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Finally the next chapter. The next one would only be up once I finish watching both Kuuga and Agito, which would be another while.
Title: Rippled Dimensions
Universe: Original, Decade and AR Rider worlds (Heisei Universe)
Fandom: Kamen Rider Decade
Rating: G to PG13
Genre: Supernatural
Summary: Before it all started, before the journey ever begins... strange happenings had started happening in the nine Rider worlds. Once again the nine Kamen Riders have to again take upon their Rider lives in order to save their worlds
A/N: Proofed, but I might miss some.
A/N2: I'm basing this scenario on the fact that I think Kanzaki did not turn back time since he destroyed Odin himself anyway. Instead, I think that both him and Yui actually recreated the past while restoring the life of all the Riders and the people whose life did not perish inside Mirror World. Influenced slightly by Den-O world's concept of life restoration as long as the memory of them still exist. But in this case, Yui and Shiro drew another set of pictures. But instead of Monsters, they were pictures of everyone. (In fact the last picture that Adult!Yui had been drawing, most probably the picture of her, her brother? with Shinji and Ren.
A/N3: Edit for Time.
------------------
At a certain corner at Koen Park in Shibuya, a lone man sat on his stool; not paying attention to the people all around him as he started to do a reading on himself. Considering that no one had approached him for a reading at the time, he thought... why not? But as he lighted a match and later, doing a bit of reading using his coin fortune telling; Tezuka Miyuki wore a deep frown on his face.
The reading he got seemed to be out of place, yet he felt as if the reading was not wrong. It was... in a way, related to him. As well as many others.
Tezuka shook his head over the uncomfortable feeling he had as he rose to his feet to clear his head. Unsuspectingly, he bumped onto another person as he turned to face the young man. He smiled at him.
"Oh, hi! Sorry... I hadn't been looking and I was in a rush... again," said the man who had bumped into him as Tezuka waved the concerns away.
The young man frowned at Tezuka as he continued to stare at him strangely. The young man lowered his voice as he asked Tezuka. "Do I have another bout of bad luck today?"
Tezuka suddenly burst out laughing as Kido Shinji stared at him perplexed.
"T-then, why were you looking at me so strangely?" cried Shinji, feeling uncomfortable at suddenly being laughed at for no reason. Tezuka stopped laughing as he smiled again.
"No, it's nothing like that. I was just wondering if we had known each other before this."
"Of course you did! That time, few years ago... when I accidentally ran into you—you suddenly said something about me having a bad luck and lo! I had tons of it for the rest of the day, thanks to you!"
Tezuka laughed again as he shook his head.
"No, I had a feeling that we had met slightly longer time before that," he said before his expression turned somber. "You..."
Tezuka bit his lips before continuing.
"This may be a bit sudden but I wished you to be careful. I can't explain why... but I had a feeling that something big was going to happen. And this would involve people, including you and me. I just—take care of yourself."
Shinji blinked at the man in front of him before nodding his head. It was sudden but he noticed how the man in front of him had been genuinely worried about him. Somehow, this troubled him.
"O...kay, I'll remember that. You take care of yourself as well," he said before walking away. But no sooner had he left, Shinji turned around towards him.
"Eh, I don't think I've caught your name last time. What's your name? I'm Kido. Kido Shinji!"
Tezuka smiled weakly at him.
"It's Tezuka!" he cried out as Shinji hollered his parting words back at him again before running off. Tezuka frowned as he glanced back towards his coins.
Something is coming, Kido-san.
You and me... and perhaps a few more, might have to make another decision that could change our lives again. What kind of path our fates would take us this time, I wonder...
xxx
Shinji shook his head. For some reason he couldn't shake off Tezuka's words from earlier. Not that he was really a superstitious person, but something about Tezuka's words bothered him. For some reason, he couldn't help feeling that he had to take his words of caution so seriously. He couldn't explain why but somehow, he felt that he should trust Tezuka's words. Strange, to somehow have such strong feeling of trust on someone that he barely knew...
...or was it not?
Shinji frowned. For some reason, after Tezuka had mentioned it—he did realize it as well. That he also had this strange feeling that he had known Tezuka as well, much longer than he thought. What was this feeling? He wasn't a forgetful person, not that much. If he used to be friends with Tezuka in the past, he shouldn't have forgotten him that easily. Not someone like Tezuka.
Suddenly, Shinji recalled that young man he had met that time when he had gone to Atori Cafe the other day, around five or six years ago. It was the same feeling. That time, he had wondered as well whether or not he had known the man before. That person felt so familiar... it couldn't be some coincidence! Come to think, since then... he would also stumble onto some other people and have these mysterious feelings of familiarity. What should these things mean? Was it just a coincidence... or something more?
"You know, seeing Shinji's serious face is so unnatural."
Shinji turned abruptly towards his boss as he exclaimed.
"Chief Editor! W-what did you mean...? And why can't I act serious at times? I'm much older than I used to be when I first joined here!"
Okubo Daisuke looked up to him from his seat as he waved his hand at him.
"You're usually not like this. Do you have a problem... Shinji?"
"Uh... ah! Not exactly—"
"Shinji-kun!"
A sudden ringing sound caught his attention as Shinji turned around to look. But the sound immediately stopped as his ears again heard the nagging voice of his senior and boss. What was that?
He turned around towards Okubo as he frowned.
"Chief Editor, did you hear something just now?"
Said man glared back at him as Shinji turned his attention towards his other colleagues.
"Did any of you called me just now? Shimada... Megumi-san?"
Okubo stood up.
"What are you talking about—honestly, don't change the topic so suddenly—"
"Is there something bothering you, Shinji-kun?" asked Momoi Reiko as Shinji stared at her, bewildered.
"N-no... I—!"
Again as if on cue, the ringing came out again. Shinji glanced around to look for the source of the sound before noticing that he alone inside the office had been able to hear the loud ringing. But why?
Without thinking further, he immediately dashed out of the office to the surprise of his ORE Journal colleagues.
xxx
"Shinji-kun!"
Shinji turned towards the direction of the voice as he faced a glass mirror, noticing the reflection of a young woman before turning around to see no one standing behind him. He frowned as he looked back towards the glass and saw the girl still standing there in the reflection of the mirror.
"How did you—?"
"Shinji-kun. It's been a while—"
"How did you know my name?"
The girl kept quiet as Shinji was left with no answer. Before he could ask again, another shadow appeared behind the girl as he could make out a silhouette of a red dragon. Red dragon?
Shinji turned around to confirm again that there was no girl standing behind him, nor was there any red dragon. Just as he was about to make some sense out of this; suddenly, flashes of images invaded his mind as memories of the past that he could not recall before rushed in like stampede. Immediately, everything came into recognition and he realized the identity of the girl. As well as the name of the red dragon, hovering behind her.
"Dragredder! Ah... Yui-chan!" he cried before looking back towards the glass but Yui has already disappeared. Shinji bit his lips as he looked around him aimlessly.
xxx
Exactly... what happened here?
Shinji shook his head again.
If he had remembered correctly, he had died... years ago. Then what happened after that? Did Yui-chan continued to exist in the Mirror World? How did he return to life? How did Tezuka... some of the others, came back to life? Did Ren won the Rider battle? If he didn't... then who? Did Time turned backwards and restart anew? Had the Past being changed? No. If that was so, how could he still have these memories? How could Yui-chan exist as her adult self? How could... Mirror World still existed if the past had been changed? How could he had continued living since then... while not realizing anything at all? Even now, his memories these few years had been so blurry...
"Aaaaah! I can't understand anymore!" he cried before pausing in his actions.
Megumi-san. How... did she end up being part of ORE Journal? Since when has it been? Originally, it was only much later when Megumi-san had appeared in their life. When Reiko-san had been investigating the Sakura Company... he didn't even met Kitaoka until later that day, much less meeting Megumi-san. And how could he even remember everyone—?
Another ringing sound rang in his ears as Shinji grabbed his head in pain. He turned his attention towards one of the nearby mirror as he spotted a silhouette of a man. He stood up.
"KANZAKI SHIRO! What kind of new scheme are you up to now? Wha—!"
"Calm yourself. There are explanations to everything. Everything should be clear soon."
Shinji snarled at him.
"One thing first, Kanzaki. Tell me one thing! Everything in the past, the Rider Battle; they did happen... right? Both you and Yui-chan should still have some kind of existence in this world! If not, how could everything still—you can't just erase your existences just like that without some kind of consequences! Or... what actually happened? Why Yui-chan suddenly—"
"Those things do not matter now, there is no need for you to know. What's important now is that, Riders like you are needed again. The fate of the future now would depend on you Riders."
Shinji frowned as he recalled Tezuka's words. All of us would have to make a decision that can change our lives again. Was this it? Then, would that mean... everyone—all of them Kamen Riders, would have to fight again? Would the rules be the same as before? Or would it be different?
He glanced back towards Kanzaki Shiro as Shinji made his resolve. Regardless of what kind of decision he would have to make, he should at least hear of what kind of situation he was in first. Even if that means, working for Kanzaki Shiro.
"Then, tell me. What do you want from me?"
xxx
What kind of situation he had been dragged into again now? Somehow, he seemed to always have bad luck with these kinds of things.
Shinji took a u-turn back towards the direction of his workplace; a sudden thought crossed his mind as he came to a decision. Without warning, a car swerved in front of him, almost at the same time as Shinji did when he took the turn. Both stopped just before they could have collided as Shinji got off the bike to get a word with the driver.
"Hey! Watch where you were... driving—"
Shinji paled as he saw the driver's face as well as the passenger before gasping aloud.
"Goro-san!"
The taller man stared at him, puzzled.
"How did you know my name?"
Shinji bit his lips. Ah, in this version of reality... neither of them had known each other yet and there was no reason to. But perhaps, it was for the better.
"Goro-chan, what's the problem?"
"Ah, Kitaoka—"
The lawyer turned his attention towards Shinji as he fidgeted. Ah, he slipped!
"Ah... err... sorry, I... recognized you from the papers! You're Kitaoka Shuichi, right? I'm Kido Shinji... from ORE Journal."
Kitaoka gave him a bored look before turning towards Goro.
"What kind of nonsense... Goro-chan, let's go. It seemed that there wasn't any casualty... and I need to get to work already."
"Yes... sensei..."
Both of them turned towards the car before Shinji grabbed Kitaoka's arm.
"You... is your health okay--never mind that, my bad," Shinji blurted suddenly, before realizing how long time had passed since then. If Kitaoka still had that illness he used to have, he wouldn't be standing here right now.
Kitaoka blinked at him in surprise as he jerked his hand back from Shinji's grasp.
"W-what... so suddenly! Don't jinx me! My health is fine, thank you!"
Shinji couldn't help sighing in relief. Perhaps everyone... including Kitaoka, had been given a new lease on life. To make up for everything that had happened before. Maybe this time, Kitaoka would not have any reason to become a Rider again.
"What about the other Riders?"
"If their powers are needed, then their time would come as well."
Kitaoka didn't seem to have recognized him at all as Shinji recalled his conversation with Kanzaki before. Perhaps, that man had yet to contact Kitaoka. Or maybe, there wasn't any reason for him to fight again. Shinji smiled. Probably this was for the best. He grabbed Kitaoka's hand again as he took out his card and placed it in his hand.
"Ano... this may be a bit sudden but if you needed anything, come to ORE Journal. I might not be as good a journalist as my senior... but we also had a great journalist like Reiko-san. I think you'd like our Reiko-san! I'm sure we would be of some kind of help in your line of work in the future. Um... ja, I'll take my leave now. Sorry for the trouble."
As soon as he said it, Shinji hastily got on his bike and left; leaving the two bewildered men behind him.
Shinji sighed in relief. Somehow, the worries that he had been having earlier... suddenly became something not worth the concern.
xxx
"Goro-chan, don't you think that guy is strange?"
Goro Yura gave a side-glance towards the lawyer sitting across the passenger seat as he shrugged.
"That person seemed to be a nice man."
"Although a bit weird, I have to say," said Kitaoka again as he kept perusing the card Shinji had given him earlier. "Perhaps I will pay a visit to this ORE Journal. I could use some help in improving my reputation to the masses after all. I've been delaying that for far too long, it's not healthy anymore to continue being like this."
He laughed as Goro appeared to also share his opinion on the matter.
"But strange, the fact about me being ill years ago was never revealed to the public. How on earth that person could have known?"
Goro shrugged.
"Regardless, sensei... I'm glad that your illness had been detected much earlier. If you had found out a bit later—"
Kitaoka sighed.
"My chance of recovery could have been almost nothing, you mean? Ah... Goro-chan, aren't you glad that your case had happened AFTER I found out about my illness?"
The other man smiled.
"No matter, I'm still glad that I could at least serve you for even longer time."
Kitaoka sighed again.
"Arara, Goro-chan. Your gratitude was too much for me. Even then, thank you. I can't imagine finding any other bodyguard as well as servant, as good as you."
Goro did not reply. Though, he knew... the man would have said something to compliment the things he had said just now. He couldn't explain why but somehow he felt cheered for some reason. Maybe it had been because of the earlier meeting with this Kido Shinji. He snorted. Perhaps, this was a sign for better things to come?
xxx
"Chief Editor, sorry. I perhaps... might be inconveniencing you a bit more in the future."
Chief Okubo looked up towards the young man as the rest of the staff stared at him in surprise. Shinji tried to cover for his action by acting indifferent but his voice quivered. He was never good at saying goodbyes after all.
"What are you saying, Shinji. What're you up to now?"
Shinji coughed a bit.
"It was something... that I should do. I'm not sure how long I would be away... or how soon I could settle this problem, but I promise I'll return soon."
"Of course you would! What are you saying, Shinji? You sounded as if this was your last goodbye!"
He smiled forcefully as he turned towards the rest of his colleagues. Yes, this was inevitable. But if his actions could save everyone, he would have no regrets to being a Rider again. He bowed to everyone without saying anything before exiting the room. The rest of the staff stared at the closed door as Shimada sighed.
"Aaah, Shinji-kun seemed to have grown up. I suddenly feel so lonely..." she said before Chief Okubo shouted at her from the other side of the office.
xxx
The old mansion still looked the same the last he remembered. Shinji entered the building as he headed upstairs towards the room filled with assortments of mirrors. If there was any place that he could find Kanzaki, this should be the place!
"Kanzaki! Where are you? Come out now!"
"Shinji-kun?"
Shinji turned around when he heard the ringing sound as he found Yui inside one of the mirrors.
"Are you sure you wanted to do this? I don't want to see you having to fight again! You had been so hurt because of this before—"
He smiled.
"It's alright. It's what I have decided. I guess I haven't changed much. Just like last time, I guess I too had a wish that I still wanted to keep. I wanted to protect everyone. As long as I could protect the people I care about from danger, I would keep on fighting as a Kamen Rider for as long as I could. I would have no regrets."
Shinji turned around as he faced Kanzaki, who had been standing behind him for a while.
"That's why, Kanzaki! I would like you to give me my card deck again."
Said man nodded his head as he took out the card deck. Shinji took it deftly before looking up towards him again.
"What about this world? What'll happen once I leave?"
"You do not have to worry about this world or the mirror world. There are still twelve Riders left. They should be enough to protect the two worlds when the destruction would begin here or when monsters from the other worlds would come to destroy this world."
Shinji sighed.
"You're right. I was silly to have worried myself..."
xxx
It was for the best.
Shinji chuckled. His life seemed like an irony. The first time he had decided to become a Rider, it had been purely by chance. He had only reached an answer for his reason to fight, when his life seemed to be on its final struggle. This time, he had chosen to fight again for the same reason but instead of closing the Mirror World, he wanted to save this world he lived in from destruction. It seemed that his life would always involve with him continuing to fight. But at least this time, he knew what it was that he should fight for.
Well, that kind of life didn't seem so bad now. At least he had managed to meet some very good friends.
Shinji gently closed the gates behind him before walking away. But obviously he was not going so far as he bumped into yet another person. When he looked up to apologize to the person, Shinji immediately wanted to cry as he recognized the man.
"Watch where you're going—eh, it's you again! Hey, what are you doing?"
Shinji sniffled as he tried to not look like an idiot to have suddenly burst into tears after meeting again an old friend, who most probably would not have any memory of him at all. But it should be fine, it would have been a lot worse if he had remembered everything. He couldn't believed it that it had been years since they've met. How could he have managed to live not knowing him all this time?
"This makes everyone that I would want to meet again. At least I wouldn't regret so much if there was a possibility of me not returning here again."
Akiyama Ren stared at the person before him in confusion. What kind of madness for someone to have suddenly...!
"Ne, Ren... I know you possibly wouldn't have any recollection whatsoever about me at all but I at least wanted to say something to you. That year... long time ago, had been the best year I've ever had. Certainly a lot of things had happened then; you could say that it had been a horrible year for all of us too. But during those times, I've managed to get to know you, Yui-chan, Tezuka, Kitaoka... those countless other people we met—and we had shared countless precious memories together. Even if some of it had been painful, there were times when we had been happy. Ren, I just wanted to say... I'm glad I had a chance to meet you. Regardless of what may happen in the future, I would always remember you. All of you."
Shinji bowed at him as he contemplated on what else to say but decided to leave it at that.
"Hey, what... what're you talking about? Hey, wait!"
Ren called out towards Shinji as suddenly a mirror-like apparition appeared in front of Shinji. Shinji turned around as he said his final goodbye.
"Oi, wait! Where are you going? Kido!"
Shinji smiled as Ren stared back at him in confusion, puzzled to have suddenly blurted out the name of the stranger without knowing.
"Take care of this world for me with the others. I will continue my fight elsewhere."
With that, he turned towards the mirror-like apparition again before stepping into it. The moment he passed through the apparition, Kido Shinji disappeared from his world completely. Another journey has now started.
-------------------------
A/N4: Uber late matchmaking effort by Shinji. Hmm... and considering most of the clashes between Kitaoka and Reiko had been indirectly related to the Monsters attacks as well as the Riders knowing each other, it should make sense that things would be different with the Monsters not attacking as well as Yui not around and everyone not knowing each other.
Title: Rippled Dimensions
Universe: Original, Decade and AR Rider worlds (Heisei Universe)
Fandom: Kamen Rider Decade
Rating: G to PG13
Genre: Supernatural
Summary: Before it all started, before the journey ever begins... strange happenings had started happening in the nine Rider worlds. Once again the nine Kamen Riders have to again take upon their Rider lives in order to save their worlds
A/N: Proofed, but I might miss some.
A/N2: I'm basing this scenario on the fact that I think Kanzaki did not turn back time since he destroyed Odin himself anyway. Instead, I think that both him and Yui actually recreated the past while restoring the life of all the Riders and the people whose life did not perish inside Mirror World. Influenced slightly by Den-O world's concept of life restoration as long as the memory of them still exist. But in this case, Yui and Shiro drew another set of pictures. But instead of Monsters, they were pictures of everyone. (In fact the last picture that Adult!Yui had been drawing, most probably the picture of her, her brother? with Shinji and Ren.
A/N3: Edit for Time.
------------------
At a certain corner at Koen Park in Shibuya, a lone man sat on his stool; not paying attention to the people all around him as he started to do a reading on himself. Considering that no one had approached him for a reading at the time, he thought... why not? But as he lighted a match and later, doing a bit of reading using his coin fortune telling; Tezuka Miyuki wore a deep frown on his face.
The reading he got seemed to be out of place, yet he felt as if the reading was not wrong. It was... in a way, related to him. As well as many others.
Tezuka shook his head over the uncomfortable feeling he had as he rose to his feet to clear his head. Unsuspectingly, he bumped onto another person as he turned to face the young man. He smiled at him.
"Oh, hi! Sorry... I hadn't been looking and I was in a rush... again," said the man who had bumped into him as Tezuka waved the concerns away.
The young man frowned at Tezuka as he continued to stare at him strangely. The young man lowered his voice as he asked Tezuka. "Do I have another bout of bad luck today?"
Tezuka suddenly burst out laughing as Kido Shinji stared at him perplexed.
"T-then, why were you looking at me so strangely?" cried Shinji, feeling uncomfortable at suddenly being laughed at for no reason. Tezuka stopped laughing as he smiled again.
"No, it's nothing like that. I was just wondering if we had known each other before this."
"Of course you did! That time, few years ago... when I accidentally ran into you—you suddenly said something about me having a bad luck and lo! I had tons of it for the rest of the day, thanks to you!"
Tezuka laughed again as he shook his head.
"No, I had a feeling that we had met slightly longer time before that," he said before his expression turned somber. "You..."
Tezuka bit his lips before continuing.
"This may be a bit sudden but I wished you to be careful. I can't explain why... but I had a feeling that something big was going to happen. And this would involve people, including you and me. I just—take care of yourself."
Shinji blinked at the man in front of him before nodding his head. It was sudden but he noticed how the man in front of him had been genuinely worried about him. Somehow, this troubled him.
"O...kay, I'll remember that. You take care of yourself as well," he said before walking away. But no sooner had he left, Shinji turned around towards him.
"Eh, I don't think I've caught your name last time. What's your name? I'm Kido. Kido Shinji!"
Tezuka smiled weakly at him.
"It's Tezuka!" he cried out as Shinji hollered his parting words back at him again before running off. Tezuka frowned as he glanced back towards his coins.
Something is coming, Kido-san.
You and me... and perhaps a few more, might have to make another decision that could change our lives again. What kind of path our fates would take us this time, I wonder...
xxx
Shinji shook his head. For some reason he couldn't shake off Tezuka's words from earlier. Not that he was really a superstitious person, but something about Tezuka's words bothered him. For some reason, he couldn't help feeling that he had to take his words of caution so seriously. He couldn't explain why but somehow, he felt that he should trust Tezuka's words. Strange, to somehow have such strong feeling of trust on someone that he barely knew...
...or was it not?
Shinji frowned. For some reason, after Tezuka had mentioned it—he did realize it as well. That he also had this strange feeling that he had known Tezuka as well, much longer than he thought. What was this feeling? He wasn't a forgetful person, not that much. If he used to be friends with Tezuka in the past, he shouldn't have forgotten him that easily. Not someone like Tezuka.
Suddenly, Shinji recalled that young man he had met that time when he had gone to Atori Cafe the other day, around five or six years ago. It was the same feeling. That time, he had wondered as well whether or not he had known the man before. That person felt so familiar... it couldn't be some coincidence! Come to think, since then... he would also stumble onto some other people and have these mysterious feelings of familiarity. What should these things mean? Was it just a coincidence... or something more?
"You know, seeing Shinji's serious face is so unnatural."
Shinji turned abruptly towards his boss as he exclaimed.
"Chief Editor! W-what did you mean...? And why can't I act serious at times? I'm much older than I used to be when I first joined here!"
Okubo Daisuke looked up to him from his seat as he waved his hand at him.
"You're usually not like this. Do you have a problem... Shinji?"
"Uh... ah! Not exactly—"
"Shinji-kun!"
A sudden ringing sound caught his attention as Shinji turned around to look. But the sound immediately stopped as his ears again heard the nagging voice of his senior and boss. What was that?
He turned around towards Okubo as he frowned.
"Chief Editor, did you hear something just now?"
Said man glared back at him as Shinji turned his attention towards his other colleagues.
"Did any of you called me just now? Shimada... Megumi-san?"
Okubo stood up.
"What are you talking about—honestly, don't change the topic so suddenly—"
"Is there something bothering you, Shinji-kun?" asked Momoi Reiko as Shinji stared at her, bewildered.
"N-no... I—!"
Again as if on cue, the ringing came out again. Shinji glanced around to look for the source of the sound before noticing that he alone inside the office had been able to hear the loud ringing. But why?
Without thinking further, he immediately dashed out of the office to the surprise of his ORE Journal colleagues.
xxx
"Shinji-kun!"
Shinji turned towards the direction of the voice as he faced a glass mirror, noticing the reflection of a young woman before turning around to see no one standing behind him. He frowned as he looked back towards the glass and saw the girl still standing there in the reflection of the mirror.
"How did you—?"
"Shinji-kun. It's been a while—"
"How did you know my name?"
The girl kept quiet as Shinji was left with no answer. Before he could ask again, another shadow appeared behind the girl as he could make out a silhouette of a red dragon. Red dragon?
Shinji turned around to confirm again that there was no girl standing behind him, nor was there any red dragon. Just as he was about to make some sense out of this; suddenly, flashes of images invaded his mind as memories of the past that he could not recall before rushed in like stampede. Immediately, everything came into recognition and he realized the identity of the girl. As well as the name of the red dragon, hovering behind her.
"Dragredder! Ah... Yui-chan!" he cried before looking back towards the glass but Yui has already disappeared. Shinji bit his lips as he looked around him aimlessly.
xxx
Exactly... what happened here?
Shinji shook his head again.
If he had remembered correctly, he had died... years ago. Then what happened after that? Did Yui-chan continued to exist in the Mirror World? How did he return to life? How did Tezuka... some of the others, came back to life? Did Ren won the Rider battle? If he didn't... then who? Did Time turned backwards and restart anew? Had the Past being changed? No. If that was so, how could he still have these memories? How could Yui-chan exist as her adult self? How could... Mirror World still existed if the past had been changed? How could he had continued living since then... while not realizing anything at all? Even now, his memories these few years had been so blurry...
"Aaaaah! I can't understand anymore!" he cried before pausing in his actions.
Megumi-san. How... did she end up being part of ORE Journal? Since when has it been? Originally, it was only much later when Megumi-san had appeared in their life. When Reiko-san had been investigating the Sakura Company... he didn't even met Kitaoka until later that day, much less meeting Megumi-san. And how could he even remember everyone—?
Another ringing sound rang in his ears as Shinji grabbed his head in pain. He turned his attention towards one of the nearby mirror as he spotted a silhouette of a man. He stood up.
"KANZAKI SHIRO! What kind of new scheme are you up to now? Wha—!"
"Calm yourself. There are explanations to everything. Everything should be clear soon."
Shinji snarled at him.
"One thing first, Kanzaki. Tell me one thing! Everything in the past, the Rider Battle; they did happen... right? Both you and Yui-chan should still have some kind of existence in this world! If not, how could everything still—you can't just erase your existences just like that without some kind of consequences! Or... what actually happened? Why Yui-chan suddenly—"
"Those things do not matter now, there is no need for you to know. What's important now is that, Riders like you are needed again. The fate of the future now would depend on you Riders."
Shinji frowned as he recalled Tezuka's words. All of us would have to make a decision that can change our lives again. Was this it? Then, would that mean... everyone—all of them Kamen Riders, would have to fight again? Would the rules be the same as before? Or would it be different?
He glanced back towards Kanzaki Shiro as Shinji made his resolve. Regardless of what kind of decision he would have to make, he should at least hear of what kind of situation he was in first. Even if that means, working for Kanzaki Shiro.
"Then, tell me. What do you want from me?"
xxx
What kind of situation he had been dragged into again now? Somehow, he seemed to always have bad luck with these kinds of things.
Shinji took a u-turn back towards the direction of his workplace; a sudden thought crossed his mind as he came to a decision. Without warning, a car swerved in front of him, almost at the same time as Shinji did when he took the turn. Both stopped just before they could have collided as Shinji got off the bike to get a word with the driver.
"Hey! Watch where you were... driving—"
Shinji paled as he saw the driver's face as well as the passenger before gasping aloud.
"Goro-san!"
The taller man stared at him, puzzled.
"How did you know my name?"
Shinji bit his lips. Ah, in this version of reality... neither of them had known each other yet and there was no reason to. But perhaps, it was for the better.
"Goro-chan, what's the problem?"
"Ah, Kitaoka—"
The lawyer turned his attention towards Shinji as he fidgeted. Ah, he slipped!
"Ah... err... sorry, I... recognized you from the papers! You're Kitaoka Shuichi, right? I'm Kido Shinji... from ORE Journal."
Kitaoka gave him a bored look before turning towards Goro.
"What kind of nonsense... Goro-chan, let's go. It seemed that there wasn't any casualty... and I need to get to work already."
"Yes... sensei..."
Both of them turned towards the car before Shinji grabbed Kitaoka's arm.
"You... is your health okay--never mind that, my bad," Shinji blurted suddenly, before realizing how long time had passed since then. If Kitaoka still had that illness he used to have, he wouldn't be standing here right now.
Kitaoka blinked at him in surprise as he jerked his hand back from Shinji's grasp.
"W-what... so suddenly! Don't jinx me! My health is fine, thank you!"
Shinji couldn't help sighing in relief. Perhaps everyone... including Kitaoka, had been given a new lease on life. To make up for everything that had happened before. Maybe this time, Kitaoka would not have any reason to become a Rider again.
"What about the other Riders?"
"If their powers are needed, then their time would come as well."
Kitaoka didn't seem to have recognized him at all as Shinji recalled his conversation with Kanzaki before. Perhaps, that man had yet to contact Kitaoka. Or maybe, there wasn't any reason for him to fight again. Shinji smiled. Probably this was for the best. He grabbed Kitaoka's hand again as he took out his card and placed it in his hand.
"Ano... this may be a bit sudden but if you needed anything, come to ORE Journal. I might not be as good a journalist as my senior... but we also had a great journalist like Reiko-san. I think you'd like our Reiko-san! I'm sure we would be of some kind of help in your line of work in the future. Um... ja, I'll take my leave now. Sorry for the trouble."
As soon as he said it, Shinji hastily got on his bike and left; leaving the two bewildered men behind him.
Shinji sighed in relief. Somehow, the worries that he had been having earlier... suddenly became something not worth the concern.
xxx
"Goro-chan, don't you think that guy is strange?"
Goro Yura gave a side-glance towards the lawyer sitting across the passenger seat as he shrugged.
"That person seemed to be a nice man."
"Although a bit weird, I have to say," said Kitaoka again as he kept perusing the card Shinji had given him earlier. "Perhaps I will pay a visit to this ORE Journal. I could use some help in improving my reputation to the masses after all. I've been delaying that for far too long, it's not healthy anymore to continue being like this."
He laughed as Goro appeared to also share his opinion on the matter.
"But strange, the fact about me being ill years ago was never revealed to the public. How on earth that person could have known?"
Goro shrugged.
"Regardless, sensei... I'm glad that your illness had been detected much earlier. If you had found out a bit later—"
Kitaoka sighed.
"My chance of recovery could have been almost nothing, you mean? Ah... Goro-chan, aren't you glad that your case had happened AFTER I found out about my illness?"
The other man smiled.
"No matter, I'm still glad that I could at least serve you for even longer time."
Kitaoka sighed again.
"Arara, Goro-chan. Your gratitude was too much for me. Even then, thank you. I can't imagine finding any other bodyguard as well as servant, as good as you."
Goro did not reply. Though, he knew... the man would have said something to compliment the things he had said just now. He couldn't explain why but somehow he felt cheered for some reason. Maybe it had been because of the earlier meeting with this Kido Shinji. He snorted. Perhaps, this was a sign for better things to come?
xxx
"Chief Editor, sorry. I perhaps... might be inconveniencing you a bit more in the future."
Chief Okubo looked up towards the young man as the rest of the staff stared at him in surprise. Shinji tried to cover for his action by acting indifferent but his voice quivered. He was never good at saying goodbyes after all.
"What are you saying, Shinji. What're you up to now?"
Shinji coughed a bit.
"It was something... that I should do. I'm not sure how long I would be away... or how soon I could settle this problem, but I promise I'll return soon."
"Of course you would! What are you saying, Shinji? You sounded as if this was your last goodbye!"
He smiled forcefully as he turned towards the rest of his colleagues. Yes, this was inevitable. But if his actions could save everyone, he would have no regrets to being a Rider again. He bowed to everyone without saying anything before exiting the room. The rest of the staff stared at the closed door as Shimada sighed.
"Aaah, Shinji-kun seemed to have grown up. I suddenly feel so lonely..." she said before Chief Okubo shouted at her from the other side of the office.
xxx
The old mansion still looked the same the last he remembered. Shinji entered the building as he headed upstairs towards the room filled with assortments of mirrors. If there was any place that he could find Kanzaki, this should be the place!
"Kanzaki! Where are you? Come out now!"
"Shinji-kun?"
Shinji turned around when he heard the ringing sound as he found Yui inside one of the mirrors.
"Are you sure you wanted to do this? I don't want to see you having to fight again! You had been so hurt because of this before—"
He smiled.
"It's alright. It's what I have decided. I guess I haven't changed much. Just like last time, I guess I too had a wish that I still wanted to keep. I wanted to protect everyone. As long as I could protect the people I care about from danger, I would keep on fighting as a Kamen Rider for as long as I could. I would have no regrets."
Shinji turned around as he faced Kanzaki, who had been standing behind him for a while.
"That's why, Kanzaki! I would like you to give me my card deck again."
Said man nodded his head as he took out the card deck. Shinji took it deftly before looking up towards him again.
"What about this world? What'll happen once I leave?"
"You do not have to worry about this world or the mirror world. There are still twelve Riders left. They should be enough to protect the two worlds when the destruction would begin here or when monsters from the other worlds would come to destroy this world."
Shinji sighed.
"You're right. I was silly to have worried myself..."
xxx
It was for the best.
Shinji chuckled. His life seemed like an irony. The first time he had decided to become a Rider, it had been purely by chance. He had only reached an answer for his reason to fight, when his life seemed to be on its final struggle. This time, he had chosen to fight again for the same reason but instead of closing the Mirror World, he wanted to save this world he lived in from destruction. It seemed that his life would always involve with him continuing to fight. But at least this time, he knew what it was that he should fight for.
Well, that kind of life didn't seem so bad now. At least he had managed to meet some very good friends.
Shinji gently closed the gates behind him before walking away. But obviously he was not going so far as he bumped into yet another person. When he looked up to apologize to the person, Shinji immediately wanted to cry as he recognized the man.
"Watch where you're going—eh, it's you again! Hey, what are you doing?"
Shinji sniffled as he tried to not look like an idiot to have suddenly burst into tears after meeting again an old friend, who most probably would not have any memory of him at all. But it should be fine, it would have been a lot worse if he had remembered everything. He couldn't believed it that it had been years since they've met. How could he have managed to live not knowing him all this time?
"This makes everyone that I would want to meet again. At least I wouldn't regret so much if there was a possibility of me not returning here again."
Akiyama Ren stared at the person before him in confusion. What kind of madness for someone to have suddenly...!
"Ne, Ren... I know you possibly wouldn't have any recollection whatsoever about me at all but I at least wanted to say something to you. That year... long time ago, had been the best year I've ever had. Certainly a lot of things had happened then; you could say that it had been a horrible year for all of us too. But during those times, I've managed to get to know you, Yui-chan, Tezuka, Kitaoka... those countless other people we met—and we had shared countless precious memories together. Even if some of it had been painful, there were times when we had been happy. Ren, I just wanted to say... I'm glad I had a chance to meet you. Regardless of what may happen in the future, I would always remember you. All of you."
Shinji bowed at him as he contemplated on what else to say but decided to leave it at that.
"Hey, what... what're you talking about? Hey, wait!"
Ren called out towards Shinji as suddenly a mirror-like apparition appeared in front of Shinji. Shinji turned around as he said his final goodbye.
"Oi, wait! Where are you going? Kido!"
Shinji smiled as Ren stared back at him in confusion, puzzled to have suddenly blurted out the name of the stranger without knowing.
"Take care of this world for me with the others. I will continue my fight elsewhere."
With that, he turned towards the mirror-like apparition again before stepping into it. The moment he passed through the apparition, Kido Shinji disappeared from his world completely. Another journey has now started.
-------------------------
A/N4: Uber late matchmaking effort by Shinji. Hmm... and considering most of the clashes between Kitaoka and Reiko had been indirectly related to the Monsters attacks as well as the Riders knowing each other, it should make sense that things would be different with the Monsters not attacking as well as Yui not around and everyone not knowing each other.
