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“How long will you love me?”
Beroba let the question linger, dissolving into a quiet murmur beneath her breath—one she already knew would never be answered by the one she loved. A faint pout formed on her lips as she chewed her gummy candy, its sweetness meant to mimic a kind of serotonin—an artificial balance to her misery, a daily indulgence she relied on just to laugh, even if only for a moment.
In a distant future—far beyond the reach of those who exist in this present age—a version of Beroba discovers that her happiness has always belonged to the past: gummy candies, misery, and Michinaga Azuma. None of it had been in vain. She had spent her wealth freely, sponsoring monsters fated to shatters, to wither, to be defeated in mere moments—all to satiate her desires, to feed the hollow space within her.
Who could have imagined that the true reward of her contract with the Desire Grand Prix would not lie in victory, but in something far more intoxicating than misery itself? An ecstasy—dangerous, addictive found in watching others players tear each other apart in their desperate pursuit of power and temporary avaricious happiness.
And yet, in that distant future, she is nothing more than a dull, bored, unremarkable woman. What is there to admire in a being that cannot die? What meaning can be found in a life almost across three hundred years, when it is lived alone—aimless, endless and lost? Loving herself, with all her fractures and contradictions, feels like an impossible. Unattainable: Beroba thinks.
So instead of loving herself, she chooses something simpler,
She chooses to love Michinaga—someone who's touched by the constraints of time.
Yet somehow, it seems far easier for her to love that part of her soul—the one that revels in misery than to confront the kind of love she feels for that wild, stubborn, unruly violet buffalo. There is a surreal calm that washes over her as holographic screens flicker before her eyes, announcing participants falling one by one—all for the sake of “happiness.” And unknowingly, it is a happiness built upon the ruin of others. Is that frightening? Is human suffering truly that terrifying? To her, it feels like nothing more than a quiet, lingering fear—the fear of being left behind by everyone.
After learning to love misery, Beroba learns to love something more, Michinaga Azuma.
She would do anything—invite him back into this death game, watch him fall and rise again, over and over— witness the dark dystopia born from the death of Imai Tooru, a shadow that never ceases to haunt him.
When she saw him fall into that abyss, the monstrous side known as Jyamato— something within her whispered that perhaps… perhaps she deserved to be loved by him. She had never revealed herself as a sponsor of the Jyamato, yet in that moment, she dared to meet his coarse, unyielding gaze. A man of the past, still in the midst of attempt becoming something— human that could not die or a plant that would never wither.
To make Michinaga suffer is her ecstasy—something no Beroba should ever indulge in. And yet, in the end, she would only laugh at his ambitions once more… and fall in love all over again. From the very beginning, Michinaga—the man who dreamed of destroying every Kamen Rider should never have fallen into the side of monsters, nor into the allure of a madwoman like Beroba.
Michinaga… is it true? doth thou love me now?
Buffa… what is there 'i me that could possibly be loved?
A madwoman’s seduction, distorted by misery—the very thing she calls her own serotonin.
With something almost resembling love, she watches every step Michinaga takes. In silence, Beroba tries to weave a perfect contract—for the sake of all her love. Someday, that day, she will come to know who will be the first to leave this past behind.
But for the sake of her love—for the sake of her world,
she will keep buy some time itself, whatever the cost may be, just to remain by the side of the one she loves in this fleeting era. []