At first Kogenta was surprised that Riku came back to visit the shrine where he had left his Drive. The fight was over and Riku had ended their contract with him. He had honestly thought that his once Toujinshi would move on and continue on with his normal life, not giving a second thought about the device that was once used to summon him, but never forgetting the adventures they went on together. Never once noticing him watching over the brunette from afar.
So Kogenta was honestly surprised when, a week after their contract had ended, Riku had come and visited his now slumbering Drive straight after school. He watched with interest from a distance as Riku entered the shrine and picked the Drive up from it's pedestal and smiled fondly. He waited with baited breath, was Riku going to summon him again? He released a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding when Riku put the Drive back down on the pedestal and walked back out of the shrine to return home, the Byakko following from a distance.
From that point on Riku's visits became quite regular. At first he just stood there smiling, remembering what Kogenta presumed to be their adventures together but then, little by little, he began to talk about his day and how his life was going as if he was still inside the Drive; not that he wasn't near by to hear or get the basic of how his once Toujinshi's life was going by following him but a bit of detail was greatly appreciated.
Eventually Kogenta stopped following Riku around, reasoning with himself that Riku could look after himself and that there was no need to, beside he had the boy's visits to look forwards to. It was great at first, to hear what happened to Riku each day as said boy explained what happened with surprisingly great detail and a huge smile on his face, how the rowing club gained more members and how they were moving forwards onto more major competitions, how Ryuuji and Rina were doing, how he still met up with Yumma and Soma, even Teru and Nazna at times. He even started dating Momo eventually. Yes, Kogenta could safely say that Riku's life was going greatly for the boy.
That was until a month later, three months after the first visit, when he noticed that Riku didn't seemed as cheery as he had been in the past. But whatever was bothering the boy, he did well at hiding it. But as time went on, little by little, the mask Riku put on crumbled away despite how hard Riku tried to put on a brave face and act as if nothing was wrong. He eventually ended up saying that Momo had broken up with him three months into their relationship, saying she said it wasn't quite working. Which then led to a sort of chain reaction, Ryuuji and Rina started hanging out with Momo more often gradually drifting away from brunette originator. And it seemed, from what Riku said, that the rowing club was doing better without him.
So Kogenta decided to follow Riku again one day, to see to what extent everything had gone, how badly things had gotten. And it was worse than Riku had let on. ALL the students and staff were openly avoiding him, their lively chatter going to hushed whispers as soon as he walked through the school gates. Some students glared and/or sneered at him as he past while the staff acted as if he wasn't there, all the while Riku continued on his way with his shoulders slumped and head bowed, never making eye contact with anyone. Kogenta soon spotted Ryuuji, Momo and Rina hanging out with a couple boys who the Byakko presumed to be the new members of the rowing club. They looked to be a year or two older than Riku and, to anyone else, ordinary junior high school students. But for some reason they gave the Byakko Shikigami a bad feeling.
The day just got worse from there. The teachers avoided giving him the paper work that was meant to be complete and they even had the audacity to ask him to read from said paper work and/ or to answer a question from it too, only to chew his ear off when he remained quiet. The only paper work Riku got handed were test sheets and homework. And when it came to handing them back their marked work, they barely returned any of Riku's, only handing him the one's he had failed and telling him to study more. This really got on Kogenta's nerve.
But Riku's torment didn't end there. During the breaks the students pushed and shoved past him, some even throwing their trash at him, and those who were courageous enough to approach only did so to make him their personal punching bag when he was alone and just before the bell went to signal the end of the break. But even then he was not saved by the bell, his tormentors continuing for a good five possibly ten minuets before deciding to go to class and blaming their lateness on the brunette, all the while Riku took every hit without saying a word or fighting back. And when he walked into his class, limping, battered, bruised and bloodied, the teacher STILL scolded him for making his classmates late, ignoring the obvious condition Riku was in.
During the next class when the teacher asked Riku where his 'missing' paper work was and Riku remained silent, Kogenta knew the brunette had handed them in and that the teacher had done something with them. So he went in search for them, knowing nothing overly bad would happen to Riku during class, soon finding the paper work in the trash in the teachers office completed and marked with a score that obviously meant he past. It made the Byakko bristle in anger at how unfair and poorly everyone was treating Riku.
During the next and final break of the day Riku still had to suffer another two beating and his lunch being stolen before being blamed for his classmates lateness again. But somehow, by the end of the day Riku was no longer limping, bruises discretely hidden and blood cleaned off. If Kogenta hadn't been there to witness it first hand, he would have been none the wiser when Riku still came to visit the drive and chat to supposedly nothing but air.
It made the Shikigami of trust sick to know how the boy was being treated, how Riku was just taking it and then shrugging it off as if it was nothing, how easily the boy had fooled him into thinking that everything was ok. It had him ROARING in anger and frustration once the boy had left, this being the shortest of the gradually shortening visits, anger at the people doing this Riku and frustration at himself for not being able to do anything for the Heaven Style Originator.
But Kogenta was thankful to know that Riku's grandfather still treated the boy as the grandson he always had.
It wasn't like he didn't want to be there for Riku but there wasn't anything Kogenta could to help him and couldn't stand seeing Riku go through all that torment. So he stayed behind once again and waited with baited breath for the brunette to visit, easily spotting the hidden bruises when he did.
The visits got quieter to the point where Riku no longer talked and soon got shorter to the point where they became irregular; Riku not visiting for days. But then a week past and Riku hadn't visited at all, which didn't really surprise the Byakko with the visits becoming irregular but it did disappoint him. A second week past and the brunette still didn't visit, making Kogenta begin to worry. Then one night, halfway through the third week, Kogenta suddenly got a very bad feeling in his gut. So he dashed off to check on Riku at his home, ignoring the beautiful night scenery.
Once at the house Kogenta peaked in through Riku's bedroom window, finding said boy fast asleep on his futon. The Shikigami of trust sighed in relief and was about to leave when dread suddenly washed over him. Cautiously he floated through the wall and into the boys room. As he got closer to Riku he figured out why all his instincts were screaming at him that something was very wrong. He rushed over to the boy and tried to shake him awake but his hand just went straight through Riku's shoulder.
"Riku! Oi, Riku! C'mon wake up, Riku!" Kogenta called desperately.
They boy's life force, once so bright and vibrant and strong and so god damn hard to miss, is dull and weak and fading! He looks around the room frantically with wide, scared eyes, trying desperately to find the course, soon spotting a small medicine bottle lying on the floor with half it's contents gone and the other half scattered slightly. Kogenta doesn't know to much about human medicine but he does know that taking to much of some medicines in one go can be fatal.
With horror filling him, Kogenta renewed his tries at shaking the boy awake, calling out for him to wake up, never once noticing his transparent ghostly form becoming solid and being able to actually touch and shake Riku.
"RRRIIIKKKUUU!" Kogenta practically screamed when the brunette's life force became too dangerously dull and weak for his liking, tears he had held back till now were flowing freely.