He wandered about for the whole night.
He didn’t even know where he was headed.
He just wanted to escape the incriminating memories of him being the culprit behind the Akatsuki Village incident.
Eventually, the sky grew bright again.
But the sun was covered by thick grey clouds.
Shouichi looked up at that sky with resignation.
He thought about how he really might be the culprit.
He thought about how he had done something unforgivable.
He was filled with guilt towards what he did to the murdered villagers.
His legs brought him to the Misugi household.
He decided to confess everything to Mana.
He passed through the front gate, took off his shoes at the front door, and headed up the stairs.
The distance to his destination somehow felt longer than usual.
Shouichi reached the door to Mana’s room.
He knew he had no right to face her again.
He squeezed out his voice in front of the door.
“Mana…”
There was no response.
But he could tell that Mana was there.
She didn’t want to believe that Shouichi was the culprit.
But the fact was that her eyes were burned with the image of Shouichi transforming into Agito.
Lost over what to do, she had been hiding under her blanket making empty boxes over and over again ever since she had come home last night.
She could hear Shouichi’s faltering voice from behind the door.
He said that a part of his memory had resurfaced and that he had memories of being the culprit behind the Akatsuki Village incident.
She knew that he was apologizing.
But she didn’t know what to do with the apology.
The number of boxes continued to increase.
Mana never responded.
He had no choice but to atone for what he did as Agito on his own.
Shouichi decided that he’d turn himself in and headed down the stairs.
Upon opening the front door, he noticed there was someone in front of the gate.
A nervous Hikawa had his right index finger in front of the intercom button in hesitance. His left arm was hanging from his neck in a bandage.
The moment he noticed that Shouichi was looking at him in curiosity, Hikawa ran away.
But right before he turned the corner of the road, he stopped and let out a big sigh.
Calm down… Calm down… Just talk to him like you usually do…
After adjusting his necktie, Hikawa once again returned to Shouichi and made a shaky bow.
Shouichi responded with a slight bow as well.
Hikawa was brought into the living room and given some tea, but upon trying to drink it he ended up spilling it and making a mess. Combined with the time it took to wipe the table clean, it took about ten minutes before they finally started talking.
“I-I don’t know how I should thank you for saving me all those times…”
He spoke awkwardly due to his nervousness.
Shouichi simply silently listened with his eyes cast down.
“It must be tough being Agito… In a sense, it’s even tragic… You’ve been forced into such a nonsensical fate…”
“Hikawa…”
Shouichi finally opened his mouth and spoke while looking at Hikawa.
“Please arrest me.”
Hikawa was taken aback for a moment, but then passed it off as a joke with a laugh.
“Ha, ha, ha… Your jokes are as funny as always.”
But anyone could tell it was a forced one.
Normally Shouichi would’ve teased him with something like “even your fake laugh is so clumsy~”, but his face remained dark.
Hikawa inquired worryingly.
“Tsugami, is there something the matter?”
Shouichi lowered his eyes and responded with a sunken voice.
“I’m the culprit behind the Akatsuki Village incident…”
“The Akatsuki Village incident…?”
Hikawa couldn’t help but be surprised over hearing that unexpected name.
“It’s true… My memory happened to come back… I saw all those dead villagers… and myself attacking Mana’s father…”
“Hold on just a minute!”
Hikawa suddenly stood up and raised his voice.
“I don’t believe that! There’s no way you could’ve done something like that! Just think about how many people you’ve saved so far as Agito!”
“…But my true self might be a criminal…”
“That’s ridiculous…”
He sat back down in astonishment.
After collecting his feelings, Hikawa responded calmly.
“Even if what you said is true, I can’t arrest you without evidence. Besides, if you get arrested, then you won’t be able to fight the Unknown anymore… Don’t you think it would be more beneficial to have you continue fighting as Agito?”
After shaking his head no, Shouichi raised his wrists forward as if he was asking to be handcuffed.
“Tsugami…”
Hikawa stared at his hands in bewilderment.
But then a light shone in his eyes and he firmly grabbed Shouichi’s hand with his right arm.
“This hand doesn’t kill people… it protects people!”
Shouichi looked at his hand.
He wanted to believe in Hikawa’s words.
But his resurfaced memories didn’t allow that.
Shouichi could see his hands covered by the blood of the Akatsuki villagers.
Despite his emotional state, he suddenly sensed the activities of an Unknown.
He then reflexively ran out of the house and sped off on his bike.
As the sky grew dark as night drew close, large flames erupted on the embankment.
With the Unknown’s explosion reflected in his eyes, Gills retracted his heel claw and returned back onto the Gills Raider.
He then heard the engine of a bike approaching from the front.
Upon seeing who the rider was, the color in his eyes changed and he sped his bike forward.
“Tsugamiiiii!!”
“Ashihara?!”
Shouichi saw the Gills Raider speeding towards him at max speed.
Shouichi quickly turned the handle to avoid the head-on collision.
The bike however fell on its side as he rolled down the embankment.
Shouichi got back up while gripping his arm that got injured amongst the chaos.
Gills then came sliding down the embankment in chase, proceeding to let out a flying kick.
Shouichi was launched into the riverside, creating a splash.
Gills extended the claws at his wrists and approached him.
“You took the lives of Mana’s loved ones… I’m going to murder you right here and now!”
“I see… So that’s why you’ve been attacking me…”
Shouichi got onto his knees in front of Gills and showed no signs of running away.
His eyes reflected the acceptance of his fate.
“Are you not a human yourself?!”
Hikawa ran in and stood in front of Shouichi as to protect him.
“Humans shouldn’t be killing other humans!”
“Get out of the way!”
Gills grabbed Hikawa by the collar and threw him into the river.
“Hikawa!”
Shouichi turned and glared at Gills.
Gills had already reached in front of Shouichi with his claw lifted up.
“Die!”
Shouichi squeezed his eyes shut.
But Gills’s raised arm was frozen stiff.
“What…?!”
Gills was definitely about to impale Shouichi.
But for some reason, his arm had stopped against his will.
“Damn it… What the hell’s going on?!”
The astonished Shouichi then noticed the figure of someone standing on top of the embankment.
“Mana…”
Mana’s face was mixed with both bewilderment and sadness.
Gills turned around to see that she truly was there.
“Mana… Did you stop me…?”
“……”
“Why?! Why did you stop me?! This bastard killed your father! Don’t you hate him?! Mana! Mana!!”
Mana ran off until she could no longer be seen without speaking a single word.
Shouichi simply watched her run away with a dumbfounded face.
Gills’s body squirmed and melted as he returned back into his form as Ryou.
After glancing at Shouichi with a harsh look in his eyes, Ryou turned around and sped off on his bike that had returned back to its original form.
Hikawa, who had gotten out of the river, watched him as he left.
Ryou threw himself onto his bed after returning to his apartment.
When he saw Mana’s memories, he could feel the sadness and despair she felt when she lost her father.
He knew what Mana had gone through better than anyone else.
But Mana protected Agito despite that.
Ryou wanted to know just what could have driven her to do that.
After a little while, he heard his doorbell ring.
Upon opening the door, he found a nervous Hikawa standing in front of him.
Ryou looked at him with a suspicious face.
“…What do you want? Are you here for revenge?”
“No… that’s not it…”
After struggling with his words for a bit, Hikawa made his mind and inquired.
“I hardly know anything about you. Do you think you could talk to me about who you are?”
“……”
The words then gushed out of Hikawa.
“What’s your background? When and where did you acquire the ability to transform? What’s the source of your power?”
“Why are you asking this?”
“It’s my duty as a police officer… No, it’s probably because…”
“Probably because…?”
“I might want to become… a person like Agito, too…”
Ryou’s eyebrows scrunched up.
“Tsugami has amnesia, so I have no way of learning from him, but you should be aware of what caused you to transform. Please remember! Or at least let me help you remember!”
“Enough, I have nothing more to say to you.”
Just as Ryou was about to shut the door and end the conversation, Hikawa pushed himself halfway through the door and continued his request.
“Please! If we can learn the truth behind all of this, we’ll be able to fight against the Unknown more efficiently! Okay, how about this, we can start with how your life was as a young boy. Please, Ashihara!”
Ryou sighed and opened the door.
“Ashihara…”
Hikawa made a smile for a moment, but Ryou let out a punch soon afterward.
Hikawa fell onto the hallway floor as he was launched back.
“I said ‘enough’, didn’t I?!”
Ryou was about to close the door to end this for good, but Hikawa had gotten back up and grabbed onto the door.
“Please wait, Ashihara… I’m not done talking to you yet…!”
“You stubborn little…”
Hikawa refused to give up.
I need to know the secret to Agito no matter what…!
Ashihara once again clenched his first.
“Ashihara…”
A voice could be heard from the end of the hallway.
The two of them turned towards its direction to find Shouichi with a sad expression on his face.
“I don’t know what I should do.”
Shouichi spoke with a brooding face.
“…Ashihara, if you want to make me pay for my sins, then please do as you’d like to me.”
“What…?”
“Tsugami, what are you saying…?”
“Please…”
Ryou looked at Shouichi with a surprised look in his eyes.
He came here to get done in by me…? I’ve always thought he was a weird guy, but now I can see he’s just a straight-up idiot… Could this guy really be the culprit…?
Ryou’s face showed confusion.
He opened the door and had Shouichi and Hikawa come in.
The three of them sat down on the floor in a triangle.
The glass table between them didn’t have any tea or alcohol on it, but if a stranger were to see this scene, they’d maybe think they were just three buddies enjoying some time together.
“Sorry, but I can’t kill you anymore.”
Ryou spoke out.”
“But why…? Weren’t you after me…?”
Shouichi responded while looking at Ryou with pleading eyes.
“I was trying to take revenge for Mana… but now I don’t need to anymore. Because I found out that Mana doesn’t want that.”
Shouichi looked down onto the floor.
“…Does that mean Mana forgives me…?”
“Or maybe it means that she believes you’re innocent. I’m starting to doubt that you’re the actual culprit, too.”
“I agree.”
Hikawa added his opinion in strongly.
“There’s no possible way Tsugami could be the culprit.”
Shouichi lifted his face and made a slight smile.
“Thank you… It makes me happy to hear that you believe in me…”
Hikawa turned to Ryou.
“But why were you trying so hard for Mana’s sake? What happened between the two of you?”
Ryou’s lips twisted with annoyance.
“I’d rather you didn’t pry into our circumstances. You’re a normal person, unlike us.”
But Hikawa wasn’t discouraged by his words. He responded with a strong tone.
“I saved Mana during the Akatsuki Village incident. I wish to be of help to her even now. I want to be there for her just as much as you do.”
Ryou and Hikawa’s eyes locked together.
Shouichi looked at the two of them alternatingly.
“I owe Mana… no, not just that.”
He suddenly paused and grew silent for a moment.
“I… have special feelings towards Mana.”
Both Shouichi and Hikawa’s faces grew surprised at the sudden confession.
“I’d do anything for Mana’s sake. Even if it means I have to become a demon. I wouldn’t hesitate to throw my life away, either. What about you, Tsugami? What do you think of Mana?”
“She’s very dear to me, too.”
Shouichi responded instantly.
“The same goes for how I feel about both you and Hikawa.”
Shouichi made a bright smile.
“That’s not what I meant…”
Ryou sounded a little annoyed.
That’s not what I meant.
“Tsugami…”
Hikawa looked at Shouichi with a happy face.
“Ashihara…”
Shouichi suddenly straightened up his posture.
“How should we live on from here on out?”
Ryou responded while looking at Shouichi with a serious look in his eyes.
“I understand how you feel… I wanted to be a normal person, too…”
“……”
Shouichi nodded.
The weight of those words could only be understood by Shouichi and Ryou.
“But I don’t want to feel pity for myself. I want to find meaning in who I am right now. No, I will find meaning in who I am right now…!”
It was as if he was talking to himself.
He had never mentioned what he had been through.
But even so, those words were enough for Shouichi and Hikawa to understand the struggles he had to go through upon losing his status as a normal person.
A strong determination lied in Ryou’s eyes.
Kamen Rider Novel Translations 