Ryou woke from the sound of the intercom.
He was lying face down on the bed in his room.
With his head still not fully woken up, he forced himself up.
“Urgh…!”
A pain that felt like all his muscles were tearing apart rushed through his body.
He noticed his hand that was wrinkled like an old man’s.
Memories of yesterday’s battle came back to him.
He somehow made his way back to his apartment while writhing in pain after defeating the Jackal Lord and then fell unconscious.
The intercom rang again.
Ryou rolled off the bed with his entire body in pain.
He heard the door to the entrance hall open.
He could hear the footsteps of someone walking down the hallway.
He looked through the frosted glass of his door with caution.
He could make out the shape of a girl in a school uniform.
The one slowly opening the door and timidly peeking her face in was Mana.
Ryou’s face was colored with surprise upon realizing that she was the girl he saved yesterday.
Seeing that Ryou was on his side in pain next to the bed, Mana rushed to his side.
“Are you all right?!”
She got on her knees and looked at him with concern.
Ryou glared at her.
“Ah… Sorry for barging in… I heard a loud thud so I thought something might have happened to you…”
“How did you find this place…? Did you follow me…?”
He questioned her with a raspy voice.
“Well…”
She couldn’t say that she read his memory.
Upon touching Ryou after he turned back human, fragments of his memory rushed into Mana’s mind.
She learned of the pain he was suffering from gradually transfiguring into a grotesque creature.
“Didn’t I tell you to stay away?!”
“…I’m sorry…”
Intimidated, she mumbled with her face down.
The very next moment, Ryou suddenly grabbed onto Mana.
“Kyah!”
He pushed her shoulders down to the floor.
He violently stretched out her collar, causing the buttons of her blouse to fly off.
Her bra was halfway exposed.
Mana was speechless out of fear and surprise.
Ryou’s bloodshot eyes looked into Mana’s eyes as he spoke with a low voice.
“Now you understand, right…? Don’t get near me…”
It was then that Mana understood Ryou’s emotions.
She could tell that he was sad.
She realized he was like herself.
She was somewhat familiar with the pain of not being a normal human being.
The pain of being the only one different from everyone else…
Those feelings were what caused her to distance herself from everyone else in high school.
Ryou got off Mana and rolled back onto his bed.
“Hurry up and-”
His face was suddenly stricken with pain before he could finish his sentence.
Pain once again assaulted his entire body.
Mana looked towards Ryou with determination as he writhed and twisted in agony.
She put a hand to her collar while approaching his body with her eyes closed.
She then held her other hand over Ryou’s chest.
Soft light like the sun coming down from above the trees slowly spread across Ryou’s body.
It was like watching a miracle.
His aged wrinkled arms returned back to normal in an instant.
The pain that felt like his muscles were ripping apart also disappeared.
Struck with surprise, Ryou looked at his arms, then his body, and then to Mana.
“What are you…?!”
The light covering his body then suddenly disappeared.
At the same time, Mana lost consciousness and collapsed onto the floor.
There was only darkness.
Nothing could be heard from outside, either.
Sweat continued to flow out with no sign of stopping.
Her pajamas uncomfortably stuck to her skin.
Mana sat alone with her arms around her knees.
She had no idea how long it had been since she entered the shed.
She drank out of the 2-liter water bottle that was left with her.
Why did Daddy make me hide in the shed?
What’s happening outside?
She couldn’t help but constantly wonder about those concerns.
She then finally steeled herself and closed her eyes.
She used her clairvoyance to observe her environment. She focused on her brow and calmed her heart.
Eventually…
She could see light.
The contours and colors of everything gradually became visible.
I did it…
She was able to look around the village as if she was walking through it.
Scattered across the familiar environment were the corpses of the villagers.
Why…?! Why is everyone…?!
It was enough to make her go insane. She had no idea what was going on.
Daddy! Where are you, Daddy?!
Daddy… Daddy… Daddy… Daddy… Daddy… Daddy…
She continued to pray that he was okay while she spread her consciousness across the village.
She then finally found her father.
Nobuyuki was crawling in a paddy field, desperately trying to run away from something.
She saw the feet that were going after him step by step through the rice field.
What… is that…? Red eyes… Gold horns…
That’s not a person!
That creature was Agito.
Agito stopped right behind Nobuyuki as he turned back.
“P-Please, don’t… Nooooo!!”
Those were Nobuyuki’s final words.
“Daddy!!”
Mana’s eyes flew open as she got up.
She was on Ryou’s bed.
Sitting in front of the bed was Ryou, who was looking at her with a surprised face.
She hurried to hide her face after realizing that she must have looked awful.
“…Did you have a bad dream or something?”
Ryou asked her with a somewhat kind tone.
“I’m fine…”
Mana stood up as if nothing had happened.
“…I’m heading back.”
Ryou said nothing as he watched Mana leave.
But both Ryou and Mana knew that this wouldn’t be the last they’d see of each other.
They knew that this was probably the beginning of something.
Kamen Rider Novel Translations 