lovelive and Kamen Rider Chapter 2

It was only because of his daughter that the sight of Maki Nishikino's tightly shut eyes and cold, rigid body constantly reminded him that she was dead!

His wife had just fainted, unable to bear what she was seeing. And wasn't he, at that moment, wishing he could faint just like her and escape from this scene? But he couldn't. He had to find the killer and make them pay for his daughter's death!

"...I don't know," Senba Gari said with difficulty.

He knew how much this had hurt Mari Nishikino. She was only trying to vent the grief and anger inside her, so Senba Gari simply let her clutch him.

In the distance, Takai Geki watched Senba Gari being grabbed by the collar by Mari Nishikino. His clenched fist trembled, but he said nothing. Maki Nishikino had been killed, and he had volunteered to take the case. It wasn't just because the victim was someone he and Senba Gari knew. There was also—

My Lord, judging by the size of the wound on Maki's chest, it was caused by a long-range weapon. And since the victim was only discovered now, the weapon the killer used was likely a firearm fitted with a silencer, or a crossbow.

Through the Bluetooth earpiece, Golden Firmament relayed the results of its analysis to Takai Geki. This wasn't the first time they had done this. Before Takai Geki had come to Japan, they had solved one case after another in this way, eventually rising to the rank of international police officers.

After hearing Golden Firmament's analysis, Takai Geki crouched down and carefully examined the small bloody hole in Maki Nishikino's upper left chest. The wound did appear to have been caused by a long-range weapon, as Golden Firmament had said, but there was one problem.

Judging from the body, Maki Nishikino hadn't noticed—or even known—that she was about to be assassinated. That meant she had been moving when it happened. The killer had used a long-range weapon to land a fatal shot directly in the left side of a moving person's chest. They must have had exceptionally sharp dynamic vision.

As for the weapon, it was probably a sniper rifle or something similar. This was a park, after all, and the only place to hide without being seen was a small grove of trees hundreds of meters away. A crossbow didn't have enough range, and it would be difficult to aim accurately. A sniper rifle was the only weapon that could have done it. But... why? Why had the killer murdered Maki Nishikino?

"How's it going, Geki?"

As Takai Geki continued thinking through the case, Senba Gari's voice came from beside him.

"Hmm... There are still a lot of things I haven't figured out." Takai Geki kept his head down, continuing his examination as he answered Senba Gari.

"What things?"

"First, the killer's weapon. I think they used a sniper rifle or something similar, but there's something about Maki's wound that doesn't feel right. It doesn't look like it was caused by a firearm. Then there's the motive. Why kill Maki? If it was for money, they would've kidnapped her instead. If it was some old grudge involving her parents, that doesn't add up either. You've told me before that Maki's parents are honorable people, so that possibility seems unlikely. So what drove the killer? And then..." Takai Geki took a few deep breaths before continuing. "Anyone capable of hitting a moving person right in the heart with such precision is definitely no ordinary killer."

"..." After hearing Takai Geki's analysis, Senba Gari lowered his head and fell into thought. "The weapon, the motive, and the killer themselves... Those are the three things we don't know."

"Chief!"

A police officer came over, interrupting their thoughts.

"Regarding the body, we'd like to take it back and perform an autopsy."

"Sure, but tell the victim's family first." Takai Geki glanced at Senba Gari, then turned to the officer and replied.

"Understood."

Senba Gari had been standing nearby with his head bowed, lost in thought. He came back to himself and looked up, preparing to walk over to Takai Geki, when he spotted something out of place.

"Geki, come here for a moment."

"What is it?" Takai Geki came over and asked, puzzled.

"Take a look at this." Senba Gari pointed ahead.

"Hmm? What's this...?" Takai Geki followed Senba Gari's finger, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

In front of them stood an ordinary tree planted as part of the landscaping. But there was something different about it—a finger-sized hole with a little red staining around it.

"This..." Takai Geki frowned slightly as he looked at the red marks around the small hole that pierced the tree.

Beside him, Senba Gari carefully scraped off a little of the reddish wood around the hole and put it into the groove on the right side of the Shadow Dog, which he had brought out earlier. Just as he had done at Wako Hirota's place, though this time was a little different.

Master, based on the data from the Shadow Dog, I have determined that the substance on the wood chips is human blood. The DNA confirms that it belongs to Maki.

Silver Phantom's voice came through Senba Gari's earpiece, along with a crucial clue.

"Got it. Thanks for your effort, Phantom." He ended the connection with Silver Phantom, then ran his hand over the area around the small hole.

"Geki, what kind of weapon could pass through a person and still make a small hole in a tree afterward?" Senba Gari asked Takai Geki, his eyes half-lidded.

"A crossbow might be possible, since the tree isn't too thick or too thin. But if it had to pass through a person first, then taking the distance into account, only a sniper rifle or something similar could do that."

"Right. But the edges of this hole are so smooth. I can't see how it could have been made by a bullet."

"You mean...?"

"If it wasn't a crossbow or a firearm, then the only other possibility is..."

Takai Geki had a vague idea of what Senba Gari was about to say, so they spoke in unison.

"Mlortha!" ×2

"That would explain everything, but... I still feel like something's off," Takai Geki said with a troubled expression.

It was strange—far too strange. No matter how he looked at it, the whole thing was bizarre. And he had a feeling this was only the beginning.

The next day, at the Nishikino home—

At the black-and-white funeral, Mari Nishikino and Ruifei Nishikino stared blankly at the photograph before them, its colors replaced by black and white. They kept thinking how wonderful it would be if this were only a dream...

Unfortunately, reality was always cruel. It didn't favor anyone...

"Are you going to go talk to them, Little Gari?" Seeing her friend, her daughter, and her daughter's friends crying so desperately in front of Maki Nishikino's photograph, Kotori Minami felt a pang in her heart.

Senba Gari, whom Kotori Minami had spoken to, silently stood with her and looked at the heavy scene. After a while, he finally spoke.

"I don't know what to say. Whatever I say, they'll still be heartbroken. It'd be better to let them have a good cry and accept what happened."

"They might call you coldhearted for saying that. And it doesn't sound like something you would say."

"Is that so...? I don't know, either. These past few days, I really haven't known what to do... Everyone was so happy during the day, but how could it just..." As he spoke, Senba Gari clenched his fists. His trembling hands revealed how he felt inside.

Looking at the darkness and emptiness in Senba Gari's eyes, Kotori Minami sighed in distress and said,

"Don't push yourself too hard."

"...Yeah. I will..." A strange light flashed through his gloomy, hollow black eyes...

"I'm home..."

At dusk, after suffering one of the greatest tragedies of her life, Honoka Kosaka—who was usually full of energy—hung her head like a sunflower whose stem had been snapped as she opened the front door.

—Drip.

A drop of crimson liquid slid down Honoka Kosaka's forehead, ran along her face, and fell to the ground, leaving a tiny red spot.

Looking at the familiar, dark hallway before her, Honoka Kosaka felt a flicker of fear rise in her heart.

—Drip.

Another drop of crimson liquid landed on her. This time it fell on her long eyelashes. Unable to bear the weight, they grew damp and drooped, and the red spread across her vision.

She instinctively raised her trembling head, and a voice—both familiar and unfamiliar—came to her ears.

"Well, well. Welcome home, Honoka~"

"Ah... Aaaah..." She stared at her family hanging from the ceiling, their bodies already covered in their own blood.

Dad... Mom... Yukiho...

Red. All she could see was red, apart from the black shadow that clashed with the color in her eyes.

"Ah... Aaaaaah..."

She shook her head in disbelief, like someone on the verge of going mad. Her mouth had been open this whole time, but she still hadn't managed to say a single complete word. No one could tell what she was trying to say.

"Surprised? It's all right, though, because it seems your family has come to take you with them~"

The red in her vision gradually faded, replaced by endless darkness...

—Wooo-ooo—Wooo-ooo—Wooo-ooo

The already noisy street grew even louder, while blazing flames lit up the dim road.

This wasn't a bonfire party. A house was burning down.

Takai Geki gazed at the mansion engulfed in flames, his expression complicated. Suddenly, a figure rushed past him. Quick to react, he immediately reached out and grabbed the person—Senba Gari.

"Geki, let go of me!" Senba Gari shouted at Takai Geki in desperation. "I'm begging you, let me go! I have to save Aunt Ruifei and Mr. Nishikino!"

Seeing how frantic Senba Gari was, Takai Geki shook his head silently before replying,

"It's no use. It's already too late, Gari. By the time we got the call, the fire had already been burning for an hour. We're too late."

His clenched fists trembled, his knuckles turning white. His teeth were gritted so hard it seemed they might crack. Helplessness, anger, grief... These emotions filled Senba Gari's heart completely.

"Gari? Damn it, Gari!"

"What!"

Irritated at being interrupted by Takai Geki, Senba Gari snapped back.

"Do you have any idea how terrifying your eyes looked just now?" Takai Geki said with a frown.

Maybe it had been his imagination, but he had seen Senba Gari's eyes turn red! Now they were their usual deep black. Maybe he'd just imagined it.

—Ring, ring!

"Hm?" His train of thought was interrupted when his phone suddenly rang. Takai Geki's tightly furrowed brows didn't relax at all as he answered, but the voice on the other end instantly darkened his expression.

Takai Geki hung up with a trembling hand and put the phone back in his pocket. Then he looked at Senba Gari with a conflicted expression.

"What is it?"

"Gari... I think you need to prepare yourself." As if he had finally made up his mind, Takai Geki said the words with difficulty.

—Bang!

A fist slammed into a charred pillar. The pillar seemed to lose its support and crashed to the ground.

Senba Gari slowly lowered his trembling fist from the air. Under the light of the dawn, he didn't know what expression to wear as he looked at the ruins before him, now nothing but a blackened wasteland.

He recalled what Takai Geki had told him earlier.

"Gari... I just got word that two more places are on fire. One is Hanayo Koizumi's home, and the other is... Homura... Honoka's home."

Takai Geki had already rushed over to Hanayo Koizumi's home, but he had still brought Senba Gari the devastating news.

Maki Nishikino and her parents, Hanayo Koizumi and her parents, Rin Hoshizora, who had happened to be visiting Hanayo, and Honoka Kosaka's entire family...

Before he knew it... So many people had died right in front of him...

"Why... are you forcing me...!"

His fists had clenched countless times already. At that moment, Senba Gari had only one thought—

"Then come on!"

—Ring, ring.

Just as he thought that, the sudden ring of his phone pulled him back to reality. His expression dark, Senba Gari answered the call and spoke in a low, hoarse voice.

"What is it, Geki?"

"...Come over here. I don't know what's going on anymore, either." Takai Geki's weary voice came through the phone.

"What happened?"

"Umi Sonoda jumped to her death."

"..."

"We found a bloodstained arrow in her room, along with... half a can of gasoline and a lighter..."

"..."

Senba Gari silently hung up and sat down on the ground, not caring about the ashes beneath him.

He was tired. He was truly exhausted. He didn't know what else he could do. He took the five Divine transformation cards he had kept in his pocket.

"If I can't even protect the people right in front of me... what am I good for...?"

—Flutter.

The five cards drifted lightly through the air...

"I can't... go back anymore..."

"Class is dismissed."

"Goodbye, teacher."

Amid the girls' voices, Senba Gari walked out of the classroom without a word.

"Teacher Senba seems really out of it lately."

"Can you blame him...? After all..."

"Yeah..."

"Elichi, is Kotori all right?" In the crowd of girls chatting among themselves, Nozomi Tojo asked Eli Ayase with concern.

"Sigh..."