I could tell it was the usual dream.
As well as that the baby crying inside that locked box was myself.
The cold darkness was filled with the stench of stainless steel.
As usual, no matter how much I cried, the box would never get unlocked, and I would never wake up from the dream.
My arms and legs that I never once stretched out would then touch the box’s inner walls. So would my head. And my face.
My chest, my elbows, and my knees as well.
I was suddenly struck with the fear that I was growing.
I knew full well that it was the usual course of events, but the fear still wouldn’t go away.
I kicked the inner walls. I hit them.
I continued to hit them.
I then suddenly noticed that those sounds were coming from the outside of the box.
Someone was hitting the box.
Hitting it again and again with all their might.
“Excuse me, the Admiral’s calling for you.”
When the door opened, one of the subordinate Guardians was standing there.
“Got it. I’ll head there soon.”
After returning a salute, Satsuki closed the door.
His face was awful. He could see his exhausted pale face reflected on the bathroom mirror. It was always like this after he saw that dream. He couldn’t let the Admiral see him like that. Satsuki filled the sink with water, threw in a generous amount of ice, and submerged his face.
It was a nightmare that he had only recently begun to see.
It wasn’t any kind of traumatic experience he had experienced before in the past, so he was baffled over why he continued to see it again and again. The person that appeared was certainly himself, yet for some reason, it would feel like he was watching the dream of someone else’s.
He combed his hair, checked the length of his nails, and fixed the collar on his silver uniform. After fastening the collar badge that signified his position as captain of the Guardians, he took another look into the mirror.
He looked a lot better now.
Satsuki wiped the dust off his military shoes, carried his cap under his arm, and headed out of his room.
“I have a request for you, Satsuki.”
The Admiral’s slim body leaned over the desk as he stared at Satsuki.
A waltz written by a famous composer who lived in the 18th century played quietly within the sterilized decoration-less room. It was one of the Admiral’s favorite songs.
This was the Admiral’s office, positioned at the highest floor of the hanging garden that hung over the Geothermal Conversion Device. The entire Domed City could be viewed in a panoramic display thanks to the window that stretched 360 degrees around them.
“What might that be?”
Satsuki averted his eyes as he spoke.
While it was mostly hidden by the Admiral’s long hair, the right side of his face was stained with a large purple bruise.
It wasn’t just any bruise. This was only known to Satsuki and a few other of the Admiral’s aides, but it was the result of a progressively worsening malignant tumor. He was told that his life would only last for about another year.
His feminine facial structure and pale skin only made the bruise’s cruelness even more prominent.
Although he was the Admiral, he was only five years older than Satsuki.
He was nominated by his predecessor, who died from a disease, and was selected from amongst his aides about three years ago. Three months after his inauguration, Satsuki—who was just a member of the Guardians at the time—was promoted to captain.
Considering Satsuki’s achievements, the promotion was but to be expected, but there were many criticizing rumors that attributed it to his personal relationship with the Admiral.
“Allow me to say this at the very least. I truly do think of you as my younger brother, and what exactly is wrong with that?”
The Admiral then revealed that he was an orphan as well as he laughed down his own remark.
“My predecessor picked me up and raised me. If I were to say that I am merely doing the same thing, would you be upset?”
“I’d be honored.”
“Then, by all means, think of me as your older brother.”
“Thank you very much.”
When Satsuki replied, the Admiral smiled from the bottom of his heart.
But Satsuki knew that the personal relationship people often whispered about referred to something that went beyond simply older brother and younger brother. And what was more surprising was that Satsuki himself didn’t quite mind that.
But Satsuki knew as well that he could never speak of such a thing.
“I want you to find him and capture him.”
When the Admiral waved his hand over his desk, a visual of a man appeared in the air.
A man likely in his early twenties that had a sad look in his eyes despite the fierce impression he gave off.
He looked familiar, but Satsuki couldn’t quite remember.
“He’s quite interesting, you see.”
As the Admiral’s hand moved, more and more images appeared.
They were all images taken by the security cameras stationed in the streets, but they appeared to be quite old, as the streets looked almost completely different from how they did now. The same man was pictured walking through each of those images.
Something felt off. But Satsuki didn’t know what.
More images appeared, picturing the same man. The streets changed. And the same man continued to appear.
“Wait, hold on just a second!”
“So you’ve realized.”
“But that’s impossible…”
“I thought the same thing at first, but this is all real.”
While the streets might have changed, it was still the same place. How much time would it take for a single place to undergo such visible change? Ten years? Fifty years? A hundred years? Probably more.
But the man did not change. He looked the same in every single image. Even though the town changed, the man stayed the same, as if time had frozen for just that man.
“I probably shouldn’t have to mention this, but this isn’t a fake. This man truly does exist.”
“…Just who is he?”
“He calls himself Hajime Aikawa, but no such name exists on the register. He’s an employee that works at a nursing home in the R District, but this morning he issued a leave of absence for vacation and disappeared. Not too long afterward, he apparently caused a scene.”
An image of what looked like the man’s likeness portrait showed up.
“This is ultimately just an assumption, but he most likely has lived for at least three hundred years.”
Upon hearing that, Satsuki understood why the Admiral wanted him captured.
“Understood. I’ll put the Guardians to work on this.”
“I’d very much appreciate it.”
After giving a salute, Satsuki turned around and exited the room.
He wanted to grant whatever wish the Admiral had no matter what it would be. If it meant that the Admiral’s life expectancy could be extended by even just a single day, he would capture that man known as Hajime Aikawa and even cut him to pieces personally if things called for it.
At the same time, Satsuki realized the budding emotion that had been growing deep within his heart. He realized it but pretended that it wasn’t there.
It was his jealousy towards the Admiral’s obsession with Hajime Aikawa.
“Welcome back, Azumi!”
“Come over here real quick, Azumi!”
The oil-covered faces of the residents smiled as they called out to Azumi.
“Glad to be back! I’ll stop by later to give you some gifts I got, Aunty!”
Not a speck of that stray cat-like behavior could be seen in the smiles Azumi returned to them. Her expression spoke of the relief she felt from returning home, as well as her overflowing love for the people she lived with.
“Oh, who’s this fine fellow? Your boyfriend? Introduce us!”
“No, idiot, it’s not like that!”
Azumi pouted as she sped up her pace.
Hajime lightly bowed to the elderly residents he passed by as they stared at him with eyes filled with curiosity. His back tingled for a bit from the prickling stares of the old ladies that continued to follow him.
It was his first time descending into the hole.
The hot steam blowing out from the Geothermal Conversion Device wasn’t too bad once one got used to it, but the sulfuric stench caused by the area filling with vapor certainly was intense.
The residential district had about twenty floors, and the residents had taken it upon themselves to freely arrange the floors, ceilings, and walls to their liking in order to connect various floors and rooms together, making the place quite literally a maze. It was clear that it was a strategy meant to obstruct the invasion of any Guardians.
Azumi and her allies’ hideout lied at the deepest section of the maze.
Several pairs of sharp eyes were evaluating Hajime’s worth.
“I can’t say I agree with this!”
“Me neither!”
“I’m against it too!”
There were about ten other young people who were wearing the same combat suit as Azumi. Their hands were reaching for their knives and guns, ready to strike at any moment.
“I feel the same way.”
Hajime’s words caused everyone in the room to face him.
“I already told her. What if this was a trap? What if I happened to be working with the Guardians?”
Hajime turned around to leave. There wasn’t any point in him sticking around for any longer. It was up to him to decide how to deal with his new predicament.
“But he passed the grannies’ test instantly, you know?”
Now Azumi’s words had everyone facing her instead.
So that’s what it was. Hajime understood. The eyes of those elderly residents weren’t just out of curiosity, they were also serving as the eyes of gatekeepers. It was simple, but sometimes people’s experience and intuition served to be of greater use than digital cameras.
“Liar!”
“Seriously?”
“Geez, you could’ve said that earlier!”
Instantly the tension among the young people dispersed as they gathered around Hajime with friendly smiles.
“I heard you worked at a nursing home.”
“Anyone loved by elders can’t possibly be a bad guy!”
“Thanks for helping out Azumi!”
“There’s no turning back now, though. Check this out!”
Displayed on the well-worn terminal was a search warrant picturing Hajime’s face. There was even a caption saying “Suspected for having close connections to a subversive organization.”
“Welcome to the subversive organization.”
Azumi smiled, the rest of them smiled, and Hajime smiled wryly as well.
Late that night, Hajime visited the old man’s grave.
Being a wanted criminal, it was incredibly dangerous for him to do so, but he felt that it was only right.
“I’m sorry, do you think you could give me a little more time?”
Hajime silently apologized to the old man and pressed his hands together in prayer.
He was planning on hiding within Azumi and the rest’s hideout for a little while. The demands for his arrest would likely diminish over time. His chances of finding an exit to the outside world be higher if he waited until then.
It seemed that Azumi and the rest were expecting something out of Hajime, but he had no intention of helping them. The fate of the Domed City was irrelevant to Hajime right now.
“Sorry for the wait.”
He turned around and reconvened with Azumi who was waiting for him nearby.
She wasn’t keeping watch on him, she was guarding him. That was the excuse she insistently made for why she was following him. He had no reason to refuse, so he let her do as she pleased.
“It’s been a while since I’ve visited the graves. It’s kinda nice.”
The neatly lined up gravestones could faintly be made out by the slightly red night lamps that illuminated the area.
Although it was a distance away from the nursing home, the graveyard still had several security cameras stationed here and there. It had cost them a significant amount of time to slip past them.
He had a bad feeling about it.
“Ash scattering, huh… I kinda want to see it. Same with the ocean and the other islands…”
“There’s nothing there.”
The world had long since fallen to ruin.
“Huh? Did you say something just now?”
“There’s nothing out there at all.”
He soon regretted what he said. It was unnecessary.
He should’ve known full well that everyone in the Domed City other than himself had never seen the outside world before.
“What do you mean by that? Are you telling me you’ve seen the outside world before?”
Unsurprisingly, Azumi bit onto his remark. Her eyes lit up with curiosity.
It was a natural reaction for anyone who knew that they would live and die within this closed world without ever knowing about the outside.
Hajime kept quiet and quickened his pace. The bad feeling he had was only getting worse.
“Answer me, Hajime!”
Right when Azumi grabbed onto Hajime’s arm, a white light flashed in the darkness, blinding the two of them for a moment. They were covered with lights simultaneously coming from all four directions.
His premonition was on the mark.
“It’s the Guardians!”
Azumi shouted while drawing out her pistol from her hip.
“Don’t, Azumi! I don’t want to shoot you!”
A silhouette formed within the beams of light and walked towards them.
“The one I have business with… is that Hajime Aikawa fellow over there.”
Dressed in a Guardian uniform, a man about the same age as Azumi stood still before them.
“Mutsuki…?”
Those words involuntarily spilled out from his mouth, but he knew that Mutsuki couldn’t possibly still be living in this age. He resembled him, but he was a completely different person.
The name that came out of Azumi’s mouth was unsurprisingly a different one.
“Satsuki! You’re still wearing those clothes?! You disgust me!”
She aimed her gun at him with glaring eyes.
Suddenly the metallic sounds of numerous guns cocking could be heard as Guardians who were most likely the man’s subordinates appeared and surrounded them.
“Wait! Don’t shoot! She’s an… acquaintance of mine!”
“Sure, maybe in the past… but you’re an enemy now!”
“Azumi, please…”
“Shut up, Lame-tsuki!”
The man visibly let out an exasperated sigh.
“How long are you going to keep calling me that…”
“It’s your fault for being so lame!”
Hajime was able to imagine their past relationship based off of the childish quarrel they were having.
He then realized that Azumi in a way resembled Mutsuki’s girlfriend, Nozomi. Her personality was different, but the face was similar.
Hajime made a wry smile upon the realization, and that’s when it happened.
Suddenly the gravestones began shaking.
“Eek!”
“Impossible!”
The frightened Guardians began screaming.
The gravestones crumbled one after the other, and things that were buried beneath them began crawling out.
“No way!”
“The dead are coming back to life?”
Azumi and Satsuki’s eyes grew wide as well as they aimed their guns at them in a panic.
“Wait, no! We have to run! These things… are the Undead!”
Right as he shouted, Hajime felt something off about his words.
The once quiet graveyard filled with the roaring sound of gunpowder as Azumi and the rest fired.
But the Undead did not fall. Their bodies absorbed the bullets as they crawled, ran, jumped, and flew towards them in attack.
The Guardians had no time to run before their bodies were torn apart, pierced, and rendered immobile. The gravestones were painted with their fresh blood as the gruesome scenes continued to play out.
“No… But it can’t be…”
Hajime stood still, stunned.
All the Undead should have been defeated and sealed three hundred years ago.
The only ones left should have been Hajime and Kenzaki, the two Jokers.
Unless those two fought, the Battle Fight would never come to an end. Humanity would not perish.
That’s why we weren’t to ever see each other again. That’s why we made that promise and went our separate ways!
“Live with the humans.”
That’s what Kenzaki had said.
But there were still Undeads here. And many of them, at that. Why? Why is that?
There was something incredibly wrong happening, but he had no idea why that was the case.
It was at that moment when a rampaging Undead crushed the gravestone belonging to the old man.
The confusion within Hajime instantly froze into an ice-like rage.
It was like that in the past as well. The more I rage, the more I go mad, the more I turn into a beast that knows nothing but coldly tearing my claws into my opponent’s flesh.
“…Henshin…”
After speaking in a low voice, Hajime transformed into Chalice for the first time in three hundred years.
Chalice was able to see through each and every one of the Undead’s movements. Whether it was those that crawled or those that flew, none were a match for him. He crushed them, sliced them, and tore through them.
Azumi and Satsuki were bunched together on the ground as they watched him dumbfoundedly.
He didn’t care if they were watching. He didn’t have a shred of hesitation within him.
The beast inside me will only continue to calmly carry out these slaughters.
Showing no mercy to the few surviving Undead that were retreating, Chalice chased after them and crushed every piece of their body until they drew their last breath.
Once all the Undead were defeated, Chalice threw his sealing cards.
However, the cards passed right by the Undead and made a U-turn back to his hand.
“What…?”
It didn’t make any sense.
Why can’t I seal them? Are they not Undead? No, they are Undead. There’s no doubt about that. But then, why?
Chalice undid his transformation while being struck with even further confusion.
“Hajime… What are you…?”
Azumi was shaking with a pale face.
Satsuki who should have been right by her was nowhere to be seen.
Just as he thought that, he felt an impact against his neck.
Hajime turned around as he fell, catching sight of Satsuki wielding a stun gun.
“Satsuki! Hajime!”
Darkness enveloped Hajime as he heard Azumi’s screams filled his ears.
Kamen Rider Novel Translations 