Love Live and Kamen Rider 3

With a soft sigh and a silent shake of her head, Nozomi Tojo understood everything.

The original nine had now dwindled to four, and among them were her two best friends. One of them had even been branded a murderer; unable to bear such a heavy blow, Minami Kotori had finally taken leave to rest at home.

"By the way, Eli-chi, have you noticed that Gari has been acting really strange lately?" Nozomi Tojo asked suddenly.

"That's normal, Nozomi. After all, none of us expected something like this to happen. Even you and I have become quite strange," Eli Ayase replied with a bitter smile.

"That's true..." Nozomi Tojo, responding with a similar bitter smile, suddenly thought of something and said, "Oh right, I don't think I've seen Nico-chi all day today."

"Nico? I don't know either. I haven't seen her for several days now..."

"Ahhhhh!"

The sudden scream startled the students in the classroom, and they followed the source of the sound.

They arrived at the Idol Research Club, and looking at the tightly shut door in front of them, Eli Ayase and Nozomi Tojo exchanged a look of bewilderment.

Finally, Eli Ayase gathered her courage and twisted the doorknob. As the door opened just a crack, a bone-chilling cold air suddenly rushed out. Before they could react, they pushed the door wide open, and everyone was stunned by the scene before them.

A girl sat trembling on the floor. The white papers scattered everywhere did not catch anyone's attention, because standing before them was a life-sized block of ice.

Through the sunlight shining in, they could clearly see Yazawa Nico inside the ice...

"It's too late... there's no saving her..."

Looking at the cold, stiff body of the girl before him, the doctor shook his head with regret.

"..."

Watching the scene before him in silence, he no longer knew what kind of emotions he felt; he only knew that he seemed to be growing numb...

"Gari..." Takai Geki, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, looked at Senba Gari with concern.

His only response was Senba Gari's silent shake of the head, followed by him leaving the scene with an unsteady gait.

"Eli-chi, you go on ahead. I have something to discuss with Gari," Nozomi Tojo said hurriedly to Eli Ayase as she watched Senba Gari leave, then she quickly followed after him.

Because she was truly too concerned about Senba Gari's state over the past few days, she knew she would never stop thinking about it if she didn't get an answer.

"Nozomi!" Eli Ayase called out, but Nozomi Tojo had already vanished from sight, so Eli Ayase had no choice but to let it go.

She was simply too tired, not just in body, but in spirit as well...

"I'm home..."

Feeling mentally exhausted, Eli Ayase called out weakly into the dim, gloomy house, but the interior was unexpectedly quiet.

"Arisa?" Eli Ayase called her younger sister's name with some confusion, and for some reason, a sudden sense of unease gripped her heart.

At the same time, she felt a bone-chilling cold air seemingly eroding her body...

Looking with some satisfaction at the nearly perfect third "ice sculpture" before him, "he" gently raised his hand and tapped on the "ice sculpture" a few times. The "ice sculpture" began to crack and fall to the ground in pieces, becoming just another member of the "ice shards" behind "him"...

--Bang!

"Damn it! What is all this!"

Hammering the table in frustration, Takai Geki looked distractedly at the pile of files scattered across the desk; these were all the death files for Maki Nishikino and the others.

However, for some reason, Takai Geki felt incredibly restless, though he didn't even know why he was so agitated.

"Damn it! What the hell are those idiots doing!"

In fact, just a moment ago, he had received the autopsy report and the DNA analysis of the blood-stained arrow found in Umi Sonoda's room.

The results showed that the blood on it was not Maki Nishikino's at all, and there wasn't a trace of gasoline in the three burned-down houses; it was as if the fires had simply erupted on their own. More importantly, Umi Sonoda hadn't committed suicide at all, but had been murdered. Therefore, the real killer had absolutely nothing to do with Umi Sonoda. He really wanted to beat those so-called professionals to a pulp!

"Damn it! Who exactly... is the killer a human or a Mlortha... the ice... unknown weapons... fire..."

--Ring-ring!

That sound again, that sound again!

"Hello! What is it now!" Takai Geki, having reached his breaking point, shouted at the phone.

On the other end of the line, the policeman, startled by Takai Geki's voice, spoke with a trembling tone.

"Re... re... report, sir, we, we have discovered another crime scene. But the victim's state is horrific. The victim seems to have been subjected to some kind of crushing force; the body has been turned into a pulp of flesh. We could only recover an Otonokizaka student ID from the victim's 'remains.' The victim's name is--Nozomi Tojo..."

Crushing...

--Crash!

Throwing the phone against the wall in a rage, the fragile device was pitifully smashed into two pieces by the force of Takai Geki's anger.

"Ha... ha... ha..." His chest heaved violently. In that very instant, the image of the killer flashed through his mind--Senba Gari.

Freezing someone to death in ice, Divine could do it. Remotely and accurately hitting vital points with high dynamic vision, Divine could do it. Burning down an entire house without gasoline, and burning three houses in one night, Divine could do it. Crushing a person into a pulp of flesh, Divine could do it.

And Divine was Senba Gari. What Divine could do, was... what Senba Gari could do...

"I must be crazy. That bastard Gari is the least likely person. Even if I've lost my mind, he would never do something like this, right..."

〖...My... Lord... run... quickly...〗

The voice of the Golden Firmament suddenly echoed in his ears, though it was intermittent. A sense of foreboding rising in his heart, Takai Geki hurriedly opened his bedroom door and ran downstairs in a panic. What met his eyes--was a scene he could never have imagined...

"This is fake, it must be fake, why... why did it have to be you..." Slumped in the corner of the room, her delicate face stained with blood and grime, tears overflowed from Minami Kotori's eyes like a broken faucet. Her eyes gradually lost their luster. "Why..."

Why...

"Why..."

Takai Geki stared at the people downstairs in disbelief. Surrounding them, Golden Firmament, Silver Phantom, Ziying, and even Kashu had all collapsed. There was even a large, gaping hole in Kashu's chest!

"Why..." His fists clenched until they turned white, and he spoke with difficulty through trembling teeth. At this moment, he was truly enraged!

"Why did it have to be you! Senba Gari (Brother Gari)!"

"Shh—" Senba Gari, whose eyes were red on one side and black on the other, creating an exceptionally eerie sensation, held a finger to his lips and said, "You're so noisy, you know that? That guy has been buzzing in my head the whole time... I'm being driven crazy... Ah, no, I've already been driven crazy... Otherwise... I wouldn't have killed them, would I..."

As he spoke, Senba Gari suddenly laughed, but he was also crying. Red liquid flowed from his red eye, as if it were a mixture of blood and tears, making anyone who saw it shudder.

"And one more thing, the dead... cannot speak..."

Original Ending

(Weather's friendly reminder: This side story was the ending I initially planned for Weather, but now, let's just treat it as dark history (???ω???))

This... shall serve as my repayment...

--Jingle!

"Ugh..."

--Plop

He opened his eyes after a long darkness, and what greeted his vision was a familiar ceiling. This was his own room.

Looking around the room in a daze, Senba Gari suddenly felt a sense of profound nostalgia, as if... he hadn't seen it in a very long time.

In his memory, he seemed to have had a very, very long dream, so long that he had forgotten most of it. He only knew that he had dreamt of something, though he didn't know what.

He got out of bed as usual, went to the bathroom to wash up, changed his pajamas into his regular clothes, and then walked down the stairs as he always did.

Everything was just as it usually was, without a single change.

"You brat, you finally decided to wake up? What time is it? Did you do something 'naughty' last night?"

In the living room downstairs, Senba Ryo teased his son.

"You're the one who woke up just a few minutes ago, so you're the last person who should be talking."

With her usual gentle tone and long, flowing hair as soft as white snow, Senba Setsune, Senba Gari's mother, mercilessly undercut her husband. At the same time, she looked at her child with a gentle smile, though she suddenly froze.

--Drip

Drops of transparent tears flowed from Senba Gari's eyes. He reached out in a daze to touch his face, and the wet sensation on his hand constantly told him that he was crying right now, even though he didn't even know why.

"What's wrong? Are you not feeling well? Ryo, hurry and call Ruifei, have them come over and take a look."

Feeling the somewhat dazed and unfamiliar warmth on his face, Senba Gari's eyes reflected the anxious expression on Senba Setsune's face, along with the urgency in her voice.

"Alright, but let me check first. That's strange, he doesn't have a fever." Walking up to Senba Gari, Senba Ryo worriedly reached out and placed his hand on Senba Gari's forehead. The temperature from the back of his hand was indeed normal.

"Should we go to Hanamaru's..."

Just as he was considering whether to take his son to his friend's clinic, the Senba Gari before him suddenly opened his arms and pulled the two of them into a sudden embrace.

"Uh, what are you do..."

"Just a moment... just a moment... is enough..."

Senba Ryo, who was about to question this strange behavior, felt an inexplicable sense of distress in his heart upon hearing the slight sob in his son's voice, followed by a feeling of helplessness.

"Ah, fine, only this once, don't drag me into such mushy stuff next time, you brat." He complained with his mouth, but his body responded honestly, reaching out to hug his two family members. For some reason, this feeling seemed like something he hadn't experienced in a very long time.

"Hehe~ Honestly, look how big you are and you're still like this. It seems like it's been a long time since we've done this." Feeling the warmth radiating from her husband and son, Senba Setsune's gaze softened as she also reached out to embrace them.

--Grumble

What should have been a harmonious and warm scene was suddenly interrupted by a discordant sound.

"..."

"..."

"...Uh, I don't think I've had breakfast yet, ahahaha..." Releasing his grip, Senba Gari scratched his face in embarrassment and said.

"You brat, do you know how awkward you made me feel?" Senba Ryo had black lines on his forehead as he lightly tapped Senba Gari's head.

--Grumble

Another sound rang out, but this time, it was Senba Ryo who made it.

"Emmmmm... I only just woke up not long ago, it's normal not to have eaten breakfast yet, right?" Feeling his son's gaze, he also scratched his face in embarrassment.

"Emm... normal my foot! You still have the nerve to talk about me, you idiot dad!"

"You little bastard, are you getting cocky again, or is it that I can't lift my blade anymore!"

"It's not that I'm cocky, it's that you're old and can't lift your blade."

"Pfft... hehehe~" Amused by the father and son, Senba Setsune couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Attracted by the laughter, the father and son turned their heads away, blushing.

"Alright, let's have breakfast first. I'll go prepare it." Breaking the awkwardness between the father and son, Senba Setsune walked into the kitchen with a smile, humming an unknown tune to prepare breakfast.

"..."

"..."

Upon hearing that Senba Setsune was going to prepare breakfast, the expressions of the father and son instantly turned to shock.

"Ah, I just remembered I have plans with Kotori and the others, so I'll just eat out." Saying this, Senba Gari prepared to bolt.

Are you kidding? The food his mother made was simply not meant for human consumption. The meals at home were always prepared by him or ordered as takeout. As for Senba Ryo? Well, that was only if you counted instant noodles as a dish.

Just as he was about to slip away, Senba Ryo very skillfully reached out and grabbed Senba Gari by the shoulder, looking at his son with a very "kind" smile on his face.

"Son, we can't let your mother's hard work go to waste, can we?"

"Emmmmm, sorry Dad, don't blame me for putting righteousness before family."

"Huh?" Before Senba Ryo could grasp the meaning of his son's words, he saw his son suddenly throw a punch at him and hurriedly dodged.

Little did he know, this was exactly what Senba Gari had planned. Taking advantage of the moment Senba Ryo dodged his attack, Senba Gari sprinted toward the door and ran out without looking back.

"Honestly, this brat..." Watching Senba Gari's retreating figure, Senba Ryo shook his head helplessly. "Honey, it's time to get ready!"

"How boring!"

Walking on the road back home, Senba Gari kicked a stone out of boredom. He had originally intended to go hang out with people he knew, but it turned out everyone was busy. With a bit of resentment in his heart, he complained to himself all the way back home.

"I'm home!"

He shouted toward the pitch-black, empty house. Confused as to why there was no one home today, Senba Gari turned on all the lights in the living room, and then...

--Bang! Bang!

"Happy Birthday!" × N

"This is..." With a few ribbons stuck to his head, Senba Gari looked at the crowd that had suddenly appeared in a daze.

Honoka Kosaka, Umi Sonoda, Minami Kotori, Kotori Minami, Maki Nishikino, Zuifei Nishikino, Mari Nishikino, Hanayo Koizumi, Rin Hoshizora, Eli Ayase, Nozomi Tojo, Yazawa Nico, Kashu, Yuki Anju, Takai Geki, Kira Tsubasa, Kuryu Tenkeiji, Elena Tsundo, Senba Ryo, and Senba Setsune...