Hello, everyone! I'm glad I have an actual beta reader for this story. (But I need to be beta reader for her "Yaoi on Ice" fanfiction in exchange… Thank goodness, she doesn't write fluff)

I have to thank Khun-Blue Dragon Khun-amon and Khun-The great one for the reviews. Whenever I get new reviews, I'm kind of jump to continue writing this fanfiction. Your comments are truly my fuel. Thank you very much!

Disclaimers: I do not own anything except for the plot and my imagination.

Chapter Eight

Kai Toshiki blocked the two sisters. If Aichi or Kourin saw them, the match would be instantly failed. "I won't let you interfere with their fight" He calmly declared.

"You think that using PSY qualia can help her?" Suiko tendentiously asked. How come Cray messengers were unable to sense the qualia?

The brunet frowned. "It's better than doing nothing but grounding her" He could not really confirm if this plan worked. This was the only answer he could give.

"Listen, the unforgivable sinister" Rekka spoked. It did not sound like she was joking. "I don't know if you are trying to redeem your sin or anything… But stop getting involved with our sister"

She was sure talking about Link Joker incident. Kai was not an original culprit. However, it was too obvious he had a big majority in that catastrophe by reversing more than a half of cardfighters round the world. "If you want me not to be around her, I'm fine with that" The brunet stepped forward. "But, if you want to take her away from Aichi… I'm going to stop you right away" It was unbearable for Kai to see Aichi lost his precious one again. He sent a cold glare at the blue haired girl.

Suiko was still smiling, not even shudder at his scary look. "What if I say there is zero chance she could reminisce her past with that Aichi boy, what will you say?" The girl stared back.

"What?" Kai involuntarily drew back.

"Please understand, Kai-san" Suiko continued. "Kourin had been reversed for a long time. And it affected her well-being. It's true that we lost all the memories when Link Joker was gone. Although after Takuto came back, I and Rekka unsealed those old memories, Kourin didn't" She looked at Rekka for a second and went on. "We pushed her to several CT scans, Kai-san. Takuto even used his power to solve this problem. However, her brain revealed to be permanently damaged. Her memories of you guys are absolutely washed away" She then looked at Aichi's direction. "If Kourin hadn't sacrificed her soul to Link Joker, to be by Aichi's side by that time, this wouldn't happen" The blue haired girl slowly shook her head.

"Even the neurosurgeons cannot help her" The younger girl bitterly added. "Link Joker, as an evil clan, didn't give power to anyone for free. I don't understand why the culprit like you doesn't get any trouble, you lucky bastard" Normally, Rekka was not been this rude. She just spilled what she had in her mind. She did not get it why her sister must be the only one who suffered from Link Joker. Why not this guy?

"As you see, Link Joker affects each people's brains differently…" She looked over Kai's head. "Right, Tetsu-san?"

The overlord turned his back to see the tall guy behind him. They secretly did contact each other? Tetsu nodded. "Wait…" Are you on her side?

"Oh… Don't blame him for not telling you sooner. I asked Tetsu-san to keep my record a secret. So you wouldn't engage in this" She eyed on Tetsu and back to Kai. "But it doesn't matter now"

The Dark Irregulars user sighed. "It hasn't mattered at the first place" He stated. When Kai asked for the Link Joker records, he hesitated at first. But today, he did not see it was a problem at all.

Kai tried to catch up with the three. So… Link Joker damage each user differently. Not only that she used to be reversed, but she also used Link Joker when it came to the moon incident. And this damn clan damaged Kourin's brain badly. She had got a permanent amnesia. Her sisters tried to save her. But she is hopeless. The brunet remained in silence. Suiko and Rekka investigated the cause of her amnesia and ended up with Tetsu's research… They told him to keep their visit and Suiko's record a secret. So we won't be curious and get involve?

"I don't think staying quiet and grounding Kourin like these work" The young man commented. "Tell her the truth and give her freedom must be the best choice" The brunet slightly nodded in agreement.

"You guys barely understand anything" The twin drills girl exclaimed. "You know why we pretend to have amnesia like her? It's because we don't want her to feel lonely! Like… at least we are the same!" She and Suiko also had their brains scanned whenever the blond belle had. And they begged the doctors to fake the results. So she would not feel so isolated. "I have to shut my mouth every time I want to talk about my old friends. Don't you think I will be missing Mai-chan and Emi-chan too!? We have to shut up and shut down every relationship with our old friends for her…" The little girl bit her lip. "You know what? Despite the amnesia, Kourin is the same. She hasn't even changed. As much as we're happy noticing this, it frightens us. We know with our instinct that if she found Aichi, she would try to find her past. Even if she fail to recall them, she would doubtlessly fall for him again… We don't hate him, but his personality… If anything occurred in the future, he will immediately jump right to the battlefield as a hero" Kai saw it was true about the vanguard. "Think about it. Won't Kourin sacrifice herself for him again? Won't she risk her life for the second or third time? Won't she suffer?" She asked as wiping her tears. "She hurts enough"

Suiko gently patted Rekka on the shoulder. "Can you give our sister back? We don't want her to get hurt again"

Kai kept quiet until this point. He let the girls speak enough. He could tell their concern was true. However, their choice was wrong. "I understand that Link Joker catastrophe was my fault. I'm not going to deny it. You said you don't want her to get hurt. See what you have done for her… You lied to her. You kept her grounded. You let her suffer from her curiosity. And you are going to take her away from the one who can make her smile!? How ridiculous!?" He did not notice his sound was raising up in every sentence he spoke. "I don't know about you. I don't know what that blonde looked like when she was with you. But I know about Aichi" He took his breath. "Not even a single day that guy forgets about her. I can tell he was hiding his pain of missing her. But all I see today is Aichi and Kourin in genuine happy faces" It was said that the hero's smile could light up the world. And it was true. The brunet had not seen that heartful smile since the moon incident. He finally saw it a few days ago. "If Kourin wants to be with Aichi, you suppose to let her do what she pleases. That guy won't let her risk herself or even cry once again. How the hell he would do that!? Listen. DON'T. UNDERESTIMATE. MY. FRIEND!" It was men's pride and priority to protect their women.

The overlord finally realized he was shouting at the two sisters. Everyone in the lab stared at his group in shock. The blonde belle was about to check her sixth damage. She dropped a card in her hand, seeing her sisters. It revealed to be a heal trigger. But at this point, no one cared about the match at all. "Suiko? Rekka?" Kourin's heart sank, as well as Aichi's. Emi and Mai too shocked to see the twin drills girl.

Kai was right… Suiko gave a melancholic smile at Kai. "If Aichi can prove that he's able to protect her, I wish I could let her be with him" The brunet was curious with her words. He forgot to block her way. Neither Tetsu did. The two idols stepped inside the room easily. "It's nice to meet everyone again" This normal greeting sentence sent a chill down everyone's spines.

"What are you doing here!?" Naoki jumped to obstruct her from Aichi and Kourin.

"Is it obvious enough that we are getting our sister back?" Rekka asked.

Aichi gestured at the porcupine to step aside. Naoki was going to argue. The hero gently pushed his friend off his way. "Suiko-san, Rekka-san, I have no problem handing Kourin-san back to you. But could you please ask her first? If she decides to go back, we will respect her decision. I think it's better for her to let her choose whatever choice she pleases" He calmly suggested, hoping the elder girl would understand.

"If it wasn't this condition, at this moment, we wouldn't be forcing her," Suiko said as she picked up her tablet. She turned it to Aichi and his friends. It showed a picture of the blunet and the blonde idol with a clear face happily walked on the beach. There were also pictures when Aichi grabbed Kourin's hand. Those pictures could lead to huge misunderstanding. "One paparazzi took these pictures" She was not sound like she was kidding. "He threatened us. We're buying time, Kourin. If we stop giving him money, he will post these photos on the internet" The room was too quiet. It was easy to hear someone's gulp. They knew what would happen next if the photos were posted. Her fan across the country would go wild. The gossip would spread like a wildfire. She would face a huge wave of hate for not being pure and untouched like the ordinary idol should be. Her life would be collapsed to pieces. "Kourin, can you come back with us?" The blonde understood. They were going to bankrupt soon if she did not go back with them. "We are still able to make everything right. Tomorrow we will make a statement about your absent toward those reporters. And I'm sure our attorney can solve this problem in time" The two sisters and Takuto calmly adjourned her interview and shows since they noticed her missing. For a group of reporters who had chased Kourin almost a week ago, her personal manager told them she just loved to go to library especially when she stressed with her new song. And told them not to disturb her private time. It was quite a stupid assertion. It could buy some time, though.

Aichi felt an invisible limb in his throat. Ruining her life was the final thing he wanted. And he was going to ruin her life and her future for real, again.

"Excuse?" Kai spoke. "I suspect this is one part of your plan" He did not believe she could explain this situation all of sudden after losing in a debate with him.

"Don't you dare say that!" Rekka irritatedly retorted. "Who the hell can be kidding with this damn fatal status?" It was not like she was that sadist sister. That was such a cruel way to force someone home.

"What's your plan?" The brunet lost his cool.

"Kai-kun, stop" Aichi patiently ordered, not begging.

"…" As far as he knew Aichi. This guy hardly ordered the brunet. He shut his mouth, knowing that he started to exaggerate this issue.

"I…" The hero paused, realizing her life-threaten problem was out of his hand. He was a coward not to even glance his princess. He did not want to lose her. And as much as he loved her, he made a decision. "I agree with you, Suiko-san" Aichi felt many of his friends gasped at his choice. It was the best way to save her. It would be no good if some fan misunderstood that Kourin had slept with him during her absent. He knew this decision hurts her. However, it would be the last. So she would not suffer from him anymore. "But please continue finding the way to cure her amnesia!" The vanguard bowed at the two sisters. "Please! I'm begging!"

Suiko shook her head. "I'm sorry" She truly apologized. Aichi looked up at her, puzzled. "Her amnesia is incurable" She felt guilty to crush her sister's dream. "She had absorbed too much miasma from you. Together with using Link Joker and being reversed, her old memories are permanently demolished" The explanation just slapped the blunet right in the face. Now he and his crew understood why no matter how they tried, the girl recalled nothing.

"T-that's not true…" The blond belle murmured in shock.

"It's the truth, Kourin" The blue haired idol replied. "We're sorry for not telling you earlier" Suiko walked to the shocked her and gave her a sisterly hug. "I will explain everything to you when we get home. Let's just start over" She loosened her hug.

Kourin looked at Aichi. She could not blame him for letting her go since he did it for her sake. Because he adored her too much to see her being assaulted. But… why can't he be my knight? It's impossible. But why can't he just pull my hand and run away together? Why? There was a pain in her chest. The pain from knowing her amnesia was incurable was nothing compare to this. She looked around the lab, met everyone's eyes. Why do I have to leave them since we have just met? Ironically, she clearly knew the answers to all the questions she had. "Aichi"

"I'm sorry…" The apology was the only thing he could say to her.

"Can we meet again?" The idol quietly asked, knowing the answer. She just wanted him to lie her.

Aichi tried hard to fake a smile, knowing she did not want the truth. "Sure" The boy bit his shaking lip. She did not want to see him cry and he knew it.

The memories of him in this short-yet-beautiful period of time ran through her mind.

…I-is that you, Kourin-san!?

…I've promised you that we must meet again

…And I think you're still pretty tsundere as before, Kourin-san

…Will Kourin-san come to Miyaji with us?

…A-are you still mad at me?

…Kourin-san is my precious one

…I've got feelings for you, Kourin-san... I love you!

…I will... Kourin-san, no matter how many time you lose your memories, I will remember everything you forget

…Stand up, Vanguard!

She needed to do something. No. She knew what to do to make everything right. It might be risky but worth a try. "I'll keep this as a promise" The emerald eyes girl softly smiled at the blunet. This time, it was not a lie.

"Let's head back. The limo is already here" Rekka pulled her hand.

"Can I gather my deck before we go?"

"Sure" The little sister replied.

The blonde picked up her cards. When she finished, Misaki and Emi walked to her and gave her an embrace. The lilac beauty said nothing. Because she did not want to say goodbye. The Ultra Rare finally left.

The doors were shut. Aichi fell down to his knees. He saw Kourin's heal trigger was left on the floor. He realized her game had not over yet. He picked it up, looked at it. And started shaking. He could not do anything. It was obvious that from now on, they need to pretend like nothing ever happened. He would never be by her side. They would never meet again. All for her sake.

Shingo kneeled down to pat Aichi's back. Naoki and Kamui were frustrated and started to rant. Miwa did not dare to be a comic relief as always. It would make the situation worst. Girls were shedding tears. Kai turned away from the hero, clenching his hand into a fist. Why am I so useless? He helped Aichi with nothing. He could do nothing for them. The fist was shaking in pain. Misaki stepped aside him. It was the first time they hugged in public.

The hero looked at the banner on the board. So irony… All he could do was admiring her from a far distance, wishing her a good luck. It was not the fault of their stars. It was because he was too weak to be his princess's knight. He was too weak to keep his promise. Even if I can't be your knight, you will be my princess forever. I love you… Goodbye, Kourin-san.

To be continued

A/N: I hope I didn't make things too dramatic. Well, Japanese idol fans are real scary. (You can see in Bakuman. When Azuki is revealed to be Saiko's girlfriend, her fan really go wild with anger).For the next chapters, other characters are going to take actions. So please give them some time for standing up and moving on… Thanks for reading… and hopefully a review. See you in the next chapter!