Love Live and Kamen Rider

"Oh, power, is it? Once you have power, you can do whatever you want. What a truly infatuated way of putting it."

"That's not what I meant! If I had power, I could better protect my companions!"

"Protect, hmph! Does that thought of protection even exist in your heart anymore?"

Takai Geki retorted, "It does, it always has. It hasn't vanished since the moment I obtained the Spirit."

"Oh? Then how do you view the word 'Kamen Rider'?" the figure in the black robe asked with a faint chuckle.

"I don't know how to view it, but I do know that an excellent Kamen Rider must protect the things they cherish. If one cannot even protect what is most important to them, then they have no qualification to be a Kamen Rider! But right now, I..."

Seeing Takai Geki's dejected state, the eyes of the figure in the black robe revealed heartache, worry, and a sense of frustration at his lack of progress, but it was masked a moment later, unnoticed by Takai Geki. He then raised his wooden sword and struck Takai Geki heavily on the forehead.

"Power is something earned through effort, not something you gain by wallowing in self-pity like this. I imagine the power of Divine was also exchanged for great sacrifice. If you continue to be this despondent, you will never obtain power, and those thoughts of protection will remain nothing more than a mirage, existing only in your fantasies."

After saying this, he threw something from his robe. It was shaped like a pentagram and covered in strange markings, but it looked as unremarkable as a piece of cheap street-stall merchandise, as if it were sealed away and impossible to read.

"This is something someone entrusted me to bring to you. I hope that talk of protection isn't just empty words; otherwise, you might as well give up the Spirit yourself."

With that, he turned and walked out of the wooden hut.

"Wait."

Takai Geki, who had fallen to the ground, picked up the Star Disk and rushed out of the hut, but there was no one in sight. Takai Geki stared at the Star Disk in his hand, lost in thought.

The next morning, Takai Geki went for his usual morning jog to warm up. The difference was that he no longer felt that sense of confusion and anxiety. With a clear goal in mind, the path ahead had finally appeared.

"That guy was right. Power is earned through one's own efforts; pursuing it too obsessively might cause you to lose your original intent. I think that little girl meant the same thing, too. Even though her fortune-telling posture wasn't very reliable, it was surprisingly accurate."

As he passed a corner, Takai Geki ran into a small grove. At first, it felt cool, but gradually, it became as chilly as a winter morning.

"No, it's that guy."

Recalling the enemy that had injured him last time, Takai Geki immediately became vigilant, simultaneously linking his consciousness to his Transformation Device, ready to face the enemy at any moment. As he approached a lake, Takai Geki saw the sprite from before. Its water-blue figure floated up and down, surrounded by shimmering ice crystals. A scene straight out of a fairy tale appeared before Takai Geki. But as he approached, the sprite noticed him.

"Oh, the loser from last time. What, you're not convinced? You want to fight me again? Let me tell you, this young lady is the strongest."

As she spoke, ice crystals appeared around the sprite, as if to highlight her own strength.

"What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing? Sunbathing!"

"Sun... sunbathing?"

Hearing the reply, Takai Geki looked blank, though he also noticed the sprite's tone, which felt just like a child's.

"Yeah! Are you an idiot? You can't even tell something so simple!"

"I couldn't tell. The ice crystals on you make it seem like you wouldn't like the sun."

"Ha! You really are an idiot. Just because I have ice crystals doesn't mean I don't like the sun! Don't you think ice crystals look beautiful under the sun? Just how stupid are you to think I don't like the sun?"

Although the sprite was just a mass of water-blue, unidentified energy, Takai Geki felt as if he were being looked at with the gaze reserved for an idiot. However, as they talked, Takai Geki felt that the sprite's nature wasn't bad, and she really was just like a child.

Perhaps this isn't a mlortha, but some other kind of creature. It's also possible it's a creature from the world of another senior Kamen Rider. I'll ask Philip when I have the time.

Thinking this, Takai Geki relaxed quite a bit and said to the sprite, "You're a bit conspicuous like this. Can you change your appearance? It would be best if you looked like us humans. By the way, can you tell me your name?"

The sprite thought for a moment and agreed that her current form wasn't very suitable for playing.

"The guy who was defeated wants to admire me too? Fine! I'll tell you this young lady's name! Tremble before my name! I am Cirno!"

As the sprite spoke, she landed on the ground, and the light around her dimmed. Then, a little girl emerged from the water-blue body. Her hair and eyes were blue, she wore a blue top, a beige short skirt, a small hat on her head, and a large blue ribbon tied at the back of her head.

As Cirno transformed into a human, Takai Geki no longer felt that the little girl before him was some strange entity. All his vigilance was thrown into outer space; he felt as if he weren't looking at a girl, but an angel—a beautiful angel.

"This is an angel! Being alive is truly wonderful!"

As he finished speaking, a violent fountain of blood erupted from Takai Geki's nose, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious, a silly grin still plastered on his face.

"Ugh, he actually fainted from excitement! I really am the strongest!"

The little girl said, hands on her hips, chest puffed out, looking incredibly proud.

A Heart Moving Forward (5) (Submitted by reader Yuan Yi Xin Fei)

(Weather Tips: The following are all parallel timelines created by readers and have nothing to do with the main text. Of course, the base stats for the Kamen Rider were provided by me (〃?〃)ゞ)

"You're awake."

Hearing a crisp, loli-like voice, Takai Geki woke up from his faint. "Was that just a dream? If it was a dream, I really want to keep having it."

"What kind of nonsense are you muttering, idiot?"

"Am I having auditory hallucinations? How wonderful."

As he said this, Takai Geki looked toward the source of the voice. His chaotic brain instantly cleared, and two streams of nosebleed erupted once again.

"The angel actually came out of my dream to see me."

He finished with a silly, chuckling grin. Watching Takai Geki like this, Cirno gathered blue water elements in her hand, then delivered a palm strike from above, slapping it onto Takai Geki's face, forcing him to wake up once more.

"I guessed that admiring me would be exciting, but aren't you taking it a bit too far?"

Cirno furrowed her brows, her small face filled with suspicion.

"No, no, no, not at all! Loli—ah, no, Lady Cirno, your figure is peerless and beautiful. Combined with your powerful strength, it is truly like a legend. You have completely conquered me; admiring your noble countenance is a gift to me! Submitting to you is my honor! Please, let me follow by your side! Hehehe~"

"Really? Really? Hahaha, I am the strongest! But even the strongest existence needs followers. It's decided then: from now on, you are my servant. Feel honored to be under my radiance! Hahahaha~"

After saying this, Cirno placed her hands on her hips and burst into loud laughter.

Phew, that's great. This way, I can keep a close eye on her. If anything happens, I can stop it in time. At the same time, I can gaze at her youthful figure every day and listen to that heavenly voice. Hehehe~

Thinking this, Takai Geki once again fell into his fantasies.

"But servant, your strength is truly pathetic. If you don't get stronger, I'll feel embarrassed when we go out! So, come with me."

She finished speaking and walked toward the outside of the forest.

"Uh, pathetic? I've been looked down upon. It seems I need to prove myself."

Following that, he walked out of the forest with Cirno.

Please provide the text you would like me to revise. Once you paste the content, I will ensure it is translated into natural, punchy English while strictly adhering to your formatting constraints.

He followed Cirno to an open space.

"Stupid servant, show me your power!"

Alright, this time I'll conquer you, Takai Geki thought as he linked to his Transformation Device and inserted a card into the slot.

"Manifest—Transform."

"Armor Manifest—Equip—White Tiger."

Following the mechanical synthesized voice, a silver-white warrior appeared on the spot. As the spirit energy gathered, the faint sound of a tiger's roar echoed.

"Hmm, the look is not bad. You have the qualifications to be my servant. Now, try attacking me."

"What?"

Hearing this, Takai Geki's aura leaked out, and the tiger's roar vanished along with it.

"Didn't you hear me? I told you to attack me, stupid servant."

spirit looked at Cirno's body and suddenly felt very awkward.

"Um, could you change your appearance? Like this, it feels a bit..."

spirit scratched his head with his right hand, unable to finish the sentence.

"Ha, what a hassle."

After Cirno spoke, blue light flickered on her body, and her form began to change. When the light faded, Cirno's appearance stood before spirit.

"Is this okay?"

"Although this isn't much different from before, if I pay attention, it's manageable."

After speaking, spirit struck an attack pose, though it didn't look like an attack at all. He threw a right punch, but as he neared Cirno, an Ice Shield appeared to block the strike, and he was knocked back by the energy gathered in Cirno's hand. As he was pushed back, spirit reset his stance. Knowing that his opponent wouldn't be hurt by his current level of power, he began to get serious.

"That's more like it. If you aren't serious, I'll kick you out of your position as my servant!"

As spirit readjusted, he rushed toward Cirno again and threw a right punch, but this time, the fist was wrapped in swirling winds, boosting his speed and power. The punch shattered the Ice Shield, and the wind pressure from the fist surged toward Cirno, but she blocked it easily. Seeing his attack was ineffective, spirit raised his leg to kick at Cirno's waist. Cirno stepped back, dodging the attack. Seeing this, spirit pushed off with both legs, tiger claws popped out from his gauntlets, and he charged at Cirno like a fierce tiger, his hands waving in a blur of afterimages. Cirno gathered an Ice Shield to defend again. Seeing this, spirit bent his knees, leaped into the air, and performed a flying kick at Cirno. Cirno easily jumped backward, avoiding the kick. The round of attacks had been effortless for her, but spirit was already panting.

"Is that all? You shouldn't be this weak."

"Ah, no, not at all. Next, I'm going for real."

He finished speaking and took out a weapon card, inserting it into the slot.

"Weapon Manifest—Steel Fang Blade."

Then, a silver-white ancient broadsword appeared in spirit's hand. He gripped the blade with both hands, focused his energy into his dantian, and swung it heavily toward Cirno with great momentum. The Steel Fang Blade sent a shockwave toward Cirno, and gusts of wind followed the blade's energy. Cirno furrowed her brows, gathering cold air in front of her. Blue energy formed in her hands and condensed into an ice blade that rushed to meet the attack. Unlike the massive momentum of spirit's blade, the blue ice blade merely neutralized the powerful impact in the center and vanished, while the hurricane formed by the blade's aura blew past Cirno, leaving her completely unharmed.

"I'm coming with my strongest strike now. You'd better be careful."

Seeing the attack was ineffective, he took out his finishing move card and inserted it.

"Weapon Finisher—Energy Charge—Fierce Tyrant Slash."

As silver light flickered on the weapon, tiger roars echoed to intimidate the enemy. With spirit's slash, the light combined with the roar to form a white tiger, which pounced toward Cirno like a beast descending a mountain. Seeing this, Cirno didn't move, standing there as if she had been frightened silly.

"Dodge it, you idiot!"

But Cirno only glanced at him before being hit by the attack, her body dissolving into a mist of ice. Seeing this, spirit could only extend his right hand before letting it drop powerlessly. He knelt on the ground, pounding it hard with his fist.

"What are you doing?"

At that moment, a voice came from behind. spirit looked up, excited. The ice mist in the air gradually formed Cirno's figure, and she landed on the ground.

"Was that your strongest strike? Is that a White Tiger? To me, it looks like a big white cat!"

She finished speaking and looked at spirit with a disdainful gaze. spirit was left completely bewildered, frozen in place.

"A... big cat?"

Courageous Heart (6) (Submitted by reader Yuan Yi Xin Fei)

(Weather Tip: Appearance isn't important; what matters is having a shameless heart.)

Gari was searching around the site of the car accident just like yesterday, hoping to find more clues. As the road led into the countryside, he stopped at a village.

"Is anyone there?"

Senba Gari arrived in front of a house with a tightly shut door and knocked, but after a long while, there was no movement from within.

Could it be that there is no one inside?

Senba Gari then began to wander around the village, but aside from some scattered debris, there was not a single soul to be seen.

"This isn't right. This village is far too abnormal; there isn't a single person, and there isn't even the sound of birds chirping or insects buzzing."

Senba Gari walked up to a house with a closed door and pushed it open with force. He then stepped into the house while on guard, but there were no signs of damage inside, as if the owners had simply vanished into thin air. As Senba Gari ventured deeper, the house began to show signs of disarray, and when he pushed open a bedroom door, two shriveled corpses lunged out from within. The corpses had fiery red eyes and skeletal, emaciated bodies; their faces were twisted into horrific expressions, stretched and deformed as if they had experienced immense terror before death, and the dry, messy hair on their bodies swayed in the air as they moved.

"What on earth happened here?"

Senba Gari swung his right fist at one corpse while simultaneously lifting his left leg to kick the other in the abdomen, quickly retreating from the house. Perhaps because the noise here was too loud, the other tightly shut doors began to open one after another, and corpses poured out from within. They varied in size and height, but their faces were all equally hideous and terrified; it was hard to imagine what they had gone through while alive, though the remnants of clothing on their bodies showed they were the original villagers.

"Damn it, who did this!"

Senba Gari roared in anger, grabbing a wooden stick from the side and imbuing it with spiritual power as he attacked the corpses and retreated toward the village entrance.

"Phantom, come and help."

"Master, what is going on? What are these things?"

Phantom, having transformed into a humanoid shape, raised his left hand to fire energy blasts at the corpses while asking.

"I don't know. They were the original villagers, but I don't know who turned them into this. Although I hate to desecrate the bodies of the dead, I have to destroy them to prevent them from attacking others."

After speaking, a deep blue light shimmered on the wooden stick as he struck at the corpses, while Phantom fired shots at them. However, no matter how they attacked—even when striking the heart—the corpses would immediately crawl back up and continue their assault after falling.

"Are the attacks ineffective? What kind of monsters did they turn them into?"

Senba Gari's face, flushed red with anger, was filled with confusion.

"Master, the analysis is complete. These corpses contain the aura of that Mlortha from last time. This aura is emanating from their heads; as long as you attack the head, they will die for good. This also means that guy from last time is not dead yet."