Work Text:
Friday, January 9th, 2015
Detective Izumi Shingo rolled his eyes as he heard his older colleagues trash-talking about Lt. Otta again. “That man is becoming more like those weirdoes every day,” one commented.
“Tell me about it,” one of his companions agreed, “I mean, seriously? Slowdowns are just an urban legend! He said so himself before being assigned to them! Now he’s going on and on about monsters!”
“Maybe those delusions are contagious,” a third muttered, “Oi! Izumi!”
Shingo turned when they called his name. “Yes?” he answered politely, pretending he hadn’t been listening.
“You don’t believe all that stuff Otta’s been raving about lately, do you? Slowdowns and monsters and stuff?”
Shingo only shrugged. As if he was going to tell them that he’d spent over a year being possessed by a Medal Kaijin, helping Kamen Riders fight monsters.
The first officer snorted and rolled his eyes. “It’s all ridiculousness. The Special Crimes Unit think they’re hunting monsters when they’re really just the reject department, and now they’ve got Otta caught up in their delusions. He’s been going on about some hero called a ‘Kamen Rider’ for the past month or so.” He snorted and glanced back down at his papers. “Well, I just have to go file this report, and then I can take my lunch break. Do you guys want to try that new café down the street?”
His two companions agreed, but Shingo waved them off. “I’ve still got some more paperwork to do,” he lied. While he still had some files left, they weren’t due to be submitted until tomorrow afternoon. He was just reaching for an excuse to get out of lunch with them. He didn’t know how long his self-restraint would last if they kept at it with that topic of conversation. The older officers shrugged and left without him, apologising when they accidentally bumped into another younger detective on their way out.
“What was that all about?” Gotō Shintarō asked, noticing Shingo’s annoyed look.
“Ah, the usual. Monsters don’t exist, and neither do Slowdowns or Kamen Riders. Oh, and the Special Crimes Unit is full of delusional rejects.”
Gotō, a retired Kamen Rider, scowled. “Isn’t the newest Rider attached to that Unit, in some way?”
“That’s what the rumours are. But he could also be acting on his own, maybe with an ally inside the Unit.”
“I’m betting that he’s actually one of the members.” To Shingo’s surprise, he pulled a small sheet of paper out of the inside pocket of his suit jacket. “Date-san, Terui, and Sakuta all agree with me. Kisaragi and Hidari think the new guy’s independent, and Philip’s not allowed to place a bet because he can cheat by looking it up in the Gaia Library.”
“Wait, what?” Shingo gasped, “There’s a betting pool?! How come nobody told me about it?!”
“Oh, I thought you knew. You can call JK, he’s the one running it. A lot of people still haven’t placed their bets yet.”
Shingo shook his head in disbelief, not at the idea that there was a betting pool, but the fact that he hadn’t been informed of it until now. “What about those Riders out in Zawame City? I heard they worked with him a bit last month.”
Gotō shrugged. “I think only that Kazuraba guy actually got his name, but he had to go back to his new planet soon after, and his friends were too busy catching up to ask him.” He then grinned. “Imagine what our colleagues would say about us if they were listening in on this?”
Shingo grinned back. “They’d send us off to the so-called ‘reject department’ in an instant.”
“Is it wrong for me to think that that might be a good thing? We’d probably be of more help there than stuck with these stubborn old guys.”
Tuesday, April 14th, 2015
Gotō was totally unprepared for the uproar he was faced with when he walked into work that morning. Every last one of his colleagues were talking loudly and freaking out over something on their phones and tablets. Checking his, Gotō quickly learned what all the fuss was about, and couldn’t help the satisfied grin that spread across his face.
“Gotō, have you seen this?!” one man called to him, showing him a news bulletin on his own phone, “I can’t believe it! The monsters are real! The Kamen Riders are real! One even works in the Special Crimes Unit!”
The older man must have been expecting a completely different reaction, because he got an utterly flabbergasted look on his face when Gotō simply shrugged and put his phone away. “Yes, I already knew that. Well, I didn’t know for sure who the Kamen Rider was, but I did make a bet with some friends about whether or not he was a police officer. As you can see, I won.” The retired Kamen Rider spotted Izumi-san in the middle of the chaos and went over to his partner, ignoring their shocked and confused colleague. “Looks like they took it well. Has JK called you about the pool yet?”
“No,” Izumi-san replied, pretending to focus on the paperwork in front of him while actually watching their co-workers running around like chickens with their heads cut off, “But to be fair, the news has only just broken. Given that it’s JK, he probably already knows and is simply in the middle of contacting other participants. Until then, I’m just enjoying the free entertainment.”
“How can you two be so calm about this?!” another nearby officer yelped, “Haven’t you seen what’s on the news?!”
“Yes, Tomari Shinnosuke is a Kamen Rider, monsters are real, and the Special Crimes Unit has been right all along,” Gotō recited dully. He would have added that the rest of the First Division had been picking on the Unit like a bunch of middle-school bullies, but he didn’t want to risk getting written up for insubordination. “Neither of us are honestly that surprised, since we believed in monsters and Kamen Riders long before any of this started. It’s not like Tomari was the first one, after all.” And yes, he was enjoying rubbing it in their faces that two young detectives had figured out what their older, more experienced colleagues had outright refused to see.
“W-Wait, you knew about other Riders?” a bespectacled detective named Kojima asked, “What other Riders?”
“There have been Kamen Riders since the early 1970s,” Izumi-san replied, “We’ve both been aware of them before, since… four years ago last fall.”
“Two Kamen Riders dealt with those weird events being reported at Amanogawa High School,” Gotō continued, nodding to Kojima, who’d repeatedly gone to inspect that school but come up with nothing due to the chairman’s (psychic) interference.
“Some were involved with events affected by those unpredicted solar eclipses that happened in 2012 and 2013.”
“There are a ton of incidents in which Kamen Riders dealt with strange happenings in Tokyo, though I honestly don’t understand how the police department could forget them all so easily.”
By then, everyone was staring at them, still utterly flabbergasted as they treated the existence of Kamen Riders and monsters as old news with calm acceptance.
Thursday, April 23rd, 2015
Shingo and Gotō waited until a bit after the media fuss over the Kamen Riders had passed, including queries over who the new, silver one was. Then, when they both got off-shift, they went over to the offices of the Special Crimes Unit. Luck was with them, as both Tomari and the guy who’d been identified as the second new Rider were both present.
Lt. Otta looked up as they entered. “Gotō?” he questioned, “Izumi? What are you guys doing here?”
Shingo gave everyone in the room a small smile. “I hope we’re not interrupting anything. We just wanted to come down and talk to you guys.”
The second Rider got a big, sly grin on this face. “Oh, look at this, Shin-niisan,” he declared, “Looks like we’ve got some fans!” He strutted up to them – actually strutted – and held out his hand. “Shijima Gō, Kamen Rider Mach, but I bet you already knew that.”
Gotō shook it quickly. “Gotō Shintarō, and don’t get ahead of yourself, newbie.”
Shijima’s grin fell, and a female officer smacked his shoulder and pulled him back. “Don’t go showing off,” she scolded him.
“‘Newbie’?!” the younger Rider sputtered, “There’s only two of us, it’s not like there’s that much of a difference!”
“Three! There are three of you now!”
“I don’t count Chase!”
“All three of you are relatively new,” Gotō butted in, “You guys aren’t the first Riders in history.”
The second woman, wearing a white lab coat, looked at him curiously. “Could it be… you know about Proto-Drive?”
Shingo cocked his head at her. “Who?”
The policewoman dipped her head sadly. “He was the Kamen Rider who stopped the Global Freeze last year. He was captured by the Roidmudes and they re-wrote his memories, to force him to fight for them, and he only recently returned to his true self and became the new Kamen Rider people are talking about.” She shot Shijima a sharp, hurt glare. “And you still don’t count him?”
Shijima sputtered again. “W-Well, okay, I count him as he was back then, but not as he is right now! I can’t believe you still stick up for him, Nee-san!”
His sister huffed and looked away from him.
“…Okay…” Gotō continued awkwardly, “For the record, I didn’t know about this Proto-Drive guy, but I was actually talking about the dozens of Riders that have come before you guys.”
“Like those guys I met in Zawame City?” Tomari interjected, speaking up for the first time.
Shingo nodded. “Yes, we heard from a mutual friend that you teamed up with them against Megahex. Everyone was rather disappointed that they didn’t get your name, though. Kazuraba apparently forgot to mention it to the rest of his friends before he went back to his new planet.”
Gotō picked up where he left off with a small smirk. “So we all had fun trying to guess your identity. There was a betting pool and everything. Virtually all the past Riders and their allies had a piece in.”
A short, slightly pudgy, bespectacled man stood up from behind his computer and yelled: “YOU KNOW OTHER RIDERS?!” He zipped out from behind the desk, plowing through his friends at high speed before stopping an inch away from Gotō’s face. “I’ve researched rumours of Kamen Riders in the past, but couldn’t find any proof! Well, nothing that anyone else would believe! And you know a bunch of them?! Who are they?! What are they like?!”
Shingo had to clap his hand to his mouth to cover up the laughter threatening to burst out of him at the sight of Gotō’s face as he tried to back away from having his personal space so abruptly invaded. “Well, yes, I do know a few, but I’m not saying anything until you back up a few steps.”
The Kamen Rider fanboy immediately jumped back, nearly knocking Otta over, a big grin on his face as he eagerly awaited the information.
“You’ve seriously met other Riders?” Tomari asked, in honest interest. The rest of the Unit was also giving Gotō their full attention.
Gotō straightened and re-collected himself before answering. “Kamen Riders have been around for at least forty years. I’ve met most of the ones who’ve been active in the past five. Izumi-san and I worked closely with Kamen Rider OOO and Kamen Rider Birth four years ago, which is why we believed in the monster rumours even when the rest of the First Division laughed at you guys. We came today to introduce ourselves and apologise for our co-workers’ behaviour.”
Otta looked thoughtful. “Now that I think about it, you two never seemed to join in when anyone badmouthed the Unit and anybody who believed in the monsters and Slowdowns. But why didn’t you say anything to me?”
Shingo shrugged. “We weren’t one hundred percent certain how closely the Kamen Riders were affiliated to the Unit, and the stuff Gotō just said isn’t information we give out to just anyone. We decided to wait until we knew more.” There was also a bit of vital information that Gotō had left out, probably due to the overexcited fanboy standing only a few feet away. But he felt it had to be said. “And there’s one very important thing that he forgot to mention.” Gotō glared at him, silently warning him not to do it. Shingo ignored him. “Gotō here was actually the second Birth. He’s a retired Kamen Rider himself.”
Nearly everyone in the room dropped their jaws, while Gotō gave Shingo a dirty look. Then the Kamen Rider fanboy started bouncing in place. “YOU’RE A KAMEN RIDER?!” He bounded forward, jumping into Gotō’s personal bubble again and backing the detective into the row of lockers against the wall. “This is so awesome! I can’t wait to tell everyone on the forums that I’ve met another Rider! Here!” He grabbed Gotō by the arm and literally dragged him over to the computer, the detective scrambling to stay on his feet. “There are tons of pictures on the ‘Net, show me which ones are of you!” With a glower at an unrepentant Shingo, Gotō sighed and resigned himself to naming some of the Riders in the pictures the other man was showing him.
Shijima was doubled over, fighting to keep his laughter at bay and utterly failing. Tomari and the woman in the lab coat were having marginally better luck, and the policewoman couldn’t seem to decide whether to join them or sigh in exasperation. Otta just let out an amused snort. “Kyū-tarō,” he muttered fondly, “He’s going to keep your friend busy for a long time.”
Wednesday, October 14th, 2015
Gotō waited a few days after Drive, Mach, and Chaser stopped the second Global Freeze before he and Izumi-san invited them and the rest of the Special Crimes Unit to dinner. Sadly, only one of the newer Riders could make it; Shijima had decided to travel after Chase had sacrificed his own life to save him. Tomari himself could no longer transform, Krim Steinbelt having decided to lock himself and all his technology away until humanity in general was ready to use it responsibly.
The entirety of the Unit blinked as one when they walked into Cous Coussier. Chiyo-san had decided to go with a racing theme to honour Drive and his friends, dressed up as a racecar driver – complete with a helmet – while Hina-chan wore a pit crew uniform. Gotō led them to a large grouping of tables at the back, where roughly two dozen people were already gathered. Terui Ryū was the first to rise and greet them, having worked with Tomari and Shijima when a case had brought them to Fūto back in August. “You guys did well,” he told the younger detective, “I heard about Chase. My condolences.”
Tomari smiled sadly. “He died doing what he cared about the most,” he said quietly.
Sakuta introduced himself next. “Sakuta Ryūsei. I’m Kamen Rider Meteor and currently working for Interpol.”
“Are all Kamen Riders involved in law enforcement?” Kiriko asked.
“Nah, only a small minority of us, I’m afraid. And I was still in high school back when I first became a Rider.”
Rinna blinked in surprise. “You were that young?!”
Sakuta grinned. “Yes, but I’m not the one who holds the record for ‘Youngest Rider'.” He pointed over at a teenager sitting nearby. “Yūzuru-kun here was only fourteen and still in middle school when he got his powers.”
Iijima Yūzuru-kun frowned. “Are you guys going to point that out every time?”
Nitō Kōsuke ruffled the teen’s hair in a big-brother sort of way. “Yep!” he confirmed cheerfully before going back to his mayonnaise-drenched meal, “Just be proud of it!”
“Why’s everyone standing around?” JK asked from next to Shun and Miu at the back of the room, “Come on, we’ve got more chairs!”
At his invitation, the Special Unit members found seats around the table, mixed in amongst the veteran Kamen Riders and their friends. Rinna got dragged into a conversation with Philip and Utahoshi Kengo over the Rider technologies they worked with, Kyū and Nozama Tomoko began discussing the various websites about Kamen Riders, and Kiriko quickly found a friend in Daimon Rinko, a fellow female detective. Gotō and Izumi-san introduced Otta and Honganji to Kōgami Kōsei (who, unsurprisingly for anyone who worked with OOO and Birth, was only present via the iPad that Satonaka Erika brought), while Tomari found himself bounced between Hidari Shōtarō and Kisaragi Gentarō. Hino Eiji wound up walking in at some point, followed by Date Akira, and while Gotō pulled Date-san over into his conversation, Hino was immediately drawn into the other one by an enthusiastic Kisaragi.
Chatter filled the restaurant as the newest Rider team gradually integrated with the extended community of Riders and friends they had joined.
THE END