DISCLAIMER: I OWN WHAT IS MY OWN. CHROME OWNS WHAT IS HIS OWN. USED WITH PERMISSION
The OtherSide
By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland
Daikaiju Days
Two weeks prior to the events of School Days of the ChronoLiner Riders
"We have a few new students joining us today class. All though they are rather late into starting the semester please be sure to make them feel welcomed alright?" The teacher turned and looked out into the hallway from inside Class 1-4. "Come in, we don't bite." In walked three boys, all rather strange looking in their own fashion.
The first of them was of bit above average height and wore his jacket open to show a muscular build like that of a martial artist. He had black hair with a stripe of silver that fell past his eyes and was cut in a rather odd way. The black portion of his hair fell past his chin and was smooth and soft in appearance while the hair of the silver stripe, that started at his forehead and ended at the back of his neck, was sharp and pointed like spikes. His eyes were also a startling orange color.
The second student was a head shorter than the first. He had a build found more on American-style football players; less height for more width. He had light brown hair with streaks of blonde along the edges, which was cut quite short along the sides but kept long and sharp along the top. His eyes were a remarkable shade of amber and he had an easy-going smile on his face, ignoring the looks he was receiving from the class. For while both eyes were fine in appearance, his left eye had a long jagged scar that started at the top of his eyebrow and ended just above his jaw.
The third student was a few inches taller than the first, taller than most boys his age should rightfully be, and had replaced his uniform jacket with a crimson trench coat and had used the tie to form a crude bandanna. He had dull brown hair tied back into a ponytail that fell past his shoulders and his eyes were a bright blue. He had fighter's bandages wrapped tightly around his hands, just like the other two did, and seemed quite displeased with something.
"Why don't you three introduce yourselves to the class and, while you're at it, tell us a bit about yourselves." The teacher suggested. The three exchanged looks before the boy with black and silver hair stepped forward.
"My name is Eiji Kusanagi. I like to fight in the martial arts." He cracked his knuckles for emphasis, earning many winces from the class. "And I don't lose."
"Willingly." The taller boy said, earning a sharp glare from Eiji which was ignored. "I am Takuya Yashima and I like racing, particularly motor-cross, and being left alone. You'd do best to remember that."
"Ignore him," said the smaller boy. "His bark is worse than his bite." He bowed his head the slightest bit and said, "My name is Morisato Akichi and I like to tinker with machines. I'm also the cute one out of my friends here."
"Annoying is not cute." Takuya muttered under his breath. He glared out into the confines of the class, his eyes narrowing upon the pale-haired Otome. His inane, as some would call it, dislike towards the opposite gender left no such thing as distinction. He hatred all women equally, the only change being whether that hatred would grow or stagnate into annoyance. However, though in this strange world where his and his family's… gifts… had ebbed and returned like the ocean tide without warning, Takuya felt that he would soon learn to despise that girl. Most would feel curious as to why they would feel such a thing but most did not think or feel like Takuya. For the last Yashima, there was no curiosity, only eager anticipation.
Morisato grinned despite his old friend's jibe. He had grown used to Takuya's harsh tongue long before… her. All that change was Takuya's attitude towards women, something not even Sensei could fix. Glancing around the class, Morisato repressed the urge to wince at the poorly hidden curiosity in the eyes of his new classmates. The scar that he refused to erase over his eye. The promise he made to his aniki, Eiji, and… to the one whom he betrayed… if not for aniki, he would have been no better than the one who broke Takuya's heart. He owed his life to Eiji but he owed his soul to her. He had to keep it. If nothing else, the scar was all he had left of her beside the memories.
Eiji ignored them all, his eyes seemingly closed to the world, but that was far from the truth. Beneath those closed lids, his eyes were shining with crimson light as he felt the surface emotions of those around him, both in and outside the classroom. Normal for the most part but… he frowned slightly. What on earth is that? He wondered. Dark, twisted, and reeking of something foul… what kind of soul could be so defiled? So… wrong? His eyes snapped open, devoid of their shining light. Something that wasn't…
'Human…'
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It was nearly three weeks later, shortly after another group of new students joined "the soap opera of hell" as Takuya referred to the academy, that the Yashima had started what he would later call "One serious fucked up day." It had begun during his run to school when one of those new transfer students from America, Ryan if Takuya called correctly, had run into him full force, knocking their school things onto the ground. After a brief yelling match between them, Ryan had gone on ahead, leaving behind what Takuya had assumed was an ordinary DVD box-set, one that he would not return without a price to the boy had he not seen what laid on the box's cover.
"The hell… Katsura?" Takuya's eyes narrowed. "School Days…" He looked to where Ryan had already disappeared into the school. He knew by way of their "teachers" that there was something different about them. They weren't human, according to Sensei and were a few were powerful in the magic arts according to Midoriko. Carefully glancing about, listening to the wind's gentle caress, Takuya slipped the DVD into his coat. 'This bears looking into.' He blinked, suddenly scowling and frightening several passing students. 'The hell did I just say? Damn it, I've been hanging around the runt too damn much!'
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It was late, nearly past midnight, but none of them were tired or feeling anything close to it. They all had spent some six hours watching the anime called "School Days" and though they were entertained on some points, the building climax and the final conclusion left them feeling far from it.
"My god… how can anyone be so callous with a person's feelings?" whispered Midoriko, tears falling down her eyes.
"It is as your father once said, Eiji-kun. The real monsters wear a human face…" spoke Shiisa, unnaturally serious, his gemlike eyes hard and glaring at the black screen of the television.
"I am going to kill them both." Takuya growled, his fists clutched tight enough to draw blood. "I'll slaughter them and make sure they suffer for what they've done to Katsura!"
"Can we even do that?" argued Morisato. "This is real life we're talking about here, not some fictional anime!"
"Real or not, we've got to do something god damn it!" yelled Takuya.
"No." Eiji calmly said, "We stay out of this." He looked at his family in turn. "There is more to Ryuji and his friends then we assumed. I don't know how, nor do I care to, but they are a lot like us."
Shiisa raised an eyebrow. "By us, I assume you speak of them being Kamen Riders?"
The three younger Riders turned sharply to the older man. "You knew?"
Midoriko nodded. "The first day they arrived, I Scanned them. Though they are suffering from the same power drain we first felt upon arrival here, they are what they are."
"So… what does that mean for us?" asked Morisato. "Do we confront them? Join them?"
"Help them kill those two bastards?" asked Takuya, almost pleading.
Eiji thought in silence for a long moment. "No to all three. I felt their emotions and though a few are a bit… odd… their intentions are good. I know for a fact that Hasuma punk cares for Katsura more than that bastard of a boyfriend. For now, we step back and let them be the puppet masters in this act."
"But…?" supplied Morisato.
Eiji's eyes hardened, remembering the empty void in Kotonoha's eyes. No one should ever have eyes like those, especially not an innocent soul. "If they should fail, we step in and pick up the pieces."
Takuya snorted. "You've gone soft, Kusanagi. Fine. I'll play… nice… but I reserve the right to mercilessly harass Pinky McPink."
Eiji sighed tiredly. "I'd rather you give Makoto and Taisuke hell but—"
"Deal." Takuya suddenly blinked and scowled. "Aw damn, I walked right into that didn't I?"
"Hook. Line. And sinker."
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"Ready guys?" Eiji looked to Morisato and Takuya. Morisato was playing a few practice rifts on his drums while Takuya was finishing with fine-tuning his electric guitar.
"I can't believe we have to share the damn stage with them," growled Takuya.
"At least we're the opening act, Tak-kun." Morisato reasoned.
Eiji rolled his eyes. It had been hard keeping a low profile in the events with the school festival but they had managed it pretty well. Up until Sensei up and signed them up to participate in as one of the bands to perform for the school. Eiji was pretty sure this was the old man's revenge for stealing the last Klondike bar but what else could they really do? "Just live with it, Takuya."
The lights came on and the curtain was drawn up as Eiji began to play the opening rifts to the song, "Through the Fires and the Flames".
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"Sawanaga-san, let me go," Kotonoha attempted to struggle from Taisuke's hold on her. "Please, you're hurting me." He had her against the wall. She'd bumped into him and was helping him tidy up the leftovers of the school festival when he suddenly confessed to her.
"Katsura-san, I love you," he said as he pinned her against the wall by her wrists. She was scared. The look in his eyes told her he wasn't going to take no for an answer until he got what he wanted and what he wanted was her. He leaned forward to kiss her when he was suddenly sent sailing by a powerful, almost inhuman, punch to the face that had him skidding across the floor.
Before he could find out who, or what, had hit him, Ryuji Hasuma was immediately upon him. Pulling the tall boy up by his tie, Ryuji proceeded to bash in Taisuke's face in with his fist. He had managed to land quite a good number hits on Taisuke when his wrist was grabbed in a vice-like grip. Breathing hard and looking rather wild, Ryuji turned ice-like eyes upon the fires that were Eiji's own.
"Enough. Anymore and you will kill him. Take care of your girl first and worry about this scum later."
Slowly, the Hasuma twin began to calm down. He let go of Taisuke and Eiji released his grip on Ryuji's wrist. The ebon-haired youth spat in disgust at Taisuke. "You're lucky. You owe him your life. If they weren't here, I would've killed you," he said in a low and dangerous tone.
Ryuji turned to Kotonoha and saw that her jacket had been pulled open and her bow was lying on the floor. He gently picked it up and walked towards her. He carefully fixed the bow around her neck and fixed up her jacket. She was still in shock so he did what he needed to do; he hugged her. Her arms slowly went up and around Ryuji's back, her face pressed firmly into the crook of his neck.
Ryuji pulled away from Kotonoha and said, "Let's go."
"Go where?" she asked.
"To the bonfire."
Shocked, she started to answer, "But, Makoto-kun and Saionji-san—" she paused.
Ryuji cupped her chin and tilted her face up to look deeply into her eyes. "Forget about them and let's have fun, okay?"
Kotonoha relaxed and nodded. "Hai."
They walked away, hand in hand.
Eiji shook his head in bemusement, his eyes gaining a faint reddish tint. Though he was not one to believe in such things as soul-mates, if ever he had to use an example those two would certainly come to mind… His eyes fell down to Taisuke, who was tittering on the edge of consciousness. "You know, I honestly was going to allow Yashima to do what he wanted with you, provided he didn't get in their way and left you alive in the end." He pulled the boy up by his tie, pulling it tight enough to slowly cut off his air. Crimson light exploded within Eiji's eyes as he growled. "You should be grateful. Takuya would make you wish he had killed you. Me? I'm going to make you wish you were never born."
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Excerpt from School Days of the ChronoLiner Riders
"Well, well, well," sneered a familiar voice. "What do we have here?
Alarmed, Ryuji pulled Kotonoha behind him as Naoko walked towards them. Kotonoha was wondering what was wrong since she'd seen Naoko in the student committee room a few times. She never saw the girl as dangerous and Ryuji was acting like she was some sort of monster.
"Katherine…" growled Ryuji.
'Katherine?' Kotonoha thought. 'Why did he call Katahara-san Katherine?'
"What do you want?" demanded Ryuji.
"As if a Nobody like you would understand, but I'm sick and tired of all this interference." She snarled. "So, I decided to fix it."
Ryuji smirked. "Fix it? How? You got no power."
Katherine grinned evilly as her Horror Belt form, surprising Kotonoha and Ryuji.
"How?" questioned Ryuji.
Katherine put on her ring and said, "Wouldn't you like to know?" She swiped her right hand over the buckle. "Henshin."
"HORROR FORM!"
Like before her armor formed and then the additional armor pieces appeared. Apparently, she'd been carrying Grimm inside of her so that this was possible.
Ryuji tensed up. He didn't have power but luckily he had his wrist communicator. He reached over to it and turned on the SOS.
"Go ahead and call your friends, it won't matter," snorted Sauron as she started to configure her HorrorGasher into Sword Mode. "You'll be dead. The girl, however, I have other plans."
"You want to end this story the way you want it," Ryuji concluded.
"The way it should be, with people dead," Sauron sneered. "I already took care of Sekai and she's probably on her way to Makoto's."
"You did what?"
"I hypnotized her, just like how I will hypnotize Kotonoha. A sweet girl like her should get her revenge, shouldn't she?"
Kotonoha wondered what they were talking about. Ryuji's wrist communicator had been on the entire time, broadcasting Sauron's words to the rest.
"We'll stop you," he swore.
"You?" she scoffed. "You wish! You don't have powers here, but to make sure I sent some of my minions to take care of your friends while I deal with you myself." She swiped her hand over her buckle again.
"FULL CHARGE!"
"DIE!!" roared Sauron as the blade detached from the HorrorGasher and she swung it at them. The blade came flying at them and Ryuji grabbed Kotonoha.
"GET DOWN!" shouted Ryuji as he pushed the girl and himself to the ground. The blade, however, managed to slash him in the back and he let out a scream.
"RYUJI-KUN!" Kotonoha screamed as she saw him bleeding from the hit. Ryuji gave her a reassuring look as Sauron walked over to them. Ryuji stood up and gripped his fists. They glowed with blue fire. His powers had returned.
"Kotonoha, please, whatever you see here…please don't be afraid…" he said without facing her. She wondered what he meant when he let out a roar. Suddenly, his body was engulfed in blue flames and when the flames dispersed, in Ryuji's place was the Ifrit Orphenoch. She gasped in shock as she saw the Orphenoch but she wasn't afraid of this being that stood in front of her. It was still Ryuji, but in his true form. He was the boy she loved no matter what shape or form.
Ifrit crouched down and growled at Sauron. She rolled her eyes. "So, you decided to show your true self. How quaint."
Ifrit let out a growl and then lunged at Sauron. He struck fast with his claws and soon the battle began. Kotonoha could only see a flurry of movements as sparks flew from claw and blade making contact. The Ifrit Orphenoch performed an upward swing and slashed Sauron in the chestplate but Sauron countered by kicking the Orphenoch hard in the face. The Orphenoch staggered backwards but before he could recover Sauron attacked mercilessly, slashing him over and over and listening with glee as he roared in pain. Sauron then swept her right hand over the buckle while holding the HorrorGasher in her left hand.
"FULL CHARGE!"
The energy within the belt once again transferred itself into the weapon but this time the blade didn't detach. Sauron then rushed at the Ifrit Orphenoch and slashed him across the chest with her energized blade. He was forced back into human form and collapsed at her feet.
INSERT DYNAMIC DIVERGENCE
Sauron was about to kill Ryuji when she was struck in the back by a burning ball of atomic energy, knocking her back and away from the injured Orphenoch. Sauron stood to her feet shakily, smoke wafting from the burns on her chest armor. "Who… did… that?!" She growled.
"That would be me."
She turned towards it and her eyes widened in shock. "What the hell?! You three?!" Eiji smirked, his left fist clutched tightly to hide the burns. Beside him stood Takuya and Morisato, both weaponless and standing proudly beside their leader.
"Father said this, "The more the merrier." You seem eager to mess with a monster, so why not try me on for size?" Eiji held up his right wrist as his watch shifted to its true form as a K-Zector. "Execute! Kaiju Spirit Evolution!"
Takuya grinned savagely, gripping his own K-Zector. "Execute! Kaiju Spirit Evolution!"
"Execute! Kaiju Spirit Evolution!" yelled Morisato, holding his K-Zector tight.
"WAKE UP!" A robotic voice proclaimed as Eiji's form was enveloped in a cocoon of light with branches of lightning circling like sharks around its crystalline surface. While on the outside, one would see a human sized cocoon but that concept would be immediately thrown out the window should one actually witness what was occurring within.
It was a void devoid of life, form, or function where only two things stood. One was Eiji Kusanagi, his arms spread wide as he roared like a primordial beast, the towering creature behind him reciprocating the call as it burst into beams of light that appeared as pieces of black armor grafted themselves to his form. He fell down through the void and landed on a small pentagon that served as the only means of standing in the dark expanse. He raised his arm upwards and shot a beams of atomic light into the sky, tearing a hole large enough for him to burst out into the primary world. The cocoon of light burst and faded from sight as the Black Rider stood where once a seemingly normal boy had just moments ago.
"KAMEN RIDER GOJIRA!"
He wore a leather-like black bodysuit underneath the charcoal-gray that was the dominant color of his armor and his helmet was shaped to resemble the head of some kind of carnivorous dinosaur. Along the back of his armor was a row of small metallic spikes that were only a few inches in length. The gauntlets ended in sharp claws and the visor, which was the "mouth" of the helmet, was a dark red. The gauntlet on his left arm held a cell phone sized device that was a more defined shape of the dinosaur's head that made up his helmet while the gauntlet on his right held a large blaster-gun of some sort.
Nothing living could stand this darkness for long so it was fortunate that the one living individual had only need be there for a moment's time. Takuya Yashima, his arms spread wide like wings as he screamed like a primordial falcon, the crimson flyer above him reciprocating the call as it burst into beams of light that appeared as pieces of red armor grafted themselves to his form. He fell down through the void and landed on a small pentagon that served as the only means of standing in the dark expanse. He reached through the void and grasped his Primal Blade tight and, with a samurai's battle cry, slashed it down in a diagonal arc that flew through the darkness and sliced its way into the light.
"KAMEN RIDER RODAN!"
He stood tall, at least a foot taller than Gojira, and his bodysuit was colored a dark goldenrod while the armor itself was a dark red. His helmet was shaped like a pteradactyl's head with not one but two crests jutting out from the top. His dark gray hair fell past his shoulders and was tied into a tight ponytail that wavered in the wind that seemed to constantly surround him. His visor was shaped like the wings of a pterosaur and was a vibrant blue. Strapped to his left wrist was a device that was also shaped like a pair of wings while his right hand held a serrated katana.
It was a form of darkness devoid of life, form, or function where only two things stood. One was Morisato Akichi, his arms spread wide as he roared like a primordial beast, the towering quadruped behind him reciprocating the call as it burst into beams of light that appeared as pieces of brown armor grafted themselves to his form. He fell down through the void and landed on a small pentagon that served as the only means of standing in the dark expanse. He raised his arm upwards, clutching his Ankylo Hammer tight, and slammed it down hard on the ground, the force shattering through the void and into the primary world.
"KAMEN RIDER ANGUIRUS!"
His bodysuit and armor were both two different shades of brown and his helmet was shaped more like an ankylosaur's with three sharp, yellow spikes running down the sides of his jaw. He had a pair of spikes jutting out from his shoulders and thighs and there was a spiked club attached to the side of his belt. He was a head shorter than Gojira and was more on the wide side though he had similar muscularity to the Black Rider. What was really odd though was the long jagged scar running down the side of his orange-tinted visor that resembled a scar from an animal's claw.
Gojira made a faint motion with his hand and, with a firm nod, Anguirus and Rodan backed towards the downed Ifrit Oprhenoch and stunned Kotonoha, both unknowingly battling for who held the greater amount of surprise at the appearance of these three Riders.
"What?" snarled Sauron, her focus entirely on the Black Rider and dismissing the other two completely. "Godzilla? That's impossible! It's nothing but a piece of over-dramatic fiction!"
"Fictionalize this. Atomic Fire!" A fireball of atomic energy blasted out from Gojira's cannon but Sauron managed to dodge the strike and started closing the distance between them even as the Daikaiju Rider continued firing upon her. Just when she got within striking range of her sword though, Gojira reached down and twisted his K-Zector around. "Cast-On!"
"CAST-ON!" A flash of light and brilliant energy sent Sauron stumbling back, nearly blinded from the intensity of the light. "CHANGE KAIJU OKAMI!" Once she were able to see again, Sauron saw that there was now a row of holographic, crystalline spines running down Gojira's back and a large serpentine tail that waved in the air behind him. The spines and tail both were a brilliant silver color though they were translucent and his nuclear symbol faintly aglow with the same light.
"Hmph. Quite a makeover but it seems I have the advantage here." She held up her HorrorGasher. "Your attack is too slow to keep up with me!"
"We'll see won't we?" Gojira took a battle stance. "Come and step into my parlor said the chimera to the knight. Come and know me."
"Quit your blathering and DIE!" Sauron charged forward, swiping her hand over the buckle of her belt.
"FULL CHARGE!" Energy shot forward into the blade of the sword, which detached itself from the HorrorGasher and was sent flying through the air, rotating faster than the eye could see. Sauron twisted tightly, bringing her weapon down and around in what would have been a vicious double-chop had Gojira not charged straight for her, closing the distance between them. His holo-spines shined brightly with radiation as he slammed his fist into her torso with a roar.
"Atomic Beam!" An explosion of atomic energy burst from the G-Force Cannon and sent Sauron flying high into the air with a pained scream. Ending the attack, Gojira turned to the others.
"Rodan!"
"Cast-On!" The Crimson Rider twisted his K-Zector around and leapt skywards as the device announced the transformation.
"CAST-ON! CHANGE SORA BUSHI!" With a flash of blinding light, Rodan flew proud with his armored boots now bedecked with the hologram of a pterosaur's feet while the wings on his back flapped to gain greater height than Sauron. The holograms were a dull shade of red but did not appear too threatening. The rockets on his back exploded with energy, sending him past the sound barrier and high above the tumbling Sauron. He twisted tightly in mid-air, unsheathing the Primal Blade. "Slicing Hurricane Gale!"
Below, Anguirus ran forward as the vacuum blade of air impacted against Sauron and sending her rocketing back down to the earth and slamming into the ground with an explosion of dust and debris. "Cast-On!" He twisted his K-Zector around.
"CAST-ON! CHANGE DINO PANZER!" A flash of neon light and there was a yellow shell now adorning Anguirus' back, though it was not the kind you would expect. It was shaped and designed like an armadillo's shell but with sharp spikes sticking at least half-a-foot outwards.
Anguirus leapt high into the air, curling into a tight ball as energy raced through his holo-carapace. "Spinball Assault!" He slammed down, rotating at high velocity and sending more dust into the air before he leapt up and away to land beside Gojira as Rodan hovered above them both.
The smoke finally cleared, revealing a de-transformed Katherine on the ground beside her Imagin partner. The Riders watched as she picked herself from the ground with Grimm's help and she glared at them with her inhuman eyes.
"You… That's it! I'm fed up with this place! I'm out of here!" The haunting tune of the HorrorLiner played in the air as the demonic time train arrived. It sped towards Katherine and Grimm and the demonic skull head of the train opened its mouth to devour them before racing away into an exit portal. Obviously, she and her Imagin minion had boarded her train and fled.
"Chicken-bitch," muttered Rodan.
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Eiji Kusanagi was not one to believe in fate or destiny or anything of the sort but even a near atheist like himself couldn't help but question the motives of the higher powers during situations such as this. Having all unanimously voted to remain in the "School Days World" after talking with the ChronoLiner owner, Ant, Eiji had expected life to return to normal and he could, at last, gain some semblance of peace. Of course, such a thing was not meant to be as, apparently thanks to that Sauron character, the barrier on this world was now open to other threats, namely time-travelling creatures known as Imagin. Fortunately, or not as the case often was, it seemed the young Ryuji Hasuma had taken up the task of being the Kamen Rider of this world, his exchange for being allowed to remain. However, upon seeing how well he handled his first Imagin, Eiji had done something he didn't think he'd do for a long time.
He took Ryuji on as his student.
The temperamental ruffian didn't go along with the idea willingly at first though. No, it took a match between the two of them to decide whether the boy would devote himself to the Kusanagi school of martial arts. The fight was as long as it was brutal and were it not for their mutual inhuman healing abilities the two of them would have killed each other or dropped from exhaustion. For most of it, the two were rather evenly matched up until Eiji had enough of evaluating Ryuji's prowess and pressed to the attack. In the end, it came with Eiji as the victor and Ryuji as the student. Still, despite the Hasuma's obvious prowess to the martial arts, there were times that Eiji found the boy… not truly lacking more like his mind was in another place.
Like now for example.
Eiji threw a small pebble that hit Ryuji right between the eyes. "Damn it, stop doing that!"
"Either meditate for real or tell me what's got you so troubled, Ryuji. Empathic I may be, but mind reader I am not." Eiji replied calmly. Ryuji seemed ready to refuse but deflated some and looked out from the dojo towards the sakura tree that rested alone in the yard behind the house.
"It's… about Kotonoha." Ryuji didn't say anything more.
"This would be the part where you continue with your earlier statement, baka-deshi."
A vein throbbed on Ryuji's forehead and the temperature dropped for a moment. "I just… Damn it, I don't know if she really loves me for me or if I'm just the rebound guy!"
Eiji stared at the boy as though he were insane. "Are you joking? Baka, I get headaches whenever you two are near!" Well, not completely true. Eiji did have the capability of turning his powers "off" but the rare moment he was caught by surprise… "Where on earth did you get such a ridiculous notion?"
"I know she accepts me but it's the part of me that doesn't exist! She doesn't know anything about my past or how I used to be like." Ryuji looked down at the cold hardwood floor. "You know that I'm not human. I'm an Orphenoch, born a freak and a killer. No way can she love someone like me."
Eiji frowned. He knew the term Orphenoch quite well. He had made Ryuji tell him everything after their match and had accepted it. He'd be a hypocrite if he didn't. Still… if his idiot student could tell him his story, then could he not do the same? "Haven't you ever wondered about why I am a Kamen Rider, or where my power comes from?"
Ryuji spared the taller boy a half-hearted glare and shrugged. "Figured it wasn't any of my business since you refused to speak to anyone but Ant."
"Hrmm…" The punk was learning, good. "That was before I took you on as my student, which makes you my responsibility. I told you when we first started that being my student meant being constantly at risk. I'll tell you why."
Ryuji looked up, as interested as he was confused. What point was Eiji trying to make?
"In my world, there were monsters like nothing you could ever believe. You've seen those giant monster films before I take it?" At Ryuji's nod, Eiji continued, "Those are nothing but lies. They are nothing compared to the real thing, seeing something alive yet beyond mortal comprehension tearing your once ordinary world out from underneath you just for the sake of its own survival. The daikaiju, as they were called, were as great as they were terrible but none that came after their King ever earned the distinction of being called a Living Natural Disaster. I'm sure, in your travels, you've heard his name before."
"Godzilla." Ryuji responded. "I remember but what does this have to do with you?"
"Nothing, and everything. I was born nearly half-a-century after the daikaiju were tricked into being sealed into small stone statues. How and why is a story for another time." Eiji's glare dared for Ryuji to say otherwise. He didn't and Eiji continued. "About ten years before I was born, a meteor shower struck the earth, decorating it with alien crystals. This event, called the Crystal Incursion, marked the beginning of the end for my world. The Crystals weren't just ordinary stone; they were alive. They could think, they could plan, and they could influence the human mind and turn our bodies into living bombs if people were exposed to them for too long. Most of my world was largely uninhabitable by the time I was born.
"So what few brilliant minds left tried to devise a way to stop the Crystal Incursion. One of those minds was my father and it was because of him that the Kamen Riders came to be. He and another scientist devised a way to utilize the power of the Kaiju-Spirit Stones to combat the Crystals ."
"Wait, so that means that…" Ryuji's eyes fell down to the K-Zector on Eiji's wrist. "When you become Gojira… the power you draw from—"
"Is the same power that man locked away in the first place." Eiji laughed tonelessly. "It would be ironic if it weren't so tragic. Using the K-Zectors," Eiji held up his arm so that his black watch could be seen with the image of Godzilla flashing across the surface in deep silver lines. "We're able to access the power of the Kaiju we hold. Though it's not without its consequences…"
"Consequences?"
"Aside from our humanity," Eiji spoke bluntly. "We could lose our minds if we disengaged all the safety protocols my father installed in them."
"Your humanity?" asked Ryuji.
"Being a Kamen Rider is both a gift and a curse. Aside from accessing the power of the Kaiju, we gained a few new genes which give us our paranormal power." Eiji explained. "We are as "inhuman" as you in a way. True you may have access to a bestial form but then, so do we if we chose to engage the BioMerge System. You say you're a freak and a killer? I say you're about as normal as anyone can be under your circumstances."
"Yeah right!" growled Ryuji. "In case you've forgotten, I was "born" from the negative emotions of Ryuki's subconscious! More so than you, I am a real monster!"
Eiji sighed, feeling strangely tired and looking down at his hands where he imagined bloodstains. "A monster is something that doesn't recognize the pain it inflicts on itself or on others, only the pleasure it gets from doing so. A monster doesn't care if it hurts people or its own heart. You may have felt that way once but you don't anymore. You were willing to die for the sake of your heart and I know you'd do so again if it meant protecting her."
"It doesn't change the fact that I've done horrible things," said Ryuji. "If Koto-chan knew she'd hate me."
"Why don't you ask her yourself, baka-deshi?"
Ryuji looked up in shock to see Kotonoha standing at the doorway leading into the dojo. She'd been standing there since the beginning and Ryuji hadn't noticed her there at all.
"Koto-chan…?"
"I'll leave you two alone," said Eiji as he walked away, his job done. It was in Kotonoha's hands now. Looking down at his hand, he flexed his fingers and watched as claws grew in place of ordinary nails and black, leathery scales slowly descended down to his wrist. "More so than I? Ryuji, you've no idea how wrong you are…"
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It was a good thing that Ryuji's watch could detect Imagin activity. As soon as the alarm from it blared, both Eiji and him were on their bikes and headed towards the source. The Imagin in question was definitely a strong one judging by the intensity of the signal.
"Henshin!" Ryuji called out as he slipped the Rider Pass into his belt.
"Execute! Kaiju Spirit Evolution!" called out Eiji as he activated his K-Zector.
"IFRIT FORM!"
"WAKE UP!"
"Let's Ride!" Ifrit called as he accelerated. "Catch me if you can, Kusanagi!"
To Be Continued...
A/N Inspiration:
While I am by no means a true fan of School Days, as the ending leaves much to be desired, but having read Kamen Rider Chrome's works I find myself liking it more than I had at first glance. In fact, it was more because of Kamen Rider Chrome that I was able to write this segment as both he and I have conversed on how our two characters, Ryuji and Eiji, would interact with one another as both can be considered as "monsters". Someday, he and I might truelly write a full crossover involving our own sets of characters but, for now, the two of us have our own epics to work on.
Next Reflection...
"Genesis"