Kamen Rider from the ancient times

The weather was sunny and the breeze was gentle.

The azure sky was cloudless, and rows of tall buildings stood side by side on both sides of the street. The glass curtain walls were clear and bright in the sunlight, reflecting the people standing in front of them.

Kawahara stared blankly at his reflection in the mirror.

The city behind him was exceptionally noisy.

The roar of engines and the screech of tires against the ground mingled together, occasionally punctuated by the piercing sound of horns, as cars roared past on the road.

The trees along the street rustled as they swayed, and hurried office workers and groups of two or three young people passed by him, chatting about their own topics in everyday language.

—What should I do today?

What should we eat for lunch?
—My salary still hasn't been paid!
This world has a strange yet comforting sense of reality.

But at this moment, everything seemed to be distorted into a blurry mosaic, and the noisy sounds and lively scenes faded away.

Kawahara only sees himself.

The reflection in the mirror shows the broadcast posters for "Kamen Rider" pasted on the wall.

He suddenly snapped back to his senses in the next moment, then walked over and, like someone tearing down a notice in ancient times, ripped down the poster that read "Kamen Rider Zi-O".

This is a real world.

Kamen Rider is a fictional character created for a TV series, so naturally there are no monsters in it.

This is an absolutely "ordinary" world.

It's like he returned to the world he lived in before the ancient times.

When Kawahara opened his eyes, he was already standing in this bustling place, and his subconscious understanding of this world surfaced in his mind.

Did he actually return to the real world?
The people around him were chatting and laughing about everyday things, without any trace of the gloom of encountering a monster. A child ran past them, holding a Kamen Rider doll in his hand.

Relaxed, comfortable, and at ease.

Compared to the rather ordinary atmosphere at this moment, his previous experience of fighting monsters as a Kamen Rider seemed like a delusion he had been having unintentionally.

but……

How is this possible?
Kawahara looked at his reflection in the wall.

Unlike when he was an office worker, his slightly longer, unkempt black hair fell over his shoulders. More importantly, he was still wearing the black hooded sports jacket that Gentaro Kisaragi had kindly given him back in Amanokawa Academy!
Kawahara stood there dumbfounded for a long while.

Then there is only one answer!

—The power of time and the power of the world that Narutaki activated may have truly erased him from the history of the Knight world, but perhaps some things are incompatible, so that power also sent him back to his original world.

It was the ordinary world he had always lived in.

—Is Narutaki actually a good person?

But the problem came again.

Is this really his previous world?
Kawahara stared at the Knight poster in his hand for a long time, then smelled the aroma of coffee wafting from a street shop. As if a memory had been stirred up, he wondered for a second whether his original body in his world had already turned into spring mud.

It was probably a similarly bustling morning when he packed a cup of coffee for 8 a.m. to take to his office.

then……

"call--"

The roar of engines whizzing past on the road in front of him suddenly brought him back to his senses.

The atmosphere of this world seems particularly captivating.

Kawahara blinked and noticed a used goods store across the street. He rolled up the poster and strode onto the road, easily crossing the morning rush hour traffic.

"Ding bell~"

The wind chimes hanging on the eaves jingled, and the elderly owner sitting behind the counter casually glanced up at the customer.

"Welcome~~"

He greeted me in a formulaic, drawn-out tone.

Kawahara looked around the used general store. The walls were covered with posters of the Kamen Rider Zi-O movie, and the shelves were stocked with entertainment magazines, old DVDs, and ordinary plush toys, as well as rubber figures of different Kamen Riders, from Kuuga to Zi-O.

Later on, there's even a transformation driver.

Kawahara's fingers lightly touched the display case, his gaze fixed on the brand-new white Decade Driver.

"Is this... an authentic copy?"

"what?"

The owner behind the counter looked up at the customer again.

Perhaps the question sounded a bit odd, because after a moment of surprise, the shop owner solemnly pushed up his reading glasses and said, "Of course! Don't let the shabby appearance of our shop fool you, we absolutely, positively would never sell counterfeit goods!"

"Can it transform?" Kawahara looked at him.

"...Huh?" The boss was stunned again.

After staring at each other for a while, Kawahara raised the corners of his lips and chuckled, "Sorry, I may not be fully used to this yet. Sorry to bother you."

... "Ding-a-ling~"

The wind chimes by the door rang again.

Kawahara walked out of the store, still clutching the poster in his hand. He took a deep breath, looked at the bustling street, and then turned his head to look at the rubber dolls displayed in the transparent window.

Kamen Rider is a fictional character who does not exist.

Their lives were portrayed in the TV series as if they were pre-programmed.

Kawahara suddenly felt somewhat lost and helpless.

Why did he feel uncomfortable?

Perhaps it's because he has had genuine interactions with those real people, and he knows that their emotions are not fake, and that their unwavering belief in protecting humanity is not fabricated.

So it's just—

The world no longer needs Kamen Rider.

Suddenly, another wind chime rang out.

The shop door, which had been half-closed behind him, opened from the inside, and the owner handed him a brand-new Knight Driver: "Hey buddy, is this what you want?"

"Uh……"

Kawahara was somewhat surprised by his actions, and after a moment of hesitation, he said, "It probably isn't that necessary?"

"Although people outside say this is something only kids play with, sometimes we inevitably miss the feelings we had before. If you like it, then just say it out loud!" the boss said earnestly.

"Um...actually I just..." Kawahara hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.

"Hey! Just hold it bravely in your hand!"

The boss, however, shoved the Decade drive directly into his arms without warning.

Kawahara: "..."

He was simply not quite ready to return to the real world and live a normal life right now.

Kawahara said awkwardly, "I'm sorry, I don't need this anymore, because I don't have any change on me right now."

The last thousand yen was stolen by Daiki Kaito.

Upon hearing this, the shop owner paused, his presbyopic eyes behind his glasses scrutinizing the young man before finally settling on the poster in the man's hand. Then, a kind smile appeared on his wrinkled face, and he patted Kawahara on the shoulder.

"Then I'll give it to you!"

The shop owner walked back into the store with his hands behind his back: "Because I think you might need Kamen Rider right now—Brave Transformation, Young Man!"

At this moment, this aged body seemed to exude a rather childish and immature air.

No wonder the owner runs a general store!

Kawahara remained silent for a moment, then fell silent.

He glanced at the posters on the wall of the general store, then looked down at the Kamen Rider Driver in his hand, his fingertips tracing the metallic and plastic-textured casing.

Does he need Kamen Rider?

Kawahara didn't even need to hesitate for long, because he always understood that he needed Kamen Rider—and he also needed to return to the world where Kamen Rider existed!
After all, he hadn't finished what he needed to do yet.

But how exactly should we do it?

Back then, no one knew why he returned to the ancient times. Now, in this normal and ordinary world, there are no Kamen Riders, no monsters, and no power to "transform".

Kawahara raised his hand and touched his abdomen.

He had already tried when he traveled here, but the Yaguru Spirit Stones could not be gathered.

There was absolutely no sense of being able to transform.

The power of time and space not only erased his history, but also seemed to directly erase the power of "Kamen Rider Agul" which never existed in the first place.

So how else can he get back?
……

The sky is high and the clouds are light, and the sun is shining brightly.

The sun, growing ever brighter, shone upon the earth.

During the morning rush hour, cars came and went on the city roads. Under the attentive gaze of the grocery store owner sitting behind the counter, Kawahara also stared intently at the road for a while before turning back to look at the building walls that were clear and bright in the sunlight.

The dazzling gold color was refracted.

Kawahara suddenly seemed to remember something and became focused, his dark eyes appearing exceptionally deep and unfathomable, but a crimson light slowly emanated from his left eye.

wow——

The building's mirror-like walls reflected the spreading, ghostly green plants.

"pat..."

The grocer was so startled that he dropped the magazine he was holding.

...(End of chapter)