Fictions Mentioned:
Episode 12
OP Song:
仮面ライダーBLACK RX (RIDER CHIPS Ver.) · RIDER CHIPS
Insert Song: Start
Dies irae - Animation OST: Amantes amantes
Present Time
Rinne didn't know how long it was, if only because she was deeply engrossed in listening to Sona's tale about Shidou. But...what she is hearing from her own ears would make her cry...
...She was being told with a tone that hint nothing but pure honesty regarding Shidou's condition. Shidou Itsuka was now a man who is on the inside a deeply broken person haunted by his own past.
"...After he and I danced, he would secretly ask for my number, asking if he could...well, spend time together and talk, just me and him, nothing else, with no ulterior motive. I on the other hand was intrigued at the simple offer, thinking that there was no true harm in doing so, but I gave him of course the condition that he would not neglect his studies since I'd already guessed that he was from middle school. He agreed and well...the rest seemed like history to me..."
And then Sona's smile would grow a little mix of brighter and dimmer.
"Oh...And I remember the second time we met...it was a time I wouldn't be able to forget because of how utterly random that was...it was somewhere around a few days later after Azazel-sensei's party...when I was playing chess by myself in the Student Council's Room..."
Flashback
How...?
That was the disbelieving and bewildered and shocked thought of Sona Sitri as she was looking at the chessboard...and the fact that it was her very first ever lost in her very own game...
She blinked a bit, more than a few times, and even had the urge to rub her eyes and take off her glasses for a bit as if to ascertain what had taken place. Coming up against her king was two pawns that were forcing such an outcome, of a checkmate. There was nowhere for her to go to move. It was Shidou's win...
"...Well, I guess I won," Shidou Itsuka, wearing what appeared to be a Raizen Middle School Uniform consisting of a white long-sleeved shirt, a black blazer with the school emblem, grey trousers, a blue tie with black and grey stripes, and black shoes, would mutter softly. But instead of looking happy or exhilarated, there was...a kind of melancholic and bitter smile that came from his mouth, the kind that never seem to have wanted to win and yet had to because he was constrained by the rules of the game to do so, either this way or not this way, with no middle ground.
This...was rather unexpected, she thought with a heavy concern as several thoughts turn upon her mind.
It was only late in the afternoon. Classes have been over for quite some time and that left Sona to do a few things in the student council room until when all is said and done, she decided to eventually play chess by herself. Shidou had called her ahead of time, asking if she was available at the moment since he too has his classes over. Distance hardly be a matter of concern seeing as Shidou can travel from Tenguu to Kuoh in mere seconds. She told him that she was available and she was in the student council room at Kuoh Academy so they could meet there to his discretion...
...And of course, this leads back to the present day.
"...Two pawns," Sona muttered softly, looking at the two pawns that were checkmating the king. And some part of her felt like her older sister Serafall would get a heart attack if she ever mentioned that this had happened.
"...They'd say..." Shidou's smile, a very strange kind of smile that also showed a twitch, never left him. "They'd say...that the Pawns are extremely important in chess. The idea that pawns are weak because of their constrained movement is completely inaccurate. Together, pawns form an army and their strength is in numbers and formations. They are absolutely vital to the defense of the most important chess piece, the king...yes...that was it..."
And yet...Shidou seems to be thinking of another entirely different thing, she thought as she looked at his expression.
Present Day
"I never thought that I would see the day when someone actually beat me in chess. You see...what Shidou didn't know at the time was that...there was a proposition that I had made with my father, the Lord of the Sitri Clan, that whoever gets to beat me in chess, would take my hand in marriage, and that was my penultimate condition." Sona shook her head a bit while Rinne took note of this trivia with interest. "Never have I imagined someone to actually beat me in chess...with two pawns..."
And then, Sona would think back as her expression grew darker, putting her hands on the table nearby, making her troubled. Why? What was wrong?
"Takamiya Shinichiro," Sona muttered a name, a familiar one for Rinne to recognize. "You've met him already I take it?"
"Eh? Y-Yes," Rinne affirmatively answered.
"And did Shidou told you anything about what had happened between him and Shinichiro-san?" Sona asked.
"...Yes," Rinne nodded. "Gorgom did something to them, turning them into...well, cyborgs, turning them into Black Sun and Shadow Moon, forced into becoming the two candidates that are long approved of by the then current Century King, when they are both given something called a Kingstone, the thing used for them to transform and do things...things of tremendous feats..."
"And what else? Has Shidou told you that at least by the time he managed to wake up, he was informed that his best friend, Takamiya Shinichiro, had been in a coma?" Sona asked.
"Eh?" Rinne muttered in shock.
Sona would close her eyes, breathing in and out with a heavy sigh. "...Oh, neither Shidou nor Shinichiro had said much about what had happened between the two of them."
"Sona, what do you mean by that? What had happened to the two of them?" Rinne asked, showing an expression of worry.
"...The same thing that happens to those who are chosen to be the successors of the Creation King...They fought," Sona muttered softly and showed a grimacing expression, with Rinne showing concern. "...It...It hit Shidou hard to have to fight him...especially when Shinichiro, at that time at least, at some point had been revived from his coma by the High Priests of Gorgom in secret and managed to complete the brainwashing. And...well, it was a very difficult battle for Shidou to face, oen of the more memorable ones...He...He never wanted to lose another one of his family ever again...He couldn't fight him, he won't fight him, and yet...he had no other choice but to fight..."
"Then...how is..." Rinne would ask about Shinichiro, who she realized was with her daughter, which made her worry a bit, and the urge to head after them was strong.
"You do not have to worry..." Sona's smile turns bitter. "...Shinichiro-san would not be a threat to anyone anymore, Azazel-sensei and a few others made sure of that while Shidou had to do the heavy lifting, but...before that...well, let's just say that their battles were quite terrible to behold and its probably for the best to let the both of them explain for themselves. I, on my part, can only tell you that being the two known Kingstone users of this world, their fight was undoubtedly shaking the planet, and no, I am not, unfortunately, exaggerating that, and even in the Underworld, I can feel it, the battle between the both of them. They were subtle shakings as in most may not be noticed and may simply mistake it as mere quick earthquakes, but they are pretty effective in getting the message straight. Everyone of importance had all of their eyes turn to Shidou and Shinichiro-san due to their great power...and said power made even the higher-ups of the Three Factions feel a bit disturbed. They were ground-shaking events so to speak...even after all of these years..."
Rinne was taking the information quite seriously. So this was merely a foretaste of this Kingstone's powers then, she thought. She had wondered what kind of power the Kingstone possessed as she recalled Shidou's Kingstone communicating with her mentally in a brief flash what she needed to know at that time. To actually imagine Shidou with this kind of power is...well, a bit of awe and concern coming from her.
"Rinne."
Rinne's thoughts were drawn out as she noticed Sona's expression turning into a grimace.
"There's...There's something that you need to know as well. In one of the times we met again during the early days of our friendship was when he once paid a visit to Kuoh Academy. As the now famous Kamen Rider Black as he was known then at the time, he was asked by the School Administrator of the school to assist in a secret investigation regarding a few missing children in the elementary school branch of Kuoh Academy, many of whom were of my kind..."
There was now a troubling silence, but Rinne would notice Sona put her right hand to her mouth as if trying to hide something while there were little tears that she could see.
"Sona..." Rinne would hold Sona by the arm, wondering what was wrong.
"...He," Sona slowly turns to Rinne. "...He found them, Rinne. He found the children, after a few days of searching...but..." She trembled as she recalled the memory. "...But there was barely anything left to save."
"...!" Rinne would gasp in shock, recognizing the implications.
Flashback
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.
How many times has he punched the son of a bitch, Shidou Itsuka (or Kamen Rider Black) thought darkly as everything he now sees is nothing but red? Right now, he was detransformed, wearing his trademark black jacket that had traces of blood, and so were his black fingerless gloves being covered with nothing except blood.
If one were to look around, there were at least a couple of dead children whose bodies were alongside the bodies of other men and women of various ages, and they were all literally hooked line and sinker. The entire area felt like a haunted house, and the atmosphere spoke for itself. Who he was punching felt unrecognizable now. Was there even a face left after all the hard punches that he was brutally dealing with him? No...it felt like he was more punching the old, dilapidated floor.
"Shidou! Stop! Stop! It's over!"
Who was calling him to stop? Why should he stop? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? And why was he being grabbed? He needed to take care of this...this monster... this psychopath...this murderer...he has to die...he will die...,making sure he truly stays down...so that he won't hurt anyone else... ever again...
"KKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
He shouted with a lot of anger as he was being held down by someone who kept calling him stop, telling him that it was over and that he can stop now. His face felt rather terrible to look at, no doubt about it. Was it over? How can they be sure? How can they...?
"Shidou!"
"...!"
That voice...That voice that he felt so very familiar with...It felt like it was drawing him out of the darkness like the shushing voice of an angel as he would slowly turn around and now suddenly felt everything clear...and he can see upon the face of ethereal beauty with fair pure skin and with violet, entrancing eyes that were filled with bits of tears...no doubt cause by what had now just happened...
He...He knew this voice...He knew the face...Aside from the one who was calling him to stop, and that would be Tonomachi who was showing a look of horror and worry at what had just happened, would look directly upon the woman he had danced with at that party...that woman that he had spent quite a good deal of time after said party and became friends...an irreplaceable person...
"...S...So...Sona..." Shidou muttered softly as he looked directly at the right hand that Sona was holding. Was this...his...? He widened his eyes a bit to see...nothing... Can it even be said to resemble a face anymore? Shidou did not think so. And now...it settled in what he had done right now...
...Did he...Did he seriously go all out on this serial killer? He thought in horror. He could not move an inch, he could not do anything except...look at Sona whose eyes seem like the only comfort in the fear of what he had just done...out of sheer rage...out of the things that he saw in this damn house that looked so rundown that one could hardly call it anything else except as a place of living death. He tracked the killer here, followed his trail, and finally, just when he thought to save the children...he was too late... Why? Why was he late? He shouldn't have been. He's...He's a Kamen Rider...He's not supposed to be late...He cannot be too late...
"...!"
He looked into his hands and saw blood, the blood of the serial killer that did this, the one who had been hunting and killing devils for sport...A rogue exorcist of the church...what was his name again...he forgot...but...
"...Ah...Ahhh...Ah..."
He could not help but cry and tremble, and only for Sona to embrace him and shush him gently.
"Shhhh, shhh, it's alright, it's alright, it's...it's over now," Sona gently reminded him as he would feel his head resting on her breast, even when she too could not help but cry after everything.
Present Day
"After verifying the records and the evidence, we have found out that the one responsible for the madness was an excommunicated exorcist by the name of Dean Vermosa, one of the most wanted exorcists at large and being mandated to be hunted down under the orders of the Church due to crimes of homicide and responsible for the killing of many devils," Sona explained a bit, trembling. "...Shidou...Shidou beat him...He managed to take him down...But...But it wasn't enough...even when he died, Shidou was still punching Vermosa's dead body...until...until...by the time I and the Student Council, along with Tonomachi-kun, arrive, we found the bloody sight...and the darkness..."
Sona turns to Rinne who noticed that the former's face was trembling.
"I saw his darkness, Rinne, I saw it for the first time...and it terrified me...but it also made me realize...just how broken he was... Looking back at this I wondered what was he thinking at that time. Did it really anger him that much to see all of those dead bodies and the atrocities that had been done to them? Or was it in relation to his past that he wanted to bury deeply beneath his own heart? Knowing the context, it may have been of both. And...well...Shidou never really wanted to talk about this incident after it had happened, but Azazel-sensei and a few others would not let that off the hook and urged him that therapy is definitely needed."
"...He wasn't really the same after this incident. That guilt had been eating him up. The fact that he could not save those people, even those children, those who might have had a wonderful future and had probably dreams of their own. But...But they were suddenly taken away, by a madman no less, and did terrible things to them...all because they were devils..."
Sona looked at Rinne with a tone of care and seriousness.
"...I'm merely telling you of this particular incident now so that you should know of what I had seen and thus prepare accordingly. I've seen his darkness, Rinne, a darkness born out of everything terrible that had happened to him in the past and that still followed him even now. You being here right now must know this story, since...even when the years have passed by, Shidou still had thought of you all of the time even when he's with me...you were his light after all..."
"But so are you, Sona," Rinne muttered with a counter.
Sona smiled a bit, lowering her eyes. "Yes...for him, he'd also consider me such a thing, seeing as I've been with him for the past four and a half years...having been through many adventures, seen many things, and our friendship at some point grew into...something else...blossomed into something more...And during all of those times, he was so very sweet..."
Sona would think of those times, all of those times, and every moment which was like a precious gem for her, recalling it with a deep fondness.
"Are you...Are you worried about...about the others?" Rinne carefully asked.
Sona, knowing what she was referring to, would smile sadly and nod. "...Yes, I am, and also of you...Thinking about this situation, a part of me even questions the need for myself to even be here. Itsuka Shidou, my husband, had long since believed that every single one of you was no more, that you all could never be brought back, and even others, experts in their own field, believed this as well. There was truly nothing to be done...and yet...you and your daughter came...I consider it a good thing, make no mistake but..."
"Sona," Rinne would gently interrupt Sona with a gentle smile and hold both of her hands. "Shidou needs you."
"..." Sona became silent a bit, looking at Rinne's compassionate light brown eyes that only showed empathy and genuineness.
"If I know Shidou, and believe me, I know him better than most, he would never leave you nor would he like the fact that you would eventually have to leave. He'd be heartbroken..."
"But you're here now though," Sona smiled a bit, with sad, resigned eyes.
"That's not good enough," Rinne shakes her head. "Shidou now has his heart belong to you as much as it belonged to me. As I spoke before, what Shidou did was not really a sign of infidelity towards me, and I cannot hold this against him, not after everything. Officially speaking, I am dead and should not exist anymore, and neither would my daughter or the rest of the Spirits, therefore, you being with him was not and could never be considered a mistake."
"The other Spirits may not see it that way," Sona pointed out.
"Then I'll be there as your support," Rinne smiled a bit while looking sad. "It's the least I could do in order to thank you for everything you've done for Shidou after all of these years."
"...You have no need to thank me, Rinne," Sona smiled a bit. "...I made the decision long ago to love my husband, to love Itsuka Shidou, in spite of everything and the risks it potentially carried out for myself. It was my choice...and...I do not regret one thing...for I really do love him..."
"Then why are you even contemplating of something such as separation for the sake of preventing any unnecessary trouble?" Rinne gently prodded.
"You know how much trouble it would cause Shidou, Rinne," Sona pointed out. "He does not need another burden to add to his already list of burdens. He cannot...I cannot take it...seeing him suffer yet another burden that he doesn't deserve any more than the rest..."
"Then, from the logical standpoint, so is you leaving him going to cause him another unnecessary burden which is basically turning the wheel like a cycle of unneeded suffering," Rinne pointed it out gently.
"..." Sona had no rebuttal, if only because deep down she was right, and that was the most troubling part.
"Once Shidou has loved someone and opened his heart out in full and given it, it would be completely impossible for him to let go, and he cannot let you go, Sona, no matter what. He loves you, and I can see it in his eyes, in the same way he loved me. And by all rights, nothing would change the fact that you are his wife, in a sense like me. He loves you, and he cannot take that choice back. You were there for him during the darker years of his life and you have the right to stay as much as anyone else who knew Shidou," Rinne argued.
"Is that how you see it then?" Sona asked, her smile being sadder as her eyes looked to the left with a sign of hesitation.
"It's how Shidou sees it," Rinne smiled a bit. "As you said before, he is a stubborn old fool."
"True, hmmm," Sona giggled a bit as he brought a clenched right fist nearly a few meters to her close mouth. "...But then, that's one of the more endearing aspects about him."
"And yet you want to leave him for something that is out of your control? Quite a waste if you were to ask me?" Rinne joked.
"Do I detect a bit of a joke, Itsuka-san?" Sona asked, jokingly making use of the surname that she is also associated with by marriage.
"Whatever do you mean, Itsuka-san?" Rinne asked, jokingly making use of the surname that she is also associated with by marriage.
"Hmmm," Rinne and Sona both laughed a bit, feeling a bit better while still carrying the same type of sadness that they now commonly share.
Essentially, yes, they both acknowledge the fact that Shidou Itsuka loved them both, and there was no question about it, seeing as the man is too honest to a fault when it comes to these particular matters.
"...You know," Rinne mused a bit, putting her right hand to her chin while letting go of Sona's hand and thinking a bit. "I was wondering...now I wonder how we'll be able to sleep in the same bed."
Sona raised an eyebrow, less surprised and more curious about where this conversation is heading. "As a matter of fact, I actually intended to let Shidou sleep with you and Rio on this very night as it is appropriate and accommodating for this occasion, especially when Rio most certainly needs her papa again...but..." She grew exasperated, pinching her eyes as she removed her glasses for a bit before putting them back on. "Knowing him, he's...well, not the type of person who would sleep so easily as a normal person would. In fact, the man barely sleeps, if any. If he isn't sleeping, he's usually either in the house listening to television news and reading the latest news articles or studying. All the excuses about him no longer really requiring actual sleep even though more than half of it is true in a sense just adds to my sense of frustration."
"...Shidou barely sleeps," Rinne muttered softly out of worry.
"Well, it is hardly surprising that he could not seeing as he tends to have nightmares of his own past, and it is especially an obvious conclusion now with you two here. The man would want to keep a close eye on you both 24/7 and would also worry for you both. My guess is that he's worried when one day, you and Rio-chan would be..." Sona did not need to finish the sentence, for they already knew.
"(Sigh). I suppose that explains one part of it," Rinne sighed heavily.
"Of what?" Sona asked.
"Of the growing skinship sessions," Rinne said with deadpanned exasperations.
"Oh, that," Sona would hold the right side of her glasses while slightly blushing a bit due to remembering a few "things". "Yes, well, funnily enough, it actually manages to make him relax for a bit and take his mind off of things for the most part. I for one found it practical in these types of situations."
"I'm sure you would," Rinne sighed a bit. "Which is where I proposed a bit of an idea in this specific situation."
"Well, I'm listening, if it means getting our husband to stop worrying so much," Sona explained.
"In this case, as you said, he needs to relax, even if a tiny bit due to well...his job now as a Kamen Rider and other things," Rinne muttered with an exasperated smile.
"("How in the world did Shidou turn into what is essentially a very extremely tired Japanese salaryman with PTSD issues during the moment of her return?")" She thought with a concerned tone of thought.
"...And thus, well, I'll leave an unsleeping Shidou for you to inevitably deal with sometime after we put Rio to sleep, that is if you wouldn't feel a bit tired from doing so, deferring to your more...ahem, more personal experiences in the mater," Rinne proposed her subtle plan.
Sona would hold the right side of her glasses which seem to shine with a particular glint. "Rinne, us Devils do not get tired so very easily from any type of physical exertion, so that's one thing off your list to worry about."
"Then it's fine, isn't it?" Rinne shrugged her shoulders. "Besides, there is the possibility of me being concerned that one such as yourself may not be able to find the right amount of opportunities right now when the other Spirits may possibly arrive on due notice and since I know them, one by one, they would be quite the challenge for you in the days ahead, which is why I'm giving this opportunity and surrendering it to you since you are by all rights Shidou's wife as well."
"Which should have been your right first and foremost since you were Shidou's first," Sona pointed out, thinking about how it seemed a bit unfair that she is the one who gets to do the part.
"But I have a daughter to take care of for now so my turn would have to wait for a bit much to my reluctance, and well, the other Spirits cannot say no to my requests after all since I am the Ruler of them all," Rinne smiled a bit. "And considering my husband's lack of sleeping, you have plenty of experience handling his case for the rest of the night."
Sona sighed. "I suppose, and yet I still call this hardly a fair play."
"And yet...life is not fair for the pair of us," Rinne sadly smiled.
"Shinichiro-oji-san."
"Hm? What is it, Rio-chan?"
Rio Sonogami and Shinichiro Takamiya were somewhere in the hallway when Rio spotted what appeared to be a large picture frame that hosted three people. One was her papa, Shidou Itsuka, wearing his dark grey racing jacket with a black shirt underneath, with dark blue jeans, black fingerless gloves, and black knot-tied shoes. The other was her new okaa-san, Sona Sitri, who Rio personally admitted to having found her rather beautiful and kind too, wearing what appeared to be a casual white shirt with violet lines and blue jeans, along with simple black high heels.
Well, one could say, how come Rio is so very forgiving of Sona this quickly?
Because she's quite good at reading people, believe it or not, just by looking at her eyes, she can tell that Sona Sitri was not a bad person at all. And even taking the present context into account, Shidou had not seen her in a very long time, and considering how her papa cried so much when she and her mama had finally returned after so very long, Rio did not believe she could fault her papa for being unfaithful. And when she met Sona, she had the desire to at least bond with the closest person that her papa had chosen. Her papa was no slouch when it comes to choosing someone, and if he chose Sona, there must be something very special in her that made papa close to her.
Although, Rio would giggle that one time in her mind. "("Marina-oneechan is not going to be happy when she does find out about this...Oh poor papa...")."
Yes, Rio may sometimes be called a very mischievous girl. Maybe she could thank Marina-oneechan for that kind of influence. But now, her thoughts turn to the young man who seem to be about her age who was smiling. The boy was...well, quite cute, she thought. The boy had crimson hair and red eyes, and he had the same eyes of kindness that papa had, and Rio could seemingly tell based on the picture. The boy was also wearing an aristocratic uniform of white and black with yellow lines, along with a red necktie and a red center jewel attached to it.
"Oh, you mean the boy," Shinichiro looked at the picture, and it was taken during the three's visit to Tenguu Central Park where they had a kind of family picnic. The framing shot of these three felt like they were family, and in a sense, it is true. The three are rather close with one another. "That is Millicas Gremory, son of Sirzechs Lucifer, the highest authority of the Underworld, the realm where your umm okaa-san came from."
"Heeh, is that so?" Rio tilted her head as she looks at the boy with interest. "What's Millicas' relationship with my papa, Shinichiro-ojisan?"
"Oh, well that's a bit easy," Shinichiro smiled a bit. "Millicas looks up to your papa considering he was saved by him all of those years ago, back when he was seven and got kidnapped by an evil empire who tried to use this incident to...well, cause trouble for the lot of us, but your papa managed to stop their plans from coming into fruition."
"...I see," Rio smiled a bit, looking at Millicas and thinking about when she would possibly meet him in order to ask for his story of how and what her papa was like and how he had been doing all this time.
Insert Song: End
ED Song:
Dareka ga Kimi o Aishiteru