[12:00 PM - Shinsaibashi, Osaka]

The three finished up their lunch, as they stepped outside of Jiyūken, Shotaro took out a pack of cigarettes, lit up a stick. Yuko glanced and immediately covered her nose, "Do you really need to smoke right now, Mr. Ishinomori?"

"It calms me down before a battle," he comments, "as far as we know, this woman's talents let her knock out people if her needles ever come in contact with our skin."

"That sounds quite straightforward," Kazuo added, "but what's the plan?" Shotaro lets out a short breath "Honestly, I brought the two of you along as backup, I can probably handle this myself." Kazuo's face turned into a slight frown, "Do you think we can't help you?!"

Shotaro looked frustrated, "I'm not saying the two of you can't help, I'm telling you right now that my Talent is most suited to fight her." He sighs a little and puts out his cigarette, "The two of you are still kids, I'm not going to send you into dangerous situations." Yuko put her hand on Kazuo's shoulder, telling him to relax. After Kazuo relaxed a little, he turned to Shotaro, apologizing for his brash attitude. "It's fine, it's not a major problem. I'm just telling you that fighting is very rarely the solution." Shotaro replies, "Now, let's head to the salon, I've had my smoke."

The group walked around the Shinsaibashi to find the salon, passing through the numerous shops lined with famous fashion brands. Shotaro was most interested at a professional tailor shop, considering getting a new suit for himself. The three of them then saw it from the corner of their eye, K-ARA Salon with its bright red exterior. Shotaro turns his head towards the two of them, "You two wait across the salon, I'll give a signal if I need any kind of help." He then connected his earphones to his phone, walking into the shop casually while Modjo's Lady was playing over them, a favourite of Shotaro's for the longest time.

He walked into the room just as the verse starts, Kitani stands across the room giving him a warm welcome, "What can I get for you today, sir?"

"I made a reservation here yesterday, for Takeshi Hongo." He calmly answers, albeit a bit awkward.

"Ahh, you're Mr. Hongo. Give me a minute alright." Kitani stepped into the back room and prepared herself to cut Shotaro's hair. Grabbing her tools and some hairspray for later, she steps out of the backroom and tells Shotaro to get seated.

"So Mr. Hongo, how would you like your hair styled?"

"Uh, I'll just have them shortened a little if it's okay, I just need to keep my hairstyle neat."

"Alright then, just let me get ready." Just as she was about to leave, her burner phone rang once more which piqued Shotaro's interest. "Kitani, once you return from work, the Hitman squad will have a talk with my team." the voice speaks.

"What time?" Kitani asks.

"Around 9PM, at Haineko Bar, Dōtonbori."

"I'll be there, thank you, sir." Kitani turns off her phone and walks to the back room to get her tools. Shotaro took the chance and stood up, preparing himself for his attack. As Kitani looked out of the room, he clenched his fists. "Miss, I'd like to talk for a moment."

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Kitani looked at him, curious but also a little startled. "Yes, how can I help you, Mr Hongo?"

"I know who you are." Shotaro exhales, "Kitani Chigusa! I'm here to fight you!"

"Excuse me?! What do you mean!" She countered. Shotaro cleared his throat, "My friend was attacked by a needle Talent user. My team looked through databases and found you, the only person in Osaka with a Talent which uses needles."

"I can explain, Mr Hongo. Give me a moment." Kitani continued, raising her hand to prevent more fighting. The two of them stood still, none of them ready to engage in combat. Kitani is petrified, the identity she covered up so well was now out in the open. Realising that she has nothing to lose, Kitani threw a needle at Shotaro. By reflex, he shouted "Transform!" to counter her attack. Suddenly, covering Shotaro was an armour made of carbon fibre like material that prevented the needle from making contact with his skin. "I'm a Talent user too, you know. This is my Talent, Masked Rider!" Kitani gasped at the reveal, she felt a bit choked up when Shotaro revealed his Talent, something she did not expect him to have.

Shotaro's resolve also somehow became a little bit stronger, both of their eyes were locked onto each other. Kitani charged once more with needles on her fists, Shotaro barely flinched and effortlessly dodged it.

Kitani's fist landed on the storefront window, smashing it into bits, she rolled outside to prepare for her counterattack. But instead of an attack from Shotaro, he stood still with eyes closed.

"Mode Change! Ryūki Mode!" He shouts, suddenly his armour turned red and a silver visor appeared over the bug-like eyes and on his right hand was covered by a dragon-like design made of the same material as his armour. Shotaro took a deep breath then cried out, "Ryūken!" The dragon motif glows a bright red as he chases Kitani, his fist misses Kitani and lands on the ground where it dealt some serious damage. Kitani fled away, looking back to throw more needles at him.

At this point the two of them were brawling in the middle of crowded Shinsaibashi, Kazuo and Yuko took notice of the two. From a distance, they were looking at a salon employee and a guy wearing a bright red suit of armour fighting on the streets. Kazuo quickly ran towards them and activated Chijikusei Gotenrai, slowly melting paint around him and creating a floating orb of colours at the palm of his hand. The crowd disperses as the brawl continues, Kitani throws a few needles at Kazuo which was quickly redirected by Yuko behind him. Meanwhile, Shotaro returns to Masked Rider's original state. Shotaro charges back into battle trying to take Kitani's attention away from the kids but to him.

Suddenly, a ring of needles surrounds Kitani, her. Shotaro, Kazuo and Yuko stop in their tracks, suddenly the group feels immense pressure from around Kitani, "Hari-Kuyō: Kenha no Shinrin!" She shouts as the needles shoot all around her, Yuko was able to redirect some but couldn't defend Kazuo who quickly fainted, the ball of paint on his hand burst and stained the floors of Shinsaibashi. Shotaro's armour was well enough to protect him.

"Why are you doing this?" Shotaro asks Kitani.

"I don't want to deal with this life anymore, I was asked to knock your friend out, I didn't do it out of my own will!" She retorted.

"You could have stopped! You were protecting a criminal!"

"I didn't want the life of a criminal, they found me and took me under their wing. I was a lost cause but now I can at least be a hairdresser. I didn't want to do any of this!" She cried, her voice was raspy, desperate even. More akin to a call for help than trying to reason with Shotaro. Kitani quickly ran away, trying to blend into the crowd while Shotaro attended to the unconscious Kazuo and Yuko who was trying to take him to a safer place, Shotaro immediately carried him to the sidelines while still keeping an eye on Kitani.

"Yuko, keep him safe for now, I'll try to end this mess." he tries to comfort her. Yuko nodded and told him to try and get Kitani to calm down. He then quickly fled the sidelines, returning to Kitani who was still trying to escape, but she suddenly stopped then turned to face Shotaro. The two of them looked at each other as passersby fled in panic, their eyes locked on one another once more, both preparing their next moves.