Chapter 10: EXPLOSION WALTZ

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

A carriage was slowly heading towards the outskirts. Inside was a blonde girl with her maid, together with an entourage of carriages and knights escorting it.

'Will this journey take longer!? I want this farce to be done and over with! I want to make sure that I am with my older brother after this!' The blonde girl huffed.

'Please be patient, Kyoka-sama. Didn't you volunteer to be part of this mission?'

'GRR! As if I could let the impudent peasant who left that disgusting smell in our mansion get away with this!'

The reason that Kyoka and her maid, Kaya, were going to the outskirts of Lenaria was to investigate the package that fell into the hands of her company. When they investigated it, it contained the excrement of a Manticore. Now it was pretty impossible to get it unless imported from the western side of the continent. They tried to trace where it came from, and it turns out that it came from Gendor, the leader of the Black Fang. Coincidentally, there are rumors that people are missing in that area, and it also happens that the Hero's party wasn't able to kill the Manticore who escaped from their grasp. Now, they are planning to do a raid together with the Cygnus Knights.

The Cygnus Knight's leader, Boven, leads the soldiers of the Goddess Alrena asks for help. Originally, Chiyuki didn't want to offer help as she believes that this problem must be solved by the Lenarians themselves, but Kyoka volunteered because she wanted revenge for the smell that emanated from the package, and Kaya, her loyal maid, accompanies her.

Kyoka pouted again as she tried to calm herself down. She just stared outside the window and observed the surroundings. Despite her haughty nature, she was quite disappointed in herself because she couldn't help her brother, who was almost killed by the Dark Knight, and Kyoka knew that she was just let go by Chiyuki so she wouldn't be a bother in her brother's harem.

Little did she know, her fate with the Dark Knight would intertwine in this meeting.

""Nut, is the building clear?"

"Yep, Kuroki-sama! No one is here now except for us!"

"Good."

Nut was able to warn Kuroki in advance that the Lenarian's Temple Knights would raid the headquarters of the Black Fang. Kuroki then gathered the members of the said group and disbanded them.

"Everyone must leave this place now. The Cygnus Knights will raid this place, and I believe that they won't let you get away with this, as you will be considered accomplices."

"But Boss, where will we go now!? We… we don't know what to do. What will happen to us?"

"I have talked with Dozumu and Rinea. The treasures and money that Gendor hoarded will be shared equally among you. I believe it is enough for you to start over in your lives."

Everyone from the Black Fang was speechless. This stranger who took over the guild from Gendor just gave them everything without hesitation. Some of them even wept, while others were in awe of Kuroki's generosity.

"But what about you, Boss?"

"I… I need to do something here."

Since the outer city's buildings were all built haphazardly, and the roads weren't paved, the soldiers found it difficult to find what they were looking for. Moreover, the outer city housed a huge number of people, making it impossible for the operation to run as smoothly as they expected.

Nevertheless, the soldiers had somehow managed to encircle their targeted building. Lucullus, the leader of the Temple Knights' 3rd unit, was entrusted as the leader of this operation by Boven. He stood tall in front of the large, dilapidated building, and behind him and his army, curious onlookers gazed at them, waiting to see how this situation would develop.

"Why must we do this, captain? I mean, it doesn't matter what happens to the citizens of the outer city anyway. Well, it's a different story when it comes to cute girls, though."

Lucullus knitted his furrowed brows after hearing his subordinate's arrogant statement.

"So, Hyullus, does that mean you'll just ignore a manticore running rampant, leaving it to eat people left and right?"

Hyullus was a Temple Knight who had turned 19 years old this year, younger than Lucullus by 8 years and had only been knighted last year. He was also a noble born and Boven's nephew. Others might say that he only managed to join the Temple Knights' unit due to his relation with the Temple Knights' leader and his status as a highborn, but the truth of the matter was that he had immense talent in both swordsmanship and magic—he was the real deal.

However, it was a pity that Hyullus had such an arrogant and unruly personality as well as extremely bad habits; he would always ditch his duties and go play around. If not for his talent and high status as Boven's nephew, he would have already been expelled from the knight order. As for Lucullus, he could only become a knight thanks to Boven's help; that's why he was keeping an eye on Hyullus—he wanted to pay his debt of gratitude to Boven.

"But still, there are so many people there. Are you sure there's a manticore inside of this building? How could it house so many people and a beast at the same time?"

"Yes, I'm sure. This building is the Black Fang's base, and our prior investigations have revealed that there's a manticore inside."

"I see now, but don't you think we're going too far with this formation?"

Hyullus questioned him as he looked at his surroundings. In addition to the Temple Knights' unit, the troops also consisted of the Heavy Warrior unit, the Archery unit, and the Mage unit. Yet, Lucullus still felt that it was not enough. If he could, he would have increased the army's manpower for this operation because he knew just how dangerous that manticore was—he had lost many of his teammates during the manticore's subjugation three years ago.

"Hyullus, you might have no idea since you never fought a manticore before, but this is still far from enough. Don't underestimate our enemy." Lucullus cast a stern glare at the building as he cautioned Hyullus.

"Okay, okay. By the way, captain, who are those girls over there? Are they going to fight the manticore too?"

Hyullus was pointing at the group of armed girls in front of them. They were the only group who seemed to be out of place in this kind of situation. Among them were a girl wearing a maid uniform and a girl who brought a parasol and held it up to shield herself from the sun. It was as if they were here for a casual stroll.

"That's the hero Reiji-sama's little sister's private unit. You absolutely must not mess around with them."

Lucullus was well aware of Hyullus's womanizing habits. But, even though Hyullus had a high status and looks that could be considered handsome, he knew that those girls were simply out of his league. The Hero of Light, Reiji, was a man loved and blessed by the Goddess.

He was famous for exterminating many monsters and saving people. Due to his heroic deeds, he was surrounded by many beautiful women, all waiting upon him. These women were forbidden fruits for everyone except the hero. A horrible execution would occur to anyone who dared to put their hands on those women. The same went for his little sister. In fact, Lucullus knew that the hero's little sister had her own problems as well. She was a ticking time bomb in every sense of the word.

"Hee, so that beauty is the famous hero's lil' sis, I guess I have to do my best to win her over, huh."

Lucullus facepalmed in exasperation upon hearing what Hyullus just said.

"You, do you want to turn this place into a vacant plot of land due to explosion magic?"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

Hyullus seemed to be puzzled about Lucullus's random question.

"An idiot tried to make a pass at her before... And that idiot got that angry princess's explosion magic right on the face. That incident also damaged the main street and caused some casualties. That's why, do not try to woo her; this is an order! Now go back to your rank and prepare for combat!"

Lucullus gave his order as he looked at the building. There was almost no movement from the Black Fang's members, who should have been inside this building.

"Captain, don't you think that they're too quiet even after seeing this encirclement? It's as if there's no one inside the base."

"You're right; it's too quiet. Did they notice us beforehand? What about the lookouts, any new reports from them?"

Lucullus had prepared lookouts around the building before the operation's commencement. It was a safety procedure in case anyone had been alerted and tried to flee before they arrived. According to them, none of the upper echelons or the Black Fang's leader left the base since yesterday.

"This is bad, captain. They might have outsmarted us this time."

"It seems so. Someone, come and take a look inside their base!"

Ten soldiers followed Lucullus's command and broke into the Black Fang's base. A few minutes hadn't even passed before they came back out with worried expressions.

"Reporting! We can't find any trace of people inside at all!"

As he listened to every word of this report, Lucullus became more and more flustered.

"Damn it! They got us! All members, CHARGE!"

There were many soldiers surrounding the Black Fang's base. Kuroki had been observing the situation since the beginning, posing as a curious onlooker. Before he realized it, it was already noon. In this world, armies would never march or attack after sunset. This practice was established due to the nature of most monsters; they were nocturnal beings capable of fighting in the darkness of the night. For humans, on the other hand, with their limited vision in the darkness, night was not the ideal time for combat. Since the Black Fang members were all human, they couldn't escape during the night before the operation. However, it was unfortunate that the knights leading the battalion didn't seem capable of thinking outside the box.

(Did Dozumi and his companion manage to leave this country safely?)

Kuroki felt worried for Dozumi. Even though he had only known Dozumi for a short time, they had chatted quite a bit over these few days and had discussed many things. He also knew that Dozumi was genuinely happy to have found love after so many years of being single. That's why Kuroki wished for his and his lover's safety. Around this time, Dozumi and his lover should have already left the Holy Republic of Lenaria and started their journey back to his homeland.

"Uhn? I don't really understand humans, but they probably took the chance to escape when it was presented to them."

Kuroki nodded as he agreed with Nut.

"Yeah, I gave Dozumi this opportunity. I hope he managed to escape safely."

Kuroki recalled the moment he parted with Dozumi; the latter cried as if questioning why they had to leave him behind. Dozumi shouldn't encounter any particular problems on his journey since Kuroki had given him a substantial amount of gems as a congratulatory gift for his marriage to Rinea. The other members also shouldn't face any issues since he had divided Gendor's long-accumulated wealth among them all. He just hoped that they would use this newfound wealth to lead honest lives from now on. If he could turn his life around, he would be delighted to help others.

Nevertheless, Nut had played a significant role in their escape. Thanks to his daily investigations, Kuroki and the others managed to outwit the soldiers dispatched by the temple.

It was also thanks to him that Kuroki could pinpoint the lookouts' exact locations, which made him decide to use his magic to deceive their eyes, creating an illusion that nobody had left the base, thus giving the Black Fang members the chance to flee unnoticed. The whole building was empty, with only one person left inside—the former leader of the party, Gendor.

The reason they left Gendor behind was that carrying him would only slow them down. However, they didn't plan to leave him behind for long, as there was a possibility of him receiving treatment from the temple. He had yet to wake up from the nightmare magic Kuroki had cast upon him, and there was a high possibility that he would receive medical treatment to dispel the curse if left in the base to be found. This could pose a significant threat to Kuroki, who didn't want his involvement to be revealed. It would completely jeopardize his goal of coming here incognito to investigate the hero's party. That's why he was waiting for the right time to retrieve him. Kuroki observed the soldiers surrounding the building as they conducted their investigation.

(What an impressive lineup, and yet... Aren't they overdoing it here?)

Kuroki walked while looking at the people encircling the base.

"Hmm What's that?"

He couldn't help but mutter those words as he noticed a group of people who stood out from the rest. They were a group of girls with extremely striking appearances. Just by looking at their dresses, it was clear that these girls weren't citizens of the outer city; their clothes were made of high-quality fabric. Some of them were dressed like warriors, and others like maids. This group of girls was truly conspicuous among the troops surrounding the building. Kuroki focused on the girl in the center of that group.

"That noble girl, she seems out of place here."

The girl standing in the center of that group was extraordinarily beautiful. Moreover, Kuroki felt that he had seen her face somewhere before. She was undoubtedly a well-bred woman or even a princess. Her hair was silky smooth, with a beautiful sheen, and her eyes radiated strong determination. Both her clothing and accessories were of higher quality than those of the girls around her. That princess stood at the center of the group, and it seemed like everything and everyone should revolve around her.

"I wonder who she is?"

Kuroki pondered this while gazing at the girl.

"Kuroki-sama, that's the Exploding Princess, you know."

"Exploding what? What a strange name."

Kuroki was baffled and wondered about the reason behind her getting such an ominous nickname.

Upon seeing Kuroki's confused face, Nut started explaining the origin of the name.

"I heard that she got that nickname after she demolished various things with her explosion magic."

"That's kind of understandable."

Kuroki was dumbfounded by such a straightforward reason.

"In addition, she's also the hero's little sister."

"Okay... Wait, what?"

Kuroki was even more surprised by this second revelation.

(The hero's little sister. So that means she's Reiji's little sister.)

Kuroki was genuinely surprised to discover that she was Reiji's sister. He was taken aback, realizing that there were other people besides those who had raided the Demon King's castle who had been summoned to this world. However, Kuroki couldn't help but wonder why he had been summoned on the other side for some reason.

(But still, this is also my chance.)

Kuroki began to devise a plan to approach Reiji's little sister. This was his best opportunity since his original goal was to gather information about the hero's side. He strained his ears, attempting to pick up any useful information from the little sister.

"Tsk, I can't hear them very well."

Kuroki, who had gained additional superhuman hearing abilities after being summoned to this world, should have been able to eavesdrop from a distance as long as he concentrated. Yet, he couldn't make out the conversation among the girls' group.

"Let's try to get closer to them."

He thought, only to realize that he couldn't get any closer because she was surrounded by so many people.

"Ah! They're breaking into the base!"

Nut, who stood on Kuroki's shoulder, exclaimed as he looked at the Temple Knights. It seemed they had decided to enter all at once after sending a few people to scout the building first.

"CHARGEEE!"

When the person who appeared to be the operation's commander gave the order, the Heavy Warriors rushed into the building, followed by the Temple Knights.

Some of the girls around Reiji's little sister also entered the building, thinning out the escorts around her.

"This might be my only chance."

Kuroki decided to approach her. However, he remembered his initial mission and started to worry about Gendor being discovered before he could rescue him. He hesitated for a moment but then steeled his resolve.

"Nut, can you help me monitor the situation inside the building?"

"Roger that."

Nut descended from Kuroki's shoulder and went to spy on the knights' activities inside the building.

"Well then, it's my turn."

Kuroki put on his hood and focused for a moment to activate his invisibility magic, which had been taught to him by Loughas. After succeeding, he slowly approached Reiji's little sister. She was currently chatting leisurely with the maid beside her.

The maid was of a rather petite stature, with ink-black hair sleekly tied up in a dumpling-shaped bun with braids around it. Her bangs hung loosely on her cold and expressionless face, giving her the appearance of a Noh mask. Unlike the lively little sister, the maid only spoke when necessary, offering perfunctory responses from time to time. To an outsider, it seemed as if the hero's little sister was conversing with a doll. As Kuroki got closer, he could hear their voices to some extent.

"It seems they're finally breaking in, Milady."

"Yes, that's quite good. I was getting tired of waiting."

The little sister replied with a bored expression.

"But this is indeed strange. I can't seem to hear any fighting sounds. Maybe there really is no one inside the building."

The woman named Kaya tilted her head.

"Oh my, could it be that they outmaneuvered us?"

"That might be so, Milady. It seems they sensed our movements and fled as fast as possible."

"Is that so? How disappointing. Could it be that the demon beast called 'man-whatever it is' is also no longer in there?"

"It's called a manticore, Milady. I have no idea whether that demon beast is inside or not. But in case it is, make sure not to move from your current position. The area around here is protected by a barrier. But just now, a simple magic…"

Kaya didn't finish her sentence.

"Is something the matter, Kaya?"

Reiji's little sister looked at her maid in puzzlement.

"No, it's nothing. How about we move around for a while, Milady?"

"Yeah, I don't mind. Are you sure there really is no problem, Kaya?"

"It seems a stray rat has sneaked in. You lot, protect Milady."

At that exact moment, Kuroki retreated one step. Something incredibly fast flashed by where Kuroki's head, or chin to be exact, had been just a moment ago.

"Oh, a roundhouse kick. Impressive."

The maid, Kaya, after giving her orders, had suddenly jumped and executed an extremely accurate roundhouse kick aimed at Kuroki's chin.

Had Kuroki reacted just a tiny bit slower, he might not have been knocked out instantly, but it's going to hurt very much. After seeing her frighteningly accurate kick aiming for his chin, Kuroki had no doubt at all about his current situation.

(I was found out, tsk. If I just have the Eraser Fullbottle; this would be a bit better for me)

Kuroki was always confident about his invisibility magic. In fact, nobody other than the maid called Kaya had noticed his presence. It seemed she could see through Kuroki's invisibility spell. Personally, for Kuroki, the science provided by Sento had a better advantage due to its better reliability. He was also somewhat surprised as this was the first time his magic had not been exceedingly effective. However, Kuroki had no time to dwell on these thoughts as another attack was aiming for him.

Kaya, using her roundhouse kick's momentum, spun in the air and sent a straight kick towards Kuroki, who had dodged the previous attack.

In response, Kuroki grabbed Kaya's feet and threw her away from him. Kaya landed gracefully like a cat and continued her assault against Kuroki.

"For you to be able to parry my attack! Speak of your identity?!" Kaya screamed.

But Kuroki did not bother answering her and continued to dodge Kaya's chain of attacks.

"Leyline Wave!"

Kaya struck the ground with her fist, sending a shockwave through the ground and attacking Kuroki in the process.

"What the? This woman just tried to endanger civilians?"

Kuroki, who spotted the innocent bystanders behind him, saw the imminent danger they would face due to Kaya's attack. Trying to stop the oncoming chaos and casualties, he lightly stomped his feet and dispersed Kaya's Leyline Wave.

"Did-did he counter my attack with a stomp!?"

Kaya couldn't believe that someone had disabled her attack with minimal effort, but she thought of it as just a fluke. So, she ran straight to Kuroki and launched another of her special attacks.

"STEEL DEMOLITION FIST!"

"Hmph, that is the—WHAT!?"

Kaya's eyes widened; Kuroki had just caught her fist with a vice-like grip like it was nothing. She tried to pull her fist back, but it wouldn't budge. She attempted to knee Kuroki in the groin, but he countered her with his own knee, causing her to reel in pain and kneel down. Kuroki then squeezed her fist tighter to make sure that she still stays down causing her to wince in more pain.

"...You are pretty good, but too bad not good enough for me."

Kaya tried to glare at Kuroki for his provocation, but she was frozen when their eyes met. His stare under that hood was just cold and empty, as if he viewed her as nothing more than a bothersome insect in his eyes.

"Kaya! Let her go, you ruffian!"

Kyouka, upon seeing her maid defeated by the mysterious stranger, tried to back up by casting her magic, but she forgot that her magic control was very abysmal. She launched her magic towards Kuroki, who was still gripping Kaya's fist. To her surprise, he just slapped her magic upwards into the sky with his free hand, causing it to be diverted towards the Black Fang's base.

KABOOM!

"Wawawa WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS THAT!?" Kyouka shouted.

Kyouka was stunned at Kuroki's feat and suddenly became afraid, causing her to lose what little remaining concentration she had on trying to control her magic, and her body became enveloped in it. Kaya was horrified, as she knew what would happen next.

'No! It's happening again!"

Kyouka stared at her arms, trying to scramble for control, but she was unsuccessful. She looked around at some of the bystanders who were watching the whole spectacle.

"R-run away! Run away as fast as you can! I can't control it any longer!" Kyouka warned.

The bystanders panicked and ran away. Kyouka was able to sigh in relief, but she remembered that the Temple Knights were still inside the base, and Kaya was still in the clutches of the intruder.

"Kaya! Everyone... please forgive me."

Kyouka closed her eyes and accepted her fate, but a gentle hand held her wrist.

Kyouka opened her eyes in surprise, and it was the stranger who had been fighting Kaya!

"Y-you!"

The stranger aimed her hand towards an empty spot, and to her surprise, a magic ball came out. It traveled and made a mid-sized explosion that harmlessly exploded on the spot.

"Don't fight my movements, relax your body and let it flow," the stranger instructed Kyouka in a firm but gentle tone.

Kuroki diverted the magic that came from Reiji's sister away from him and Kaya by slapping it with his free hand. He was about to angrily shout at her, but the girl suddenly panicked. She couldn't control her magic within her body, which meant it would build up into an explosion that could destroy everything in the vicinity. Kuroki would survive, yes, but everyone here would die.

Wasting no time, he flung Kaya away from him and dashed towards Kyouka. He held her hand and with a bit of his manipulation, he controlled Kyouka's magic to explode as harmlessly as possible.

""Don't fight my movements, relax your body and let it flow."

"Y-yes..."

Kuroki sensed another build-up and diverted her other hand to another spot. Kyouka was initially a bit stiff, but slowly and surely she followed Kuroki's rhythm. This continued on and on, until...

"It seems like we are dancing a waltz."

To the onlookers, it appeared as though they were dancing at a ball. Kyouka felt a warm feeling that she had never experienced in her whole life.

There were some explosions, but they were controlled and diverted to places where they wouldn't harm anyone. Kuroki then held both of her hands and directed them upwards, launching a large magic ball that exploded harmlessly in the air.

Kyouka was bewildered. She had never imagined in her wildest dreams that she could control her magic like this. But she was able to look back and take a good look at the stranger whose hood had come off because of the final explosion.

"Eh?"

They stared at each other for a few seconds, but Kyouka felt something hot creeping onto her face. However, something seemed odd to her. The stranger noticed that his hood was down and quickly fixed it. He hurriedly moved away from her.

"Wait!"

"Milady!"

Kaya, who had recovered after being flung away by the stranger, came for her master. She saw Kyouka, who seemed dazed on the spot.

The soldiers and escorts who had gone into the building were now scrambling out, trying to quickly leave the building. Kuroki dodged them and ran towards the building to find Nut.

"Kuroki-sama~!"

It was Nut's voice. Kuroki quickly scanned the area and finally spotted Nut's figure. Nut was running among the people who were hurriedly escaping the building.

(Nut, you're safe… Let's escape from this place!)

Thanks to the Fire Rat species' innate ability, Nut had immediately sensed the oncoming danger and escaped beforehand. Hearing Kuroki's telepathic thoughts, Nut ran as fast as possible as they both fled the area. Kuroki could hear the sound of a crumbling building behind him.

(We must leave this place immediately!)

When he looked over his shoulder, Kuroki found out that no one was chasing after him. They must have been too preoccupied with saving the people inside the building to notice him and Nut fleeing. After arriving in a back alley, Kuroki turned around to make sure that there really was no one following him.

When he was sure that nobody was around, he heaved a sigh and looked closely at Nut, checking for any injuries. Fortunately, the fire rat didn't seem to be injured by the previous incident.

"Are you okay, Nut?"

"Somehow. What about you, Kuroki-sama? Did something happen on your side?"

When that explosion incident happened, Nut was inside the building, so he had no idea about what happened outside.

"I'm okay. I just made a slip."

Kuroki was smiling wryly while recalling his mistake when he tried to approach Reiji's little sister. With this event, his existence would most likely be exposed to Reiji and his group, making it more risky and difficult for him to personally gather information from this point on.

He then remembered the maid called Kaya's swift attacks.

(She's a little bit more troublesome than a manticore. Her movements were sharp and accurate. Clearly the actions of a trained martial artist.)

Kuroki's experience in martial arts and fighting experience allowed him to see through Kaya's martial arts skill.

(This kind of strength isn't the strength of a human from this world. She might have been summoned to this world too.)

On top of that, he recalled that Kaya's face resembled that of a Japanese person. The reason he had not previously considered the possibility of her being summoned was because there were many black-haired, Japanese-resembling humans in this world too. However, now, considering her skills and strength, it was most probable that she was another summoned person.

"Seriously, what should I do from now on?"

Kuroki was at his wit's end. He started pondering his future plans in the Holy Republic of Lenaria.

(As I thought, approaching Reiji and his companions with normal means is really difficult... I guess I can only ask Nut for help with this matter. Should I just tell him the truth?)

With his skills, Nut could easily gather inside information for Kuroki. Kuroki had the skill to do it as well, but the only problem was that he was once regarded as an enemy by Reiji and the others, and with him being exposed, it would just be impossible. Kuroki felt like he was between a rock and a hard place. This meant one thing.

"I guess I need to go to the city itself for answers."

"Milady? Are you alright? Did that bastard do something to you?"

"Ah... Yes— I mean, no—"

"He tried to molest you!? That pervert! I will kill him next time!" Kaya angrily vowed.

"He didn't molest me or anything. In fact—"

"It's okay, milady. I know you're just in shock. I will try to make up for this failure and reclaim my honor, even at the cost of my life."

Kyouka had lost the energy to argue with Kaya; she knew that when her maid was set on something, especially for her welfare, she couldn't stop her. Kyouka then recalled her meeting with the stranger who had helped her defuse her magic. She remembered that the stranger was a bit older than her, maybe the same age as her brother. He had fine features and was quite handsome, but there was something that left an impression on her.

His eyes.

They were the saddest and gloomiest eyes she had ever seen, as if the boy had experienced great grief that would break any normal man, someone who had endured the greatest hardships but still stood strong. There were some parts of Kyouka that wanted to reach out, hold his hand, and tell him that everything would be alright. Kyouka stared in the direction he had gone and thought,

"I wonder... will I meet him again?"

CHAPTER 10 END

A/N

Chapter 10 is here!

If you've read the original story, you might remember that it leaned more towards a hilarious and ecchi, lucky-pervert-groping theme, but I found it a bit redundant. Besides, I wanted Kyoka and Kuroki to develop a deeper and more meaningful connection throughout the story. I've also taken a more realistic approach to Kyoka's struggle with controlling her magic. Kuroki helping her gain control will have significant implications for later events. Also Kyouka is a nice if a bit haughty so I emphasized it more.

Another point to note is that Kuroki's knowledge of energy diversion may seem like a random addition, but keep in mind that Kuroki is a martial artist by trade. His experience as a Kamen Rider has also helped him understand the concept of manipulating body energy to some extent. Who knows, maybe he learned it from Takeru? =D So, diverting and controlling energy is somewhat easy for him.

By the way, I have to say, ChatGPT is a fantastic tool for fixing grammar! AW YEAH!

If you have any questions or would like to discuss anything further, please feel free to PM me. Thanks!

P.S. Did I make Kaya come across as more of an annoying character than in the canon story?