The sound of horns blaring and tires screeching was the last thing he remembered.
A child crying. A blinding light. And then nothing.
When he opened his eyes again, it wasn't to the sterile white ceiling of a hospital room. It was to a vast blue sky above a quiet suburban street, and the warmth of sunlight that felt all too real. That was his first moment in the world of Kuoh.
It took years for his memories to return, flickers of a life long past bleeding into the new one he'd been given. Rul had been a normal man back then. Kaito, they used to call him. Thirty years old, a part-time worker, a loner with too much free time and a heart that still burned for old-school tokusatsu heroes and anime. A nobody, really.
But he died a hero.
He didn't even know the child he saved. Just instinct. Just motion. Just death.
And now, reborn in this new world, his name was Igarashi Rul. Physically fifteen. Mentally? Still thirty.
He had long since given up on the idea of a second chance, but fate had handed it to him anyway—in a world crawling with devils, angels, and worse. It wasn't long before strange things began to happen. It started subtly: heightened reflexes, senses sharper than they should be. Dreams of gears turning, of green light and a whispering hum in his bones.
Then one day, at the edge of town, it appeared.
A device.
Small. Metallic. Shaped like a grasshopper. It didn't exist in this world, and yet it leapt into his hand like it knew him. A whisper crossed his mind:
KickHopper Zecter.
He stared at it in disbelief as a belt formed around his waist out of thin air. That day, he transformed. Instinct guided him through the motion, through the call that echoed from his lips:
> "Henshin."
His body was wrapped in armor and power. Speed. Strength. A kick that shattered a low-level stray devil into pieces before it could devour a passing girl.
He was never the same after that.
---
Now, at fifteen, Rul blended into Kuoh Academy as just another quiet transfer student. Dark hair. Lean build. Kind eyes that hid far more than they showed. The girls thought he was cool. The boys found him easy to talk to. He was sociable when needed. But beneath it all, he watched.
Always.
Because he remembered everything. And he knew what kind of world he was in.
The Gremory heir was here. So was the Sitri. Angels walked in human skin. Fallen ones plotted in the shadows. Stray devils hunted in alleyways at night. This town was a battlefield wrapped in the illusion of peace.
To most people, it was just a normal place.
They had no idea.
The supernatural world remained hidden. Sealed by illusion spells, memory wipes, and the willful ignorance of everyday life. Ordinary humans couldn't see it, couldn't grasp it. The devils made sure of that.
But Rul saw through it all.
And he wouldn't let any of it reach his family.
Not his mother. Not his father. Not his little brother.
He had power. He had a purpose. And he had rules.
Stay hidden. Strike only when necessary. Leave no trace.
And so, a rumor was born in the streets of Kuoh.
Of a green ghost. A shadowy figure who appeared only when lives were on the line. Who kicked through monsters and vanished like mist. No one knew his face. No one knew his name.
But some called him the devil-kicker.
Kamen Rider KickHopper.
---
It was Monday morning. The corridors of Kuoh Academy buzzed with life. Students filtered in through the school gates, some yawning, others chattering about the weekend. Rul walked in among them, a worn backpack slung lazily over one shoulder and wired earphones playing old rock music in his ears.
"Rul! Yo, wait up!"
He turned just slightly, spotting a familiar figure running toward him. Haruki, one of the only students who bothered to get close.
"You're early," Rul said, pulling out one earbud.
Haruki shrugged. "You're late. C'mon, homeroom's about to start. You hear about that weird animal attack near the riverbank?"
Rul blinked, feigning surprise. "Seriously? Another one?"
"Yeah. That's three this month. And nobody knows what the hell's causing it. Weird wounds, like something huge tore through them. Police are baffled."
"Sounds brutal."
"I know, right? Some folks are saying it's some kind of... vigilante or something. But like, who the hell fights with just kicks?"
Rul gave a noncommittal shrug. "Maybe Kuoh's just more dangerous than people think."
---
Class was uneventful. Rul took notes, answered when called on, and mostly kept to himself. Every so often, he felt the occasional stare from the infamous school idols—Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima—but they were always subtle.
He knew they sensed something was off.
After all, he wasn't like the others.
It wasn't until after the last bell rang and the students had begun to leave that he noticed the shift in the air. Faint traces of demonic energy. Hidden, but not hidden enough. He quietly made his way toward the back gate, the hum in his bones growing louder.
As he walked through the quiet streets of Kuoh, the world around him felt sharper. He turned down a narrow alley where he sensed it strongest.
A stray devil. Ragged. Twisted. Hungry.
It lunged at him without hesitation, fangs bared. Rul sidestepped effortlessly.
He sighed.
"I really didn't want to do this in uniform," he muttered.
He held out his hand, as if gripping an invisible bag. The air distorted, shimmered, and then—
The KickHopper Zecter appeared.
It landed in his palm. Green light danced across its surface.
A belt formed around his waist.
> "Henshin."
He slid the Zecter into place.
[ZECTER: KR-KSHHHHH—CLICK]
> "KickHopper."
Green energy exploded from the belt, armor forming instantly. The sound of mechanisms locking into place echoed through the alley. Boots. Chest. Helmet. All in place.
[SFX: CHANGE KICKHOPPER]
> "Hell is here."
The devil lunged again. He ducked under the claws, drove a knee into its gut, spun, and delivered a high-speed Rider Kick that shattered its body into a puff of black ash.
Without missing a beat, he reached for the switch on his belt.
> "Clock Up."
[SFX: Gears shifting – time dilation burst]
Time around him slowed to a crawl. Dust hung in the air like suspended snow. Rul dashed out of the alley in the blink of a normal eye, running through the side streets until he was several blocks away. Only then did he deactivate the system.
The armor shimmered and dissolved.
The Zecter vanished into the wind.
Rul pulled his hood up and melted into the crowd.
---
Meanwhile, in the Occult Research Club room, Rias Gremory stared at a map dotted with red pins.
"Another stray exterminated. No magical traces," she murmured.
Akeno tilted her head. "He's efficient. Precise. Never leaves a mess."
"And completely invisible to our detection spells," Rias added. "This isn't a normal exorcist."
"A new player?"
"Maybe."
Rias closed her eyes, thoughtful.
"Or a ghost. A very green ghost."
---
And so, the legend grew.
A new life. A new world.
But one thing remained the same.
Rul would protect what mattered.
Even if it meant becoming a monster himself.