Ryuki 2

Jumping from mirror to mirror, Ren returned from the Mirror World to his room in his apartment.

Upon his return, his transformation got undone and he returned to his usual form. 

Yui wasn’t on the bed in the dark bedroom. 

She was nowhere to be found. 

It wasn’t all that surprising. Yui rarely ever stayed over at Ren’s place. 

She’d always disappear before he knew it. 

Ren returned to the bedroom and picked up the photo that was sitting on top of the cabinet. 

Depicted in the photo was a girl that wasn’t Yui.  

It was Eri Ogawa. 

Ren actually first met Yui on the day he lost Eri. 

Yui was working as a nurse at the same hospital that Eri was carried into after she got injured and lost consciousness. 

Eri never regained consciousness and remained hospitalized there, her face affixed with an oxygen mask and her body hooked up to numerous IVs. Every time Ren came to see Eri, he’d end up talking with Yui, who was the nurse in charge of her. 

Whenever Ren asked how Eri was doing, Yui would always give the same response. 

“There hasn’t been any changes yet.” 

In other words, it meant that Eri was still in a vegetative state. 

One day, when Ren came to visit Eri like always, Yui gave a different response. 

“Her lips moved just earlier. She might’ve been trying to call your name.” 

Ren knew she was lying. 

This woman is trying to console me. She feels sorry seeing me visit this doll-like girl almost every day. 

Ren was suddenly filled with the desire to destroy the slender girl dressed in white in front of him. 

Yui accepted Ren’s invitation and decided to meet with him on one of her days off. And on that day, she laid with Ren. 

When Ren saw Yui’s naked body for the first time, he was surprised at the numerous scars scattered all across her pure white skin. They were likely self-inflicted injuries, but what was bizarre was that they covered nearly her entire body.  

Her arms, her chest, her stomach, her thighs, and so on. They weren’t that big, but they were clearly visible. 

Ren didn’t ask about the scars and instead simply laid his lips against them. 

“Why do you make love to me?” 

He asked her that question while they were in bed on one of their numerous dates. 

“You already have Eri,” Yui replied. “That’s why you won’t love me, and that’s fine.” 

He didn’t ask about her scars. That’s something only a lover would ask. A mere passer-by like Ren did not see her scars. 

Yui said you won’t love me, and that’s fine. 

That’s how it should be, thought Ren. 

Ren was fighting for Eri’s sake. 

 

Ren became a Masked Rider about a week after Eri got hospitalized. 

On that day, when Ren was on his way to the hospital to visit Eri, he had decided to kill her. 

More than that, Ren wanted to kill himself. Before he could do that, he had to kill Eri. He couldn’t leave Eri behind. 

If what the doctor said was true, then Eri’s chance of recovery was practically zero. 

The doctor presented him with two options. He could either let her continue to persist in her vegetative state, or he could unplug the life support. 

Ren wasn’t the type to believe in miracles. He only troubled himself over the predicament for a week. During that time, he didn’t eat a single thing and dropped 20 kgs in weight. 

Ren’s body, which was already slim to begin with, now resembled a sharpened needle. The only life left in him was the dark glint in his eyes. If he had continued to starve himself, his existence would have likely then disappeared into the darkness, leaving behind only that dark glint in his eyes. 

And then those eyes would quietly watch over the sleeping Eri. 

But in the end, Ren chose to kill Eri. 

Because he knew that was what Eri would have wanted. 

But killing her by removing the life support wasn’t an option for him. 

He had to kill her with his own hand. He had to dirty his own hand. He had to strangle her neck with his hands and then strangle his own neck with those very same hands. 

He was going to strangle his own neck. He would have needed incredible willpower to accomplish such a thing, but Ren had absolute confidence. He was going to go where Eri was. 

On the day of the deed, Ren ate for the first time in a long while. 

After eating blood-dripping meat at a steakhouse, he switched restaurants and took his time savoring the onion soup and carbonara that Eri loved. 

He returned home to take a nap for around two hours and then made his way to the hospital just about right after 11 P.M. 

Ren walked down the night road while looking up at the crescent moon in the sky. 

Midway he found himself lost and came to a stop. 

It was a road not too far away from the hospital and one that he had walked along numerous times. The cause behind him losing his direction despite that was by no doubt due to the unnatural purple clouds that had begun drifting around him. 

The clouds rose up from his feet and enveloped Ren, hiding the moon. 

He was unable to move as if he had been trapped in a box of clouds. 

Suddenly a single gust of wind cut open the clouds and revealed a path. 

Ren proceeded down the path as if controlled by something, and eventually the clouds in front of him cleared, revealing a worn-down church. 

The cross rising up from the steeple stretched out towards the night sky. 

For a moment, Ren felt that he might have been sent to the afterlife. 

That he had already killed both Eri and himself, and that he was now being judged for those two sins at this church. 

But Ren quickly returned to his senses. I still haven’t killed Eri yet. 

I know this because I don’t feel any happiness or sadness. All I feel is that usual empty chasm gaping in my chest.  

The green rusted doors to the church slowly opened, inviting Ren in. 

Upon stepping foot into the church, Ren suddenly came to a stop. 

It was a room of mirrors.  

The floor, the walls, the ceiling, everything was mirrors. 

Upon taking a closer look, the mirrors all had words written in blood on their surfaces. 

They were the “wishes” of countless people. 

Just like how wooden plaques would be offered to a shrine, the mirrors of the church were filled with cries of greed. Those that wished for love, those that wished for money, those that wished for success, those that wished for the well-being of others, those that wished for the deaths of others. Ren stepped back in dizziness from all the different kinds of desires being reflected between the mirrors.  

A shadow that didn’t belong to Ren rose up in one of the wall’s mirrors. It looked as if it was scrunched together by dark clouds, a shadow that lived as a shadow. 

It didn’t have an origin. It existed solely as a shadow. 

Ren, who had accepted death, had no fear. 

Suddenly he felt that he could trust this shadow. After all, it wasn’t a person. 

(Write your wish.) 

The shadow spoke to Ren. 

(That is how you sign the contract.) 

Ren did as it told, and after biting his finger, he wrote his only wish on the wall’s mirror. 

A metal emblem resembling a bat then manifested in Ren’s hand.  

(You have now become a Masked Rider. You must now fight, putting your wish on the line against the other contractors. If you are the last to survive, then your wish shall be granted.) 

Ren wasn’t the type to believe in miracles. But this wasn’t a miracle. 

After all, he was ordered to fight. Fight, and win. 

If he wanted his wish to be granted, he had to perform a task of comparable value.  

This wasn’t a miracle. If anything, it was close to business. 

From then on, Ren fought as Masked Rider Knight. 

 

“That bastard… I’ll kill him the next time I see him.” 

Shinji had returned to the real world the same time Ren disappeared from the Mirror World. 

Upon returning to the unfrequented road where he lost sight of Miho, Shinji fell to his knees from the pain that assaulted his entire body. 

His face and stomach that had received Ren’s attacks were throbbing with pain. 

Damage taken in the Mirror World would still persist to a certain extent upon returning to the real world. 

The pain connected the two worlds. In a sense, it was proof that the Mirror World did indeed exist. 

“Hey.” 

Shinji raised his head to the figure that had approached him. 

“Y-You…!” 

He raised his voice. 

With her hands in her jean jacket pockets, Miho stood in front of him with a nonchalant face. 

“What’re you squatting here for? Checking out ants or something?” 

“Yeah, actually I am. Man, seeing them work so hard is really educational, y’know? Yeah, no, of course I’m not checking out any ants! More importantly, you stole my wallet, didn’t you? Give it back!” 

“Wow, you went along with that joke pretty well. You from Kansai or something?” 

“No, I wasn’t even speaking in a Kansai dialect. Just give me back my wallet!” 

“Then where are you from? Mars?” 

Miho tested Shinji. 

“Yep, yep. Man, I came down to visit Earth for fun, but now I’m lost. Okay, all right, enough of this! Hurry up and give me back my wallet already!” 

I knew it, Miho said to herself. He’s an idiot. 

Miho turned her shoulder bag upside in front of Shinji and scattered its contents all over the floor. 

Makeup kits, brushes, notepads, hair bands, and even her own wallet could be made out, but Shinji’s wallet was nowhere to be seen. 

“I don’t have your wallet, so stop asking me about it. Besides, do you even have any proof that I stole it?” 

“You’re the proof. I’m pretty sure you’re the type that wouldn’t hesitate to steal.” 

“All right, see for yourself.” 

Miho then raised her hands to her sides and sidled up to Shinji. 

“W-What?” 

“Pat me down. It wasn’t in the bag, after all. In that case, it’d have to be somewhere in my clothes, right? Go ahead, search me.” 

“Yeah, I’m not falling for that.” Shinji took a step back. “You’re probably gonna cry molester if I touch you, huh?” 

“Geez, you’re such a pain.” 

Miho grabbed Shinji’s hand and pushed it against her chest. She then guided it down to the crotch of her jean jacket.  

“See? Nothing, right? Or did you feel something?” 

“W-What the heck are you doing?! Are you messed up in the head or something?!” 

Shinji shouted out, flustered. 

“Okay, listen you, don’t ever call me again. I don’t want to have anything to do with you under any circumstances whatsoever.” 

Before Shinji could finish saying that, Miho embraced him and laid her lips with his. 

“You had aonori stuck between your teeth so I got it out for you.” 

“T-There’s something wrong with you, there has to be!” 

He barely managed to wring out those words. His legs were trembling. Upon thinking about it, he realized that this was the first time he ever touched a woman like that before. 

“I’ll tell you something good. You’ll grow to like me. For sure.” 

“Like hell I would! Don’t be ridiculous!” 

The very next moment, Shinji turned around and dashed off. 

This woman is bad news. I’m gonna end up being the one going insane if I hang out with her any longer. 

Running away is winning here. 

Miho watched Shinji run off with her arms crossed. 

Her lips curled up as she let out a natural laugh. 

I can use that man, she said to herself. He’s an idiot, but I can use him. 

After running about 500 meters, Shinji came to a stop and looked behind him. Miho didn’t seem to be after him. 

I’m safe now… Man, that was scary… 

Just as he was thinking of running a little longer just in case, he felt his wallet in his jean pocket.  

That woman… Shinji was convinced. She must’ve slipped it back when she kissed him. 

He checked the contents and saw that everything was still inside. 

Seriously, what’s her deal? 

It’s a good thing that she’s not a Masked Rider, he suddenly thought to himself. 

If she did happen to be a contractor, he’d have a harder time with her than Ren or anyone else. He had no idea how he would handle her. 

Shinji let out a relieved sigh and began walking back to his apartment. 

But… Shinji looked up at the crescent moon hiding between the clouds in the sky. 

What’s going to happen with the battle between the contractors? What should I do? 

Just how am I going to end the fighting… 

<- Previous Chapter | Next Chapter ->