I want to become a Kamen Rider

However, this explanation cannot be used to explain the changes in Hiiragi Tina. Simply put, there is no reason for her familiarity with him. Whether it is Mizutani Mikoto, Takanashi Rikka, Toyokawa-san, Toka-san, or other acquaintances, their friendliness and goodwill towards him can all be found to have a reason.

The gratitude for being saved, the help he received, the admiration for his martial arts, and the longing for his skills are all reasonable and justifiable. However, Hiiragi Tina's familiarity with him seems to have been there from the beginning, without any basis, and even she herself was unaware of it.

After thinking for a while, Fan Kang chose to give up.

He wasn't there to enjoy the daily life of youth on campus, so there was no need for him to care about the complicated interpersonal relationships involved. Besides, there was a friend from his past life in the Service Club activity room ahead who had his own unique insights into interpersonal relationships. He could ask him for advice instead of racking his brains on his own.

The destination was reached quickly.

The two stopped in front of a classroom with a sign that read "Department of Service". Fan Kang opened the door very naturally, as if he were going home.

The afternoon hustle and bustle receded like the tide, leaving only a quiet stillness inside. Sunlight streamed in through the tall windows, casting geometric patterns of light on the polished floor, while dust particles floated in the air like fine gold dust.

"Hey," he casually greeted someone inside.

By the window, in the fifth legendary spot on campus, Nozomi, who is described by Tina Hiiragi as an "ice queen," "a flower on a high mountain," and "the top student in her grade," sits upright behind a long table. Her fingertips rest on the open pages of a hardcover book, and her cool gaze rises from the top of the pages to fall on the two people who have entered.

Her very presence was like a block of ice that refused to melt, making even the afternoon sun seem less intense.

Good afternoon, Fan Kang.

On the other side, in the seventh school legend, Hachiman Hikigaya, who holds the eerie title of "The Man with Dead Fish Eyes," slumped lazily in a chair like a boneless slime, clutching a paperback notebook. His signature dead fish eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, as if contemplating the ultimate nothingness of life. Hearing the door open, he slowly, with a weary, resigned air, shifted his gaze.

"Ah... Fan Kang..."

Hikigaya's voice was weak and listless, but when he saw the exquisite and steaming bento box in Fan Kang's hand, his dead fish eyes seemed to become even more "dead".

Tina Hiiragi, on the other hand, seemed like a completely different person.

The arrogance she had displayed earlier, attacking him as a scumbag, vanished without a trace. She practically shrank behind Fan Kang, only peeking out half her head and the hand holding the special issue magazine, her voice barely audible, tinged with obvious nervousness and unease:

"O-Excuse me... Yukinoshita-san... Hachiman-san..."

Fan Kang was used to this and waved the lunchbox in his hand.

"Do you mind if I eat in the activity room? It'll be quick, just half a minute."

Without waiting for a reply, he went straight to his usual seat, a chair that was neither too close nor too far from Yukinoshita and Hachiman, opened the bento box and devoured it in no time.

Tina Hiiragi, like a frightened little animal, huddled against the wall and moved to the corner seat closest to the door. She sat down carefully, placed the tokusatsu magazine on her knees, and tried to minimize her presence.

The Service Club, founded by the top student at Soubu High School, is a strangely named club established with the aim of helping others.

The Kamen Rider Club, a transfer student named Fan Kang who is both good at causing trouble and good at settling disputes, and the Kamen Rider Fan Club, which was ostensibly established for the same purpose, are merged at the suggestion of Hiratsuka Shizuka, an older, unmarried teacher.

If there were an anime featuring Tina Hiiragi as the main character, with a youthful campus romance comedy theme, then from her first encounter with the "transfer student who terrifies the school" to the story of her being forcibly recruited into the Knights Club by Fan Kang, to the merger of the Service Club and the Knights Club, the four of them solving their first request together, and welcoming the new member Yui Yuigahama, so much content could easily fill three to four episodes of anime.

If it were made into a light novel, it would be even more amazing; it could easily be made into at least two volumes.

But for Fan Kang, these were all unnecessary to recall and could be skipped entirely; the details were not as memorable as the natural gas dopant he had taken down a few days earlier.

There's no way to expect a Kamen Rider who actually comes from the future and is burdened with the fate of saving the world to care about the stories that happen in school, since everyone's style is different.

Moreover, not only are the art styles different, but their purposes are also different.

Most people come to Zongwu High School to get into university and experience a period of youthful campus life, but Fan Kang comes to get closer to the high school students there.

His goal wasn't even to get close to the female high school students; his target was two male high school students...

Fan Kang is aware that he will do everything in his power to achieve his goal without trampling on life or excessively harming others. If bombing the school could achieve his goal, then Zongwu High School would probably have exploded that day.

And so, this man, whose style, purpose, drive, and awareness were all different from others, without the slightest thought of pulling in the wrong direction, turned slightly to the side, his gaze precisely locking onto Hachiman Hikigaya, who was trying to disguise himself as thin air:

"Hikigaya."

"……what?"

Hachiman seemed to be jolted awake from some kind of decadent meditation. His dead fish eyes lazily turned to Fan Kang, with a hint of impatience at being disturbed. "What, Minister Number Two?"

"I have something to ask you."

"Let me make this clear first, the consultation fee is very expensive, one fried noodle bread per consultation."

He tossed over a can of MAX coffee and began to haggle:

"Three consultations are recommended."

"twice."

"make a deal."

Speaking of which, he also had this natural familiarity with Hachiman Hikigaya, but that was because in the future that had been rewritten and avoided, Hachiman Hikigaya, who lost his sister and became a vengeful person, became his comrade-in-arms.

He didn't believe that Tina Hiiragi had also experienced this, and that Hachiman Hikigaya had become familiar with him by sacrificing two sets of Kuuga SHF deluxe figures.

Fan Kang went straight to the point:

"Let me ask you a question. When you were in elementary or middle school, did you ever experience something like this: a classmate who was always very introverted and didn't have many friends would become a little more familiar with you, and then start talking or behaving in front of you in a... well, how should I put it, a bit 'arrogant' or 'outrageous'? They wouldn't be as reserved and cautious as they were at the beginning? And they would become very, very familiar with you very quickly?"

His voice was very soft, just enough for only two people to hear.

Hachiman Hikigaya's dead fish eyes widened slightly for a moment, then returned to their half-dead state.

"...Arrogant? Outrageous?...Your description is far too mild."

"If that's too euphemistic, then what would you say?"

"The sense of distance has collapsed."

"Collapse?" Fan Kang repeated, the word being very precise.

"Yes, collapse. For people who have no friends, making friends is like someone who has been groping in the dark for a long time suddenly grabbing a rope. They will hold on with all their might, and may even strangle the other person. Because they simply don't know what kind of distance is considered 'normal' between 'friends'."

The dead fish eyes in front of him paused for a moment.

“I have a friend, and let me clarify, this is just about my friend. My friend, because a classmate had said a few words to him—purely a group activity required by the teacher—he decided that classmate was his ‘only friend’.”

"Then he would rush over during lunch break and share the plot of the tokusatsu movie he watched last night in a super loud voice, completely disregarding the eyes of those around him... Or during PE class when he was grouped, even though he was very bad at it, he insisted on being in a group with that classmate... In the end, that classmate couldn't stand it anymore and said to my friend, 'I am not your friend.'"

It sounds incredibly awkward and suffocating.

But Hachiman's tone was rather flat; he simply concluded:

“That’s not arrogance, Fan Kang.”

"That's just... an overreaction caused by panic and clumsiness when a drowning person grabs onto a piece of driftwood. They're so afraid of losing this 'only' connection that they pull too hard, or... they completely misunderstand how to maintain a relationship. In their limited understanding of social interaction, 'friends' are probably relationships where you can share everything without reservation, and even 'hurt each other' without breaking up... right?"

Hachiman Hikigaya is a man who has his own theory and interpretation of the awkward and complicated relationships between teenagers during puberty.

Seeing the pity in his eyes, Hachiman Hikigaya emphasized again:

"That's just a story from a friend of mine!"

"Yes, I understand. That's just a story from one of your friends."

Fan Kang nodded.

He had witnessed similar stories many times in the future. It was the same man called "Hachiman Hikigaya's friend" who mistakenly thought that other girls liked him; when he graduated from elementary school, he was rejected by other girls and danced alone with thin air in front of the campfire; many years later, he wrote a "List of Things That Can Never Be Forgiven"; he fantasized that he was a god... He had countless dark histories.

After experiencing long periods of loneliness and solitude, such "friends of Hachiman Hikigaya" will pursue things like "genuine things," and the things they call friends will be closer to the meaning of close friendship.

Although his behavior is somewhat different from that of ordinary people, who should define what is "normal"? At least he thinks that "Hachiman Hikigaya's friend" did not resent the world after experiencing so much, but instead stepped forward to become Kamen Rider Agito, who had to face the giant beasts, which is already quite remarkable.

Unlike the contract knights who signed a knighthood with Kyubey, these artificial knights do not have the ability to consume magic to accelerate the recovery of injuries. Every time they go to the battlefield, it is equivalent to betting their lives on the gambling table.

Not only are their basic attributes weaker, but they also cannot become stronger through actions that create emotional contrast, such as falling in love, like Contract Riders. If making a Rider Contract with Kyubey to become a Kamen Rider means falling into the abyss of despair, then becoming an artificial Rider means there is no despair at all.

Because those who die before they despair are basically the ones who will never despair.

Thank you for your answer.

"You're welcome."

Having received answers to his questions, and attributing Hiiragi Tina's inexplicable familiarity with him to Hachiman Hikigaya's "collapse of distance," the man, who had already finished his bento in half a minute, was ready to get down to business.

In fact, if he didn't truly consider Hiiragi Tina a friend, and if his situation hadn't bothered him, he should have brought up this important matter as soon as he entered the Service Club.

At this moment, Hachiman Hikigaya held the can of MAX coffee in his hand, the cool touch dispelling some of the afternoon heat.

He skillfully pulled the tab, and with a soft "hiss" and the sound of tiny bubbles bubbling, the familiar aroma of coffee filled his nostrils. He leaned closer to the can, ready to enjoy this cheap comfort, when he saw the "transfer student who terrified the school" stand up.

Ranked first among the seven school ghost stories, literally punching the head of the grade, possessing the courage to blow up the school, his true fighting strength is a mystery. Legend has it that he got involved with the granddaughter of the school board member, making the school afraid to even open its doors. The only thing worth mentioning is that he also likes Kamen Rider, and his favorite Kamen Rider is Kuuga, which shows his taste, just like Hachiman. He is a guy who makes Hachiman feel very uneasy in every sense.

"Cough um."

Fan Kang stood up and coughed lightly twice.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, instantly attracting everyone's attention.

He slowly closed the lunchbox with a soft "click," calmly scanning the three members of the Service Club before finally fixing his gaze on Nozomi, and began to speak in a casual tone, as if announcing the lunch menu:

"Now let's get down to business."

The Service Department was so quiet that only the cicadas chirping outside the window and the faint sound of bubbles in the coffee canister in Hachiman's hand could be heard.

By the way, why is the coffee making a bubbling sound? Oh, Fan Kang bought me a limited edition new type of soda coffee. Never mind then.

"I want to initiate a commission."

Fan Kang's voice rang out clearly in the silence.

He frowned: "A request? The Service Department accepts requests from students, but..."

"It doesn't say that members of the Service Department can't initiate their own requests, does it?"

Fan Kang interrupted her unfinished questioning, speaking matter-of-factly, glancing around with a calm look in his eyes, "I need to ask you all to do me a small favor."

Sunlight streamed through the cracks in the window, casting beams of light into the air before him, where tiny dust particles danced slowly. His next words, like ice water poured over boiling oil, instantly ignited the frozen atmosphere in the Service Department:

"I want Houtarou Oreki and Sakuta Azusagawa!"

Chapter 28 Azusagawa Sakuta is missing

For Hiiragi Tina, her first friend at Soubu High School, Fan Kang, a transfer student from another country and the captain of the Knights Club, was a charming boy who made her heart race whenever she was with him.

However, it is not the usual feeling of being excited or having a racing heart. Just as social anxiety can be divided into two types, "fear of social interaction" and "making people who socialize with him feel fear," the minister clearly belongs to the latter. Similarly, being excited and having a racing heart is mostly due to... being frightened.

The transfer student from another country, a boy who ranks first among the seven ghost stories of the school, always manages to do many things that are too shocking for ordinary high school students, whether it is skipping school by climbing over the wall, scaring away delinquents, beating the head of the grade into the hospital, going toe-to-toe with the so-called "invincible iron fist" teacher Hiratsuka Shizuka, or many other amazing things he does under the support of that "willful and reckless" attitude.

Calling it willful and reckless is not quite right. For Hiiragi Tina, whether it is the "correctness" upheld by Yukinoshita or the "aloofness" chosen by Hachiman, they are philosophies of life that are unattainable, full of personality, and that she believes she can never do, in the eyes of an ordinary socially anxious high school student like herself.

Logically speaking, the minister, whose distortions are far more severe, is different; it's something that can be confirmed with the naked eye, and he doesn't need "correction."

Ms. Hiratsuka once expressed her concern about the club president's unconventional behavior to her face, but the club president simply replied:

"What I did was the right thing."

Without needing to construct any theories, explain his feelings, or care about others' opinions, that guy spoke with the certainty of the rising and setting of the sun, confident in his choice.

It's hard to imagine that such a sense of conviction would appear in a high school student.

Priests who spread the faith on behalf of God, politicians who promote their platforms, activists who call for mass demonstrations, artists who are creating masterpieces—there are countless people in this world who express their own ideas and promote their own beliefs, but this is the first time that Hiiragi Tina has seen someone so resolute and without the slightest bit of confusion... as if the whole world is endorsing him.

So much so that even when spouting such nonsense, this guy can calmly repeat it a second time.

"Didn't you hear me? I'll say it again..."

The afternoon sun remained warm, casting dappled patterns across the floor, and the dust particles floating in the air were clearly visible. The boy named Fan Kang glanced calmly at the Service Department members, who were frozen in place after his earlier astonishing speech.

"I need your help to obtain Houtarou Oreki and Sakuta Azusagawa!"

"Pfft-cough cough cough!"

Hachiman Hikigaya suddenly spat out the coffee he had just shoved into his mouth, and the coffee can in his hand fell to the table with a clatter, the dark brown liquid instantly spilling out and soaking the open paperback and the tabletop. But he didn't care at all; his dead fish eyes were now wide open like never before, the pupils dilated, and his mouth was slightly open, as if he could fit an egg in it.

"Fan Jun, you..."

With a bunch of rare titles, she was practically a perfect superman. She maintained her seated posture, but the page of the book between her fingers could no longer be turned.

Her cool eyes clearly reflected astonishment, tinged with a hint of horror. She looked at Fan Kang as if he were some incomprehensible alien creature that had suddenly appeared on Earth. Her cherry lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately she couldn't utter a sound. A crack appeared in her seemingly eternally elegant and composed demeanor.

"The minister has a... a fondness for men?!"

Tina Hiiragi gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Her violet eyes were filled with disbelief, terror, and confusion as she glanced back and forth between Fan Kang's calm face and the disheveled Hachiman.

Just then, the door to the activity room was pulled open with a "whoosh".

"Excuse me, Yukino, Hachiman! Oh, Fan Kang and Mai Tina are here too!"

Yui Yuigahama's energetic voice accompanied her figure as she entered.

The last member of the Service Department arrived, carrying a delicious-looking cake box and wearing a bright smile. However, the smile vanished the moment she saw the room.