[Oakland High, Havok, Piasu, Ryomania, May 6th, Tuesday, 1:14 PM, 2025]
I was starting to snap out of my trance of anger as I stared at the "Divinity" before me.
It finally registered.
What the hell was a "Divinity"? I was going to find out the hard way, I guess.
Cathy suddenly lunged at Keito as she hovered through the air.
She tried to punch him, but her attacks wouldn't connect.
Her new aura wouldn't let her touch the physical world.
Keito just used the vine of one of his roses to knock her away. He fell backwards and a bunch of soap vines started sprouting from his back, like tentacles, they held him up. The same bubble shield from earlier re-appeared around him.
Cathy hovered away from him and spun around mid-air, realizing what had happened.
Cathy Ariston: "What did you do to me?! I can't—"
She uncrossed her arms, panic written all over her face. There was something darker beneath it all, though. As if... her eyes were starting to glow red. It was hard to miss.
Keito Nakamura: "Ms. Ariston, you have to understand, this wasn't meant to happen! It was him I was after."
Keito vaguely gestured in my direction. Cathy tried to bend down to touch the ground—
She couldn't. It was as if it rejected her entirely, repelling her back.
James Karawei: "Cathy... Are you...?"
I trailed off, my thoughts racing. If she got this from that strange vial, could I unlock something similar? What if I accepted Keito's offer earlier?
What if this had something to do with the stranger in red or 'The Storm'?
The more I thought about it, the more I understood this was not some illusion—it was real, and it was only just beginning. I also soon realized that mist soon began filling the area, it started low on the ground, red and barely noticable.
The same red mist I've come to know.
Cathy, grew more desperate, tried to touch the ground again.
She smashed her fists down, again and again. The sound of her struggle filled the air—grunts, the wooshing of displaced air, and her faint, glowing aura surrounding her. Pushing her back.
But of course she couldn't touch the ground.
Cathy Ariston: "You killed me... You—YOU DESTROYED MY LIFE! I'LL NEVER TOUCH ANYTHING EVER AGAIN! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO EAT AND DRINK? OR SHOWER OR—"
She looked at Keito furiously, her eyes started becoming red, just like his.
Keito Nakamura: "Now, now, let's not get too hasty... If you learn to control yourself, you can still grab things with the power of gravity! And I didn't even do anything after all, you tackled me!"
Her fury reached its peak.
She charged at Keito with renewed rage, floating across the ground. She tackled him once more, relentlessly punching him with her fists. The pressure from her attacks pushed Keito deep into the ground, causing more roses to sprout from his arms. The bubble-shield around him extended soap spikes, they couldn't pierce through Cathy's new aura.
Cathy was seeing red. And yet they both repelled eachother.
Instinctively, with a shout, she raised her hands, and debris from the ground—rocks, broken bricks, and shattered metal—floated into the air. Even the thorny prison Jasmine was trapped in began to levitate.
Even a few corpses.
James Karawei: "Cathy! Calm down! This isn't you—"
I ran around, trying to dodge the whirlwind of debris and bubbles. Keito encased himself in 'rose armor' under the bubble, giving him an extra layer of protection.
It seems like he knew exactly just how dangerous this could get.
He also made a rose sword to deflect the incoming projectiles. The bubbles burst on contact, only for him to create more roses which made more bubbles—
Of course they didn't really affect Cathy.
She dashed forwards once again, this time with more fluidity. She was quickly learning how to use her new powers. She began grabbing things from afar with gravity and chucking them at Keito, he kept trying to run away.
The vines from his back acting like long thin legs that he used to swing from whatever parts of the school remained.
She gave chase.
Keito Nakamura: "Ms. Ariston! Listen to me! You don't need to do this... I only need James!"
Cathy Ariston: "SHUT UP! YOU DON'T GET TO MENTION HIM!"
They looped around the back of the school, flying through the windows of class 3-B.
She gave Keito an uppercut, utilizing gravity to push him all the way to the roof, desks and rubble and other larger pieces of the building flew out.
I kept running around trying to dodge the rubble, I grabbed the broken pipe Jasmine used earlier and made my way around the schoolyard, hitting debris out of my way.
Keito Nakamura: "Your father was right, you're a mistake!"
Cathy's eyes widened, the crimson glow in her eyes deepened.
Cathy slammed her fist down on Keito's torso. The debris followed, smashing into the bubble, and he was quickly overwhelmed.
The boulders that had once been small rocks now came hurtling toward him. There was no mercy in her eyes.
Cathy Ariston: "DON'T YOU DARE SAY HIS NAME!"
She slammed her fists even harder, the entire school shook and the roof came crumbling down on top of both of them.
Something changed in Keito's eyes, they were no longer red. And he started tearing up...
Keito Nakamura: "I'm sorry... Please... Forgive me—"
The bubble popped first.
[2005, Daiko City, Hana, Kion, September 5th, Monday, 5:46 PM]
It was supposed to be the happiest day of Keito's life.
Keito Nakamura stood in front of a mirror in the priest's quarters, adjusting his bowtie and suit as best as he could. This was somewhere to the left of the main altar in the church.
That entire day had been strange for him.
That morning he woke up in a cold sweat from a weird nightmare about a giant red eyeball. A similar dream to mine, just years prior to our meeting.
And now as he was getting ready for his wedding he felt a strange shiver down his spine, he was incredibly nervous.
His soon-to-be wife Giselle had told him it was just a normal nightmare but he felt as if he was being watched. For the whole day.
Today was his wedding day.
The special day he was to marry the love of his life, Giselle Suiko.
They met when he was younger at school, they've been childhood friends, she even helped him run the tailor shop together with his brother.
She was truly a beauty. An amazing woman.
He smiled as the memory flashed through his mind, even despite all his nerves.
He had come a long way since his humble beginnings as a tailor. His family had a long-line of tailors in it, the only exception he knew of was his brother.
Keito grew up in Daiko alongside his brother, they were mostly always alone.
His brother wanted to change the world but Keito just wanted people to look good.
Keito never truly understood his brother's dream or his motives, he would always hide away in the basement of their house, working on something. Always, always working.
Keito wasn't like that.
Everyone in the neighborhood knew Keito, he was a kind and humble gentleman.
A good man.
He always spent his weekends working at homeless shelters, he gave money to beggars whenever he could and he was very active at church.
This very day was the result of all of that.
He opened the church doors, stepping into the aisle, flowers in hand.
The music played, and the guests stood and clapped.
His heart raced. Loved by those around him, friends, family, co-workers and strangers.
But meeting Giselle had awakened a new passion in him—one that drove him beyond his good work.
She was his rose.
They stood before each other, exchanging vows. Everything was perfect. The priest spoke, asking the fateful question.
The Priest: "According to the good book, I ask you this in the name of The Storyteller, The Lamb and The Breath... Does anyone have any objections to the divine union?"
A hand shot up.
A man with golden hair that had white streaks and amber eyes, wearing a long golden robe around himself. Underneath he had a black blouse, with a golden necklace and talisman around his neck. He also wore some sort of golden sneakers and black jeans.
This was someone Keito didn't know personally, but instantly recognized as powerful, clearly high status.
His presence was imposing, and the tension in the air was palpable.
Keito felt that tingle down his spine again.
The Man In Gold: "I think I could give the madame more joy in ten minutes than you could in your whole life."
The church went silent.
Keito, his jaw clenched, felt an unnatural surge of anger course through him.
His eyes darted around the church in panic, his gaze landed on a man in a crimson suit with a matching fedora watching him from the shadows of one of the pillars by the front door.
The stranger locked eyes with Keito, Keito's eyes began to glow crimson...
His mind was clouded. He had not even noticed the red mist that was on the floor, gently streaming by people's legs like a river.
Keito Nakamura: "You... How dare you?!"
Giselle reached out to stop him, her eyes were also glowing red.
Giselle Suiko: "Wait, honey, I... I have something to admit. That man... I've been seeing him for three years, he is the love of my life and I... I'm sorry I never told you I just couldn't bear it... I'm leaving with him!"
To everyone's shock, Giselle—his fiancée, the woman he loved—admitted the stranger was her lover, a dirty secret she had kept for three years.
Keito couldn't make sense of what he was hearing, they'd always be close to each other, this was not even possible.
She ran from the stage, linking arms with the blonde stranger who now stood up and walked out of the church with her before Keito could even react.
Keito stood frozen in disbelief.
The stranger's eyes glowed in a terrifying amber as he glanced over his shoulder to look back at Keito and walked away, and Keito's heart shattered.
In that moment, a wave of destructive power surged through him. A hidden force, dormant, was awakened by the overwhelming grief and anger that consumed him.
His holiness manifested.
With a guttural scream of rage, a hundred massive roses erupted from his body, creating way way too many exploding bubbles, violently ripping apart the church as the roses themselves tore through the walls with their thorny vines and even through the roof, killing everyone in sight.
The building collapsed. His parents died, his friends died, his neighbors and strangers died.
When the dust settled, the stranger was gone, the priest was gone, his brother was also gone, but Giselle—his love, his everything—lay lifeless at his feet.
Keito dropped to his knees. The red glow from his eyes fading for a moment.
Keito Nakamura: "No... No... No..."
He cradled her body, the weight of his actions crashing down on him.
The thought that he could have done things differently—that he could've asked her for the truth, instead of letting his jealousy consume him—tore at his soul.
Keito Nakamura: "Please... Forgive me..."
As he knelt in the rubble, the red mist quickly began to creep over the church. Clouding everything and fogging Keito's vision.
The sky had darkened to a sickly crimson. The air grew thick with dread.
And a gentle humming voice could be heard from the oppressive mist "I did it my way..." It sung.
Keito's vision darkened further as the footsteps grew closer.
The mist was so oppressive now he could barely see anything ahead of him.
The Boss: "A seeker of love, how quaint. I am not the one you were expecting, but I am the one you need."
Keito could barely make out the figure of the man in the mist, alongside some floating bubbles that were the result of his previous outburst.
Keito Nakamura: "Who are you?! Did you do this? What do you want...?"
The Boss "I'm here to purify you Mr. Nakamura, you deserve true love after all..."
Keito, broken and crying, looked up to see the man standing before him as he came closer, a small patch of the thick crimson mist invading the church cleared.
The man extended his arms, an offer too tempting for Keito to resist.
Keito Nakamura: "Purify...? A sinner like me? Who are you?"
Keito asked again, trembling as he let go of his previous love's body.
The stranger smiled, a gesture hidden by his black surgical mask, his voice full of amusement.
The Boss: "You can call me The Boss. I am a man with many secrets. Surely you know the importance of secrets, don't you? Well... let's just say that you and this little incident are now my secrets. Keito Nakamura."
The red mist grew thicker, enveloping the church. In his grief and confusion, Keito took the stranger's hand, surrendering to the darkness that promised him guidance—and a new purpose.
Keito Nakamura: "Please... Forgive me... I... I need love."
The stranger bent down, kissing Keito's forehead.
The man's words echoed in his mind, as his eyes glowed with a new, terrifying crimson light.
The Boss: "Your sins are forgiven. Now go. I will guide your passion. The heart is a fragile, isn't it? Keito Nakamura."
Keito stood up, stepping over his fiancé's dead body.
The two of them walked into the red mist, leaving behind the ruins of what had once been a a place full of love and hope.
And the memory of his love?
Shattered.
[2025, Havok City, Piasu, Ryomania, May 6th, Tuesday, 2:34 PM]
The memory faded— The echo of wedding bells warped into the sound of debris falling.
It had been replaced by Cathy's fists slamming into Keito's jaw. It didn't do much though because of her aura, but It still hurt him, even through his bubble armor due to the falling debris on both of them.
Keito but now he had snapped out of his trauma induced nostalgia.
The sword that he had been holding in his hand crawled back onto him, transforming into soapy vines which came up to his forehead and took place on it, creating a soapy crown of thorns.
His armor was cracked from Cathy's attacks, his darkened to a brutal shade of crimson as even more mist filled the area.
He retaliated by lashing and whipping at Cathy constantly, each time sending both of them through the walls of the remaining classrooms in the right-side of the school.
Roses began growing all over his body under the armor, vines, thorns and bubbles alike morphing and contorting him completely, as if he was heavily infected.
His arms themselves turned into soapy vines and the force of the hundred or so bubbles emanating from each rose—That's thousands from his whole body if not more, hit Cathy back down onto the ground level of the building, exploding with such force that all of the debris had temporarily been knocked back, along with the mist.
Of course her new aura broke her fall.
Cathy Ariston: "DIE, YOU DAMN BASTARD!"
She flicked her hand as all the debris in the area suddenly glowed in a strange purple light, everything started flying towards Keito. He took the full force of the collapsing school onto him as he fell on top of Cathy.
Everything seemed to crumple down.
As he fell, a lone remaining vial with the strange serum Cathy's skin earlier was in his pocket.
It broke onto his forehead as he landed on the ground in the schoolyard again.
He screamed, his voice distorted and garbled by his... transformation.
Keito Nakamura: "SAVAGE GARDEN: ULTRA!"
He swung his arms around, bubbles coming out of each rosebud and exploding upon coming into contact with the debris and Cathy, knocking her further and further away from him.
His body was morphing and distorting, slowly turning into more roses and vines and bubbles... He was barely human.
I continued running through this 'storm' and hitting debris away with the pipe.
I was so caught up in the scene of the two of them fighting that I had not been doing something to help. And my headache grew stronger.
I looked around, noticing that Jack was still lying on the ground next to the ground floor bathrooms, which were now ruins.
I ran toward him, even as the area was filled with even more thick red mist and debris. Flashes of purple light coming from Cathy and the yelling of Keito made it easy to stay out of the way.
I hoisted Jack onto my shoulder and carried him toward the inner courtyard, which was mostly still in tact, where I gently set him down against a wall.
I shook him by the shoulders to wake him up, it didn't seem to work.
James Karawei: "Jack! Are you okay? This is too much... I think we both may have a concussion! Come on, wake up!"
I slapped him trying to bring him back to his senses.
Jack Daniels: "Ah! Ow! Wha—Oh... Hey, James, did we... die?"
He asked it so casually, as if being moments from death didn't faze him. He looked down at his right arm which was still injured from earlier and now probably infected, and then back at me, forcing a confident smirk.
James Karawei: "No, not yet... Cathy's still fighting Keito. She's gone berserk and she's all purple and glowy and it's really weird. By the way that guy... he said something about 'Divinities' do you know anything about that? Actually you know what? Nevermind, that's not that important now. Just rest here, okay? I'll try to rescue Jasmine before he takes her away."
With that, I ran back to the outer schoolyard.
Keito was still fighting back against Cathy's rampage, his body battered but not yet broken.
He became less and less of a human and more and more like soap.
Keito Nakamura: "THIS IS THE RESULT OF THE ULTIMATE LOVE! TO WHICH YOU CANNOT ATTAIN FORGIVENESS! YOU FOOLISH GIRL!"
I wanted to see him clearly, my eyes suddenly adjusted to the mist to my own surprise.
James Karawei: "What the..."
I saw half of his face, the amalgamation of roses, vines and thorns all made of soap while his left side was still human, his skull cracked and battered heavily from the onslaught. Held together by soapy vines.
I shouted to Cathy, hoping she'd still hear me through her blind rage.
James Karawei: "Cathy! If you're still sane, bring Jasmine down! Please! I know you can do it!"
Her floating form snapped toward me at the sound of my voice, the red glow in her eyes dimmed just a little but a giant vine from Keito's new form sent her flying back.
She flicked her hand, and the rubble holding the vine-prison fell toward me. I dodged out of the way narrowly. And she remained above watching me, her arms crossed over her stomach.
Keito had stopped attacking to watch the rubble fall down.
The vine-prison encasing Jasmine rolled over, and I rushed toward it.
James Karawei: "Jasmine! Are you okay?!"
Jasmine barely mumbled something. She was alive—but just barely. She was lying on the lone piece of concrete held together by Keito's ability.
I struck the vines with the broken pipe in my hand until I cleared them and made a hole in the side of the cube.
Keito snapped, as if he felt the vines being torn.
Keito's scream of insanity cut through the air as he charged at us, sending thorns and bubbles in every direction. His madness was complete.
The prison also unraveled, the vines fizzing into soap suds.
Keito Nakamura: "I WILL REPAY MY DEBT TO THE BOSS! THAT GIRL IS MINE, KARAWEI!"
He flew towards me, propelled by bubbles and vines, faster than I'd ever seen anyone move.
Something in me—something I couldn't name—reacted.
I swung the metal pipe with all my strength, hitting Keito on the left side of his head, the part that was still human, and sent him crashing to the ground.
Blood splattered as his head hit a pile of rocks, right at the top of his thorny crown.
It became bloody. And his body slumped, motionless.
The matter from his skull poured out grossly onto the ground.
For a moment, I felt the weight of it all. My actions, Cathy's, his, everyone else's.
This man— I didn't exactly know why he was acting like this but it was clear that all of us had been consumed by rage.
And now, here I was, watching him die.
It wasn't really right, was it?
I couldn't help but tear up. No, It wasn't right—he didn't deserve this end, nobody did, even after everything he'd done... as I looked into his now normal eyes, I knew. I knew it wasn't really him.
James Karawei: "This isn't right... Mr. Nakamura..."
I knelt next to him, prodding him until he flipped onto his back. His head was a grotesque mess. But somehow, he was still alive.
He turned to face me, a smile on his face, the thorny vine-like tentacles began fading from across his body, except from the half of his face where I hit him. Clearly trying to hold himself together.
Keito Nakamura: "James... I'm sorry. I-I didn't want this, not this. My hands were forced, my mind... Corrupted. T-the— he's the one—"
He coughed up blood heavily, interrupting himself.
The roses and vines all around us started to dissipate into nothingness. Even the red mist began to suddenly die down, for seemingly no reason. The sunlight shining on the now destroyed school.
He was clearly weak and soon he was going to die.
Keito Nakamura: "Please listen to me son, I never asked for this... I never meant for this to happen... I was ordered... Controlled—"
Keito's voice was a quiet rasp, heavy with guilt. He coughed up even more blood.
He wasn't crying, but his eyes held a deep remorseful sadness.
He became really vulnerable.
James Karawei: "It's too late for apologies, sir. You've already made your choice... We've all suffered because of you."
My fists clenched, feeling anger still smoldering in my chest.
But as I stared down at him, a strange mix of sadness and disgust mixed with anger swirled inside me.
His regret wasn't enough to erase the pain he'd caused—but I couldn't help but feel pity.
Some of my emotions were starting to come back. Excitement, anger, sadness. The real question though was why.
Before I knew it tears started dropping from my eyes.
James Karawei: "Why did you do this...? What's the deal with these powers? Who are you people really and why do you want me and Jasmine?!"
I slammed my fist on the ground in frustration, all it did was knock over a rock from the pile of rubble behind him.
Keito's breathing was shallow, his face pale, but he managed to speak more clearly now. Despite the coughing.
Keito Nakamura: "The Boss... he found me when I was at my lowest... He promised me power. He said that if I embraced the pain, the grief... if I let go of my sanity, I could change everything. He told me that love was a weakness... That to control it, to overcome it, I had to become something greater. And I believed that, because I was hurt, because the truth... The light had been stolen from my very eyes boy."
He winced as he tried to sit up, his hands trembling. He fell back down. I wanted to hate him.
I couldn't. And in that moment I really tried.
James Karawei: "The Boss... The man in red... So you took it. The power? You let it consume you?"
He stretched his left hand towards me and grabbed my wrist. He smiled warmly.
Keito Nakamura: "I thought I could control it... I thought it would help me get revenge on the man who took the love of my life away from me. But it—it only took more from me. More than I ever could have imagined—" He continued coughing, weakly.
James Karawei: "Revenge? On... The Boss?"
Keito Nakamura: "Someone else... Someone just as wicked... A man with golden blonde hair, gold everywhere... Beware of the man in gold."
His words hung in the air, heavy with the weight of his own failures, and mine.
I didn't know if I could forgive him, but his pain was real. Still, there was no turning back now. We'd all gone too far. The school had been destroyed.
I chuckled out of pain. This was too much.
James Karawei: "And now what... You want me to forgive you? To ignore the fact that you've killed everyone here? Look at what you did to Cathy!"
I pointed up at her, she was watching everything with rapt attention. The red glow in her eyes slightly faded. It was still there and she was still very angry, and the debris still floated around her, but calmly.
Not like the storm from before.
Keito's voice was barely audible, but it cracked with emotion.
Keito Nakamura: "No... I don't deserve forgiveness... but if there's a way to stop it, to stop The Boss... then you're the ones who can figure it out. This was the plan after all James... Hah... It's funny when I think about it. In a twisted way, I guess I helped you... This is your destiny..."
I reached up to wipe the tears from my eyes, looking around.
Sakura's body, the rubble, the schoolyard, the corpses, the lingering bubbles in the air.
It was eerie. And so so quiet.
From the apartment buildings near the school I saw the agents on the roof, watching us.
James Karawei: "I'm guessing those guys are with you."
Keito slowly turned his head to look to where I was pointing.
Keito Nakamura: "A great boss needs help after all, haha..."
His grip on my hand tightened.
Keito Nakamura: "If you want to recover your memories... Find Shujin Hakomaru, he's the one who took them. I trust you'll know what to do."
I could feel the tension building in my chest as I looked at him. Cathy was still hovering above us, surrounded by debris and her annoying seemingly permanent aura.
Her eyes were wide, her body twitching as if struggling to control the power surging through her. But her eyes were now no longer red. I could see the pain in her expression as she looked at Keito, but it wasn't the same sadness I felt.
I looked back at Keito.
James Karawei: "Shujin Hakomaru? Where is he? And why would he take my memories?"
He barely managed to speak.
Keito Nakamura: "Taured... Go there, and Kingsley... the golden man... don't forget me..."
His voice trailed off and he handed me a single white rose, it wasn't made of soap, it was the decorative rose on his chest.
As he handed it to me, my eyes widened. Suddenly it felt as if I had been pushed out of my body and into my mind, a strange glowing white orb flew into my chest and the world flashed around me in a blur and I saw everything.
I saw the wedding, I saw the golden man, I saw The Boss... I saw what led Keito to this point. There was no way to undo this destruction.
He then grabbed me by both hands and looked me right in my eyes. Causing me to snap out of it. The rose clutched in my left hand, the broken pipe in my right hand.
Keito Nakamura: "And... whatever happens now James...? Don't let anyone take the light from you... You must be strong—Strong enough to choose real love.... Always... always choose love... Farewell, James Karawei..."
He laughed once again and turned to face the setting sun, coughing even more blood.
Keito Nakamura: "Giselle... is that you? You look so beautiful... in... in the light..."
With that, he took his final deep breath. The vines holding the right side of his head disappeared, along with all the other stray bubbles floating around the area.
I looked up towards the setting sun.
An entire school day gone to hell.
Despite not fighting much, I felt the most responsible.
James Karawei: "The Boss, Kingsley, Hakomaru, R.K, The Storm, Holiness, Divinity... I don't understand it. I don't even understand myself. But I understand you, Mr. Nakamura. I will fight. I will..."
I looked down at the rose in my hand and slowly put it into my pocket.
James Karawei: "Farewell, Mister Nakamura... I'll remember you. I will avenge you."
And Keito? His head was facing the sky, a blissful smile on his face.
He faded, like any regular rose would.