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“What?”
“He left in the night,” Daiki says, the usual pouty frown he gets when Tsukasa is doing something he doesn’t like but worse, simultaneously closed and more raw. “He didn’t want us involved, you know?”
Because of course he didn’t. Because this is what Tsukasa does, when he’s scared.
And he is scared. Because Yuusuke has already died. They killed Yuusuke .
And Tsukasa is trying to fight on his own. Worst case scenarios: death, activation of Violent Emotion, severe injury.
Alone .
Yuusuke gone. Tsukasa gone. Daiki, still here.
It’s been years, but how could Natsumi ever forget?
And she is scared, but perhaps more than that, she is angry.
Because the worlds had not given her respite, not in months and not since Kivala died.
Not since she went back to her own World, finally , and still isn’t sure if she left it better.
Not since Dai-Shocker remnants have been after them, re-forming.
Not since this world had taken Yuusuke from her again because this world’s Riders were scared.
Grief? Oh she knows grief, she’d been living it since the moment this new chain of events had begun, after all.
But now… now she is angry at the Worlds, at Tsukasa, and the villains who had caused this suffering.
“Natsumelon?” Daiki asks, voice nervous, and of course he is. She is angry and she’s found that when she’s truly angry, nothing matters more than doing what is right .
Running on adrenaline, the nonhuman blood in her veins which had allowed her grandfather to latch onto her family’s existence, and anger and fear, she runs from her home to save one of the few people she has less.
These monsters in this world are vicious things. Deadly. Horrible. Natsumi only realizes after she’s running that she hadn’t taken her Driver, but by then it’s too late. She’s running and she’s dodging, and by the time someone gets a hit in, she can’t bring herself to stop.
She won’t be enough to stop these monsters. It’s never enough until a World’s Riders or heroes or whatever take responsibility.
And so it’s her job to bring them to the fight before Tsukasa loses. Or maybe just loses something.
And so she ignores the blasts that scratch her, as she runs from the patrol that sees her, lets the acid they use burn her skin and her clothes.
The shot that goes right through her doesn’t hit until she arrives at practically the doorstep of this world’s Riders’ base.
It downs her, but she’s close enough that they fight the monsters back.
“Don’t help me!” She yells, when they help her up. “Go fight the real villain!”
“Didn’t you see it yourself?” One Rider asks. “He can destroy anyone. Rot them away, far worse than the acid.”
“I don’t care,” Natsumi growls. “I hated it, but I have killed two people who I love dearly over the years, because I had to, to save worlds and lives. ”
“You’re crazy,” the second Rider says.
“Maybe,” Natsumi says. “But so is Tsukasa. He’s out there right now, fighting that monster you’re so afraid of, because that’s what heroes do. It’s a hard choice, but he makes it every time. So do I. So did Yuusuke. We all knew we owed it to ourselves and each other to save every world.”
The silence is long. Too long. Tsukasa is in danger right now.
“You really believe in this,” the third Rider says, eyes widening. Natsumi nods. “Then I’ll fight.”
“Sayo—”
“Maybe I’ll die today,” the Rider says. “But I’d rather die saving people.”
Natsumi watches the other two look between each other and silently agree.
Then she feels herself falling and the world goes back.
Ah yes, acid through her chest.
“Natsumi! Natsumi!”
Agony, but no strength to react. That’s all she can feel. And… forcing herself to open her eyes.
Tsukasa. Exhausted. Scared.
Alive.
She’s dying, she’s aware of that much. It hurts and it burns, and she thinks about when she had almost died before.
It hurts differently that way.
“Tsukasa…” she manages to say. “I’m…”
“Natsumi,” Tsukasa murmurs. She always forgets how soft his voice becomes when he’s scared. “Please, I…”
She keeps her eyes locked with Tsukasa’s even as her vision fades away.
She’s glad. She’s glad, in the end, that she could at least see him. Know she’d succeeded.
And then… and then she feels nothing at all.