I want to become a Kamen Rider

Chapter Forty-Four: The Unchanging and the Changing

Above the ruins, the smoke of battle had not yet completely dissipated, and the pungent smell of burning mixed with the scent of dust filled the air. A few embers crackled among the broken steel and concrete, reflecting the falling ashes like black snow.

In the distance, the shouts of the knights clearing the battlefield, the groans of the wounded, and the sirens of ambulances all faded into indistinct background noise. Closer by, only the soft rustling of Kyubey's tail as it flicked its fur, and... the steady, powerful heartbeat of the minister's chest, reached her ears through the thin fabric of her clothes.

shake.

Tina Hiiragi's inner balance was swaying violently.

She didn't know if she should keep listening. What if she heard something she shouldn't have? In fact, she had already heard far too many things she shouldn't have, and missing the best time to wake up was making things worse.

If the minister really has ulterior motives towards her, and one day he musters up the courage to confess his feelings to her, and she rejects him with a look of disgust, wouldn't that make him a laughingstock for the rest of his life?

Wait a minute, Kyubey doesn't seem to be talking about girls who are liked by the minister, but rather girls who will genuinely fall in love with the minister. What does that have to do with her? She's not like the bento girl or the woman who catches cheaters. She knows all too well how wicked the man behind the mask is.

Arrogant, talkative, full of fallacies, exploiting and oppressing her staff, even stealing her magazines—she's a devil! She has eyes, okay? She's not blind.

Just as Hiiragi Tina was torn between her inner conflict and on the verge of exploding, the demon above her expressed its disdain for her in a casual tone, as if it were picking radishes at a market.

"...Well, even I have the right to choose a partner. Look at Wu Tina, she's short and stocky, and she's so silly and clueless..."

boom--!

An unnamed rage surged from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head. What does it mean to be short and stocky? What does it mean to be stupid and dull?!

She couldn't stand it, absolutely couldn't stand it. This bastard had always called her "Purple-Haired Shorty." If she could speak normally in front of him, she would have already punched him.

"I can't take it anymore, I'm going to punch you to pieces!!!"

With a roar that seemed to shake the heavens and the earth, Hiiragi Tina, who had been lying quietly in Fan Kang's arms "playing dead" just a second ago, flipped over, sprang into action, and, carrying all the shame and anger of the girl, threw a small punch at the man in front of her.

Even if it's a battle she knows she'll lose, even if the outcome is already decided, even if she can't win at all, Hiiragi Tina is still a young girl, and there are things she absolutely cannot back down from.

What do you mean by "short stature"? She's just a little short, okay? No, she's not short at all. This height is perfectly normal for girls her age, okay? How could you use a word like "short stature" to describe a girl? The correct adjectives are "petite"! "Cute"! Don't you understand, you idiot minister with such poor language skills!

"Damn it, rocket headbutt! Tail whip! 100,000 volts! Backup hidden power!"

"Did you mix in some weird move names?"

The annoying person stood still, without even moving a step, and simply turned slightly to the side and raised a hand, easily blocking, deflecting, or dodging all of her attacks.

Not only that, he also had the leisure to complain.

"In short, I'll occupy the moral high ground first..."

"Who would openly declare their intention to seize the moral high ground before even defending themselves?!"

The man, who stood in awe of an era, took the blows of Hiiragi Tina's fists while turning to look at Kyubey.

"See that, Kyubey? Even Maitina, whom I've saved four times, would beat me up without even asking what happened, just because of a single sentence. That's human nature. I'm used to it. So don't do anything so pointless next time. I still want to become a Kamen Rider even after seeing the ugliest side of humanity. Your provocations and persuasion are meaningless."

"Well, although it's not good to say this when Kang-jun is delivering such cool lines, don't you really have any idea why you got beaten up?"

Even Kyubey is on her side, Tina Hiiragi said angrily:

"Yeah, you! Saying things like that to the wounded while holding a girl in your arms..."

"A wounded soldier? Don't you want to check what you're doing?"

What are we doing? Of course, we're going to beat up the minister!

Eh?

Hiiragi Tina's frenzied movements abruptly halted. She instinctively looked down at herself—

Beneath the tattered school uniform jacket, the skin that had been monstrous and eroded after transforming into a monster was now smooth as ever, with only a few shallow scabs rapidly fading and peeling off. The excruciating heaviness that had gripped his bones had vanished without a trace, and his body felt incredibly light, as if the previous fierce battle and severe injuries were nothing more than a nightmare.

"Minister...you cured him?"

She looked up blankly, her voice filled with disbelief.

"Yes, I healed many other seriously injured people who survived the previous attacks, besides you. But you were especially badly injured and were partially corrupted by that transformation device. It would be very troublesome for you to turn back to your original form, so I was holding you."

"..."

Hiiragi Tina instantly fell silent.

The raging anger that had just been burning within her, and the "moral high ground" she thought she should occupy, crumbled beneath her feet, leaving not a single brick behind.

She deflated like a punctured balloon, her momentum visibly fading, and her voice became barely audible.

"...Um, thank you."

"You're welcome."

A belated, overwhelming sense of embarrassment and a little bit of... indescribable shame welled up inside me.

Only now did I belatedly realize that this despicable man, in the face of the vast majority of people in this world, naturally stood on the pinnacle of "moral superiority." It's just that people habitually take everything he does for granted.

It's not that Kamen Riders are obligated to give up everything; it's just that those who have such awareness and take such actions are called Kamen Riders.

He is the true hero, while the self-proclaimed hero is nothing but a farce. Those who claim to stand up will be remembered for their actions.

She stole a glance around. On the scorched earth, medical personnel were evacuating the lightly wounded, and several contracted knights she didn't recognize were clearing the rubble and maintaining order.

It was getting late, and night had fallen.

"Then... what about that giant monster from before?"

Hiiragi Tina tried to change the subject.

"You all worked together to defeat them, and I finished them off by burning them to death."

"Didn't you say... it would take five minutes?"

"What five minutes?"

"……nothing."

She quickly shook her head; it seemed the minister was unaware of Venalita's "five-minute" theory.

The minister extended his hand to her.

"I'm relieved to see you're still alive and kicking. Because of your courage and that of that good-for-nothing disciple, you bought enough time to save many people. In short, you did a great job, Hiiragi Tina."

Wait, why is this guy reaching out to her? Is he going to touch her head? Who does he think he is? As Hiiragi Tina pondered whether or not to push away the guy's outstretched hand, a cigarette candy was offered to her.

"...I'm not a child."

He grumbled as he took the candy, his anger completely gone.

The minister watched her put the candy away, a faint smile seemingly flashing across his eyes, so fleeting it was almost imperceptible.

He didn't give her a chance to ask questions—whether it was about "wear and tear," the advice Cupid gave at the end, or the unpleasant rumors, or even when she had started pretending to be asleep and eavesdropping.

The man simply waved his hand casually and turned away.

"I still have something to do."

The voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable sense of finality.

She could only stand there, watching that figure she had seen countless times disappear into the gray, broken landscape, bathed in the light of the drifting black snow and the still-burning embers, as if forever waiting for him to mend it.

I want to... I want to catch up with him.

An idea suddenly came to mind.

Author's Note on Launching the Book [18 Chapters]

Seven updates on Friday.

Saturday, 6 PM.

Five days a weekend? (Updated.)

The scheduled release times are as follows: Including the two chapters released at midnight, five more chapters will be released every hour starting at noon on Friday; six more chapters will be released every three hours starting at midnight on Saturday; and five more chapters will be released on the weekend, the same as Saturday. All monthly tickets, rewards, and virtual gifts will be added to the chapters for every 200 monthly tickets, rewards, and virtual gifts according to Hedgehog Cat's rules. This is also why there is a question mark after the weekend. Previous votes will be counted within the first 18 chapters after the book is released.

Not to mention that the writing style is already concise, the author of this book also needs to read it, so apart from necessary transitional chapters, there can be no watery descriptions.

The book club's group number is 471993923. The answer to join is "become a Kamen Rider".

The following is rambling ramblings, excluding the extra chapters, which is... what I call my author's thoughts.

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

Skip the cutesy parts, skip the sob stories, skip the requests for votes, rewards, or subscriptions. If this book still hasn't moved you by now, then it's my fault.

This book is probably the worst performing book the author has ever written. Many years ago, his first book, which he wrote casually, performed better. However, this book is also the one he wrote with the most joy, satisfaction, and dedication all in all.

I love this story, and I love all of you who love listening to me tell it. I also want to tell this story to more people.

So, if you're willing, if you like this book, please lend your power to the author, lend it to this book, turn the tide, avoid the author becoming a flop and starving on the streets, rewrite the history of this book being ignored because it didn't perform well after being published and couldn't get any recommendations, and challenge the fate of this type of book being difficult to survive.

Fate is not something that cannot be overcome.

The ending of the story is up to us.

Chapter 45 Side by Side [1/5]

Tina Hiiragi watched the man's figure disappear into the distance for a very long time.

The cold wind, carrying ashes and the lingering smell of gunpowder, tossed her disheveled purple hair and made her tattered uniform flutter loudly.

She instinctively hugged her arms tighter, but her fingertips touched the cold, hard object in her arms—the Alien Knight Driver. The metal casing still bore the stains and tiny cracks left from her transformation, and its touch was icy cold.

"Want to follow them?"

A voice suddenly rang out at my feet.

Hiiragi Tina suddenly looked down, and a suspicious white alien creature appeared. Kyubey was squatting on a piece of charred concrete at some point, its bright red round eyes staring up at her without blinking, and its long ears swaying slightly in the wind.

"This... isn't good..."

My fingers curled up unconsciously, and the wrapper of the cigarette candy made a soft rustling sound.

"It's alright. Although there's probably nothing in this world that can approach Kang Jun with hostility without him noticing, Kang Jun is quite insensitive to anything other than hostility and murderous intent."

Cupid lightly leaped off the pebbles and rested at her feet.

"But……"

"If we don't hurry, Kangjun will be snatched away by other girls."

"I don't like the minister!"

These words came out of her mouth with absolute certainty, causing Kyubey to glance at her, seemingly quite puzzled. Why was this thing so certain that she would like the minister?

The minister has absolutely nothing about him that girls would like, right?

"Here comes another one, just like Kang Jun, stubborn as a mule. No, rather than stubborn, you guys are more like people who deeply bury their true feelings, deceiving not only others but also yourselves..."

"Minister, you wouldn't lie to yourself, would you?"

Although she didn't know what the suspicious white alien creature in front of her was talking about, she still tried to defend the minister.

No matter how annoying, sharp-tongued, or exploitative that person may be in her eyes, he has always been fighting, always fighting. There is no reason for anyone to criticize such a minister.

"Of course Kangjun wouldn't lie to himself. His problem is much more serious than lying to himself. I only said this to make you understand, Wutina."

"But in the end, I still didn't understand what you were saying..."

"Let me put it another way that you can understand, Tina: you've been touching the Alien Knight Driver in your arms since earlier."

"..."

The air seemed to freeze for a moment, with only the crackling of the dying embers in the distance and the howling of the wind.

"Most people would feel sorry for him, regardless of gender. Seeing someone burn themselves out of their life, glimpsing the heaviness beneath the laughter, I've seen many people who have been saved by him. They've been inspired by his generosity and gained more courage."

"..."

Do you want to stand by him? Do you want to share some of his burden? Even just a little bit?

The seductive devil once again offered his persuasive words.

The first time they met, the minister delivered a swift and decisive refusal on her behalf; this time, she had to give the reply herself.

She knows it.

No matter what advice or solutions the seductive demon offers, that person, that one who holds unparalleled "correctness," will not waver or change in the slightest.

She actually knew.