The sun hung low over Vystoria, bleeding orange and violet across the sky. Shin walked the narrow sidewalk alone, hands buried deep in his jacket pockets. His steps were slow, heavy—not because he was tired, but because his mind wouldn't stop moving.
The duel kept replaying in his head. Ivan's last turn, his own finishing blow, the cheer of the crowd that sounded hollow in his ears.
Stronger… I need to be stronger. If I can't even shake him yet… how am I supposed to face the one who—
"Shin!"
The voice sliced through the fading hum of the city. Sharp, clear, and impossible to ignore.
Shin stopped mid-step. His head turned slightly, his bangs shadowing his eyes. Behind him, framed against the glow of a streetlamp, stood Tessa Vale.
Her blue hair was tied back in a loose ponytail that shimmered faintly under the light. Her duel disk rested against her arm, sleek and silver, humming softly like a predator waiting to strike.
Shin frowned, his voice flat.
"…What do you want?"
Tessa took a few steps forward, her boots tapping against the cracked pavement. Her expression didn't waver, but there was something in her eyes—something softer than the usual fire.
"Long day, huh?" she said casually, though her tone held weight.
Shin gave a half-hearted scoff, looking away toward the amber-stained horizon.
"Yeah… you could say that."
A breeze swept through, carrying the faint scent of smoke and fried street food from the market down the block. For a moment, the silence stretched thin between them, taut as a wire.
Then Tessa broke it.
"So," she said slowly, almost testing the word, "I heard you've been doing a lot of Contract Duels lately."
Shin stiffened. His stomach knotted as the words hit like a blade. He didn't move—didn't even blink—just let out a scoff laced with sarcasm.
"Rex told you? Figures. He can't keep his mouth—"
"No." Tessa's voice cut through his sentence like a clean strike. Calm. Controlled.
"I found out."
That made Shin turn—just enough to see her out of the corner of his eye. Her face didn't lie. She wasn't bluffing.
"You know those duels aren't good for you—" she started.
"Save it." Shin's voice came low, sharp. He spun halfway toward her, eyes hard under the glow of the streetlamp.
"I've heard that talk a hundred times. And who are you to give it to me? You don't even care."
Tessa blinked once.
Then—unexpectedly—she smiled. Not out of amusement, but something… sadder. A smirk that didn't reach her eyes.
"Who are you to decide whether I care or not?" Her tone was steady, but her voice dipped, like she was holding something back.
"And for the record—I do know what you're going through—"
"Do you?!" Shin's words tore out, louder than he intended. His fists curled inside his pockets as he took a step forward, anger spiking like electricity through his veins.
"Do you really?! Do you know what it feels like to have someone ripped away from you—someone you couldn't save?! And then when you finally have a chance to take down the bastard who did it, everyone else you thought was close just… turns on you?!"
His breath hitched. His voice cracked like breaking glass.
"Didn't think so."
He turned his back on her, his boots grinding against concrete as he started walking.
The next words stopped him cold.
"No," Tessa said softly. Her voice didn't break—but it carried something raw beneath the steel. "I don't know what it's like to lose someone like that."
She drew a slow breath. "But I have been in the Pit. I know what it does to people."
Her steps came closer, steady, deliberate.
"I used to run Contract Duels too."
Shin froze. His grip on his pocket tightened until his knuckles ached.
"Let me ask you something," she continued, her voice like a blade dragged slowly across a stone. "Do you know what it's like to have a corporate tower breathing down your neck? Every duel, every move, every second of your life picked apart under a spotlight?"
Her eyes locked with his, sharp as shattered glass. "Do you know what it's like to make one mistake and get laughed at, ridiculed, told you'll never be good enough—while you're already bleeding to give everything you have?"
Shin turned slowly, his breath steady but heavy. Her words didn't sound like pity. They sounded like scars.
"I've never lost someone close," she admitted, voice dropping to something almost fragile. "Because I never had anyone."
She swallowed hard. The streetlamp flickered above, like it couldn't handle the weight in her voice.
"And I'll be damned if I just stand by and watch you throw that away."
Shin stared at her, searching her face for a crack, for anything false—but there was nothing. Just honesty. Raw and jagged like broken steel.
His chest tightened. But he forced the words out anyway.
"I have to do this, Tessa."
She stared back for a long moment. Then, slowly—like she'd been expecting it—her lips curved into a small, sharp smile.
"Yeah," she said quietly. "I figured you'd say that."
With a flick of her wrist, her duel disk unfolded in a flare of blue light, metal plates sliding into place with a hiss that cut through the night. The neon glow reflected in her eyes like twin flames.
"That's why," she said, her voice low and lethal, "I'm gonna beat some sense into you."
For a moment, Shin just looked at her—expression unreadable under the flickering streetlight. Then, finally, a smirk tugged at his lips. Dark. Defiant.
"Very well then."
He raised his arm, and with a sharp snap, his duel disk burst open—crimson light spilling across the cracked pavement like blood under glass. The metallic plates locked with a satisfying click as he slid his deck into place.
The city warped around them as the AR grid ignited, reality fracturing into a storm of neon and phantom fire. Steel towers bent like molten glass, and glowing sigils carved themselves into the ground beneath their feet. Shadows coiled under Shin's boots like restless wolves. Blue fire crowned Tessa's platform like a halo.
Two duelists. Two storms. One collision.
And neither planned to walk away the same.