The alley was narrow and filthy, hidden between suffocating backstreets of a decaying city. Two men cornered a young woman with long black hair and delicate features. Her blue eyes shimmered with fear. Her thin, torn clothes seemed to protect her from neither the cold nor the world.
Beside her stood a little girl with long white hair and blood-red eyes, wearing a necklace with a key dangling from it. She stared at the men like a small beast ready to pounce.
"Hikari, please… don't do this…" the young woman begged, trembling.
The girl took one step forward, eyes locked on the men.
"Miyako, how many times do I have to say it? People like them don't scare me."
Her fists tightened.
"Hikari…?" Miyako tried to hold her back by the arm.
Too late. Hikari lunged forward like lightning.
Minutes later, the two men lay unconscious on the ground — one moaning weakly with his face smashed into soggy cardboard. Hikari turned around, panting, sweat dripping from her forehead and a fresh cut on her cheek.
"See? I told you I'd take care of you."
She pointed at the sky with a blood-stained finger, smiling like she had just won a tournament.
Miyako stared at her, torn between scolding and hugging. In the end, she carefully held her sister's injured hand.
"Let's go home. You're filthy."
Hikari chuckled.
"Love you too."
Later, in the streets of Satellite
The streets were alive — people rushing by, kids screaming, balconies packed with wet clothes flapping in the wind. The city was ugly, cramped, dirty. But it had life. It had a smell. It had a voice.
"Ma! The laundry!""Get outta the way, brat!""Miss Hana, need help with that?"
They walked through alleys, staircases, tight passages, until reaching a tiny house squeezed between others. The door barely opened.
In the kitchen, an elderly woman with white hair and a stern face waited for them, wearing an old tomato-stained apron.
"Hikari! Look at the state of you! All scratched up… and it's not even noon! Go shower. Now. Before I lose my patience!"
"Alright, grandma!" Hikari yelled, disappearing down the hall. "No need to yell like that!"
"Good morning, grandma," Miyako said softly.
"Back early?"
"Only until Monday. Enjoy it while I can still take care of you two."
The old woman sighed deeply, wiping her hands on her apron.
"How can you two be so different? Just a single year apart…"
Miyako hesitated.
"You know… we have different fathers…"
The grandmother froze. She turned sharply.
"You have the same family. Mine. Now help me with this soup before it burns."
Miyako nodded and grabbed the cutting board.
Later
"Hikari, come eat!"
"I'm coming! (Better change the subject… the old lady's still steaming.) So, what's for lunch, grandma?"
"Soup. Miyako helped. Might even taste like flowers."
"Smells good though."
They sat. They ate. Silence between spoons.
The grandmother suddenly slammed her spoon down.
"Listen to me. Hikari, why do you insist on getting into trouble? Picking fights, sticking your nose where it doesn't belong… Who do you think you are? A hero?"
"They were after Miyako! I wasn't gonna let it happen!"
"So what?! Learn to ignore. Not everything is solved with fists. This isn't some adventure story!"
"I'm a duelist! One day I'll awaken, grandma. I'll be the best!"
The old woman scoffed and smacked the back of Hikari's head.
"Awaken?! If it weren't for those cursed duelists… you would still have parents! This life isn't for us. Got it?"
She pulled a paper from her pocket and handed it to Miyako, eyes still harsh.
"Go to the market. Buy what's on this list. Take that hard-headed brat with you."
"Alright, grandma."
Hikari stood up, grumpy, but grabbed her sister's hand. They left together.
On the street
They walked in silence for a few minutes. Heavy gray clouds loomed overhead. The noise of the city filled the empty spaces.
"She's just worried," Miyako finally said.
"I know… but she always yells."
"And you always fight."
Hikari smirked.
"Remember when we were little? You'd point at the sky saying you'd be the best duelist in the world?"
Miyako blushed.
"I was, what, eight?"
"And I still believe it."
Miyako huffed, then laughed.
"You're impossible."
Meanwhile, in a dark bar…
A foul-smelling bar, dim and smoky. Three men laughed loudly while the bartender fearfully wiped glasses.
"What a dump. Even the beer's rotten," the boss grumbled, spitting on the floor. "If it weren't for the cops, I'd be gone already."
"That's right, boss!" one said, missing a tooth.
Another walked to the window and whistled.
"Ooh… look at her. The pretty one with the goody-goody face. Damn."
"I already picked, idiot. She's mine. Do the job right and I'll give you my best wine."
"Got it, boss!"
"And the little one? The bunny?"
"Are you crazy? We take only who the boss wants!"
"Alright, alright! No need to hit me!"
"Now. Move!"
The Chase
"We're almost there," Miyako panted. "Want to race?"
"Hikari, stop! We're not kids!"
But Hikari was already running, laughing loudly.
Until she stopped dead.
"Miyako?"
The scream hit like thunder.
Hikari sprinted. No thinking. Just running.
She turned a corner, jumped over a hole, nearly got hit by traffic.
Until she reached an alley.
Three men.
Miyako in one man's arms. Crying.
"Hikari!" Miyako screamed.
"Let her go. Now!" Hikari shouted, trembling with anger.
The older man smirked.
"You want her back? Then duel me."
"What…?"
"Win, she's free. Lose… you come too."
"Hikari, no!" Miyako cried.
But Hikari had already stepped forward.
"I accept."
Both of them pulled their duel disks and snapped them onto their arms.
"DUEL DECLARED," the man said, his grin widening.
"DUEL DECLARED," Hikari answered, eyes ablaze.