Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider Den O.
Taking a quick break from my other stories, not to mention I had this one sitting on my hard drive for awhile. Enjoy.
Friendly Restraint
It had to be the worst possible case scenario for the small group of time-travelers. It didn't just have to do with the fact that there was an Imagin on the loose, no, that was normal.
It was the fact that the one person that they could question had apparently struck a sour chord with Ryuutaros, and the somewhat rogue Imagin was pretty much unpredictable as to what he might do in the man's presence. Well, not entirely unpredictable. He had already attacked him once.
But as Ryoutaro went to question the President of Hakamada's old company once more, he knew there was a very good chance that Ryuutaros might attempt to step in and do a little 'inquiry' of his own. And he couldn't let that happen.
Unfortunately there was also the very very good chance that Ryoutaro would not even get a say in any of this.
As he neared the garage in which the President was working, it became very clear that Ryuutaros's last meeting had quite an impact.
"You! You attacked me!" The somewhat plain looking business official yelled as he recognized the boy approaching him. In a flurry of movement, the President moved to get away as fast as he could.
"No! I just wanted to ask you about Hakamada-san!" Ryoutaro tried in an effort to get him to calm down. He even had to grab his arm just to be sure he wouldn't leave. As the familiar name rang a bell, the president paused, now considering the merit of this meeting.
"Hakamada?"
"I don't think he's a bad person." Ryoutaro pressed earnestly. "Hakamada-san still remembers the musubi you made, President. Just what happened? On the day when the president's company's money was stolen?"
It wasn't a complete halt, but at least he had slowed down. The business official put fidgeting like a trapped rabbit on hold for a moment as he endeavored to recall exactly what it had happened.
Or at least he seemed to.
"You…You said you're an acquaintance of Hakamada, didn't you?" Then his courage seemed to come back, but not going in the anticipated direction. "Why didn't Hakamada come himself?"
"That's…" There really wasn't any good explanation for this. If Ryoutaro told the President that Hakamada was pretty much being holed up in his own house by the police force, then that would pretty much shoot this entire conversation down like a freshly hunted duck. But what would be a convincing, yet opportune lie?
"If he doesn't have the guts to do it, then doesn't it mean he did it?" The President indicted, wagging a finger at Ryoutaro in an almost scolding manner. And, from somewhere deep inside, Ryoutaro felt a familiar, and unwanted presence emerge. He was faintly aware of the President saying something else, but at the moment, it was as though someone turned a vacuum cleaner on in his mind, sweeping himself out and putting in…
Ryuutaros!
The cry had been unheard by the rest of the world, but now the President's eyes were frighteningly fixed on the transfigured boy in front of him, suddenly garbed in a low-hanging baseball hat, headphone, and a few longish locks of vivid violet hair.
Ryuutaros didn't waste any time on ceremony.
"I think you're in the way after all." He murmured, almost like a moody child, but with a certain degree of hostility in his tone that would point any person in the other direction. It had the desired effect, as the President scampered off, whimpering like a kicked puppy. Ryuutaros wasn't all that far behind.
Suddenly, a desperate idea formed in Ryoutaro's mind.
Momotaros, please stop him!
And, from in the café car of the De-Liner, the red Imagin heard the plea loud and clear, and was willing to oblige.
"Alright!"
He dashed to the back of the car, motioning for everyone in his intended path to get out of the way, and was off like a shot for what he hoped was an easy take-back of his friend's body.
But he wasn't entirely prepared for the force that felt like a rubbery brick wall that he collided with once he entered Ryoutaro. Ryuutaros had been in there for so long, and in so deep, that if he really fought as hard as he could, there wouldn't be much left of Ryoutaro to take back. The end result was that he was ricocheted back, and slammed to the floor of the train car with a final thud. Urataros and Hana leaned over, after having diving helter-skelter to avoid the living projectile, to see if the crimson Imagin was intact.
They didn't exactly have to wait very long to find out.
"Damn it!" Momotaros cursed as he shot up again to give it another try. He was not going to submit to this kid. The very word wasn't even in his mental dictionary. He was going to get that usurper out of Ryoutaro, no matter what it took.
The Imagin transformed into a furious scarlet bolt as he dashed headlong back into Ryoutaro, with more intended force this time. Diving, he still met with that stubborn wall before tumbling head over heels back into the De-Liner.
"What? Again?" Hana asked in disbelief as she watched Momotaros connect painfully with the floor. For a moment it seemed as though the blow had not fazed him, as he leaped to his feet, but considering this was met by a substantially drained set of energy, he fell right back down.
"I'm…really going to die like this…"
It wasn't completely a hyperbole exaggeration. If Ryuutaros was able to get away with things like this, who knows what he would do next. And with the fact that he had said he was going to defeat Ryoutaro, it was pretty obvious that this would spiral badly out of control if not stopped.
The person in question, meanwhile, had started up with his own attempts to reason with the undisciplined Imagin.
Ryuutaros, stop it! You're attacking the President for Hakamada-san, right? But that's wrong. We can't save Hakamada-san until we clear up the misunderstanding with the President. Nee-san wouldn't be happy!
Although Ryuutaros had completely ignored Ryoutaro for most of the speech, the last line had struck an obvious chord. The Imagin stopped dead in his tracks.
"Onee-chan?"
Meanwhile, back on the train, Momotaros had managed to regain enough of his wits to notice that the iron hard control that had previously held Ryoutaro had relaxed somewhat, allowing for some chance of an entry.
And this was his friend he was talking about.
"At least…"
He was not going to let this happen. Not here, not now, and he was not going to lose his friend to this damn kid. Momotaros began to crawl boldly forward, extending his right hand as he went.
"…Just the right hand…"
He was going to fix this, and he was going to do it now. No one messed around with Ryoutaro like this and got away with it.
Just as he could feel the familiar boundary between De-Liner and 2007, Momotaros plunged his clenched fist forward, breaking into Ryoutaro's body once again.
Ryuutaros, for the moment, was utterly perplexed and even more annoyed when he suddenly became aware of the fact that there was an unwanted attendance in the limbo. Getting to his feet, Momotaros wasted no time, struggling to move the right hand as fast as he could for Ryoutaro's right pocket, where he knew he kept his cell-phone. If none of their efforts would sway Ryuutaros, then maybe someone else's would.
Airi sat patiently in Hakamada's home. All of a sudden, her cell phone sounded out with a memorable ring tone.
"It's Ryo-chan, It's Ryo-chan, It's Ryo-chan…"
Opening it and looking down at the small screen, she realized that Ryoutaro had sent her a text message. A rather odd one too.
Call me and tell me 'stop'.
Staring bemusedly at it, Airi began to dial…
Ryuutaros glared at the small phone as he felt Momotaros's presence slip back through to the De-Liner. This was what he had to do, no one could get involved.
"Don't interfere!" He snarled as he raised the cell phone in his clenched fist ready to throw it down to the ground and get rid of the distraction for good.
"It's Nee-san. It's Nee-san. It's Nee-san…"
Perfect timing… Momotaros murmured as his control faded completely from Ryoutaro.
It was as though someone had said the magic word. In the middle of something or not, his own juvenile nature would not let him put this caller down.
"Ah, Ryou-chan? S-t-o-p i-t."
Ryuutaros quietly let the phone fall from his ear, face all smiles.
"Okay, Onee-chan."
And with that, he withdrew back.
With the alien presence gone, Ryoutaro stumbled back, taking a quick seat on some nearby barrels to give his body a momentary break.
"Momotaros. You saved me." The boy mumbled quietly, thankfulness overflowing in his voice as he sent out the message to the Imagin in question.
The crimson Imagin, at the moment, was looking at a whirling version of the De-Liner café car. Finding that his own energy reserves were pretty much exhausted, he let out a weak groan before dropping like a stone to the floor.
He never hit it, though, someone [Kin-chan, he could tell by the fur] had slid out and caught him before he could. From somewhere in his mind, he could hear Ryoutaro, gratitude all apparent in his voice, and couldn't help but let a weak laugh leave on the air.
"Piece of cake…."
Yeah, this was, whatever it was. Review as you see fit.