A month had passed since Masato Kusaka suddenly appeared before Mari and began living with everyone at Kikuchi Cleaning.
After the battle that night, Mari introduced Masato Kusaka to Takumi and Keitarou.
She explained that he was a childhood friend of hers from Ryusei School.
Masato bowed his head with a refreshing smile.
“But man, this really is a surprise. I never would’ve guessed I’d run into you again like this.’
Mari felt exactly the same way. It went beyond the level of simply being surprised.
First of all, why did Masato Kusaka even have that transformation belt?
Mari told Masato about Faiz’s belt.
She explained how she had obtained the belt and how Takumi had been using its power to fight against the Orphnoch.
“So why do you have a Faiz belt as well?” asked Mari.
“Oh, actually, it wasn’t Faiz that I transformed into, it was Kaixa.”
But Masato didn’t bother delving into any more details than that.
He shrugged off the topic by saying that if they had their hands on a Faiz belt, it wasn’t all that strange for him to have a Kaixa belt.
Whether it was about how long he had been fighting the Orphnochs or how much he knew about them, Masato wouldn’t answer any of the questions Mari asked him.
“I wanted you to live your life as a normal girl, without knowing anything about the Orphnochs’ existence.”
That was Masato’s way of avoiding the question.
Masato offered a handshake to Takumi.
“But I have to say I’m glad I met you. As fellow warriors, I’ve got a lot I want to learn from you.”
“Right.”
“What kind of answer is that, Takkun? Don’t you think you should at least be a bit more sociable?”
Keitarou scolded Takumi, who didn’t even bother accepting Masato’s handshake.
“It’s fine, I’m sure he’s just tired. That Orphnoch really did a number on him, after all.”
Masato let out a chuckle.
Takumi and Masato… These two guys really aren’t going to get along, Mari thought to herself.
She had a feeling that they weren’t on the same wavelength at all.
Masato then began chatting with Keitarou about his time at Ryusei School and stories about Mari.
He talked about how he was the bullied kid and how Mari was always the one who came to save him.
As well as about how Mari always cheered him up when he was being a crybaby all the time.
The Assassin… That was Mari’s nickname.
Mari wielded all kinds of weapons when standing up for Masato when he got bullied.
Mops, buckets, sometimes even bats or saws.
That’s how she became known as “The Assassin”.
But there was something Mari needed to ask Masato about the Ryusei School.
She needed to know what happened when he got adopted.
Mari told Masato about the disturbing things Mr. Ishibashi shared with her.
About how all the foster parents that adopted students from Ryusei School had been murdered.
“You were adopted once too, right? And then you came back soon afterward.”
Masato stared at Mari. The stare was so intense that Mari ended up looking away for a moment.
“Mari, there’s only one thing I can say. You were the one that always saved me when we were kids. That’s why it’s my turn to save you now. I’ll use my strength to protect you.”
Takumi had been staring at Masato’s hands this whole time.
He noticed that he’d been wiping his hands multiple times as he talked.
The wet wipes he used would thoroughly rub against every inch of his palm before going over each of his fingers.
It was a habit of Masato Kusaka’s.
A month had passed since then.
Keitarou’s voice could be heard as Takumi and Mari watched TV in the dining room.
“This is the kind of cooking I’d see from a pro, I’m super impressed.”
Keitarou was helping out Masato with the cooking in the kitchen.
It was of course Keitarou who invited Masato to live together with them. Unlike Takumi, he took a real liking to Masato. Having another person capable of fighting the Orphnoch would of course be especially reassuring, and he would be able to help out with the dry cleaner as well. In that sense, Keitarou’s decision could be seen as the correct one.
At the very least, he really was a great help to the dry cleaner.
Masato was skilled with pretty much everything he was put to work at.
He picked up the dry cleaning process rather quickly and he was leagues more competent with cooking and cleaning compared to Mari.
In fact, Masato was helping out so much that Takumi and Mari often had more free time than they knew what to do with.
“Hey.”
Mana whispered to Takumi as they watched TV.
“Do you hate Kusaka or something?”
“Not really,” Takumi replied.
“You don’t have to play dumb, you know. But what exactly makes you hate him?”
“I dunno, I just do.”
The topic was dropped pretty much just like that.
“Anyway, what’s up with you lately? You seem like you’ve been depressed.” Takumi then turned the questioning onto her.
“Not really.”
“Don’t play dumb. What happened?”
“I dunno, stuff.”
There was a simple reason why Mari responded like that.
She had been worrying about something the whole past month.
And it was about Yuuji.
Ever since the day they were attacked by those Orphnochs in the park, Yuuji suddenly disappeared. She hadn’t been able to get in contact with him at all.
He wouldn’t pick up her calls, and whenever she went to visit him at his apartment, it was always Naoya that showed up at the door.
He’d tell her that Yuuji wasn’t home but that he was doing fine so she didn’t need to worry. Hearing that relieved her, but it was still tough on her not being able to see him. At the very least she wanted him to pick up her calls.
Is he just still in shock over being attacked by an Orphnoch?
I guess it’s only natural.
“Thanks for waiting.”
Keitarou brought in the food with a proud look on his face, as if he was the one that made it.
Mustard grilled chicken, peeled shrimp simmered in orange sauce, and potage soup.
They really were all made with a pro’s touch.
“Is it not to your liking?” Eventually, Masato spoke out to Takumi.
Takumi had barely touched his food at all.
“I made sure to cool down your share beforehand, too.”
“Your cooking tastes way too good, so I end up getting bored of it pretty fast.”
“T-That’s so rude, Takkun! Kusaka worked so hard to make all this for you, you know?!”
“It’s fine, I don’t mind.” Masato interrupted Keitarou.
“Oh yeah, that reminds me. They say men who are cat-tongued aren’t that reliable.”
“Is that right?” Takumi responded.
“What about you, then? Why’re you always wiping your hands every goddamn second?”
After finishing his meal, Masato had begun wiping his hands with a wet wipe like always.
“That’s got nothing to do with you,” said Masato.
These two guys… Mari looked at Takumi and Masato alternatingly as she thought to herself.
There’s one thing they have in common.
And it’s that they never talk about themselves. Other than that, they’re completely different.
That night, Mari woke up to go use the bathroom and came to a stop in front of Masato’s room.
She could hear his low voice. It seemed like he was talking to someone over the phone.
“That’s enough. I’m done with you.”
It was a chillingly cold tone that wildly contrasted with the usual Masato.
“I’m never coming back to you ever again. I’m different from how I was before now. I’ll show you that I can get whatever I want. I won’t let anyone get in my way, and that includes you. Yeah, that’s right. The one I want is… Mari Sonoda.”
Kamen Rider Novel Translations 