KR Gaim - Tru Heart: Chapter 49

[DISCLAIMER: This is an alternate continuity to Kamen Rider Gaim, featuring a few fancharacters and altered plot. Refer to description for extra detail on this specific chapter.]

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[Chapter 49: An Heir of Distrust]

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It was a harsh late summer. Yori walked through the Helheim Forest until he'd found her, sitting by a large rock. He knew he'd find her eventually - She wouldn't travel far, knowing the dangers of this place.

"Rei." Yori called out to her.

"It's cold here." Rei said weakly. She brought her legs to her body and hugged them. "So... cold..."

"I know."

"Why did you do it?!" Rei asked. Her voice cracked as she held back the tears.

A crackling of grass was heard. The two saw Yoshimoto walking into view, and at the sight of Yori, readied his Energy Lockseed... Rei couldn't bare the fighting anymore and cried out again.

"Why?!"

. . .

Earlier that spring, Yori had finally gotten Yggdrasill off his back when the Indonesian sector had backed down from the investigation of his defection from the company. With a few days of peace under his belt, he figured he was now only ever a threat if he attacked Zawame's sector directly.

In his room, he sat at a desk with his laptop, doing research.

"Helheim... That which conceals."

Ryoma only ever said that his name for this world came from the general name for the underworld of Norse mythology, since this was assumed to be place consumed by plantlife and its inhabitants long since dead. But as Yori dug deeper, he intended to figure out where Ryoma was really coming from.

Unfortunately, something so vague as 'great power' couldn't lead him very far. He didn't know why he gave into this silly idea that the Helheim Forest, or this supposed power, could be tied to mythology... Then again, who was he to doubt it when dealing with another world? But there's far too many things that could be considered of great power, be it a person, a weapon, or...

Yori closed out the window once footsteps headed his way. He leaned back in his seat to stretch, putting his hands behind his head. Jiro walked in shortly after.

"Hey. How's job-hunting going?" Yori greeted.

"Bad." Jiro said simply. "So many people need jobs to pay for the damages the Inves cause... Every place I try is full."

"Yeah, I'm not doin' so hot either." Yori said, getting up to leave the room. "I'm gonna see about talking to dad."

Jiro looked down. He had no idea what to say. Yori stopped when he noticed this and looked back to him.

"Hey, don't worry." Yori told him. "Things get worse before they get better. Just keep trying, okay?"

"Right." Jiro walked to his room. "Sure do miss your well-paying job."

Yori sighed lightly and headed for the door. He certainly didn't miss the job. In fact... he quite enjoyed the sleep he was getting. As he entered the living room, there was a quick tap at the front door.

Yori opened the door only to find a package on the ground. It was a small, square black present with a blue ribbon gently wrapped around it. Curious. When he picked it up, he then took notice to what was said on the card on top.

"To Yori Kazama:
May you gain the ambition to reap a fruitful victory."

VERY curious. Yori looked around the area to find no one nearby. He then stepped out to the car with it in hand - He decided it was best to keep this by his side until he knew what was inside of it. With all that's been happening, it seemed too suspicious to just leave alone...

. . .

Yoshimoto stood at the center of a forest, eyes closed. He heard it - the sound of the suit material crackling ever so slightly and the armor clinging as they drew closer. Once he opened his eyes, they charged forward. Yoshimoto flicked out a Lockseed and placed it into his Sengoku Driver.

[AVOCADO!]

The Troopers made their way for him with spears ready, with others keeping their distance using gunslinger fighting styles. Yoshimoto dove down and grabbed the spear of one of the Troopers, knocking them into the others approaching him. With a momentary respite, the armor dropped down.

[♪♪♪ - AVOCADO ARMS! SABER, HUT-HUT-HO!]

As Shinra, he attacked a Trooper wielding a sword and clashed blades until managing to push the Trooper back and kick him to the ground. Once he saw more heading his way from behind, he grabbed the knife of his belt.

[♪♪♪ - AVOCADO SPARKLING!]

The lightweight saber in his hand started to glow a light green, then he spun around, slashing at the Troopers. Large avocado slice holograms followed the blade to attack all of them at once. He then threw the saber toward one of the gunslinging Troopers while it was still energized to take them out. He then quickly turned his head to face the remaining Troopers and ran for them, switching Lockseeds as he did so.

[♪♪♪ - RAMBUTAN ARMS! PITCHFORK, ORA-ORA!]

Shinra leapt at the three gunslingers still standing and managed to flip one while knocking another into a pillar and mashing his foot into their stomach to do them in. Finally, he knocked one to the ground and stabbed the pitchfork down, threateningly keeping his gun hand to the ground without drawing blood. Shinra stared down at the frightened Trooper.

Finally, he closed the Lockseed and allowed the pitchfork to dematerialize along with the suit. The virtual reality forest faded away as well, revealing the white room with pillars they were in. He brushed off his suit coat as he made his way out.

"Excellent work in there." Takatora greeted at the exit. Yoshimoto silently walked past him, to which he followed to press for information. "You've been training more frequently now, I noticed."

"It's either kill or be killed." Yoshimoto told him, leaving out into the hallway. He looked out the window overlooking the city. "Something feels amiss."

"Oh?" Takatora walked closer, joining him at the window. He trusted Yoshimoto's opinion. "Crack activity has been picking up at an alarming rate ever since Project Genesis was initiated. Your decision to train yourself harder may be wise if you remain with the Sengoku Driver."

"Perhaps that's it." Yoshimoto said vaguely. He walked away before Takatora could question it.

. . .

"And..." Hase tossed his teams' remaining Locks to the pile, "That's another two, Pecan and Cranberry."

At Team Gaim's base, the Beat Riders had all put their Lockseeds in one batch. Once the Inves Games had come to an end, many dumped their Lockseeds in the garbage, but by the request of Rei, any leftovers would need to be kept here as possible Armored Rider inventory. More than a dozen Lockseeds lay dormant in a cardboard box that would be shoved underneath the stairway.

"I was just thinking..." Meiya from Invitto brought up, "If the Inves eat Locks, wouldn't this make our base a major target?"

"Ah, like we can't handle it!" Zack brushed her off, leaning against the railing on top of the stairs.

"There's four of you with belts, so any Inves that shows up'll be sorry." Peco assured her.

"Right." Rei agreed. She looked up to Meiya, "Say, have you seen Jonouchi around? I haven't seen him since the dance event."

Meiya looked a bit disappointed to answer. "He was happy to dance with us at the event, but he's been avoiding the dance scene ever since."

"You sure he wasn't at one of the shows before?" Peco asked.

Hase noticed Rei looking down at the box of Lockseeds in thought... He hadn't been aware of why Jonouchi ran off. But Rei knew - and she hoped that wherever he was, he would recover soon.

. . .

Jonouchi sat at a table in the back of Drupers, eating from a bowl of fruit chunks. He sure did miss dancing - watching his team from afar living it up with the others wasn't good enough, though... He couldn't bring himself to showing his face on stage after realizing the kind of person the Inves Games turned him into. He had a certain pride that had been tarnished by that encounter with Rei, when she showed him the manipulative person he was. He just wanted to ensure his friends, his team, had a place to dance.

"Hey... Jonouchi." A voice whispered.

Jonouchi lifted his head and looked around. To his back, he saw a young man in a red hoodie, with the hood worn over his head.

"Ban, right?" Jonouchi recognized the Red Hot team member. Ban shushed him. He kept his voice low, remembering the team's reputation as of late. "What do you want?"

Ban quickly got into the seat opposite of him.

"Think you could... pass a couple orders along to me?" Ban asked. "Sono can't be seen here, but he misses the food..."

Jonouchi stared at him briefly before nonchalantly returning to his food, feeling a bit offended on the inside. "Seems to me dear Sono can't do anything these days." He popped a grape in his mouth. "What's in it for me, then?"

"For you?" Ban asked in surprise, not expecting to make deals. "I..."

"Ever since he and I teamed up, all I've done is favors with the promise of having muscle to back me up, and I haven't even gotten that." Jonouchi told him. "It's not worth my time to be associated with that criminal at this rate."

"Sono's not gonna like the sound of this..." Ban said to himself, feeling a bit uneasy.

Ban felt a hand grab his hood from behind. When he turned to look, the female employee at Drupers had pulled his hood off to identify Ban, which certainly took him by surprise.

"So it is you." The employee confirmed.

"H-Hey Iyo." Ban stuttered nervously. "You're looking pretty today--"

"Tell Sonomura he has a massive tab to pay off before he and his friends are allowed here." Iyo informed him.

Jonouchi cracked a little grin as he knew what was coming. Before he had any chance to react, Ban would soon be tossed out the front door by Iyo.

. . .

Shinra stepped into the Helheim Forest with the task of ensuring cameras were in working order. He'd been on edge as of late, and being able to unleash that frustration out on some violent Inves didn't sound like a bad idea right now. He left the research team to walk deeper into the woods.

The air felt as unpleasant as it ever was. Even with his suit on, he could feel the stillness here... nothing in Helheim truly breathed. Most importantly, nothing sentient lives here - a misconception that he would eventually learn.

As he got deeper into the area, he noticed movement from the corner of his eye. Despite quick reflexes, whatever he saw was gone. But a rustling was nearby, this time opposite of him. Shinra turned to approach the source, yet he found no person or monster. Instead...

"Hm."

Footprints. These weren't made by the footwear of the Troopers, either - Someone in normal attire had trudged through here some time ago from the looks of it. He decided to follow the trail. With any luck, the second test subject may be back for a rematch. He was caught by Sid, but supposedly - if that man's words were to be believed, so casually he said them - Kaito Kumon just narrowly escaped Yggdrasill. That encounter has never settled with him... Just how wily can some street punk be?

The sense of loneliness was broken once Shinra felt the presence of another in the area. He turned to one of the many trees surrounding him and found a familiar face from Yggdrasill facing him, casually leaning against the tree with arms crossed. Rook's attire was different as of late... he discarded all sense of color and now wore a suit of black and grey. Something Shinra had taken notice to, but didn't care to pry about.

"What exactly are you doing here?" Shinra asked him.

"Am I not part of security?" Rook asked simply. "It was I who requested your aid in vestigating the cameras."

"You're unarmed."

"Then it is fortunate that you've arrived." Rook decided, keeping the monotone he was so known for. "Although the cameras are all in working order in this area, perhaps you should head Northeast from here for me since it's quite dangerous." Rook pointed to Shinra's right. "I'll be returning to HQ, of course."

"Understood." Shinra accepted, walking in that direction.

The silence set in once he was further away from Rook... Helheim, fitting to its assumed origins, felt no more peaceful than a graveyard. However, Shinra was no stranger to this sensation... he first witnessed death far too many years ago to be fazed by it now.

Once he was alone, that was when Shinra's eyes looked to the ground and took notice; More footsteps. He'd stopped once he saw it. Looking back where Rook was, he wondered... were those not Rook's after all? And had he not noticed these himself? He pushed onward, curious to find the source.

Shinra could hear some sort of beep in the distance. He wiped out his saber and blocked a pink arrow coming his way, managing to swipe it off into another direction before it exploded on him. Shortly after, Malika came sliding down a nearby hill to reveal herself.

"An excellent block, sir." Malika complimented, walking over to him.

"Trigger happy, are you?" Shinra questioned her actions.

"Just keeping you on your toes." Malika explained herself. "Might I ask what you're doing here?"

"Inspecting surveillance equipment."

"There are none beyond this point, as I'm sure you know."

Shinra looked around - She was right. He'd long since abandoned that mission while focusing on the footprints, which had gone beyond where their surveillance reached. Surely, though, she noticed...?

"Of course. The sound of movement I heard here must've been you." Shinra told her. "It's dangerous this deep into the Forest without more support. Let's return to HQ."

"As you wish."

As Malika led the way, Shinra took one last look back at the direction those footprints were heading; the ruins of the old civilization. He then stepped away and turned to follow her and return to his work...

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Next time, Bravo returns...!