Rikuo chose to fly through the dim light to reduce visibility.
"Should I say it lives up to its name as a superior Undead card? While it can reach speeds of 150 km/h, it also has a biological field that protects nearby objects. There's no need to worry about numb hands, resting, or Tomori falling." (It can't be set too fast, because the Jack form's data is only 300 km/h.)
Tomori blinked her crystalline golden eyes, looking at the many people bustling below. (Why are there so many people? Because they no longer have trams to ride.)
This was her first time seeing the world from such a unique perspective, watching the dazzling neon lights below, reflecting each other and decorating the entire city like a dream.
In Tomori's previous world, she could only see flowers, stones, insects, and various small animals at low altitudes.
Because in Tomori's eyes, many humans seemed too complicated. They would say words of affection but she would feel malicious emotions; they clearly didn't want to get close, yet they still pretended to be familiar; their surfaces were filled with kindness, but it seemed like they were only wearing a mask.
When she first met Sakiko, she finally encountered someone whose surface and heart were the same color and who was willing to help her. She led her to form a band; she led her to make her first group of friends; she led her to become a 'human'.
But even when she first met Sakiko, Tomori could see that Sakiko also carried 'scars', but as has been repeatedly mentioned, she was like the moon hiding her craters, only showing her the purest moonlight.
But after that day, why was Sakiko so sad? If the moon feared causing tides, a lonely and sad Sakiko left everyone.
So Tomori believed that it was all her fault. Sakiko, such a gentle person, was clearly hurt, yet she couldn't do anything to help. So she always felt that the person who truly needed to work hardest was herself.
Until she heard Rikuo's words.
"Human? You already are."
She understood that humans are inherently diverse, and no one can be perfect. As long as the people she recognizes, recognize her, then she is the best 'human'.
"Are humans like insects?"
"Tomori, you're even making memes now!"
Rikuo was not Tomori; he couldn't fully discern other people's emotions. He just felt that Tomori had become more cheerful, and this was Tomori's perfect T0-level cheerful Tomori!
Tomori just smiled in response, saying nothing more...
After this day, a new urban legend emerged:
During the Ouma ga toki in the evening (17:00 to 19:00), a blue-silver bird monster with golden wings would abduct adolescent girls.
...
The night was like fine sand slipping through fingers, silent and unnoticed. In the blink of an eye, a thin layer of morning light had appeared outside the window, and the pitch-black night sky seemed to be swallowed inch by inch by the gradually brightening blue of the horizon.
Sakiko stayed until evening yesterday, working hard before leaving. Of course, Sakiko also didn't have the chance to take the tram; she could only silently walk home. Fortunately, Tokyo isn't that big.
When she arrived home, she walked to Rikuo's apartment door, lingered for a long time, and then silently opened her own apartment door. Seeing her father, who was standing beside her with a hesitant expression, Sakiko ignored him and went to her own cubicle to start her homework. After all, it was already 9 PM...
But time is fair; whether you are sad or happy, the next day always comes.
...
When it's light, open your eyes. Rikuo opened his eyes and saw the normal ceiling.
"No wake-up call service from Sakiko-sensei today?"
"Well, I flew quite steadily, didn't I?"
Yesterday, Rikuo was so preoccupied with figuring out how to send Tomori back that he forgot about the side effects of the Undead card.
When he returned home, disengaged his transformation and the Jack of Spades's wings, he felt a wave of exhaustion wash over his body. With a surge of courage, Rikuo entered his apartment and lay down on the bed.
"Damn it, the Jack of Spades's ability is wings that are as coordinated as limbs, so the side effect is limb weakness and incoordination, right?"
He then fainted.
Recalling yesterday's events, Rikuo felt that as the Dark King, how could he be bothered by limb incoordination? He suddenly sat up!
Then fell back down.
"Alright, things aren't always one-step processes."
Rikuo chose to slowly get up, but it felt like playing DNF and being hit with a 0.5-second confusion debuff. Every half-second, his limb operations were reversed. So Rikuo fell down again, just like a certain Ultraman captain whose head would catch fire.
"Hmph, do you think this little difficulty can make me fall? As long as there's a sun, I will never fall!"
Rikuo thought of an excellent solution!
"Since my limbs are uncoordinated, why don't I just use my body to push them forward!"
Rikuo tensed his legs and moved forward by swinging his body. He took 10 minutes to wash up, used his face to turn on the faucet, rinsed his mouth, washed his face, clasped his backpack under his armpit, maintaining the action of keeping both arms tight.
"Hmm, this is all I can do."
He painstakingly opened the door and walked out of the apartment. He walked to school amidst the concerned (multi-meaning) gazes of passersby.
"Hmph, mere limb incoordination, trying to threaten me, Kamen Rider Blade!"
In the silent gaze of the entire class, Rikuo sat down in his seat.
Tomori knew the whole story, so she left her seat to come over and express her concern.
"Rikuo-kun. Are you alright? Didn't you say yesterday that the Undead card would have side effects? Why are you still like this..."
Rikuo showed a look as if the band was about to end.
"Mere side effects, not worth mentioning. Since I asked Tomori to accompany me to test the Undead card, I definitely can't affect Tomori!"
"Oh, actually, it's not a big deal. When I was in a band, I used to come home pretty late all the time, didn't I?"
"This is different! If I make Tomori come home late for someone like me, a certain 156cm tall, straight-haired, black-haired, pink-eyed, pressure-driven drummer will kill me!"
Rikuo still remembered Taki's fierce glare at the end.
"Oh, Taki-chan isn't that scary. Also, Rikuo-kun, why don't you take a day off today, even though you're like this?"
Tomori poked her cheek with her little index finger, looking at Rikuo questioningly.
"If I said there were side effects and then didn't come to school the next day, Tomori would worry, wouldn't she?"
"Rikuo-kun, you really are so kind."
Rikuo felt that this was the nth time he had heard the word 'kind' from Tomori.
'Am I also going to become a misunderstood light novel protagonist?'
During this ordinary conversation, Rikuo suddenly heard Anon, who was chatting with the traffic light group next door.
"Yesterday's homework was so hard."
"Really? I thought it was quite simple."
"Anon-chan is so amazing, is she that good at studying too?"
Tomori looked at Rikuo with confusion as he stood up resolutely.
"Let's go back!"
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