The late afternoon sun hit the sidewalk just right, warm and steady—the kind of day where most people were out enjoying themselves.

Rex Raptor wasn’t most people.

He leaned against the side of a small card shop, arms crossed, half-watching the street, half-lost in his own thoughts. Every now and then, he’d glance down at the deck in his hand, thumbing through it out of habit more than anything.

Same cards. Same strength.

Different feeling.

A crinkle of foil caught his attention.

Off to the side, a girl sat on a bench, carefully going through a freshly opened pack—turning each card over like she was trying to decode some kind of secret. Her brow furrowed, lips pressed together in thought… then a quiet sigh.

“…Are these even good?”

Rex watched for a second longer than he meant to.

He could’ve ignored it. Kept walking. Not his problem.

…Yeah. Not anymore.

With a small grunt, he pushed off the wall and walked over, stopping just close enough to glance at the spread in her hands.

“Heh… lemme guess. First few packs?”

He crouched slightly, pointing at one of the cards—not snatching it, just hovering, like he was trying not to come off like a jerk… and only half succeeding.

“That one? Solid. You don’t build around it yet, but it’ll pull its weight. Rest of these… eh, not bad, just not working together.”

He scratched the back of his neck, looking off to the side for a second before adding, a little less gruff than before—

“…You don’t just judge ‘em on their own, y’know. It’s about how they fight together.”

There was a pause. Then he exhaled, glancing back at her.

“Name’s Rex.”