Episode 010: A Mutual Time Between Two People

Author's Note #1:

This chapter is a filler for this moment. In other words, Samus and her crew have to take a break before continuing to Taiga's introduction to this fic.

Part of Makoto and Alain's backstory will be discussed here, and a little revisit of the Beat Riders Saga from Kamen Rider Gaim, especially how Micchy became Ryugen.

Also, since part of this chapter may once again involve some romance scenes between Mitsuzane and Samus. So, read at your own discretion.

Before I forget, the Command Tower has 20 floors above. For the time being, I'll be discussing the floors and rooms of the tower, counter-clockwise. The tower does have an elevator though, plus some stairs in case if the base suffer power outages and/or blackouts.

21F - Rooftops/Helipad

20F - Laboratory (Ghor and Rinna are usually seen working)

19F - Observatory

18F - Library

17F - Momoka's Room, Go's Room (separate rooms)

16F - Ange and Tusk's Room

15F - Samus and Mitsuzane's Room

14F - Makoto's Room, Alain's Room (separate rooms)

13F - Virtual Reality Simulation Room

12F - Gym

11F - EMPTY

10F - Kitchen

9F - EMPTY

8F - EMPTY

7F - EMPTY

6F - EMPTY

5F - EMPTY

4F - EMPTY

3F - EMPTY

2F - EMPTY

1F - Tower Access, Elevator

-We're a Walking Disaster-

It was 8:30 P.M. around the Command Tower. In the rooftops of the Tower, Mitsuzane looked around on the night skies alone. Not only that he's back home in Zawame in relief, he still maintained his brooding state. As a matter of a fact, nothing is the same since Kouta and Mai are no longer on Earth. Ever since Mitsuzane has suffered signs of depression and PTSD, he even has nightmares of Kouta and Mai's supposed deaths, and what if his brother Takatora had died if hadn't Kouta healed him with the Forbidden Fruit's power.

Though he already left the past behind, Mitsuzane's current personality is that of an insecure man, who can't bring himself into making jokes at anyone's expense to hide his pain. Putting up a mask of arrogance as well. Not to mention, he drinks alcohol.

"A man went to a doctor. Saying that he's depressed.", the young Kureshima quotes the Pagliacci joke. "Saying that life is harsh and cruel, saying that he feels alone where what lies ahead next remains vague and uncertain..."

Just as Mitsuzane could say the second part, Alain (accompanied with Makoto) fills it in for him.

"And the doctor said, "The treatment is simple: The great clown Pagliacci is here in town tonight. Go and see him. It will make you feel better."", Alain said before finishing with the last line. "The man breaks down into tears, and said, "But, doctor, I am Pagliacci!". I remember that after you sent me a paper of that joke."

Alain recalled that Pagliacci joke the day after Mrs. Fukushima's passing. It shows a reminder that sorrow can be hidden by making laughter, Mitsuzane is one of the two people who can make jokes (sometimes at anyone's expense) to hide a miserable person underneath.

"For a second there, senpai. You tend to screw around when you are in the company of others.", said Makoto. "But, the other side of your face shows that you're someone who is uncertain of himself."

How Mitsuzane sums it up: he wanted to make anyone happy, which it is the case of his past about keeping his own happiness. That is when he decided to align himself with the wrong people (the Overlords for example.) at that time, but at the cost of those people close to him. Ever since, Mitsuzane has been atoning for his mistakes. But, he admits that the emotional scars are forever.

"This city has nostalgic feels. One with the good times, and with the sad times.", Mitsuzane said, looking at Makoto. "I used to be dancing with Team Gaim two years ago. But, when I find myself at the wrong sides of the conflict, I had nowhere else to turn. I was desperate to keep things for myself, but the results were but nothing."

Mitsuzane once again recalls the fateful day that left him emotionally broken.

Two years ago...

"Silly Micchy... We're going to be friends for a long time after this. This blemish will be nothing in comparison. [...] So, forgive yourself too. For everything you've done...up until now." - Kouta's words at the moments of his supposed death.

"You really are a child. You have no conception of adult tricks [...] Hey, Kureshima rich boy! Didn't Takatora teach you why you shouldn't be a naughty boy?! Liars, cowards, it's because naughty boys fall prey to evil adults!", the beating Mitsuzane received from Professor Ryoma was one of the things that gave him PTSD.

"Micchy...that's enough. You don't need to suffer like that. I've decided. I will do everything to prevent this tragic conclusion. This is goodbye. But, I will never forget the time we had the time we had together.", the very last words Mai spoke to Mitsuzane after she became the Woman of the Beginning.

Mitsuzane continued, "Despite I have atoned for my sins, I still have nightmares of that fateful event. Anything that reminded me of Kouta-san and Mai-san's human deaths, along with the fact I nearly killed my own brother..."

"You have survivor's guilt, as in you still have traces of it.", Makoto deduced. "I see that you have nightmares of those events."

Mitsuzane then continued, "As a result, I'm unable to reconnect with my old friends. Maybe some of them already forgotten about me."

"I see. Your indecisiveness in the past was the result of nearly destroying the world two years ago?", Alain said.

"The old guy's right.", Mitsuzane bit his lip, with the "old guy" in question being Alain himself, since he's a hundred years old. "Besides, I'm not the only one here who is messed up emotionally…"

"Maybe you are right, senpai.", Makoto sighed. "Kanon and I were orphaned when our mother died, then our father abandoned us. Ryu-san then took us to his home, where we became friends with Takeru and Akari. Everything changed when a freak accident in the monastery sent us to the Ganma world."

Alain added, "It was Saionji's doing", all while mentioning a man called Chikara Saionji, a mysterious man who was once affiliated with the Ganma. Saionji disappeared as he was devoured by the monolith in the temple after forcing it to grant its wish, as according to Alain, Saionji was using a bootleg Ghost Driver to gain access to the monolith.

Makoto continued, "Also, Alain was thrown out of the Ganma world when Adel ascended to the throne. Adel killed their father."

"That's why he's completely deluded to seek after his father's wishes.", Mitsuzane added. "And I can't seem to bring myself comparing myself to him. The fact that his actions also reminded me of what would I have been like."

"Who are you creating a perfect world for? There's no one around you anymore!", Makoto recalled the statement he said to Adel that the Emperor at that time cared for no one but for himself.

Mitsuzane sums it up, "Okay. It all makes sense. First, we got Samus, her parents were killed by Space Pirates back in her world. She destroys planets filled with evil space aliens. Then escapes into the present after she destroyed a space laboratory filled with alien parasites.", starting by referring to Samus, "And here I am, from a street dancer, to a Quisling to the Overlords, and I ended up being a stray cat who lost his path. All what is left of myself is who can make fun at the rest of the world to hide the pain of the traumas of losing Kouta-san and Mai-san, and my failings as a person.", Mitsuzane then evaluates his own malfunction, "Shijima-senpai tried to put his family back together again, but it epically backfires, not knowing that his father is a demented mad scientist with a god complex.", referring to Go. "Makoto-san has his own abandonment issues, but he got better.", he refers to Makoto, "And then, there's your brother who goes batshit crazy about creating a perfect utopia. He killed your father, puts your sister into captivity. Yet, he suffers a fate worse than death. The reason why Samus gathered us because of our remarkable things about us in terms of protecting other people we love and cherish the most, it shows that we're not just a team. On the back side of the coin, it shows us that we're a walking disaster. We're a mixture of chaos and destruction as a whole. Let's face it, if one of us are pushed too hard, it leads into deadly results."

The two men reluctantly nodded to Mitsuzane's speech. As he did have to remind them that they have their own respective issues, given the fact that Ange is in the same room as with the rest of the Space Explorers, it's hard to tell why they avert their true personalities from Ange – as Samus has her out-of-time issues, Mitsuzane has a severe case of depression with a hefty dose of survivor's guilt; a common symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder, Go and Makoto have their respective parental abandonment issues, and Alain being thrown out of the Ganma world by Adel.

"If your survivor's guilt still persists, look into the night skies if you are lost.", Samus appears before the three. "This is what I told to Mitsuzane if he still has his problems."

"You are even more close to her than anyone else.", Makoto smiled.

"Since Mitsuzane chose to follow me around. It was one of the things that I decide to come full circle with today's humanity.", the huntress said. "It was made even better when that loudmouth tagged along with us.", and the loudmouth in question referring to Go. "In fact, he was grateful to me that he managed to see Chase resurrected."

"At least you are lucky that Samus was with you all this time.", said Alain.

"It feels like I was given a chance to love again.", the young Kureshima continued.

-Nostalgia-

The next day...

Samus and Mitsuzane strolled around Zawame City for the first time since six months ago, where they moved to Nozama City due to the presence of the Black Bodhi Tree. Now that Samus's place of operations have been moved to Zawame, Samus has no problem looking the whole city from the top of the Command Tower.

The two stopped by the West Plaza, where they watched new generation of Beat Riders dancing. Mitsuzane thought of traveling through the memory lane, when he was part of Team Gaim. As of this moment, Yggdrasil is defunct, and Zawame successfully recovered after the Helheim crisis two years back.

Then again, they stopped by Team Gaim's base, where everything is all empty - presumably that the other three Chucky, Rica, and Rat have their pursuits of their own dreams. Yuuya was presumed dead, Kouta and Mai are now the Man and Woman of the Beginning, and now residing on a planet brimming with life, here on Earth, Mitsuzane is now a member of the Space Explorers with Go, Alain, and Makoto.

The couple strolled around the city for the whole day, by the time sunset falls. Mitsuzane pays a visit to the Guardian Tree, where it is the same tree Kouta and Mai planted when they returned to Earth, surrounded by the three meteorites carrying the spirits of the three bounty hunters - Gandrayda, Ghor, and Rundas, where they were revived by the Takeru's Ghost Eyecons. After fighting the Ganmaizers, Rundas and Gandrayda chose to take shelter on the Ganma world to protect Alia, the newly crowned empress as a successor to Adel. While Ghor remained with the Space Explorers.

Later that same evening...

The two returned back to the Command Tower by the time of 7 PM, and immediately went to their room on the 15th floor.

"Looking back around the city does stir old memories.", said Mitsuzane.

To which Samus replies, "Seems that part of this city still holds dear to you. You could get a vantage point from all the way up here."

They were both tired of strolling earlier, Samus felt like she needs some rest. But, on the other side, she's in the mood to get things around the bed. A few minutes later, Mitsuzane and Samus started kissing, as they slowly shed their clothing as they lay naked on the bed; their clothes scattered on the ground. After breaking away from their kiss, Mitsuzane's face blushes at the sight of Samus's slightly muscular body, and huge breasts, can't bring himself to delve around her beautiful body, kissing at and sucking her breasts, which made Samus herself blush.

Samus felt instantly turned on each time her beau groping thoroughly on her breasts, the kisses on her neck, as well whenever Mitsuzane enters inside her. Samus can't bring herself getting her sex drive kicking in high gear as far as her relationship with an ordinary human.

They keep their moment of intimacy slow and smooth, regardless as each time Mitsuzane and Samus make love, it produces a comfortable atmosphere between them. As Samus tends to be at solitude, she doesn't mind having Mitsuzane around her, as the young Kureshima has his own insecurities.

The couple spent four hours of having sex, it was even good enough to make Mitsuzane almost passing out and falling face-first on Samus's chest. After a few minutes, they fell asleep.

See you next mission...

Author's Note #2:

This chapter reveals Gandrayda and Rundas are residing on the Ganma world.