Kamen Rider Zero Hour Ep. 13

Kamen Rider: Zero Hour

Episode 13: Guts

By: Ziginz

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“Yuki!”

Tamiko ran over to meet the approaching girl with no small amount of excitement, being equal parts surprised and overjoyed to see her again. Yuki was her normal expressionless self on the outside, but she was just as happy on the inside as her red haired acquaintance. She just wasn’t very adept at expressing it, unlike Tamiko who didn’t hesitate to hug the other girl upon reaching her. It was only after she had that the over enthusiastic youth realized how awkward the action must have been, but was surprised when Yuki returned the gesture. The two ended the embrace with Tamiko beating herself up mentally for being so weird, but Yuki, as usual, was more curious than anything.

“Is this how acquaintances typically welcome one another after only a few hours apart?”

“Oh, uh, well not everyone…but I’m not like most people.”

“Indeed, I had already come to that conclusion during our previous meeting.”

“Do you mean that in a good way or a bad way?”

Yuki tilted her head but didn’t respond to the question, Tamiko sighing before cracking a grin. By then Tsubaki and Kino had both approached the reunited friends, the former giving a simple salutation while the latter just looked over the stranger curiously. He figured from the way the other girls were acting that this was the person that had helped them out while he was gone. When they said she was a bit odd they hadn’t been kidding, but he was less concerned with that at the moment. He was far too distracted by just how beautiful she was, and by her haunting features.

“Oh, right! Yuki this is Kino, and the guy over there is-“

Tamiko pointed toward Daisuke who was standing a few yards back, but when she saw his face it caused her to bite her tongue. There was a serious look in his eyes as he glared at Yuki, as if he was examining every inch of her form. The target of this glare seemed unfazed but she did sense that something was amiss, as did the others. Tsubaki recognized the look the Professor was giving the girl and wasn’t surprised in the least by his actions.

He was indeed ogling her.

“Dumbass!!!”

Tsubaki kicked a rock toward the gawking man, though he easily tilted his head out of its path. His eyes diverted away from the group as he realized he had been spotted, Kino busting out laughing while Tamiko’s face became distorted with anger. She rolled up her sleeves and started walking toward the apparent lecher, Tsubaki following alongside her cracking her knuckles as she did. Daisuke simply sighed as his intentions had yet again been misinterpreted, but he knew his arguments would fall on deaf ears. Of far more importance to him, rather than the pair of approaching furies, was the girl whose virtue they felt needed protecting. Though subtle and easily missed, Daisuke could see things in the way she moved that were clearly unusual. He would need more time to be sure but he was already certain of one thing:

Yuki wasn’t human.

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Club Sundown: it was once the premiere night club on the Osaka waterfront but now the private abode of one of the most powerful men in the city ruins. Yamada the Shark had earned his nick name both due to his wicked grin and the pleasure he took from taking a bite out of those that defied him. No one on the water front did anything without his approval, and if not for a few less than cooperative individuals and the large number of wild Kaijin in the city, all of Osaka would have been under his control by now. Or at least that was what he told himself. The well built fellow wore a blue suit that was far nicer than anything those around him could ever hope to have, but that was just a benefit of having one of the few seamstresses left in the city under his “employ”.

Two of his favorite girls at either side of him and a table of food before him, Yamada was feeling unusually pleasant for once. That all changed when he saw two of his boys stumble into the club with less than victorious expressions on their faces. The brute’s grin turned into a frown, looking even more like a shark as he did. Dingo and Hachi headed up to the balcony floor to address their boss and give him what they hoped would be welcomed news. Yamada waved his girls away and finished off his drink as he prepared to pass judgment on the two men he reluctantly called his “best guys”.

“This is the part where you tell me he’s dead.”

“W-well, we dropped a building on top of him boss. There’s no way he-“

Yamada gritted his teeth and caused Hachi to choke back his words. The menacing man stood to his feet and seemed calm until he growled and flipped the table before him with enough strength to send it flying across the room! Dingo and Hachi barely had a chance to leap out of its path but soon found themselves in an even worse situation. Yamada’s face had changed, now looking like it was made of stained glass with his teeth looking even more shark like as he yelled at the top of his lungs.

“I told you idiots not to come back without his head! What part of that didn’t you understand!?”

“Go easy on them sweetie. Like you said, they’re idiots.”

Yamada turned his attention toward the one who had spoken to him, his face slowly returning to normal as he looked upon her. The woman that now approached the monstrous man was a voluptuous beauty clad in a black mini-dress that matched her long hair but was a contrast to her bright yellow eyes. For all Tomomi’s magnificent features, however, there was one blemish that was impossible to hide. An ugly looking collar that was actually a rather cruel piece of technology called a volt leash. Go too far out of a given range and the device not only alerted the one with the remote, but also gave the wearer however many volts said controller wished.

Fortunately Tomomi was nothing if not a smooth talker and had managed to work her way up from being a simple piece of Yamada’s property to becoming his main squeeze. That said they were both well aware that the beauty wouldn’t hesitate to kill her would be owner, given the chance. They were also both aware of how accelerating that was to Yamada. Regardless he was fond enough of the woman to listen to her words, even though he knew well her intentions were to try and save the two men before him. It was always cute watching her try to hide her panic under a sexy façade.

“How about this babe; you let these two run off and collect some protection from a few of the sewer dwellers and let me take a swing at Hayate.”

Yamada’s face hardened once again, but at least remained human for the most part. He turned away from the woman and glared at the quivering duo before him. By all rights he should kill them, but if he finished off everyone who failed him than he wouldn’t have anyone left to do his dirty work. He waved the two off, neither hesitating to follow the silent instruction, both running for the exit as fast as they could. Tomomi let out a gentle sigh of relief but instantly resumed her more sensual persona, approaching Yamada and taking the seat next to his. The thuggish man returned to his chair, motioning for a few of his other minions to bring up a new table and food for him and his lady. Said lady snuggled up to him, playing the part of the loyal damsel while trying to gauge his reaction to the latter part of her earlier statement.

“So tell me darlin’, what makes you think I would let you go after a bastard as tough as Hayate?”

“Oh it was just a silly idea I had. I’ve been board lately and I figured a fight might be fun.”

“Normally I’d think you were trying some scheme to get yourself free, or dead, but if you wanted the latter you would have been more direct about it.”

“And the former?”

“That would require that Hayate gave a damn about anyone but himself, which as far as I know he don’t. Truth be told next to me you’re probably the only other person around tough enough to do the job. So how about this…”

Tomomi was more than a bit concerned by the tone in Yamada’s voice, and twice so by the wicked expression on his face. The words that came out of his mouth next confirmed the entrapped woman’s fears and made her sick in more ways than she dared count. Still, she had opened the door for this and if everything went as planned it shouldn’t be an issue. Or so she hoped…

“I’ll let you fight Hayate but afterwards you have to agree to finally giving me some kids. Even a Fangire like me would sleep better at night knowing he’s got somebody to pass on his legacy to. So that’s the deal, take it or leave it.”

“…Fine, this has been a long time coming anyway. One last hurrah before I finally settle down. Who could complain about that?”

She wanted to scream, and for a split second she thought of just transforming and attacking him, but she knew well the collar would just shock her and then she really would be back to square one. No, she would be even worse off than that. At least now she had a chance and that was more than she could have hoped for. Now all she could do was hope to God that Hayate was as tough as she had been lead to believe, and that he would give her the opportunity she needed. It was risky, and perhaps even foolish to even attempt it, but it was her last chance at freedom. She had to try, even if it did mean putting her life on the line, but then what sort of life was this anyway?

It wasn’t like she had much else to loose…

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“So your friends just went home and didn’t even offer to let you go with them?”

“That is correct.”

“That hardly seems fair.”

“I do not mind in the least as it gave me the opportunity to return. I hope that I am not being too forward, but if possible I would like to accompany you for a time.”

“Of course! Well, actually I’ve got this crazy idea so you may want to hear it before you decide whether you want to stick around with me or not. Like I said…it’s kind of crazy.”

Yuki tilted her head and the others looked toward Tamiko with equally curious expressions. She looked around at her companions and then scratched her head, having not really thought out any sort of thorough plans in regards to her goal. The only thing she had figured out was the idea itself, and so she decided to be blunt about it.

“I want to rebuild Osaka.”

Her friend’s reactions to the statement were pretty much what Tamiko had expected. Kino’s jaw dropped solely from how serious the girl sounded about what he could only perceive as some sort of joke. Tsubaki knew better than to think the overzealous girl was being anything but honest, but she still had a hard time believing it all the same. Daisuke narrowed his gaze and wondered if this child really understood what she was saying or how much danger she would be putting herself in just for the attempt. Yuki…well she simply straightened her head and wasn’t at all surprised by Tamiko’s words. She already knew the girl was a bit odd.

“Don’t look at me like that! I’m being serious about this! I mean I’m not talking about trying to make it what it once was, but I want to at least try and salvage something of my home, ya know?”

“Are you crazy Tamiko!? I mean…I…I’m not saying it can’t be done but…but…”

“But what?”

Tsubaki tried to find the words to describe just how insane such a goal was, but for some reason she just couldn’t find them. Even Kino, who was usually the first to state how impossible something was, didn’t know where to begin his rant on the subject. Daisuke finally spoke up, but what he had to say wasn’t something any of the others expected to hear from the world weary fellow.

“Do you really think you can do it, Tamiko? What makes you think you’ll be able to succeed where so many others couldn’t.”

Everyone first looked toward Daisuke and then back at Tamiko for her response. She was surprised by the question and didn’t immediately have an answer for it, closing her eyes to think it over. Really she didn’t have any practical skills or anything in the way of resources at her disposal, and the fact was she still knew very little about the world and what it had become in the last fifty years. There were probably more dangers than she dared imagine, and plenty of people who would do everything in their power to stand in her way. She wanted to go for it all the same though, and it was than she realized what, if anything, would give her the advantage she needed to succeed. If God had given her a gift aside from fighting then it was the one thing that she had in spades since before she could remember.

The fiery red head looked up and flexed one of her arms across her chest, giving an answer that left three of her friends speechless and prompted Yuki to clap lightly for her.

“I’ve got guts!”