After the gatekeeper let him in as well, Senba Gari wandered around and looked at the place. He found that there seemed to be an awful lot of cherry trees here.
"No wonder Mom likes this place so much. It has the cherry trees she loves, and the style is completely different from that ridiculously over-the-top UTX."
Looking at the rows of cherry trees on both sides of the path, Senba Gari remarked, when a girl's voice suddenly reached his ears.
"Hey! Who are you? Don't you know that boys aren't allowed inside Otonokizaka?!"
He turned around and saw two high school girls. One had a blonde ponytail and blue eyes, with a look that blended Western and Eastern features. The other had purple twin tails, emerald-green eyes, and a figure that put the other girls to shame. She watched him with a constant, beaming smile.
"Hey! I'm talking to you! How did you get in here?!" When the blonde girl saw that Senba Gari hadn't answered, she demanded loudly.
"Ah, sorry. I've been working out of town for a long time, and only got back a few days ago. I came here to take a look at my mother's old school."
The blonde girl's shout jolted Senba Gari back to his senses. Seeing how angry she looked, he explained.
"Hmph. I see. Still, please leave. This is an all-girls' school, and men aren't allowed in."
"Oh, is that so? All right, then. Goodbye."
Seeing the blonde girl's stern expression, Senba Gari had no choice but to leave, feeling helpless.
After Senba Gari had left, Nozomi Tojo turned to Eli Ayase.
"Eli, what's wrong with you? Why were you so harsh to a stranger?"
"It's not like I wanted to be, Nozomi. But I really don't know how to find the boy who saved Arisa. I'm so frustrated right now."
Eli had originally wanted to use the USB drive the police gave her that day to find the boy. When she and Nozomi watched it, she cried. Yes, she cried, and Nozomi beside her had reddened eyes too.
When Arisa was desperate, that boy had shot the monster and saved her. When she was helpless, he had comforted her. He could have left Arisa behind and escaped on his own, and no one would have blamed him. But he hadn't. Instead, he stayed behind to hold the monster off so Arisa could escape.
They were complete strangers, yet he had been willing to stay behind alone. When Eli saw the boy get sent flying by the monster again and again, only to stand in its way each time, she had started crying. Arisa might have died if not for him. But when she watched the rest of the footage, the camera had lost its signal. By the time it came back, the boy had disappeared. And the worst part was, why hadn't the camera caught his face?!
All they knew was that he had black hair. That was why Eli was so frustrated.
"Um, Eli..." Nozomi's words brought Eli back to her senses. "Actually, I think the boy you just chased away looked a little like the one who saved little Arisa."
"What?! Nozomi, why didn't you say so earlier? Ah, forget it. It might not have been him anyway. Yes, yes, exactly." Eli blushed as she tried to find a way to save face.
Ah, Eli is so cute when she's like this. Nozomi thought.
"Man, what a rotten day. That blonde girl looked really familiar, though," Senba Gari muttered as he walked along.
"Help! Somebody help! My bag's been stolen!"
"Hanayo, stop shouting and get up, meow!"
Following the sound, he spotted a short-haired brown-haired girl with glasses sitting on the ground. Another girl, with short orange hair, was beside her, trying to help her up. Not far away, a delinquent holding a woman's handbag was sitting on a motorcycle, ready to take off.
"Hey, are you two okay?" Senba Gari ran over and asked.
"We're fine. Um, senpai, could you get Hanayo's bag back?" the orange-haired girl pleaded with Senba Gari.
"Sure. Wait here for a bit." With that, Senba Gari turned and ran after the delinquent.
"Thank you, senpai!" ×2
"Heh, looks like I might actually have something to do today."
Senba Gari wore a wicked smile as he watched the delinquent in the distance.
A showdown was imminent!
"Heh, looks like I might actually have something to do today."
Senba Gari wore a wicked smile as he watched the delinquent in the distance.
The other guy had already driven off on his motorcycle.
"Oh no, senpai, the bad guy's getting away, meow!"
Watching the delinquent disappear into the distance, the orange-haired girl anxiously called out to Senba Gari.
But Senba Gari simply walked over to a nearby trash can. He picked up its lid, gripped one end, and took the standard stance for throwing a discus.
All right, let's take a look. He aimed at the creep in front of him. Three, two, one—fire! A direct hit! The opponent was out of commission. Senba Gari had won this showdown!
Ahem. Right, that was a slip of the tongue. Now for the real story.
"Most people grab something and run, but you're just riding around on your motorcycle, taking in the sights."
Looking up at the departing delinquent, Senba Gari poured all his strength into his right arm, then forcefully threw the iron trash-can lid at the back of the delinquent's head. (Boy, you've really trained that arm of yours into something fearsome. Senba Gari: Enough already, man.)
"Bang." That was the sound of the lid hitting the delinquent's helmet. Then the unlucky bastard's motorcycle struck a raised stone in the road, and the bike, the rider, and the bag all went flying through the air. (Was that the legendary triple flight?! ∑(°Д°ノ)ノ Senba Gari: Just shut up already! (╯‵□′)╯︵┴─┴)
"Clang." That was the sound of the lid hitting the ground.
"Crash." That was the sound of the motorcycle falling over.
"Thud." That was the sound of the unlucky delinquent hitting the ground.
"Plop." That was the sound of the brown-haired girl's bag landing on the ground.
The corner of Senba Gari's mouth twitched as he walked over to the girl's bag, bent down, and picked it up in one smooth motion. (Boy, be honest. How long did you practice? Senba Gari: ... (click) That was the sound of a gun being cocked. Huh?! What are you doing? H-help! (Bang!) The author is dead, but the updates are still going.)
"Wow, senpai, you're amazing, meow!"
The orange-haired girl helped the brown-haired girl over to Senba Gari.
"It was nothing. Here you go."
Senba Gari turned around and returned the bag to the brown-haired girl.
Suddenly, the unlucky delinquent stood up. His helmet fell off, revealing what was underneath.
A green mohawk, buck teeth, and earrings. Yep, a full-blown punk rocker, without a doubt. Ahem.
But his eyes were vacant, and he glared at Senba Gari and the two short-haired girls with a twisted expression.
"Senpai! Look out behind you!"
The orange-haired girl pointed behind Senba Gari in terror.
"Right. No good—you two, get out of here!"
Senba Gari turned around and saw ominous black energy rising from the delinquent. He immediately shouted at the girls. The black energy felt terribly familiar to him, because it was...
"Mlortha!"
Senba Gari watched the delinquent with a serious expression. The people in this area had probably already run away.
"You two should get out of here too," Senba Gari said to the girls still beside him.
"But—"
"Come on, Hanayo. We'll only get in his way if we stay."
"Senpai, be careful, meow."
The brown-haired girl still seemed hesitant, but the orange-haired girl pulled her away. Before leaving, she said a few words to Senba Gari, then went off into the distance.
Gradually, the delinquent was engulfed by the black mist. Then the mist dissipated, and a hideous figure had taken his place.
It looked like a giant humanoid rat, with gray ancient armor, short claws, a thin, long pink tail, blood-red eyes, and huge buck teeth that seemed capable of biting through steel.
"Squeee!"
Then Rat Mlortha charged straight at Senba Gari.
Seeing Rat Mlortha rushing toward him, Senba Gari threw himself to one side, and Rat Mlortha barely missed him.
After rolling across the ground several times, Senba Gari came to a half-kneel.
"Looks like I get to take action again."
Then he pulled a completely black card from his pocket. Red patterns decorated both sides. The front showed a bird-headed, human-bodied Garuda, and the back had a geometric diamond pattern.
"Manifest!"
As soon as he spoke, several silver lines appeared around Senba Gari's waist, slowly weaving together into a uniquely shaped belt. Then the silver light suddenly grew brighter.
The Divine Transformation Belt he had used that day in Akihabara appeared around Senba Gari's waist once again.
"Transform!"
Senba Gari inserted the card in his hand into the right side of the belt's Transformation Device. The LCD screen on the device displayed the same red, bird-headed, human-bodied Garuda as the front of the card.
The belt then produced a synthesized mechanical voice.
Vehicle armor appear
Then a fiery-red image of armor appeared around the various parts of Senba Gari's body. Another synthesized mechanical voice rang out.
armed
As the second mechanical voice faded, the fiery-red armor image suited Senba Gari up.
Divine Garuda
When the third mechanical voice sounded, a fiery-red figure appeared where Senba Gari had been standing.
Kamen Rider Divine, here!
"All right, the hunt begins!"
The red figure faced the gray-black beastly shadow.
The battle was about to begin!
Gaia Descends
The once-bustling street was now empty. No, there were still two figures there.
A fiery-red armored figure and a gray-black beastly shadow stared intently at each other.
Rat Mlortha suddenly moved. It was incredibly fast, rushing straight toward Divine.
"This thing's probably based on a rat, and its arms are pretty short, so it must attack with its teeth and tail."
Divine didn't rush to dodge when he saw Rat Mlortha charging at him. Instead, he analyzed its characteristics. After all, knowing yourself and your enemy was the key to victory in every battle. That was what one of his predecessors had taught him.
Seeing that Divine wasn't moving, Rat Mlortha assumed he was too scared to budge. It opened its mouth wide, baring the two huge buck teeth in its upper and lower jaws, and prepared to bite down hard on Divine.
"Smack." Just as it was about to bite down in front of him, Divine braced both hands against Rat Mlortha's mouth, one above and one below.
Rat Mlortha's mouth couldn't close at all, held open by Divine's hands.
"Heh, you picked the wrong person to mess with. What's the matter? Scared now?"
Divine taunted Rat Mlortha as he struggled to hold its mouth open.
But Rat Mlortha didn't panic. Instead, its eyes revealed a hint of mockery. Then its tail suddenly lashed hard at Divine's waist.
"Crap! I let my guard down!"
When Divine saw Rat Mlortha's expression and what it did next, he raised his left leg and kicked it in the stomach.
"Rrrip!"
"Guh."
Although Divine kicked Rat Mlortha away, its tail still struck him, leaving a shallow whip mark on his waist.
"Damn it. I forgot this thing was born from the darkness in a human heart, amplified. It's no surprise it can think like a human."
"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"
When Divine looked up, Rat Mlortha was mocking him, its long, thin tail swishing behind it, looking thoroughly pleased with itself.
"Bastard! You'll regret that. You've forced me to get serious."
Divine reached into the Card Box on the right side of his belt and took out a card. It was completely black, with red patterns on both sides. The back had the same diamond pattern, while the front showed a strangely shaped, fiery-red military blade. Looking closely, the blade had feather patterns, and the lower edge of the card had a regular series of ridges that matched the groove on top of the belt's Transformation Device.
Divine then slid the card horizontally across the top of the belt's Transformation Device. The device produced two deep, synthesized mechanical voices.
Weapon appeared
Flow flame plume blade
The weapon card in Divine's hand turned into flames, taking the shape of a blade in his right hand. Then the flames dispersed, revealing the blade.
It had a long, broad blade, silver-white with red feather patterns. Its guard resembled a pair of half-folded wings, with a red, flame-shaped gem at its center.
Then Divine gripped the Flow Flame Feather Blade in both hands and channeled some of his spiritual power into his legs. He burst forward at unprecedented speed and charged toward Rat Mlortha.
"Shnk."
Divine raised the Flow Flame Feather Blade and slashed at Rat Mlortha. Sparks burst across its body, and a deep gash was left behind.
Before you continue