[Mushverse, at the W house]

[halfboiledjoker]

It's been a long but productive day of information gathering and moving in. The house that Akiko managed to rent for us is actually pretty nice, with plenty of space an entire room full of whiteboards for Philip. I have no idea why a house would have that many whiteboards, but I certainly can't complain. At least we won't lose our security deposit because Philip had to resort to writing on the walls.

I remember the number of business cards I handed out today and pull out my phone, just in case. Definitely don't want to miss a call if it comes in. There's a lot going on in this town, and I've got a feeling we're going to be here for a long while until it's all settled.

In the meantime...I kick my feet up on my desk, lean back in my chair, and place my hat over my face. Time for a nap.

Comments

[uchuukitaa]

I bang on the door happily, hoping I've got the right place this time. The last house was some guy with reddish hair holding a violin, and he just looked kind of confused at me until I went away again.

[halfboiledjoker]

I'm barely three winks into my nap before I hear a knocking at the door, and my feet fall off the desk in surprise. That was certainly fast. It doesn't sound like anyone else is going to answer, so I walk down the stairs and open the door to see Gentarou waiting outside.

"Oh, hey there," I say awkwardly. I'm not entirely sure how to greet somebody that isn't a client. "Ah, good to see you. Come on in." I hold the door open.

[uchuukitaa]

"Hey," I say cheerfully, strolling in. I'm instantly comfortable, as I am in preeeeeetty much any environment. "How are you?"

[halfboiledjoker]

"Ah, doing well enough," I say. It's true at the moment, at least. "I've got a couple hooks out, waiting to see if anyone calls in with a lead. Until then..." I look down the hallway, but don't see anybody else around.

"Let's see if we can find Philip, and then we can talk business." I try to remember my way to the room with all the whiteboards in it. I think it was down this hall.

[terlibra]

I'm testing out the whiteboards. So far, they seem to be in good shape.

The door opens, and Shotarou walks in, with a guest I can't clearly see. "Hello, Shotarou."

[uchuukitaa]

I follow him down the hall, whistling something loud and offkey as I do. I should probably find a tune at some point. Hibiki-sensei said I could carry a tune in a bucket. Or I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. One or the other.

Shotarou opens the door, to reveal a metric crapload of whiteboards and markers in every conceivable colour. My fingers start itching to call Yuuki down here. She'd have a blast.

"Oh, hey!" I call to Shotarou's friend. "Kisaragi Gentarou."

[halfboiledjoker]

Gentarou waves to Philip over my shoulder, and I step into the room and up to Philip's side. "Oi, Philip, this is Gentarou," I introduce smoothly. "Also known as Kamen Rider Fourze. He's gonna give us a rundown on what's going on around here."

[terlibra]

"Hello, Kisargi Gentarou," I tell him. I'll look him up later, after he's left. I cock my head at Shotarou, letting him know I'll be listening to what Kisargi Gentarou has to say.

[uchuukitaa]

Oh, look at them. So cute!

I elbow Shotarou and say genially in my softest stage whisper, "Oi, I thought you and your partner were having trouble? You two seem to be getting on great! True love always wins out!"

[halfboiledjoker]

My palm finds its way to my face before I'm even halfway through hearing what Gentarou says. "No, really, it's not like that," I say in exasperation. I've had to explain this so many times I almost want to give in and be done with it, but this is definitely not the time to think about that. "We're detectives, okay? That kind of partner."

Something else takes me off-guard as well. "And why did you think we were having trouble in the first place?"

[terlibra]

It's always interesting to hear perspectives on human relationships, even between Shotarou and I. I've learned a lot about how society perceives our relationship. Even if it causes Shotarou some embarassment.

But I say nothing, merely smile.

[uchuukitaa]

"Didn't you say you were?" I say blithely. "Okay, detectives, huh? That's really cool. Though I'm sorry you don't get to have the fun of youthful energy at school!"

[halfboiledjoker]

I don't remember the comment he's referencing, but whatever. On to actual business. I wonder if I should try to hunt down Akiko, but...eh. Anything Philip hears now he'll be able to explain better later anyway.

"Right, school energy," I agree, just to get the conversation moving along. "So, do you mind starting over with all the explanation? We got sent here because of rumors about monsters at Amanogawa High School. But the ones we know about are called dopants, and these are...Zodiarts, right?"

Philip said to skip him this turn, he'll just be fascinated for now XD

[uchuukitaa]

I nod enthusiastically and grab a marker, so I can start to draw some of the basics.

"There are Zodiarts here, yes! And also these weird purple things with silver vests, I think the Go-Busters fight them."

...okay, so my Zodiarts looks more like a chicken with antennae, but I'm sure he'll get the idea.

/snrk Good thing Hiromu's not around...

[halfboiledjoker]

...and he's off like a rocket. "Okay, hold on a sec, slow down. So, Zodiarts are these things..." I step forward and tap at his pretty terrible drawing. I'm pretty sure we were in the same fight earlier, and I'm pretty sure the monster didn't look like that. "Didn't he have some sort of gizmo you had to mess with after we beat him?"

Yeah.

[terlibra]

I remember it clearly, along with someone coming in to catch the person. "It seemed similar to a GaiaMemory, with some differences. For one, it doesn't seem to require a connector."

it's hard being scared of co- chickens

[uchuukitaa]

"It's a Switch," I explain, smoothing my hair. "It uses cosmic energy to transform people, but it changes their personality, too. It becomes an addiction."

XD

[halfboiledjoker]

I can't help but frown at that. "Very similar to the dopants and Gaia Memories, then." The similarities are actually pretty concerning. "Do you know who's handing them out? A company, some underground syndicate, some random guy on the corner?"

I hope it's not Foundation X. I don't have any desire to see those white suits again anytime soon.

Philip said to skip again <3

[uchuukitaa]

I screw up my face. "Yes. No. Sort of. People at the school, but we don't know who they are, apart from one guy who's too strong so far."

Ah, Aibou~

[halfboiledjoker]

So we don't know. Great. "Wait, so we know who one of them is?" I can't help but chuckle. "Well, maybe that we've got two riders here now, that won't be a problem anymore. Or was it three? Meatier or something?" If we've got three Kamen Riders here, I'm not entirely sure there's any problem that we can't handle.

RL has an annoying tendency to interfere.

[terlibra]

"What is the person's name?" I ask. It's all been interesting so far, but I want to know. This will give me what I need to start a search.

Maybe Shotarou will get our visitor out of the room so I can start my research.

rl sucks sometimes :(

[uchuukitaa]

"Kijima," I say promptly. "And he's kind of punny and really hard to understand!"

I blink. "Meatier? ...Meteor! Kamen Rider Meteor. Yeah, he's here, though sometimes he's a she."

[halfboiledjoker]

Philip's patience is wearing thin, but I can't help but feel we've only brushed the top of the iceberg of a problem that's dwarfing this town. Based on what I've heard from some other people...I'm not entirely sure Gentarou even knows everything that's going on.

Although maybe it's best to take this one step at a time.

"So we've got someone at the school handing out switches that turn kids into monsters, some other guys in purple vests that are apparently also being fought, and and another rider who's sometimes a he and sometimes a she." My head's starting to spin from all this. "Mou...Philip, that's enough to get you started, right?"

[terlibra]

"Yes." Kisargi Gentarou's name is at least enough to get me started. From his book, I'll be able to find out more about the other terms he mentioned. "I'll start researching it now."

I have learned some things about behaving around others, enough to not directly push this stranger out of my room.

[uchuukitaa]

"Ah, it's best if you don't think about it too hard," I say wisely, clapping a hand to Shotarou's shoulder. "Not while you're doing stuff like trying to walk or eat, anyway. It's really complicated, and sometimes it's easier to deal with the problem in front of you."