Life 4-3

Noé waved to the other Devils as the flow under him got bright enough to drown out any other image in front of him in a wash of red. And in the next moment, he could feel the air around him change well enough. A bit stuffy even, like he was…

"What the hell?!"

[In the apartment of some single dude in his thirties…] Noé sighed as he opened his eyes and was beset by a shocked expression greeting him. The urge to smirk couldn't be resisted, and Noé fell victim to it. The room he was now in was a small one-room Japanese apartment, the walls marked by shelves and surprisingly tidy by his own observations.

The client himself was a skinny, somewhat unhealthy looking man. From the slip he'd been given, Noé at least knew his name was Morisawa.

"Yo. Sorry it's not who you expected, but the shorty is kinda busy, so I'm filling in, the name's Noé," he greeted, and Morisawa let out an annoyed groan.

"I didn't call for some hafu pretty-boy, I called for Koneko-chan! She always appears from these flyers when I use them!" The man said. Noé just sighed and put his arms behind his head.

"Look man, I'm basically just a temp higher taking on extra work. The shrimp had another summons and my butt got called up to handle it. A guy like you can understand that I'm sure," And to show proof, Noé showed his right palm, the mark appearing. It seemed to be enough, because Morisawa sat down at his desk chair.

"Ahh, so it's not gonna be Koneko-chan this time?"

"Like I said, shrimp's busy tonight so they have me filling in."

"So, what, you some kind of Devil freelancer?"

"More like… newfound associate. This ain't my normal job," Noé sighed as he leaned against a wall. Well… might as well ask, he concluded. "So, you seem to be a pretty regular guy. What the hell would make you wanna start summoning Devils every now and again?"

"I'm a government worker," Morisawa answered, "But the thing is, I'm so diligent about work I don't really interact with other people much. At some point I started getting desperate for some kind of interaction, and next I knew one of those leaflets was in my mailbox. After that… well guess I'm a repeat customer ever since… but maaaan, I was hoping to get a Devil in the cute category tonight. I even called her name."

"Unfortunately, the group Koneko is with is kinda on the small side," Noé snarked. "It's either her or one of two onee-san types… or then the other guy. So just to get it out of the way, what were you planning?"

Whatever hopes Noé may have had, he felt them dash away as the man reached into a corner and pulled out what was clearly a cosplay outfit… and an awfully familiar one at that.

"I have her cosplay!"

"What." Noé took a closer look at the outfit in Morisawa's grasp, blinking a bit as it clicked. "A Nagato Yuki outfit?"

"Oh, so you know the series?"

"Who doesn't? I'm pretty sure even people who don't watch anime that much know about Melancholy. Particularly when that dang dance was super popular."

"Devil-kun, do you also like Nagato?"

"I see the appeal, but Haruhi is more my type."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"I like girls who'd be fun to hang out with. I've kinda got a thing with getting wrapped up in weird shit anyway so not like it'd change my life. That and she's got a nice bod," Noé paused as he caught himself perhaps getting a bit too casual with this. Why am I saying this out loud? What the hell…? "But, look we ain't here to talk taste in anime chicks. Since I obviously can't jump into a skirt, gotta figure something out."

"You got a point," Morisawa placed the uniform back where it had been, rolling his chair back around. "So, since you're a Devil, what's your schtick? You all have special talents, don't you? Koneko-chan told me she has amazing strength. She was able to carry me like a princess!"

This guy has no shame… Noé felt a bit disturbed as he conjured the image of this grown man being lifted up by the tiny Koneko, shaking his head so as to not let it get burned into his thoughts. He didn't want that stuck in his mind for sure.

"Well, I wouldn't much call it a talent, but I got these," With flick of his arms, the Myrmidon appeared on Noé's arms, Morisawa letting out an impressive whistle as the scaled metal shifted into place. "To be honest I'm actually half-human, so I got this fancy thing as a bonus to that."

"Hmm, hybrids usually do have more power than purebloods at times."

"Bro, we don't work like Saiyans. It was just luck."

"Oho, so you also know Dragon Ball huh?" Noé had a sudden odd feeling about where this was going as Morisawa moved his chair to a small closet on the side. "Then feast your eyes on this!"

The man threw the door open, revealing a built in book shelf filled end to end in manga volumes. Noé leaned in, his eyes widening as he saw the neatly arranged volumes.

"No freaking way, are these original prints?!" Morisawa nodded with a smug grin on his face. "Freakin' hell, these things must be worth a fortune with the condition they're in. Impressive, though I'm personally more of a Tokusatsu fan."

"Ohh? Which series?"

"Kamen Rider."

"Hehhh? A guy your age would've only seen Heisei series shows then. Most of you kids don't appreciate the classics."

"Try me," Noé felt ever so irked at that statement. And when he felt irked, or rather, challenged, he felt like he just couldn't back down.

"What was the actual Rider to have multiple forms?" Morisawa's question came with Noé giving a smug grin as he stood straight.

"You're soft balling me! It was Black RX, obviously. Kuuga was just the series that codified the idea of Riders having multiple forms to change between."

"Hah! I'll admit that was an easy one. Then let's got a bit further back why don't we? To the original! How did Takeshi Hongo become the original Kamen Rider Ichigo?"

"Experimentation by the Shocker organization. His powers as a Rider are thanks to him and Nigou being cyborgs who were able to break free of Shocker's brainwashing to fight against them."

The two sat down at the table, gleams in their eyes as the clear challenge Noé presented to the older man became clear.

"Well then kid, seems you actually know your stuff. I think I know what tonight's request is gonna be."

"Bring it geezer! I can keep answering questions all night!"