Bringing a hand up as he thought over what was going on, Takehiko rolled his shoulder back as he pressed down on the crown of the Ridewatch. “ZI-O!” it called out as he brought it down to slot it onto the Ziku Driver. The belt started to sound out… hm. “What sort of music is this?”

Tsukasa tilted his head. “What’s wrong? That sounds like the kind of thing that would sound out for a clock-themed Rider, doesn’t it?”

Takehiko hummed. “I dunno. It sounds like a clock which is cool and all, but, it seems a bit… on the noise. And why is the clock so slow with nothing else?” He looked to Sento. “Can we change that up any?” The scientist shook his head in a ‘so-so’ manner. “Well, we’ll see how it goes later. Henshin!”

Spinning the Driver around, it landed back in its starting position and called “Rider TIIIIME.” As his armor formed, Takehiko thought he’d seen the world itself spin around as he did the spin. Tsukasa and Sento enjoyed the sight of the clocks that formed the end result of the armor before them. “Kameeeen Riderrrr Zi-O!”

The leader of the Rider Base clapped for a moment. “Wonderful! That is quite the look. You will definitely be able to show off how well the Kamen Riders are going to join the Pro Hero circuit in this.”

Sento nodded, adding in his own thoughts about the aesthetics that drew on clocks and watches while Takehiko frowned inside his helmet. He knew that Kamen Riders were heroes, but, something about that sounded wrong. “Hang on. You mean Kamen Riders aren’t Pro Heroes right now?”

“Not most of us, no. And that’s been the case for a while, since getting paid is rarely what truly motivates us. Monsters, villains, the Noise, those are what we fight, usually for very personal reasons.” Tsukasa quirked an eyebrow at Zi-O. “How about you? Will you go into battle to fill up your bank account?”

“That was never my plan.”

“Good.” Nodding at the earnest words, Tsukasa stood up. “Kiryu-sensei, can I trust you to handle everything else Takehiko-kun and Section 2 need today?”

The scientist grinned as his hair jumped out on one side. “Oh yes. I have quite a few ideas for things that will help our friend here.” Sento chuckled to himself, rubbing his hands together. “Ah, this will be fun!”

Takehiko wondered if maybe he’d made a mistake working closely with Sento Kiryu of all people… Though he could be dealing with Ryoko Sakurai, that is certainly an option. One he’d like to avoid when possible. That woman scared him, and it wasn’t even just because of how she acted. There was just something… off about that lady. It was a bit weird, really. He didn’t know what it was, but something about Professor Sakurai made a shiver run down his spine.

Thankfully for his sanity, getting the changes made to the Ziku Driver so it would be a little bit faster on the sounds and incorporate a few other things they thought of while in the zone. Exiting the lab, he hummed a song to himself as Takehiko started to walk down the hallway. His ear perked up as he heard a second set of footsteps begin to join him. It was as he reached a peak in lyrics that a deep voice chuckled behind him. Looking over his shoulder, amber eyes locked with a set of blue that struck him as steel trying to hide torn silk. “That’s from our second album, isn’t it? I’m surprised. Not many people bought that one.”

He smiled at the Kazanari idol. “I’d say it has one of my favorite songs, though I’m also a touch biased. You’re a wonderful singer, after all, and an entire song just from you was quite the treat.” Tsubasa gave a short laugh, though he gathered from the sound that she didn’t want to think about it too much. “What brings you down here, Kazanari-senpai?”

Her shoulders relaxed a bit. Now why did that question release some stress? “I was having a quick check-up by Sakurai-sensei. After all,” Tsubasa reached into her collar, pulling a pendant out of her Lydian uniform. “I can’t fight the Noise with deteriorating limbs or the like. Thankfully, my body is in peak condition and not likely to leave. The Symphogear gives me a good deal of protection from conventional weaponry, and even some esoteric Quirks.”

Takehiko leaned down a little, looking at the pink jewelry. “Oh. That’s cool. Such a small thing, and you can fight the Noise with what it makes? Man, Sakurai-sensei is kinda nuts, to manage that so young.” He shook his head a bit, straightening up. “Even Kiryu-sensei can’t manage that sort of compression of so many parts.”

Tsubasa puffed her chest out a touch. “Which just goes to show, the Relics of the past can be put to some amazing feats even today.” She stuffed the pendant down her blouse again. “Shall we head for the elevator together?”

“If you're fine with my presence, Senpai.” The walk was in relative silence, and Takehiko thought about starting up the humming again. It was quite the long hallway after all.

“You call me Senpai. I don't think it's just because I'm in high school and you aren't.” Tsubasa looked at him coolly.

“That's right. I'll be entering Lydian Private Music Academy, at Commander Genjuro and Kamen Rider Decade's direction.” Takehiko said his rehearsed response. For normal civilians, it'd be ‘a board director’ instead. “This is how they think I'll be able to help Section 2 fight against the Noise most easily.”

Tsubasa frowned at that. “A man, fighting the Noise… I know there are some, but it is still rare to hear. It's been me an–…just me, for quite awhile."

Nodding at that, Takehiko figured it would be easier to focus on the present and future. “Which is why I'm calling you senpai, Senpai. I look forward to learning from you!” He gave Tsubasa a wide grin. It was the truth, after all. He was downplaying his excitement, if anything. “How did you learn the sword, Kazanari-senpai?”

She nodded slowly. “I’ve had a few tutors here and there. Most of my experience comes from combatting the Noise and criminals. I rarely step into a dojo these days. The recording booth tends to be where you can find me more than anything.”

He perked up at that thought. So Setsuna was right? Hm. Takehiko nodded back. “Well, I look forward to your next album. Hopefully we can spend more time doing things like that, rather than fighting the Noise or criminals.”

A light smile spread over Tsubasa’s face. “Mm. That would be nice. Just spread my wings, singing for the world…” She nodded at that, giving a little sigh. “That sounds like it would be bliss. But until such time as the Noise are dealt with, I doubt I’ll be able to truly do that.”

Takehiko nodded at that. He hit the button to call the elevator down. “Yeah. It’ll take a while before we see that day. But I look forward to what’ll happen when we get there! And hopefully the journey itself isn’t too rough.”

The singer gave a scoff at that as she held on to the elevator’s grip bar. “Too rough, hm? That’s certainly far from my experience.”

He shrugged at that, a bit disappointed to see Tsubasa’s smile disappear so quickly. Could he save it… probably not. So Takehiko decided to go for a different approach. “Do you know where the albums will be sold? I’d like to get one as soon as possible after all.”

The singer looked at him in confusion for a moment before the question processed. She gave him a few different locations, which were quite handy. “But you can’t tell anyone. There are other places that the album is being sold at, so you’ll have to let any friends you know of handle buying at a place they know will sell it in a few months.”

Takehiko gave her a thumbs-up as the elevator began to climb up the long, long rail system. Why was this how they had to get in and out of Section 2 and Lydian… it sucked! And the only way to relieve it would just make the whole thing even more annoying since it would just make it happen in far more sudden bursts. Urgh!

The young man looked over to Tsubasa who was far too comfortable with the ride up. The slightly shorter young woman had no problem just going up the elevator like this. He straightened up a bit, gritting his teeth as the sheer gravitational pull of the ride pulled against his body. It didn’t last long, but Takehiko would definitely call it a ride he wasn’t looking forward to taking more often. This was going to be rough on the spine, wasn’t it? Or good training. Even if he didn’t like it.

Back inside Section 2, Genjuro nodded as he finished reading over the progress report. “We need to give him a few tools. His strength is coming along, but there are some things he needs to get better at. And a ranged option would also be useful, considering his times here fall well short of various governmental training records and Pro Hero middle school course exams.”

Sento gave a short huff. “Indeed. Thankfully, I’ve got a few ideas on how to make it work out. We’ll need to make him some holsters for the weapons.” The scientist tilted his head. “But what sort of things does a clock theme allow…”

“Perhaps we ought to make his weapons first and see how he likes them before we decide on anything final.” Genjuro glanced over to where Ryoko had been. “We should also run the ideas by Ryoko-kun, she will have her own plans no doubt.” He frowned lightly. “Whenever Ryoko-kun returns, that is…”

The Kamen Rider scientist gave a little shrug before calling up a holographic keyboard and screen. “Well, let’s begin the prototyping of the experiment, shall we?”

Genjuro chuckled a little after he realized that Sento was a bit unenthused about this. “I believe we have some ability to tap into tachyons these days, do we not, Kiryu-kun? That would let us give him quite the edge, or even energy for a long-ranged weapon. Could be… ah, who am I kidding. Not even you could tackle that sort of problem, could you?”

Sento paused in his typing as he listened. After Genjuro gave a despondent sigh, he looked at the red-maned man. “...I know what you’re doing. Damn you that it worked, Genjuro.” Pride pricked, Sento turned back to his holographic computer and began to play around with calculations. After all, he’d need to know just what he was pulling on and how in order to give Takehiko a good edge against monsters and Noise. The sheer power that the Zi-O suit could give off was more than enough against most normal humans unless they had a very durable Quirk of some sort. Actual tachyons for attacking, that was not a good idea. But there were a few other things that could be done. “Maybe some sort of vibration frequency, make cutting faster that way?”

A higher pitch of voice hummed behind him as Sento typed out his ideas. “It shouldn’t be too obvious what’s going on with it though. Vibration is good and all but if it just makes him lose grip on the sword, that’s not going to be very useful.” The creator of the Symphogears straightened up as Ryoko adjusted her glasses. “Keeping it subtle will take a bit of a powerful computer, but we’ve got plenty of those we can make easy to slap inside… What are we using to house everything?”

Genjuro got up from his seat as the pair started to talk about what to do. He paused at the door out, holding up a wrist watch. “Mm, four-forty. If I hurry, I might be able to get a good place in line for dinner.”

Ryoko and Sento watched him leave the room, the door sliding closed with the hiss of displaced air. Then the pair started to try and figure out how to use a wrist watch and its band to fit the aesthetic that Zi-O’s suit had… which was also a wrist watch and band, with the Ziku Driver acting as a latch.

“But if we make the hilt too big–”
“There’s also the fact that it needs to interface with the Ridewatches, don’t forget that.”
“Not to mention fighting at all ranges… oh, why not try something like the Drill Crusher?”
“You want him to take something apart in the middle of combat?”
“It worked for me, but he needs something else… oh!”

Genjuro smiled as he got up from the door, leaving the two mad scientists to their ideas. Hopefully Takehiko would enjoy their creation. For now, he had a meal to get and a movie to select. Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, or maybe something with their schools’ latest stars. Hm… this would be a tough one.

…

Stretching out his arms, Takehiko glanced around. Miku and Hibiki had left already, and while Itsuka was busy in her MMA club, Izuki asked that he stay back. She’d been off to the restroom for a few minutes now, and he was contemplating going to the cafeteria or to a vending machine for a snack. Just as he was about to stand up, the club’s door opened up and the broccoli girl walked in. He could make a joke, but from the look in her eye, Takehiko decided to just sit back and wait. Now what required such a determined glare, Izuki?

The young girl walked over, and drew in a breath. Her chin was about level with his eyes, and the bustiest girl in the ZWAC drew some attention to something the thin spring uniform barely covered. “Takehiko-kun. I’m not sure if you’re open to this but… There’s a movie playing I think you’d like. Do you want to go with me to see it?”

Oh. Huh. Well, if she was just coming out with that question… “I would, Izuki. What’re we watching?”

His smile was met with a wide-eyed and happy look from her. Takehiko gave a light ‘oof’ as he got hugged, and he chuckled a bit as he returned it. The pair began to plan out what they’d be doing and when the movie was going to be seen. Something neither of them realized…

Was someone had heard what they’d be doing, and had quietly run away, tears landing unheard while she left. After all, with a girl like Izuki dating him, what hope did a musclehead like her have?

Poking his head out the door curiously, Takehiko caught a glimpse of a ponytail turning a corner, but he wasn’t sure what color it was with the light playing with it. Shrugging, he came back in to tell Izuki he thought he’d heard someone moving but apparently they weren’t going to stick around.

As the pair left Korosanto Middle after a few more minutes of talking, Izuki was giggling to herself as she held her bag in front of her legs. Takehiko watched in amusement, then brought his phone out to look at any news. “Hm, looks like we’ve got a Villain holding up traffic. Someone the media has never seen, and he doesn’t seem keen to name himself either. Well, we can just take the long way to avoid that.”

The greenette nodded to that, happy to not deal with a Villain. Though she was curious what sort of Quirk they had, it would be easier to look up the incident later and pick apart what had been reported on. For now though, it was a different route they ended up taking. But it was barely a few minutes into it that she froze up, hearing explosions going off repeatedly. Takehiko frowned, not understanding the source, though with the screams going on and the fact some of them cut off suddenly… He peeked around a corner, his friend joining him in the motion after a couple seconds. They both found themselves watching as a young man in a gakuran blasted himself around with explosions from his palms, his blond hair flying around as he dodged around the thin lines that were the attacking forms of Noise zipping through the air. He wasn’t trying to aim to hit, just dodge around and occasionally push someone else out of the way. But he was only one kid, and they both saw that he wasn’t able to save everyone.

Izuki bit her lip, wondering if now would be the time to act. Takehiko gripped a fist tight. He should probably start bringing the Zikuu Driver with him, if these Noise attacks were really starting to pick up in frequency.

Song filled the air. …Ame no Habakiri, why did that soun–oh! Tsubasa was on the scene now. He relaxed a little bit, seeing her shoot so many knives through the Noise before falling in as a whir of blades. Unlike the blond, she was far more effective at saving the people who were left. Jumping back from a particular attack, Takehiko narrowed his eyes on something. Why was she wearing a satchel? Unless… “Stay here, Izuki.”

“Eh?”

Before she could get more out than that, Takehiko was running out into the fray. “Sakimori!” The bluenette glanced over, then gave a double-take. Yeah, she hadn’t expected him. Still, he was able to get around some Noise as the young woman barely paused in her singing before tossing the satchel right at him. Catching it, he looked inside and nodded. “Thanks!”

Rolling to a spot that wasn’t about to be converged on, Takehiko pulled out the Zikuu Driver from the satchel and his personal Ridewatch from… well, not the satchel. He didn’t quite know where it had just come from. It wasn’t in his pocket befo–Focus! Takehiko shook himself out before rotating the bezel and hitting the starter button. The Noise halted as the word “ZI-O!” resounded through the area. Some of the civilians who were and weren’t hiding looked at the young man holding what could only be… “Henshin.”

If the Noise had been a bit further out, he’d do the full song and dance, so to speak. But as it was, Takehiko slot the Zi-O Ridewatch in and slapped the Driver onto his waist. Pressing the button on top, he slid his hand over to pull the Driver’s empty slot up with his hand forming either an L, or pointing at 3 o'clock in the air as energy swirled around him in the forms of various watch bands that converged on him, the armor forming over Takehiko in a solid mass before solidifying into the proper colors. “Riderrrr Tiiiime! Kamen Riderrrr, Zi-O~”

The Noise and Tsubasa resumed motion as he ran into the fray. Just as he’d practiced with his predecessors, Takehiko… no, he was Kamen Rider Zi-O right now. Just as he’d practiced with his predecessors, Zi-O focused his power over time into his fists as he struck at the Noise. Where Tsubasa’s, Sakimori’s, blades cut right through the eldritch beings and left them as carbon as if they’d struck down a human, his own limbs had a different effect. It was the same one that other Riders touted as being able to touch the Noise without disintegrating noted: the things just unraveled like a spool of yarn away from a stick. As he struck here and there, Zi-O knew he wasn’t dealing as much damage to the horde as Sakimori was, but the bluenette was handling the Noise quite well along with the blond while Zi-O did crowd control. He didn’t have any formal training in this regard, but he figured it wasn’t too hard to listen to a Kamen Rider to get away from the monsters that carbonize a human being, regardless of how strong their bodies were from Quirks. Though some less physical shields allowed people to survive for a few seconds, it was generally better for them to just get out of the way entirely.

The eradication of the enemies of humanity didn’t take too long. Once they were done with the fight and keeping people safe and alive, Sakimori had left while Zi-O watched the emergency responders help with the survivors of the incident. He looked at the apparently very angry blond, who was being praised by a couple people for being so capable and agile with nary a word about the very blatant Quirk usage. It was against the Noise though, which gave him a bit of a leniency for today. Undoing the transformation, Takehiko looked around before smiling at Izuki. He started to walk over to her, seeing as his part in the whole debacle was over for now. “Glad you’re doing well. Did any of the Noise come by?”

She shook her head. “Mm-mm. They all focused on you and Sakimori and… the, um, other people.” Green eyes looked up at him with sparkles. “You’re a Kamen Rider, Takehiko-kun?!”

He gave a little chuckle, bringing a hand up to rub at his head. “DEKU!!” Takehiko blinked and turned to look at the blond, who was stomping towards the pair now, red eyes glaring something fierce. “The fuck are you doin’ here, ya Quirkless reject? Wanna die to the Noise or something? All Might wasn't here to save you this time."

Looking at his friend shrink away from the boy’s approach in a way he’d only seen during the first weeks of middle school, Takehiko frowned as the blond kept making very angry sounds at Izuki. So he held up an arm, disrupting the red eyed gaze from the green. Amber locked with red, and Takehiko cocked an eyebrow. “Where do you get off being so toxic to my friend?”

He scoffed at that. “Oh please. This bitch, having a friend? That’s rich. What, do you fuck her in order to protect her like this?”

Izuki blushed and paled, her thoughts going so many ways at those words. Takehiko scowled. “You should just go, kid. There’s no need to do this. I’ve got better things to do with my time than, anything with you.”

The blond blinked in surprise as Takehiko turned around, and brought Izuki with him. “Wha–oi! You can’t just go, that ain’t how this works!”

Takehiko gave a little wave as he walked away with Izuki. She seemed a little confused too, but didn’t fight the hug and pull. In fact, the little giggle as she leaned into him was far better to hear than any of the pained noises that blond had brought out. “I said get back here, ya dumbass, I ain’t finished with you yet!”

Glancing back over his shoulder, Takehiko cocked an eyebrow as he stopped time. The wild red eyes that he saw behind the grasping hand were a little concerning. The start of an explosion was likely about to follow the grasp. He removed his hand from Izuki’s shoulder long enough to move that hand aside, and resumed time enough to see the blond be surprised by his sudden change in direction… which came with a boom. That was a pain in the ears. Still, he left with the broccoli-headed girl in tow and decided to let the police handle the kid. After all, using his Quirk on the Noise was one thing, but a ‘random’ explosion was worth a bit of scolding from the blue-clad ant-man who grasped his arm with two right hands.

Izuki gave a light smile up at Takehiko as they made their way into a cafe. He smiled back before looking up at the menu. He’d help her feel better in his own way, seeing as Takehiko didn’t know quite how to do therapy yet. Maybe he would learn after becoming a legal Kamen Rider? For now though, it was just him and her and some milkshakes to wind down with. This wasn’t quite the date he had in mind, but it was quite nice to just calm things down with Izuki like this without having to worry about anything else going on. “...so, how do you know that Sakimori person?”

Takehiko looked up. “Hm? Mm. She’s someone I was getting to know while getting used to uh, the belt. We’ll be working together going forward, but I don’t know how it’ll work for our civilian identities.”

Izuki hummed a bit, twiddling her thumbs on one side of her glass. “Is that Sakimori… a singer? She sounded familiar…” He gave no answer to that, and the first girl that agreed Zwei Wing were Vigilante Heroes with him giggled a second. “Oh my gods, you’re actually working with…!”

“I’ll take that milkshake if you finish that sentence.” She gasped, bringing it closer. And then she squeaked, moving the milkshake aside. Izuki started to dab at her chest, grumbling. Takehiko chuckled a bit. “Gotta be careful with those.”

She gave him a pout, leaving the napkin on her chest for now. “Meanie.” His slightly muffled laughter was just cause for a harder pout.

The pair were interrupted from further fun by a ring from his phone. Pulling it out, Takehiko cocked an eyebrow before giving her an apologetic look. "It's from Lydian. Sorry. I'll just step outside." Izuki waved him away, saying there was no fuss before she sipped a bit more carefully at her milkshake. Takehiko answered the call as he exited the cafe. "Tamashiro, sorry for the wait."

"Ah, there you are." The deep timbre of Genjuro Kazanari nearly reverberated even over the phone. "Would you be willing to come in for something tomorrow? It is related to your being a Kamen Rider, though not the transformation you used today."

…Uh. Hm. "Does that mean I'll be talked to about that transformation later?"

"Naturally." The only reason Takehiko took that well was Genjuro's amused tone. "I already have Sakimori's side of things, we'll debrief you tomorrow as well before the other meeting. Hm… actually, we will combine the two. That would be a much better use of all our time."

He gave a light sigh, leaning on a lamppost. "Alright. After school?"

"Of course. Even with your improved grades, more wouldn't hurt. Thank you, Tamashiro-kun, I will see you tomorrow." And the man hung up after receiving a return goodbye.

Takehiko put the phone away, wondering what would be happening, but then he shrugged. It'd be what it'd be, so he'd just enjoy today. Speaking of which, he hoped Izuki wasn't drinking his milkshake! Ever since her new diet started, she'd been going through some things a lot more than usual. Not to mention being more eager to eat some leftovers from lunch. The girl wasn't a black hole, but her legs were definitely looking toned more than they had been soft before. Her arms were similarly bulking up, just a touch.

Reentering the cafe with a jingle, Takehiko wondered why she cringed away from that guy. Hm. "Ah, you didn't drink it while I was out. Good, good." Before the second round of pouting could kick off after the words processed and Izuki gave an indignant ‘hey!’, he took hold of his glass and looked at her. "Who's Deku?"

The greenette froze, and drooped a little. Wow, it was like even her freckles lost a bit of color at that question. What happened?

…

Scowling as he made his way home, Takehiko grumbled about blonds and teachers and people that just had no clue how to handle life well. Seriously, just because Izuki was Quirkless, her teachers were so damn cruel?! Fuckers. He’d give them a piece of his mind later on. It would be a great talking point for his campaign… eventually. For now though, Takehiko just walked down the street to his house. He wasn’t needed for anything today, so he just decided to rest at home.

Or that was the plan as he met up with his mom and uncle, and Hibiki. But it was hard to just be a bit down while the brunette was there. She gushed a bit about how her and Miku had spent their evening after school, the music they’d listened to and what their plans going through the rest of the week were. “Oh, but, we’re still open to hanging out with you and Izuki-chan and Kendo-san!”

He laughed a bit, and nodded. “I know. But it is nice to hear, Hibiki.” Takehiko tilted his head at her. “Got any plans for Lydian?”

She nodded quickly. “Mmhmm. I’m gonna sing, just like Tsubasa-san! Miku and I practiced a bit today. Do you… wanna hear?”

Junichiro nodded, thinking that Hibiki would at least be a good sudden talent. Kazehime nodded, hoping Hibiki chose something she could sing along with. Takehiko grinned as he nodded, fully expecting his friend to be in need of far more lessons and karaoke sessions than she and Miku have gone through. He was going to enjoy the sheer amateurness of his friend. But he’d just tell her there was a need to improve.

And then Hibiki turned on an off-vocal song to sing to off sheer memory.

The brunette looked around shyly. Junichiro was blown away, having enjoyed the performance quite a bit. Kazehime hadn’t sung along more because she just enjoyed the sheer adorableness of Hibiki’s performance. Takehiko’s jaw was hanging down heavily. “...so uh, how was that?”

“You’re taking me to karaoke more often.”

Kazehime and Junichiro laughed at Takehiko’s matter of fact statement while Hibiki just smiled brightly. The Tamashiro family took up offers to sing as well, with Takehiko and Junichiro both before the worst singers of the night, though Hibiki thought it was just a bad match, giving her cru–friend had chosen a power ballad and Junichiro… well, the older man was just bad, she couldn’t even say that and not lie. Kazehime’s turn went a tad bit more like Hibiki’s than the men, as she sounded quite pleasant even if everyone could see she wouldn’t be picked up by any labels. As they started on dinner, the group talked about songs they enjoyed on their own with the big surprise being Junichiro’s apparent love for old Mexican dance music.

The older man laughed a bit. “There was this time I went to South America, and it was a wild ride there. I made a lot of friends while there, lemme tell you. I believe it’d be good fun for you as well!” Junichiro glanced between the two young people. “Just be sure you don’t flash your wallets around. The locals can do a lot if you give them a chance.”

Hibiki blinked curiously, asking about that. Junichiro went on a short little rant about the different Sectors in South America, though Takehiko wasn’t paying much attention. His mind was on what was awaiting him at Section 2. Part of him wanted to just head over right now, he was so curious. Genjuro didn’t usually schedule sudden things like that without reason, and most of the time it was brought up while he was already in the underground area. Very rarely had he gone to that place and not gotten something sprung on him, usually by Sento or Ryoko-sensei. Hopefully they hadn’t come up with some crazy invention that would shake the world and ran off his stamina or something. Takehiko blinked as he was poked in the cheek, and looked over to the offending party.

Orange eyes looked at him with a touch of worry. Glancing around, he saw that his mom and uncle were also a bit concerned and curious. Takehiko shook his head. “Sorry, was just caught up in my own head. How’re we making fun of Hibiki’s black hole stomach this time?”

Apparently he was on the right track, given the chuckles bursting from the adults while Hibiki started to pound her tiny fists on his shoulder. Takehiko just grinned.

…

Coming out of the elevator down to Section 2, Takehiko groaned as he stretched out his limbs. That was still rough on his body. He nodded to the pair waiting at a standing table. “Ogawa-san, Sakimori. Good to see you two.”

Shinji laughed a bit, the far-too-bland-to-be-a-coincidence man bringing a hand up over his mouth to cover it while Tsubasa let out a sigh. “I figured you’d figure that out. What will you do with that information, Tamashiro?”

He shrugged as they began to make their way together to a conference room. “What can I do with it? We work together, I’d like to have a good relationship going forward, seems like a bit of light teasing is the worst you’ll get from me on this front.”

“Well that’s good.” Shinji nodded, drawing an incredulous look from Tsubasa. “She needs more friendly ribbing in her life, I can only do so much.”

“Wha–Ogawa-san! You don't have to tell him that!" Tsubasa looked at her manager with some embarrassment. “And besides… There isn’t a reason for me to become friendly with anyone.”

“Songs are sung best with emotion, Tsubasa Kazanari. And your… philosophy, will not help your career too much. As such, well, I shouldn’t spoil the surprise.” Shinji smiled a bit, adjusting his glasses a touch.

The pair of students looked at him curiously before the three began to make their way to the conference room. There, the standard combat debrief goes down as Sento notes down ways to improve on Takehiko’s performance. Genjuro nods as Tsubasa, straight-backed like her sword hilts, finishes her report. “Mmm. You did well.” He commended the pair, giving some tips about how to improve… which amounted to watching movies? “On to other business. Tsubasa-kun, Ogawa-kun, what do you think of Tamashiro-kun taking the position?”

That threw Takehiko for a moment. What position? Hopefully nothing weird. Tsubasa nodded slowly. “...at least in his standard capabilities, he needs to show me a few more examples. However, I have no true complaints about his person.”

Shinji nodded. “Indeed. I believe he can learn the ropes quickly and well.”

Takehiko rose a hand. “What’s going on?”

“Your new assignment, long-term and non-negotiable.” Sento spoke up, looking like he was having some fun. “You’ll be Tsubasa Kazanari’s assistant while in Lydian. Though, only while in Lydian. The school year starting is your assignment’s starting point. It’ll be complete once Kazanari-san graduates. You’re to learn from Ogawa-san on your own time, to be scheduled with him.” He gave a little grin. “Have fun in the music industry, kiddo.”

Tsubasa gave a little sigh at the amusement on the adults’ faces. Takehiko hummed and nodded. That would be an interesting addition to his days. At least he could say that much, right?

Walking out of a train station was a fairly normal thing for a person to do in Japan. Everyone did it at least once in their life, more often many times. One would say the young man walking out into the open air was going nowhere special. Takehiko would very much disagree with that, walking with his mom to a car that was waiting for them. Kazehime looked at it in surprise, having not expected this to happen.

Sure, going to Lydian Private Music Academy was cool. But it was also explicitly a girl’s school and had no provisions or plans to go co-ed in the future, which had been stated quite heavily by the faculty and sponsors a few times in public news conferences. So how they expected to handle Takehiko entering it next year, with all his Takehikoness (Itsuka’s word, which she thought was quite spot on but he didn’t quite understand.) was going to be the questions answered today. Not just by Genjuro Kazanari, but by Tsukasa Kadoya, according to the call last night. It was going to be an interesting meeting, that was for sure.

Even on a Sunday, the two Tamashiros saw that there were still girls moving around. The staff were also female, for the most part. Takehiko wondered if looking good was also a thing that needed to be on your resume, because even the two janitors he passed by were a bit above average in the looks department. It was kinda silly if he was being honest. As it was, he and his mom walked over to the principal’s office and found their two benefactors standing outside the door. Tsukasa gave a lazy wave, while Genjuro nodded in greeting to the pair. Was it just Takehiko, or did the tanned man get a bit bigger?! The muscles seemed a tad more built on now. It had only been a couple weeks, this man must be real dedicated to his gains. “Welcome, Takehiko-kun, Tamashiro-san. Thank you for coming on a day off.”

“We’re here to talk after you’re done with the principal. She’s going to handle the normal things. You’ll understand once we get started.” Tsukasa nodded to the door opposite where he was leaning on a wall.

Takehiko and Kazehime walked into the office, where the principal talked about the unprecedented situation along with how it was only the good word of Genjuro Kazanari that got him into the school. “If you can increase your grades before coming to our school, you’d have a better case, Tamashiro-kun. Do you have a female friend planning to come here?”

He nodded. “Several. Only one has not really understood that ‘Music Academy’ means that she needs to have some kind of instrumentality or singing ability. If it helps, my father was an accomplished violinist and he, through his notes and mom’s help, taught me enough through elementary school that I can play covers of some Zwei Wing songs, IKEMENS, and some actual violin songs.” The principal did look pleased to hear that, and nodded back. “If you want, I can demonstrate that all?”

She shook her head now. “No, that isn’t necessary. You’ll be tested on that in the early days, along with everyone else. Which reminds me… we don’t have a male uniform. However, Kazanari-sh–san, has said that he’d handle that aspect with you in a separate meeting.” Kazanari-sh-what? That was an interesting break there. “There are a few things I need to talk with you about regarding how Lydian takes its tuition and such, Tamashiro-san. Would Tamashiro-kun be willing to follow along with that, or…?”

Kazehime thought on that for a moment before smiling at her son. “Why don’t you go talk with those two, Takehiko-kun? I can handle all this on my own. You won’t have to worry about it for a few years yet.”

Get out of talking tax numbers or whatever? That sounded fine by him! “Sure thing, mom! I’ll see you later. Thank you for this opportunity, Principal. I’ll see you again later.” With a short bow, he turned to walk out at what he thought was a perfectly acceptable speed, even if his mom did giggle a bit behind his back. Looking at the two men who were waiting outside as the door slid closed behind him, Takehiko cocked an eyebrow as he took a step away from it. “So… what’s this super-secret thing you don’t want my mom to hear?”

Tsukasa grinned at him, while Genjuro just gave a short chuckle before waving a hand for Takehiko to follow as they turned to start walking. It was a short walk, silent though as they passed by a couple teachers talking to each other about what the next semester would bring. The two women glanced at Takehiko before lowering their voices, likely talking about him right there as he turned a corner with the two men who were just as out of place as him.

“Kadoya-kun was only recently read into the situation, but this does fall within his purview as leader of the Rider Base. More specifically, his abilities as Kamen Rider Decade and how they interact with his Quirk.” Genjuro walked up to a blank stretch of wall, bringing out a card which he touched on a spot… which was a scanner of some sort, going by the visible blue tinge that just came into view behind his giant extremity. “We usually don’t include men in this beyond an administrative capacity like myself, since there are a lot of ways we just aren’t compatible with the mission parameters. Some Kamen Riders have shown themselves to be very effective, though.”

“Effective at what?” Takehiko stepped into the elevator that opened up, glancing at the sides. He took hold of one of the bars that pushed out from the wall, wondering what this would mean.

“At fighting back the Noise.” Tsukasa nodded grimly, the only downturn in expression he’d taken so far. And then he grinned again as the elevator went down… very quickly… nearly making Takehiko’s feet leave the floor! The designs on the walls the elevator passed were eye-catching, but unless he stopped time and dealt with the momentum, the young man figured he wouldn’t be watching them in anything resembling real time soon at all. As they reached an arbitrary point, Tsukasa resumed talking. “The Aurora Curtains are made by my Quirk, Dimension Hopper. It took a long time for me to be able to get them able to appear for other people, but focusing my Quirk’s energy into my limbs and armor while fighting the Noise? That came far more easily.”

Genjuro nodded as he stood perfectly fine. “I meanwhile, am Quirkless. Even if I were to try and join the front lines, I am near useless against the Noise.” …near useless? “However, I became part of a group that oversees research in anti-Noise capabilities and we believe your Quirk, Tamashiro-kun, is going to be quite effective against the Noise. Likely on the level of Kadoya-kun’s, though closer to back-up for our front line force.” As the elevator slowed down, Takehiko looked at Genjuro with wide amber eyes. The older man's yellow irises were serious. "You'll learn what that is later. For now, the main reason you're here is so we can start a plan for getting you into proper shape for fighting the Noise."

The door opened up on an expansive hallway. "And the best way to do that, is with the help of a GENIUS!"

Takehiko spun to the open door and felt his eyes go wider. "Kiryu Sento?!"

"Indeed. There are some things you'll have to keep secret as we go along, Tamashiro-kun. Your mother is being told the truth, but there are things she has to sign up top. Lydian is a front for Special Disaster Response Team Section 2, but that just means we have to make sure every stroke is correct more than the average organization." Genjuro nodded in greeting to Sento as he and Tsukasa exited the elevator, Takehiko behind them. Huh. The scientist Rider was the shortest in the group, but it wasn’t the biggest discrepancy between him and the youngest member. “Is the new Driver ready?”

Attara–noooo. They wouldn’t… he wasn’t gonna be…! Takehiko brought a hand up to fan himself as that thought circulated through his brain. “It is, though I haven’t been able to get the right shape for his item yet. I have a few possibilities, but they’ll need to be approved by our newbie here.”

Tsukasa looked over his shoulder, and grinned. “Welcome to the fold, New Kamen Rider. We can come up with a proper name for you later.”

…HE WAS GONNA BE A KAMEN RIDER!! Takehiko pumped his fists, not caring that he had two of his senpai and likely his new boss there in front of him. By the three laughs that came up, they likely didn’t take his enthusiasm that badly. As they walked, it became apparent to him that this was likely where the male staff from Lydian were all funneled, so to speak. Or the two areas had different entrances with the connecting elevators. At the moment, though, he focused more on following the men to where he’d get his own Driver. “What’s it called?”

Sento looked at him with a smile. “Your Driver? So far, I’ve run through a few different names. Tell me which of these you like.” He started to rattle off a few different words, some in English, a few in French, some were mangled Japanese which made some sense after a short explanation but there were others that just didn’t have the best reason for why they were changed. After one in particular, Takehiko asked that he repeat that name. “Hm? Ziku? Why’s that one catch your ear?”

He tried to give a reason for it, but the only thing that really entered his mind? “It just feels right. I have Time Manipulation for my Quirk and that word means Spacetime, doesn’t it?” Takehiko smiled. “It just seems like the best fit to me.”

Thinking that over, Sento just shrugged. “Very well. I can alter its programming a bit to have it announce that easily enough.” Tsukasa groaned at that and the scientist just laughed. “Yes, it announces what it is, Tsukasa! I like that sort of thing, and you can’t stop me!”

“I’m the one who signs your paychecks, so I very well should. But that would just be too much hassle.” The brunet let out a sigh as he rubbed his head. “Well, at least it’ll only shout out what kind of belt it is, eh?”

Sento gave an evil chuckle, rubbing his hands together before he turned down a hallway. “Come! The lab where I’m housing the new, the Ziku Driver, is down here!”

“Sento, that isn’t very encouraging sounding!”

Genjuro laughed a bit as Tsukasa ran in after his comrade. “Come, Tamashiro-kun, let us go on in. I look forward to your thoughts on this.”

Takehiko walked in after, finding that the lab was quite the hazardous place to be. It wasn’t a place to be when alone, he thought. Oh sure, the floors were clear, but he was pretty sure this was more because there were dedicated custodial staff rather than Sento’s own cleanliness habits. Especially as the man had to move around a few items that would probably be very dangerous to someone so new to all this like him. Takehiko looked at one of the few items left behind by Sento’s sweeping, and wondered about it. The design made him think of a pocket watch, or maybe something a coach would click. But it was way too bulky for that, and it lacked any real identifying features. “Is this what you came up with, to let me transform?”

Turning from where he was starting to give a lecture on the properties on the Driver, Sento blinked. “Ah, one of the prototypes. Mm, I tried tapping into tachyonic fields with all of them but nothing quite fit. We’ll probably need to start from scratch.”

Takehiko… felt otherwise. He focused his gaze and his Quirk on the item in his hand. It glitched out for a moment, the three adult men looking at what was going on with varying levels of curiosity. After what felt like a terribly long time, Takehiko watched as the fizzling stopped… and it wasn’t blank anymore. Moving the new face around to make what looked like a helmet, and obscuring the date and symbol that had been shown, he hit the button up top. “ZI-O!”

…

Leaving the underground world and the two mad scientists that kept the labs crazy, Takehiko stretched out his limbs as he felt like things were going to get real weird from here on. And he hadn’t even met this frontline in the fight against the Noise! He stepped around the person coming out of the elevator, feeling some blue hair brush over his shoulder. Pausing with one foot in the door, he turned back to see if he’d seen that right.

Sure enough, sharp blue eyes were turned on him. “And who’re you?”

“...Takehiko Tamashiro. Commander Kazanari and Kadoya-san finished giving me a tour of the lab a bit ago. I’m on my way up to head home with my mom.” He took his foot out of the elevator, and bowed to the idol. “I never got the chance before… Thank you for saving us during that concert, Kazanari-san.”

Tsubasa jolted at that. “Wha--what concert?”

“...Zwei Wing’s last.” Coming up from his waist-deep bow, Takehiko gave her a sad smile. “Even with the events that happened, I was glad to see Amou-san’s life burning bright.”

This was apparently not what Tsubasa Kazanari expected to hear or see from one of the survivors of her last major concert. “...you were, there?”

“Mm. That sword of yours was magnificent to see in action.”

Tsubasa clasped a fist tightly. “You shouldn’t… praise such a weak showing. I wasn’t…”

Takehiko shook his head. “If not for you, I wouldn’t be here today. Or my friend. Hibiki has become quite the fan of yours, especially since you helped save her. …though uh, she is a bit silly.” He chuckled a bit. “Thankfully, our other friend is a great minder. So if you meet a girl with orange eyes and she’s with a girl that has a bow in her hair? Just, give her a chance.”

Frowning a bit in thought, Tsubasa nodded before turning away. “Have a good day, Tamashiro-san.”

“Have a good day, Kazanari-senpai!” That pulled her up short, though by the time Tsubasa looked back, the elevator doors were closing. Takehiko held onto the bar for dear life, wondering just what sort of G’s he was going through right not as the ride wasn’t that long, just a minute or so. “...man, that was rough… oh, hey mom.”

Kazehime blinked as she turned to see her son come out of a random corner of the building she could’ve sworn had no doors before. “There you are! Come on, I’m done with the paperwork. We need to get you fitted for the uniform now.”

Groaning a bit at that, Takehiko went along. Most of the Lydian students needed some manner of tailoring if their Quirks changed their bodies up… but as the only one who’d be wearing pants as his only option? He was probably going to see a lot more of the tailor here than he would normally.

Back down in the labs, Tsubasa was running down a hallway. She perked up a little at seeing a familiar broad back and the red mane that hung over it. “Ah, Commander! There you are.” Genjuro turned to look at her, and with some fond exasperation as usual, held out an arm so that they could hug. Not that she would take him up on that offer, she hadn’t ever since… “Mm, hello, sir. Who’re you?”

Tsukasa grinned at her. “Just a passing through Kamen Rider. Well, that’s how I usually introduce myself… but I think we have a few more meetings coming up, Kazanari-chan. Your uncle brought me down here since we’ve got a new Rider to train up. He’s going to join in fighting the Noise, and the easiest way to keep him close at hand to Sakurai-san is to put him in Lydian.”

“...but, Lydian is a girl’s school.”

That brought a nod. “Indeed. And that isn’t changing. Kadoya-kun and I already have a plan for getting Tamashiro-kun in without causing too big a commotion. However, we also believe he is not yet mature or ready enough to face the public as a new Kamen Rider. If he were, things would be quite different and immensely easier on us.” Genjuro gave his niece a little grin. “As things stand, I haven’t asked this of Tamashiro-kun yet. What would you think of having an assistant, Tsubasa?

She blinked rapidly, while Tsukasa held back a laugh. “...eh?”

…

Walking down a street, Takehiko hummed to himself. There wasn’t a lot he could do today, he’d used up his allowance going to a couple stores over the weekend, and Hibiki and Miku were at the former track runner’s house today. He didn’t know what Izuki did on the weekends but from what he knew she was probably on the internet. Meanwhile, his time out in the city would be spent just finding something to do. Well, while his weekends weren’t filled with the ways Genjuro and Tsukasa and Sento planned to put him through his paces…

His arm was wrapped up by someone, and the familiar sensation of boob squished into him. “There you are! I thought you were stuck at home today?”

Takehiko let out a chuckle, smiling down at the girl who was giving him a slightly wild face. “Had to get out for a bit. You wanna come by since ya found me? I was thinkin’ of hitting up that one spot with the great okonomiyaki.”

“Oi, you!” Well that was rude. He looked up to the pair of musclebound morons roughly making their way through the crowd that filled the area. “Get yer mitts off her. She’s comin’ with me.”

“Sounds like a rough time, so I say back off.” Takehiko gave them a dull look, which wasn’t too intimidating from his scrawny ass even if the amber eyes had a slightly glinty look in this light. “Or… I say bye!” He grinned as he brought his other hand up, taking a surer hold of the new greenette’s shoulder as he activated his Quirk. “I stopped time, so let’s make some space. Name’s Takehiko Tamashiro, the pleasure’s mine.”

She was looking around in a bit of awe as they went, having not expected anything like this. “Uh… Setsuna Tokage. My Quirk is nowhere near this kinda power! And, thanks.” She leaned a bit more heavily into his arm, breathing out in relief as the limb slipped into the middle of her chest. “They were being real pushy. Don’t even know who they were, but it was only my Quirk that let me really get free.” She glanced over her shoulder for a moment before Setsuna grumbled. “How long will it take for that to fall out or grow back in, anyway?”

“Fall out?”

“Mm. Some of my hair, but the bits under what he grabbed didn’t disconnect from the rest of me. Or they’re all tangled up, which isn’t that impossible.” Setsuna gave a little giggle at that thought before looking up at Takehiko. She squeezed his arm a bit. “You didn’t really react the way I thought a guy would.”

“Cute girl comes up, obviously in distress? Why wouldn’t I help her?” Takehiko looked down to her. “Though, I’m going to guess I wasn’t your first choice.”

“Second. The first guy I marked to try was holding hands with a girl so I had to find someone else. Thankfully, you worked out!” She gave his arm a rub. “And apparently work out?”

“Nah, that’s just the jacket. Haven’t started on my routine just yet. That’s next week. Where’re you going for high school?”

“I’m hitting up Shiketsu. Woulda been U.A., but they switched to being a college.” She huffed a bit, glaring up at the chuckling young man. “What? Don’t think I can make it?”

He shook his head. “No, I think you can be a great hero with your Quirk and personality. But you’re also the third person I know whose plans have been derailed by U.A. changing how they operate. Can’t help but find that funny, y’know?”

Setsuna let out a little ‘hmph!’ at him before turning her head away. Though she hadn’t let go yet, which was still a bit interesting to him. Just what was her reason to stay on him when the pursuers had left already? “Well, you can just enjoy your own normal high school while I go to a fine Pro Hero learning institute.” He questioned what she meant by that. “Well, if you’re only just next week starting up some kind of training regiment, you must not plan to be in combat a lot, otherwise you’d probably already have started. Like me!”

That brought a nod from Takehiko. “That’s fair. Though I am waiting on my trainers to get the plan and some tools ready. It’s only recently that I stumbled into this all. Hm, you planned to go to U.A. as a high school, but now you’re going to Shiketsu… your place must be near equidistant to them, huh?”

She gave a hum. “You could say that. I don’t like talking about my family though. They’re kinda not fun, y’know?” Takehiko didn’t, but there was no harm in nodding again. “So where do you go to school?”

“I’m attending Korosanto Middle right now. There’s nothing too special… You’ve heard about it, huh.” He recognized that spark of pity. Setsuna rubbed her head, glancing away. “Well, what do you think you know?”

She looked up at him curiously before answering. “There’s a girl who was apparently bullied so badly that people decided burning down her home was a good idea. Which is one of the worst things I’ve ever heard, because it just… it makes no sense!” Setsuna scowled, showing off her sharp teeth. “That girl was a survivor of a Noise attack. Just because she’s young and lucky enough to not get trampled or carbonized, people think she’s somehow the cause of it? Or just some kinda scapegoat? Bullshit, I tell you.”

Takehiko was glad to meet someone else who thought like this, especially after that piece of shit Akira left not too long ago. If he ever saw that guy’s smug mug again… “It is bullshit. We didn’t ask for anything like that after the Zwei Wing concert, but just because of it…”

The death announcement of Hibiki Tachibana was not something he’d really given much show of caring for while around the girl herself, or their other friends. But during one of those tests Sento had Takehiko run through, he’d worked out some frustration because it had nearly brought you to tears to see that someone believed such measures were warranted just to protect the elder Tachibanas. Which it apparently was and it pissed him off something fierce.

With time resumed after he spent a couple minutes just yelling out into the void in frustration, Takehiko looked to see what Setsuna had to say in response to his little bomb. The greenette was thinking for a moment before her eyes widened. "Wait, you were there too?! Wow. What, uh, was it like? Watching them sing?"

That was a question he wasn't averse to answering. "It was pretty damn cool. They were amazing singers, and I'm glad to see Tsubasa has continued to sing but her lack of statement regarding concerts is a bit concerning." Takehiko scratched his cheek in thought. "And then there was Kanade… she was a bright burning star, I think that can speak for itself."

Even if it had been the only time he'd see her on stage live, it was more the way Kanade had protected them with her life that resonated with him. What was that song? She'd been going all out with the lyrics he could hear distantly, he knew that, but Takehiko also wanted to know… In that language he didn't know, what did she say?

Setsuna's voice broke him from his thoughts. "Mm. I wish I'd been able to see her in concert. But at least the CDs are still around." He chuckled a bit at that. "What? You enjoy taking those digital downloads more?"

Shaking his head, Takehiko smiled. "My friend has started collecting Zwei Wing and Tsubasa merchandise. Mostly the CDs, though she's looking forward to when she's got the chance to buy a special edition. Who knows when she'll have the time to do it, considering it usually starts during school hours." …Wait. Hibiki was legally dead, apparently. So maybe… nah, he didn't know when another album was scheduled to drop yet. And given he'd seen Tsubasa herself heading into Section 2, would there be another? She hadn't made any announcements about her retirement being soon or anything… "Gonna have to wait and see, I guess."

That brought a groan from the girl with sharp teeth. "Don't I know it. The next release isn't gonna be announced for another month, and that's all I know!" She continued walking for a couple seconds before turning to look at Takehiko. "You coming or what?"

"...how do you know when the announcement date is?"

Thinking over what she'd just said, Setsuna slowly paled. "Uh. Yo-you can't tell anyone I said that! It isn’t supposed to be something people know I know…”

Takehiko gave a little laugh at her panic before waving a hand. “You’re alright. I can keep that on the downlow.” She gave a relieved sigh at that. “So, what are you going to be up to this week?”

As the pair of students made their way down the street under the setting sun, it was fun for them to talk about the different plans they had. Politics were in their futures but in different ways. Setsuna believed she could avoid it by becoming a Pro Hero and just being too embroiled in saving people to actually go and take part in all that nonsense. Takehiko wanted to take office as Prime Minister one day an–“Wow, you don’t hold back, do you?”

He grinned. “No way. I’m going to become Prime Minister… and then King.” Takehiko held a finger up. “Not Emperor, I know that slot is already filled. Not Shogun, because we don’t need those anymore and the world is not at all dangerous enough for it. Just Prime Minister and rename it King because that would suit my taste a bit more. It’d revert to Prime Minister when I’m leaving office, since I have no want to be followed by any other false royalty.”

Setsuna just gave an amused head shake, her hair waving about in the light breeze. “You’re silly. Well, good luck to you for it. I doubt I’d be able to manage that, or a life adjacent to it.” His confused sound had her hold up a hand, and tap her ring finger. “Y’know, marriage. I don’t want to go through that nonsense, y’know?”

“Nope, cause I’d be right in the middle of that nonsense.” Takehiko grinned a bit at her before pulling Setsuna into his side and stepping to his left, getting her out of the way of someone rushing by from behind them. “Well that was a bit rude. Why just keep going so quick when the sidewalk is so filled up?” He looked down to Setsuna. Now why was she embarrassed? This was about the same as when she hugged his arm earlier. Ah, maybe that was the difference. She’d chosen to do that, and this was just sprung on her. “You getting hungry? I could probably eat.”

Grumbling a bit before pushing herself free from his hold, Setsuna shook her head. “I don’t want to have too much in one day. I already had lunch before I saw you and my parents like it when we have dinner together. Thanks, though!”

The pair separated after sharing contact information, though Takehiko did keep an eye on Setsuna’s butt as she left. Man, there were so many good looking women going into heroics… maybe he should aim for U.A.U. after Lydian? That would probably work out well. Though he did have a few other ideas, curious how well Todai would go once he was done being a Kamen Rider. Though hopefully his life wouldn’t be too filled with danger as he went through school with Section 2 helping him along the way.

He wondered what that Tsukuyomi was doing right now? The future that was seen was about eight years in the future now, wasn’t it? That would be a tough situation to deal with.

…

Genjuro hummed as he put down his pencil. “Well, this is quite the plan, young man. Tell me, why would this be the way you think it should be done?”

Waving a hand at himself, the man sitting opposite the tanned man gave a little smile. “Because it brought me about. There are a few things going further that I kept to myself, since I’d rather you not know everything and despite how things played out, the end results were fairly pleasant.” He pat the belt that sat on the desk. “If nothing else, this particular item I think you should keep in reserve. This is the second Ziku Driver I ever wore, and having it constructed took far too long. When the shit hits the fan, you will want the power of Kamen Rider Zi-O, not just what he’ll be able to do with the Ridewatches on his own. My own.” Takehiko laughed a little to himself, stroking his slight goatee. “Time travel is weird. And I’ll be going back to my own timeline in a bit.” He stood up from the chair, now able to look Genjuro in the eye as the Commander of Section 2 rose as well. “I doubt anything will have changed in it, but I may occasionally take a look back here now that I know what this one feels like. Have a good day, Genjuro.

“…oh, also. Stay away from the spicy sausages. Heartburn is a hell of a way to go.”

The tanned man glanced at the mini fridge in his office as his guest disappeared with a louder tick of the clock than the one just above said coldbox. "Hm. That's a shame."

Reaching under his desk, he hit a button which caused a little box to open up on top. Genjuro read through the papers which outlined a training program for Takehiko, based on how he'd started at college and given a slight readjustment because 'I can carry a person just fine, but just under specific circumstances.' What those were, the man hadn't felt like sharing with words. Just curled his arms slightly as he spoke, as if to princess carry someone.

As he finished reading a page and deemed it was unnecessary, Genjuro placed the paper in the box and the smell of burned contents filled his office for a bit. He probably used this little addition a bit too freely, but it wasn't his fault he and his predecessor and his brother all believed some things shouldn't be reconstructed after being seen by any measure. Burning the material it was on tended to be the most assured method available.

…Genjuro did tear one page in a specific manner, keeping the slight bit of info that had been let slip as he tossed the rest of it into the laser's detection zone. "How does he know Chris-kun? I haven't seen her since she disappeared en route back to Japan."

Rubbing his chin, the red-maned man thought over the mystery presented to him by his newest project's future self. "And what is Ichaival?"

…

Takehiko walked up to the house, reading through a letter while the rest of the mail was kept under his arm. This was a good thing to learn about, he learns as he moves to open the door. Or would have, as if he didn’t run into the door head first. Shaking his head some, the young man rubbed his temple before unlocking the door. On the other side was a concerned looking Hibiki. “Are you okay, Takehiko?”

He nodded as he took off his shoes. “Yeah. I’m good.” He set down most of the mail on the table, since it was junk or for his mom. “Mom! Your sister wants to come over for summer. It was a letter this time.” That got the orange-eyed girl to look at him curiously. “Well, my aunt has some odd ways to tell us her plans, usually. Last time it was this weird singing card, didn’t even have a hologram. Just, a little singing speaker set to play the same thing when it was opened.” Ah, that was a good time. How was Ne-chan these days? “We haven't seen them in a while. If I remember right… my cousin is set to enter her third year at U.A.U. She'll probably be telling us all about her time working at Ryukyu's agency.”

Junichiro gave a short chuckle at that. “Now that's a bit silly. Nejire-chan isn't old enough to be in college yet, Takehiko-kun!”

He nodded. “Sure, if she applied now. But she was there when it started the transition into a college, Uncle. She and the other students there at the time have gotten some different education than most, since they're staying for a bit longer than four years like your average college.” Takehiko tilted his head in thought. “I wonder what the standard for a Pro Hero college is gonna be? U.A. hasn't disclosed that, I don't think.”

Hibiki shrugged. “Dunno. Heck, I don't even know what I'm doing after Lydian yet… D-do you think they'll still want me?”

Before the girl could work herself up into a frenzy, Takehiko booped her nose. Making a silly noise in surprise, she brought her hands up to guard the touched skin. He gave her a light grin. “I'm sure they do. It won't be hard at all to tell them what's happened, if you want.”

Grumbling a bit at his logic bringing her back to normal, Hibiki let out a little sigh. After a moment, Junichiro asked how her visit to the Kohinatas went. Takehiko got to see a glimpse of the pure sunshine streaming out from her at the mere mention of Miku.

If these two weren’t in love somehow, he’d eat his shoes.

Takehiko opened the front door, announcing his return. His mom gave a hearty reply, and there were a few soft steps before a girl came into view. “Welcome, Takehiko-kun. Hm? Who’s this?” Hibiki looked at the slightly shorter man curiously. “Your mom didn’t say you’d have any visitors…”

“I invited myself over. Nice to meet you, little lady, you his sister? And which way to his parents?” Considering the varieties of hair colors that were natural these days, he could see how that question would make sense to be asked… why did Hibiki get so pale?

“N-no, sir, I’m just his friend, Hibiki. Um, Tamashiro-san is this way!” Hibiki turned to walk away from the entryway. Takehiko slipped his shoes off and offered Tsukasa the guest slippers. He declined, citing he’d be in and out. The pair of males entered the dining room, and Kazehime introduced herself to Tsukasa, who voiced his own name. “Wha–Kamen Rider Decade?! How’d you meet him, Takehiko-kun?!”

Kazehime looked a little confused, not as caught up on the Pro Heroes of the day. A moment’s thought brought the man’s armor back to mind though, and she gave a short gasp. “He didn’t do anything to get in trouble, did he, Kadoya-san?”

Tsukasa shook his head. “Not at all, Tamashiro-san. In fact, your son was in trouble as the victim when we met, so I went to help. While we were walking, your son told me about his Quirk. Quite the powerful thing, time manipulation. And you’d said something about being scouted by Genjuro as well, Tamashiro-kun. Mind explaining that one to me? The man doesn’t have the strictest standards, but it is a bit odd to hear you were chosen by him for anything.”

Takehiko shook his head. “I just stood my ground against a criminal who tried to mug me–I’m okay, mom, Hibiki, you can stay seated–and then he helped me talk to some police officers about how I was the aggrieved party there. We spoke a bit about…”

-----
“You can get me into Lydian Private Music Academy?!” Takehiko looked at the giant of a man with wide eyes. “The girls school? You can put me on that student roster, as I am?”

The tanned man nodded his head, mane of red hair bouncing lightly as he gave a light smile in amusement. “Indeed. I’m part of the school’s board of directors, and I hold quite a bit of sway. Not just your Quirk, but your attitude and way of handling that man, I believe we can mold that into a proper mentality which will see you far in life.” He gave a small grin as Takehiko let the deep voice rumble through his body. “And while Lydian is nice as is, there’s something to be said about shaking up the status quo every now and again. I’m curious how you’d do that, just by being there. And the actual interactions to come from you with the girls, as well.”

…for his own amusement? Well, Takehiko wouldn’t say no to getting into the same school as his friends if that was the reason. “You won’t see me at the school itself very often, even in official roles, but if you’re interested…”

“Hell yeah I am! But uh, don’t you normally need parental permission for this?”

Genjuro gave a short laugh and nod. “Normally. I’ll send you a packet for your parents’ perusal, but I have a feeling you’ve already made the real decision here. Ah, it seems you’re up now.” A police officer was walking over. “I’ll see you out once your statement is given.”

------

“...and then we left the police station, I started coming home and uh, ran into Kadoya-san.” Hibiki blinked as she listened to the short story. She’d be going to school with Takehiko? In Lydian? “Aaaand now we’re here.”

His mom frowned a little bit as she ran that through her mind. “They should have called me, if you were at a police station. Hm, I’ll need to talk to this Kazanari-san at some point.”

Tsukasa chuckled a bit. “So, how did you come across that robot, Tamashiro-kun? It doesn’t seem like the sort of thing that just walks around outside I-Island.”

“...so I told you my Quirk is time manipulation, right? Well…”

Kazehime slowly went pale as Takehiko talked about his short jaunt into the future. Hibiki’s jaw dropped as she listened to evidence of her friend having a far stronger Quirk than she’d ever thought. Tsukasa just nodded slowly while a smirk grew over his face. As the story finished, he took up the telling. “And then I saw you from my spot on a roof. After taking a short jaunt down, I saw you and your timeline stowaway. Heh, the Taros would have quite the questions for you. Luckily, I’m not them, or their disciples. I just have one question for you.” Tsukasa leaned forward, pointing a finger at Takehiko. “Can you do it again?”

“I doubt it.” Takehiko shook his head. “I can barely make the world slow down, mostly I snap between go and stop. No way I can do something like jumps in time without meaning to and having something weird happen.” He held up a hand, flexing a little as he recalled the feeling of opening a portal back then. “...and the only reason I knew ‘I can come home’ is because I know this time. This one fleeting point in space. I doubt I’d make it to any others, let alone the way the Denliner can.”

Hibiki held up a hand. “Neh, what’s the Denliner?”

Tsukasa chuckled as he stood up. “I’ll let you handle that. I’ve got a talk with Genjuro-san ahead of me. Have a nice night, you three.”

Kazehime walked the Destroyer of Worlds out of the house, while Takehiko talked to Hibiki about what the Denliner and its inhabitants were. After that wound down and his mom was back, he looked at the brunette curiously. “So… why are you here? I’m happy to have you, don’t doubt that, but if you could uh…”

That brought the mood down. Hibiki slumped, while his mom rubbed her back. “My house… m-mom and grandma, they…” Apparently his mom had already tried to listen to this, but if it worked out he couldn’t tell. “My house got… som-some kind of explosive got thrown through the window. I was in my room, but I heard it. Mom an-and grandma, they were… in the living room. Grandma got the worst of it. She’s in the hospital now. So we, we’re just… waiting to hear what’s going to happen next.”

“Oh, honey…!” Kazehime gave Hibiki a tight hug, which she was quite happy for he saw. Takehiko reached over to pat her shoulder. “You and your family can stay here as long as you all need. We’ll do our best to help as well.”

Takehiko nodded along with his mother’s words. “She’s right. We’re here for you, Hibiki.” Her orange eyes came up from Kazehime’s shoulder, tears slowly falling but still looking happy to hear that. “Why don’t you get out of this, and… mom, your clothes or mine?”

“Yours, dear.” The Tamashiro mother gave a short laugh as she pulled back from Hibiki. “I think anything I give you would be quite the dress indeed, Hibiki-chan.”

That got a short shake of her head. “I’ve never been the biggest fan of just dresses.”

“I’ll get you something clean. You go shower, and then, we eat.” He glanced over to the kitchen, where some covered plates sat. Likely Hibiki talking his mom into not eating yet… which was quite the showing of just how this, arson attack had affected her. Hibiki and not eating was quite rare indeed! “I’ll have my shower after that.”

Wiping her face some, Hibiki nodded before walking upstairs after Takehiko. She entered the bathroom that he normally had for himself, getting the tub ready. The shower area wasn’t large, but it was separated from the toilet at least. Glancing at the outline of the young man she could see, the thought of just… opening the door, inviting him in, did go through her mind. The part that surprised her was that unlike with most other males, the thought didn’t immediately make Hibiki feel like washing up. Not even because she was getting ready to shower and bathe! It just… wasn’t a horrible thing to imagine, not with Takehiko. The only real upside would be if Miku were here, but the Kohinata residence was much further out than his house and she wasn’t sure if staying on the street on her own for so long would’ve been a good idea. “And there’s your clothes for tonight, Hibiki. My mom will toss your clothes in the laundry machines in the morning, then we’ll call Miku and her parents so that they can help you get situated while waiting for… things to get repaired.”

“Ah! Miku already knows I’m here. I-I talked to her while waiting for you to get back.” Hibiki tilted her head as a thought passed through her head. “Why were you out anyway, Takehiko-kun?”

“I was looking for a place to practice my Quirk. And that just was how the night ended up.” He knocked on the dividing door. “You enjoy your bath, Hibiki. I’ll be getting my room ready for you, should be done before you’re out.”

Takehiko thought that would be all. And then Hibiki made a very confused noise, stuttering out something he could not understand. “...I’ll be on the couch, Hibiki. The guest bedroom isn’t ready, is all.”

“Oh… okay. That… mm.”

Interesting response. “See ya later, Hibiki.”

…

Walking out of the bathroom, Hibiki couldn’t help her blush as she walked down the hallway. There were only a few rooms up here discounting the one she’d just left, those being an office, a guest bedroom, and her destination, Takehiko’s room. Kazehime slept downstairs in the master bedroom, though how that design worked she wasn’t quite sure. The brunette gave the shirt Takehiko had left her a little tug. Sure, she wanted him to look at her. But did she want him to see everything? Especially since she didn’t have any other sets of underwear, so things were a little breezy…

“Takehiko-kun? Ar-are you in here?” She knocked on the closed door.

“Come on in, Hibiki.” Invitation given, she opened the door and glanced in. “Hope you don’t mind this.”

Shaking her head, Hibiki stepped in. “Huh. Not as much in here as I expected.” He gave her a bemused look. “Well, I expected you to have like… I dunno, some posters of Pro Heroes in bikinis or something. Stuff like our classmates have bragged about, y’know?”

He gave a short scoff. “Please. I can admire bodies without having to take excessive space on my wall, or just on my phone.” She gave a little laugh at that. “How about you, Hibiki? Any posters you want to hang up?”

She opened her mouth to say which. But then Hibiki remembered, just as she was framing part of the wall to show where it’d go in her room, why she was here at all. Before she could get too misty-eyed, the brunette squeaked as she was wrapped in a hug. Turning to bury her head in Takehiko’s chest, she let out a short breath. “...I’m okay now. I’m alright.” Breathing in his scent, she felt much better now. “Thank you, Takehiko. I do feel better now. So, so I have a few plans for new posters!”

Takehiko smiled a little as he and Hibiki began to workshop just what sort of posters she’d put up in her room, once it was back in working order. Or she just had a dorm room, seeing as they’d be going to Lydian together. The pair thought about planning for if they went into the same dorm room, but that seemed a bit of a stretch even for the two people Takehiko had met tonight to get done. Speaking of tonight, the brunette brought a hand up, stifling her yawn inside her mouth for a second before letting it loose into her palm. “Heh. I’ll see you in the morning, Hibiki. Sleep well.”

“Good night, Takehiko-kun! See ya in the mornin’!” As he left, he thought he heard her murmuring to herself, though what about was lost on the young man as he closed the door.

Walking downstairs, he blinked on seeing his mother moving about the kitchen. “Aren’t you up a bit late?”

Kazehime turned and gave him a smile. “Hello, honey! Already done having fun with Hibiki-chan?” Takehiko shrugged and moved to the couch where a blanket and pillow were already set up. “Her clothes are in the dryer, if you could text her that please. I’ll fold them, set them outside your room when they’re done.”

He gave a little huff. “Or… you can leave it in the laundry room, and she can come down to get them in the morning. You should sleep, mom. I’ll text Hibiki, and you can fold her clothes, but you don’t need to take ‘em upstairs. That’s just a bit of extra work for no reason.”

She gave a short chuckle at that. “Aww, thanks, honey. If you think that’s best.” Kazehime walked over to hug him, which Takehiko returned. He lifted her up a bit with a grin. His mom was about level with his shoulders, which let him lift her pretty easily since she was a bit light and Takehiko was strong enough to just carry her for a few seconds. The young man found himself being poked as Kazehime was put on her feet again. “Yooouuuu!”

He laughed a bit as she left for her bedroom with a little huff. “Love you too!” He grinned and turned to lay down. Then Takehiko got up and went about turning off the lights in the house, since that would be his major obstacle to falling asleep.

In doing so, he missed the soft footsteps that went back to his bedroom. His text to Hibiki about her clothes went unread that night, but Takehiko figured she’d just see it in the morning.

What surprised him, not long after he finally got comfortable on the couch which he just barely exceeded in length, was being shaken a bit at the shoulder. Opening his eyes slowly, he blinked at seeing two bright orange dots in the night. “...hello, Hibiki.”

“Can you come upstairs with me? I… I don’t want to be alone.”

Stifling a yawn, Takehiko nodded and slowly got up. He went up with her at a slug’s pace, seeing Hibiki set her folded clothes down on his desk. Must’ve done two things at once after going down. Well, he just slipped into his bed after her, and slipped an arm around the brunette who gave a happy sigh at being held securely as the pair went to sleep.

Come the morning, Takehiko grumbled as he tried to roll over to get away from the sunlight. Why was he bumping into something soft? The squeak made him think it was a hamster, but he didn’t have any pets… “Oh, hey Hibiki. …Hibiki?! Wait, what’s going on? Last I checked I was on the couch.”

Looking around as he sat up, Takehiko saw he was indeed in his bed with his friend, who was currently holding the blanket close to her bare shoulders. “Co-could you close you-r eyes? It was real warm with you here, so I uhm…” It didn’t take long before Takehiko was blocking his vision, laying down again as the brunette shuffled over him and got dressed in her own clothes again. “Okay, you’re good now, Takehiko. And, thank you for the clothes last night.”

Opening his eyes, they went a little wide before he covered his vision with an arm again. They may have been covered with a bra, but this was only the second time he’d seen bared breasts like that. “An-and that was my way of showing my appreciation! I’ll, um, see you downstairs!”

Only after the door closed did he let himself relax. “...that girl is going to be the death of me. Miku will definitely not let that slide if she hears of it.” Bringing his arm up, amber eyes looked at the ceiling for a moment. All he could see still was that slightly tanned chest… “That scar is real distinctive, huh.”

Walking down the stairs in his school uniform, he glanced away from Hibiki on seeing her, though she was a bit engrossed with the TV. As he came up behind the couch, Takehiko’s eyes widened as he saw why. “...that’s… extreme.”

“--and we are sad to see such a potentially bright star be snuffed out in this terrible arson attack. This leaves the living victims of the Zwei Wing Noise Attack from a year and a few months ago at a staggering four people. The perpetrators of Tachibana-san’s murder are being looked for by local police, while the victim’s mother and grandmother are being placed in protective custody. That is all this reporter may and will say on the subject, except that I hope those pe–no, those Villains are found as soon as possible!” The reporter looked particularly incensed as she finished the segment. It was a bit hard to follow that kind of thing up, but the weather girl tried her best.

“So… has Miku called?”

“No, not yet.” Hibiki gasped, and turned to Takehiko, grasping his arm. “You have to tell her I’m not dead! Miku’s going to be devastated, but she has to understand this wasn’t my idea! I didn’t… I wouldn’t…!”

Takehiko nodded and pat her shoulder. “I will. Don’t worry, Hibiki, I’ll go looking for her before classes start.” That calmed down the girl, who surprised no one when her stomach growled. “Let’s go get breakfast, eh?”

As they went to the table, Hibiki looked down and pulled her phone from a pocket. “Ah, mom! …she’s telling me not to contact anyone. And she’ll be by later. …at Takehiko-kun’s… Well, that’s one mystery solved.” She slumped a bit. “But, Miku…”

“Will hear it from me. Izuki-chan, I think we’ll end up telling her too.” Takehiko glanced at her phone, then brought his own out as he stood behind his chair. It took just a few keystrokes before he nodded. “Just told them to meet in the ZWAC room for lunch. Anythi–” He moved to a different app, and showed Hibiki he’d be taking a video of her before aiming the camera at her. “Anything you want to tell them?”

“It wasn’t my idea! I’m not dead, though there was a fire, and it was real sudden. Takehiko-kun’s house was just the closest one I could think of, and on the safest route, and, and the only one I had an address for that wasn’t Miku’s. If he wasn’t on the way to you, Miku, I would’ve gone to you first! But I… didn’t know if I’d make it that far.” She gave a little lift to her grey hood, covering her hair and head for a second. Then she brought it down and looked back up into the camera. “I, I spent the night at Takehiko-kun’s house, and until my mom picks me up, I’ll probably stay here. When I can, I’ll see you again! I don’t know when that’ll be, though…” While that could be where it ended, Hibiki perked up at Takehiko’s question that broke the silence. “Ah, yeah, going for okonomiyaki would be great!”

And THAT was where he ended the recording. “I don’t think it’d be appreciated if I sent this, so I’ll tell the others to keep their mouths empty. Now th–oof!” He chuckled before hugging Hibiki back. “You’re welcome. Now, let’s eat!”

Kazehime nodded as she put the last plate on the table, her own. “I hope you will, I put some heart into today’s breakfast! Ooooh, be sure to tell me what you like, Hibiki-chan. I’ll whip you up something nice for lunch.”

“Her response is ‘yes,’ mother.”

“Takehiko-kuuuunnnn!”

…

Walking into Korosanto Middle School, Takehiko looked around. He scowled a little as he looked around the people who were treating this day like it was better than normal. They were not the majority, but it was certainly annoying. And he couldn’t even talk to his friends for a bit, because the bell was about to ring since he was a little late. Still, he’d be remembering some of these faces. Or try to. They’d get their comeuppance… or he’d just forget them. That one sounded a bit more likely.

Stepping into his classroom, he gave a little smile. Good. He’d act like he was just glad no one had decided to be massive assholes and desecrate her desk today. Actually, no need to act that part, though he did stop by it for a couple seconds before taking his own seat. If Takehiko had looked up, he’d see that most of the class was looking at him sympathetically, though a couple people were not among that camp in the worst way while others were just ignoring him. But he didn’t, and he wouldn’t engage with them either considering these people had mostly gone with the flow. That made them not quite the sort of people he wanted to actually connect with, if their opinions were so easily changed just because of a couple things changing in the air. It was annoying.

As he made his way through the morning, Takehiko wondered how Izuki and Miku would take the whole government cover-up thing. Walking to the club room gave him no real answers, but he hoped the two wouldn’t be husks of themselves until he got to the news of Hibiki’s continued living. Opening the door, he saw that they’d beat him here, though while they had their lunches in front of them, neither was eating. “...you two sitting next to each other makes this much easier.”

Izuki looked up at him in confusion, while Miku turned lifeless eyes up. Takehiko closed the door and locked it, which managed to make the bow-wearing greenette perk up a little. They never locked the door, for anything! “Just, stay sitting.” Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Takehiko sat down across from them and set down his own lunch box. “So, what you saw on the news this morning? About Hibiki’s death? It isn’t true. And…”

“It wasn’t my idea!” came from his phone before he turned it around to show the pair of greenettes. Izuki’s eyes widened as she watched, while Miku’s hands came up to her mouth, though they didn’t do much to stifle just how happy she was to see her childhood friend was alive and well. It wasn’t the longest video, but the pair were immensely relieved to see that Hibiki was still alive. Takehiko smiled, a bit of tension leaving his own body. “...I don’t know when that’ll be though…”

“Ah, yeah, going for okonomiyaki would be great!” The girls laughed at the very Hibiki answer, though Miku looked like she wanted to ask so many questions.

“Her mom texted before I left for school, telling her not to contact anyone. But she didn’t say anything about ME not telling anyone. As such…” Takehiko gave them a light smile before opening his lunch box. “C’mon, we have a bit of lunch break yet and full meals to eat.” He answered the few questions of Miku’s that he could as they ate, covering his mouth to try and stay polite even as he talked with a full mouth. Though when sleeping arrangements came up, he paused for a moment before answering that one. “Well, Hibiki slept in my bed. I had the couch. Her and my mom are probably setting up the guest bedroom if Tachibana-san isn’t able to come by for some reason.”

Miku stiffened at that but forced herself to relax. It was only Takehiko’s bed, and he wasn’t in it. Nothing happened… Nothing happened. They’d never do anything, right? Though why there was such a fuzzy feeling in her gut was a little confusing.

Izuki coughed a little as she ate a bit too fast. Miku reached over, patting her back. Takehiko chuckled a bit, and smiled at the girls. It looked like things were going well so far. He bet things would work out pretty nicely. Oh, right. Sending a quick text to his mom, he wondered if these two would want to hear… well, yes, he bet so. But was he allowed to tell? That part, Takehiko didn’t think so. He’d wait and see what Kazanari-san and Kadoya-san decided on first. If there was an allowance to tell his friends, that was when he’d see the reactions.

…

Walking out the school gate, Takehiko talked to Izuki and Miku about a few things that had come up in the news besides Hibiki’s legal death. He glanced forward, and quirked an eyebrow. The greenettes turned to see what had stalled his answer to a question he hadn’t heard as they kept moving, and saw that there was a small crowd of people in front of the gates. He was taller than either of them and most of their classmates, so while the girls saw just a crush of bodies, he was treated to the sight of news vans and the tops of cameras. Some tentacles unfurled on the other side of the crowd, lifting up a few cameras in a display that he was fairly sure broke some laws about Quirk use. Glancing to Miku had him see that she was holding her phone up to her ear. “Campus or local?”

“Local. …hello! I’m a student at Korosanto Middle School, and I’m curious if the tentacles holding cameras I’m seeing are allowed to be here. Mm, tentacles, like an octopus’s. Yes, I can take this phone over to them.” Miku glanced at Takehiko, and he nodded. Izuki firmed up her resolve, nodding to Miku determinedly which helped the slimmer girl more than she’d admit. As they walked over, she kept up a running commentary of what she was seeing. Very soon, it seemed someone had spotted and recognized Takehiko because there was one camera aimed right at him while the rest of the tentacles just bobbed around, and a hole was starting to form in the crowd of students. As they got closer, they saw the adults, the reporters who should know better about this. “Here they are. I’ll put you on speaker phone.”

“Hello, Mr. Tamashiro! Would you answe–”

The reporter paused at that. “Uh. Who’s this?”

“I’m Officer Tamakawa, pleased to meetcha! So if you could stop harassing these students before the squad cars arrive, that’d be appreciated.” Miku gave a little smile at the man as the officer spoke.

“Wha–squad car?! Why are you sending one of those here?!” Takehiko was curious himself.

“Well, I have here a note on my desk about you. Says you shouldn’t be within two hundred feet of a school. Are you wearing your tracker anklet?” Takehiko looked down at the man’s feet. Miku kept her own eyes on Geneiro’s face, which was quite pale right now. After her friend held up a thumb down, she said he was not. “In that case, Mr. Geneiro, you’ve caused more reasons for us to send a squad car. If you don’t get in it, we’ll be putting out an APB about you.”

Takehiko watched the reporter start to back up while the tentacles and cameras and everything were going back into the van. Miku reported that the reporter was heading out. “Annnnd heeee’ssss gone. Thank you, Officer Tamakawa.” Ending the call, she looked around. Then she felt Izuki press up into her back, which made sense considering the other students were looking at her with some manner of annoyance, some angry, mostly amused considering the reason the reporter and cameras left. “...if you want, I can smack you all around. Hibiki isn’t here to hold me back, after all.”

As some of the athletes remembered what Miku used to be like, they took a few steps away from the gate. A few others did so just because they were behind or around an athlete. Takehiko started to head out again, this time with Miku in front while Izuki tried to stay right behind the bow wearer. Once they were outside the school gate, the trio made their way to Takehiko’s house. The train ride had him wrapping the two greenettes in a hug, and if he wasn’t reading posture wrong, Miku was more jealous of Izuki’s figure than she was against Takehiko holding her. If at all, on that front. Now what would cause her to be… eh, well, even if she did have a bit of a pudge, Izuki was someone that had a few things the other girls would be jealous of. She was also an odd mix of easily intimidated and determined, he’d noted over the last year and change.

Unlocking her Quirk, or awakening it or however that worked, in the middle of the school year hadn’t really changed much but Izuki had been working on the knowledge she was Quirkless for so long because of that silly toe thing he gave her some slack. She was starting to slim down and bulk up, but in the winter uniforms it was hard to see that besides her toned thighs. They were a bit firmer than Miku’s and it was a bit of an experiment he wanted to run, who had the better lap pillow? It was not one he could do at all soon though. How do you slide in a request to lay on a lap when you’re one guy in a room of girls, and not look creepy?

So he didn’t, and that had made this whole thing far easier to live with. Though, part of Takehiko did wonder. Would they give such powerfully negative responses? It was something he was so curious about… but there were other times to ask. At the moment, he just turned down a street to enter the train station with his two friends. Itsuka was stuck in her club, but that was fine with the two greenettes. She was more his friend than theirs, which made some sense even if he wished they got along better. But there were just some things they didn’t agree on, even beyond the fact Tsubasa Kazanari was still a great singer even while being a solo act.

As Takehiko stepped into the train car, he glanced around. “Huh. Pretty empty at this time of day.” He moved to grab hold of a hanging grip, and checked his phone as he watched Izuki and Miku sit in front of him. Unfortunately, the car started to fill up. It seems they were at the front of the crowd. Just before the doors closed, Miku stood up and offered her seat to an elderly woman who thanked her for it. Izuki watched and bit her lip as the slimmer girl moved in close to Takehiko out of habit. As the woman starts to move to sit, she finds that seat taken by a man in a suit who then just leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Which was quite obvious, since his eyes were very large and protruded out of his head towards the ceiling.

Izuki saw her excuse, and stood up to let the older woman have her seat. She hugged into Takehiko’s side, and smiled to herself. Miku gave a short laugh as she did the same, though did frown a little bit as she found herself on the armless side. And she came over first, too…

The ride went fairly smoothly as the trio just watched the scenery pass. They didn’t have much to talk about, seeing as Hibiki’s life was supposed to be kept a secret. Everything else they’d talked about in the school building would have just been rehashed if they did so now. Rather than do that, the students did something most people considered impossible for teenagers: they rode quietly until their destination was reached.

Entering the house, Takehiko heard his mom answer his call. "I also brought a couple strangers over, they won't take the fridge."

Miku gave a huff, lightly punching his shoulder as she and Izuki took their shoes off. "Rude. Why would we want the fridge when you have a perfectly serviceable TV to take?"

A younger voice than his mother's made a confused sound before feet padded on the floor. Peeking her head around the corner, Hibiki's orange eyes gained far more life to them than there had been all day. "Miku!"

Izuki laughed a little, seeing the human missile send her fellow greenette to the floor. Takehiko gave a short sorry look to her, but she waved it off. The pair had been friends far longer than she'd been part of the group, seeing as Miku had brought her in only via Zwei Wing talks at first. To the young man's pleasure, Hibiki started babbling about this and that as they all entered the living room. He broke off to give his mom a quick hug, who relaxed into him. "Not used to feeding a black hole?"

"Where does she keep it all…" Kazehime shook her head a bit before pulling back. "Your uncle will be popping by in a few days. His clock shop was doing well enough he could get by but the rent shot up recently."

Takehiko whistled at that. Kyujigojido had been Uncle Junichiro's baby since well before he was born! "That's a shame. What're we doing to help?"

His mom smiled at hearing that. She'd definitely raised her son right, considering the horror stories she heard from Inko's friend sometimes. "He'll be in the guest bedroom for a bit, but I imagine Hibiki-chan will be back with her mother by then. She's supposed to show up soon as well."

Nodding, he glanced over to his friends who were all hugging each other, though he was fairly sure he knew who the center was today. "Mm. Should I hit the store for tonight, or?"

"I think we'll get by for tonight. …if your friends don't stay over, that is." Kazehime gave a slight shudder at the thought of feeding some normal stomachs on top of Hibiki. At least her brother-in-law would be able to handle some cooking while he was here, his skills were wonderful to watch. And taste. All without a Quirk to enhance it, too.

…

Takehiko bid Miku a good night as she headed onto the train. He watched the train pull away before turning to Izuki. “And now to deposit you at your home.”

She gave a little chuckle at that, the freckled girl smiling up at him. “Thanks, Takehiko-kun. Heh, I’m still a little surprised that I can talk with a boy so easily.”

He held the station door open for her before asking about that. “You’re definitely less shy around me than you used to be. Why were you so skittish, if I may?”

Izuki frowned a little bit at that thought. “...well, truth be told… I was like that for most of my life. I went to Aldera district schools for a while, and my… former best friend, he was… abrasive.” She swung her bag back and forth a little as they walked. “I used to think the two of us would be friends forever, but what really happened was he became…” It was odd, seeing that face which usually was so happy, express something not positive.  But there it was, Izuki not just frowning but looking sad. “He became my first bully, over my Quirklessness. While I was in elementary school, it was the worst. I transferred to Korosanto in the middle of my first year of middle school, since mom heard… Well, the police were involved. After that, I met Miku when she noticed I was wearing some Zwei Wing headphones. We’ve been friends since that.”

Takehiko nodded as he thought on how that might have come about. “...surprised you aren’t trying to play it off like you’re male or something.”

She gave a little laugh at that. “I tried for a bit. But it wasn’t quite as easy as I’d thought, especially when Bakugo’s new friends learned I’m Quirkless. Since the transfer though, everyone has been much nicer at Korosanto.” Izuki’s smile lost the strain as she began to talk about how things went during the rest of her first year. “And then we started the second year with you, Takehiko-kun! And things are just getting better and better.”

That brought a laugh from him. Indeed they were! Even with Hibiki’s legal death… overall, the world would get better. And they’d all help it along, somehow.

He paused, feeling like… ah. The world was still. Looking around, Takehiko found the reason for it as his nose brushed against a bullet that even in stopped time broke the skin as he recognized it. Why was this here? Well, he needed to move himself and Izuki now. Gently getting his friend out of the bullet’s line, Takehiko looked around. No obvious discharge area, even in a place like this. Actually, now he was looking at it in detail… what kind of material was this made of? Hard and sharp enough to hurt him even while stilled like this, but the actual composition looked way different than anything he’d ever seen bullets made of in movies or TV.

Well, as it impacted the ground and caused a small explosion of gravel, Takehiko kept his eyes open. He followed the trajectory, but the direction put buildings in the way right now. Was it such a small window that whoever this wa–”Uwaah! What was that?!” Oh, right. Izuki needed to be protected too. “Ta-t-t-Takehiko-kun, what was that? The ground just went boom but it didn’t go very far!”

…huh. Even after such a long time, no secondary attempts? “We need to get going, Izuki. Otherwise, we might die here.”

She looked at him with wide eyes before taking his hand. Izuki and Takehiko started to run, though not towards her apartment building. Not his house either, though he wouldn’t be surprised if whoever this was that was shooting at them did know where he lived. For now though, he had to get them away from this sniper. Wherever that… Takehiko glanced to his left, frowning. He didn’t need to stop time this time, but it felt like he was in danger from that way anyway. What sort of place was this for firing on–where was everyone else, actually?! Why was it just the two of them? What happened to make this place so empty of anyone else? It was honestly a little creepy.

Ah, there comes another shot. Takehiko stopped time and realized that the shots did have sounds accompanying them. But it was not one he heard very easily, seeing as the bullets traveled quite a ways and he didn’t have enhanced hearing at all, so it was just something that barely reached his ear. He brought his phone out of his pocket and moved Izuki ahead of the bullet before starting time up again. Takehiko unlocked it and moved a few steps forward. He moved his friend to a spot where he could tell there wasn’t a way to shoot her down. “Come on, come on, pick up… stay right there, Izuki.”

The young woman looked at him with deep concern, and it wasn’t until he saw that the next bullet went right for his chest that he felt okay with his next course of action. Stepping around it, he crouched down as time started up again. “I’m going to find out if I can get to this sniper somehow. Or just find a spot where it isn’t. You need to get out of here, get home. You–you aren’t the target, Izuki.”

As much as he wanted to tell her that things would work out if they stayed together… there was no good way to say that it would. So he needed to get away and keep her safe. It was a good thing he’d recently gotten control of his Quirk again, otherwise this story would have a very different ending. As he moved around an empty bus stop and hoped that would give him a moments’ rest, Takehiko grinned. “Hi, Tsukasa-san? This i–is Takehiko Tamashiro. I’m the guy that impressed Kadoya-san, came out of a time portal with a robot? …why would I make that up?! That doesn’t make sense!” Growling a bit as he moved a bit to dodge around a bullet coming out of the bus stop’s back. Thankfully, time stopping didn’t cut the call out if he stopped holding the phone for the instant it took to change the world. “Look, lady, just get me Kamen Rider Decade! I’m being shot at, and the police aren’t likely to get to a sniper as quickly as him!” He stopped time and rolled his eyes before moving away from the bullet which was far too close to his arm for comfort. “Bitch, if I had the ability to tell a local Pro Hero about this… but there’s literally NO ONE HERE!”

Takehiko cleared his throat and grabbed his phone out of the air before returning to normal time. “Ma’am, there is no one here for me to tell that too. Or even to interact with, because this entire place is just empty of people. Yeah, makes no sense to me either, but that’s the case!” …this next bullet was taking a while. He peeked out from behind the bus stop’s advertisSHIT “...did they plan on this, or were they just waiting for me? Well, time to find another hiding spot.”

Thankfully for his continued living, Takehiko heard an Aurora Curtain open up. Walking through it was his savior, and he grinned a little at seeing the man… and then Takehiko skipped through frozen time to stand behind him. “Hey. Seems like you’re in a pickle. What kind of shots ar–whoa!”

The ground not far from them exploded as a bullet zipped through an Aurora Curtain. “...I’ll be right back.”

Takehiko let out a breath of relief after Tsukasa left, and stopped time again. He looked around. No, Izuki had not moved from that spot. Well… he’d give her this, it was a pretty reasonable thing to stay put for. Now he just needed to go scold her for doing so. Maybe not too harshly, considering she was on her phone with hopefully police. Well, that would be learned in a few seconds. He let time go normally, let Tsukasa do his thing as he walked over to the greenette. “...I’m on hold, Takehiko-kun.”

“With?”

“The nearest police station.”

“Okay. Then I won’t have to give you a lecture about being stupid.” He poked her freckled cheek, earning a light grunt from Izuki. “Just reckless.”

She gave a little laugh, grinning up at Takehiko. Dammit, why was she so cute?!

This is the first chapter of Kamen Rider Hiiro Time. It is the only one that will be public for everyone to read straight off. Future chapters will be behind the subscription wall for at most three days before being posted to AO3 and being made visible to everyone here.

----------------------

Walking along the river with his Ridewatch being tossed up and down, the Future King of Japan wondered what would be waiting for him at home. He was looking forward to seeing how his women had gotten on. Not to mention teaching the newest ones his favorite methods of dress and foods. He’d need to check in with Rashin, see how his political campaign was going as well. That would set the schedule for the next few days. After all, once he was Prime Minister, he’d be able to rename the office to King for a bit. Or maybe he could marry into the Imperial Family… no. It was too late for that. The chance had never shown itself while he was growing up, so he’d likely need to push his children into it. That was an interesting thought.

For now, he would just enjoy life as it went. He had plenty of women to enjoy, some new ones to break in, and politics to wade through. Mm, life was looking good these days. He grinned a little bit as he walked to the compound which had once belonged to his first wife’s grandparents. Who knew the perks of marrying the Tokage heiress would have been this lucrative? Not to mention the Yaoyorozu heiress or head of the Kazanari clan, on top of some others who were not as politically or monetarily connected, at least not when he’d met them. Glancing up, he gave a little smirk as a green streak came flying in. “Oh good, she’ll be having dinner with us tonight. Too many without her. Hm… Wonder what it’ll be like to have her back in the bedroom?”

Chuckling to himself and stroking his goatee, he closed the wooden gate behind him. The plaque atop the enclosure said ‘Tamashiro’, a name that before his time as a Rider, no one knew. Well, outside a few circles, at least…

-------

Stretching out his arms, Takehiko Tamashiro walked into the auditorium of Korosanto Middle School. It was the first day of his second year here, which would lead to a fine time for most everyone in attendance. He was wondering what club he’d be able to join, seeing as he’d been kicked out of the literature club. His one friend was still in the mixed martial arts club, though he was curious what would happen the next time they met up at his home. Ah well.

At the moment though, Takehiko sat in his seat and watched as the student council president did his best to not stutter through the script. Did he not practice this sort of thing? That was kinda what he was expected to do after the previous one left in the middle of January. Shame her area got hit by that rampaging monster, but the Heroes kept it from becoming a desolate town. …just a very heavily damaged one.

What Takehiko wished he could do, listening to the speech come to an end after a bit too long and the principal replacing the student council’s replacement head to give his own speech… was use your Quirk to the same level you once did. But he didn’t know what was keeping it to just a bit of ‘TV’ static around his limbs for the last six years.

Curled up on a street corner, next to his still mother, a little boy of seven cried as the world stayed still. Nothing moved, and no one breathed, except him. Eventually, he cried himself to sleep… and woke up back at home, everything back to normal as he did. Except for his skills.

Not a damn clue. It was a bit annoying. Well, for now, he would just be looking for something to do while waiting for classes to start up. For a few minutes, that was checking the news on his phone. Takehiko didn’t see anything really gripping, though the fact that a few Kamen Riders had teamed up with Section 2 to get rid of a mix of Noise and monsters was interesting. What made the Noise not go for the monsters? Those demons were supposed to be equal opportunity life ruiners after all. But if the Kamen Riders were able to help with them, that was good news! Meant more than one group could deal with that group of steadily increasing threats. Well, if you could call Section 2 ‘a group’. Their only real contribution to life was–“Hey, Takehiko-kun. What’s up?”

He looked up from his phone, and smiled at the redhead that walked over. Seemed she was starting to grow her hair out, since he didn’t remember it being able to enter a ponytail last month. “Hey, Itsuka-chan. Not much. There’s talk about what the next Rider might be themed around, but no one’s got anything concrete yet.”

She hummed. “Well, so long as you don’t get stuck in there.” The mixed martial artist leaned on the wall next to her taller friend. “I’ve been thinking about where I want to go to high school.”

“Wasn’t that going to be U.A.? With your skills complemented by your personality and Quirk, I can see that working out well.” Takehiko was unfortunately not sure if he’d be able to get into the gen. ed. or business courses there. It was a bit of a shame Japan’s premier Hero school didn’t have a political course though.

“You haven’t heard? U.A. is being reworked into a college-level school only… starting next year.” Itsuka gave a huff. “The students currently enrolled will get to finish out their schooling, with a bit more coming up, but it is a bit weird that they’re only announcing this now.”

Huh. So maybe Takehiko could go there, just not immediately. “Well, what’s your second pick?”

She looked a little embarrassed. “...Lydian…”

That got a blink from him. “The music school? Do they even have a sports team?”

Itsuka gave a short sigh. “Not the way I’d like it, but I’ll take triathlons over nothing. And it’d be a good way to get a start on my stamina for actual Pro Hero work, y’know? And they already sent me an invitation letter, too.”

After a short chuckle, which earned a punch to his upper arm, Takehiko smiled at her. “Well, I hope you have a good time in Lydian. I… think I have a place picked out. But I don’t quite know if I have the grades for it.” He shrugged before nodding to himself. “But I’ll manage, you’ll see.”

She nodded at that. “Alright. Let me know when you come up with a place to go! I’ll help you study for wherever it is.” And with a girl like Itsuka, Takehiko knew she meant it, once he told her where he wanted to go, there’d be a spot in her schedule open for him. Well, that was the case anyway, but still. “Come on, let’s go see where our classes are.”

People were gathered around the holographic announcement boards, some looking in dismay, a few cheering, and most just moving along after checking. Takehiko and Itsuka were among that last crowd, though he was a little huffy. “Well, it makes sense. Still, not a fan of this.”

The redhead gave a quick laugh. “You’re silly. Still, I look forward to this year. We oughta have a lot of fun!” Itsuka grinned up at Takehiko, and glanced at the time. “Oh, I gotta get to my classroom if I wanna be on time. See you later!”

Waving to her, the boy wondered about that. Still, he turned and went to his own classroom.

…

Walking down a hallway, Takehiko wondered if this latest club would be open to letting him take part. Knocking on the door, he waited for an okay to enter before sliding the door open. “Hey. Is this the Zwei Wing appreciation club?”

The greenette who was running the club looked up, and smiled widely. “Hi! Yes it is, I’m Miku Kohinata. This is Izuki Midoriya.” The other greenette brought a hand up to wave at him. “I didn’t think we’d get any boys here.”

Takehiko introduced himself, leaving the door open until the slightly bustier Izuki said he could close it. “I mean, they’re an amazing Vigilante Hero duo with good songs, why wouldn’t I like them?” Miku gave an exasperated groan, while Izuki perked up. “Guessing this is something of a disagreement between you two?”

“They’re definitely a Hero duo! The masks they wear don’t fool me, they don’t do anything to their hair, and their voices are the same!” Izuki nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. “Especially since they sing in the same ways on stage and on the battlefield.”

Miku pouted at the other girl. “Those are two different groups of people and you know it!” She turned to point at the newly seated Takehiko. “And so do you! Tamashiro-san, how could you think Zwei Wing would ever go into fights against monsters, villains and Noise?!”

Takehiko tilted his head. “...well, they’re the only two Idols who do so in all of Japan. I’ve seen a few comments that basically echo Midoriya-san. And apparently America has something similar going on but no one has been able to get a good look at the fighters there, and even then those people aren’t consistently seen when the Noise show up.”

Miku grumbled as she looked away, fiddling with her phone as a Zwei Wing song started to play. Izuki just felt a bit of smug, letting it show for a moment as Takehiko chuckled. “So, do we have any other members, or is it just us three?”

That got Miku to perk up. “Ah, we do have a third girl, but she’s kinda a ghost member. Hibiki doesn’t quite get why I like Zwei Wing, she hasn’t been able to listen to them. It’s kinda silly, every time we try to listen for more than a few seconds, something comes up. Or dies. Like the internet connection, not…!” She waved her hands, stammering a bit as the slighter girl thought she stumbled over something.

Izuki just gave her an amused look while Takehiko wondered why that would prompt such a response. He hadn’t told anyone in this room about his dad, he was fairly sure. “Are there any rules about what we can and can’t talk about in here?”

That question quieted Miku and gave Izuki a moment’s pause. The girl wearing a bow at the back of her head shook her noggin. “No, there aren’t really. Just don’t talk bad about Zwei Wing without backing it up with praise of some kind!”

Laughing a bit at the stern nod from the club president, Takehiko grinned. “Sure. I think I can do that.”

The three now core members of the Zwei Wing Appreciation Club started to talk about their favorite songs, and bits of trivia. Takehiko found himself surprised to hear that Miku had been to a couple concerts already, he’d only seen a few clips here and there online. Izuki joined him in the jealousy of Miku's two tickets to an upcoming concert, but she admitted to being an All Might fangirl and the only reason she hadn’t started the latest iteration of the All Might Appreciation Club in Korosanto last year? “I’m not good with things like that. The papers and the recruitment and… mmmmh!”

This girl was precious and needed to be protected. Sadly, she was a bit too far to headpat, the urge was very strong to go over though. But Takehiko held back, it was just the first day he’d met them.

…

“And then I met Tachibana-san, and I swear to you, Kohinata-san immediately became eighty percent more shy. Like, this girl weaponized her ability to steer her friend around with words, it was wild!” Takehiko gushed a bit to Itsuka. They were in line for the train home, which was far less confining than the one to school. Depending on how many other people were here, they might even both be able to sit! As opposed to the way they’ve gone to school since partway through August last year. And given her club lasted a bit longer than his, he didn’t mind waiting at the front gates for Itsuka to leave Korosanto.

The redhead was amused by her friend’s new antics, but she also kept to herself the fact that it was not the best thing to happen to him, in her opinion. Why couldn’t Takehiko have new male friends? Was that so hard to ask, world? It would make life so much easier. “Sounds like you’re having fun. Why Zwei Wing? There’s a lot of other things I know you’re into.”

“Because that’s the one bit of fun I’ll allow myself while working to become King!”

As Takehiko posed a bit, a newly familiar voice spoke up. "Why do you want to be called Ou-sama, Tamashiro-kun?"

The pair turned to look behind them. Looking at them curiously was the broccoli-styled head of Izuki Midoriya. Well, partly. She had it in a ponytail a bit fluffier than Itsuka's short and spikier deal. "Midoriya-san, hello. This is Itsuka Kendo, my good friend. Itsuka, Izuki Midoriya-san, the vice president."

The two girls shared a bow in greeting, before all three looked curious about something. "To answer your question, Midoriya-san, I aim to become Prime Minister, and rename the position as King until I'm voted out!" Takehiko gave a self-assured nod of his head. "Only I'm allowed to hold such a prestigious title, even if I do have successors to the position of Prime Minister."

Itsuka gave a short giggle, having heard this more than once over the last year. Izuki nodded as she took in the info. "I see… Well, good luck! I just wonder why I haven't seen either of you here before."

Itsuka spoke up on that. "You probably have, but we just never saw each other. Rather, acknowledged each other. After all, if we're all in our own bubbles, why reach out to strangers?"

The greenette nodded, as that made perfect sense to her. "Well, while you're King, I'll, um, I'll be a great Hero for you!"

Takehiko gave her a smile at that, and Itsuka stiffened a bit. "You want to be a Hero too, Midoriya-san?"

The freckled girl gave a determined nod. "That's right! It's what I've dreamed of since I first knew what Heroes were, to become someone who could bring smiles to everyone! Like All Might." Itsuka felt her shoulders relax a little, though she did frown a little at the girl who looked like she had very noodly arms in the winter uniform’s sleeves. “And I might have a bit longer to join U.A. now, but I’ll get there one day!”

“Not if you have such weak limbs.” Izuki looked at Itsuka in confusion. “You haven’t trained a day in your life, have you?”

Takehiko hoped things didn’t get too crazy here. He glanced between the two, and then passed the girls. “Train’s coming.”

“How could you see if I’ve trained, Kendo-san?”

“Because I’ve never seen you in the MMA club, or a freestyle course, or in a gym. And sure, we might just go to different ones…” Itsuka flexed a leg under her skirt, emphasizing the moderately built up muscles she’d cultivated for the last few years. Then she walked onto the train along with Takehiko.

The door nearly closed before Izuki rushed into the car, looking mildly winded just by that short sprint in panic. “And you barely have any stamina for that? How do you think you’ll make it as a Pro Hero, will your Quirk carry you through the day?”

Izuki became a statue at that while Takehiko frowned a little. “Come on, Itsuka, that seems a bit harsh, doesn’t it?”

“If she wants to end up another addition to the statistics of dead bodies…”

Taking in a deep breath as the train started to move, Izuki grabbed a bar coming from the floor next to the door. “Just because you’re a martial artist doesn’t mean I can’t be a Hero, Kendo-san.”

The redhead looked at Izuki’s determined green eyes with her own blues, which shifted from stern pools of water to calmer waters. “Then why not join the MMA club with me? Or hit up a gym I know, I can get you started on a good workout routine.” Something had apparently caught Izuki off guard, though what that was Takehiko missed as the shocked greenette just looked at his friend. “Maybe a good diet too, so that you can have the energy for it all instead of just eating a bunch of junk food, y’know?”

There was something in there that Takehiko definitely missed, because all of a sudden Izuki wrapped her arms around her stomach. “Wha–I’m no–that’s not true!”

Itsuka gave a short giggle before holding a hand up. “Don’t worry, Midoriya-san. Everyone starts from somewhere. My own parents didn’t become martial artists until they were in college, but I’m sure they can help us come up with something for you anyway.”

Takehiko scratched his head. “Okay, what’s going on here? I’m a bit lost.”

“You don’t need to know!”

“That’s fine.”

Rude…

…

Walking into the Zwei Wing Appreciation Club room, Takehiko glanced around. “Hey there, Tachibana-san. How come we’re the only ones here?”

The brunette with ‘wings’ at the back of her head looked out the only window in the room. “Miku is helping the track team with some time trials, and Midoriya-san is doing some studying in the library. Wanna go join her?”

Nodding, the only male and the female ghost of the ZWAC got up to go. “...ehhhh.” Takehiko glanced down at her, looking at the girl with orange eyes. “You really are tall…”

He couldn’t help it. That just got a laugh out of Takehiko, who was head and shoulders above her. Their personal shoes didn’t change the difference, he’d imagine. “Or maybe you’re just short. Could go either way.”

Hibiki gave a short pout before glancing out a window at the barely visible sports field. “Well, I’m taller than Miku still, so I’ll take that.” She turned to look at Takehiko again. “Are you sure I’ll have fun at the Zwei Wing concert in a couple weeks? You and Midoriya-san are bigger fans than me… but Miku is going, too…”

The subtle implication of ‘maybe you should go’ wasn’t lost on Takehiko. “Well, the venue is close to my place, but I didn’t know tickets were even being sold. They’re already sold out, so don’t go skipping out on Kohinata-buchou just because you’re a bit apprehensive!” Takehiko opened his mouth to start doling out the knowledge of how Zwei Wing was an amazing band when he saw a teacher coming their way. He quieted down, lowering his head before the man passed them by.

Hibiki looked at the interaction and found herself utterly clueless. She had enough tact to wait until they’d turned a corner before saying anything. “What’s your problem with Nanbura-sensei?”

Takehiko scowled a bit. “That man doesn’t like that I’m effectively Quirkless.” He held a hand up, trying to activate his Quirk… to stop time don’t panic just stop time make something happen… “But this useless static doesn’t really count as what I’ve labeled my Quirk since childhood.”

“What’s that?” Hibiki looked at the ‘glitching’ parts of Takehiko curiously. Her own Quirk was a bit too aggressive for her tastes, but she also never intended to go into politics or anything like that, so it would probably find very little use in her day-to-day life.

“Time Manipulation. Sounds strong, right? ‘Cept since I was a kid, I’ve just… lost it.” Scowling at himself, the boy stopped trying to force something he couldn’t control and lowered his arms. “You tell Buchou we’d be in the library?”

Checking her text messages, Hibiki saw that she hadn’t, though it was a quick fix. She also checked her contacts before looking at Takehiko. “You want to swap Lemons? I’ve got Miku and Midoriya-san, but not you.”

Nodding, he brought out his own phone. It was a slightly older model, which turned the screen on a swivel to reveal a physical keyboard. When he wanted it to, anyway, he could still use it without rotating anything. To activate the camera though, he did make the phone click into its T-shaped configuration. Hibiki’s surprised face at suddenly seeing such an out of place design was captured in digital glory. “And now that’s my avatar for you until something better comes along.”

“...hey! That’s not nice, you’re supposed to say ‘say cheese’ or something before taking a picture!” She began a devastating counterattack: Five-pokes-a-second-in-annoyance! “Meanie… C’mon, let’s go find Midoriya-san!”

Takehiko nodded, though he did lag behind Hibiki for a moment. He had Itsuka since she was the one who’d introduced him to the app, Kohinata-san followed recently since she was the club president, and now Tachibana-san. He should probably add in Midoriya-san too, just to be sure nothing got lost if she had some privacy settings going on.

…huh. Tachibana-san had some nice legs. Takehiko resumed walking after her, curious what she’d be like in a few years. Though there was no reason to bring it up, they had plenty of time before something like that was really needing to be thought about. Heck, depending on how things went as they waited for middle school to end, he doubted things would really go a way which would see him having any cause to think about her any deeper than this.

Shaking out an arm, Takehiko turned into the library and saw that Midoriya-san was indeed sitting at what had become the normal table for her afterschool self-study. Considering she was looking into the history of various martial arts still, he wondered what sort of results she’d made in a week? Itsuka would likely enjoy the fruits of this, and help turn that into practical results quicker than Midoriya-san expected.

As it was, the only boy in the ZWAC glanced out the window. “Looks like Kohinata-san’s comin’ back in.”

Understandably, Hibiki was at the window quickly to look outside for her closest friend. She gave a fast wave and a grin before moving to sit down. “How’s the research going, Izuki-chan?”

The fluffier greenette looked up and gave a slight smile. “Pretty well. I think I’m ready to ask Kendo-san for some instructions. Probably not the best way to go about it since I’m not joining her MMA club, but I don’t want to… I don’t think I’d be able to handle the multiple reactions my teaching would bring about.”

Takehiko gave a little nod. He had been laughed out of Debate Club last year and while the others he’d tried weren’t nearly as bad, that one had left a mark. Becoming King was still his endgoal after all, but there were a few different obstacles in his path and not all of them were self-imposed. Hm, what had his cousin been up to? That would be a reunion worth having, especially since the two of them could spend some time going over some more concrete ideas for how to go about putting a crown on his head. Well, metaphorically, anyway. Wearing an actual crown would probably get him kicked out of office very quickly and while that wouldn’t be the worst thing, it would be quite the black mark on his record. He already had that to deal with given he was not well liked for his Quirk not matching up with what he’d labeled it years ago today.

Takehiko glanced up as Izuki opened her phone, wanting to finally show Hibiki just what she was missing with Zwei Wing and how going to that concert with Miku unknowing just how good the duo was was blasphemy of the highest order. The librarian gave a harsh shushing at the girl before she could get her phone open, cowing her back into her seat. He turned to give him a stink-eye, with the boy slicking back his eye-stalks smugly. Ugh. Given a bit of power over nothing and there’s already arrogance. “C’mon, let’s go somewhere else.”

The three girls and one boy all left the library, talking about this and that as they waited for Miku to arrive. They teased the brunette a bit about her seeming inability to learn about Zwei Wing so far. Hibiki slumped dramatically. “Ahhh, I must be currrrsed!”

She pouted as the others started laughing at that. Rude!

…

Walking up to a train station, Takehiko tilted his head as he saw a head of familiar hair. It was that day, wasn’t it? “Tachibana-san.” The girl jumped a bit at hearing her name, and turned around. “Where’s Kohinata-san?”

Hibiki gave a short laugh. “Well, Miku said she’d meet me at the concert, our houses aren’t in the same areas after all. I’ve just been following my phone for a bit.” She looked up at him quickly, eyes sparkling. “Say, would you come along with me, Takehiko-kun? I’d feel better if I went with a friend!”

Takehiko gave a little grin. “Sure! I’ve got no problem with that. Come on, let’s get going.” He didn’t have anything keeping him away from the venue… and it was his destination as well, since he’d likely have been able to hear the singing pretty well at some point. He was a bit jealous of Hibiki and Miku, but at least they’d have fun. “Also, you’re looking good today.”

She gave a short giggle at that, blushing a touch. “Awww, thanks! I think Miku will like it too.” Hibiki grinned as she did a short spin before hopping onto the train. Given there were a lot of other people clambering into the car, the small brunette hoped that she’d be alright on the way. What she hadn’t expected was Takehiko to wrap one arm around her back and pull her in close while his other grabbed a hanging handhold. “Uh, Takehiko-kun?”

“You wanna get squished by other people instead?” That was a good point.

Hibiki wrapped her arms around his chest, grinning a bit as the doors closed and the train’s announcements played. “Heheh. Izuki-chan and Itsuka-san would be jealous~”

He looked down. “Hm? Whawassat?” She shook her head into his chest, and he shrugged. If he’d learn it later, Takehiko could just ask again once they were between trains. Or just off trains, because they had a bit of a journey to do this afternoon. As they went, the pair talked about a few things here and there. Hibiki got them off the train in time once, while Takehiko was the one that knew the route without needing electronic guidance. It was nice to go with a friend. “Okay, there’s the stadium! So, where’s Kohinata-san?”

Frowning a bit as she glanced around, Hibiki hummed. “That’s a good question. Hang on a second.”

Takehiko listened to the two talk, or at least the brunette have a on–”EHHH?!” He jolted at the shocked scream she let out, as did a few others around them. Hibiki began to babble a little bit, but he understood some of it. “But Miku, you’re the entire reason I came here! …mmmh. Well, I hope your grandma feels better soon. I’ll see you later.” After sharing goodbyes, she ended the call and let out a sigh as her phone went back into a pocket. “I MUST be cursed, Takehiko-kun! Miku isn’t coming!”

That was certainly not good. “Well. At least we can both listen to the songs from afar?”

Hibiki looked at him curiously, and then it dawned on her what he meant. “Ahhh, eh heh. Well, uhm, actually… Miku gave me the tickets to get in the other day.” She brought a hand up to her chin, humming in thought. “Including her own, actually. Why would…”

The brunette took the tickets out of her purse and gave them a look. “...oh! This one has my name, but this one doesn’t have any, just general admission stuff.” Giving an excited little gasp, Hibiki turned to look at Takehiko. “You can come in with me! You’re a fan, so you can tell me stuff going on with Zwei Wing while we find our seats!”

It was hard to say no, even if Hibiki wasn’t asking with her shining orange eyes. Takehiko gave her a smile and nodded. “Sounds good! It’ll be my first time at a live myself, thank you, Tachib–Hibiki-chan.”

This time he understood what she was giggling about as they made another step forward in the line. “Yay! First names for all!” As the pair of them talked about what they had planned for the rest of the weekend, a thought occurred. “Why were you coming out in the first place, Takehiko-kun?”

He looked a little embarrassed at that question. Luckily, they were the next in line, so he brought Hibiki’s attention back to the front so she could get them in. The attendant’s teasing about them being boyfriend-girlfriend made her blush and giggle some more, while he just went a bit pink. As they entered the stadium, the pair grinned as they took in what was going on. At a stall, they picked up some free glow sticks, which Hibiki was a little confused about until Takehiko excitedly explained what was supposed to happen with them once the show started. “Well that’s neat. Now come on, tell me why you were going to the train station in the first place!”

Takehiko grumbled a bit, but glanced at the time on a big display that probably showed ads normally. “How about after the show? It’s starting in about ten minutes, and we want to get some good seats.” As they went, Takehiko did share a bit of trivia that he didn’t know if Hibiki knew or not. “Part of Zwei Wing’s appeal is that they don’t have any Quirks that helped boost them to the top of the charts. Heck, some would call it a big minus! Kanade is Quirkless, and Tsubasa’s Quirk is very stage unfriendly. She can make spiky bones appear out of her back, sometimes looking like wings and other times not, though they’re very small.” He gave a short snort. “Y’know, when she isn’t fighting in that blue spandex outfit with all the swords. She’s basically a whirling dervish of Noise death with those out.”

He quieted down as the lights dimmed. With a grin, he turned to the stage while Hibiki looked at her glow sticks. After they turned on by themselves, she gave a short laugh before looking up at the stage herself.

Orbital Beat starts the concert. It was an AMAZING song to go with! The lyrics, the dancing, not to mention the great timing with the stadium opening up!

Hibiki held up a hand, crying out her fun having as Takehiko just stood there in awe. As the setting sun illuminated them all, it was hard not to feel hyped up as Zwei Wing welcomed them to their concert, since they had quite the set for them all tonight.

As the pair of idols started their second song though, something else rang out. Takehiko looked over, not sure if he’d heard that right. His eyes widened and his heart felt like it stopped for a second as he realized what was happening. “Hibiki… th-the n-no-No…”

Screams began to sound all around them. And it wasn’t excited fans. No, these were people screaming in fear and terror just before they were turned into carbon. Takehiko grabbed Hibiki’s hand and pulled her out of her stupor, literally. They wouldn’t survive if they just stood there! 

Croitzal ronzell Gungnir zizzl

Or, uh, maybe they would, since Takehiko stopped just a few seconds after starting. Their section was cleared of Noise more because… well, they killed themselves on carbonizing a human. But the two singing warriors were certainly helping. Maybe. He glanced around, taking in Hibiki’s face for a moment. “...we’ll be okay. See? Zwei Wing are Heroes too, just not Villain fighters.”

Turning back to the front, he blinked and there was Kanade, spinning a giant spear to keep some Noise from hitting the pair of teens. A few bits of something flew by Takehiko, clipping his arms. He looked down on feeling something heavy, then back. “...HIBIKI!”

The next few minutes were a bit of a blur for him, as Takehiko knelt next to the girl heavily bleeding from her chest, trying to keep her blood in. Someone might have knelt next to him, but he wasn't sure even in recollection. He looked up on hearing something haunting though.

Power exploded off of Kanade Amou, and Takehiko quickly leaned over Hibiki to shield her from the dust that followed. This was not how the day was supposed to go at all! His head suddenly was hit by a splitting pain, even as in the background of the broken stadium, he heard a broken voice scream.

“KANADE!!!!”