I'm no medical expert, but I do have a close friend that suffers from ageusia who I admire greatly - in spite of his condition, he is always upbeat and does his best to see the good in his situation. Some of the things I write about in this chapter are based on his feelings and actions regarding his tasting inability. At the time of writing this, he has only gotten as far as escaping the third class cabin in 999, but I'd still like to dedicate this chapter to him.
Chapter 12
"I can't believe Papa had been emotionally blackmailing you," Keiko whispers tearfully.
They're both sitting on the bed of Keiko's room in Keiichi's apartment – her decision to move out of their father's house was immediate and not a hard one. She would stay with Keiichi every weekend anyway, so it was a matter of moving the remaining half of her belongings to his apartment.
As of now, Keiichi is looking into selling the mansion to an orphanage or organization that would need the massive space and numerous rooms. Neither he nor Keiko wanted anything to do with it.
He nods slowly, swallowing back the lump that was beginning to form at the back of his throat. "That's why I wasn't able to tell you anything after we beat the Nonary Game. He knew that I couldn't tell you what he did because it would make your condition worse, and the bastard kept rubbing it in my face."
Keiko's eyes fill with tears. "It's my fault . . ." She places her hand on top of her brother's. "It's my fault you've had to suffer though this for 9 years. I wish you had told me."
With difficulty, he manages to console and get Keiko to sleep, but he, himself, is struggling to fall asleep himself.
Rikona seems to be in the same state as well, because she calls him to tell him that her father's actions are resting heavily on her conscience, so she has understood what is the right thing to do now.
He hears Rikona take a deep breath. "I think Shika and I going to join SOIS."
Keiichi turns to look at Keiko's sleeping form and frowns. "Keiko and I are joining, too." Begrudgingly so, on Keiichi's part, at least. Honestly, his head is still reeling at the fact that their father was a part of a death cult. "I really hate to expose her to it, but the guilt is eating Keiko alive, and she insisted this would be the only way to make her feel better . . . plus, SOIS is run by a bunch of psychos and needs all the help it can get to figure out what our dads and Free the Soul were up to." He doesn't add that Akane has been pushing him to join, of course.
Rikona doesn't laugh at his joke and is not amused by his small jab at SOIS. "So, what you're really saying is that you and Keiko need that closure," she states simply, "so that your dad's deeds won't haunt you forever. But even if you joined SOIS by yourself, it wouldn't be fair to your sister if you didn't include her in this."
Keiichi is quiet, not denying anything.
"I knew it." He can detect the hint of pride in her voice.
"Hmph."
A beat of silence passes before he remembers something that he's been meaning to ask Rikona.
"Hey, Rikona?"
"Yeah, Keiichi?"
"Ryota and Shika – you said that they were non-espers at the start of the first game, and that their role in the experiment was to see if they would be able to take on esper abilities."
"Yeah."
"I never asked . . . were they able to? I mean, are they espers now?"
There is a beat of silence before Rikona answers him. "Yes."
.
At SOIS's first meeting, Keiichi sees Light, along with his sister, and nearly everyone else from the First Nonary Game – Rikona and Shika, Fumio and his sister, and Ryota and his cousin, Nona and Ennea, Aya and her brother, and a pair of twins who were in Building Q with Keiko. It is a surreal reunion of sorts, weirder than when he met Aoi, Akane, and Nona in July, and even weirder than when he saw Light and Clover through the CCTV cameras showing their experience in the Second Nonary Game – it's especially surreal because he's actually, properly meeting Light for the first time in years. (The last time he saw him, he and Aoi were placing his unconscious body into a coffin.)
After the meeting, he hesitantly approaches the man in question, who is talking to the other, former participants alongside Clover. He somehow senses Keiichi's presence from a few feet away and turns towards him with a smile. He politely excuses himself from the others before Keiichi walks to him.
"L-Light!" he exclaims in a stammer, after approaching him cautiously. "I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Keiichi."
He tilts his head and smiles. "Of course, I remember you, Keiichi." He reaches out to touch his shoulder, and immediately, Keiichi feels calm.
They discuss the events that have brought them all together, and Keiichi feigns surprise when Light talks about the Second Nonary Game and how he, Clover, and the other participants found Alice on the side of the desert dirt road. After that, Keiichi can't help but wonder how Akane knew Alice would be there . . . unless, she lured her to come there – though, honestly, at this point, what could he do by knowing? It's best not to question it, like everything else when it comes to Akane's schemes.
". . . and, Keiichi, you're Gentarou Hongou's son, aren't you?"
Keiichi lets out a startled gasp, broken out of his thoughts. "Sorry, Light, I got caught up in my thoughts for a sec. What did you – " And then, his previous words hit Keiichi. "Oh, fuck."
Shit, shit, shit. How did he find out? Alice specifically said that the Cradle children's identities were not to be revealed until the next meeting.
But Light's poker face reveals nothing.
"Uh, yes, I am," Keiichi answers back honestly, his voice a breathless whisper.
An indescribable emotion crosses the blind man's face. "I thought as much. I can't say I'm sorry about your father's arrest, but I am sorry that his actions must have hurt you and your sister."
He looks away, his face hard. "I don't have a father, Light. I lost him 9 years ago."
Light blindly regards him for a moment before he nods. ". . . I see."
A few moments of awkward silence pass, and they stand next to each other quietly as they hear Alice speak to some of the members and explain future training opportunities for the younger members and fieldwork for the older members.
"Light," Keiichi suddenly says, his voice strangled, "how did you know about my bracelet? . . . Nine years ago, I mean."
Light cocks his head, an eyebrow raised in surprise. "Oh, that?" he says nonchalantly. "I found a letter in my pocket that was in Braille. In it, it was written that as I am blind, I was given an advantage. It said that the one who wears the Number 9 bracelet is special, and that their bracelet can adapt as any number."
"But why . . . ?" Keiichi trails off, the words on his tongue but unable to escape his lips. It's all so hard to process. What had his father been thinking nine years ago?
Light may not be able to see, but he doesn't appear to be blind to Keiichi's thoughts. "I'm not sure why Hongou would have thought to have done something like this," he answers, arms crossing over his chest. "I am truly sorry to say it like this, Keiichi, but he doesn't seem like the type to give you a handicap that would cheat the game and ruin his chances of tapping into the morphic fields to cure his prosopagnosia. Even with your blood relation."
He simply shakes his head. He isn't offended at all – in fact, it's rather refreshing to have an open conversation about his father and the Nonary Project. With the Kurashikis, it is more of tiptoeing around certain subjects and only talking about why the Cradle head's actions were wrong (and not about what their actions really were).
"You don't need to be sorry," he assures. "I agree – the bastard wouldn't risk it. The only advantage he gave me was the flexibility of being Number 9, and even that was for his selfish purpose to have me – " Keiichi breaks off, stopping himself from speaking any further. Maybe it is best not to tell Light.
"For you to go through the same doors as Akane Kurashiki?" he supplies, smirking in satisfaction.
"W-What?!" Keiichi's breath catches in his throat. "Um . . . " He wants to think of an excuse, but knows there isn't much point in hiding it now. "Was I really that obvious?!"
"No, it didn't occur to me until after the game. I assumed you had fancied her." Oh, gross. Keiichi would never . . . He has to repress a shudder at the thought. "But now that I know whose son you are, it's easier to connect the dots. Regardless, that is probably why your bracelet was adaptable."
Keiichi sighs exasperatedly, looking away from Light. "I still don't understand why the old bastard made it like that, though."
"You were meant to get the Gigantic kids all out of there in the event of something going wrong."
Keiichi's head whips towards the source of the voice. "Fumio!" Keiichi exclaims, more for Light's benefit than out of shock, as the young man hesitantly comes to them.
"'In the event of something going wrong'?" Light echoes, blinking, his head angled towards Fumio as well.
Fumio pushes his round glasses up the bridge of his nose, an unreadable expression darkening his face. "M-My dad was the one who created the bracelets. He was fine with the experiment up until your dad said that we, their children, would be participants. Everyone else agreed to it, but my dad was hesitant and started to worry. He knew that Hongou planned to have you a-and Keiko as Number 9, so he modified your bracelet."
"My bracelet?" Keiichi wonders, his teeth momentarily sinking into his bottom lip in thought. "Why not Keiko's?"
"Because you were a transmitter meant to be planted onto the Gigantic, while Keiko would be a receiver in Building Q," Fumio explains.
"Apologies for the interruption," Light interjects, holding a finger up, "but Akane was a transmitter on the Gigantic, as well."
"Yeah, but she and another girl were accidentally switched. It was Keiichi who was meant to be the only t-transmitter amongst the receivers. That's why his was the only one made adaptable to the digital root. In fact . . ." Fumio's eyes fall to Keiichi's left hand. "His bracelet would be able to open any door, regardless how many o-other number of bracelets were being verified, kinda like a master key."
Keiichi's breath escapes in a loud whoosh, the words piecing together in his mind, as realization hits him like a brick. Shit a brick. The thought immediately pops into his mind, and he curses himself inwardly for being such an idiot.
"You were meant to save us all."
.
He drops the Free the Soul files he swiped from SOIS HQ onto the table with a relieved sigh.
The sound echoes throughout the large, Crash Keys' warehouse, and it startles Aoi, whose attention has been invested into his phone. "Motherfucker!" he exclaims, as he looks up in surprise. "Keiichi!" He scowls.
Keiichi shrugs, before pulling out the empty chair before him and plopping down. "It's not my fault that you don't pay attention to your surroundings." In spite of his occasional distrust of Akane, Keiichi has a good relationship with Aoi. Their friendship is one of the only things that makes his affiliation with Crash Keys bearable (that, and, well, saving the world, that is).
"Hmph." Aoi crosses his arms and looks away haughtily for a moment, before his lips curl into a grin. "Hey, Keiichi, how's the SOIS work going?"
It's Keiichi's turn to scowl now. "Fine," he replies tersely, even though he and Aoi both know that it is going horribly.
It's been a long fucking year with SOIS.
Their next mission, composed by the wonderful Alice, involves them dressing up – Keiko is to be Lady Gaga, somehow Fumio was assigned Captain America, and Keiichi just received his fucking Elvis costume from her today.
"You won't have to worry about Alice for a couple of days," Aoi assures him, and Keiichi is confused by his mysteriously mirthful smile, but doesn't question it.
Instead, he takes a few moments to look around the warehouse warily. "Where's Akane?" he finally asks.
Aoi turns his face away, his eyes hard. "Mars Mission Test Site."
At this point, Keiichi has grown weary and doesn't want to know anything than the need-to-knows, so he doesn't press the matter. "When is she coming back?"
"I . . . I don't know."
"What do you mean by that?" he demands. "How do you not know?" As an older brother himself, he can't fathom how Aoi is currently not going out of his mind right now.
But Aoi proves him wrong by holding up his cellphone, with slightly shaky hands ,and the screen lights up to display a map. "I lost her location about an hour ago, but I'm still refreshing the radar to see if she pops up again."
So, that's why he was so invested in the phone before, Keiichi realizes. Well, if anything, he is doing a good job of maintaining his composure.
"She might not come out of it alive. Apparently, the test site has a bunch of traps in them, and that's where Radical-6 is supposed to be released." His voice is nonchalant, but Keiichi can pick out the underlying sadness in his words.
Keiichi recalls Akane's talks of Radical-6 and how Free the Soul will be the ones responsible for releasing it and killing 6 billion people. Another conversation also comes to mind, though.
"Is it another one of those Schrödinger's Cat things?" Akane has tried to explain the phenomenon to him and Aoi on occasion, but Keiichi has never been able to wrap his head around it.
Aoi sighs in resignation. "Honestly? I am not sure, Keiichi."
.
"Do you want to get dinner together?" Rikona asks him a few days later, as they step out of the SOIS HQ together. Light led the meeting today, as Alice and Clover were not there – and Keiichi has the distinct feeling that is what Aoi was referring to that night in the warehouse. "I'm really missing food from home and found a Japanese restaurant not too far from the strip." There is a glimmer in her eyes and a faint blush on her cheeks.
Keiichi sighs and shakes his head, as the humid, hot, Las Vegas air hits him like an opened oven. "Not tonight." He doesn't feel like chewing through horrible, flavorless food. A homemade protein shake will have to do – shakes are the easiest to swallow down.
Her shoulders drop, discouraged. "You always say no," she says quietly.
Before he can make up an excuse, his phone buzzes. He sees the name 'Aoi' flash on the screen after he fishes it out of his pocket, and quickly bids a farewell to Rikona and politely excuses himself.
"What's up?"
"Akane called. I have to go to her," Aoi pants on the other line.
The cat is alive, Keiichi think wryly, though he can't suppress the relieved sigh that escapes his lips. "Where is she now?"
"She just escaped the site. She's heading to Arizona as we speak."
"Arizona?" he wonders aloud. "Why there?"
"She and Junpei are going to help cure a participant's sister of Reverie Syndrome, and they need me." Junpei? "So, while I'm gone, I need you, Nona, and Ennea to hold the fort down." Nona is back? And, Ennea? Since when is she a part of the Crash Key operations?
He shakes his head, trying to clear his thoughts. What an information overload, man.
" . . . so, Akane and I will come back soon."
"Aoi . . . does this mean what I think it means?" he begins hesitantly. "Humanity isn't going to be destroyed?"
"Fuck yeah. And you know what that means, Keiichi – you can go tell off the ice bitch, now!" Aoi is nearly howling in laughter.
So, he gleefully calls Alice and tells her that he's quitting SOIS, which causes her to screech. It turns out that Ennea quit today as well – and that explains Aoi's previous words.
The first thing he is doing when he gets home is burning that Elvis costume.
Farewell, SOIS – or should he say, State Of InsanitieS?
.
- December 30th, 2028; 3:54AM -
In a dingy, secluded cell, a middle-aged man, a prisoner, is on his knees. On the outside of the cell, another man, taller but much older in age, simply stands with his arms folded over his chest.
"Please, please, tell me!" the prisoner begs, his hand folded as he bows his head down to the old man in reverence. "Please, holy master, Brother . . . what can I do to restore my ability to distinguish between faces?" His reverence towards Brother is ironic, considering that he has never given a damn about Free the Soul or Brother before – he had only joined the group because Musashidou had been part of the cult and they readily funded the Nonary Project on his behalf.
"Dearest Gentarou," the man named Delta – or Brother, as Gentarou Hongou addresses him – croons, holding out a hand through the iron bars, which Gentarou eagerly grasps. "You were headed in the right direction, but the approach was wrong. The Nonary Project was designed to test the phenomenon of tapping into the morphogenetic field to transmit and receive information, yes?"
"Yes, it was!" Gentarou nods eagerly, a wild desperation dancing in his eyes. "You told me that for a non-esper to be able to successfully tap into the morphogenetic field, there are two conditions that must be met: first, one must be subjected to a life-threatening situation, and second, must be surrounded by espers so that morphogenetic resonance will allow the non-esper to transmit to or receive from the field."
"And so, you had hoped that being surrounded by those receivers on the Gigantic would allow you to receive information from the morphic fieldset – that information, you'd hoped, would be imageries of distinguished faces. Once you received that information, you would be able to recognize faces once more and your prosopagnosia would be cured . . . but you hoped wrong." His voice is taunting, and it causes Gentarou to immediately retract his hand from Delta's.
"Grr . . ." Gentarou's hands slap against the iron bars as he growls at Delta. "You old bastard! You fucking misled me! I wasted so much time on your damn cult, just so that I could get funding for the Nonary Project and find a way to rid myself of my disease, and this is what I receive in return?!" he spits.
A smirk plays across Delta's withered lips, and his red sunglasses reflect in the light as he tilts his head. "Now, now. I did no such thing. I merely raised a possibility for you to investigate. It is only your own fault that you failed to correctly grasp the mechanics of the morphogenetic field."
"And what is that supposed to mean?!" he snarls back.
"You foolishly presumed that a transmitter sending information to a receiver would be enough for you to catch a glimpse of faces. You did not research enough and failed to find the phenomenon of SHIFTing in your research."
Gentarou pauses, pushing himself up from the floor. "SHIFTing?"
"An esper SHIFTing to another timeline would do the trick, of course. So, had you simply SHIFTed instead of holding the Nonary Game, it would have been enough."
Gentarou doesn't know what he means by that, but his curiosity is piqued. "Please, elaborate," he replies calmly, straightening his back and composing himself.
"A woman with an inability to feel emotions . . . a boy born with an inability to properly taste . . . a man blind to different types of faces. The psychopath caught the first glimpses and felt bits of emotion as she SHIFTed. The boy suffering from the disorder called ageusia would be able to detect the different flavors and umami of food after SHIFTing. A man with prosopagnosia would easily be able to catch sight of faces and recognize them from SHIFTing, then." Delta tilts his head slightly. "Your son – and your daughter, for that matter – are espers, yes? I'm sure you are one, too."
The prisoner swallows, but not before the brief glint of madness returns in his eyes.
"Brother . . . tell me how I can SHIFT."
.
When Keiichi learns about his father's death, he sits Keiko down that night to inform her the news.
She immediately cries, the well-constructed dam in her heart bursting, overflowing with grief. He, too, allows himself to shed a tear, feeling a dam – which has been up since the First Nonary Game – rupture in his own heart as well.
After he composes himself, he walks down to his messy kitchen, where Keiko had helped him experiment with protein shakes – this time they decided on including chopped almonds, and Keiichi found the addition to be enjoyable. He has learned over the years that he has relied on texture over taste and finds that adding different types of nuts add to the enjoyment of drinking shakes and eating food.
After he cleans the dishes and wipes down the quartz countertops, he pulls out his cellphone from his pocket.
"Hey. I called to let you know that I quit SOIS . . . no, as of now, Keiko is staying. I just can't stand Alice." He pauses, listening to the voice on the other line, before his face suddenly scrunches into laughter. "Shut up!" he cries playfully. "I already fucking burned up that Elvis costume to a crisp! Thank God. I really dodged a bullet with that one . . . "
"Um, do you want to go and get a drink in an hour?" Alcohol may be tasteless to him, but he loves the way it burns down his throat and how it loosens him up. He shakes his head at voice. "No. It is probably delicious, but I'll still pass on that Japanese restaurant . . ." It's frustrating to be able to smell and eat a delicious meal, but to never be able to taste how delicious it is. "But I do have a reason and I'll tell you about it some time."
His ageusia was a secret only known to three people – himself, his mother, and his sister. His mother is dead, so now it's only him and Keiko. He was born with the inability to taste, but was not properly diagnosed until right before the Nonary Project. It was something he intended on telling his father, but after he discovered Gentarou's true nature, he refused to tell him and asked Keiko to keep it from as well.
But, maybe it is time that he becomes more open about his inability and fully accepts it.
.
There is a domain in which Keiko learns of Crash Keys, her brother's involvement in the Second Nonary Game and her father's arrest, and of the religious fanatic – in this domain, she works alongside her brother, their girlfriends, Aya and Rikona, and the rest of Crash Keys (old and new members), to track the fanatic down and save the world.
But in another timeline, things unfold quite differently.
.
- - April 12th, 2029 - -
"The espers in Decision Game were immunized against the virus by having Axelavir injected into the bloodstream, with the exception of Phi – I have, however, prepared an altered strain of the virus for you and Sigma to use during the AB Game, which will work on all of the participants, as well as some vials of Axelavir," Delta informs, his mellow, but strong voice reverberating throughout the warehouse.
"Thank you, but, why . . . why did you make it so that the infected kill themselves while suffering from the virus?" a woman with a high-pitched voice asks in turn.
"Are you familiar with Reverie Syndrome, Akane Kurashiki?"
The woman in the black robes sits across the table with her hands folded and lips pursed. "Carlos's sister, Maria, had Reverie Syndrome . . . though, she passed away only a month ago." Her skull pricks at the thought of another person she knows who is in a coma because of the illness.
"You have another friend who suffers from Reverie Syndrome as well," Delta states impassively, undoubtedly hacking her mind to read her thoughts.
The invasion of privacy is ironically disturbing. Akane swallows back the bile rising in her throat.
As uncomfortable as Delta makes Akane, she had no choice but to come here today – he promised her a few months back that he would share with her "the secrets of the world" and the "true god" Free the Soul believes in. Though, that "god" is simply Sigma's ability to make the AB game and jump back to 2028, so that he and Akane can make sure that they can win the Decision Game, the first secret Delta imparts to her is a strange one: if they meet again, he will be dead by then, and a different Delta will stand before her. A less jaded, more confused Delta, who has transported from the past, to maintain the immortal image of Brother. But that Delta will still assist her and Sigma from afar and send out the defunct Myrmidon D-10 out to Rhimzone-9 on January 25th, 2074.
The other secrets, they have been discussing in detail.
"Reverie Syndrome results from an esper subconsciously accessing the morphogenetic field," he explains, furthering on one of those secrets, "causing the esper to be stuck in a daydream mode. It makes the person appear to be in a coma, but really, they're drifting in and out of consciousness, stuck between stuck in a constant SHIFT mode . . . More and more cases of it have been appearing as of 2028. More and more espers are subconsciously accessing the morphogenetic field – do you know why?"
"No." She gets a distinctive feeling that the answer won't be pleasant.
Delta pushes up his sunglasses to reveal purple, wrinkly eyes, full of intent. "They sense the upcoming destruction."
Akane lets out a shaky breath at his ominous words. "So, those innate espers who are subconsciously pulling information from the morphogenetic field . . . it's about the upcoming destruction of humanity?"
He nods. "Yes. The Radical-6 pandemic, the Antimatter Plant Explosions, and the religious fanatic's plan to destroy humanity, among other things," he states, though his voice is grave.
"How is that similar to Radical-6?" There is an unmasked bitterness in her voice.
In spite of his ability to read her thoughts, his eyes hold no regret or shame. "I've created Radical-6 to contrast Reverie Syndrome. It embeds the desire in an individual for his or her soul to escape – but, in actuality, it is the consciousness that needs to escape, or rather, SHIFT to another timeline. In essence, the illness causes an individual to subconsciously try to unlock their abilities as an esper and SHIFT."
"And SHIFTing requires the need for a life-threatening situation," Akane completes slowly, her voice unable to hide back her shock. Her eyes widen in realization as she stares at the old man in front of her.
"That's right. Killing themselves would be the best way to unlock a subconscious – or conscious, if the esper is self-aware – desire to SHIFT. And, if they can successfully SHIFT, then, they have a chance of escaping to the alpha timeline where I am not compelled to release Radical-6 and the world is saved from the fanatic," he concludes, confirming her thoughts.
Then he crosses his hands over his chest. "I'm not as cruel as you make me out to be, Akane Kurashiki – my motives are simply . . . complex."
.
With her mouth slightly hanging open and her eyes blank, the teenage watches her comatose, bed-ridden brother's chest rise and fall in a quick rhythm. Keiichi's condition must be worsening . . . or maybe, it's her own condition that is worsening – Akane warned her not to go near Aya, but she didn't listen.
But in the 3 months that Keiichi has been in the coma caused by his Reverie Syndrome, she's never seen his breathing quicken like this.
Reverie Syndrome . . . and Radical-6 – these two illnesses have plagued Keiko's life and the two most important people in her life within the past four months.
She vowed to save the world alongside Akane, Aoi, and Keiichi, but Aoi succumbed to Radical-6 a few months ago, around the same time that Keiichi fell into his coma, and Keiko swears she hasn't seen Akane smile since then. They've fallen apart, and though Akane often says that this is the history that God abandoned, she says that there is still someone they must wait for to turn things around. But Keiko doesn't have it within her to wait around anymore. Her patience is wearing thin and she's losing everyone she loves.
In a sudden movement, she springs to her feet. She has been sitting in a chair near Keiichi's bed, watching him for the past few hours, so her action is too fast for her mind to properly process though, (confirming her fears that Keiichi's breathing is actually slow and steady, and it is her who is perceiving things incorrectly) and a sudden dizzy spell hits her - and, ugh, her head hurts.
She sways in her footing, but regains balance. She begins walking again, this time with slower steps - much, much slower than a normal person would consider "slow." But, what else can she do? The world has been moving too quickly for her brain to register, and, really, she only has herself to blame for that.
She knows there is no hope for her and has to die in this domain, but maybe . . .
Maybe, what she is looking for is not here . . . maybe, she might have to go somewhere else to find a way to save her brother and bring back her lover.
There is a newfound purpose in her sluggish, but entranced stride to the dresser of the small bedroom.
There is a shiny, gold gun in the drawer, kept by Aoi, as a protective measure. She stares at it curiously, entranced by its pretty design of vines wrapped around the barrel. The weight of the gun feels cold and smooth in her hands.
She was under strict orders not to risk getting infected, but she went to visit Aya where they kept her quarantined, anyway – how could she be expected to refrain from spending the last moments she had with her?
Desire pulls at her – but is it a desire to take matters into her own hands, or is it simply a desire to die? She does not know herself.
Hell, she still doesn't know how Aya got her hands on a Tubocurarine injection, but, in her mind, she can still hear her cries, begging Keiko to kill her. When a hysterical Keiko refused and tried to pry the injection out of her fingers, she injected herself with the deadly muscle relaxant and died right before Keiko's eyes.
Keiko doesn't know about saving the world anymore, but she will save her brother, and she will bring back her girlfriend.
What was Akane saying that their father did? SHIFT to another timeline? Is that what it was? Where did he go then?
I don't care what it will take, she thinks to herself as she lifts up the gun, determined, but equally beguiled by the power this handheld weapon has.
I will save them.
As she pulls the trigger, the last of her thoughts ring through her mind as a promise to Keiichi and Aya.
. . . even if it kills me . . .
Fin.
I can't believe that we've finally reached the end of this story! It's impossible to think that the small idea that sparked in my head from seeing an official art of the other five kids of the Nonary Project has exploded and come so far.
This little story of mine was simply a look into the life of a character I've imagined. I've done my best to tie some loose ends, and introduce some others, but there are some things that I have purposefully left vague, to fit into the atmosphere that the Zero Escape series has created. Whatever the case may be, though, I hope you've enjoyed reading this story as much as I have writing it - thank you for loving and accepting my character, my baby, Keiichi.
I had so much fun in weaving canon into this story, especially the Easter Eggs I threw in with SOIS (I nearly forgot the Elvis costume was part of one of SOIS's plans), Delta, Radical-6 and Reverie Syndrome, the little hidden things about the two Nonary Games, and a bunch of others. Not to mention, I also shamelessly put in an Easter Egg from my other ZE story "Memores Acti Prudentes Futuri," with Delta transporting from the past. I didn't really sprinkle too many hints about Keiichi's ageusia throughout the story, though, (save for a moment in the start of the story and in the ending that you've just read) in fear of making it too obvious – if it wasn't hinted at enough, though, I apologize.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all so much for reading, leaving kudos, commenting, and for giving this story a chance – especially since it's a story surrounding an original character. The fact that you all took time out of your days to read this made each of my update days so special.
Again, thank you so much – your love and support always means the world to me!