"Cheers!"

Open bags of chips, bottles of sodas and water, boxes of sweets and cups of instant ramen were spread out across the tables of the science classroom that served as the club room for the old Vanguard club of a now closed school. 

On the center of the room, the six members of the club held their plastic cups filled with soda in the air, laughing and smiling over the festive feeling.

"That was the easiest shop tournament ever, I didn't even get to fight three games in a row!" Karim laughed.

"You also didn't play in most of the games, you doofus!" Taishiro replied, smacking his friends upside the head. "I couldn't even sneak a game in with those two flexing their skills. Sheesh, I wanted to show off my SP Irkabs so much too..."

"Now you know what not to do, you freaking nerd." Lia laughed.

"But Lia, you lost two games, I think that's worse than not playing any." Yukino said, her pure and innocent tone of voice making her words sting harder.

"I know... Dammit, why'd they go and hit Shirayuki, I needed my girl for the defensive strats!!"

"Shut up, your deck is at least still functional, I play Chronofang!"

"Oh yeah?! Bring it nerd, I'll kick your ass with these hands!"

"I can't see a world where Lia and Taishiro aren't at each others' throats." Gin chuckled. "You played well, Sakuya. Played well for a deck relying on one specific trigger that can't even tutor said trigger."

"I know, I know, I already preordered my Riviere stuff and all but the shipping is slow!" Sakuya cried. "And screw you, Ancient Dragons are a true strat! All the good decks require no thinking! And you play a RNG based deck too so don't complain." He huffed, arms crossed.

"At least mine can still play without RNG." Gin replied.

"Oh yeah? Prove it."

"Vect exists."

"And?"

"I mean that's more that Ancient Dragons have to offer."

"...true, true." Sakuya accepted his defeat with a sigh. "Still, we totally rocked this shop challenge! I'm totally ready to take on the Royalty's King tomorrow! Watch, I'm going to become King no questions asked! And then, our team will take it to the stars!"

"Who are you? Senku? Please, be realistic." Gin laughed. "But we do need a name."

"What about-"

"Other than Sakuya's Paladins. Where did you even got that idea from?"

"I don't know, some french knight story with a Charlemagne dude or some shit. Do I look like I pay attention in history class?"

"Uhm, but you don't pay attention in any class in general, Sakuya." Yukino commented.

"Your pure and sweet sweet voice can say the harshest things a man can hear without you even noticing it..." Sakuya said with a small smile, but crying on the inside.

"Why don't we name the team after the school?" lia suggested.

"You idiot, then they'd take the credit for our fights." Taishiro replied. "Let's just throw the first letters of our names together and bam. It'd be like... TYSGKL... Maybe we can drop the L."

"You shitty nerd, I know the L is refering to me!" Lia grunted.

"That's the point." Taishiro said, looking away to hide a small smug before he got whacked on the head. "You damn musclehead, I felt that!"

"That's the point, ehue."

"Hm... What about Terra Formars? I got the idea from that manga I've reading with the cute cockroach people!"

"Your innocent and sweet smile make people worry less about the wrong things that come out of your mouth." Gin nodded.

"Why not Bangaichi?" Karim asked.

"Bangaichi? The fuck is a bangaichi?" Sakuya asked.

"I don't know, I got it from that boxing anime where they use these robot arm armours thing and stuff."

"Well that's the less cringe name so far so why not. Gin, your thoughts?"

"We spent hours discussing the name before the shop tournament so at this point I'll even accept Nameless as an option. Sure, let's go with Karim's boxing thing."

"Alright!" Sakuya cheered, raising his plastic cup. "Then cheers to the greatest team to ever be created in Japan! Our mad skills will be a blessing to this land of the rising sun and-"

"Speed up the cringe speech, Sakuya." Lia said.

"Cheers to Bangaichi!"

(Opening)

During the final day of the event phase of the Dream Team challenge, Sakuya paid a visit to the convention center where the final Dark Zone event was being held, with the goal to meet the author of the a shogi manga that had been rising in popularity later. After failing to meet the author due to a delay on his bus, he sat down on a bench near a fountain outside the convention.

"Shucks. I guess the fan meet ended already. I really wanted to get this autographed." Sakuya said, looking down on the first volume of a popular shogi-themed manga. He sighed and looked up. "What a waste of time."

"I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY!"

"Hm? That voice..."

Sakuya looked at the building's entrance near him, through which a crowd came through holding hostage someone inside a large and pink bean costume. They threw the person down the small flight of stairs and watched them rolling until they slammed against the fountain near the entrance.

"You stupid maggot." Sakuya muttered under his breath. He place his book into a small black backpack he had and walked over to the crow's victim.

"My entire body is pain..." The victim, Gin, coughed out, slowly opening his eyes as a shadow was cast upon him.

"You look pathetic." Sakuya said.

"W-what the- Sakuya?"

"Shut up, get up." Sakuya said, grabbing a part of Gin's costume and forcing him back onto his feet. "Try to look less pathetic." He said in a cold tone, turning around and walking away.

"Wait, Sakuya!" Gin called out, being met with ignorance from Sakuya. "Dammit, I said wait!" He growled, chasing after his old friend in a wobbly run due to the costume's size and weight.

"What the- Screw off!" Sakuya replied, fastening the pace of his walking.

"Don't you power walk away from me!" Gin demanded, speeding up to the point of making Sakuya run. "This is nothing compared to my training, I'll catch up to you!" He yelled, throwing himself and tackling Sakuya to the ground. "There, you'll have to hear me now!"

"Get off me, you stupid lard!" Sakuya commanded, struggling to get off from under Gin. "Why are you so heavy?!"

"Alot of protein and q stupidly big suit, this wasn't my idea!" Gin answered. "But now I got you here and you're going to listen to me! You were right on the event down at Magallanica last week, I was thinking only about me and the others and not considering your feelings on the matter!"

"Great, you grew a brain, now fuck off and let me go!"

"But just because you're correct doesn't mean you're right!"

"What the hell is that contradicting shit supposed to even mean?! How can you be right and wrong at the same time?!"

"I don't know, it sounded better in my head! Look I understand your feelings now and I'm sorry for so being self-centered!"

"You... You don't have any idea how I feel!" Sakuya yelled. Putting all his strength onto his legs and back, he slowly began to lift himself from the ground, pushing Gin up aswell. When he was up enough, he shook Gin off his back and looked back at him. "You'll never be able to truly understand how I feel... I'm a walking bomb, dammit! All I do is screw everything up, and I can't handle doing that anymore! If I don't have anyone, then that's for the best! And it's not some cocky boxer boy who's going to change that, you hear?! I had my fair share of disappointing people I cared for, and I'm not going through it again! So leave me alone and go back to being trash!"

"I thank you, Sakuya..." Gin muttered, slowly getting back onto his feet after Sakuya left. "I wasn't exactly sure of who I wanted to fight when everything was finished here, I had some ideas, and you were one of them... But now... I know exactly who I want to fight!"

On the night before the finale of the Dream Team challenge, Gin walked by himself through the city, taking mostly empty routes to feel the cold air of the night all to himself. As he changed from a street to another, he got a call from Fujiko, which he answered right away.

"This is Gin, what's up?"

"You won't believe this but there's this super awesome yakisoba bun shack near the beach, you have to come down here immediatly! Don't ask any questions and come get some spaghetti in a loaf!"

"Okay, okay, I got it! I'll be there in some minutes!" Gin exclaimed.

"Wait, are you near the beach?"

"No but my speed-walking game is quite amazing. I'll see you soon!" Gin finished the call and opened a map app, which he used to trace the quickest route to the beach. "So just go through this park near here and I'll be there in a flash... Damn, I really suck at geography."

Later on, as he ran through the park he saw on the map in search of an exit that lead to the route he chose to take, he heard a pair of yelling voices near him. He decided to go take a look, hiding behind a tree and under its shadow.

The scene was two tall and generic looking delinquent guys yelling at someone with white hair sitting by itself on a bench, looking down and ignoring the two.

"You shithead! I'm gonna graduate high school this year and I got nothin' good on my record 'cuz you threw me out of the Royalty in like a month! You better pay up, albino bitch!" One of the generic guys said.

"Yeah! We were great fighters for first years and you just threw us out when you got some older guys to replace us! We were damn great at that shit, better than those crackheads you got to replace us! We're finally graduatin' from that new school we went to after the old shithole closed and we got nothin' good going for us so you better pay, you skinny bitch!"

'Yeah, that's Sakuya they're talking too. Guess he kept doing what he did even before the school closed. But sheesh, did delinquent talk get so generic over the years?' Gin thought.

"Did delinquent talk get so generic since then? Not even in college people speak like that. You got some balls in being such crybabies like that out in the open. Bravo. Also I'm not an albino, my eyes are blue." Sakuya yawned, flipping a page of his book. "Oh, you two still here?"

"You white haired bitch, you're asking for-!"

"Hello there." Gin greeted the trio with one hand over one of the guys' shoulder. "My name is Gin Fuchigami, high school boxing star that then finished high school faster than you two clowns and did four years of programming in one because that shit is easy, hey question did you ever want to fly?"

"What the- Fuck off, you retarded- PUT ME DOWN, PUT ME DOWN!" He yelled after Gin grabbed him by the back of his collar and belt and lifted him high into the air.

"Shame on me, I heard Hanae can carry two bags of rice at the same time. All I can is lift industrial waste."

"Not bad." Sakuya cackled under his mask.

"What was that?! You cunt, I'll get you for-" The guy that wasn't being lifted by Gin was interrupted by Sakuya, who just pushed him to the side like he didn't matter.

"I'm getting tired of seeing your face everywhere. I heard you won the Dream Team thing, good for you. Now can you stop following me around?" Sakuya asked.

"I swear this one was on accident. I heard there was a yakisoba bun shack near the beach so I was heading there." Gin explained.

"HEY PUT ME DOWN!"

"Oh, right. My bad." Gin disposed of the person he held up by throwing him at his friend, leading both to fall on the floor."

"I thought you didn't like yakisoba buns."

"I thought you didn't like the shogi manga."

"Touche."

"You recieved the notification, right? I want to fight you on the final stage." Gin said. "So hurry up and give an answer."

"I was waiting to reject it last second."

"Or maybe you were conflicted with how to answer."

"Don't overestimate your importance. You already know what my answer will be."

"And I know you'll probably hate yourself after rejecting it. So I'll instead give you a deal. I'll leave you alone if you want after tomorrow if you come and fight me on that stage. How does that sound?"

"You're stupidly annoying, that's what it sounds like to me. But if it means finally getting you all off my back for good... Sure. Whatever stops you clowns from keep making continuous bad decisions."

"That's great to hear!" Gin smiled. "Well then, I'll see tomorrow then."

"Yeah, sure."

The day of the final round of the Dream Team challenge began with the thunderous yelling and applauding of the crowd already inside the now named Hanabi Stadium, the stadium built near the docks that had gone unnamed for months, where the Tokyo's Finest event was held and where Ryuuga and Ryuzaki fought for the last time. Before the official start of the final round began, the four members of Hanabi stood alongside one another in front of a large, closed gate, awaiting for the announcer to call them into the stage.

"After two weeks of highly questionable events, we're finally here." Ryuuga sighed. "Some things were just too much, dude..."

"Agreed. The jungle one was the worst, screw that shut-in's uncle." Kaido nodded.

"At least you weren't left behind." Masato glared.

"Yes, everything that happened was surely... Insteresting, for better or worse. More for worse." Gin admitted. "But, we're here now, aren't we?"

"Damn right! All the sweat, blood and tears we wasted was used to build the stairway that lead us here!" Ryuuga exclaimed excitedly.

"Mostly the tears! So many tears!" Masato yelled.

"This whole event was a danger for the sefety of the public, too many questionable things happened!" Kaido yelled with them.

Back on the main stage, for a brief moment, the lights that illuminated the inside of the stadium were all turned off, and when they returned, the main announcer of the final round, and the host of the entire event, Ryuzaki himself, stood in the middle of the stage, microphone at hand. He smirked and held two fingers up.

"Two weeks! I gave the world two weeks to fight to make all its dreams come true! And by world I mean Tokyo and by all dreams I mean all dreams of fighting a specific person that might rejected the invite to come fight here, but boring semantics are boring! After two weeks of different events, announcers and special guests, in this holy Vanguard war to make a certain group's wishes come true-" Ryuzaki turned the microphone away. "Son of a bitch, this entire arc was a Fate rip-off before Shida even got into Fate." He sighed and turned the microphone back to himself. "One team rose above the rest by fighting fair and square with their abilities- And having RNG on their side becayuse of course- And will now fight the ones they most desire to fight on this stage! And those are none others than those four, Team Hanabi!"

Ryuzaki gestured to the metal gates by his left, which began opening to reveal the members of Hanabi standing side by side. Witht he gate open, they walked into the stage.

"The star high school boxer with enough smarts to finish high and college before normal people but who somehow played Brandt unironically, Gin Fuchigami! The star student of the academy out in the aquatic boonies and, most importantly, the proof that my brush can paint the most handsome of figures, my own son Kaido Mikazuchi! The leader of the last year's runner-up team of the national Vanguard tournament and the master of all things taser related, Masato Onizuka! And three lead by the leader of last year's winning team of the nationa Vanguard tournament and Student Council President King of Heiwa Academy and its Royalty, my own personal student and the biggest loser of his school, Ryuuga Sawada!"

"You didn't had to mention Brandt!" Gin exclaimed.

"Was the brush thing an innuendo? It felt like an innuendo." Kaido mumbled.

"Eh, taser goes brrr." Masato chuckled.

"How does one jump from balls to the wall hyping to insulting one with the sad reality..." Ryuuga sweatdropped.

"You heard it here folks, they like and don't like the truth! This has nothing to do with it but funny joke goes brrr! Now, while we should probably introduce the four people they chose to fight on this stage, what would be the fun in that? So instead, let's have them enter one by one and make some super hype introducing speech because if I can't hype in front of a giant crowd then why do I bother pumping money into this game?! Alright Hanabi, who will send in first?!"

"I'll go." Gin declared, taking a step forward.

"Oho? Well then, this is the first of the final round, featuring Gin Fuchigami! As for the rest of Hanabi, go to the waiting room or something, just skidaddle out of here. Get out of my stage and go wait, patience is a virtue."

"Wait up, old man!" Ryuuga grunted. "Gin, are you ready to kick some ass?"

"Why wouldn't I? I kicked your ass already, I'm a pretty good ass kicker." Gin laughed.

"...you're gonna catch these hands on the waiting room."

"Get 'im, boys!" Masato said.

"Better not lose in front of all these people again, protein man." Kaido said, leaving the stage with the rest of the team.

"Now that that's out of the way, let's meet the opponent contestant Gin chose to fight!" Ryuzaki announced, recieving a loud applause from the crowd as Gin walking to the other side of the stage. "He comes and goes without any warning, leaving only behind a trail of defeated fighters, idealistic fools who thought they could match his skills in the game! For a price, he gives victory to those too weak to get it by themselves, but if you ask me, the price is only that high to give those people the boost they need to go out and win with their own hands! This is the unmatched ruler of the rental fighter world, he who threw away his morals for the sake of a peaceful and quiet life, Sakuya Fujimaru!"

The gate of the opposing side of the of the stage opened to reveal Sakuya, who walked up to his side of the stage, ths time without the mask he usualy wore and with his eyes opened in a strong glare.

Ryuzaki walked away from the stage and raised his hand. "Fighters, enter your decks into the pillars!"

"I see you decided to accept my deal." Gin said, entering his deck into the pillar by his side, making a holographic board appear in front of him. "You even got rid of your mask and opened your eyes."

"Stop sounding so cocky." Sakuya scoffed, doing the same. "I want to put an end to this once and for all. I already beat you in the past, so I'll do it again, just like before."

"I couldn't have said it any better."

"Begin!" Ryuzaki swung his hand down, commanding the system to turn the inside of the stadium into the empty surface of a moon through holographic projection.

"Stand up, vanguard!" Sakuya and Gin yelled out.

"Minimumcarno! (6000)"

"Starhulk, Lurli! (6000)"

"HE'S NOT BEING A META SHEEP?! WAIT, IS HE USING BRANDT?! WHAT THE HELL?!" Kaido shouted as he watched the fight.

"I'm more confused about why we're doing the final round in standard. After so much time with premium, audience will feel cheated." Masato commented.

"They sat through us playing standard in other occasions so they can do it. Fuck 'em, that's what I say." Ryuuga shrugged.

"Draw! I ride Lady Battler of the White Dwarf! (8000) Lurli's skill, I draw one! Lady Battler's skill, I look through the top five cards of my deck and add Wandering Starhulk Ruler, Brandt to my hand. I discard a card and end my turn."

Gin
Hand: 6
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

Sakuya
Hand: 5
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

"So you went back to basics." Sakuya commented as he drew a card.

"And you did the same. Never thought I'd see you play Tachikaze again."

"Likewise. Ride! Prism Bird! (8000) Minimumcargo's skill, I draw a card and get a Quick Shield. Then Prism Bird's skill, I add True Ancient Dragon, Bladeromeus to my hand and discard the Quick Shield. Attack. (8000)"

"No guard!"

"Drive check. (True Ancient Dragon, Pterafeed)"

"(Starhulk, Letaluk) No trigger."

"Turn end."

Gin
Hand: 6
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO

Sakuya
Hand: 8
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

"Draw! Ride! Strafe Deletor, Gae! (9000) Call, Whiteouter, Vect! (10000) Gae attacks! (9000)" 'This is a high risk high return plan. If Gae hits, its skill let's me force him to discard to normal ride next turn, but that'll cost a counterblast and a discard on my behalf too. Since Gae's a 9k base, it'll be easier for him to rush me next turn too.' Gin thought.

'Guarding here for a no pass or discarding next turn are both losing a card, but wasting a trigger to guard this attack means letting him draw with Vect when it attacks. And if I don't take damage, I won't be able to use my ride target's skill.' Sakuya thought. "No guard." 

"Drive check! (Starhulk, Gircus)"

"Damage check. (Savage Rowdy - Front) Front trigger. I give it to my vanguard. (19000)"

'Vect's attack won't hit, but that's fine!' "Gae's skill! I counterblast and discard one, you can't normal ride next turn without first discarding a card! Turn end!"

Gin
Hand: 5
Damage: 1
XXO
OOO

Sakuya
Hnad: 8
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO

"Stand and draw. I'll discard a card to ride! True Ancient Dragon, Aloneros! (9000) Aloneros' skill. Counterblat, I check the top three cards of my deck and call one Ancient Dragon from among them. Albertail! (8000) The rest goes on the bottom of the deck. I call Pterafeed from hand. (8000) Albertail's skill. Since I have an Ancient Dragon vanguard, add 5k. (8000>>13000) Boosted by Pterafeed, Aloneros attacks! (9000>>17000)"

"No guard!"

"(True Ancient Dragon, Aloneros) No trigger."

"(Flowers in Vacuum, Cosmo Wreath - Draw) Draw trigger! I draw one and give the power to Vect! (20000)"

"So you saw through that too. Pterafeed's skill. I check the top seven for an Ancient Dragon to call as rest. I call Pterafeed. (8000) The rest is shuffled back. Albertail attacks the vanguard! (13000)"

"No guard. (Strafe Deletor, Gae)"

"Turn end."

Gin
Hand: 6
Damage: 3
XXO
OOO

Sakuya
Hand: 7
Damage: 1
XXO
XXO

"Stand and draw! The symphony of the world of lies comes to its finale, bringing forward the glorious sound of truth upon a new universe! Ride! Wandering Starhulk Ruler, Brandt! (13000)"

"Brandt... I thought the card was so boring that I gave it to you." Sakuya said.

"Yeah. So what better card to bring to this fight than the first card that got me into this game? Imaginary Gift, Force II! Vanguard! (13000>>13000/2) Brandt's skill. Counterblast, soulblast. Activate, Singularity of a True World! Until the end of your turn, the effects of your heal and critical triggers are reserved, though only the heal part will matter. Call, Lady Battler! (8000) Check the top five, add Brandt to hand and discard him. I also call Gae! (9000) Vect attacks the vanguard! (10000)"

'All of the attacks are wet noodles, but one will make me discard again, one will draw him a card and one will hit me for two damage. No matter how small these attacks are, they're annoying.' "Savage Rowdy! (24000)"

"That's two fronts out. Gae! (9000)"

"Beamptero! (19000)"

"To one end or another, having all these annoying cards is helping. Boosted by Lady Battle, Brandt attacks! (13000>>21000) Starkiller Spear Rain!"

"No guard."

"Drive check! (Fatal Shockwave, Jetshaft) (Starhulk, Letaluk)"

"Damage check. (Savage Priestess) (Savage Shaman - Heal) Tch, a heal trigger."

"Singularity of a True World, deal him a damage!"

"(True Ancient Dragon, Bladeromeus)"

"That's it for me. Turn end!"

Gin
Hand: 6
Damage: 2
XXX
OXO

Sakuya
Hand: 5
Damage: 4
XXO
XXO

'Even though I guarded those annoying attacks, I still got pushed to four before my third turn.' Sakuya thought. "I'll admit it. At this moment, you're strong. But don't forget who taught you how to play in the first place! Stand and draw! Devour this shallow and pitify planet of the present, eat away its scourges and leave behind only those strong enough for survival in a greater world! Ascend from a greater moment in time, true dinosaur king! Ride! True Ancient Dragon, Bladeromeus! (12000)"

"Without you ever realizing it, that card began everything, surpringsingly." Karim said, sitting on the watching stands alongside Lia, Taishiro and Yukino. "You beat a random guy in a card shop with it, next thing you knew you were his friend in school."

"Then you scrubbed the floor with this stock up smart kid from the other glass and he became your friend too." Taishiro said.

"Then a girl from your class got interested in your fights with your friends, so she joined your group." Yukino said.

"But her childhood friend didn't like your arrogance, so she kicked your ass seven ways to sunday because of that." Lia chuckled.

"I still can't believe it was a crappy card that got us together in the first place, but it was so... DON'T LOSE THIS OR ELSE I'LL KICK YOUR ASS, SAKUYA!" Karim yelled.

"Huh?" Sakuya looked at the stands and grit his teeth, looking away. "Go cheer for someone else! Imaginary Gift, Accel II! I draw a card. I call Beamptero and Heftstyraco. (8000) (9000>>14000) Bladeromeus' skill. I retire Beamptero to retire Vect and call an Ancient Dragon from the deck. Barreltops! (12000) He gets 5k from Bladeromeus, then I counterblast one to draw and give another 5k. (12000>>22000) Beamptero's skill, add 3k to Heftsyraco, Bladeroemus and Barreltops. (14000>>17000) (12000>>15000) (22000>>25000) Heftsyraco's skill, he gets 5k during both turns and you can't retire him with card effects. (17000>>22000) Boosted by Pterafeed, Bladeromeus attacks! (15000>>23000) Electrical Fang Divider!"

"No guard!"

"Dirve check! (True Ancient Dragon, Barreltops) (Pack Dragon, Tinyrex - Front) Front trigger! And when a front trigger is revealed, once per turn, all of my units' effects trigger! All gain one critical! (23000>>33000/2) (13000>>23000/2) (23000>>33000/2) (25000>>35000/2)"

"Damage check! (Wandering Starhulk Deity, Brandt Ringer) (Fatal Shockwave, Jetshaft) Is that all you got? You went on and on about wanting to be left alone, but that's all you can do to make it happen?"

"Barreltops! (35000/2)" 'Why?'

"Lady Healer, inercept with Gae! (38000)""

"Boosted by Pterafeed, Albertail! (23000>>31000/2)" 'Why?!'

"Axino Dragon, Jetshaft! (38000)"

"Heftstyraco! (33000/2)" Sakuya grit his teeth. 'Why are you doing all of this some piece of shit like me?!'

(Play the media)

"By your reaction, you're thinking about why I'm doing all of this for someone like you, aren't you?" Gin asked with a stern face.

"Huh?" Sakuya looked up at Gin.

"It's a bit ironic, maybe just a load of hypocrisy on both sides. I ran away the first time, so why am I here now? You don't want to cause any more evil, but you're not doing anything to fix it, you're running away from your own issues." Gin placed the top card of his deck into his damage zone. "We're both a bunch of hypocrites running away from our problems, problems that'll go unsolved if things stay like this. So I'll take the first step forward. Damage check. (Lady Healer of the Torn World - Heal) Get, heal trigger."

"T-turn end..."

Gin
Hand: 2
Damage: 5
OXO
OXO

Sakuya
Hand: 7
Damage: 4
xXXX
  XXO

"Stand and draw. The past is certain, stuck in its place and unable to be changed, but the future is in constant changing. What happened happened, but no one will gain anything from being stuck in it, so let's strive to release its shackles and take the first step into our future. Persona Ride. Wandering Starhulk Ruler, Brandt."

Brandt raised his hand, clad in a bright red light that he shaped into a spear. Pulling his right arm back, he got into a throwing stance. Putting all his strength into that single throw, Brandt hurled the spear at Bladeromeus, unleashing instead a wave of that same bright red light that made Sakuya wince and closed his eyes.

When Sakuya opened his eyes, he stood on the rooftop of his old school, with Gin standing across him. Near them was a younger Gin, having lunch by himself. A younger version of Sakuya, with a younger Karim, Taishiro, Yukino and Lia entered the rooftop and approached him. Sakuya looked at them and then at Gin.

"To do all of this for someone who threw you and everyone he got close with to the curve like they were trash... That first step you said you're taking. That's hell you're walking into." Sakuya said.

"I know. I admit that at first I was just being stupid and self-centered, but my wish was all the same. The wish to make everything better. The unfulfilled wish of someone who ran away instead of trying to fix things with his own two hands. The unfulfilled wish a man who tried to help others, only to be saved by someone after straying away from the right path."

"Even if that wish can destroy everything you fixed up to now?"

"Yeah. Even if that wish is nothing more than an escapist hypocrisy. I'll keep striving for it."

"You're just an idiot. I threw out like yesterday's trash once, I'll do it again in no time." The past Sakuya said, looking at Gin and the real Sakuya. When the two looked at him, he began approaching, dark purle cracks appearing across his body until it shattered to form one of Sakuya's old units, Gastille Daimonas. "I don't got the time for weak trash like you! You don't even deserve to come close to the greatness that is me, so just take yourself out and throw yourself into the bin! People who can't even come close to me don't have any use, so might aswell have them thrown out too!"

"But all I can do is strive. To make this escapist hypocrisy a reality, my first step isn't enough." Gin admitted, one of Brandt's spears appearing in his hands. He extended it towards Sakuya. "So if it's hell I'm walking into, I'm fine with it. I'm not walking into it alone."

"I've met alot of idiots before, but you're on a tier of your own." The real Sakuya said. He reached out for the spear with both hands, hesitating for a moment when he noticed they were trembling. He sighed and reach out for the spear once again, this time grabbing it and holding it with Gin.

"You're a dreamer if you think you can actually reject me, you might aswell throw yourself ou too!" The past Gastille laughed.

"Yeah, I agree. You existed, I can't reject that. But I also don't have to keep you alive. I'll never be able to deny what I did."

"I'll never be able to deny what I did too." Gin nodded. "We both ran away once, so let's end it here."

"Yeah." Sakuya nodded.

The two looked at the fake Sakuya and ran the spear through his chest, together. Red cracks spreaded out across his body as he slowly turned to dust.

"You still can't reject me." The fake Sakuya coughed out.

"I know. But I won't lose to you. I'll happily lose to anyone else in this world, but not to myself." Sakuya said, kicking away the fake one.

"And Gin Fuchigami wins the first round!" Ryuzaki announced with a loud applause from the audience.

"So? What will you do now?" Gin asked.

"It was a pretty moment." Sakuya admitted, retrieving his deck from the pillar and putting it into his pocket. "But saying things is easy, doing them is a whole different matter. But maybe. Maybe I'll do what I say for once." He said, taking his leave from the stage.

As Sakuya walking alone in an empty hall of the stadium, he stopped when he felt a slight push against his back and something going around his torso. He first looked down at a pair of arms, and then looked back.

"'Sup?" Lia asked.

"What the-" He got interjected by another push, this time on his front. "What the-"

"Hello!" Yukino chuckled.

"'Sup dude, we got some love on here." Karim said, grabbed one of Sakuya's arms.

"Beep boop, you sad fuck." Taishiro said, grabbing the other.

"What the hell are you idiots doing?"

"If you can throw us out, you can handle a group hug." Gin said, placing his arms around all of them. "See?"

"Oh, your arms are really big, Gin." Yukino commented. "Impressive."

"Why did I lost the straw poll to the hug from behind part." Lia muttered, squished between Gin and Sakuya.

"So, you guys wanna go grab some beef bowls? I know a place." Karim suggested.

"I'll start believing you when you get a girlfriend, you med school loser." Taishiro laughed.

"Hey if I had a girl, I'd still be more loyal than you!"

"How hard can that be?" Yukino giggled.

"Again, your pure and innocent voice makes it hurt even more..."

"You idiots!" Sakuya exclaimed, pushing all of them away and taking some steps forward. He looked back at them with his teeth gritted. "You know how this'll turn out... You already know, dammit!"

"Yeah." Gin nodded. "Y'know, you keep saying it'll happen again and whatnot, but what evidence do you have that backs that up? Besides, Hanabi was built on the fact that everyone is in a way or the other, a bad person to some extent. So let's all be bad people. Together."

"Y-you..." Sakuya looked down and sighed. He looked up at his old friends with a small smile. "Yeah. I'd like that."

(Ending)

Next Week-

#55: Masato's Apex

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MINI SOUL: "How to fix a friendship"

Gin: Let's be friends again.

Sakuya: No.

Gin: What if I rip off a scene from a famous show?

Sakuya: Shit man why didn't you said it earlier.

Ryuuga: Have all the Mini Souls been going down in quality since last volume...

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The gacha betrayed me.

Hikaru: Same.

Ryuuga: People already know who the opponents are, why not getting all of that stuff out of the way in this chapter?

Ryuzaki: Because Im awesome and this entire arc is a Fate and Juliet reference that I didn't notice. I'm getting old.

Masato: Next chapter I tase Ryuzaki.

Ryuzaki: You what.

Masato: Come back next week for that.

Gin: I speed-walked into Brandt returning.

Using Gae was the biggest meme I ever pulled in my life, my work ethic got slowed down this week, the gacha betrayed me, I finished UBW, it's pretty good, I also watched the start of Last Encore, it's fucking boring, time to watch Apocrypha and understand how it sometimes takes a real men to be best girl :fml:

Shiranui got revealed and I'm hyped as hell, the Luard-Nemain hit was stupid, don't be a sheep and don't settle for this and remember the squirel was a mistake. If you know, you know.

My name is Shida, thanks for reading and I will see you later. Bye bye!

Ryuuga: I don't get this Fate thing.

Ryuzaki: The first OVA is Ryuuga and Homura's downward spiral into living gacha hell for the sake of a chick with thighs and a bow and a tentacle summoning small girl, why did Shida start using these memes, it brings suffering to my existence.

Kaido: You wasted half of my usual allowance oNlb Raikou.

Ryuzaki: Yeah well Raikou looks like you mother so screw you.

Gin: Also Bangaichi was the name of the team me and the guys were back on the good old days k thx.