Your monsters are relatively less destructive than mine, for obvious reasons," Ryoken said. "We want to test the system with an AI at high difficulty against a strong opponent, to see how much computing power this system needs."
Hmm.
"I'll give it a shot," Miharu said, stepping forward. (Was that a pun? If it was, then it was unintentional. Guns, shots, alright, maybe it was. She blamed her father for it—she did like puns a lot, after all.) Most of the programmers stepped away, though a few of them cheered her on as they moved to the side to watch.
"Good luck, Miharu-chan!"
"Do your best, ojou-sama!"
Miharu faced the robot, and for a moment, her mind seemed to click into place.
She would never say that she loved dueling, but there was nothing that she enjoyed more. When she was dueling, nothing mattered except victory!
Her VRAINS username showed up on the display above her.
[DUEL!]
Dazzling Spring: 4000LP
Duel Bot: 4000LP
[Turn 1: Duel Bot] [H:5]
"Beginning the turn," the robot said, its voice the same text-to-speech that every Duel Bot program used. "Opponent detected. Data accessed in database. Dazzling Spring, consultant at the SOL Corporation, member of special security unit, the Knights of Hanoi. Difficulty level, high. Proceed with caution. Sending the Level 2 Stack Reviver from the hand to the graveyard to Special Summon the Level 4 Bitrooper to the field in the middle Main Monster Zone!"
A white and gold robot appeared, with a screen as its face, blue circles formed on it as the robot's eyes. On its left side, there was a ring of light with an orb in the middle that resembled a shield, while on the right side, there was a small white lance in its hand.
[Bitrooper (4*/1500/2000/EARTH/Cyberse/Effect)]
"And now, Normal Summoning Cyberse Gadget from the hand to the left Main Monster Zone!" Another robot appeared, bright lines running across its metallic body like a network. Its shoulders were red ellipses that were connected to rocket-like propellors.
[Cyberse Gadget (4*/1400/300/LIGHT/Cyberse/Effect)]
Cyberse monsters. Miharu knew those monsters rather well. They had been a new type of card that was distributed by the SOL Corporation when VRAINS was first implemented, in theme with the idea of a virtual, digital world. As such, a lot of SOL's Duel Bots used that type of monster.
"With the effect of Cyberse Gadget, a Level 2 or lower monster can be revived from the graveyard in Defense Position, but its effects are negated! Reviving Stack Reviver!"
A white computer-like object appeared, files stuck into it from the sides, two green lights at the front of its face like eyes, and wires sticking out around it like hands. Some might have found it cute, but Miharu had never been one to care about cuteness.
[Stack Reviver (2*/100/600/DARK/Cyberse/Effect)]
"Next, opening the circuit of the digital world! Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are two Effect Monsters! Setting Cyberse Gadget and Stack Reviver in the Link Markers."
The two monsters turned into streaks of light, flying into the square circuit that appeared overhead.
"Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 2! Pentestag!"
A large, black stag beetle appeared, its body made of metal and blue lines running across its body in an orderly fashion, just like circuitry. It had six legs, and a jaw that was just as long as its entire body.
[Pentestag (L2/1600/DARK/Cyberse/Link/Effect/↑, ↓)
Miharu frowned. She had never liked insects.
The bot continued swiftly—most of the time, these Duel Bots were programmed to consider and route out an entire turn immediately at the start of the turn, only alternating from the chosen path if an unexpected occurrence caused their original path to be impossible or to be less efficient. Therefore, everything that it was doing had already been planned out before.
"Stack Reviver's effect can be activated once per Duel. Special Summoning another Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster that was used for the same Link Summon as it. Cyberse Gadget." The robot reappeared in Defense Position on the robot's field. "Cyberse Gadget's own effect. Once per turn, since it was sent to the graveyard, a Gadget Token is Special Summoned to my field."
A small white robot with two red discs at its sides appeared, silver metal sticking out of them like pliers.
[Cyberse Gadget (4*/1400/300/LIGHT/Cyberse/Effect)]
[Gadget Token (2*/0/0/LIGHT/Cyberse)]
"Opening the circuit again. Arrowhead confirmed. The conditions are two Level 3 or higher Cyberse monsters. Setting Bitrooper and Cyberse Gadget in the Link Markers." The circuit reappeared, the two monsters zooming into it. "Circuit Combine. Link 2. Elphase!"
A blond man appeared, looking distinctly not like a robot. His hair was tied in a long ponytail, and he was wearing a long green scarf and a blue shirt. He was wearing boots that seemed to be made of metal, and he floated in the air behind Pentestag.
[Elphase (L2/2000/WIND/Cyberse/Link/Effect/↑, →)
"Elphase gains 300 attack points for every monster that it is linked to," the robot rattles on. Elphase glowed. Miharu glanced at it, noting that it was currently co-linked with Pentestag and pointing to the Gadget Token.
[Elphase: 2000 + 300 x 2 = 2600ATK]
"Setting one card and entering the End Phase. Passing the turn over to Dazzling Spring."
Nearby, one of the engineers—a younger one—turned to another. "How strong is she?" He commented. "I haven't actually seen her duel, but…"
"She is a part of Ryoken Kogami's Knights of Hanoi," the one next to him commented. "And she's his sister. Do you really think—"
"Miharu's achievements are her own," Ryoken commented from nearby. Both engineers smiled sheepishly, having been caught gossiping. "But it is her turn now, after all."
Miharu sighed. She had heard exactly what the others had been saying, and she had no real opinion on it. To this day, she wasn't sure how much of her skill came simply from learning from Ryoken.
A style of her own…
She hadn't found that yet.
She only knew how to win.
[Turn 2: Dazzling Spring] [H:6]
"Draw," Miharu declared. Her eyes glanced across her cards for a moment, before she took one card from her hand. "I will Normal Summon Sunseed Genius Loci!" A bright brown-red seed appeared, sitting within a golden chalice-like object—long golden root-like structures were holding onto the seed, connecting downwards to a white and blue chalice, tiny blue crystals around the chalice.
[Sunseed Genius Loci (1*/0/600/EARTH/Plant)]
"Then, since I control a Plant Normal Monster, I can Special Summon Sunseed Shadow from my hand!" A similar-looking monster appeared, except with bronze roots instead of gold, and a bright green sapling growing from within the goblet, sprouting two bright green leaves.
[Sunseed Shadow (1*/0/400/EARTH/Plant/Effect)]
"And now," Miharu said calmly, "manifest, the future circuit that sows the seeds for my path!"
Above her, the circuit appears, a square made of green vines and leaves, with pink flower petals forming the Link Arrows.
"Arrowhead confirmed. The conditions are one Level 4 or lower Plant monster. I will set Sunseed Genius Loci in the Link Markers." Loci turns into light and flies up, dyeing the bottom Link Arrow red. "Appear now, young tree beginning to bear fruit. Circuit Combine. Link Summon. Link 1—Sunavalon Dryas."
A beautiful tree appeared behind her, with a face in its middle, and two large green fruits drooping from its branches. Green leaves remained bright and lush as the branches of the tree spread out.
[Sunavalon Dryas (L1/0/EARTH/Plant/Link/Effect/↓)
"Since Dryas was Link Summoned using "Sunseed Genius Loci" as Link Material, I can add a "Sunvine" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand," Miharu said. She held out her hand, and a card slipped out of her deck. She picked it up. She touched her bracelet for a moment—it was a calming action for her. She then gestured back to her field. "I will then open the circuit again. Manifest, future circuit! Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are two Plant monsters, including a "Sunavalon" monster. I will set Sunseed Shadow and the Link 1 Sunavalon Dryas in the Link Markers. Grow ever taller, set your roots down. Circuit Combine. Link Summon. Link 2. Sunavalon Dryades."
A taller tree appeared, putting down roots into the ground—thin, like branches. The trunk was wider. Bright yellow fruits drooped all around the tree—plentiful and beautiful.
[Sunavalon Dryades (L2/0/EARTH/Plant/Link/Effect/↙, ↘)]
"Illogical," the Duel Bot rumbled out. "You are not any closer to winning."
"I prefer to take my time," Miharu responded. "I will activate the Spell, Sunseed Sowing." A green glow appeared on the ground behind Dryades. "I will Special Summon a "Sunseed" monster from my deck. Come. Sunseed Twin!" A pair of fairies appeared on her field. The one on the left was pink with green eyes, and the one on the right was blue with orange eyes. The two of them had vines looping around them, wrapping them together.
[Sunseed Twin (2*/0/800/EARTH/Plant/Effect)]
"Then, Sowing's effect resolves, and I take 1000 damage." A seed shot towards her, but she didn't wince. It hurt a little, but not enough to faze her.
Dazzling Spring: 4000 - 1000 = 3000LP
"I will activate Sunseed Twin's effect. Since it was Normal or Special Summoned while I control a "Sunavalon" Link Monster, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Plant monster from my graveyard." Sunseed Genius Loci reappeared on the field, right next to Sunseed Twin. Right now, Sunseed Twin was occupying Dryades's bottom-left Link Marker, and Sunseed Genius Loci was in the Main Monster Zone between Dryades's two Link Markers.
[Sunseed Genius Loci (1*/0/600/EARTH/Plant)]
At the same time, Dryades was glowing.
"And then, since I took battle or effect damage, twice per turn, Dryades allows me to gain life points equal to the damage I took," Miharu continued. A glow surrounded her.
Dazzling Spring: 3000 + 1000 = 4000LP
"Then, I can Special Summon a "Sunvine" monster from my Extra Deck."
The same engineer from earlier let out a sound of surprise. He probably meant for it to be quiet, but Miharu would never fail to hear anything that happened near her. She had become very sensitive to sound, ever since that white room. They had isolated her, and they had stopped her from seeing, from hearing, from—
No.
That way laid madness.
"Manifest," she declared. "The protector of the sacred sunbathed tree. Sunvine Thrasher!"
A blue-green knight-like monster appeared, four long blue-green wing-like structures stretching out behind him. A long sword was in his hand, and he held it, pointing forward, taking up Dryades's other Link Marker.
[Sunvine Thrasher (L1/800/EARTH/Plant/Link/Effect/↓)]
"Since Thrasher was Special Summoned, I can target a "Sunavalon" Link Monster I control," Miharu continued. "Thrasher gains 800 attack points for each of its Link Markers." Dryades dropped two orange fruit to the ground, which dissolved into orange light, swirling towards Thrasher.
[Sunvine Thrasher: 800 + 800 x 2 = 2400ATK]
"Then, manifest again, future circuit. Arrowhead confirmed. The conditions are two or more Plant monsters. I will set Sunavalon Dryades and Sunseed Twin in the Link Markers. Let the shadow beneath the tranquil tree begin to take its own form. Circuit Combine. Link 3. Sunavalon Dryanome!"
Miharu's ace appeared in front of her. It seemed like a wider, taller tree—beginning to have other trees around it that fused into it, forming a single canopy. The yellow fruits had turned from yellow to orange—seeming very ripe now. Purple tentacle-like vines had begun to creep out from the shadow behind the tree, floating all around it.
[Sunavalon Dryanome (L3/0/EARTH/Plant/Link/Effect/↙, ↓, ↘)]
"I will then manifest my circuit one more time," Miharu declared. For the final time this turn, the beautiful circuit appeared above her. "Arrowhead confirmed. The conditions are one Plant Normal Monster. I'll set Sunseed Genius Loci in the Link Markers. Circuit Combine. Protector of the sacred sunbathed tree. Link Summon. Link 1. Sunvine Thrasher."
Another copy of Sunvine Thrasher appeared on her field, taking up the bottom-left Link Marker of Dryanome.
[Sunvine Thrasher (2) (L1/800/EARTH/Plant/Link/Effect/↓)]
"Thrasher's effect," Miharu continued. "I will target the Link 3 Sunavalon Dryanome on my field." Another glow surrounds Thrasher.
[Sunvine Thrasher (2) : 800 + 800 x 3 = 3200ATK]
"My first Thrasher will attack Pentestag."
The green warrior struck forward with his sword, slashing directly through Pentestag's body. The Duel Bot's life points fell.
Duel Bot: 4000 - 800 = 3200LP
"Elphase has lost one monster that it points to," Miharu continued. "So it loses 300 attack points."
[Elphase: 2600 - 300 = 2300ATK]
"And now, my other Thrasher will attack your Elphase."
"Activating the Quickplay Spell, Cynet Backdoor," the Duel Bot said. "Banishing Elphase until the next Standby Phase to add a Cyberse monster with lower attack points from the deck to the hand. And when the Link Summoned Elphase leaves the field, it allows me to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster from my graveyard. Special Summoning Cyberse Gadget." The robot reappeared.
"I see," Miharu said, narrowing her eyes. "Then it's not a big deal. You've just given yourself some meat shields. Thrasher destroys Cyberse Gadget." Since it was in Defense Position, the Duel Bot didn't take any damage. Furthermore, since she had already taken control of Pentestag, the zones that Dryanome pointed to were already filled up, so she couldn't take control of Cyberse Gadget. Another Gadget Token appeared on the Duel Bot's field. "Pentestag destroys your Token." The other monster was destroyed. "I will set a card and end my turn. Over to you."
"Four Link Summons in one turn?" A programmer said, sounding impressed.
Miharu sighed.
Still not as good as Ryoken for now.
[Turn 3: Duel Bot] [H:3]
"Draw," the Duel Bot said. Elphase reappeared on the field. "Normal Summoning Draconnet!" A small, light blue dragon appeared, dark blue lines across its body, wings flapping through the air.
[Draconnet (3*/1400/1200/DARK/Cyberse/Effect)]
"Draconnet's effect Special Summons a Level 2 or lower Normal Monster from the deck. Come—Bitron!" A white, spherical monster appeared, with a black screen across the front, eyes made by LED-like structures on it. Six cute wings flapped around it, too small to actually lift it.
[Bitron (2*/200/2000/EARTH/Cyberse/Effect)]
"Then, since there is a Cyberse monster on the field, Backup Secretary can Special Summon itself from the hand." A purple-haired woman appeared, wearing a translucent blue dress and coat, as well as an aquamarine-coloured visor. She had a smug look on her face and a tablet in her hands.
[Backup Secretary (3*/1200/800/LIGHT/Cyberse/Effect)]
"Opening the circuit of the digital world. Arrowhead confirmed. The conditions are two or more Cyberse monsters, excluding Tokens. Setting Backup Secretary, Bitron and Draconnet in the Link Markers! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 3! Cyberse Accelerator!"
A white robot appeared, screens flashing all around it as grey squares floated all around the back of the robot. A part of its white head was replaced with yellow-orange glass. Green light glowed from around it.
[Cyberse Accelerator (L3/2000/LIGHT/Cyberse/Link/Effect/←, ↓, →)
Accelerator had been summoned to the Extra Monster Zone, becoming co-linked to Elphase.
[Elphase: 2000 + 300 + 300 = 2600ATK]
"Entering the Battle Phase. Accelerator will give a monster it points to 2000 attack points." Accelerator pointed to Elphase, who was surrounded by green light.
[Elphase: 2600 + 2000 = 4600ATK]
"Interesting," Ryoken said, smirking. "It seems to understand that if it doesn't take Miharu out in one strike, it can't take her out at all."
Miharu agreed with his assessment. It seemed that the Duel Bot had accessed data about her cards. If it had simply dealt her damage, or attacked her monsters, Dryanome would have been able to protect her.
"The monster affected by Cynet Backdoor can attack directly this turn! Elphase will attack directly!"
"... and you're supposed to be on hard difficulty?" Miharu flicked out a hand. "Trap Card, Draining Shield. I will gain life points equal to your monster's attack points."
Dazzling Spring: 4000 + 4600 = 8600LP
The Duel Bot stopped for a moment, before it ended its turn.
[Turn 4: Dazzling Spring] [H:5]
Miharu drew a card from her deck. Alright. Cyberse Accelerator might be able to boost up Elphase as well. So, in that case…
"I'll Normal Summon Lonefire Blossom," she declared. A fiery sapling appeared on her field, glowing embers dripping everywhere.
[Lonefire Blossom (3*/500/1400/FIRE/Plant/Effect)]
"I'll activate Lonefire's effect. I'll tribute a Plant monster—Lonefire itself—to Special Summon Aromage Cananga from my deck." A blond mage appeared, wearing brown and green robes, with a white beanie on his head. He had a bunch of glass vials all around him, and he seemed to be mixing up something.
[Aromage Cananga (3*/1400/1000/EARTH/Plant/Effect)]
"Cananga's effect. When my life points are higher than yours, all your monsters lose 500 attack and defense points."
[Elphase: 2600 - 500 = 2100ATK]
[Cyberse Accelerator: 2000 - 500 = 1500ATK]
The Aroma cards. They were cards that Miharu herself considered a part of her deck as well—while the Sunavalon cards were the main force of her deck, the Aroma cards supported them as well. They both mostly supported just Plant monsters, after all.
But the biggest reason why her deck hung between two archetypes was because Miharu herself had never let go of the past. The Aroma cards and her bracelet had been the only possessions that she had, when Kiyoshi Kogami had rescued her from the terrible incident that she had been trapped in.
She did not remember anything before the incident. It had been burned away to something empty and overly focused on dueling. In a way, her holding onto the Aroma cards was her own inability to completely let go of the signs of her past. For her, that incident had never ended.
Ryoken had gotten these Sunavalon cards for her, and she had made them her main deck, but she had never forgotten the Aroma cards. Sometimes, she even played them just by themselves, out of nostalgia.
She would never know what she had lost.
She touched the bracelet again, grounding herself.
Enough.
Who cared what she had lost?
All that mattered was what she had right now. And right now, she had everything that she could ever want. A family. A passion that she enjoyed. A best friend. The truly unfortunate ones in the world would stone her if she dared to complain about her life.
"I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Sunvine Cross Breed," Miharu declared. "Once per turn, I can tribute a Link Monster on my field to revive a Plant monster in my graveyard. I will tribute Pentestag and Special Summon Sunavalon Dryades from my graveyard." The smaller tree reappeared. "I'll manifest the future circuit one more time. Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are two or more Plant monsters, including a Link Monster! I'll set Sunavalon Dryades and the weaker Sunvine Thrasher in the Link Markers! Appear now, beautiful woman of the ash tree! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 3! Sunavalon Melias!"
A tree appeared, covered in several different shades of brown bark. There seemed to be a woman inside the tree—the bark had split apart near the top, revealing a human face, with long brown strands of bark and branches forming a hair-like structure at the top of the woman's head. There were some green leaves at the back of the tree, adding some more colour.
[Sunavalon Melias (L3/0/EARTH/Plant/Link/Effect/←, ↑, →)
"Melias's effect," Miharu said with an air of finality. "A "Sunvine" monster it points to can attack a number of times during this Battle Phase, up to the number of Sunavalon monsters I control. I control two Sunavalon monsters." She pointed forward. "You have no set cards. Battle Phase!"
"Accelerator will boost Elphase's attack points by 2000!"
[Elphase: 2100 + 2000 = 4100ATK]
"It does not matter," Miharu continued. "I will activate the Quickplay Spell, Raging Mad Plants. All Plant monsters I control gain 300 attack points for every Plant monster in my graveyard. I have seven."
[Sunavalon Meliae: 0 + 300 x 7 = 2100ATK]
[Aromage Cananga: 1400 + 300 x 7 = 3500ATK; 1000 + 300 x 7 = 3100DEF]
[Sunavalon Dryanome: 0 + 300 x 7 = 2100ATK]
[Sunvine Thrasher: 3200 + 300 x 7 = 5300ATK]
Ryoken chuckled. "That is really quite overkill, Miharu," he said. Miharu turned to give him a deadpan look.
"You wouldn't know the meaning of overkill if it was put in a dictionary for you, big brother." She turned back to the robot. "Sunvine Thrasher will destroy Elphase!"
The blond man was crushed by Thrasher viciously, leaves and metal scattering everywhere under the strike.
Duel Bot: 3200 - 1200 = 2100LP
"Dryanome will destroy your Token." She cleared away the last form of defence that her opponent had, before she nodded to Thrasher. The knight struck forward, the last strike of this duel.
Duel Bot: 2100 - 5300 = 0LP
Winner: Dazzling Spring!
Miharu didn't bother looking back at the bot, walking over to her brother's side. "So, how was the data?"
Most of the people there seemed to jolt up—they had clearly been so distracted by the duel that they hadn't been monitoring the data. However, Miharu knew that her older brother would never be so distracted that he forgot the true purpose of the duel.
"The strikes that you did on the Duel Bot were within acceptable parameters," Ryoken commented. "And as you can see, even though the strikes were real, the robot is unscathed. I'd consider this safe at this point—we've tested it a lot of times."
Miharu stopped, before she turned to him, tilting her head. "... so, the true purpose of this wasn't to test it," she said quietly. "It was to see me duel, right?"
"Just checking if you can keep up," Ryoken said with a chuckle, turning back to the screen. "Correct. You exceeded expectations. If you keep growing at this rate, you might even beat me one day."
Miharu tried her best to hide how much that made her recoil on the inside.
She would never, ever, want to be stronger than Ryoken.
It would make her feel alone again.
"I'm going to look through the code," she said. "Can I get a tablet? I want to be on the balcony."
"Right, that friend of yours is doing an AR duel today, isn't he?" Ryoken stood up. "I'll accompany you to the balcony, actually."
Miharu didn't object. She didn't think that she would ever object to spending time with her older brother. She picked up the tablet, and the two of them walked towards the 'balcony'—an outdoor cafe, really, on SOL's upper floor, facing towards the area where Charisma Duelists would usually duel in Den City. Augmented reality still required space to duel, after all, and people certainly couldn't duel in a narrow street. The city square below had a perfect amount of space to duel.
"I know that you're a quiet one," Ryoken said as they sat down facing towards the city square, an iced coffee for each of them on the table. "But I'm surprised that you haven't just confessed to him at this point. You do like Yuno, don't you?"
"... yes," Miharu said. "And Yuno likes me."
"Hmm? You already know that, and you're not acting based on it?"
"... I'm not ready to say anything," Miharu replied, which was what she always said when she was asked about this.
Yuno Sugisaki might have managed to crack open a hole into her heart, but Miharu Kogami was not yet ready to let him in.
She touched the clip in her hair.
Six years ago:
"Hey!"
Miharu looked up. Ryoken had walked off to get them some soft drinks, and she had thought that it was him when she had heard footsteps in the grass. Instead, the boy that had approached the swings was a boy that she had never met.
Miharu noticed three things immediately.
Firstly, this boy felt oddly familiar, even though they had certainly never met before.
Secondly, he had very bright eyes.
Thirdly, he was holding onto ice cream.
… Miharu liked ice cream.
He held out a cone to her. Miharu took the ice cream, since it had been offered to her for free.
"They had a 'buy one get one free' at the nearby ice cream stand," the boy said cheerfully, sitting down at the other swing. Miharu couldn't hear any kind of lie in his voice at all. "So I got two. I was going to eat them both, but then I saw you! Have you eaten ice cream today?"
"... no."
"Well, that's a shame!" He smiled widely at her. "Everyone should have ice cream! The weather's so hot!"
"... it is," Miharu said. She wasn't exactly shy, she just didn't really know what to say.
"Oh, oh, are you new here? I haven't seen you around before!"
"I'm home-schooled," Miharu said. She was busy eating the ice cream, but the boy didn't seem to mind, still smiling ear to ear. Hmm. Miharu usually hated people that were too fake—always smiling and optimistic—but this didn't seem fake in any way at all. This boy seemed absurdly honest—he just genuinely seemed to be this happy and optimistic. This was… very improbable.
"Hmm, I see!" The boy pointed to himself. "I'm Yuno!"
"... Miharu."
"Pretty name," Yuno said, beaming. The two of them sat there for a while, Miharu staying in perfect silence, while Yuno chatted on and on. They finished their ice cream at around the same time, which spoke volumes about how slow Miharu's eating speed was. Yuno turned over to her after that. "Will you be here tomorrow?"
"... maybe."
Yuno bobbed his head. "See you!" He called, as though Miharu had said yes. He ran off.
Miharu watched him go, properly curious for once.
Ryoken returned a while later. "Sorry that I took so long," he said. "Is that an ice cream?"
Miharu nodded. "... can we come back tomorrow?" She had asked, and Ryoken had chuckled.
"Sure!"
In the present:
Miharu had grown better at interacting with other people through meeting Yuno in the park—that had made her brother and her father very happy. She would never say that she was good at talking to other people—she still really only cared about her family and Yuno—but she had gotten better at being around them. That was what had allowed her to go to high school too.
This hair clip in her hair had been the birthday present that Yuno had given to her the year before. She had worn it almost everyday since, and Ryoken had never stopped teasing her over it.
Just as Ryoken was about to say something else, a figure on a VRAINS Duel Board floated down to their cafe rooftop. Luckily, everyone else wasn't here—most people only came here during the lunch break.
The figure on the Duel Board had dark blue hair, and a cheerful smile. The avatar had perhaps the most generic face possible—Yuno had literally just clicked the default avatar face and changed the hair colour, and called it a day.
(How was this dork so popular again?)
"Miharu!" Yuno greeted. "And hello, Ryoken!"
"Yuno." Miharu blinked. "You're early…"
"Well, I want to watch Blue Angel duel first, y'know, and it might be safer to already be in my avatar for now." Yuno sat down on a nearby chair. "I'm glad that you're watching!"
"Of course I'm watching you," Miharu said, and Ryoken seemed to be overcome by a loud cough. "But seeing Blue Angel duel might be nice too."
Yes.
There was a very good reason why Blue Angel was the top Charisma Duelist, and it wasn't just because of how pretty she was.
"Oh, you're out here. Is that Boundless Sea?"
Akira Zaizen had stepped out, and Yuno waved. "Uh, hi. Yes, I wanted the best view to watch the duel below. Is it alright if I…"
"Yes, of course." Akira cleared his throat. Miharu was able to find some amusement in how Yuno was trying his best to pretend that he had never met Akira, despite the fact that Aoi Zaizen went to the same school as them. Akira was one of the higher-ups in the SOL Corporation. He was the security manager of all of VRAINS, which was a rather difficult job, but Ryoken had called him one of the most competent men in the SOL Corporation. "I'm interested to see the kind of duel that… Blue Angel can put on. Yes."
Miharu nodded, turning back to look down at the city square.
For now, they'd watch Blue Angel duel. Just for now.
… her coffee would be getting—
"Your coffee's getting warm," Yuno said, and Miharu nodded, reaching out a hand to pick up the cup. Yuno beamed back at her.
Yeah.
This would be entertaining.
What more could she ask for, other than a life with her family and with her best friend?
It was more than she had ever thought she could have.
Duel 1 Summary: Dazzling Spring (Miharu Kogami) vs Duel Bot
Format: Normal Duel
Turn 1: Duel Bot
The Duel Bot discards Stack Reviver (2*/100/600) from its hand to Special Summon Bitrooper (4*/1500/2000) in Defense Position. Then, the Duel Bot Normal Summons Cyberse Gadget (4*/1400/300) from its hand. With Cyberse Gadget's effect, the Duel Bot revives Stack Reviver. Then, it uses Cyberse Gadget and Stack Reviver to Link Summon Pentestag (L2/1600/↑, ↓) to the Extra Monster Zone. With Cyberse Gadget's effect, the Duel Bot Special Summons a Gadget Token (2*/0/0) in Attack Position. With the effect of Stack Reviver, Cyberse Gadget is revived to the field. The Duel Bot uses Cyberse Gadget and Bitrooper to Link Summon Elphase. (L2/2000/↑, →) Since Elphase points to two monsters, it gains 600 attack points. (E: 2000 + 300 x 2 = 2600ATK) The Duel Bot sets 1 card and ends its turn.
Turn 2: Dazzling Spring
Miharu draws. She Normal Summons Sunseed Genius Loci. (1*/0/600) Then, since she controls a Plant Normal Monster, she Special Summons Sunseed Shadow (1*/0/400) from her hand. She uses Sunseed Genius Loci to Link Summon Sunavalon Dryas (L1/0/↓) to the Extra Monster Zone. With Dryas's effect, Miharu adds Sunvine Sowing from her Deck to her hand. Then, she uses Sunavalon Dryas and Sunseed Shadow to Link Summon Sunavalon Dryades. (L2/0/↙, ↘)
Miharu activates Sunvine Sowing, Special Summoning Sunseed Twin. (2*/0/800) She takes 1000 damage from Sunseed Sowing's effect. [DS: 4000 - 1000 = 3000LP] With Dryades's effect, Miharu gains LP equal to the amount she lost, and Special Summons a "Sunvine" monster from her Extra Deck. [DS: 3000 + 1000 = 4000LP] She Special Summons Sunvine Thrasher to Sunavalon Dryades's bottom-right Link Marker. Thrasher's effect increases its ATK by 800 for each of Dryades's Link Markers. (ST: 800 + 800 x 2 = 2400ATK)
Using Sunavalon Dryades and Sunseed Twin as Link Material, she Link Summons Sunavalon Dryanome. (L3/0/↙, ↓, ↘) She Link Summons another copy of Sunvine Thrasher with Sunseed Genius Loci. For the second Thrasher's effect, she targets Dryanome. (ST(2): 800 + 800 x 3 = 3200ATK) The first Sunvine Thrasher (2400ATK) attacks Pentestag and destroys it. [DB: 4000 - 800 = 3200LP] Elphase's attack points decrease. (E: 2600 - 300 = 2300ATK) Miharu takes control of Pentestag through Thrasher's effect. The second Thrasher attacks Elphase.
The Duel Bot activates Cynet Backdoor, banishing Elphase until the next Standby Phase and adding a Cyberse monster with lower ATK from their Deck to their hand. Elphase's effect revives Cyberse Gadget in Defense Position. Thrasher changes target to Gadget. The Duel Bot summons a Gadget Token in Defense Position. Pentestag attacks the Gadget Token and destroys it. Miharu sets 1 card and ends her turn.
Turn 3: Duel Bot
The Duel Bot draws. Elphase returns to the field. The Duel Bot Normal Summons Draconnet. (3*/1400/1200) With Draconnet's effect, it Special Summons Bitron (2*/200/2000) from the Deck. The Duel Bot Special Summons Backup Secretary (3*/1200/800) from its hand since it controls a Cyberse monster. Using Bitron, Backup Secretary and Draconnet, it Link Summons Cyberse Accelerator. (L3/2000/←, ↓, →) Since Cyberse Accelerator points to Elphase, it gives Elphase 2000 ATK during the Battle Phase. Elphase gains 600 ATK with its own effect. (E: 2000 + 2000 + 300 x 2 = 4600ATK) Elphase attacks directly. Miharu actives Draining Shield. [DS: 4000 + 4600 = 8600LP] The Duel Bot ends its turn.
Turn 4: Dazzling Spring
Miharu draws. Miharu Normal Summons Lonefire Blossom. (3*/500/1400) With Lonefire Blossom's effect, Miharu tributes it to Special Summon a Plant monster from the Deck. Miharu Special Summons Aromage Cananga. (3*/1400/1000) With Cananga's effect, all monsters on the opponent's field lose 500 ATK and 500 DEF. (E: 2600 - 500 = 2100ATK) (CA: 2000 - 500 = 1500ATK) Miharu activates Sunvine Cross Breed. By tributing the Link Monster, Pentestag, Miharu revives Sunavalon Dryades. Using Dryades and the Thrasher with 2400 ATK, Miharu Link Summons Sunavalon Melias. Miharu uses Melias's effect to give Thrasher two attacks during this turn.
The Duel Bot uses Accelerator's effect to increase Elphase's attack points by 2000. (E: 2100 + 2000 = 4100ATK) Miharu activates Raging Mad Plants. All her Plant monsters gain 300 ATK for each Plant (7) in the GY. (SM: 0 + 300 x 7 = 2100ATK) (AC: 1400 + 300 x 7 = 3500ATK; 1000 + 300 x 7 = 3100DEF) (SD: 0 + 300 x 7 = 2100ATK) (ST: 3200 + 300 x 7 = 5300ATK) Sunvine Thrasher attacks and destroys Elphase. [DB: 3200 - 1200 = 2000LP] Dryanome destroys the Gadget Token, and Thrasher attacks directly. [DB: 2000 - 5300 = 0LP] Miharu wins!
End Notes:
I guess that the personalities of the counterparts aren't what you expected, huh? :) Unlike Fifth Circuit, which I do think is a fantastic story, the counterparts here are not based on Yusaku and Aoi's personalities. Plus, I would definitely consider that plagiarism, considering how well-characterised they are in that story! Miharu and Yuno aren't necessarily based on any characters in particular, just like how Chiaki and Yuji aren't really based on any characters either.
So, the next thing to talk about here would be Miharu's deck. I always had a bit of a headcanon that the Sunvine/Sunavalon deck was given to Specter by Ryoken. After I settled the legacy characters that would be appearing, I thought that since I didn't have Specter showing up, and his deck fit Miharu's theme quite well, I could give it to her. The naming theme of Chiaki and Miharu is based on shunkashugetsu (春花秋月), which is a similar expression to the kachou fuugetsu that the canon Bracelet Girls are based on. So autumn (aki) and spring (haru).
So Miharu plays a Sunavalon deck, as well as some Aroma cards. The explanation for that is given in the story itself—the Aroma cards were the last things that she had back when she was in the white room, and the Sunavalon cards are the ones that Ryoken gave to her. Out of universe, I chose this because most of the currently released Plant support comes under other archetypes, and I want to avoid using too many OC cards unless necessary for the story. Yuno's deck should be obvious from the name 'Boundless Sea', but I'll leave anyone who hasn't guessed it yet in suspense for now. Next chapter will cover his duel—it's simply that the chapter got too long as I was writing it, and I decided to split it apart and give one chapter to both Miharu and Yuno. Chapter 4 and 5 will likely cover the Ritual Dimension in a similar way.
I know that some people are against canon decks being given to OCs, and well, *shrugs* There are far too few archetypes that are purely based on Link Monsters, and most of them are used by characters already in VRAINS. The rest are either too difficult to consistently write about without pulling new cards out of nowhere, or they are a bit too overpowered to place into the story so quickly.
Just as a note, Cyberse monsters are not as special in this AU as they were in VRAINS proper. As mentioned in the chapter, they're commemorative monsters that were released alongside VRAINS. The IGNIS don't exist here either.
Miharu is the quiet pessimist—she doesn't really believe in people. Yuno, on the other hand, is cheerfully optimistic, friends with everyone and anyone—he's not Yuya in any way. He's cheerfully oblivious, always optimistic, while Yuya is actually far more pessimistic, nervous and lacks confidence. My main focus with the four new counterparts to make them all distinct from the other counterparts, so that the personalities won't overlap too much! Both Miharu and Yuno have their own backstories, though they haven't been fully elaborated on yet. You've seen Miharu's backstory here to some degree though.
I guess that the Charisma Duelist numbering will also make it clear that Go isn't in this story. I do love Go's Season 1 character, but the plot just didn't work out with so many legacy characters, so I had to cut some people that I originally wanted to add in. And I do think that in general, Blue Angel is a more interesting character to write for, and that Trickstars are a more fun deck to write duels for too!
There were three separate drafts of this chapter, but considering that this chapter and Chapter 3 were originally one chapter, I'll wait until Chapter 3 is posted to provide some fun facts about it! :)
Finally, the names Dazzling Spring and Boundless Sea (the VRAINS avatars of the counterparts) are references to a certain web novel that I like. Also, they do suit the deck themes of the two characters.
As mentioned in the starting note, after the next chapter, we'll go back to Yuji and Chiaki in the Ritual Dimension. Chapter 4 and 5 will be taking place there, and Chapter 5 is when things are going to get interesting! :D
Thanks for reading! And thank you to those who reviewed, favourited and followed the story. The author's notes for these two chapters may be a bit confusing—I write them while writing the chapter itself, so while I went through to edit them and cut things out, I may not have cut out all the bits pertaining to next chapter. Either way, hope you enjoyed!