A/N: Zi-O gave me some new fic ideas so... might as well revive the old series. This means that there'll be some new chapters aside from Mirror/Parallel, but for now, any new changes/updates would be on AO3 since it's easier to manage the edits there.

Not really specifying the timeline here, but it should be after the Decade situation resolved so that the rest of the Kamen Riders would be able to resume life as normal.

And it should be obvious already. Since this off-shots were part of the branches from Rippled Dimensions, you guys should at least have read the main fic before reading this one.

Kiriya's Chagrin

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"Kiriya-kun, please don't misunderstand. But you don't just defeat a Makamou only by playing the taiko as loud as you can. It's not the drum playing that purifies the Makamou, it's the pure sounds!"

"Don't keep telling me that! It wasn't as if I don't already know that! I'm doing this as you told me to do!"

"Kiriya-kun, what I'm trying to say is—"

"Just let it out in the open already! It wasn't as if I don't already know it. You don't like me, don't you? You wished that Adachi was here as your disciple instead! You think he's better than me!"

"Fine! If you really think like that, I'll just leave!"

xxx

Kyosuke stared at the pile of clothes in front of him before grabbing his bag and stuff it with as many spare clothes that he could cram into the bag. He took out his wallet to see how much money he still have. Which was still enough for him to survive on his own. Good for him then.

As if he didn't still have enough savings in the bank. But whatever.

He frowned. He wasn't really planning to go off on his own, but he really couldn't stand it! Hibiki-san, and the others at Takeshi HQ—while they've tried not to talk about it when he's around, he could still tell that all of them liked Adachi better than him. And he heard about it, as much as the others tried to keep it a secret from him—that Adachi was able to transform into an Oni before. And the oni form that Adachi had taken, was similar to the form that Hibiki-san have. A purple-red Oni, unlike his almost pure white form.

He didn't want to think too much about why the forms looked different; after all, the one that remained as Hibiki-san's disciple was him. Not Adachi. It shouldn't matter if Adachi could transform into an Oni. Compared to Adachi, he's fitter and much stronger than him. It shouldn't matter. It's clear to all who was the better disciple!

Yet despite that, he couldn't ignore the look of disappointment on Hibiki-san's face every time they were training. Or every time, the two of them went on assignments to subdue the few Makamou that appeared during the many seasons. Every time they were at it, it felt as if there would always be things that he did wrong. Every time, there would always be something that Hibiki-san thinks he didn't do properly. Does it really matter if his methods don't exactly follow the way banishment of Makamou were usually done? As long as he defeated them all the same, it should be fine, isn't it? Who cares about all the little details about the Makamou as long as you know how to deal with them? Who cares about all of the different taiko techniques that one should use as long as you get the job done?

All those people who think they're better than him. All this fuss about him not even worthy to get his own Oni title! All of them be damned! As if he even want to receive their shoddy Oni titles! The only title he wants was the name Hibiki.

A sudden cry caught his attention as Kousuke turned to find a stray Kappa attacking someone. Without further ado he transformed into an Oni to defeat the Kappa.

After defeating the Kappa, Kousuke's immediate plan was to leave the place as soon as possible. Since the existence of Takeshi and Oni in general was supposed to be a secret from the public. But all of that comes to nought as the kid whom he just saved grabbed his arm without warning.

"Wait! Don't go yet!" said the kid as Kousuke turned around to look at him. He dematerialized his headpiece before kneeling down towards the kid. The kid let out an awed cry at seeing him do that.

"Wow! Big brother, you're so cool! You defeated the monster so easily!" said the boy again.

Kousuke couldn't help smirking over the praise. "Ah, it's nothing. It's just a stupid Kappa anyway. No big deal."

That didn't deter the boy's enthusiasm as he looked at Kousuke in reverence.

"It's not nothing! You're really cool, big bro!" said the boy at first, before his next words took Kousuke by surprise. "—Can I become your disciple? I want to be as strong as you!"

Kousuke blinked as he was left speechless at the request. Yet for some reason, the kid's words somehow felt like a ray of sunshine to him.

Could he take this boy as his disciple? Does he even has any rights to—no, he'll prove to the others how good he really was! He'll show the others that he's indeed worthy to become an Oni like Hibiki. He'll show them!

Kousuke turned back towards the kid again, smiling. "Sure, kid. I'll have you as my disciple. What's your name?"

The boy kept grinning from ear to ear. "Tsutomu. It's Tsuzumiya Tsutomu. What's your name, big brother?"

Kousuke let out a smirk before making a small salute towards the boy.

"Hibiki. Just Hibiki."

Taking a jab at writing on a least liked character in Hibiki. Since I wanted to write another one-shot for the one proper Hibiki tribute that I wanted. And Zi-O's Hibiki chapter revived that desire though I might as well add a bit to it.

That aside, originally this fic was meant to not just be Hibiki-centric. But I guess now with Zi-O, I'll probably be able to add on more chapters to this fic that don't just cover Hibiki.