At the side of the bed laid a girly white maxi dress and a boyish jacket, along with stripped-off underwear.
The ray of light peeking through the curtains woke up Yuki.
She looked up at the ceiling from her bed, her face colored with euphoria.
I wonder if we went a little overboard yesterday…
We saw a movie together, then we ate at my place, and then…
A smile broke out on our face as she recalled the events.
Suddenly she caught the scent of miso coming from somewhere.
She rolled over in bed to look at her side, but her sleeping partner was nowhere to be seen.
Shouichi then peeked in from the kitchen with a smile.
“Good morning, Yuki.”
“Morning, Shouichi.”
Yuki returned the smile.
“I’m almost done with breakfast.”
“All right, thanks.”
Then all of a sudden her alarm started ringing.
beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep
Yuki woke up as she threw off her blanket.
She slammed her hand on the alarm to stop it.
She then covered her downturned beet-red face with her hands.
What kind of dream was that…?! Just how obsessed am I over today’s date…?!
This is the worst…
After wallowing in self-loathing for a bit, Yuki changed into some comfy clothes and began cleaning up her room.
“What kind of food do I like?”
Mana’s chopsticks stopped as she responded to the question.
She was wearing her school’s summer uniform, made up of a blouse, summer sweater, and a skirt.
“Yeah. I’ll buy you anything you like. It’s almost your 17th birthday, right?”
Misugi spoke while sipping his green onion and tofu miso soup.
“I’ll make you a feast. Let’s make the most out of this celebration.”
Shouichi brought a piece of eggroll to his mouth.
The three of them sat as a “family” together around the dining-kitchen table, which had the breakfast Shouichi made on it.
After swallowing the pickled daikon she was chewing, Mana replied.
“Just make the usual stuff, you don’t have to make a big deal out of it. Also, I don’t really have any favorite foods, Uncle.”
“You don’t have to be shy about it, really.”
“That’s not it, I just like the way things usually are.”
After gulping the rest of her milk, Mana quickly left the dining room with a “Thanks for the meal, I’m off now.”
Misugi made a somewhat lonely expression.
Shouichi tried to cheer him up.
“Let’s go all out for Mana’s birthday.”
“By the way, Shouichi, about that favor I asked of you…”
“It’s all taken care of.”
Shouichi continued with a smile on his face.
“He said that he’d make sure that Mana wouldn’t come home late anymore. He also wants you to know that he’s sorry. He kinda looked like a scary guy at first, but he legitimately shows a lot of consideration for Mana.”
“So it really was a boyfriend…”
Misugi’s face clouded with shock.
“Actually, I don’t think that’s quite it…”
“Does he go to the same school as her?”
“No, he said he’s 21 years old.”
Misugi furrowed his eyebrows and began muttering to himself.
“An older man, huh… And he’s going after a high schooler?! The nerve of him… Don’t tell me he’s planning on doing some unsavory things with her on her birthday…”
Misugi suddenly got up from his chair.
“Shouichi! Lead me to that man right now!”
“W-Wait, really…?!”
But Misugi soon sat back down.
“No, wait, I’d end up embarrassing Mana if I did something like that… And girls these days seem to develop a lot faster, maybe 17 is actually late for girls her age… Perhaps my role as a father here is just to keep a watching eye on her from a distance… No, no, no, no! That’s just not right! It’s still too early for her! …But wait, maybe she…”
“Um, I have to go now, so… I’ll see you later.”
Shouichi quickly ran out of the dining room.
Misugi continued to mumble to himself as he was left alone with his troubles.
It wasn’t until over an hour later that he remembered that he had to head to the university.
Yuki turned off the vacuum cleaner and pressed the button to retract the power cord with her thumb.
The mountains of clothes that occupied half of her room’s floor were now stuffed into the clothing case in her storage space.
She hadn’t seen her room so tidy since she first moved in.
It’s crazy how unsettling it feels now, though…
As she thought that while she put away the vacuum cleaner into the storage space, she heard the news coming from the television she left on.
The witness report of the incident was as follows:
A young girl in a business suit was in a public telephone booth when suddenly the booth was filled with white smoke.
The moment after exiting the booth while coughing, the girl looked at herself and let out a scream.
The lower half of her body had melted into foam.
The foam soon traveled up her entire body, with her head dissolving into foam at the very end.
All that remained of her at that spot was her business suit and undergarments.
Yuki watched the news with a puzzled look on her face.
There’s no way a human could just foam up like that… It must be another one of those Unsolvable Crimes…
Yuki didn’t know much about the Unsolvable Crimes or the Unknowns other than from what she saw on the internet or what she heard from her friends.
There were all kinds of various theories flying around about what the Unknowns really were and what their objective was.
They’re aliens or alternate world beings invading earth, they’re newly developed weapons that the army is experimenting with, they’re mutants striking out in an act of vengeance, they’re agents of God sent down to cull humanity, and so on.
Among the theories was one that claimed that all the victims were espers.
There were many comments posted online from people stating that they had personally seen supernatural phenomena performed by the victims, or at least something to that effect.
There were also videos uploaded by the victims themselves depicting psychic activities.
The video of a tennis ball flipping inside-out in an instant had especially large attention from occult fans who argued over its authenticity.
Even someone who generally wasn’t interested in the occult like Yuki showed interest in this theory.
Putting aside the Unknowns, Yuki simply felt that being able to actually use psychic powers was extremely fascinating.
Yuki stretched her hand towards a pile of fashion magazines in a corner of her room and focused her mind on it.
Float! C’mon! Float!
………
The magazines continued to sit on the floor.
Yuki made a face that said “not like I was expecting anything” and began getting dressed.
Shouichi drove his bike towards the spot they were planning to meet up at.
He still had plenty of time, but he couldn’t help but be pumped for this day.
He had been waiting so long to have a taste of Yuki’s home cooking.
It wasn’t about it being delicious or disgusting.
He was just really moved to have someone cook for him.
Shouichi had no memory of any parents.
He had no means of recalling the taste of his mother’s home cooking.
That’s why Shouichi decided that he’d treat any dish made for him as his mother’s home cooking.
Yuki looked over her outfit in front of the mirror.
Today she was wearing a girly white maxi dress with a boyish jacket.
Yep, this is the exact same salty-sweet outfit I saw in that dream!
She spun around and made a flirty pose.
Now things will turn out just like that dream…
A sneaky look showed up on her face as she thought about that.
She then noticed something peculiar from the corner of her mirror.
Yuki turned around while making an incredulous expression.
The fashion magazines were floating up to her waist’s height.
No way… I actually did it…!
This isn’t a dream… I’m actually an esper…!
She was both surprised and overjoyed at coming across this hidden power of hers.
I need to tell someone. I need to show someone. I need to surprise someone.
Oh, I know, I’ll do it with Tsugami!
Yuki grabbed whatever she could and headed for the living room.
However, the Lizard Lord behind her made a killing sign with its fingers.
The white smoke that came out of its mouth shot out towards Yuki.
The white smoke that filled the room trailed out through the curtains on the balcony’s window.
The pieces of furniture covered up by the white smoke slowly regained their forms.
The clothes Yuki was planning on wearing to her date and her underwear laid next to the bed as if they were taken off there.
Yuki was nowhere to be seen.
The small amount of foam that still remained on the floor was carried away by the wind, floating out through the window.
The soap bubble-like foam flew through the sky as if it was Yuki’s soul.
Below the floating soap bubbles was the Lizard Lord.
The Unknown began running down the alleyway, but soon came to a stop.
It was Agito.
Agito had appeared to block the Lizard Lord’s path.
The Lizard Lord let out white smoke towards Agito’s direction.
The walls and utility poles the white smoke passed through began melting.
Agito jumped before the smoke managed to reach him.
Once the smoke disappeared and Agito was able to see the Lizard Lord below him, he let out a kick towards the Unknown’s head like an arrow.
The Lizard Lord exploded, and the soap bubbles in the air popped instantly.
Shouichi looked up at the vivid sunset sky with melancholy.
After defeating the Lizard Lord, he drove at full speed towards the meeting place and then waited for Yuki to arrive.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Shouichi heard a female voice calling out to a man sitting next to him.
The two of them chatted excitedly as they made their way to the movie theater.
Shouichi watched them walk off with a lonely look in his eyes and then once again looked up at the sunset sky.
“What are you doing, Shouichi?”
Looking to his side, he found Mana on her way home.
Shouichi responded with the usual smile.
“Welcome home, Mana.”
“I’m still on my way home right now, though… But yeah, what are you doing?”
“Well… I was actually waiting to meet with Yuki here, but I arrived late, so… she probably got mad and headed back home.”
“There’s no point in still waiting then, right?”
Mana grabbed onto Shouichi’s arm with both hands.
“I heard the rainy season’s going to start next week. I’ve been wanting to buy a new umbrella, you should come help me choose one out.”
She spoke cheerfully while pulling him along by his arm.
“You seem like you’re in a good mood, Mana…”
“That’s not true. C’mon, let’s go.”
“A-All right…”
The two of them entered a fancy shop and stopped at the umbrella corner.
Mana wanted one with a bright color.
She often got depressed on rainy days, so she felt that seeing a bright-colored umbrella spread out would help to cheer her up.
As Mana mentioned that as she looked over the multicolored umbrellas, Shouichi opened up an orange umbrella saying “What about this one?”
Mana felt like it looked like a flower blooming.
The umbrella had a flower pattern with a tangerine-like color.
That’s actually not bad.
Taking a liking to it from the very first sight, Mana brought the orange umbrella to the register.
As they made their way out of the shop and began heading back home, Mana got a call from Misugi from her cellphone.
He said that he’d be drinking with his seminar students so he wouldn’t be joining for dinner.
Since they were already outside, Mana suggested that they’d eat outside for dinner.
The only places she’d eaten out with just the two of them before would be places like cafes or family restaurants.
But today Mana felt like going to somewhere more special so she badgered Shouichi over going to a fancy-looking bistro she had always been interested in.
Shouichi hadn’t eaten there before either, which led to Shouichi entering the bistro before her out of excitement over the menu.
The restaurant had counter seats and table seats, with all of them being filled with adult couples.
I wonder if we’d look like a couple, too… Haha, no way…
As she chuckled to herself while thinking about that, a waitress called out to them and brought them to a table next to a window where they sat across from each other.
Now, then.
Mana’s eyebrows furrowed.
Mana actually had zero experience whatsoever with French cuisine.
All she had was a vague understanding that proper etiquette was a big deal.
She had no idea what kind of dishes were being offered from the menu handed to her.
Shouichi was nodding excitedly while reading his menu.
Stop understanding it all on your own and explain it to me, too!
Just as she was about to kick Shouichi in the shin from under the table, the waitress next to her began explaining what each dish was one by one.
I see, I see.
Mana was relieved that the explanation was easy to understand.
Apparently ordering at this bistro consisted of choosing one dish each for the hors d’oeuvre, the main dish, and the dessert.
As Mana thought hard about what to choose, Shouichi began cheerfully chatting with the waitress about the menu’s details.
Mana felt that Shouichi looked a lot like an adult there.
She realized that even though he often gave the impression that he was the same age as her, he was in fact a lot older.
Mana ordered the same food as Shouichi.
She then watched Shouichi and attempted to eat in the same manner with the knife and fork.
Mana had always had a small appetite, so there was no way she’d be able to eat as much food as Shouichi, resulting in her having him eat half of her food.
Her stomach felt pretty bloated, but she felt extremely satisfied with the food she ate.
Shouichi paid the bill and the two of them headed out.
“Thanks for the food.”
After politely bowing, Mana opened up her newly bought umbrella.
“Hey, just for fun, let’s huddle under this umbrella together.”
“Huh? But it’s not raining…”
“Like I said, it’s just for fun.”
Mana put Shouichi under the umbrella and smiled.
“All right, let’s go home.”
“…Right.”
Shouichi returned the smile and wrapped his hand around Mana’s umbrella-holding hand.
The stars of the evening sky twinkled above their orange umbrella as they walked back home.
Kamen Rider Novel Translations 
damn, I’m glad this really is Agito
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