Kamen Rider AERS: Start Up
A/N: This serves as the prequel for Ryu Shirogane, a major character that appears in Kamen Rider: AERS. This story takes place a year and a half before the beginning of Kamen Rider: AERS
I don't own Kamen Rider. I do own Ryu Shirogane though! Psylab is TeKnAm's made up company, not mine.
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"Today at noon, an off duty police officer has been shot dead during a bank robbery. The culprit robbed the-" The news reporter said before Ryu turned off the Television.
"Why does this happen to good people?" Ryu muttered to himself as he removed his glasses. The Shiro University student sighed as he went to the computer across the room. He went to Shiro University on numerous small scholarships, mainly science related ones. Due to his scientific knowledge and well known habit of inventing, people referred to him as Doctor Ryu Shirogane , though he really wasn't one yet. He looked at the desktop picture when the monitor was online. It was a picture of him at age ten with his parents. Both were in police uniforms.
"Mom…Dad… why did you both die when I was only ten?" Ryu asked the picture. Ryu closed his eyes and fell asleep in the chair he was sitting in, with the monitor on still.
"Ryu come here boy!" Ryu's father said as he appeared from the car.
"DAD!" a young Ryu said happily as he ran and hugged his father. "Glad you're back."
"Welcome home sweetie." Ryu's mother said warmly as she walked outside.
"Well, the chief finally decided to give me a vacation." Ryu's father said.
"About time." his wife said, smiling.
"yeah, I can now spend time with Ryu as a true father, after the banquet tonight..." Ryu's father said.
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Later that night
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"Ryu, now be a good boy for Rika, okay?" Ryu's mother said, dressed in a fancy dress. Her husband was wearing a suit.
"yes Mom." Ryu said, giving her a salute.
Both of his parents laughed at the salute and Ryu's Father rubbed the top of his son's head.
"Rika, make sure he doesn't stay up past nine. That's his bedtime." Ryu's Mother said.
"I understand." Rika said. The black haired babysitter smiled and wished the two parents a good evening. "and Thank you once again for taking me in."
"Bye Mom, bye Dad!" Ryu said, waving happily to his parents as they got into their car.
The car pulled up from the driveway, getting ready to leave.
Ryu saw a gang car drove up to his parents' car and the passanger side's window rolled down..
Ryu then saw a machine gun appeared from inside of the car and shots were fired.
"RYU GET INSIDE NOW!!!" Rika order, shoving the child as a stray bullet got her. Rika collapsed and Ryu was scrambling to a far corner, scared. He then overheard something that made his mind go blank.
"Yep, those two were the ones that sent me to the pen." one voice said.
"Payback is sweet for us, and a bitch to them." A second voice said, laughing.
"They're dead now, so they won't bother us anymore. Got that girl there as well by accident, but who cares, the less witnesses, the better." the first voice said.
"Let's go. Don't need to be here any longer." the second voice said.
"Amen bro." the first voice said.
Ryu heard two doors open and shut closed before the car drove off.
Ryu stayed in his hiding spot, to scared to move, but then he heard groaning.
"Rika!" he said, his fear immediately replaced with surprise and worry and crawled over to the collapsed babysitter.
"Ryu… call 911..." she said. "tell them… people are shot…"
Ryu nodded and went to the phone and dialed for help.
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Three days later
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Ryu was sitting in a chair beside Rika, snuffling but was being quiet as he held Rika's hand.
"Rika, You are very, very lucky, the shot went through your lower abdomen, but it didn't hit any organs or major blood veins. That's a miracle right there. " the doctor said as he looked at the X rays.
"What about Ryu?" Rika asked, laying in her bed, turning her attention to the small boy.
"The young lad's fine, physically anyway. Poor guy, he saw his two parents die right in front of his very eyes, and was almost shot himself, if you didn't shove him to the side , he'd be hurt or worse." the Doctor said. "the emotional wounds of his are going to be of concern for a while. I just hope he has relatives that he can live with."
"His parents were the only family he had. No grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins…" Rika said, her face saddening. "He's all alone now…"
"Well, He needs a parent figure for someone his age." the doctor said.
"I see…" Rika said, nodding.
"I don't want to leave you, Rika." Ryu said, squeezing Rika's hand a little harder. "You're family too."
Rika looked at the orphan and a tear ran down her cheek as she smiled.
"Ryu…" Rika said softly.
"I see that you two are close already. I know some people at child services, I can see if I can have you become Ryu's guardian, Rika." the Doctor said.
"But, I'm only sixteen. I can't legally become his guardian, besides, I'm an orphan myself. I don't know how to be a parent." Rika said, her face saddening.
"Well, true as it seems, I was going to take you guys in for a while until you're of age Rika." the Doctor said.
"does that mean, me and Rika are family still?" Ryu asked.
"Yeah, and officially as well once I fill out the paperwork." the doctor said.
"thanks Dr. Shirogane!" the two orphans said, before they looked at each other, smiling.
Ryu woke up to the sunrise the next morning. A smile appeared.
"I had that dream again. Wonder how Onee-san is doing." Ryu asked.
He looked at the calendar and looked at the date. Today was the anniversary of his birth parents' murder. His hand clenched and began to cry.
"I can't believe it… today's the anniversary… and to this day, those bastards still haven't been caught… Dr. Shirogane passed away on this day as well from cancer three years ago…" Ryu said. "Why do the ones I care about get hurt?!" he cried for an hour and after he was calm enough, the phone rang.
"Hello?" Ryu answered.
"hello, I'm calling on behalf of Psylab. I presume you remember the funding application you sent to us three months ago. I am calling to inform you that it has been accepted. You will now be funded for your Armored Enhancement Rider Program research. I hope you spend our donation wisely. Thank you and have a nice day." an automatic voice said before hanging up.
Ryu stood still, holding the phone still. He couldn't believe it. Psylab, a company that was known for rejecting many applications for funding, accepted his. Ryu smiled and called Rika.
"Hello?" a female voice answered.
"hey Onee-san!" Ryu said.
"Ryu!" Rika said. "I am glad you called, how have things been going?"
"Great, I got the funds for pursuing my life goal." Ryu said happily.
" I am so proud of you Ryu!" Rika said. "Good luck and be careful."
"Rika, wait…" Ryu said.
"Yes?" Rika asked, perplexed at Ryu's statement.
"I love you Nee-san." he said.
"I love you too Ryu." Rika said, giggling before hanging up.
True, they weren't related. But Ryu saw Rika as his older sister ever since his parents were killed.
Ryu turned to the computer and smiled.
"Mom, Dad, Dr. Shirogane, watch me , I will make the world a better place, I promise you guys that." Ryu said, his sorrow being replaced with determination.
"Now. I have to figure out how the AERS will work. Should it be a weapon or armor… decisions, decisions…" Ryu said as he sat in front of the computer and started up a program writing application and went to work.
That's it for Start Up. I wanted to do a backstory for Ryu, as he is important as both a character and a plot element. I originally wanted to write about how he came up with the AERS in the first place, but then I realized that unlike Sean and the other Kamen Riders that appear in Kamen Rider: AERS. Ryu has not much of a backstory, so I figured I should focus more on him instead of the AERS.
Surprised how dark I got there. Won't be surprised if someone cries a little because of it…
Thanks for reading. Please leave a review. I want to know how well I did.