"Hey, Chief Uzen?"
"Yes?"
"I already told you I mean no harm, right?"
"Yup."
"Then why am I being tied up?"
Hideo hung upside down with thick ropes wrapped tightly around his body, dangling like a punching bag in a gym. The rope was secured to a big spike, leaving him swaying helplessly in midair.
"Isn't it obvious? It's so you can't escape like you did last time." Himari nodded to herself and crossed her arms before giving the rope a shove, sending him spinning as though she had just pulled the funniest prank imaginable.
"Yes! So you better behave, Kamen Rider-san!" Shushu nodded enthusiastically, an ominous glint flashing in her eyes. "The Seventh Unit will take care of you."
Thinking back on everything that had happened made Hideo want to scratch his head, if only he could reach it.
Right after Hideo and Kyouka defeated the Shuuki, the other members accompanying Kyouka arrived in their vehicles from the gate they had been guarding.
The moment they arrived, Kyouka grabbed Hideo by the arm like a border patrol officer apprehending an illegal immigrant and slammed him to the ground.
The instant her fingers closed around his wrist, Hideo knew this woman possessed monstrous strength. Her grip was not merely firm. It was a literal vice.
That was how he ended up in his current predicament.
Still wearing his suit.
Hanging upside down.
Bound so he could barely move.
Surrounded by three women and a child, all staring at him as though he were some rare animal on display at a zoo.
He could escape from this whenever he wanted. Even right now.
Though Hideo was pretty sure that would not be a good idea at the moment.
He would just humor them for now. If this was what it took to make them lower their guard and actually talk to him, then it was a small sacrifice on his part.
"So, first of all, who are you?" Kyouka asked. From Hideo's upside down perspective, her face appeared inverted, though her expression remained calm.
"I'm Kamen Rider OOO. Didn't I already tell you that?" Hideo replied evenly, without the slightest hint of irritation.
She sighed.
"We already know that. What I'm asking for is your real name." She narrowed her eyes at him. "I want to know everything about you."
"That's quite sudden. I'm still single and available, sure, but that doesn't mean I want to be with..." Hideo said with feigned shyness, only to cough awkwardly when he noticed her utterly unamused stare. "Ahem. Sorry about that."
Hideo straightened himself as much as someone hanging upside down possibly could before continuing.
"Sorry, lady, but I don't have a name of my own right now. I'm just a Kamen Rider and nothing else," Hideo said. "I left that behind the day I put on the mask."
Judging by Kyouka's expression, Hideo knew she saw right through his lie. Somehow, though, she let it pass. Perhaps she had already realized he would not say anything more unless she forced it out of him.
"Next question. Are you a Peach user?"
"Nope."
"Are you male or female?"
"I'm above that."
"..."
Okay. Now she was looking at him like he had completely lost his mind.
"Alright, I'm kidding. I'm a guy. Can't you tell from my voice?"
"Just making sure," Kyouka replied evenly. "There are plenty of skilled people who can imitate the voice of the opposite sex. Some even possess a Peach that alters their physical appearance." She tapped a finger against Hideo's helmet. "That thing might even have a voice changer."
"I wish." Hideo chuckled. "If it did, I would've changed my voice to a Vocaloid by now."
She studied him for a long moment, clearly unable to tell whether he was joking.
'Now that she had mentioned it, though, a built-in voice changer in my suit would actually be pretty cool.' Hideo thought to himself.
"So, how does this suit even work?" Shushu asked, poking Hideo's back. "I was skeptical at first, but I'm starting to believe my theory that you're an engineer from another version of Earth who creates technology that does not exist here. That would explain why you're so strong despite not having a Peach, especially since you're a man."
"Shushu, I think you've been playing too many games," Himari sighed, glancing at the blonde. "That's way too far fetched."
"But what if it's actually true, Himari?" Shushu said with a grin, nodding to herself. "Then you'll have to call me the Great Prophet!"
"..."
Hideo decided to ignore that.
She wasn't entirely wrong—except for the part about engineers and technology. His power didn't belong to this world. From their perspective, and even from his own, it might as well have been something completely alien.
Thankfully, they didn't seem too interested in pursuing that line of thought.
"We're getting distracted, girls," Kyouka said, gently cutting through the chatter.
"We apologize, Chief," Himari and Shushu replied in unison.
With that, Kyouka turned her attention back to Hideo. The questions became far more ordinary—where he lived, what he did outside Mato, how old he was, and so on. Naturally, he offered nothing of substance, aside from the fact that he lived on a lovely little planet called Earth.
Judging by the increasingly pissy look in Himari's eyes, she was only seconds away from punching Hideo in the head after the string of questionable answers he kept giving. Prompting Shushu to wrap her in a tight hug, like an owner restraining an enraged Doberman from lunging at someone.
"This squad is surprisingly entertaining to talk to," Hideo thought. "Their reactions are priceless."
"Answer me truthfully," Kyouka said, locking eyes with him as she leaned closer. Even hanging upside down, Hideo could feel the weight of her unwavering gaze. "Are you the one killing the Shuuki outside our sight?"
"…Pass. Next question, please."
"So it really was you."
She closed her eyes and massaged her forehead.
Just like Isadora always told him, he really sucked at lying when it actually mattered.
They already knew he could enter Mato through some unknown method after his encounters with the Seventh Unit, both this time and the last. In their eyes, he was the obvious culprit. Trying to deny it now would only make him look even more suspicious.
"There's no way they wouldn't connect the dots after the commotion I caused at the Reverse Ogre Gate," Hideo thought.
Kyouka decided not to press the issue and shifted to another topic.
"Shushu already asked this, but how exactly does your suit work?" she asked thoughtfully, her eyes lingering on the emblem across his Tatoba form's chest. "Is your power related to the animals displayed there?"
"Yes," he answered honestly.
"We already have a hypothesis," she continued, "but does your suit correspond to different animals depending on the color?"
"Right again."
"And does each color have animals assigned to specific parts of your body?"
"Bingo~."
"If that's the case, how many are there in each color?"
"I don't know."
Kyouka, Shushu, and Himari all tilted their heads in perfect unison.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Himari narrowed her eyes. "I swear, if you give us another vague answer—"
"Oi, oi, calm down. I'm being honest," Hideo said quickly. "I don't know how many animals there are in each color. All I know is that I can currently use three from each color set."
"So you can use fifteen right now?" Kyouka asked without missing a beat.
"...How did you figure that out?"
"Anyone with basic reasoning could come up with an answer if they saw the number of colors that appeared during your flashy transformation."
Hideo could only remain silent.
"The Mato Defense Force sure is competent. Or maybe I'm just an idiot who keeps missing the obvious," he thought. "Honestly, it's probably both."
"Where did you even get this suit?"
Shushu asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"Maybe I can get one for myself too!"
"Sorry, my fair lady, but this is a one-time limited item given exclusively to me," he replied smoothly. "It was gifted by an old man from London named John Kaleidoscope."
Himari frowned.
"What kind of name is that?"
"I don't even know."
He shot back with a shrug.
"You'll have to ask the old man yourself."
Kyouka gently tapped Himari on the shoulder.
"Let's just ignore that for now."
Even though she was curious about who made his suit, who John Kaleidoscope was, or whether he had even existed in the first place, she chose not to press the matter.
Taking a slow breath, Kyouka placed her hands on her slender hips.
"Kamen Rider." Kyouka's voice dropped into its most serious register before continuing, "I only have one personal question."
Kyouka looked at Hideo.
"Why are you doing all of this?"
"...."
Hideo pondered
"My motive, huh? Now that's a question I can actually answer."
With a sharp tug of his arms, he snapped the rope binding him. It tore apart with a dry crack. He landed lightly on both feet, straightened up, and faced her respectfully. Himari and Shushu tensed instantly, but Kyouka raised a hand, stopping them. She glanced back at them over her shoulder, silently ordering them to stand down and let him speak.
"You know, Chief... when I was a kid, I was overly ambitious. Full of hope."
"Full of dreams."
"I believed there was some grand path waiting ahead of me."
Looking back, he realized just how painfully ignorant he had been about life.
Things were never handed to you the way you imagined. Hard work didn't guarantee a reward. You could spend months grinding yourself into the ground, only to have reality slap you across the face.
He had lost more times than he could count. He had been mocked for being idealistic.
"As you all know, guys don't get any perks from Peaches," he said plainly. "So we just keep moving forward without relying on them."
"I used to complain every single day. Why does Mato even exist? Why does danger lurk everywhere? Why do I have to rely on others to save my pitiful life? I'd rather they save someone else. Compared to everyone else, I'm just polluted air."
He let out a quiet breath.
"That's why, when I was given the chance to wear the mask, I was happy. Truly happy. For the first time, I felt motivated to become the person I never even realized I could be."
What else was he supposed to do?
Sit at a desk, typing mindlessly? Get scolded over the smallest mistakes? Live through the same dull, gray routine while watching everyone else chase something greater?
He was bitter.
He felt like crap.
Every day felt empty.
It was nothing but an endless loop of monotony.
Just as Isadora had said when they first met... he looked like someone who wasn't destined for anything great.
So when he was chosen, he couldn't help but wonder—
Was being an ordinary guy who hated seeing people suffer enough to qualify as a Kamen Rider?
Maybe he was fine dealing with his own problems.
But whenever he saw others struggling...
His body simply moved on its own.
He couldn't stand still. Every instinct screamed that he had to do something.
"To formally answer your question..."
He turned away from them, his back facing Kyouka, Shushu, Himari, and Nei, who was slowly approaching. Tilting his head upward, he looked at the sky above.
"I just want to protect people," Hideo said with unwavering conviction. "To protect the smiles of children. To make sure they don't lose hope the way I once did. And to defeat every Shuuki in existence."
His fingers slowly curled into a fist.
"Even if my body starts to give out on me, I'll make sure everyone is safe before that happens."
Glancing back over his shoulder, he turned to face them and pointed at the group.
"That includes all of you! So you better remember that!"
A dramatic laugh escaped him before he caught himself and cleared his throat. He thumped his chest with a clenched fist and stood tall, his posture firm and proud.
"Even if there is no God or Buddha in this world..."
He lowered his hand, his voice calm and resolute.
"...there will always be a Kamen Rider to save the day."
***
Throughout her life, Kyouka had met all kinds of people.
Different personalities, different ambitions. Some were driven by noble intentions, while others were consumed by selfish desires. Because of that, she could usually tell when someone was lying. Even the greatest liar in the world, someone capable of flawlessly mimicking authenticity, could not fool her for long.
There was one thing that could never simply be imitated or claimed at will.
Sincerity.
Hearing him speak those words without the slightest trace of shame—wearing them with pride, no less.
And truthfully...
Kyouka liked his goal of protecting children's smiles.
They might walk different paths, but in the end, both roads led to the same destination of the eradication of every Shuuki in existence. An end to the suffering this desolate land of Mato had inflicted upon the world. Countless families had been torn apart because of it.
She knew that all too well.
Her own family had been one of them.
Before she realized it, her hand was gently patting Nei's head as those thoughts crossed her mind.
"Don't worry, Nei. You will find your parents. And I'll make sure of it."
Kyouka silently repeated those words to herself.
When he had pointed at them and declared that he would save them if they were ever in trouble...
Ordinarily, she would have dismissed such a statement as boastful and absurd, even.
Was he really telling them that if they were ever in danger, he would come to save them?
It sounded cheesy, almost like a jest.
But when those words came from someone earnest...
They carried an entirely different weight.
"All right, I'll let you go for now," Kyouka said, adjusting the brim of her cap. "Sorry for being rough, but you can't exactly blame us when you're so slippery."
The Kamen Rider was visibly taken aback, clearly not expecting an apology from her. Then he burst into laughter.
"Don't worry, Chief!" he said. "I understand. What you did earlier was just a precaution."
He raised a hand toward her.
"For now..." he said with a grin. "A truce?"
Kyouka looked at his outstretched hand, then at the helmet concealing his expression. With a quiet sigh, a wry smile tugged at her lips as she shook her head.
She raised her own hand and grasped his firmly.
"You may already know who I am, but I'll introduce myself properly anyway," she said. "My name is Uzen Kyouka, current Chief of the Seventh Unit of the Anti-Demon Force."
Beside her, Nei shifted restlessly.
"U-Um..."
Curious, Kyouka glanced down at her adorable subordinate and let out a soft, questioning hum.
"Is something wrong, Nei?" she asked.
Nei flinched slightly at being addressed.
"N-Nothing. I just... want to do something," she said, fidgeting as she looked toward the Kamen Rider.
Noticing her gaze, he tilted his head.
"Something wrong, kid?"
Instead of answering him, Nei turned to Kyouka, silently asking for permission. She gestured for Kyouka to lean closer.
After hearing the whispered request, Kyouka couldn't help but chuckle. She had thought something serious was bothering her.
It was nothing of the sort.
Straightening up, she gestured for Nei to step forward and gave her a small nod of approval.
Nei's face lit up instantly. A radiant smile spread across her face as she walked over to the Kamen Rider.
"U-Um, Kamen Rider-san," Nei said with a polite bow. "My name is Nei."
She then raised her hand toward him, looking up expectantly.
It only took him a second to understand what she wanted. A soft chuckle escaped him.
"Well, if you wanted to do that, you could've just asked, kid," he said lightly.
Nei nodded eagerly, her head bobbing up and down.
With an enthusiastic smack, the Kamen Rider and Nei high-fived.