"No, Phantom, don't you think that old eagle Mlortha hasn't shown up again these past few days?"
...Maybe it still hadn't recovered from the injuries it suffered in the last battle. After all, if one of the Seven HBRUTES, the Ghost Samurai, hadn't suddenly intervened, Mlortha might already have been destroyed.
"Let's hope so. Ever since I got the Beast Soul Driver and became Kamen Rider Divine, I've had a feeling that none of this is as simple as we thought." Senba Gari looked at his slightly trembling left hand, and the Silver Phantom spoke again.
I don't know what the future holds, master, but don't you humans have a saying? "Without wind and rain, how can you see a rainbow?" So I believe you can overcome any obstacle, master!
"Is that so? Heh, thanks, Phantom. You're always the one cheering me up."
You're welcome. You just have to give me some machine oil tonight.
"Is machine oil all you can think about?!" Senba Gari retorted.
No!
"Huh? What, then?" The Silver Phantom's firm reply piqued Senba Gari's curiosity.
Intelligent chips and mechanical parts!
"...You make a good point. What can I even say?"
Are you feeling better now, master?
"Thanks to you, I'm only lucky I haven't died of frustration." Senba Gari rolled his eyes.
Tsk. You're still alive?
"Do you really want me dead?! Honestly."
Although Senba Gari grumbled, the corners of his mouth stayed turned up.
But Senba Gari didn't notice a pair of eyes fixed intently on him from far away.
Meanwhile, in the hall of a temple ruin nestled in a rift between space and time, five of the Seven HBRUTES stood quietly on either side of the hall's center. They were Ghost Samurai Muramasa, Spider General Naraku, Snake Beauty Medusa, the tentacled... ahem, Deep Sea Kraken, and Hellhound Cerberus.
Before long, a humanoid western dragon slowly walked to the top of the temple hall. It had a terrifying, snarling dragon's head, sharp claws, and sinister black armor with a cape draped over its back. It was one of the Seven HBRUTES and their leader, Black Dragon Hodnig.
Hodnig surveyed the hall below. Not seeing Hagoromo Gitsune, he turned to Medusa and asked,
[Medusa, where is Hagoromo Gitsune?]
[Leader, you know what little sister Hagoromo is like. She's not one of us, so she would never come to something like this.] Medusa, still in her human form as a mature beauty, answered Hodnig.
Naraku, dressed in bone-white armor resembling that of an ancient samurai, spoke disdainfully.
[Hmph! An outsider like her has no place among us! An outsider is an outsider, nothing like the noble beings created by our creator. Those outsiders are nothing but our lowly slaves.]
But it didn't get to say anything more. A crimson katana was pressed against its neck. Turning its head, it saw Muramasa holding the blade there. Muramasa spoke in a low voice.
[Who did you call a slave?!]
[Oh, looks like General Naraku's asking for it.]
[Hmph! I've been sick of it for ages. It's always acting so high and mighty just because it's one of the creator's confidants. Muramasa, go on! Chop off its spider head!]
[That's right! Has it forgotten that our samurai is one of those "outsiders" it was talking about?]
Cerberus, wearing black half-armor, urged Muramasa on with all three of its heads, encouraging him to chop Naraku down.
[That's right. Cerberus has a point, little spider. Big sister's warning you not to badmouth little sister Hagoromo again. Otherwise, heh heh~] Medusa threatened Naraku as well.
Kraken stood quietly off to the side and then... fell asleep.
"Bang!"
[Enough! What kind of behavior is this?! What would our creator think if they saw you? Our mission is to complete the "task" our creator entrusted to me!]
[Yes, I understand.] Naraku reluctantly stepped back, and Muramasa sheathed his sword.
Medusa and Cerberus stepped back as well. As for Kraken? Heh, it was still asleep.
[Muramasa, you fought the new bearer of Divine last time. How strong is he?]
[I defeated him with a slash of my blade. It also seems he hasn't fully mastered the power of those five "traitors."]
[I see. That's good, though. It'll make it easier for us to complete the "task" our creator gave us. By the way, Medusa, how is that human?] Hodnig turned to Medusa again.
["He"? He's already being used by our allies as one of the test subjects for the Seed of Original Sin.]
[Excellent! The day we free our creator from the seal those foolish ants placed on him will be the day we return to our rightful age of darkness! I'll show those ants that this is only the beginning.]
Morning Workout
That evening, Honoka Kosaka wanted to write a song for her group, so she invited Minami Kotori and Umi Sonoda over to her house. She'd originally wanted to invite Senba Gari too, but he turned her down, saying he was busy that night.
Umi Sonoda entered the sweets shop through the front door.
"Oh, welcome!" As soon as Umi stepped inside, she saw Honoka's mother, Kousaka Yukiho, sampling one of the shop's sweets.
"Good evening. Is Honoka here?"
"She's upstairs. Oh, would you like a dango?" Kousaka Yukiho wiped her hands with a towel.
"No, thank you. I really need to lose weight now."
Umi went up to the second floor.
Hmm... I wonder how far Honoka and Kotori have gotten with the song.
Umi Sonoda reached Honoka Kosaka's room and slid open the door.
"Thanks for working hard at practice." As soon as Umi entered, Honoka Kosaka and Minami Kotori greeted her. But the two of them, who had just said they needed to lose weight, were now relaxing and eating dango.
"Oh, you're here. Want some dango?"
"I'll pour you some tea~"
Seeing them like this, Umi Sonoda's eyebrows twitched. She walked over and sat down across from Minami Kotori, then glanced at the two of them.
"You two. You're supposed to be losing weight."
"Waaah!" The two of them had forgotten something so important and stared at each other in alarm.
"You're not even trying." Umi sighed. "Anyway, how's the song coming along?"
"Well, there's a girl in the first year who's really good at singing and can play the piano, too. It shouldn't be hard for her to compose something, so we're thinking of asking her tomorrow."
"If she's willing to compose a song for us, writing the lyrics shouldn't be a problem either. We were just talking about that."
"It won't be a problem?" Umi Sonoda asked, sounding a little worried.
"Right?"
"Yeah!"
Honoka Kosaka and Minami Kotori exchanged a glance, then leaned toward Umi.
"Hehehe~"
"W-what are you doing?"
"Umi, didn't you write poems in middle school when you were really into that chuunibyou stuff~?"
"Huh?" Umi was flustered to have her embarrassing past brought up.
"You stopped after a while, right~?"
Having guessed what the two were plotting, Umi Sonoda backed toward the door, then bolted out of the room.
"She's running away!"
"Stop! Let me go back!"
"Come on, Umi~"
"No way!"
Minami Kotori, who had been watching from the side, joined in and grabbed Umi Sonoda.
"Umi, don't make a fuss~"
"Ahhh! Let go of me!"
The two of them finally managed to drag Umi Sonoda back into the room.
"I refuse!"
"Huh? Why, why?"
"Absolutely not! Anything from middle school is so embarrassing I don't even want to think about it."
"Don't people always say, 'If you want to be an idol, don't be afraid of embarrassing yourself'?" Honoka Kosaka said, stepping over to Umi.
"They do not!"
"But I'm already exhausted from making the costumes..." Minami Kotori said awkwardly.
"Isn't Honoka still here?" Umi Sonoda looked at Honoka Kosaka. "You're the one who brought this up."
"Well~ as for me..."
[Steamed buns and uguisu dango—I'm sick of them!]
Honoka Kosaka remembered a poem she'd written in elementary school and found it too embarrassing to revisit.
"Doesn't that seem a little difficult?" Minami Kotori asked doubtfully.
"Uh, well..."
"Please, Umi, you're the only one who can write lyrics."
"We'll help, too! Even if it's just a few lines!"
"Umi..." Kotori placed her right hand over her chest, slowly closed her eyes, then slowly opened them. And then—
"Please~!"
The plea was powerful, yet the words weren't forceful. Her incredibly alluring voice echoed in Umi's mind, stimulating her, then stimulating her further. Every nerve in her body went haywire, and a powerful current surged through her from head to toe. The intense shock made Umi's eyes widen in distress.
No! Umi, hold on! Don't fall into the endless abyss! (It's okay~ Give in, girl!)
But!
"Honestly, Kotori, that's so unfair."
"Thank goodness!" the two of them said, relieved.
"I knew you'd say that~" Honoka Kosaka happily put her hands on Umi Sonoda's shoulders.
"But..." Umi Sonoda stood up and looked down at them sternly. "I'm making the practice schedule for the rest of the time before the live show."
"The practice schedule?" ×2
[Sometimes we exchange a few words] Our words]
A-RISE's music video played on the laptop. Honoka Kosaka and Minami Kotori watched their movements closely, while Umi Sonoda stood behind them and explained.
"They seem to be having fun singing, but their bodies are moving the whole time."
In each other's places, with each other's thoughts (Where I am, I think of you)
"Always keep smiling."
Raise it, each other's day (Shouting, 'It's othersay')
"That takes a lot of stamina." Umi Sonoda continued explaining in time with the video.
What'cha do, what'cha do? I do private wars
"Honoka, can you do a push-up?"
Look, armed with justice and cunning
"Like this?" Honoka Kosaka lay on the floor and pushed her upper body up with both hands.
"Now smile."
"Like this?" Honoka Kosaka gave Umi a sweet smile.
"Can you keep smiling while doing push-ups?"
Honoka slowly lowered herself. Her smile grew strained, and her eyebrows began twitching.
"Ugh, ah!" Honoka's arms gave out, and she fell onto the floor, landing hard on her nose. "Ow, ow, ow!!" With tears in her eyes, Honoka clutched her nose and rolled around on the floor, but Umi paid her no attention.
Before you continue