A Rift Between Siblings

When Souji Tendou returned that night, Hozer casually mentioned this matter to him.

Souji Tendou fell silent for a few seconds, then spoke words that would have made Arata Kagami weep if he were here.

"I won't help him."

Hozer's expression shifted slightly, finding it a bit strange.

Although Souji Tendou usually acted as if he detested Arata Kagami, he actually viewed him as a friend; he just never expressed his feelings directly.

"Why?"

"He forgot something very important."

Seeing Hozer's slightly puzzled expression, and considering that Hozer didn't interact with Arata Kagami as much as he did, Souji Tendou reminded him, "His original intention for joining ZECT."

"Ah... So that's it. Looking at it that way, we indeed shouldn't help him."

"He relies on us a bit too much."

"Actually, you can't blame him. After all, last time he gave up Thebee for you..."

Souji Tendou suddenly turned to look back, his gaze somewhat terrifying.

Hozer coughed twice and quickly changed the subject.

Souji Tendou was probably thinking of that day when Arata Kagami was wailing outside the courtyard.

"Cough... Mainly, ZECT currently doesn't have its own Kamen Rider, and Yuzuki Misaki also instinctively relies on us. Wasn't that the purpose of having us help with the event to attract girls last time?"

"But as you know, dealing with un-molted Worms is fine, but once they molt, unless he can become a Kamen Rider..."

"Yes, I know."

Hozer spoke realistically. A gap in power was a gap in power; once they accelerated, ordinary humans couldn't resist.

"Right, I ran into Yaguruma while investigating outside today."

"Yaguruma? What is he doing here?"

"I overheard his conversation with Kageyama. It seems he wants to rebuild Shadow, with a focus on protecting his team members."

"Is so? He wants to mimic Arata Kagami's approach and become Thebee once more."

"But I think he'll be disappointed. There's a Worm spy within ZECT, or rather, within Shadow. This time might be a trap to lure the spy out, and a new qualified user for Thebee might emerge within Shadow."

"Who do you think it will be?"

"How would I know? Let's just wait and see."

Watching Souji Tendou lost in thought, Hozer lifted his teacup, took a sip, and calmly continued reading the newspaper.

The next day, Souji Tendou went out early. Having nothing to do, Hozer quietly followed him, wanting to see how this ZECT-directed play would end.

As time passed, because of a bottle of olive oil, Souji Tendou and Sou Yaguruma met at a warehouse, joined by Hiyori Kusakabe.

And at this moment, a dramatic scene unfolded.

The Thebee Zecter crashed through the ceiling and flew in. Sou Yaguruma reached out to catch it, but the Thebee Zecter flew straight into the hand of Shun Kageyama, who was standing nearby.

Immediately after, a cold smile appeared on Shun Kageyama's lips as he transformed into Thebee right in front of Sou Yaguruma.

This was truly like being NTR'd right in front of one's eyes.

Sou Yaguruma was dumbfounded, and Hozer was also slightly surprised. He recalled Arata Kagami mentioning Shun Kageyama before, saying he had always been a fanboy of Sou Yaguruma, and Sou Yaguruma treated him like a younger brother.

The Worms appeared, and Souji Tendou immediately pulled Hiyori Kusakabe away, splitting the battlefield into two.

Since she had the protective necklace and Souji Tendou was there, Hozer didn't join the sibling drama and focused on the development on Shun Kageyama's side.

Watching from the shadows for a while, Hozer found that Shun Kageyama's strength wasn't bad. At least from his current performance, his boxing was quick and clean, and his moves to slay the Mantis Worm were not inferior to Yaguruma's.

But his subsequent behavior made Hozer shake his head inwardly.

Too arrogant, and he seemed to harbor a hidden jealousy toward Sou Yaguruma.

Not only did he mock Sou Yaguruma, but when Sou Yaguruma wanted to rejoin Shadow, he flatly rejected him, calling him a discordant note.

Sou Yaguruma was utterly devastated, and Hozer confirmed that the disbandment of Shadow was indeed a play to find the mole.

But as of now, the mole had yet to be found.

*Hop, hop, hop...*

With several hops, the KickHopper Zecter and Punch Hopper Zecter flew over, landing on his left and right shoulders.

Each Rider Zecter had its own criteria for choosing a qualified user.

Hozer was well aware of the criteria for KickHopper and Punch Hopper.

They were abandoned by ZECT, so their first choices were also those who had been abandoned.

Hozer didn't know why he was chosen by Punch Hopper. Perhaps because this world wasn't his original world, which could be interpreted as being abandoned by his world?

At this moment, Sou Yaguruma could be said to be completely abandoned. After this, let alone Shadow, he probably couldn't even stay in ZECT.

Thinking of this, his sudden idea from before might actually succeed.

Standing up to leave, Hozer followed Souji Tendou's side.

"You killed my parents!"

What was going on? This was... Hiyori Kusakabe's voice.

Hozer's expression changed, and he quickly walked into the warehouse, only to see Souji Tendou, transformed into Kabuto, holding a bottle of olive oil in the center. Beside him was a bewildered Arata Kagami, and on the other side was Hiyori Kusakabe, her face filled with hatred.

It was that belt. Hiyori Kusakabe had seen that belt.

The sound of Hozer's footsteps drew the attention of the three, who turned to look at him.

"Hey, Kagami."

"Ah? Ah, Mr. Hozer."

"Kagami, I met Yaguruma over there. He really needs some comfort right now. Why don't you go over and check on him?"

"This..."

"Go quickly. Yaguruma is very heartbroken right now and needs you."

Fortunately, Arata Kagami wasn't too dense and read the situation.

"Ah, I'll go right away."

Arata Kagami carefully left. Hozer listened to the surroundings, confirming that only the three of them were left.

Hozer spread his hands to Souji Tendou, his meaning clear: *What do you want to do? Give me a straight answer.*

After a long silence, Souji Tendou reached out, detached the Kabuto Zecter, canceled his transformation, and revealed his true face.

"It's you!"

Hiyori Kusakabe stumbled, nearly falling. Souji Tendou's expression changed, and he stepped forward to catch her, but she shoved him away.

Hozer was a step quicker, supporting Hiyori Kusakabe's shoulder from behind.

This caused Souji Tendou's eyes to dim slightly.

"Hiyori."

"Is it you?"

Hiyori Kusakabe lowered her head, leaning against Hozer to keep herself upright. A heavy aura emanated from her; anyone could see her emotional state was highly unstable.

Souji Tendou remained silent.

"Tendou, was that person you?"

Souji Tendou remained silent. Seeing that Hiyori Kusakabe was about to break down, Hozer quickly spoke up.

"Tendou, you go back first. I'll talk to Hiyori."

Souji Tendou gave Hozer a look, meaning *don't tell her those things yet*.

Hozer nodded slightly, indicating he understood that Tendou wasn't ready to reveal everything yet.

After Souji Tendou left, Hiyori Kusakabe's emotions calmed down slightly.

"Hiyori, do you trust me?"

Hozer held Hiyori Kusakabe's shoulders, looking sincerely into her eyes.

Hiyori Kusakabe nodded, then shook her head.

"Nodding and then shaking your head, what does that mean?"

After a long silence, Hiyori Kusakabe said softly, "You gave me the necklace... But you and Tendou can both transform into those strange forms."

*What? I gave you the necklace? If you say that, Souji Tendou's heart is going to break.*

Hearing this, Hozer chuckled. "I can explain that to you."

Leading Hiyori Kusakabe out of the warehouse, he found a bench and spread his coat over it.

"Sit down."

Hiyori Kusakabe hesitated for a moment before sitting on the coat, her eyes fixed on Hozer's waist, where a metallic belt of a different but clearly similar type was strapped.

It was the KickHopper Rider Belt.