Rider Time Zi-O: Roze from Remnant
Chapter 41.5 – Reflection of Shadow and Snow
Woz sat in his dark void as he pondered the choice he had made. Though doubts came he shook his head as he knew it was needed to change the outcome his other self desired. "Once written in this book was the journey of average high schooler Tokiwa Sougo and his quest to become the overlord of time, Oma Zi-O. While his dreams to be king have diminished I have hope that this will change in the coming battles. But for now with two of Team RWBY's members without Rider powers, perhaps a recollection is needed…"
Earth – Late January 2019
A couple of days after the Another Quiz Incident
Weiss was currently wondering what had led her to this moment in particular. Of course trying to recount the numerous details of the past wasn't exactly worth it. More so she was wondering how Blake had managed to wrap her up in this. She stared at the building in front of her, it being named Kura Sushi.
Put simply from what she had been told by Blake, it was a self service Sushi restaurant where guests would sit in booths next to a conveyor belt and pick from the selection. It was mostly automated and there wasn't much work done on the kitchen side, but that just meant it was fairly cheap.
Entering the establishment she politely denied being seated before mentioning she was visiting a friend who had already come. After that she spotted Blake in one of the booths, seeing her friend wave at her she smiled and walked over.
Weiss sat down across from her friend before resting her head against her hand, "Of all places…"
"Hey, it's pretty cheap," Blake defended, "I mean 100 yen per plate? That's a steal."
"Yes but only you of all people would go for Sushi," Weiss gave a smirk. "I'm surprised you haven't already got a stack of plates near you."
"H-Hey watch it," Blake gave a light blush as she looked down and to the side, a bit embarrassed over what Weiss had said, "Just because I have my preferences doesn't mean I don't have self control."
"Relax," Weiss smiled with a light chuckle. "I'm surprised you wanted to hang out, I assumed you'd be on Yang duty."
"She wanted some time to herself," Blake admitted. "She seems to have calmed down but…"
"Yeah, she and Ruby are sort of avoiding each other," Weiss gave a nod. "It's to the point where they're making only the most basic of interactions."
"I hope they'll be okay," Blake answered as she looked at the cups they had, deciding to start off by making them some green tea to enjoy. "I've never seen them fight like this."
"Don't worry, they're sisters," Weiss reassured as she took her cup of tea that had been prepared, "Sisters argue over dozens of things, whether or not they immediately make up is another story… but sometimes all that's needed is space and time for them to think things over."
"I see," Blake gave a nod before noticing a plate that held a pair of Tuna going by on the conveyor belt. "You want some Tuna?"
"So long as you don't hog it all," Weiss grinned.
"Well now," Blake gave a smirk, "Seems like the Ice Queen is trying to act all hot."
Weiss deflated at the nickname only to give a light glare, "Just get it before it slips past you."
Blake gave a snicker as she popped the cover over the sushi open before taking the plate and setting it in the center. After both girls decorated their own pieces with either drops of soy sauce or wasabi, the two took their respective bites.
"I must admit," Weiss spoke up after she finished her piece, "The portions are rather sizeable not to mention despite the factory setting it's still good, and this is only 100 yen?"
Blake gave a nod as she finished chewing her piece before speaking up, "Yep, I found it while wandering around one day. I figured it might be a good place to just catch up."
"It has been a while since we've done much relaxing," Weiss agreed before gesturing at her and her friend with her chopsticks, "Especially the two of us."
"I've mostly just been keeping to reading," Blake admitted. "I know you've been helping Sougo, right?"
"Yeah, his school term is ending and he needed some last minute help," Weiss replied before giving an exasperated sigh. "Sometimes I wonder why I help him…"
"Given the way Sougo is, I'm surprised he has trouble," Blake admitted. "He acts a bit goofy but he seems pretty smart underneath all that."
"Trust me, he loves his history and is absolutely killer at those kinds of subjects," Weiss said before she spotted a pair of shrimp nigirizushi and popped open the container to take that out. She set it in the center and began to prepare her piece as she gave a groan, "But you show him science and math and he melts into being uninterested near instantly."
Blake nodded as she prepared her nigirizushi and picked it up, "I seem to recall Ruby mentioning how Sougo's finisher for Build had its weird quirks."
Weiss took a bite of her nigirizushi, giving a hum of delight before swallowing, "Yes, the 'equations' that popped up were random phrases and simple math."
"So how has it been?" Blake asked after she finished her piece.
"It's been going as well as it can," Weiss admitted. "I can only hope he's retained something because I can only help him so much."
As the two chatted about casual topics they continued their various pickings of sushi that rolled across the conveyor belt. Whether it was more tuna, some sanma, tamago, scallop, squid. The two had stacked their plates up fairly high to where they had ten between them.
"So you know that you can play a game right?" Blake asked.
Weiss raised an eyebrow, "A game?"
"Yeah let me show you," Blake began slotting the plates into a slot at the end of the table.
"So that's where they go," Weiss nodded as she watched Blake only put in five plates, "Why only five?"
"Because you only need five to play the game," Blake pointed at the screen.
On the screen was a mascot by the name of mighty, a pink bodied, gloved and green shoe wearing ball that had spiked hair and an orange eyed visor. Both Blake and Weiss looked at each other when they recognized the design as Ex-Aid from the Ridewatches. Mighty was currently holding a football and racing towards the goal in a stadium. Suddenly it stopped as it was surrounded by numerous different colored Mighty's. Suddenly the screen went white before a loss message was shown, Mighty was on the ground as the other colored variants of it paraded over it.
Weiss gave a pout at this, "We lost?"
"Sadly," Blake gave a chuckle, "It's always randomly generated."
The sounds of plates clinking as they slid down the slot were heard immediately as Blake turned towards a more serious Weiss who was currently placing their remaining plates in the slot.
"Again," Weiss ordered as the screen lit up.
This time it was a baseball game as Mighty returned from last time, it pitching a ball at the batter. This particular batter was black colored Mighty with purple shoes and spiral red eyes. The ball zigzagged in multiple directions before the screen cut to the ball hitting the catcher's mitt as the Black Mighty had struck out. And just like that a win message was brought on screen as Mighty celebrated victory.
"What do you know, second time's the charm today," Blake chuckled as she saw Weiss' eyes light up.
The capsule machine rattled before a half yellow and clear capsule rolled to the stopper, Weiss immediately took it and began to open it up. She was surprised when she saw the logo for Genm Corp as small stickers alongside a Mighty Keychain.
"Huh, doesn't Ruby have games from this company?" Weiss asked as she dangled the Mighty Keychain. "And doesn't he look like Ex-Aid?"
"Yes, and I think Ruby mentioned that Genm Corp was also involved with Ex-Aid," Blake replied. "So the resemblance makes sense."
"It's so cute," Weiss while listening was also enamored by her prize.
"Well you were the one who set in those plates so I won't keep you from it," Blake said before looking at the screen, "Did you know we can place orders too?"
Weiss looked up from her keychain, "Really?"
"Yeah, are you in the mood for some dessert?" Blake asked.
"That doesn't sound half bad," Weiss admitted. "Is the dessert also 100 yen?"
"Not really but they're still cheap," Blake said as she went through the selection and purchased a Fluffy Ice with Mango. "There we go."
"So we just wait?" Weiss asked.
"Yep, it'll come on the upper belt," Blake explained.
It wasn't long before their dessert arrived, Blake getting it down onto the table before each drew a spoon and began taking bites.
Weiss hummed a bit as she enjoyed the sweet and cold treat, "That hits the spot."
"It sure does," Blake agreed before clearing her throat, "Hey Weiss…"
Weiss looked up with a spoonful of mango fluffy ice in her mouth, "Mm-hmm?"
"How are you feeling by the way?" Blake asked. "It's been a couple of days since…"
"I'm actually feeling pretty good," Weiss admitted. "It's… odd honestly."
"So you noticed it too?" Blake asked. "How when we first got our Rider Powers, our Aura's flared up significantly and we felt everything about ourselves just increase in general."
"Even before we got them… I could feel myself having a bit more in my Aura pool alongside better stamina," Weiss explained. "It just kept growing considerably before peaking when we got our Drivers, and while it wasn't as big a growth, our time as Riders still enhanced our bodies."
"And despite losing our powers, those buffs to our body's are still intact," Blake added as she pointed her spoon forward.
"It's honestly odd," Weiss looked down at the dessert and picked at it, "You'd think they'd be tied so closely together that we'd lose those too."
"Honestly I'm not complaining too much," Blake went to get another scoop. "Not to mention the other additions."
"The fact that we can simply call our weapons to us still," Weiss noted, "Alongside the fact that they're still modified and have indefinite usage of Dust and Ammo."
Blake gave a nod, "I suppose it just means it will be somewhat hard to fall heavily behind."
"Right, but even then we need to be careful," Weiss reminded before leaning back in her seat. "Our Aura can protect us but the armor was definitely sturdy."
"It also had some good tricks," Blake admitted, after taking another bite she rested her arms on the table. "I... admittedly miss being a Rider since it expanded my skill set by quite a bit."
"I can understand," Weiss nodded before staring up at the ceiling, "Honestly I'm somewhat glad that I'm done being Quiz."
"Yours was the most unorthodox," Blake agreed. "But you really won't miss it?"
"It's a weight off my shoulders when it comes to just the absurdity of how Quiz worked," Weiss said as she crossed her arms before giving a more thoughtful look, "But… I still had a bit of fun when it came to using those powers. So I'll miss it just a bit."
"That's understandable," Blake agreed, "It was interesting to get a taste of how Ruby felt."
"True," Weiss gave a nod, "But as helpful and interesting as being a Rider was, I can't let that overshadow my actual goals when it comes to Remnant itself."
"I mean, that's what balance is for," Blake argued. "Kamen Rider or Huntress, they're just parts of you and shouldn't define who you are."
"I suppose…" Weiss agreed reluctantly before waving it off, "Honestly I'm kind of just glad I don't have to deal with trying to ask questions anymore."
Blake couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah, I can understand why."
"If there's one thing I'll thank that suit for its giving me a lot of power behind my attacks, that being said…" Weiss trailed before glancing around, she held out her hand and formed a glyph, though unlike any of the ones she had used before, "I still have options."
"That's different…" Blake said, remembering the various Glyphs used alongside her friends Summon Glyphs, "What is it?"
"Remember that giant Inves?" Weiss asked. "That's the start of it."
"Wait, you can bring that thing out?" Blake asked as her eyes widened.
"Not yet," Weiss shook her head before clasping her hand and dismissing the Glyph, "I've managed to bring out its Glyph but that's the furthest I can get, which is good."
"I'm surprised you're not aiming for perfection," Blake teased.
"Please," Weiss scoffed, "The important part is I can bring out the Glyph that's the base of it. That confirms one thing and one thing alone. If the conditions are correctly met, I can summon a Rider monster."
"Bringing out a beast like that will certainly be useful," Blake said, poking at the shaved ice treat before seeing that it was all gone, "Huh, we just demolished it."
"That's what happens when you have a conversation while not paying attention to your food," Weiss remarked. "But I suppose that means we can wrap things up here."
"True," Blake gave a nod.
After paying the two took off from the conveyor belt sushi spot, the two walking along the streets as they tried to figure out what to do next.
"So is there anything you've been interested in doing?" Blake asked as they walked.
"I hadn't really thought about it," Weiss admitted. "While yes we've gone places… we haven't really had this much time to ourselves have we?"
"Not really, there do seem to be breaks but we never really end up doing much," Blake agreed. "Ruby has her training at the Daitenku Temple, you were helping Sougo… it's why I suggested this to begin with."
"Hmm…" Weiss' eyes were drawn to a particular place but she soon stopped and stood in deep thought.
Blake stopped and looked to her friend, "Weiss?"
"We're going there," Weiss grabbed her friends wrist and began dragging her over before they finally stood in front of their location.
Blake raised an eyebrow before her eyes widened a bit at the sight, "Wait, seriously?"
"Yes, seriously," Weiss answered as she entered inside with Blake.
Weiss had caught sight of and dragged her friend into an establishment known as a Karaoke Lounge.
"You know I'm honestly surprised," Blake admitted as she and Weiss entered, seeing a fair amount of people around the lobby, "I knew you sung but I didn't think you actually liked it."
"I never liked it when I had to sing for my Father," Weiss rolled her eyes. "I'm actually quite fond of it, but I've never really found a good place to do so until now."
"I suppose this is a good place then," Blake mentioned. "So how does it work?"
"To be honest this is my first time," Weiss admitted. "So I was thinking we'd ask around."
"Hey isn't that the Prime Minister's aide?"
"His aide, wait don't you mean his son?"
"I didn't know he liked to come here."
The two girls heard a bit of gossip as they saw a tall man with slicked back hair and a mustache go over to rent one of the rooms.
"Looks like this place is pretty popular," Blake remarked.
"Yeah," Weiss said as she was ready to go over to one of the employees when she heard something.
"What are you two doing here?"
The two females turned to see Goto approaching them, the officer adopting a more casual wear but he wasn't alone. With him was a taller guy who seemed to be a doctor, or at least he had the white coat, wearing loose pants with a graphic t-shirt, he had a goatee and slicked back hair.
"Broto, you know these two?" The taller man asked.
"Yes, remember how I mentioned about a few new Riders and them helping with an issue back in October?" Goto reminded. "They're friends of one of them, Roze."
"Weiss Schnee," Weiss introduced with a bow.
"Blake Belladonna," Blake also bowed.
"It's nice to meet you both," The man gave a grin, "The names Akira Date."
Goto looked over to Weiss, "How are you feeling?"
"Honestly pretty alright," Weiss admitted. "You know, losing Rider powers aside, there's been no bad side effects."
"That's good," Goto gave a sigh of relief.
"So what are you two doing here?" Blake asked.
"Date just got done with his shift for today and felt the need to drag me into this," Goto remarked.
"Hey, don't make me spill how you got all excited over the prospect," Date remarked as he put a shoulder on his friend. He then snapped his fingers, "Hey if you two don't mind, it's cheaper to get a room together. We can all just pile up and have some fun!"
"Hmm, that does sound cost effective," Blake admitted. "But I'm not sure if W-"
"Sure we can do that," Weiss agreed, surprising her friend.
"Sweet, then our rent is on me," Date gave a smile before heading over to rent them a room to use.
Once settled in, everyone placed their orders for drinks and snacks as Date worked on selecting the first song. Surprisingly he had asked Goto to help him on this one, figuring it was perfect for the two of them.
The song the two had selected had ended up being a duet, the two getting extremely into the song and it's lyrics as they both sung to their hearts content, "Namida wo Reverse Kitto Re:birth~ Ima Me wo akete~ Aa Mabushi saw o kanjita nara~!"
Next up was Weiss with Blake expecting her to pick a slow ballad styled song to warm up. To Blake's surprise, she had picked something entirely different.
Weiss was going all in for her first song in a while, "Mirai e ririshiku aragai nagara~ (Go hard… Go hard!) Fuan wo kibō ni kaete~ Furuete mo mukau koto da~! Sā watashi yo… ugate~!"
While Date and Goto were impressed, Blake was a bit stunned by the performance. She also couldn't help but smile as she saw Weiss having fun. Blake didn't go up next though, letting Date go up solo again since he was super pumped after Weiss' Song. The cat Faunus had figured she'd let everyone else have some fun as she cheered them on. Though that didn't stop Weiss from urging her friend to try and sing at least one song before the day was over.
Blake had relented and chosen a bit of an unorthodox song given it was normally meant to be sung by multiple people but still managed to keep up rather well, singing the main portions and anything else she could manage, "Anata ni aeta koto min'na wo mamoreru koto~ Watashi no chikara yo~! Motto tsuyoku yasashiku utsukushiku~ Tsuranuku omoi asu e no kagi~!"
Weiss was a bit surprised given she didn't take Blake for a singer. But Blake managed to do surprisingly well. She couldn't help but give a smile as Blake finished up the song, clapping alongside the others. As their karaoke fun continued the two could internally agree that this was just the kind of break they needed.
To Be Continued…
Next Time: Chapter 42 – Return to Mirror World 2002F
Author's Note: Short, simple, and sweet, I figured that Blake and Weiss could use some focus after both of their Mirai Rider arcs were completed. So why not just have them mulling over everything but in a fun way via hanging out. The last part was a bit of a sudden inclusion as I was writing this but I figured it would be fun. It's a way for me to do some teasing for a certain croc Rider and introducing Date into the story with ease, and I wanted to do a few song references.
"Re:birth" was the obvious one, but the next one well… for those unaware Weiss' Seiyu is Yoko Hikasa who is also the voice of Maria from Symphogear. So I figured, why not have some fun and have Weiss sing one of Maria's songs, "Shirogane no Hono -keep the faith-". The same goes for Yu Shimamura, the Seiyu for Blake, who is also voiced Haruka from Go! Princess Precure. I had just recently finished it and once I made the discovery upon trying to figure out a song for Blake, I decided why not include "Conditions of Being a Princess" since I really liked that song.
And with that out of the way, just reminding everyone that I do have a writing twitter, the name of it is Zero's Workshop but it is (at sign)ZeroEnchiladas if you're having trouble. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this small stop, I'll see you all next time.