Upon returning to his apartment, Yuuji’s ears were blasted with the loud blaring sound of rap music.
“Oh, back already?”
Dressed in a gaudy Hawaiian shirt and shorts, Naoya Kaidou called out to him.
“What are you doing?” questioned Yuuji.
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m surfing.”
Naoya was practicing surfing on a surfboard he had placed on the living room floor. His arms were spread horizontally as his body twisted and turned to the beat of the rap music.
Three months ago, Naoya Kaidou suddenly declared that he was going to become a surfer and purchased a surfboard.
But he had yet to go out to the beach even once yet. He simply enjoyed his time in the living room pretending to be riding the waves.
Yuuji turned off the radio, putting the music to a stop.
“Where’s Osada?”
“Don’t ask me. I’m not her babysitter.”
Yuka Osada then showed up from the other side of the room.
Welcome home.
Yuka used sign language to speak to Yuuji.
Yuka was mute. She always elegantly moved her long arms to express her feelings.
Though she was mute, that didn’t mean she was deaf.
The music coming from the radio was probably so obnoxiously loud that she ran into her room to escape from it.
Naoya Kaidou and Yuka Osada were both Yuuji’s roommates.
Yuuji was always taken aback by Osada’s beauty no matter how many times he saw her.
It was an unrealistic beauty that looked like it came out of a myth. It was so perfect that it was almost unsettling. Nothing perfect exists in the world, and even if it did, it would no doubt perish before long.
“Wait, did you fight against an Orphnoch again?”
“Oh, no, these are just from…”
The bruises on his face were from when he was hit by the pool.
Yuuji had settled the fight against the Mantis Orphnoch in an instant.
Yuuji was unrivaled in strength whenever he transformed into the Horse Orphnoch. He had no idea how many Orphnochs he had defeated up to this point. The Orphnochs he fought were always those that attacked humans.
Yuuji fought only to protect humans.
Even though he was an Orphnoch, his feelings as a human remained intact.
The same went for Naoya and Yuka as well. That was why the three of them lived together.
How was your date? Did you have fun?
Yuka signed her inquiry.
“Yeah, it was great.”
Naoya scoffed mockingly upon hearing Yuuji’s response.
“But there’s still a problem there, yeah? We’re Orphnochs, we’re different from normal humans.”
“No, we’re human.” Yuuji surprisingly rose his voice.
“I dunno about that. Are you sure you even like that girl? Have you ever considered that you might just be using her to convince yourself that you’re still human?”
Naoya always spoke frankly, and his words always managed to stab Yuuji deep in the heart.
“That’s not true. I think you’re just too self-conscious over yourself being an Orphnoch.”
After pausing for a bit, Yuuji continued.
“I’ll introduce you two to her on Sunday. She said she’ll be bringing her friends as well. You guys should try hanging out with normal humans for once, too.”
“Wait, seriously?! Her friends are gonna be chicks, right? Yo, if they’re cute, then I don’t mind hanging out with them if I get to bang them.”
“Well, that’ll be up to you.” Yuuji smiled.
Naoya’s tendency to quickly change his mind was both one of his strong points as well as one of his flaws.
Yuuji’s cellphone then began to ring.
Naoya and Yuka’s faces suddenly grew stiff as they looked towards Yuuji.
Don’t tell me it’s that same person calling again…
With the cellphone still persistently ringing, Yuuji pressed it against his ear.
It was the same voice. The low creepy mumbling voice spoke into Yuuji’s ear.
Why aren’t you attacking the humans…? Kill them… Kill them… Kill the humans…
Just who are you?!
Instead of saying those words, Yuuji hung up in frustration. He knew that his question wouldn’t have been answered. It was always like that.
“Was it that creep again…?”
“Yeah…” Yuuji nodded in response to Naoya.
Yuuji always received that call each time he defeated an Orphnoch.
He had no idea who the caller could be. That mysterious voice never failed to come back to whisper in Yuuji’s ear.
Kill them… Kill them… Kill the humans…
It was as if the voice was criticizing Yuuji for fighting against his own kind.
As if it was telling him that the ones he should be fighting are humans, not Orphnochs.
That voice also served as a spokesperson for his heart.
Whenever Yuuji transformed into an Orphnoch, a voice would rise from the bottom of his heart.
Kill them… Kill them… Kill the humans…
But Yuuji always fought against that voice. He always suppressed it within him.
But there was one time he didn’t.
The first time Yuuji heard that voice was when he became an Orphnoch for the very first time, when he abandoned his dream, and when he laid his hands on a human for the only time in his entire life.
Yuuji was a blessed child.
When Yuuji’s mother learned that she was pregnant, she went to a famous fortune-teller to learn about what her child would be like.
The fortune-teller ensured that Yuuji would have a future. A blindingly bright one.
This child will grow to have a strong heart filled with love and courage. He will stand above even those blessed with the greatest of talents, and many will respect and follow him.
Yuuji grew up quickly.
Just like the fortune-teller had said, he had a kind heart and excelled at pretty much anything he did.
Influenced by his father who was a famed architectural engineer, Yuuji aspired towards the same profession by the time he reached high school.
He loved gazing at tall buildings ever since he was a child. He always looked up towards the sky when he walked around town.
He showed no interest in the things that were within his grasp on the ground.
His dream was to create the tallest, most beautiful building in the world.
After graduating from high school, Yuuji was enrolled in his ideal university with the highest grades in the engineering department.
During his engineering classes, Yuuji especially loved drawing out plans.
First, he’d visualize the completed image of his building in his head. He’d then instantly convert that image into countless plot plans and drew them on paper as if creating pieces to a puzzle.
The secret to Yuuji’s talent was his ability to freely travel between the second and third dimensions.
Yuuji’s blueprints always had a unique beauty to them that couldn’t be replicated by anyone else.
His confident linework made up all kinds of geometric shapes.
Rather than simply being blueprints, they neared the borderline of true pieces of art.
Yuuji soon became famous within the school. Everyone had an eye on Yuuji’s talent.
There’s no doubt he’ll become someone who’ll stand at the frontlines of the architecture world.
Yuuji had occasionally accompanied his father to his parties.
They consisted of architectural award ceremony parties or parties that celebrated the completion of a building designed by a famous architect. Dressed in his tuxedo, Yuuji would be introduced to all kinds of people in the business world who passionately encouraged him, further amplifying his dreams.
It was at one of those parties where Yuuji grew to be acquainted with Nobutaka Miwa.
He had felt someone’s eyes on his back at the time. He quickly noticed someone standing against the wall, but because of the venue’s lighting, the man’s face was hidden within the shadows.
The man then approached Yuuji. It was as if he emerged from the darkness.
That man was Nobutaka Miwa.
Nobutaka was very familiar with Yuuji. Much to Yuuji’s surprise, not only was he attending the same university as him, he was enrolled in the same department as well. Yuuji looked at Nobutaka with a curious feeling.
He was sure that he was familiar with the names and faces of everyone in his department.
But he didn’t recognize Nobutaka at all.
“It’s because I don’t stand out, unlike you.”
Upon chatting for a bit, Yuuji learned that Nobutaka’s circumstances were very similar to his own.
His father was a famous architectural engineer and he was expected to succeed him ever since he was a child.
But Yuuji soon found something unpleasant about Nobutaka. He felt like Nobutaka was exactly the kind of person that he would never want to become. Yuuji had a strong sense of justice, he acted kindly to others no matter who they were and was loved by everyone around him. But it wasn’t as if he was born like that. His strong will was what built up the Yuuji he was now. To put it another way, it was the result of him suppressing everything he didn’t like about himself and throwing those elements away.
Nobutaka was the embodiment of everything Yuuji had thrown away.
His pessimistic eyes, his avoidance of speaking frankly, his vaguely insincere smiles, and the cunning cheekiness he would occasionally display for but a moment despite all that… It was as if at some point he had begun following Yuuji and picking up everything he had discarded.
After meeting him, Yuuji began to often notice Nobutaka around the school.
It was true that he didn’t stand out much, but it wasn’t as if he was completely invisible.
Whenever he turned around from feeling someone’s eyes on him, Nobutaka would be there.
Whether it was in the classroom, on campus, or in the cafeteria.
At some point, Yuuji grew to become the one looking for Nobutaka, and that was the beginning of their bizarre relationship.
Yuuji helped the not-as-smart Nobutaka with his studies.
Yuuji became a tenacious teacher that accompanied Nobutaka after school, in cafes, and sometimes even inviting him to his own home.
Yuuji felt a responsibility towards Nobutaka. Nobutaka had taken on all the hideous sides of a human that Yuuji had discarded. In a sense, Yuuji saw himself in him.
Nobutaka was especially bad at drawing blueprints. He had no talent. No creativity.
Multiple times Nobutaka would break out into tears in the middle of drawing a blueprint.
He would hit his computer screen while sobbing until cracks formed.
On that day, the two of them were in Yuuji’s room drawing blueprints late at night like usual.
Nobutaka used the computer, but Yuuji preferred drawing straight lines on tracing paper.
At the time, Yuuji was working on something he was going to submit to a contest.
The awards given out by that contest had served as the stepping stones for the debuts of many designers, it was essentially a gateway of success.
Upon returning to his room from using the bathroom, he found that Nobutaka was nowhere to be seen.
Cracks could be seen on the computer screen that displayed his clumsily drawn lines, and the blueprint Yuuji had been working on was ripped into pieces. Yuuji’s head instantly boiled up in anger.
Yuuji ran down the night street in search of Nobutaka.
Suddenly Nobutaka emerged from the darkness. It was just like the time at that party.
“It’s your fault. Your blueprints are just too perfect.”
Nobutaka spoke before Yuuji could open his mouth. His voice came out like a whisper.
“You know, why can’t I be you? Why is it that I am who I am, and you are who you are? It’s your fault that I’m not you… As long as you exist, I can never become you…”
The very next moment, Nobutaka embraced Yuuji.
It was as if he was entering Yuuji’s body.
At the same time, a sharp pain ran through Yuuji’s chest.
The knife Nobutaka held was wedged deep into Yuuji’s heart.
By the time Yuuji’s parents started searching for their son who had yet to return despite how late in the night it was, Yuuji’s lifeless body was already collapsed on the road. His skin was cold, and his facedown posture made it look like he had drowned in the pool of his very own blood.
Eventually, his should-have-been immobile eyelids slowly opened, and Yuuji rose up from the ground in one motion.
He wiped off the dirt from his jeans and looked up at the starry sky as if nothing had happened.
Upon listening to his surroundings, he heard the sneaky laughter of Nobutaka from far away.
When Yuuji showed up in front of Nobutaka, who was sitting on a bench with a smile and his blood-smeared knife still in hand, Nobutaka felt that it must have just been some kind of really bad joke.
He assumed that someone was trying to scare him by controlling Yuuji’s corpse.
Yuuji heard an unsettling voice rising from the bottom of his heart.
Kill him… Kill him… Kill him…
Numerous black veins ran across Yuuji’s face as the protruding bones of his brow formed the shape of a horn.
Yuuji transformed into an Orphnoch.
His massive hands tightly gripped onto Nobutaka’s skull. It was as easy as crushing a cream puff. A crack could be heard as the skull burst open, causing blood and gray matter to splatter across the area.
After returning to his original form, Yuuji sensed someone’s presence and quickly turned around.
He saw his mother and father’s faces.
There was no doubt that they witnessed Yuuji’s actions.
Yuuji reflexively turned back around. He was making a bet.
Would his parents still embrace him even after seeing he had become an Orphnoch?
Or would they abandon him out of fear and hatred?
Yuuji stood in place until the morning sun rose.
But no one came to embrace him.
Naoya turned the music on the radio back on in the apartment’s living room and resumed his surfing.
Yuuji was listening to the typically passive Yuka desperately protesting against him.
The abnormally fast speed at which her hands flew around was proof that she had lost her composure. She was upset that Yuuji had invited Mari and her friends without asking. Upset, as well as afraid.
“It’ll be fine.”
Yuuji tried to calm her down with his gentle voice. “I’m sure it’ll benefit you, too.”
Yuuji was currently living together with Naoya and Yuka. They were the only two people he could trust.
They were his precious friends, the only other two people that had retained their human hearts after becoming an Orphnoch.
Yuuji needed Naoya and Yuka to live on.
But it was different with Mari. Whenever he was with Mari, he felt like he had returned back to his past self.
Back to when he was human. Yuuji wanted to be human again.
Co-existence between humans and Orphnochs was absolutely necessary to make that happen.
A world where humans and Orphnochs could live alongside each other.
But compared to his past dream of becoming an architectural engineer, his current dream was even further out of reach.
Kamen Rider Novel Translations 