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Title: Rippled Dimensions
Universe: Original, Decade and AR Rider worlds (Heisei Universe)
Fandom: Kamen Rider Decade
Rating: G, probably PG13 later
Genre: Supernatural
Summary: Before it all started, before the journey ever begins... strange happenings had started happening in the eight Rider worlds. Once again the nine Kamen Riders have to again take upon their Rider lives in order to save their worlds. AU as we wait for the second movie.
A/N: Hahahaha, finally finished this one. It got twice longer than the previous two chapters. But I guess it's because of Tendou and I needed to set the settings properly for this one. Compared to Kiva and Den-O so far, Kabuto needed even more explaining to do... to explain some stuffs.
-------------------------------------
Chapter 3: Tendou's Worries
Tendou Souji walked out of the lobby of Narita Airport as he took in a long breath of air. It has been a while. Two years since he had left this place for France. Two years since he had been fighting for the fate of humanity as well as the world. He had wanted to return home sooner, meeting Juka and Hiyori again and rub to Kagami's face of the fact he had grown successful in France as a chef in one of the well known restaurants in Paris while he had remained a simple policeman in a small district.
He had never wanted to come back home like this.
A week ago he had called home and heard of a surprising news. Kagami had been hospitalised after an incident. Juka had not mentioned much but it seemed that that was all to it. She said Kagami insisted that it had been just a normal day to day incident and for some reason Tendou was not buying it.
A lot of times Kagami had said something was fine, most of the time it was not so. And Tendou believed that this time it was the same.
xxx
The doorbell rang as Kagami opened the door in greeting. The moment he saw who his visitor was, he sighed before letting him in.
"So who's been ratting on me?" he said as Tendou took a seat at a couch nearby.
"No one. I heard from Juka that you got into an accident." said Tendou as Kagami shrugged.
He just shook his left arm that was still on a sling before pouring himself a cup of tea before Tendou brushed him off to do the task. He poured himself tea as Kagami sat at a couch across of him.
"I'm fine. It's a bit hard to do some certain things at the moment but I'll manage. If you've talked to Juka-chan, you should have known that it's not such a big incident."
Tendou shrugged.
"She told me, I just didn't believe it. When it comes to you, I trusted my instincts more than what people said. And my gut feelings told me that this isn't just some minor accident."
Kagami rolled his eyes at him before sipping his tea.
"You and your high-handed personality. The world would still go on even without you watching over it all the time, you know? I could take care of myself just fine."
Tendou raised his brow.
"Kagami, you can quit side-tracking me. I might be just following my feelings when I had booked that flight from Paris to see you here, but now I'm sure. That wasn't an injury that you can get from such a small accident." Tendou said again as he cocked his nose towards Kagami.
Tendou felt his irritation went up a notch. Who did Kagami want to kid with his condition right now? Aside from that arm of his on that sling and the scratches on his face, he could barely notice the bandages that had been hidden just underneath his slightly unbuttoned shirt. That should not come for a mere fall or whatever trash he told others to fool them. The last time he had seen Kagami with these kinds of injuries would be during the times when Worms had been active and him still working under ZECT. Kagami was always prone to injuries in those times.
Kagami fidgeted uncomfortably, having been placed under such scrutiny. He sighed before easing his shoulders that had been tense since Tendou had arrived at his doors.
"I had not wanted to worry you... just yet. It might have been nothing, just perhaps some of those little things that had slipped us last time. I don't think it was such a big deal yet to have to call you back."
Tendou frowned.
"What had actually happened to you? No, tell me what is going on here first." he asked as Kagami gave him a weak smile.
Kagami shrugged. "Well, this had started about two weeks ago. I had been doing my rounds at the neighbourhood as usual when someone suddenly ran amok and since that time, those school kids had been coming home from school... well, I had to try to not let any harm to fall on the kids. And then later, I realized that this wasn't just any normal man going amok on the streets."
Tendou nodded at him as he waited for Kagami to continue. The situation must have been more serious than what he had been hearing so far, since Kagami had assumed his serious demeanor. No matter how much he had failed on that.
"Tendou... it's a Native. The man that had been running amok at that time had been a Native. I'm not sure what really happened but later after some questioning the man said that he had no idea what he was doing. It's like something unknown had been causing him to go crazy just like an average Worm. There's some other minor incidents after that, another Native attacking another Native. Some more Natives showing signs of having bouts of unexplained craziness, some Worm attacks that had suddenly appearing at some place. Despite I thought, we've already taken care the most of them last time. And no, Hiyori was still fine... I supposed you've headed right away to my place before checking up on your sisters?" said Kagami as Tendou let out a sigh of relief.
"My father reasoned that the new appearances of those Worms, had been from that time. Some people might have already been turned by those Native necklaces without anyone knowing. But I don't buy that fully. Since why would they start causing trouble only now after so long being in hiding?"
Tendou shrugged. Those reasoning made some sense.
"Who else knew about this?" he asked as Kagami shrugged.
"My father, Tadokoro-san, Misaki-san, Renge... Kazama Daisuke. We managed to contact some of the former ZECTroopers to help out on controlling the situation. But we only have two Riders right now... so--" Kagami lifted his left arm on the sling to make a point as he added, "I heard some of the troopers telling me that they saw Yaguruma-san fighting some Worms last week."
He shrugged again.
"The situation is still minimal so far, I contemplated to call you about it but I thought better not to worry you just yet."
"Oh! And when would that be? When you're already stuck in the hospital ward and bandaged all over?" Tendou said sarcastically as Kagami rolled his eyes again at him.
"I've been careless at that time! There was a kid that time when a Worm had attacked. During the fight the Worm had sent a fireball towards a nearby building. I hadn't given it much thought and just lunged to save the boy. The troopers said that Kick Hopper had finished off that Worm but I can't say much about that. I've been knocked out by that big slab of cement and brick, and broke my arm in the process. But at least the kid's safe."
Tendou snorted despite himself. Trust Kagami to prioritise others safety first than his own.
"Well... at least I'm here now, you won't have to rack your brains over it much. I'll take over the job now."
Kagami snorted, trust Tendou to say that. Now, those grandma quotes should come out just about...
Tendou leered at him. "Why are you looking at me like that? My grandmother said that--"
Kagami snickered.
"Yeah, yeah... I know. Whatever that is you wanted to say." said Kagami, still grinning at him. "And I'm glad to see you again, Tendou."
Tendou smiled. "Yeah, it's been a while..."
xxx
Tendou pulled out a small case from his top cabinet as he placed it on top of his table. He opened it as he stared at the rider belt that had been with him for such a long time. To think there would come a time for him to don that rider armor again...
He heard shuffling sounds behind him as Juka cried aloud.
"It is YOU! Welcome home, oniichan!" the girl cried as Tendou turned around just in time to catch Juka, who had jumped into his embrace.
He laughed. "I missed you too. How's school?"
"School's fine, like it wouldn't be all the time. Why didn't you call to tell us you're coming home? I might have cooked something extra this morning!" Juka complained as Tendou set her on her feet.
"Better like that. The food would definitely gets cold later. After all, I planned to cook dinner for tonight. You like that, wouldn't you?"
Juka grinned at him as she darted out of the room. Not long after, she popped her head back inside.
"Have you gone to see Hiyori-neechan? She'd be glad to know you're back."
"She's still at the La Salle?" he asked as she nodded.
"Hiyori-neechan had been busy. She had started serving a new set menu last week and the bistro had never stopped being busy. Hiyori-neechan had gotten even better at her menu making. Yumiko-san had even told her that she could have started her own restaurant now with her skills but neechan didn't want to. Again."
Tendou smiled fondly.
"Um no... I haven't yet pay a visit to the Bistro. I've been at Kagami's place since I've arrived here."
Juka's eyes brightened at the mention of Kagami's name. Tendou almost forgot that Juka had been fond of him since she had first met him.
"How's Kagami-san now? I haven't been visiting these few days... he told me that he could take care of himself just fine. But I only wanted to make sure he's eating properly!"
Tendou grinned. "Don't worry about him. I've made sure he would. Now go change out of your uniform. You are still working part time at La Salle, aren't you?"
"I thought you never ask." said Juka as she dashed towards her own room.
xxx
Hiyori smiled to her customers as she placed their dishes on the table. She turned around to find Juka grinning at her. She folded her arm at her as she pursed her lips at her.
"You're late. Have you been taken a leaf out of Kagami's old habits today?" she scolded her as Juka continued grinning.
"Look who's back!" said Juka cheerfully as Tendou made his appearance. Hiyori smiled widely as she gave him a hug. Yumiko rushed out of the kitchen to give him a greeting.
"So what did you want to eat?" Hiyori asked, still smiling.
Tendou smirked. "Whatever new menu you've created since I last stepped in this place. But before that... I'd like your good old mackerel miso." he said as Hiyori gave him a knowing smile.
"As you wish." she said before tapping her chin, suddenly remembering something. "Talking about mackerel miso, Kagami should be visiting right about now. But I'm not seeing him right now..."
Tendou smirked again. "You can stop worrying about him now. He's nicely resting himself at home, I've prepared him enough food to keep him fed for the day until night. So you needn't worry about saving him some of your delightful miso."
Hiyori rolled her eyes at him before heading back towards the kitchen, muttering under her breath about how Tendou often get to eat her miso whenever she had been preparing it specifically for Kagami. Juka joined her as she started telling her about the things their brother had been doing since returning home.
The small bell rang again as Renge Takatori stepped into the bistro. She immediately walked towards Hiyori, just as Hiyori had done serving Tendou his miso.
"Renge-san! I've been waiting for you." Hiyori exclaimed. "Or are you going to start ditching your work today?"
"Today's an exception, Hiyori-san. Something came up today, I promise I'll come to work early tomorrow." Renge explained apologetically before looking around frantically. "Did senpai came here today?" she asked.
Hiyori shook her head.
"Not today." she said cocking her head towards Tendou. "Someone had insisted for him to stay at home the whole day..."
"Yo!" Tendou greeted her as Renge's eyes brightened.
"Master! It's been a long time!" Renge cried as she sat opposite him. "How are you?" she asked as Tendou resumed eating his miso.
"What was it that you wanted to see Kagami for?" Tendou asked as Renge fidgeted uncomfortably. Tendou raised his eyebrow in exasperation. "I've already heard about everything from Kagami this morning. You can tell me everything to me what you've wanted to tell him."
Renge gave him a surprised look before sighing. "There had been another incident earlier. Misaki-san and Kazama-san had been on to it. But one of the Worms had got away and they were on its pursuit the last I heard. Misaki-san told me to keep senpai up-to-date on the case. And there's another thing... Tadokoro-san had been feeling unwell lately--"
Todokoro chewed the last portion of his mackerel irritably. "Kagami is still recuperating and you guys still kept him working? Don't tell me that was the reason that he's having a slow recovery?"
Renge started to raise her voice before remembering her place. "We can't help it! The incidents involving Worms and Natives had started to increase--" she hissed, "--and we haven't enough Riders or men to tackle the situation. Even if we had just got a new candidate to use The Bee, it's still not enough. We're still understaffed."
"And we're unsure as to allow the still remaining Natives to use Sasword or any other Rider system, because of the strange disease that had suddenly appeared. And senpai had insisted that we did not keep anything about this from him, despite his injuries."
Tendou could see that Renge had been feeling rather remorsefuly, having to confess to him the actual situation they had been facing. He started feeling bad at himself for scolding her harshly, but then he was still not regretting the fact he had been scolding Kagami as harshly that morning for neglecting his own well-being. He shook the thought away. Renge mentioning the strange bout of craziness among some of the Natives as diseases worried him. What if Hiyori get the same thing that had been infecting these Natives?
Tendou placed the empty dishes aside as he rose.
"Take me to where Misaki and the others are. I'll help you guys out."
Renge frowned. "Are you sure, master? You've just came back... I can't possibly have you--"
"By the sound of what you've just told me, it's already getting worse. Kagami would have started to call me back here anyway."
Renge nodded as she rose to join Tendou and lead him towards the place. Tendou told Juka and Hiyori he would be seeing them again later as they walked out of La Salle Bistro.
xxx
Tendou watched silently as some of the trooper had taken away the sedated Native into the ambulance. He turned his attention towards Drake and The Bee's new user as they fought another group of Worms. Strange... he cannot imagine there were still a lot of these Worms lurking around. He started to understand Kagami's concern. Even if there were survivors during the purge, two years ago; there should not be this much Worm to have managed to slip pass them. Of course, they could have had a secret nest to increase their numbers but to have remained undetected for so long? That was strange.
Tendou put on his Rider belt as he watched Drake faltering in his attacks and The Bee getting outnumbered. He raised his arm as he called on his Kabuto zecter after such a long time. He stepped forward as he transformed; managed to get some of the weaker Worms as he cast the outer armor off. Kabuto wordlessly summoned the Hyper Zecter before attaching it at the side of his belt.
"Hyper clock up." Tendou spoke calmly as he slapped on the zecter.
Immediately, everything slowed down as he easily destroyed all of the Worms that had been outnumbering Drake and The Bee. Tendou shrugged to himself at the sheer easiness of the fight. But before time return to its proper speed, Tendou suddenly got pulled into another dimension.
xxx
Tendou blinked as he took a glance around him. This was not the same place he had been thrown into when Hiyori and the mimic that had taken his appearance had lived in. This place looked like some of those abandoned factories he used to go to. Why on earth would he ended up over...
Suddenly a wall near him exploded as two people had crashed into the hallway in front of him. Tendou froze as he saw a Worm and... himself? Fighting each other with both being evenly matched. As Tendou watched them fight, both of them had been thrown away from each other as Kabuto's armor become undone. And Tendou watched in surprise to find the Kabuto user not being him.
Before he could make any sense over what he had been seeing, his Hyper Clock Up ended as he returned back to the old mill compound where he and Renge had caught up with Misaki's squad. He undid his armor as Daisuke walked up towards him.
"Hey, thanks for the backup. Haven't expected you to be here this soon." the make-up artist greeted him. Tendou returned the greet unenthusiastically as his thoughts hovered back to the things he had earlier seen.
Who was that man donning the Kabuto armor? What did that scene he saw meant? Was it some kind of alternate world? An alternate dimension?
Tendou Souji pursed his lips in frustration. No matter what answer he was looking for, he doubt that he would get his answers any time soon...
xxx
Sou Yaguruma slipped back into the shadows as he acknowledged the return of Kabuto. Meaning that he would not have to be so chivalrious any more to help those people with the Worms problem unless he himself had been attacked personally. Going back to acting like his old self had been a bit refreshing but that had been because Kageyama was no longer by his side. It was as if he had another reason to start moving on with his life again, instead of hovering off without direction. But that was not important.
Aside from that, a part of him had been bothered by the fact the Worms were returning and there were not enough Riders to fight them.
But considering Tendou Souji had returned, he probably could return to his darkness again, embracing the shadows...
"You looked well... aniki. It's been a long time."
Yaguruma turned towards the voice cautiously to see Kageyama leaning idly beside a tree stump. he frowned.
"It's me, aniki. You're not halucinating... and I'm no worm either."
Yaguruma still eyed him distrustfully as Kageyama stretched his legs.
"It's amazing how a rip in dimension can cause worlds to destabilize. Even allowing the dead another chance at life. But that's another kind of darkness. I see Aniki had embraced the light again."
It had seemed surreal, but hearing Kageyama spoke to him with authority made him want to laugh. It would be another lifetime altogether before Kageyama ever having a higher authority than him. He spat.
"When ever had I return to the world of light? I'm just finishing off the lot of those lowly Worms again, seeing they're up and about again. And what's this rip in dimension you were talking about?"
"Another shadow is approaching this world at rapid speed. Another darkness."
Yaguruma cast a fleeting glance towards Tendou's shadow before smirking. That bastard would probably end up finding out about this later. No, he would definitely gonna do something about it.
"Like I cared. They all looked the same to me. Light or darkness."
He started walking off further before pausing.
"What are you waiting there for? Let's go... aibou."
Kageyama just smiled as he walked quickly to catch up to him.
xxx
Hiyori cast a wry look at Tendou as she gathered her dirty plates to take to the kitchen.
"I thought you said you've made enough food to last Kagami the whole day?"
Tendou shrugged innocently as Hiyori left for the kitchen, while Kagami cast his eyes at him in amusement.
"I had to agree with Hiyori as well. Why did you call me to come here for dinner at the last minute, anyway? The food you've prepared for me earlier could as well last me until tomorrow's morning. I had to keep the rest of them in the fridge!"
"Why not?" Juka chipped into the conversation as she finished the rest of her tofu. "It's been a long time since we had dinner together after all. How's your arm, Kagami-san?"
Kagami shrugged. "It's getting better. Don't you worry your head about it. I'm just keeping it on a sling because moving my arm so often would still hurt. And I rather keep any movements using my left arm to the minimal."
"I'm glad to hear that!" said Juka as she also gathered her dirty dishes to wash at the kitchen.
Kagami turned his attention towards Tendou as he spoke softly.
"So what did you want to see me about?" he asked.
Tendou sighed. "I've finally understood your concerns. The situation does appear to be bad. Also, I had been seeing some certain...stuffs. These strange incidents might have been even worse that what we originally thought. I worry if these incidents continued to get even worse than they are right now."
Kagami turned his attention towards Hiyori as he nodded in understanding.
"I hope it won't get any worse too..."
Universe: Original, Decade and AR Rider worlds (Heisei Universe)
Fandom: Kamen Rider Decade
Rating: G, probably PG13 later
Genre: Supernatural
Summary: Before it all started, before the journey ever begins... strange happenings had started happening in the eight Rider worlds. Once again the nine Kamen Riders have to again take upon their Rider lives in order to save their worlds. AU as we wait for the second movie.
A/N: Hahahaha, finally finished this one. It got twice longer than the previous two chapters. But I guess it's because of Tendou and I needed to set the settings properly for this one. Compared to Kiva and Den-O so far, Kabuto needed even more explaining to do... to explain some stuffs.
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Chapter 3: Tendou's Worries
Tendou Souji walked out of the lobby of Narita Airport as he took in a long breath of air. It has been a while. Two years since he had left this place for France. Two years since he had been fighting for the fate of humanity as well as the world. He had wanted to return home sooner, meeting Juka and Hiyori again and rub to Kagami's face of the fact he had grown successful in France as a chef in one of the well known restaurants in Paris while he had remained a simple policeman in a small district.
He had never wanted to come back home like this.
A week ago he had called home and heard of a surprising news. Kagami had been hospitalised after an incident. Juka had not mentioned much but it seemed that that was all to it. She said Kagami insisted that it had been just a normal day to day incident and for some reason Tendou was not buying it.
A lot of times Kagami had said something was fine, most of the time it was not so. And Tendou believed that this time it was the same.
xxx
The doorbell rang as Kagami opened the door in greeting. The moment he saw who his visitor was, he sighed before letting him in.
"So who's been ratting on me?" he said as Tendou took a seat at a couch nearby.
"No one. I heard from Juka that you got into an accident." said Tendou as Kagami shrugged.
He just shook his left arm that was still on a sling before pouring himself a cup of tea before Tendou brushed him off to do the task. He poured himself tea as Kagami sat at a couch across of him.
"I'm fine. It's a bit hard to do some certain things at the moment but I'll manage. If you've talked to Juka-chan, you should have known that it's not such a big incident."
Tendou shrugged.
"She told me, I just didn't believe it. When it comes to you, I trusted my instincts more than what people said. And my gut feelings told me that this isn't just some minor accident."
Kagami rolled his eyes at him before sipping his tea.
"You and your high-handed personality. The world would still go on even without you watching over it all the time, you know? I could take care of myself just fine."
Tendou raised his brow.
"Kagami, you can quit side-tracking me. I might be just following my feelings when I had booked that flight from Paris to see you here, but now I'm sure. That wasn't an injury that you can get from such a small accident." Tendou said again as he cocked his nose towards Kagami.
Tendou felt his irritation went up a notch. Who did Kagami want to kid with his condition right now? Aside from that arm of his on that sling and the scratches on his face, he could barely notice the bandages that had been hidden just underneath his slightly unbuttoned shirt. That should not come for a mere fall or whatever trash he told others to fool them. The last time he had seen Kagami with these kinds of injuries would be during the times when Worms had been active and him still working under ZECT. Kagami was always prone to injuries in those times.
Kagami fidgeted uncomfortably, having been placed under such scrutiny. He sighed before easing his shoulders that had been tense since Tendou had arrived at his doors.
"I had not wanted to worry you... just yet. It might have been nothing, just perhaps some of those little things that had slipped us last time. I don't think it was such a big deal yet to have to call you back."
Tendou frowned.
"What had actually happened to you? No, tell me what is going on here first." he asked as Kagami gave him a weak smile.
Kagami shrugged. "Well, this had started about two weeks ago. I had been doing my rounds at the neighbourhood as usual when someone suddenly ran amok and since that time, those school kids had been coming home from school... well, I had to try to not let any harm to fall on the kids. And then later, I realized that this wasn't just any normal man going amok on the streets."
Tendou nodded at him as he waited for Kagami to continue. The situation must have been more serious than what he had been hearing so far, since Kagami had assumed his serious demeanor. No matter how much he had failed on that.
"Tendou... it's a Native. The man that had been running amok at that time had been a Native. I'm not sure what really happened but later after some questioning the man said that he had no idea what he was doing. It's like something unknown had been causing him to go crazy just like an average Worm. There's some other minor incidents after that, another Native attacking another Native. Some more Natives showing signs of having bouts of unexplained craziness, some Worm attacks that had suddenly appearing at some place. Despite I thought, we've already taken care the most of them last time. And no, Hiyori was still fine... I supposed you've headed right away to my place before checking up on your sisters?" said Kagami as Tendou let out a sigh of relief.
"My father reasoned that the new appearances of those Worms, had been from that time. Some people might have already been turned by those Native necklaces without anyone knowing. But I don't buy that fully. Since why would they start causing trouble only now after so long being in hiding?"
Tendou shrugged. Those reasoning made some sense.
"Who else knew about this?" he asked as Kagami shrugged.
"My father, Tadokoro-san, Misaki-san, Renge... Kazama Daisuke. We managed to contact some of the former ZECTroopers to help out on controlling the situation. But we only have two Riders right now... so--" Kagami lifted his left arm on the sling to make a point as he added, "I heard some of the troopers telling me that they saw Yaguruma-san fighting some Worms last week."
He shrugged again.
"The situation is still minimal so far, I contemplated to call you about it but I thought better not to worry you just yet."
"Oh! And when would that be? When you're already stuck in the hospital ward and bandaged all over?" Tendou said sarcastically as Kagami rolled his eyes again at him.
"I've been careless at that time! There was a kid that time when a Worm had attacked. During the fight the Worm had sent a fireball towards a nearby building. I hadn't given it much thought and just lunged to save the boy. The troopers said that Kick Hopper had finished off that Worm but I can't say much about that. I've been knocked out by that big slab of cement and brick, and broke my arm in the process. But at least the kid's safe."
Tendou snorted despite himself. Trust Kagami to prioritise others safety first than his own.
"Well... at least I'm here now, you won't have to rack your brains over it much. I'll take over the job now."
Kagami snorted, trust Tendou to say that. Now, those grandma quotes should come out just about...
Tendou leered at him. "Why are you looking at me like that? My grandmother said that--"
Kagami snickered.
"Yeah, yeah... I know. Whatever that is you wanted to say." said Kagami, still grinning at him. "And I'm glad to see you again, Tendou."
Tendou smiled. "Yeah, it's been a while..."
xxx
Tendou pulled out a small case from his top cabinet as he placed it on top of his table. He opened it as he stared at the rider belt that had been with him for such a long time. To think there would come a time for him to don that rider armor again...
He heard shuffling sounds behind him as Juka cried aloud.
"It is YOU! Welcome home, oniichan!" the girl cried as Tendou turned around just in time to catch Juka, who had jumped into his embrace.
He laughed. "I missed you too. How's school?"
"School's fine, like it wouldn't be all the time. Why didn't you call to tell us you're coming home? I might have cooked something extra this morning!" Juka complained as Tendou set her on her feet.
"Better like that. The food would definitely gets cold later. After all, I planned to cook dinner for tonight. You like that, wouldn't you?"
Juka grinned at him as she darted out of the room. Not long after, she popped her head back inside.
"Have you gone to see Hiyori-neechan? She'd be glad to know you're back."
"She's still at the La Salle?" he asked as she nodded.
"Hiyori-neechan had been busy. She had started serving a new set menu last week and the bistro had never stopped being busy. Hiyori-neechan had gotten even better at her menu making. Yumiko-san had even told her that she could have started her own restaurant now with her skills but neechan didn't want to. Again."
Tendou smiled fondly.
"Um no... I haven't yet pay a visit to the Bistro. I've been at Kagami's place since I've arrived here."
Juka's eyes brightened at the mention of Kagami's name. Tendou almost forgot that Juka had been fond of him since she had first met him.
"How's Kagami-san now? I haven't been visiting these few days... he told me that he could take care of himself just fine. But I only wanted to make sure he's eating properly!"
Tendou grinned. "Don't worry about him. I've made sure he would. Now go change out of your uniform. You are still working part time at La Salle, aren't you?"
"I thought you never ask." said Juka as she dashed towards her own room.
xxx
Hiyori smiled to her customers as she placed their dishes on the table. She turned around to find Juka grinning at her. She folded her arm at her as she pursed her lips at her.
"You're late. Have you been taken a leaf out of Kagami's old habits today?" she scolded her as Juka continued grinning.
"Look who's back!" said Juka cheerfully as Tendou made his appearance. Hiyori smiled widely as she gave him a hug. Yumiko rushed out of the kitchen to give him a greeting.
"So what did you want to eat?" Hiyori asked, still smiling.
Tendou smirked. "Whatever new menu you've created since I last stepped in this place. But before that... I'd like your good old mackerel miso." he said as Hiyori gave him a knowing smile.
"As you wish." she said before tapping her chin, suddenly remembering something. "Talking about mackerel miso, Kagami should be visiting right about now. But I'm not seeing him right now..."
Tendou smirked again. "You can stop worrying about him now. He's nicely resting himself at home, I've prepared him enough food to keep him fed for the day until night. So you needn't worry about saving him some of your delightful miso."
Hiyori rolled her eyes at him before heading back towards the kitchen, muttering under her breath about how Tendou often get to eat her miso whenever she had been preparing it specifically for Kagami. Juka joined her as she started telling her about the things their brother had been doing since returning home.
The small bell rang again as Renge Takatori stepped into the bistro. She immediately walked towards Hiyori, just as Hiyori had done serving Tendou his miso.
"Renge-san! I've been waiting for you." Hiyori exclaimed. "Or are you going to start ditching your work today?"
"Today's an exception, Hiyori-san. Something came up today, I promise I'll come to work early tomorrow." Renge explained apologetically before looking around frantically. "Did senpai came here today?" she asked.
Hiyori shook her head.
"Not today." she said cocking her head towards Tendou. "Someone had insisted for him to stay at home the whole day..."
"Yo!" Tendou greeted her as Renge's eyes brightened.
"Master! It's been a long time!" Renge cried as she sat opposite him. "How are you?" she asked as Tendou resumed eating his miso.
"What was it that you wanted to see Kagami for?" Tendou asked as Renge fidgeted uncomfortably. Tendou raised his eyebrow in exasperation. "I've already heard about everything from Kagami this morning. You can tell me everything to me what you've wanted to tell him."
Renge gave him a surprised look before sighing. "There had been another incident earlier. Misaki-san and Kazama-san had been on to it. But one of the Worms had got away and they were on its pursuit the last I heard. Misaki-san told me to keep senpai up-to-date on the case. And there's another thing... Tadokoro-san had been feeling unwell lately--"
Todokoro chewed the last portion of his mackerel irritably. "Kagami is still recuperating and you guys still kept him working? Don't tell me that was the reason that he's having a slow recovery?"
Renge started to raise her voice before remembering her place. "We can't help it! The incidents involving Worms and Natives had started to increase--" she hissed, "--and we haven't enough Riders or men to tackle the situation. Even if we had just got a new candidate to use The Bee, it's still not enough. We're still understaffed."
"And we're unsure as to allow the still remaining Natives to use Sasword or any other Rider system, because of the strange disease that had suddenly appeared. And senpai had insisted that we did not keep anything about this from him, despite his injuries."
Tendou could see that Renge had been feeling rather remorsefuly, having to confess to him the actual situation they had been facing. He started feeling bad at himself for scolding her harshly, but then he was still not regretting the fact he had been scolding Kagami as harshly that morning for neglecting his own well-being. He shook the thought away. Renge mentioning the strange bout of craziness among some of the Natives as diseases worried him. What if Hiyori get the same thing that had been infecting these Natives?
Tendou placed the empty dishes aside as he rose.
"Take me to where Misaki and the others are. I'll help you guys out."
Renge frowned. "Are you sure, master? You've just came back... I can't possibly have you--"
"By the sound of what you've just told me, it's already getting worse. Kagami would have started to call me back here anyway."
Renge nodded as she rose to join Tendou and lead him towards the place. Tendou told Juka and Hiyori he would be seeing them again later as they walked out of La Salle Bistro.
xxx
Tendou watched silently as some of the trooper had taken away the sedated Native into the ambulance. He turned his attention towards Drake and The Bee's new user as they fought another group of Worms. Strange... he cannot imagine there were still a lot of these Worms lurking around. He started to understand Kagami's concern. Even if there were survivors during the purge, two years ago; there should not be this much Worm to have managed to slip pass them. Of course, they could have had a secret nest to increase their numbers but to have remained undetected for so long? That was strange.
Tendou put on his Rider belt as he watched Drake faltering in his attacks and The Bee getting outnumbered. He raised his arm as he called on his Kabuto zecter after such a long time. He stepped forward as he transformed; managed to get some of the weaker Worms as he cast the outer armor off. Kabuto wordlessly summoned the Hyper Zecter before attaching it at the side of his belt.
"Hyper clock up." Tendou spoke calmly as he slapped on the zecter.
Immediately, everything slowed down as he easily destroyed all of the Worms that had been outnumbering Drake and The Bee. Tendou shrugged to himself at the sheer easiness of the fight. But before time return to its proper speed, Tendou suddenly got pulled into another dimension.
xxx
Tendou blinked as he took a glance around him. This was not the same place he had been thrown into when Hiyori and the mimic that had taken his appearance had lived in. This place looked like some of those abandoned factories he used to go to. Why on earth would he ended up over...
Suddenly a wall near him exploded as two people had crashed into the hallway in front of him. Tendou froze as he saw a Worm and... himself? Fighting each other with both being evenly matched. As Tendou watched them fight, both of them had been thrown away from each other as Kabuto's armor become undone. And Tendou watched in surprise to find the Kabuto user not being him.
Before he could make any sense over what he had been seeing, his Hyper Clock Up ended as he returned back to the old mill compound where he and Renge had caught up with Misaki's squad. He undid his armor as Daisuke walked up towards him.
"Hey, thanks for the backup. Haven't expected you to be here this soon." the make-up artist greeted him. Tendou returned the greet unenthusiastically as his thoughts hovered back to the things he had earlier seen.
Who was that man donning the Kabuto armor? What did that scene he saw meant? Was it some kind of alternate world? An alternate dimension?
Tendou Souji pursed his lips in frustration. No matter what answer he was looking for, he doubt that he would get his answers any time soon...
xxx
Sou Yaguruma slipped back into the shadows as he acknowledged the return of Kabuto. Meaning that he would not have to be so chivalrious any more to help those people with the Worms problem unless he himself had been attacked personally. Going back to acting like his old self had been a bit refreshing but that had been because Kageyama was no longer by his side. It was as if he had another reason to start moving on with his life again, instead of hovering off without direction. But that was not important.
Aside from that, a part of him had been bothered by the fact the Worms were returning and there were not enough Riders to fight them.
But considering Tendou Souji had returned, he probably could return to his darkness again, embracing the shadows...
"You looked well... aniki. It's been a long time."
Yaguruma turned towards the voice cautiously to see Kageyama leaning idly beside a tree stump. he frowned.
"It's me, aniki. You're not halucinating... and I'm no worm either."
Yaguruma still eyed him distrustfully as Kageyama stretched his legs.
"It's amazing how a rip in dimension can cause worlds to destabilize. Even allowing the dead another chance at life. But that's another kind of darkness. I see Aniki had embraced the light again."
It had seemed surreal, but hearing Kageyama spoke to him with authority made him want to laugh. It would be another lifetime altogether before Kageyama ever having a higher authority than him. He spat.
"When ever had I return to the world of light? I'm just finishing off the lot of those lowly Worms again, seeing they're up and about again. And what's this rip in dimension you were talking about?"
"Another shadow is approaching this world at rapid speed. Another darkness."
Yaguruma cast a fleeting glance towards Tendou's shadow before smirking. That bastard would probably end up finding out about this later. No, he would definitely gonna do something about it.
"Like I cared. They all looked the same to me. Light or darkness."
He started walking off further before pausing.
"What are you waiting there for? Let's go... aibou."
Kageyama just smiled as he walked quickly to catch up to him.
xxx
Hiyori cast a wry look at Tendou as she gathered her dirty plates to take to the kitchen.
"I thought you said you've made enough food to last Kagami the whole day?"
Tendou shrugged innocently as Hiyori left for the kitchen, while Kagami cast his eyes at him in amusement.
"I had to agree with Hiyori as well. Why did you call me to come here for dinner at the last minute, anyway? The food you've prepared for me earlier could as well last me until tomorrow's morning. I had to keep the rest of them in the fridge!"
"Why not?" Juka chipped into the conversation as she finished the rest of her tofu. "It's been a long time since we had dinner together after all. How's your arm, Kagami-san?"
Kagami shrugged. "It's getting better. Don't you worry your head about it. I'm just keeping it on a sling because moving my arm so often would still hurt. And I rather keep any movements using my left arm to the minimal."
"I'm glad to hear that!" said Juka as she also gathered her dirty dishes to wash at the kitchen.
Kagami turned his attention towards Tendou as he spoke softly.
"So what did you want to see me about?" he asked.
Tendou sighed. "I've finally understood your concerns. The situation does appear to be bad. Also, I had been seeing some certain...stuffs. These strange incidents might have been even worse that what we originally thought. I worry if these incidents continued to get even worse than they are right now."
Kagami turned his attention towards Hiyori as he nodded in understanding.
"I hope it won't get any worse too..."
