No Name But Yours Chapter 2, a kamen rider fanfic

Chapter Two

Episodes 17-34

Ever since he'd been charged with killing Katsuragi Takumi, all Ryuuga had been able to think about was clearing his name. He'd fought Smashes, snuck into Seito, infiltrated Faust, fought Sento, and more just for that cause. But war changed everything. There was no more playing around, dressing up and sneaking out. They didn't play cards or games of chance in the basement. Sento didn't even complain about Ryuuga's body heat making sleep difficult unless they threw off the covers.

And Sento didn't smile.

He didn't invent new things. He didn't tinker. His hair didn't spring up and he didn't bounce around. It was like the invading army had stolen something vital from Sento, and Ryuuga didn't know where to start to get it back.

So when Himuro told them to be a tool for the Touto government to end the war…It wasn't the promise of clearing his name that made Ryuuga put on the bracelet—and keep it on once Sento showed he knew how to remove them. It wasn't his own life that he fought for.

The longer the war went on, and the more people that got hurt, the smaller Sento seemed to become. Ryuuga had to do something to stop it, to bring back Sento's smile, his laughter. Soulmate or not, whether Sento had a matching mark or not, Ryuuga would fight for him.

The Sclash driver made it easier for Ryuuga to fight Seito, but Sento wouldn't let him use it. And no matter how much he claimed it was because he wanted to be the hero, not Ryuuga, they had all heard his conversation with Stalk. As always, Sento would rather sacrifice himself.

"This is a dangerous belt, right?" Ryuuga said, when Sento failed to use the Sclash driver. "If something happened to you, Misora would be sad."

The thought had occurred to Ryuuga days ago. Maybe the name under Misora's bracelet was also 'Kiryuu Sento.' Maybe Ryuuga's weird half-mark was because his bond was one-sided, or part of some never-before-seen triad. Because Misora sure as hell cared about Sento a lot, and he was the person who understood her the most, as far as Ryuuga could tell. So maybe Ryuuga's name wasn't on anyone else's body.

So Ryuuga picked up the Sclash driver instead. "No one will object if someone like me dies."

He fought, and he gave Kamen Rider Grease a run for a while, but even with the Sclash driver, Ryuuga couldn't beat him. And as Grease gave a finishing blow, Ryuuga regretted that he couldn't do better.

But then Sento took the hit instead. His transformation broke and he collapsed in a heap before Ryuuga. Ryuuga's fingers dug into the asphalt. "Why?" Why would Sento—

"You said…no one would object if you died," Sento panted. His voice was rough from battle and irritation. "Then I have this to say to you…Stop messing around!"

Tears crept into Ryuuga's eyes but did not fall. Sento cared about him. Sento didn't want him to die. It made Ryuuga want to try harder, to get back up and protect Sento the way Sento had protected him. Except no amount of trying got his legs back under him. The only reason they didn't die that day was because Misora brought Sento new bottles that allowed them to escape. Because Misora gave Sento what he needed.

…

Ryuuga had to get stronger. If he was going to protect Sento, protect the bond inscribed on his heart, then he had to be stronger. It didn't matter if his body gave out. It didn't matter if he had to fight a hundred Greases. It didn't matter if Sento got mad at him.

"You're fighting for Sento," Misora said, awe and something like understanding in her voice. Again. What did Misora understand that Ryuuga didn't?

It didn't matter. "If I hadn't run into him…I think I would've lost all faith in people."

He'd lost Kasumi. He had no friends. His remaining family wouldn't talk to him after he was accused of murder. Sento had given him everything. A place to call home. Friends. A purpose. A dragon. A soulmate.

Misora smiled at him like he'd given her a great gift. "Ne, Banjou…You care about Sento a lot, don't you?"

Ryuuga shook his head even as his cheeks heated up. "Shut up," he grumbled, then fell down the slide. "Ow!"

Misora knelt in front of him, still smiling, though it was now tinged with sorrow. "I think you should tell him," she said, quietly.

Grumbling and rubbing his sore backside, Ryuuga asked, "Tell him what?"

Her gaze going distant and her right hand rubbing around the bangle on her left wrist, Misora said, "Sento…doesn't understand." She frowned. "He thinks he's alone, even when he's surrounded by the rest of us, people who care about him. So you have to tell him outright." She met Ryuuga's eyes. "Tell him how you feel about him. Before it's too late."

…

Ryuuga wouldn't let it get too late.

He would go to Seito and attack their home front. That would draw the fighting away from Touto, away from Sento. And if the Sclash driver let him, he would be powerful enough to end the war in one blow. He felt it every time he used the driver. His power grew stronger and stronger. He could do it. He could end the war.

Then Sento would smile. Then Ryuuga would tell him all about the soul mark. Then Ryuuga would confess.

So he fought, and he fought, and he fought. Again. Again. Again. More. More. More! Because fighting was all he was good at. Because fighting was all he knew. Because he had to! Because he couldn't stop fighting, wouldn't stop fighting, until every enemy was beaten, until no one was left!

And then Sento was there, in a black suit, and he wasn't like Sento at all. He stopped Ryuuga from fighting, but then he didn't stop. It was like the Faust hideout all over again, but a hundred times worse. Because this time, the mark on Ryuuga's chest went numb.

Because this time, Ryuuga couldn't stop him. He had to watch, helpless, as Sento lost himself, as he tossed Ryuuga aside, as he killed one of Grease's friends, as he broke down in horror before Ryuuga's eyes.

Ryuuga had to half carry Sento home. The entire time, Sento didn't say a word. He left Sento in the basement to rest, then returned upstairs to tell the others what had happened, and it felt like he was carving the words from his own skin.

"I lost control…so Sento…he used a new tool. He…He stopped me, but then…Something went wrong. He wasn't himself. He wouldn't stop. He…He fought the trio and…" Ryuuga swallowed, and it felt like something was choking him. "The beetle guy…he's dead."

Misora and Sawa wore matching looks of horror. "Sento—" Misora threw her hands over her mouth.

"Sento…killed him?" Sawa whispered, as if, if she kept her voice quiet enough, the words wouldn't be true.

Ryuuga wished they weren't true.

A crash from downstairs made them all jump and run, to find Sento standing amidst the wreckage of his lab. All the bottles they still had littered the floor. While they watched, Sento slowly turned away from the lab and walked toward the bedroom.

"Sento?" Misora asked as he neared them.

Sento gave a single shake of his head. "Do me a favor?" he asked, his voice rough like he'd been gargling rocks. He wouldn't meet their eyes. "Give those to Prime Minister Himuro."

"What?" Sawa gasped.

"But you're Build!" Ryuuga shouted. "You need them!"

Grabbing his hair, Sento sank to his knees by the nightstand. When he managed to speak, his voice came out in a pitiful wheeze. "I can't."

Something in Ryuuga cracked in half at the sight. This wasn't what he wanted. He never meant for this to happen. Sento wasn't supposed to…Sento wasn't…

When the tears slid down Ryuuga's face, no one said a word.

…

For days, Sento seemed to stop existing. He disappeared somewhere within his own mind.

Ryuuga managed to wash off the worst of the dirt from their fight, but it was like bathing a corpse. The very idea made him feel cold to his core. They all tried to feed Sento, but he wouldn't budge, wouldn't even open his mouth for them. They'd barely managed to feed him water.

"You gotta eat, man," Ryuuga begged on the third day, kneeling in front of Sento's prone form, hiding in the corner of the room. Their latest attempt at a meal sat untouched to Sento's left.

As had become usual, Sento didn't react. Ryuuga roughly tousled his hair.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," he grumbled to himself. "I was only trying to help."

What good was being a soulmate if Ryuuga couldn't do anything to help? If he only made things worse?

And then, "I wish…"

Ryuuga's head snapped up at the sound of Sento's quiet voice. "Sento?" he let out, hopefully.

Sento lifted an arm and grabbed Ryuuga's own arm. "If I could bring her back…to you."

Kasumi. Sento was talking about Kasumi. Ryuuga's heart clenched. Of course Sento would be thinking about Ryuuga instead of himself.

"I wish—" Tears slipped down Sento's cheeks. His voice grew thick with them. "I only hurt people."

Ryuuga's face screwed up and he lunged forward, dislodging Sento's weak grip, to grab the sides of Sento's face. He forced Sento to look at him.

"Shut up!" Ryuuga shouted, tears gathering in his own eyes to match Sento's. His fingers slipped into Sento's hair. "Stop saying things like that! You're supposed to be the smart one! You're the hero, remember? You protect people!"

Why couldn't he do anything right? Why couldn't he ever protect the person he loved? Even when he tried so hard, it always went wrong!

Sento turned his head away, any inclination that he was mentally present in the room fading away once more, and Ryuuga began to weep in earnest.

"Sento." He swallowed thickly. "I'm so sorry."

This was all his fault. He didn't deserve to be Sento's soulmate. He didn't deserve to be anyone's soulmate.

…

Ryuuga threw himself into fighting the war, but he couldn't shake the knowledge that defeating one of the trio meant killing them. And he couldn't shake Sento's vacant expression.

The offer of a proxy battle to end the war was a welcome relief. Even if Sento couldn't do it, Ryuuga could do it for him. Maybe if the war was over, Sento would get better. Maybe he and Misora could help each other heal. Maybe, if Ryuuga fought in the proxy battle, he could finally do something good for Sento.

Holding the dragon bottle in his hand, Ryuuga pressed his fist to his heart. "Kasumi, please lend me your strength." He squeezed his eyes shut. "I swear I loved you, and I would've stayed with you. But Sento…I don't know if I can live without him. So please…help me bring him back."

The grave in front of him didn't respond, but Ryuuga got the impression that Kasumi was pleased with his request.

Then he got back to Nascita and found Sento up and about…and telling them he would fight the proxy battle instead.

"What's the meaning of this?!" Ryuuga demanded. "I was supposed to fight the proxy battle! Why are you doing this?!"

Why would Sento put himself through more pain?! Why wouldn't he let Ryuuga help?!

Because Sento was worried about him. Because he knew Ryuuga was scared. But Sento was also scared! And Ryuuga was scared for him. If Sento used the Hazard Trigger—If he killed Grease—! That would be it. Sento would never come back from that, and Ryuuga didn't want to lose him forever!

Face screwing up with emotion, fighting back tears of frustration, Ryuuga muttered, "You didn't even consider…" 'my feelings.'

Of course Sento didn't. Because Sento didn't know. Because Ryuuga had never told him. Misora had told him not to wait, but Ryuuga had been overcome by the Sclash driver, had been so sure of himself and that he would have more time. And now it was too late.

Sento didn't know Ryuuga wore his name. He didn't know that any pain to Sento was painful for Ryuuga too. He didn't know that Ryuuga still couldn't feel his soul mark, that it was still numb, like Sento had shut him out, cut him off.

Well fine, then! If Sento wanted to be stupid and fight the battle himself, let him! Let him lose himself again! See if Ryuuga cared! He wouldn't go support him! Maybe then Sento would have even an inkling of Ryuuga's feelings.

Except midway through the battle, Sawa burst into the lab and told him Sento had invented a device that would kill him if he lost control.

Sento planned to die.

Ryuuga had never moved so fast in his life. If he waited one more second—no, half a second—a fourth! Any split moment would be the end. He'd be too late. And the mark on his chest wouldn't be numb. It would burn, like a knife carving him apart.

He'd asked Kasumi for strength, and now he prayed for speed as well.

Faster. Faster. Faster!

In the nick of time, Ryuuga stopped Sento from killing Grease. And then he had to beat him.

"Wake up, you punk!" he yelled as he punched. "SENTO!"

To save Sento, Ryuuga overcame the berserker trait of the Sclash driver, and he broke Sento's transformation. Nobody died. And the proxy battle was finished. The war was over. Everything would get better, now.

…

Things did not get better.

…

After Seito invaded Hokuto, Kazumi and Akaba went to rescue Kiba. Until they got back, Sento and Ryuuga had nothing to do but sit at the entrance to the Sky Road and wait. The setting wasn't great. Dry, dead plants on either side. Dry, dusty road under their feet. Sky overcast, with the red of the Sky Wall bleeding into the gray air, painting everything in a foreboding haze.

Ryuuga paced. He had too much energy. He wanted to go to Hokuto himself and fight to save Kiba, fight to defeat Blood Stalk, fight to beat back Seito. He wasn't good at waiting. Sento, on the other hand, stood still, staring at the Sky Wall.

Releasing a pent-up rush of air, Ryuuga scrubbed his hands through his hair. Beside him, Sento said, "Relax. It could be a while."

"How can I relax?" Ryuuga retorted. He waved at the Wall. "They're fighting bad odds!"

"Try thinking of something else," Sento suggested with a half shrug. It was a relief to hear him speak, to see his nonchalant shrug. Even with a new invasion, at least Sento seemed to be getting better.

"And what are you thinking about, then?" Ryuuga asked, just to hear Sento talk more.

"Running calculations." Ryuuga groaned and Sento huffed out a laugh. "Muscled Fool," he muttered.

"Who are you calling a fool?" Ryuuga asked, but without his usual exuberance. Instead, he plopped down into the dirt and put his elbows on his knees, fists on his cheeks, to stare at the Wall too.

How could it be that, waiting for a battle, an army, Ryuuga's chest fluttered with happy butterflies? He couldn't get over the fact that Sento was starting to act like his old self. That Sento was calling him names again. That the mark on his chest was no longer numb. He could feel Sento again, a faint hum he had never taken notice of until it was gone. A presence that said he was not alone in this world.

Except…Sento had never said anything about having Ryuuga's name on his body. Could he feel Ryuuga too? Or was this mark really one-sided?

"Oi," Ryuuga said at length, cutting into the quiet. When Sento hummed, showing he was listening, Ryuuga continued. "Does science…Can you explain soulmates with science?"

At length, Sento ranted about soulmates. Ryuuga only understood part of it. Stuff about research and chemicals and neuro-whatever and the Skywall Disaster changing things and whatnot. What Ryuuga did understand was that he felt more strongly about Sento than he had ever felt about anyone in his life.

"In all that research," Ryuuga hedged, "you ever hear of one-sided soulmates?"

"That's not how soulmates work, Muscled Fool."

Ryuuga ruffled his hair in agitation. "Then I don't understand."

Then he asked Sento something he should have asked him a long time ago. Something he never should have put off, no matter what was going on around them. Because Misora was right: there was no time.

"Who's your soulmate?"

"I don't have one."

"Huh?!" Ryuuga jumped up, grabbing Sento by the shoulders. "That's not possible!"

Sento shook Banjou off. He didn't back away, though his body was as tight as a piano wire. Instead, he met Banjou's disbelieving gaze. "I don't have a soul mark. You could strip me bare and not find one." Another thick swallow and Sento's even tone faltered. "I'm no one's soulmate. And no one is mine."

That wasn't possible. Sento had to be lying. His name was emblazoned over Ryuuga's heart. Black ink with silver and gold tendrils throughout. Ryuuga had studied it in the mirror countless times. He would know it blind.

Ryuuga shook his head. "Bullshit," he said under his breath. He grabbed Sento's left shoulder. "Sento—"

And then Kazumi and Akaba came through the wall, the Gear Bros hot on their tail, and all chances to talk about soulmates disappeared for a while.

…

Himuro Gentoku returned as Kamen Rider Rogue. Blood Stalk took many of the bottles. Kazumi moved into Nascita with the rest of them. Something weird was going on with Misora's bracelet. Nanba Children tried to steal Pandora's Box. Akaba died. Sento had to create a way to control the Hazard Trigger so Touto would win the proxy battles with Seito. Sawa revealed herself to be a spy. Nabeshima's family was in danger. Seito invaded. The queen of Mars took over Misora's body. Sento had to get labeled a traitor to recover Pandora's Box from Blood Stalk.

For a long while, there was no time to consider soulmates.

And then Ryuuga learned that Kasumi's death was part of Stalk's plan. That all his pain, and hers, was to raise Ryuuga's hazard level. And while he was blinded by the news, it was up to Sento to save him once again.

Sento took a hit from Pandora's Box, collapsed in a gasping heap in front of Ryuuga, and there was nothing Ryuuga could do.

Then Stalk dragged Sento away and hurt him again, and Ryuuga couldn't move.

Stalk lifted Sento into the air, choking him, about to kill him. Just like he'd killed Kasumi.

Because Ryuuga was too weak to stop him. To save them.

No, he wasn't! He wouldn't let Stalk kill anyone else he loved, least of all his rabbit! He'd waited his entire life to find Sento, and he'd fought like hell to keep him. There was no way this was how it ended!

With a rush of power, and help from Sento's newest power up item for him, Ryuuga transformed into Cross-Z Magma and saved Sento's life. They escaped Pandora's Tower with the box, back to the safety of Nascita once more.

And Ryuuga thought: now. Now was when he would tell Sento about his soul mark. Even if Sento didn't have one to match. Even if it really was one-sided somehow. He wouldn't let Sento get used against him without Sento knowing exactly how deep Ryuuga's feelings ran.

…

"Hey, Banjou. This says you're not human."

…

Kasumi's grave was the cleanest, best maintained in the entire graveyard, probably because Ryuuga still came to clean it every few days even with a war going on. He wasn't the one who left flowers, though, and there were always fresh flowers. Whoever they were, Ryuuga was glad they weren't visiting just then.

"Do you remember when we were kids, and no one would believe me that my hair was naturally red?" Ryuuga asked the Ogura engraving. "Or how all those rabbit places you took me always watched us like we were about to steal something? Or, well, I was?" He huffed a mirthless laugh and crouched down. "Everyone always treated me like I was different…Like I was wrong. Until you."

Sniffing, Ryuuga rubbed his damp eyes and turned around to sit on the bottom step of the gravestone.

"You're the only one who never seemed to care that my soul mark was only one word, too," he whispered. His hand came up to lay over his heart and he took a deep breath. "Rabbit. I was already a weird kid and then I got some freakish soul mark." He scoffed. "And now they're saying I'm not even human. Can you believe it?"

He wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't fall. He wished Kasumi were there. She would cry for him. This whole situation was unfair!

"That's why he hasn't said anything, isn't it?" Ryuuga asked sadly. "My mark really is one sided. Because only humans have matching soul marks."

He clenched his shirt tightly between his fingers, felt his nails brush against his soul mark through his shirt. Black with gold and silver. He'd never seen a soul mark that sparkled. Well, he'd rarely seen a soul mark at all since most people kept theirs covered, but still.

It didn't matter if his soul mark was one-sided. Honestly it didn't. But what if Sento and the others cast him out after this? What if he lost everything all over again because he was…what, a Martian? No. The queen of Mars hadn't said he was her citizen. He was…some other kind of alien. Something worse.

Dammit, Ryuuga wanted to stay. "I want to go back," he whispered, closing his eyes. "I want to eat with them and argue with them, and fight over the covers with Sento, and…and I still want to stop the wars, and those Nabeshima guys, and Owner. I just…I want to be human, like them." He let out a shaky breath. "Can I still do that? Na, Kasumi?"

Then the communicator on Ryuuga's wrist went off, alerting him to an attack on the government office, of people being hurt. And Ryuuga still felt like crap, but he couldn't stand by and not help when he could do something about it.

So he transformed, and he fought against Stalk, and Stalk said every fear he had. That he wasn't human. That he was only there to fight, not to help. That he was a monster. That no matter what he did, he was the enemy.

But then Sento showed up like the hero he was. He said, "Oh, so you're here?" and "Wow, you look pretty down" like it was just another day and he was teasing Ryuuga. He said "It's okay. You can rest now." Like he didn't blame Ryuuga for his weakness, or his inhumanity.

It was nothing. But it was everything. Because Sento had believed in him from the start, when all he knew was Ryuuga's name in the news as a murderer. Because Sento still believed in him now, when they all knew he wasn't even human. And that belief had changed Ryuuga, had woken him up, had shifted his useless soul mark into something beautiful.

Stalk was wrong. They were nothing alike. Ryuuga wasn't a monster. He wasn't the enemy. He would use his power—human or alien—to help Sento protect people for as long as he could. And Stalk could go to hell!

…

Losing the Prime Minister was bad. Like, really bad. But Sento getting poisoned was so much worse. Ryuuga felt it in his chest. The ache made him stumble to his knees as Sento writhed on the ground, Sawa and Misora on either side of him.

"Sento," Ryuuga gasped. He kept himself upright with his left hand on the asphalt and touched his soul mark with his right. It flared painfully and he groaned. "Sento…!"

In the end, they escaped the warehouse due to Grease using the eraser bottle. Sento was admitted to the hospital, where the doctors couldn't do shit for him except give him inhuman amounts of pain killers that only lessened Sento's pain, rather than put an end to it.

He was going to die. Sento was going to die in three days.

Sawa was the one to explain it to Sento, when he was drugged enough to hold a conversation. Misora couldn't stop crying long enough to say anything and Ryuuga's jaw felt made of steel. If he opened his mouth, he wasn't sure what would come out.

He knew what should come out, what should have come out weeks ago. Before Pandora's Tower and Ryuuga's alien heritage and learning who Evolt was and all that crap.

But Ryuuga had been an idiot, and he hadn't said it. He kept not saying it for one reason or another, and he kept regretting it. Damn it! Why did he keep screwing it up?

Movement from Sento caught Ryuuga's eye. Sento's arm reached out toward him. "Banj-jou."

Ryuuga squeezed his eyes shut. Sento sounded so plaintive, his body failing him, his motions weak. Why was this happening?!

Tears laced Sento's voice when he tried again. "R-ryuu—" and then he screamed.

Ryuuga was across the room in an instant, grabbing Sento's hand and holding it as tight as he could, begging Sento to feel that instead of the poison. Please, please, please!

"Sento. Sento. Sento!" he called, leaning over Sento, trying futilely to overcome the poison through sheer force of will.

After what felt like an eternity, Sento's body stopped writhing. Panting, he managed to open his eyes. Dazedly, they darted about the room before landing on Ryuuga. Sento's eyes were glazed, and Ryuuga wasn't sure if he could actually see who was with him. It had only been half a day, but it felt like they were already losing him.

"You gotta fight it," Ryuuga said, his voice thick. "You can't—Sento, you can't—"

And then he was weeping. He couldn't stop them if he wanted to. They swept down his cheeks and dripped onto Sento's face, though the other man didn't seem to notice. Sento couldn't die! Ryuuga hadn't confessed yet! He hadn't shown Sento his mark! He hadn't told Sento the truth—

"I can't lose you, stupid rabbit," he gasped out, the words barely making it past his tears.

"R-ra…," Sento huffed, but his gaze was already clouding over, and a moment later the machines started beeping wildly as Sento jerked in the bed.

Doctors pushed them out of the room, forcing Ryuuga to release Sento's hand. It felt like he'd left his heart behind as well.

…

Evolt could go to hell, but he was the only person capable of saving Sento, so they all caved to his will.

He wanted the bottles. He wanted Ryuuga on his side, called them partners. That was a load of crap!

"My only partner is Kiryuu Sento!" he yelled, throwing himself at Evolt with more fervor.

It didn't work. He was still forced from his transformation. But the pain in his body only matched the pain in his mark and Ryuuga would not give up.

"Will you let Sento die, or will you give your own life to save Sento's?" Evolt taunted.

Screw him. It didn't matter if Ryuuga died. If Sento lived, could find his human soulmate, could stop Evolt and save the world? If Sento could be healthy and happy? Then Ryuuga didn't care if he lived or died. It would be worth it in the end.

But he wasn't about to die without telling Sento the truth either. He would've preferred they talk things out, preferably in private, but he'd waited too long and didn't have that luxury.

"Thank you." Ryuuga looked over his shoulder, getting one last look at Sento, imprinting him in Ryuuga's memory. "I'll leave the rest to you, my soulmate," he said to Sento—though only Sawa gasped in shock—before transforming again and running back into battle.

His body was burning. His soul was burning. His soul mark was burning. Sento's pain surged with Ryuuga's own. There wasn't any time! He had to win, and he had to win now. The Magma Knuckle clashed with Evolt's own fist, scraped down his arm, and collided with his helmet at the same time Evolt's fist hit Banjou's helmet.

The world exploded into flames.

…

tbc