Now that most of the Ethereals had been exterminated, only a few stragglers remained lurking somewhere within the Hollow. The four continued to sweep through the area, cutting down any remaining creatures and rescuing trapped survivors along the way.
Through it all, Tsutsumi didn't complain once. He simply followed Miyabi's lead, quietly helping people out of collapsed buildings and comforting those too frightened to move. Soukaku, Agent Gulliver, and Miyabi couldn't help but notice, he moved with surprising calm and focus.
None of them voiced it aloud, but their suspicion only deepened.
No ordinary student could kill Ethereals that quickly or that cleanly. Even the Ethereal Anomaly they'd struggled with earlier had fallen in one shot to him. Sure, it had already been weakened by Miyabi, but the finishing blow was his.
And then there was his scent.
It wasn't just familiar, it was nearly identical to hers. Not her mother, not some distant relative, but her. It was as if she had marked him as her child.
Which, in a strange way, wasn't entirely untrue. In another reality, a Hoshimi Miyabi had done exactly that, marking him during his time learning under her.
The thought lingered only for a moment before a desperate, tearful cry rang out from afar.
Both Tsutsumi and Miyabi's fox ears twitched in unison, catching the sound instantly.
"Someone's still out there," Miyabi said, already scanning for the source.
Tsutsumi didn't need to. His Fox Spirit vision already revealed the location, three faint outlines: a man, a little girl… and something else, something not human in the distance.
Without hesitation, he dashed forward.
Form Ride: Wizard! Hurricane Style!
A gust of wind burst around him as his form shifted, his black coat shimmered with silver linings and a glowing green interior. Emerald light trailed from his boots as he sprinted up the crumbling building, each step propelled by swirling wind.
A thunderous roar echoed through the ruins. Ether surged violently, blasting chunks of debris from the structure.
Tsutsumi leapt onto a collapsing wall, using it like a springboard before vaulting to another falling slab, running across it. With a burst of wind, he launched himself upward again, his coat fluttering like a streak of shadowed emerald flame.
At the top, he finally saw them, a man, barely clinging to humanity, his body half-corrupted by Ether. He stood between his daughter and an advancing Ethereal, his flesh already stabbed by the Ethereal's blade arm.
"Mama! You're hurting Papa!" the little girl screamed, too terrified to understand.
The man's eyes met Tsutsumi's, wet with tears and desperation. "Please... save my daughter…"
The corruption overtook him completely before he could say another word.
Tsutsumi lunged forward, snatching the girl up in one motion just as the man convulsed and transformed into another Ethereal. The metamorphosis exploded with a surge of Ether, shattering what remained of the upper floor and sending debris cascading down.
Tsutsumi leapt out, holding the girl tightly to his chest, but two Ethereals burst through the debris after them.
One caught his leg, dragging him downward; the other, a winged variant, slammed into him midair, its stone talons clamping around his arm.
His grip on the girl began to slip.
The Ethereal clutching his leg raised its blade-arm to strike. Tsutsumi twisted and kicked the blade away, but the motion only made his hold on the girl weaker.
Below, the survivors and the Hollow Special Operations Section 6 agents could only watch, helpless, as the boy and child were being held up high in the air.
Miyabi's eyes widened. "No!"
The moment the girl's small hand slipped from Tsutsumi's, time seemed to slow. Her terrified cry echoed through the hollow ruins as she began to fall.
Miyabi was already sprinting, her mind calculating the distance, the trajectory, anything that could help her reach the girl in time.
Final Kamen Ride: OOO! Putotyra Combo!
The air rippled around Tsutsumi as purple light engulfed him. His clothes shifted in a flash of violet and white, his boots lengthened into razor-sharp talons, each glinting like polished crystal. A purple jacket formed across his frame, while two segmented fins burst from his back, spreading outward like wings.
A headpiece snapped into place over his face, a purple crest shaped like a pterodactyl, a golden gem pulsing faintly at its center. Then, with a metallic whirr, the fins on his back expanded into massive pterodactyl wings.
With a single motion, Tsutsumi swung his leg, his taloned boot slicing clean through the Ethereal clutching his leg, severing its arm in one vicious kick. The other Ethereal, its instincts screaming, it released him, trying to flee. Tsutsumi's hand shot out, catching it by the wing and tearing it off effortlessly. The creature's howl was cut short as it plummeted into the ruins below.
His eyes, cold and sharp, shifted downward. The little girl was falling fast.
Without hesitation, Tsutsumi folded his wings tight and dove, the wind howling in his ears as he streaked downward like a purple comet.
He caught her just before impact, wings flaring wide to break their descent. The ground trembled as he landed, dust spiraling up around them.
The survivors watching from afar broke into relieved cheers. Even if they didn't understand what they had just seen, the sight of the child safely in his arms was enough to make them cry out in joy.
Miyabi walked beside him, her long hair barely stirring from the wind. "Good job," she said softly, an amused smile flickering across her face, part curiosity, part admiration.
Tsutsumi didn't answer, just gave a short nod.
The brief moment of calm was shattered as two loud thuds echoed across the street. The mutilated Ethereals he had struck down moments ago crashed back to the ground, twitching, roaring in pain and rage.
Soukaku stepped forward instinctively, putting herself between the survivors and the monsters. Miyabi's grip tightened around her blade, while Tsutsumi let the girl down and calmly turned his gaze toward the sound.
"Please… don't hurt Mama and Papa!"
The little girl's trembling voice cut through the chaos. She clutched Miyabi's leg, tears streaming down her cheeks, her small voice breaking with desperation.
Miyabi froze, her expression tightening. The two Ethereals' shapes still faintly resembled humans, plus the child saw everything with her own eyes, so she recognized them.
Tsutsumi's voice was steady. "Is there a way to turn them back?"
Miyabi shook her head slowly. "Sadly, no."
"I see."
He freed himself from the girl's grip and stepped forward.
The one-armed Ethereal roared, charging straight at him, its jagged blade raised high. Tsutsumi caught it mid-swing with one hand, his grip tightening until the creature's blade cracked under the pressure.
Then he exhaled.
A wave of frost burst from his mouth, pure, biting cold that blanketed the Ethereal in a shell of white ice. Its body froze solid mid-scream. Tsutsumi swung his arm once, shattering the creature into a thousand crystalline shards that scattered across the ground like snow.
The second Ethereal tried to escape, limping skyward on its single wing. Tsutsumi crouched, driving his clawed hand into the ground. Pulling out the Medagabryu, its blade gleaming faintly with inner light.
He shifted it into its cannon form, locking his aim on the fleeing monster.
He pulled the trigger. A violet beam of raw destructive energy blasted forth, streaking across the sky before slamming into the Ethereal, vaporizing it instantly.
Silence followed.
Only the soft sobbing of the little girl remained.
The air hung heavy as everyone processed what had just happened. Even Soukaku's usual confidence faltered; her hand trembled slightly as she lowered her weapon.
Tsutsumi's armor began to dissolve, violet light peeling away like fading mist until his normal clothes remained. He turned toward Miyabi, then froze.
She followed his gaze and felt her stomach sink.
The girl. Black crystals had begun to grow across her back, creeping like spreading roots.
"Can she…?" Tsutsumi asked quietly.
Miyabi's silence spoke louder than any words. She finally shook her head. "No. It's already too late."
The corruption had set in deep. Even if they escaped the Hollow right now, she wouldn't survive the trip.
Tsutsumi slowly approached the girl. She stumbled back, still crying, still calling him names through her tears. "Monster! You killed Mama and Papa!"
His expression calm, voice gentle. "Hey… do you want to see your parents again?"
Her crying slowed, confusion flickering in her eyes. "…I-I do. I want to see Mama and Papa again."
"Then close your eyes," he said softly, "and you'll see them soon."
The girl hesitated, then squeezed her eyes shut, trembling.
Tsutsumi raised his gun.
A single gunshot echoed through the air.
The little girl's body fell quietly, the world holding its breath. Crimson slowly seeped across the cracked ground beneath her.
No one moved. Many of the survivors quickly turn away, not wanting to see this scene. Soukaku turned away, her face pale. Miyabi's eyes softened as she stepped closer, resting a hand on Tsutsumi's shoulder.
"…You did a good job," she said quietly. "She's with them now."
Her words were faint, carrying the weight of something she didn't want to admit, that she would've hesitated. That she would've let the girl turn, just so she could call her a monster instead of a child.
But Tsutsumi hadn't waited. He'd spared the girl the agony of becoming something inhuman. She died still as herself, a human. And that, perhaps, was the cruelest kindness he could give.
...
With the Ethereals eradicated, the Hollow began to disappear; the operation near Twelve Street was declared a success. The survivors were escorted to safety and immediately taken for medical evaluation.
Tsutsumi, however, sat quietly in the sterile interrogation room, a cup of water in hand. The faint hum of the ceiling light filled the silence as he calmly sipped, completely unbothered by the situation.
Across from him sat a woman from the Public Security Bureau, Zhu Yuan. She'd been assigned to keep an eye on him.
Zhu Yuan tried making small talk to ease the tension, but Tsutsumi had little interest in conversation. The most she got out of him was, "Got anything to eat?"
Following Miyabi's instructions, Zhu Yuan sighed and called a subordinate to bring in a couple of instant noodle cups and bottled water. The noodles arrived within minutes, steam rising faintly between them as they ate in near silence.
Her current task was deceptively simple: watch him, don't provoke him, and most importantly, don't make him feel like a prisoner.
Meanwhile, Hoshimi Miyabi and Tsukishiro Yanagi, the calm but razor-sharp Deputy Chief of Hollow Special Operations Section 6, were neck-deep in the investigation.
Finding Tsutsumi Ryoko's identity wasn't hard; he hadn't even bothered to hide his name.
According to the records, Tsutsumi was a survivor of a Hollow incident that wiped out the orphanage he'd grown up in. After that, he'd been living alone on Ten Street, scraping by with odd jobs, sometimes starving for days.
But what really unsettled Miyabi wasn't his past, it was the contradictions. The data listed him as human, yet he is now a Fox Thiren. Along with no record of where he could get his powers and skills.
Many things weren't adding up.
After several dead ends, Miyabi finally closed the file and exhaled sharply. "Forget it. I know how to deal with him."
Yanagi adjusted her glasses, tone measured. "Should I assign a surveillance team?"
Miyabi shook her head. "No. I have a different approach."
She pulled out a form and began typing a few lines before printing it. Yanagi tilted her head curiously, stepping closer, then froze when she saw the title.
"...Adoption papers?"
Miyabi didn't respond, her pen gliding across the paper as she filled in names and details with practiced precision.
Yanagi blinked, utterly dumbfounded. "Chief, is that even-"
"Legal? Yes, he is still only seventeen," Miyabi said flatly, signing her name with a sharp flick of the wrist. "And besides, it's the best way to keep him close."
A few minutes later, Miyabi entered the interrogation room, switching places with Zhu Yuan. She set the paper folder down before taking the seat opposite Tsutsumi.
"Hello," she greeted, her voice calm despite the storm of unanswered questions swirling in her head. "Tsutsumi Ryoko, I have some things I'd like to ask you."
"That depends on the questions," Tsutsumi said coolly, resting his chin on his hand. "But sure, go ahead."
She smiled faintly, leaning back in her chair. "First off, according to your file, your race is listed as Human. But you're clearly not human, you're a Fox Thiren. How do you explain that?"
"My ability allows me to do that," he replied casually. "I can switch back to human if you want?"
Miyabi frowned slightly. That didn't explain anything useful, but she masked her frustration well. "No, stay as you are. My next question: what exactly is your ability?"
Tsutsumi shrugged. "That depends. I'm a fast learner. Good at pretty much everything… except taking pictures."
A faint twitch ran through Miyabi's fox ears. "Since you don't want to answer, I won't push it. Then one last thing, why do you fight? You had no obligation to help that girl or the civilians trapped in the Hollow. So… why?"
For the first time, Tsutsumi didn't answer immediately. His eyes softened, the reflection of the dim interrogation light fading into something distant, painful, yet warm.
He thought of her. The blonde saint who smiled even as her life burned away.
"For a promise I made," he said quietly. "For love and peace. Even if everyone hates me, denies I exist… I'll still fight."
Miyabi blinked, taken aback by the sincerity in his voice. She felt the corners of her lips curve into a small smile, one she didn't expect to make today.
"I see," she said, sliding the paper toward him. "Then, if you truly want to make that vision a reality… sign this."
Tsutsumi blinked, lowering his gaze to the paper.
"...Adoption papers?"
"What you did still counts as breaking the law," Miyabi explained. "You entered a Hollow zone without authorization. But with this, you'll be under the protection of the Hoshimi Family. You'll have food, shelter, training, and education. In short, you'll have a home."
Tsutsumi's mind drifted. Back in his old world, he'd searched endlessly for his mother, never knowing if she was dead or alive. The man who once adopted him and Miyu had been distant, he treated them more like tools than family.
But here… someone he knew was offering to take him in, not out of pity, but choice.
A small, almost disbelieving smile spread across his face as he picked up the pen and signed.
And just like that, Tsutsumi Ryoko became Hoshimi Miyabi's adopted son.