Fata Morgana (Kiva OC) - Kamen Rider Kiva

Chapter 4

Shiro and Nana stayed in the same position for about fifteen minutes before they finally decided to break the hug. “I'm gonna go and cook lunch for you,” said Nana, getting off the bed and slowly made her way towards the door. Shiro watched her quietly for a while before opening his mouth.

“You're not staying?” Nana stopped and started to tie her hair into a ponytail before facing Shiro.

“One of my mother's workers took the day off so I have to help her in the restaurant,” she told him before disappearing into the kitchen. Shiro lied on his bed again and stared at the ceiling emptily while waiting for Nana to call him but the silence that engulfed the room didn't last long as a faint scratching could be heard — it came from outside the room and right behind Shiro's bed.

Not long after that, heavy breathing could be heard and despite the injuries that Shiro's body received, he forced himself to get off the bed and slowly made his way towards the window. He peeked through the curtain and saw his 'neighbour' scratching on the wall while looking around uneasily. What the hell... Thought Shiro as he slowly walked away from the window and dragged himself out of the room. “Nana?” he called out.

“Yeah?” answered Nana from the kitchen and soon showed herself through the cased opening that divided the hallway leading to Shiro's room and the kitchen. “What is it?” she asked again to gain Shiro's attention. Shiro, occupied by the scratching didn't hear her the first time so Nana called him again with a louder voice. “Shiro, what's wrong?”

“H-huh? Oh... Sorry, were you cooking?” asked Shiro before limping towards her. Nana was annoyed by how stubborn he was being — he's injured yet he is not on his bed, resting his muscles.

“I was about to... But why are you not on your bed?” she asked before stopping Shiro from moving more. Nana sighed and shook her head — she wanted to scold Shiro so badly but then her voice would make him dizzy. She's aware of how loud her own voice could be when she's scolding someone and for that reason, Nana decided to try and stay calm while talking to Shiro. “You realize that your body won't heal if you keep moving, right?” she started off.

“And your point is...”

Nana sighed and hung her head low before shaking her head. Not long after that, she shot her head up and glared at Shiro while using the ladle she was holding to point at him. “You better get your butt on your bed again or I will make your injuries worse,” she said, trying to threaten Shiro but the fact that Nana is shorter than him caused Shiro to burst into a fit of laughter. For a moment, Shiro seemed to have already forgotten about the creepy neighbour that was scratching on his wall.

“Stop laughing! I'm being serious right now!” said Nana, trying to make her friend to stop laughing but it was a pointless effort as Shiro was laughing even more after hearing what she just said. Nana finally gave up after knowing her words wouldn't be enough to make him stop. Instead, she let Shiro come with her to the kitchen and the latter ended up watching her cook from the dining table.

On the other hand, Tatsuya was still unconscious and was on a bed, resting while being watched by his partner, Juno and their leader. “So, you're telling me that Tatsuya forced himself to use IXA even though he was at his limit already?” asked their leader, repeating what Juno just told him in case he heard her wrong.

“Yes, sir. He forced himself to turn even after getting beaten by Rook...” Juno paused for a moment, seemingly hesitated to continue. The leader, noticing that Juno was hiding some details from her report let out a soft chuckle before crossing his arms. Juno looked at her leader before sighing — she knows that when either her or Tatsuya try to hide something from the leader, he can always tell and he wouldn't say anything as he believes that if whatever they were hiding are worth mentioning, they would've done so. “...Tatsuya was lucky because Kiva got there right before Rook could finish Tatsuya off.”

“Well, that's good of Kiva, don't you think so?” said the leader while smiling at Juno. The latter looked at him with raised eyebrows before nodding at his statement. The leader was right — it was good that Kiva had helped them at that time but Juno was wondering if Kiva was there to save them or it was just a coincidence that they met there.

Back to Shiro and Nana, Shiro walked Nana up until his front door to send her off. “Make sure to take your medication on time and do NOT and when I said that, I mean do NOT ever get off your bed until your body is a hundred percent recovered,” she said, reminding Shiro strictly about taking care of himself.

“Relax, Nana. You are worrying too much. It's not healthy for you —”

Shiro was cut off when the piano started playing. He turned around before looking back at Nana who was shaking her head no. “Don't even think about it, Shiro,” said Nana while slowly moving to cover the door.

“But there might be people in danger!” Shiro said back, looking at Nana and then back at the sound of the piano but the look on Nana's face tells him no. “Come on, please?”

Nana shook her head and crossed her arms. “No means no, Shiro. I don't want to see you on your floor, barely breathing again!” she exclaimed and hearing what she just said made Shiro think for a while. For him, he would put others ahead of himself first but it would cost his body suffering from injuries.

Shiro clenched his fists and let out a heavy sigh before nodding at Nana. “Fine...” he said before slowly walking away from the front door. Nana watched him while slowly moving away from the front door.

“I know how you feel, Shiro. But if you ended up getting more injuries, it would be a failure for me to protect you... And if the worst thing happen...” Nana stopped there and looked at her feet before sighing.

“I can take care of myself, Nana. If anything, I'm the one that should protect you not the other way around.”

“Listen, I will try to be careful, okay? I won't push myself,” said Shiro, finally facing Nana again while hoping that Nana would let him go and fight the fangire. Nana thought for a while and after a few seconds, she finally agree to let Shiro go.

“But after that, even if a fangire appears, promise me you wouldn't jump into action before you recover first?”

Shiro smiled and nodded at her request. “I promise,” he said before changing the smile into a more serious look. “Let's go, Kivat!”