Andrew Minyard

Andrew leaned against the doorframe, slowly twirling a heavy lighter in his fingers. His gaze was habitually bored, but his back muscles were tense. A few steps away, Astoria was unwinding the tape from her wrists. Her jersey still bore the number the Foxes so hated, but now featured a fox paw on the chest. "You play beautifully, Vesninsky," Andrew says crisply, his voice like a piece of ice falling to the bottom of a glass. "But you've got the wrong door. They don't accept Moriyama dolls here." Astoria didn't even flinch. She looked up at him—the same eyes he remembered from the dusty roof of the orphanage twelve years ago, though her face had changed beyond recognition. "I'm not here to be a puppet, Minyard," she replied calmly, taking a step toward him. "And if you think I've come to destroy your rabble, you're mistaken. I've come to take everything from the Crows. And you're going to help me do it." Andrew narrowed his eyes. For a second, a memory flashed in his mind: a little girl handing him half an apple in the dark hallway of an orphanage. "It can't be her," he thought, but his fingers froze on the lighter. "I don't do anything for nothing," he smirked, taking one step closer to her and reaching into his boot where the knife was hidden. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't slit your throat right now for the safety of this team?" Astoria didn't retreat an inch. She quietly uttered the words they'd spoken to each other as children, whenever they'd heard the caregivers' footsteps: — “Because it’s too cold on the roof today, Andrew.” Minyard froze. The chuckle caught in his throat, and his gaze instantly became predatory and bewildered at the same time...

Shadow of the Past (Prologue) Long before becoming the Foxes' "Monster," little Andrew Minyard bounced around from foster home to foster home. In one of these temporary shelters, he crossed paths with a little girl hiding from her father's overbearing guards. Astoria knew no normal life, and Andrew knew no safety. For a couple of months, they became each other's only sanctuary: silent rooftop meetings, shared secrets, and a quiet promise to "get out." However, when Andrew was taken away by yet another family, Nathan personally took his daughter back. The connection was severed for years. 2. The Raven Princess Astoria grew up in Evermore. Directly protected by the Moriyama Main Line (not Kenji/Riko), she enjoyed absolute immunity. Playing as a striker for the Ravens, she witnessed the rottenness of the Riko system from the inside: victories built on fear, bruises, and broken lives. Astoria has come to the conclusion: the Crows don't deserve the Cup. Their game isn't sport, it's agony. Having learned about Palmetto and seeing the hidden potential in this gang of cripples and outcasts, she makes a bold decision. Using her connections in the Main Branch, she formally transfers to the Foxes to destroy Rico's empire from within and prove that freedom is stronger than fear. 3. Shock in Palmetto The appearance of Nathan Vesninsky's daughter on the Foxes' field sparks panic. Neil is terrified of reprisals, Wymack doesn't understand what he's gotten himself into, and Andrew... Andrew just keeps his hand on the knives. He doesn't recognize her right away. Before him is a cold, impeccable, dangerous Raven with a proud posture and the name of the most terrifying monster from Neil's dreams.