Double and Kiva: The Great Monster War

Chapter 2: Old and New Friend

Written by: CMR Rosa, busterleader92 and Despicable-D

Hinata Sou

"Well, here goes nothing," Keitaro muttered as he walked up the steps of the large, red inn that was his and Phillip's place of business and home; the Hinata Sou. "We're back!" The young detective called as he pushed open the sliding door.

"Welcome back," A young woman with dark reddish-brown hair greeted them as they entered, a cigarette in her mouth which she took a quick drag from. "How did it go?"

"The perp got away. Strange thing was, he wasn't a Dopant." Keitaro admitted to his aunt, slightly dejected. The woman, Haruka, raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Don't tell me a normal human was responsible for those deaths."

"It may not have been a Dopant but it was no normal human being either," Phillip explained. "And after a bit of research I'll hopefully be able to identify it." With that, the younger Urashima stepped past Haruka to head up to his and Keitaro's room.

"Phillip-niichan!" A girl with black hair and wearing gothic styled clothes suddenly came rushing down the stairs, catching the bookworm as he was heading up. "Where is Onii-chan?" She asked.

"At the front door with Haruka and Miz–" The girl was already gone before he could even finish his sentence.

"Keitaro-niichan!" The goth called angrily as she rounded on the bespectacled detective. "Why didn't you let me come with you!?" She demanded crossly.

Keitaro sighed, having expected to have to deal with this but not really wishing to. "As I told you Kanako, this perp's usual targets are women. If things went wrong, which they nearly did, the one who would be most at risk is you."

"But I'm a member of this agency too!" Kanako argued and then pulled out a red buckle similar to Keitaro's and Phillip's Double Drivers except this one had only one slot. "I'm a Kamen Rider too and I can take care of myself."

"Heeheehee. Same old, Kanako-chan!" The youngest Urashima looked over her brother's shoulder to see the smiling Mizuho waving at her.

"Fujisawa-san!" Kanako rushed by her brother and aunt to embrace the female journalist which the grinning Mizuho gladly returned. "When did you get here?"

"A little while ago," she explained. "I just got your brother to agree to let me stay at the inn while I interview him."

"Oh! Sempai, you're getting interviewed?" A girl even younger than Kanako entered the hallway as well. She had short, navy colored hair and wore a girl's school uniform.

"Who would want to interview this dork for anything?" Another girl in a school uniform came in after her; this girl had blonde hair that was put in pig-tails.

"Yay, Keitaro's gonna be on TV!" A girl with tanned skin and light yellow hair came flying into the hallway, her low altitude flight ending with her feet smashing into the shocked Keitaro's face, literally punting him back out the door and into the garden outside.

"Ara!" A beautiful young woman with long brown hair tied back into a braid stared down at Keitaro who was currently seeing stars. Her companion, an orange haired woman wearing thin rimmed glasses, sighed in exasperation.

"Kaolla's in hyper mode again it seems," The orange haired girl said, noticing the shoeprints on Keitaro's face.

"Oww," Keitaro groaned as he pulled himself up and dusted himself off. "Why does she only kick me when she's excited?" The first of the middle school girls came outside to check on the possibly injured Keitaro while the blonde middle schooler just laughed from the doorway at the detective's expense. Haruka casually took another puff from her death stick, not showing too much concern that her nephew just got drop kicked by one of his tenants. Mizuho looked on with a nervous sweat drop forming on her brow.

"Does this happen often?" She asked Kanako, who sighed just as the glasses wearing woman did earlier.

"Sometimes, usually Keitaro-niichan's fast enough to dodge most of them but Kaolla-san manages to get in a lucky one every once in a while." The gathered residents of the Hinata had started to notice the new girl speaking with Kanako and stepped up to introduce themselves.

"So, you must be an old friend of my niece and nephews," Haruka stated. "I'm Haruka Urashima, I'm what you would call the "Den-mother" around here. I also run the tea shop nearby." She introduced between drags.

"I'm Sarah McDougal. Nice to meet'cha!" The blonde middle schooler introduced herself with a grin.

"Um…my name is Shinobu Maehara. It's very nice to make your acquaintance," The dark haired girl introduced herself with as much politeness as she could muster.

"Kaolla Su of the Kingdom of MolMol!" The tanned teen cooed, suddenly and happily embracing the surprised Mizuho in a big hug.

"My name is Mutsumi Oto…hi–" Thud! Mizuho blanched as the beautiful brunette suddenly started to pitch backwards only for her orange haired friend to catch her before she hit her head on the stairs.

"Don't worry, this happens a lot," The girl who introduced herself as Naru Narusegawa explained. "As long as someone's with her to look out for her when she leaves the house we know she's safe."

"It's very nice to meet all of you," Mizuho bowed to each in turn, once Kaolla let go of her that is. "I'll be living here with you all for a while so I hope not to bother you too much and we can all get along."

"As long as you don't try to steal Phillip from me, we'll be great friends!" Sarah grinned and gave the sweating Mizuho a thumbs-up.

"Good, looks like we're all getting along just fine," Keitaro smiled as he came up to the gathering of his current and future tenants. He suddenly remembered about his brother and how he was currently alone looking through the Gaia Library. "I've got to head up to my office and make sure Phillip doesn't get distracted while he researches our perp. Why don't you girls show Mizuho to the hot springs?" He suggested as he headed towards the stairs.

"Aw, Keitaro-kun! My interview…" Mizuho called after him.

"It can wait until after we catch this crook, Mizuho," Keitaro explained as jogged up the stairs.

"Of course, the case always comes first," Mizuho agreed, though to Haruka a hint of sadness was etched in her voice. Naru set a hand on the journalist's shoulder and pushed her toward the natural therapeutic spring that was the highlight of the Hinata.

"Motoko-chan and the others are in the bath right now so we can introduce you," Naru said optimistically. As the group of girls was heading to the back of the Inn, Mizuho noticed that Keitaro had been stopped midway up the stairs by a lovely, silvery haired woman with half closed eyes and flushed cheeks.

"Kei~" The foxy woman cooed as she wrapped her arms around the detective enticingly. "Want to join me for a cold one?"

"Are you drinking this early again, Kit?" Keitaro chuckled slightly. "I'll join you in a minute, I just need to get some work taken care of right away. Alright?"

"Hurry back," The drunken woman called Kitsune agreed and then planted a quick peck on his lips to which he returned with a smile. Mizuho couldn't help but look away flushed.

"Eh?! You're here to interview the city's Kamen Riders?!" The Hinata Sou girls called out as one. The group had led Mizuho to the hot springs, the big attraction of the Inn, and Mizuho got to meet the remaining tenants. There was Motoko Aoyama, a girl of high-school age with long black hair that she had tied up in a bun while in the steaming bath. Queen and Elizabeth, twin girls also in high school who would have been almost identical if not for their hair styles; Queen's bangs were parted, revealing her forehead, while Elizabeth's bangs covered her own. Lastly there was Akiko Narumi, whom Mizuho had heard of through Keitaro, being the daughter of Keitaro's mentor: Sokichi Narumi. Mizuho had just explained to the girls her reason for coming to Hinata Hot Springs and why she was planning to interview Keitaro.

"I can't believe it," Naru sighed, covering her face with her hands. "It took us forever to find out that our very own Landlords were the Kamen Rider and yet you can figure it out on your own." The Tokyo U. student sighed mortified, seeing the irony of it all despite her high intellect.

"I've worked with Keitaro for a long time, so I know him well enough to recognize his mannerisms by rumor alone," Mizuho explained, smiling.

"So did Fujisawa-chan work with my Father too?" Akiko asked curiously to which Mizuho shook her head.

"I didn't have the pleasure to work with Narumi-san I'm afraid. But I worked with Keitaro a lot while he was under Narumi-san's apprenticeship. I was working toward my dream to be a journalist same as how Keitaro was working to be a hard-boiled detective. We traveled the same circles and we sort of…flocked to each other." Mizuho paused at that last point to which the other girls stared confused save for Kanako who remained silent.

"So what kind of cases did you and Keitaro-kun work on?" Mutsumi asked, trying to cut through the tension.

Mizuho perked up a bit at the question and seemed to think back, a wash of nostalgia bringing a smile to her face as the old memories set in.

"Well, I can still remember the first case Keitaro and I collaborated on. It was on an extortion/blackmail scandal happening at our old middle school." Mizuho then looked to her audience and realized there were some fairly young listeners. "Maybe I shouldn't tell this story, it might not be appropriate to tell around younger kids." She of course was referring to Shinobu, Kaolla and Sarah. To which the three girls picked up on immediately.

"Hey! My Dad is an archaeologist who deals with all kinds of stuff that's not on the up and up!" Sarah exclaimed. "I can handle whatever you throw at me!"

"My country has been at war for years with the cursed PolPol! I'm not new to dark stuff!" Kaolla also added in. "Plus, I want to hear about how cool Keitaro was before he was a Kamen Rider."

Shinobu did not share her friend's enthusiasm in the face of the illicit but she also didn't want to keep everyone from hearing a story they were all clearly interested in hearing. "I-I'll try to not be too scared," She promised.

"Well, if you're all sure," Mizuho conceded. She was about to begin telling the story when the screen door slid open and the same blonde haired woman she saw kissing Keitaro earlier entered. She was clearly drunk as her face was flushed pink, and she seemed barely aware that her towel was slipping, revealing a bit of her ample bosom.

"Hey guys!" She called out as she slipped into the bath with her friends. "Hic! Just thought I'd get some air to clear my head and heard we've got a new girl. You haven't started the groping without me have you?"

After an amusing series of events where Motoko and Naru tried to pry the drunken Kitsune's hands off the startled Mizuho's chest, Kitsune ultimately felt up Shinobu's smaller breast, mortifying the girl and causing her to run crying out of the bath house with her towel thankfully wrapped around her.

"Well, that solves one problem." Queen admitted, slightly glad that the most worrisome of their group had left since Mizuho was so worried about telling it around young children.

"Please continue with your story, Fujisawa-dono." Motoko invited the still slightly flustered journalist.

"R-right." Mizuho took in a deep breath and recited the events to the best of her memory.

"It was back in middle school. I was 13 years old, Keitaro was 14 and had recently began working under Narumi-san. We noticed that one of our school mates, a girl named Mayumi Hashimoto, had been acting strangely. Being the inquiring young lass that I was, I decided to investigate and tailed her during her breaks from class and after school."

"Isn't that called stalking?" Naru asked, to which Sarah, Kaolla, Akiko and Elizabeth shushed her, already completely wrapped up in the story.

Mizuho continued. "I soon found out that Mayumi had begun hanging out with a group of girls in our grade that she didn't normally hang around with. But it wasn't as innocent as suddenly joining a new clique of friends, oh no! These girls treated Mayumi as a slave - forcing her to buy drinks for them, paying for their meals at cafés and restaurants, and taking whatever chance they could to extort money from her. All the while poor Mayumi only stood there with a trapped expression on her face. I could barely stop myself from just going out and socking those girls for bullying Mayumi like that, but I knew that there was more to this than just bullying. The leader of the group, a girl named Aya Kuroda seemed to have her hooks in Mayumi somehow and I knew just confronting her without proof of her blackmail would only make things worse for Mayumi. That's when I roped Keitaro into helping me. I begged him to use the detective know-how he learned from Narumi-san to find evidence and expose Kuroda and her friends. He was hesitant at first but I invited him to join one of my stake-outs so he could see for himself what was going on. Although, even I wasn't prepared for what was going to happen that night." Mizuho's gaze sank as her face filled with sorrow.

"What?" Naru asked, as she was now just as enthralled by this story as her younger friends.

"That night, Keitaro and I followed Mayumi and Kuroda's group to the arcade district. We were just out of earshot so we couldn't exactly make out what they were saying, but the gist was that they were suggesting to Mayumi how she could make more money that they could extort from her. Mayumi seemed completely against it at first but Kuroda said something that immediately forced Mayumi into compliance. After that…" Mizuho paused only for a moment as a feeling of revulsion took over her. "After that, Keitaro and I had to watch as Mayumi walked up to a random man, took him by the arm and…led him away to a place the two could be alone."

The Hinata group stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

"They forced her…to prostitute herself?" Motoko said, half disgusted, half outraged.

"How despicable," Akiko gasped. "I didn't hear anything about this."

"Poor Mayumi!" Sarah started to bawl loudly as the sad tone of the story had struck her heart.

"I say -hic!- we hunt those bitches down an' -hic!- throttle them! Naru, Aoyama-san, you in!?" Kitsune attempted to rouse the girls into forming some kind of vengeful posse, completely unaware this was a story less than a decade old.

"I didn't see what happened afterward. I couldn't take it anymore so I ran away before I saw anything else that would horrify me. Only Keitaro remained, I never asked him what happened afterwards, I didn't want to know. All I knew was that I was going to make Aya Kuroda pay."

(Flashback, seven years prior, Mizuho's POV)

"Bitch!" I snarled as I grabbed Aya, an attractive girl with golden brown locks and blue eyes, by the collar and slammed her against the wall. I had cornered her on her way home from school when she had split off from the rest of her group. She stared at me with a mixture of fear and confusion. She knew we went to school together but we didn't know each other well enough for her to understand why I'd be angry at her. I made my reason clear with the palm of my hand. "How dare you treat Mayumi-san like this!"

Aya understood then as she massaged her bruised cheek. "Did that little bitch squeal? I thought she had learned her place by now." The girl seemed completely indifferent to her very clear crimes.

"How can you treat another person like this?" I demanded, my fists were clenched, I didn't know what I was capable of doing at that moment.

"Oh please," Kuroda flipped her hair back haughtily and sneered at me. "You're starting to sound like some clichéd heroine in a bad drama."

"You are…pure scum," I practically seethed from the disgust I felt. "I won't allow you to continue doing this to Mayumi-san any longer!"

"Pfft! Ahahahahaha!" Aya suddenly grasped her mid section as she started to laugh uncontrollably. "Oh my god! Just how clichéd can you get?!" A triumphant grin spread across the malicious girl's face as she flipped open her cell phone, turned the device toward me and revealed what was on the screen. My eyes widened as I saw an exact image of the events that played out last night. The pic showed a middle-school girl with black hair tied in pony tails walking alongside a man of about college age with the girl's arm wrapped around the man's arm.

"Before you even think about smashing my phone…"Aya started as she closed her cell. "My friends have this picture on their phones as well."

"You wouldn't…"I gasped, instantly realizing her plan.

"Precious little Mayumi's future now lies in my hands. I wonder just how many high schools will take in an applicant who has a history of hooking. Of course, if she continues to do what I say she won't need to worry about that," Aya grinned maliciously as she rubbed her bruised cheek. "You know, my cheek has really started to sting. I may have a broken jaw. I doubt Mayumi will be able to pay off my medical bills herself."

I clenched my fist in sorrow as I picked up on what she was demanding. "You win, just don't post that pic."

"Very good. Now we're learning how things work. My jaw is actually starting to feel better now, so Mayumi won't have to pay for my bills after all," The pompous teen giggled, knowing she had just gained a new financial cash cow. "Just one thing first…" Aya flipped open her phone once again and activated the camera function. "Lift up your skirt."

"What?!"

"Oh, now it won't do if I have dirt on just Mayumi. You won't even need to whore yourself out. Just a quick panty flash, and give us a big smile while you're at it."

My hands shook hesitantly as they hovered inches away from my skirt. I knew that if I didn't comply Mayumi would be the one who'd pay for it. But still, I hesitated to do what she demanded. No self-respecting person would comply just like that.

"What's the hold up? And where's my smile?"

"H-hai." I had no choice, she'd beaten me completely.

"SPIDER!"

Aya shrieked in shock as a net of stringy yellow thread wrenched her phone from her hand. The cellular phone flew through the air and landed in the hands of a familiar bespectacled young man.

"Keitaro-kun!" I gasped in both shock and joy. I had no idea where he got the small mechanical spider that had produced the yellow webbing or why he was now wearing a plaid patterned, black and white fedora, but the new, stronger look in his eyes revealed he had come to put a stop to all this.

"Mizuho, daijobu?" He asked as I rushed to his side. I nodded and then noticed who else had come.

"Mayumi!" I gasped, not expecting to see her here of all places.

"Hashimoto-san revealed everything to me," Keitaro explained as he moved to stand between us and Aya. "Apparently Mayumi is in debt to Kuroda for 100,000 yen and Aya has been forcing her to pay off the interest by financially supporting Kuroda and her friends."

Aya bit her lower lip in outrage as she glared daggers at Mayumi who quickly dashed behind me in fright. "You bitch! Where did you find the guts to defy me when you couldn't even go through with whoring yourself out?!" My heart instantly filled with relief upon hearing that Mayumi hadn't actually slept with that man.

"It's over Kuroda," Keitaro more commanded than stated. "Once we reveal what you've been doing to the authorities you'll be thrown in Juvie for a good long time for extortion, blackmail and prostitution."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Aya demanded still believing the situation was in her favor. "Once my friends upload that pic online, Mayumi's reputation will go straight into the gutter and it'll be her word against mine. Besides, you have nothing to back you up."

Keitaro paused for only a second before he reached into his school jacket to reveal a plain white envelope. "I have your prints," He stated.

"What?" Aya asked, confused what he was getting at. Keitaro opened the envelope and revealed it was full of yen bills.

"Mayumi explained that you lent her 100,000 yen to replace a donation complied by her class that she had been in charge of and somehow misplaced. I find it kind of strange that a middle-schooler has 100 grand she can lend out so flippantly."

"My parents are generous with my allowance, so what?" A bead sweat ran down Aya's head but she still held Keitaro's gaze.

"I doubt that'll hold up in court but I'll humor you," Keitaro sighed as he picked several specific bills from the folder. "I'd like to point out these are the same yen bills you lent to Mashimoto-san and she turned in. Now let me ask you, where could your parents have obtained freshly produced yen bills that not only have your classmates' finger prints on them as well as yours, not to mention have clear features that reveal that they've been handled by members of your class as well?" Aya stayed silent so Keitaro continued. "For instance…" Keitaro picked a few random bills, some covered in crude language and remarks badly scrawled in messy kanji. "The scribbles absently drawn onto these notes are a dead ringer for some of your classmates. Explain that." Aya was still silent.

"Keitaro-kun, what are you getting at?" I asked barely following his back and forth with Aya.

"I'm saying Mayumi never misplaced the donations at all. Kuroda stole them and gave them back to her in a new packaging, her prints and those of her friends are all over these bills that clearly show evidence of one being handled by other students." Keitaro revealed, slipping the folder back into his jacket.

Aya lowered her head in defeat. "So what do I have to do to make you forget all about this?" She seems to plead more than ask.

Keitaro shook his head. "You don't have to do anything. I am going forward with this evidence and you are going to pay for your crimes." Aya's head shot up and her face twisted in pure hatred.

"Then I'll have my friends post the picture up and take Mayumi down with me, either way she'll be revealed as a whore who sleeps with older men for money!"

Keitaro shook his head once again and tossed Aya her phone back. "You're wrong, it'll just be another nail in your coffin." Keitaro turned his back on the seething Aya. "The moment we present our story and evidence, that picture will be used as further proof that Mayumi had to prostitute herself to support your demands. Mayumi will be painted more as a victim and your reputation will be the one to suffer. You lose entirely, Aya Kuroda."

Aya collapsed then as she sank to her knees. Her hands clawed into her once gorgeous hair and tears distorted her beautiful blue eyes. She knew then, she completely hit rock bottom.

"Let's go, you two," Keitaro said as he led both Mayumi and I away from the scene of the wailing Aya. I had no idea how he did it but just as I had thought defeat was at hand, Keitaro Urashima turned it into an overwhelming victory. And I was happy that he had been at my side for this.

Present (end flashback)

"From then on, Keitaro and I worked together for several more cases, with Narumi-san's approval of course. We were the best team and friends up until just before Narumi's…unfortunate accident." Mizuho never learned the full details of Narumi Sokichi's death, only that he had been shot and killed during a case, a likely outcome in the aged P.I.'s line of work. Still, she had her suspicions that it was related to the events of Keitaro's family adopting Phillip as well as Keitaro and Phillip becoming the two-in-one Kamen Rider. She had a lot of questions she wanted Keitaro and Phillip to answer about their origins, but for now she had a fully enthralled audience to entertain.

"Wow…so the detective dork actually used to be pretty cool before he met Phillip." Sarah had to admit.

"Even before he was a Kamen Rider, Keitaro was really cool!" Kaolla agreed.

"I assume that deplorable woman got what she deserved?" Motoko inquired, ever vindictive to those who do evil.

Mizuho nodded. "Aya was sent to Juvenile hall and Mayumi's peaceful school life returned. Though I hear she did get chewed out by her parents because she sold various valuables around her house in order to pay back the false debt. She often expressed to Keitaro-kun and I that if we hadn't stepped in and saved her she might have tried something really desperate. I haven't really heard about Aya since then. From what I understand she stayed in Juvie into her high school years."

"Hic! At least that bitch is off the streets," Mitsune stated, probably more harshly than she would have said sober.

"It's funny though, this is actually the first time we've heard about any of this," Naru observed. "How come Keitaro-kun never mentioned having worked with you in the past?"

Mizuho looked distant for a few moments as she mulled over Naru's query. She then sighed as if she had made some kind of decision.

"It would most likely pain him to tell the story considering how much he tries to act like a guy who's always in control." Save for Kanako who looked away, the girls of Hinata Sou blinked in confusion. Mizuho tried her best to put on an accepting smile. "We broke up not too long before he became an official detective."

Naru, Motoko, Sarah, Kaolla, Mutsumi, Akiko, Queen and Elizabeth all stared at the journalist with eyes wide and jaws poised to drop. Only Kanako and Kitsune didn't react as one was already privy to the knowledge of her brother's previous relationship and the other was too buzzed to register what she was saying yet.

"You…and Keitaro-kun?" Akiko stuttered, nobody told her about this beforehand!

Mizuho nodded, though her smile seemed to weaken. Her eyes then landed on the blushing and dazed Kitsune who seemed to be paying little attention to the rising awkwardness within the outdoor bath. "Mitsune-san." Mizuho suddenly called the drunken blonde's attention to her.

"Eh? Hic!"

"I have a request for you…" Mizuho pulled her knees beneath her and bowed respectively to the dazed woman. "Keitaro-kun has his faults, like how he tries way too hard at being a detective like Narumi-san and how he gets upset when people point out he's more 'half –boiled" than hard boiled. Not to mention how he often forgets important dates because he's hard at work with a case. Also…" Mizuho continued on with several more points poking holes into the detective's character including more on his inferiority complex as well as his stubborn nature. "I would be eternally grateful if you were to look after Keitaro-kun for me. As a request from his ex-girlfriend to his current one."

The gathered girls looked on stunned at the sight of the once composed and mature journalist lowering her head to Kitsune who was still in the process of registering the fact that she was even talking to her boyfriend's ex. Even Kanako was stunned. All the while, a loud series of sneezes could be heard from the inn's top floor.

Keitaro and Phillip's office

"Ah-CHOO!" Keitaro had to rub his nose for what seemed like the seventh time in the past five minutes. 'Somebody must really hate me if they have that many things to say behind my back.' He pondered to himself, as more than a few names came to mind over the culprit's identity. "Oh well." He decided wasting his brain power over a superstition wasn't exactly a fruitful use of his time, for now he needed to be ready as his partner delved into the vast virtual data space known as the Gaia Library.

"Keywords: …" Keitaro started, recalling various details about the creature with the purpose of reciting them as 'keywords' Phillip could use to narrow down his search.

"Stain glass, natural transformation ability, feeds on human beings…"

"Got it," Phillip muttered, the younger Urashima actually stood only 5 feet from his brother, his head was slumped back, his eyes were closed and his arms were spread wide. His mind was elsewhere, within the Gaia Library.

Books and shelves zoomed across the white space as Keitaro's keywords removed all non-relevant search results with the purpose of leaving a few or, depending on the keywords they use, only one book. The shelves had already completely receded and only a few books remained, but they were still too many to properly narrow down the search.

"We may need just one more keyword to get what we're looking for, Keitaro," Phillip called to his brother.

The detective placed a hand to his chin as he brainstormed for the last clue they needed to identify their perp. 'Think!' He mentally commanded himself. 'Think of things he said or did.' Keitaro once again mulled over every last detail of their fight with the mysterious monster. What was he missing?

Then it came to him. "Phillip, add in: 'Disguised as human'."

"Hmm," Phillip pondered his brother's revelation for a moment. "You may have a point. We may have wrongly deduced this was a human with the ability to change into a kaijin, not the other way around. Processing." With that, all but one of the remaining books flew away into the void with the rest of the less relevant data.

"Bing-?!" Phillip stopped mid cheer when he realized he wasn't reaching for a book at all. It was a small rectangular card, a reference card to be precise, like what would be inside library books.

"Strange." This was certainly abnormal to the bookworm. Often he had been denied access to certain information involving the secrets of the organization, Museum, which developed and distributed the Gaia Memories, Phillip's own past and his relation to Museum. But for him to be presented something other than the information he desired had never happened before. Curious as to what this new development implied, he looked over the computerized text printed across the card.

Fangire Reference Data

Status: Checked Out

Overdue by 23 years

Phillip mulled over the three lines of text printed on the card. On the one hand, they now had a name for the strange creature they fought earlier. On the other…Phillip rapidly scanned the two middle words over and over again. His virtual eyes dancing within their sockets as they moved from left to right.

Checked…out.

Checked…Out.

Checked Out.

The tension within Phillip burst him out of his trance as he loudly called out, "CHECKED OUT!?"

"Whoa!" Keitaro jumped back as his brother exploded into actions, rapidly and madly pacing across the floor as he went to the black board and began scribbling the two cursed words over and over again. He soon ran out of space on the board and moved onto the wall, then the floor and Keitaro was scared that if he could, his brother might've started writing it on the ceiling as well.

"It's inconceivable! How could any piece of information from the Gaia Library be denied to me in such a way? I can understand being banned from seeing the information but Checked Out implies that the information has been literally removed from my knowledge. It's inconceivable!"

"Oh brother!" Phillip's obsessive level had just reached critical mass, and it didn't look like they would be getting any work done until he tired himself out. Keitaro sighed and hunkered down behind his desk. Only thing he could do right now was wait and make sure Phillip didn't escape the confines of their room and start scribbling across the entire inn.

Yokai Academy

"Good work today, everyone!" Ms. Nekonome complimented the various members of the Newspaper club.

"Finally, we're done!" Kurumu stretched her back in relief, making sure to make her breasts jiggle in case Wataru was looking. The gathered teens had been working for hours on their first editorial of the school year, gathering comments from teachers and students both returning and new on what they hoped for the year to come. They felt very confident in their work and looked forward to handing out the new issue first thing in the morning.

"Wataru-kun!" Moka was at the Fangire Royal's side almost instantly as the group left their club room to head to their dorms. The vampire hooked her arms through Wataru's and smiled up at him, causing him to blush shyly. "Can I ride home with you tonight?" She asked, hoping for the chance for alone time with her boyfriend, with the close proximity of the bike as an added bonus.

"No fair, Moka!" Kurumu quickly sprung to Wataru's side as well, grabbing his other arm and pulling it into her chest as she scowled at her pink haired friend. "You got to ride with him last time! It's my turn!" She proclaimed viciously.

Then, Mizore stepped in behind the startled Wataru, wrapping her arms around her love's neck and laying her head against his back. "I can't remember the last time I got a ride from Wataru-san, but if he'd like, I could take the wheel this time."

It went on for a few more moments as the girls argued back and forth on who would get to ride back to the dorms with Wataru who, as was usual for him, trapped in the middle and their friends Yukari and Gin watching with tired looks in their eyes, not surprised that the three were going at it, once again.

"Ano…I don't mind making three trips, but it will take some time and I don't want to make the last two wait too long," Wataru stated, trying to bring some diplomacy into his harem's newest argument.

"I'm fine with that! But now all we need to decide is who gets to go first and who has to wait in the cold. And I have just the answer to decide that," Kurumu stated, grinning. "The one with the most sex appeal goes first!" She called triumphantly, but then the succubus had to duck an icicle kunai going straight for her forehead. She was just about to turn on the Yuki-onna when a metal basin fell from the sky to bash her on the head.

"Whoops~" Yukari said halfheartedly, truthfully she had already began to understand that her crush, Wataru, would never see her as little more than like a little sister. Still, some residual feelings would remain and besides, the voluptuous succubus always knew how to gain her ire with her vanity over her figure.

Wataru was beginning to see that a whole new argument was beginning to crop up. "Umm…while you girls decide this amongst yourselves, I'll pull the bike around." The Fangire Royal retreated around the corner of the school, hearing his harem still arguing amongst themselves. At some point, Gin had suggested a "Wet T-shirt Contest" but Wataru was confident his suggestion was met with negative feelings as he heard a series of loud smacks and another loud metallic BONG!

"Phew!" He sighed. Even after so long being with those girls, and after expressing his love for each of them individually, he could never actually side with one of them over the others when they argue, even if he had technically chosen Moka to be his future "first wife". But for now, he was comfortable with life as it was and he knew that eventually the sister-like girls would come to a reasonable conclusion. Thus was the peace in life he enjoyed. But such peace can be easily shattered by just one scream.

"Fangire attack!"

Wataru halted in his steps as the cry caused a cold sweat to creep down his face. He immediately raced toward the sound of the screams that he believed came from the graveyard.

Wataru slid to a halt as he came to the tombstone-dominated area. His Fangire markings threatened to appear as a rage built up within him at the sight of his Fangire brethren attacking his fellow students. The Fangire in question were Rat Fangires, but they were completely unlike the Rats working under Bishop he and his friends had fought off in the past, colored pure white with yellow-gold highlighting instead of black and purple.

"Chu! Chu!" The rats howled as one as they mercilessly beat the weaker Yokai teenagers aside. One in particular, not 5 feet from Wataru, was kicking a helpless young man in the kidneys, calling out in harmony with his brothers.

Wataru's markings finally flared forth, switching control over to the proud and more violent Kurenai who glared at the fiends with disgust.

"You there!" He called out, causing the rat closest to him to halt in what it was doing. "In the name of the Fangire King, I command you to stop. Otherwise I will execute you where you stand." A very real threat was laced in Kurenai's voice. Though Wataru had stopped seeing the Fangire as bloodthirsty monsters bent on exterminating humans and lesser Yokai, he had no mercy for those who refused to let go of the old ways laid out by Taiga's father and Bishop. The white rat seemed to look at Kurenai quizzically, before it called out once more and then lowered itself down to one knee in a show of respect. The other rats heard their comrade's call and ceased their tormenting of the students who understood the situation well enough to leave while their luck was good. The other rats soon began to converge on Wataru and the bowing rat. Wataru sighed in relief, as much as he hated to command by fear, it was a better alternative than fighting without talking things through first.

"Chu!" Wataru soon felt the air rush out of his lungs as a pair of twin kicks struck him in the chest, sending him flying back to land hard against a tree. The two rats responsible howled hostilely as they landed from their flying kicks. In that one second that Wataru dropped his guard, the lead rat had adjusted his posture to allow his two closest comrades to use him as a springboard in order to gain more height for their attack.

"Damn…that hurt," Kurenai growled. "Guess there's no choice. KIVAT!"

"Yosha Wataru! Kivatte Ikuze!" The yellow bat wasted no time in appearing from the sky and rushing to his friend's side. "Gabu!" Kivat bit down on Wataru's outstretched hand, summoning the chains that became Kiva's belt around Wataru's waist.

"Henshin," Wataru called, flipping Kivat upside down and pressing him into place on the belt. His body erupted in quicksilver before reforming into Kamen Rider Kiva.

"Chu! Chu!" The rats formed rank as Kiva charged at them. He leapt into their ranks, rolling to a stop and snapping a back-kick into the face of one unsuspecting Fangire. He then turned onto another rat, slamming his fist home into its face. He pulled back for another punch when two rats suddenly grabbed his arms, hauling him away from their recovering comrade who became just lucid enough to retaliate with a punch of his own into Kiva's chin.

Kurenai snarled in outrage, forcefully freeing one of his arms from the rat's grasp and wrenching the other's hands off of him.

"Know your place!" He snarled before landing an axe-kick to the skull of the rat that punched him. The Fangire crumbled under the powerful blow, shattering into white and yellow stained-glass shards.

The remaining rats watched this seemingly unfazed, but then each equipped themselves with a short sword or shot gun and reworked their line-up, with sword wielders in front and gunners behind. The sword wielders charged as the gunners let loose with their spread fire, keeping Kiva on his toes and unable to mount a counter offensive.

Within the bowels of the living fortress, the mighty Castle Doran, sat the last remnants of the three nearly extinct monster races. Jiro, last of the proud Wolfen race of upper class were wolves. Riki, lone remnant of the powerful Franken race of steel golems and young Ramon, last of the elusive and free spirited Merman race; he had recently been attending Yokai academy along with Wataru and after spending some time with the school's Swim Club after classes, he returns to Castle Doran every night in order to continue aiding his comrades keeping the colossal dragon tied to Kiva. These three acted as the care takers of Castle Doran and the family that raised the, until recently, orphaned Wataru Kurenai. At this very moment, they watched from a series of tarot cards that revealed the scene of Kiva fighting alone against the strange white Rat Fangire.

"Those are…" Jiro growled worriedly under his breath.

"Those things died out centuries ago." Riki grumbled, not understanding what this could mean.

"Jiro! Wataru-sama needs our help!" Ramon begged his friend.

"Ah!" Jiro agreed whole heartedly. "WATARU!" He called into the cards, his call reverberating across the entire wide dining room and throughout Castle Doran.

"Jiro-san!" Wataru practically jumped, which considering his predicament would have left him wide open to get hit by a stray bullet. Somehow Jiro was communicating to him through their link from the Fuestles in Wataru's belt.

"Wataru, this isn't a foe you can defeat alone. These Rat Fangires are nothing like the stupid beasts you defeated before. They are bred for combat and are trained to act as a single tactical unit."

"Summon all of us to help you, Wataru-sama!" Ramon begged him from his own Fuestle.

"Wakatta!" Wataru replied, pulling the blue, green and purple Fuestles from his belt and placing them in Kivat's mouth one at a time.

"Garulu Saber! Bashaa Magnum! Dogga Hammer!"

The Rat Fangire gunners saw that Kiva had stopped running and decided now was the time to concentrate their fire, letting loose with a hail of spread shots. The concentrated gunfire sent up a dust cloud, covering their target from the rats' gaze.

"Wake Up!"

The dust suddenly flew away as Kiva zoomed through, smashing into a line of rats with his flying kick finisher, the Darkness Moon Break. The unlucky rats shattered instantly and those that remained stared at the newly transformed Kiva.

His left and right arms and shoulders were now covered in green and blue armor respectively and his chest was covered in bulky purple steel plates which had been essential in staving off the gunfire from before. Kiva now held a weapon in each hand, a yellow bladed saber in his blue armored hand that had a guard reminiscent of a wolf's head and a green, fish-based gun in his green armored hand. Kiva had taken on his DoGaBaKi Form.

"Chu! Chu!" The white rats looked unafraid of this transformation as they charged in with swords raised. In response, Kiva leaped over the line of rats to attack the gunslingers at their backs. He slashed with the Garulu Saber, shattering the rats' weapons while keeping those too far for the blade to reach from attacking by blasting them with the high pressure water artillery of the Bashaa Magnum. The rats' artillery line crumbled under Kiva's assault and the frontal troops had barely come within striking distance of Wataru before the last of their gunners were shattered.

Kiva then equipped himself with the Dogga Hammer, a massive weapon with Dogga's gigantic fist acting as the head of the great polearm. Wataru concentrated his energy into the hammer and he pulled back on the hammer's lever, causing the fist to open, revealing a great red eye that instantly zapped the remaining rats with bolts of purple lightning that paralyzed them into fractured states. Wataru promptly raised the hammer sideways to Kivat's mouth.

"Dogga Bite!" Kivat sunk his fangs into the hammer's shaft, filling the weapon with energy. Kiva raised his weapon high, summoning a massive energy based projection of Dogga's fist in the air. Wataru swung downward and the energy fist followed, crashing down on the white rats and shattering them into tiny, electrified pieces.

Wataru sighed in relief for a battle won as Kivat flew away from the belt, forcing the armor to crumble away until it was needed once more. Wataru viewed the scene sadly. He had hoped that after his brother had successfully taken the throne and Bishop had been vanquished for good, peace between Fangire and the other species could become more than just a pipe dream. But more often than he'd like to admit he had seen evidence that the old ways of the Fangire would not easily be forgotten.

"Is it truly impossible for things to change?" He wondered aloud.

"Only if we stop working for that change," A voice replied from the trees causing Wataru to turn in shock. A man possibly even older than Taiga and Gin stepped from the trees toward Wataru. He was tall, well-built with light brown hair and glasses, and as he stood before Wataru he looked at the younger Fandiri with utmost respect.

"Wataru Kurenai, my name is Kaneshiro Hokuto. I would like to ask for your aid in helping me remake the Yokai world for the better."

CMR Rosa: Hello my readers, here is the third chapter of Double and Kiva: The Great Monster Wars. I apologize for how long this chapter took to write and post, but the reason this chapter took so long was that Despicable-D had to read all the chapters of Love Hina: Double Trouble before we could continue making more chapters for this story. Please don't be mad at him, he just wanted to make sure that there would not be any continuity errors in this story, and I promise to update the next chapter faster. Also, on the flash back of Mizuho and Keitaro first case together, the characters Mayumi Hashimoto and Aya Kurodo are from the anime Hell Girl. I was trying to think of ideas of what there first case should be and then as I was watching the first episode of Hell Girl. While doing so, I though why not use these characters. Kamen Rider Chrome had cameos from other animes in Love Hina: Double Trouble so I decided to do something like that here.