Last time we saw what Taiga was up to six years after the Great Quake. He encountered a little girl named Rihoko that was trying to get back to her mother after Child Welfare took her away. This led to a fated encounter with Rihoko's mother.

On the outskirts of Tokyo was a sprawling forest near the mountains, while most only came out her to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy the serenity of nature. Within the forest was a dirt pathway that looked similar to a road. Following this road deeper into the forest would eventually lead to an opening that revealed a lonely house. It was a somewhat large house surrounded by plants and even had foliage growing up a few of the walls.

This house belonged to Renzo Suzuki, a famous motorcycle racer and engine designer. This is also the current home of one Taiga Nakamura, who was the pupil of the famous motorcyclist and currently works as a test driver for the motorcycles with experimental engines. However two new residents now reside in the halls of this house after Taiga helped a little girl reunite with her mother.

Inside one of the bedrooms fast asleep was the brown haired woman that Taiga had helped last night at the detention center. Cuddled next to her was Rihoko, who was also fast asleep, snuggling into her mother's chest. The woman's eyes slowly opened as she groggily looked around the bedroom.

It took a moment for the woman to get her bearings, but when she did a thought immediately ran through her head. "Rihoko!" The woman said in panic as she still had no idea where her daughter was. The woman's panic was interrupted by a small figure lazily shifted next to her, letting out a tired whine. "Mama, not so loud." Rihoko grumbled tiredly as she shifted around trying to get comfortable again. The woman quickly scooped her daughter into her arms as she gently held her close. "Oh thank goodness your alright!" The woman said in completely relief knowing she had her daughter back in her arms.

The woman finally looked around the bedroom and realized she wasn't in the detention center. "Where are we?" The woman mumbled to herself in confusion as she felt slightly unnerved at being in a house she has no information on. The door to the room suddenly opens as the woman wraps a protective arm around Rihoko, not wanting to lose her again. In walks Taiga, who is dressed in a white t-shirt with a classic motorcycle depicted on the front, black sweatpants, and slippers. In his hands are two cups of coffee. "Oh good, your awake. Rihoko was on the verge of tears when I carried you back unconscious to her last night." Taiga said as the woman looked at him slightly taken aback by the statement he made.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" The woman asked as she looked at Taiga in confusion. Taiga chuckled before setting one of the mugs of coffee on the nightstand next to the woman before taking a sip from his own. "My name is Taiga Nakamura, I was riding through Tokyo on my motorcycle last night when your daughter nearly gave me heart attack. Seriously what kind of kid her age tries and climb out a window to escape?" Taiga said in a joking manner as the woman looked at him in shock. "Masane Amaha, why did you help my daughter? You do realize you could've gotten in serious trouble if you were caught right?" Masane asked as she gave Taiga a slightly suspicious look. Taiga sat down on a chair in the corner of the bed room before explaining himself.

           "Don't get me wrong, I definitely thought the best thing to do was return her to the welfare agents. However, Rihoko was desperate to get back to you and I thought you must be a pretty amazing mom if she was that willing to breakout to get back to you." Taiga said as Masane looked down at her lap, she had a small smile on her face. Masane wasn't used to someone calling her a good mother, most of the time she just heard how unfit she was to be a mother from the welfare agents. Masane however then remembered what happened last night, that strange mechanical monster attacking her, that bright light, her cutting the monster to pieces. Then her encountering that guy in the grasshopper helmet, how much fun she had fighting him, then her running off to find Rihoko and passing out.

           "Hey, when you were in the detention center looking for me, did you see anything strange?" Masane asked, nervous that she might have put Taiga in danger when he was just trying to help her reunite with her daughter. Taiga thought about the question for a moment before answering. "Well the front doors were ripped off their hinges and the guards at the front desk were knocked out. Don't know what happened, but I think I saw some guys in black uniforms drive away in a van." Taiga explained as he pretended the Shocker Combatmen left instead of being destroyed by him. Masane nodded her head as she remembered seeing the guards knocked out when she encountered the man in the grasshopper mask. "This next question might be strange, but did you happen to see a man in a grasshopper mask?" Masane asked as she knew the question sounded insane.

Taiga leaned back in his chair as he looked up at the ceiling in thought for a moment. "I have heard rumors, some people said they've been attacked by mechanical monsters. They claim that a man in a grasshopper mask riding a motorcycle comes to their rescue. Of course these are just rumors." Taiga explained as Masane nodded her head in understanding. "So first that weird gauntlet grows out of my arm, then I encounter some kind of masked biker. This is all to strange." Masane thought to herself as she was still trying to wrap her head around the strange circumstances she found herself in. "Now then, breakfast is almost ready so come down when you and Rihoko are ready Masane." Taiga said before he exited the bedroom to give the mother and daughter some privacy.

Kitchen
After Rihoko finally woke up Masane got herself and her daughter dressed as they both quickly made their way down to the kitchen. Masane was surprised at how spacious the kitchen itself was and really wondered how much money Taiga had.

"There you two are, waffles are almost done." Taiga said over his shoulder, a yellow apron know adorning his body. Rihoko excitedly ran over to the table and sat down as Taiga set a plate of chocolate chip waffles down in front of the girl who happily started eating them. "You kept your promise!" Rihoko said happily as she continued to eat as Masane gave Taiga a rather confused look. "Promise?" Masane asked as she gave Taiga a curious look. Taiga chuckled slightly before leaning against the counter as he gave Masane a reassuring smile.

          "Rihoko requested waffles last night for breakfast, I promised to make them this morning." Taiga said simply as Masane gave her daughter a rather stern look. "Rihoko, you can't just request things from people who were nice enough to let us stay in their house!" Masane scolded as Rihoko shrunk slightly under her mother's disapproving gaze. Taiga stepped in between the mother and daughter as he put his hands up defensively. "It's fine Masane, I asked her what she wanted for breakfast. So this is completely on me." Taiga said in an attempt to diffuse the situation as Masane seemed to calm down slightly at his explanation before sitting down at the table as well. Masane took a sip from her coffee as she tried to relax, still on high alert from last night.

             "So what's your plan now?" Taiga asked as he started preparing another plate of waffles for Masane. "Once we eat breakfast we'll get packed up and be out of your hair Taiga." Masane said calmly as she didn't want to encroach on Taiga's life anymore then she already has with him getting her daughter back and saving her from whatever happened last night. "Now why are you in such a rush to leave young lady?" Masane turned to see an older gentleman standing in the doorway of the kitchen. He had messy grey hair under a green cap, a mustache and beard adorned his face, serious brown eyes studied Masane closely. He wore a white button up shirt with a green work vest over it.

"Who are you sir?" Masane asked slightly confused as to who the older gentleman was. "Renzo Suzuki, former motorcycle racer and current engine designer and engineer. A pleasure to meet you, now why are you in such a hurry to leave?" Renzo asked as despite his stern appearance he was rather welcoming to these strangers in his house.

           "Taiga has already done enough reuniting me with Rihoko and you letting us stay the night. Besides if we stayed the NswF will be breathing down your necks because your sheltering a mother unfit to raise her child." Masane said in a quiet tone as she didn't want to get either of the men in any form of legal trouble. Renzo scoffed at Masane's words as if the NswF would bother them. "Those dogs? I already called them and gave them a piece of my mind! Taking your daughter away from you when you were on your way to stay with us! Honestly the nerve of those self righteous brats!" Renzo said as he had an annoyed look on his face in regards to the NswF Child Welfare agents and their policies that let them rip kids away from their parents for even the slightest inconvenience.

         Masane was stunned, he had lied to the NswF to get them off her back? " I-I don't understand, why makeup a story to help me?" Masane asked in both confusion and suspicion as there had to be a catch to this whole thing. Renzo pulled out a cigar before lighting it and letting it rest in his mouth. "Young lady when you get to be my age you realize people nowadays are so quick to demonize good people for one or two simple mistakes. Your a young mother for god sake, yet they treat you like a wanted fugitive! So I set them straight, someone has to." Renzo said as he seemed to get more and more annoyed with how the world currently was. Masane on the other hand was stunned, no one has ever helped her and Rihoko this much, it's usually the two of them against the world.

          Taiga set a plate of waffles down in front of Masane before offering her a warm smile. "The offer is real you know, you and Rihoko can stay as long as you like." Taiga said in a reassuring tone as Masane was once again stunned by the offer. "Can we stay mama?! Mr. Nakamura and Mr. Suzuki are really nice!" Rihoko asked excitedly as this meant they would finally have a place to stay. Masane however was conflicted, she had nothing to offer them in return for their hospitality. "I don't have a job so I can't pay rent, I could help cleanup around here, but not much else." Masane said meekly as she didn't know what else she could possibly offer to them for their kindness towards her and Rihoko by letting them stay here.

          "Rent? Tell you what, if you really feel the need to offer something up how about this. You go into the city with Taiga on grocery runs and shopping trips. You could also help him in the garage outback repairing vehicles. He could use the social interaction." Renzo said as Taiga shot him a glare for that particular comment. "I have great social skills old man!" Taiga snapped at Renzo who simply snorted at the young man's response. "Tell yourself whatever you need to feel better brat." Renzo said as Taiga only grew more annoyed with his mentor's rather rude remarks in regards to him. Masane however felt tears pricking the corners of her eyes, after struggling for so long she finally had a please to raise Rihoko properly.

          "Mama are you okay?" Rihoko asked in a worried tone noticing the tears in her mother's eyes. "Yes Rihoko, I'm just very happy right now." Masane said as Taiga gently patted her on the back in a comforting manner. "We'll help you and Rihoko get your rooms setup once we get a chance to go on a proper shopping trip. For now let's just eat breakfast, you have a motorcycle to finish for a client Taiga." Renzo said as Taiga rolled his eyes, but nodded before both he and Renzo also sat down at the table. The entire group began to eat breakfast so they could get started for the day. However there was something bothering Taiga in regards to Masane that he had to talk to Renzo about.

After Breakfast
After everyone finished eating, Masane and Rihoko went off to explore the house while Taiga and Renzo did the dishes. "So what's been eating at you kid?" Renzo said knowing Taiga all to well that he knew when something was bothering the cyborg. "It's that form Masane took on in the detention center. There was this jewel in the gauntlet on her arm. It looked just like the jewel on the Witchblade." Taiga said as Renzo's eyes widened in shock at that statement. "You mean that artifact Shocker sent you to steal six years ago? Why would she have it?!" Renzo said as he found the whole thing a bit hard to believe. Taiga thought about it for a moment, he had to dig up his past a bit rewatching the news reports of the Great Quake.

            "Her and Rihoko were found alive at the focal point of the Great Quake, I have a creeping suspicion that gauntlet bonded to her, allowing her and Rihoko to survive the Quake. Maybe it was dormant within in her until she was put in serious danger?" Taiga hypothesized as it would make logical sense an artifact Shocker's leaders said held great power would allow her to survive a catastrophe of that scale. Renzo let out a sigh as he gave Taiga a sideways glance. "So what's your plan kid?" Renzo asked wondering what Taiga would do moving forward now that his past was quite literally coming back to haunt him. Taiga turned to look at Renzo, fiery determination burning in his eyes, it was the same determination Renzo saw in the cyborg's eyes when he decided to fight Shocker.

          "I'm going to make sure she can peacefully raise Rihoko. It's my fault she ended up with that thing in the first place. I owe her that much." Taiga said with conviction present in every word he spoke. Renzo gave his pupil a concerned look, the kid was putting more responsibility on himself. "Kid at this rate your going to put the weight of the entire world on your shoulders." Renzo said as he was concerned that the cyborg maybe was taking a little to much responsibility for what Shocker made him do. Taiga however didn't care, he let himself be brainwashed, he let himself become a puppet, he caused so many people pain from his theft of the Witchblade. If he had to put the weight of the world on his shoulders to atone for his mistakes, then so be it. The two men then finished doing the dishes before going off to handle their personal matters for the day.

So Masane has finally woken up after the crazy night she had at the Detention Center! Renzo has offered the young mother a place to stay to raise Rihoko. However Taiga has figured out she has the Witchblade and has decided to take responsibility for potentially ruining her life. As always please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments! What awaits Taiga next time he sets foot in Tokyo? What have the people trying to capture Masane done now that they've lost all trace of her? Who had been spying on Taiga the night he helped Masane? Find out in the next chapter of Witchblade: The First Rider!