I want to become a Kamen Rider

A voice, like cold silk, slipped into this deathly silent space.

He looked up sharply.

A figure appeared silently at the entrance to the morgue.

The high heels clicked on the cold ground, making a crisp, rhythmic "tap...tap..." sound that seemed particularly jarring in the deathly silence, instantly drawing all of Hachiman Hikigaya's attention, which was now filled with a bestial wariness.

She was an extremely beautiful woman.

She wore a well-tailored dark suit that accentuated her elegant curves. Her face was exquisitely beautiful, like a doll's, with fair skin and rosy lips. However, her eyes—those eyes like the finest rubies—were devoid of warmth, containing only unfathomable indifference and a...inhuman scrutiny. A faint, almost imperceptible, perfect, yet artificial smile played at the corners of her lips.

She walked gracefully over and stopped in front of his open morgue, looking down at the grayish-white monster who had just crawled out of death and was suffering terribly from his own bestial nature. There was no surprise or fear in her eyes, only a kind of... interest in seeing a new toy, and a hint of barely perceptible, cat-and-mouse-like mockery.

"Oh dear, you're finally awake?"

Her voice was sweet and melodious, like the most beautiful nightingale's song, yet it sent a chill down Hachiman Hikigaya's spine.

“Congratulations, Hachiman Hikigaya,” His ruby-like eyes curved slightly, his smile flawless yet colder than the chill of the morgue, “You… have evolved.”

"Welcome to the world of Orphnoch. We are... a new life form above humanity."

The woman seemed to see through the turmoil and fierce resistance in his heart. She smiled slightly, a smile that looked particularly eerie in the dim light of the morgue.

"We are a new generation lurking in the shadows of the old world, a higher existence. We need more companions. To help you understand our 'superiority' and way of life more intuitively..."

As if to verify her words, or perhaps to conduct an impromptu "lesson," her gaze lightly swept towards the doorway.

A man dressed in overalls, who looked like a night cleaner, was pushing a tool cart and peering in with a blank expression, probably because he had heard the noise inside.

The next second, Hachiman Hikigaya's pupils suddenly contracted!

He didn't even see how the woman moved; he only saw a blur before his eyes as an elegant figure swept past like a ghost. The janitor's blank expression froze instantly, replaced by extreme terror and disbelief. He didn't even have time to utter a complete scream or cry for help.

The woman's hand, that slender, fair hand that belonged to a human woman, pierced the cleaner's chest easily and precisely with unimaginable speed and power, the movement so fast that it left only a blur.

"Uh……"

The cleaner's body trembled violently, as if all the bones had been removed, and the light in his eyes extinguished and dimmed at a visible speed.

However, the horrific scene of blood splattering that was expected did not occur.

Hachiman Hikigaya stared wide-eyed in horror.

He saw that around the pierced wound, the cleaner's skin, muscles, and even bones began to rapidly turn into sand in a bizarre way. Like being burned by invisible flames, or like a sand sculpture scattered by a gale, his body disintegrated into fine, grayish-white sand starting from the wound.

The process was silent, yet more chilling than any bloody scene. In a few seconds, a living person, right before Hachiman Hikigaya's eyes, was completely transformed into a small, lifeless pile of gray sand, like anything else found on a beach.

Only the empty work clothes lay limply on the ground, a testament to their existence.

"It seems he wasn't very lucky and didn't get to embrace the great evolution."

The woman calmly withdrew her hand, her fair fingertips untouched by blood or dust, as if she had merely brushed away a speck of dirt. She didn't even glance at the work clothes on the ground or the pile of dust; her face remained adorned with that perfectly nauseating smile.

She methodically "cleaned up the scene." She took out a specially made silver container, similar to a vacuum cleaner, and efficiently sucked up the dust and sand on the ground. Then, as if arranging a work of art, she folded her empty work clothes neatly and stuffed them into the bottom of the cleaning cart.

She then took out some kind of spray and sprayed it a few times into the air and onto the ground. The lingering smell of disinfectant in the air seemed to be covered by a fresher, deliberately artificial fragrance. Her movements were skilled, calm, and efficient, carrying a chilling sense of professionalism, as if she were completing a tedious but necessary paperwork, or preparing for a dinner party that required absolute "cleanliness."

"Remember, Hachiman, there are demons hunting us among the crowd. If you don't want to be caught and brutally killed by them, you must complete each 'cleaning' swiftly and decisively. This 'transformation' failed, but it doesn't matter. At least we've found you, our original companion. We Orphnochs still need to remain hidden in human society and patiently wait for more companions like you to awaken."

She extended her hand—a hand that had just ended a life, yet remained spotless—and formally invited him:

"Welcome to join us and become a member of our new race. Your power should not be wasted on fear and hiding."

Evolution? Surpassing humanity? A new race?

Having witnessed the bloody, efficient, and seemingly rudimentary killing and camouflage scene, Hachiman Hikigaya felt his stomach churning. A chilling fear coiled around his heart like a venomous snake, threatening to strangle him.

His remaining humanity was screaming, frantically sounding the alarm.

Join them? Become one of those monsters? Use those claws to tear apart your own kind...and others? Create more "disappearances"?

No! no way!

Hachiman Hikigaya, despite his deadpan eyes, lack of friends, and being disliked by the world, even being called "Chiba's self-destructing truck" by the Second Minister, and being misunderstood and hurt by many, does not hate the world, nor does he want to hurt others, because Komachi exists in this world.

The only sister who would be good to him, someone he could rely on.

Komachi...yes, Komachi!

He didn't know how Komachi was doing yet; his thoughts raced, and he made a quick decision.

escape.

With his newborn, monstrous, gray, and heavy body, he unleashed his last strength, like a frightened beast, and slammed into the not-so-sturdy window of the morgue.

"Crack-!"

The sound of shattering glass rang out sharply.

The cold night wind and heavy rain rushed in instantly, pelting his grime-covered fur.

He didn't look back at the woman's face, whether it was disappointment or mockery, but instead scrambled out of the window, landing heavily on the concrete outside. He struggled to his feet, dragging his exhausted body, and without looking back, plunged headlong into the cold, noisy rainy night that completely swallowed him up.

The moment it plunged into the rainy night, lightning resounded.

With the help of the heavens, the rainy night was illuminated for a moment, and he could see the monster's appearance reflected in the puddles on the ground. That dead-eyed bastard who failed to protect his sister had become a monster... and it turned out to be a lion?

A pale, dejected lion, trembling in the face of terror, fleeing in panic like a stray dog.

What brilliant black humor!

Does the lion symbolize courage? Strength? Reign?

No.

Beneath that ferocious exterior, deep down he is still the same cowardly Hachiman Hikigaya who hides in a corner, isolated from the world, claiming to be aloof while merely numbing himself with self-deprecation and indifference.

He didn't even have the courage to become a monster; he only deserved to run away.

……

……

The days that followed were hazy and long, soaked in rain, cold, and endless humiliation.

He was like a true urban ghost, desperately fleeing through the gaps in the concrete jungle. He was hiding from the horrified or disgusted gazes of humans, from the possible pursuit of that red-eyed woman, and even more so from his own terrifying appearance.

The stench emanating from the sewer entrance became his temporary sanctuary, the cold corners of abandoned buildings were his brief refuge, and the garbage-filled back alleys were his "hunting ground" for survival.

Hunger is a more direct form of torment than fear.

Lacking the courage to attack people, he was like the lowest of scavengers, tearing open greasy, blackened, and foul-smelling garbage bags with his now claw-covered "hands" in the dead of night.

Sharp teeth tore at moldy, hardened bread, gnawed at rotten, soft fruit pits, and chewed on scraps. But his eating habits from when he was human brought him no satisfaction; he wanted to... "eat people."

They steal people's life force to fill their own bellies.

However, some boundaries, once crossed, can never be reversed.

He restrained himself, forced himself, suppressed himself, becoming a walking corpse. The only obsession that sustained this lifeless shell, like a rat in a sewer, was that he hadn't yet confirmed the safety of his loved ones. This was the last ember of his humanity that hadn't yet been extinguished.

With his hazy memories and the monster's enhanced, faint sense of "home," he finally arrived near the neighborhood that had once been called "home" on a dusk when the rain had subsided, dragging his exhausted, filthy, and enormous body.

He dared not approach, and could only spy from afar, hiding in the shadow of the huge billboard on the street corner.

Then, he saw it.

The house number had changed. Unfamiliar flowers and plants filled the courtyard. A cheap car he didn't recognize was parked there.

"Home" is no longer there.

A tremendous sense of loss and panic gripped him.

Where is Komachi? Where are her parents? Where did they go?

The immense panic even temporarily overwhelmed the monster's form, and somehow it transformed back into human form—a ragged, ashen-faced, and foul-smelling vagrant.

He wrapped himself tightly in the tattered, dirty robe he had picked up, and like a real beggar, mustered his last bit of humble courage, walked to the familiar door, and tremblingly reached out his hand to knock on the door.

The door opened.

Warm yellow light and the aroma of food wafted out, carrying a strange sense of comfort. Behind the door was the face of a middle-aged woman, her expression wary and tinged with a barely perceptible pity.

"Who are you looking for?" The tone was curt.

Hachiman Hikigaya opened his mouth, his chapped lips moving, but no meaningful sound came out. He looked at the completely unfamiliar furnishings inside the room, and at the curious gazes of the equally unfamiliar man and child peeking out from behind the strange woman…

That "home," filled with Komachi's laughter, not exactly warm but at least existing, was completely gone. Along with it, his last remaining sense of belonging as "Hachiman Hikigaya" was shattered.

Like a stray dog ​​that had been scalded, he fled again before the other party's increasingly impatient and wary gaze fell upon him, and before the words "If you don't leave, I'll call the police" were uttered.

His back was hunched, and he looked even more desperate than when he arrived.

He began a longer, more aimless search. Like a true ghost, he wandered through the city's veins, inquiring, eavesdropping, and observing from afar.

Finally, one weekend afternoon, he spotted that familiar figure in the distance.

Komachi.

Hikigaya Komachi.

She was walking with a kind-looking middle-aged woman. He had seen her once before; she was his father's older sister, and also his and Komachi's aunt.

Komachi had her head down, holding an ice cream in her hand, but she didn't eat it.

The sunlight shone on her, but it couldn't dispel the faint, persistent gloom between her brows. Occasionally, she would raise her head and force a smile at the woman beside her. That smile was so forced it was heartbreaking, enough to break Hachiman's heart.

The moment he saw that smile, Hachiman Hikigaya felt as if something had pierced his heart. After the intense pain, a strange sense of relief welled up inside him.

"I see... At least you were a little sad about my departure?"

He hid in the shadows of the trees across the street, his voice dry like sandpaper, but tears welled up uncontrollably, mingling with the dirt on his face as they streamed down.

Seeing that sad, forced smile, he painfully confirmed Komachi's safety and also confirmed his importance in her heart. This sorrow became the only light in his abyss of despair, and the last solace for this failed older brother.

"That's good."

He is now a monster lurking in human society, an embodiment of death. He cannot, and absolutely does not want to, disturb Komachi's hard-won "human" life with this filthy form.

He knew she was alive, that someone was taking care of her, that she... still remembered her useless brother—that was enough. This was his only remaining duty as an "older brother" and... his last act of tenderness.

The obsession has been resolved.

The last spark that kept him alive like a maggot went out.

Hachiman Hikigaya looked up at the towering skyscrapers in the urban jungle. The cold glass facades reflected the blinding sunlight. He needed a place high enough, a place where he could ensure this damned monster's body was pulverized.

He chose an abandoned old building awaiting demolition. He climbed the dusty, rubble-covered stairs to the top floor. A fierce wind howled through the empty floors, whipping his tattered clothes.

He walked to the edge, looking down at the city below, which resembled a toy model. Cars and people thronged like ants. This was the world he had lived in, yet always felt out of place in.

Goodbye, boring daily life.

Goodbye, troublesome Service Department.

Goodbye, Yukinoshita, Yuigahama, Azusagawa, Hiiragi...

Goodbye, Minister Number Two.

Goodbye, Komachi.

He closed his eyes and leaned forward. The feeling of weightlessness washed over him instantly, and the wind whistled sharply in his ears.

boom! !

A dull thud, like a heavy hammer striking a drum, followed. He slammed down onto the mountain of construction debris below, steel bars piercing his body, concrete burying him. A wave of excruciating pain instantly swept through his entire body.

However, the darkness that was expected did not descend.

A few seconds later, Hachiman Hikigaya was horrified to discover that he was still "alive".

Those horrific wounds, enough to kill an ordinary person ten times over, are visibly writhing and healing. Broken bones creak and groan as they forcefully join together, and internal organs pierced by steel bars are regenerating frantically. The pain persists, but life stubbornly continues.

"Ah... Ahhhhhh—!!"

He let out a desperate, inhuman roar.

Orphnoch didn't even have the right to end his own life, the right to choose death. This damned body, this monstrous shell, wouldn't even let him die a peaceful death.

He lay motionless in the ruins, repeatedly ravaged by excruciating pain and deeper despair, until finally he gave up struggling like a lump of mud. The nightmarish voice rang out above him once more.

"It looks really bad, Hikigaya-kun."

The beautiful yet deadly Orphnoch executive had somehow appeared atop the pile of steel bars, looking down at him with icy mockery in her ruby-like eyes. "It seems you not only lack the awareness of an Orphnoch, but even your courage to quietly exit as a loser is laughable."

She gracefully jumped off the steel bar, her high heels clicking crisply on the gravel as she approached step by step.

"However, your power is indeed quite interesting. It would be a shame to waste it like this."