I want to become a Kamen Rider

Sometimes I really can't figure out if Kang Jun is optimistic or pessimistic.

No one is strong enough to face all of life, but no matter how unbearable it is, you still have to live on.

'If you die by then, will you even be considered alive?'

"Their lives are my lives too, aren't they? Seeds will sprout, and humans are a short-lived species. There's no need to insist that one person do everything. We humans can entrust our work to like-minded others and leave our legacy for future generations to inherit."

Humans do grow.

Because they are a short-lived race, they suffer heart-wrenching pain, tears streaming down their faces, and extreme grief when they lose something precious.

Only after losing something do we pick it up again, with sword and fist in our hands.

Go to protect, go to fight, go to strive... go to resist the destiny of destruction.

Following his gaze, Cupid looked at the figure on the sandy shore, tossed and turned, sweat and resilience mingling with the sound of the waves. He softly asked a question, as if addressing the figure, or perhaps the deepening twilight:

Is there still time?

"Then let me try to buy that time."

Chapter 82 Lighter and Car Accident

Monday morning.

For Kamen Rider Kuuga, whether it's Monday or Sunday doesn't matter much, since he doesn't have much time to rest anyway. But for the students of Soubu High School, who continue their peaceful lives, Monday is school day.

Monday morning light signifies uniforms, school bags, and the restarting, slightly weary, gears of the campus.

She opened her eyes at the same time every morning. The bedroom was almost rigidly tidy, with only the faint light filtering through the curtains announcing the start of a new day. She sat up, her long, silky black hair cascading over her shoulders, carrying the languid curve of someone just awakened. She got up, her bare feet touching the cool floor, and walked towards the bathroom.

The girl in the mirror was undoubtedly a masterpiece sculpted by the Creator. Her fair skin was almost translucent in the morning light, and her delicate features were like fine porcelain, cool and detached from worldly concerns. Her azure eyes were clear and bright, reflecting her own image—almost the most perfect beauty in the world, except for her figure.

Clear water brushed against my cheeks, washing away the last trace of haze.

The morning news was a boring story about a huge splash in Tokyo Bay, so I ate breakfast and turned off the TV.

Then, I picked up my schoolbag, hung up the panda pendant, and walked towards the school gate.

She moved out after that incident; there's a shopping street between her upscale apartment and Sobu High School.

Normally, she would either take a car or get up early to walk around this commercial street, but for some inexplicable reason, she walked into this commercial street today.

If I remember correctly, my father's birthday is coming soon.

The girl thought to herself.

If it were the old her, she might have walked straight into the boutique of a high-end department store and chosen a beautifully packaged, expensive gift that suited her status and would never be a mistake. However, as the number of members in the Service Club increased, and as the number of people who could barely be called "friends" grew, she was also influenced in some ways.

The girl stopped in front of an inconspicuous stall, her gaze drawn to a silver lighter.

It was clearly a high-end product. Its texture, color, and unique etching made it look more like a work of art than an industrial product.

"Boss, how do you sell this?"

"This number."

The stall owner, wrapped in a large, dusty cloak, stretched out his hand and gestured a number.

"Isn't it too cheap? Have you misjudged its value?"

Yukinoshita corrected him.

People are always used to use labels and characteristics to summarize a person's entirety, but people are multifaceted and diverse. Just like Yukinoshita, in many people's eyes and mouths, is a cold and indifferent iceberg who is sharp-tongued to everyone, but she is actually just living a more serious life.

"I feel a connection with you, young lady, so this is the only lighter I'll sell."

The boss glanced at his watch, as if remembering something.

"Sorry, we have to close up shop now. Please make a decision as soon as possible, as I need to go to other places to 'restock'."

"You must be quite busy."

"There's no other way. After all, I have a large group of people to support. Even this lighter was hard-won after changing hands several times. Now I have to sell it to raise start-up capital."

After watching the kind shop owner leave and remarking that he must be quite busy, Yukino went to school.

The morning passed just like that.

I saw Yui Yuigahama today, but not Hikigaya, Tina Hiiragi, Sakuta Azusagawa, or... Fan Kang.

The latter three do indeed often miss class at the same time periodically, which Nono is already used to, but Hachiman Hikigaya has always come to class and participate in the Service Club activities without fail, which Yukinoshita is somewhat concerned about.

Come to the Ministry.

Pushing open the door, the expected emptiness was nowhere to be seen. The transfer student, who should have been absent the most, was sitting casually in a chair by the window.

Today, Fan Kang was the only one in the Service Department activity room. He sat there alone, holding a comic book in his hand.

The comic book cover features a color illustration of a group of scantily clad girls surrounding a boy.

He frowned:

"Hey, Mr. Fan, what's that comic book you're holding?"

Even though he openly watched this kind of stuff in club activities, the amazing transfer student remained self-righteous and without the slightest shame.

"The question, 'Who Should I Choose When Ten Thousand Beautiful Girls Fall for Me at the Same Time?', is a recently released romance manga, also known as a harem manga. The market response is said to be quite enthusiastic."

"..."

Misinterpreting her speechlessness as curiosity, this guy actually intended to recommend it to me.

"What, Yukino is interested in this too? I can lend it to you to take a look."

"No need. Is it because Fan Jun lacks the favor of women in reality that he needs to seek solace in this kind of... fantasy work?"

"How should I put it? My situation is even worse than not having any girls who like me."

Recalling the other party's absurdly low attendance rate, suggesting they had no intention of properly graduating from Soubu High School, and knowing that high school detectives ultimately rely on their youth, and that education and qualifications were still quite necessary these days, he advised:

“I advise Fan Jun to return to the right path. Most people don’t live such a rebellious life as you do, do they?”

"Indeed, most people don't live unconventional lives, but someone has to live an unconventional life."

The boy in front of her was always like that, which made her envious.

It's not that I envy that unconventionality and the resulting freedom and recklessness, but rather that unwavering determination that doesn't waver or become confused no matter what others say or think, and that doesn't even have the thought of trying to justify the righteousness and correctness of one's actions to others...

She founded the Ministry of Service to change the world.

Her initial goal was too far away, and her abilities were too weak. If it weren't for the help of Hachiman Hikigaya, Sakuta Azusagawa, Tina Hiiragi, and Yui Yuigahama, she might not have been able to complete the requests from her classmates who came to her for help on her own.

In contrast, the boy before them appeared to be active outside of school as a high school detective, and had even rescued Sakuta Azusagawa from kidnappers. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was actively changing the world.

Those who claim to be right are rendered speechless when faced with Fan Kang, who truly holds the "right" view; the gap between them is too vast.

Just as Nai was pondering whether to change the subject, the door to the activity room was suddenly pushed open.

Yui Yuigahama stood at the door, her eyes red and swollen. Her usually energetic face was now filled with panic and sorrow. She was panting heavily, as if she had run all the way here. Her eyes searched anxiously throughout the activity room, finally settling on Nono.

She opened her mouth, her voice heavy with sobs, bringing news that was far too heavy for Yukinoshita, who was not accustomed to life and death.

Hachiman Hikigaya was in a car accident.

Chapter 83 Above the Ultimate (9K)

The sun that day was so scorching that it seemed to be trying to squeeze out the last bit of coolness from the asphalt road in Chiba.

The air was thick with the savory, salty smell of the sea breeze mixed with the drowsy odor of car exhaust. Hachiman Hikigaya sat in the back seat, watching the monotonous street scenes and shops rushing past the window, mentally planning which light novel to read to while away this boring holiday afternoon once they reached their family trip destination. His parents chatted idly in the front, their conversation revolving around trivial matters, nothing more than supermarket discounts or the neighbor's dog.

Only Komachi is alive.

She sat next to him, a magazine with a flashy cover spread open on her lap, her profile framed by a fuzzy golden edge in the sunlight.

Hikigaya Hachiman's cutest little sister in the world, Hikigaya Komachi, is pointing at an idol group in a magazine and chattering away, her eyes sparkling, and the curve of her lips brighter than the sun in the sky.

Hachiman didn't quite catch what was said. He just stared at his sister's smile, thinking to himself, "Ah, this girl is watching this pointless stuff again... But she's so cute with that smile. My sister is definitely the best in the world."

"Onii-chan! Are you even listening?!"

Komachi nudged him with her elbow in annoyance, displaying the kind of uninhibited intimacy that a sister complex loves.

"Hey, listen up, listen up. This is an interview with former high school detective Keiichiro Nagumo, right? He looks like a handsome young man in the magazine, but so many years have passed. He might have become an old man by now. It's best not to have too high hopes."

"For that last sentence, Komachi's score is 0."

"Eh eh eh..."

Just as Hachiman, who was being completely manipulated by his younger sister and still engrossed in the game, was trying to salvage Komachi's declining score—

The world was utterly torn apart at that moment.

The first sign was the piercing screech of brakes, sharp enough to pierce eardrums, followed by a massive, dull impact, like being slammed into the chest by an invisible hammer. My body instantly lost its weight, my vision spun. Time stretched and compressed, the sound of shattering glass was terrifyingly crisp, and flying shards scraped against my skin like hail.

He heard his mother's short scream, his father's heavy groan, and Komachi's terrified, almost incoherent gasps.

There was no time to distinguish or analyze what had happened; instinct took precedence over everything else.

Before his consciousness was completely swallowed by the darkness, the first thing he saw was Komachi's face, which had instantly lost all color and was filled with fear. Hachiman Hikigaya hadn't lived long enough to be proud of; he had done many things, and all of them had failed.

Service club activities, studies, making friends—even that purple-haired guy who always followed the second-in-command around has made friends and can laugh heartily now—he remains stuck in the same place. He hasn't grown into an older brother that Komachi can be proud of or at ease with.

But even he had something to be proud of: he had once mustered the courage to stand up against his weak, incompetent, and unenlightened self in front of a strange person for his sister.

Chiba is known for its siscon (brother complex). He may not be good at anything else in his life, but at least, he doesn't want to lose to anyone when it comes to his sister.

Dying to protect his younger sister is probably the best ending for a sister-complex character.

He pounced forward.

His arm stretched out at an almost broken angle, and with all his might, he pulled that small, trembling body tightly, almost embedding it into his embrace. He could feel Komachi's slender bones pressing against his ribs, and he could smell the scent of the strawberry shampoo he had run errands to buy for her, mixed with the strong, nauseating smell of blood spreading from her abdomen.

The immense impact surged in like a tidal wave, squeezing the internal organs and grinding the bones.

Before darkness engulfed everything, only one thought remained in his mind, simple, pure, and as humble as a speck of dust:

Don't die... Komachi... please...

This was his last and only wish as a "human" man, Hachiman Hikigaya.

.........

……

Darkness, long, thick, and boundless darkness.

He didn't know how much time had passed—perhaps eternity, perhaps just a fleeting moment. A chilling, piercing cold, like the forked tongue of a venomous snake, licked at his senses, forcibly dragging him out of the abyss of unconsciousness.

The first senses to be restored were not sight, but touch and smell.

cold.

A chill that seeped into his bones. Not the coolness of an autumn breeze, but the constant, death-laden cold of a corpse, cold enough to freeze the soul. He felt himself lying on a hard, cold surface, the material of which felt like metal.

odor.

The pungent, nauseating smell of disinfectant was mixed with an indescribable, putrid, unnatural odor, along with a faint, lime-like scent. It was the smell of death, the industrialized stench of death after life had completely faded away.

Hachiman Hikigaya tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt as heavy as if they were welded shut. His body felt strange, heavy and stiff, yet... unusually sensitive. He could clearly "hear" the sound of his blood slowly flowing through some kind of inhuman conduit, and he could "feel" the faint twitching of the muscle fibers beneath his skin.

Finally, he used all his strength to open his eyelids.

His eyes were met with a stark white ceiling, the fluorescent lights casting a cold, unforgiving glow. Shifting his gaze slightly, he found himself lying in a narrow, drawer-like metal compartment—a morgue, with a cold metal ceiling above him.

He tried to sit up, his body making a teeth-grinding, creaking sound like rusty gears being forced to turn. His movements were stiff and unfamiliar, as if he were controlling someone else's extremely disobedient body. He looked down at his hands—the "thing" that was supporting him as he sat up.

what is that? !

What appeared before him was no longer the pale, but at least familiar, hand of a human boy. It was a… enormous, ferocious claw covered in rough, grayish-white keratinous skin… of a beast. The fingertips were sharp, curved black claws like daggers, and the skin had a lifeless, limestone-like grayish-brown color, hard and cold.

A strong, primal panic instantly gripped him.

His heart pounded wildly, crashing against his equally unfamiliar chest. He wanted to scream, but fear only produced a strange hissing sound like a broken bellows: "ho...ho..."

Looking up at the window, I saw those lives that were once the same species as myself, and a strange desire rose within me.

"Uh...ah..."

A low, inhuman growl escaped his throat, and his greyish-white claws rose uncontrollably. In that instant, Hachiman Hikigaya realized that this was not the reaction a human should have when seeing another human.

This is the monster's reaction.

"woke up?"