“Goddammit.”
Takumi cursed again and again inside the delivery van.
He lost at rock paper scissors again. They were doing rock paper scissors to decide who would deliver the laundry. He thought that Masato would be the one doing the delivery since he was the new guy, but Masato instead brought up the idea of deciding it by rock paper scissors. He must have heard from Keitarou or Mari about Takumi’s weakness with it.
And like usual, Takumi lost.
“Goddammit.”
Takumi hated delivery work.
He hated doing things like bowing his head politely when dropping the laundry off. And if he was too unsociable, the customers would end up calling the dry cleaner to complain. It had happened two times already, and each time Keitarou would spend the whole day nagging him about it.
“Goddammit.”
It was all Masato Kusaka’s fault.
Mari’s suspicion was correct, Takumi just couldn’t get himself to like him.
At first glance, Masato would have a really friendly feel about him, but the very next moment his expression would suddenly change and he’d get this dark look in his eyes. He’d often scan his eyes across Mari’s entire body in a disturbing manner.
There were times where he’d watch Takumi as well.
Takumi was also annoyed with how he always wiped his hands with wet wipes.
He couldn’t stand Masato’s face either, and the way he talked and walked around really got on his nerves.
And since he never talked about himself, it was hard to get a read on him.
Well, he probably thinks the same thing about me.
Takumi then decided to stop thinking about him. It would only worsen his mood even more.
But after finishing his first delivery, the van suddenly stopped moving on his way to the second house, causing Takumi to once again be reminded of Masato.
This is all his fault, too.
As he examined the vehicle all over, a car then pulled over beside him.
When the window rolled down, a familiar face peeked out.
“Takumi Inui, right?”
It was Yuuji Kiba.
“Oh, it’s the hypocrite.”
“Sorry, what was that?”
“Nothing.”
This just wasn’t his day.
Now he ran into Yuuji Kiba. He couldn’t stand this guy either. He was the last person he wanted to run into.
“Did your van break down? Let me take a look.”
Yuuji got out of his car and examined the van with Takumi. But in the end, they couldn’t get it to start again. The delivery had only just started, so there were still loads of laundry inside the van.
“I can help out with the delivery if you want. Using my car, that is.”
“Oh yeah? All right, cool.”
As Takumi started to quickly walk away, Yuuji called out to him in an exasperated tone.
“Hold on there, you didn’t seriously expect me to do it all by myself, did you?”
Didn’t work, huh?
Takumi moved the laundry into the back seat of Yuuji’s car.
After Takumi hopped into the passenger seat, Yuuji began heading down the delivery route.
“Sorry for offending you at that party, but I did have fun, you know.”
Yuuji spoke to Takumi within the car.
“Uh-huh.” Takumi leaned his seat back and closed his eyes.
“You were really good with the guitar.”
“……” Takumi didn’t reply, his eyes still shut.
“Anyway, what’s going on with you and Mari? She’s been kinda gloomy lately, you know.”
“……” Now Yuuji was staying silent to Takumi’s question.
Ever since that date at the park, Yuuji hadn’t met with Mari. He didn’t respond to her calls either.
“I know how nasty she can be, so I’m not saying you gotta like her or anything, but you should at least tell her if that’s the case.”
“It’s… not that I don’t like her or anything like that.”
That’s right, it’s not that I don’t like her, Yuuji told himself.
In fact, it was the opposite. Yuuji had realized at some point that he really did love Mari.
And that was why he couldn’t see her.
When they were attacked in the park by the Orphnoch that night, Yuuji wasn’t able to transform.
It was because he didn’t want to show Mari his hideous form.
It was then that Yuuji realized that he loved Mari.
He grew afraid just thinking about how Mari would react. There was no doubt that the human known as Yuuji that existed in her heart would vanish the moment she saw him turn into an Orphnoch.
Leaving behind only fear.
She would never smile at him again. The smiles she had for Yuuji would disappear forever.
That was why Yuuji couldn’t see her.
In the end, he was an Orphnoch.
“So you don’t hate her? I don’t get it,” inquired Takumi.
“I…” Yuuji mumbled in response.
“…I hate myself.”
It was Yuuji’s dream for humans and Orphnochs to co-exist.
But after becoming scared to transform in front of Mari, did he really have the right to continue upholding that dream?
By not transforming, he was essentially denying his own identity.
And no one would accept someone who denied themselves.
One night, Yuuji confided in Naoya about his worries.
About Mari, about his dream…
Naoya’s answer was simple.
“Are you like an idiot or something? If you’re seriously head over heels for Mari Sonoda, then that’s awesome. It’d mean you really are human. You’re too serious, man. Stop worrying your head over that dumb shit and just do what you can.”
Yuuji understood what Naoya was trying to say. He was probably right. Even so, Yuuji couldn’t do it. He was scared.
As he talked with Naoya, he was reminded of the time he first met him.
It could have been that Naoya was the exact representation of Yuuji’s ideal Orphnoch.
From the moment they met, Naoya had always been an extreme outlier of an Orphnoch.
It was around the time when Yuuji finally decided how he’d live as an Orphnoch.
He’d live to protect humans and defeat the Orphnochs that attacked humans. That was his answer.
On that night, Yuuji was driving his car through heavy rain.
He was speeding towards where he sensed the birth of a new Orphnoch.
The majority of Orphnochs lost their human heart the moment they were born.
They’d instinctively begin attacking humans.
Yuuji rushed to the scene.
A bus had crashed down a cliff due to a landslide created by the heavy rain.
Upon getting out of his car, he could see white smoke trailing up from the halfway crushed bus far below him.
There was no doubt that many people died.
And one of those people had turned into an Orphnoch.
As Yuuji watched, eventually a bulky Orphnoch tore open the vehicle and revealed itself. Yuuji found himself chuckling over the Snake Orphnoch’s unexpected behavior.
It began saving the people that were still alive.
“C’mon, stay with me!”
He shouted as he pulled the injured people out from the crushed bus, called for an ambulance on his cell phone, and even began playing songs for the people groaning in pain.
“Your wounds are nothing, stay strong! Don’t get all weak on me! You guys are lucky! Just look at me! I’ve somehow turned into a dang monster! You guys are all still human! There’s always gonna be good things waiting for you as long as you stay alive!”
That man’s name was Naoya Kaidou.
Yuuji realized that Naoya was probably the only Orphnoch in existence that had never killed a single human.
Kill them… Kill them… Naoya was the only one that could easily seal away that voice that crawled up from deep within the heart.
Compared to Naoya, he was weak. That was how Yuuji felt.
He was running away from Mari.
He was giving up on his dreams.
“What do you mean by you hate yourself?” asked Takumi from the passenger seat.
Yuuji remained silent as he continued to grip the steering wheel.
As Takumi looked at Yuuji’s profile, he thought that maybe this guy wasn’t that bad after all.
He could feel the prickling pain that was coming from Yuuji’s heart.
He ain’t a bad guy, he’s just a little too serious. That’s how he felt.
At the very least, he was way better than Masato Kusaka.
Upon returning back to the dry cleaner after having Yuuji help out with the deliveries, Takumi found Naoya there waiting for him.
At first, Takumi thought Keitarou had invited him over.
They were drinking tea in the living room while Keitarou asked Naoya about Yuka.
“Wait, are you the idiot that’s been dragging Yuka all over the place and buying her a bunch of presents?”
“Oh, did Yuka mention anything about me at all?”
“Nope, nothing.”
“I wonder what she thinks of me…”
“She doesn’t think anything of you.”
“I see… I should’ve known…”
Keitarou tottered back to the workplace in shock.
“Oh, I’ve been waiting for you, Takumi Inui!”
Naoya wove his arms exaggeratingly in excitement over noticing Takumi.
After wrapping an arm over his shoulder while nodding his head, he pushed the guitar he brought up against Takumi’s chest.
“Go on, play it.”
He ordered him.
Takumi said nothing as he pushed the guitar back and glared at Naoya.
But Naoya didn’t give up.
He stepped in front of Takumi as he was on his way to his room and then got on his knees with his hands on the floor.
“Please! Play it for me! I’m begging you! Ever since I heard you play guitar at that barbeque party, I’ve been in love with you!”
“Are you stupid or something? Get the hell out of here before I kick your ass! Besides, if you want your guitar played that badly, just play it yourself, damn it!”
“I can’t.”
Naoya showed the inner side of his right arm to Takumi. There was a single scar stretching from his elbow to his wrist.
It looked like a scar from a knife.
“I honestly used to be just as good as you are, but now I can’t even hold onto a guitar anymore. I’ve lost all feeling in my fingertips because of this wound. There’s just some people out there that just hate people with talent, know what I mean?”
Takumi thought about what kind of tragedy could have befallen Naoya as he stared at his arm’s scar.
It was easy to imagine how horrible it must have been. But what did that have to do with Takumi and the guitar?
It wasn’t as if Naoya could be healed if Takumi played the guitar.
“Did you know?” Naoya continued as he rubbed his scar.
“Dreams are the same as curses. The only way to get rid of a curse is to make a dream come true. Those that can’t do that stay cursed forever.”
“Are you saying you wanna push your dream onto me? Not happening. If you wanna get rid of your curse, you’re gonna have to do it on your own.”
“Yeah, probably. But I know what kind of guy you are. I can hear the music ringing out of you.”
It was the same for Naoya. Even though he couldn’t play the guitar anymore, the music within Naoya still continued to play. But Naoya wasn’t able to release that music into the world anymore.
And that frustrated him.
But Naoya had no idea.
Kill them… Kill them… Kill the humans…
It was the music within Naoya that was sealing away that voice that would have otherwise stirred his inner Orphnoch.
“Play for him, Takumi.” It was Mari who said that.
She had just come back from shopping with Masato and was apparently listening to their conversation.
“I’ve actually been wanting to hear you play again too, you know. You were actually really good with the guitar.”
Seriously? You too? thought Takumi.
He then regretted the fact that he played the guitar on a complete whim back at that barbeque party.
Playing the guitar in front of others was akin to exposing his inner side.
He would’ve rather die than do something as embarrassing as that.
But Naoya suddenly changed the topic, much to Takumi’s relief.
His face broke into a smile as he started hitting on Mari.
“Oh, what’s up, Mari! God damn, girl, you’re just as pretty as the last time I saw you! Oh yeah, I heard things haven’t been going well with Kiba, huh? Screw that guy, I’m tellin’ ya! Just go out with me instead! Don’t worry, I promise I’ll use a condom.”
Masato then stepped in front of Mari to protect her from the approaching Naoya and knocked him off his feet.
That night, Mari was sitting alone on a bench in the park.
It was the park where her last date with Yuuji took place, as well as being the same bench they had sat on.
She couldn’t forget about the words Naoya said, things haven’t been going well with Kiba, huh?
Yuuji must’ve talked to Naoya about Mari.
And it definitely wasn’t on a positive note.
If he wants to break up that badly, then why can’t he just tell me that?
That was how Mari felt. At this rate, it was like she was being made to painfully hold out for nothing.
Mari held in the urge to cry.
She put her hands behind her head and looked up at the night sky.
On their last date together, Yuuji looked up at the night sky in the exact same way without saying a word, as if he was counting the stars.
I wonder if it was over before it even started.
She thought about that as she counted the same stars Yuuji might’ve counted.
“Mari.”
Upon turning around to the sound of approaching footsteps, she heard the low voice of Masato who had appeared from within the darkness.
“Kusaka.”
Mari reflexively stood up and found herself backing away.
“You’ve been in my thoughts ever since we were in Ryusei School, and I still feel the same way even now.”
Masato’s words passed through Mari’s body and disappeared into the darkness.
Those words wouldn’t settle within Mari. They failed to set her heart aflutter.
“I want to be the only one in your eyes. Don’t you understand? I’m the only one who deserves to be with you.”
After shaking off the hands that wrapped around her shoulders, Mari ran into the darkness.
Kamen Rider Novel Translations 