FINALLY I get to post this! I finished writing this story summer before last, but made myself promise to get 'Bishop' and 'King' out first - and we all know how that went.
Thanks to Iccirion who beta-read this back in August 2015.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kamen Rider Kiva or any of its characters. Chisato Koike is an OC of mine who will be featured in later Knightverse stories.
WORD COUNT: 2199
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
Eritate Kengo's face was lit up with enthusiasm when he suggested the idea. Nago Keisuke's was not. "A bachelor party?" he repeated dully.
"To celebrate your last day before your wedding!" Kengo insisted excitedly, "We'll go out, have a drink, just us men, and enjoy ourselves before your big day!"
Nago turned away. "Not interested." He pulled his wallet out, paid for his coffee, then got up to leave the café, but Kengo grabbed his arm, not giving up that easily.
"Come on, it'll be fun!"
"I think it's a good idea," Master agreed, "You really should have some fun, Nago-kun." He coughed slightly, then went back to tending to Buruman, who was lying tiredly in her bed.
"You should go," Megumi stated, "You deserve some time to relax, especially considering how hectic the wedding will probably be." She was sitting nearby with Shizuka, going over the seating plans. "And I'm sure Wataru-kun can tag along to help you make sure Kengo doesn't do anything too crazy."
Nago protested a bit more, but in the end, it was somehow decided that he was having a bachelor party, whether he liked it or not.
Saturday, January 17th, 2009
The night before Nago-san and Megumi-san's wedding, Wataru found himself at a local bar with Nago-san and Kengo-san. It wasn't too upscale, but neither was it too rough or loud. Just a quiet, casual place to have a drink and hang out with friends. It didn't fit the typical Bachelor Party scenario, but two of the three of them weren't all that given to wild partying, anyway. Kengo-san had suggested a livelier venue, but the other two had vetoed the suggestion. The rocker was compensating by taking shot after shot. Nago-san and Wataru had stopped after just one drink each, figuring they would both need their wits about them to get him home safely, and were instead sipping water and enjoying some of the food while having a quiet conversation about the wedding and trying to gage how many more shots it would take before Kengo-san risked getting them kicked out.
"Wataru-kun?" a voice asked from behind him. Wataru turned around in his seat to see a familiar-looking girl standing there. "Fancy meeting you here."
He tried to remember where he'd seen her before, but came up with a blank. Not wanting to be impolite, though, he smiled and replied: "You as well. How are you?"
Nago-san, thankfully, came to his rescue, murmuring to him: "Her name's Keiko. She was one of the girls we met at the gōkon, remember?"
Ohhh. Wataru honestly didn't recall much of that day other than that it was when he first met Mio-san. But he did remember Keiko once Nago-san mentioned it. She was the one who was… Wataru was pretty sure now, with hindsight, that she had been flirting with him, while her friend Sachie had definitely been flirting with Nago-san.
Speak of the devil, Sachie and another girl pushed their way through the crowd and joined them. Except for the unknown girl, they looked like they'd had a bit too much to drink. "Sachie, you remember Wataru-kun, Kengo-san, and Nago-san from the gōkon last summer, right?"
Sachie giggled and took another sip of her cocktail. "Right, yeah, I remember. How have you been, Nago-kun?"
Wataru saw Nago-san tense up beside him out of the corner of his eye. Apparently this woman had stalked him for days afterward. "I'm getting married tomorrow," the Aozora soldier said rather bluntly, probably to discourage any further attempts at chasing after him.
"Aww… Really? Who's the bride?" Sachie did indeed look rather put-out, though her unnamed friend gave him a soft smile and bowed to them.
"Omedetō. I'm Koike Chisato, by the way, Sachie's roommate."
"So seriously, who's the bride?" Sachie demanded insistently (and rather rudely as well) before the guys could greet Koike-san back.
"He's marrying Megumi!" Kengo-san declared, grinning like a drunken fool, "You remember her!"
"Uh… Who?"
Keiko rolled her eyes. "She was the third girl there, Sachie, honestly. But really? She's so pushy and bossy. Don't you remember how she talked to you, Wataru-kun?"
Oh no. Wataru had a feeling that the conversation had just taken a bad turn. One thing was for sure, though, he wasn't going to bad-mouth Megumi-san, even if Nago-san hadn't been there. "Megumi-san is my friend, too," he insisted, "So what if she can be just a little bit… enthusiastic? She just wouldn't be Megumi-san if she wasn't."
Maybe if Keiko had been sober, she would have realised that she'd just said the wrong thing, especially with Megumi-san's fiancé glaring at her. But instead she took a deep swig of her drink and continued. "I just don't see why anyone would want to marry her. She's such a-"
"Okay!" Koike-san interrupted, her voice a bit high, "I think we need to get going, don't you?" She began to herd Keiko and Sachie away. "It was nice meeting you!" she called back over her shoulder.
"They were a lot nicer last time, weren't they?" Kengo-san commented, before going back to his shots.
Nago-san was grinding his teeth, glaring at the counter, so Wataru tried to come up with a new topic of conversation to get his mind off them. "So, where did you say the honeymoon was going to be?"
"Hawaii. That's were Megumi decided to go for her honeymoon when she was eight years old, even it's a bit cliché."
"You gonna spend any time outside the hotel room, or are you gonna lock yourselves in for the entire trip?" Kengo-san asked with a big grin on his face, his eyebrows waggling and his speech slurring a bit.
Nago-san glared at him before snatching the shot glass out of his hand and shoving it towards the nearest bartender. "This guy's only having water for the rest of the night." He then turned back to Wataru, completely ignoring Kengo-san's complaints. "We were thinking about taking a tour up to one of the volcanoes, and Megumi wants to try to learn how to surf. And we'll probably wind up doing something involving dolphins."
Wataru grinned. "Dolphins sound fun. After all the crazy stuff that's been happening this year, you two could use a break."
"I think we all could. I'll admit, I'm kind of looking forward to trying out surfing. It's been a while since I've done something that isn't bounty hunting or Fangire hunting. What about you, anything you want to try?"
"Well, I'm not sure. I mean…" He frowned as he looked around Nago-san and saw an empty bar stool on his other side. "Wait, where did Kengo-san go?"
Nago-san twisted around and also saw that their friend had wandered off. "Let's just hope he went to the bathroom. That's the best-case scenario." He paused. "Though, considering who we're talking about…" The two of them exchanged a look before getting up and starting to search the crowd. Both knew that Shima-san and Megumi-san would have their heads if any one of them got in trouble the night before the wedding.
Wataru was near the other end of the bar when he spotted his friend, leaning against the wall and chatting with a pretty girl. Said girl didn't look like she was bothered, in fact, she was laughing along with him, so Wataru figured everything was alright.
Until…
"What the hell do you think you're doing, hitting on my girl?!" The loud voice seemed to echo across the crowded room, coming from the muscle-bound man angrily striding towards Kengo-san and the girl.
Oh dear.
Wataru looked around in a panic for Nago-san, but couldn't see him. Gulping, he had no choice but to walk into the situation on his own. Kengo-san was doing himself no favours; instead of backing off, he was arguing that the girl hadn't said anything about having a boyfriend, and what kind of man would leave his girlfriend alone at the bar, anyway? Wataru wound up having to duck under the swinging punch, pulling Kengo-san with him so that he wasn't hit, either.
"Wait! Wait! I'm sorry about my friend, he's just had a little too much to drink! You're sorry, right, Kengo-san?"
But Kengo-san just looked like he was ready to throw some punches of his own. Thankfully, the bar's bouncer had moved to join them the second he saw the first swing. "I'm afraid one of you is going to have to leave if you can't behave yourselves."
"We're going," Wataru immediately complied, "Come on, let's find Nago-san and get out of here."
"But that jerk-"
"That's enough out of you," Nago-san interrupted, seeming to appear out of nowhere, "We should have cut you off sooner. Wataru, I'll take him, can you handle the tab?" And he began to steer a protesting Kengo-san towards the door, the bouncer keeping an eye on them.
By the time Wataru got outside (stuffing the receipt in his pocket so they could figure out later who owed what), Kengo-san was throwing up in a garbage can while Nago-san stood a ways away, looking distinctly unimpressed. "So… Now what?" Wataru asked, "It's still pretty early."
Nago-san shrugged. "There's no place I can think of where we could take him when he's like this. None that I'd want to go to, anyway. Should we just drop him off at his place?"
"Aw, come on," Kengo-san moaned, "I'm not that…" He trailed off, his expression turning into a scowl as he saw something behind Wataru, then, without any other warning, he took off in that direction, knocking Wataru to the ground as he passed. "You bastard!"
A group of bar patrons were coming out of the doors just after Kengo passed them, so the other two quickly lost sight of their friend. "Kengo-san!" Wataru called, as Nago-san helped him up, "Great, now what's he up to?"
They still couldn't see him once they got past the other people, but shouts were coming from the closest alleyway. Wataru groaned. That could mean nothing good. So much for a fun night.
When the two of them turned into the alley, their night got even worse. Kengo-san was being held by the throat by the guy he'd nearly started a fight with minutes earlier. The guy's 'girlfriend' was in the middle of having her Life Energy drained by a pair of large, translucent fangs, and the man in question had Fangire markings on his face.
"Just when I thought this couldn't get any worse," Nago-san growled, pulling out the IXA Knuckle, "Fangire!"
Wataru glared at the Fangire holding his friend captive. "Let him go! Kivat! Tatsulot!"
The Fangire turned, laughing, until he saw the IXA Knuckle. Obviously, he recognised it, because he swore and threw Kengo-san aside, shifting into his true form. He was vaguely canine-shaped, and the brief laughing noise he made suggested he was a Hyena Fangire.
"HENSHIN!" Both warriors transformed and charged forward.
It was the work of only a few minutes to dispatch the Fangire, who turned out to be all brawn and no brains, and therefore outclassed as well as outnumbered. "Only you would wind up picking a fight with a Fangire while drunk," Nago told a still-dizzy Kengo while dialling Shima on his cell phone.
"You know Megumi-san won't be happy if she finds out you brought that with you," Wataru commented, referring to the IXA Knuckle.
"You would've had to do most of the work by yourself if I hadn't. I'd suggest not telling her, but I don't want to start our marriage with a lie."
"Good call," Kengo agreed weakly.
After Shima came and picked Kengo up (promising to take him home and force-feed him a hangover cure come morning), and other Aozora agents dealt with the girl's body, Wataru and Nago decided to go and catch a movie. They enjoyed a late-night screening of an action/comedy flick, then returned to their respective homes.
"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Wataru asked before they parted ways.
Nago took a deep breath, nerves already beginning to set in. "Everything's going to be different after this," he stated, "But yes, I'm ready for it."
Wataru smiled. "Good I promise, it will be prefect. We'll make sure nothing ruins your day. See you tomorrow."
THE END
I believe we all know how well Wataru was able to keep that promise.
And a preview of 'Moving On' (for which you're in for another long wait, I'm afraid):
Despite not knowing her for very long, Taiga knew what Shizuka was thinking as she watched Wataru talking with the store clerk. "It may be a little too soon, don't you think?" he asked her in an undertone.
"What do you mean?" she replied innocently.
"It's only been seven months since Mio died. Are you sure he's ready to start dating someone else?"
"I'm not going to push him into dating her. I'm just thinking of providing an opportunity if he does feel ready. Seriously, they already have something in common. That's a start."
