Yoroiden Samurai Troopers is owned by Sunrise, Nagoya TV, and Sony Music Entertainment
Seiji woke up with a start. A dream. Just a dream. The same dream he'd been having every night for a month now. He was in New York. Trapped. A prisoner, pumped up so full of drugs he couldn't think straight. Left to fight his own demons and feelings of helplessness as Shikaisen manipulated his armor like a puppet. Suddenly, he was facing off against Kourin. Then another Kourin appeared. They came rushing at him, their no-datchis gleaming in the ethereal light. He couldn't move. He was rooted to the spot. He watched in horror as the no-datchi's tips broke the skin of his chest and…he always woke up after that. But trapped there, in Shikaisen's chamber of death, he never woke up. He had had to go through the drug-induced hell, wondering if Ryo or the others would come in time.
After it was all over, he had laughed. Laughed because he knew he wouldn't have to face that hell again. Because he was free. But how free was he? Afterward, he feared going to the city at night. Now, he only went outside when absolutely necessary. The fears that arose in his mind during captivity held him prisoner more tightly than any bonds of magic or metal ever could. He went to the doctor, and the doctor prescribed some pills to help him overcome his fears. But Seiji knew that no pill would ever help him conquer his fears. He had to conquer them himself. But he knew he couldn't. At times like this, he was so full of despair that he wondered why he didn't just down the whole bottle of pills and end the fears.
Seiji let out a brittle laugh in the darkness. He knew why. It was because he was a Samurai Trooper, a defender of the mortal world. He couldn't just let those people down, now could he? He had to stick with it, and took what came. His friends were very worried about him. Shin always prepared his favorite meals, in the hope of making him crack a smile. Touma asked Seiji everyday if he would like to go to the library with him. Shuu and Ryo tried to coax him outside with nature trails and bird watching. Seiji knew they were just trying to help, but sometimes he just wanted to scream at them. They didn't know what he was going through, what he had gone through in that hell-hole.
Seiji got out of bed and walked over to the medicine cabinet. He looked at the bottle of pills, mocking him. Giving symbolism to his own weakness. Seiji took the bottle. He studied it carefully. 'Amazing' he thought. Amazing that a little bottle of pills could give life-or take it. Seiji took the bottle with him and sat on his bed. Just a little bottle of pills….Seiji thought about what would happen once they found him. Everybody would be stunned. His family and friends would be grief stricken. Could he make them live the hell he had had just a taste of? No, he couldn't do that. He couldn't take the coward's way out now. Seiji took the bottle back to the medicine cabinet, and slowly walked back to bed. As he lay there in the darkness, waiting for the dream to return, he wondered if he would ever get through this.