The left arm guard differed from the right one. Its surface was patterned with a strange diamond shape, with an LCD screen in the middle. On the screen was a tiger made of white lines. Along the right side of the left arm guard ran a groove from front to back. At the center of the belt was a silver card box bearing a diamond pattern.
"I've gotta ask: you're a perfectly good shark, so why not stay in the sea instead of coming ashore to terrorize people?"
A teasing young man's voice came from inside the helmet.
"Gah-roar-roar-roar!!!!"
The Shark Mlortha extended its gray-brown claws. A strange black mist began to form between its hands. When the mist dissipated, a menacing black trident was revealed.
Its gray-brown claws gripped the black trident tightly. It pointed the weapon at the armored man before it and charged straight at him.
"Hey, you're out of your league."
The armored man scoffed. As the trident was about to stab him, he turned and dodged to the right. The movement seemed only average to him, but to an observer it was incredibly fast—not even the Shark Mlortha could see through it.
After dodging the Shark Mlortha's attack, the armored man grabbed the trident with his right hand and raised the Ancient Tiger Saber with his left.
"Clang!"
The Ancient Tiger Saber cut the Shark Mlortha's trident in two. Then the armored man followed through with a right upward cut, a move from kendo.
"Shhk!"
"Gah-roar-roar-roar!"
The Ancient Tiger Saber left a deep slash across the Shark Mlortha's body.
"Alright, I've got things to do, so I can't keep wasting time with you. Let's end this."
As he spoke, the armored man drew a card from the card box at the center of his belt. The card was mostly black, with a white-lined sword and a tiger wrapped around it. Its back bore the same diamond pattern.
He patted the tiger-head hilt of the sword, and a card slot popped out. Then he inserted the card in his right hand into the slot.
He pushed the slot back into the tiger-head hilt. The tiger's eyes suddenly began to flash, and a deep, synthesized mechanical voice rang out.
Kill Weapon
Energy storage
At the same time, the Ancient Tiger Saber's blade glowed silver-white.
"The bells of hell are tolling for you. And remember: the one who defeated you was Kamen Rider."
The light around the Ancient Tiger Saber grew brighter and brighter. The armored man raised it high above his head.
"Spirit!"
Strong bully chop
As the third mechanical announcement sounded, Spirit swung the Ancient Tiger Saber down hard at the Shark Mlortha. A silver-white blade of light shot straight toward it.
"Roar!"
The blade of light instantly transformed into a fierce white tiger, which slammed into the Shark Mlortha.
"Boom!!"
A huge explosion rang out as flames burst into the air.
When the flames died down, a shark lay sprawled on the ground, with a black crystal floating above it. The crystal turned to dust once more and disappeared into the air.
"Splash!"
Spirit tossed the shark back into the sea, then deactivated his armor. Beneath it was a boy with brown, slightly curly hair and brown eyes, an arm guard still on his left arm.
"Phew, what a tiring day."
The boy looked up and wiped sweat that wasn't there from his brow. Suddenly, a hand landed on his shoulder and patted him.
"Whoa!" The boy jumped at the unexpected touch and turned around. The person behind him had tousled black hair and dark eyes, and wore a brown suit.
When he recognized the man, the boy patted his chest, still shaken, and complained, "Senior Ryusei, people get scared to death when you sneak up on them. Don't you know that? And where did you run off to just now?!"
"Oh, me? I figured Geki could handle things on his own, so I checked my phone for a while. I saw a message from Kisaragi. Here." After speaking, Ryusei handed his phone to Takai Geki.
Takai Geki took the phone. The headline of a Japanese newspaper filled the screen. His pupils contracted, and he stared at Ryusei in shock. "He—no, it—has awakened?!"
"Yeah. And just like you, he hasn't awakened yet. They've probably gotten the news, too." Ryusei looked calmly at Takai Geki, then changed the subject. "It's time for you to return to Japan. Find him, fight alongside him, and then we can deal with our own problem."
"Alright. I'll find an excuse to go back to the Criminal Investigation Department. I'll keep an eye on him, too," Takai Geki said thoughtfully.
"Is that so? I think when you meet him, you'll realize just how mysterious fate can be." Ryusei looked up at the sky, now tinted with the colors of dusk.
"Hey, Senior Ryusei, I don't understand what you're talking about."
"You'll find out when the time comes."
Somewhere in Japan, inside the Narumi Detective Agency in Fuuto, a young man wearing a black round-brimmed hat and a black suit excitedly held a newspaper in front of another young man dressed in casual clothes, with a hair clip in the hair on the left side of his head.
"What's wrong, Shotaro?" The other young man looked at Shotaro in confusion.
"Philip! Look, look at the headline!" Shotaro excitedly pointed at the newspaper's front page.
"Hm? I see. So he's awakened. That's wonderful." Philip looked at the headline, suppressing his excitement, then turned to Shotaro. "Has everyone else heard?"
"Yeah. I asked around. Everyone except the people keeping watch there has gotten the news." Shotaro took off his hat, set it on the table, and sat down in a swivel chair.
In a city somewhere, at the Kogami Foundation, a secretary in office clothes was reporting to her boss, Kogami Kousei, who was making a cake.
"Boss, he's awakened."
"Is that so? Have you told the people keeping watch there?" Kogami Kousei asked his secretary as he continued making the cake.
"I've already notified them, boss," the secretary replied without expression.
"I see. Then let us celebrate the birth of our new hero!" Kogami Kousei took out the cake he had just baked.
What was our protagonist, Senba Gari, up to?
"Grrrr..."
"Ahhh! I'm starving!"
Senba Gari rubbed his growling stomach listlessly and complained.
The First Meeting of the Boys and Girls (Part One)
"Grrrr..."
"Ahhh! I'm starving!"
Senba Gari rubbed his growling stomach listlessly and complained.
"That stupid old man! He spent every last bit of money in the house! If he hadn't at least stopped short of selling the house, I'd probably be homeless!"
Senba Gari grumbled and scratched his head. Then he pulled a black wallet out of his pocket and opened it. There were only a few thousand yen inside. (Come on, you're the protagonist, shouldn't you have more money? Senba Gari: Mind your own business! (ノ｀⊿′)ノ!!!!)
As he walked along, Senba Gari came to a sweets shop.
"Homura Bakery? Hmm, I feel like I've heard of this place somewhere. Should I go in?"
Just as Senba Gari was still hesitating, his stomach rumbled again, making him abandon the thought and decide to go inside.
"Whatever. Filling my stomach comes first. I can look for a job afterward."
As he pushed open the shop door, he heard a cheerful young girl's voice.
"Welcome! What can I get for you?"
He looked up at the counter. A cute high school girl was busy working there. She had blue eyes, shoulder-length orange hair, and a side ponytail. Somehow, the hairstyle made her look full of energy. She wore a white pastry chef's uniform and a white headscarf.
"Uh, well... Do you have any recommendations?"
Faced with all the different kinds of sweets, Senba Gari wasn't sure what to pick, so he asked the orange-haired girl for a suggestion.
"Oh, in that case... I'd recommend the red bean cake. It's really good."
The orange-haired girl pointed to the red bean cake on the counter.
"Is that so? Then I'll have one."
"Alright. That'll be 900 yen. Thank you for your purchase."
"Here's exactly 900. Keep the change. See you."
He handed the money to the orange-haired girl, took the bag of red bean cakes from her, and turned to leave.
"Kotori, hurry up! Hanamaru's probably been waiting a long time."
"I know, Umi. You're always like this. Umi, watch out behind you!"
"Huh? Whoa!"
"Hey, careful!"
"Thump."
Just as Senba Gari was about to leave, two girls approached from outside. One had long blue hair and wore a white short-sleeved shirt and light blue jeans. She carried herself with the air of a traditional Japanese maiden. Behind her came another girl, panting slightly. She had gray-brown hair tied up with a bird-shaped hair ornament, wore a light yellow short-sleeved shirt, and had on a black skirt.
As they chatted, the blue-haired girl walked backward without noticing Senba Gari coming out of the shop.
Warned by the other girl, she turned around and saw a tall figure. But as she turned, she accidentally tripped over her own feet and began to fall backward. Senba Gari caught her in his arms. He seemed to have used too much force, pulling the girl into a full embrace.
"Um, are you alright?"
Senba Gari smiled awkwardly. After all, she had nearly fallen because of him. He looked down at the blue-haired girl in his arms. She looked up at him, then lowered her head again, her whole face bright red. His hand was still holding her soft little hand. Seeing her shy expression stirred something in his heart.
Sonoda Umi had never felt her face burn like this before. Her heart had never raced so fast. She'd thought she was about to fall to the ground, but suddenly a strong hand had grabbed hers and pulled her against a warm chest.
"Um, are you alright?"
A voice reached her ears. She looked up and saw Senba Gari gazing down at her. His eyes were full of concern. Her face reddened, and she buried it against his chest.
"Umi, are you okay?"
A familiar voice suddenly came from behind her, making Umi hastily push Senba Gari away.
"Umi, are you okay?"
A voice suddenly rang out, bringing Senba Gari back to his senses. It probably belonged to a friend of the girl in his arms. Then he felt a force push him away.
"Ahem. Um, thank you for helping me just now."
Sonoda Umi coughed a few times to cover up her embarrassment, then solemnly thanked Senba Gari.
"Ah, no, you don't have to. It was partly my fault, so you don't need to thank me."
The girl had suddenly thanked him so formally that Senba Gari was caught off guard. He stammered out a reply.
"But—"
"You don't have to say anything. Um, I have things to do. Goodbye."
Senba Gari cut Sonoda Umi off, then hurried away with the bag of sweets.
"Umi, are you okay? That guy seemed a little strange, but he also felt kind of familiar." Minami Kotori looked at Sonoda Umi in confusion, then turned to watch Senba Gari's retreating figure. Somehow, he seemed familiar.
"Ah, I'm fine. Oh, right, Kotori, we should hurry to Hanamaru. She's probably been waiting impatiently."
Sonoda Umi interrupted Kotori and pulled her toward Homura Bakery.
"Phew, I finally got away. Well, I'd better eat some red bean cake and fill my stomach."
As he spoke, Senba Gari took a red bean cake out of the bag and happily ate it as he walked.
Senba Gari then came to a luxurious school. With a red bean cake in his mouth, he looked up at the giant screen outside the school gates. Three girls with different personalities appeared on it, wearing gorgeous matching outfits. They sang and danced with practiced ease.
"Ah... So this is the school idol group that's been popular lately? They don't look too bad, but they could still use some work on their moves and coordination." Senba Gari swallowed the last bite of his red bean cake and judged the three idols on the screen. Suddenly, a voice brought him back to his senses.
"Oh, looks like this senior knows quite a bit about school idols, nico?"
He turned and saw a petite girl with black hair like his own. She wore her hair in two short twin tails, each tied with a red ribbon. Her red eyes added to her cuteness. She wore a red off-the-shoulder T-shirt and a black skirt, giving her a lively look.
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