"Aaa!"
The scream rang out again, closer this time, more desperate.
Aster moved before his mind had time to decide anything.
"Idiot…" he muttered under his breath, his legs already carrying him across the road.
Headlights flared briefly, horns blared somewhere far away, but all of it vanished the moment he plunged into the narrow alley. The smell of metal, wet asphalt, and something rancid assaulted his nose.
The monster turned around.
The insect Yummy raised its body, its layered jaws opening wide as a low hum vibrated from its chest cavity. Its sharp legs scraped against the ground, leaving long gouges in the asphalt.
"Hey!" Aster shouted without thinking. "Over here!"
He planted himself between the monster and the woman crouching and trembling at the far end of the alley.
The woman stared at him with wide eyes. Her long purple hair fell in slight waves, her face pale, yet still beautiful even in a situation like this. Her eyes shimmered, not just with fear, but with something else.
Resolve, perhaps.
"What are you doing?!" she cried in panic. "Run!"
Aster swallowed hard.
"If I run…" he said quietly, almost as if speaking to himself, "then yeah… it's over."
The Yummy leaped.
Everything happened too fast.
Aster's body slammed hard into the alley wall. The air burst from his lungs in one brutal gasp. His spine felt like it cracked as he collapsed onto the asphalt.
"Ugh!"
Pain surged through him without mercy. He tried to rise, but one of the creature's legs struck his stomach.
Once.
His body lifted, then crashed back down.
"You idiot!" the woman shouted, her voice shaking. "Why… why did you…?!"
Aster coughed, a metallic taste flooding his mouth.
"Because…" he gasped, forcing himself to move again, "I… don't have anything left."
The Yummy did not give him time.
Another blow.
Aster's arm flung aside, his shoulder slamming into the wall with a dull thud. His vision swam. His stomach twisted, not only from the impact, but from the hunger he had endured for more than a day.
This body is weak.
The thought surfaced, cold and honest.
I'm hungry. I'm tired. I'm empty.
"Aster!"
His name slipped from his own lips, whispered faintly, as if to remind himself that he still existed.
"Get up…" he muttered. "Get up, you pathetic mess."
The monster raised its sharp leg, ready to strike.
The woman screamed. "Stop! Please!"
Aster lifted his hand on reflex.
And that was when it happened.
The silver tank on his back vibrated.
Clink.
The sound of shifting metal rang out clearly, far too clear to be imagination. Through his blurred vision, he saw the tank's lid crack open slightly, a faint light shimmering from within.
"What…?" His breath hitched.
The monster attacked again.
Pain slammed into his chest, sending him rolling. His vision nearly faded to black. The woman's voice sounded distant now, like it came from underwater.
"Don't die!" she screamed. "You can't die!"
Funny, Aster thought dimly.
A stranger… worrying about me?
His hand touched the cold asphalt. His fingers trembled.
If I stay still, everything will end.
The thought came not as something heroic, but as a simple fact.
If I move…
At least I'll still exist.
"I…" he whispered. "I'm still… here."
The monster raised itself again.
And that was when something clicked in his head.
Not courage.
Not noble resolve.
But understanding.
That tank. That belt. That weapon.
Not meant for someone who was ready.
But for someone cornered, like him.
"Heh…" Aster smiled faintly, blood trickling from the corner of his lips. "Date… you really are insane."
The Yummy lunged.
Aster rolled aside with what little strength he had left, his hand reflexively pulling the small lever on the side of the silver tank.
SHUNK.
The lid flew fully open.
Several metallic coins leaped out, gleaming as they hung in the air for a split second before falling into his hand.
"These…" he murmured. "Medals…?"
Without realizing it, his fingers moved on instinct, or perhaps guided by something faintly embedded in his mind. He grabbed the belt secured inside the tank.
Birth Driver.
"Don't!" the woman shouted as the monster attacked again. "It's behind you!"
"I know," Aster replied softly.
He staggered to his feet.
His body shook, his knees nearly giving out. Blood dripped onto the asphalt. His stomach still burned with hunger, his head throbbed.
There was no music. No dramatic light.
Only ragged breathing and the sound of rain starting to fall again.
With trembling hands, he fastened the Birth Driver around his waist.
Click.
The belt locked into place.
The monster leaped.
The woman squeezed her eyes shut.
Aster raised his hand to his chest.
"If I die…" he said quietly, nearly drowned out by the rain, "at least I'll die standing."
His hand shook as he reached for the Birth Driver.
He inserted a single Cell Medal into the belt's slot with a sharp click.
There was no dazzling light.
No heroic music.
Only the cold sound of machinery.
He gripped the lever on the side of the belt, the Grap Accelerator, and twisted it with the last of his strength.
"HENSHIN."
WHRRRR. CLANK.
The system's activation echoed through the narrow alley. The belt's panels opened, the Transer Shield shifted, and the Cell Medal's energy surged into the Cell Reactor.
"BIRTH!"
The armor did not simply appear.
It was assembled.
Heavy metal components slammed into Aster's body one by one, locking around his arms, legs, and chest with loud, painful clangs. Each piece felt like an added burden forced onto a body already on the brink of collapse.
He staggered, his knees nearly touching the ground.
"Ghh!" His breath caught. "So heavy…!"
The helmet sealed over his head with a final clang, cutting his vision off into a muted, cold world.
Kamen Rider Birth stood.
Not as a hero rising,
but as a broken man forced upright by a machine.
"W–what is that…?" the woman whispered, eyes wide.
Aster drew a deep breath behind the helmet.
"Move…" he muttered. "I have to… move."
The monster roared and attacked again.
Aster raised his mechanical arm on reflex, blocking the strike. Metal crashed against metal, the impact reverberating through the alley. The vibration traveled into his bones, making him wince beneath the helmet.
"So heavy…" he groaned. "This is insane…"
But still.
He was not blown away.
For the first time, he was still standing.
The woman stared at him, her expression changing. Not just fear anymore, but shock, a flicker of awe, and something harder to name.
"He…" she whispered. "He's holding it back…"
Aster took one step forward.
It felt like the world itself was dragging his legs down, but he forced them to move.
"Hey," he said to the monster, his voice muffled by the helmet. "Now… it's my turn to hit you, yeah? Hope you don't mind."
The monster shrieked in fury.
And beneath the rain that had begun to fall again,
the real fight had only just begun.
The monster screeched, its sound sharp and layered, like metal scraping against enraged insect cries.
The insect Yummy stomped its leg into the ground, thin cracks spreading across the asphalt under its weight. Its compound eyes reflected the flickering alley lights, fully focused on the heavy metal figure standing before it.
Kamen Rider Birth.
Aster inhaled deeply inside the helmet, his lungs burning as if filled with shards of glass.
"Heavy…" he muttered again, almost like a childish complaint. "This is ridiculously heavy…"
The monster attacked first.
No warning, no pattern. The Yummy burst forward with speed that completely contradicted its size. Its sharp foreleg swept straight toward Aster's chest.
"W–!"
BRAK!
A thunderous impact echoed. Aster was thrown back two steps, his heels scraping against the asphalt. He nearly fell, nearly, but the heavy armor kept him upright.
"Gh!" He panted. "Seriously… this isn't a human body…"
The monster did not stop. Its insect tail swung, slamming into Aster's side.
CLANG!
Aster rolled, his metal body crashing sideways with an embarrassingly heavy sound.
"Oi!" He hit the ground. "Wait!"
He tried to get up.
Wrong move.
The armor on his legs was too heavy. His joints responded half a second slower than his intent. Instead of rising, he tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his back.
"…Great," he groaned. "I really look stupid right now, huh?"
The woman at the end of the alley covered her mouth with both hands.
"He fell…?" she whispered, her voice a mix of panic and disbelief. "B–but he looked strong just now…"
The Yummy raised its sharp leg, preparing to impale Aster's prone body.
"L–look out!" she screamed.
Aster looked up just as the monster's shadow swallowed his vision.
Reflex.
Not technique.
He raised both mechanical arms.
DUUM!
The Yummy's leg struck Birth's armored arms. The force pushed Aster backward across the ground, his back scraping against wet asphalt.
"Ghh!" He clenched his teeth. "I'm not a living shield, you know…!"
He kicked out wildly.
His foot struck the Yummy's leg joint.
The result?
The monster staggered back half a step, just enough to give Aster room.
"It worked…?" Aster stared in surprise.
Not wasting the chance, he forced himself upright, his movements stiff and unbalanced.
"Alright…" he panted. "If you rush straight at me… I'll hit you straight back."
He advanced.
The first step was too heavy.
The second step was too slow.
The Yummy spun, its insect leg slamming into Aster's side.
BRAAAK!
He was hurled into the alley wall, his metal body crashing into concrete with a deafening sound. Small cracks spread across the surface.
The woman gasped. "Hey! You!"
Aster slid down the wall, his knee hitting the ground.
"Ugh…" He paused. "If this is a dream… I want to wake up now."
The monster approached, its angry hum growing louder.
Aster looked up at it from below, his helmet slightly tilted from the impact.
"Listen," he said tiredly. "I'm hungry, exhausted, and honestly… I don't even know why I'm trying something this weird."
He slowly pushed himself up.
"But I'm also really annoyed right now," he continued. "So… cooperate for a bit, will you?"
He threw a punch.
Slow.
Telegraphed.
The Yummy caught his arm with its insect leg.
"Eh!"
The monster lifted Aster, lifted him, then slammed him into the ground.
DOOOM!
The asphalt trembled. Aster bounced slightly before crashing back down with a pitiful metallic clang.
"OW!" he groaned loudly this time. "My spine… oh, wait. That's armor."
The woman watched, her heart pounding.
He wasn't amazing.
He wasn't elegant.
He didn't even look like he knew what he was doing.
But still.
He always got back up.
"…Why…" she murmured, eyes fixed on the metal figure. "Why are you still standing…?"
Aster crawled, then pushed himself to his knees.
His hand brushed against the side of his belt.
Birth Driver.
"If punches don't work…" he muttered. "Then… a weapon?"
He grabbed the large handle on his back and pulled it forward.
Birth Buster.
The weapon was heavy, far heavier than he expected. The moment the barrel came free, its weight dragged his body forward.
"WO!"
He nearly kissed the ground again.
"…Okay," he said quickly, trying to steady himself. "Mental note, this thing is not a toy."
The Yummy shrieked and attacked again.
Aster panicked.
He raised the Birth Buster on reflex and pulled the trigger.
BLAM!
A blast of energy erupted from the barrel, and at the same time,
RENG!
The recoil hit Aster like a small truck.
His body was flung backward, the Birth Buster flying from his hands as he tumbled across the ground in an almost cartoonish fashion.
"…WHAT?!" He lay flat on his back again. "WHAT WAS THAT JUST NOW?!"
The woman froze… then,
"…Pfft."
She clamped a hand over her mouth, her shoulders shaking.
"I–I'm sorry!" she said quickly. "This is serious, but–but…"
Aster definitely heard her.
"Don't laugh…" he complained. "I'm not proud of this either."
The monster had been hit, but only scratched along its side. Several silver medals spilled out from the wound and clattered onto the ground.
The Yummy looked even angrier.
Aster rolled over and struggled to retrieve the Birth Buster.
"Okay… okay…" he breathed heavily. "So this weapon… pushes back."
He staggered to his feet, gripping the Birth Buster with both hands.
"In that case…" He stared at the monster. "I need to brace myself."
He aimed.
Pulled the trigger again.
BLAM!
Recoil.
This time, he was prepared. Slightly.
The result?
He was still thrown back, but only about a meter, landing in a seated position.
"…Progress," he said between breaths.
The woman watched, her gaze slowly changing.
He was stupid.
He was clumsy.
But…
He didn't run.
"Why…" she whispered, clutching her chest. "Why someone like him…?"
The Yummy began to retreat, perhaps realizing that although its attacks were effective, this opponent simply refused to stop.
Aster saw the opening.
"Now…" he muttered. "Or I'm really done for."
He pressed an additional module on the Birth Buster, Finisher Mode, or at least that was what Aster called it.
The weapon system activated.
WHRR. CHUNK.
Cell Medal energy surged violently. The barrel glowed brilliantly.
The woman's eyes widened. "Wait! That looks like..."
"HEAVY!" Aster shouted as the energy built. "WAY TOO HEAVY!"
The Yummy screeched and leaped.
Aster panicked.
He didn't aim properly.
He just pulled the trigger.
"THIS IS IT!"
BLAAAMMMM!!
A massive blast of energy erupted from the Birth Buster.
And the recoil?
ABSURD.
Aster was launched like a ragdoll, his metal body flying backward, slamming into the alley wall, then dropping with a final, deafening clang.
"…Ah."
His helmet struck the asphalt.
And the world
went dark.
Meanwhile,
that wild shot ricocheted off the alley wall, bounced at a ridiculous angle, and slammed directly into the insect Yummy's core.
The monster jerked.
"…?"
Its movements halted abruptly, the hum inside its body turning distorted. It slowly looked down at the smoking hole in its chest, not blood pouring out, but unstable yellow green light pulsing violently.
Cracks spread across its body.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Its insect frame collapsed from within, shattering into light, and in a single brief instant,
PRAAANG!
The Yummy's body completely disintegrated, transforming into a heap of Cell Medals scattered across the wet asphalt. The metallic coins bounced, spun, and clinked against one another, their faint glow reflecting off the narrow alley walls.
The humming stopped.
All that remained was the sound of cling… cling… coins rolling, then silence.
Quiet.
Rain fell softly, splashing against the scattered Cell Medals, washing away the remnants of the rampaging energy.
The woman stood frozen.
"…Huh?"
She turned toward Aster, lying motionless, the Birth armor still equipped, his unconscious body sprawled in a pose that was anything but heroic.
"…He…" she whispered.
She stepped closer, knelt beside him, and stared at the metal helmet, holding her breath.
"…You won…?" she said softly. "In the strangest way I've ever seen."
A small smile formed on her lips, weak but sincere.
"…But…" She clenched her fist against her chest. "Thank you."
Beneath the helmet, Aster heard nothing.
He was unconscious.
And for the first time since everything fell apart,
he collapsed not because he gave up.