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She’s kissing him on the couch, and it’s what they all think of as the night they began and ended, the night of bad decisions. Drunk still, all of them, from a friendly fake game. A special round, bowling. It has to be…
Well, she isn’t sure why.
But she had fun. And she’s kissing Azuma Michinaga.
She stops, a moment of clarity. A night of beginnings, too.
Michinaga stares at her in confusion.
“You want to stop?”
“Not really.”
They should.
They really should.
But the Desire Grand Prix is an endless stream of bad decisions, so they don’t. None of them do, the four of them.
Michinaga should be back at the base. Another trap, and oh, it’s always another trap, isn’t it? Trap is the name of the game, and—
He just had to get away. He doesn’t—
He really, truly, does not regret what he did. That wasn’t Tooru, and maybe this will extract the facsimile from his mind. Tooru wasn’t bloodthirsty like that, either. He was… bright. Full of small big dreams and energy.
He didn’t hunger for a fight, or revenge. Or maybe…
Maybe Michinaga is just selfish like that. Trying to remember a player as good. But there are—
(Nago. Tycoon. Geats fighting him today not for a win but—)
He wanders. He shouldn’t, and he knows it. Because he’s a monster, and that’s what he has to be, to win.
“Michinaga?”
He freezes, turns.
“You look so different, now,” Nago says.
“I’m the same,” he says. “And a monster.”
“Is that really true?” Neon asks. They stare at each other, the world slowing down. It doesn’t feel romantic, just sad. “…I think I should probably fight you. You’re gonna kill us. Ace…”
She trails off. Something happened to Geats? He will take advantage of that, later. With no shame, no hesitation.
“What happened to Geats?” Michinaga asks anyways.
Neon shrugs.
“Power does interesting things to people,” she says. “That’s all.”
“Did he hurt you—”
“What?” Neon asks. “No!!!”
Then it’s fine. It’s for the future.
“You wanna get lunch?” Neon asks. “If you suggest the place, I’ll pay.”
Michinaga couldn’t pay if he wanted to. Beroba hands him cash he doesn’t ask where she acquired or Ace appears with convenience store food, and—
“I’m going to kill you,” he says. “If you stand in my way, it might happen.”
“I know,” Neon responds.
The other three got to be close. Foolish, big hearted Keiwa. Hungry for affection Neon.
Geats must have just been playing with them, but maybe he also cared. Michinaga wouldn’t know. Their bond was different, him and Geats. He saw Geats watch Tooru die and keep winning and lead people to their losses or deaths if he deemed them unworthy, and yes, it has dawned on him that Geats did such a thing.
It makes him realize they’re similar, and he hates it. He hates how he knows he lost all of Geats’ tests until he chose Keiwa.
But he didn’t let himself close.
He thinks back to that day he un-died, and he thinks about the way the world decided he would have gone out with them.
It wasn’t real, but Nago is now.
Looking over his beef bowl, he barely hears her words.
“Why are you doing this, Michinaga?” She asks. “Why do you want to crush all Riders? Why do you want to end this game?”
“It just hurts people,” Michinaga says.
“Beroba hurts people,” Neon says. “With the DGP, at least it’s a fair shot, right?”
“Would you want your corpse to turn into a monster?” Michinaga asks. “What about if it was Tycoon or his sister?”
What if it was your partner and best friend?
“…I don’t know,” Neon says. “But I don’t like this. Everyone who got hurt today is still hurt.”
Michinaga takes a bite and it tastes like nothing.
“Some people are always hurt in the DGP,” he says. “It won’t end until I crush it.”
Neon doesn’t look happy or free, when stands in front of her with ultimate power. She looks scared, and she looks empty.
He tells her not to take that ID Core because he doesn’t fight her, but he does wonder, for the very first time.
Is living without a soul not crueler than death?
(Every time they come back, all 3 of them… he hates how relieved he is.)