"D-dammit..."

A young boy with dark red hair and equally dark brown eyes sat under the shadow of a tall and broad tree, hiding from the afternoon sun, and all that surrounded him was nothing more than the trees, bushes and dirt of the forest where he was, without any sign of another person being there.

The boy gripped onto his right leg with both hands, his widened eyes staring down that the scrap mark on his knee, given a bright red colour due to his blood. Feeling hopeless and at the lowest point of his young life, the boy grit his teeth, near the verge of tears if not for a voice that called out to him.

"Hey."

The boy looked up, where he saw a girl of his age standing in front of him. She had long orange hair, tied into a ponytail, and wore a simple white dress. On her back, she carried a small black backpack that she took off and placed on the floor, between her and the boy. From the inside of the backpack, she took out some paper tissues and bandages, and quickly began attending to the boy's wound.

"I have a clumsy sister, so I'm pretty used to this type of quick treating. She came with me on this schooltrip so I brought along some stuff in case she ends hurt herself climbing a tree or something." The girl explained. She looked up to the surprised boy and smiled. 

"W-why..."

Ryuuga sat up on his bed, his left hand covering his left eye while his right eye was wide open. He panted harshly, as if he had just ran a full mile, and sweat poured from every part of his body. He let go of his face and looked out at the slightly open window of his bedroom.

"Why am I dreaming of that day..."

(Opening)

After getting up from his bed, Ryuuga left for the living room, holding onto his head with his left hand. Joe, who was in the kitchen pouring the two some cups of coffee, looked at his cousin and whistled.

"Damn, and here I thought I was the one who had achieved nirvana." Joe joked. He grabbed the two cups of coffee and brought them over to the kotatsu, where he sat with Ryuuga. "Sheesh, you alright? You look like someone who saw Ryuzaki's true network or something."

Ryuuga didn't gave any answer, and instead, he simply stared blankly into his coffee.

"What the hell? Hey Ryuugs, wakey wakey. Hey, Ryuugs is a pretty neat nickname... Anyway, wake the hell up!" Joe exclaimed, snapping his fingers under Ryuuga's eyes.

"Hm? What?" Ryuuga weakly asked, raising his head. "Oh, sorry. I probably didn't sleep enough or something." He said, followed by a sip of his coffee. "What day is it today?"

"Last time I checked, it's saturday. Yikes, a week of our summer vacation has gone already." Joe sighed. "After another three of these, it's back to council stuff, representing the school through Vanguard and alot more of goddamn exams. Man, what a pain in the ass."

"Yeah, sure..." Ryuuga muttered as he got up and began heading to the bathroom. "I'm gonna use the shower first if you don't mind."

"Nah dawg, go for it. I'm already washed up for the day. I'm gonna head out in a few so don't be surprised if I'm not here when you get out." Joe explained. "Me and Yuri are gonna pick up Bruno from the airport. The lucky bastard arrived right on time for the Stride Festival at the Star Gate. Are you gonna go? They're making this one at night instead of the whole afternoon. Probably something about going all night instead of ending at night like the Derg Emp's one, whatever strokes their robot cocks the better."

"Huh..? Yeah, I'll think about it."

Joe sighed after hearing the sound of the bathroom door closing. "Man, what is up with him today? He hasn't even this down when the whole Arcana biz happened. Yikes man, just straight up yikes."

"And that is why genetically engineered catgirls would better the world's economy." Kaido said after taking a sip of his matcha soda. "You've been served."

"That rant went on and on... For so long..." Masato muttered in a coarse voice, staring down at the omurice on his plate with widened eyes. "I think... I think I grew ten years older in the meanwhile..."

In the maid cafe Arsene, Ryuuga, Kaido, Masato and Gin sat around the usual table, the second one closest to the front door. About an hour had passed since Ryuuga woke up from his dream, and fourty five minutes had passed ever since they arrived.

"Hm..." Gin hummed, using his right thumb to scratch his chin. "I don't know." He admitted. "I know my numbers, that's how I got hired as the lead dev on the programming team at Ryuzaki's company-"

"You use ones and zeroes." Kaido interjected.

"Your mom uses ones and zeroes. But back to the matter at hand. I doubt catgirls could influence the world economy that much, but at the same time, I can see it happen. I guess it depends on how they could be fed. Would their deit be based on human food or on cat food? If the first, it could impact the world's food production, thus creating a large hole in the economy, but if they ate normal cat food, then companies that produce animal food would have their numbers skyrocketing, which could create a positive impact on the global economy."

"Cat... Catgirls..." Masato muttered, gripping onto his head with both hands. "I just asked what time it was goddamnit... HOW DID IT COME TO THIS?!"

"I'm going to have to ask you to not yell, master Masato." Hanae spoke in her menacing voice, looking down on Masato with her cold dark blue gaze. She held her serving tray under her right arm, but was stretching the fingers of her left hand as a way to show she was ready to strike him should he raise his voice again.

"I'm sorry." Masato said, looking forward instead of facing Hanae. "Please don't hit me, ma'am."

"Hmm? Why would I hit you, master Masato?" Hanae giggled.

"Best girl is doing me dirty like that..." He sighed.

"The fact that you see Hanae as best girl means that the universe forgot to give you a love interest so she will have to do." Kaido commented.

"That's some meta commentary." Gin said.

"I am a Mikazuchi afterall. Flexing my money, making meta commentary and insulting people is in my blood. But now for real." Kaido looked over at Ryuuga, who instead of eating his food just stared down at it with plain eyes. "The hell is wrong with you? Did my flex finally destroyed your ability to make Haruka Mirai start playing out of the blue?"

"That isn't an original one, Ryuzaki says that alot." 

"Don't call me out on this Gin, you're snitching a bro. That wasn't very cash money of you. Oh yikes, he's still on that vegetive state." Kaido sighed and placed his can of matcha soda under Ryuuga's nose, using the liquid's strong scent to wake him up. "Stop being a Hina, this isn't Domestic Kanojo."

"Huh? What's up?" Ryuuga asked.

"Dude, you've been going braindead alot today. What's going on?"

"I don't know, I must have slept too little tonight or something. Hey Hanae, where's Homura?" Ryuuga asked, taking a quick look around the cafe.

"Oh, Homura's helping out setting up the Arsene tent for the Stride Festival at Star Gate's. We're gonna be there later tonight so make sure to drop by if you're on the block, president." Hanae explained.

"Ah, I see. Thanks."

"Yikes, the team captain is looking softer than a catgirl's-"

"Stop talking about catgirls, Kaido! Try another animal girl, anything but catgirls!" Masato begged. At this point, he was beyond traumatized. "Ryuuga, help me out in here!"

"Hm? Yeah, what he said." Ryuuga muttered.

"Reeeeeee Ryuuga.exe stopped working or something!" Masato shrieked. 

"Face it Masato, you lost this battle. Catgirls are the solution to solve all the problems of the current global economy, but also the weapon to nuke it all." Gin said. "The numbers don't lie."

"When did you become Mr. Math anyway?! I thought you're thinking was punching stuff!"

"And it still is. But I can calculate the speed my fist needs to send you into the ground in one right hook. The ladies like men who are bulky and knowledgeable."

"And by girls you mean Fujiko. Literally only her has a thing for those kind of people since you are that kind of people." Kaido said.

"I see it as an absolute win." Gin said, taking a sip of his coffee with a smug. "But moving into the important stuff. We only have until tonight to sign up for the Dream Team event, when's the quest board arriving? We've been waiting for too long because you two wanted to look cool."

"Yeah, and we still don't have a name." Masato pointed out.

"I already sent the info to the nearest branch, we'll be getting ours installed on the office this afternoon. And as for a name, we'll just decide on the spot." Kaido explained. "And this time, not slapping the word 'spiral' into the name. You got that?" He asked, looking over at Ryuuga.

"Hm? Yeah, sure." Ryuuga nodded.

"We still got some time until lunch time so I say we drop by the office and get working on some paperwork. Making a team like this requires more forms than I first thought." Gin said. "There's a weird amount of stuff to sign, even though all we'll be doing is playing card games."

"Welcome to 2048." Masato laughed. "Too bad we still can't have card games on motorcycles. Wonder if we can have card games on other vehicles though..."

"You can on a yacht on but the jobber will just annoy you until you have the Dragon Empire cook kick him out while calling him 'Yuu-kun'." Kaido explained. 

"What?"

"Something between me and a... In what version of the nickname were we now..." Kaido muttered. He got out a small notebook from his jacket and looked through it. "Ah yes, loner virgin shut-in NEET loser with daddy issues who had a crush on his mom. Back then, I simply said he had daddy issues. Man, my nickname for him has evolved more than most Digimon."

"You're the worst upperclassmen in the history of the japanese school system, period." Gin deadpanned.

Later that same morning, on the office of the yet to be named team, Ryuuga sat behind his desk, looking over some small piles of paperwork silently. On the other hand, Gin and Masato were sitting on the couch, playing some video games, while Kaido looked through his deck near an open window. From the looks of it, Gin was losing miserably at the game.

"Dammit, how am I being beat in a dancing game?!" Gin exclaimed, smashing the buttons of his controller with anger. "Just dance better, you stupid door guy! Who even trades their life to become a door?!"

"You're asking me? I'm the guy still waiting for the next SMT game. I hope they release V this year. It's been like, a whole thirty decades ever since they annouced the damn thing, my folks were still teenagers back then!" Masato ranted, calmy pushing the buttons of his controller. Behind the unpleased facade he put on during his little rant, he hid a sly grin over being winning in the game.

"Play better games then, jackass." Kaido said, not moving his eyes from his cards. "Or just make the game yourself. Aren't you the one turning laser tag into taser tag? Then making a video game can't be that hard."

"Yeah, last time I messed around with video games, I tried to port a game from a console to another and almost got sued, not doing that shit again. Also, programming only exists for me because I need it for my super subpar robot ideas." Masato explained.

"Like what?" Gin asked, tossing his controller onto the couch after losing.

"I've been considering making a big metal pistol spike to release my salads from some damn dirty disgusting tomatoes."

"Why not just grab them and throw them out? Besides, some people like their salads with tomatoes."

"Oh yeah? Well some people like no vaccinating their children, Kaido."

"Eat my shit asshole, if I say that people like tomatoes on their salad then they like tomatoes on their salad, don't try to question by galaxy sized brain!"

"You wanna go? You talk big but all I see is you barking like one of those tiny dogs! Not my fault your mom didn't gave you the vaccines needed and now you're there saying you like tomatoes in your salad!"

"Guys, fighting over this is dumber than the catgirl debate." Gin sighed. "Some people like tomatoes, some don't, move on."

"Shut up Johnny Bravo, if there's anyone who likes tomatoes in their or in general, that someone is called Stukaido, Ace Defective!" Masato exclaimed.

"Look at him, not even using original jokes." Kaido laughed. "The only Ace Defective I see here is Braindeadsato not understanding that some people like tomatoes in their salads! Tomatoes taste great, specially the small ones!"

"Guys, there's a middle-"

"Spare me the crap Gin, there's no middle ground in this fight!" Masato declared. "You either like tomatoes or not, and anyone who likes them has shit taste, period!"

"Your taste is the one who's shit!" Kaido replied. "And screw you for saying there's a middle ground, you either like 'em or hate 'em!"

"Fuck both of you, there is a middle ground!" Gin exclaimed. "I like them, Karim doesn't, boom, a middle ground! You two stuck-up jackasses are just too stuck-up to realize it!"

Ryuuga grit his teeth. "Shut up..."

"Stuck-up? How about you and your bad take go to the top of another tower and wait for someone to save you, you little shit? I know my opinion is the right one here!" Kaido exclaimed.

"Then how about you go shove yourself in your yacht and keep getting denied by your girlfriend?!" Masato asked. "You aren't in GEN, you can't yell at people like you own the world! Get your head out of your ass, jackass!"

"As if that makes you any better, you started this crap and can't accept being on the losing side!" Gin exclaimed.

Ryuuga grit his teeth harder, now with the pressure he applied to the pen he was using to write almost tearing through the paper. "Shut up..."

"Look at this, the war starter is tryna be the war ender. How lovely!" Masato said.

"Because you're anyone to talk, you whiny cunt!" Kaido replied.

"Don't act so big, you're as much of a shitter as the rest of us!" Gin said.

"Oh spare me that, you both now who's beneath who in here and-"

The pen in Ryuuga's hand snapped from all the pressure he applied to it, covering the paper in front of him in black ink. Now past what would be considered a state of anger, Ryuuga got up from his seat and slammed his hands on the wooden, letting out a loud bang from the strike. His palm were left burning red after the strike, but it was enough to grab the attention of the other members of the yet to be named team. His limit had been surpassed.

"You pieces of shit... Get the hell out of this office!" Ryuuga commanded, glaring at the three with gritted teeth.

"Huh? What's this, did being nominated team captain get to your-" Kaido's snarky remark was quickly cut off by Ryuuga.

"By my what?! Ever since I've known you, you've always been about not being Ryuzaki and whatnot, always the 'I'm not the second Ryuzaki, I'm the first Kaido' bullshit and you wanna know what?! If you want to be that different from your father, then congrats, you are! He isn't the best boss or mentor or teacher or whatever but you're ten times the jackass he is! You think you own the world because you're good at a card game and have money, and you always send people down with those nicknames of yours! At this point, I can only feel sorry for that Yuuto kid for breathing the same air as you! You're a godawful person, the worst of the worst, and I'm surprised people are still friends with you! I'm surprised I haven't told you to go take a hike or something yet!"

Masato blinked at Ryuuga's rant, shocked. "Hey man, isn't that going a bit too-"

"Get bent, jackass!" Ryuuga's target became Masato. "Your whole thing with the Arcana war was that you were fearful of being alone, afraid of having no friends or no one else in your life, wasn't it?! News flash douchebag, you can't make friends acting like a stuck-up piece of shit, little less keep them around! Being around someone as toxic as you is somehow worse than diving full head into a nuclear power plant's meltdown!"

"Come on now, aren't you going a little too far?" Gin asked. "I know that we were fighting over something meaningless but-"

"How about you go take a hike too, huh?" Ryuuga asked, looking over at Gin. "What was that about not coming to Japan right away? Go fix your bonds? Something something, built the bonds you destroyed all the way up to Sakuya? Well I got some little news for you too, you've been back in Japan for almost a week now and all you've been doing has been goofing around doing shit! You talk about your emotional baggage, saying that you have to rebuilt all the shit you screwed up until Sakuya, but not once have I seen you try to reach for that Sakuya ever since you arrived! Hell, from I've heard, you haven't even spoke to Karim yet ever since you arrive! You wanna fix your shit? Then stop a damn dirty hypocrite and go do it!"

Angered, Ryuuga, swiped all the papers on top of the desk away.

"You three are all terrible people, and by this point, I don't even see you has different people with different faces or names, I just classify you has the size of pains in my ass, which right now is making all of you shitters look the same fucking thing! That probably makes me a terrible person too but I'm used to being called that by everyone that surrounds me at this point! You assholes put on this stupid pressure on me to be team leader, but did you ask if I wanted this? I already have to deal with enough shit as it is! I'm the butt of jokes of my friend group, and no matter how much I try to live peacefully, I can't catch a break! There's always someone or something there to put me down or make my day go south, and that something somehow always ends up being related to one of you three! For one day, for one fucking day, I just want to live a peaceful summer life but now, one of you always ends up fucking up every single fucking thing! Even today, where I'm clearly at my lowest, all you three have been doing is bickering with meaningless shit, tossing me down and expect me to do your shit for you! I've had it with you three, so get the fuck out of this office!"

Quietly, and one by one, Kaido, Gin and Masato left the office. When it was empty, Ryuuga slammed the open door shut and grit his teeth.

Kaido, alongside Gin and Masato, stood near a riverbank, the three looking out at the setting sun. Despite all that had happened, all that had been said, the three stuck together, but none of them spoke a word since that morning. At last, Kaido took a step forward.

"Why did we think this team was a good idea?" Kaido asked, looking back at the two. "Let's face it, he's right. We're all a bunch of shitty people. I'm surprised we managed to last this long. A loner, a basket case and some self-centered jackass. I'm sorry I ended up dragging you two into this, you aren't as bad as he says. And as for me... Yeah, it seemed too good to work. So yeah, see ya."

With his hands in his pockets, Kaido left the two whilst they stayed where they were, still looking out at the sun. Gin frowned.

"A cluster of crap like us is better of separated. And... He's right." Gin admitted with a sigh. "I've been running away from my fate with Sakuya too and there's nothing that can excuse me. In the end, we're all the same type of crap. It was good while it lasted."

Masato stood near the river by himself now, still looking up at the setting sun. He placed his hands into the pockets of his jacket and began walking away without muttering a word.

Later that day, while the night was already out and the Stride Festival happening in Star Gate had already began, Ryuuga arrived at the Arsene Maid Cafe tent, still with the same clueless look in his eyes he had during most of the day. Thankfully, the place wasn't very full of people because of how early it was, so he quickly sat down by himself.

While Ryuuga stared blankly at the menu, his head was taken out from the clouds when he felt something tapping on his head. Looking up, he came face to face with a silver serving tray held by Homura. She smiled at him and sat across him.

"So, what's up?" Homura asked. "Hanae told me about this morning. I wanted to call you but I barelly got a break while I was helping out. Are you okay?"

"I..." Ryuuga chuckled lightly. "I royally meseed everything up." He raised his head, looking at Homura. "Just another shitshow caused with the famous Ryuuga Sawada's big stupid mouth. I'm just as big of a piece of crap as I said they were, but they were still fine with being with someone like me..."

Homura chuckled and got up from her seat. She walked over to Ryuuga and placed her hands over his. "You don't seem like you're in the best mood for this. Go clear your head and return later, okay?" She smiled. "There are some fighting tables near the main stage. They're going this thing where you sit down and just wait for someone to come fight you. Something about the spirit of meeting new people, what Vanguard truly is about."

"Eh, tacky." Ryuuga said as he got up. "But it'll do. I'll come back later or something. If I don't show up, I'll give you a call. Bye."

"Vanguardine, the cardfighting restaurant... Tacky." Gin said to himself with a small chuckle.

Gin stood in front of the famous Vanguardine, a place that was both a restaurant and a card shop, a surprising culmination that had been around for over thirty years and was still going strong. He walked into the established and walked down a flight of stairs that lead him to a floor that had both fighting tables for those who played and booths for those who wanted to enjoy the place's cuisine. Gin sat by himself on one of the booths, looking out at the fights that were happening.

Kaido sighed to himself as he entered a small card shop all the way in Chibuya, surprised that it was still open at this time. He walked into an aisle filled with rows upon rows of different packs and began looking through them quietly.

"I guess Tokyo is smaller than people think, isn't it?"

Kaido raised his head, and his eyes fell upon someone. It was a boy of his age and quite similar to him. Like him, he had tanned skin and silver hair, though his was long and was tied. In contrast to Kaido's light blue eyes, he had light green eyes, and wore a plain white shirt with it's sleeves rolled up and black jeans with shoes.

"I guess it is, Mr. Lawyer." Kaido chuckled.

"Oh, Ryuzaki? Huh, I think he's still around, give me a sec." Mina said.

"Thanks..."

Masato stood across the front counter in the ground floor of the main Ryuzaki & Co. building. In the other side of the counter, Mina looked through the video cameras of the tower to check if Ryuzaki had left already or if he had stayed behind to get some extra work done.

"You're in luck, the boss hasn't left it. Do you want me to ring him up?" The blonde girl asked, but Masato shook his head.

"No need. I have a feeling that he's already aware that I'm here." Masato said as he walked off into one of the two elevators in the floor.

"I see you have yet to find a challenger. Mind if I try my luck?"

Ryuuga, who was sitting by himself in the fighting tables Homura told him about earlier, raised his head towards the one who had spoke, an elderly man in a brown yukata, with a dark red haori over his shoulders. He had light greyish eyes and long dark brown hair, with large streaks of white hair in each side.

"Oh, sure." Ryuuga nodded.

The old man smiled and sat down across Ryuuga. He took out his deck case from one of his sleeves and the two began their fight, which ended not that long after it began.

"Blaster Blade "Diablo" attacks the vanguard." The man said.

"No guard, damage check." Ryuuga turned the top card of his deck face up and placed it in his damage zone. "Damn, that's six already against such an old deck..."

The elder chuckled as he grabbed his cards. "Tell me a thing, if you don't mind. In the battle of truth and ideals, which one wins? The idealistic side where everyone is perfect, or the truthful one where you toss the concept of perfection out of the window and just live with the flaws that make people different?"

"What a day to ask me that..." Ryuuga muttered, looking down with a small smile.

"I think you already know the answer."

"Tch, don't go off teaching people about truth and ideals like you did before, this isn't 2018 anymore, old man."

Ryuuga lifted his head to see where the voice came from, and it came from an adult man with long hair of a dark red colour, someone he had seen before once or twice.

"Hm? Still salty that you lost all those years ago? My my, no wonder you can't nab yourself a wife, Raijin." The older man laughed.

"Tch, just because Akiko got married already doesn't mean I have to. Besides, I have a kickass restaurant to run, I don't have time for silly things like marriage." Raijin said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You got roasted by Mr. Madara twice in one setence and I was here to see it all happened." Besides Raijin stood a man with violet hair, who was snickered at Madara's remarks.

"Shut up, you're illegal."

"H-hey I only went to jail once and it was the cop's fault, he got salty I speeded ahead! And besides, it was Fubuki's fault too!"

"REEEEEEEEEE DON'T THROW THE BLAME ON ME, IRA!" Fubuki yelled, popping his head between Ira and Raijin. "CAN WE GO NOW, KIRA IS ANNOYING ME SO LET'S GO!"

"Hey, you four coming or what!" In the distance, a man with white hair and red eyes yelled at the four grown ups, waving at them to get their attention. "Don't me go there, I might be a grown up now but I still was the captain of your Vanguard club so hurry it up, will you?"

"Sheesh, look at Chouji, being a responsible adult. No wonder he married your sister." Ira snickered.

"You're one more word away from being the reason why I go to jail next...." Raijin mutterec, clenching his left fist.

"I'm sorry for my son and his friends, but I must go." Madara said. After shaking hands with Ryuuga, he left alongside Raijin, Ira and Fubuki.

"The idealistic side of perfection... Or the truthful side where no one gives a damn..." Ryuuga mumbled to himself.

After he gathered his cards and stored them away in his deck case, Ryuuga's legs began trembling uncontrollably, to a point where he began running away from the festival without any control.

"Hey Gin..."

"Hm?"

Gin placed down his drink and looked up, his eyes widening when he saw who called out for him. It was a trio of people he promised one day to see again, but never got the courage to do so. The girl with long blonde hair Yukino, the girl with curly brown hair Lia, and the boy with short brown hair and glasses Taishiro, his friends during his high school days who had tossed him away when Sakuya did.

"You three..." Gin muttered.

"Told ya I'd get the old gang back together, didn't I?" Karim laughed as he stepped out from behind the trio. "Shoulda have told me you'd be back in Japan sooner."

"Yeah... It was a really shitty move on my part..."

"Gin, we're..." Yukino muttered. "We're sorry for that day... And everything else that came with it!" She exclaimed, bowing.

Taishiro nodded and bowed aswell. "We should have known better. It was wrong to just ditch you like that, and it's our fault for not standing with you against that dirty bastard Sakuya!"

"We're sorry, Gin! Can we all just be friends again?" Lia asked as she bowed.

"You three..." Gin looked at them, surprised, but soon showed a small smile. "You can even bring yourselves to apologize to someone like me... Stay here, I'll be back soon!" He exclaimed as began running out of the establishment.

"What the- Dude, what the heck?!" Karim asked.

"No time to explain, I have some shit to say to some pieces of crap like me!"

"So let me get this straight. You got yelled out of your team office because you're basically your dad? Yikes man." The grey haired boy laughed as he and Kaido fought each other. 

"And is he wrong? Let's face it, he isn't." Kaido sighed. "Do you remember what I told you when I decided to go to GEN? That I'd go there to become someone different from my father? Look at me now, I spent three years in that shithole for nothing. I ended up exactly where I started."

"So? What's the big deal then?" The boy asked as he rested one of his cards.

"Is that an actual question?"

"Yeah. Look, people always want to be different from their parents, maybe because they don't like them, maybe because it's their way to honour them, or maybe because the sky is blue and the grass is green. But in the end of the day, who actually cares? Who cares if people say you're just Ryuzaki 2.0? What matters is that at the end of the day, you were yourself. And if your true self is a jackass with highly questionable nicknaming skills then so be it. I guess you could say that the best way to not be your dad is to just shit on whatever people think of you. Afterall, you're not just someone named Kaido, you're the Kaido."

"And those questionable dialogue skills got you into a high school focused on law? Yikes, the japanese school system is a bigger wreck than I thought." Kaido laughed.

"You laugh big but you're about to catch these hands. Just focus on being true to yourself, and if people can't accept your real self, then are they really the type of people you want in your life? But then again, I'm just a hot dude in law school saying something. But y'know... Best way to not be Ryuzaki is by being him ten times harder. That's a hundred percent sure Rouga Mikazuki bet."

"And here I thought that Mitsuba guy had some backwards logic."

"Backwards logic has always been the true logic. Now time for a real show. By paying the cost for his skill, I superior stride! Unleash the fangs of the hidden beats who devours the world! Generation Stride! Hero Deity of Zenith, Marduk!"

"Sounds rough, buddy. I'm more surprised that he had the balls to speak up. Nah, that's a lie. I'm surprised you came to me out of all people. A year ago, you hated my guts. You weren't the first to hate 'em, but you still did." Ryuzaki said as he looked down on the city from the windows in his office, located on the highest floor of the Ryuzaki & Co. building. He turned around to face Masato, who sat behind his desk. "So, why me?"

"Hell if I know." Masato said with a sigh. "They say old people are the wisest, don't they? Then I guess you can say I came here for advice or something."

"Brosato, as a teacher, I've seen many students come and go, and as mentor, only one because the other one is still what he is. They don't like it to be like it be, but it do, you know what I'm saying?"

"Not really."

"Alright then, approach two, whatever makes my screentime last longer." Ryuzaki muttered under his breath. "You're the first persn I've seen that has fought with their friends over small things, nor the first to have their defects thrown at their face for it. But you know what? Defects are fucking dope, that's why I prefer my worse classes than the better ones. I'm a teacher, a mentor, watching people grow is the real deal for me. And if you ask me, then you've grown alot since last year. So don't make that growth be for nothing. Me and Mav fought a bit here and there when we were younger, but we know what we did? We grabbed our friendship by the balls and forced it to work, and now look at it. Were each other's best man. So now it's your turn. Go grab your friendships by the balls and make those suckers work. Thus spoke Ryuzaki Mikazuchi."

"This is stupid. Let's just go to the festival already." Ichigo sighed as he got pulled around by Aijou.

"No way, I know I saw Ryuuga come this way, let's find him!"

On their way to the Stride Festival in Star Gate, the couple of Ichigo and Aijou saw Ryuuga leave a supermaket, and because of Aijou's overwhelming curiosity, the two began following him around, which took them to the local park. They followed the sounds of scissors snipping, which took them to their target. The sounds stopped when they arrived.

Across the two was Ryuuga, crouching by a fountain's side with a towel over his head. He got up and tossed the towel to the side. Taking in the hot summer air with a deep breath, he cracked his knuckles.

'I think I've ran away from this for too long. I was a real idiot as a kid and I've been running away from that for a while now, so you can say this is me finally accepting that past.'

Ryuuga looked back at the two with a smirk, running one hand through his now short and spiked dark red hair. "Be honest, how bad of a work did I do?"

"Ah, Ichigo look! That guy cut off Ryuuga's face and placed it on his own!" Aijou gasped.

"Aijou... I'm Ryuuga and you know it!"

"No, the president would never- Wait, so this is what the jokes about you one day joining the red haired Aces as about?! It totlaly flew over my head!"

"Alot of things do..." Ichigo sighed. "You look less like a scrub, but still ar  one."

"I didin't expect any other answer from you. I'll see you guys later, I have something I need to settle."

Not even an hour later, Ryuuga, Kaido, Gin and Masato all arrived at the same time to the doors of the building where their office was. All shared the same serious glare that was quickly thorn apart. Masato and Ryuuga began laughing, while Masato chuckled and Kaido smiled.

Kaido took a step forward and held his phone by his ear. "Hello, Takanori residence? Can I talk with that loser Yuuto? It's a friend from school. Yeah, I'll hold... Listen you... You aren't as bad as the shit I throw at you. Maybe you aren't the loser I say you are, and I don't own the world so I can't keep calling you that thing forever. But I won't change, you're still beneath me. But for now, you deserve a better name... Siscon Kingpin of whatever class you're in, it's not open to change, try to change it and I will sue you. Bye." When the call ended, Kaido sighed. "Listen up, jackasses. I am how I wanna be, but yeah, I was too harsh on all of you. It doesn't mean I'm going to stop calling you dumbasses out on your shit out of the blue, but it means I'll do it less. I think that's what it means to be the first Kaido."

"I've been running away from this moment for too long." Gin admitted. "But not anymore. I'm going to clear things up with Sakuya, and that isn't open to debate. I'll do it, period. The time of goofing off doing nothing is over, now is the time for action."

"As someone who's own dumbassary got him to be an isolated loner for a good while of my life, I'm self-aware enough about what my defects are, but you're all just as bad as me so swallow it up. I'm not going anywhere, but I'll fight for these bonds." Masato said.

"Let's face it, we're all the same levels of assholes. But you know what? Who gives a damn? I don't really know where I'm going with this little speech, but who gives a shit? And who gives a damn about living in an idealistic world where we're perfect? Screw that, get bent! We all suck, so let's make the most of it. Let's live the moment as the flawed jackasses we are!" Ryuuga exclaimed, spreading his arms.

"Spoke like a shitty team leader. We're still not putting the word 'spiral' in the team name." Kaido said. "Oh fuck, the team name! The sign up!"

Suddenly, the sky became covered in the lights of fireworks.

"I think I got it." Ryuuga said. He extended his fist forward. "We won't gain anything for this, but we'll do it together. We'll do what we do best. We'll just be four dudes playing a card game for fun. That's what will create something beautiful, blooming under these fireworks."

"Team Fireworks? Miss me with that shit." Kaido said, extending his fist.

"Then we go the weeb route. Hanabi." Gin suggested, extending his fist aswell.

"Goddammit, why do we have to go the weeb route? It's worse than liking tomatoes!" Masato sulked, joing the others in extending their fists.

"Team Hanabi it is. Dream Team event? Hell yeah, we'll take that crap by storm." Ryuuga said.

The final team to sign up for the Dream team event, Team Hanabi, composed by Ryuuga Sawada, Kaido Mikazuchi, Masato Onizuka and Gin Fuchigami. On that night, all the teams entering the event were informed of their entry.

(Ending)

"Hey, sorry I got here so late, me and the guys finally solved our crap and signed in." Ryuuga explained as he walked into the Arsene Cafe tent, coming face to face with a Homura with wide open eyes. "Hey...? It's the hair, isn't it? I promise I'll dye it back to brown at the end of summer, I just washed off the paint and cut it to make some symbolic anime like crap, I won't keep it like this forever."

"I... Like it. Give me a moment." Homura ran away to a small room near the tent that was used for the workers of the various tents to swap out of their uniforms and into their clothes. When she came out, instead of being in her maid uniform, she wore a plain white summer dress with white sandals.

"W-wow..." Ryuuga muttered. "Y-you look-"

Homura grabbed Ryuuga's arm and began pulling him as she walked. "Come on, hurry up! There's a thing I wanna do before we go!"

"H-hey, wait up, don't pull that hard!"

"Come on, hurry up! There's a thing I wanna do before we go!" The small girl laughed as he pulled Ryuuga.

"H-hey, wait up, don't pull that hard!"

"Sheesh, can't believe you got all excited to just take a photo." Ryuuga sighed as he walked a few steps behind Homura. "You were pushing my shoulder so much that I probably didn't even smile. We can just go take another."

"No, I like this one..." Homura replied, looking down the photo she held with watery eyes.

"Sheesh, can't believe you got all excited to just take a photo. You were pushing my shoulder so much that I probably didn't even smile. We can just go take another..." Ryuuga explained.

"No, I like this one!"

"H-hey, what are you doing? Don't go and bend the photo!" Ryuuga exclaimed.

Homura hummed slightly. She ripped the bent phot apart, dividing it into two equal halves. Then, she turned to him and offered him one of the halves. "Here."

"H-hey, what are you doing? Don't go and bend the photo!"

The girl hummed happily. She ripped the bent photo apart, diving it into two equal halves. Then, she turned to him and offered him one of the halves. "Here."

"Hm? What's it for?" Ryugga asked as he grabbed the cut picture.

"Hm? What's it for?"

"Something. So that you never forget about me."

"Something... So that you never forget about me."

Ryuuga's eyes widened upon hearing those words. He looked at the picture, his hands, trembling. In it, Homura was smiling as she waved and the hand that was placed ons his shoulder was cut off. He raised his head to see Homura holding the other half with a trembling hand. In that half, Ryuuga was looking away with his teeth slightly grit.

"I-it was you..." Homura muttered, ignoring the tears that rolled down her face. "I-it was always you..." She took out her student handbook from one of her pockets and took out the photo she kept inside it.

"Y-you are..." Ryuuga took out his aswell, and took out the photo he kept stored there.

The two extended their hands forward, putting the two halves together to form the full picture. Ryuuga let go of his half and pulled Homura into his arms.

"I-i can't believe it... A-afterall this time...!" Ryuuga muttered, crying aswell.

"I'm so glad I got to see you again..." Homura muttered with a smile.

Homura looked up to Ryuuga, the two gazing into each other's crying eyes. The two smiled and shared the same thought.

'So much happened, and so much is yet to happen, but for now, I just want to live this moment while I can.'

Ryuuga leaned down, and Homura leaned up, and under the night sky illuminated by the lights of fireworks, the two who had been separated for years but still held onto the small chance of seeing each other kissed.