CHAPTER 2: Of Old Wounds and Bitter Memories

I DON'T OWN ANKOKU KISHI MONOGATARI OR KAMEN RIDER AND THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

Kuroki Ryuuga's life is not what one would call normal; it could even be called pitiful. His parents died at an early age, leaving him an orphan. Luckily, he was adopted by the Akamines, who were friends with his parents and took him in out of pity. The Akamines owned a dojo, and with their daughter Shirone, he was instructed in the ways of the blade.

Growing up with Shirone was difficult. She had a strong personality that didn't help with his timid nature. Shirone always mistook his timidness for weakness, so she would bully him to toughen him up, especially in front of others. She would tell embarrassing details about him so that nobody would pick him.

His first painful memory is when Shirone brought Reiji Midou to their dojo. Reiji was interested in kendo, so he asked Shirone if he could tour the dojo. They spotted Kuroki training in one corner, and in an unfortunate chance, Reiji challenged him to a mock duel to impress Shirone. Kuroki accepted the challenge, knowing that Shirone would be mad at him if he didn't. During the fight, Kuroki was overwhelmed by Reiji's fighting style, as the latter was known for being a prodigy in everything despite having no formal training. After a while, Kuroki started to get the hang of Reiji's movements and was able to overwhelm him bit by bit, but suddenly, he felt a massive sharp pain in his chest as he was about to land a decisive blow. Reiji took this as an opportunity and dealt a powerful blow to the head, causing Kuroki to lose consciousness. The last thing he remembered was the smirk on Reiji's face and Shirone approaching Reiji to congratulate him. Later on, Kuroki discovered what truly caused the sharp pain.

After that, things got worse for Kuroki. His defeat was spun into a helpless match, and he was ostracized in school even more. Shirone started to hang out with him less, and Kuroki suffered in silence as he continued to focus on honing his skills for a rematch.

One week before Reiji's and his harem's disappearance, Kuroki tried to talk some sense into Shirone about Reiji's reputation as a womanizer. He was concerned for Shirone as a friend and as the girl he first loved, but she took his warning as the rambling of a loser, and that was the last time they talked. That was Kuroki's second pain.

As if that wasn't enough, another incident happened a week after Shirone's disappearance:

"The Skywall Disaster."

An astronaut brought a strange cube from Mars dubbed as "Pandora's box," which was about to be presented by the Japanese government to the public. Suddenly the said astronaut , Souichi Isurgi, who was possessed by an alien called Evolto, activated the box, resulting in massive walls appearing from the ground that split Japan into three. These walls destroyed everything in their path indiscriminately, including the Akamine dojo, Midou's ancestral house, and the school where Kuroki attended.

Kuroki was lucky as he didn't go to school that day, choosing to skip class due to the series of misfortunes that got into him. He can still remember the horror of the strange walls that appeared that day. Fortunately, his adopted parents were safe, but his school and dojo were not. This event gave Kuroki a clean slate in life. He was now in Touto, a part of the splintered Japan, where people were trying to pick up the pieces that were broken in the disaster. Everything was rebuilt, and new people appeared. Since Kuroki was one of the few survivors of the disaster, he was relocated to another school where he was able to get his life on track, as no one really knew who he was, and Reiji was slowly forgotten by the people. Kuroki then was able to meet new friends and finally got a girlfriend who loved him despite his quirks.

After graduating from school, Kuroki opted to become a professional fighter to support his adopted parents and his sick girlfriend at that time. However, things took a turn for the worse when he was disqualified and banned from the sport. Hoping to find a new job, he tried to apply as a lab assistant to a certain Takumi Katsuragi.

From there, his life turned upside down.

"10 years? That…that was surprisingly strange." Modes wondered as he got curious by Kuroki's tale. Did something happen in his world that caused such an event? He then stared at Kuroki, who was intently looking at the mirage. He could understand if Kuroki was frustrated at the sight of Reiji being surrounded by such beauties, but the former's expression was more of curiosity and one who needs answers. Modes broke the silence.

"Kuroki-dono, may I continue my tale? There might be clues that could help you understand what happened."

Kuroki snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Modes offer. "Oh sure, sorry about that. Even though I am used to strange events, there are things that still get me off guard." Modes nodded and continued his story.

The Hero and his party appeared exactly one year ago. The armies of the Goddess are nowhere close to defeating the forces of Nargol, but that changed when the Hero's party started to attack their territories. They managed to slaughter Modes' forces to the point that even his elite guard, the Order of the Dark Knights, were soundly defeated too. That was five days ago, and from his estimate, they will arrive at the castle tomorrow.

The Hero party is as same or even more powerful than the gods themselves. Eight of them were summoned, but only six raided Modes' lands and caused devastation. Modes was on the end of his rope when he realized something. If Rena could summon her champion, why won't he do that too? So Modes did the summoning ritual, and the result was….

"And you, Kuroki-dono, are the result of that successful ritual," Modes declared proudly.

Kuroki was speechless after that. He is no stranger to battles and wars, but to be dragged into an unknown world to fight another battle and a potential war, he became conflicted. The balance of power was maintained in his home world due to the Riders keeping each other in check, but now, if he was the only Kamen Rider in this world, who would be the one to stop him? Not only his powers but also his origins could tip and destroy the balance of this new world.

"So now you heard my story. Now this one asks you again, please save this Modes!" the ruler of Nargol bowed as he appealed to Kuroki again.

"But Modes, I am-"

Kuroki was bitter about his past, but in time, he was able to move on. Being thrust into a world where the people who made his life miserable were still alive and must fight them head-on brought conflicted feelings to him. Reiji destroyed what little dignity he had left that time, but that was rebuilt due to the support of his friends and his girlfriend. Also, he was already approaching his thirties, and he would be fighting kids, and the possibility of injuring or killing them is no joke.

"Please wait a minute, your majesty!"

A dark-skinned man with goat horns suddenly forced his way into the crowd of monsters. He was wearing black full-plated armor. He stopped in front of Modes and bowed respectfully.

"Lord Runefield! Are you alright now? Your injuries from fighting the hero might not be fully recovered?" Modes worriedly asked his subordinate.

"I apologize, your Majesty, for my intrusion and thank you for your concern, but I need to state my opinion. We could not borrow this man's power. We are defeated, yes, but we, the Chivalric Order of the Dark Knights, are still able to fight. Please, give us the order to dispatch the soldiers." Runefield requested of Modes.

Kuroki was impressed that Runefield was still willing to fight despite being beaten by Reiji. He was about to support Runefield when the latter suddenly glared at him.

"Moreover, he seems incapable of defeating that Hero."

"Hey, that's rude, man." Kuroki shot back, a bit offended by Runefield's insult.

"Hmph, I shall test your power!" Runefield suddenly drew his blade and swung it at Kuroki.

"Hey! I am with you here, dammit."

Kuroki dodged the blade, but Runefield continuously charged at him. Kuroki successfully dodged all the attacks with his footwork, built from many battles he had fought, but something was a bit different.

"Why do I feel faster and lighter than usual? I know the Nebula gas and my "unique" circumstances long ago affected my body, but now it is a bit different?" Kuroki wondered as he continued to dodge, but this time he wasn't fully focused on his enemy.

"Why can't I hit him!?"

Runefield was getting irritated by Kuroki's dodges. He went for a wide swing, but Kuroki managed to grab and squeeze his wrist, causing him to let go of his sword. Kuroki then tripped him to the ground.

"AUGH"

"Quit it. Fighting injured people leaves a bad taste in my mouth." Kuroki said, trying to defuse the situation, but Runefield got fired up more than ever. He stretched his palm at Kuroki and shot a black flame.

"Runefield-dono! THAT MAGIC!?"

"Take this!"

The black flame rushed towards Kuroki, who stood his ground.

"I know I can dodge this, but the monsters behind me will get caught. Ah crap, I hope this works!"

Now back on Earth, whenever Kuroki encounters a problem that can't be solved by words or logic, he knows what to do. For that, Sento calls him a musclehead idiot, Kazumin calls him a muscle buffoon, and Gen-san calls him a muscle gorilla.

His solution? PUNCH IT. If it doesn't work, PUNCH IT HARDER.

"ORAAAA!"

Kuroki punched the black flame in front of him. It exploded, but he was unharmed. Kuroki was surprised because he didn't even feel any burns in his body, but he was more astonished as his fist was covered with black fire. He stared at his fist and opened his hand, observing the fire enveloped in his hand before closing it, extinguishing the flame.

"No way, that was my strongest attack and he punched it like it's nothing…" Runefield whispered, staring at Kuroki.

Kuroki then felt a strange sensation, and on instinct, he recalled the feeling of the black flame in his hand. It ignited.

"Woah, did I just produce black fire on my hand? Everyone's gonna be surprised I can do this~" Kuroki thought, continuing to stare at his flaming hand. Everyone in the room became quiet, but someone enthusiastically clapped.

"Oh ho, as expected of Kuroki-dono! You were able to defeat the strongest knight in Nargol and master the black flame immediately? It seems the hero would be defeated by you!" Modes cheerfully announced as he watched the duel.

"Did I just get an ability to cast magic because I was summoned?" Kuroki pondered. He was getting more confused by the events, and now that something strange was happening, he needed to confirm some more details.

"Modes, can I ask you something? Assuming I can't defeat the hero or I refuse to fight, can I go back home?" Kuroki asked the Demon Lord. Now he wasn't a coward, but fighting for someone because he was the last hope was a heavy circumstance he had been in before.

"Uhhh… The method to send you back?" Modes showed a surprised expression as if he didn't expect that question. He immediately grabbed a crumpled paper from his pocket and slowly read it again. His eyes were getting wider as the detail he was trying to find wasn't there.

"Oh boy, let me guess, you don't know the way to send me back?"

Everyone in the room got so awkwardly silent that you could hear a pin drop. The Demon Lord was sweating bullets, and his frantic expression confirmed Kuroki's question.

"It seems that… there is no way to send you back," Modes finally admitted with a defeated look.

"Oh crap," Kuroki blurted.

"I apologize for that, Kuroki-dono," Modes apologized as he bowed again. It seems that despite his fearsome appearance, he was quite timid. Now the problem was not him getting back but what would happen if he didn't get back. Kuroki was thinking about the worst possible scenarios, but a woman's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Kuroki-sama? May I give my opinion? Can you at least hear the story of my husband's plight?" Mona pleaded as she stood beside her husband. Even though the years went by, Kuroki wasn't that heartless not to hear a woman's request. Mona then continued, "Please Kuroki-sama, can you listen to Modes-sama's story?"

Kuroki then looked at Modes.

"Well then, Kuroki-dono, let me tell you my story."

CHAPTER 2 END

A/N: Another chapter update! This one is a bit longer because if you're familiar with Ankoku Kishi and Kamen Rider Build, you'll notice the difference in personalities. Kuroki used to be so timid, and if you've read chapter 2, you'll cringe every time the author mentions how jealous Kuroki was of Reiji's status (I did too). So, what I did is have Kuroki restart his life after the Skywall incident. Without Shirone constantly putting him down and everyone who knew about Kuroki's defeat to Reiji dead, he was able to start fresh. It will be interesting to see how Shirone reacts to Kuroki's newfound maturity and coldness towards her, as well as how he handles the ridiculousness of the Hero's party due to his experiences. See you next time! PM me if you have any questions or comments.