Chapter 7: Face Your Broken Feelings


Lelouch sped down the street on his bike as fast as he could without breaking any laws or bones as he headed towards the hospital after Signum had called him.

"We're running out of time," He said to himself as he stopped at a traffic light just as a call came through his system. "It looks like they're calling Decade now. What is it?"

"Oi, Decade!" Vita shouted in his ear. "Are there any witches nearby?"

"Can't let her think I know anything," he thought before answering. "No there aren't. What's the sudden hurry?"

"Hayate had an attack! Hurry up and find more witches so we can help her!"

"Calm down," Lelouch said slowly. "Panicking will neither make her get better or help your judgment. There are only three of Riders in this town and the Magical Girls that can sense the witches are still only school girls so they have classes right now. Nevertheless, we will do our best to locate one as soon as possible...hmm?"

"What! What is it?" Vita shouted. "What are you 'Hmm'ing about?"

"Found one," Lelouch said with a barely contained sigh. "It's at the bridge on the north side of the city. Ixa is heading there now. I don't care who you send, but make sure you give the Grief Seed to Ixa. You don't need it after all."

"Yeah, we know...thanks..."

"Thank me after your master gets better," Lelouch said as he hung up to call Suzaku. "Suzaku, we got a Grief Seed that's about to burst."

"Really? Where is it?"

"Bridge on the north side of the city. One of the Wolkenritter is heading there now. Tell C.C. to use this moment to contact the Bureau mages and distract them. Have her ask them about the book or give them more information about Walpurgis Night or whatever!"

"R-right..." Suzaku replied. "But Lelouch...you need to calm down or you'll make a mistake."

Lelouch blinked at Suzaku's words as he took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Right...thanks."

"No problem. Just make sure the girl is okay."

"Yeah. Lelouch, out."

The light then turned green as Lelouch sped along the street again.


Suzaku got up from the couch and walked past C.C. towards the door.

"Lelouch says to get in contact with the Bureau and trade information."

"Okay. You're going to fight a Witch now?" C.C. asked.

"Yeah. I'll be back later."

"Have a safe trip."

As Suzaku left, C.C. sighed as she got up as well.

"Where are we going to do, Big Sis?" Kivala asked.

"We'll simply see what the so called administration found out about this so called Book of Darkness and why they are after it."


Ixa managed to get to the construction site before the Wolkenritter member did so he was stuck waiting on the top of the bridge before he spotted a blue light fly towards him.

"Are you the Kamen Rider?" the wolf guardian asked.

"Kamen Rider Ixa," Ixa introduced himself. "And you are?"

"Zafira of the Wolkenritter," the guardian replied. "Are you fine in working with us?"

"It is to save the life of an innocent girl as well as protect the people in this city. I'm still wary about the Book but for now, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."

"I thank you."

"It's fine...get ready, it's activating."

The Grief Seed hatched as the barrier expanded around them sending them into a with a spiral red sky and strange looking faces on the ground.

"I see, so all the barriers are different," the wolf guardian said as it looked around. "Are you still there Rider?"

"Right behind you, Guardian," Ixa replied as the wolf stood up and turned into its human form. Ixa took out the Garulu Fake Fuestle. "Allow me to match up to your speed."

"Ga-ru-lu Fa-ke!"

His sword howled before taking the form of the Garulu Saber.

"Hmm, you Riders all have interesting abilities," Zafira said.

"Decade is one of a kind though," Ixa replied. "Here they come."

Several creatures rose up from the ground and started hobbling toward them.

"Is that supposed to be some sort of drawing?" Zafira asked.

"I...suppose?" Ixa said as he scratched his head. "It looks like a child's scribble to me."

"This Witch is insulting us, Rider. Let's hurry this up."

"I'll do my best to keep up, Guardian."

The two of them roared as they proceeded to tear their way through the paper familiars.


"This...is...not...my strong point!" Lelouch gasped as he clutched the railing of the staircase. "Damn that elevator for taking too long! Let's see...room 501...ah here..."

Lelouch straightened himself out and returned his breathing to normal as he knocked on the door of Hayate's room.

"Come in," came Hayate's voice.

"Yo, how are you doing?" Lelouch asked as he entered the room.

"Ah, Lelouch-san!" Hayate's face brightened as she saw him. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to visit you of course," he said as he draped his jacket over a nearby chair. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yes. Signum and Shamal are talking to the doctor and Vita went to get something to drink."

"I see. Your family sure cares a lot for you."

"They're just overreacting," Hayate said with a little pout. "I just felt a little dizzy and my hand cramped up. That's all."

Lelouch was glad Hayate was not looking at him when she spoke since his calm mask broke and his face was one of worry and shock. Catching himself he quickly brought his expression under control as the door opened up again.

"Hayate, I got your ju-" Vita said, stopping when she saw Lelouch. "Who are you?"

"Lelouch Lamperouge," Lelouch said as he placed a hand over his chest. "You must be Yagami Vita-san, correct?"

"Y-yeah..." Vita replied as she placed the juice box next to Hayate. "You're the one who saved Hayate before right?"

"I wouldn't say saved..." Lelouch said as he scratched the back of his head. "I got thrown off a ledge by that weird monster and I don't even know what the heck that place was...injured my arm too."

"Speaking of which, is it okay now?" Hayate asked.

"Yeah, it healed a few days back. It wasn't that serious after all and I heal quickly."

A small beeping noise came from Lelouch's cellphone as he quickly pulled it out.

"Sorry, I gotta take this," he said as he quickly exited the room. "What is it, Homura?"

"We sensed a Witch a while back," she explained. "Did you send someone after it?"

"If you mean the one at the bridge on the north side of the city then yeah."

"What? No! There's one at the construction yard on the south side of the city!"

"What?" Lelouch asked as he froze. "Two witches at the same time? See if one of you can't ditch a class or something! I'll send one of the Wolkenritter in the mean time."

He quickly ended the call and switched phones to use the one he used to make calls as Decade.

"What is it?" Vita answered.

"We have a problem," Lelouch said quickly. "Another Witch has appeared at the construction yard on the south side of the city."

"What? Another one?"

"Even though your comrade probably has the book on the other Witch, you probably won't be able to get its linker core. As I'm in the middle of investigating the Bureau I can't leave to handle it. One of the Incubator's Magical Girls might be able to assist but it is not a guarantee."

"Then I'll just have to keep it busy until then!"

"Vita? What are you talking about?" Lelouch heard Hayate's voice on the phone and palmed his face at the short knight's carelessness.

"Ahh! Nothing, Hayate! Don't worry about it."

Lelouch sighed as he shut off the phone and switched to call Homura back.

"Well?" he asked.

"Sayaka has disappeared," she replied. "I think she went over by herself."

"I see, I'll send Suzaku over to help her once he's finished on his end..."

As Lelouch ended the call, Vita walked out of the room in a hurry.

"Where are you going?" Lelouch asked, feigning ignorance.

"I have to go pick some things up. Look after Hayate for me! That's an order."

"Alright then, have a safe trip," Lelouch replied with a wave. "This is the worse situation. We are all spread out too far. I didn't think two witches would appear like this..."

He walked back into Hayate's room with a neutral face as she spoke up again.

"Did something happen?" she asked.

"Just some problem at my work," Lelouch replied. It wasn't a lie after all. "There was a little mix up and two clients ended up coming at the same time. I had to sort a few things out."

"Is that so? Sounds difficult. What is your work."

"Something you should never know about."

"Oh? Is it like a c*****t or being a p***?"

The shock of such words coming out of a girl like Hayate was too much for Lelouch as he just stood their, gaping in shock, as his phone slid out of his hand and hit the floor. It was at that moment that Signum and Shamal came into the room as well.

"Oh, Lamperouge," Signum said as she saw the man's back. "Thank you for..."

"What on Earth have you been teaching this girl?" Lelouch shouted, causing them both to blink and step back from the man, while Hayate just continued to look innocent as ever.


"They look like and are as flimsy as paper," Zafira said as he tore another familiar apart with his bare hands before slamming his fist into the ground, impaling another dozen familiars with glowing white spikes that sprouted from the ground. "How much longer until it appears?"

"Riders are not as good at sensing witches as the girls contracted to do so," Ixa explained. "But...it should be here by now. We only killed about two hundred of these things...Guardian?"

"What is it?"

"How long has that Arch been there?"

"Since the begin...you're not saying this building is a Witch are you?"

"The first Witch I fought was a TV. At this point nothing should be surprising me...and yet...these witches continue to make absolutely no sense..."

"...Let's just finish this."

Ixa pulled out a Fuestle and inserted into his belt as his visor opened to reveal Ixa's Burst mode, sending a ball of heat and flame out at the familiars around him. He then pressed the knuckle against the belt as he drew raised his blade at the Witch.

"Witch, I'll have you return that soul to god," he shouted.

"Ix-a Ca-li-bur Ri-se Up!" the device called out as Ixa's arm began to charge with lightning and the sword caught flame.

"Haaaaah!" A large diagonal cut stretched over the Artist Witch, Izabel, as Ixa twirled his blade around his finger, returning it into its standby form and holstered the weapon as the Witch's body slid diagonally down before exploding in a flash of light. "Ixa...Judgement."

The Guardian Beast simply stared at the Rider as the world returned to normal around them.

"What was that just now?" he asked as Ixa picked up the Grief Seed while the Witch's linker core was absorbed into the book.

"My final attack?" Ixa asked, unsure what the wolf meant.

"No, I mean what appeared behind you when you attacked. It looked like you altered the Witch's barrier somehow and recreated the sun behind you."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about. I can't very well see things behind my back..."

"L-let's just move on..." Zafira said as he rubbed his eyes.

"Right...since we're done here...hmm?" Ixa pulled out his phone and saw that Lelouch had sent him a text message. "We have a problem, Guardian. It seems that there's another Witch that decided to take advantage of the other's appearance. It's on the opposite side of the city and one of your comrades has already moved to intercept it."

"Yeah. They already contacted me about it."

"You head on over there first then. I'll get there...eventually," Ixa muttered as he mounted his bike. "You're lucky to be capable of flight."

"I suppose Kamen Riders have their own problems as well," Zafira said with a smirk as he left.

"Cheeky bastard," Ixa said good-naturedly as he started the bike and headed towards the second Witch of the day.


Lelouch closed his phone with a sigh. These were not going to plan. Suzaku had only just defeated the Witch while Sayaka and Vita have been fighting in the barrier for about two hours now. The girl had forgotten to take one of the communicators this morning so he had no way of contacting her to find out what was going on inside the barrier.

"Is something wrong, Lelouch-san?" Hayate asked. "That was your fifth sigh in the last ten minutes. Did something happen?"

"Sorry," Lelouch said as he pressed the bridge of his nose. "Nothing seems to be going right at work. I may have to go down there myself."

"Then...you should go."

"Hayate?"

"I know you came all this way to visit me but you have other responsibilities don't you?" she asked him. "It's fine."

Lelouch stood there for a moment before sighing again.

"Alright then," he said as he picked up his jacket. "I'll see if I can't get back before visiting hours are over. I'll make it up to you then."

He was already on the phone with someone as he put his jacket back on and walked out the door. "Hell? Is this the office? I'm calling about Sakura Kyouko..."

"Are you sure about this?" Signum asked her master. "He took the day off to spend it with you after all."

"I know," Hayate replied. "But from the sound of things, a lot of people are counting on him. He says he's doing a lot of charity work after all. I can't keep him all to myself."


"You stupid familiar! Drop down and die already!" Vita screamed as she smashed her hammer over the strange shadow snake familiar. The monochrome world was starting to annoy her. The sky was a great white with strange markings all over it while everything else, from the ground to the familiars to even herself and the other girl that Decade had said was part of a group that was actively hunting the witches. "Damn this barrier...oi! Are you still alive out there!"

Sayaka didn't answer her as she made a beeline for the Witch.

"Hey wait a minute! The book's not here yet!" Vita called out, trying to stop her only to see the Puella be impaled by countless shadow snakes and forced into the air before the familiars slammed her into the ground. "Of all the girls he could have sent...that damn Decade sends me the berserker of the group?"

Vita cursed as she created several metal spheres and batted them towards the snakes, tearing large holes into the group, allowing Sayaka to get herself free.

"Oi, your bleeding like crazy!" Vita shouted when she got closer to Sayaka. Despite everything else being cloaked in shadow, Sayaka's blood was red and seemed to shine in the darkness. "Calm down before you break yourself."

"It doesn't matter," Sayaka said emotionlessly as she stood back up. "It's not like I can feel it anyways. Just stay out of my way."

"Panzerschild!" Graf Eisen called out as a mob of familiars swarmed them. Thanks to her shield, Vita was able to keep her ground, Sayaka however, made no action to defend herself and was once more lifted into the air. This time though, she swung her blade to cut the head off a few of them, freeing herself. She suspended herself in mid air as she charged her magic, allowing her to dash forward towards the Witch, only to be stopped as a tree branch extended from the Witch, which was quickly followed by what seemed like an entire tree.

"Damn it!" Vita cursed as she prepared to move forward only to see several streaks of red and purple around the tree before it broke into pieces followed by two figures hauling a third towards her.

"Yo," came the familiar voice of Decade. "Sorry for the trouble. I didn't expect her to be having an emotional crisis."

"You!" Vita pointed a finger at Decade. "Why the hell are you using Laevatein?"

"Because," Decade answered as several more snakes appeared around them. "I thought it would be fitting for a snake to fight a snake."

"Form Ride! Schlangeform!"

Laevatein broke into several sections as he swung it at the familiars, with Kyouko doing the same on the other side with her spear. The two of them essentially created a shield around all of them with Kyouko's spear forcing the familiars back while Decade's blade killed them instead.

"Jeez watching you fight was painful," Kyouko said to Sayaka. "Why don't you rest up for a bit? I'll take it from here...hey!"

Sayaka had ignored her and stood back up as she positioned herself to dash at the Witch again.

"Don't get in my way. I can handle this on my own."

"Oi!" Kyouko made a move to follow but Decade held her back and shook his head.

"Let her work most of her frustration out on the Witch," he said. "I'll figure out how to deal with the fallout."

"But what about the book?"

"Hmm, point. Though I never tried this before..."

Decade turned around and started walking, only to disappear behind what looked like a silvery curtain that appeared out of nowhere. He then reappeared, bringing along Zafira who looked around at the strange new scenery.

"H-how the heck?" Kyouko and Vita asked.

"Like I said, I never tried that before," Decade said as he supported himself by placing his hands on his knees and started panting. "The Rider systems allow us to travel through the barriers when they are up like how you Magical Girls do it. Normally the only way out is to find the border of the barrier and cross it, but that could be anywhere when you are swallowed up by the barrier. However, since the Decade system lets me warp to anywhere I want, save for the Witch's lair, why can't I use it inside the barrier? It's possible, but it feels like walking through a waterfall that's being electrified. Not pleasant at all."

"Is Rider Ixa not here yet?" Zafira asked.

"No, that's why I had to come," Decade said as he stood back up. "Though it seems our friend there is almost done."

Sure enough, Sayaka had broken through the Witch's defense and was currently bludgeoning the Witch with her blade instead of cutting it normally.

"If Signum saw this she would be furious," Vita idly commented to which Zafira nodded as the Witch's linker core rose up and was absorbed by the book Zafira was holding. "How many today?"

"With both witches, that makes around seventy new pages. The one we fought was weak but had a lot of familiars. Yours seems to have been stronger, both in terms of familiars and power."

"That's just how it is," Decade said as Sayaka began using her magic to heal her wounds while the world around them returned to normal. "The three of you are a little late aren't you?"

He tilted his head back to look at the new comers. Madoka, Mami, and Homura had just came up the stairs towards the level they were all standing on.

"Sayaka-chan," Madoka said softly as the girl in question returned to her normal clothes, picked up the Grief Seed and tossed it towards Kyouko.

"You can have that," she said simply. "That's what you wanted right?"

"Hold on there..." Kyouko replied but Sayaka ignored her and walked past her, Decade and the Guardians of the Book without giving them a second glance..

"I don't want to owe you anything. Let's go back, Madoka."

"Miki-san," Mami said softly as there was the sound of someone running up the steps.

"Ixa-san!" Madoka said only for the Rider to brush past her, disengaging his armor as he did, to the shock of Decade and the Guardians.

"So there is a human under that armor," Zafira noted. "How surprising."

Suzaku however, ignored him, walked right up to Sayaka and decked her in the cheek, sending her sprawling to the ground

"Sayaka-chan!" Madoka called out as she ran to her friend.

"What are you doing, Kururugi-san?" Mami asked as she grabbed his shoulder only for him to throw her hand off. She took a step back when she saw the fury in his eyes behind his sunglasses, almost as if his eyes were glowing red.

"What was that, Miki Sayaka?" Suzaku asked as he looked down at Sayaka, who was rubbing her cheek in pain. "Were you lying when you said you accepted what your body has become?"

"No," Sayaka replied. "This body really is useful when fighting witches..."

"Then what was that reckless charge? Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"So what? Aren't you the same?" Sayaka snapped at him causing his eyes to widen for a moment before narrowing again as Madoka gasped. "What gives you the right to tell me what to do?"

"Wait a moment, Sayaka-chan, Suzaku-san!" Madoka tried to stop them.

"I'm not doing such a thing," Suzaku replied, keeping his tone calm but he was unable to hide his fury. "I am merely asking what you are trying to accomplish by killing yourself when you said you wanted to help people by defeating the witches. How is seeking death going to help anyone? How is that going to help Kaname-san?"

Sayaka cringed at the mention of Madoka but continued to avoid looking Suzaku in the eye. Kyouko made tried to step forward but was stopped by Decade, who simply held a hand in front of her.

"Leave this to him," Decade told her. "He knows what he's doing, probably."

"How can you be so sure?" Kyouko asked.

"Whether we like it or not, the two of us have this...mutual trust thing going on between us. It's got us through a lot of trouble more often than not."

"And when it doesn't?"

"The results are disastrous. Last time it ended with half a city dead."

"Peachy..."

"You know the reason I seek death," Suzaku continued. "Because my mere existence risks death on others for my own survival. So long as I'm alive I bring danger to others. Why do you seek death? Is it because your life brings dangers to others? Is it because you're just tired of it all?"

He reached down and pulled Sayaka to her feet by the front of her shirt.

"Why did you lose your will to live? Answer me, Miki Sayaka!"

There was a long bout of silence before she spoke in a cracking and quiet voice.

"Don't you already know?" she asked. "You Riders know everything humanity knows right?"

"I haven't connected to the World since last night. I want to hear it form your mouth and you're not going anywhere until you do."

"I..." Sayaka finally said. "I had a regret..."

"Regret?" Mami asked. "What do you mean?"

"I thought, 'What if I hadn't saved Hitomi?' The fact that that even crossed my mind...makes me unfit to be an ally of justice doesn't it? Even though I wanted to help you, Mami-san...I thought such a horrible thing..."

"Miki-san..." Mami said softly as Suzaku released Sayaka's uniform as the girl started sobbing while Madoka embraced her.

"Madoka-san," Suzaku said over Sayaka's sobs. "Who is this Hitomi?"

"One of our friends from school," she replied.

"I...see..." Suzaku said slowly as he unconsciously looked towards Decade, who was also looking right at him. "And why do you regret it?"

"Because she's going to steal Kyousuke away from me alright? Are you happy now? You must think I'm some horrible girl don't you?"

"Not really," Suzaku said with a shrug as his eyes went to Decade again. "I, and probably Decade as well, have had regrets like that as well. At least the person you saved didn't end up killing someone you cared about."

"That's the risk of being a so called, 'Hero,'" Decade spoke up. "You never know what the people you save are going to end up doing. You just keep on trying to save as many lives as you can, and hope for the best."

"Is that supposed to be a crack at us?" Vita asked.

"Interpret it how you like. I am merely speaking from my own experience. Your closest allies can turn on you in a flash after all."

"Then it's a warning?" Zafira asked.

"Perhaps. I have only heard your side of the story after all."

"It's because you say things like that, that people have a hard time trusting you, Decade," Suzaku said as he pulled out a Grief Seed from his pocket. "Sayaka-san, use this to cleanse your Soul Gem. If your Soul Gem were to grow completely dark then you will suffer a fate far worse than death. A death of the body is one thing, but a death of the soul means you will never find peace. Even if you feel that your ideals are slipping, then change them. If that's not possible alone then rely on your friends for support. You are not alone in this endeavor."

Suzaku grabbed her hand and placed the Grief Seed onto it. She looked down at the Seed then back up at Suzaku before she used it to purify her Soul Gem.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, returning the seed."Why are you trying to help me so much?"

"Because I'm a passing through Kamen Rider," He replied with a smirk that caused her lips to twitch upward slightly as well. "Remember that."

"Again with that passing through stuff?" Vita asked exasperatedly.

"Phrase stealer," Decade mumbled as he shook his head as he put a few cards away. "Come on out, Kyubey. We've got a Seed that needs to be delivered."

The little white alien appeared on the railing behind the Guardians who jumped back when they heard him land.

"You're not shooting me this time?" it asked while it tilted its head.

"While it is very therapeutic to do so, you still have your job to do, am I right?" Decade asked.

"Of course. I'll be taking that, Kururugi Suzaku."

"Help yourself," Suzaku said as he underhand tossed the Seed towards the Incubator, who threw it up into the air and had it disappeared in its back.

"How in the world?" Zafira asked. "What kind of creature is that?"

"So you're Kyubey?" Vita asked "I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Another Magical Girl that didn't make a contract with me wants to ask me something?" Kyubey asked, tilting its head again. "Very well. What is it?"

"Just where exactly are these witches coming from?" Vita asked causing Suzaku, Homura and Decade's eyes to widen as they slowly and discreetly reached for their tools. "I know they come from Grief Seeds but where do they come from exactly?"

"My now, that is a very interesting question, isn't it, Kamen Riders?" Kyubey asked as it looked at Decade and Suzaku.

"What do you mean?" Suzaku asked as he tried to signal Homura with a hand behind his back. Luckily, she managed to see it and slowly inched away from Suzaku.

"You claim to help the Magical Girls in their Witch hunts even though you are withholding information from them. How can you help them like that?"

"Because we are not 100% sure on our information," Decade said as he kept his head pointed at the creature while his eyes were following Homura's movements. "Everything we know is third hand information we receive from other Magical Girls. The only information we can be 100% sure about comes from your mouth. After all, you've never lied to anyone have you? You just left out things that you deem unimportant in the grand scheme of things, right?"

"I see, so you understand after all."

"Quit stalling you sad excuse for a rabbit!" Vita shouted as she pointed her device at the Incubator. "Where do witches come from?"

"It's a simple thing really," Kyubey said. "Sometimes, familiars evolve into a copy of the Witch that made them when they kill enough people. But the more common reason is...well, this country calls women who are still growing up Shoujo, right? Then for girls who are on the way of becoming Majo, it's logical to call them Mahou Shoujo, or Magical Girls."


Chapter's End Corner

Harouki: OH SHIT!

Lelouch: Idiot! Don't come over here! Uwaaah!

Harouki: No not the chair! I bruise when I'm hit by chairs!

Lelouch: Why are you hitting me? I didn't do anything!

Harouki: Guns are cheating! Quick Lelouch! Use your harem protagonist powers!

Lelouch: You're the writer! You do it! Wait, what harem?

Harouki: She's on the wrong side of the fourth wall! I can't do anything to her on this side!

Lelouch: Like I said, what harem!

Suzaku: Do you think we should help?

C.C.: Do you want to get in the way of her rifles?

Suzaku: Point...Double Feature Update?

C.C.: Double Feature Update.

Hayate: By the way, the words I said were cabaret and pi-

C.C.: Okay, you can stop now.

Suzaku: Umm...Sayaka-san? Are you okay?

Sayaka: I am such a fool...

Suzaku: Right...stupid question...roll the next chapter!