Breakfast 7:00 AM, hotel room.
"A strange ceiling. Oh, right, I'm still in a hotel."
After Rikuo escaped from the Ushi-oni yesterday, to avoid revealing his identity, he changed his disguise and checked into a hotel near Asukayama Park.
"Heh heh, I've stayed outside more often than I've stayed at my own apartment."
Rikuo tried to get up and felt a chill and numbness throughout his body, but because he didn't use Jack of Spades, he was able to control his body, it was just his legs that hurt a little.
"The side effects are a bit strong this time, maybe the Kamen Rider armor was also overdrawn."
Rikuo stood up and moved his limbs, feeling that he could barely move normally.
"Wait! What about the side effects of 7 of Hearts?"
Rikuo could only feel the side effects from 6 of Spades, 6 of Clubs, and 5 of Spades, but 7 of Hearts seemed to have no effect at all.
"Heart represents life, so there are no side effects? Then 2 of Hearts isn't special, or rather, the entire Heart category is special."
Rikuo walked to the bedside table and took out the Undead Card storage box.
"Speaking of which, I've only found one Heart category card. 2 of Hearts was left by the old man, and I haven't encountered a single card from the entire Diamond category. Heart and Diamond belong to the red category, while Spade and Club are black?"
Rikuo recalled a key point.
"There were once two Jokers! So they must have been responsible for carrying half of the sealed cards. 2 of Hearts was left as a memento of the first generation emotional Joker. So it exists with the old man. Then the other Heart and Diamond categories must be in the domain of the other Joker!"
Rikuo shook his head and chuckled softly.
"Knowing it's another Joker's domain doesn't help, though. Undead Cards have already spread everywhere, from Tokyo to Osaka is a full 500 kilometers. And Musashino City, where the first Heart category Anomaly appeared, is less than 20 kilometers from where I live."
Rikuo put away the Undead Card and walked towards the door.
"In any case, I can finally relax for a while. These two days are the weekend, but the pressure has doubled."
Rikuo pushed open the door and found Sakiko already there. She was holding two breakfasts and both of their school bags.
"Rikuo, you're actually up? I thought you'd sleep until at least 7:30 like usual."
"I passed out soon after I got back yesterday, so I went to bed early and naturally woke up early. It's a pity Summoner's Rift lost a top mid-laner."
"Since we're not at the apartment today, I didn't have time to make you a bento. But, I still bought breakfast, so you can't say I didn't keep my promise."
"That was a joke. You don't really need to make me a bento every day."
"In any case, it's good that Rikuo is in good spirits. Let's go to school! It will take a lot longer to get to Haneoka from here."
"Alright, let's go!"
Rikuo snatched the two school bags, carrying one on each shoulder. Sakiko tried to pull them back, but she wasn't tall enough, so she gave up and began to ponder the words she had just heard at the door.
'Another? Joker? And Musashino City? That's where Rikuo went the day before yesterday, right?'
...
Haneoka Academy.
Rikuo and Sakiko arrived at school, and this time there weren't as many curious glances. Rikuo walked Sakiko to her classroom door, picked up his own breakfast, and left.
Because Sakiko usually kept a low profile in class and had relatively little interaction with her classmates, when she suddenly appeared with a boy, her classmates didn't crowd around to ask questions as usual.
However, a few more curious young girls couldn't suppress their impulses. Like discovering a new continent, they excitedly ran out of the classroom, wanting to find out more.
These young girls whispered to each other, observing the boy from a distance, seemingly full of curiosity about this unfamiliar boy, eager to know which class he belonged to.
'Am I a rare creature now?'
Rikuo chuckled, looking at the young girls hiding behind him.
'Their tracking skills are terrible. They need some training at Tsukinomori.'
Rikuo went downstairs, ran a lap, and bought black tea, milk, and Japanese craft cola.
"Since I'm here, I'll see if it really glows."
After Rikuo confirmed that all the trackers had left, he returned to his own class. Only then did Rikuo remember that his class was next to Sakiko's.
'I hid for nothing... Forget it, I'll just consider it thanks to Anon for helping me with my homework.'
Rikuo ignored the gazes around him and walked into the classroom.
"Riku! You're finally here! Do you know, Taki was so scary during training these past two days! After she found out about my 2 of Hearts, she started giving me crazy amounts of extra individual training! Guitar is the hardest to learn, how would someone who plays drums understand?"
Rikuo looked at Anon complaining and then remembered that he hadn't been to RiNG these past two days because there had been a lot of Anomaly incidents recently.
"Riku thinks so too, right? Isn't Taki going too far? Even if I'm a genius, I still need time to practice, right?"
"Yes, I think Pink Husky is right."
"Hmph, you always say that! I can tell you're mocking me! I've already worked so hard!"
Rikuo watched Anon puff out her cheeks, hug an imaginary object, and turn her head away.
"Just kidding, you really have been practicing very hard lately, I can tell from your hands."
Rikuo looked at the calluses on Anon's hands, handed her the black tea, and then took out 2 of Hearts from the storage box.
"But, just effort isn't enough. No matter how good the process is, if there are no results, the effort will lose its original meaning. As long as you no longer need 2 of Hearts, Taki will definitely acknowledge you."
"Of course I know that. But... anyway. I just need to keep working hard, right?"
Anon snatched 2 of Hearts from Rikuo's hand, and her feigned anger disappeared.
"You must have been dealing with Anomalies these past two days, right? You're not hurt, are you?"
"The day before yesterday was fine, except for a bread causing trouble. Yesterday, well, it was quite exciting, almost ripped my suit."
Anon covered her mouth with her small hand and chuckled, her body trembling slightly, after all, only her body could tremble.
"Riku, what do you mean by bread causing trouble? Can Kamen Rider suits really rip?"
"Anyway, it's good that nothing serious happened now. This is your homework, I've already finished it for you. I'm going to hang out with my friend!"
Rikuo took the homework Anon handed him and watched her jog away.
"Speaking of which, Sakiko is also going to start a band, right? But she doesn't even have a keyboard to practice with. After Anon's ensemble finishes today, I'll go with Sakiko to buy a keyboard."
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