Ren's POV

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I opened my eyes and found myself in Tsutsujidai, I got up and looked around, there was absolutely no one here. For obscure some reason, everyone in the city disappeared.

The street is covered with multiple layers of fog and it makes it hard for me to see anyone around. I took a few steps ahead and try to make my way out of the foggy street, passing through a junction.

I took a left turn and followed the road straight ahead until I come across a sign that shows me the names of streets and one of them had "Karakura" written on it. It peaked my interest since I had also been watching Bleach up to recently.

By instinct, I went to the direction of Karakura Street by taking a right turn and walking straight ahead blindly. Several minutes had passed and I've been noticing that the fog around me is slowly fading away with every few steps I take.

Soon, I reached an open street with lamp posts with little fog present. I let out a sigh of relief knowing that I can see better now. Now I'm unsure of where to go so I decided to look at my far right, and I noticed two figures in the distance walking towards the direction that I'm facing.

"Aren't those people..? Maybe they can tell me why the entire city is covered in fog." I said to nobody particular other than myself. I made up my mind and decided to wait until they come by.

Third Person's POV

In the distance, two students can be seen walking towards the Ren's direction, they appear to have noticed him as well since they slowed down their walking paces.

From what Ren could see, he had noticed that they had opposing genders and had distinct appearances that separates them from each other. Judging by their uniforms, they were in about the same age gap as him.

The female student has long glossy black hair, some of which goes over her shoulders and curls. Her eyes were prussian blue with bottom pink tinted eyes. Her attire consists of a white collared shirt with a red bow, along with a sweater coat and a short mini skirt.

The male student has cinnabar red hair with two horn-like part sticking out from the sides. He had sky blue eyes that contrasted with the girl's eyes. He wore a white collared shirt along with dark grey pants, with the addition of a vest to go with his uniform.

Rikka: "Hey, you over there! You seemed lost."

The ravenette girl called out to the other male, raising her right arm to catch his attention. The boy took notice of her actions and replied back by raising his hand to match the energy of Rikka.

Ren: "Um, yeah actually.. I'm not a local here and I can't remember much from the time before I ended up in a street that's not far from here.."

Rikka: "So you can't remember anything..?"

Ren: "Yeah.. I can't. I don't even know where I am and there's no hospital nearby either."

Rikka: "I see. No worries, Hibiki here also has amnesia currently and we're on our way to the hospital."

The boy turns to the red head, who goes by the name of Hibiki. The red head also seemed to be as anxious as he is.

Hibiki: "Yeah.. I've lost my memories too. Are you on your way to the hospital?"

Ren: "Now that you've mentioned it, it should've been my first place to look for. But I don't even know where I am."

The red haired turns to the girl with a sympathetic look. Rikka had a stressful look on her face, considering that she's also bringing one amnesiac on her trip and now she has to guide another person with no memories to the hospital.

Hibiki notices something in her eyes says otherwise, it had no signs of refusal at all. She sighed and asked him to come along with them.

Rikka: "We're also on our way to the hospital, you can tag along with us if you'd like."

Ren: "Thanks, I'd appreciate that."

And just like that, the group became a trio as they walked together. Hibiki and Rikka were in front while Ren was following them from the back.

Rikka: "I've been meaning to ask now that we're walking together, what's your name?"

Ren: "It's Izuruchi Ren."

Hibiki: "Eh? Doesn't it sound a little kira-kira like?"

(Info: Kira-kira names are names in Japanese that sounds like verbs and specialized. For example, "Hikari" or "Hibiki" would mean light and echo.)

Ren: "Hey! At least it's lessy anime-like compared to a name like Hibiki!"

Hibiki: "My full name is Hibiki Yuta! It has a better vowel than Izuruchi Ren!"

Ren: "Hah!?"

Rikka: "Shut up, you guys are being too loud!"

Ren/Hibiki: "Okay.."

The boys hung their heads down as Rikka had a massive red anger tick on her forehead before it disappears shortly after.

Ren: "So what's your name, then?"

Rikka: "It's Takarada Rikka."

Ren: "Woah.. Taka.. Like as in a hawk?"

Rikka: "Huh? No! Like the kanji, Takara! Y'know! The one similar to treasure?"

(Info: Taka = Hawk/鷹 , Takara = Treasure/宝.)

Ren: "Ah, my bad.. It's hard to keep my mind on one thing with my ADHD acting up."

Rikka: "I see.. I see.. From your way of speaking, I can tell you're definitely a Japanese person that only relies on anime-oriented speeches.. There's a word for it.. Ota.. Ota.. What was it again..?"

Hibiki: "Otaku..?" 

Rikka" That! Otaku! You're an annoying otaku! A cringy weeb lord."

Ren: "EH?! What's so bad about mimicking fictional characters that I respect?! Weebs and Otakus aren't the same thing either!"

Rikka: "It's just fiction! I bet if the main protagonist for Kamen Rider Build had really existed in real life, people would find him arrogant and very unlikable!"

Ren: "Don't say that about Kiryuu Sento! He's just built different!"

Huh. Well, isn't that something. As the teens are getting to know each other, the whole scene cuts to a timeskip with them arriving at the hospital after a long debate on escapism and reality.

Rikka: "I'll be waiting for you two outside. Take care."

Hibiki: "Will do."

Ren: "See ya."

The process went smoothly, Hibiki had entered the hospital with Ren following him after. Ren's checkup with the doctor took a little longer compared to Hibiki's since he wasn't a local in Tsutsujidai.

Doctor: "Based on your results, it shows that you have transient global amnesia. Or to simply put, your recall of events simply vanishes. You won't able to remember much from what were you doing prior before."

Ren: "I see.. Will I get my memories back..?"

Doctor: "Definitely. In time, you'll slowly regain your memories as days passes."

Ren: "That's good to know.. Thank you very much, Doctor.."

Doctor: "You're welcome, Ren-kun. Oh, by the way, we had found this thing inside the pockets of your uniform. Do you happen to know what it's use for?"

Ren: "Thing?"

From underneath the drawer, the Doctor takes out a strange piece of object and puts it on the table for Ren to see.

Upon further inspection, it seemed to have a specific carving of a face. An ancient warrior-like appearance is what Ren first thought of it.

The longer he looks into the details of the item, everything around it begins to turn white as the only visible thing in the room is the object and Ren's body.

Ren: "..What's happening now..?"

His words echoes throughout the white world, as if the room he was in had no entrance nor exit.

????: "Ren."

He hears an unknown voice calling out to him, he shakes his head and looks around to see where it was coming from.

????: "Ren."

Left to right, up to down, there was nobody in sight. Until he looks at the floating item once more, this time, it was glowing with golden light.

????: "This world is in danger, Ren. Please heed my words, a great evil will be born and sprout its influences through his underling. You and I must stop the world from its destruction. Take hold of me."

Ren: "Danger..? Who is the great evil..? Why am I the one protecting the world..?"

????: "There will come a time where all will be revealed. Ren, please be the saviour of this world before it perishes by the hands of him."

Ren: "Him..? Who are you referring to!?"

Just then, the whiteness of the room begins to fade away as the voice coming from the item grows distant from Ren.

Ren: "Tell me! Who is the great evil one!? Hey!"

It proves to be futile as the relic didn't answer Ren's questions. What comes after his questioning was far beyond mystery.

????: "Protect Hibiki Yuta."

Ren: "Hibiki-kun...?"

The white world had completely faded away. Ren finds himself laying down on the couch in an unfamiliar room, seeming like a house or an apartment. He was in a living room where his Super GUTS uniform rested on the backrest of the sofa. 

He looked dumbfounded, first thing he was talking to a doctor in the hospital and the next thing is that he's waking up in a stranger's apartment. A very weird chain of events lining up after another.

Ren: "What the hell is going here..? Is this what that thing was referring to about the world ending or something...? This is too much.."

Ren felt his head because it was spinning due to the countless of thoughts racing through his head. He groaned slightly loud before being interrupted by a person entering the room with a toast in their mouth. 

????: "Yo, Ren. You're awake, I've made some breakfast for you."

Ren: "That red hair.. Hibiki-kun? What am I doing here?"

Hibiki: "You fainted in the appointment room back at the hospital yesterday. The doctor said that you had a different type of amnesia from mine so it was safe to bring you home. He figured that you might've had a rough time processing things so Rikka told me to let you stay at my apartment for a bit."

Hibiki smiled, drinking his strawberry milk and sits by the table in the kitchen. He didn't seem worried about having a person he didn't knew in an apartment with him alone.

Ren: "Ah.. Thanks for taking care of me, Hibiki. Also, thanks for breakfast as well. I'm starving."

Hibiki: "Pssh, it's alright. I've got questions to ask you after we're done eating."

Ren: "Oh, feel free to ask me anything then. Itadakimasu!"

As he left the couch, Ren was only wearing a t-shirt with an iconic design on it. He sits across the table from where Hibiki was seating and ate the Shokupan set down on the plate for him to enjoy.

The raven haired had bitten down hard on the bread, chewing it like no tomorrow. Hibiki only chuckled at the boy's rough eating manners, meanwhile looking down on his own toast and slowly spacing out from the table.

Hibiki: "Hey, Ren. I can't help but to ask, who is that designed on your t-shirt?"

Ren gulped the bread and wipes the crumbs off his cheeks before replying in a rush manner. 

Ren: "You don't know who this is?! It's Hayato Shinjiro from ULTRAMAN! He's the son of the original host of 1966's Ultraman, Hayata Shin!"

He pointed at his shirt, drawing a circle motion around and starts geeking out about the series.

Ren: "He's introduced in the anime adaptation series of ULTRAMAN in the form of Netflix. A more realistic and futuristic take on Ultraman!"

Hibiki had a dumbfound look on his face, blinking his eyes slowly as he try to comprehend what his friend is saying at a speedy rate. Eventually, he had gotten what he asked for and widened his eyes slightly at the thought of hearing the word "Ultraman".

Hibiki: "Ultraman, was it..? Say, if you knew Ultraman, would you happen to know who Gridman is..?

Ren: "Gridman..? Like as in Tsuburaya's Denkou Choujin Gridman? Well, I only knew a little bit of the series.. Are you trying to watch it or something?"

Hibiki: "A series..? That's so weird... Oddly, meta.."

Ren: "Weird? Meta? Hibiki, what are you smoking?"

Hibiki: "M-Me? Oh, I don't smoke! We're only teenagers!"

Ren: "You asked me about Gridman and referred the context of what I was trying to explain to you as meta.. Are you trying to tell me that you're in like some-sort of meta-ception movie?"

Hibiki: "..I don't know at this point.. Haha, it's fine, please forget that I ask you that!

Ren: "Oh, alright then. Looks like we've just about finish our breakfast. Now what?"

The duo stared at each other in silence until the doorbell rang. They both got up from their chairs as Ren walked behind Hibiki, grabbing his uniform on the way to the door.

Hibiki reached for the door handle and open up the door to meet another person wearing a white overshirt school uniform with a blue shirt with an 8 with a slash through it. He had teal hair that's longer in the back, and blue eyes. He also wears glasses with transparent sides.

Hibiki: "Are you Utsumi..?"

The boy with the glasses looks at Hibiki with a small scowl and tilts his head slightly. Putting his hands on his hip, he squinted his eyes a bit more.

Utsumi: "Looks like you really do have memory loss, huh? You've even forgotten my face...?"

Hibiki had a dejected look on his face and sighs, closing his eyes while doing it at the same time.

Hibiki: "Sorry..."

Utsumi: "Well, whatever. We only really got to know each other in April."

Utsumi smiles a bit before he turns to look at Ren with a skeptical look. Ren notices the look and waves his hand.

Utsumi: "And you are?"

Ren: "Izuruchi Ren. I've also lost my memories before coming here, but Hibiki and Rikka helped me on my way to the hospital."

Utsumi: "Oh, right! Rikka did mentioned that someone was staying at Hibiki's place temporarily. My bad, my bad! My name is Utsumi Sho! Pleasure to meet you, peko!"

Ren: "It's nice to meet you, Usagi Sho. Kon'peko to you as well. I hope we can get along for the time being."

Utsumi: "You're a Hololive Fan!? Sweet! I can tell we're going to be great friends! And as for Hibiki, we'll just pretend we've become friends again and get to know each other more."

Hibiki: "R-Right.. Thanks."

The trio had left the apartment and walked their way towards school. Tagging along with Utsumi and Hibiki, Ren follows from behind as well.

Utsumi: "So Ren, where do you go to school?"

Ren: "I can't remember really! I barely recognized the city I'm in, let alone know where was I staying before this."

Utsumi: "Is that so?"

Ren: "I am aware that I'm not from here since my passport shows that it was made in Yokohama.."

Utsumi: "Wow, that far in the east? It's a hassle, I'd say..."

Ren: "Yeah.. In the meantime, I think I should at least get a familiar grasp in Tsutsujidai.."

Utsumi: "Don't you have any relatives or family to pick you up?"

Hibiki: "I've went through his phone's contacts list. It couldn't even get through to his parents. I've even tried calling them from my phone and it didn't change."

Utsumi: "Ehh...? That's such a complicated situation you have right now, Ren."

Ren: "Yeah.. I'll find a way back eventually, thanks for letting me stay at your apartment for now, Hibiki-kun."

Hibiki: "No, it's fine, Ren. I don't mind."

Utsumi: "When two amnesiacs have a better relationship than an already well-established one... HOW PAINFUL IT IS!"

Utsumi dramatically holds his chest and cries to the heaven as the two looked at him with blank faces. He stares at the two with a defeated look before composing himself again.

They kept walking until the school building happens to be visible in front of them. From the distance, students could be seen entering the school gates with bags and all.

Utsumi: "Anyway, Ren, we'll be parting ways now. If your memories hasn't come back yet, you should visit the school and ask the headmaster for a student application form! Temporarily, you could still get education while waiting for your memories to come back!"

Ren: "Oh, sure thing. Thanks for letting me stay at your place for a while, Hibiki. See you guys later."

Hibiki: "No problem, I'll see you later at home. Take care while wandering around town."

Utsumi: "See ya, space cowboy. If the cops asks why aren't you in school, tell them that you're an exchange student and use Engrish!"

Ren: "A-A-Alright.. Bye now!"

Utsumi: "Wait a moment! One last thing!"

Ren turns around to look behind him, just to see Utsumi giving a thumbs up to him.

Utsumi: "Super GUTS, huh? Sounds like something from the Ultra Series. Nice outfit! I wish you luck on your work, Earth Defense Member!"

Utsumi replies with a playful remark regarding Ren's outfit. Unaware on the fact that it was 100% real and non-cosmetic. Ren only nodded and waved them goodbye.

The trio splits way and Ren takes the other road, it leads to a busy way street.

A lot of people were crowding the area, it just so happens that he find himself at a local market.

At this point, he was just walking around town aimlessly. Taking a stroll in town doesn't sound troublesome at first notice.

He had been going further away from the crowded street with each few steps he took.

Almost after several minutes of endless walking, he stumbled upon a pathway that leads to rows of convenience stores.

Ren: "What exactly am I doing wasting my time around here...? Maybe I go back to the school that Hibiki and Utsumi showed me.."

"Ren."

Ren's POV

I switched my focus on the mysterious voice in the air. I had look left and right, neither of the sides had anyone in sight. Why do complicated things always show up no matter where I go..?

"Ren. The awakening of the great evil is nearly here."

I gritted my teeth when I heard the voice spatting out the same nonsense from before, I clenched my fist and yelled to no-one in particular. I couldn't control my emotions, everything just keeps escalating despite the fact I've only woken up twice ever since my memory had vanished.

Me: "I've just about had it with you! Why aren't you answering my questions?! How am I supposed to react to suddenly being asked to protect whatsoever when there's nothing for me to look out for?! Is there at least any signs or extra information that I should know beforehand!?"

I felt the ground below me shake heavily. I had trouble stabilizing myself so I grabbed the nearest 7-Eleven pole and clung onto it. I look over to the streets as buildings were shaking violently, accompanied with the panic screams of people filling the entire neighbourhood block.

"Is this an Earthquake?!"

"Mama! I'm scared!"

In the chaos, I see people stumbling out of the stores as they failed to maintain balance. An outstanding cry for help was heard in the distance as my head jerks towards the direction of the yell. 

Out of instincts, I began to run towards the source of the pleading and found myself at a horrifying situation.

In a tight and narrow alleyway, a mother was trapped under piles of broken bricks that fell from the side buildings. She had two kids clinging onto her arms, trying desperately to free their mother.

I rushed over to them and tried to lift up the rubbles, almost slipping on my first attempt.

The children cries only grew louder as the ground shakes intensifies, growing more violent with each shake.

Mother: "Please, leave me! Take my children to somewhere safe!"

I gritted my teeth, as I plucked out rubble after rubble. I didn't care whether the sharpnels were hurting my hands.

"I WON'T GIVE UP ON YOU JUST YET, MA'AM!"

I finally got through the last piece of the rubble and kicked the extra debris to the side since my hands felt too weak to hold anything else.

FHING!

I kneeled down and looped the mother's arm over my shoulder while I support her weight with my other arm.

I look at the children and lend my freehand at them. They were hesitant at first but grabbed it afterwards.

Me: "This Earthquake.. It's definitely higher than a 7 Magnitude.."

I brought the family out of the tight narrow space and had lead them to a convenient store nearby. It should at least decrease the risk of debrises falling on their head. I looked at the mother who was comforting her children after that whole mess earlier.

She looked at me and smiled while she hugged her kids.

Mother: "Thank you for helping us.. We are in yout debts.."

Me: "It's no problem, at all! A hero's job is to protect love and peace!"

I said, rubbing my hands against my pants to get rid of the blood stains on it.

Through the corners of my eye, I felt as if I was being stared at so I had look down.

The children looked at my hand and cringes at the sight of it. They were hugging their mom's legs, hiding behind her.

"Mister..? Do your hands hurt...?"

I see the concerns in their eyes. I chuckled at their caring nature and replied back in a bravo manner.

Me: "Nope! They're tough hands! Migi-san and Hidari-san are my two partners! I would never let them get on purpose!"

(Migi = Right, Hidari = Left.)

They looked at me with confused yet entertained facial expressions on their faces.

"How are they your partners, mister..?"

Me: "These guys won't let me down.  They're your partners in crime and justice. Whether you're a hero or villain, these duos won't disappoint you!"

They were awestrucked, it's better this way. At least now their worries subsided for a bit. But the lingering question right now is how long will this Earthquake last. I better get going and see if there's any changes to what's going on outside.

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"Instance Abreaction."

Chapter ended.

| Extra Credits Below: Feel free to skip. I hope that I could provide a reasonable explanation as to why I haven't been uploading lately. |

A/N: Hey guys, I'm sorry for the lack of updates recently. I've been promising over and over to update as frequently as I could, but procrastination and school is a terrible mess. I didn't want to rush this chapter either, but I don't think I'd ever re-publish the rewrite of the series if I didn't start somewhere. I am so terribly sorry that all of you had been waiting so long for an update on DYNA X GRIDMAN. I hope I make it up with this new interpretation of my rewrite! Ciao, guys!