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Vanguard. A game that has touched many people's lives, either making it better or worse. Right now, on the planet Cray, it is in peril as the Void has struck once again. This time, with a new leader.

It was raining heavily after school.

A black haired boy opened his locker, reaching for the bag inside. He had pitch black eyes and a long scar running along his left cheek. Comparatively, the other boys in his year were much more handsome than him, but he didn't mind.

He took off his Seigatsu Academy blazer and replaced it with the grey hoodie inside his bag. After stuffing the blazer into his bag, he went outside.

His hoodie soaked up the rain, slowly changing colour from light to dark grey. As he put up his hood, a shadow was cast over his lifeless eyes.

"Damn rain..."

A discontent mumble came from the boy as he wandered down the street aimlessly, muddying his off-white trainers in the dirty puddles without noticing. This zombie-like behaviour was a result of an unambitious life and empty void in his heart.

It was Thursday, and his best friend was at a card shop. Other than him, this boy had no other friends.

He looked up at the gloomy sky to see if the rain would stop. Unfortunately, the swirling clouds above replied with even more rain.

It was like the weather was reflecting his own emotions back at him. Misery and anger.

The boy had just finished a detention after school for getting into another fight with a student over a petty reason. It was probably an insult to his dead father, who passed away during work. If not his father, then his mother, who constantly worked day and night to make ends meet.

It was no secret that Yza and his family were dirt poor. This, alongside his reputation of getting into fights, made him extremely unpopular and bullied at school.

Either way, this boy was a volatile person that anyone could get a reaction out of easily.

As he walked, he felt something hit him. He looked up, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey...?"

A scatter of cards with "Vanguard" written on the back fell down from the sky. He flinched and looked behind him, seeing the cards move by themselves into a neat deck.

One card fell perfectly into his hand. He rubbed the back of his head in confusion.

"Shooting Star Dragon?"

After staring at the card for a few minutes, he let go of it, walking away.

As he did, he passed me.

A massive hole blew through my chest.

My heart had been torn from me without my consent.

Blood exploded from my empty torso, splattering on the streets and cars passing by.

Yet no one noticed the excessive amount of red that stained their windows or the thick blood that pooled on the floor like a sloppy mess.

This murky and depressed city filled with gloomy life... it was definitely Tokyo. I could vividly remember this street.

It was here where I fought Gyze.

I staggered forward, and reached my hand out to him desperately.

This isn't how it was supposed to happen... if he doesn't pick up that deck, then...

"Yza!"

I called his name as I tried grabbing onto his shoulder. However, my hand passed through him, like I was a ghost.

"What...? Can I... not do anything?"

No... I can do something. I have to do something. If I can get his attention, then...

Putting myself in front of him, I shouted his name again.

"Yza!"

He walked right through my body. I began to shake with wide eyes.

I can't save myself from disappearing.

I screamed from the bottom of my lungs out into the rain.

Without any other choice... I reluctantly followed Yza.

Drenched in the freezing cold rain, Yza ran to his house. When he arrived at the front door, he complained of soreness in his legs. Guess he wasn't much of a sports person either.

Opening the front door, Yza entered the dark hallway. I followed him inside. No one else was at home, because his mother was at work and his brother, Maxios, was with the military.

Turning on the light, Yza entered the living room and glanced at the note left on the coffee table.

"After school snack is in the microwave. Dinner is in the fridge - microwave it for 10 mins, okay? I'll be back home soon. I expect you to do your homework and be in bed by 9pm! Love, mom."

I couldn't help but wonder what kind of cruel parent asks their kid to be asleep by 9pm.

Yza started heating the snack inside the microwave. Then he went to have a quick shower, before returning to the kitchen.

"Smells good."

For the first time, I saw Yza grin. Taking out the food, he sat on his couch and started eating it. Afterwards, he did his homework and watched some TV.

Even though he had a regular day for any person, something still felt off.

Obediently, at 9pm, he went to bed. I silently watched as he fell asleep soundly. When his mother returned from work, the first thing she did was go to Yza's room.

After checking that he was sleeping, she left to go eat the dinner she bought at the convenience store. After that, she made a few phone calls with a worried look on her face.

"Yes... of course... I'll have the money soon... yes... by Friday... I swear... please... just give me a little bit more time, please..?"

It sounded like she was begging for mercy to whoever was on the side of the phone.

"No, no... yes... of course, I'll pay you back for that too..."

Was someone extorting her for money?

"My son...? Well, he's... you can't be serious! S-sorry... I raised my voice to you... j-just... d-don't joke about something like that..."

I listened in closely.

"A joke? Bitch, you think I'm fucking joking? Listen up dumbass, if you don't pay back your debt by the end of next week, I swear to God that your son will be fucking dead by my gun! I know everything about him, and I know where you two weaselling cockroaches live!"

What the hell...? Who is that on the other side of the phone...

"I-I... yes, I'll make sure... every yen, I'll pay it back..."

"You fucking better. If you try scamming me again, I won't go just after your son, but your other boy too. He may be in the military, but I'm not afraid of those gay fucks there. I have connections everywhere bitch, you aren't escaping me, you fucking got that?!"

She nodded frantically, submissively answering his every word with a yes. She was completely powerless against him.

"O-okay... thank you... yes... you're so kind... yes... yes... yes... okay... bye..."

After that tense phone call, Yza's mother collapsed on the couch. Burying her face into the pillow, she quietly sobbed. I wanted to put a blanket over her, but I couldn't even physically grab that...

Later next week, Yza was at school with Ayaza. Ever since I ended up here, I've been tailing Yza in the hopes that, as stupid as it is to say, he would become me.

The two of them were outside in a secluded area far away from everyone else. Ayaza was looking through his Vanguard deck while Yza laid on the grass, taking a nap. Opening one eye, he audibly sighed.

"What is this time?"

Ayaza turned to Yza, putting his deck down. Yza pointed at it with a bored yawn.

"Why do you play with those kiddie cards all the time?"

"They're not "kiddie cards"... they're from a game called Cardfight!! Vanguard. It's really fun, everyone else plays it."

"No thanks. I'll pass."

Immediately hearing that everyone else enjoyed it made Yza disinterested.

"But why dude? You have nothing to lose from playing it."

Yza rolled over so he wasn't facing Ayaza anymore.

"...money."

"Huh?"

It seems Ayaza didn't hear Yza's answer.

"I said, I'm not a kid anymore." Yza replied louder than before.

"You don't have to be a kid to play it... y'know Darien?"

"The school bully? Who doesn't know that douchebag."

"Well, he plays Vanguard."

"Good for him. I don't want to."

"But... but everyone else plays it!"

"Except for me."

"Semantics..."

"Well, point is, maybe I don't want to be like "everyone else"."

Yza looked bitter, but refused to show his face to Ayaza.

"Even if you're not popular with everyone else doesn't mean you can't change things around."

"It's not about that..."

"It sounds like it's about that. Since no one likes you, you don't want to get into anything that can be considered popular."

In other words, Yza's trying too hard to be the edgy loner kid at school.

"Who cares. I don't want to like the same things as those losers."

"Your loss then."

Ayaza gave up on trying to convince the stubborn Yza.

At the same time, a hole blew through my arm, spilling blood everywhere. I took a deep breath to try and steady myself, but...

It hurt. It really, really hurt.

Both on my mind and body.

It was now Friday that week. Outside, Yza threw a punch at Darien, who caught it easily.

"Stupid broke cunt, know your place!"

Darien grabbed Yza's head and smashed it on his kneecap, making Yza fall to the floor instantly.

As he did, a crowd formed around them, with Ayaza watching in horror.

Darien towered above Yza, cracking his fists with a smirk. As Yza rose up, Darien kicked him to the floor again.

"You piece of broke shit. You have some nerve to challenge me to a fight."

With a wide grin, Darien grabbed Yza by the hair and forced him up. As he did, Darien's lackey, Nakuru, cheered him on in the background.

"Go Darien! Beat that broke loner's ass! Show him hell for disrespecting ya!"

"C'mon you little broke bitch. You have some fight in you, don't you?"

Darien taunted Yza by slapping his bruised cheek. Yza growled and spat on Darien's face, causing the crowd to go wild as the fight heated up.

"Fuck off."

"You little..."

Infuriated by this, Darien wiped the spit off his face with the back of his fist, and slammed that same fist into Yza's own face.

"Keep your disgusting saliva to yourself, dirty rat!"

Yza was blown back, but was caught by the crowd, who pushed him back into the circle they had created for these two as a cage.

"Come on you cunt! Don't pussy out on me! Punch me again!"

Darien laughed as he egged Yza on. As Yza approached him, Darien backed away teasingly.

"Come get me, you broke ass bitch!"

Even though taunts were being slung at him every second, Yza didn't say anything back. He just walked forward, his empty eyes dead set on his target—

Pushing Darien to the brink of their cage, Yza unleashed a furious right hook that knocked Darien's head back with a violent snap.

The crowd cringed as they saw the school bully get decimated by Yza's fist.

However, Darien didn't back down. Spitting blood, he charged forward and punched Yza in the gut, sending him to the floor.

"The fuck was that for? You weak piece of broke shit, don't try to act hard."

Darien squatted next to Yza, flicking his forehead as he continued to insult him.

In retaliation, Yza brought Darien to the floor by grabbing his tie, and proceeded to sucker punch him in the face when they were both down.

Just as the fight was about to get good again, multiple teachers started to intervene. Separating the violent Yza and the bully Darien, both were sent to the correction office.

Later that day, Yza headed to the nurse's office to get his wounds cleaned and bandaged. I followed him like usual.

The first thing that stood out to me was Rukia wasn't working in the office. Instead, it was Lucine.

"You got into another fight I'm guessing?"

"...what do you think."

Yza sat down on a bed, slumping his shoulders.

"You want me to handle this, or?"

Lucine grabbed a medical kit and sat down beside him.

"...I'll do it myself."

"Alrighty then. If you wanna talk about it, I'm all ears."

Lucine left him be, closing the curtain around his bed. It seems like this wasn't the first time this scenario had happened before. Judging by the familiar way Lucine acted with Yza, it's safe to assume that Yza had opened up to her before.

This is especially strange once I realised that this would be the sort of thing he'd do with Rukia. Where was she anyways? Didn't she attend Seigatsu too? I distinctly remember her working in the nurse's office as well... after all, she wanted to be a nurse when she grew up, didn't she?

"...Darien's a piece of shit."

After a few minutes, Yza began talking. Lucine smiled, nodding her head.

"Right? He's always a dick in class and picks on either you or Shouri, like all the time."

"He's a dumbass... I hate him."

"Fighting him though... that's reckless, even for you."

"Don't insult me. If I beat him up, I'd be doing everyone else a favour..."

"Not really. You can't change a bully overnight."

"With my fists I can."

"Not everything can be solved with violence... that's how you end up becoming a mass murderer when you grow up."

"I'm not gonna become a mass murderer... hell, I'm actually offended you think I'd actually kill someone."

"Your fight with..."

"Don't bring that up."

Compared to how he was speaking earlier, this tone Yza used right now was completely different. It was cold, malicious, and ruthless. It was like he was threatening Lucine to not talk about it.

At the same time though, he also sounded scared... like she was about to bring up the darkest moment in his past.

"Sorry... are you still not over it?"

"Not really... then again, it was his fault. That dumbass brought out his katana against me like a fucking idiot. If anything, he was the one trying to kill me."

Katana...? Was he referring to Zeon? Is that who he nearly killed?

"You did, but... there was no reason to go so ballistic on him."

"You're only saying that because you have a crush on him."

"Do not."

"You so do."

"If you really think I like Zeon, you're out of your mind. The only guy for me is Chouji! He's so cool!"

So it was Zeon... I can't imagine him fighting someone or pulling out his katana on them. That guy's harmless... so that's how Zeon was like in the past, huh?

"Have you asked him out yet?"

"Eh? Don't be ridiculous, it's the guy's job to ask the girl out."

"Right..."

"Are you going to use that line on me again?"

"Maybe."

"I'll say it before you can then, idiot. "I yearn for true gender equality"... right?"

"Aha! She said it! Sexism is no more!"

Even though it was a strange conversation, both Yza and Lucine laughed about it.

During the evening at Yza's house, his mother came home from work. The first thing she did was call the man instead of checking if Yza was okay.

"H-hello...?"

Fear was the only thing in her hoarse voice.

"You haven't paid up yet."

"I-I know... um... tomorrow... I can get it tomorrow..."

"I've given you chance after chance after fucking chance you stupid peasant! If you're so fucking poor, you shouldn't have gotten a loan from me then! Are you fucking stupid?! Are you, huh?!"

The man on the other end began screaming into her ear.

"Because of your stupidity, your brain-dead son is going to fucking die! This Sunday, his useless, wasted, fucking life will be over! You'll pay for this debt with someone else's life, you fucking murderer!"

"N-no! Please don't! Take my life instead! Don't take his!"

"Your life is fucking worthless to me."

With those cold words, the man abruptly ended the phone call. Yza's mother slumped to the floor, crying into her hands.

The following day, Saturday, she woke up Yza earlier than usual.

"What the hell is it now...?"

"Where do you want to go today?"

Yza squinted at his mother and rubbed his eyes blearily.

"Huh?"

"I got the day off. Where do you want to spend it?"

"That's what you woke me up for...? Look, I don't have anywhere I want to go. Staying at home is fine."

"But... it's a nice day today, isn't it? We should at least go outside and have a nice meal."

"...it's fine, I'll just eat cup ramen or something for dinner again."

"No! You won't have cup ramen for dinner tonight! We'll go out to a nice restaurant and have ramen there."

Yza looked at his mother in surprise, before lowering his head.

"I told you... it's fine. Save the money."

"We have enough now. I can spend some on nicer things now!"

"...you're lying."

"I-I'm not... I really do have extra money now."

"Mom, don't bother spending money on me. You should... pay off the debt."

His mother widened her eyes.

"You... when did you...?"

"It's... obvious. I've known for a long time."

Yza grabbed a small box from under his bed, and showed it to his mother.

"This is the money I... earned. I was gonna give it to you... when I confronted you about this. But I... didn't know when it was a good time to bring it up, so... it's better now then never."

"How did you... no, I won't take your hard earned mon—"

"I stole it."

Yza forced the box of money into her hands.

"I stole the money from people at school."

"Yza..."

"...it's fine, I didn't like those people anyways."

"You..."

"...I did it for you!"

"Still, I..."

"...just take the money! We need it more then they do!"

"I have... so many questions... but..."

His mother opened the box, and counted the amount inside.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked at Yza.

"How long...?"

"...ever since I started high school."

"How did you get away with it...? You couldn't have stolen this much without getting caught, right...?"

"I have my methods."

For the first time, I saw Yza act seriously. He was being completely honest and not hiding anything.

"Then... what about all the fights you have at school...?"

"It's part of the act. You'd be surprised how easily people leave their things out in the open."

"Don't tell me..."

It was now obvious to his mother what schemes Yza employed to get the money. He didn't directly steal the money. Rather, he stole valuable items and sold them off, getting it that way.

"Yeah... I'm a piece of shit son, I know."

Yza sat on the edge of his bed, looking down at his dirtied hands in self-disgust.

"Don't... say that about yourself. I know you only meant good."

"I just... wanted to see you happy, mom. You're always working and looking miserable... it's been forever since I've actually talked to you."

"Things would be easier... so much easier if Maxios was here with us."

"...don't talk about that guy. He abandoned us once things got rough... I'll never forgive him."

"A-anyways... this much is a great help... thank you. Don't ever do it again though... don't abuse the trust others put in you."

Yza narrowed his eyes and tightened his fist.

"...okay. I'll stop."

"Can you... give me a second?"

"...yeah, sure."

His mother exited the room. As she did, Yza muttered to himself deprecatingly.

"Trust, huh...? No one in that shitty school trusts me... I destroyed my reputation for this... what the hell am I doing?"

I followed his mother outside. She was on the phone, telling the scary man that she had the money.

"I have it... I have the money... please... please don't kill him..."

"Oh? You have the money now, huh? Aight then, come meet me at our usual spot. Now."

"O-okay... I'll go... now..."

"You better not be wasting my fucking time. I'm being extra nice, letting you get away with this, y'know?"

"Y-Yes... yes you are... ha ha..."

"The fuck are you laughing for you dumb bitch?"

"N-nothing... I'm just glad I can give you the money! T-that's all... I'm sorry..."

"Heh, you better be glad you can finally pay off that long ass debt you've built. Your family must be broke as shit for it to take this long!"

The man on the other side laughed like a pig. He then hung up the call.

"Yza, change of plans! I'll hang out with you after I go buy some groceries!"

"Hm? Alright then."

Yza waved goodbye to his mom, and went back to bed.

I followed his mother to the meeting place. A shady looking office complex.

She was ushered into a business room where multiple bodyguards stood by each wall. Sitting in the centre like a king was the loan shark of her debt.

My eyes widened as I recognised the man behind the desk.

It was Zak.

"H-here... I have the money..."

She meekly handed over a bag of money the loan shark. He got one of the bodyguards to count the amount inside.

The bodyguard was Callum.

Yza's mother waited in fear as Callum counted through the money meticulously and carefully. While waiting for the henchmen to be done, Zak smoked in her face in blatant provocation.

"Y'know, your son gets to live. Isn't that great?"

"A-ah... y-yeah... it is, isn't it?"

"Yeah... about that."

He put out the smoke on the cigarette butt on the table.

"H-huh?"

"Someone's life's gotta get paid for this. My boss ain't happy that ya took so long to pay me back. I was really cutting it close by generously giving you another month, y'know?"

So this debt... it should've been paid off a month ago, huh?

"I-I know... I'm so sorry... I-I should've done better... b-but the money is here now, r-right?"

"Yeah. Guess it is."

"Boss, it's all the leftover cash."

After finishing counting through it, Callum confirmed this was the correct amount to pay off the debt.

"Perfect."

Zak smirked, stroking his chin. He licked his lips, raising an eyebrow.

"Y'know, it's a shame your husband died so early. He really wasted a hot western body like yours. Redheads are simply the best."

"W-What...? Um... c-can I take my leave?"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Look at that! This bitch wants to leave!"

Zak laughed heartily, prompting the bodyguards to join in.

"W-wha...?"

"Kill her."

"H-huh......?"

With his command, Callum and the other bodyguards grabbed onto Yza's mother and held her in place.

"A-ah.........?"

"Let's have some fun... shall we?"

"N-no...... please no...... s-stop......... s-stop......... STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!"

Yza's mother screamed as Zak pointed a loaded pistol at her.

A simple gunshot ended her misery.

By the end, she was reduced to nothing but a twitching mess that couldn't even be considered human. She could only make animalistic grunts and squeals from the trauma she succumbed to him.

...I felt sick witnessing it. I wanted to throw up, but I physically couldn't.

Even though she wasn't my mom... I still felt crushed inside.

I had no idea who she was, yet... it felt like it was my mom dying in front of my eyes.

It reminded me of... Ubume. When she died... trying to bravely protect me from Ayaza.

She was a total stranger to me, yet... I still cried.

For the first time in this confusing world, I broke down.

When I witnessed the bullet pop through her head, an indescribable amount of rage consumed my heart.

I didn't even know I was capable of this much hatred.

I didn't even know I was capable of raising a hand.

But it didn't matter.

Like everything else in this world, my hand passed through it.

Even while they gleefully laughed and joked about the corpse that was in front of them, they didn't notice my attempts at killing them in revenge.

Nothing I did got their attention.

Nothing I did could avenge Yza or his mother.

Nothing I did could change the fact I was nothing more than a ghost in this world.

From start to finish, these people were monsters.

She didn't deserve this...

No one did...

Then, I gained my own bullet wound. On my left cheek, where my scar used to be.

It didn't come from Zak's gun though. Just like every wound I've gotten before... it came out of thin air.

As a result of my own internal suffering that had nowhere else to go.

When I returned to Yza's home, he was sitting in the living room, with dead eyes staring inside an empty cup of ramen.

"...mom's dead, isn't she?"

For some reason, Yza looked over his shoulder and straight at me.

His apathetic eyes pierced deep into my heart.

I was scared.

"...the loan shark got her first, right?"

"Why are you..."

I stepped back, unable to understand how Yza could see me.

"...yeah. I'm sorry... for your loss."

Then, a familiar voice came from behind me. I turned around, and my eyes widened at who it was.

It was Maverick... but he was wearing a police uniform.

So this was who Yza was talking to... he wasn't looking at me after all.

But that powerful gaze he sent my way... it felt like he was intently looking at me, and not Maverick.

Did he really see me?

Maverick approached Yza with an air of dread around him. I got the feeling that Maverick felt some amount of guilt over this situation. When they were face to face, Yza bowed.

"...thank you for all your hard work, Maverick."

"Don't say that crap... I failed your family big time."

Maverick huffed frustratedly. Yza didn't react to these words, but instead continued to push the conversation forward.

"...you caught them now, right?"

"Yeah... we arrested all of those damn thugs, including that mass murdering maniac, Callum. But... it was at the cost of your mom's life. I was too late to save her."

"...it can't be helped. At least it's over now."

Despite the soul crushing news that his mother died, Yza managed to brush it off indifferently. It felt wrong... that someone who could easily get riled up at school couldn't feel anything towards his mother's death.

"You're a good kid... you're much more calm than I am."

Maverick tried to lighten the mood, but Yza still didn't react. It was like he couldn't react.

"I wouldn't say I'm calm..."

"Inside, you must be a wreck."

"...I guess."

"It's okay to shed tears."

Even though it was powerful advice, Yza's face never changed from it's bleak appearance.

I never realised it until now, but he always has this slightly bored, slightly given up expression on his face. Unless he was angry, Yza looked dead inside all the time.

Or maybe, he was already dead inside. Is that why he couldn't shed tears or look upset?

Or... maybe he already knew from the beginning, that he would lose his mom too.

"I would... but I can't... nothing will come out..."

Despite this cold and harsh exterior, Yza's words conveyed what seemed to be the truth. He struggled to even utter this much.

Maverick took pity and patted Yza's shoulder in a fatherly manner.

"They won't come straightaway. Your pride as a man wont let it come out. But once you accept reality... they'll definitely come."

Yza lifted his head with knitted brows. The first change of expression today. Maverick smiled.

"You'll understand what I mean when you grow up some more, runt."

"I'm plenty grown up."

"Nah. You're the same little kid I've always known. Acting hard and tough so no one can hurt you."

"...you've got the wrong idea about me."

Even though Yza denied it, I was inclined to agree with Maverick. I've noticed that Yza tries to cover up his weakness by acting strong. Is that why he gets into fights all the time?

"Well, I'll be going now. I've got another bunch of lowlives to bust."

"Yeah... thanks for helping my family all this time, Maverick."

"It's a police's job to protect the weak and innocent after all. Though... I didn't do that job well though this time, did I?"

Maverick muttered the last part to himself.

"I'll be in contact about what you should do next. I suggest just staying at home for the mean time. I'll notify your school about your circumstances."

"...thanks."

With that parting, Maverick left the house. Yza slumped to the floor.

Afterwards, the first thing he did was go inside his mom's room and take out a photo buried in the drawers.

It was him and his mom in front of a red double decker bus. The types you'd find in London.

However, even when staring at that precious memory, nothing came.

Yza's face was a blank slate.

He threw himself onto her bed, and buried his face into her pillow.

"Mom... you worked hard... way too hard. I'm sorry that you had... a son like me..."

And despite choking out those painful words with a voice that's about to break, Yza still couldn't cry.

He still couldn't bring himself to grieve.

After his mother's death, Maverick managed to transfer Yza to an orphanage. From there, he lived life like he always did.

He got into fights, he failed tests, he ate lunch by himself... at the orphanage, no one approached Yza. The people in charge had no idea how to deal with him.

Everyone saw him as a violent and angry nuisance. He'd keep others away from him by constantly attacking his surroundings.

Simply put, Yza's life was constant fighting in the orphanage. He had no one to lean on... but himself.

It reminded me of when... I was at the orphanage too. My priority was to get out of there with my little sister.

Whenever I felt lost, or sad, or lonely... I always turned to her. She was my support as I desperately fought to get us out so I could find the truth about my past.

And just like me, after a month there, a family wanted to adopt him. Even though he behaved belligerently, for some reason, the CEO of an idol company wanted to adopt him...

When I first heard this, I had massive deja vu. This was just like me.

On the weekend he was officially adopted, Yza went to live with his new family.

As he stood outside of his new home, I immediately recognised the house Yza was in front of.

...it was my house?