More AU thoughts, this one is more uplifting but it’s Showa Rider so obviously not sunshine and rainbows: Basically Hayato was somehow sent back in time to when Hongo first escaped Shocker, and he hears Hongo talking to Midorikawa about how “Will I ever he a human again??” And when Hongo notices Hayato (probably when he goes to the bathroom to wash his face), at first he’s like “Ichimonji?? No, stay back… I’m not…!” But Hayato quickly tells him “I’m the same.” And says he’s gonna work with Hongo and that he isn’t alone. While Hayato isn’t sure what’s going on, he might as well make the best of the situation, that’s how I think he likes to go about things. He saves Midorikawa and so Ruriko doesn’t suspect Hongo is a murderer. Initially Hayato seems to be ahead of Hongo in terms of fighting due to this Hongo not being experienced for obvious reasons, but they still work together like always. Things seem to be going well, Hongo doesn’t feel alone despite the horrors, but things get ugly once Scorpion Man appears. While Hayato is aware of a lot of the kaijins Hongo fought, Hongo never opened up about what happened with Scorpion Man so things get pretty ugly. Unfortunately the incident leads Hongo to believe that Hayato could be working for Shocker too, especially considering he seems to know a suspicious amount about Shocker and his camaraderie just seems too good to be true. And it kinda is, considering this isn’t how the timeline is supposed to go. Hayato is hurt that Hongo is mistrusting him but can’t blame him, so he tells Hongo the truth about the time travel and uses the mind link to prove he isn’t lying.
The AU would end around the time Taki is introduced, where Hayato convinces Hongo to go to the damn wedding. Taki and Tachibana get a proper introduction to Hayato in this timeline before Hongo leaves Japan and they properly say goodbye too, which is good because the way it actually happened in the show is awkward LMAO. Though Hayato is initially sad he can’t just go up to Taki like everything is normal because this Taki doesn’t know him.
There’s more I could explain but I don’t want the ask to get too long LMAO.
So... what happened to the Hayato of the AU's timeline? Because it can't be consciousness travelling back in time when Hayato's body is already modified. Also, will there be a reason why Hongo went to Europe, or the same reason as the show? In my opinion, having the Anti-Shocker alliance would be nice since this is a time-travelling AU where typically characters want things to be better than the first timeline. Gathering advantages via future memories they have to defeat the evil they see.
Other than that, I do like the AU since, in all technicality, these people are not the people Hayato knows. Hayato is caught between reality and memories, and it's quite sad that they're the same people Hayato knows, but they're not the ones he had familiarised himself with. Nostalgic at the beginning, but it ends in yearning for the ones he had built memories with, but at the same time Hayato has been building memories with these people as well. It's the same but not quite. It's hurtful that it can almost blend together, and yet it doesn't mix.
Tachibana, Taki, Goro, the girls, they can all grow to like Hayato as always since that's the only Hayato they'll know, but Hayato? Hayato can only be crushed by learning them again. Heck, he can even get to know them even better than the first timeline! But that doesn't erase his relationship in the first timeline.
Now I'm curious about Hongo since they get together quite swimingly (sans the Scorpio incident lol). Will Hayato be reminded that Hongo is still Hongo, but he isn't the one who saved him. Everyone is frustratingly so similar, and yet the journey of meeting them is so different now.
You get to do things differently, better in this timeline, but Hayato will be haunted with memories of the first. Which begs the question, does Hayato even try to go back to his time? Does he ever wonder how the others are when he suddenly got thrust into time?
On a smaller question, what timeline is Hayato from? Post Kamen Rider 1971 or V3 or any Showa shows? Or during an episode in Kamen Rider?
Sorry for the barrage of questions. Time-travelling AUs are my favourite type of AUs to read. They're just so interesting to read since there are a lot of What-Ifs to do with them.
