StarSong
Author: Green Phantom Queen
Rated: T
Summary: Kengo Utahoshi feels like he's the only sane person amongst the other members of the newly created Kamen Rider Club. So one day, he finds himself entering a tunnel to another world, where everything is the opposite of what it seems. As he spends more time there, the denizens want him to stay with them forever and ever. He can...if he's willing to pay their very heavy price.
Note: This story is based on Neil Gaimn's book "Coraline" and the film based on the book. This story also takes place throughout the first twelve episodes of Kamen Rider Fourze.
Door 1: White Rabbit
"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it wasn't. And contrary-wise; what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. Don't you see?"
-Alice, Disney's Alice in Wonderland
How the fuck did all of this happen?
That was what Kengo Utahoshi, second-year student of Amanogawa High, had to ask himself when he saw the goofball delinquent Gentaro Kisaragi in the Rabbit Hatch pointing to a humongous white banner pinned on the ceiling of the secluded, empty space base. The banner depicted the white pointed helmet of the newly named "Kamen Rider Fourze" as he was now called, underneath the words "KRC-Kamen Rider Club".
This wasn't some sort of kid club! This was an old secluded space base where his father died seventeen years ago. And now this newcomer started messing it up for his own amusement. It made Kengo's blood boil just thinking about that last bit.
He had half the mind to strangle that stupid, dorky grin off of Gentaro's face and to rip the Kamen Rider Club banner in half. This was not what he had in mind when he was to fight off the Zodiarts. It was supposed to be him that was to go under the name Fourze—his father was the one who created the technology, not Gentaro's! Resisting the urge to scream, Kengo massaged his temples and began to speak.
"And why do we need to have this 'Kamen Rider Club' in the Rabbit Hatch?" he asked. "Wouldn't it be more sensible to have our own club room to ourselves?"
"Where's your sense of secrecy and adventure, Kengo?" asked Gentaro, smoothing back his pompadour. Kengo slighitly flinched at how Gentaro casually spoke his first name like that. "Besides, Yuki agrees with me on that."
"Really?" asked Kengo, turning to the space otaku reading one of her astronomy books. "You're actualy going to put up with this nonsense?"
"Gen-chan has a point, Kengo!" Yuki replied, setting her book down. "The Kamen Rider is a warrior of justice that fights against the forces of evil! Tomo-chan said so!"
"Tomo-chan...you mean that goth girl back at the stadium?"
"Yeah!" Yuki nodded her head. "The Kamen Riders have protected Japan for the past 40 years, their names nothing more than urban legends talked about on the web. And besides, Gentaro is going to be a good help fighting off the Zodiarts. He's shown to be a natural at using the Fourze driver and is willing to help out all who are in trouble."
Don't remind me...Kengo thought to himself, seeing the Fourze Driver resting near a few computer monitors. He curled his hand into a fist as he recalled how that idiotic delinquent snatched it out of his hands. It was his father's technology that was passed down to him, so therefore, it was his responsibility to be Fourze and save Amanogawa High from these celestial monsters. But no, somehow Gentaro had to find the locker that lead to the Rabbit Hatch. How the hell did that even happen?! In fact, why was Gentaro even interfering with his life? Kengo certainly didn't need someone to get involved with love affairs by picking up soggy love letters in the cold river prior to their first day of school.
"Hey, Kengo," said Gentaro, approaching the stoic teen. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," Kengo replied, grabbing his bag and standing up. "Have fun with your little club. I'm going home."
"Hey, wait! Kengo!" Gentaro cried as he saw Kengo leave the Rabbit Hatch. He then sighed. "Kengo..."
"Leave him for now, Gen-chan," said Yuki, approaching her childhood friend. "He needs to be alone for a while. How about we go jump across the moon's surface before heading home? We can test out the Astroswitches so you'll be prepared for the next Zodiarts attack."
"Good idea!" Gentaro exclaimed. "We're off to the Moon! Uchu KITA!"
0-0-0-0-0-0
Kengo closed the locker door behind him and let out a sigh. Why was he cursed with such a weak body? Why was he the one affected by dizzy spells? Why wasn't he the one saving the day? Why did the whole world hate him?
Brushing the thoughts aside, the only thing that he wanted to do was go to bed. It was a busy day with the Orion Zodiarts now defeated and the Fourze driver being in 'capable' hands. He wasn't even going to mention the energy he used trying to control the Power Dizer unit and taking it back into one of the empty warehouses. He was just glad that no one else knew the truth about the Rabbit Hatch and his father's technology. The less that knew, the better.
As Kengo took the shortcut across the empty hall, he saw something huddled near the shadows. Pulling out a flashlight from his pocket, he pointed it toward the darkness and looked in confusion. It was a small toy rabbit with large button eyes made out of knitted yarn. It turned its gaze toward Kengo, its large ears twitching in curiosity.
"Um, here little guy..." said Kengo, kneeling onto the floor. He brought a hand out to beckon the rabbit to approach him. "Come on, I won't bite...I think..."
The white rabbit twitched its nose before hopping away. Kengo began to chase it across the hallway, curious as to why something like that would be at school. He knew that Amanogawa had a rabbit hatch—why the school had one, he would never know—but he also knew that no student would be stupid enough to deliberately let one loose.
The white rabbit turned to the left and crawled toward a hole in the wall. Kengo approached it, his eyes widening in surprise at what he saw. The white rabbit was traveling down a blue and purple tunnel lit by a multitude of crystals. Kengo tentatively touched one with the tip of his finger and gasped. It was all real.
"I'm dreaming," he said to himself. "This is just a dream...that's all. Yet...why do I feel so curious to see it through?"
As if to answer that question, the white bunny turned around and nodded his head. Kengo did a double-take. Rabbits don't nod heads at humans...did they?
He looked around. There was no one in sight. It wouldn't be that much to just have a little peek inside this tunnel to see where it goes...right? He would just look around for one or two minutes then escape through the tunnel and head home. No one would be the wiser.
Kengo took a deep breath as he began to crawl toward the tunnel toward its destination, using the white rabbit hopping away as his guide.
0-0-0-0-0-0
After crawling on his hands and knees for what seemed like hours, Kengo emerged at what looked like a replica of Amanogawa High. It was bright and sunny, and there were many students traversing across the hallway. No one paid attention to him—it was if they were all in their own little world.
Kengo began to make some quick observations on the students. They were all wearing the standardized uniform for the school: a white blouse, a dark blue blazer with magenta lining, a plaid tie over some plaid pants (for the boys) and plaid skirts (for the girls). The boys wore brown loafers, the girls had black stockings and Mary Jane shoes. Moreover, he noticed that some of the students would have stitches around their knees and arms, making them resembling dolls.
"Interesting..." he said to himself. "But what are the purpose of the stitches?"
Suddenly, the school bell began to ring. The students began to walk off, laughing and giggling to themselves. Kengo crawled out of the tunnel, trying to find head or tail of the white rabbit that lead him to...wherever he was. Unfortunately, there was no sign of a fluffy tail or a pair of long twitchy ears in sight.
"Strange," he said to himself. "It looks like Amanogawa High, but is it really?"
"Oh, are you the new transfer student?" said a pleasant voice behind Kengo. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Utahoshi."
"Sonada-sensei?" asked Kengo. "What are you do-" He felt his voice leave his throat when he saw his homeroom teacher, Sarina Sonada, staring back at him. The woman behind him looked like the true Sarina Sonada, having her brown hair tucked back with a floral headband and being dressed in pink, but it was her eyes that made him unable to speak.
What should've been a pair of bright brown eyes, were now a pair of dark brown buttons that were staring deep into his soul.
"U-um," Kengo stammered, trying to find the right words. "I'm not sure what's going on, but...but..."
"But what?" Sonada answered, tilting her head. "Don't leave your mouth open like that, silly. You aren't a codfish, you know. Now come with me so I can get you acquainted with your fellow classmates."
Fellow classmates? Kengo thought to himself as Sonada grabbed onto his hand. What could she possibly mean?
Sonada lead him toward her classroom and opened the door. Kengo saw his fellow students (were they his fellow students? He usually stayed by himself so he never got a chance to actually know them) talking to themselves, talking, giggling and having lots of fun communicating with one another. Sonada picked up a piece of chalk and began to write Kengo's name on the chalkboard. The sound of the chalk against the board made everyone turned toward the new student. Kengo flinched at what he saw: his 'fellow students' all had black or brown buttons as eyes. They stared at him with large grins on their faces that looked as if they were completely sewed on.
This is nothing more than a dream; a very bad dream... Kengo thought to himself. Just calm down and try and see if you can make it back to that tunnel before...
"Everyone," said Sonada, turning to her students. "This is our new student, Kengo Utahoshi. He'll be staying with us for the next couple of weeks, so please make him feel welcome, all right?"
"Yes, Sonada-sensei," the students chimed merrily. Kengo just nodded his head in reply, giving the students his best "It's very nice to meet you, but it's rather awkward right now" smile. It was if a giant elephant walked into the room in-between him and the others.
"Now then, Kengo," said Sonada, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I have your seat prepared by the window. Come on and have a seat."
Kengo nodded his head, deciding to play along until it was lunch time and he could easily sneak out and go through the tunnel once more. He approached his desk and sat down. Now that he had a chance to look around, Kengo was sitting in an exact replica of his homeroom: there posters on the right side of the wall, the clock ticking away above the door and the date of September 4th, 2012 written on the right side of the chalkboard. It made him feel like he was in an alien yet familiar land...was this what the white rabbit was trying to show him?
"Hey, look at the new kid, Yuki-chan..." said a familiar voice. "This guy's an Outsider..."
Kengo turned and looked at who he was sitting next to. Staring back at him with their big button eyes were Gentaro Kisaragi and Yuki Jojima. They waved at him while their big stitched grins stretched from ear to ear in an attempt to look pleasant...which wasn't exactly making Kengo feel anymore comfortable than he should be.
If he learned anything from entering through the tunnel just a few minutes ago, Kengo Utahoshi could conclude that whatever he was about to experience in this crazy alternate world was that he was going to remember the whole experience for years to come.