Shiho screamed as black energy exploded out of her body. The black energy enveloped her in a veil. An invisible force molded the energy surrounding Shiho's body until it resembled a humanoid bat with pointed ears and long claws. Once it had been shaped, the energy transformed into living purple flesh. Leathery wings sprouted out of the fully transformed Shiho's back, at which pointed she released a high-pitched screech. Her two friends covered their ears from the screech but Yukio kept his eyes on the transformed Shiho. After finishing her screeching, Shiho charged at Yukio but instead of attacking him, she leaped over his head and flew into the sky.
"Come back, Shiho! Vitaz can help you!" Hana yelled running after her airborne friend.
Yukio grabbed Hana's arm, preventing her from chasing after her friend.
Hana turned to her hero, tears streaming down her face. "Please, you have to save my friend!" she yelled grabbing Yukio's hands. "You saved Junko and Asami... you can save Shiho too!"
Yukio took a glance at Aki and while she wasn't crying like her friend, she still looked just as worried for her friend Shiho.
"Don't worry," Yukio said pushing Hana aside. "As long as I have the title of Kamen Rider, nobody will die at the hands of a Virus, not even the one infected!"
Yukio kicked off the ground and started sprinting in the direction he saw Shiho fly. Soon, he saw the transformed Shiho flying in the sky. Yukio tapped the screen of his phone, bringing up the wheel of icons on the screen. He spun the wheel and tapped the icon he wanted, causing a computerized female's voice to announce his choice.
"Executing Vitacycle App!"
A ball of electricity fired out of Yukio's belt. The farther the ball of electricity went, the larger it got until it was bigger than the young man. Two beams of light flashed in front of the ball as the engine of the motorcycle roared from within. The young man jumped into the ball of electricity and came out riding a silver motorcycle covered in the same golden circuits as him. Yukio weaved through the traffic on his motorcycle and rode into the highway. On the long stretch of road, Yukio drove his motorcycle at its maximum speed, chasing after the transformed Shiho.
"Won't catch her like this," Yukio whispered noticing Shiho's position in the sky.
He tapped his phone's screen and picked out another icon, this time picking the icon of a pistol again.
"Executing Gun App!" his phone announced.
Another blast of electricity came out of Yukio's belt. From within the electricity, the young man pulled out his firearm. With his gun in hand, Yukio aimed the barrel at Shiho and fired more than ten bullets made out of electricity. Every bullet either missed its target or was dodged but the young man continued to fire bullets. None of the bullets struck their target but the goal was accomplished.
Yukio had forced Shiho to fly in front of him, giving the young man a straight line to the transformed girl.
The android tossed aside his gun, letting it disappear in a flash of electricity, and released his grip on the handlebars. With his enhanced balance, Yukio stood up on the motorcycle's seat and swiped his finger across his phone's screen. He tapped another icon on the screen, an icon showing many bolts of lightning. The computerized female's voice then announced his choice.
"Executing Overcharge App!"
Electricity exploded out of Yukio's suit and traveled through the golden circuits of his suit to gather into the man's legs. Using the electricity gathered in his legs, Yukio leaped off his motorcycle towards Shiho. The young man soared through the air, leaving a trail of electricity behind him. He flew through the air, coming within a few feet of touching Shiho but that was as far as he was going to go. Gravity came into effect as Yukio started to fall back down to earth.
His fingers swiped the screen of his phone but the computerized female's voice that came out of his phone told him more bad news.
"Low battery! Shutting Down!"
"Damn it! Two Overcharges in a row is still too much!" Yukio yelled, his transformation undoing itself in a flash of light and electricity.
The young man yelled at the top of his artificial lungs, crashing into an abandoned building.
...
"Are you sure saving the Spider Virus will pay off in the future?"
The mysterious woman named Yukino spun around to see a tall handsome man in his early twenties standing behind her. The young man wore a double-breasted suit that had over thirty different pins of cartoonish characters pinned to his jacket and sleeves. His skin was just as pale as Yukino's and if one looked close enough, he too had golden circuit-like veins.
"I'm planning something that uses both the Spider and Bat Virus," Yukino told the man. "But it's none of your business how I use my Viruses, Yukiteru."
"I am not telling how to deal with the humans you infect or how you use them," the man named Yukiteru said stopping with Yukino as the two reached an intersection and had to wait for the walk signal to appear. "I am simply questioning your decisions, Yukino."
"Go and bother Yukiko or Yukimaru about their Virus plans," Yukino told him while staring at the signal, waiting for it to turn green. "At least those two are idiotic enough to take your suggestions seriously."
Yukiteru sighed and continued to wait for the walk signal with Yukino. The two stood on the sidewalk for over five minutes and yet, the signal remained red. Yukiteru bit his lip as he snapped his fingers, shattering every traffic signal nearby. Accidents happened almost instantly as cars crashed into each other. The two ignored the accidents and crossed the street without paying much attention to the mass of people gathering around the wrecked and smoking cars.
"Yukiya is going to get mad," Yukino said taking out a floral-patterned umbrella when a slight drizzle of rain came upon them.
"I don't care," Yukiteru replied ignoring the sudden drizzle. "That signal should have switched to walk. It's not my fault it annoyed me."
Yukino smiled as they walked down the sidewalk.
...
Luckily for Yukio, he crashed through a three-story condemned building occupied by people who wouldn't call the police for any reason. Him crashing through the ceiling spooked every person in the building and made them flee. No police or curious citizen came to investigate the crash site where Yukio laid. It was another stroke of luck for the young man as Hana and Aki witnessed his falling back to the earth and spent all night searching for him in the area where they saw him crash.
"He definitely crashed here," Aki said looking up at the hole in the ceiling that went through three floors. She squinted as the sunlight pouring through the hole in the ceiling was a little too bright.
"Mister Vitaz must be under that debris," Hana said pointing at the debris created from three floors collapsing on top of Yukio. She hurried over to the pile and began throwing aside the debris. She turned to Aki after noticing her friend wasn't helping. "Come on, we need to get him out."
"Didn't want to hurt my back but okay," Aki responded running over to help Hana.
The two girls threw aside the debris, straining their arms and backs with each piece thrown. It took a while but the girl's finally got the debris off of Yukio's head. The rest of his body was still trapped underneath debris.
"Mister Vitaz!" Hana yelled getting on her knees next to Yukio's head. "Are you okay, Mister Vitaz?"
Hana slapped Yukio's cheeks, hoping to wake the man up. Yukio didn't open his eyes despite having been slapped over twenty times with each slap being stronger than the last. In a last ditch attempt to wake him up, Hana grabbed his ponytail with both hands and pulled it as hard as she could. Hana, however, fell backwards because she used too much strength to pull on the ponytail of a young man's severed head.
Aki stared wide-eyed and mouth open at the severed head Hana held by his ponytail. It took a second for Hana to realize that Aki's horrified expression was because she was currently holding a severed head.
Both girls screamed at the top of their lungs with Hana dropping Yukio's head. Their screaming continued until Hana dropped on her hands and knees in front of Yukio's severed head.
"You can't be dead, Mister Vitaz," Hana cried holding Yukio's head against her chest. "You're a Kamen Rider. A hero like you can't die this young!"
"I'm not dead..." Yukio's muffled voice said.
Hana looked up at Yukio's severed head to see that the android had his eyes open and was staring back at her. Again, shock rendered the two girls silent for half a minute. When they realized that Hana was holding the severed head of someone who was still alive, both girls again screamed.
"He's become one of the undead!" Aki screamed kicking Yukio's head across the room until he bounced off a crumbling wall. Aki picked up a large piece of debris and charged towards Yukio with the intent of bashing his head into paste with the rock.
"I'm not undead either!" Yukio panicked as Aki charged at him.
"Stop! He's a Kamen Rider, remember?" Hana yelled jumping in front of her friend, stopping her from smashing her hero's head.
"And I'm not dead in any form!" Yukio yelled at Aki. "I'm an android so severing my head won't kill me. Smashing my head will crush my equivalent of a brain, which will kill me!"
"That's right, Mister Vitaz isn't a zom..." Hana stopped speaking once she noticed something about Aki.
She glared at Aki and crossed her arms after she realized it. "Zombies are more likely to be real than a Kamen Rider?" Hana asked her friend.
Aki avoided eye contact and tried to answer her friend's question but couldn't think up of a good reason, especially since a real Kamen Rider was in plain sight. An argument was imminent from the two friends.
"Mind not arguing about the existence of fictional beings when I am in need of help?" Yukio said stopping a potential argument that would hinder his chances of getting his body back.
Hana and Aki forgot their possible argument and hurried to deal with Yukio's current problem.
"Is one of us going to have to fix your body, Mister Vitaz?" Hana asked. "Because I know nothing about engineering or whatever other skills are needed to fix a android."
"Neither do I," Aki added.
"That doesn't matter," Yukio told them. "I was originally built as an experimental robot capable of fixing any amount of damage done to the body, so long as the core remained untouched. Simply get my arms, shoulders, and the upper part of my chest and I'll do the rest."
The two girls nodded and hurried back to the pile of debris where the rest of Yukio's body laid buried under. They found Yukio's left arm in an hour and ten minutes later, they found his shoulders. The two girls were soon drenched in sweat but their work was done after they found Yukio's other arm and the upper half of his chest.
"Now place my body parts near me," Yukio told them.
They listened and laid his arms, shoulders, and part of his chest near his head. They gasped as tendrils of silver blood extended out of each body part. The tendrils grabbed the other tendrils and reattached the parts to the head. Yukio then used his arms to dig out the rest of his body, letting the girl's take a much needed rest. It took another hour for Yukio to find and reattach his body parts.
"This is the last body part," Yukio said watching silver tendrils reattach his left foot.
"How are your clothes still intact?" Hana asked despite being disappointed because she somewhat wanted to see the young man's naked body.
"My nano-machines repair these clothes anytime they're damaged," Yukio answered pulling on the fabric of his T-shirt. "But enough talking, I got to hurry and find Shiho..."
Yukio took a step forward but fell back to the ground. He knew the problem was that he repaired his body too quickly. His body needed time to readjust itself every time he reattached or repaired a body part. At least twelve hours were needed to complete the repairs but he didn't have that much time. He made a promise to save the two girl's friend from the Virus infecting her.
"It is so satisfying seeing you like this, Yukio," Yukino said.
Yukio and the two girls looked towards the entrance to the building and saw the same woman that appeared last night to save the Spider Virus. Yukino spun her floral-patterned umbrella on her shoulder as she walked on wooden sandals towards Yukio. The young woman chuckled at the sight of the fallen Yukio.
Yukio took out his undamaged smartphone from his pocket.
"No need for transform," Yukino told him. "You of all people should know how much I abhor violence. Too much unneeded dirt gets on my clothes and I can only imagine the pain it'll take me to wash the blood out. I wish my nano-machines could clean my clothes too..."
"Get to the point, Yukino," Yukio interrupted.
"Oh, I would if only I can remember," Yukino said tapping her chin.
"Tell us where our friend is!" Aki demanded.
"We know you're responsible for turning Shiho into that beast," Hana added. "Give us her location or else Vitaz-sama will beat it out of you."
Hana's threat made Yukino burst out laughing. Somehow, Yukino's laughter gave the two girls an unsettling feeling of dread.
"Fine, I'll let you find your friend," Yukino said snapping her finger.
Yukio felt the signal of a Virus coming from underground a few miles from where he stood. He slowly got back onto his feet and forced his body to work despite still needing time to repair itself. Both he and Yukino knew that he could stay at full strength for only a short amount of time.
"I'll succeed this time," Yukio told Hana and Aki. "I'll cure Shiho and bring her back."
"We believe in you so don't let us down," Aki told him.
"Come back as soon as you can with Shiho, Vitaz-sama," Hana said.
"I will," Yukio said. He took a look at Hana. "Also, Vitaz is my Kamen Rider name. My real name is Yukio Kikaido."
Yukino chuckled when she saw Yukio glaring at him. He wouldn't leave unless the two girls were safe from her. She knew it and decided to grant him that as well, disappearing in a gust of wind. Knowing that Hana and Aki was safe from her, Yukio hurried towards the signal of the Virus.
...
Yukio followed the signal of the Virus to an underground subway tunnel. The tunnel didn't have much light, forcing Yukio to walk alongside the wall. His artificial eyes had the ability to use infrared but his weakened body needed to save as much energy as possible in order to fight the Bat Virus. He continued walking alongside the wall until the young man heard sobbing from farther into the tunnel. He ran towards the sobbing to find Shiho sitting on the dirt floor, hugging her legs and wiping her tears with the sleeves of her torn sweater.
"I'm so sorry this is happening to you, Shiho," Yukio said taking a step towards the sobbing girl.
"I still can't sleep," Shiho cried. "Everything is just so tiring. My studies, my family's expectations, and everything else just tires me out. Now sunlight burns my eyes, my ears hear everything, and those evil androids turn me into a monster against my will. It's just so tiring. All I want is to fall asleep."
"Shiho, I can help you," Yukio told her.
"Help me?" she repeated.
"Yes, just let-"
Shiho jumped at Yukio, grabbing his by the collar. Yukio got a look at the changed Shiho, seeing her milky white eyes and long pointy ears that belonged to a bat. Fangs protruded out of her mouth and Shiho had an overall feral expression.
"The nano-machines already mutated your DNA this much?" Yukio whispered.
"If you want to help me, then put me out of my misery!" Shiho screamed at Yukio. "I'm going to turn back into that monster at any moment. Those androids will force me to hurt people and I won't be able to stop myself. Life isn't worth living if I have to continue on like this..."
"Don't ever think life isn't worth living, Yukio. Life can be beautiful if you choose to keep walking forward..."
The voice of an important woman from Yukio's past filled his mind after he heard Shiho's desire for him to put her out of her misery.
"I won't kill you, Shiho," Yukio said.
"Useless piece of junk!" Shiho screamed pushing Yukio away.
Yukio fell back because of Shiho's push but he didn't fall to the ground. Instead, Yukio fell on a sticky surface that felt very familiar.
He quickly realized that he fell on a spider's web.
"I'll have my revenge now!" the Spider Virus yelled from above Yukio.
Yukio tried to free his arms from the web but it stuck to his skin no matter how much strength he used. He tore the web apart so easily last night but he figured out that his weakened body at the moment could not free him. He had to watch as the Spider Virus fell from the ceiling of the tunnel and land in front of him. The monster's six eyes glared at him with noticeable anger.
"Here's for kicking a hole in me yesterday!" the monster yelled punching Yukio in the gut.
The Spider Virus released a clicking cackle after seeing Yukio grit his teeth from the pain his nano-machines sent to his brain. The pain warned him not to sustain anymore injuries but it was getting harder and harder with each passing moment. The Virus didn't waste time as he punched Yukio with all six arms of his.
"Enough fun," the Spider Virus laughed staring at the beaten Yukio bleeding silver blood filled with his nano-machines that couldn't fix his body fast enough. "Time to follow Miss Yukino's orders and shut this android down."
The Spider Virus clenched all six of its fists and aimed each fist at Yukio's head. "Die, Kamen Rider Vitaz!"
"No!" Shiho screamed.
Shiho grabbed the Spider Virus' hairy back and using the strength her nano-machines gave her, the tired girl lifted the monster off the floor. Shiho held the flailing and furious Spider Virus over her head until she threw the monster as far away as she could from them.
The tired girl turned her head back to the trapped Yukio. "I'm sorry for calling you a piece of junk," she apologized. "It's just that I can't think straight right now."
"That's alright," Yukio told her. "Just help me get my arm out."
Shiho nodded and looked at her right hand. She had some control over the nano-machines and forced the machines in her blood to mutate her hand faster. She winced as claws made out of her bones came sliding out from underneath her nails. Shiho used her claws to slash apart the webs trapping Yukio.
"Thank you, Shiho," the young man said taking out his smartphone.
Shiho gave the android a smile but the smile quickly turned around as she felt the nano-machines in her blood go into overdrive.
"Bat Virus Corruption Start..."
"Don't worry, Shiho," Yukio said using his thumb to turn his phone on. "I'll show you..."
Yukio tapped a icon on his phone, causing the female's voice to announce his choice.
"Executing Driver App!"
Yukio's metal belt appeared around his waist. Not wasting anytime, the young man placed his smartphone into the empty slot of the belt. The icons on the screen started to shake and the phone began to emit electricity. Yukio stretched out his free arm.
"That life is worth living!"
Shiho smiled after hearing Yukio's words but her smile disappeared as she was forcefully transformed back into the Bat Virus in front of the young man. Yukio kept his calm despite having just watched the girl turn into a monster for a second time.
"Executing Vitaz App!" Yukio's phone announced.
"Henshin!" Yukio yelled swiping the wheel of icons on his phone's screen.
A wheel of electricity came out of his belt and spun around the android in a perfect orb, incinerating the Spider Virus' webs. Blasts of electricity struck Yukio, equipping his body with parts of the Vitaz suit. Golden circuits formed over the silver suit's fabric as one last blast formed the helmet with insect eyes over the young man's head. The transformation ended with Yukio tossing aside his silver and gold scarf, creating a powerful gust of wind that blew the Bat Virus away from him.
"I got ten minutes and one Overcharge attack in this form," Yukio warned himself. "Got to make it count!"
Thanks to the electricity coursing through his circuits, Yukio gave off enough light to brighten the tunnel enough to find his opponent. The Bat Virus screeched at the fully transformed Yukio but the android ignored her cries and punched the Virus in the side, sending a powerful burst of electricity into the body. Yukio's punch made the Virus screech again but this time because of the pain it felt.
"Don't ignore me!" the Spider Virus yelled interrupting the fight.
The Spider Virus spat out ropes and ropes of webbing, creating a maze of webs in the subway tunnel that trapped Yukio. With its webs in place, the Spider Virus charged at Yukio while the Bat Virus took flight inside the tunnel. The Spider Virus punched Yukio on the ground and the Bat Virus swooped down on him, using her sound radar to avoid the webs, to slash at him with her claws. Every strike the two Viruses got on Yukio caused a shower of sparks to spray out of his circuits where they struck him.
"Miss Yukino informed us that you'll be too weak to fight," the Spider Virus told Yukio. "We know you can only use that Overcharge attack one more time before you run out of power and turn back to normal."
Yukio tapped an icon on his phone's screen, making the smartphone announce his choice.
"Executing Sword App!"
From within the electricity, Yukio pulled out a silver short sword without a guard. Golden circuits ran up the sword from the bottom of the handle to the tip of the blade. The young man took the short sword and used it to parry the Bat Virus' claw attack. The Spider Virus, however, took advantage of his focus on parrying the other Virus' attacks and punched Yukio with all six of his fists.
"You can't defeat the both of us!" the Spider Virus cackled punching the man in the side with his three left arms. "Defeat one of us with an Overcharge attack and the other will kill you! You don't have the energy to defeat us both! So, what will you do? Save your Bat Virus girlfriend and let me kill you? Or defeat me and let your girlfriend kill you? No matter which choice you pick, you die!"
The Spider Virus cackled louder at the android. It and the Bat Virus struck Yukio over and over, making the monstrous spider cackle louder.
The Spider Virus jumped onto his webs and used them to attack Yukio with faster punches. It knew that Yukio was starting to run out of energy and decided to finish him off by climbing his webs to the ceiling right above the young man. He waited for the moment Yukio parried another attack from the Bat virus before he leapt down at the young man.
The monster gave one last laugh as he fell. "Time to d-"
"Executing Overcharge App!"
"What!?" the Spider Virus yelled.
Electricity exploded out of Yukio's suit and traveled through the circuits in his suit to gather inside his short sword. The android turned his eyes up to see the Spider Virus falling towards him. Arcs of electricity swirled around the short sword as Yukio swung his blade upwards. The tip of Yukio's sword pierced the chest of the Spider Virus. The monster screamed as it was impaled through the chest with the electric-charged sword. Its screaming continued until the electricity coursing into its body forced the monster's nano-machines to turn it back into a uninjured human. The energy released by forcefully healing and reverting the Virus back into a human caused the monster to explode.
Yukio caught the young man who used to be infected with the Spider Virus and gave his body a harmless shock, rendering the nano-machines in his blood useless. After curing the young man of his Virus, he tossed him into a spider web near the ceiling so he would be safe from both the subway trains and the fight.
"I got one minute left and no Overcharge," Yukio said starting to lose strength in his arms and legs. "How can I defeat this Virus without an Overcharge?"
The Bat Virus screeched as the roar of a subway train echoed from farther down the tunnel. Hearing the subway train coming towards them, Yukio got an idea.
The young man sprinted down the tunnel until he saw the bright lights coming from the front of the train. Yukio tapped the icon of a magnet on his phone's screen.
"Executing Magnetism App!"
Yukio jumped on top of the passing subway train as the electricity coming out of his feet allowed him to stick to the metal surface. The android tightened his grip on his short sword, waiting for the moment that the train came close to the Bat Virus. He had to make this plan work because he had twenty seconds left before his transformation would undo itself.
"Rider Slash!" Yukio yelled swinging his sword once the train came close to the Bat Virus.
The Bat Virus flew backwards, dodging Yukio's slash. The Bat Virus made a noise that sounded like laughter as she watched the young man ride the subway train out of sight. Yukino's orders were to kill Yukio so the Bat Virus flew after the subway train with the intent to murder the weakened android.
What the Virus didn't notice, however, was that there was a second subway train coming towards her. A subway train that had Yukio on top of it. The Bat Virus screeched in a panic as Yukio deactivated his Magnetism App and jumped off the train, swinging at the Virus the short sword that held the rest of his electricity.
"This is the real deal!" Yukio yelled. "Lightning Rider Slash!"
Yukio's short sword slashed the Bat Virus in half horizontally. Her nano-machines were forcefully made by Yukio's electricity to turn Shiho back to normal with no injuries or mutations. The release of energy caused an explosion in the tunnel but Yukio came out of it with Shiho in his arms. He didn't waste anytime to give the rescued Shiho a harmless shock that rendered the nano-machines in her blood useless.
Vitaz's transformation undid itself in a flash of light and electricity, leaving Yukio in the dark tunnel with the sleeping Shiho in her arms.
The young man looked at the Shiho's face as she slept.
"I wonder what you're dreaming about, Shiho-san?" Yukio said smiling.
He chuckled. "Never mind, I'm sure it's a good dream..."
...
"I remember this guy! He's the one who tried to hit on me and my friends in the club before I was attacked by that monster!" Hana yelled looking at the picture of the man infected with the Spider Virus.
"He helped Shiho walk that day the monster attacked the girl's dorm," Aki remembered after staring at the picture for a minute. "I think his name is Atsushi. I always remember him hitting on girls and being rejected. He tried to ask me out one day too."
Hana and Aki turned their attention back to their friend Shiho. Despite being able to sleep now, Shiho still needed to go to the hospital for severe sleep deprivation but she felt better than she ever felt before. She was no longer trying to fall asleep when someone tried to talk to her. Hana and Aki even noticed how much more their friend smiled after leaving the hospital. Something about their friend changed after they met the Kamen Rider.
"Did you see Yukio lately?" Hana asked Shiho, who happily drank a strawberry smoothie.
Shiho didn't answer her friend until she finished her smoothie. "He visited me once when I was in the hospital but I haven't seen him once since," she answered before shaking her cup in the air. "Waitress! Can I have another strawberry smoothie?"
"Wow, I almost forgot this side of Shiho's personality," Aki said watching her friend drink another smoothie with a smile on her face.
Hana smiled with her friends. "I'm glad you're back, Shiho," Hana said wiping her eyes. "We have to find Yukio-sama and thank him!"
Shiho took a look out of the cafe's window. "Yeah, we should go out and look for..."
Shiho stopped speaking once she saw Yukio outside the window, sitting down on the sidewalk holding up a sign saying 'I'm an android capable of transforming into Kamen Rider Vitaz and I am in need of a place to stay. I have been forced to spend my nights in the park, evading the policemen that patrol at night and scaring small animals with the electricity that naturally comes out of my body. Please allow me to stay at your place until I defeat the forces that create the Virus monsters'.
Shiho, Aki, and Hana stared wide-eyed at the dirty Yukio with their mouths open.
Shiho hurried out of the cafe and ran to Yukio's side. While she wanted to help him up to his feet, she stepped back and pinched her nose because of the strong stench that came off him.
"What the hell is that smell?" Shiho coughed while throwing her sleeve up to her nose.
"I jumped into the sewers last night," Yukio answered looking up at the young woman.
"Why?" Shiho asked.
"Thought I could rest there but I underestimated the smell and the local wildlife that already makes the sewers its home," Yukio told her.
Shiho grabbed Yukio's sign and pulled it out of his hand. "This sign is too long, not to mention how ridiculous it sounds," Shiho said slapping his head with his own sign. "Why didn't you come to me if you needed a place to stay? My friends and I wanted to thank you for saving me but we couldn't find you."
Shiho ignored the smell and grabbed Yukio's arm. The android stared at her while the girl pulled him up to his feet.
"Come on," she said leading him down the sidewalk. "I know a guy who owes me. He'll give you a place to stay if I ask him."
Yukio stared at her for a while but smiled once he noticed the kindness Shiho had in her eyes while she pulled on his arm. He only saw that kind of kindness from one other person in his life. His mind remembered the image of a middle-aged woman with graying black hair who wore a pink cherry blossom themed lab coat. He thought of his very first memory from when he was activated. He remembered standing inside of his pod until he opened his eyes, seeing the woman holding a chocolate cake with one lit candle sticking out of the middle. Despite having just been born, Yukio could see how much the woman loved him because of her kind eyes.
"Happy Birthday, Yukio! My name's Yuki Kikaido but you can call me Mom!"
"Mom..."
"Did you say something?" Shiho asked turning her head.
Yukio smiled at her. "It's nothing," he replied.
Shiho eyed him suspiciously but dismissed it. "Alright, let's get you to your new home," she said giving him a smile.
The young woman held the android's hand as she led him down the sidewalk, soon having her other friends join her. Watching the four walk away from atop a nearby building was Yukino and Yukiteru. Yukino may have looked calm on the outside but on the inside, she was furious that Yukio had defeated two of her Viruses. Yukiteru and three figures hiding in the shadows watched as Yukino snapped her umbrella in two.
"You got lucky, Yukio," Yukino whispered incinerating her broken umbrella until it turned into ash in her fiery hands. "Our little brother..."
...
End of 'I'm Alive'
