A/N: I've been wanting to do a Kekera piece, though I'm not sure if it's going to be good enough. Well, hopefully, this won't end up being a boring documentary...
Broke this into two because I kinda get stuck on the second half part.
Kamen Rider.
Heroes who fought in the name of Justice while hiding their sorrows behind a mask.
There were many old tales about such warriors in ancient history, right? Tales of ordinary people who suddenly plunged into tragedy and ended up fighting evil in the name of justice had always fascinated him. How could these people in ancient times find strength during the lowest point of their lives and find themselves overturning the odds against them to turn them into victory? He was always curious about how such things worked.
And then he chanced upon the show called the Desire Grand Prix. It was a game show where the players fought to save the world and win against their fellow competitors in order to make their wishes come true. A game show where heroes are made every moment. A great show for someone like him who fancied these kinds of tropes.
.
As much as he had a certain image of what kind of hero he'd like to root for... Kekera wasn't the type to be very picky. If there was any hint that a player may appear to show the potential that they could be a great hero, he'll start paying attention to them... and maybe support them directly. It should have been a pretty simple plan that anyone could do and achieve. Alas, he always ended up being disappointed that the 'player' he's been rooting on didn't manage to last long in the game. Or even live up to the ideal image of a hero that he'd envisioned inside his mind.
And then a thought crossed his mind. Instead of waiting for his ideal hero to make their appearance to him, perhaps he should raise the ideal hero that fits his ideal image from scratch.
.
The chance encounter with Sakurai Keiwa was not expected. After all, what are the odds that you'd be able to find a potential candidate for a future DGP game within the final round of another game? Yet the moment he saw the young man he was intrigued.
The moment he saw Sakurai Keiwa react immediately to that cheeky Ukiyo Ace's teasings, he was sure that the boy could be very entertaining to him. Sakurai Keiwa had seemed to be so innocent... yet from the outburst that the young man let out after hearing that their world might come to a sudden end, it didn't look like the young man would just be yet another 'good-natured' player that he had seen entering the DGP tournament. Heck, he'd taken interest in the young man already after he stood up against Buffa without thinking.
[This guy might just be his new ticket for some great entertainment!]
Or so he thought.
Thus as soon as the last DGP tournament ended with Ukiyo Ace still remaining as the reigning Desaity, Kekera sent up the suggestion to enter Sakurai Keiwa into the next Desire Grand Prix.
About time another challenger rises against all odds to take down Geats as the repeat Desaity, and who else should lead such a hero towards that goal other than him?
xxx
But suppose trying to raise a new up-and-coming hero wouldn't be so easy to do, right?
As much as he could try to manipulate things from the position of a supporter, he couldn't exactly lay out everything for his chosen new fav... right?
This early on, Sakurai Keiwa barely knew anything about fighting and was even overwhelmed at how quickly other people had jumped to fight. Sakurai Keiwa didn't even take down the Jyamato meant to pass over the special item Kekera had wanted to give the young man... though the kid still got lucky to be able to receive the buckle anyway.
But damn... did that annoying Geats notice that? Hopefully, the fox didn't try anything—He had nothing against Ziin's fav personally, but at times the tendency of that fox to hog all of the attention can get annoying at times. But hey, not every day the fox ended up not having the best starting luck...
Yet, contrary to what he hoped for... Geats ended up using the item that he wanted Sakurai Keiwa to use. While it was good that Geats had somehow kept Sakurai Keiwa alive—plus with Ginpen's demise, the man's Arrow buckle was passed to Sakurai and kept the man in the game—the fact that Sakurai Keiwa barely gained any actual fighting experience was still a problem.
Well, he'll figure out what to do then...
.
Times he wondered if he had chosen wrong on a new fave to root for. Not that Sakurai Keiwa had fared too badly in his first DGP tournament. But the second time he sent Boost to that Sakurai... that idiot so easily gave it up to another player just so that the player could make a turnabout victory and save herself. And then later, Sakurai Keiwa let his guard down... and had his next Boost buckle stolen, and failed to get it back. And then, yet another player used up the special item that was meant for his fave to use.
But perhaps there was merit to everything... aside from the fact that Buffa did ensure that Sakurai Keiwa remained in the final lineup of players who will face off with the final boss. He found an important key to unlocking Sakurai Keiwa's true potential as a Kamen Rider to come out in the open.
Sakurai Sara.
Sakurai Keiwa's sister is the key he needed to unleash the ferocity he knew Sakurai Keiwa could unleash within himself. She was the important key to unlocking the hidden potential inside that man! Because whenever the people Sakurai Keiwa held dear in his heart were put in danger, the man would feel driven to push himself to the limits in order to protect the people he loved and keep them safe! So he had to make it his mission to have Sakurai Sara die. Or just placed in great danger. Surely something like that shouldn't be hard to do behind the scenes...
A little poke here... a little nudge here, is there anything he wouldn't do to make sure that his fave continued to be in their best form?
In order for Sakurai Keiwa to shine brighter!
xxx
He never really paid any attention to the relationship Keiwa had with the other players, because to him... those kinds of things were irrelevant. They have nothing to do with someone's growth—especially not Sakurai Keiwa's growth.
He really didn't think such things were worth noting—Ukiyo Ace had nothing to do with Keiwa's personality growth... or even his growth as a Kamen Rider. Sakurai Keiwa's relationship with Buffa and Na-Go was the same as well, not really merits any point and was not very important. He really wished that he could sever all of these unnecessary relationships Sakurai Keiwa had with the other players. Especially Sakurai Keiwa's relationship with Ukiyo Ace.
He thought that the moment finally arrived when the current Game Master Girori started that extra round of fox hunt to eliminate Geats. Because Tycoon really did seem to be able to fight on par with Geats and he seemed to have a higher chance to really defeat Geats compared to Buffa. But then it turned out that the bond between those two was still so strong...
.
When the new Game Master Chirami started the new Dezastar game, he thought that he could finally break the bond Sakurai Keiwa had with Ukiyo Ace. But alas... as much as the new returning players Lopo and Nadge Sparrow were able to create a crack in the relationship between Ukiyo Ace and Keiwa, that was still not enough to create a rift between the two.
xxx
Jyamato Grand Prix
At first, he couldn't care less about that faux imitation of the DesiGra or whatever it was that Beroba was after. That hag was ruining the setup that he took a long time to prepare and multiple rounds of DGP to sow and grow into fruition! There's no way that he'd let Beroba ruin his source of fun to finally be able to get his best laughs by creating the ultimate Kamen Rider of his dreams!
But then Nadge-Sparrow gave out the revelation of the true identity of Ukiyo Ace's mother as well as the truth behind Ukiyo Ace's true nature—and lo, it was tied to the tragedy and death of Sakurai Keiwa's parents. That ONE revelation was enough to rip apart the strong bond Sakurai Keiwa had with Ukiyo Ace! And he never thought something like that would ever happen so soon!
Suffering and despair... perhaps his goals and Beroba weren't really too far apart anyway.
When Sakurai Keiwa perished in the hands of Kamen Rider Buffa with the latter ending up winning the 'game' as the Jameity through some underhanded means, Kekera made up his mind. He'll make sure that he'll get his ideal laughs.
One way or another.