Chapter Text
“So, how is it?”
Winglet ate some of the sushi that had been prepared for her. She was incredibly surprised at how good it tasted. I’ve never had something like this before. While her parents weren’t exactly poor, it was very rare for them to ever go to some fancy restaurant of sorts.
“Heh, I can read your expression.” Aruto said with a chuckle. “This place has an original recipe that only they can pull off. It’s delicious, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Winglet said. “Do you eat this all the time?”
“Only for special occasions.” He said. “I helped out the owner once, so I get a special discount whenever I come here.”
Winglet put down her chopsticks. “So, what do you do, exactly?”
“Well, as you might know, I’m the President of Hiden Intelligence.” Aruto said. “All the Humagears you see are from the company I inherited from my grandfather. I personally go around whenever there are Humagear problems and see to them myself.”
Winglet was thinking back to when Tsubasa had arrived to help her get accommodated to the place. She had talked things out with Aruto, but not loud enough for her to hear things.
“Oh, and I got you this from her.” Aruto said, sliding a CD over the table. “Consider it a gift.”
Winglet picked up the CD, and she was just about sure that her eyes would pop out of her head. It was a special edition CD from the Queens of Music, with both Tsubasa and Maria’s signatures on it.
“It wasn’t too hard for me to get it.” Aruto said, rubbing the back of his head. “The record company that Tsubasa works with has gone to Hiden Intelligence for help before in the past, and they asked me what they could give me as a thank you. I’m glad they had a spare one on hand. I coulda sworn all of those would’ve been out of stock in no time…”
“Why?”
“Hm?” Aruto looked at the girl.
“Why are you doing this?” Winglet asked him.
“Well, I am the president of a company-”
“No, I mean why are you helping me?” Winglet asked. “I’m a complete stranger to you.”
Aruto’s smile faded slightly. “It’s because I want you to find a new dream.”
“A new dream?” Winglet repeated.
The young CEO looked out the window. “I lost my parents when I was around your age too.”
Winglet looked surprised at that.
“For the longest time, my dream was to become a comedian, and I couldn’t achieve that no matter how hard I tried.” Aruto said. “When my grandfather passed down the company to me, it was then that I realized that I can help people with their dreams, and give them new ones too. That would be my new dream.”
Winglet blinked several times in surprise as Aruto turned back to her.
“So that’s why I decided to take you in.” Aruto said. “I want to help you find a new dream.”
“But I’m just a random stranger.” Winglet repeated. “There were so many other survivors that you could have-”
“And I chose you.” Aruto said. “I see a lot of myself in you.”
“You do?” Winglet said.
“It’s why I chose to let you under my wing!” Aruto said, before pointing at her. “And that’s Aruto!”
Winglet was trying really hard not to groan out loud at the really bad joke. Seriously, even her friends at school told better jokes than him.
“Sheesh.” Aruto turned away. “Even with kids, it’s a tough crowd.”
She was about to ask him why he made the joke in the first place, before an alarm rang throughout the city.
“Noise?” Aruto realized, standing up. “Crap. Fuwa and the others are helping out S.O.N.G. with the investigation, they won’t get here in time… Winglet!”
The girl stopped looking around in shock. “Huh?”
“I need you to get to the Noise shelter as quickly as you can.” He instructed.
“Wait, what about you?” She asked.
“I erm, I need to make a quick trip to do something. Uh… the bathroom! Yeah!” Aruto said. “I’ll catch up with you later!”
He dashed out of the restaurant. Winglet stared after him.
Now, if this was before the concert, she wouldn’t have hesitated at the order and would have gone straight to the Noise shelter like he told her to. But after staring down death a few days ago… she felt a bit more daring today.
She quickly ran after him, staying behind far enough that he didn’t notice her. He rounded a corner, and she slowed down, crouching behind the street corner he had passed.
Her eyes widened, as she saw several Noise in the streets. Thankfully, it seems that the Humagears were evacuating the citizens, with their stronger bodies able to hold off the Noise better.
Aruto was staring down the monsters, before he pulled out something and stuck it on his waist. A belt strap flew out of the device, wrapping around his body and locking it in place.
[ZERO-ONE DRIVER!]
“What is he doing…?” Winglet said quietly.
“Not too many.” Aruto said. “I can take care of this by myself.”
He pulled out something that resembled some kind of data key, which he pressed a button on.
[JUMP!]
He placed it on the belt-like device he had, scanning it.
[AUTHORIZE!]
A beam of light shot down from above, revealing itself to be a large metal grasshopper. It started to hop around the area, destroying several nearby Noise in its jump path. Aruto slowly raised his arms in front of him, as data screens appeared before him. He swung his arm open, flicking open the key in his hand.
“Henshin!”
He inserted the open key into his belt-like device.
[PROGRISE! TO-BIA GA RISE! RISING HOPPER! A jump to the sky turns to a Rider Kick.]
Winglet couldn’t believe her eyes. Before her, Aruto had transformed into an armored masked warrior with the features of a grasshopper, a lot like the wolf man that had saved her life before.
“Kamen Rider Zero-One, that’s who I am!” Aruto declared, before striking a stance. “Here I come!”
He rushed at the Noise, delivering powerful punches and kicks that obliterated them in single hits. Mid-fight, he called out to the Humagear workers. “Get everyone to the nearest Noise shelter!”
They all nodded, getting back to evacuating the citizens. Aruto delivered a roundhouse kick that sent one Noise sky high, before it exploded. He pulled out a briefcase, which unfolded into a sword. He charged forward once again, cutting down any Noise that approached him. He was practically invincible.
“So cool…” Winglet muttered.
Aruto destroyed what he guessed was the last one with an uppercut, before dusting his hands and turning around. He saw Winglet peeking out from around the corner, but his eyes widened under his helmet. A large Noise was right above Winglet, about to drop down on her.
“Look out!” He shouted, running forward and pressing the key in his belt.
[RISING IMPACT!]
Green energy glowed around his foot, before he jumped up and delivered a devastating flying kick right at the Noise, sending it crashing into the side of a building before it exploded. Aruto quickly picked Winglet up, before jumping out of the way of the falling debris. He looked down at Winglet, who could only awkwardly wave.
“Um… hi…”
After the authorities and other workers had been called onto the scene (thankfully reporting no casualties), Aruto had transformed back to normal, before kneeling down to face Winglet at her height.
“Why did you follow me?” He asked her. “That was really dangerous. You could’ve gotten hurt.”
“Sorry.” She apologized. “I just got curious and…”
Aruto rubbed the back of his head. “I guess I can understand that. I did give a pretty lame excuse.”
“But Mister Aruto, you’re a superhero?” Winglet asked. “I remember hearing stories about masked heroes called Kamen Riders.”
Aruto nodded. “Yeah. I’m the president, and a Kamen Rider of Hiden intelligence.”
He expected her to remain in shock, but to his surprise, she smiled. “That’s so cool!”
“Ha ha, I guess so.” Aruto said. “Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I was meaning to at some point, but I guess the opportunity came faster than I expected.”
“So you’re really fighting against the Noise?” Winglet asked.
“It’s a joint operation with S.O.N.G.” Aruto said, remembering that the organization had explained things to Winglet earlier since she’d be taken into his care. “While I help supply things to them, I also work as a protector here when their agents aren’t in the area.”
“Can I help?” Winglet asked.
It was Aruto’s turn to blink several times. “Come again?”
“First Tsubasa saved my life. Now you saved my life.” Winglet said. “Two times I almost died, but you two saved me. I don’t want to waste this life you two saved. I want to help!”
“...you’re smiling.” Aruto noted, seeing this was the first time he personally saw a smile on the girl’s face. “Is that your dream then?”
Winglet nodded with a smile. “I’ve found one, Mister Aruto!”
“Then I guess it can’t be helped.” Aruto said, standing up. “Also, just call me Aruto.”
“You’re going to let me help?” Winglet asked, a little skeptical that the CEO agreed to it so quickly.
“Of course. I’ll let you spread your wings and let you help!” Aruto said, before pointing at her. “And that’s Aruto!”
“...I think my first step will be to help you write better jokes.” Winglet said rather bluntly, as Aruto acted as if he got punched in the gut.
“No mercy…” The CEO groaned.
“President Aruto.”
The two turned to see a Humagear in a white and green uniform-like dress walk up to them.
“I assume that Miss Winglet has decided to join us?” She asked him.
“Yeah.” Aruto nodded, before introducing her. “Winglet? This is Izu, my secretary.”
“Uh, nice to meet you.” Winglet said, a bit nervously. She had never directly talked to a Humagear, funnily enough.
“Likewise, Miss Winglet.” Izu said with a nod, before turning to Aruto. “The car to Hiden Intelligence is ready, President Aruto.”
“Thank you, Izu.” Aruto said, before holding a hand out to Winglet. “Come on, Winglet. I’ll help you with that dream, so you can soar.”
Winglet took the hand of the CEO, ready to find her new place in life.