“Mmmmmmmm… Today’s weather is great, too.”
Shouichi stretched his body bathed in the sunlight on the 2nd-floor balcony as he looked up at the sky.
Good weather made setting up laundry to dry even more fun.
Shouichi put the laundry onto the hangars with an experienced flow and began hanging each one of them onto the rod meant for drying clothes one by one.
A t-shirt, a sweater, a blouse, a cardigan, a sweatshirt, a fleece jacket, a jersey, a long-sleeved t-shirt, running…
It was then that Shouichi interrupted his laundry drying with an “Oh no!”
He just remembered how Mana had told him “You don’t need to wash my underwear” numerous times by now.
He had accidentally done that twice in the past, and both times he had apologized by getting on his knees.
When he did that, Mana got bright red and turned her head down, and instead of shouting at him in anger, she kicked him in the left shin with all her might. This has happened twice now.
Shouichi’s face twisted from imagining getting kicked for the third time as he rubbed his left shin.
After finishing putting the laundry up to dry, he began cleaning.
He made sure to thoroughly vacuum the living room carpet, wipe every corner of the flooring and windows, and scrub the toilet until it was shining.
He had been doing this ever since he came to the Misugi household, but it wasn’t as if he was doing it because he was asked to. He was doing it because he wanted to.
A house is the same as a person. It feels good being clean. It feels happy.
Shouichi continued to go around cleaning the house every day with that mindset in mind.
Once he finished cleaning, he went out for shopping.
He began singing a song he just learned as he swung the shopping basket in his hand back and forth with vigor.
Red dragonflies
In the early sunset
I wonder which day it was
When I saw it on her back
He thought it was a good song.
Misugi would sometimes play on the organ at home while singing lame songs to Shouichi thinking that it might help serve as a trigger towards recovering his memory.
Red Dragonfly was one of those songs that Misugi sang to him.
For some reason, it felt really nostalgic.
Maybe I saw red dragonflies in the sunset when I was a kid too, Shouichi thought to himself.
Shouichi entered the usual shopping district and came to a stop at the usual fish shop.
His face naturally turned into a smile as he took a look at the multicolored harvest of the ocean laid out on display.
He met eyes with a mackerel, and the mackerel smiled in return.
It’s this one, he thought to himself as he stuck his pinky into its mouth.
There’s no doubt about it. The voice of the mackerel traveled down his pinky and into the rest of his body.
The mackerel was saying “I’m tasty!”
“I’ll take three of these mackerels, sir!”
“Your judgment is as spot-on as always. The mackerels are my recommendation for today.”
The fish shop’s boss was always impressed by Shouichi’s judgment, and always followed up with the same question.
“But what exactly can you tell from sticking your pinky up a fish’s mouth?”
“Well…” And Shouichi’s answer was always the same.
“Whether or not they want to swim inside me.”
After coming home with the ingredients he bought for dinner, he put on his gardening apron, gloves, and boots, and headed out into the garden.
The garden was about big enough to fit 2 cars, and Shouichi had filled it with humus to make it into his vegetable garden.
The vegetables he diligently took care of such as the green onions and cabbage were all growing healthily.
Shouichi began cutting some spinach that had grown quite large with his gardening scissors and put them in his straining basket one by one.
Gomaae… butter saute… namul… There are all kinds of new dishes I could experiment with…
He was thinking of all the different dishes that could be made with spinach.
“I’m home.”
A voice could be heard along with the sound of the front gate opening.
With her straight shoulder-length black hair shaking back and forth, she walked towards the garden where her freeloader senior was.
“Oh, welcome home.”
Wearing a blouse with a grey blazer, a red tie, a checkered miniskirt, and navy blue socks, the school uniform looked good on Mana.
“Hold on, I’ll go get changed real quick.”
“You don’t have to help out today, I’m almost done.”
“…Oh.”
After murmuring that with a disappointed tone, she squatted down next to Shouichi and took a look at the spinach.
“It hasn’t even been that long since you planted it… It’s like vegetables always grow super fast whenever you’re the one who takes care of it.”
“It’s all about the love you put in.”
Shouichi spoke while carrying his harvested spinach like a baby.
“Maybe you were born from a farmer family.”
“Hmm… Nah, I don’t think so.” (T/L Note: There’s a pun here that I can’t be bothered to localize properly. Basically “farmer family” is “nouka” in Japanese, and Shouichi responds with “noo kana”, as in “I think that’s a no.” Let me know if you think you have a good idea for this)
Right after that, Shouichi began cracking up in pride at his own pun.
“Yeah, yeah.”
Mana was used to this at this point and simply brushed it off.
“Hey, Shouichi.”
After gazing at the side of Shouichi’s face as he collected the spinach, she spoke out to him with a hesitant tone.
“It’s been about half a year since you came here. Have you remembered anything?”
As he wiped the sweat off his forehead, he realized that he actually hasn’t.
Whether it was something to do with where he lived, his family, his friends, or even his own name, not a single memory had resurfaced.
It had gotten to the point where he practically forgot that he was even amnesiac.
He felt so fulfilled with his current life that he didn’t even care about his past anymore.
It didn’t matter whether or not his memory returned or not.
That’s how Shouichi felt.
The oldest memory Shouichi had was of a molting cicada.
Shouichi was lying on the ground somewhere, and when he came to, he was able to make out a single cicada nymph crawling up a tree that was within arm’s length of him.
The nymph took its sweet time crawling up the tree before finally stopping and beginning the molting process.
A thin crevice ran down its back, and out came a completely white cicada. After wiggling itself out of the shell, it stood up and slowly expanded its folded wings.
It took a very long time. It felt as if several years had passed between when the cicada began molting and when it completely folded out its wings.
A cool breeze blew through the mountains as if to signify the end of summer.
The wind made its way through the vegetation, down the slope, and then brushed through Shouichi’s hair.
Shouichi had lost his memory and collapsed on a road that seemingly wrapped around a mountain.
He was covered in mud from head to toe.
His t-shirt and cargo pants were so covered in mud that their original color couldn’t be made out. His face also had enough mud on it that his mouth was numb with the taste of dirt.
As his eyes followed the cicada as it finished molting and flew off towards the sky, he was afflicted with a feeling of loneliness that was enough to make him want to cry.
Don’t leave me, he thought. Take me with you.
As the sun began to set, a carrier truck going down the mountain road came to a screeching halt in front of Shouichi.
The surprised driver that jumped out of the truck cautiously approached Shouichi, and then proceeded to shake his mud-covered body while calling out to him.
After Shouichi let out a small groan, the driver felt relief over seeing that he was still breathing and set out to take him to a hospital.
“Your clothes… are going to get dirty…”
Shouichi spoke those words to the driver without thinking with a smile.
This guy sure is something to be worried about someone else’s clothes at a time like this.
Shouichi then fell into a slumber as he received IV at the hospital the driver brought him to.
When he awoke, it was the morning 3 days after his admission.
After being asked by the doctor what exactly happened to him, Shouichi began searching inside of himself for a while.
He couldn’t remember anything.
Whether it was why he collapsed or who he was, nothing would come to mind.
“Hey, Mana. What would you do if I remembered my past and found out I was a violent criminal?”
Shouichi asked Mana as he continued working in the vegetable garden. Of course, it wasn’t a serious question. He was mostly joking.
Mana, who had been gazing at the spinach, looked up at Shouichi.
“You might actually be some rich boy. If that happens, I’ll marry you.”
“Hmm… Getting married doesn’t sound too merry to me.”
This time it was a pun on “merry”.
Mana stood up looking a little annoyed.
“Not funny… Actually, all your puns aren’t funny, but that one was the most unfunny one.”
Mana headed into the house leaving those words behind.
I thought it was a pretty merry joke myself, though…
Not taking into account Mana’s opinion whatsoever, Shouichi continued to make puns with “merry” to himself.
In the evening, the man of the Misugi household, Yoshihiko Misugi, had come home from work.
Misugi is a professor in his mid-forties that taught psychology at a university.
He happened to get to know Shouichi because one of his friends was the doctor that was in charge of him, leading Misugi to take him in because he thought it’d help him out. It’s been half a year since then.
Misugi was in the living room going through the evening paper when he heard Shouichi’s voice saying “Dinner’s ready!”, and headed towards the dining room with Mana, who had come down from the second floor.
Laid out on the table was Shouichi’s home cooking.
Spinach sauce, seasoned spinach, pickled cabbage, daikon miso broth made with white miso, and white rice.
“There’s actually one more dish.”
He proudly brought out a large plate of mackerel sushi.
The glistening pink fat of the mackerel’s body shone from under the pale blue light skin. The scent of the sushi rice gave off a pleasant feeling reminiscent of the wind.
“Did you make this?”
“Yes, after filleting and salting the mackerel, I soaked it in sweet vinegar for about five hours. Then I just wrapped it up in sushi rice and that was it. After trying it out, it was surprisingly simple.”
Misugi popped one into his mouth after going “Is that right? Let’s see how it is.”
“Oh, yes, this is pretty good.”
Mana, whose mood had visibly improved, also went “Yeah, it really is!” as she made an OK hand gesture to Shouichi.
“Maybe I was a cook at a famous restaurant or a chef at a 3-star restaurant before I lost my memory.”
Shouichi made a hearty laugh with his chest puffed out.
“This…”
Misugi began muttering with a casual tone.
“…would go really well with some alcohol.”
Shouichi’s body instinctively reacted to those words.
Him and Mana exchanged glances as they trembled from the hell-like experience they were possibly going to come face with.
Don’t let Misugi drink alcohol.
The doctor in charge of Shouichi made a big deal about that when he was discharged from the hospital, but Misugi’s bad drinking habits surpassed any expectations Shouichi had.
When it came to alcohol, Misugi would quickly get mushy, flushed, and tipsy. He’d then get super touchy with Shouichi or Mana or the table or the chairs or the rice cooker. He’d go off on how he doesn’t like Shouichi’s hairstyle, or how he doesn’t approve of Mana’s skirt length, or how he misses his wife who’s currently on a trip overseas, or how he think it’s pretentious for a table to be rectangular shaped, or how he thinks the rice cooker looks kind of like his wife, or how the faucet looks kind of like a tie, or how he suddenly wants to go skiing…
“I think you should pass on the alcohol…”
“Yeah, Uncle. Nothing goes better with sushi than tea. Oh yeah, want to have some of that gyokuro tea I got from Ippodo the other day?”
Shouichi and Mana did everything they could to shift Misugi’s attention.
However, once he was captured by the allure of alcohol, nothing would stop him.
“Hey, Shouichi. Do you think you could go to the liquor store and ask for some sake that goes well with sushi? They’re the best bet for stuff like this. You can’t really count on the convenience stores.”
“Um… I think alcohol would…”
“Yeah, you just gotta buy alcohol at the liquor store. There’s no other option.”
As Misugi rambled on, Shouichi suddenly looked up at the ceiling.
Shouichi?
Mana noticed the sudden change in Shouichi’s expression. He’s doing it again.
Ever since a while ago, Mana has noticed that Shouichi would sometimes make that really lonely looking expression. That usual kind gentle smile that’d be on his face would be replaced with the face of a man who needed to take care of something crucial. Whether he’d be in the middle of his beloved cooking or doing the laundry or talking about nonsense with Mana, the next action he’d take would always be the same.
Just as Mana expected, Shouichi ran out of the house.
Contrary to Misugi’s expectations, Shouichi was unfortunately not rushing over to the liquor store.
He was simply being driven by the mysterious impulse that was building up from the bottom of his heart.
That impulse acted like Shouichi’s instincts, overriding his will and controlling his actions, and granted him enormous vitality.
After leaving the house, he got on the bike that he bought from Misugi and got the license for 3 months ago, and stepped on the throttle.
There was no way Shouichi would know of this, but tonight, Makoto Hikawa would be sortieing as the G3 user for the very first time, and would be fighting the Unknown.
When Shouichi stopped his bike, he could see the Jaguar Lord playing around with G3’s body as if it was a puppet with its strings cut off.
Shouichi slowly got off his bike and stepped onto the earth. He firmly stood his feet down as if confirming that he knew where he was standing.
After wordlessly gathering his focus, he rose a single hand as if to grasp the stars and let out a sharp cry.
“Henshin!”
A belt-shaped instrument appeared around his waist.
Harsh light emitted from the buckle area and enveloped Shouichi’s body in an instant.
When the light disappeared, Shouichi was no longer there. He had transformed into Agito.
Agito walked towards the Jaguar Lord in the darkness.
He stopped Jaguar Lord’s sharp punch with the palm of his hand and gripped onto it.
The first time Shouichi had transformed into Agito was around two months after he was taken into the Misugi household. Despite it being his first time, he held no doubt or concerns towards being guided by the intense impulse within him and naturally transforming into Agito in front of the Unknown.
Perhaps it was fortunate that he had amnesia.
His lack of memory was what forced him to accept who he was.
If he was turning into Agito and fighting the Unknown, then that must truly be who he was.
If anything, Shouichi liked acting as Agito and helping the people by defeating the ferocious Unknown.
The people who were saved would wake up in the morning and get to eat delicious food again.
Shouichi was glad he was able to protect that delicious time of theirs.
To Shouichi, deliciousness was the same as being free. It’s delicious because you are free. You are free because it is delicious. And the opposite of freedom was by no doubt death.
That is why Shouichi protects the people.
He will turn into Agito and fight the Unknown.
Maybe his lost memories had something to do with why he was able to transform into Agito.
Shouichi couldn’t help but think about that, but he was unable to remember anything about why he could transform or what Agito truly was.
As he fought the Unknown, he’d occasionally suddenly remember the molted cicada skin he saw on the mountain road.
If he kept fighting, perhaps he’d eventually find out where that cicada flew off to.
That’s how he felt.
When Shouichi arrived back home after defeating the Jaguar Lord, Misugi rushed to greet him at the front door.
“Where’s the sake?”
“Oh, sorry.” Shouichi spoke with a laugh while scratching his head.
“I totally forgot about that.”
“Why did you even run out of here in the first place?”
Misugi looked at Shouichi with a face that showed he was at a loss for words.
Kamen Rider Novel Translations 