Disclaimer: No, I still don't own anything.
Previously on Across the Kaleidoscope
"If that nun is correct, then Takaragi Yuu is Kamen Rider Diend."
"Simple, I've met him before. In fact, I may be the only one left who does know him from before the incident."
"What? You think I wear this 24/7? I do take this off, usually against my will, but I don't wear this all the time."
"It's fun to mess with him but always try to make it up. Trust me, you don't want to annoy someone like him too much. Help him fight some monsters or something."
"So now it's Fourze's turn…"
All over Japan, the collective sound of bell ringing in the many schools across the country could be heard, especially by the students attending the mentioned schools.
In a specific high school campus, the various classrooms were filled with the sound of idle chatter and laughter, including the class of 3-A. The students of that class continued to talk even when the door slid open and their homeroom teacher walked in.
"Alright, alright. Settle down, everyone," their teacher said as she moved to stand at her desk. The students of course followed their teacher's words and returned to their seats as class began for the day. "Before we start today's lesson, I have some news for you all. As you may have already known, Amanogawa occasionally likes to partake in student exchange programs with other schools."
"Sensei!" One of the students sitting in the front raised their hand. "Is that why Akira-san isn't here?"
"Yes; this time, our very own Tamaki Akira had been chosen for the program with Ginseisora High School." The 3-A homeroom teacher glanced at the empty table and seat at the back of the classroom next to the window. "As for who is replacing her…" She then glanced at the door and called out, "You may enter now."
The sliding door opened and in stepped a teenage boy with black hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a blue uniform matching the rest of his new classmates.
"Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?"
Following his new teacher's request, the exchange student stood in front of the whiteboard and bowed to the others. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, my name is Fujimaru Ritsuka," he introduced himself with a neutral look on his face.
Chapter 16: Unstopping, Growing, Thrilling School Days!
The day before…
Despite it being the middle of the day, all was quiet in the neighborhood. The sun was high in the sky, the birds were chirping, and the neighborhood was at peace with nothing out of the ordinary happening. At least until…
Bang!
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
The peaceful silence was broken by the sound of crashing and rapid apologies coming from one of the houses. Inside it, one of the residents of the house was begging for forgiveness as she ran for her life from their fuming, accidental-kidnap victim that was currently throwing her Black Keys at her. They all just barely missed the first girl's head and implanted themselves into the wall.
"Um… Shouldn't we do something about that?" Tetsuya hesitantly asked his friend who was just watching the scene with a bemused look.
"Ryoko will be fine. Even if Ciel's half as good as I know she is, Ryoko would already be dead by now," Ritsuka replied, well aware of how skilled the Executor of the Holy Church was. "Besides, it'll teach her to be more careful around the backgrounds."
Crash!
"...Maybe I should stop her from breaking things though."
"That's what you're more worried about?" Tetsuya looked at him with a semi-incredulous face. The furniture was a gift/payment from a King, after all.
Ciel was just about to throw another of her Keys not at Ryoko when she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard Ritsuka say, "Alright, that's enough. I don't want another hole in my wall."
"...Fine," Ciel huffed and put away her Black Keys before going to remove the ones stuck in the walls and pieces of furniture.
Ryoko, while hiding behind one of the couches, tried to apologize once more. "Really, I'm really, really sorry for–"
"I know, I know," the other girl interrupted with a tired sigh. "No need to apologize, I know it was an accident."
"Sorry…"
"Now that's over with, what do we do now?" Ritsuka glanced at Ciel. While she was a capable fighter that could help them, her forced-volunteering into their journey was going to cause trouble for her. Unlike him and his friends, Ciel still had a life in her world so her sudden disappearance was going to raise some questions from her superiors in the Holy Church that may or may not end up dragging Shouichi into it.
Ciel, naturally, started raising some questions. "Can't we just, I don't know… pull up that one and return to my world?"
"Hmm… No can do, it's stuck." Tetsuya, who was standing near the chains, tried tugging on them but to no avail, making Ciel sigh again.
"Well, I'm just screwed then, is that it?"
"I wouldn't give up just yet, there's a chance that we may return there or run into Shouichi," Ritsuka said to try and cheer her up. "It's a slim chance, but it's a chance regardless."
"Look at the bright side, you get the chance to travel through the multiverse. That's cool, right?" Tetsuya chimed in.
"Yeah… I guess that somewhat makes me feel better." Ciel admitted with another sigh. "So, what exactly do you guys do when entering a new world?"
'You gave in rather easily,' thought Ritsuka. Granted, it was not like there was anything anyone could do about it. "First things first would be finding this world's Rider and luckily, that's all the clue that we need." He pointed at the new background, specifically at the bottom text.
"Amanogawa High School…? I don't think I've ever heard of it," Ryoko remarked after reading the text.
"Me neither," shrugged Tetsuya.
"...Why are you guys looking at me for? I don't know anything either," Ciel said upon noticing the stares she was getting from the other three.
Ritsuka sighed. Admittedly, it was a low chance that Ciel would have known anything relating to another Kamen Rider. "Well, looks like we have to search the old fashion way then."
"If it's fine with you, I'd rather hang back and stay in the house," Ryoko said. "I'm still a bit pooped out after the whole "getting kidnapped by a god" deal."
"Same."
"Do whatever you guys want." Frankly, Ritsuka would have been more surprised if the two had wanted to go out after everything that happened in the last world.
"In that case, we'll prepare lunch while you're out."
"Ooh!" A lightbulb lit above Ciel's head upon hearing the other girl's plans, "Hey… Ryoko-san?"
"Y… yes?" Ryoko, still a bit shook up from the earlier non-attempt on her life, nervously replied.
"Since I saved you and all, would you repay the favor by making- Hey!"
"Alright, alright, let them choose what they want." Ritsuka dragged Ciel out of the room before she could get them to make her favorite food.
"Come on, Fujimaru-kun! I deserve something for everything I did to help you!"
"Let's go already."
The two exited the house (Ciel with an annoyed face) and took in their new neighborhood. "Not too bad again," Ritsuka observed. He had been waiting for the other shoe to eventually drop and they ended up somewhere really bad.
Ciel, on the other hand, was more amazed and preoccupied with the fact that they were in a completely different location. "So this is another dimension? It's… not how I would expect it to be. Everything looks normal."
"*sniff* This world smells the same as the others too," Ritsuka made his second observation.
"I'm gonna trust you on that part… What are you wearing?" Ciel asked him when she turned to see that Ritsuka's clothes had changed. "Is that supposed to be a school uniform?"
"I think so." The boy looked down at his own clothes and came to the same conclusion Ciel did. A closer look at the logo on his left breast pocket confirmed it. "Looks like I'm a student of Amanogawa High School now."
Present…
The school bell rang again, signaling the end of the period and the start of recess. The familiar sound of chairs scraping against the floor reverberated throughout the classroom as the students got out of their seats to talk to their friends or go out for lunch.
Ritsuka was part of the latter category, getting up and following his new classmates to the cafeteria while keeping an eye out for anyone who stands out… which was a surprising amount once he reached the school's cafeteria. He was not sure if he was in a Japanese school or the set of an American flick about a school.
Most of the tables had been taken by various cliques such as jocks, geeks, nerds, and other teenage stereotypes there were. That would make finding Fourze a bit harder; Ritsuka had been hoping that the Rider of this world would be standing out like a sore thumb. Now, his main problem is to find a place to sit, something told him that the established groups would not like having a new kid walk up and join them.
"Excuse me, are you Fujimaru Ritsuka?" Before he could think about where to sit any further though, a younger student who Ritsuka assumed to be a first-year came up to him.
"Yes, why?"
"Ciel-senpai wanted me to deliver a message to you." Wait a second, what? "She said to meet her on the roof of-" The student told him which building on campus she was in (or on) and the directions to get there.
"Did she say why she wants to see me?"
"Uh…" His new junior looked around to make sure that nobody was listening to them before whispering to Ritsuka, "She said she brought you some homemade lunch."
Ritsuka had to wonder how Ciel was able to pose as a student here, why the student called her "senpai", and why she brought Ritsuka lunch. "Alright, I'll go see her." It was best he did not leave someone who could very well kill him in his sleep waiting.
As he left the cafeteria building, Ritsuka walked past somebody who was dressed as a stereotypical Japanese delinquent, complete with a pompadour, and was not even wearing the school uniform. However, he was accompanied by other students that looked like they belonged to other cliques, one of whom seemed to be wearing a different high school uniform.
He stopped to glance at the group of friends(?) for a few seconds before putting them to the back of his head and going to meet up with Ciel.
Following the direction to the building, he went up to the roof and saw his newest housemate at the backside of the roof, looking down at the courtyard below through the chain-link fence. She was still wearing her normal high-schooler disguise which made it seem more strange that she was able to pose as an Amanogawa student.
"Ciel, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, Fujimaru-kun!" The girl exclaimed, turning around upon hearing Ritsuka's voice. She then took out a couple of lunch boxes from out of nowhere. "Here, Ryoko-san made this for you."
"…No, really, why are you here?" Ritsuka asked again, feeling that it was not the only reason she was there.
"Fine, they asked me to also keep an eye on you and make sure you don't get into too much trouble. You know, like yesterday," Ciel admitted, "Besides, they wanted to go out somewhere and I didn't feel like being alone in that house."
"Firstly, how was I supposed to know that a Zodiarts would've been here?"
The day before…
"...This place looks more impressive than I thought it would," Ciel could not help but say as she looked at the various buildings that were near the front gates of Amanogawa High School.
It took them some time in finding the campus and they had to come up with an excuse as to why Ritsuka was walking around out of school (Ciel though did not need to defend herself whatsoever for some reason) but they eventually found AGHS. From how long it took for them to walk around the walls around the campus, there were a lot more buildings than just the ones they could see.
There were no students around, making the two assume that classes were in session.
"Spring, huh?" Ritsuka noted that the sakura trees that were planted in the front courtyard were in full bloom.
"So now only am I in another world, I'm about three months ahead in time?" Ciel hummed. "This just makes it more like Second Magic."
"Second Magic?" Ritsuka felt like he knew something about that but his mind was drawing a blank.
"Right, you're apparently not a magus," Ciel reminded herself as she recalled their conversation from the day before. "It's a long story so-"
"We'll talk about it later," he finished her sentence, earning a confirmatory nod from Ciel.
"It's nothing personal, Fujimaru-kun. It is legitimately a long story that could spiral into several more long stories."
Ritsuka did not really have a problem with putting the topic of whatever Second Magic is on the back burner for now since he was more interested in Amanogawa. The fact that he could hear somebody calling for the two of them would have also prevented them from having that conversation.
"Hey, you two! What are you doing out of class?!" A man in his mid-30s who Ritsuka assumed was a teacher here shouted as he spotted them. After going up to them, he proceeded to ask, "Who are you two? I don't recognize either of you."
"I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka and-"
"Ah!" The teacher apparently already knew his name and exclaimed in response, preventing him from introducing Ciel. "You're the new exchange student?"
"Yes," Ritsuka agreed without a second thought which earned him a look from his… not-partner.
"But don't you start tomorrow? The principal said that the paperwork wasn't done yet."
"I wanted to see what this place was like; I've heard lots of good things about Amanogawa and couldn't wait to check it out." Fujimaru lied as naturally as he breathed.
"That eager, huh? You even wore our uniform unlike a couple others," the teacher grumbled that last part to himself before turning to Ciel. "And you are? You don't look like his sibling or a student here either."
"I'm Ciel, his guardian," Ciel lied as easily as Ritsuka did. "I also wanted to make sure this place was as good as people say."
"I see, I see…" The teacher hummed and nodded, somehow buying the story. "I think we can have somebody who could give you a tour of the campus but we'll have to clear it with the principal first."
"In that case, I say it's alright." The three heard another voice. This one sounded more youthful than the teacher's and a second later, another man appeared seemingly from out of nowhere.
'Where did he come from?' The two dimensional travelers thought at the same time.
"Principal!" Well, that answers the question of who that man was.
The principal of Amanogawa gave Ritsuka and Ciel a courteous bow before properly introducing himself. "Fujimaru Ritsuka, this is the first time we're meeting, correct? I am Hishigata Kouhei, the principal of Amanogawa High School. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Ur… Likewise," Ritsuka hesitantly replied. There was something about the man that was bothering him but he could not place his finger on what it was yet.
"Anyway, I have some free time on my hand at the moment so I don't mind showing our newest pupil around," the principal smiled at him before quickly adding, "And his guardian as well, of course."
"Thank you," Ciel said to him with a small smile. However, like Ritsuka, Ciel's instincts were telling her to be wary of the man but she did not show it.
"Ohsugi-sensei, why don't you continue on your way? I can take care of things from here," Principal Hishigata told the first teacher. "Oh, and don't forget about the meeting later."
"Yes, sir. I'll be there," Ohsugi bowed to his boss before continuing on his rounds.
After watching him walk out of view, the principal turned back to his guests and said, "Now then, why don't we begin the tour?"
Shortly after…
"This is the library. We have a wide selection of fictional and non-fictional books for our students to help them study or relax if they wish so." After a short walk past the classrooms and the Faculty Office, their tour eventually led them to the school library where there were rows upon rows of bookshelves all filled up. "What do you think, Fujimaru-san? How does it compare to Ginseisora's?"
"Huh?" Ritsuka looked away from the bookshelves upon hearing his name being heard. "Oh, I don't really know. I didn't really visit my old school's library that often."
"I see, your report said as much," Principal Hishigata said, "To be honest, I was surprised that Ginseisora chose you for this exchange program. From what I've read, they considered you a prodigy; top of the class, straight A's, and multi-talented if this so-called "Club Day Incident" is real… Is it?"
"It was," Ritsuka admitted, although he and the student body of Ginseisora better knew it as the club fiasco.
"As I said, I'm surprised Ginseisora was willing to let you go in your final year," the principal said. "Oh, I just remembered something I need to take care of. Can the both of you wait here for a few minutes? I won't be long."
"…Sure," Ritsuka answered for himself and Ciel, who had remained quiet for some time.
"Thank you, I'll be back soon." With a friendly wave goodbye, Principal Hishigata left the two in the empty library by themselves.
As soon as he was out of sight, Ciel finally spoke up since the start of the tour, "Huh, I didn't know you were a prodigy, Fujimaru-kun."
"I don't really care about that," Ritsuka replied as he leaned against one of the nearby tables. "If somebody wants to put me on a pedestal, they're welcome to do so but I rather they didn't."
"I see…" The girl hummed, "So what was this "Club Day Incident" he was talking about?"
"That's a long story," Ritsuka answered, "To put it as simply as possible, I failed in keeping myself under the radar and there was sort of a fight. If you want to know more about it, you'll have to ask those two when we get back."
"Bad memories?"
"Not really, it was more like I don't bother to remember what happened that day. It was embarrassing on many people's part… Excluding me."
"You sure you're not embellishing the story?" The girl skeptically asked to which Ritsuka said he wasn't.
"So what's with you earlier? I noticed you kept your eye on that principal the entire time," he told her.
"Why? Jealous?" Ciel flashed him a teasing smirk that just made him sigh. "What? Don't think I didn't notice you looking at my legs yesterday!"
"First, no shouting in the library. Second, I was just wondering if you got cold," Ritsuka tried to explain but Ciel kept that smirk on her face.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night," Ciel said before her smirk was replaced with a serious expression similar to when she was on the clock. "There's something off about that principal."
"I noticed that too." Although there was something else about him that Ritsuka felt was strange. Not off, just… strange. Maybe it was his face, something about him felt familiar.
Clink! Clink!
"Hmm?" The echo of something rattling echoed throughout the library, putting the two fighters on high alert. "Who's there?"
From out of an aisle some distance away from the two, a black figure emerged. Most of the monster was covered in a black cloak with golden linings, leaving only his head seen. It was wide and was shaped like two discs with a gap between them, letting the monster's singular glowing eye be seen. Two insect-like antennas poked out from atop his head. Finally, in his right hand was a black staff that had chained rings on either end of it.
"Not even my first day and I'm already in trouble," sighed Ritsuka.
"Maybe we should have a talk about your inability to go a day without running into monsters, Fujimaru. That's a problem you shouldn't have," Ciel calmly remarked with a straight face.
The monster, meanwhile, just let out a deep scoff before summoning black-and-silver ninjas to do battle for him. Armed with short swords, the squadron of ninjas charged towards the two visitors.
Present…
"And secondly, where did they go off to?" Ritsuka asked Ciel, referring to Ryoko and Tetsuya.
"They didn't say but I think I have an idea," she admitted but did not say her theory. She did not need to, of course, as Ritsuka was thinking the same thing. "Anyway, I'm a bit confused about one thing about this whole role of yours."
"And that is?"
"Did you end up repeating a year or did we end up in a world where you're a year younger?" Ciel questioned. "You three were third-years before your world ended but this is a new school year, right?"
"...I think it's best we don't think too hard about it," the boy said as he sat down with his back against the fence and opened his boxed lunch. "Now that I answered your question-" "Not really." "-Answer mine."
"Let me guess, how did I manage to get that kid to call you here?" Ciel had a feeling that was going to Ritsuka's question. Seeing him nod, she reminded him of a conversation they had before. "Remember our discussion about my skills? I told you I'm proficient in memory-related magecraft."
"...So you brainwashed him," Ritsuka said before taking a bite out of his lunch.
"I wouldn't call it brainwashing, per se…"
"What would you call it then?"
"It's my turn to ask questions next, isn't it?" Ciel did not answer Ritsuka. Before he could respond, she asked anyway, "Where exactly did that belt of yours come from? You told me the gist of it but not really who left it on your doorstep."
"Honestly, I have no idea either," the boy shrugged. 'He says he doesn't know either but…' Well, what that guy specifically said was, "Who knows," but he did not say he was the one who left it. However, the fact that he knew what the Decadriver was is a strong counter-argument.
"You sure about that?!"
'Oh, great!' Ritsuka grumbled in his head as he recognized the voice. Ciel did too, causing her to frown as she turned towards the source of the voice. Her hands were already reaching for her hidden Black Keys in case things escalated.
"Takaragi, what do you want?" Ritsuka grumpily asked, already too tired to deal with the thief.
"To be honest," Takaragi started to say as he dropped down from the highest part of the roof above the staircase access, "I'm just here to check if you've messed with anything yet. You know, if something important to this world had been destroyed."
"Why do you have to act so cryptic like that?"
"Hey, is she going to keep pointing those knives at me?" The thief asked out of concern for his own well-being.
Ciel, already distrustful of Takaragi from his actions in her world, had fully taken out her weapons and was more than ready to attack him. "The last time we met, you were trying to kill him."
"...That's fair," Takaragi admitted, "But I swear to God that I'm not trying to kill Ritsuka-kun at the moment. Is that enough to convince you?"
"No."
"That's also fair."
"Takaragi, what did you mean about me not knowing who left me my Driver?" Ritsuka asked the other boy.
With a small smirk, Takaragi answered him. "With all due respect, as an amnesiac, you're not exactly reliable on what you know or don't know," he said without an ounce of respect in his voice. "For example, do you know what this is?"
From the inside of his jacket, Takaragi pulled out a strange object. It was a small globe that was attached to a small purple box that had an EX label on it.
"...An Astroswitch?" Ritsuka said the general name of the object.
"Yup! And a special one at that," the thief giggled to himself, proud that he managed to find this specific Astroswitch. Putting the Switch back into his jacket, he then said, "See what I mean? You shouldn't have any memory of any Astroswitches but you knew what this was."
"..."
"...Takaragi," Ciel said in a neutral but slightly harsh tone, "Why did you try to kill Fujimaru?"
"That question again? I already told you, he's a devil and- Wait, no. Don't go on a rant, Yuu," Takaragi stopped himself from rambling too much since he already told Ciel the bare necessities. "At any rate, he needs to be exorcized from the world, i.e. dies in a particular way so that he doesn't revive or something like that."
"And what way is that?" Ritsuka calmly asked, not particularly disturbed that Takaragi had both said he was a devil and that he needed to die.
"I'm still thinking about that, okay? But I'll tell you this though, I'll only go after you if you transform. That's assuming that I'm not preoccupied with other things at least," Takaragi answered without missing a beat.
"So what you're saying is that if I try to fight whatever monsters I run into, you'll help them."
"Just like you did with the Lords."
"Yup," nodded Takaragi, "But before you throw those things at me, I'll also say this: if I fail to kill you, I'll make it up to you the next time you fight. Again, assuming I'm not busy."
"And what makes you think we'll trust you on that?"
"Because I already did so." The smirk returned to Takaragi's face as he answered. "How else did you think Kuuga appeared?"
"Wait, that was-"
"Anyway, see you later. I have other treasures to find and collect." Before Ritsuka could finish talking, Takaragi disappeared through an Aurora Curtain.
"...Well, he was annoying," Ciel sighed as the blades of her Black Keys disappeared before putting away the handles.
"Tell me something I don't know." Now that Takaragi left, Ritsuka was happy to put that conversation in the darkest recesses of his mind until it was needed along most of his interaction with the thief. It was not long before he finished his lunch and got back up. "Alright, time to continue my search. We'll talk again later."
Ritsuka barely took a single step before he heard Ciel say, "What makes you think I'll let you walk around on your own?"
"I don't need a babysitter while I'm here."
"You think you don't need a babysitter," she corrected him. "I've only known you for three days but in that time, you've proven yourself unable to go 10 steps without getting into trouble."
"I'm pretty sure our walk was more than 10 steps," Ritsuka said but Ciel pretended not to hear him.
"Besides, two heads are better than one. It'll be easier if we both look for the people you're looking for."
"And what would be your excuse for walking around the school? Or are you going to be brainwashing everyone else?"
"I'm not going to be brainwashing everybody… I already did."
"Wait, what? When?"
"I actually came here a couple of hours earlier and made some… adjustments. I think I got most of the students and teachers but I wouldn't be surprised if I missed a few."
"...You know what? I'm not going to say anything about that." Ritsuka did not feel like getting into an argument with Ciel over the moral ambiguity of messing with people's memories so she could help him without arousing suspicion. "But did you happen to find anything about Fourze?"
"I did, actually. I didn't dig much into anyone's mind but I did catch a few surface thoughts," Ciel said as they walked down the stairs, "Most of the students and teachers here are aware of a Kamen Rider here and those monsters that attacked us yesterday."
"Anything else you caught? A name, maybe?"
"There was a name that I noticed: Tsukinari Gentaro, a third-year student like you." Gentaro… That name feels familiar. "From what I got, he's friends with more than half the school."
"A popular kid, huh?" Ritsuka murmured as the two exited into and walked across the courtyard behind the main building of the school. As they were walking though, he noticed that they were getting stares from a couple of the other students. "...Ciel?"
"Yes?"
"Please tell me you didn't insert yourself as one of the most popular students in Amanogawa?"
"Oh please, I don't need to do that to turn heads," Ciel told him with a mischievous smirk which turned into an annoyed frown upon hearing Ritsuka sigh. "Do I need to bring up what I said yesterday?"
"Again, I was wondering if you didn't feel cold."
"And again, whatever helps you sleep at–"
"AHH!"
A loud scream got their and everybody else's attention.
"What was-?"
KABOOM!
An unseen explosion rocked the courtyard, letting everyone know that they had to start running fast. The students that were around seemed to have already known what to do in this situation and began evacuating the area.
Ritsuka and Ciel, on the other hand, went in the opposite direction towards the explosion, the latter already remarking on the situation. "See? You can't go half-a-day without getting into trouble."
"Yeah, yeah. No need to rub it in."
Rounding the corner, they saw what was making the explosion; another monster throwing metal balls that exploded upon hitting something. Its skin looked similar to scales while on his arms were dragon heads. Additionally, there were yellow orbs of varying sizes on his body that were connected by a line
"A different one than yesterday's?" Ciel muttered as she noted the monster's appearance.
However, the monster perked up upon hearing her voice. It stopped throwing its iron balls around and turned to them. Upon spotting the two, it immediately threw its balls at them.
"Move!" Ciel reacted first, grabbing Ritsuka and leaping out of the way of the attack just in time to be out of the subsequent blast radius. The two ducked behind a pillar before the Zodiarts could notice that they managed to avoid getting blown up.
"Looks like I have to fight again…" Ritsuka sighed but he did not really mind at all. "Ciel, do me a favor and stand back."
"Any reason why?" Ciel asked, a bit surprised at his request.
"I want to fight on my own for once," Ritsuka said. "I've been fighting alongside someone else practically all the time and want to do something by myself."
"Rather dangerous to fight something like that by yourself but-"
"If my legs get blown off, you can rub it in my face whenever you want."
"I'm doing that regardless," Ciel retorted before saying, "Fine, but if it looks like you can't handle it, I'm jumping in."
"That's fair," Ritsuka relented on that part and prepared to take out his Driver when-
"Take this!" A bombastic voice exclaimed before they heard a grunt from the monster.
The two peeked out of their hiding spot to see what was most likely a student of the school. The teenage boy was not wearing the school uniform and instead wore a white t-shirt along with a black jacket and pants. Ritsuka and Ciel recognized the student for different reasons; the latter because he had passed by the delinquent-looking student earlier while the latter saw him while looking into the other students' memories.
"You again, huh?!" The teen with the pompadour shouted, recognizing the Zodiarts.
"That is…" Ritsuka had a feeling who the teenager was which was confirmed by Ciel a second later.
"Fujimaru, that's Tsukinari-san; the one I was telling you about."
"Well then, third time's the charm," the now-named Tsukinari Gentaro declared as he took out a bulky, light-blue belt buckle from behind his back. The buckle had a black screen in the middle of it and two, orange-red switches on both sides. Additionally, a large lever was on the right side of the buckle. "This time, you won't be coming back; fake or otherwise!"
The teen then put the Driver on his waist and a silver belt came out that held it in place.
"Tsukinari! Be careful and don't play around!" another boy's voice called out to the first from somewhere nearby.
"I know. Don't worry about me, I'll finish things in one shot!" They watched as Gentaro flipped down the four switches before placing his hand on the lever. The Driver buzzed in confirmation and began a countdown.
3!
2!
1!
"Henshin!" Gentaro shouted as he pushed the lever before throwing his hand up. A ring appeared around him that split into two, one going up and the other down, as a smoke cloud came out of the rings. A moment later, a white-gloved hand cleared the smoke in front of him away, revealing a white Kamen Rider standing where the teen was.
His helmet matched the picture that was now hanging in the Fujimaru residence's living room while the rest of his suit was mostly white with some orange accents. The most notable parts of his suit though were the small pack on his back and the four large braces on his arms and legs. The latter parts had symbols on them as well, a circle and a square on his arms while his legs had a cross and triangle.
"It's space time!" The Rider declared at the top of his lungs while doing a V pose with his arms. "Kamen Rider Fourze! Let's do this man-to-man!"
"So that is Fourze…" Ciel commented quietly enough so that only Ritsuka could hear. "That's… not exactly what I was expecting."
"Fourze…" The boy muttered, watching as the astronaut-themed Rider charged at the Zodiarts and landed a heavy punch.
"You're not going to help?"
"...No, I want to see how good he is first." If Ryoko had been there, she would have definitely kicked Ritsuka to fight again. But she was not here so he was safe. For now, he will just be watching this world's Kamen Rider fight and gauge his abilities.
The day before…
Ritsuka evaded a sword stab from one of the ninjas the Zodiarts summoned before kneeing the mook in return. Next to him, Ciel blocked a slash with her Black Keys. She then threw the ones she was currently wielding at a trio of the ninjas, each successfully hitting them and causing them to disappear in a puff of smoke and dust.
'She makes it look easy,' Ritsuka could not help but compliment his combat partner's abilities in his mind. While he (probably) does not know the intricacies of throwing weapons, he could tell that Ciel was skilled nonetheless.
The Zodiarts watching them fight had a similar thought too and decided that she was currently a bigger threat than Ritsuka was. With a thump of his staff, the ninjas with the exception of two turned their attention towards Ciel.
"Oh boy." While Ciel knew that she would easily win against the ninjas, she also knew that it was going to be a tiresome process. "Fujimaru, can't you transform or something?"
"Give me a second," Ritsuka said as he ducked under a sword swing. Rolling away, he took out his Decadriver but before he could put it on, an energy shuriken knocked it out of his hand. The Decadriver slid across the floor and under a gap underneath a nearby bookshelf. "...Give me another second."
"This is going to be fun…" Ciel sighed before steeling herself for the rest of the fight.
The cloaked Zodiarts continued watching them from nearby, his eye mostly focused on Ritsuka as he ducked and weaved through the attacks.
'So that was the one they were after?' The Zodiarts thought to himself. 'Why? He doesn't seem to be much of a threat without transforming.'
If anything, the blue-haired young woman with him was more of a threat than he was.
Still, the chairman wanted him and the others to deal with Fujimaru Ritsuka if he ever appears in Amanogawa. Whoever told his boss about him must have played up the threat Fujimaru posed if the orders to not fight him alone were of any indication.
"Wachaa!" Before the Zodiarts could react, a kick to his side knocked him into a bookshelf. Looking at his attacker, he easily identified who it was.
"Meteor."
"Libra, fancy to see you walking around," the new Kamen Rider replied as he got into a fighting stance.
The Rider's suit was nearly completely black with white dots and lines and silver bands. Meanwhile, the lower part of his mask was silver while the upper part was shaped like a blue meteor befitting his name with glowing red eyes underneath it. A blue band connected to a large, blue shoulderpad came out of his Driver. The transformation device had an orb implanted in its center that was colored like his suit. A smaller blue orb was connected to the right side of his Driver.
"That is…?" Ciel assumed that the black-and-blue Kamen Rider was not Fourze because he did not match the one on the background in her new home. It was an assumption that Ritsuka had too.
"Kamen Rider Meteor," he said, which the Rider heard.
"You two are?" Meteor did not recognize either of them despite the guy wearing an Amanogawa uniform. "Any reason you're attacking random students, Libra?"
"My goals are both beyond your understanding and none of your concern," the Libra Zodiarts scoffed in response. "If you walk away now, I'll let you go free."
"What makes you think I'll believe what you say?" Meteor retorted, "Prepare yourself, I won't be holding back."
The Rider leaped at the Libra Zodiarts, shouting as he did so.
Back with the two dimensional travelers, one was having a decent time fighting his foes while the other was easily cutting through the ninjas trying to kill her. Ritsuka's main issue was that they were pretty fast, making it hard for him to land a hit.
Seeing Ritsuka struggling a bit against the two ninjas, Ciel decided to lend him a hand. With two throws, she easily dispatched the ones in front of her before the second set of Black Keys took care of the two Ritsuka was facing.
"Thanks," Ritsuka said. Ciel only gave him a short nod before she went back to cutting down the remaining ninjas. The teenage boy quickly tried to find the Decadriver, running over to the next aisle to look for it. It only took him a second before he picked the white buckle off the ground and ran back out to fight the Libra Zodiarts with Meteor.
However, as soon as he stepped out, he noticed that the two had disappeared.
'Well, then. That just means I should help–'
"Where did they go?" Ciel asked, walking up next to Ritsuka.
"If you have no idea, how am I supposed to know?" Ritsuka retorted as he put away his Driver with an unsatisfied sigh. It was rather anticlimactic for him but he should not be complaining.
"Fujimaru-kun, do you know who that was?" Ciel asked him to which Ritsuka responded by asking which one. "Both."
"The one who attacked us was a Zodiarts. They're the Lords to Fourze's Agito; that's the simplest way I could explain it," said Ritsuka.
"And the other one? He was called Meteor, right?"
"Yes, he's… G3."
"Ah, got it," Ciel nodded. Ritsuka was rather thankful that she catches up quickly and doesn't stop to question everything. "So… What now?"
"Dunno," he shrugged.
"How did you manage as long as you did, operating on gut feeling alone?"
"I'm just lucky, I suppose." Or unlucky, depending on how you look at it. The reason he was in this situation– traveling through the universe– was because 19 worlds thought he was some kind of destroyer, not exactly good luck.
"At any rate, we need to clean this up." Ciel glanced back to where she was fighting. Thankfully, only a couple of books fell off the bookshelf and not something major like a table breaking. That one would be a bit harder to cover up. "Come on, help me out."
A few minutes later, just as they finished cleaning up the mess, Principal Hishigata returned.
"Sorry again for leaving you two," he apologized as he entered the library. "Hopefully, you weren't too bored waiting for me."
"No." Once again, something was off about him. It could have just been the principal truly did not know what had happened a few minutes earlier but they both had the feeling that Hishigata was hiding something.
"Then shall we continue?"
"…Actually, something came up and we need to go back home," Ritsuka replied after a moment of thinking. If he (and probably Ciel) was right, then they should not stick around in the school for much longer. "Ciel and I have… other… things to do."
"Ah, I see." Wait, what was with that smirk? "I shouldn't keep you then. We at Amanogawa encourage our students to enjoy their school days. Building strong relationships, even with students outside of our school, is a valuable part of growing up."
…This isn't going to be the last time his and Ciel's relationship is going be mistaken for something else, isn't it?
Judging from Ciel's reaction–a slightly annoyed sigh but Ritsuka might have got the slightest glimpse of a small blush–she was probably thinking the same thing.
"We'll… just see ourselves out," Ritsuka said. Even if the principal was not raising red flags in his head, that comment guaranteed that Ritsuka would rather not have him follow them.
"It was a pleasure to show you around, Fujimaru-san. Hopefully, what you saw was to your liking," the principal smiled.
"It was," he nodded in response to the principal's remark. That smile… Could Hishigata get any more suspicious?
A few minutes of walking later, Ritsuka and Ciel passed through the front gates of Amanogawa. After putting a good distance between themselves and the school and making sure there was no one around, they immediately started discussing what just happened.
"Looks like you were on the right track with looking for that school," Ciel said as they walked.
"Were you doubting me?"
"Not really, just surprised that we found you were looking for so fast." Normally, it took her a few days of investigation to find her target. Maybe Ritsuka was right in that he was lucky. "Now then, we've done what you wanted, it's my turn to choose what we do next."
"...Please not a mall."
"From the sound of it, I assume you're used to Ryoko making you carry her shopping bags," Ciel remarked. The resigned face Ritsuka made was all she needed for confirmation. "Don't worry about that, I don't need that many clothes for now."
"Why do we need to buy clothes in the first place?" Had they not just got into a fight with a bunch of ninjas, Ritsuka would have been more willing to go on a shopping trip with Ciel.
"In case you forget, Fujimaru-kun, all I had for clothing was the ones I was wearing when you kidnapped me," she said in an amused tone. "While I do like what I'm wearing now, the only thing I have to wear if this is in the wash is my Executor outfit."
"That's fair, I guess," Ritsuka admitted she had a point. At least Ciel did not seem to be the type to spend outrageous amounts of money on clothes.
"And besides, I don't think you have any school supplies; you can't disguise yourself as a student well without them, helps you complete the image," she added as the two began looking for a place to buy what they needed.
Present…
LAUNCHER ON!
After flipping down the middle right Astroswitch in his Driver, a blue rocket launcher materialized on Fourze's right leg. "Eat this!" The white Rider exclaimed as he launched several missiles at the Dragon Zodiarts.
However, while the missiles hit their target and exploded, the monster was not affected by the attack at all and threw its iron balls at Fourze. The Rider managed to leap back using the mini-jetpack he had, avoiding the explosion.
"Tsukinari, stop messing around already!" The other boy's voice scolded. "Just use Magnet States and finish him off!"
"I know, I know." He just wanted to see how much he improved since the last time he had fought the Dragon Zodiarts.
Fourze swiftly removed the far left and right Switches in his belt before taking out a red-and-blue cell phone. "Split!" He called out his actions as he opened and pulled the Astroswitch into two. "And insert!"
N MAGNET!
S MAGNET!
He then pressed the buttons on the Switches.
N/S MAGNET ON!
Two holographic magnets appeared above Fourze before they attracted each other. In an instant, new armor materialized on the Rider. A large egg-shaped dome covered his head while shoulderpads had large magnet halves on them.
Undisturbed by the enhancement, the Dragon Zodiarts threw his iron balls again. This time though, Fourze was prepared for it and pushed the lever on his Driver, causing the magnet halves to fly off and connect above him. The giant magnet created a magnetic wave that stopped in the metal balls in mid-air.
"Have a taste of your own medicine!" With a single push of the joysticks, Fourze launched the iron balls back at their owner at high speeds. The Zodiarts did not have as fast of a reaction time and was hit straight on.
"Now, finish it!"
"There's no need to order me all the time, Kengo." Still, Fourze followed what the other boy hiding somewhere in the sideline said. He flip up a cover on the backside of the N Magnet Switch and pressed the button underneath.
LIMIT BREAK!
The large magnet above him flew down in front of him and began charging with red and blue energies.
"Take this! Rider Super Electromagnetic Bomber!" Fourze shouted as an energy beam shot out of the magnet-cannon. The beam hit the Dragon Zodiarts and it screamed as a ball formed around it and began crushing him. With a final cry, it exploded in an explosion.
"Phew!" The Rider let out a sigh of relief now that the battle was over. His relief soon turned to confusion, however, as he noticed that nothing was left of the Zodiarts. "No Switch or Switcher again…"
He flipped up the orange switches on his buckle, causing his transformation to disengage.
"Tsukinari!" The delinquent-looking student's friend shouted as he came up to Gentaro. In contrast to him, the second boy was dressed appropriately: the school uniform without a single wrinkle. "What was that? Didn't you say you'd finish it in one shot?"
"Exactly, it was one shot!" Gentaro defended himself as they walked away from the battlefield. "Also, Kengo, where are the others?"
"They went to help our schoolmates run away, we'll be meeting at the base later after school," the other boy answered before going back to the argument, "And I meant why didn't you finish the Zodiarts as soon as possible?"
"Well, I thought that there might be somebody inside but turns out there wasn't… again."
"That makes it three now." Three Zodiarts without any Switchers in the past week. They have already confirmed that it was not another Zodiarts creating illusions or duplicates so why were they appearing? "At least you didn't let the Zodiarts cause too much damage to the school grounds."
"Oh, that was what you were worried about? Don't worry about that, you know that I wouldn't let them destroy anything," Gentaro told his friend.
Eventually, they came to a utility building on the far side of the campus and entered it. They walked down the corridor before going into a storage room that had a locker.
"You first," Gentaro said as he opened the locker door. Surprisingly, instead of a normal locker, the inside of the locker was a bright light that illuminated the room. Kengo entered the locker and into the light first with Gentaro following suit. The two continued walking through the bright corridor that looked like it had no floors or walls before they came to a metal door.
The door slid open and they entered a large room that looked very lived in. There was stuff like exercising equipment and various types of decoration set up. Up on the sloped ceiling was a banner that was identical to the backdrop in the Fujimaru residence. Clutter and litter also filled the room, especially the table in the center, which irritated Kengo.
"A new semester and they still don't know how to clean up after themselves," he grumbled, referring to the rest of their friend group that tends to use their base/clubroom. "Tsukinari, clean up after them. I need to analyze the fight in the lab."
"Do I have to?" Gentaro whined a bit but the glare from Kengo straightened him up. "Fine, fine. But I want something in return later."
"Whatever you say," the other boy murmured as he walked towards the door that led to the base's laboratory.
"Hmm… I should probably get some garbage bags first," Gentaro said to himself before turning around towards the door. However, he did not take a single step towards the entrance as he instantly spotted the two heads that were peeking in the doorframe. "Wait, who are you two?!" He shouted in surprise, catching Kengo's attention in the lab.
"Was is it Tsukinari?!" The boy shouted as he ran back into the central room where he saw the two strangers walking in.
"Ahh! Sorry, sorry," the blue-haired girl apologized with a sheepish smile as she tipped her glasses, "We saw you two walking here and couldn't help but follow."
"You are…" For a brief moment, neither Gentaro nor Kengo could remember who she or her companion was. The next second though, her name immediately came to mind.
"Oh, Ciel-senpai!" Gentaro blurted out, remembering that she was in Class 3-A.
"Why are you calling her senpai? We're the same year as her," Kengo pointed out, his eyes trained on Ciel and the boy with her.
"She has been here longer than me so might as well call her that."
"I've been here longer than you yet you don't call me senpai."
"That's different, we're in the same cla–"
"And who are you?" Kengo asked with a bit of hostility at the black-haired, blue-eyed student next to Ciel. "I've never seen you before."
"I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka," he introduced himself. "I just transferred here today."
"Oh, the prodigal student from Ginseisora," Kengo recalled overhearing some gossip from a couple of the other students.
Gentaro had the same reaction his friend did, recalling the same gossip. "I heard about you! Our friend, JK, was talking about you the last few days."
"I see, my reputation precedes me," Ritsuka hummed, slightly annoyed at being the topic of the rumor mill. "And you two are?"
"Oh, sorry about that!" Gentaro loudly apologized as he extended his hand for a handshake. "This is Hoshita Kengo and I'm Tsukinari Gentaro, nice to meet you."
"Likewise." Ritsuka was polite and shook hands with Gentaro. However, the latter made a long, friendship handshake that ended with a fist bump. "A–Anyway, what is this place?"
"None of your–"
"This is the Rabbit Hatch! Home to the Kamen Rider Club!" Gentaro answered him, much to Kengo's frustration.
"The what club?"
"The Kamen Rider Club," the Rider repeated himself. "Our club is dedicated to protecting Amanogawa high from–"
"Tsukinari!" Kengo interrupted him, his annoyance at Gentaro spilling the secrets of their secret club. While he felt that Ciel was somewhat trustworthy, he knew next to nothing about Fujimaru Ritsuka.
"Eh, don't worry about him," Gentaro said, easily figuring out what brought up that outburst. "Anyone who accepts my handshake can be trusted."
"Easy for you to say…"
"Anyway," the friendly student turned back to the two, "Welcome… to the Kamen Rider Club!"
Meanwhile…
"It's… like nothing happened…" Ryoko wistfully muttered as she looked around while she and Tetsuya stood in the middle of the courtyard. The latter, meanwhile, was speechless, unable to put a word to his thoughts of the place.
They, upon hearing about what Ritsuka's role in this world was, decided to go check out a place dear to them: Ginseisora High School. In sharp contrast to their last memories of the place, their high school was completely intact and full of life. A couple of students that were on break gave them a passing glance; the first-years mostly ignored them while the second and third-years gave them a quick wave or greeting, recognizing them from the previous year.
"...It feels like we shouldn't be here," Tetsuya finally said. An uncomfortable feeling swelled in his chest as he stood in the center of the front courtyard. It told them that they should just leave and not return, that they should not have even thought of going back there despite the mostly warm welcome the nearby students were giving them. "Maybe we come back."
"I…" Ryoko wanted to say she agreed, but a small part of her did not want to leave yet.
"Oh, Jindai-san, Tsunogai-san!" A familiar female voice called out to them. Hearing their names, the two turned towards the main entrance of the school building where they saw an older woman waving to them.
"Ya–Yamazaki-sensei," Ryoko stuttered, recognizing the teacher of the school. She had been their Maths and homeroom teacher during their second year for the former and third year for both so of course they knew who she was.
Their old teacher came up to them with a happy smile. "What are you two doing back here?"
"We… uh…"
"We were in the area. We decided to drop in for a visit for old time's sake," Tetsuya answered for Ryoko. It was not a total lie, they were in the area. He just omitted the fact that they chose to go to that area on purpose.
"This is the fastest a former student had dropped by," Yamazaki giggled a bit, "Just over a week after a new semester starts."
"Right, we just… couldn't believe that we left this place." Again, not really a lie.
"...Just the two of you alone?" Yamazaki asked, "What were the two of you doing together?"
"Nothing…" The suspicious way Ryoko answered elicited a small smirk from their former teacher.
"Oh… I see…" The older woman quickly snickered but did not make another comment. "Actually, I just remembered something."
Yamazaki reached into her pocket and took out her phone. "I've been trying to reach you two for a while now. The photography club sent us the photos our class took during the year-end celebration we set up."
"Year-end celebration?" Needless to say, neither of them knew what their former teacher was talking about.
"Do you want me to send them to you?"
"Oh… yeah, you can send them to me," Ryoko volunteered herself and took out her own phone.
A minute or two later, their old teacher send her a collage of photos from the apparent celebration they had during their final year.
"I wish I could stand here and continue chatting but unfortunately, classes are about to begin," Yamazaki apologized to them. "You two are free to stick around though. I'm sure the other teachers would not mind you two wandering and reminiscing."
"That's not necessary, we need to go back soon anyway. Ritsuka would get worried if we don't back before he does," Tetsuya said. However, the look his old teacher had as well as her next words confused and worried them.
"Ritsuka? Who's that?"
The day before…
"We're back!" Ciel announced her and Ritsuka's return. It was now late afternoon and the two teens who stayed back had just finished cooking and eating lunch.
"Welcome back," Tetsuya politely called back as he and Ryoko relaxed in the living room.
A moment later, their new friend/accidental kidnap victim and Ritsuka entered the room carrying several shopping bags.
"You guys went shopping without me?" Ryoko asked incredulously. She did not actually mind but wanted to make a joke. "At least say you bought me a souvenir."
"Nope, nothing," Ritsuka, the occasionally snarky person that he was, replied as he put down the bags he was carrying on the coffee table in front of the couches.
"We just needed to pick up a few things now that I have no choice but to live here with you guys." While Ciel probably did not mean to guilt-trip her, Ryoko could not help but nervously smile at what the other girl said. "We also needed to pick up some stuff to help Fujimaru-kun for tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Tetsuya parroted before he noticed what Ritsuka was wearing. "Is that a school uniform?"
"Yes," the other boy nodded, "Turns out, in this world, I'm a transfer student of Amanogawa from Ginseisora."
"Hang on, wait a sec," Ryoko said, "You mean… Ginseisora actually exists here too?"
"Apparently," Ritsuka shrugged as he dug through one of the shopping bags. He had some questions about the situation too (especially when it came to what year he was in and where the paperwork came from) but he mostly put that aside.
"Ginseisora is your school, I assume." Ciel had pieced that together from what that suspicious principal had said and a nod from the three confirmed it. "So does that mean versions of you three exists here too?" It was not that much of a stretch since they had learned an alternate Tetsuya was Agito.
"Probably," Ritsuka shrugged again. Some of the previous worlds like Kiva seemed to have A.R. versions of him but he never did quite learn if that was true and frankly, the thought of running into another him annoyed him for some reason.
"..." Both Ryoko and Tetsuya, however, kept their thoughts private and did not say. Knowing them though, Ritsuka had a feeling that they might want to check out their old school since the last time they were there, it was in ruins. He, on the other hand, did not really care about the place that much. While he had some fond memories of the place, he was alright in putting that part of his path behind him to do whatever it was that he needed to do in Amanogawa.
Realizing that this was a sensitive subject, Ciel decided to change the topic of the conversation to something else. "Say, what did you guys make for us?"
"We did make some stir-fried beef but…" Tetsuya gave Ryoko a pointed glare, making her blush and sheepishly scratch the back of her head.
Ciel immediately understood the reason for the other girl's reaction. "So, let me get this straight."
'Nothing good ever comes from a sentence starting with that,' Ritsuka thought as he finished clearing out one of the bags and moved on to the other one.
"Not only were you responsible for me being taken away from my home world, but you also did not leave me–" "And me–" "–a single bite of lunch?"
"...Well, I wouldn't go far as to say a single bite," Ryoko laughed nervously under the frightening stare of Ciel.
The Executor kept staring at her coldly, eventually making the younger start sweating bullets. However, Ciel broke her stare with a short, amused laugh that just confused Ryoko and Tetsuya too.
Ritsuka, on the other hand, just sighed and remarked, "I don't think you're taking the fact you may never return to your world completely registered in your head yet."
"Oh, I have. I'm just trying to make light of the situation as best as I can," Ciel replied.
"So… you're not angry?" Ryoko nervously asked.
"I'm more annoyed than angry, but I don't really blame you. Besides, this just means I make my favorite food for lunch."
"...Just don't put too much spices inside the pot," Ritsuka pleaded since he was going to eat that too. If his second meeting with this Ciel was of any indication, he might not be able to taste anything for a while.
"If you want to make sure I don't then help me with cooking, Fujimaru-kun." Ciel grabbed him by the hand and dragged him off to the kitchen.
"…For people who just met two days ago, they're pretty friendly with each other, aren't they?" Ryoko observed as she relaxed back into her seat. While Ritsuka technically did meet Ciel back in Kiva's world, it was still a different version to the one they accidentally abducted.
"Ritsuka and Ciel? You're right, but she did help him save us so we know she could be trusted."
"Hey, don't put in that much!" Ritsuka shouted from the kitchen.
"...Yeah, pretty friendly."
At the same time…
In a dark room with a night sky ceiling, an old man sat in a luxurious chair while grasping a strange Astroswitch in his hand. More importantly though were the four monsters that all wore identical cloaks, one of whom was the Libra Zodiarts that had disappeared along with Kamen Rider Meteor. Obviously, he had managed to escape the Rider to come to this meeting.
The other three Zodiarts were only distinguishable thanks to their heads; one had a feminine face that looked like she was made out of porcelain with solid pink "hair" circling her head and obscuring one eye, another had a red crab-like head with a red Y-shaped eye, and the last one's face looked like a lion with very large teeth.
"So… he's here then," the man in the seat said while glancing at the Libra Zodiarts, "Are you certain of this, Libra?"
"Yes, sir." The Zodiarts bowed his head slightly.
"Decade… Fujimaru Ritsuka…" The man muttered to himself. While he had been warned that the target of the assassination attempt some time ago would one day appear in an unorthodox way in his world, the man was still (mildly) surprised that Decade came under the guise of a transfer student.
"So this Fujimaru is the one that the representative came to us about?" The crab-headed Zodiarts questioned. "I saw him walking around with that pretty blue-head and he didn't look like much."
"Hold your tongue, Cancer," the lion-headed Zodiarts admonished his fellow monster. "If Iteya-sama says that he's dangerous, then he must be dangerous. It is our duty to serve him and trust whatever he says."
"Says the guy who's barely around for these meetings," the Cancer Zodiarts retorted. "You never come whenever he calls for us–"
"Cancer, do we have a problem?" The man questioned the Zodiarts with a tone that was simultaneously kind and threatening.
"Not at all, sir. I'm just surprised that somebody as plain-looking as him was such a threat that we had to give up so many of our Switches to a… what was that guy again? An inter-dimensional Nazi?"
"Appearances can be deceiving, Cancer." The only female Zodiarts advised her compatriot. "Even the most inconspicuous person can be the cruelest being imaginable."
"Well, that guy did look broody but not cruel."
"Virgo," the man spoke up, getting the female Zodiarts' attention, "Can I trust you to stick to do what we planned in the scenario that Decade appears?"
"Of course, Iteya-sama," the Virgo Zodiarts bowed her head in servitude. "You can trust me to carry out whatever you desire."
"Then it is settled. Tomorrow, when Decade is in our school, we will deal with him as planned," the man ordered his Zodiarts. "Be ready to do so when the moment presents itself.
"Yes, Iteya-sama."
"Dismissed." With the meeting's end, the four Zodiarts took their leave. While Libra, Cancer, and Leo were going to use the door off to the side, the Virgo Zodiarts disappeared as a black hole surrounded her.
"Libra, stay for a moment," the man in the chair called out to the Zodiarts, making him stop and walk back towards his boss while Cancer and Leo left.
"What is it, sir?"
"There is something I need you to do tomorrow while the others deal with Decade."
Present, Rabbit Hatch…
"So that's about it," Gentaro said as he finished telling Ritsuka and Ciel of the events that transpired ever since he moved here. "And since then, I've been protecting this school and my friends as Kamen Rider Fourze!"
He finished with his transformation post, earning a sweatdrop from the two.
"And… we're on the moon. Right now. We are on the moon?" Ciel asked, the only part of the story that did not really make sense. All she got for an explanation was "Cosmic Energy".
"Yup, and as proof!" Gentaro hopped over to a console nearby and flipped a switch. A white panel above one of the doors slid up, revealing that it was a window and through it, they could see…
"...You know, I think I'm really starting to enjoy being abducted," Ciel muttered to Ritsuka so that only he could hear. Ritsuka, meanwhile, reacted by snapping a picture of what they were seeing.
Visibly shining in the window was the bright blue planet that was the Earth, proving that they were really on the moon.
"If you want to, we could go on a moon walk," Gentaro offered to them.
"Moon walk. As in, a walk on the surface of the moon?"
"Yup!"
Now, Ciel never dreamed of being an astronaut, that card was never really on the table for her, but that does not mean she was not getting giddy by the prospect of going on a walk on the moon.
Of course, it was too good to be true as someone had to rain on her parade.
"Tsukinari, Fujimaru… Ciel?" Kengo called them out by name as he exited the laboratory, unsure as to what he was supposed to call the girl. "While going on a moon walk is fun at all, do you really think you have the time for it?"
"Time?" All three of them repeated quizzingly.
"Don't you realize how long it took for Tsukinari to tell his story?" He clarified it for them before walking back into the laboratory but not before telling Gentaro, "Tell Yamagata-sensei I'm in the nurse's office, I'm not done analyzing the dummy Dragon Zodiarts yet."
Gentaro immediately pulled back the sleeve of his jacket and checked his watch, his face immediately turned pale as he read the time. "AH! Class has already started!"
With great speed, he dashed for the door back to Earth, leaving Ritsuka and Ciel in the dust.
"...He seems fun," Ritsuka complimented the Rider of this world as they followed in his path. He did not really care that he was late for class since he was only going to be in Fourze's world for a few days so he tried to take his time. Tried.
"Come on, hurry up," Ciel said while pushing him to move a bit faster. "This is your first day here, you have to make a good impression on your teachers and classmates."
"Can't you just brainwash them into thinking I was in class the entire time?" He asked as they exited the light corridor and found themselves back in the utility building. "Why do you get to pretend to be a student while I have to be a student?"
"Because it's karma for stealing me away from my world."
"I thought you didn't blame me or Ryoko for it."
"I don't. Doesn't mean I can't poke fun at you about it," Ciel retorted as the two exited the building. "And speaking of Ryoko, I should probably head back and check up on them. You know, make sure they didn't get captured by the monsters after your life again."
"Sure, sure." Ritsuka was rather glad that Ciel was willing to keep an eye on him and them despite what they accidentally did to her. "I should probably get to class too. See you back home then."
"See you too, and stay safe." She waved him goodbye and went off in the opposite direction, choosing to go through the back gates as it was closer to her new residence.
Ritsuka, meanwhile, went towards the front side of the school where the classrooms were. Now that Ciel was gone, he could go at his own pace.
He soon learned that this was going to bite him in the ass when, as he turned a corner, he had to instantly duck and roll out of the way of swing from a large claw. The clawed hand dug into the wall, cracking it and leaving a rather sizable hole as Ritsuka turned to see who attacked him.
"That cloak… A Horoscopes?" As per usual, Ritsuka was not sure how he knew that but he did not particularly care at the moment as he was face to face with a lion-themed Zodiarts.
"Decade, you shall die here," the Leo Zodiarts declared/threatened as he took off and threw his cloak to the side, revealing that his body had orbs connected by lines similar to how the Dragon Zodiarts from earlier had.
"Leo, huh?" Ritsuka, an avid stargazer, recognized the pattern on the Zodiarts' body as the Leo Constellation, one of the 12 Western Zodiacs. He had the feeling that he should not mess around and immediately took out his Driver.
However, another energy shuriken knocked it out of his hand again, causing it to slide away out of reach as it stopped right by the feet of the Leo Zodiarts.
"Yo! Decade!" A carefree voice exclaimed from behind. Ritsuka turned towards the direction of the voice to see a red Zodiarts with a crab theme flanked by the ninjas that attacked him and Ciel the day before. "A nice welcome party, don't you think? Our boss planned it specially for you."
'Great… just… great…' Ritsuka thought, knowing he was in deep, deep trouble now. He should have realized from yesterday that they were targeting him. Actually, he really should have known this from the beginning since the Lords had gone after him in the last world.
"Decade." 'Oh great, three of them?!' The last one that appeared, flying down a distance from his left, he quickly deduced to be Virgo. How? A gut feeling.
"Is there any chance we could talk through this?" It was a long shot but he had to delay. He was cornered from three sides and the fourth was a wall.
"No, our leader wants you dead and we will carry out his will," the Leo Zodiarts replied, kneeling down and ready to pounce at him with his large claws.
'Well then, Plan B.'
He had to time this perfectly. If not, he'll be eviscerated by lion claws. That was a definite no-go.
"Get him." Ritsuka's plan to take the Decadriver was foiled by that annoying crustacean Zodiarts who ordered his ninjas after him. The ninjas made a grunting noise before they threw more of their shurikens at him which he barely managed to duck under. He thought that a few inches of his hair might have been shaved off though.
After that, he had to avoid getting pelted by feathers from the Virgo Zodiarts before the Leo Zodiarts finally made his move, leaping at Ritsuka. This time, he was unable to avoid the attack and he was tackled to the ground by the lion monster. The teen could not fight back as the Zodiarts then lifted him up and threw him further away, right at the feet of Virgo.
"Stand." The Virgo Zodiarts picked him up by his lapel and stared into his eyes. "Rejoice, Decade. You get the privilege of getting sent to the Dark Nebula."
'Uh-oh.' That did not sound good at all. Ritsuka immediately started to get Virgo to let go of him but since he was just a normal human, there was nothing he could do against the Horoscope.
"Give our regards to Scorpio." With a thump of her large staff, a dark vortex appeared over both of them that began sucking in some small litter that was lying around. "Goodbye, Decade."
Ritsuka could only scream as he was thrown upwards into the black hole, his voice drowned out as soon as he was sucked inside. A moment later, the vortex closed and silence filled the small courtyard.
"...That was easy," Cancer remarked, "So I was right, he wasn't that much of a threat at all."
"Our mission here is done," said Virgo before glancing at the crab monster, "Leo, inform Iteya-sama of our success. I have other business I need to do."
"Very well, Virgo." Leo knew he could trust the pink Zodiarts as she had served their boss for longer than he has.
"And Cancer."
"Yeah?"
"Get to class, we won't cover you missing lessons today." Before she could listen to him complain about it, Virgo disappeared through one of her vortexes, leaving a frustrated crab behind.
"Hey! This was the boss's orders!"
"Just get to class," Leo also told him before he walk away, intending to return to their leader's side.
Cancer tsked in annoyance before a black cloud enveloped him before it dissipated, revealing a male student wearing the AGHS uniform. "Fine, fine," he grumbled before also walking away towards the classroom buildings. "Is this how they treat all their new recruits?"
Meanwhile, the Decadriver lay forgotten nearby in a pile of rubble before someone picked it up.
"Hmph, too bad," Takaragi huffed as he checked out the Driver in his hand, "Would've wished to help but I shouldn't complain."
He put the Driver away and left the scene of the crime, believing that Decade had been taken care of for good this time.
A short time later, Fujimaru residence…
It did not take long for Ciel to get back to Ritsuka's interdimensional house. Knocking on the door before entering, she quickly walked down the entrance hall and went into the living room where Ryoko and Tetsuya were sitting with a far-off look in their eyes. They did not seem to notice that Ciel had walked in though, prompting her to call out to them.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"Huh?" Tetsuya voiced as he and Ryoko were snapped out of their daze. "Oh. Hey, Ciel."
"Did I miss something?"
"It's… We just visited our old school and…" Ryoko trailed off as she tried to make sense of what they had learned on their visit. "We met a couple of familiar faces and it was just… surreal."
"..." Ciel did not really know what was the right words to say to comfort them since she was not familiar with this type of situation, leading them to continue talking.
"There was also something else, nobody knew who Ritsu was."
"What do you mean?"
"We talked to a couple of our… not our?" Technically, it was not them but they still considered the teachers at Ginseisora as theirs, "They did not know who Ritsuka was."
"But… The principal said that he read a report on Fujimaru-kun from your school," Ciel recalled Hishigata's words from the day before. "And the students at Amanogawa heard about him before we even went there."
"Really?" Tetsuya asked in confusion. "We even paid a visit to the photography clubroom and none of the club members had heard of him."
"He was in the photography club?" Well, that explains the camera he carried. "Wait, forget what I said. Does that mean he does mean Fujimaru-kun doesn't exist here?"
"Apparently…"
While it solved the question of there was a version of him here, that also brought up a whole slew of other questions. Chief among them was obviously how did anybody know who he was. While the principal was suspicious, both Gentaro and Kengo had heard of him and they were good guys.
"Wait, where is Ritsu?" Ryoko asked, just noticing that her friend was not with Ciel.
"He had to stay back for class," the other girl answered.
"Are you sure he could be left alone?" Everyone knew Ritsuka now had a reputation of getting into trouble the second he was unsupervised.
"Maybe not but he could take care of himself," Ciel replied confidently. Ritsuka had proven he was able to handle himself in a fight. Unless they managed to separate him from his buckle, he should be fine. "And besides, there are two… well, three other Riders in that school so he has help."
"Wait, three?" Neither of them knew that. Other than Fourze, they were aware that there was a Rider named Meteor as Ritsuka had told them what had happened last night.
"Oh, right. You guys haven't heard about Takaragi yet…" Well, this is going to be a slightly long story. Good thing they had some time until Ritsuka finished classes.
At least she thought they did. Before anyone could say anything, a knock came from the front door before they heard it open.
"Who's there?" There shouldn't be anyone who would visit them. There was no reply until the door to the living room opened and a familiar face peeked in.
"Hey, guys," Fujimaru Ritsuka said with an uncharacteristically large smile as he fully walked into the room, much to the surprise of the others. "I'm back."
Next time in Across the Kaleidoscope
"Why are you here, devil?"
"Goddammit, Ritsu! Did you have to cause another club fiasco?!"
"Where's Libra? I haven't seen him since the last meeting?"
"Who… are you?"
Chapter 17: A Day in the Life of Fujimaru Ritsuka
A/N: And done! Turns out I could manage to crank out a chapter this week, yay! First though, what do you guys think about how I write Ciel? Was she OOC? Did I lean into too much ship teasing with her and Ritsuka (or not enough)? I remembered a review a while back that said they had better chemistry as a battle couple than he and Mash did and I wanted to lean into that further (granted, it's not that hard since Ritsuka is a supporter rather than a fighter in FGO). If I'm not careful, Ritsuka/Ciel might actually reach my top 5 favorite ships (which will get me murdered as you all already know).
After that, I have to mention that I'm trying to stick with the naming references in Fourze, like how Gentaro's full name has the letters for Stronger in it. So if you think that Kengo's last name is a bit too similar to canon, it's because his name is supposed to be an anagram for Hongo(u) Takeshi. I'm really thankful that some characters' references are mostly in their first name so that I can just use any name I want and still be fine like Libra's.
As for the last scene… I think you guys can figure out who that is since everyone has been theorizing his identity for a while and I'll leave it at that.
Finally, please leave a review for this chapter and give me that dopamine!