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After somehow freeing you, you led everybody else out, running for your lives just outside the hall. It gets loud after that, chaotic, they're shouting at each other, fighting, but you're in no shape to listen. Poor Joey though, he ended up getting cut bad. It's around then you decided to get help for him, to go back to Rider. But something had changed in your perception of him. For some reason he seemed far away, like you shouldn't touch him, like you'd end up just like Joey.
Returning to your old classroom, you find Kamen Rider standing over a battered figure, its limbs mostly severed, appearing utterly defenseless. Helpless even. Logically, you knew Rider was the hero, the good guy, even helping you, and that mangled figure below him was the villain. But no couldn't do it, you would always remember that image. Kamen Rider, drenched in a dark red-brown liquid that eerily reminded me of Joey's blood, of your teacher, simply standing there like a terrifying specter.
But then, Kamen Rider spoke...
"So, we're a family?" You reply to the butler, pushing the memories of that day away.
"Does it not fit?"
"He's hardly here."
"Nonetheless, he did not want to leave you alone, I'm sure of it. It's why the maid and I exist." The butler nodded firmly, then offered a quick bow before departing.
"Family?" You mused aloud, trying to picture that guy as a father, taking you and everyone out to eat, but you can't see it. He looked way too young, far from the image of a father. Maybe more like an older brother? It's been a while since you had a family, you do remember it though, just a little. Everyone was happy, sometimes it was quiet, sometimes you were upset, but at the end of the day, you find yourself missing them just a little. Mother and Father. You don't have another of those anymore, but maybe this is the same? A chance to fill that hole.
>[Interlude: What is a family?] End
