And once more, Hello! Tek back again with Part 2 of a double-header set of Bakuman-themed stories. This one is more of a random thing that just popped into my head… This one wasn't really planned, is all I'm saying. This story features some OOC characters, specifically Mashiro and Miho, who are much braver when it comes to each other. Mashiro is also going to be… well, you'll see. This chapter will be done in Mashiro's POV. ENJOY! ^_^ HYAZUU!
+BAKUMAN/KAMEN RIDER CROSSOVER+
+DRAW UP! KAMEN RIDER PENCIL+
+OP: "Blue Bird" – Kobukuro+
It was a silent day at school. I looked around, idly surveying everything around me: the lame-looking kindergarten-like posters of fruit and numbers on the walls of a high-school classroom; the small, almost unnoticeable clock on the wall with the hands to small to read the time from ANY distance; the desks, neatly arranged in a way that blatantly screamed of the rather promiscuous female teacher's desire to get some kind of romantic thing going on, with the desks paired together with a boy and a girl at each. I took note of the small letters written in an almost cryptic form of cursive writing on the blackboard. I took a slow, deep breath and just kept at my current pastime: drawing.
It had only been eight years since the accident that took my family from me and… ended with my inadvertent gain of temporary immortality, but I had been able to keep my mind off of it by finding things to do; things I was good at and could do quickly, with few problems. Drawing had quickly become my favorite thing to do in my spare time.
After the accident when I was eight, the people at the orphanage told me I couldn't remember my name, who my parents were, where I lived, or any vital information that could help get me home. In recent years, I'd learned the official term for that: Amnesia. In the course of the accident, I'd become an amnesiac. Probably better for me in the long run… at least memories of people I couldn't remember hurt less than memories of people I could… Even if those same people wandered my dreams with red-skinned faces devoid of facial features and covered in white, diagonal cracks…
It surprised the tutors at the orphanage how easily and quickly I picked up the material I'd been missing in school; from what I learned from my previous school records, I'd gone from being a nominal, cross-the-bar student to an A-Grade genius. Everything I learned I applied the way I was supposed to, with few problems of any sort. If I didn't understand something, I asked and got instruction. I easily leapt from a third-grade education to seventh within a year. I didn't understand why at first, but after I practically shot through my twelfth grade curriculum at thirteen, I realized what they'd meant when they called that moment in my past the "Miracle Accident". At least… that was until two years later.
I've been on my own and out of the orphanage for a little over six months now, and started into an actual high-school to test myself before going to college. I hadn't been very sociable with my introduction on my first day, so almost no one talked to me. Anyone who tried was seemingly scared off by what they all called my "Killing Intent", when all I really wanted was to be left alone. All it took was… a glance and they'd run. Then again, who wouldn't run from gray-blue eyes that had a weird design in the pupil that wasn't the result of contacts?
On this day I had been indulging myself in my hobby of drawing while waiting for class to end. I'd been seated next to a certain girl for the past six months and… to be honest, I couldn't be happier. "Happy"; that's a word I haven't really been able to use for ten years. I don't know why, but around this girl, I feel my cold interior thaw. However, after classes when we all leave, as soon as she's out of sight… the coldness sets in again, leaving me the way I'd been before class started; anti-social, bored with the world, uncaring, nigh-unfeeling. I honestly enjoy the time I spend in class, sitting hunched over in my seat, drawing… HER. It hadn't really dawned on me until about a month ago when I looked through my notebooks and found them full of sketches of her from different angles; I'd developed a crush. And a welcome one it was.
Over the past few weeks I'd found myself becoming lax around her. When she was leaving, I'd either lean on my elbow and watch her or stay hunched over my desk drawing. In the case of the former happening, people would watch me and try to tease me; this didn't go so well, again because a single glance made them run silently from the room. In the case of the latter, however, it got to the point where I was forgetting my notebooks in class and had to go back to get them. This day I was at my worst in terms of my guard; it collapsed completely.
As I hunched over my desk, I noticed that the clock read 3:15 PM. While most of the other students filed out, I noticed that Azuki Miho, the girl I'd been seated next and couldn't stop drawing, was taking her time in packing her things to go home. Five minutes later we were the only two left in the class, and as I finally closed my notebook to place it in my bag, she stood and waited until I absent-mindedly closed my eyes and opened my mouth to sigh.
Without warning, Miho all but lunged in and kissed me full-on. My eyes shot open as my mouth seemed to close around her lips. 'Damn…' I thought to myself, 'what's going on? What's she trying to tell me?' Much to my dismay, she let go, and when I passively allowed my eyes to glance from her to the clock, I saw it had been a FULL FIVE MINUTES.
I panted for a minute before looking her in the eyes and asking, "Mind if I ask why you just…" She didn't even let me finish; she dove right back in and kissed me again. My eyes bugged out. We'd never spoken to each other or even passed notes back and forth. We barely even saw each other before or after classes; so why was she suddenly…
"You don't have to pretend, Mashiro-san," Azuki said, and immediately I felt my face go hot. I could tell I'd started blushing because Azuki immediately started giggling. I noticed the large amount of crimson tint on her face and chuckled.
"Mashiro-san, you're blushing," she said nonchalantly, which made me chuckle a bit more.
"Look who's talking!" I joked back. She turned to the mirror on the classroom door and blushed harder. I smiled wide and grabbed my bag. I turned to pat her shoulder and walked out the door. I turned slowly, only to catch the slight hint of lavender and lilacs wafting in the air. 'She's got a thing for flowers, huh?' I thought, idly noting the presence of a notebook someone had left behind. I didn't know whose is was, nor on whose desk it was. At that moment, turning back to return to my uncle's old apartment, I couldn't have cared if someone had left a dead rat in the room.
I remained lost in my thoughts as I walked back to the building, idly reaching up to take my bag off my shoulders. I looked inside for my notebook…
"WHAT?" I shouted, searching my bag for the book. I had it next to me on my desk when-
"DAMN IT!" I barely gave mind to the people behind me, rushing back through the throng to retrieve my notebook. How could I have been so careless to leave it on my desk?
Arriving back in the school moments later, I barreled around a corner and shot straight into the classroom to find… nothing. MY BOOK WAS GONE.
"Wait," I told myself, "Maybe the custodian saw it and put it in my desk." I ran to my desk and, as if possessed, sifted through it, trying to find any trace of my notebook. In the back of my head, however, a small, feminine voice spoke to me:
"Mashiro-kun, you really ought to pay more attention than this."
'I know that, Orika-chan, I KNOW. Don't bug me!'
"EXCUSE ME IF I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO NOTICED THE OTHER PRESENCE IN THIS ROOM!"
I reeled at the loud scream in my head, and then looked around. I whipped around several times, trying to find this other person. Finally, on the fifth look, I saw him: Akito Takagi, the class genius. At least he would be, if he wasn't one-upped by me and that snobbish-looking girl Iwase… Damn, that one's attitude got me.
"Takagi-san, what are you doing here so late? I thought by now everyone was-" I stopped short as my eyes settled on the rectangular object resting in one of his hands: MY NOTEBOOK. 'Damn it,' I thought, 'Out of all the people from this class who could have picked it up, it had to be HIM! Now he's not going to stop talking about it…'
Takagi had gotten off a bit easy a few of the first times he'd tried to talk to me. Really, when I thought about it, all he'd wanted to do was congratulate me on the few tests I'd aced. Not that I cared much for it, but I wanted to cement my anti-social demeanor, and gave him a glare. He backed off, but constantly kept coming back for more. I could never tell if he was overly brave, stupid, or… that way, but after a while when he stopped trying to strike up conversation, I stopped caring. If he didn't want to keep trying, I wouldn't snap and demand to know why.
"Takagi-san, please give me that notebook," I said calmly, holding out my hand. I watched as he lifted his hand and smirked. This wasn't going to be one of those, "OK, here you go!" kinds of things. This was one of those, "I have one condition" scenarios.
I couldn't hear him talking, but as I watched his lips move, I almost could have sworn he was saying he'd rip the book if I didn't comply. As much as I didn't want to, I had to act fast; that book meant more to me now than it ever did.
I took off in a running leap and sprang over his head, resting my feet and one hand on the wall behind me JUST long enough to grab the notebook with my other hand. With a small push, I jumped off the wall and landed, on one leg, in front of him. The whole episode lasted about two seconds in total, but to him, it must have been five minutes of agonizingly slow-motion action. As I stood and turned, I smirked and held out my book. He gawked. I turned and walked toward the door. I was two seconds from leaving the room when his hand suddenly touched my shoulders.
"Mashiro-san, wait! Please, hear me out!" Takagi said, and I wheeled around to face him.
"Why should I listen to anything you have to say? You waited until I left and tried to blackmail me into doing something for you," I said, and he reeled.
"What? No! I wasn't going to blackmail you; I just wanted to ask you a question," Takagi said, his face and voice giving an air of pure sincerity. I decided to listen and motioned for him to continue.
"Alright. JUST so you know, yes, I did look through your notebook. And I liked what I saw. You have some REAL talent there, you know. It'd be sad if you didn't put it to good use, you know! You draw Azuki-san extremely well!" Takagi said. My face started going red, but not from embarrassment. I was going red from anger.
"Now I'm not interested. I'm out of here," I said, immediately turning on my heel and whipping the door open, then slamming it shut. I was half-way down the hall when I heard the door slam open. What I heard next took me completely by surprise:
"I WANT YOU TO WRITE MANGA WITH ME!" Takagi shouted. He was lucky no-one was in the school except us, or he'd have seemed… well, insane, among other things…
"YOU want ME to write manga… with YOU?" I asked, repeating his words in paraphrase as I turned to point from him to myself and back to him. He nodded. I turned again and kept walking.
"You won't even consider it?" Takagi asked. I stopped. I thought about what to do for a moment before turning to face him, pointing half-assedly at him.
"I'll give it more thought if you can solve a problem I have," I said, deciding to see if he'd be able to help.
"Sure! What's the problem?" he asked. I grinned.
"How would you deal with a race of ink-based life-forms that can't die?" I asked.
He looked at me confusedly, like I knew he would, and stayed that way for several seconds before replying, "Give me a while to come up with an answer. This is an interesting conundrum."
I gave him a silent "thumbs up" of approval, and then headed out the doors. It would be fun to see him in class tomorrow, squirming and wrestling with the answer that had eluded me for so long. I was half-way out of the school when a strange ringing filled my head. I didn't need Orika-chan, the voice in my head, to tell me what the ringing was.
I took off fast, clicking a button on the key ring in my pocket. Soon, a motorcycle with an artistic, sepia-toned, ink-line design on it to made it look almost like a dragon, roared into the school-yard. I hopped on as it neared me and took off, already reaching up to touch the small pen resting on a clip on the left side of my hair.
~DU! KRP ~
I arrived early in class the next day and sat down, opening my notebook. I scanned through the pages slowly for the thirteenth time since last night, trying to make absolutely sure that Takagi hadn't taken any pages out. Finally, after the last page flipped and I saw no sign of damage, I breathed a heavy sigh of relief and waited. Between my numerous damage checks last night, I'd actually managed to do the standard curriculum homework. It wouldn't have felt right to show up with nothing, even though I DON'T need to be here.
A few minutes later the students filed in with Takagi leading the group. As he passed by, he reached into his pocket and slipped a small piece of paper onto the desk, then continued on to his own desk. Suspiciously, I picked up the paper and opened it. It was a note:
"Mashiro-san,
I've almost got an answer for you. Wait here for me after school. I just have to stop at home to get something and I'll be right back with your answer, alright?
Takagi"
I smirked. He hadn't gotten an answer for me yet. That gave me some time to try and figure it out alone so I wouldn't have to work with him.
That afternoon, Takagi left early to go home and collect whatever he'd left behind, and I waited at my desk. I check the clock every once in a while, watching as time skipped from 2:55 to 3:10 to 3:45 to 4:15. At 4:55 I figured he wasn't coming back and started to leave, when I felt a twinge in my head.
"Orika-san, what's going on? Is there another attack nearby?"
"Yes! Right outside the school! It's your friend, Takagi!"
"He's NOT my friend!"
I rushed out the door, reaching up to the pen hanging from a clip on my hair. I took it off and reached into my bag for a special, metal-covered notepad. As I got out to the schoolyard, I saw it: Takagi, cowering in a corner with a man bearing down on him. I could tell the man was my target. Not JUST because he was advancing on my classmate in an "I'm going to rip your face off" sort of way, but because of his right arm, which was raised high over his head… and morphing into a twisted mass of white flesh and black ink.
I sped over and caught the man's arm as it descended upon Takagi, who screamed (and for lack of a better term) like a girl. The man groaned in confusion, and Takagi looked up at me in surprise.
"Mashiro-san, what are you doing? That guy- that THING is going to kill us!" he said, struggling to figure out what was going on. I smiled.
"Remember that little question I offered you yesterday, Takagi-san?" I asked, pushing the man back with less than a flick of my wrist. He groaned again and gave a sickening smile.
"Yeah, I remember it, but what about it? This is hardly the time for peaceful nostalgia!" Takagi replied back. I held the pen out and smiled.
"You're about to learn the true nature of the question. And as for you," I said, turning from Takagi to the man ahead, "Get ready to go down, beast." I pulled out my metal notepad and placed it at my waist. A dark grey belt formed around my waist instantly. I tossed the pen into the air and threw my right hand in the air to catch it, my index and middle fingers flexed up while the other three were bent to half-mast. The pen fell onto my middle finger, striking a blue button against the tip of my finger before flipping around and slipping right into my hand, where it now rested between three fingers.
I moved my arm so the pen now crossed over my opposite shoulder at a perpendicular angle to my hand and, holding my other hand to my face, fingers and thumb curled in like claws, I stared the beast down.
"Wait a minute, don't tell me you're-!" The man said, rapidly transforming into a pig-like beast composed of stark, pale-white flesh and a strikingly contrasting black ink, set in patterns that resembled a warthog. Takagi screamed again. I took a deep breath.
"It's time to go full-throttle; HENSHIN!" I shouted, pulling my claw-like fingers down and across my face. Meanwhile, my other arm flew, sketching in the air a picture of a rod, then swinging it down to slide the pen through the rings of the notepad. As the blue button slid past a ring, a small "PING!" rang out and the button lit up, shooting out a small piece of graphite to reveal that it was a mechanical pencil. The Notepad flew to life, an image of a circle with images of a Sword, a shield, a boot, and a blaster in it.
Seconds later, lines ran across my body, forming a suit of armor, comprising a two-toned bodysuit with blue and white split with zigzagging black lines on the arms and strange patterns of blue and black on the legs. The torso bore a spiked design that extended up and onto the chest plate. On my shoulders sat a pair of armor pads shaped like open sketchbooks. On my wrists and ankles were monochrome bands in two shades of grey while a single grey hook-like design appeared on the sides of each foot.
The helmet came last, forming at first entirely jet black before a spiked mask appeared over the mouth area, followed by an upper portion that was reminiscent of a pencil eraser. My eyes, now covered by see-through lenses, flashed a darker shade of cerulean blue while a paler shade of the same blue flashed on my forehead.
I assumed a wide stance and stabbed my head at the enemy quickly before jumping back into a standing position and saying, "You will be erased form existence!"
I didn't need to turn to see what Takagi's face looked like; watching someone you thought you knew, even somewhat, suddenly transform into an armored being wasn't ever the easiest thing to handle.
"K-Kamen Rider?" Takagi said. I smirked. I was going to be in for a LOT of explaining later. And yet, I wasted no time; rushing forward, I thrust out a hand and slammed it, open-palm, into the monster's chest, causing it to stagger back a bit. I followed up with three punches and a round-house kick that sent it flying back into a wall. The beast fell from the wall and stood on shaky legs, then opened its mouth.
In mere moments, ink spurted from the monster's mouth, forming into a twisted-looking sword. Heh; to me, anything that resorted to a weapon against an unarmed foe was just a coward. Luckily, I had my own weapon. I held my hand in front of the notepad on my waist and tapped it, then pressed the blue button on the pencil and clicked the graphite feeder. A rod formed moments later, the handle a combination of blue and grey stripes with a single black strip for the hand zone, while the ends, colored pink like a pencil eraser, extended outward a bit. To me, it looked more like a floor lamp than a rod, but at this point, I wasn't complaining.
The beast charged me again, swinging its sword in rage. I raised the end of my rod to block it, and then swung hard. In one move, I'd sent the beast's blade soaring over its head, planted one of the pink ends into the beasts' stomach and pushed, sending it flying back. I turned on my heel and snapped my fingers, winking to myself as the beast's sword fell through the air and impaled its head. It screamed in pain and charged me for one more attack. I smirked. I removed the pencil from the notepad on my waist, placed the graphite onto the handle of my rod and pressed a smaller, white button, then clicked the feeder.
"RELOAD DRIVE!" The belt announced, and my weapon began to glow. I waited for the proper moment, then spun my weapon around and pulled. The rod folded down and compressed itself into a handle, from which shot a large blue-edged, blunt pink edge with a pair of hooks on the opposing end.
I swung the hammer hard while standing on my heels. The sheer weight of the weapon sent me spinning around in a circle, repeatedly smashing the beast with the hammer. Stopping mid-swing, I pulled the handle out, forming the rod again, then planted it in the beast's stomach and lifted, tossing it high into the air. I shifted the weapon again, turning it back into its hammer form. I jumped and reared back for the final strike.
"HABBERDASH DRIVE!" I shouted, slamming the hammer down on the beast's head, driving it back into the ground below, skull-first. It screamed the whole way down, then exploded violently in a mass of black mist. I growled a little as I stood and pulled the notepad off my waist. The lines retracted instantly, returning me to my human form. I clicked the button in my pocket, calling my motorcycle to me. I hopped on, put on my helmet, and pulled out an extra one and threw it to Takagi.
"GET ON! THAT THING'S GOING TO COME BACK TO LIFE IN LESS THAN A MINUTE! WE HAVE TO GO!" I shouted, and he leapt up. He donned the helmet and hopped on the bike, holding on to my shoulders as I sped off toward my home.
~DU! KRP~
A few minutes later, Takagi sat on the plush couch in my home, a studio-style apartment that once belonged to my uncle. He'd left me the keys in his will, which I'd only discovered about two years ago.
"So," Takagi said, hunched over with a glass of ice-water in his hands, "What the hell happened back there? I mean, that guy's arm was all weird, then he turned into that… ink-pig thing, and you became a… Kamen Rider… What the hell is going on here?" I sighed and sat down in the chair across from him.
"I guess I should start at the beginning. I hope you're ready for a LONG story," I said. Takagi gave me a nod and a look that said "I'm not going anywhere soon", and I took a deep breath.
"Alright. First things first, I should introduce you to someone," I said, placing two fingers to my head and pulling out a wave of blue ink. Takagi flinched when an ox-like creature, much like the hog-like one I'd beaten up earlier, formed on the ground next to me, sitting seiza-style. However, unlike the other, this one was humanoid, and female, wearing a traditional kimono with flower patterns all over it. She had long, brown wavy hair tied off at the back in a long, braided ponytail. When she opened her eyes, they shone in a luminescent blue hue. She smiled; it was a smile that I'm sure Takagi would have appreciated more if he hadn't noticed the two large ox-horns jutting out of her head, JUST above her ears.
"Takagi-san, I'd like you to meet Orika-san, my own, personal Madanga. She helps me by sensing when her kind decides to act up," I said, smiling as she extended her hand for Takagi to shake. He slowly extended his hand and shook hers, blushing when he realized he was actually touching a human's hand.
"So, how is she different from the one that attacked me?" Takagi asked.
"Simple," she said, her voice soft and gentle, "I approached Mashiro-sama when we were both in a state of crisis: I'd been beaten and had my energy drained to a near-death level by my own kind, and Mashiro-sama was dying from a car accident. I asked him to give me purpose. He said to save his life, which I did. With that done, I was given half of my life force back, which restored my body to half-power. Once he recovered, I appeared to him in his room and asked to be given purpose again. He asked me to help him through his life, and I agreed, becoming whole and regaining my full power as I turned into a wisp of ink and entered his mind. I'm the reason he's so advanced in school that he rarely has to do his schoolwork. Not only that, but my form is composed of blue ink, the sign of a bond with a master, while the others are still unbounded and bear black ink for blood, the sign of evil and violence amongst our race."
Takagi considered this for a moment, and then asked, "So, how did you start fighting those things, Mashiro-san?"
"Simple," I answered, "About the time I got this apartment, Orika-san approached me with my devices and asked me to help her. I felt it was only right to offer a hand in aide after all she'd done for me. In truth, my first few fights ended with me having to crawl back here to heal slowly, but I've been getting much better at it."
"Alright then, let's get back to my original question. What the hell is going on here? What are these…? Madangas you spoke of?" Takagi asked, and I looked to Orika-chan to do the explaining. She took a deep breath and began:
"Five hundred years ago, the world was much less developed. The world was ruled by numerous ninja clans, who warred over which was the strongest. However, they soon discovered that they couldn't send information to their warriors on the front lines without the carrier being slain, regardless of who or what it was. So, one ninja came up with a way to get around it: he created a technique that allowed him to form beasts out of ink, called the Art of Cartoon Beast Mimicry (A/N: Yes, I referenced Sai from Naruto: Shippuden!). These beasts all resembled Chinese-style animals, like tigers, dragons, etc., and found a way to ingrain vital information that had to get to others without being killed.
"After a few years of these beasts use, the other clans strove to find a way to get the information out of them. One of the Sendou Clan's top researchers discovered a way to make the beasts humanoid and torture the information out of them. They called this the Art of Reverse Mimicry, where removing the sight recognition of the beasts resulted in their becoming human-like. However, doing this made the beasts think ANYONE was their master, and they readily gave the information without torture being needed. The wars raged on, but the monsters began to go berserk. As it turned out, making them humanoid and removing their singular existential purpose caused them to have a massive, collective identity crisis. Due to this, they began attacking humans to find their old masters to either gain a new purpose or devour them.
"As the beasts continually were denied new purpose and consistently devoured humans, they developed the power to change from their old form, now enhanced with super-humanoid strength, and their human forms, which they could twist and contort with their ink-like blood to whatever extent they wanted. With no way to destroy these beasts, the ninja clans united to try and seal them away in a cavern. Once the beasts had learned they couldn't handle fire and were herded into a cave, fifteen of the collective Clans' top warriors gave their lives to seal the beasts in what they then dubbed "Madanga Cave", after one non-warrior having drawn pictures with that same style and dubbing it "Manga", while using the word "Madan" to impress the demonic nature of the monsters.
"For the past three-hundred-and-fifty years, the beasts remained in a state of deep slumber, sealed away in their cave as rock formation grew around it. Then, about fifty years ago, a group of students were on a hiking trip and stumbled upon the cave, wiping away a single symbol on the seal that broke it and freed my people. Since then, we've been looking for people with weak or corrupt minds and hearts to give us purpose. Some of us, like myself, for instance, don't go for that kind of thing, and instead bide our time, looking for morally upright, upstanding people to give us purpose.
"Those of us who wait are segregated from the rest and treated like dirt, beaten around and used for whatever the "higher class" wish. For the most part, my "class" is comprised of females and gentler males, while the "higher class" is comprised of the males and tougher females. Those of us in the lower class dwindle to a small number every day; when I left to find Mashiro-sama eight years ago, there were only a short eighty of us left who wanted proper masters. Since then, I've tried to contact some of my old friends through psychic communication, but I can never reach them. This means they've either found masters or mistresses to take them in, or they've been beaten and drained of their life force to make the higher classmen stronger.
"When I left eight years ago, I'd been beaten to near-death and drained of nearly all my energy and then left to die. All for sneaking into the higher classmen's camp and getting into their research chambers to steal the two pieces of equipment they'd developed: The EnpiDriver and Magnoter, the pencil and notepad Mashiro-sama used to transform earlier. He only has access to the first form, Kabura Form, right now. He has to reach a higher level of strength, OR, alternatively, find a way to fully seal away the Higher Class Madanga and their king for good. So far, he's had trouble trying to discover the means to do this, but has yet to give up. He is a good master. I will serve him to my final moments," Orika-chan said, taking breaths in between sentences to keep going. Takagi sat there, taking in this information.
"So you're telling me that all of this is due to NINJAS, who fought a war, and tried to use ink creatures to relay information, then were turned real in flesh and went on a killing spree, then got sealed inside a cave?" Takagi asked, and Orika-chan and I both nodded.
"Interesting. That is SO COOL!" he said, smiling. I could tell from the look on his face that a thought was in his head; a thought that probably had something to do with that proposal to do manga with him.
"So, what have you tried in terms of getting rid of them so far?" Takagi asked. I gave a deep sigh of frustration and shook my head.
"So far, I've tried just flat out destroying them. That doesn't work, no matter how many times I beat down the same ones. They never seem to get any smarter, either. That boar-like one I beat earlier has faced me at LEAST seven times now; it always seems to not recognize me and attacks me EXACTLY the same way," I said. Takagi nodded.
"Unfortunately, I still don't have an answer for you. I've been trying to work it out all day, and almost had it, but when I went home to find what I'd need to illustrate it, I couldn't find it. Then when I came back, that guy came after me, and… well," Takagi said, "You know the rest."
I nodded back. The three of us sat there in silence, waiting for someone to say something.
Finally, Takagi stood and said, "Well, I think I'd better be getting home. If I don't get back soon, I might lose too much time; time I could be using to finish my homework and try to figure out your problem!" I smiled and stood, shook his hand and led him out. Just as we got outside, I heard a gasp behind me, and Orika-chan looked at me. She nodded, a grim expression growing on her face. I knew what that meant. It was fight time again. I gave Takagi a glance. He gave me one back, that seemed to ask if he could tag along and watch. I nodded, but told him to stay hidden so he wouldn't get hurt. He nodded in agreement, and the three of us took off, Orika-san vanishing back into my head as I mounted my bike and slipped on my helmet. Takagi got on behind me and held on tight. We took off, Orika-chan instructing me from within.
Moments later, a loud, frightened female scream ripped through the air, alerting me to the location. If stopped shortly before, got off and looked around the corner. There was a man assaulting a young woman, who turned and… MIHO-SAN?
"DAMN!" I said, wheeling around. I reached for my bike and pulled a long, red scarf out of the seat compartment. I set about quickly, yet carefully, wrapping the scarf around my head until nothing was left visible except my eyes, which I covered with a pair of shades.
I stepped around the corner and pulled the scarf down from over my mouth, then shouted, "HEY! GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER!" The man turned. His right arm was twisted, sprouting ink lines. Madanga; GO FIGURE. I pulled out my pen and notepad and tossed the pen in the air again; basically I was doing the same thing I'd done for the last year or so.
"HENSHIN!" I shouted, sliding the pen into the rings of the notepad. The "PING" sound rang again, and soon the Kabura armor surrounded my body. I cracked my knuckles and got ready. The man turned and charged me, his arm now becoming a blade that I blocked with my wrist. I flicked my wrist to the left, sending the man flying into a brick wall that was mere inches away. I ran over and masked my voice.
"Miss," I said in a deeper voice, "Are you alright? Did that thing hurt you?" Miho-san shook her head, looking as spell-bound by the fact that she'd been saved by a TV hero as Takagi had been earlier. I picked her up in my arms and carried her around to Takagi, who I told in my deep voice to get her to a safe place. He nodded and started rushing her away. I turned back JUST in time to see the man bearing down on me; it was the exact same monster from before.
"Great," I sighed to myself, summoning my rod and pulling a block-to-counter tactic that pushed it back into the hole. I looked back and saw Takagi running back… chasing after Miho, who'd escaped.
The next few minutes seemed to pass in slow motion: Miho threw herself at me, JUST as the beast rose and leapt to strike her down; Takagi ran up to try and get her out of the way, but I stepped in the way in time to take the blow across my back, which stung like hell; A single piece of paper fell from Takagi's pocket and slipped in front of the monster's foot.
Miho looked up at me with a look of wonder and thanks on her face as she turned and ran off. The monster took a step forward, placing his foot square on the paper. Suddenly, the paper not only attached to his foot, but seemed to suck him in. He struggled. I saw my chance.
"TAKAGI, RUN AND GET MY NOTEBOOK FROM MY BIKE!" I shouted, and he ran to do so.
"RIDER-SAN, CATCH!" he shouted back, throwing my notebook to me. I opened it up and smiled, holding it in one hand while reaching for my belt and pressing the white button.
"RELOAD DRIVE!" The belt announced. I tossed the book into the air and pulled out the pencil, sticking it to my fists and one foot.
"KABURA BREAK!" I shouted, extending my fists to punch the beast repeatedly until it was riddled with large holes. I punched upward, putting a large hole in its jaw. I then jumped and brought my foot down HARD on his head. The beast roared in pain as I drove him back into the ground. The beast exploded, vaporizing into the air as black ink. I caught my notebook and used the pencil to draw a quick scene: a meadow with crisp green grass and trees. I opened the book wide and jumped, slamming it shut around the ink cloud.
When I landed on the ground, I opened the book, and what I saw stunned me: the beast was now made of red ink, smiling wide as it happily grazed on the grass. Orika-chan smiled inside my head.
"I think you just found your solution by accident!" she said happily. I nodded and headed back, now noticing that Miho was sitting on my bike, while Takagi stood next to it. He saw me first and ran up.
"We should get out of here! That thing could come back any minute!" he said, then gasped in surprise when I showed him the book.
"Looks like you helped me solve the problem after all. I'll consider your request tonight and give you my answer tomorrow, alright?" I said, using my deep voice. Moments later, Miho hopped off the bike and walked over to hug my armored body. I could feel it through my armor, yet still I looped my arms around her shoulders loosely.
""You don't have to pretend, Mashiro-san," she said, reaching up to plant a small kiss on the side of my mask. She smiled and took off at a run. My eyes could still see, but barely registered what they saw: Takagi reached for my driver and deactivated it as I reached my hand up to touch my face.
With a big smile on my face, I looked to Takagi and said, "Looks like it's going to be a VERY interesting time. You up for whatever weird twists the world's got for us?" He smiled at me and nodded. I'd found my answer, made a new friend, and seemed to have a girlfriend now… and yet, the fight was hardly over…
~DU! KRP~
~THE END, FOR NOW…~
That's it for this! As with my other pieces, if you like it and want to see it continued, tell your friends to read it, and leave a positive review! If there's anything wrong with this, please let me know! ^_^