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zarahjoyce) wrote2012-12-09 09:59 pm
zarahjoyce) wrote2012-12-09 09:59 pm
Entry tags:
KRF Fic: Possibilities (2/3)
Rating: G
Summary: "You're a good boy. Tomoko is certainly lucky to have you as a friend."
Notes: A what-if scenario that leads to the Fourze x Wizard movie spoilers. Set from present-ish to about five years into the future. Obviously AU. This was originally a two-part thing that became a three-parter... jeez!
The two of them met completely by accident. To him, that was.
"You're a hard man to find, Ryusei." There was an impish look on her face as Inga relaxed and dropped her fighting stance, opting instead to cross her arms in front of her. "Although I suppose it isn't too farfetched an idea that you'd come back here, even if you aren't completely consistent in your routine. Good thing I was right."
Ryusei glared at her, before begrudgingly lowering his hands and shoving them inside his pockets. He sneaked a glance at Tomoko's house - empty for the past four months now - then returned his gaze to Inga again. "You've been following me." It wasn't a question.
She shrugged. "Had to."
A part of him knew, though he couldn't explain how - yet he felt it. Eyes on him, everywhere he moved. A small voice - Tomoko's voice - in his head, telling him to walk faster, change lanes quickly, leave immediately. He thought that maybe almost a year and a half of trailing behind clues that might no longer exist had made him extra careful - or extra paranoid.
Turned out he was right.
One question remained, though. "Why?"
The amused look on Inga's face disappeared, followed by something akin to the expression she wore when they first met. She reached into her shirt, pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, then stepped closer to him. In the darkness, it was hard to see what it was - until Inga unfolded it and showed it to him.
Ryusei snatched it from her hands, and she let him. "Tomoko-chan's disappearance notice," he said, trembling slightly at the realization. "Why--?"
Inga took another folded paper and revealed JK's, though she held on to it. "I know your friends are missing," she said quietly. "And I know you're doing all you can to find them. Fourze, too. Even if it has been a long time since--" She fell silent, as though realizing that this was not something she should say to him. Trying again, Inga said, "That kind of determination deserves recognition and respect. You're a good friend, Ryusei."
You're a good boy. Tomoko is certainly lucky to have you as a friend. Ryusei crumpled the paper in his hands and placed it in his bag before giving Inga a baleful look. "I don't need your recognition or respect." What I need is to find them as soon as possible.
...if it's still possible.
Irked at the negative thoughts that were becoming more and more prevalent as time went by, Ryusei turned away from her and began to leave, when--
"I may know what happened to them." Pause. "To her."
It was certainly something he hadn't expected to hear. Ryusei gripped his bag tighter, cursed aloud, and walked back to her. "--what?"
"Your friends haven't been the only ones missing, Ryusei," she said, adopting a more formal demeanor. "Of course, there's no reason to suspect that these missing persons are interrelated - most of the disappearances happen at random places, at random times. People disappearing, unfortunately, isn't something completely out of the ordinary. Yet what isn't random about them is that there will always be two people disappearing at a certain place, and it's always a man and a woman who seemed to be acquainted with each other."
"You're saying they didn't simply disappear, but were kidnapped instead?" It was a possibility he entertained before - that even the police suggested, when they were still actively involved in searching - though with the Horoscopes defeated and the Zodiarts gone, there wasn't anyone he or anyone could lay the blame on. But now here Inga was, confirming his earlier thoughts? Tomoko-chan and JK? But why them? What could they possibly--
"It's possible they were only at the wrong place at the wrong time," Inga said. "As of now we've no reason to suspect they were taken because of their associations to Kamen Riders - the others don't seem to be."
Ryusei stared at her. At long last, here was something to go on from - it might not be much, but it was better than the hazy abyss of hopes and leads that got him nowhere in the past. He stepped closer to her. "What else do you know?"
She hesitated, then shook her head. "What I'm telling you is already classified information - you aren't authorized to know any of them, just as I'm normally not allowed to dole them out."
Disappointment tasted like bile in his mouth. "Then why are you here? Why are you telling me these things?"
"It's a repayment of the debt I owe you from before. I thought--" She paused, considered him. After what seemed to be a long while of silence, Inga spoke again. "You want to know why I'm here. What if I tell you there is a way for you to learn more about your friends' case? What if I tell you there's a way for you to be actively involved in the federation's search for them?"
If there was even the remotest chance he could find Tomoko this way, he'd do it. He was able to go great lengths for Jiro, in the past. Became Meteor, transferred to Amanogawa, found and defeated Aries - he basically reshaped his life around a single goal, a single purpose, and he was successful in it.
Now, in this situation, there was little he wouldn't do for her. "What's that?"
Inga extended a hand towards him. "Join us."
-
The next few days saw Ryusei preparing himself for what was to come.
He thought about not telling Gentarou or Jiro about what his plans were, especially as his associations with them would all but cease once his recruitment was complete. But a part of him knew it would be wrong to leave without at least saying goodbye, even if he had to be vague about the details.
I'll be investigating JK and Tomoko-chan's disappearance some other way. Don't worry about me; I'll be safe.
Take care of yourself, Gentarou. The others, too.
Goodbye.
For now.
-
"Your first mission, Ryusei." Inga tossed at him a sly glance. "You must be thrilled."
"Tch." He lifted his binoculars to his eyes, peered through them, and said nothing else.
It had been almost three years since Inga recruited him to join the Alicia Federation. The initial years had been spent on a training so grueling that it made it seem as though he was being severely tortured for his desire to save people, and it was quickly becoming clear afterwards that they were trying to test his determination to save his friends. Shamefully, Ryusei had thought of leaving for want of freedom and release from them. Only the possibility that what he was doing could lead to Tomoko and JK's return kept him from completely giving up.
Tomoko-chan, wait for me. I'll find you yet.
"Matsumori, do you copy?" Inga spoke to the mic attached to her ear. "Look alive. Nothing yet?"
When Ryusei looked at her, she gave him the slightest shake of her head then focused somewhere else. "Hinata-san? Give me an update."
The city all but crawled with baits. Pairs walked together under the guise of being friends, siblings, or lovers, in the hopes that one of them would be targeted by the unknown enemy and eventually captured. Of course, all these baits were bugged - they'd be allowed to fend for themselves for a while until they could signal their location and the location of their kidnappers to the base, and then they'd be rescued. Inga currently headed this operation, and she requested Ryusei to assist her.
It was a risky plan she concocted, yet allowing the enemy to do as they pleased was far riskier.
"Ryuu-kun!"
Ryusei swiveled his binoculars towards the sound of the voice. It was high and annoying enough that it almost seemed impossible to ignore it - and Ryusei couldn't.
There was a man in red leather jacket striding towards the woman who was now waving her hands maniacally in the air. Ryusei couldn't see his face, but he could see the woman's, and it was obvious that she was glad to see him.
"Chief."
"Ryuu-kun!" Here she grabbed his arm and hugged it to her chest. "I'm so happy you finally took a time off from your duties! You know how much this means to me--"
"Ryusei."
He looked behind him, saw Inga with a rueful expression on her face. She leaned forward to tap his forehead. "You know better than to let your eyes wander from the target like that."
"...yes." He debated on whether or not he should apologize; then again Inga didn't seem to be asking for one. It was one of the benefits of working with her even if she was technically his superior. He looked towards the area that Matsumori and his partner occupied, and--
--a piercing scream had him and Inga straightening in their seats. It wasn't coming from their baits, for they, too, looked alarmed over what they've heard.
Yet Ryusei knew the voice of the one doing the screaming and it was that woman from earlier, and a look towards them confirmed that they were under attack. "Over there!"
"Damn it," Inga blurted out, as she grabbed her weapons and nodded at Ryusei. Of course their plan went awry, but at least they were already here to put a stop to this most current attempt at kidnapping. "Let's go!"
Her order was unnecessary, as Ryusei was already rushing towards the pair at a great speed.
His Meteor Switch was not with him today. It was one of the rules that he had to abide by upon his entry in the federation, and so far he had allowed himself to follow it. But Ryusei knew that one day he was going to purposely break that rule.
Hopefully that day was fast approaching.
He could see that the man in leather jacket, surprisingly enough, seemed to handle himself well despite the number of enemies surrounding him. Of course, it was easy to see from a distance that the tactic was divide and conquer - and so far, while the man's attention was occupied by the masked foot soldiers, the woman was - successfully - being dragged away from her partner.
"Let--me--go!" She tried to pull herself away from the hands that held her, to no avail. "Ryuu-kun! Ryuu--" Then she went limp, as one of those holding her hit her in the stomach to render her unconscious.
"Chief!" One of the soldiers tried to aim for his head and he dodged. "I'm coming!"
Ryusei didn't bother to wait for Inga's instructions, as his objective was clear: free the woman from her two masked captives. She seemed to need his help more than the man did, anyway. If Inga had any problems with Ryusei acting on his own, then she'd just have to lecture him later.
One of the men spotted him approaching and jumped to block his way, and soon Ryusei was engaged in a spirited hand-to-hand combat - though his foe seemed to favor a lot of unexpected moves that had Ryusei acting on the defensive. A part of him noticed that his enemy's tactics were not unlike a dance, which explained why it seemed so impulsively done, so energetically accomplished.
But even dances left openings, and Ryusei took advantage of them with his more systematic movements. Soon, he was able to down his opponent.
The woman was being dragged by her sole captor towards their vehicle. Ryusei immediately headed towards this last enemy. His objective had shifted from rescuing the woman to capturing this masked soldier alive so he could be made to talk - about what he was doing, why they were doing this, and, ultimately, where Tomoko and JK was.
A farfetched idea - yet anything was possible.
The man seemed to hesitate as he looked around them, saw for himself that his situation was quickly deteriorating. Inga was helping the man in the leather jacket dwindle the soldiers' numbers and it was easy to see that afterwards he would be heading this way. The masked man's only choice now was to flee if he valued his life, and Ryusei wanted to prevent that.
He took a step forward.
The man let go of the woman and took a step back.
Warily, Ryusei eyed him. His instincts were telling him that this enemy was going to flee anytime soon - which was why he was caught unawares when the man chose to pounce at him instead.
The fight was far more brutal than his first one. This one seemed to imitate his moves, as though he was able to sense Ryusei's movements before he made them. Once or twice, the man performed things even before Ryusei thought of executing them - as though he was able to read his mind.
It was only when Ryusei forced himself to empty his thoughts and move based on instinct that his foe faltered in his own actions. Soon, Ryusei delivered a backhand that struck the man across the jaw and unexpectedly sent his mask flying from his face.
Ryusei breathed hard, trying to catch his breath, as he saw his foe sprawl on the ground in front of him. He hadn't seen his face, for a long blanket of hair seemed to cover his--
--hers? Was it--
And then she looked up, and Ryusei almost forgot to breathe.
For the face beneath that mask was Tomoko's, and she was now looking at him with undisguised hate on her features.
Summary: "You're a good boy. Tomoko is certainly lucky to have you as a friend."
Notes: A what-if scenario that leads to the Fourze x Wizard movie spoilers. Set from present-ish to about five years into the future. Obviously AU. This was originally a two-part thing that became a three-parter... jeez!
The two of them met completely by accident. To him, that was.
"You're a hard man to find, Ryusei." There was an impish look on her face as Inga relaxed and dropped her fighting stance, opting instead to cross her arms in front of her. "Although I suppose it isn't too farfetched an idea that you'd come back here, even if you aren't completely consistent in your routine. Good thing I was right."
Ryusei glared at her, before begrudgingly lowering his hands and shoving them inside his pockets. He sneaked a glance at Tomoko's house - empty for the past four months now - then returned his gaze to Inga again. "You've been following me." It wasn't a question.
She shrugged. "Had to."
A part of him knew, though he couldn't explain how - yet he felt it. Eyes on him, everywhere he moved. A small voice - Tomoko's voice - in his head, telling him to walk faster, change lanes quickly, leave immediately. He thought that maybe almost a year and a half of trailing behind clues that might no longer exist had made him extra careful - or extra paranoid.
Turned out he was right.
One question remained, though. "Why?"
The amused look on Inga's face disappeared, followed by something akin to the expression she wore when they first met. She reached into her shirt, pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, then stepped closer to him. In the darkness, it was hard to see what it was - until Inga unfolded it and showed it to him.
Ryusei snatched it from her hands, and she let him. "Tomoko-chan's disappearance notice," he said, trembling slightly at the realization. "Why--?"
Inga took another folded paper and revealed JK's, though she held on to it. "I know your friends are missing," she said quietly. "And I know you're doing all you can to find them. Fourze, too. Even if it has been a long time since--" She fell silent, as though realizing that this was not something she should say to him. Trying again, Inga said, "That kind of determination deserves recognition and respect. You're a good friend, Ryusei."
You're a good boy. Tomoko is certainly lucky to have you as a friend. Ryusei crumpled the paper in his hands and placed it in his bag before giving Inga a baleful look. "I don't need your recognition or respect." What I need is to find them as soon as possible.
...if it's still possible.
Irked at the negative thoughts that were becoming more and more prevalent as time went by, Ryusei turned away from her and began to leave, when--
"I may know what happened to them." Pause. "To her."
It was certainly something he hadn't expected to hear. Ryusei gripped his bag tighter, cursed aloud, and walked back to her. "--what?"
"Your friends haven't been the only ones missing, Ryusei," she said, adopting a more formal demeanor. "Of course, there's no reason to suspect that these missing persons are interrelated - most of the disappearances happen at random places, at random times. People disappearing, unfortunately, isn't something completely out of the ordinary. Yet what isn't random about them is that there will always be two people disappearing at a certain place, and it's always a man and a woman who seemed to be acquainted with each other."
"You're saying they didn't simply disappear, but were kidnapped instead?" It was a possibility he entertained before - that even the police suggested, when they were still actively involved in searching - though with the Horoscopes defeated and the Zodiarts gone, there wasn't anyone he or anyone could lay the blame on. But now here Inga was, confirming his earlier thoughts? Tomoko-chan and JK? But why them? What could they possibly--
"It's possible they were only at the wrong place at the wrong time," Inga said. "As of now we've no reason to suspect they were taken because of their associations to Kamen Riders - the others don't seem to be."
Ryusei stared at her. At long last, here was something to go on from - it might not be much, but it was better than the hazy abyss of hopes and leads that got him nowhere in the past. He stepped closer to her. "What else do you know?"
She hesitated, then shook her head. "What I'm telling you is already classified information - you aren't authorized to know any of them, just as I'm normally not allowed to dole them out."
Disappointment tasted like bile in his mouth. "Then why are you here? Why are you telling me these things?"
"It's a repayment of the debt I owe you from before. I thought--" She paused, considered him. After what seemed to be a long while of silence, Inga spoke again. "You want to know why I'm here. What if I tell you there is a way for you to learn more about your friends' case? What if I tell you there's a way for you to be actively involved in the federation's search for them?"
If there was even the remotest chance he could find Tomoko this way, he'd do it. He was able to go great lengths for Jiro, in the past. Became Meteor, transferred to Amanogawa, found and defeated Aries - he basically reshaped his life around a single goal, a single purpose, and he was successful in it.
Now, in this situation, there was little he wouldn't do for her. "What's that?"
Inga extended a hand towards him. "Join us."
-
The next few days saw Ryusei preparing himself for what was to come.
He thought about not telling Gentarou or Jiro about what his plans were, especially as his associations with them would all but cease once his recruitment was complete. But a part of him knew it would be wrong to leave without at least saying goodbye, even if he had to be vague about the details.
I'll be investigating JK and Tomoko-chan's disappearance some other way. Don't worry about me; I'll be safe.
Take care of yourself, Gentarou. The others, too.
Goodbye.
For now.
-
"Your first mission, Ryusei." Inga tossed at him a sly glance. "You must be thrilled."
"Tch." He lifted his binoculars to his eyes, peered through them, and said nothing else.
It had been almost three years since Inga recruited him to join the Alicia Federation. The initial years had been spent on a training so grueling that it made it seem as though he was being severely tortured for his desire to save people, and it was quickly becoming clear afterwards that they were trying to test his determination to save his friends. Shamefully, Ryusei had thought of leaving for want of freedom and release from them. Only the possibility that what he was doing could lead to Tomoko and JK's return kept him from completely giving up.
Tomoko-chan, wait for me. I'll find you yet.
"Matsumori, do you copy?" Inga spoke to the mic attached to her ear. "Look alive. Nothing yet?"
When Ryusei looked at her, she gave him the slightest shake of her head then focused somewhere else. "Hinata-san? Give me an update."
The city all but crawled with baits. Pairs walked together under the guise of being friends, siblings, or lovers, in the hopes that one of them would be targeted by the unknown enemy and eventually captured. Of course, all these baits were bugged - they'd be allowed to fend for themselves for a while until they could signal their location and the location of their kidnappers to the base, and then they'd be rescued. Inga currently headed this operation, and she requested Ryusei to assist her.
It was a risky plan she concocted, yet allowing the enemy to do as they pleased was far riskier.
"Ryuu-kun!"
Ryusei swiveled his binoculars towards the sound of the voice. It was high and annoying enough that it almost seemed impossible to ignore it - and Ryusei couldn't.
There was a man in red leather jacket striding towards the woman who was now waving her hands maniacally in the air. Ryusei couldn't see his face, but he could see the woman's, and it was obvious that she was glad to see him.
"Chief."
"Ryuu-kun!" Here she grabbed his arm and hugged it to her chest. "I'm so happy you finally took a time off from your duties! You know how much this means to me--"
"Ryusei."
He looked behind him, saw Inga with a rueful expression on her face. She leaned forward to tap his forehead. "You know better than to let your eyes wander from the target like that."
"...yes." He debated on whether or not he should apologize; then again Inga didn't seem to be asking for one. It was one of the benefits of working with her even if she was technically his superior. He looked towards the area that Matsumori and his partner occupied, and--
--a piercing scream had him and Inga straightening in their seats. It wasn't coming from their baits, for they, too, looked alarmed over what they've heard.
Yet Ryusei knew the voice of the one doing the screaming and it was that woman from earlier, and a look towards them confirmed that they were under attack. "Over there!"
"Damn it," Inga blurted out, as she grabbed her weapons and nodded at Ryusei. Of course their plan went awry, but at least they were already here to put a stop to this most current attempt at kidnapping. "Let's go!"
Her order was unnecessary, as Ryusei was already rushing towards the pair at a great speed.
His Meteor Switch was not with him today. It was one of the rules that he had to abide by upon his entry in the federation, and so far he had allowed himself to follow it. But Ryusei knew that one day he was going to purposely break that rule.
Hopefully that day was fast approaching.
He could see that the man in leather jacket, surprisingly enough, seemed to handle himself well despite the number of enemies surrounding him. Of course, it was easy to see from a distance that the tactic was divide and conquer - and so far, while the man's attention was occupied by the masked foot soldiers, the woman was - successfully - being dragged away from her partner.
"Let--me--go!" She tried to pull herself away from the hands that held her, to no avail. "Ryuu-kun! Ryuu--" Then she went limp, as one of those holding her hit her in the stomach to render her unconscious.
"Chief!" One of the soldiers tried to aim for his head and he dodged. "I'm coming!"
Ryusei didn't bother to wait for Inga's instructions, as his objective was clear: free the woman from her two masked captives. She seemed to need his help more than the man did, anyway. If Inga had any problems with Ryusei acting on his own, then she'd just have to lecture him later.
One of the men spotted him approaching and jumped to block his way, and soon Ryusei was engaged in a spirited hand-to-hand combat - though his foe seemed to favor a lot of unexpected moves that had Ryusei acting on the defensive. A part of him noticed that his enemy's tactics were not unlike a dance, which explained why it seemed so impulsively done, so energetically accomplished.
But even dances left openings, and Ryusei took advantage of them with his more systematic movements. Soon, he was able to down his opponent.
The woman was being dragged by her sole captor towards their vehicle. Ryusei immediately headed towards this last enemy. His objective had shifted from rescuing the woman to capturing this masked soldier alive so he could be made to talk - about what he was doing, why they were doing this, and, ultimately, where Tomoko and JK was.
A farfetched idea - yet anything was possible.
The man seemed to hesitate as he looked around them, saw for himself that his situation was quickly deteriorating. Inga was helping the man in the leather jacket dwindle the soldiers' numbers and it was easy to see that afterwards he would be heading this way. The masked man's only choice now was to flee if he valued his life, and Ryusei wanted to prevent that.
He took a step forward.
The man let go of the woman and took a step back.
Warily, Ryusei eyed him. His instincts were telling him that this enemy was going to flee anytime soon - which was why he was caught unawares when the man chose to pounce at him instead.
The fight was far more brutal than his first one. This one seemed to imitate his moves, as though he was able to sense Ryusei's movements before he made them. Once or twice, the man performed things even before Ryusei thought of executing them - as though he was able to read his mind.
It was only when Ryusei forced himself to empty his thoughts and move based on instinct that his foe faltered in his own actions. Soon, Ryusei delivered a backhand that struck the man across the jaw and unexpectedly sent his mask flying from his face.
Ryusei breathed hard, trying to catch his breath, as he saw his foe sprawl on the ground in front of him. He hadn't seen his face, for a long blanket of hair seemed to cover his--
--hers? Was it--
And then she looked up, and Ryusei almost forgot to breathe.
For the face beneath that mask was Tomoko's, and she was now looking at him with undisguised hate on her features.