It had been a long while since anyone last beat him so easily like that— nearly three years at that point. Sure, they were defeated in Fourze and Agito's World but those were isolated incidents (other than it was his real self who got his ass handed to him). Besides, they won in the end so it wasn't too bad.
With Swartz though, it pained him (both figuratively and literally) to have been defeated without getting the chance to fight back. He knew why Swartz could kill him in a single attack (although admittedly a rather powerful one) but that didn't make him feel better. Stupid time-stopping powers…
And now he is forced to stay in the Mirror World and out of battles to recuperate. Joy. There went his plans for the near future.
In any case, he needed to push things (or rather, his real self) towards this War's climax but from the shadows more so than usual. If he's lucky, that person will appear and he can finally get what he needs…
Chapter 30: The End of the Rider War (Part 2)
Ritsuka closed his bedroom door and locked it. He didn't want to be disturbed for the rest of the night. And with his other self gone for now, he could finally get some good sleep.
"Don't be too sure about that…."
"Of course," Ritsuka grumbled under his breath. He glanced around his room; all the reflective surfaces were put away or covered by newspaper, including the standing mirror he had in the corner.
"Come on…" His voice sounded tired and in pain. "Just peel them off. I just wanna talk."
Ritsuka, for obvious reasons, tried to ignore his other self's words. He changed out of his clothes into something more comfortable and was about to lie down when he spoke again.
"If you don't speak to me, I'll be singing all night. And by singing, I mean screaming at the top of my lungs until you can't take it anymore."
After a few moments of silence, Ritsuka sighed. It was a stupid threat but an effective one. It took all of his willpower to go over to the mirror and slowly take the newspaper off.
"Huh, our first face-to-face in a long time…" the man in the mirror laughed before coughing.
Ritsuka stared at the figure in the mirror; despite him standing right in front of the mirror, his reflection was further away and frankly looked pitiful. He was resting against the foot of the bed and looked both exhausted and in pain. His clothes were slightly tattered, just like earlier.
"Well then, it's just the two of us," Fujimaru said. "One on one. I'm sure you have a ton of questions for yourself."
Ritsuka did, and his first was the most expected one. "Who are you?"
"They told you, didn't they? I'm the true Fujimaru Ritsuka," answered Fujimaru. "And you are the real one," he added.
"Is there even a difference?" Ritsuka asked.
"Of course there is. Reality and the truth can be the same, but at its core, reality is what you see before your eyes. The truth is what is usually hidden and buried away."
"So what? You're what I keep hidden away?" He was being sarcastic but Ritsuka was right on the money.
"Exactly," Fujimaru nodded. "From the very beginning of our journey, the day our World ended, I'm what you kept locked away in your heart from everyone."
That answer brought Ritsuka to what he meant to be his second question. "You've been speaking to me from the day I woke up in that alley. What happened? How did I get there? If my journey started the day the World ended, then how were you speaking to me before that?"
Ritsuka saw Fujimaru's smirk grow wider.
"Answer me." He pressed further while keeping his volume the same. He didn't want to risk getting anyone else's attention.
"The answer to your first and second questions is the same: we lost a battle and were punished for it." Ritsuka already assumed that but before he could press Fujimaru for details, the latter was already insulting him. "Honestly, it was incredibly stupid of you to think you could've won that fight. It was a miracle that a reckless idiot like us managed to live this long."
"You keep talking about how we're the same person and not at the same time," Ritsuka pointed out. "We, you, us; make up your mind."
"Make no mistake," Fujimaru scoffed. "We're both Fujimaru Ritsuka… but we are not the same person, not one-to-one. To put it another way, everything I am is you, but everything you are is not necessarily me. I am you, but you are not me. That's simply my nature as the Mirror World version of you."
Ritsuka didn't know how to respond to that, so he changed the topic. "Why do you hate me?" It was a simple question yet one that carried a lot of weight.
"Because my very existence is to be what's true but I only came to be because you're not being truthful about yourself. My entire nature is against my reasoning for existing and that is your fault."
"So you hate me because you exist?"
"And because you hate yourself." Fujimaru bluntly stated. "And I don't just mean you hate me. You also hate yourself for everything that happened. After all, everything that's going on is your fault.'"
"My fault?" Ritsuka frowned at the accusation. "How is everything my fault?"
"This mess is only happening because of that battle. We had every opportunity to cut our losses and give up— both during and long before the battle truly began. But because you were a stubborn bastard who couldn't forgive himself, we're forced on this journey."
There were many things to deconstruct from what he said, but Ritsuka only chose one for more answers. "Forgive myself for what?"
"Where do I even begin?" Fujimaru chuckled under his breath. "Genocide, survivor's guilt, a sprinkle of constant failure, and much more. All the perfect recipe for a bundle of anxiety who had no second thoughts about letting himself get involved in something that could easily get him killed. Why else would you take the mantle of being Kamen Rider Decade despite the fate lying in wait for those who take that name?"
Fujimaru coughed again; that spiel must have worn out his throat. Still, he continued. "And you know what's the worst part? After all this time, I still exist, so you have not overcome your trauma from those days. Not even when she was around did you learn anything."
"She…?" Ritsuka felt a pang of guilt and despair shoot through him— something that Fujimaru felt too.
"It was a miracle that we met again… yet that was all that happened. We met, we travelled together again, we parted, and all that came out of it was you sinking further to the point you tried killing Touma."
"Huh?" Ritsuka's face perked up. "What do you mean I tried to kill Touma? It was you who killed him."
"I'm not talking about the last time in Blade's World. I'm talking about the first time you met him. Four and a half years ago, you tried to murder Touma to obtain Saber's powers. You were so desperate to defeat him that you nearly went past the point of no return. If you ask me though, you were long past that point."
There it was again— more details of his past.
"You know, all this time, I've never stopped to ask myself this," Ritsuka muttered. "If you're truly Fujimaru Ritsuka, then answer me; who is Fujimaru Ritsuka? The true Fujimaru Ritsuka?"
It was a simple-sounding question that carried a lot of weight. It was one only Fujimaru Ritsuka could answer. And what did Fujimaru answer?
"To me?" He huffed. "…Fujimaru Ritsuka is a monster who tries to cling to his humanity but hasn't realised he lost it a long time ago."
The last expression Fujimaru had on his face as Ritsuka covered up the mirror again was an unhinged smile.
Elsewhere…
Although it was already late into the night, Shirou was still awake in his living room and working on some leftover work. On his table were several short stacks of papers next to the laptop one of his co-workers gave him for work.
After some time proofreading his senior's next article, he paused and let out a long, exhausted sigh. The junior journalist took a sip of his coffee— deciding to take a small break. He stood up and took a short walk around the room to stretch his legs.
As he passed by the mirror in the corner (which Kanzaki contacted him through), he stopped and glanced into it. Shirou stared at his own reflection for several seconds; a part of him wanted to wait and see if it would move on his own. He wondered how and why Ritsuka's reflection had a mind of his own and was after his (Shirou's) life.
"I'll put it in simple terms; buried deep inside you is knowledge I seek. And the easiest way to draw it, or him, out is to do this."
What the other Ritsuka said did little to shed light on his reasons; Shirou had no idea what he meant. What knowledge he wanted was a complete mystery to Shirou, let alone why it was worth killing (or seriously injuring) him over. 'But what did he mean by him?'
Shirou sighed again before turning around and returning to his work. Before he could resume though, his eyes fell on a specific stack of paper. On it was a list of names and details such as age, occupation, location, and dates. He stared at them for a few seconds before picking up the topmost paper. He read the list of names multiple times before glancing at the ages; they ranged from the young to the elderly but still connected to each other— all of them were victims (or presumed victims) of the Mirror Monsters.
Most of them were strangers but his eyes lingered on the few familiar names on the list. Memories of him meeting them soon flooded his mind…
Several months ago…
Shirou sighed as he took a moment to rest against a large reflective sign in front of a tall building. He and his senior had split up to search for clues and info about someone who recently went missing in the area. He snarkily thought how unlikely it was that they would find something the police didn't but he went along with it anyway.
In any case, he took a sip of his bottle to quench his thirst before letting out another sigh. 'Time to get back to work…' Shirou thought before taking a couple of steps away from the sign— "Ouch!" —before he felt a tug on his neck. 'Huh?'
He touched his neck and felt something sticky wrapped around him. "What?" He muttered out loud and turned around. His confusion increased as he saw a web string coming out of the sign's reflection and looping around his neck. He tugged on the web, trying to wrap his mind around what he saw.
Tugging on the web was the wrong move as Shirou quickly realised. Before he could even yell, whatever was on the other end pulled him into the sign which rippled as he passed through it. Everything passed by so fast but he was sure he was falling through a grey void for a few seconds before he landed on the concrete. "Ow…" Shirou groaned as he got to his feet, rubbing the side of his head in pain. In the back of his mind, he noted that the web wrapped around his neck was now gone.
"Where am…?" The junior journalist glanced around and soon noticed something was off. Namely, everything seemed to be flipped; buildings on his left were now on his right. He looked back at the sign and saw that the text was also reversed. He stepped closer to it and reached out his hand to touch it. Nothing happened and he only felt solid steel, further baffling him.
However, before he could do anything else, more webbing came out of nowhere and wrapped around his body. He was pulled off his feet and dragged across the ground toward wherever or whatever the web came from. He desperately tried to escape but the bindings were too tight. He heard strange noises, making him look up to see what was spinning the web.
At the other end of the web was a golden metallic spider the size of a car. It didn't take a genius to figure out what it planned to do to him and Shirou's urgency to escape increased tenfold.
Luckily for Shirou, he was saved before the Monster dragged him into the stabbing range of its leg.
"Hold on!" Someone shouted either at the Monster or Shirou. Either way, that person dropped down from nowhere and cut the web, saving Shirou. A dragon's roar echoed through the empty streets before a fireblast came down from the skies and hit the spider Monster; a red dragon then flew down and attacked the other Monster, distracting it and allowing its own master to reach Shirou's side. "Are you okay?"
"You are…" Shirou was momentarily in awe of his saviour— a man in silver dragon-themed armour. He noted the armoured man looked injured as he was holding his sides and breathing heavily.
"Stay still," the man told him before raising his sword. Shirou braced himself as his rescuer swung his sword and cut the webs binding him. He then helped Shirou to his feet. "Are you okay?"
"Ye-yes," nodded Shirou.
"Thank god…" His saviour sighed in relief; Shirou felt he was smiling underneath. Whether he was right or not was unknown as the man immediately collapsed to his knees, rasping heavily.
"What's wrong?!"
"I'm… just at the end of my rope," the man let out a small laugh, trying to calm himself and Shirou down. "I'm afraid this is gonna be as far as I can go."
Despite his admission of his coming death, Shirou still tried to help the man get up. "Eh?" However, he was stopped by the sight of his hand slowly dissolving into particles.
"I'm sorry you were dragged into this," the man grunted as he got to his feet on his own, lightly pushing Shirou aside. "Hang on… just a bit more…"
The man reached down to his buckle and slid out a card; he then inserted the card into his gauntlet.
Strike Vent!
He raised his right hand to the sky before something dropped down and attached itself to his arm. At the same time, the dragon matching his armour flew to his side— fire gathering in its mouth.
The armoured warrior drew his arm back, letting out a small cry, before shouting as he threw a punch. His dragon shot a giant fireball at the spider Monster, hitting it and setting it ablaze to die in an inferno.
From the flames, a glowing orb slowly rose which was quickly gobbled up by the dragon as it flew off into the sky.
With the threat of the spider Monster now gone, the man collapsed again; this time, he didn't have enough strength to even kneel, instead falling down and lying on the ground. Shirou once again rushed to his side. "Hey, hold on please!" Shirou pleaded to the man as he looked around for a way to escape. "How do we get out of here?!"
"Sorry, kid. There is no we in this," the man managed to cough out. "Once you get dragged into the Mirror World, there's no leaving until you die or have a Deck."
"What do you—?"
"That's why…" the man reached down to his buckle again and removed the black box inserted inside it. "You have to be the one to survive."
Upon the box's removal, the man's armour disappeared, letting Shirou see how badly injured he truly was. His side was stained with blood with a bit spilling from his mouth. His body also immediately started dissolving like Shirou's. "As I said, I won't be getting out of this one… but you will."
The man used all his remaining strength to shove the Deck into Shirou's hands without taking his opinion on the matter. "You… I can tell you're good at heart. Can you do me a favour?"
Shirou had no choice but to listen to the man's final wish.
"The people disappearing around town are because of this World. You have to seal this place away," the man told him, unintentionally giving Shirou the information he and his senior sought. "Find the Core Mirror and destroy it. That should close the passage between the real world and the Mirror World. And…"
"And?"
"Don't let the others stop you. They may have their reasons for fighting in this War… but their wishes are minuscule compared to protecting everyone else." It sounded harsh but Shirou understood what he meant, even if he was still confused about what the man was talking about. If given a choice, one should prioritise more lives than just one— he hated the idea but knew that was the truth. "Now go… Go back the way you came. Leave before more Monsters come."
With that last piece of advice and a tired smile on his face, the man's body fully dissolved in Shirou's arms. The young man was momentarily frozen at the realisation that somebody had just died in his arms right after saving him but he quickly shook himself out of it; he would be meeting the same fate had he dallied any longer.
Shirou stood up and rushed back towards the sign as the man told him to. Gripping the Deck in his hand, he reached out and touched it again. Unlike last time, he was immediately sucked into it and fell through the grey void from earlier.
Before he knew it, he was thrown out of the void and landed on the ground again. "Ow…" He mentally groaned as he tried getting to his feet. He glanced around and saw that he was back in the "real" world. Luckily for him, no one was around to see him exit the parallel dimension he was dragged into. At least he didn't see anyone else around anyway.
Turning back to face the sign, the journalist stares at it as the events of the last few minutes come crashing down on him. 'Why…? Who were you?'
The man had, without any hesitation, saved his life at the cost of his own. He may have already been dying, but he could've just left Shirou to die.
Shirou glanced down at the box the man gave him; he had called it a Deck and that it was the only way to escape the Mirror World if one got dragged into it.
'Just what is going on…?' He had so many questions and there was no one to answer them…
At least that was what he thought at the time— "Hey, you. Why do you have that?"
Present…
As Shirou soon learned his name, Sakakibara Koichi was the original Ryuki chosen by Kanzaki meant to fight in the Rider War. However, he had decided to go against Kanzaki and the others; he searched for the Core Mirror to sever the connection between the real and Mirror World while defending those targeted by the Monsters.
Ultimately, Sakakibara died without finding any leads to the Core Mirror's hiding spot. All he learned was where Kanzaki did not hide it.
Now, his wish of closing the Mirror World fell onto Shirou's shoulders. Even if Sakakibara didn't give his life to save him, Shirou knew he would've still agreed. After all, it'd mean protecting and saving people.
It was unfortunate that most others didn't have the same mindset as him…
Several months prior…
A couple of weeks after Sakakibara passed the mantle of being Ryuki to Shirou, another tip made its way to the journal agency he worked for. It was another disappearance case, but they had a solid lead this time. The latest victim's last known location was in an area several others were missing too— an antique shop whose owner no one has seen in person for some time.
Shirou and his senior, Momoi Reika, soon tried looking into it. However, they were stopped by a police officer who was also working in the area. However, that wasn't the interesting part— that was a regular occurrence. Instead, it was the identity of the police officer.
"Matou?" Shirou recognised that purple seaweed-like hair anywhere, just as Matou Shinji recognised him by his striking (but completely natural) red hair.
"Oh, Emiya. It's been a while," he had a weird smile as he said that. At the time, Shirou thought little of it. "Decided to pursue being a pest to people like me? I thought you'd take up travelling the world or something."
Shinji's choice of occupation also caught Shirou off guard. When they went to school together, his former classmate didn't seem interested in law or crime. Then again, the two weren't that close back then; they were just in the same class and club.
"Old acquaintance or not, I have to ask that you two stop investigating this case. It's already taken care of," Shinji told them. "We've already deduced that this place has nothing to do with the missing cases."
After that, they were essentially forced to stop investigating, which severely pissed off Reika. While Shirou turned his eyes back towards the other cases, she continued looking into them without his or their boss's knowledge.
A few hours after their meeting, they met again, although neither of them realised it at the time.
Shirou and Ren were fighting a golden crab Monster stalking the area near the antique shop. It was much stronger than the typical Mirror Monster, leading Ren to definitively conclude that it was the one eating the missing people in the area.
However, as they were fighting it, he appeared. The second (technically third) Kamen Rider Shirou encountered— Kamen Rider Scissors.
Despite Shirou's protests, Scissors attacked both him and Ren as Ryuki and Knight. The battle ended up being cut short as the time limit in the other World approached.
During their meeting afterwards, they exchanged notes (well, Ren strongarmed him for some info) which led Ren to conclude that Scissors was the antique shop's owner. To that end, he dragged him off to the antique shop to investigate further. It was already getting dark, making it easy for them to sneak inside.
Just as they did, a scream followed by a crashing noise made them rush further in to see someone familiar passed out on the ground.
"Senpai?!" Shirou immediately went to Reika's side, noting the bruise on the back of her head.
Ren, meanwhile, was more focused on what made her pass out. He glanced around and saw nothing that could've possibly caused her fall. It was doubtful she simply slipped and hit her head.
At the same time, they heard the front door open followed by an authoritative shout. "What's going on here?!"
The next morning…
Shirou sighed in relief, thanking his and Reika's luck in evading getting charges placed on them. After taking their accounts and some personal information and giving them a severe reprimanding for breaking and entering, Shinji, of all people, let them off the hook. "Don't let me catch you pulling something like that again, Emiya," he told him.
In any case, after making sure Reika was fine, Shirou left the hospital and returned to the office when he got a call on his phone.
"Emiya Shirou?" A deep voice asked from the other end.
"Yes? Who is this?" He didn't recognise the voice but a part of him felt like he should.
The other person's reply surprised him which led to Shirou accepting the coming request without a second thought— "Tomoyuki Kaga. We need to meet."
The owner of the antique shop, and the suspected Kamen Rider Scissors, asked to meet him in a warehouse and to come alone. While suspicious, Shirou decided to heed the request and found himself waiting for the man's arrival.
However, while waiting, he heard something creaking above him and looked up to see large metal pipes swinging wildly before the rope holding them snapped. It went without a doubt in Shirou's mind that had there not been a mirror nearby, he would've died. Once again, he evaded death and understood that this was all a set-up by Kaga.
He quickly called Ren and learned that the crab Monster had also attacked him, confirming their suspicion about Scissor's identity. Ren warned him to be careful and go somewhere safe while he goes check up on something.
A few hours later, Ren called and told him to come to the docks. He sounded serious so Shirou did as asked. When he got there, he realised why Ren was like that. Much to his own shock, the other Rider was with Yui and someone Shirou didn't expect to see so soon— Matou Shinji.
Ren quickly brought Shirou up to speed. Not only was Shinji the one who attempted to kill them, but he was also the actual Scissors, not Kaga. At the time, Shirou assumed that was how far Shinji was willing to go to win the Rider War— murdering them in the real world— but he soon learned how far down his old acquaintance was ready to sink.
Shirou was angry. He learned the truth behind the antique shop and couldn't believe someone could do something like that and laugh as Shinji did.
He knew Shinji wasn't good; he was willing to murder them for a stupid wish, after all. But then he found out he was this morally corrupt. Shinji had murdered Kaga long ago and all the disappearances around the antique shop were his doing. They all ran afoul of him or got in his way.
And their fate was to be eaten alive by Volcancer and strengthen his Contract Monster.
Shirou managed to catch up to him near the hospital, just as Shinji had his Monster eat his own co-workers, who intercepted him as he tried to tie up another loose end— Reika. It was abundantly clear that Shinji was planning to go after her again unless he stopped him but… the only way to do that was to fight in the Mirror World. Shirou knew if both of them went in, only one would come out. As much as he now despises him, he doesn't want to kill Shinji.
That was when Ren arrived; he revealed that the police had discovered where Shinji had dumped, or stuffed, in this case, Kaga's body and his days were now numbered. That naturally angered Shinji and made him turn his entire focus to Ren.
Ren took Shirou's place and the first true battle of the War (as far as Shirou knew) happened before his eyes. He knew he should've intervened but waited for a few minutes in the real world and watched the fight. When it was clear that the battle would be decided with clashing Final Vents, he transformed and entered the Mirror World. However, his initial lack of initiation led to him being too late to stop them and the victor was decided.
At first, it looked like it'd be Scissors… until his Deck shattered from Knight's repeated blows. In an instant, Shinji's fate was sealed; without a Deck, he couldn't leave the Mirror World and would die due to the effect the World has on normal people…
However, fate had other ideas and instead of a slow death, Shinji found himself betrayed by his own Monster. The Scissor Deck's destruction had broken the contract and right before his and Knight's eyes, Matou Shinji screamed as Volcancer devoured him.
Present…
After that, Volcancer went after them and he, as Ryuki, killed the Contract Monster. That encounter with Shinji taught Shirou two lessons; the true dangers of the Mirror World and how far someone was willing to go to win this War. Shirou didn't know if Shinji was always that way but his memories of them in the Archery Club were forever tainted.
Soon after Shinji's death, Shinji ran into more of the other Riders, namely Zelda and Femme. Fortunately, they were not as depraved as Shinji was. Yes, they did try to kill him when they first met in the Mirror World without knowing each other's true identity, but that was mainly due to them thinking he'd do the same. Well, other than the brief trick Zolda played on him, they were decent people.
Then the next couple of Riders appeared; Gai and Ouja. Both were their own brand of depravity and enjoyed hurting people and making them suffer. Ouja was the worse of the two— nay, the worst in the entire War as he was a complete psychopath and was jailed for his crimes when Kanzaki gave him his Deck.
It was no surprise then when Gai was soon murdered by Ouja after the former tried manipulating the latter. And so, Saida Jun entered the list of the Mirror World's victims.
After Gai's death, the next Rider emerged and, to Shirou's massive relief, was an old friend like Shinji. Not only that, but Issei was in this War to stop it like Shirou was.
Just like Shirou, he wasn't initially chosen to be Raia and was replacing the Deck's initial user. They both shared the common goal of sealing the Mirror World and for the brief time they worked together, Shirou found himself feeling like it was actually possible to end the Rider War and seal away the Mirror World. But… Ouja soon put out that tiny spark of hope. The snake Rider was aiming his Final Vent at him but before Shirou could do anything, Issei pushed him out of the way and took the finisher for him.
Luckily, the Raia Deck wasn't destroyed immediately. It was cracked, but it managed to hold on long enough for Shirou to drag him out of the Mirror World while Knight continued to fight Ouja.
"It's alright, Emiya… No, Shirou." The smile he had as he died stuck with Shirou even now. "It's better this way. I'm sorry, but it's all up to you now…."
Because he died outside the Mirror World, his body didn't disappear and Issei wasn't listed as one of the missing people. Instead, the police put him on a list of Asakura Takeshi's victims. It wasn't wrong but for the next few days, Shirou beat himself up for not being the one who died. 'It was supposed to be me…'. It wasn't the first time he thought like that, but it hadn't been that bad for years…
'I'm getting distracted.' Shirou shook his head and tried to focus back on his work.
The next morning…
After a surprisingly peaceful sleep, Ritsuka woke up refreshed— more so than usual. It looked like his other self getting his ass handed to him had the pleasing side effect of Ritsuka having a dreamless sleep. While he wasn't actually having that many dreams, the ones he had been having lately always left him confused with a minor headache so he appreciated not having any.
In any case, Ritsuka got up and got ready for the day. If all goes right, he'd be on their way to the next World and one step closer to… whatever it is he's going after.
After changing his day clothes, Ritsuka opened his door to see someone standing outside his room, arm raised to knock.
"Oh, good morning, Fujimaru-kun," Ciel greeted him with a smile. "Are you feeling better?" She asked, glancing up and down his body. He seemed fine now but she still worried that he'd go out and fight while still injured from yesterday. While it was hypocritical of her to say that when she was more than willing to fight despite her own injuries, she at least managed to hide them successfully.
"Good morning," Ritsuka replied. He avoided answering her question and asked, "Are those two downstairs already?"
"Yes, they sent me to wake you up." Though she didn't need to, Ritsuka appreciated the gesture. However, he did find it odd and slightly amusing how Tetsuya apparently woke up earlier than him.
The two went downstairs together and went into the living room where Tetsuya and Ryoko were waiting.
"Morning, Ritsu," Ryoko said. Meanwhile, Tetsuya gave him a small but friendly wave.
"You're up early," Ritsuka glanced at the latter.
"Well, I had to learn to get up early for work," Tetsuya shrugged. "Now I'm just used to it."
The urge to make a snarky comment about him getting up for school swelled within Ritsuka but he decided against it. He had bigger priorities at the moment— getting something to eat before the big battle. Plus, the walk up to the temple would take a bit of energy.
"How do you know that?"
'Quiet.' The only good thing about the voice in his head's annoying question was it reminded Ritsuka how weak he was. Even now, he sounded like he was in pain.
Throwing his comment to the back of his mind, Ritsuka made a quick snack in the kitchen before returning to the others with a sandwich in hand.
As soon as he joined them, Ryoko asked, "You and Emiya are going to the temple in the mountains, right?"
"Mhmm," he mumbled a yes while nodding. Gulping down his food, he said, "I'm going to head over to his place then we'll head over there."
"And what will you do if it's not there?" Ciel questioned. While she believed they were right to take a closer look around the temple, it was best to think about what to do if they were wrong.
"…"
"You didn't think that far, did you?"
"…Anyway—" Ciel sighed at Ritsuka avoiding her question again but she expected nothing less. "—I'm going to get going. The sooner the Core Mirror is destroyed, the sooner we leave."
It was a simple plan but knowing his luck, it won't go so simply. Regardless, Ritsuka quickly finished his light breakfast and dusted off his hands. "Alright, I'll be off. Don't wait up for me."
He meant the last part semi-seriously but it still made Ciel roll her eyes. "As if I'm going to let you go off on your own." Even though she was still recovering from her injuries, leaving Ritsuka with little to no supervision wasn't something she felt alright with… no offence to Emiya.
Then again, from what she heard from Ren, Emiya also regularly got into trouble.
Ritsuka didn't mind and just shrugged. "Sure, do what you want." He wasn't the boss of her; if she wanted to keep an eye on him, he didn't mind.
As the two went to leave the house, Tetsuya and Ryoko waved them goodbye, although only the latter said anything. Once the door shut behind them, a few seconds of silence passed before Ryoko turned to face her friend; she raised her eyebrow as she asked, "What's up with you today?"
"What do you mean?"
"You've barely said anything just now, Tetsu." He just said how he was used to waking up early. "What exactly did you and Ritsu talk about last night?"
"I just asked him to be more forthcoming with his emotions," Tetsuya answered with a sigh. "I'm hoping he takes it to heart but he seemed to be acting normal." Well, normal to Ritsuka anyway.
"We should give him some time." That was the only option Ryoko could think of. While they could try forcing their friend to speak up, she didn't want that.
"I know. It's just…." Tetsuya trailed off. He wanted to say he thought that, unless something big happens, Ritsuka will likely not change and keep everything buried. Tetsuya wished he was wrong but had to be realistic; he knew Ritsuka wasn't the type to change his personality at the snap of a finger.
As Ryoko said, however, they'd have to wait and see for now…
Sometime later…
After a few wrong turns, which both annoyed and amused Ciel, the two eventually arrived at their destination: the Emiya residence. She didn't get the impression that Emiya was well off, and Ciel was surprised at how large his home was.
'Must be an inheritance…' she assumed.
In any case, Ritsuka went ahead and rang the doorbell. They heard a muffled shout from the other side before, and after a short time of waiting, the door opened to reveal Shirou. "Sorry for the wait. I was cleaning up some work from last night," he apologised. A bright smile soon appeared on his face though. "Come in, come in."
The young man led them to his living room, where both noticed several stacks of papers messily stacked next to the table. That was most likely the work Shirou was referring to. There were still more sheets of paper on the table, which Shirou must have been tidying up.
"Just give me a moment then we'll be off," Shirou said as he resumed cleaning the table. "If you want, I have some tea in the kitchen. I think it's still warm. Help yourself." Shirou would've done so himself, especially for guests, but he was in a rush to do so.
Ritsuka shrugged and went to pour himself a cup; he had forgotten to get a drink earlier and was feeling parched.
Meanwhile, Ciel stayed where she was and glanced around the room. She noticed the pillow and blanket thrown at the corner of the room. She assumed that Shirou had been sleeping in the living room instead of his own bedroom to do work more efficiently. Soon though, her eyes wandered over to the cabinet between the two sliding doors. On top of it were several picture frames with photos. Most of them were of Shirou, sometimes accompanied by an older woman with brown hair, but one particular frame caught Ciel's attention.
She moved closer to look better, drawing Shirou's attention.
"Is something wrong?" He asked as Ciel picked up the photo in question.
"Who's this?" She politely asked. Shirou didn't need to see the photo to know which one she picked.
"Oh, that's my father," Shirou answered. "Well, adopted father but he's still my father nonetheless."
"Adopted?" That made a bit more sense but Ciel was still surprised. While she did suspect it earlier, she didn't expect to be correct.
However, she hid her shock well that Shirou didn't notice— "Yes. After the fire years back, he took me in and I took his last name. To be frank, I can barely remember my family before." It was the sad truth that Shirou had accepted long ago. Whatever memories he had of his old family were long gone,
Ritsuka, however, perked up at the mention of a fire. "What fire?" He not-so-respectively asked. The image of the city on fire he had when they first arrived in this World came back to his mind.
"That's a bit of a long story, but to put it simply, a house fire got out of control and about half the city burned," explained Shirou. He didn't sound offended or upset which was slightly odd. "To say many residents were affected by it is an understatement."
Other than himself, nearly everyone he knew had lost something in the fire except for Ren, who moved in after the tragedy. Especially Yuu and Tohsaka— the former was separated from her brother after they lost their parents (which may or may not have led to Kanzaki creating this War) while the latter…
Shirou quickly got rid of those thoughts and finished his cleaning just as Ritsuka walked back into the main part of the room. "Alright then, shall we be off?"
Meanwhile…
Since his shift wasn't starting until that noon, Ren took the time to go on a joyride to clear his thoughts. His… discussion… with Shirou the previous night was still on his mind. Admittedly, he did want to help them but he's already gone too far to turn his back on the War— even if Matou was a bastard who deserved what happened to him.
As he rode his motorcycle around the city, he eventually stopped at the bill overlooking the town again. While the sight was not as impressive as at night, Ren still liked it. Why else would he frequent the area so much?
Gripping the rings on his necklace once again, Ren let out a deep sigh. To be selfless or selfish, he was always indecisive about that.
However, his thoughts were soon interrupted by the familiar ringing of the Mirror World. A moment later, Ren heard his voice— "The time for battle has come once more. Knight, to have your wish granted, you must stop Ryuki and Decade…."
"…If you're saying that, then they're right," Ren replied. He turned around and made his way towards his motorcycle. Glancing into the side-view mirrors, he saw Kanzaki in the reflection.
The overseer of the Rider War didn't outright acknowledge what he said. Instead, Kanzaki continued, "Ryuudou Temple. If you desire your wish to be granted, protect the Core Mirror. If you fail, the War will be delayed and no one will win."
In the back of his mind, Ren noted how Kanzaki said the destruction of the Core Mirror doesn't automatically result in the War ending. However, that didn't matter as much compared to his mulling over whose side he'd take.
After a few seconds of deep thought, he gave his answer. "Alright, I'll go."
Elsewhere…
"Your coffee is ready, Master."
"Thank you, Goro," the man in a suit gave his manservant a thankful nod before he refocused on his work. Usually, he'd start working a bit later into the day but his next case was coming to an end soon and the lawyer decided to brush up on some things just in case. He still did not doubt that he'd win the case though.
After placing his master's cup in a spot where he won't accidentally knock it off the table, Goro gave a polite bow before quietly leaving his boss— Okazaki Shuichi—to his work.
The man continued reading various documents and making additional notes to the ones he had made earlier in the case, periodically taking sips of his drink. He sometimes had a short coughing fit but resumed work as soon as it cleared.
In the middle of his re-reading, he heard a familiar ringing. He was confused at first and wondered why his Contract Monster would want to eat so soon after he last fed it; his confusion was resolved a moment later.
"The time for fighting has come once again. Zolda, for your wish to be granted, you need to protect the Core Mirror." Kanzaki's voice echoed through Okazaki's office.
"The Core Mirror? Then that means…." 'Heh… that gullible idiot actually did it,' Okazaki thought with a hint of amusement and impression. Like everyone else in this War, he thought locating and destroying the Core Mirror was impossible but it looks like Emiya managed to defy everyone's expectations.
However, that just meant he turned everybody— neutral or otherwise— against him.
"Very well, where do I have to go?" As entertaining as Emiya Shirou was, that didn't mean Okazaki would let him do as he pleased. After all, his life was on the line here.
In the back alleys of Fuyuki, a certain man was scavenging through some trash cans for something that could fill his stomach. He wasn't particularly picky after a life on the streets but the people living in this part of town don't leave much leftovers.
'Maybe I should look behind that cafe again.' The only problem was that someone could easily spot him since it was a crowded area. He usually wouldn't care for that but he wasn't in the mood to be chased by cops today. At least not this early.
While searching for food, he heard the grating yet exciting ringing of the Mirror World. A few seconds later, Asakura heard the voice of one of the few people he respected and liked.
"The curtains of battle have risen once again." That news further excited the man. "Ouja, if you wish to keep the War going, you must protect the Core Mirror?"
"Eh… isn't that the thing that idiot was looking for?" Asakura asked rhetorically. It seems like Emiya managed to find it. He'd be impressed if that wasn't so annoying. However, his mind was more focused on one thing. "The others will be there too, right?"
"Correct."
Now that was much more of his speed. At least he can thank Emiya for making everyone gather to stop him. He'd even get the chance to finally meet the 14th Rider and settle the score with Okazaki.
Fuyuki General Hospital…
"Good morning, Tohsaka."
"Morning," Rin politely greeted the nurses as she passed by in the hallway to make her near-daily visit. She recognised them, of course; they occasionally checked in on the patient she would visit whenever she was around. Unfortunately, she didn't know their names but was thankful to them anyway.
As she knew her way around the floor after years of visits, Rin quickly reached one of the rooms for long-term patients— mostly the victims of the Great Fire. After nearly a decade and a half, they've been vacated for one reason or another. This room was no different, as the patient inside had breathed in toxic materials when their house collapsed during the tragedy. As a result, they have been left hospitalised since then.
Before entering the room, Rin took a deep breath to calm herself and stared at the nameplate on the door— Tohsaka. After a second of collecting herself, she knocked on the door and entered. The familiar sound of a heartbeat monitor beeping rhythmically calmed Rin and her anxiousness was further alleviated by the sight of her sister awake, who gave her a wide smile upon seeing her.
"Good morning, Nee-san." Rin wasn't sure if she would admit it to anyone but at this point, Sakura smiling was all she needed to get through the day.
As always, Sakura was keeping strong despite her frail constitution. Seeing her strength made Rin smile. "Good morning, Sakura. How are you feeling today?" Rin took her seat next to Sakura's bed. "Has Dr Kenshi checked up on you yet?"
"No, not yet," Sakura shook her head. "He should be coming by soon, but I'm feeling fine today."
Rin didn't want to say it aloud and upset Sakura, but her sister's interpretation of "fine" didn't actually mean fine. To her, it meant her coughing fit had been sparse and she could sit up with no problems. While Sakura had been feeling better as of late, private talks with Sakura's doctor worried Rin since there was a chance her sister's condition may deteriorate soon. She liked Dr Kenshi, but he did not hold back with terrible news despite being pretty lax most of the time.
Putting on a smile, Rin said, "Just conserve your strength, okay? No need to exert yourself if you don't need to."
"I know, Nee-san."
'Hmm… I'll ask Dr Kenshi if I can take Sakura around the courtyard later,' Rin thought as she glanced at the wheelchair in the corner. Sakura could benefit from some fresh air; the last time Rin took her on a small tour of the garden behind the hospital was a couple of weeks ago.
She put away that thought for now and instead decided to make small talk with her sister. For the next few minutes, they (mostly Rin) talked about some things that happened in the last few days although there was not much to say. The most important thing that happened— Kanuka's murder at the hand of Mizukoshi —was not something she wanted to tell Sakura.
Sakura, however, was observant and noticed that Rin was hiding something. "Is something wrong, Nee-san?"
"No, nothing." It hurt to lie to her but Rin was (painfully) used to it by now.
"Hmm…"
"I mean it. It's nothing you should worry about," Rin tried to convince her. She wasn't sure if she had succeeded, but Sakura dropped the topic.
However, before they could continue talking, short knocks came from the door and they heard Dr Kenshi's voice. "Tohsaka-san? Are you awake?"
"Yes, come in," answered Sakura.
With her permission, Dr Kenshi opened the door and entered. He was a kind middle-aged man who, if Rin recalled correctly from conversations she had with him, had a son interested in being a surgeon. Rin had met his son once a while back and he was pretty young but was mature for his age.
Back to the present, upon seeing her already in the room, the doctor gave Rin a polite smile as he greeted her. "Good morning, Tohsaka-san."
"Good morning, doctor," she nodded.
"I'm just here to do my daily check-up on your sister," he turned to smile at Sakura, who smiled back. "I won't take long. You know how it is."
"I understand." While she was allowed to stay to the side for the check-up, Rin would rather not disturb the process. Turning to Sakura, she told her, "I'll be back soon, okay? I'm going to buy a drink downstairs."
"Alright, see you soon…." Sakura gave a short wave of goodbye as Rin exited the room.
As soon as the door shut behind her, Rin took another deep breath to calm herself. Nothing was going to go wrong but she couldn't help but feel worried. In any case, she brushed off those thoughts again and walked away to get something to drink.
However, as she was going down the hall, the familiar ringing of the Mirror World echoed in her ear. That immediately put her on guard, especially since her sister was nearby. Her defensiveness was not uncalled for (at least not totally) as she soon heard Kanzaki's voice.
"The time for battle has come once more," she heard him say, "However, if you desire to have your wish granted, Femme, you must protect the Core Mirror."
"The Core Mirror? That means—" Emiya found it… and that meant she and the others had no choice but to stop him from destroying. If not, then everything would've been in vain. More importantly, Sakura would have little to no chance of recovery.
She could not allow that. She had to save her sister.
'Sorry… Emiya…'
Ryuudou Temple…
After some time walking, the trio finally reached the temple on top of the hill. It wasn't the most tiring walk, but it still left the two guys needing to catch their breaths, much to Ciel's amusement. She knew it was due to their injuries the day before, but she couldn't help but poke fun at them (mostly Ritsuka) for it.
"After defeating monsters and Riders who tried to kill you, were stairs all that's needed to stop you in your tracks, Fujimaru-kun?" Ciel teased him. "It's kind of embarrassing to see you like this."
Ritsuka couldn't come up with a suitable retort— and even if he did, he doubted he could say anything. Instead, he just quietly (and mentally) grumbled as they all waited for the two to get back to their feet.
It did not take too long for that; after one last inhalation, Shirou gave them some additional info about the area. "As you know, I've already looked around the area but found nothing."
That was not to mention that Issei lived here. If the Core Mirror was here, he would've realised… probably.
"Still, a second look around couldn't hurt," Ritsuka replied, which Shirou agreed with. The former glanced around the courtyard in front of the shrine. He didn't know why but he felt like he had been there. Most likely another lost memory…
"…Actually, can you guys wait for a few minutes?" Shirou requested, his eyes turned towards the main shrine ahead of them. "I… want to say my prayers first."
"Go ahead, Emiya-kun."
Quietly thanking them, Shirou went ahead without Ciel and Ritsuka. The latter quickly faced the Executor and asked, "So… where should we start?" Since she suggested they searched here again, he assumed she knew what to do.
"Hmm… Normally, the best places to start are where nobody goes." Well, the best place after places that nobody knew about. Although the last spot would be more likely where Kanzaki would've hidden the Mirror, whether Kanzaki knew about them was unknown since he was (most likely) a normal human.
Going back to her idea, she was curious if those working around the temple would be willing to divulge that type of information to them. While she could use a bit of suggestion to solve that issue, she still needed to find someone who could point them in the right direction.
As Ciel was racking her brain for a solution, Ritsuka's own mind was occupied— "It looks like you need a little help…."
'I thought you were supposed to take a while to come back.' While Fujimaru did talk to him last night, Ritsuka assumed that his other self couldn't do anything for some time after getting killed by Swartz.
"I can't leave the Mirror World but that doesn't mean I can't direct you the right way," Fujimaru huffed. "But you can't really afford to say no. I'm sure Kanzaki knows by now that you guys are close to finding the Mirror. If I were him, I'd rally everyone to come here and stop us."
He admittedly had a point. Kanzaki may have allowed Shirou to look around the first time without issue, but now that they were here again, the overseer of the Rider War might have already realised they were close. Assuming they were right and the Core Mirror was here.
'Do you even know where it is?' Ritsuka questioned his other self, to which he snickered, annoying him.
"Of course I do. I found it while looking for… well, let's keep what I was doing a secret, okay?"
'Why? You were after Emiya for something. What for?' He didn't get the chance to ask last night so he was asking now. All he knew was that Fujimaru was looking for something and Emiya was the key.
"Just some info from a certain someone. Nothing that you should worry about yet. What you should be worried about is the Core Mirror."
Fujimaru, again, had a point.
'Then where is it?'
"Gimme a sec to think of the right answer." Ritsuka frowned in real life at his reply, which Ciel noticed.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Ah, I know! Ahem, in the place our story began— the Core Mirror's location… is the same as where our first test of resolve took place."
'…what's that supposed to mean?!'
Their mental conversation was cut short though as Shirou rejoined them. "Alright, I'm done. We can start searching now."
"Any ideas where we can start?" Ritsuka highly doubted it was in an unused room somewhere in the Temple. Since the Core Mirror was spawning the Mirror Monsters, it couldn't just be in the temple itself or the workers here would've been the first victims (although they were some of the most frequent victims if the map was accurate).
"Hmm… I've already looked around here in the Mirror World and didn't find anything," Shirou muttered loud enough that they could hear. "However, there were a lot of Monsters wandering the area. I've also checked the mountain trails but I don't think it's there either." That had the opposite "problem"; there were little to no Monsters in the mountains.
That made Ritsuka think about it more deeply. It was not hidden anywhere in the Temple again nor was it in the mountains behind it. Then…
"Let's split up then. Better to cover more ground." It was the only other thing they could do anyway.
Meanwhile…
After speaking to Femme, Kanzaki travelled across the city and talked to Kamen Rider Tiger. It was just as easy to convince him as the others. That was all but three of the Riders in this city— while two were after the Core Mirror, the last Kamen Rider was a neutral party. Kanzaki had approached him at the start of the War but the Rider told him he had no intentions of fighting this time.
It took him some time, but Kanzaki eventually found the Rider in the last spot he expected. Standing within the dark caverns, his back turned towards the most important treasure of the Rider War, was the true 14th Kamen Rider of the Rider War.
"Are you here to destroy it?" Kanzaki questioned the untransformed Rider, appearing within the glass slab behind him.
The other man didn't turn around to see who it was; he replied with his eyes cast over the edge, "No… It's useless. After everything, what point is there in fighting? For a wish you will never be granted?" Kanzaki didn't reply and let the 14th continue. "You're here to ask me to protect it. What makes you think I'll agree?"
"…To put an end to everything."
"…"
"Should the Mirror stand, this War will finally end. Should you be successful in your endeavour, the War will continue." Kanzaki elaborated further, doing his best to convince him to help.
The 14th remained quiet for a few seconds before speaking up again. "You're close this time, aren't you? That's why you're willing to even go to me."
"Yes."
"This nightmare will finally end…" muttered the 14th before he fell silent again. After a few moments, he turned around and faced Kanzaki. "Alright, I'll do what you want. I'll win this battle and be the one whose wish gets granted."
Kanzaki watched as the 14th Rider disappeared but knew he'd return soon enough. 'You'll finally show yourself again… Ryuga.' he thought.
It was clear now. The greatest battle of this Rider War was coming to a close….
Next time on Across the Kaleidoscope…
"We once found that which granted wishes a long time ago…. well, several actually, but the first one we found was here— within the city of never-ending flames."
"I must admit I'm impressed, Emiya. You accomplished what you set out to do; that's not something that happens to everyone."
"—I learned this place was the new World of Ryuki and knew the "Blessed One" was behind all this. Normally, those who encounter him don't usually live to tell the tale and you didn't, did you?"
"Hen…shin!"
Chapter 31: The End of the Rider War (Part 3)
A/N: …This arc really got away from me. That's all I can say after splitting what should've been one chapter into three. At least the next chapter is already mostly finished. Let me tell you, this chapter was reaching 17k words till I decided to just split it again. No, I did not sit on my ass for the last two month (well, three). At least good news, the next chapter is already 7k words. I only need to finish the big fight scene at the end, everything else is already written out, and I can say with total confidence that the preview is actually accurate.
Anyway, this chapter, I've thrown in more backstory to Ryuki's World. I've mixed the fires in F/SN's and Ryuki's backstory, thrown in more Fate characters (RIP Issei), and actually showed Shinji Matou as Scissors… before he got eaten and no RIP for him. I'd say he could just go die but he already did. And yes, Sakura got the short end of the stick again. At least her life here is still better than in canon.
Finally, apologies again for taking so long. Hopefully, I'll get the last chapter of this arc out before the end of the year.
As always, I ask that you leave a review with your honest thoughts and see you all soon (hopefully)!