KAMEN RIDER CHROME: Alright, so I know everyone who has read this story has read the first chapter several times. However, I realized after reading it again that this first chapter was lacking in a lot of details. It was basically rushed work I did out of fun. I didn't do any proofreading or revisions. I only slapped it together and published it. Now, after several years, I decided it was time for an overhaul. This was mostly inspired from one of my readers who commented on the flaws of this chapter and after taking some of his words into consideration, I decided it was time to go back and fix the mistakes I made.

If you think I will revise the entire KAMEN RIDER SHOWA story after this, that is also up to consideration. I did finish it. So, this is not a reboot. The plot is still the same but some details have been changed and added to fill in the blanks to make this story move more smoothly.

XXX

SHIN KAMEN RIDER SHOWA

Chapter 1: The New Arrival

Rika Furude was seated on a comfortable red armchair within an octagonal white room with tall windows. The young girl with long blue hair was in her miko outfit. Sitting opposite her on a similar chair was someone who looked exactly like her, only older and wearing a black dress. Her violet eyes didn't have a shine to them and her black dress sported a cat's tail.

This was the Witch of Miracles, Frederica Bernkastel, the witch created from the memories accumulated during the Endless June that Rika had repeatedly experienced for hundred of years. A year ago, she and her friends had managed to break the curse of the Endless June and thus change her fate.

"Enjoying your tea?" Bernkastel asked her mortal counterpart.

"Yes, it is delicious," said Rika, setting the cup down upon her saucer. "Frederica, why did you summon me, and why isn't Hanyuu here?"

"Because I know you will tell Hanyuu, and I just wished to speak to you," said Frederica. "Remember this well, Rika Furude. This is important."

Rika swallowed. If the Witch of Miracles said it was important, then it was indeed important.

Frederica informed Rika, "Soon, a new player will appear in Hinamizawa."

"A new enemy?" Rika questioned, worriedly.

"He will bring many dangers to you, your friends and your home, but he won't be your enemy. He will be your most powerful ally when a new evil shows itself," Frederica continued. "His past is a dark one, and he has suffered for many years. A great tragedy has forced change upon him and led him to Hinamizawa."

Rika remained quiet, waiting for Frederica to break her pause.

The Witch of Miracles went on, "You and your friends will befriend him, strengthening his resolve when those who've created him appear to retake him. Your friendship will be the key to his strength, of spirit and heart."

"Does he have a name?" asked Rika.

"Yes, but I will not tell you. All you need to remember is that he is marked by the number '13'."

"13?" Rika repeated. According to Western superstition, 13 was a very unlucky number.

XXX

Rena Ryuugu was on her way home from hanging out with her friends in Okinomiya. The girl was in her late teen years with chin-length auburn hair and blue eyes. Her attire consisted of a white dress with black stockings and a pink ribbon in her collar. The sleeves were short and puffy and she wore a white beret on her head. It was her favorite outfit because it was cute and she wore it almost everyday when she wasn't in school. It was fun spending time with them, but lately Rena had found herself longing for something.

The year before, she and her friends had uncovered a dreadful conspiracy which would've led to the destruction of her home village of Hinamizawa and the deaths of all the villagers. It was all done by Nurse Takano who was trying to prove her grandfather's research on the Hinamizawa Syndrome right.

According to her and her grandfather's research, the syndrome caused extreme anxiety and paranoia which would lead to violent and psychotic behavior in those infected by it. An interesting thing about the syndrome was that it was localized and never went beyond Hinamizawa, hence the name. Another thing was that everyone who lived in the village was infected. Rika, who was dubbed the 'Queen Carrier' by Takano would be the catalyst. Rika's death would ultimately lead to the destruction of Hinamizawa as it would trigger a massive outbreak of the syndrome. This would be Takano's chance to validate her research and all it would mean was the destruction of an entire village and its people.

Rena and her friends, along with new friend Hanyuu, were able to uncover the plot and put a stop to it with clever planning and strategy. Satoko's traps were used to incapacitate Takano's army. Finally, they had her cornered and she was stopped.

Since then, Rena had noticed a change with her friends. Keiichi and Mion had grown closer and Rena couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. Shion, who also had feelings for Satoko's big brother Satoshi, was also happier now. They managed to learn at Satoshi was in a coma under Dr. Irie's care until he could cure him of the Hinamizawa Syndrome. Dr. Irie was currently working on a vaccine to suppress the syndrome's violent symptoms.

Rena sighed. She liked Keiichi too but it seemed that his feelings for Mion were stronger. However, neither he nor Mion had acted on their feelings, but Rena was aware that they really liked each other. She just wished she could find someone like that.

As Rena was feeling down, it started to rain. Rena grimaced, upset. She didn't even carry her umbrella with her today.

As she walked past an alleyway, she heard something. It sounded like groaning. Curious, Rena decided to investigate. One of her irresistible traits was her curiosity, so she couldn't help but check out what she heard in the alley.

Rena gasped as she found the source of the groans almost immediately. It was a boy her age and he looked hurt.

"Hello, are you OK?" she asked as she touched his shoulder and he groaned again. Rena grimaced. He had cuts and bruises. His clothes, which consisted of a black jacket with matching pants, looked damaged with blood stains on then. His blue hair looked dirty and messy as well. She noted the antenna hair but that wasn't important.

Rena gently brushed his bangs aside and her eyes widened at the sight of the scar just above his left eyebrow. It was a perfect XIII. According to her memory, that was the Roman numeral for the number 13. It didn't look self-inflicted. Someone must've done it to this cute boy and that made her angry.

Rena blushed as she realized she had just called this boy cute. Shaking her head, Rena decided to help him out.

"Don't worry. I'm going to take you home and take care of you," she told him, using her usual announcement when something cute caught her eye. However, this time, it was absent of her usual excitement and mirth. She put the boy on her back and lifted him up, draping his arms over her shoulders as she put her hands under his legs to give him a piggyback ride. She noted how heavy he was, but that didn't bother her. She had carried a lot of heavy things when she went to look for cute things to add to her collection and had been building her strength ever since.

She should take him to Dr. Irie first, but right now she just wanted to take him home, clean him up and treat his wounds. The hardest part would be trying to convince her father that she hasn't gone overboard in her hobby and kidnapped a random stranger for being cute.

And so, Rena Ryuugu carried a young boy she had found back home while being soaked by the rain.

XXX

He was surrounded. They were all around him. Watching him. There were voices.

Attack.

Destroy.

Pain.

Violence.

Brutality was met with brutality. No. Not mere brutality. Brutality was met with atrocity. Overpowering rage.

He could not allow them to win. New mission objective: He must be the victor.

He bellowed with a fury born of madness and slaughtered them all. They fell from his attacks like wheat before a scythe. Blades of crimson energy emerged from his limbs as he swiped at them ferociously. As the soldiers came at him, he sliced them into ribbons, cutting off layer after layer of flesh in long, curling streaks of tortured muscle and spouting blood that screamed in his consciousness.

When more came, he took out his firearm and pulled the trigger. He did not aim. He simply fired. And fired. And fired. Everything before him would die. Everything would be destroyed. The entire misery of the place that had been his life, the place that had ruined his life, would be brought crashing down until it was nothing but rubble and blood. Always blood. Horrible, gurgling blood that rasped painfully across his brain in labored breaths…

Then there was a loud boom. Equally loud bangs. There was the scent of smoke in the air and the sensation of heat. The sight of dancing, flickering, deadly fire.

A dim corner of his mind registered success, so he escaped. People attempted to stop him. He did not know them, but he knew that he hated them too and so he fought. There was screaming, which echoed through his brain and splashed his vision with red. He disliked the screaming so he silenced it.

He continued to run and run as fast and far away as he could get. Then there was light. The light was pretty. He went towards the light and…

XXX

"Dad, he's waking up."

"OK, Rena. Just keep him warm, alright?"

The boy groaned as his eyes slowly fluttered open and he found himself looking at a girl with chin length brown hair, blue eyes, and a halo of light around her head. It was actually the light from the ceiling above her but it still looked radiant.

"Am I in Heaven, coz I see an angel…" the boy uttered, causing the girl to blush.

"Oh…" the girl was speechless. Nobody had ever called her an angel before.

The young boy, a teenager, sat up in the futon and sneezed. The girl gave him a tissue and he blew into it. "Arigato."

"I'm glad to see you're awake," spoke an older man with glasses as he came into the room. He slowly got down on his knees. "We were worried."

"Thank you," the boy spoke. "Where am I and how did I get here?"

"You're in our house in Hinamizawa," the man said. He introduced himself as Mr. Ryuugu. "And the one who found you is my daughter, Rena."

"I was on my way home when I found you," spoke Rena.

The boy blinked. "You carried me home, alone?" She must be strong.

"Well, it's not very hard," Rena stated, blushing modestly.

"So, what were you doing out in the rain?" asked Mr. Ryuugu.

"Um…" the boy's eyes darted around. "I don't remember…" He looked down at himself and saw that he was bandaged. "Where are my clothes?"

"When I brought you back, we took off your clothes because they were soaked. We found a lot of bruises on you too," said Rena, blushing. "We tried to look for any identification but we couldn't find anything."

"We think you might've been beaten up and mugged," said Mr. Ryuugu.

"I guess," the boy said. He had trouble remembering anything for some reason.

"What's your name?" asked Rena.

"It's…It's…" the boy tried to recall his name but came up with nothing. "I...I don't know."

Mr. Ryuugu and Rena were shocked. He didn't even know his name?

"You poor thing," Rena spoke sympathetically.

"You probably have amnesia from the trauma," Mr. Ryuugu suggested.

"Amnesia...?" the boy questioned, looking both confused and unsure. Rena wanted to comfort him.

"If you don't remember your name, how about we name you?" Rena suggested.

"You'll name me? For real?" the boy asked, surprised.

"Rena, are you sure?" Rena's father asked. "This isn't like naming a pet, you know."

"I know, Dad. I just want to help him. Now, let me think," Rena told her father before going into a thinking pose. She was cupping her chin with one hand and had her eyes closed as she concentrated. What would be a good name for her new friend?

'XIII means thirteen, right?' Rena thought. 'Juusan would be a weird name. Let's see. Break it down. Thirteen is 1 (1) and 3 (san).'

"Shin...Ban..." the boy muttered.

"Huh? what was that?" Rena asked.

"Oh? Sorry. I just said something without meaning to," replied.

"No, say it again," she insisted.

"Shin, ban," he repeated.

"Shin...Ichi...San...Ban..." Rena uttered the words together. She clapped her hands together. "Aha! I got it!" She pointed at the boy. "From now on, your name is Shinichi Sanban!"

The boy now dubbed Shinichi Sanban repeated the name, "Shinichi...Sanban..." He smiled a sight which made Rena smile as well. "I like it! Thank you!" He suddenly hugged the girl, causing her to blush. Mr. Ryuugu cleared his throat and Shinichi promptly released Rena in embarrassment.

"Well, Sanban-kun, welcome to Hinamizawa," greeted Mr. Ryuugu. "We'll call the authorities to see if they can help you, but for now you are welcomed to stay with us."

"Thank you," said Shinichi gratefully.

XXX

Mr. Ryuugu called the police to try and help Shinichi find any family he could contact, but they couldn't find anyone matching Shinichi's description, and without any identification, they really didn't have anything to go by. A name couldn't help as Shinichi couldn't remember his real name and was using the one Rena had given him. As he had nowhere else to go, Rena convinced her father to take Shinichi in.

Shinichi learnt that he was now in the village of Hinamizawa, a mostly peaceful yet rural community with a population of roughly 2,000 people. Shinichi stayed with the Ryuugus and slowly became part of their family. He wasn't a freeloader, however, and helped out around the house as much as he could. He would clean and even cook sometimes. Mr. Ryuugu did have to buy Shinichi new clothes, but he was happy to do so for the young amnesiac.

Shinichi mostly stayed in the house and rarely ventured outside, except at night. When Rena asked him why, he just told him that he loved the peace and quiet which was accompanied by the soft chirping of crickets.

Shinichi also learnt that Rena had a strange obsession for taking things home which she perceived as cute. Shinichi had jokingly asked if she had brought him home because he was cute, which she responded by blushing and then smacking him.

Mr. Ryuugu was aware that Shinichi couldn't just stay in the house. He needed to go out and make friends. So, he had Shinichi enrolled as a student in Rena's school. This pleased Rena as she could finally introduce the boy to her friends. She had not told them about him since she wanted to keep his existence a surprise.

XXX

Rika was sitting in class with her friends when Rena entered with a new boy with indigo hair and eyes. He seemed nervous and fidgety, sticking only close to Rena.

Shinichi's eyes scanned the classroom. His eyes locked onto Rena's friends. He recognized them from Rena's stories whenever she told him about her friends. She was very detailed and didn't leave much out.

The twins were very distinct and were the only teenage girls in the classroom besides Rena. They had the same green hair. He identified Mion because of her ponytail while Shion wore her hair down. According to Rena, they were from the Sonozaki Clan. Mion was the clan heiress. He was also told that the Sonozaki Clan had a lot of influence in the village.

Next was Keiichi Maebara who was a teenage boy with brown hair. The year before, he had been the new boy. Now, he was one of Rena's closest friends. He was also the only boy in their circle of friends.

The youngest members of Rena's close circle of friends were Rika Furude, Hanyuu Furude and Satoko Houjou. Rena had told her that the three little girls lived together in Rika's house. As Hanyuu was Rika's relative from out of town, she was allowed to live at Rika's as a guest. Oddly enough, she had horns. Maybe they were decorations. Also, both Rika and Satoko were orphans. Shinichi felt sympathetic for them.

Also according to Rena, Satoko was quite notorious as a self-proclaimed 'Trap Master' due to her assortments of tricks and traps.

Satoko used to have a brother named Satoshi, but he had vanished a couple of years ago. For a moment, Shinichi and Rika's eyes met and he blinked as he felt her strong gaze on him. That could not be natural for a girl her age to have such a strong gaze.

"Class, we have a new student joining us," informed Chie-sensei. She addressed the new boy, "Would you please introduce yourself?"

"I'm…I'm…" he stammered. He looked to Rena for encouragement. She smiled at him. With a nod be continued with his introduction. However, he did it at the top of his lungs, "MY NAME IS SHINICHI SANBAN!" He bowed deeply, still yelling, "NICE TO MEET YOU ALL!" He stood ramrod straight, gauging all of their reactions.

"He's a bit shy," Rena excused, "But Shinichi-kun is a nice person, so please get along with him."

Shinichi brushed his bangs aside and Rika spotted his scar which was above his left eye.

XIII: the Roman numeral for the number 13.

Rika would need to pay close attention to this boy. Perhaps he was the one Bernkastel had warned her about.

XXX

Chie-sensei left the classroom to allow the students a chance to get to know their new classmate. He was seated in a chair facing the entire classroom. He scanned the room. The students were an assortment of ages, ranging from elementary school students to high school students. The Hinamizawa school was the only school in the village and Chie-sensei tried her best to teach all the students. The older students were also responsible for teaching the younger students.

"Alright, let's get to know our new pal, Shinichi!" cheered Mion, causing Shinichi to flinch.

"Mii-chan, please don't be so loud," Rena advised.

"Sorry, Rena, but we gotta do it this way!" Mion waved her off. "So, I just wanna ask first! Where do you come from?"

"I don't know," was Shinichi's answer, causing everyone to go silent.

"You don't know? What do you mean you don't know?" Satoko asked. She was one of the pre-teen students with short blonde hair.

"It's because he has amnesia," Rena answered.

"Amnesia?" Shion repeated. "Is this true?" Shinichi nodded.

"So, you really don't know anything about yourself?" Mion asked. Shinichi shook her head.

"No, I haven't. Mr. Ryuugu's been trying to help me. Even called the police. So far, there's been nothing," answered Shinichi.

"Hey, why is he helping you anyway?" Keiichi asked.

"Because I live with him and Rena," Shinichi answered.

"WHAT!?" Mion and Keiichi yelled, nearly knocking the new boy backwards.

"Rena, is this really true?" Mion asked as she addressed the girl. "You have a boy living with you?"

"Yes, Shinichi-kun is living with me and Dad," beamed Rena.

"Are you sure you didn't kidnap him?" Keiichi asked suspiciously.

"Oh no! I just found him and took him home!" Rena defended.

"You know, that almost sounds like kidnapping," Mion remarked.

"She found me lying in an alley," Shinichi added. "If she hadn't found me, I'm not sure what would've happened." He blushed, "She's my angel..." Rena blushed at being called an angel and the entire class whooped.

"Wow, an angel, huh?" Mion grinned. "Be careful, Rena. You might've taken him home, but he might just steal your heart."

Rena wiggled as she put her hands to her cheeks. Shinichi watched and couldn't help but smile.

"So, why did you think she kidnapped me?" Shinichi asked curiously.

"Oh, Rena's always had a habit of grabbing things she thinks are cute and then taking them home. Last year, she even tried to kidnap Hanyuu-chan," Keiichi answered.

Shinichi blinked and looked to Rena who looked embarrassed. "You tried to kidnap someone for real?"

"I couldn't help it! She's so cute!" squealed Rena as she pointed at Hanyuu.

"Anyway, I'm Keiichi Maebara," Keiichi extended his hand to Shinichi. Keiichi was a teenage boy the same age as him with short brown hair.

"Hi," Shinichi returned the handshake.

"You know, I'm so glad you're here. It'll be nice to have another guy my age here for a change," Keiichi grinned.

"And I'm Mion Sonozaki, president of the Hinamizawa Gaming Club!" Mion declared proudly.

"Gaming Club? What's that?" Shinichi asked.

"It's just like what the name means! We're a club that plays games after school!" answered Satoko. "Satoko Houjou, at your service!" Satoko saluted.

"And I'm Shion Sonozaki," Shion introduced herself.

"Hello, I'm Rika Furude," smiled Rika. She was a cute little girl, with straight bangs and long blue hair. "Nice to meet you, nipah."

"And I'm, Hanyuu," Hanyuu greeted him. She had long lavender-colored hair. Shinichi couldn't help but look at her horns. He had noticed them earlier but up close they looked quite realistic. Nobody seemed to comment on them, though.

"Please take good care of me, everyone," Shinichi smiled as he bowed. At first glance, this was an odd classroom with a wide assortment of students of different ages, but it was also warm and welcoming just like Rena.

"Dude, we're going to be the best of pals. I'm sure of it," grinned Keiichi.

"Pals..." Shinichi murmurred. He liked the sounds of that.

XXX

As time passed, Shinichi got used to the routine. He would go to school with Rena and spend time with his friends in class. While Shinichi didn't remember ever going to school before, he had a very good grasp on the subjects. Surprisingly, he could do all the math problems that stumped Mion.

He also ended up joining the Gaming Club. Before he got the nerve to ask, he just watched from the sidelines. The Punishment Game rule seemed both cruel and unusual. He'd seen Keiichi lose a few times before and didn't want to end up cosplaying as a maid or something even more humiliating.

Still, despite how cruel and humiliating the Punishment Games were, his friends still had fun and so he asked if he could join. It wasn't really that hard. Mion actually wanted him to join. She just wanted him to take the first step and ask personally.

That was when Mion learnt that Shinichi was incredibly good at games.

XXX

A lot of time had passed since his first day of school and today was just another day for Shinichi Sanban, Hinamizawa's newest resident. He was on his way to school with Rena, chatting as they walked together, when they were suddenly ambushed.

"Hey, Shin-chan!" Mion greeted loudly as she slapped Shinichi in the back. He yelped in pain as he was thrown forwards.

"Dammit, Mion!" Shinichi cried. "Do you have to do that everyday?" He frowned. Shinichi was no longer the shy newbie he was when Rena had found him. He was more outspoken. Keiichi probably had something to do with it as he saw it was his responsible to help Shinichi open up. It seemed to be working.

"Aw, I just like messing with ya," the girl laughed.

"Good morning, Shin-chan," greeted Shion, Mion's identical twin sister. Unlike her sister, Shion wasn't a tomboy. However, since both looked identical, they sometimes liked to mess with people by switching places and it was impossible to tell the apart when they did. She had also taken up to calling Shinichi with the same nickname like her sister.

"Good morning, Shion," Shinichi greeted back.

Rena giggled and then waved at Keiichi Maebara as he walked over.

At school, they met up with the three younger members of their group. As soon as Keiichi walked through the door, Shinichi warned, "Watch your step."

Keiichi caught the warning too late and tripped on a wire, activating several traps aimed at him.

CRASH!

BAM!

BOOM!

SPLASH!

At the end of it, Keiichi was covered in flour, had water poured over him that made the flour wet, and covered in feathers. "Sa…To…Ko!" Keiichi seethed.

"Haha!" the blonde prankster laughed. "Once again, Keiichi-san got caught in one of my traps!"

Everyone else couldn't help but laugh as Keiichi stomped out of the classroom to get himself cleaned up.

For school, Shinichi wore something similar to Keiichi with some accessories. He wore a red neckerchief under his shirt collar and a black vest. In terms of appearance, he was fairly average looking with indigo hair and matching eyes. His hair was cut short and parted in the middle. Two strands of it stuck out at the top of his head like bug antennae. There was a scar above his left eyebrow but it was hidden by his bangs. Oddly, it was shaped like the Roman numeral 'XIII'.

XXX

The final bell rang and all the students headed home, save for the Gaming Club. "What are we gonna do today?" asked Shinichi.

"How about Old Geezer?" suggested Mion.

"Excuse me, but I think those cards can't be used, since you can all correctly guess what's on them," pointed out Shinichi.

"So, what do you suggest?" asked Shion.

"How about a new deck?" said Shinichi as he slipped a deck of cards from his vest pocket. Mion blanched. New cards meant no markings to differentiate them. That meant the senior club members didn't have any sort of advantage. "Unless you're scared…"

"Hah, no way!" Mion accepted the challenge. "Bring it on!"

"Mii-chan is fired up," giggled Rena.

XXX

By the end of the game, everyone but Mion and Shinichi was out of cards. Now it all came down to a confrontation between the club president and newbie. It was Shinichi's turn to pick. If he picked wrong, then Mion would win when she picked his card. He just needed one more pair to win.

"Heh, heh, heh," snickered Mion. "Which one is it, Shin-chan?"

Shinichi glowered and then glanced up at Mion's blue eyes. With a smirk, he then picked the right card and paired it up with his own. "I'm done."

"WHAT!?' shouted out Mion.

"You lost, Mion," chuckled Keiichi. "Now Shinichi can make you do anything he wants."

Mion grumbled and then blanched as she saw Shinichi snickering. "OK, what do you want me to do?"

"The Watanagashi Festival is coming up, right?" asked Shinichi. He'd heard about it from the locals and it sounded fun. It was Hinamizawa's own celebration and it was done annually, always on the 3rd Sunday of June.

"Yeah, and we're gonna go together," said Mion.

"Well…" Shinichi crossed his arms thoughtfully as he rocked back and forth on his seat. "Hm…"

"Hurry up already!" Mion said impatiently.

"I want you, Mion…to kiss Shion, on the lips, at the festival," Shinichi challenged.

"WHAT!" the twins shrieked.

"Nice one!" snickered Keiichi.

"Twin sisters kissing…" Rena imagined it with starry eyes. "So cute…OMOCHIKAERI!"

"With tongue," finished Shinichi. Shion and Mion blushed crimson.

"You are one sick and twisted bastard, Shin-chan," said Mion with a growl.

"Hey, if I'd lost you would've come up with something even more humiliating," Shinichi said with a shrug. "I'll bring a camera to take a picture for posterity." He winked.

"I blame you for this, Kei-chan," Mion glared accusingly to the brown-haired boy.

"Hey, what did I do?" Keiichi responded.

"What Onee means is that Shin-chan was a sweet boy before you corrupted him. In short, you're a bad influence on him," added Shion.

"All I did was provide him with a good male influence. It's not healthy for him to be surrounded by girls all the time," Keiichi defended.

"And what is that supposed to mean, Kei-chan?" Mion glared.

"Ah...um...Shinichi, help me out here!"

"Sorry, dude. You're on your own with this," Shinichi responded.

XXX

For the following days leading up to the festival, Shinichi was feeling a little anxious. He had a feeling like something bad was going to happen. He didn't dare tell this to Rena and Mr. Ryuugu since he didn't want to worry them. Maybe he was just being paranoid.

However, he just felt sick to his stomach for some reason as the days counted down to the night of the festival. He could sense that, deep down, something horrible was going to happen.

He dashed those worries away as he adjusted his camera. It was an old one Mr. Ryuugu had given to Shinichi. It hadn't worked in years but the boy had been able to fix it. On the night of the festival he was going to take a picture of Shion and Mion kissing.

"Hm…twincest…" grinned Shinichi perversely. "Oh, I can't wait." While Rena liked cute things, Shinichi liked perverted things. Mostly, he could be caught staring at Shion and Mion's breasts. Rika would always be the one to catch him doing such a thing.

XXX

It was the night of the festival and Shinichi joined Rena as they went to meet up their friends. Rena was wearing her cute white dress with the matching hat. As for Shinichi, he was wearing a sleeveless red hoodie with a grasshopper on it, denim shorts that came down to his knees and some comfortable sneakers. Hanging from his neck was the camera.

This was the first festival he'd ever been to as far as he knew. Most of the memories of his past were gone but he was making new ones with his camera. He himself was taking pictures of the festival grounds as they all played the games and ate the food being sold there.

"OK, Shin-chan!" announced Mion as she stood at the shooting gallery. "Take your best shot!"

Shinichi picked up the rifle and took aim at all the prizes lined up in front of him. "Hm…which one…?" He noted cute little doll that Rena may like and also a teddy bear. There were some smaller prizes too. "Which…?" He squinted.

Suddenly, a piercing ache shot through his head, causing him to drop the rifle and clutch his head. His friends were shouting to him but their voices were muted as he fell to his knees.

"Shinichi-kun!" Rena cried out as Shinichi caught her voice. "Are you okay?"

The teenager rose up to his feet and flashed a smile to Rena, in an attempt to relieve her. "I'm fine. I just had a headache."

"Hey, maybe you should sit down and-" Mion suggested but was cut off.

"And miss you twins smooching? Nuh-uh!" Shinichi wagged his finger. "You're not going to get away that easily." He gave a devious smirk and wink. "One way or another I'm gonna catch you two kiss and take a picture of it."

"Lousy blackmailer…" growled Mion. "I hate you."

"Aw…don't be like that," said Shinichi, mocking sadness.

"I liked you better when we first met," said Mion. "You were shyer and less perverted."

Shinichi frowned. Back then he'd felt lost and confused, opening up only to Rena. It was because of his friends that he developed a more cheerful personality…even if it was completely obnoxious to some.

"Well, people change," said Shinichi with a shrug. "So…anybody up for some cotton candy?"

"Oh, no!" Mion interrupted. "You gotta win a-"

BANG!

"We have a winner!" the man at the shooting gallery announced as he handed Shinichi a teddy bear. Mion gawked as Shinichi had taken the shot without looking.

"You were saying?" smiled Shinichi.

"Lucky bastard," muttered Mion.

"You call it luck, but I call it skill," he answered. Shinichi then handed her the teddy bear.

"Huh?"

"Come on, Mion. You know you look better with a smile anyway," said Shinichi as he raised up his camera. "May I?"

"OK, sure," nodded Mion. He took a picture of her.

Rika and Hanyuu, however, were wearing serious expressions on their faces. Shinichi's sudden headache must've meant something, but what?

XXX

Shinichi took pictures of Rika as she performed her dance at the shrine. To see such a young girl play the part of the shrine priestess was amazing, and her performance was simply breathtaking. It was hard to imagine that she was so young and yet so competent. Well, after the death of her parents maybe she had to take up some responsibilities, this being one of them.

"Rika-chan is amazing, isn't she?" asked Rena.

"Yes, she is," nodded Shinichi. "Of course, something even more amazing is gonna happen tonight…" He leered at the twins and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Shion and Mion blushed. Mion herself was just wishing she could wipe that smile off Shinichi's face. It was so annoying.

XXX

With balls of cotton in hand, the entire village went to the river to send the cotton balls drifting down. Seeing all the floating balls of cotton drifting down stream gave Shinichi a feeling of peace. It was like any sins he might've committed in the past, which he didn't remember, had been sent away.

"OK, girls, pucker up!" said Shinichi to the twins. He raised his camera. "And make it a nice, long and wet smooch."

"Oh, shut up, you perv!" Mion snapped. She faced Shion who was blushing nervously.

"Oi! Oi!" encouraged Keiichi. "Hurry it up!"

"I'm gonna do it, okay!" snapped Mion. She leaned in close to her sister, closing the gap between them, as their friends leaned in close. Shinichi got ready to take a picture when all of a sudden…

"MONSTERS!"

That snapped Shinichi's attention away from the twins who seemed relieved before panic overtook them. Dark figures were approaching them and despite their silhouettes in the dark, they weren't human. They looked like skeletons covered in human skin with sharp fingertips and toes. They had sunken eyes and their mouths were wide open as they moaned.

A few unlucky villagers were attacked and killed by the things who tore open their throats with their claws and teeth. Blood spilled on the ground as the unfortunate ones were slain right on the spot. Screaming intensified as many villagers tried to flee from the dark creatures, but they could not get away. Stragglers were caught and pinned down before being slaughtered as they were torn to shreds.

Shinichi was rooted to the spot as he stared in shock at these dark creatures. These dark creatures-these Darklings-had just killed several people before their eyes. The Darklings took notice of him and he gulped.

"Shin-chan! Run!" shouted Mion.

One of the Darklings lunged for him. Shinichi yelled in fright. Suddenly, he grabbed hold of the dark creatures arm and flipped it to the ground with all his might.

Shinichi blinked as he realized what he had done, "How...how did I do that?" The Darklings went for him and Shinichi screamed as he swung his camera at them, "Get away! Get away!" The camera was knocked out of his hand. When it landed, it landed on the shutter button. This caused the camera to flash and the Darklings screamed as they tried to shield their eyes from the light.

"The light," Shinichi realized. He picked up his camera and flashed them repeatedly with the light, causing them to back away from the painful flash. "How do you like me now!?" he gloated.

Rena was being dragged away by Keiichi but she was reluctant to leave Shinichi behind. She wrenched her hand away from Keiichi's and ran towards Shinichi. "RENA!" shouted Keiichi.

A Darkling suddenly stood in Rena's path and the girl gasped. Mion wasn't about to let her friend get hurt so she yelled and kicked the thing away.

"Mii-chan, we need to help Shinichi-kun!" Rena cried, pointing to the cornered boy with the camera.

"Come on!" encouraged Mion. "We gotta go help!" At her command, the other Club members followed. They saw what Shinichi was doing and took out their flashlights to help.

Shinichi continued to flash the Darklings with his camera. It didn't hurt them all that much, just slowed them down. He then heard a familiar shout, "Shinichi-kun!" He whipped his head around.

"Rena, get away!" he snapped. This moment of distraction allowed one of the Darklings to slap his camera away. A Darkling took a swipe at Shinichi and knocked him backwards. Another swipe knocked him down as the same Darkling pinned him down by his shoulders and tried to take a bite out of him. Shinichi pressed his hands against the creature's face to push it back and avoid its snapping jaws, noting the horrible stench of its breath. "Get off me!" Shinichi yelled as he kicked the Darkling off him.

The Darklings once again tried to attack him but Rika and Satoko saved him in time with their flashlights.

"Shinichi, get up and run!" Rika yelled urgently.

"Hurry!" insisted Satoko.

Shinichi didn't need to be told twice as he got to his feet and scooped up his camera. A few Darklings stood in his way but he landed a kick on one and sent it tumbling. Another one received a fist to the jaw as another was kicked in the chest and knocked down.

From behind him, darkness was beginning to pool on the spot. Whatever it was, it couldn't be anything good at all.

"How are we going to get out of this, Mion?" Shinichi asked as the Darklings began to corner them.

"I...I don't know!" Mion yelled. How long could they hold out with their flashlights? Not long, that was for sure. They might be able to stun the creatures, but they had no way of banishing them. Even Hanyuu was terrified as she clung onto Rika.

Shinichi looked to his friends and then back at the Darklings. He was scared, he realized that, but right now he was more afraid of what these things would do to his friends than what they would do to him. Bravely, Shinichi stood between his friends and the recovering Darklings, facing the horde with a look of determination.

"Shinichi-kun?" Rena questioned.

"I'm not going to let them hurt you," Shinichi swore as he clenched his fists right as the Darklings made a lunge for them. Well, they would have to go through him first if they wanted to get to his friends.

"SHIN-CHAN!"

"SHINICHI!"

"SHINICHI-SAN!"

"SHINICHI-KUN!"

XXX

Time suddenly froze and Shinichi looked around in shock. Everyone was frozen and were monotone. The demons were in mid-lunge and his friends were screaming.

"What's going on...?" he questioned, confused and scared. Suddenly, his surroundings were replaced by a white void. It was nothing, save for a floor that stretched endlessly in all directions. "What is this? What's going on?" He sensed a presence and turned to face a dark figure with glowing red eyes. "Who...who are you?"

"We are you..."

"Excuse me?" Shinichi's eyes widened as several more figures appeared around him. They were elaborately dressed men in strange helmets that resembled insects.

"And you are us..." the figures spoke in unison.

"What are you talking about?"

"Open your eyes, Kamen Rider."

"...Kamen...Rider...?"

"The time to transform...IS NOW!"

XXX

"...Let's...Ride..."

Back in the real world, time resumed as a metal belt appeared around Shinichi's waist. Shinichi remembered what the figure had told him. The time to transform was indeed now. He yelled out one word that would change everything.

"Henshin!"

The belt buckle split open, revealing a green crystal orb. It released a bright light that caused the Darklings to scream out in terror and back away from the group. The light was so bright, the Club had to shield their eyes from it.

"What's going on!?" Keiichi cried out.

Once the bright glow dimmed, what appeared to be jigsaw puzzle pieces started coming together over Shinichi's body. Once all the jigsaw puzzle pieces had joined together, Shinichi now stood clad in a suit of black and white armor with a matching bodysuit.

His friends gaped speechlessly at the sight of him. The torso armor was black with a white chest. White gauntlets adorned his forearms as black boots adorned his legs. Black armor plating covered the sides of his arms and legs as the number 13 was stamped on his left shoulder. Hanging from his neck was a white scarf.

His head was completely concealed under a black helmet with a white strip of metal running down the middle. A pair of insect antennae poked out from his forehead in a V-shape with a green gem set between them. Covering the lower half of his face was a segmented silver faceplate. Finally, to complete the insect-like appearance was a pair of large green compound eyes, which were shaped like guitar picks.

Around his waist was a belt with a green crystal in the centre. Within the crystal was XIII, the Roman numeral for '13'In this form his name was Kamen Rider Showa.

"Shinichi-kun?" Rena uttered. His friends were stunned by the transformation and were rooted at the spot as Showa faced the Darklings.

"Heh, this won't take long," Showa said cockily.

The Darklings, shifted their attention from the Shinichi's friends and towards the now armoured teen. He stood still as they attacked. Once they were within striking range, his fists flew through the air as he smashed them into the Darklings, striking them violently in vital areas. He swung his legs and kicked them away brutally. It seemed awfully violent, but there was no room for mercy when it came to Darklings.

"Shinichi-san's turned into a superhero!" Satoko cried out. Rika silently observed this development.

"Look at him go!" Keiichi yelled out.

"How does he know how to fight like that!?" exclaimed Mion.

Rika and Hanyuu were watching silently. The goddess whispered to her descendant/friend, "Rika...what is this...?" She wondered what had happened to Shinichi. What was this power? Where did he get that armor?

"An omen," was Rika's simple answer. Showa's shoulder had the number 13 on it, like Frederica had told her. "Marked by the number 13..."

Showa backhanded a Darkling but then they all started to dog-pile him. Rena yelled out, "Shinichi-kun!" The Darklings were clawing and biting at him as they dogpiled him. This only served to annoy him.

"Get off me!" Showa roared as his belt's crystal glowed. The image of a black-armored figure with red eyes popped into his head as he called out, "Let's Ride: BLACK!"

From within the pile of Darklings, red beams of lights streamed from the gaps before Showa shouted, "KING STONE FLASH!" The Darklings were instantly disintegrated by the intense crimson light as Showa rose to his feet. His armor had changed this time. He now sported a completely black suit of armor with red and yellow bands around his wrists, ankles and collar. His helmet sported red compound eyes and had thin antennae jutting from the top.

This form was known as Kamen Rider BLACK.

BLACK looked down at his hands and clenched his fists, "This power..." He couldn't help but smile as he possessed the power to protect his friends from these Darklings. Satisfied that it was over, BLACK was ready to return to his friends when his scar throbbed and he suddenly sensed that something was off. He looked over and saw a pool of darkness growing from the spot where the Darklings had perished. He stepped back and witnessed as something big rose up from it.

It looked like a giant statue made of wooden logs. Its main body was made up of logs that were joined together in segments and so were its arms and legs. It had several eyes covering its body and the logs that made up the arms were sharpened into wooden stakes.

This was no mere Darkling. This was a Darkloid.

"Not good," gulped BLACK as the 10 foot tall monster lumbered towards him. It swung at him, prepared to impale him on the stakes. BLACK leapt backwards but was backhanded hard in the chest, sending him tumbling along the ground. He stopped rolling and looked up to see his friends concerned faces.

"Guys, get away!" he ordered.

"No way!" protested Mion. "As your Club Leader, I'm not leaving you behind!"

"Damn it, Mion! This isn't a game! You can't do anything!" snapped BLACK as he got back to his feet. He had to protect his friends.

"Well, there's still something we can do," said Mion. She whipped out a flashlight and turned it on before pointing it at the Wood Darkloid. It hissed out in pain as it backed away from the light. Keiichi and Shion also had flashlights and were shining them on the Wood Darkloid. Rena was holding Shinichi's camera and she was flashing at the monster too. Hanyuu, Rika and Satoko tossed rocks at the monster.

As stubborn and stupid as he believed his friends were, they were loyal. They were true friends, which was why he had to protect them. BLACK clenched his fists and rushed at the Darkloid. He jumped and landed a punch to its face before he was swatted away and sent tumbling. BLACK recovered and came to a conclusion.

"I need a weapon," Showa realized. He couldn't beat this thing unarmed. While it seemed to be made of wood, it was tough. His friends shining light on it was keeping it back, but even that wouldn't be enough to kill it.

"If you need a weapon, then call on my power," BLACK heard in his mind. The image of an armored figure in black and green with red eyes appeared in his mind. The very same figure wielded a blade made of light. This figure's name was Kamen Rider BLACK RX.

BLACK called out as instructed, "Let's Ride: RX!" He shattered the card in his mind and his entire body flashed. When the light died down his armor had changed yet again. This time the suit was green and black with an insectoid helmet that also sported large red compound eyes.

He had transformed into Kamen Rider BLACK RX, the evolved form of Kamen Rider BLACK.

"He changed again," uttered Rika as she had witnessed the strange transformation. His friends just gawked at the change but recovered from their shock quickly to bombard the monster with light.

"Revolcane!" RX shouted as he reached. down to his belt. a sword handle came out from the crystal and he gripped it. RX pulled out a sword with a glowing blade and then narrowed his eyes at the distracted Wood Darkloid. "Keep it up, guys!" encouraged RX before he dashed straight at the monster.

RX swung his Revolcane and slashed the Wood Darkloid across its wooden legs, causing it to collapse to its knees. Roaring, the Wood Darkloid lashed out but RX managed to leap up to avoid the swing before he landed on the arm and ran up the creature's arm to hit it in the face with a kick. He bounded off as the Wood Darkloid howled.

The Gaming Club continued shining their lights on the Wood Darkloid as it flailed about. It aimed for RX with its wooden stake arms again but the armored teen managed to avoid from getting impaled as the Wood Darkloid plunged its arms into the ground, up to its elbows. As it was trying to pull its arms back out of the ground, RX performed a horizontal slash that sliced the Wood Darkloid's arms off at the elbows.

The Wood Darkloid howled in agony as Showa's RX armor flashed and changed back to its normal default form, his Revolcane vanishing as well. He narrowed his eyes at the thrashing beast and his helmet's compound eyes flashed as he bent his knees. The armored teen then leapt up high above the monster and performed a flying kick with his foot aimed at the Wood Darkloid's head.

"HI-YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

His friends watched in amazement at the height of his jump as he executed his attack. The crystal core of his belt flashed and transferred energy into his outstretched leg. Emerald energy glowed around his foot before he smashed right through the Wood Darkloid's chest. He landed, feet first, with his knees bent and his back facing the Wood Darkloid.

The Wood Darkloid let out one last deathcry before it toppled over into separate leg which faded away into nothingness like the Darklings.

With the threat gone, Shinichi's armor flashed as it vanished in the form of jigsaw puzzle pieces that fell away from his body, leaving only the belt around his waist.

Rika whispered, recalling Frederica's words, "So, this is what she meant..."

Shinichi put his hand on the belt around his waist as he gazed down at it. "So, this is my power. Kamen Rider Showa. I think I like the sound of that," he smiled. He wondered how he knew how to fight like that. It was like instinct and it felt good. Shinichi turned around and looked to his friends. He would need to explain this, but there were other concerns right now. A lot of people had died tonight.

"You can fix this..." the voice spoke in his head again.

"How can I fix it?" Shinichi asked.

"You have the power. Just call upon it."

"Alright," Shinichi a snap of his fingers, the crystal in Shinichi's belt glowed bright as he called out, "Return to the Past!" At his command a pillar of light rose. The pillar expanded, engulfing anything and everything. The last thing everyone saw was a bright white flash.

XXX

Shinichi found himself back to earlier that day, walking home with his friends as they discussed what they would do at the festival. Shinichi smiled, relieved. Time had reset itself to several hours before the festival. It gave Shinichi a chance to enjoy the festival again without trouble. He had a feeling things would turn out differently this time around. Of course, there was one thing he needed to do. He strode forward to Mion and Shion.

"Hey, Mion!" Shinichi called.

"Yeah?" the girl questioned.

SLAP!

Shinichi had smacked Mion in the back and she fell forward towards Shion who caught her. Both sisters fell to the ground and their lips touched.

CLICK!

FLASH!

"And I got my picture!" grinned Shinichi. "Can't wait to develop this." He then felt an aura of death and looked to see Mion and Shion glaring. "Um…"

"Shi…Ni…Chi!" the twins screamed.

"Gotta run!" Shinichi saluted before running off with two angry twins chasing after him. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he had time to make an inappropriate comment, "Hey, I got two girls chasing me! And their twins! I'm lucky! Hope they follow me to bed!"

"GET BACK HERE, YOU PERVERT!" Mion and Shion screamed in unison as Shinichi laughed.

"That Shinichi," chuckled Keiichi. "He just loves making Mion mad."

"He could make a good prankster," stated Satoko.

"And he's so cute too," gushed Rena.

"MION, I GOT HIM!" shouted Shion.

"GOOD, NOW HOLD HIM DOWN!" Mion replied.

"ARGH! MERCY!" screamed Shinichi.

"GRAB HIS CAMERA TOO!"

"NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT!"

Rika and Hanyuu were watching Shinichi as he was being chased around by the twins. Unlike the others, they still retained their memories of that night of the Watanagashi Festival before Shinichi had turned back time.

'Who are you really, Shinichi?' the two girls wondered.

XXX

Frederica Bernkastel was sitting at a table in her own personal realm. She held a deck of cards in hand and was drawing the top one.

"And so the wild card has made his appearance," she spoke with a smile as she placed the card on her table. She had arranged several cards in a circle already, thirteen in fact, from Ace to King in a clockwise manner. The final card, the Joker, was placed in the centre.

Unlike regular playing cards, these cards held images of the beings known as the Kamen Riders and the Joker was in fact Kamen Rider Showa.

"Will you play the role of the savior or the destroyer, Shinichi Sanban? I guess only time will tell," she said to herself.

XXX

IN MEMORY OF KAMEN RIDER BUSHIDO

XXX

KR Chrome: To my readers, this is a revised version of my first chapter of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni: Kamen Rider Showa. A reader of mine commented that the chapter was rushed and not very detailed. It took several months since then before I even attempted to revise this chapter. Anyway, some new scenes were added and also some changes were made. Overall, I think this is better.

OK, so this story takes place one year after the events of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai, which is the second season of the anime that wraps everything up. The reason I didn't go into much detail while describing the characters was because it's just easier to look up their descriptions and images online.

The two forms Shinichi used were Kamen Rider BLACK and BLACK RX. Both were the Rider forms of Kotaro Minami. You could say he was the first Rider who had two distinct Rider forms and identities and also starred in two Rider series as its main protagonist.

There is a personal reason why I used BLACK and BLACK RX as his first alternate transformations. It's nostalgia. My first exposure to the Kamen Rider franchise were dubbed versions of these two series, either on TV or video. I watched them when I was a kid and was hooked by the action. Unlike Ultraman, the fights were better since they were done in human size rather gigantic. Felt more real. I was a kid so it all seemed real. Thus, why these two Riders.

As for the playing cards, they were put in a clockwise manner with Ace at the top. As mentioned, each of the cards has a different Kamen Rider on it. Here's to clarify:

Ace: Ichigo

2: Nigo

3: V3

4: Riderman

5: X

6: Amazon

7: Stronger

8: Skyrider

9: Super-1

10: ZX

Jack: BLACK RX

Queen: ZO

King: J

Shinichi/Kamen Rider Showa is represented by the Joker which can become a card of any value. And, well, symbolized by the playing cards he can become any of the 13 Riders. He is the Wild Card of the Legendary Showa Riders.