“Would you like a sandwich? Or maybe a rice ball?”
Mari opened up her boxed lunch in the passenger seat of Saya’s car.
“C’mon Mari, this isn’t a picnic. I’d like a rice ball, though.”
Saya responded with her hands on the steering wheel.
It certainly wasn’t a picnic. The two of them were on their way to visit one of their classmates from Ryusei School, Haruko Kamijou. It was Mari who invited Saya to come with her.
The mystery of Ryusei School hadn’t been solved at all. Why did Mr. Ishibashi theorize that all the foster parents of Ryusei School got murdered?
Was the Orphnoch attack on Mr. Ishibashi and Shouji Inukai really just a coincidence?
Ever since Saya told her side of the story, any of that fervent interest Takumi had in the case disappeared completely.
A simple misunderstanding and a coincidence. That was Takumi’s answer to it all.
But Mari wasn’t convinced. Something still felt fishy to her.
That was why she invited her trustworthy friend, Saya.
Since Saya was a hand model, she even wore gloves while eating her rice ball.
Mari thought she looked really cool like that.
Saya was elegant in everything she did ever since they were kids.
Haruko Kamijou was supposedly working at a restaurant downtown.
Mari and Saya arrived at her apartment, but there wasn’t any answer when they knocked on her door.
As they thought about how it was strange since they had contacted her beforehand, the door then suddenly opened up by itself.
“Haruko! Haruko!”
Saya hesitated at first, but Mari barged into the apartment immediately.
The eight-mat apartment was completely empty, perhaps she had gone out shopping.
As they waited for Haruko, the two of them chatted about their memories of Ryusei School.
They chose only happy stories and took turns sharing them.
“To be honest…”
After finishing their reminiscing, a devilish smile crept onto Saya’s face.
“What?” Mari replied.
“I was actually a little jealous of you back in Ryusei School.”
“You were jealous of… me?!” Mari rose her voice in surprise.
“Well, yeah, you were always the most popular girl. I always thought that I could never hope to match up to you. It felt like you had the power to make everyone happy or something.”
“That’s so not true. I was the one jealous of you, you know! I’ve honestly always looked to you. You’re pretty, you’re smart… oh yeah, remember when I gave you that handmade necklace for your birthday?”
“I do. It was that really weird one made up of soda can pull tabs, right?”
“Yeah! I worked so hard to make it for you since I looked up to you so much, but I guess it really was weird, huh?”
“It sure was, but I tried not to mention that.”
The two of them broke out into laughter.
“You know, thinking back on it, that really was when I was at my happiest,” mumbled Saya in a lonely tone.
“Why’s that? To me, it looks like you’re super happy right now.”
“That’s not true. I get dumped by men all the time.”
“Huh? Really? Me too, actually.”
“Oh yeah? I’d love to see the kind of guy that would dump someone like you.”
“Same. I can’t imagine anyone dumping you, either.”
It was a topic that normally would be depressing, but the two of them looked at each other while giggling.
By sharing some small secrets with each other, it felt like they had grown even closer.
“Seriously though, what’s going on with Haruko? She sure is taking her sweet time.”
An hour had passed since they let themselves into Haruko’s apartment. They started to get worried that something might have happened to her.
Maybe there was a note that she left for them somewhere.
With that in mind, Mari began looking around the apartment again, and then noticed that Haruko was staring at them from within a closet in the corner of the room.
“H-Haruko…?”
Her white and foggy eyes looked back at them, frozen in place.
Saya let out a scream, and then Haruko’s body, now made of ash, crumbled from within the closet.
It happened again. Just like what happened with Inukai.
Mari called Takumi and dragged Saya by her hand out of the apartment.
Mari ran into the woods behind the apartment.
But upon looking behind her, Saya, who should’ve been following her, was nowhere to be seen. Just as Mari was about to turn back, the earth trembled.
Creaking sounds erupted as the trees in front of her collapsed.
There were two Orphnochs fighting each other.
It was a battle between the Dragon Orphnoch and the unicorn-type Horse Orphnoch.
It was the first time Mari had seen Orphnochs fight amongst each other.
The Dragon Orphnoch sent the Horse Orphnoch flying with its enormous strength.
The Horse Orphnoch bounced and rolled on the ground, knocking down the trees in its way.
The Dragon Orphnoch slowly drew closer, preparing to deliver the final blow.
But the very next moment, its movements suddenly came to a stop.
A small portion of its hand was crumbling into ash.
Just as the Dragon Orphnoch ran away while pressing down on its hand, Takumi’s voice could be heard.
“Mari! Run, hurry!”
Takumi and Masato came running in, already transformed.
That’s right, I need to find Saya!
The worst possible scenario revealed itself in her head. Don’t tell me Saya suffered the same fate as Mr. Ishibashi…
Mari turned back on the forest road, calling out Saya’s name.
Faiz and Kaixa were attacked by the Horse Orphnoch that had gotten back up again.
Faiz readied the Faiz Shot in his right hand. It was a piece of equipment shaped like a digital camera that amplified his punching power.
After jumping high into the air, he landed his finishing attack, Grand Impact, onto the Horse Orphnoch as he descended.
But it was Faiz who ended up getting knocked away.
A mass of light had manifested within the Horse Orphnoch’s hand, forming a large wicked blade.
That blade had sent Faiz’s body flying.
The enormous shockwave resulting from the attack caused his transformation belt to come off, reverting Faiz back to his form as Takumi.
But then the Horse Orphnoch suddenly froze.
The Horse Orphnoch was clearly unnerved from seeing Takumi appear before him.
Kaixa spared no time in taking advantage of that momentary opening.
Upon inserting his Mission Memory, the Blaygun at his hip changed into its Blade Mode.
The sword shone with a yellow gleam as it delivered two, three blows to the Horse Orphnoch’s body.
“What?!” Takumi suddenly raised his voice.
The Horse Orphnoch’s transformation dissipated as it flew back from the attack, leaving Yuuji in its place.
“You’re…!”
Takumi spread his arms in front of Kaixa to prevent him from continuing his attack.
“Move! You want to die?!” Kaixa shouted out.
But Takumi refused to move even an inch.
Kaixa canceled his transformation and pulled Takumi up by his collar as Masato.
“What do you think you’re doing? Why are you defending an Orphnoch?”
“It’s not what you think. He’s a friend of ours. Mari and I.”
Masato glared at Yuuji who was slowly getting up.
Takumi and Yuuji sat on the grass next to the embankment as they watched the gentle flow of the river.
They didn’t know what to talk about. No words would come out.
Yuuji had witnessed Faiz once before. It was during his final date with Mari when they were suddenly attacked by Orphnochs during the evening. When Yuuji came to, the first thing he saw was Faiz fighting against an Orphnoch. After receiving Faiz’s attack, the Orphnoch disintegrated into blue flames.
Yuuji saw Faiz as an Orphnoch hunter. He thought that he would one day end up fighting him.
But never would he had guessed that Faiz’s identity was Takumi.
“I never would’ve guessed you were an Orphnoch.” Takumi was the first to speak.
The two of them were thinking the same thing.
“So what, you hunt humans too?”
“No. I fight to protect humans.”
I can trust what this guy says, Takumi thought to himself.
After all, if Yuuji had lost his human heart, then Mari would have never fallen in love with him.
“What even are Orphnochs?”
Yuuji was unable to answer Takumi’s question.
“I don’t know, either. Nearly every Orphnoch attacks humans purely on instinct. But I’ve always wanted to be human…”
“You’ve got it pretty tough too, huh?”
Yuuji then shared his dream with Takumi.
Coexistence between Orphnochs and humans. But at this point, he resigned that ideal to be hypocritical, nothing but a pipe dream.
There were too many impossible hurdles to clear.
Masato’s words still lingered within Yuuji’s ears.
All Orphnochs are our enemies, they’re all monsters! That’s what Masato said to Takumi as he protected Yuuji. It was a sentiment that nearly every human probably shared.
There were at least two conditions that needed to be filled if Orphnochs and humans were to coexist.
One, Orphnochs would have to stop attacking humans.
And two, humans would have to accept Orphnochs as humans.
But were either of those conditions truly possible?
Takumi then noticed something lying on the grass.
It was a bamboo-copter that someone had likely dropped.
After skillfully launching it up, he got up and brushed the grass off his legs.
“Inui, if you wouldn’t mind, could you not mention what happened today to…”
“Yeah, I know. I won’t tell anyone.”
The two of them then watched the bamboo-copter fly towards the autumn sunset for a little while.
Mari returned to Kikuchi Cleaning alone.
Her head was still spinning in confusion.
Just like Shouji Inukai, Haruko Kamijou was attacked by an Orphnoch. At this point, it was all too much to be considered merely a coincidence.
The only thing that saved her from completely falling apart was her knowledge that Saya was still safe. Mari was never able to find her, but Saya had given her a call afterward. It seemed that she had safely reached her car after running out of Haruko’s apartment.
Keitarou was likely doing a delivery, as the dry cleaner was completely empty.
She then noticed Yuuji’s denim jacket among some newly submitted laundry.
Naoya must have had brought it while Mari wasn’t around.
Yuuji hadn’t come to the dry cleaner in a while. Mari spread out the denim jacket and inspected the pockets as usual.
There were withered flowers in them. The same purple flowers that Mari had raised at one point.
The once vivid petals had shrunk and faded into a dull brown.
She then realized that this was a farewell message from Yuuji.
The flowers have already wilted.
Tears flowed out of Mari’s eyes. She wanted to cling to someone and cry with everything she had.
But there was no one to cling to around her.
Mari then remembered that boy she had nearly forgotten about.
The mysterious boy that had saved her from the fire that took away her parents.
Back then, Mari could hear his heartbeat with her face buried into his back.
It was a strong, warm heartbeat.
But by now that was nothing but a faraway memory for Mari. That boy’s presence felt indefinite, like it was just a dream. Mari wanted to restore those vague memories.
She wanted to once again remember the promise she made with that boy.
Maybe then she would be saved a little.
“Mari,” said Masato as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind.
“Tears don’t suit you.”
Mari’s body trembled with a twitch under his dark gaze.
“K-Kusaka…”
But Mari couldn’t say anything else. Her lips were sealed with Masato’s.
Masato’s hands crept up from below her t-shirt.
They unhooked her bra, exposing her white breasts.
Stop, Kusaka!
Mari’s jeans were quickly lowered below her knees.
Mari struggled desperately. She clawed at his face and pounded at his chest.
But she then felt all her strength suddenly leave her body.
“Help me, Mari.”
His whisper robbed Mari of her strength.
With her legs spread wide, a tearing pain shot through her entire body.
Mari gripped onto the wilted flowers in her hand.
Kamen Rider Novel Translations 