cliff's notes: after the Another Ending movies, Kuroto has Yet Another Fucking Resurrection Plan in the form of a visual novel about Emu's backstory, Emu tries to clear it but fucks up due to trauma so the others have to piece it together to save him

it turns out Emu's family life Sucked because his dad is simply just awful

each rider has a POV chapter where they go through a particular scene from Emu's life

and like.

... Kiriya's POV chapter is really gay you guys.

like they're all pretty good, I really enjoyed each character POV, Taiga's especially is unexpectedly hilarious because my god the inside of that man's head is ridiculous actually

but like.

so Hiiro and Taiga both witness scenes that are like, really deeply concerning in terms of what they say about the relationship Emu has with his dad (or, tbqh, doesn't have)

and they're both like 'so.... this seems..... bad'

'but I don't.... think I have the right to say anything about it?'

'I'm an outsider to this situation I can't criticize another person's family circumstances it's not my place'

that very Japanese staying-in-my-lane, you know

however, Kiriya

sees a direct interaction between Emu and his father

Emu's dad says some shit

and Kiriya instantly loses his cool and tries to throw hands

the game world specifically does not allow players to interact with any characters other than Emu. Kiriya knows this. he has observed this.

it does not stop him.

get em Kiriya

HE REALLY REALLY WANTED TO

worth noting also is that, in that particular scene, Emu's dad was in the hospital with pneumonia

so Kiriya is not only trying to punch a character he can't interact with, he's trying to punch a sick man in a hospital bed

because this bitchass punk tried talking shit to Emu

what I'm saying is kiriemu is real as fuck

I have no context but this whole idea is intriguing

littulkittons: hi welcome to the kamen rider brainrot that has very quickly consumed my life, thanks to lastbastion

lol, I feel like a lot of people have gotten into it lately

ex-aid: the only case where everyone knows the main rider's getting ridden by his bike, actually

also i'm glad the novel understood how to write kiriya properly

it absolutely understood how to write Kiriya properly

it's really funny because like. the early parts of the novel feel like they're REALLY pushing Emu/Poppy, and the opening chapter even kind of tries to straightwash Kiriya

and then Kiriya's POV on Emu is like, just drastically different than anyone else's

it's VERY noticeable

When I think about it, Emu has been that way since the first time we met.

[...]

But I was attracted to his straightforward purity. I thought that Emu was the only one who would be suitable as a partner to ride Lazer Level 2 in motorcycle form.

…It had to be you.

It’s the last corner of the race.

The checkered flag is almost here.

Emu, wait for me. We’ll treat you with our own hands.

I’m going to save you.

those quotes are from two different scenes

kiriya,

Buddy