My youth story cannot be a knight war

"T-That's not the case! Before this singularity appeared, the only people recorded as Kamen Rider Kuga were that ancient warrior and Officer Kousaka Kyousuke. And after Officer Kousaka perished in the battle with Zero, that belt was never again—Ugh!?"

"...Is that so? 'Kamen Rider Kuuga'...that's a pretty good title."

Asahina realized that she had let the cat out of the bag and quickly covered her mouth with both hands. She looked up at Zaimokuza with an uneasy look, but the other's expression surprisingly did not change at all because of this shocking information. He just stared blankly for a moment and then returned to normal.

"No one will become the third Kuuga after Kousaka-san and I... then I can finally rest in peace."

"??."

"……Why?"

The voice of his last sentence was so low that it was almost inaudible, like the wind blowing outside the window at night, covering up those two words.

In the face of Asahina's puzzled gaze, Zaimokuza smiled and waved goodbye to her, then turned and continued walking towards Wakaba Kindergarten.

……

Am I...going to die?

A violent roar echoed in his ears. It was the sound of the atmosphere being torn apart by meteorites. Miura Yumiko had already thrown herself tightly into his arms, and as he held her trembling body, Hayama Hayato felt his mind go blank.

There was no fear, no doubt, no panic. At this moment, only this question was floating in his mind, guiding his thoughts.

People say that before dying, everyone will always review their life in their mind at a very fast speed, which is the so-called revolving lantern.

But Yeshan's revolving lanterns are very few, and they are basically the same: family, friends...other than that, there is nothing else.

It was not until this time that he realized that he, who was envied by everyone, had so few memories worth recalling in his life.

Even the most profound impression was the thing he no longer wanted to recall.

My first friend became distant due to my weakness in facing the world. Our relationship was never restored and we became strangers who only knew each other's names.

Ye Shan originally thought that the pain would slowly heal with the passage of time, but he was wrong. Until the moment of death approached, he realized that the pain had never been healed, but had become a knot solidified deep in his heart.

He even recalled all the details and scenes of the past.

Those eyes that were filled with surprise when they saw me, then turned to disbelief when they saw my weakness, then turned to disgust, and finally to indifference and calmness...

A bitter feeling like swallowing bitter melon rose from his throat. From an angle that Miura couldn't see in his arms, Ye Shan's smile was so bitter at the moment, as if he was crying more than laughing.

If I hadn't been so timid back then... would I still have real friends around me now?

Not the fictional and rigid one-way interpersonal relationships we have now, but real friends who can talk to each other, cry and laugh together...

Can I have friends like that? Like Zaimokuza-san and Kousaka-san, or even... Hikigaya-san?

The flames behind him were almost completely engulfing his body, and the high temperature in the air was like a sauna. Ye Shan finally closed his eyes and hugged Miura tightly with his hands.

At the last moment, he resigned himself to his fate and decided to accept this outcome.

-

Time seemed to stand still at this moment. The girl in his arms trembled and sobbed, and the dust and stones were blown up by the strong wind...

And, that person's falling tears.

tick.

A faint ripple appeared in the lake of my heart, and as the ripples spread, a voice sounded in my ears.

"It's an agreement~ Let's continue playing together in the future."

"So, we will definitely meet again."

“——Aa ...

In a world surrounded by flames, a roar resounded from the blind spot of the mind. The voice was as angry as thunder, resounding through the sky and shaking the soul of the listener.

"Varied--???"

Ye Shan suddenly opened his eyes. The voice came from behind him, and he quickly turned around to look.

A slender black shadow blocked his vision, and also blocked the flames and blast winds falling from the sky, like an insurmountable barrier, and Ye Shan's pupils slowly contracted.

The figure was shrouded in flames, but its appearance was still vaguely visible in the flames, with sharp claws, a snake-like slender body, and a sharply curved tail.

The figure flashed for only a moment in Ye Shan's retina, and then it was wrapped in flames and rushed towards the distant sky, heading towards the falling fireball.

But at that moment, Ye Shan saw it, because the figure turned his head and looked at him.

Those were a pair of eyes, huge, pure orange-yellow eyes without any other colors.

These were definitely not eyes that a human could possess, and the slender and majestic figure instantly made Ye Shan find a name that matched his impression in his mind.

It was the name of a mythical creature, and it even existed as just one character. However, in the legends and cultures of any country, regardless of whether the creature was good or evil, this character represented a supreme power far beyond human intelligence.

--"dragon".

Looking at that figure, Ye Shan subconsciously wanted to speak.

But the two sides passed each other in a flash. Ye Shan held Miura in his arms and watched the figure swaying as it soared into the sky, quickly closing the distance with the meteor shower falling from the sky.

Then, the sound of explosions resounded throughout the sky.

"!???"

A figure as slender and fast as a needle compared to the meteorites crossed the sky, and then all the meteorite groups exploded one after another. The flashes of the explosions lit up above the sky, and the light like daylight illuminated the world. Ye Shan, whose naked eyes were strongly stimulated by the light, closed his eyes again and dared not open them.

Even with his eyes closed, everything was still blazing white. In this stunning scene that he couldn't see with his eyes open, Ye Shan felt the breath of some living creature passing by his side, circling around him as he hugged Miura.

"Ow—"

That was the roar of a wild beast. Even though the volume was deliberately lowered, the power carried in the sound was still overwhelming. If an ordinary wild beast was here, even a lion with the title of king of beasts would instantly crawl on the ground, and become a trembling big cat with fear.

This is the ultimate primitive oppression, the suppression of the creatures at the top of the food chain. No beast, which exists only with wild instincts, can remain calm in the face of this sound.

But when Ye Shan heard this voice, he strangely did not feel any fear in his heart.

Even if he could feel that the other person was standing in front of him, looking at him face to face with his eyes closed, it would still be the same.

Even he himself didn't know why this happened, and he couldn't help but feel surprised. At the same time, he was also extremely curious about what this existence was.

When his eyes, covered by his eyelids, felt that the light from the outside was no longer so dazzling, Ye Shan slowly opened his eyes, but the scene he saw startled him.

"...?"

Because there was nothing in front of him, there was no third person in this classroom except Miura who was in his arms.

It was like a dream, which began with the appearance of that figure and ended with the disappearance of that figure, leaving only the person who woke up.

But there is one fact that cannot be denied, that is, they survived this natural disaster that was originally destined to kill them.

That memory proves that everything that just happened was not a dream or an illusion.

For some reason, Ye Shan felt a strange sense of emptiness in his heart.

“What is that???”

19. Before Departure (4K)

"Can you help me with something?"

"??? (Buddy, don't go)~"

"Please... I can only entrust this matter to you."

"Gram."

……

"Okay! Everyone, please look closely at my hands~"

Under the gazes of countless curious eyes around him, Zaimokuza opened his sleeves and waved his arms in an exaggerated manner to show that he had nothing in his hands.

Then he put his palms together, palm to palm, without a gap, and slowly raised them up with a drawn-out tone, and those eyes also raised up with his palms.

"One, two, three~ Hey!"

puff!

Zaimokuza suddenly opened his hands, and a white mist spread from his open palms. Bright and juicy roses pierced through the white mist, and when they were combined together, there were about dozens of them.

“Wow! That’s amazing!”

The children around looked at this incredible scene, their pure and innocent eyes widened, and they threw themselves into Zaimokuza's arms with excitement. He was suddenly submerged in the crowd of children.

"Yihui! Give me one!"

"I want it too! I want it too!"

"Come on, come on~ Everyone gets a share, don't fight over it~ Hey? Don't pull my hair!"

Zaimokuza, with a little girl riding on his shoulders, handed each rose to the children one by one with a smile. Every child jumped for joy after receiving the rose. The smiles on their faces were like a warm candle lamp in the dim atmosphere of the classroom.

"~"

Yuigahama Yui, who had been quietly watching their interaction from the side, pursed her lips slightly, her eyes curved, and her long eyelashes flickered warmly under the dim sky behind her. She smiled silently and watched Zaimokuza and a group of children playing together.

"Alright, alright~ Did everyone get a rose? Raise your hands~"

The children happily raised the roses in their hands. Zaimokuza reached out and stroked the hair of a little girl in the front, smiling and speaking.

"Well, everyone, do you remember the method I taught you on how to make plant specimens? When you get home this time, remember to make a beautiful rose specimen and give it to Teacher Yuigahama!"

"Next time I come, I'll give a gift to the child who makes the most beautiful specimen!"

But as soon as he said this, the smiles on all the children's faces gradually faded, and even the laughter was gradually assimilated by the silence similar to that of the outside world.

All the children surrounded him, dozens of pairs of big eyes staring at Zaimokuza without blinking. He felt an inexplicable pressure and his smile began to fade.

After a pause, Zaimokuza looked at the little girl in front of him with tears in her eyes, and spoke in a gentle tone.

"What's wrong? Why are you all looking at me like that without telling me anything? You're scaring me like this~?"

"Yihui...are you leaving here?"

The little girl fiddled with her index fingers in front of her chest, secretly looked up at Zaimokuza's expression, and spoke in a timid voice.

"Huh? How did you know? I haven't even told you yet—Ahhhhh? Why are you crying!?"

Zaimokuza tilted his head and rubbed the little girl's hair with his palm, but the sudden sobbing made his expression stiffen instantly, and he quickly reached out to wipe away the tears dripping from the little girl's face.

"Yihui... please don't leave, okay? I don't want you to leave."

The little girl threw herself into Zaimokuza's arms, rubbing her forehead against the hem of her clothes with both hands, then raised her head and spoke tearfully. The other children, upon hearing her words, began to speak, saying in unison:

““I don’t want Yoshiteru to leave…””

"Alright, alright~ Why are you making it seem like I won't be coming back? I already told you, next time I'll have Yuigahama-sensei give the gift to the child who made the best specimen."

Zaimokuza stroked the little girl's face, lowered his head to look into her red eyes, smiled and said:

"I'm just taking a risk. I'll have a chance to come back later. Do you think I'd lie to you? Liars have to swallow a thousand needles. I'm afraid of pain, so I won't lie~!"

"But, but..."

The little girl sniffed, and the sobbing tone in her voice became even heavier.

"Dad and Mom, they said the same thing...but they haven't come to pick me up yet!"

"Huh? What's going on?"

Zaimokuza suddenly felt something was wrong, and even his questioning voice slowed down a lot, as gentle as if he was coaxing a child to sleep.

"Dad and Mom, a few days ago, when the house suddenly shook, Dad woke me up from my sleep and asked me and my uncle and aunt to come here first. He then said he was going home to pick up Mom, and when he got her, he would come here to pick me up..."

"But they haven't come to pick me up yet. Dad clearly said that liars have to swallow a thousand needles... Dad is a liar! A huge liar!"

"..."

Zaimokuza sat cross-legged with his back against the glass window of the classroom. The smile on his face was faintly visible in the gloom and dim light as the little girl tearfully narrated, making it difficult to see clearly for a moment.

He looked inquiringly at Yuigahama who was sitting on the other side. Yuigahama noticed Zaimokuza's gaze and pursed her lips, nodding slightly with a dim look.

The curve of his mouth corners slowly became almost invisible. Looking at the little girl in his arms, Zaimokuza's eyes were for a moment covered by his long bangs.

"Don't worry, Xiaoli's parents didn't abandon you...and our parents didn't abandon us either."

"?"

The sobbing little girl felt a warm touch on both sides of her cheeks. She raised her head and was greeted by a gentle smile on Zaimokuza's face.