The light crashing of the beach’s waves were rather predictable. He walked onward, making sure that he stayed far enough from the tide to remain undisturbed. However,the water strayed from its formerly constant path, surprising the swordsman when it encompassed his path.
Stepping to the side rather hastily was perhaps an overreaction as most of the other citizens remained moving. Needless to say, he became slightly defensive when he noticed someone looking at him.
Keisuke looked at the messages on his phone. Urataros had sent them a while ago. He really meant to respond, but he had still been recovering from pushing his body to the limit. There was also the fight with his alternate that had only delayed his healing. But, he meant to respond to the messages.
At least, he had until the second set arrived.
Every time he looked at those messages, he had to turn off the screen. He couldn’t bear their contents. That was a surprise to him. He had no idea the double had not only killed Urataros but also beaten Ryuusei. The young Rider felt a knife stab his heart when he read that message.
His fingers trembled as he opened a new text and typed in Ryuusei’s name.
To: Ryuusei Sakuta
From: Keisuke Jin
He stared at the blank screen. What could he say? Did Ryuusei know it wasn’t him? Could Keisuke prove it wasn’t him? He had no idea.
[1/?] Sakuta-kun, It’s Jin.
[2/?] I apologize for not contacting you earlier.
[3/?] I want you to know I didn’t do it.
He paused. was this really what he wanted to say? He erased the text he’d written and stared at the screen again. He couldn’t imagine wanting to associate with him again. Not after something like that happened. It didn’t matter if he wasn’t the culprit or not.
Maybe it’d be easier to write to Urataros.
To: Urataros
From: Keisuke JIn
[1/?] I’d love to
No. He immediately deleted that. It was simple over text to tell the man who looked like your murderer (how did that even work anyway? Did people never truly die in the city?) that it was alright. That you didn’t blame them. You weren’t saying that to their face. Just to a screen, really.
Keisuke sighed and took a sip of his coffee. He closed the texting screen.
A few days later, Keisuke opened the texting screen. He sat at the desk in his hut. The unused computer that only collected dust reflected his features on the black monitor. Keisuke, again, stared at the screen, thinking of what he could write.
To: Ryuusei Sakuta
From: Keisuke Jin
[1/?] How are you doing?
[2/?] I stayed the night in one of the parks in Sector 6 to look at the stars
[3/?] I saw a shooting star and thought of you.
He held down the delete button and watched the text disappear. He hung his head and curled his hands into fists on the table. He felt horrible and it wasn’t even his fault. He could only imagine that even seeing his name could trigger unpleasant memories.
The kaizorg really wouldn’t blame Ryuusei if he hated him. After just seeing that text...
Keisuke’s familiar feelings of self-hatred only steadily grew. He hated his alternate and he hated himself. He couldn’t stop what happened to either friend.
He closed the texting screen once again.
To: Urataros
From: Keisuke Jin
[1/?]
He didn’t even bother typing anything out. He’d tried to find the right words. The Rider truly did. They just never made themselves known to him. He closed the screen.
To: Ryuusei Sakuta
From: Keisuke Jin
[1/?] I saw a poster about the Kamen Rider Club
[2/?] I didn’t know you knew any Riders
[3/?] I didn’t know there were any outside of Urataros
The text slowly disappeared with a single hold of the button. He found he couldn’t even bring himself to search for the best cute face in all of these texts he never sent. There was just so much he couldn’t bring himself to do these days.
To: Ryuusei Sakuta
From: Keisuke Jin
[1/?] I’m sorry.
Keisuke stared at the screen, deleted the message, and pocketed the phone.
To: Ryuusei Sakuta
From: Keisuke Jin
[1/1] It’s okay if you hate me. I understand completely. (╯︵╰,)
His thumb hovered over the send button. The kaizorg was caught in a debate as to whether or not he should send it off. His thumb was so close to tapping the button. And then it hit before he could stop himself.
His eyes widened in fear as he saw text enter the conversation part of the screen. Keisuke couldn’t take it back. Deleting it from his phone wouldn’t delete it from Ryuusei’s. He couldn’t take it back.
Well, Keisuke didn’t expect a response from the youth, anyway.
It hasn't even been a day since Aya stepped into the Hive, but she'd already found a big scoop-hell, the scoop of her lifetime. A golden opputurnity to start her carreer in this new, unfamiliar and disturbingly modern place, something that caught her interest more than anything in the present.
She had heard that there was a brand new club of heroes-at least that was what the rumours said, which were soon confirmed by the flyers stuck all over the city. The information provided was more than enough for her to start an in depth research and there was no reason for her to wait, the sooner she took action, the better. The first step would be taking a look at their headquarters... if she can get in, that is. Since they were supposedly mysterious, powerful people (at least in her mind, most likely to be something even more outrageous in her report) their place must be somewhere fancy and hard to enter too-she was overjoyed but also a tad bit disappoint when the address lead her to a completely ordinary house. Happy, because she had no trouble casually blowing the lock up with a little stream of danmaku and waltz in without any trouble. Disappoint because the place obviously didn't live up to her expectations but hey, Gensokyo's hero lived in an old, beat-up shrine. No need to judge a book by its cover.
"It's your friendly neighborhood reporter Aya Shameimaru! Today I'll be interviewing the amazing, wicked cool defenders of the universe and--"
She paused her speech when she spotted the young man who'd just walked in, and quickly brought her camera up to take a photo, her expression twisting into a wide grin. He must be one of them if he's living there, though he didn't really look... hero-ish? Maybe it was a disguise, or perhaps he was a sidekick? Well, it was time to find out.
"...There's one of them up and ready for an interview! A 'Kamen Rider'- or are you? You don't look like a hero at all, mister~"
Gentarou was feeling at his worst. It had been almost 2 weeks since it happened, since he carried that limp body all the way to the park. 2 weeks since he dug that hole in the ground. 2 weeks since he walked back home with his driver. 2 weeks he had spent with the Meteor switch in his pocket. He clicked it on, and then off again. He wasn’t sure if it would do anything. He just knew it helped. He started carrying a bag with him, the Meteor driver inside of it. He kept thinking Ryuusei would show up at any time to get it back, so he wanted to make sure he had it when it happened. If it happened. Some days Gentarou would go back out to the spot where he buried him, hoping to find an empty hole. That was never the case. As the days went by, Gentarou would text him, frequently. He’d update him on his day, let him know what new friends he made, if he’d like them or not. He’d always make sure his phone’s volume was up, just in case Ryuusei ever answered. He could befriend the whole city at this point but it wouldn’t be enough if Ryuusei wasn’t in it. Some days Gentarou wouldn’t even leave bed. He’d take a day to himself to watch the television, and try to take his mind off of it. It never worked. He had enlisted in clean up efforts, using his Fourze powers to try and clean up the city after the alternate hive had attacked. It would be easier if Meteor was there.
Gentarou had taken another day to himself. They were becoming a bit more frequent now. He glared down at his phone, hoping for some sort of response. He’d spent 2 weeks just hoping. He refreshed his text messages again, no luck. He tossed the phone around in the air, catching it as it came back down. He sat up from his bed, looking over to the bathroom door. He had to shower at some point, he guessed. Gentarou rose, making his way into the bathroom. Once in, he began to slip his sleeping clothes off, and let the hot water run down into the tub. He kept his phone by him at all times, so he set it onto the sink, just in case. He stepped inside, the water running it’s way down his body, and he sunk down with the water, sitting on the floor of the shower. He thought about him again. He thought about how cold he felt in his hands. How limp he was. More water went down his face now, except instead of the source being the shower head it was his tear ducts. Gentarou thought if he’d cry anywhere it might as well be in here. After a few minutes of light sobbing, the water had soothed Gentarou a bit, the warmth spreading through him, and steam rising up from his body and the floor of the tub. Gentarou did a quick wash and rose from the steamy porcelain tub, grabbing a towel from the nearby rack and drying himself lazily. He threw on a pair of boxers he had brought in with him to change, and that’s when he heard it. The phone. It was making a noise. Sure, it could of been anyone else in the Hive, but he had to be safe. He picked up the phone, and his heart almost stopped. His fingers tightened on the phone, and all feeling seemed to leave his body. It was him. He had responded. Ryuusei’s name read across the screen, and 183 messages later, he had responded.
“I’m here”, read the text message. He wasn’t sure if someone had found his phone and decided to play a cruel joke, or if this was really truly him. He began to panic, and threw the towel around his neck, and burst back into his room to get fully dressed. He was prepared to search the city up and down for his friend. His best friend. He had to be out there. He would need the Meteor driver from off the shelf in his room as well. As he came in, he nearly had a heart attack. His heart was taking too many blows today. His eyes widened, and tears began to dwell within them. He dropped the towel and phone straight onto the floor when he saw the man in his room. Right there, it was him. Ryuusei. Ryuusei was standing no more than 5 feet away from him. He was eyeing the shelf that had the Meteor driver on it. Gentarou’s 2 week long frown instantly turned to a smile, and he spoke out to Ryuusei.
“I was keeping it for you, I... I had a feeling you’d want it back.”, Gentarou informed him, noticing he startled him. Ryuusei turned slowly and they locked eyes. Gentarou felt like Ryuusei had seen a ghost from the way his face was. “It’s really you...”, Gentarou said, walking up to Ryuusei, unable to believe he was standing right here in front of him. Just like before. He waited for the boy to respond, hoping he wasn’t in shock.
Keisuke adjusted the cuffs of his jacket as he walked. He’d taken care to keep any blood from splattering on the suit or himself with each encounter he made. Many people in that Hive were so frail compared to his own. It was almost laughable how easily they fell to his hand.
Although, he really couldn’t complain too much. Many members of the militia were so fragile. A simple tap from him would cause them harm.
He examined the city street he found himself on. It wasn’t as calm as he wished. There were still people. People who threatened everything he worked for by existing.
His hands curled into fists as he approached one of them. A human teenager, from the look of it. But that could be deceiving. He hadn’t aged the last twenty years since becoming a kaizorg. Some people just aged well, too. That was what his Urataros had reminded him.
This would be an easy target, it seemed. Young, likely human. So easy to kill.
Keisuke smirked. Oh how he would enjoy slaying this boy.
The youth seemed to have noticed his approach. His smile grew. It almost looked genuine if one wasn’t looking closely. The others in his path didn’t have many abilities if at all. They died too quickly and couldn’t use them even if they existed. It was almost a disappointment. Maybe the youth would have something more up his sleeve.
If he didn’t die as fast as the others. Keisuke held onto the hope that something in this other Hive would be a challenge, even if it came from a face as young as that boy’s.
“Shouldn’t you be inside where it’s safer?” he asked. “It’s rather dangerous on the streets right now, you know.”
[1/4]Sakuta-kun, I have discovered this feature for community. Communication. I do not know entirely how it works yet and would appreciative. Appreciate guidance. Do you know how to work this type of technology?
[2/4]If so, could you meet with me to figure this out? I keep activating the camera without meaning to in my pocket.
[3/4][attachedimage.jpg]
[4/4]I am so sorry I did not mean to send you that photo. How did I do that?
