Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider (東島丹三郎は仮面ライダーになりたい)

Aniki, save us!

Sh-Shocker's after you? Why?

H-Hold up!

I'm Shocker t—

Aniki?!

We're on the same—

Dammit. I-I don't know what's going on...

But we're bailing through the window!

Y-Yessir!

Ow, ow, ow...

Get up!

We gotta hurry!

Follow me!

Right!

Sorry...

Go on without me!

Stupid! This is no time to start wimping out!

He's right!

I guess this is it.

Aniki?!

I'll take them all—

There you are, Shocker!

Wha?!

Y-You...

Dammit!

Rider...

Punch, right?

Punch!

Rider...

Punch.

Punch!

Rider...

And punch.

Punch!

D...

D...

D...

Damn! He really is legit strong!

He's a normal human...

A human who's just playing pretend, and yet...

Hey.

Whoa! It's me!

It's you?!

Uh, sorry about that.

It's fine. But I was hoping to ask you for something...

Look...

can we crash at your place?

Why?!

Because Shocker's trying to kill us!

You're in Shocker!

Yeah, but they're the ones whose lives are in danger.

A-Are you asking me to hide them?

Please!

The Combat Girls are Shocker Combatants?!

Yeah.

But they're the top idol group at the moment...

I don't know the specifics,

but apparently their manager-slash-agency head is the Bat Man.

The Bat Man?!

It makes sense. The Spider Man had a human form too,

and we knew that monsters had infiltrated society to some degree...

But the entertainment industry?

And why become the head of an idol agency?

I'm not too sure what he's actually after.

The Combat Girls...

I'll have to dig into this.

And so will I.

Yukarisu?

Care for a refill on your coffee?

Oh, thanks.

I overheard what you were saying...

And more and more of what happened is coming back to me.

I think the Bat Man is the one who made me into a Shocker combatant.

The sound of his voice... I'll never forget it.

The Bat Man...!

You're getting a little full of yourself, you puny human.

What's the matter?

All done fighting?

Excuse me, can I get some more coffee?

Coming!

Well, I need to go.

Okay.

Tojima-san?

During the other battle...

I turned away and ran from an enemy again.

I'm sorry. If I hadn't...

My desire for revenge overtook me, and I—

We can't defeat Shocker like this!

I don't know how to put this...

But we shouldn't fight on our own.

We need to work together to overcome them.

Tojima-san!

You're right. Let's beat Shocker, together!

YOU HAVE ONE NEW MESSAGE.

Hate to bug you, but we're kinda starving here.

Could you bring back something to eat?

What?!

Some smokes too.

Thanks in advance.

Is it from that Nakao person?

This guy...

Why do I have to feed them on top of everything else?

We do takeout here, y'know.

Don't let up!

That should do it for today.

GOING TO WORK. YOU TWO BETTER NOT FIGHT! GET ALONG ❤︎

Eat this.

I give thanks for this food.

He's been training me ever since.

I still haven't discovered the secret to his strength.

You...

You're just a human...

Well, I guess I'm asking, how are you so strong?

I've just loved fighting since the day I was born. No idea why.

I encountered Bajiquan at some point, and poured all that passion into it,

training endlessly.

But...

After mastering my technique, my battle against myself came to an end,

and then there was no one else to fight.

It felt like my life had lost all purpose...

when I encountered Sena.

She set fire... to the light of my life!

She lit a fire?

That's right.

From now on, I'll continue to fight until I can make a bowl of ramen

that will give Sena sublime bliss!

This was my first time making broth with fish bones...

I think the richer soup I made before

might be more to her liking, though.