A/N: The fascinating characters of Kamen Rider W do not belong to me, but to their creator. Enjoy! xD

Touch: Philip

They were physically closer than most guys their ages; actually, they were closer to each other than most guys in general. From a single glance, they could read each others' minds, predict the thoughts that were never voiced.

So then, why was this so different? What changed?

First, there were the touches.

Little brushes as they leaned shoulder to shoulder, solid warmth as they fought back to back. The occasional clasp of the hand as his aibou pulled him to his feet, the bold, reliable support as the older boy somehow knew when Philip needed a hand, and the casual physical contact that seemed to connect them as the distance closed between them even when there was ample room to move around without entering each others' personal space.

They weren't suffocating enough to be awkward, or even heavily unusual enough to be noticed, but Hidari Shoutarou was his partner, and there was no way that Philip would not notice his partner's touch.

And, the way those touches had increased.

Then, there were the glances.

Short and sharp when Shoutarou wanted to convey a signal in critical situations, long and lingering when the detective didn't think that Philip was looking. Thoughtful and piercing when he was considering a case as Philip reeled off the data and the facts, fierce and protective when something threatened his beloved city, and soft, almost tender, when something moved him, especially in the first days of their partnership when Philip was still new to the world and Shoutarou would drag him out to actually try out theories he had only ever read about, like eating watermelons on the beach and mischievously spitting the seeds out at unsuspecting victims.

They weren't piercing enough to be uncomfortable, or even obvious enough to be noticeable, but to Philip, whose senses were always attuned to the other detective, every single glance was felt.

And, he too felt the way they had changed, from being clear and easily readable to pools of emotive amber that were still clear but had an undercurrent that, to Philip, was indecipherable; an edge of turmoil behind deceptively casual cheer.

Something had changed between them, and it frustrated Philip to no end that all his searches the Infinite Archive, all his wanderings through the Gaia Library, provided him with nothing. After all, having all the data in the world was nothing when the right keywords could not be found and used to retrieve it.

Until one day, the realization dawned on him.

Philip didn't need to access his infinite knowledge to know his partner. He had never needed to.

Everything, all the data he had when it came to Shoutarou, he could feel, in the blood that pumped through his veins, in the muscles of his body that would sometimes react even before his mind could comprehend, in his heart where he would never forget every emotion that Shoutarou evoked, emotions from every moment they spent together, emotions that his aibou sparked in Philip simply by being by Philip's side, simply by being himself.

So, it was more instinct, something that came from the very core of his being that prompted the words which spilled from his lips.

'I'm right here, Shoutarou.'

This time, it was Philip's turn.

A look; clear but determined, forceful. I will not vanish the moment you turn your eyes away.

A touch; light but firm, reassuring. I will not disappear. I will not allow my physical existence to be erased into nothingness.

Philip had left his partner's side once. He would never do it again.

'I will always be here.'