Hey minna! Yeah, I'm still on hiatus, but I decided to post this story, which was actually done months ago. This was MysticFireBlood's birthday gift and well, it's been a whole month since I sent this to her. Please enjoy my first attempt at yaoi! (Fine, the last part was written by KamenRiderKoori aka Icepath. Please give the credit where it's due.)
Note: This was written well before the end of W.
Disclaimer: If I owned Kamen Rider, Eiji's boxers would be slightly less of an eyesore
"Shoutarou-kun, what's wrong with Philip-kun?" Akiko asked nervously. Shoutarou continued to pace around the office. His partner had been in comatose state for too long- it couldn't be just an effect of the Dopant encounter from the previous night.
FLASHBACK
It had been a relatively simple request: infiltrate the Museum main facility and gather information.
"Raito, you've finally chosen to return to us, I see." The Terror Dopant extended its arms towards W. A chill went down Shoutarou's spine.
"It's the Dopant from the Sonozaki mansion..." Philip noted with fear in his voice. Mentally, Shoutarou tried to comfort his younger partner. It didn't seem to help much against the Dopant's overwhelming power, though. Something about this Dopant set off an alarm in Shoutarou's head, but he couldn't place a finger on what it was. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good news for either of them.
W took a tentative step forward.
"Who... are you?" The right eye flashed as he spoke. "Why did you call me Raito?"
The Dopant laughed. W took a reflexive step backward and took a more defensive stance. Shoutarou felt his heart rate speeding up and his body tensing up.
"I am the owner of the Museum, the organisation which will facilitate the evolution of humans."
"Then you know who I am, right? Please, tell me!" Philip pleaded in desperation. Shoutarou's shock echoed through the bond.
'Philip! What are you doing!'
'I have to know, Shoutarou! I can't run away from the truth any longer...'
W took another step forward. The Joker side obliged reluctantly. Although he could easily override Philip's movements – after all, it was his body they were using – Shoutarou knew that if he did, he would probably lose Philip's trust.
The Terror Dopant revealed everything. Philip was an artificial human created from the memories from his lost son. The sole purpose of his creation was to create Gaia Memories using the information downloaded into him. His sentience was the result of a glitch which had occurred during the downloading of his son's memories.
He wasn't supposed to live.
Philip froze up from the revelation. He couldn't hear Shoutarou's desperate yells as a toxic substance slowly filled the area. Finally, Shoutarou took over W and barely managed to escape.
Right outside the building, they undid the transformation and Shoutarou collapsed to the ground, trembling in extreme fear. He felt a pair of hands lift his sore body up and carry him away. The last thing he remembered was being back at the agency, with Ryu laying him on the bed.
END FLASHBACK
That's it.
Shoutarou strapped the W Driver firmly to his waist.
"Shoutarou-kun, what are you doing?" Akiko asked curiously.
"I'm going to bring Philip back." He closed his eyes and focused on the bond created by the Driver.
When he reopened his eyes, the detective found himself in the Gaia Library. The whole area had frozen over, with shards of shattered books everywhere.
"This isn't good," Shoutarou whispered to himself.
The Gaia Library was basically a representation of Philip's mind. The state of the library depended on the boy's mental state. When Philip had gone berserk the second time they used Fang, the library had been on fire. If this was an indication of Philip's present state, he had to find Philip, and fast.
"Philip! Where are you, Philip?"
As Shoutarou walked down the aisle of bookshelves, he felt the temperature drop. He began to shiver.
When he finally found Philip, he immediately scrambled to his side and tried to warm the lost teenager up. Said person had been lying on the ground, unconscious. Nearby, a book labelled 'My Purpose' clearly had pages brutally torn out of it.
"Philip! Are you alright? Philip!"
Philip slowly stirred. "Shoutarou... Why are you here?"
"Idiot, I'm here to bring you back!"
"Why?"
Shoutarou froze. Why? It was a simple question, yet he couldn't find a sufficient answer.
Philip continued, "I have no further purpose. I'm not even human. Won't it be better if I don't return? No one would be after us any more, since their only key to the world's knowledge would be gone."
Shoutarou clenched his fists in anger. "Philip, I can't stand it when people claim that their lives are meaningless. Everyone has a purpose. Mine is to make sure no one in this city cries. Yours... well, you must find your own purpose. But never tell yourself that there's no purpose to your existence."
"But Shoutarou! You heard what the Terror Dopant said! I'm not supposed to be alive..."
Before Philip could continue, Shoutarou had punched him. The boy lay on the floor, staring at Shoutarou in confusion. "Shoutarou...?"
"One's life is truly meaningless if he believes it to be true. If you're not going to pick yourself up, forget it. I don't need your power." Shoutarou tossed his fedora hat on the ground and glared at Philip in disappointment.
"How can something have a purpose? How can something have a life?" Philip suddenly flared up, pushing himself off the floor and Shoutarou against one of the shelves. "How can someone who has never heard someone say he should never have existed possibly understand?"
Tired of Philip's ranting, Shoutarou kissed him to silence the younger boy. His arms wrapped around Philip, he pulled his partner closer, deepening the kiss as he did. After what seemed like moments, they finally separated, gasping for air. Shoutarou hugged Philip tightly.
"Philip, there is no such thing as 'supposed to'. You exist. That's all there is to it. You live, you breathe, you feel. That's the meaning of existence. When you live, there's nothing you can do about it but to live your life to the fullest, regardless of the original intention of your creation. What can you do if you allow yourself to waste away? What benefit can it bring to this earth, to Fuuto, to Akiko, to Terui," Shoutarou's voice dropped to a whisper, "to me?"
Philip was silent as he allowed Shoutarou's words to sink in. The library slowly thawed, the frost from before melting into nothing.
"Do you believe there is a purpose to my existence?"
"Yes."
The book lying on the floor closed up, its pages now replenished yet empty.
"What is my purpose then?"
Shoutarou reluctantly released Philip from his grip. He felt empty without his partner next to him. "We'll discover that together. Living by supporting each other is..."
"... the game called life." Philip finished with a smile.
"Let's go." Shoutarou suggested, and the two of them returned to reality, to Akiko's relieved face and the aroma of Ryu's coffee.