Bad luck plagues him, he refuses to become a Kamen Rider.

“Just open it up.” Yu Xing leaned closer. “There might be something inside.”

Rin took out her folding knife from her pocket and used it to pry open the wooden cover behind the clock.

The nails were badly rusted, and it took several minutes to pry them open. The moment the back panel was lifted, a strong smell of oil hit the nose.

"It smells awful."

Yuuki turned her head away, but Rin Ichijo forced herself to continue searching inside, suppressing the smell.

Gears, springs, pendulums... the internal structure looks normal, but they are all covered with a layer of dark gray.

Rin used his fingers to nudge the copper gears, but they didn't budge, as if they were welded shut.

"Look under the spring box."

Seeing Rin's movements, Yuuki reminded him.

"You're quite knowledgeable."

As Rin spoke, she carefully used the tip of her knife to lift the clockwork box. Underneath, there was a yellowed strip of paper, folded very small, tucked into the gap between the gears and the outer casing.

Unfold the note; it contained a line of writing in pen, the handwriting messy but legible: "10:07. Remember this time."

Rin stared at the line of text for a few seconds, her brows gradually furrowing.

"What's wrong with the time?"

Yu Xing was somewhat curious.

Rin didn't answer immediately. He held the note in silence for a moment, then carefully folded it and put it in his pocket.

After a moment, he slowly said, "I lose consciousness for about half an hour around this time every weekend."

"I searched for a long time but couldn't find any useful information. The doctors told me that it was probably caused by my excessive psychological stress and that it wouldn't have a big impact. They told me to get some rest."

Rin Ichijo had always thought so, but now he felt something was amiss.

"No wonder you weren't too surprised by my appearance."

Yu Xing understood.

"Can you still fly? We should go back and think about what to do."

Without lingering on this for too long, Rin asked.

"My suggestion is to take a taxi."

Yu-Hsing answered decisively, and the two walked outside.

Chapter 171 Recovering Memories?

After leaving the dilapidated building, neither of them spoke on the way back to their apartment in a taxi.

Rin sat in the passenger seat, her fingers gently pressing the folded note in her pocket through her clothes, her gaze fixed on the rapidly receding street scene outside the car window.

The sky was beginning to turn yellow, and the evening light bathed the entire city in a warm, golden glow.

Pedestrians on the street were still hurrying along, and the traffic lights were flashing alternately. Everything looked no different from any other ordinary day.

But he knew that from the moment that man who called himself Yuuki appeared at the entrance of the Metropolitan Police Department this afternoon, the city had completely changed in his eyes.

The taxi stopped in front of the apartment building. Rin paid the fare and got out of the car, followed closely by Yuuki, a slight smile on her lips.

"You seem quite at ease."

Rin glanced at him, knowing that he was quite uneasy at the moment.

The boundaries of cognition are expanded, and the unknown always brings great unease. Even if Rin wanted to calm down, she couldn't calm down at all.

“There’s no use in being anxious,” Yu Xing shrugged. “After all, we only have a few clues right now, and we won’t know the answer until that day.”

At this point, Yu Xing paused before continuing, "Besides, my strength hasn't recovered much. Even if I discover a problem, it would be difficult for ordinary people like us to solve it."

"The situation here is too strange."

Yuuki's only unease right now is that even though he can't detect many strange things here, his body tells him every moment that something is wrong.

"Approximately how much strength have you recovered?"

Looking at Yuuki, Rin asked with some curiosity, but he quickly realized that he had been a bit rash. How could he ask such a private question so casually?

"Thirty percent."

Yuuki didn't cast a questioning glance at Ichijo Rin, but instead decisively told her about her situation.

In his view, Ichijo Rin is still Ichijo Rin, and he can completely trust Ichijo Rin.

Sensing the trust from Yuuki, Rin Ichijo was taken aback. He hadn't expected this man, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, to leave no trace of his true intentions.

"I told you we're friends, I'm here to save you."

As if sensing Rin's astonishment, Yuuki waved his hand.

Seeing Yuuki's serious expression, Rin Ichijo felt a warmth in her heart.

"understood."

He answered in a low voice, then asked about Yuuki's situation: "How about 30% power?"

"It's better than nothing, it's somewhat useful but not much, it's okay for fighting small monsters."

Yuuki put her hands in her pockets and walked towards the apartment building: "That's not important. The most important thing now is to deal with your matter at the Metropolitan Police Department."

"The Metropolitan Police Department is probably frantically searching for you right now, aren't you worried?"

Rin paused, suddenly remembering that he had been led out by Yuuki by crashing through a wall.

"I think you should let the Metropolitan Police Department know you're safe now."

Yuuki's persuasion made Rin Ichijo ponder for a moment before he slowly said, "But there's no way to explain the wall you smashed. The Metropolitan Police Department won't let this opportunity pass easily. I can't exactly tell them they're superpowered individuals kidnapping police officers, can I?"

"Could you call it a performance art piece?"

Upon hearing Yuuki's opinion, Rin Ichijo suddenly turned his head and glared at him, his expression clearly indicating that he didn't find it funny.

Yuuki raised her hands in a gesture of surrender: "So what are you going to do?"

Rin Ichijo was silent for two seconds, then finally let out a soft breath and rubbed his temples: "I've decided to resign."

"……Um?"

I want to quit my job at the Metropolitan Police Department.

Rin Ichijo was very serious as he went upstairs and explained to Yuuki.

“Since you say this city is fictional and time is cyclical, then there’s no point in me continuing to hold onto that position. Besides, given how things have turned out today, even if I were to explain myself according to your explanation, the higher-ups would definitely have doubts about my mental state. Rather than waiting to be summoned for questioning or suspended for investigation, I’d rather leave voluntarily.”

He spoke these words in an extremely calm tone, as if he had already thought about it countless times in his mind.

Yu Xing looked at him for a few seconds without saying anything, then walked over and patted him on the shoulder.

“Go ahead and go,” he said with a smile. “Anyway, once your memory returns, you’ll still have to continue doing this job outside. Just treat this time as a vacation for yourself.”

How can you be so sure I want to leave here?

"Once you regain your memories, you'll understand why you want to go outside."

Yu Xing withdrew her hand, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Everyone outside is waiting for you to come back."

Rin didn't argue anymore. He pushed open the door, went inside, and poured himself a glass of warm water.

He sat down on the sofa with a water glass in his hand, his gaze falling on the clock on the wall. The second hand was ticking away across the dial, pointing to 8:43.

With one hour and twenty-four minutes to go until 10:07, Rin rubbed her temples.

"what happened?"

Yuuki walked over and asked Ichijo Rin.

"I forgot to tell you, tonight is the weekly day of amnesia."

"That saves us the trouble of waiting. I want to see what happens at 10:07."

Yuuki placed one hand on Rin's shoulder to reassure him not to worry too much.

At 9:50 p.m., Rin Ichijo made a phone call to the Metropolitan Police Department.

The person who answered the phone was his junior colleague, the young patrol chief, whose tone was full of worry: "Senior Ichijo, are you alright? The incident this afternoon has spread throughout the entire Metropolitan Police Department. Some people are saying that you were kidnapped by a superpowered person."

"This bizarre explanation infuriated the director, who said that regardless of whether you were kidnapped or did something yourself, you must submit a detailed explanation report by tomorrow."

Rin didn't take the warning to heart; he leaned back on the sofa, his gaze fixed on the ceiling.

"Please tell the director that I will personally submit my resignation tomorrow morning."

After receiving Rin's reply, there was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone before the junior spoke, his voice clearly panicked: "Resign?! ​​Senior, are you serious?!"

"Seriously, I appreciate everyone's support during this time. I will explain the specific reasons in person tomorrow."

After finishing her sentence, Rin Ichijo hung up the phone without waiting for her junior to ask any further questions.

He then casually placed his phone on the coffee table, his movements very light, but his mood was quite complicated.

In his memory, he had been doing this job for many years, and suddenly being relieved of this responsibility only made him feel a little empty inside.

Yuuki, who was nestled on the single sofa next to her and munching on an apple, raised an eyebrow when she saw this: "I thought you would at least hesitate until tomorrow morning."

"Hesitation will only complicate matters."

Rin Ichijo stood up, walked to the window, and drew back the curtains. The Tokyo Tower, brightly lit in the night, stood far out on the city skyline.

Looking at the tower she often saw, Rin Ichijo finally had a few thoughts in her mind: "Do you think it's possible that the people in this city are also real?"

Yuuki jumped up from the sofa, threw the apple core into the trash can, and came to Rin's side: "It's not impossible. Maybe the people here are like you, people who have forgotten their past after coming here."

"You said you came to save me, but if these people were like me, would you still save them?"

Rin's question was rather pointed, and he looked at Yuuki, anticipating his answer.

Yuuki leaned against the window, feeling somewhat uneasy after being asked a question by Rin.

Will he save them? Having gone through so much, will he still be so determined to save them?

For some reason, Yuuki was transported back to the day he and Takatora first fought side by side.