It had been over a week since Keiichi had first been hospitalized, nearly two weeks since he had first been kidnapped, and yet he still found himself worrying about classwork. The doctor that had been taking care of him continued to refuse to allow him to leave, though he had healed to the point he could take walks around the hospital. He could walk around the hospital, but he couldn't actually leave. Not being allowed to leave the hospital meant he couldn't go to school, meaning he couldn't do his classwork. It was for this reason he was glad Atsuro and Yuzu came by so often. It was also for this reason he was glad Naoya was there to help with his math work.

Keiichi didn't really understand why they wouldn't let him leave. His wounds had healed up for the most part, and he was more than healthy enough with the nutrition plan they'd put him on.

No, he knew exactly why they wouldn't let him leave. It had to do with those tests they kept doing on him. Hell, Keiichi wasn't blind; he'd heard the report on his various injuries. The fact he was even walking around a week after the incident was more than a miracle. It was uncanny. He'd had broken limbs before, and they took months to heal. He wasn't blind to the likely reason why, either.

This world is an empty husk. It is a canvas of white for you to color, and the longer you deny yourself, the longer it stays in this empty, unfinished state, forever put on trial.

He'd felt that lock break when he finally lost it, after all. And unlike Yuzu and occasionally Atsuro, he knew the events of the Lockdown hadn't been one collective hallucination. He knew he still had that power of Bel dormant within him. Except now it wasn't so dormant, because he'd… killed…

Stop denying yourself. What you lust for the most is blood. You don't even truly belong to this world now that you've awakened to your true nature. There is no reason to resist.

Even thinking the word was painful to him. It awakened that voice. Keiichi didn't know where it came from. It spoke in a voice that was like that of the Bels he had defeated all at once and his own at the same time, and it frightened him, because he knew that those weren't some external force's thoughts, but his own, buried deep in his subconscious and only now digging their way out.

Kill them, cut their throat, spill their blood.

I'm insane, Keiichi found himself thinking. It didn't seem all that unlikely anymore. The Shomonkai had finally brought him over the brink, and he'd fallen off of that knife's edge into insanity. He couldn't blame everything on the Throne, after all, even though he was sure that had a lot to do with it, too.

Yuzu and Atsuro came every day after school. Keiichi's parents came when they had free time. Naoya came every day from when visiting hours started to when they ended. Because of this, Naoya was Keiichi's almost constant companion while he lay here in this bed. Other people had visited too. Keisuke had come by once, and Mari, who worked in the same hospital, tended to visit during her breaks. Even Amane had come by once, though the encounter hadn't gone well.

Amane had been nervous when she'd entered the door, but the moment she saw Naoya, things had gone downhill. Sure, she'd tried being respectful at first, and Naoya certainly had been speaking somewhat respectfully, however his manner of speaking had eventually ticked her off to the point that they'd started arguing over his kidnapping. Eventually Keiichi had asked them both to leave the room, and that had been the end of visitors for the day. They'd probably continued on once they were out of earshot, though.

At the moment, Keiichi was staring out the window as he allowed himself to lose himself in his thoughts. His eyes were unfocused, like he was looking at something that wasn't really there. Naoya sat to his left, and at the moment was reading an occult magazine he had picked up from someone on the way to the hospital. Naoya looked up as the door creaked open.

"Hey, it's our favorite hospitalized friend! And he's staring off into space, as usual!" Atsuro grinned and stepped into the room, followed by Yuzu. Yuzu was smiling, though she had that slightly scared look she always tended to get around him again. Naoya smirked and touched Keiichi's arm, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Your friends are here," Naoya stated. Keiichi blinked and looked over toward Atsuro and Yuzu. He smiled, which caused Yuzu to flinch a little, but it passed quickly enough. Atsuro walked over to Keiichi and emptied the leather school bag on top of Keiichi's bed. Keiichi groaned.

"Couldn't they just wait until I get out to give me all of this schoolwork?" Keiichi sighed and placed the papers on the slowly growing pile of schoolwork next to his hospital bed. He was a bit surprised the nurses hadn't gotten on him about that yet.

"Oh, like you'll actually do it once you get out anyways," Atsuro teased. Keiichi rolled his eyes and climbed out of bed before walking over toward Yuzu.

"Come on, let's go walk around the hospital a bit," Keiichi said. Yuzu nodded, and the two of them headed into the hallway. Yuzu was still smiling as they headed out, but she was keeping more distance from Keiichi than she usually did. No, that wasn't true. This was the same amount of distance she had been staying from him since he'd finally been allowed to walk around. It just wasn't until this very moment that Keiichi realized she was standing abnormally far from him. Keiichi didn't stop walking until they were a few doors down from his hospital room. His smile was bitter as he spoke.

"You're scared of me, aren't you?" Keiichi asked. Yuzu looked surprised at his words.

"N-No, that's not true, where are you getting that idea fro—"

Keiichi waved for Yuzu to stop. "It's okay. I… scare me a little too." His expression was rather pained, and it was rather clear to Yuzu that Keiichi was forcing himself to smile. She looked away from him.

"…What's happened to you?" Yuzu asked in a soft voice. Her hands were grasping her arms, in a sort of self-hug. "Ever since the Shomonkai kidnapped you, you've been…" She shook her head again.

Keiichi hesitated before speaking up. "…Yuzu, you remember how I had to defeat all of the Bels during the lockdown? How I absorbed their power?"

Yuzu looked very nervous at those words. "C-Come on, K1… you know that was all just a big hallucination."

Something about those words was making Keiichi angry. He knew Yuzu didn't believe what happened during the Lockdown had been real. He knew she pretended it was all a hallucination. He'd known that from the moment school started up again and she didn't even mention the Lockdown. And yet the fact she couldn't face the goddamn facts now was only making him even angrier. He clenched his hands into fists as she continued to speak.

"You didn't really absorb all those demons," Yuzu said. She was looking right at him, and shaking, like some kind of scared animal. Keiichi ignored it and clenched his hands tighter.

"But I did, Yuzu. I did and I took that Throne of Bel and sent all of the demons back," Keiichi said. His voice was frighteningly dark.

Kill her.

Shut up, Keiichi growled back in his head.

"Come on, K1… it's not funny," Yuzu said. Keiichi took a couple steps toward Yuzu, and she backed into the wall.

Kill the bitch, flay her alive, skin her!

"I'm not lying, Yuzu," Keiichi said. He willed his speeding heartbeat to slow down just a bit. It wasn't working. Why did his chest hurt so bad…? He felt dizzy.

"Then say what you want to say!" Yuzu's voice was shrill. Keiichi flinched back a bit, and the glare he sent Yuzu's direction shut her up.

"I'm not going to say it if you're not going to listen to me!" Keiichi yelled. "I'm trying to tell the truth!"

"I-I'm listening, K1, but please—"

DEVOUR her, RIP her SOUL from her BODY, RAPE her, TEAR her FLESH! She is your PREY and nothing more!

"SHUT UP!"

Keiichi wasn't sure if he was yelling at Yuzu or the voice. There was a sharp pain in his eyes, like someone was pressing down on them. About the moment the pain started, Yuzu's expression became even more terrified. If she could have melted into the wall, she would have. The expression of fear on her face both scared and excited Keiichi, and he took several steps toward her before pressing his hands up against the wall on either side of Yuzu.

"Pl-Pl-Please, K1, you're scaring me…" Yuzu sobbed. Her eyes met his, and another sharp bolt of pain exploded just behind his eyes.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up," Keiichi snarled. "Just shut up, you damn bitch! I don't want to hear anything else from you!" He grabbed Yuzu's blouse and tore it, revealing the blue striped strapless bra underneath. Yuzu gave another cry, and her sobs became even more frantic. With each sob that voice got louder. Keiichi was having a hard time ignoring it. He didn't even want to ignore it anymore.

Kill her, kill her, kill her, kill her, kill her, kill her, KILL HER, KILL HER, KILL HER, KILL HER

"K1, please, stop!" Yuzu cried out. She was now afraid for her life. Keiichi's mouth curled into a grin, and Yuzu let out a scream.

"Oh god, K1, your eyes, please, please, stop!" Yuzu pleaded, tears streaming down her face. She let out a gasp as Keiichi seized her by the neck with both hands. Yuzu's face began to turn blue as her air flow was completely cut off.

"What the hell's going on out here?"

Atsuro and Naoya both rushed into the hallway. Atsuro's eyes widened as he saw Keiichi's excited expression and Yuzu being strangled by Keiichi. Only one thought moved across Atsuro's mind as he saw Keiichi.

That's not K1, Atsuro thought to himself before rushing at Keiichi and grabbing his arm. He was trying to pull it away from Yuzu's neck, blind to the damage he was likely causing her due to Keiichi's strong grip. "K1! Stop! Stop!"

K1? Who's that? Who are these people? Leave me alone, I'm busy.

"You're going to kill her! For the love of God, stop!" Atsuro cried. He stopped as he caught sight of Keiichi's eyes, and his face blanched. "Y-Your eyes, they're—"

"Abel, stop!"

Keiichi froze. Naoya took advantage of this momentary freeze to run over to Keiichi and grab him rather awkwardly by the wrists. For a moment, nothing happened, and then Keiichi's hands spasmed and he let go of Yuzu. Naoya shoved Keiichi away from her so he couldn't grab her again. Keiichi slammed up against the wall, and Yuzu gave a few coughs as fresh air rushed into her lungs. She was holding her arms up against her breasts, trying to cover the rip Keiichi had made in her blouse. She gave a few quiet sobs.

"K1, what—"

"I think you should go," Naoya said to Atsuro and Yuzu. Atsuro didn't hesitate, and grabbed Yuzu by the arm.

"Let's get out of here," he said to Yuzu before dragging her along with him. Keiichi was backed up against the wall, one hand in front of his face.

"Oh… oh god…" Keiichi said to himself, not caring who heard. Naoya looked at him for a moment.

"Abel, you need to go back into your room," Naoya said. He was looking his brother in the eyes. This wasn't Keiichi, and right now, it wasn't the demon Abel, either. It was his little brother. His easily manipulated little brother. The very fact that his little brother was prominent right now meant that breaking point he had been awaiting and dreading had been hit.

Keiichi shuddered at Naoya's words, and gave a small little nod. He didn't seem all there as he stumbled back toward his hospital room and closed the door behind him. He stood there with his back to the door for a while before walking toward his bed and sitting down in it. He looked over at the window again, and stared at his reflection.

The pupils of his eyes were slitted, like a cat's. Or more accurately, a demon's.

Oh. That's why Yuzu and Atsuro kept going on about my eyes.

Keiichi looked down at his hands. He'd nearly killed Yuzu. If Cain hadn't stopped him, he would have killed them all. He knew he would have. The fact that he'd thought of Naoya by the name in his first life didn't even occur to him as odd right now. He only continued to stare at his hands.

"…Oh god. I'm so fucked up."

Atsuro didn't look back a single time, and only continued to run. His grip was iron on Yuzu's arm, and he didn't stop running until they were outside in the courtyard in front of the hospital. He finally slowed down once they were outside, and pulled Yuzu over to a bench. He sat her down before sitting down next to her. Yuzu was still sobbing, however quietly. Atsuro put a hand on her back in an attempt to comfort her. Yuzu flinched and looked up at Atsuro. She hiccupped.

"Wh-why…"

"I don't know," Atsuro said. "There's something wrong with K1. Something that's changed the way he thinks. Something that's turned him into some kind of monster."

"….B-Bel…" Yuzu hiccupped. "Th-This is all my fault… I wouldn't believe him, a-and he got m-m-mad, and th-then…"

Had that been what had caused it? Atsuro didn't think so. No, it seemed more likely this had started a long time ago. K1 had changed when the Shomonkai kidnapped him, that much was for sure. Whatever change they had induced him had reached its boiling point when Yuzu denied him. "Bel," Yuzu had said. There wasn't much denying what that meant. Atsuro couldn't help but remember when K1 had absorbed Beldr. K1 had collapsed to his knees, and for a moment, a strange and unexplainable fear had appeared in Atsuro's mind. He'd been afraid that K1 was going to leave them for some reason.

….No, this had all begun long before the Shomonkai had kidnapped K1. In fact, it almost sounded like this was bound to happen. K1 had absorbed the energies of several demons, after all. It made sense his mind would be affected. It made sense he would be a demon now.

Atsuro pulled Yuzu to him in an embrace. It was one of comfort, not one out of any sort of love. Atsuro loved Yuzu, yeah, but it was as a friend. But like hell he was going to sit here and let her cry her eyes out just because he didn't want people to think he liked Yuzu. She'd nearly been killed by the guy she had a crush on, for God's sake!

"It's going to be okay," Atsuro said softly. "It's going to be okay, Yuzu… K1's gonna snap out of it eventually, and then he'll be sorry, and everything will be okay again… okay?"

Yuzu hiccupped again. "…What's happening to him…?"

"…I don't know," Atsuro admitted. He pulled Yuzu tighter, and the two of them sat together on the bench for a very long time. Neither of them noticed Amane approaching. The girl's face was serious. She could tell just from Yuzu and Atsuro's expressions that something had gone very wrong.

"What happened?" Amane asked. Yuzu and Atsuro both flinched, and Atsuro turned toward Amane.

"…K1 hurt Yuzu," Atsuro said. Amane narrowed her gaze before turning away and looking toward the front doors of the hospital.

"I see," Amane said, and then walked through the front doors of the hospital. Atsuro raised an eyebrow at her. Why was she going in there…? To see K1? His eyes widened and he jumped up off of the bench, running through the doors before they could fully close. He ran up to Amane and put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned around to look at him.

"Wait! Now's not a good time to see him, he's not in a good mood!" Atsuro yelled. Amane brushed Atsuro's hand off of her shoulder.

"Kihara-san, stay here with Tanikawa-san," Amane said. She continued on into the hospital, not looking back once. Atsuro stared after Amane before turning around and going back through the doors and toward Yuzu. He sat back down beside her. Yuzu's tears had stopped, but every now and then she would give a dry sob. Atsuro said nothing. He knew that whatever Amane was doing, she was putting her life on the line to do it. And here he was, listening to her and just sitting by Yuzu. Atsuro couldn't help but think he was a little too dumb to live at that thought.

Keiichi grasped his head in his hands. So many thoughts were roiling throughout his head. So many horrible, horrible, painful thoughts. His fragmented memories were starting to come together, and the more he tried to push them away, the more they cut at him. He remembered a world where the only people were him and his brother and Mother and Father. He remembered the sheep. He remembered Naoya (Cain) killing him.

He killed you.

He remembered being approached by Cain. He remembered the rams horn club hitting him in the face. He remembered staring up at his brother's rage filled eyes and all he could think was Why?

He remembered being torn to pieces. He felt that sensation down in his very soul, the sensation of having his essence shattered and spread to the four corners of the earth. He didn't know why. All he knew was now his memories and fragments were coming together again. He gave another wince of pain. His entire body hurt so much, and he just wanted it to stop. He just wanted everything in the whole world to stop.

Why are you in this pain?

That was a simple question. He was in this pain because he'd been tortured by days on end by the Shomonkai in an effort to bring out a demon that was now part of him. How that was even possible was beyond him. He was a human wasn't he?

Ah, but that's not true.

Calling himself human would be like calling a platypus a bird. They may look similar, but they were totally different n the inside. He was just a demon wearing a human shell now. Weren't those eyes proof enough?

He'd never wanted any of this. He'd just wanted everything to be normal again. But those Shomonkai bastards had awakened his demonic instincts, and now that voice that had driven him to attack Yuzu before was even more enticing than before. He'd just wanted to be normal, and then the Shomonkai had gone and fucked things up.

Who ordered the Shomonkai to kidnap you? Who told them killing you would release Belberith?

Who had ordered his kidnapping? How was Abel supposed to know that? He had been an unwilling sacrifice. But that woman… that woman…

The angels.

He lifted his hands from his head. The angels were behind it all. It was all the angels' faults. They'd been afraid of him, so they'd tricked the Shomonkai into kidnapping him, and then given them a false ritual that would supposedly release Belberith but would in truth kill him. Another certainty clicked into place in Abel's mind. Another ordeal was coming. The thought had come easily, and Abel didn't even think to protest it. If this ordeal came, it wouldn't matter if humans passed it. They would just keep coming and coming and soon enough humanity would lose its free will.

He felt a throbbing sensation in his chest and grasped the front of his shirt, pulling the cloth tight. He could feel that intense hatred bubbling up inside him again. It was consuming his very being, and it felt right somehow. Whose fault was it that all of this had happened? It was God's. Whose fault was it that he was losing his mind? It was God's. It was that damn bastard that called himself their "creator." He had to do something about this. No, he was obligated to do something about it. It was God who had split him twice to disperse his presence and keep him from ever being able to stop Him. God claimed he was his "favorite" child, but He said that to every little human he wanted to follow him, didn't He?

He began to chuckle, and the dark chuckle was not unlike that of a person whose mind was finally shattering under stress. That was it. That was his purpose in existing. He had to wage a war against God. Cain had been manipulating him and lying to him but he'd been right. His very purpose was to hate Him, to the point he'd self-destruct if he didn't.

But first he had to free himself from this room of white.

"I never thought your self control would shatter this completely."

Abel turned. Standing in the doorway of the room was Amane. She hadn't even bothered to change out of her school uniform before coming to visit him. Her expression was serious, and there was an emotion Abel couldn't quite read behind her lavender eyes. Regret? Sorrow? Pity? She took a few steps into the room as Abel stood up from his bed.

"I should have known this would happen. No human can fully control the power of Bel. Though the blame does not fully fall upon you… I should have taken better lengths to control the remnants of my father's organization after the end of the Lockdown. If I had done that, you never would have reawakened to that power and could have lived the remainder of your life as a normal human." She squeezed her eyes shut, and when they reopened, there was a determined look in them. She clenched her hand into a fist and lifted two fingers, concentrating a large amount of magical energy in that hand. She lifted this hand to her chest. "I will seal you away so that the power of Bel may never be awakened again. It is regrettable, but it is the only choice left."

Amane held her hand out, and Abel felt his limbs lock up and his knees give out under him. He hit the ground hard, but he couldn't move a single muscle. Amane took several steps closer, all while Abel gasped and struggled against the unseeable restraints. They didn't remain unseeable for long, forming into cold, metal chains. His eyes widened as a memory that wasn't quite his fell into place. He wasn't the first Bel to be sealed like this. Beldr had been at one point, too. Abel began to feel the first signs of panic set in as his body began to disappear, starting at his fingers. He looked up at Amane again, staring right into her eyes with his own cat-like ones.

"Another ordeal is coming, priestess," Abel said quietly.

"Humanity can survive it without the help of demons," Amane said in response. "We do not need you to defend us from the angels. The aid of demons is what nearly led humanity to damnation in the first place."

"It's not a question of if humanity will lose their free will anymore, but when," Abel said in response. He couldn't feel his hands anymore. "Even if you pass this coming one, who knows how long humanity can survive."

"If that is the fate of humanity, then so be it," Amane said quite simply. Abel stared at her. She was just going to…

"You fucking coward," Abel snarled. He began to struggle against the chains even more, even as his body continued to fade away. Amane only continued to stare at him with that same expression, the one he couldn't read.

"I'm sorry," Amane said. That was the moment Abel's rage erupted. His energy flared out from all around him, and Amane's eyes widened as she saw the cracks forming in the chains binding him. She was already taking steps away from him when the metal shattered. Amane let out a yell, and fell back. His power was too much for her to hold back on her own. Abel stood up and gave Amane a flat look before walking over to her. She was trying to scoot away, but he moved faster than she could scoot away, and then grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. She winced as he pulled her up by her collar.

Abel didn't speak, only threw her into a wall. The way he threw her was much like a child would a toy, but the force she hit the wall with was much stronger than any child. There was actually a crater in the wall from where she hit it. Abel only stared at her. His expression was flat.

"What are you going to do to me?" Amane asked. Her voice was without fear. Abel's flat expression slightly changed, and for a moment, the slits in his eyes changed back to normal human pupils. He opened his mouth, and began to speak…

"How are you feeling?" Atsuro asked. Yuzu didn't look like she even had any more tears to cry.

"…I feel better…" Yuzu said softly. It wasn't the entire truth, Atsuro knew that, but he didn't want to cause Yuzu any more emotional torment than the day's events already had. It was the sound of crashing glass that made Atsuro look up.

"Look out!"

He threw himself over Yuzu just as the glass came crashing down on top of them. For a very slight moment, he caught glimpse of a blue and white blur move overhead, but the falling glass was a bit more of a concern. Once he was sure the glass had stopped falling, he pulled himself up off of Yuzu. He was still a bit shaken.

"You alright?" Atsuro asked Yuzu.

"Uh-huh," Yuzu said. Atsuro looked up at the hospital, and his eyes widened as he realized what window had just broken.

"Hey, wait a minute. Isn't that the window for K1's room?" Atsuro exclaimed. He looked toward Yuzu, and then jumped off of the bench and broke off running. Yuzu's eyes were wide and panicked, and she started running after Atsuro too.

"Atsuro, wait!" she cried, but he didn't slow down a bit, only continuing to run until he had made it up to the room. He bypassed the elevator he usually took; it would take too long to go up an elevator to reach K1's room. By the time he made it up the three flights of stairs he was forced to take, he was exhausted and out of breath.

There was already a crowd gathering around the room, mainly concerned doctors trying to keep people from going in. Atsuro scowled at the growing crowd.

"Atsuro… hang on a minute…" Yuzu gasped out from behind him. Atsuro blinked and wheeled around. He sighed.

"Sorry Yuzu… but what's going on? I can't get through…" Atsuro looked a fair bit pissed off, more at the situation than anything else.

"We need to get you to an examination room, Kuzuryu-san…"

"No… that's quite alright…"

The crowd parted, and Atsuro's eyes widened and Yuzu gave a small gasp. Amane was being led out of the room by a doctor. Her entire body was bruised, and there were cuts on her face and hands. Atsuro and Yuzu both ran over to her.

"Amane, what happened?" Atsuro asked. Amane looked toward the doctor.

"Not here," Amane said. She motioned toward another hallway, and Atsuro and Yuzu both looked rather confused, but still headed that direction. Amane spent another moment telling the doctor she would be fine for five minutes so she could talk to her friends, and then followed them down that hallway. She leaned up against the wall, too weak to stay standing on her own.

"Amane, what happened in there…?" Yuzu asked quietly.

"…I'm afraid Kimura-san has finally succumbed to the demonic power within him," Amane said quietly. "I suspected things when I saw what he had done to Tanikawa-san, but I could not have imagined it would be this bad…" She gave a small cough.

"Hey, maybe you should go to that doctor or something… you look like you're in bad shape—"

"I'll… be fine…" Amane said, silencing Atsuro. She closed her eyes for a moment as she tried to catch her breath. "I'd gone in there to try to seal Kimura-san away before anything worse could happen but… he got the better of me…"

She gave a bitter smile. "…I'm afraid he escaped before I could seal him away. I hadn't wanted to seal your friend away, but I'm afraid there had been no choice by the time I got in there…"

"No…" Yuzu breathed.

"…Before he ran, he said something to me. I believe he wanted me to pass on the message," Amane said. Yuzu and Atsuro both looked up.

"Well, spit it out!" Atsuro said. Amane's expression was pained.

"Please, Amane," Yuzu said quietly. "Please tell us.

"'Help me. Please help me.' That's what he told me."