♢

Some call me the Human Wikipedia for my vast knowledge of everything in this universe.

Others call me the Encyclopaedia Observer for my ability to watch everything that is happening at once.

You, dear reader, may know me as the hobo living in the shadows eating Chinese food.

While none of these titles are wrong, and some I'd even gladly accept, there is only one name I go by.

Lurking in the darkness, watching everything unfold from the moment this world was created...

I am Kurakuya Kage.

A totally regular human, believe or not.

And as I document what happens in each era, each story, and each planet, I find myself more and more invested in what will come next, just like you.

Today is one such day.

As the threat of the world being destructed has been foiled twice, regular life resumes for our hero, Yza Blade.

Yza and Rukia had promised to have a proper date once their exams were over.

The final stretch of March had come as quickly as it appeared.

Spring would soon come marching in like a lion.

And the final act of Z World was approaching too.

It was this fateful Saturday that I decided to stalk them.

To add one more peculiar story to The Almanac.

Young love blooming in the late winter...

Some mapo tofu would go great in this weather.

♢

(Opening here)

I yoinked some mapo tofu from the Chinese shop down the street and escaped into the shadows, following the darkness back to Rukia's house, where she and Yza were currently at.

"Step aside dear sister, for I must cleanse this foul beast of all his perverted urges before your sacred date with him. It would be sacrilegious if he tried to unleash his two faced monster upon you in a haze of blind lust and recklessly purge your sweet flower's maidenhood!"

Woah, this mapo tofu's pretty good. I gotta steal from there more often. Oh, this weirdo is Rukia's older brother, Diake Takanori, the infamous Vanguard Cowboy of the East. Even though he talks funny, he's a respected monk who works at the local shrine. Support your local businesses folks!... or something along the lines like that.

See, Diake became a monk out of necessity. Diake and Rukia's parents had them when they were still in high school, so they abandoned their children early on. In order to survive, Diake, carrying his baby sister in his hands, travelled all over Japan in order to find a home for them.

One of the temporary places they found was in one of Tokyo's poorest districts, which was where Rukia and Yza met for the first time. Yza's family was deep in poverty, so it was almost fated that these two would meet. Bound by their common interests and care for each other, the two became best friends.

That was, wait for it!... until Rukia had to move once again, as she and Diake had been forcibly evicted from their home once the owner of the building found out Diake wasn't of legal age. Guess he should've grown more facial hair, huh?

Yza kept those memories close to his heart, remembering it as the fateful summer where he met the mysterious and beautiful blonde girl who seemingly disappeared as soon as she had entered his life. Much like this mapo tofu, yum.

It was out in the countryside that they found an old shrine that welcomed them in properly. In exchange for living there permanently, they had to work at the shrine, helping out whenever possible. Naturally, as the responsible older brother, Diake became a monk for the shrine, which let Rukia go to school and have a semi-regular life.

By the time the two had a comfortable situation, Rukia had been scouted by Zeon to join the Reverse in order to be a trump card against Yza. As such, she moved from her small village back to Tokyo, starting her first year of high school at Seigatsu to meet Yza once more. Now that they were older, their innocent friendship from back then blossomed into ✨ love ✨.

During this period, Diake decided to find "inner peace", once again travelling Japan while donning his navy shinto outfit and a cowboy hat he bought from a convention. What kind of convention? I'm glad you asked, because that's a story for another day folks!

Without any load holding him down anymore, alongside a battered Vanguard deck in his hand, he made a name for himself in the Wild West of the Vanguard scene, earning the title of the Vanguard Cowboy of the East.

Aside from being a monk and a cowboy, Diake also knows chi manipulation and martial arts. Oh, did I mention he's good with a gun?

"H-hey, don't point that thing at me! You're gonna kill me if you're not careful!"

Diake's silver handgun, engraved with a cross, pointed squarely between Yza's eyes. Imagine if he died by Rukia's brother's hands. Or, err, bullets. Now that's a true final boss.

"May the Lord bless your soul. Amen."

"W-wait, stoooooooop!"

As Yza braced for the bullet's impact, he was shocked to only feel the cold sensation of water splashing his eyes instead. Sick prank, uploaded to MeTube, now I wait for the free views. I better chuck "Are Your Boobs Real Guy" in the title as clickbait.

Subscribe to XxHumanWikipedia69420blazeitxX right now and hit the bell button so you never miss an upload!!! ...you can tell I don't get paid enough for this job.

"H-huh? I'm not dead? Yes, I'm not a ghost!"

"Diake-nii, you need to be less serious about this stuff..." Rukia sighed.

"I think this was the perfect way to cleanse his impure soul. The evil chi that runs through Yza's body has been subdued."

Yza wiped his forehead of the water. I could really go for some water, this spice is burning the back of my throat really badly.

"Dude, what did you shoot on me?"

Yza sniffed the water. Something I don't recommend doing... unless it's gamer girl bath water.

"It's just holy water."

"Holy water... you seriously believe in that-"

Diake shot Yza a stern, fiery glare. Yeah, their family was fairly religious due to their upbringing, and Yza being an atheist lead to rude and insensitive comments like these.

"Sorry..."

"Holy water is the elixir of God. You should be grateful that you have received His blessing."

"I don't feel any different than before though..."

"Oh, you will do. See, if I do this—"

Diake proceeded to grab Rukia's breasts and shake them.

"Diake-nii!!—"

Rukia moaned in protest as her brother fondled her inappropriately. Where's the incest tag on this story?

"—do you feel anything from this sensation, Yza?"

Yza's eyebrow twitched.

"Uh... yeah, I feel like slamming you in the face, you dirty siscon!"

"Good. Then my job is complete. By the way, I'm not a siscon."

"Coulda fooled me!"

Diake let go of Rukia's jiggling breasts (which are now an F Cup for the record!) and proceeded to dunk his hands in a spare bucket of holy water while praying and begging for his Lord's forgiveness for the abhorrent sin he did. Amen.

"Ah, I don't get it... I really don't get it! What was the point of him doing that?!"

"Diake-nii means well, his methods are just... not considered normal, I suppose."

Rukia was still shivering from the non-consensual grabbing she received. Poor girl.

"So... since he touched them, can I...?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Rukia gently pulled Yza's cheek.

"Ow... how about on the third date?"

"If you can get that far, maybe."

After dunking his head (and nearly drowning) in the holy water, Diake turned back to the couple.

"The point of the exorcism was to erase your perverted energy and replace it with romantic energy. Seeing another man grope your partner made you get defensive and angry rather than horny."

"Does it look like I'm into NTR?!"

"Yes."

I nearly spit out my mapo tofu while dying of laughter. I don't know what was spicier, this family or my breakfast.

"I would never get turned on by seeing someone else grab Rukia's boobs!"

"Oh... it seems I've miscalculated..."

Diake had a thoughtful face while Yza had an irritated face.

"If the ritual is complete or whatever, can me and Rukia go now? Just give us your blessing already... I've been waiting ages for this!"

"Wait, wait. There is one more thing we must do."

"Oh God..."

Diake then pointed the gun at the wall.

"We must exorcise the foreign object within our midst."

"Wait, huh?"

Shit, I got found out! Damn you NTR humour!

"Something's hiding... within the darkness."

Yza shuffled towards Rukia, whispering something to her.

"Is he being serious, or...?"

"Diake-nii's senses are sharper than anyone else's. It may look stupid now, but trust me... he's never wrong about this kind of stuff."

Like a hunter locking onto it's target, Diake's eyes shone blood red as he located me.

Pointing the silver barrel down my shadow, I could see the water pressure building and rising from inside.

I leapt up into another shadow as Diake fired his first round into my original hiding spot.

"Damn, I missed him."

He reloaded his gun with lethal intent. Yo, if I'm dying, at least let me have egg fried rice as my last meal!

"Is shooting holy water really going to help...?"

"I know that this is your first time meeting him and that he seems a little eccentric, but trust me. Diake-nii knows what he's doing."

"To be honest, I don't trust him Rukia."

"Just watch. It'll be fun once he gets a hit."

Diake inhaled the air and quickly drew his gun once more, firing into my current hiding spot before I could react.

The thin beam of holy water slashed across my face, burning my right eye.

I screamed, rolling out from the shadows and spilling mapo tofu onto the tatami floor.

Yza's jaw dropped while Rukia looked completely surprised.

"Ah... I thought I smelled something spicy in the air."

Diake, brushing his white bangs out of his eyes, pointed the gun against my temple.

"Who would've thought... it'd be the Encyclopaedia Observer, Kurakuya, hiding in my home."

"H-hey... long time no see, Vanguard Cowboy..."

"Please, I've left that part of me long ago."

Yza turned to Rukia.

"V-Vanguard Cowboy?"

"It's a long, but really cool, story! I'll tell you about it when we eat lunch."

"Your brother scares me..."

Yeah, when Diake gets serious, he's terrifying. When he's a goofball, he looks like an idiot though.

"Explain, Encyclopaedia Observer. What are you doing here? Spying on my dear little sister for your own sexual gratification, huh?"

"What? No, screw that, I'm married to egg fried rice. I was simply making my way through town when I stumbled upon you pointing a gun at Yza, so I had to check it out."

I pointed at the spilled tofu.

"Also, you made me toss my breakfast to the floor!"

"I'll have it cleaned up with holy water."

Drake squirted holy water on the tofu, making it magically disappear. This water really is holy!

"That's not the point! I wAnT mY mApO tOfUuUuuuUuuUuuuUuuuu!"

I entered Chinese food withdrawal and started rolling on the floor, crying like a little baby.

"Okay, calm down, I'll buy you some. In exchange, don't come lurking around in my house. If I catch you snooping around again, I'll be putting more than holy water in your head, you got that?"

"Warning received!"

Yeah, I'll probably never step foot inside this home unless necessary. Diake's senses are hyper dumb.

"Cool. Well—"

Diake sprayed holy water on Yza and Rukia.

"—you have my blessing to hold hands on this date. Have fun you two!"

Grabbing his cowboy hat from the rack, Diake popped it on his head.

"Let's go, Encyclopaedia Observer. We're buying you some new tofu."

"You're the best, Vanguard Cowboy!"

If I had the choice, I'd definitely be his side character. Diake left the house coolly, with me in tow.

However, as the Human Wikipedia, I learnt how to perform bilocation. As such, while Diake was purchasing my breakfast, I got to watch Yza and Rukia.

"Diake-nii with a cowboy hat... he's so cool!"

"What was Kurakuya doing here... how did Diake know he was hiding... why was I drenched in holy water again?!"

While Rukia was happy about the outcome, Yza was screaming in visible confusion.

"Come on, chin up. It's just holy water."

"Do you think this stuff works, Rukia?"

"Yes."

"...figures."

I think Yza missed the part where the holy water made my tofu disappear into thin air. That's definitely not normal.

"Do you... find it weird?"

"Eh? No, I just... well, it's hard for me to understand it."

"Oh... okay."

Awkward love is awkward. This kids is why you don't become a shut-in inside your body for over a year, because you'll lose all the social skills you barely had. Case and point? Yza.

"Did I offend you?"

"No, of course not. I just wish you didn't act so... over the top about it."

"Yeah, that was rude of me. Sorry."

"You can make up for it by bringing me on the best date ever."

"Sure thing. I got a couple of places in mind that I wanna go."

"Lead the way then!"

And so, Yza and Rukia embarked a train to the Dragon Empire branch.

I devoured my tofu for breakfast before cardfighting with Diake. Once again, I was no match for him.

His Super Dimensional Robo, Dainexus, combined with Legendary Dimensional Robo, Daikaiser Leon, completely destroyed me and Bravest Viktor, Grandgallop, even with our new Stride, Bravest Peak, X-gallop.

Thanking him for the meal, I slunk back into the shadows to stalk Yza and Rukia's date.

1

Dragon Empire, home of the Vermillion Commander, Ayato Korastacker, who's also the Branch Manager and Narukami Clan Leader. Today they're holding another Vanguard event!

Yza and Rukia were wandering around, checking out the different stalls and activities. As usual, this place was extremely busy, and major tournaments were being held at the same time.

Checking the rankings, it seems that Aya Shinju, formerly Ailanthus (better known by it's nickname, Aina) was at the top with a clean sheet of six victories to zero losses. Since she was one of the hooded figures working under Ayaza and his Rebellion group, it's no surprise that she's incredibly skilled at the game.

Ailanthus is actually known as the tree of heaven! It's kind of grim to think that she named herself that after she was stabbed to death by Ayato and revived by Ayaza. It becomes even more awkward when you realise she's playing in a tournament ran by her murderer. Is this some kind of long-winded revenge?

I guess that's the path she's chosen for herself after everything that's happened. Meanwhile, the path Yza and Rukia chose was upstairs and into the randomiser room. Well well well, it's show time!

"Yes, they brought it back!" Rukia exclaimed.

"What are you so excited about?" Yza asked.

"The last time an event was held here, they had this really cool randomiser room where you'd get a deck made up of random units to fight with! It was super fun! Me, Zeon, Chiharu, and... Kakusei all did it."

Rukia paused in front of the room, her spirits dampening when she uttered Kakusei's name.

"Kakusei played Vanguard? Would've saved Zeon a lot of unnecessary wounds if they fought with cards instead of their fists."

"No, he didn't. It's just that... he tagged along with us for this event, and I taught him some basics when we entered this room..."

Rukia looked over her shoulder and down at the main hall where a raised fight table showcased a battle between Ayato and the Pale Moon Clan Leader, Narumi Hideyoshi, better known by his title of The Travelling Act, Nhis. (You pronounce it like niece; the H is silent.)

"And then... ah, sorry. I'm getting weird thoughts on our date..."

"Did you realise something?"

"A little bit. There was this moment... no, a couple of moments... where Kakusei was blatantly flirting with me. I took it at him joking around, but looking back at it now... it's kind of gross."

"He did like you after all. It's expected."

"Still... I feel disappointed in myself. I couldn't tell the difference between his crude humour and his pathetic attempts at romantic advancement."

"That's probably my fault. I am your first boyfriend after all... and I am definitely on the extreme end! I've screwed with your expectations somehow."

"How could you do that if you were missing for nearly a year?"

"Good point. Never mind, scratch that."

Yza laughed while Rukia giggled with a soft smile. She looked away with blushing cheeks. Someone get me a bucket, the more I watch this, the more sickly sweet I feel.

"Actually... I like that part of you the most, Yza."

It was now Yza's turn to blush. Aww, young love is so sweet. Reminds me of when I first ate egg fried rice for the first time. Seriously, where's a bucket, I might throw up from this poorly written romance!

"Thinking about Kakusei makes me feel sick though... do you see down there?"

"Yeah, Ayato's fighting the Harri dude Ryu had to face back in that summer tournament. God, that was one of the worst years of my life..."

"But it was at that tournament where I asked you out."

Rukia did confess to him in their hotel room. The only reason they ended up together is because Ayaza somehow bribed Zak (who was working at the hotel at the time) to put them in the same room.

"And it was at the tournament where I got clipped and meme'd to oblivion. Though, being known as the "Are Your Boobs Real Guy" has it's perks."

He could probably print it on a T-Shirt and make a lot of money from it. Hm, I should cop that.

"Payic still hates you for that."

"Nah, she doesn't. Probably. I think. I hope. Look, Ryuzaki finds it hilarious, so should she!"

"Did you already forget what happened at the party?"

Yza's eyes widened. He really did forget that he said the line to her on his own return party! To quote Callum, "bruv that's peak".

"I received so much brain damage from her beating I suppressed the memories. A-anyways, that's besides the point! What were you gonna say originally?"

"Oh yeah. When me, Zeon, Chiharu, and Kakusei attended, the person Ayato was fighting was Kyle."

If Kyle didn't die, he'd probably be the Star Gate Branch Manager instead of me. At least he's returned as the Link Joker Clan Leader and handles things when I'm not around... which is almost all the time. Again, I don't get paid enough for this.

"Ironic. Ryu killed Kyle, didn't he?"

"Yeah... Kyle killed his sister, who also used Pale Moon."

Said sister, Hiyori Takigawa, worked under Ayaza in the Rebellion as Magus. Her biggest W is baiting the richest man in the universe Ryuzaki by using Phantom Harri instead of... Magus, an actual sub-clan in Vanguard.

The etymology of her name comes from the this fun fact! Magus is magic in Latin. Riveting stuff, but what was she thinking?! I guess it is a magician's job to misdirect people on purpose.

"This... is a very creepy coincidence."

"Aside from that, when their fight happened, I came out to watch it since there was a huge commotion. Kakusei and Zeon joined me... but Kakusei pressured Zeon to leave by making the situation uncomfortable. Then he tried flirting with me when it was the two of us, calling my smile... cute or something."

"The more I hear about this creep, the more glad I am knowing that I never have to meet him."

"Yozora helped me escape him once. I think he was one of the first people to notice something was off with Kakusei. It was after school, and me, Shika, Chiharu, and Yozora were planning to visit Zeon to check out the portal he was making so we could find you. However, Kakusei started talking to me, keeping me in the classroom, and I knew I was gonna be late... that's when Yozora appeared and dragged me out of there without Kakusei stopping him. He was shaking when he did it... but it was really brave of him. In hindsight... I think a little bit of you spilled out in that moment."

"Nah, that's all him. Ya hear that? Good job Yozora! You did good buddy."

Yza patted his chest with a reassuring smile. Somewhere deep inside, Yozora received his gratitude. Don't ask how I know, I can just sense these things. Maybe I have the sixth sense.

"Aside from that... I remember running around in the rain trying to find Kyle and my randomised deck being Altmile with barely any Brave cards inside."

"Oatmeal, nice. Did you pull off jazz hands?"

"Nope, but Kotaro did when he fought Spectre— I mean, Shouri, in England."

"You guys went to England?!"

"To find the United Sanctuary Zeroth Dragon, Ultima, since Ryuzaki found it once on one of his, quote on quote, "OVA episodes" inside Big Ben. Do you want to know what he did with it?"

"He took it home, right?"

"No, he rubbed it on his ballsack and put it back in-between the gears. And I had to protect that card..."

Yza burst out laughing hearing that. My question is though, does this mean Rukia technically touched Ryuzaki's balls before she touched Yza's?

"Of course he did that, what a legend! So, if you touched Ultima, that means you touched his balls!"

"It was put in a sleeve!"

"So if I put my balls in a card sleeve, would you touch them?"

"If they can fit, maybe."

"Lucky for you, my sack is massive."

Double entendre! What a mad-lad!

"You're such a pervert."

"I get that a lot."

Yza laughed proudly while Rukia sighed with a small smile.

"Well, we should probably go in now."

"Sure. If I tell them that I play Stardust Knight, do you think they'll bust out a random Stardust Knight deck?"

"Probably not. You sealed most of them anyway, haven't you?"

"Well... it's more complicated than that. Technically, they're unsealed, so I have access to the entire clan, but they're all stuck inside my body. Since the Void's expunged once and for all, the special clans, such as my Stardust Knight, that came to defeat the threat have all returned back where they belonged. In other words, they've left Earth, unless I call for them from inside of me."

Yza's right hand glowed with the Stardust Knight clan symbol.

"So... you can't use them again?"

"Nope. There's no point to anymore. The Stardust Knight's true power is terrifying... I got to wield the power of a God and utilise time travel. The memories are a blur of course, but... the feeling is still shaking throughout my body, even now. If it fell into the wrong hands, there's no telling what would happen."

"No wonder the Void went on such a goose chase for your cards. You could easily end the world with them if you wanted to."

"Exactly. A kid like me shouldn't be guardian for these cards, but... here we are. Thanks world. For now, I'll be content with Shadow Paladin. It's Ju's deck too, so I have some prior knowledge."

When they entered the room, it was completely empty... except for one person that wasn't exactly visible. I popped up from behind the counter, carrying a box of chow mein.

"Kurakuya? You're still working here?"

Rukia was surprised to see me again, while Yza groaned at my presence. Right back at ya buddy.

"It's the easiest job to have."

"Seeing this guy again makes me scared..." Yza muttered.

"Don't worry, just because I was hiding in Rukia's house doesn't mean I'm stalking you two or anything. Rukia can vouch for my presence being here before."

"You're definitely stalking us."

"Actually, Kurakuya's telling the truth. He handed out our decks last time." Rukia looked around. "Are we early or something? This place is deserted."

"It's midday, so it should be packed. Guess the tournament drove away potential players." Yza asserted.

"Not completely deserted. Well, you two can get started with some fresh decks. Rukia, Royal Paladin, Yza, Shadow Paladin. Catch."

I tossed them the two decks and slurped some chow mein down. Yza rifled through his deck with a perplexed face. Rukia tilted her head, recalling the strategies of her given deck.

"What did you get?" She inquired. "I got Jewel Knight, my old deck."

"I got Claret Sword Dragon... Backlion's gonna kill me for using his avatar. I never understood why he switched from Spectral to Claret at the last minute. I headed into that final battle ready to grapple with his Spectral Duke Annihilation he showed me from our battle at the campsite... but then he surprises me with Revolt!"

"It was to make Spectral Duke even stronger. He tried finishing you off with Spectral Blaster "Diablo", which is from Shadow Paladin, not Gold Paladin."

"He never struck me as the Claret type though... he would've had better synergy using Vortimer, Hoel, and Kahedin."

"The principles of Claret are alluring to a power hungry possessed teenager. Might is right."

"I really hope his children don't adopt that motto... imagine what monsters he'd raise with Akari."

"Having a hydra mom and a war criminal dad sounds kind of cool if you ask me."

"W-war criminal?"

"He did a lot of stuff on Cray... such as nearly kill Akari. Again."

"I didn't even know he used Akari as a test subject for the portal until she told me. I was in so much pain and drenched in so much blood, I couldn't focus on anything else."

"I'm just glad we rescued you before you died."

"I'm thankful that you weren't brainwashed anymore. I think my life on Cray would be even more difficult mentally if I didn't have the memories of us before I jumped in."

Yza and Rukia embraced each other as they recounted the past. I threw up in the bucket. The old flavour of mapo tofu and acid coated my tongue, yuck.

"Big bro, who's the new girlfriend?"

Finally, the singular presence makes her move. I sensed her in this room, but she wasn't here physically.

"You...!"

Yza pointed at the little girl with pigtails in front of him.

"I saw you in that battle against Ryuusei! You're Yozora's little sister... no, you're Shooting Star's daughter, Kristy!"

Rukia turned to Yza with wide eyes.

"Kristy?"

"Ding ding ding! I'm so happy big bro recognises me!"

Kristy hugged Yza tightly.

"Wait, I'm Yza, not Yozora! I'm not your big brother!"

"Huh, and who was calling Diake-nii as a siscon earlier?"

Rukia looked unimpressed at Yza. Guess he's sleeping on the couch tonight...

"This isn't what you think... hey, stop hugging so tight! My waist, my waist!"

Kristy snuggled against Yza's stomach. Moshi moshi, keisatsu desu ka?

"Yozora, Yza, Kinjuzo, whoever! You'll be my big brother no matter who you are, because I love you!"

"This is weird... Rukia, help!"

"You're on your own. I'm trying to remember... Kristy... that name, it's on the tip of my tongue..."

"Fine..."

Yza sighed, hugging Kristy back. As he did, a flood of foggy memories became crystal clear in his mind. Don't ask how I know. Probably mind reading, telekinesis, all that jazz. Speaking of jazz, jazz hands!

"I thought I returned all the Stardust Knights... how did you come back...?"

"My sentience is a Mega Stride. The equivalent to your friend Ayaza, who's the Tyrant of Dragon Empire. We have freewill because of our higher plane of existence compared to everyone else."

In simple words, it just means she and Ayaza are omnipotent as hell. Ayaza less so since he's an old man and he drained his powers on reviving the dead.

"Her name is Kristy...? I remember Chiharu talking about a Kristy once... Yozora had asked her if she'd seen a Kristy, but she couldn't remember. That sent Yozora into a mental breakdown and he skipped school. And you're saying she's Yozora's little sister?"

Rukia finally reached the correct conclusion.

"That's right, Rukia. I'm Yozora's beloved little sister, Kristy!"

Kristy reached her hand out and touched Rukia's hand. A jolt of memories came flooding back to her too.

"I remember it all... on your birthday, you revealed to me... or rather, Yozora, the truth of your relationship." Yza was in a state of shock.

"She's been here the entire time..." Rukia muttered.

"I simply erased everyone but Yozora's memories of me. However, if I'm going to return, my entrance needs to be big."

"Duck and take cover!" I shouted.

Yza and Rukia fell to the floor, crawling under the tables. I hid in the shadows, praying Kristy wasn't going to do what I thought she was going to do...

She fully transformed into Angelic Star Demon Series, Crystal Edge Dragon and performed another soft reset to bring back everyone's memories! Damn it, how many times has it been now?! At least three, right?!

This totally messes up with The Almanac's chronology! I need to manually align it again, damn it!

"There. Everyone remembers me now! So now I can tag along on your date without any worries for material distortions and tesseract malfunctions!"

Kristy jumped into the arms of Yza and Rukia, who had suddenly become her caretakers for the day. At least this is practice for their future children. *plays curb your meme*

"Material distortions... huh?" Rukia was confused.

"Tess-what? Kristy, c'mon, you can't tag along... this is a date between a couple..."

"But you're cheating on Chiharu big bro! Someone needs to keep an eye on you and your boner!"

Yza did the blinking white guy meme.

"She's... she's like ten... right?"

"We had this conversation long ago during spring break... she knew what a dick was. Let it go Yza, let it go."

I slurped more chow mein while looking at Kristy disappointedly.

"Kurakuya, why don't you join us for a Cardfight? I have my randomised deck right here!"

"Wait, that's Stardust Knights, how did you—"

"Higher plane of existence."

Yza was shot down fast. I scrummaged through the shadow box and pulled out a randomised Dimension Police deck.

"Guess I'll entertain you three a little bit. Remember, I'm the Branch Manager of Star Gate and Dimension Police Clan Leader, The Chinese Shadow, Kurakuya Kage!"

"I hate tag matches... the last time I had one was with Shika against Ayato and Zeon when they used their own rules as well as pain gloves."

"I'm actually excited, since I'm on your side. We're fighting together like a proper couple!"

Fuck. They totally ignored me!

"Oi, Kristy, we're gonna crush these disrespectful little brats with an all out attack!"

I rolled up my sleeves, downed the rest of my takeaway, and slammed my deck down on the table.

"Don't underestimate me, Hero of the Universe and Hero of the Universe's Girlfriend!"

"I get that lame title?" Rukia looked displeased.

"What else can I name ya missy?"

"Something like... Swordswoman of Pendant Light!"

"Fine, Hero of the Universe and Swordswoman of Pendant Light! Prepare to be crushed by the Chinese Shadow and Kristy!"

"I'm just Kristy?" The little girl looked sad.

"If I gave you a title and you didn't like it, you could vaporise me in literal seconds."

I take caution and hate action. That's why I lurk in the shadows and observe.

But these two... their lovey-dovey escapades have finally had their toll on me! With the power of... Metalborgs? Am I really going to use Metalborgs in 2019? Oh my God...

With the power of Metalborgs, I'll crush them! I hope... I'm about to be carried by Kristy, aren't I?

"Stand up, (the), Vanguard!"

"Dragprince, Rute!" Yza exclaimed.

Yza busted this bad boy out against Ryuzaki when they first met! Both of their decks stunk.

"Dreaming Jewel Knight, Tiffany!" Rukia exclaimed.

Oho, this was Rukia's original starter which debuted in her first fight against Shika! Most people don't remember, but before they battled, Yza shoved a wooden bat up Shika's ass. I'm not joking, go check it out yourself.

"Starkid Archer!" Kristy giggled.

Now this is an oldie! When Yza first picked up Stardust Knights, the vanilla 6k Starkid Archer without forerunner was his starter! He used it against Ayaza's Crimson-Vermilion Legion in his first very fight!

"Metalborg, Blackboi!" I exclaimed.

Making his first appearance ever, everyone's favourite Blackboi debuts in style!

2

(Twenty minutes later.)

Claret Sword Dragon and Ashlei were obviously no match for Sin Buster and Shooting Star Dragon! Booyah, we won!

"Weakness is a sin... might is right..." Yza muttered defeatedly. "Why was the only good Stride I had Aurageyser?! I was down 4 G units because Dragdriver's in my deck!"

"I thought this was Jewel Knight, but it's more like Sanctuary Guard, minus the Dragon..." Rukia laughed self-deprecatingly.

"I couldn't even Legion with Sin Buster, but suck it! I'm won, you didn't! Now I'm going back to the shadows."

I got up, but before I could slink back to where I belonged, Kristy asked me an interesting question.

"Kurakuya, how can you watch everything that's happening at once?"

"You're a smart girl, you figure it out."

"I'm still a child!"

A child that could vaporise this world...

"Shadow clone jutsu. Naruto shit, you know?"

"That's not real." Rukia said.

"Uh, I think it is. Remember that one time everyone swapped bodies?" Yza asked. "I swapped with Zeon, so I lived the rich life."

"I swapped with Ayaza and... I don't remember, it was in his body. What about it?"

"Ryu found the magic paper in Ayato's Naruto manga. Isn't that suspicious?"

"But that's not Naruto related... plus, that's Ayato we're talking about, so it was probably the Void's doing."

"Kurakuya is the Void?"

I slapped Yza round the head for that.

"NO! We are not going down that route! This plot point is overused and finished! Don't you dare implicate me with the Void!"

"Y-yessir..."

"How bad do you want to know, Kristy?"

"I'll vaporise you if you don't explain!"

I didn't have a choice, so I spilled my secrets.

"I live, sleep, and breathe the shadows. In order to observe from there, I developed a special technique similar to shadow cloning. It's called infinite location."

Haha, remember when I mentioned bilocation? I lied, I wanted to keep this a secret, but now I have no choice but to spill the beans.

"Essentially, I can be everywhere at once. As a great man once said, I am inevitable."

"Oh yeah? Prove it." Yza said.

"Maxios changed his deck from Great Nature to Megacolony right now, friggin Gredora simp, Shika just took a break from rugby training to take a fat shit— wait, he just farted... oh god, it stinks of bacon, what the fuck? Anyways, over in Kyoto, Ryu just entered a card shop with Trio and Trio's little brother, Haruka, and in England, Marie's enjoying drinking a cuppa with Masaru since he's there on tea exporting business. Speaking of Europe, Izanoku's in Italy learning how to cook spaghetti, and back here in Tokyo, Fubuki and Raijin are talking to a real estate agent to find the perfect shop for their restaurant start-up. Anything else you want me to cover, or does this suffice?"

Yza texted Maxios and Rukia called Shika. Kristy broke out into a huge smile and nodded happily.

"Hi Shika, is right now a good time to call? Oh, you're on the toilet right now? Okay, I'll call back later."

Rukia started at me with a wtf face. I shrugged.

"I got a reply! Maxios did change his deck to Gredora!"

Yza shot his fist into the air, then realised what it meant.

"Oh... now I feel really unsafe now..."

"Please stop spying on us."

Yza and Rukia bowed deeply.

"I only document the interesting parts, don't worry."

"The fact you do document things only makes it worse!"

"Someone needs to write the lore of this universe. Well, until we meet again."

I raised my straw hat as a symbol of parting and jumped back into the darkness.

3

It was now the end of their exhausting date. Kristy tagged along for lunch at a family diner, where a poor waiter mistook them as her parents. After eating her kid's meal, Kristy decided to leave the love birds alone, but all they did was walk around Tokyo talking, shopping, and snacking. Boring.

Where are the thugs trying to harass Rukia? Where's the scene where Yza saves her from them? This isn't what I imagined their date would look like! I bet Hiyoku has better dates, and he doesn't even have a girlfriend!

The sun was setting and they were sat at the park they first met at. Yza sat on the top of the slide while Rukia rocked back and forth lightly on the swing. I nabbed some egg fried rice on the way here and watched them from behind the bushes.

"Cannonball!"

Yza slid down, launching himself at Rukia, who swung back to avoid him. Oh, this fried rice is really good by the way, shout out to the chef Wang, wanging eggs in the kitchen.

"That's what you say when you dive into water."

"I can't swim, so this is the next best thing."

The Hero of the Universe's greatest weakness is a swimming pool. The Void should've tried that first instead of his convoluted mess of a plan. It also would've been good beach episode material. Instead of camping, they hit up a beach, and a reversed Rukia pushes Yza into the ocean to drown! It's foolproof.

Rukia giggled and stretched out her hand to him. Yza grabbed hold and got up with her help. Sitting on the balance beam adjacent to the swings, he gazed at Rukia with mesmerised eyes. Was he captured by her beauty or her bouncing breasts?

"Yza, can you hand me the bottle of strawberry milk?"

Some milk would bang with the rice, but I think lemon tea would be even better. I copped that and slurped it down. Yep, perfectly compliments it! Something about the acid cutting the grease, I don't know, I just like Asian tea.

"Huh? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"Milk. Please?"

"Oh, sure thing."

He grabbed the bottle from the bags they were carrying and handed it to her. Rukia cracked the top open and chugged it all down. She should be chugging something else thick and creamy instead, wink wonk.

"Ah~ so refreshing."

"Juice is also good."

Yza drank his bottle of pink lemonade. Huh, we kind of match with the lemon based drinks. Why is it called pink lemonade? How do you make lemonade pink? Why would you make lemonade pink? Time to go to a trip to Chicago to find out!

"It's been so long since I've felt so at peace..."

Eating this egg fried rice makes me feel at peace too.

"The sunset looks amazing, like it came straight out of a movie."

This egg fried rice looks like it came straight from a movie too!

"The sun was setting when we first met each other too."

No, me and egg fried rice met in the evening. Mom made good fried rice for me as a child and I love it ever since.

"Yeah... I always wondered why there was a girl who spent all her time at the park."

"And I always wondered why there was a boy who'd walk home covered in bruises and scars."

"I'm glad I approached you that day."

"You approached me to kick my sandcastle down..."

Rukia cast her eyes at the sandpit by the slide. Yza laughed awkwardly.

"It was out of frustration, I promise!"

"You told me you lost a fight. Then I pointed at your scars."

Rukia's finger traced Yza's scar on his left cheek.

"Not this scar though. Zeon gave me this one when we were in middle school."

"It's funny to think you two used to hate each other. You two are really similar."

"Opposites attract and likes repel. Guess you could say I'm your opposite."

"I mean... you're not wrong. Compared to me, you're dumb as bricks. The only thing you have in your mind is how you're doing to jerk it and what you're going to jerk it to."

"Harsh, but true. I'm thinking of doing it to you."

"Pervert. You get that a lot."

Too much information. Reel it back, come on kids!

"Man, that fight table looks dusty."

Yza pointed out the fight table set up next to the jungle gym. Yeah, that shit looked nasty.

"I guess kids these days don't play it as much outside."

Rukia stood up and blew off some of the dust on there, only to cough when it re-entered her lungs. I covered my egg fried rice so it wouldn't get infected by the disgusting filth floating in the air.

"Milk... or water... anything!"

Yza handed Rukia her drink, which she guzzled down to soothe her throat. Once the dust cleared, I continued to eat this fucking delicious egg fried rice, oh yes baby!

"Who's the dumb one now?"

"That... we don't talk about this."

Yza snickered and checked out the table for himself.

"To be fair, it's in a better state now than it was when we were kids. It had graffiti all over it and some thugs smashed up the corner too."

"Do you remember the first time we played on it? You used your brothers deck at the time."

It was Dimension Police, by the way. This is the important part. Maxios used Dimensional Robos too, so he was on the Daikaiser hype train.

"You totally wrecked me. I forgot how to play and had to relearn the rules by Ayaza when I first found the Stardust Knights... or rather, Ju did. Back then, he was in control, acting calm and reserved. You could tell I came back due to how rowdy I suddenly became."

"We reunited after you switched with Ju I think. Ah, that day in the infirmary... it's a special memory to me."

"Yeah. Me too."

Yza sat back down while smiling bittersweetly as he reflected on his life so far.

"Hey, Rukia. Do you think... fate exists?"

"Sure it does. If it didn't... then how could I have found you over and over again?"

Rukia extended her hand to him.

"Luck? Chance? Coincidence? Though, calling it like that makes it sound like a lame way to meet the love of your life."

Yza extended his hand to her.

"I'm so happy... that you're finally in my hands again, even after I lost you thrice..."

"I don't want to let you go. Not now, not ever."

Their hands squeezed each other tightly.

"Yza, I love you."

"I love you even more, Rukia."

As they shared a kiss under the sunset, a shooting star flew past their heads.

(Ending here)

Next time on Z World:

#75: Graduation Day

Rukia: School's out!

================================

A/N

If I can't finish Z World before 2020, I'll end 2020 with Z World.

Kurakuya: Fyi, I wished for more egg fried rice cooked by Chef Wang.

I honestly don't have anything witty or funny to say. Crunchyroll uploaded a Youzitsu clip today for some incomprehensible reason, so nice bait.

Yeah, 2020 has been a fucking miserable train-wreck and the last couple weeks have been some of the most painful things I've had to endure. Thanks, deteriorating body...

I wonder what will be finished first. My lifespan or this book.

So let's keep the final author note of 2020 simple.

Fuck you 2020.

Hello 2021.

Please be good. I beg.