KAMEN RIDER CHROME: Before you begin reading this, if you haven't read my HIGURASHI NO NAKU KORO NI: KAMEN RIDER SHOWA fic then you better read it or else stuff won't make sense. It'll make things easier for you to understand. Now if you want a timeline, I suppose this takes place after KAMEN RIDER VS PANTHER CLAW.
Date: 13th February 1974
Little Shinji Banabara stood in front of his kindergarten, waiting for his mother to pick him up. All his other friends had left for home with their parents leaving him alone. However, Shinji wasn't worried. His mother had promised to pick him up and she had a surprise for him. She was going to take him to a toy store later to pick out his present and also go to the bakery to get the cake. Tomorrow he would be six years old. Looking around, he spotted a light coming from the fake cave on the playground. With the normal curiosity of a young child, Shinji went to see what the light was. He crawled into the cave and in a flash of light he vanished.
TIME X SHOCK
Date: 20th August 1986
Hanyuu Furude woke up when the rays of sunlight came through the window, hitting her face. The violet-haired goddess sat up and yawned cutely, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before stretching. "Rika?" she uttered and looked to the bed neighboring hers to be empty and made. She looked at the alarm clock on her headboard and saw that it was 11 am. "I slept in that late?" She was surprised. She never woke up this late before, even if it was summer vacation. Getting out of bed, she saw a note on Rika's desk , held down by a paperweight. She picked it up and read it.
'Hanyuu, I went to go over my homework with the others. Because you slept late last night I thought I should let you sleep in. Oh, and Shiori-mama and Tatsuyoshi-papa went to Tokyo to submit a manuscript in person to her publisher. Breakfast is downstairs waiting for you. -Rika'
Hanyuu should be upset that Rika left her behind but she was mature enough to know that Rika was simply doing what she thought was in her best interest. Hanyuu had slept late because she'd been studying scriptures and finishing up summer homework.
After cleaning herself up, Hanyuu put on a pink sundress and went downstairs to see the breakfast waiting for her on the table. She smiled and sat down to eat while thinking about what she should do today.
'I've rarely gone out on my own,' she thought. Most of her time was spent in the company of friends and family. She rarely did do anything on her own. 'Hm…maybe I should take a walk around the village.'
Hanyuu exited the house, wearing a white straw hat on her head. She looked up at the sky and sighed, "What a beautiful day for a walk." She walked around the village, greeting fellow villagers with a smile, and soon made her way to the Furude Shrine. She remembered the day she herself was married here, hundreds of years ago to Rika's ancestor, Riku Furude. Suddenly, she heard crying and ran up the stone steps leading up to the shrine and saw a child sitting on the shrine's steps, crying. He was wearing a kindergarten uniform and had a bag sitting next to him.
'Who is he?' Hanyuu thought to herself as she stepped closer. "Excuse me, little boy?" The little boy looked up, tears at the edge of his eyes. Hanyuu froze as she instantly recognized him. Shiori had shown them a photo album with pictures of Shinichi as a child and the boy sitting across from her looked just like Shinichi at six years old. "Shinji?"
"Onee-chan, how do you (sniff) know my name?" he asked, looking at her.
Hanyuu gasped. If this was Shinji, that meant the little boy had somehow travelled through time and ended up here.
"Onee-chan, where am I? Where's my Kaa-chan?" he asked, sniffling. "Can you help me?"
He was a scared little boy who didn't know where he was. Hanyuu stepped over, slowly and carefully and sat next to him. "You're lost, aren't you?"
"Yes," he confirmed. "I…I don't know where I am…This isn't my kindergarten."
"It's Hinamizawa, a village," Hanyuu said to him.
"How did I get here?" he asked, his voice cracking from his recent crying.
"I don't know," Hanyuu answered. Shinji started to cry loudly. "It's OK, it's OK," she said soothingly, patting his head. "I'll get you home, don't worry."
"Y-you will?" Shinji looked up at her hopefully with big, wet and innocent eyes as Hanyuu flushed.
'Ka…kawaii…! No, stop it! Don't turn into Rena!' Hanyuu swore, "I promise, Shinji-chan. You can count on me."
Shinji smiled, "Thank you, Onee-chan!"
"How about you and I take a walk around the village, OK?" Hanyuu offered, holding her hand out to him. Shinji, trusting Hanyuu, took her hand and they both stood up. "You'll really like Hinamizawa."
"Everybody knows you, Onee-chan," admired Shinichi. Everywhere they went, people greeted Hanyuu and she greeted back in kind. "Are you famous; like an idol or something?"
'As a malevolent god,' thought Hanyuu ruefully. She still couldn't fathom how everyone could envision her as such a scary god. Sure, she had a temper but that was no reason to make the statue in her honor so scary looking. And male too! Didn't they know she was a girl? "It's a small village, Shinji-chan. Everyone knows each other."
"Oh," said Shinji. "I live with Kaa-chan and Tou-chan in a big house in the city."
"What are they like?" Hanyuu asked. She knew about them of course. Shiori was her adopted mother after all. As for Shotaro, Hanyuu only knew about him from what Shiori told her.
"Oh, Kaa-chan writes books and Tou-chan helps her. When I asked Kaa-chan to read one to me, she told me to wait until I was older," Shinji told her.
"…Well, if your mother told you that then she's right," Hanyuu agreed. Shiori's books were adult-oriented, and had graphic sexual content. Hanyuu still blushed when Shiori gave her and Rika 'The Talk' while using her books as references. Hanyuu knew about sex, since she'd been an adult before, but the way Shiori talked about it made Hanyuu consider a few things…almost. A few small thoughts of her and Chiaki alone, trying out some of those scenes, began to cross her mind but she quickly banished them away for another time.
"Kaa-chan was supposed to pick me up, but she was late," said Shinji. "Then I saw this white light in the cave on the playground. I went in and then…there was a bright light. I opened my eyes and I wasn't at my kindergarten no more."
'That's it,' Hanyuu thought. 'He must've fallen into some kind of rift in time and space.' That was how Shinji must have crossed from his time to this one.
Suddenly, it started to rain. There was also thunder which scared Shinji. Acting quickly, Hanyuu took Shinji to find some shelter from the rain.
Up in the mountain there was a natural hot spring. Water fell into a pool, allowing people to soak up and enjoy the warm water. Hanyuu and Shinji had both stripped down and gotten into the hot spring. Hanyuu had tied up her long hair into big buns on both sides of her head as she sat next to Shinji. Their clothes were being dried nearby.
"It's so warm, Onee-chan," said Shinji with a blissful smile on his face and a slight hint of pink on his cheeks.
"It's a hot spring, Shinji-chan. It's supposed to be warm," replied Hanyuu, her face set with a similar expression.
"This is just like when Kaa-chan takes baths with me," Shinji said. Hanyuu stroked his head gently.
Hanyuu knew she had to take care of Shinji. He was Shinichi's past. If anything were to happen to him then they would affect Shinichi greatly. Speaking of Shinichi, he was on an assignment with the other NEO-NUMBERS for ARMOR. He would have to turn up soon if not then she would have to call him and tell him about Shinji.
But that could wait until later. Now she just wanted to enjoy a relaxing soak and…
"Ah, Hanyuu-chan! You're here too!" a familiar voice called out.
Hanyuu gasped and looked to see Rena in nothing but a towel. With her were the other girls of the Gaming Club, also clad in towels.
"Fancy meeting you here, Hanyuu," grinned Mion.
"What are you girls doing here?" Hanyuu asked.
"Oh, after our study session we all helped Satoko-chan with her traps. After that it started to rain so we all came here for a soak," explained Shion.
"Hey, who's the kid?" Satoko asked.
Hanyuu blinked and looked to Shinji who was hiding behind her. Rika's eyes widened as she instantly recognized him and turned to Hanyuu who nodded. Rena's eyes flashed as her instincts took over.
"Omochikaeri!-!-!"
After stopping Rena from abducting little Shinji, the girls and the little boy sat in the hot spring together. Rena didn't sit far from Shinji, which made the little boy a little nervous. He looked at all the girls. They were so pretty, like his Kaa-chan.
Hanyuu and Rika sat far from the group as the goddess informed Rika how she'd found Shinji. "Have you called Shinichi?" Rika asked.
"I will, later," said Hanyuu.
"Hanyuu…" Rika warned. "You know he can't stay here. Shinichi will be upset that you didn't tell him as soon as possible."
"I know! I know! But he's just so cute!" Hanyuu couldn't help it. Shinji had such chubby and rosy cheeks.
Rika sighed and looked back to see the girls fawning over the little boy. He seemed to be enjoying the attention.
"Awe, he's so cute~!" Shion purred as she gently ruffled Shinji's hair; the little boy laughing cutely as she did.
"I know," Mion added and then she grabbed Shinji and brought him into a small hug, squeezing the child into her bosom. "He's just too adorable!"
Hanyuu and Rika watched on at the occurring scene playing out before them and just prayed that this was one thing that wouldn't affect the Shinichi that they knew now. If he ever found out he'd either have a fit or make comments on how he got to hug a naked Mion…or both.
Keiichi and Satoshi soon came across the scene, in nothing but towels as well. However, they were meant to go to the spring on the other side of the rock wall. The girls, seeing them, froze and so did the boys. Suddenly, the towel around Keiichi's waist slid down his legs, causing the girls to scream.
"KEI-CHAN, YOU PERVERT!"
"WAIT, MION! I DIDN'T MEAN TO!"
Shinji just watched as Keiichi was comically beaten up by the girls for being a pervert as Satoshi did the smart thing and fled, leaving his friend to their mercy. 'That's weird. How come they started to hit him when his towel fell down? I thought everyone got naked in a hot bath.' Shinji thought to himself as he continued to watch the sight of Keiichi getting beatem up by the girls.
Keiichi, now clothed, but bruised, sat in a circle with all his friends who'd also put their clothes back on. Hanyuu explained to them all on how she'd found Shinji seemed quite close to her. Suddenly, they heard the whistling of a train and looked up to see a multicolored portal. Train tracks stretched out of the portal, followed by a bullet train. Shinji gasped as he saw it and shouted, "Flying train!"
Hanyuu mentally slapped herself, 'Please don't let him remember that part.'
The ChronoLiner landed and stopped near the group before one of the doors opened. Shinichi stood at the threshold and saw all his friends. "Hey guys! My assignment finished earlier." He leapt out of the train and strode over to them, the train flying off, back into the time portal to return to ARMOR HQ.
"Shinichi, we've been waiting for you," said Rika. "There's something important we need to tell you."
"What is it?" Shinichi asked. He then spotted something small and child-like hiding behind Rika and Hanyuu and quirked and eyebrow while tilting his head. "Oi, who's tha—?" he began until he noticed the face of the little boy and his eyes widened in shock. "Na…na…NANI?-!" he shouted out, causing Rika and Hanyuu to smile sheepishly. "Oi, Ri-Rika-chan, is that who I…who I think it is?"
"It is, Shinichi," confirmed Rika who nodded. "This is Shinji, and he's lost." She addressed the little boy. "Shinji-chan, this is my big brother Shinichi. He's going to take you back home."
"You will, Onii-chan?" Shinji asked hopefully.
"Y-yeah," Shinichi said, still a little stunned, while rubbing the back of his head. It was like looking at a mirror from 12 years in the past. He remembered that uniform, and the last time he'd worn it was...on the day Gebok had abducted him. How had Shinji ended up here in this time, though? That was the question, but it wasn't important compared to what Shinji being here could mean.
"Um…Rika-chan, Hanyuu-chan, could you take Shinji home?" he requested. "I…need to talk with everyone. It's important."
"We understand," said Hanyuu. "Come on, Shinji. You must be starving."
"Hai, Onee-chan!" smiled Shinji as he took Hanyuu's hand. Shinichi shook his head. Shinji was just so innocent and trusting and that was what got him into trouble in the first place. Once Rika, Hanyuu and Shinji were out of sight, Shinichi took his seat in the circle, looking at everyone with a serious expression.
"Guys, that kid is me," Shinichi told them. They all stared at him like he was crazy.
"That kid is you?" Keiichi responded skeptically. "What are you talking about? You're you. How can he be you?"
"He's a past version of me," said Shinichi. "From twelve years ago."
"So that little boy really is you?" Rena asked.
"I recognize the uniform, and don't tell me you couldn't see the resemblance," Shinichi frowned.
"Wow, you're pretty cute at that age," said Shion.
"He really is, and I just wanna take him home!" said Rena.
"That's my job," said Shinichi seriously.
"Wait," Mion said in realization. "Shin-chan, you said Gebok took you away to GIN-SHOCKER when you were a little kid. That means that kid is from before that happened."
"I recognize the uniform," said Shinichi. "Shinji is from my past; the exact date he's from is the 13th of February 1974, the day before my birthday and the day I was abducted."
"And you're just going to let it happen?" Rena cried out. She knew what Shinichi went through, they all did. He'd been tortured, trained and conditioned by GIN-SHOCKER while having his body modified into a cyborg. Shinji was from a time before that happened and was still human. Meaning, Shinichi was going to take Shinji, a child, back there to go through it.
"I don't like it either, Rena-chan," argued Shinichi. "But it has to be done."
"But you can't let it happen to him!"
"It's already happened, to me! He's me and he has to go through what I went through to preserve the timeline!" Shinichi's voice rose in volume. He took a deep breath and calmed down as he explained, "Look, guys, I have to do this. They taught us in ARMOR that there are these fixed points in time, key moments in history that must always happen and cannot be altered. Not even one tiny change can be allowed. Shinji being here is already causing a paradox and the longer he stays the timeline would become corrupted and unravel. If I don't take him back then our world might even cease to exist."
"How about you stop the kidnapping then?" Rena suggested.
"I can't," he said. "If I did that, every moment we've spent will be rewritten, or worse undone. If Shinji isn't kidnapped and taken to GIN-SHOCKER, he would never grow up to become me, he would never become Kamen Rider Showa and things might turn out differently."
"They could turn out better," supplied Keiichi.
"Or worse," Shinichi countered. "There's no way to know how an alternate timeline will go and that's why it's forbidden to mess with history. Even if one were to go by any type of Sub-Prime Theory it would still be too dangerous to even risk. " He stood up. "I'm sorry, guys. I have to go and send him back."
"Shin-kun!" Rena yelled as she stood up and grasped his hand. "Shin-kun, please, this isn't right! This isn't fair to him!"
"I know it wasn't," he agreed, "Because it happened to me and because I don't want to be erased I have to do this." He yanked his hand free and walked away. He didn't spare Rena a glance.
Shinichi knew it was cruel too. He was going to sacrifice a child to GIN-SHOCKER and have him go through a decade of pain and torment, and Shinji would never know. But, for the sake of preserving this timeline history needed to be preserved. Maybe it was because he was selfish and he still wanted to exist, but in order to do that Shinji needed to suffer.
And Shinji was him, or used to be him, and would one day become him. That was why sending Shinji back was important.
His friends would forgive him, they would understand why he had to do this. Maybe not now and maybe not soon, but they would.
Shinichi punched a tree and scowled. "I swore to only sacrifice my own life for others, and here I am doing the same by sacrificing a child who's also me." Time travel was just so confusing sometimes. In all matters it really sucked sometimes. Trying to make sense of it gave even geniuses a headache. "Gotta prevent a paradox."
Shinichi arrived home to see Rika and Hanyuu in front of their house with Shinji. "Ready to go, little guy?" Shinichi asked.
"Yes, I wanna see Kaa-chan!" said Shinji. Shinichi forced a smile. He knew what was coming and couldn't tell Shinji.
"Wait!" Shinichi spun around and saw his friends running towards him.
"Guys, you can't stop me," said Shinichi.
"We're not," said Shion. "We're all here to see Shinji-chan off."
"I'm going to miss you!" Rena hugged Shinji tight. "Oh, I wanna just take you home." Hot tears were streaming down her cheeks as were the faces of the others.
"Rena, don't," Mion warned, her voice choking a bit on her own tears. She, like the others, knew what had to be done but that didn't mean that it didn't tear her up inside.
Shinichi saw everyone looking at Shinji, fighting back the rest of their tears, with slightly sad expressions since they all knew what was coming. Shinichi took Shinji's hand as the ChronoLiner sped out of the portal to land in front of them. The door opened and Shinichi guided his younger self inside the train car.
Shinji looked out one of the windows and waved at everybody as the train moved, flying skyward and straight into the time portal to take him home. Everyone waved back and as soon as the train was gone Rena fell to her knees, sobbing. Hanyuu and Rika knelt next to her, each placing a hand on one of her shoulders as her body convulsed slightly from all her crying.
13th February 1974
The ChronoLiner sped out of the portal and landed in front of the kindergarten. Shinji and Shinichi both stepped out of the train. "Well, here we are," said Shinichi, although a bit solemnly.
"Why didn't you take me to my house, Onii-chan?" Shinji asked.
"Because your Kaa-chan is supposed to pick you up," Shinichi told him. He got down on one knee and put his hand on Shinji's shoulder. "Shinji, I need you to promise me something. I need you to promise me that, whatever happens, you will always stay strong. Don't ever give up." He held up his pinky. "Pinky promise?" Shinji hooked his pinky around Shinichi's.
"Pinky promise!" Shinji smiled. Shinichi then gave Shinji a brief hug before going back to the time train. He stopped at the door and looked back. "Remember Shinji; make sure that you stay strong for your Kaa-chan and Tou-chan. Never give up…no matter what happens. That's a promise." Shinji smiled and nodded his head and watched as Shinichi turned and went inside the train, the door sliding shut behind him. Shinichi looked out the window and waved at Shinji who waved back before the train departed and rose into the sky. He then looked down at the ground to see a man in a white coat approaching his past self.
"This has to happen," Shinichi said, closing his eyes while his stomach began to form knots of guilt. He didn't have any other choice. "I'm sorry, Shinji." He now knew why he didn't remember going to Hinamizawa as a child. The trauma he suffered in GIN-SHOCKER had erased his memory, including this one.
Shinichi went to ARMOR to report what had occurred to Warren. After finishing his report, he said, "I feel like I betrayed him, which is weird since he is me. He didn't know what was going to happen and I didn't tell him."
"Shinichi, you did the right thing," said Warren.
Shinichi scoffed in response, "How can you call sacrificing a child doing the right thing?"
"Because your actions will make sure that your timeline is preserved," said Warren. "As Kamen Rider Showa you've done a lot of good but in order for those moments to be preserved you had to make sure Shinji was kidnapped so he could become you."
"I know he was me, but when I look at him and remember what I was like, I can't help but feel that I let him down," said Shinichi. "I know, he's me and I'm him but still…"
"Time travel is a complex thing, and unpredictable too," Warren told him. "That's why there are laws regarding it and what time travelers can and can't do. The most important rule is to never cause a paradox."
"Or change the past," Shinichi added. "You told me that history is a fragile thing. One small change can spread out and cause bigger changes in the future. They might be better, or they might be worse. We have no real way of knowing that."
"That's why ARMOR was formed; to protect and preserve all timelines and dimensions," said Warren. "Even higher beings must abide by the laws of space and time…heck; they were the ones that made them in the first place. Beings such as Singularity Points, a few gods, and even some destroyers are the only beings that exist beyond that normality, thus they are beings that should not exist but do. But they too abide by these laws and some even uphold them."
Shinichi nodded and stood up to leave. As he reached the doorway, he stopped and addressed Warren, "You know, this might explain how I ended up in Hinamizawa two years ago. I guess I subconsciously recalled it from my memories." He then left after that, leaving Warren to his work.
"The timeline must always be preserved. I'm sorry, son. I know I could've saved you but I decided not to so that things could turn out the way they should…for the greater good."
THE END
KAMEN RIDER CHROME: This could be considered a bit of a filler chapter for the story of KAMEN RIDER SHOWA. It's quite a tearjerker as well when you stop to think about it. Basically, Shinichi has to send his younger self back to the time he belonged to, which just so happened to be minutes before Gebok abducted him. Shinichi basically sacrificed a child to a decade's worth of torment and both technically and literally he was sacrificing himself to make sure the world he knew was safe. It's one of those difficult choices a hero has to make for the greater good or to sacrifice a single individual for the many. This story was actually inspired by Episode 4 of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kira which has yet to be subtitled but in that story Rika's younger self from the past ended up traveling through time and ending up in her future, meeting the main Higurashi cast including her older self. I hope you guys can give me big and long reviews. Looking forward to them.