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writingpaperghost · 3 years

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There is a Me Who Can Become Strong (Chapter 18)

Chapter 18: The Truth Exposed

Something kept secret spills out.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32857183/chapters/83985739

Saki stares at Taiga, sitting on the patient bed in his office. He hadn’t wanted to talk to her, but she wasn’t leaving until he did. Taking a page out of Nico’s book, as it were. She wasn’t sure why she thought it might work, but with Yuko cured and her finally having some time, she truly wanted to know what had happened. There was no reason to put it off any longer.

Finally, after a while of waiting, Taiga finally just grunts, “What do you want?”

“The truth,” Saki answered, “I want to know what really happened, not what Masamune told Haima. We both know that ‘fatal medical malpractice’ is a bullshit answer.”

It was clear that Taiga didn’t want to answer, but he also seemed to accept that she wasn’t leaving until he did. He sighed, “After Hiro's death, there was an investigation. I don’t know who or why anyone decided that it was necessary.” He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, “They deemed Hiro’s death as a failure on my part, that I didn’t defeat Graphite on purpose.”

“That’s stupid,” She shook her head, “You did more than most could have.”

“It’s what they decided,” He looked at her, “I didn’t tell you, because you would have stayed and tried to fight it. You had a goal, and I wasn’t going to interfere with that.”

Standing, Saki narrowed her eyes with a serious expression, “Taiga, I would have stayed because you didn’t deserve this,” She sighed, “My goal… I could have gotten it here, too. I didn’t have to leave for America.”

Taiga just looks away, then spins his chair around and turns his attention back to his computer, “Well it’s a waste of time, now. Don’t worry about me.”

She frowns, “Why shouldn’t I?” She asked, walking towards him. Gently, she places a hand on his shoulder, “Aren’t we friends, Taiga?”

“Why would anyone be friends with me? It’s not exactly like there’s much I can do to help you.” Taiga’s turns his head to look at her, over his shoulder, “Why waste your time when there are better options?”

“Because we are friends,” Saki insisted, more firmly. “Nothing, not Hiro’s death, not the loss of your license, not a Bugster, not anything of the kind will change that.”

With a scoff, Taiga attempts to push his chair out from the desk, only for Saki to stop him. She continues, “You shouldn’t have had to do that alone, six years ago,” There’s a hesitation in her voice, like she fears the results of going to this part of the conversation. “But you were dealing with that on your own and you did the best that you could. Maybe your best wasn’t enough, but that doesn’t matter. I wondered why you never talked about work, but I also hadn’t wanted to push you. When I returned here and learned what had happened, I was… I was upset you didn’t tell me. To some degree, I still am.”

“You would have come back here the first chance you got once you knew,” He noted, “I’d planned to tell you once I’d gotten ahold of the Gamer Driver and Bang Bang Shooting Gashat, but then Nico took off with them and I turned my attention to finding her.”

“I’d been hopeful,” Saki admitted, “That you might become Snipe again. I hadn’t learned what had happened to you until that day, when Haima explained to Emu why I was so confused by Nico.”

Removing her hand from his shoulder, Saki takes a few steps away and Taiga turns to face her. She sighs, “Regardless, I suppose, there isn’t much we can do about it.” As much as it truly pained her to admit it, “No longer having the ability to help isn’t terribly pleasant, is it?”

They both knew what she was talking about. Taiga both lost his license and his ability to be a Kamen Rider, thanks to Nico become Snipe. Saki had lost both Taddle Quest and DoReMiFa Beat the week before, when her and Nico tried to fight Gemn, when Yuko had been infected.

In response, Taiga nods, “It’s not,”

---

When Asuna tells Emu that they have a new case of Game Disease, he figured it would be like any other case. Yet once they arrive and see the patient, he immediately knows that’s not the case. Mostly because, they’ve never had someone get infected two separate times. The next part was because Kuroto and Mu stood there, Kuroto’s hand notably grasping Mu’s sleeve as he stood between Mu and Tsukuru. Mu was clearly uncomfortable, not unlike when they’d last saw him with Burgermon.

Moments after Asuna and Emu arrive, Nico arrives, joined by Saki and Taiga. Well, that explained where Saki had been for the past hour. At the sight of Tsukuru with Kuroto and Mu so close by, Nico huffs. Saki frowns slightly, while Taiga’s expression is in his usual scowl.

Kuroto, though, seemed delighted at the appearance of all the Riders, “Now that everyone’s here, it means my bait has worked,”

Glancing at Kuroto, Mu scowled, “Did you seriously infect Mr. Tsukuru just to use as bait?”

He’s ignored, Kuroto instead choosing to continue his train of thought, “Which means I can put the next step of my plan into motion.” He let go of Mu’s sleeve, prompting Mu to immediately take several large steps back and to the side, putting significant distance between himself and Kuroto. Using his now free hand, Kuroto takes out the Buggle Driver and the Dangerous Zombie Gashat.

Dangerous Zombie!

Buggle Up! Danger! Danger! (Genocide!) Death the crisis! Dangerous Zombie!

Preparing for the worst, Emu pulls out his Perfect Puzzle/Knockout Fighter Gashat, Nico pulling out Bang Bang Shooting and Drago Knight Hunter Z. Emu turns the knob to the Knockout Fighter side.

Knockout Fighter!

Bang Bang Shooting!

Drago Knight Hunter Z!

Dual Up! Explosion hit! Knockout Fighter!

Do-Do-Drago Kni-Kni-Kni-Knight! Dra! Dra! Drago Knight Hunter! Z!

The two were prepared to team up against Gemn, but after dodging out of the way of a few of their attacks, he turns his attention to Tsukuru. Mu’s eyes widened, seemingly realizing what Kuroto was about to do next.

“You,” Gemn began, “You’ll never make a good game, so don’t even bother!”

Mu ran up to Kuroto and grabbed his arm, “Kuroto! What the hell are you doing!?”

Kuroto just threw him off his arm, sending Mu to the ground. At Kuroto’s words, Tsukuru glitched and Motors emerged, quickly driving off. Emu grabs a speed power up and attempts to race after Motors, leaving Nico to deal with Gemn on her own.

Despite the speed power up, Emu’s unable to keep up. Clearly raising his level has made Motors too fast to catch on his own. And without Kiriya… It was going to be a lot harder.

Nico slots the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat into her Gashacon Magnum, taking aim at Gemn.

Drago Knight Critical Strike!

Though the attack hit Gemn and seemed to do significant damage, Gemn just convulsed for a moment, then shrugged it off. Right, the whole, die and come back, thing.

He wasted no time in taking the Giri Giri Chambara Gashat and placing it into the Gashacon Sparrow.

Giri Giri Critical Finish!

Nico didn’t have a chance to try to dodge, being hit with the attack. She’s knocked to the ground and Gemn stalks over, picking up the three Gashats that had clattered down. He glances at Emu, before removing his Gashat from his Driver. Kuroto gives Emu a sick smile, “Oh Para-DX,” He said, “I’ll soon be able to make a new Gashat to defeat you.”

Saki and Taiga rush to Nico’s side while Kuroto begins to walk away. He approaches Mu, who was still on the ground, having watched the fight in a daze. Kuroto holds his hand out, to help Mu up, “Come on, Ex-Aid, we have places to be.”

His words snap Mu out of his daze, though he stares at Kuroto’s hand for a moment. Mu shakes his head and ignores the hand, instead pushing himself up off the ground. As Kuroto shrugged and began to walk away, Mu hesitated, glancing back at the Riders and Tsukuru, then shook his head and jogged to catch up with Kuroto.

---

With trepidation, Mu watches as Kuroto continues work on his latest Gashat, repeating the process he’d used on Taddle Quest and doing it with Bang Bang Shooting. Mu would ask to be sure, but really hadn’t cared enough, more distracted by Kuroto’s odd behavior. Ever since the day they’d fought Burgermon, Kuroto had been acting weird. Colder and more distant.

It hurt, but it also scared Mu. The only time he’d ever seen Kuroto act anything like this had been six years ago… and even then, it was more withdrawn than cold and uncaring, like right now.

He’d mentioned it to Graphite, who also seemed concerned. But Graphite also told him that he should just be careful and keep an eye out. It wasn’t exactly like Mu could get away from Kuroto very easily. Not that Mu ever really wanted to leave Kuroto anyway, he’d never want to leave his big bro. But with Kuroto acting the way he is, Mu will admit he’s a bit worried.

Triumphantly, Kuroto holds up the newly finished Gashat, “With this,” He said, “We’ll certainly be able to complete Chronicle.”

“That’s good,” Mu says, choosing to keep his attention on his game. On screen, Mighty jumps onto a platform and whacks a grunt with his hammer. “The sooner we complete the game, the sooner it can be played, and it can change everything.”

“Of course,” Kuroto agreed, “I think I’ll have to show them my new Gashat, soon.”

Biting his lip, Mu asks, “What about Mighty Brothers XX?”

Pursing his lips, Kuroto fished the Gashat out of his desk, “Due to your… Bugster, I wasn’t able to change the strange behavior of player two.” Mu nods, “But I was able to stop the effects it has on you. A side effect of where I initially got the data from. Nothing someone as great as me can’t fix.”

Taking the Gashat, Mu eyes it warily before nodding, “Okay.”

---

Emu rushes to Gemn Corp, quickly transforming into Level 3 with Shakariki Sports and blocks Motors’ attack, protecting two employees. The CR knows that Motors is attacking here because it would stress Tsukuru. Although, Motors quickly became the least of his worries.

Kuroto appears from around a wall, Mu trailing behind him. He’s holding a Gashat, like the one that Emu had been given by Graphite, a smug expression on his face. Mu presses the Stage Select on his Gamer Driver, bringing them to a quarry.

“This Gashat,” Kuroto began, “has a game where you play as a demon knight, trying to defeat the hero.” He twists the knob on the Gashat.

Taddle Fantasy!

A dark red and purple chest pieces with a cape appears, flying at Emu.

In response, Emu takes out his double Gashat.

Knockout Fighter!

Dual Up! Explosion hit! Knockout Fighter!

The best Emu can do is brace himself and take the attack. He’s knocked out of his transformation, but quickly grabs his Gashats and begins to stand again, glitches appearing on his body.

Kuroto looked at Mu, “Ex-Aid, why don’t you finish dealing with him?” He pulls out the Dangerous Zombie Gashat, transforming. Looking at Motors, he summons the Gashacon Sparrow.

Mu frowned, but quietly answered, “Okay,” He pulls out his Gashat.

Mighty Brother XX!

Level Up! Mighty! Brothers! Futari de hitori! Mighty! Brothers! Futari de victory! X!

The cyan and orange Rider stared at Emu, hesitating. Emu took this as an opportunity to transform again.

Perfect Puzzle!

Dual Up! Get the glory in the chain, Perfect Puzzle!

Gashacon Keyslasher in hand, Ex-Aid slashes at Emu, who dodges out of the way. “What? Not even going to use your full power?” Emu asks, “Kuroto’s out here with an entirely new Gashat and you’re using half your power?”

“Shut up,” Ex-Aid growled, slashing at Emu again, “Don’t tell me how much of my power I should use!”

Emu knew he was at a disadvantage, both already beaten up and being out powered by Ex-Aid. He hoped to use whatever was going on with Ex-Aid and Gemn to rile Ex-Aid up and hopefully get him sloppy.

It wasn’t like Emu hadn’t noticed that Kuroto and Mu were acting odd, some strange tension having arose between them. Kuroto acted more distant than he’d had before, colder and more uncaring towards Mu. And Mu seemed more hesitant, perhaps more worried or scared.

Using that to his advantage wasn’t something Emu particularly relished in, but he needed every advantage he could get. Even if that meant using some low blows.

“Kuroto hasn’t been listening to you much, has he?”

Kicking at Emu, Ex-Aid growls, “What would you know about that?’

“I mean,” Emu dodges Ex-Aid’s next attack – a slash from the Gashacon Keyslasher, “I have eyes and ears.”

“Shut. Up.” Ex-Aid grabs his Gashat and inserts it into his weapon.

Emu follows in kind.

Double Mighty Critical Finish!

Perfect Critical Combo!

The two attacks collide, knocking the two to the ground, their Gashat’s clattering beside them. A quick glance over to Gemn reveals he’s defeated Motors, having absorbed his data. As Gemn turns his attention to the two, Saki, Nico, and Asuna come running, seeing the scene.

Emu’s appearance has returned to his original as he struggled to stand, while Mu’s hair clip has been knocked out, resulting in his bangs covering all of his face. He tries to move it out of his face, only for Kuroto to walk over and grab his hood, yanking him up.

“Kuroto!” Mu cries, “What are you doing?”

Kuroto let’s go and just stares at him for a moment. He looks between Emu and Mu, before finally addressing Mu, “You can’t even defeat your own Bugster, Emu?”

Emu’s brows furrow for a moment at Kuroto’s words while Mu just pushes his bangs to the sides of his face and scowls, “Why do you care?” He narrows his eyes at Kuroto, “We’ve got Motors data and you got to try out your new Gashat, what more could you want?”

“Because we need to take away the Rider’s ability to transform. They’re no longer needed.” Kuroto returns his attention to Emu, who’s barely managed to stand. “Maybe I should deal with your Bugster myself.”

If… If Kuroto was calling him Mu’s Bugster… and Mu responded to the name Emu… “No…” Emu whispered quietly, “He’s supposed to be… I… he’s dead.”

Though it wasn’t visible, Kuroto was certainly smirking, “Oh, but I’m afraid he’s not, Para-DX. Your host, the real Emu Hojo, is right here, standing beside me.”

Mu, Emu’s, silent. Emu, Para-DX, doesn’t know what to say. Saki and Asuna gasp, while Nico just watches with interest.

But Emu knows what he’s feeling, and its confusion, “Kuroto,” He says, “What’s going on here? You didn’t tell me we were doing this.”

Kuroto returned his attention to Emu, “Oh, why would I tell you that? You’re a disappointment, Emu.”

At his words, Emu startled, taking a step back. “What… what are you… what are you saying?”

“Disappointments,” Kuroto continued, separating the Gashacon Sparrow in two, “Must be eliminated.”

Emu’s silent as Kuroto raises half of the Gashacon Sparrow to his neck. It’s not until Kuroto inserts the Giri Giri Chambara Gashat that Emu says anything.

Quietly, with pleading eyes filled with fear, he asks, “Why?”

Though Kuroto doesn’t answer, that only seems to upset him more, “I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me,” Emu’s voice wavers and raises, his body begins to glitch, soon spreading to the ground. “All I’ve done is try to complete the game, just like you…” The glitching on the ground began to form Bugster grunts.

“You’ve been like a brother to me, some of the only people I’ve ever had!” Glaring at Kuroto, Emu quickly grabs the wrist of the hand holding the Gashacon Sparrow and throws it away from him, throwing Kuroto off balance. His red eye seems to glow, more than usual. “So why?! Why would you try to do something like this!?”

Kuroto stumbles, his armor disappearing, despite the fact that Emu hadn’t actually hurt him. Then, he began to glitch. Emu takes a step back, a terrified look on his face. The Bugster grunts around him disappear in clouds of data.

Wide-eyed, Emu looks at Kuroto, unable to pry his eyes away, “Oh no…” He says quietly. He rushes towards Kuroto, only to stop himself. “Oh no, Kuroto I’m so sorry I-”

He cuts himself off, he then looks down and pulls something out of his pockets. Several somethings. He throws four of the Gashats Kuroto had taken from them, hesitating with the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat, then throws that too. Though the Gashats clatter to the ground, Saki ignores them in favor of marching towards Emu.

“Emu,” She called, though Emu just flinched away, “Come back with us. You don’t have to do this.”

“No,” Emu shook his head, “I have to… I have to complete the game.”

“What game?”

Saki reaches out to him, but he just moves away quickly, “No!” He looks at her, terror in his mismatched eyes. One red, one a dark pink, both filled with the same fear. “I don’t want to infect you too! It’s bad enough I infected Kuroto and your fiancé!”

She doesn’t stew on his words long, instead calling out to him once more, “Emu!”

Emu just runs away. Saki sadly walks back, picking up her Gashats, noting that Nico had already picked up hers. Para-DX just stared.

“M,” Nico began, “Real quick, give us something we can call you and then we’ll deal with Kuroto’s Bugster.”

“Parad,” He answers slowly, “My name… is Parad.”

#kamen rider ex aid #kamen rider exaid #kamen rider #there is a me who can become strong #my writing

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