Journey Of The Hearts: An LGBTQ Story

There is a heavy downpour of rain falling over a huge city landscape with occasional claps of thunder. In a building owned by a software company, a young man named Kjiro is sitting at his computer screen with a look of tiredness, boredom and sadness on his face typing on his keyboard. He reaches for the mouse beside the keyboard once he finishes typing “OK, here goes.” Kjiro says to himself before hitting the left click button on his mouse causing a program on his computer to run a series of code. After a few seconds, the program stops and the word error appears in all capitals in a text box. Kjiro moans in response and rests his head on the surface of his computer desk “Why can’t I get this?” he says to himself in a sad tone.

Kjiro looks back up at his computer screen with his hand on his mouse. He begins moving the mouse and the cursor on the computer screen moves towards an icon on top of the program window. He clicks on it and it minimizes revealing a dating website on the internet showing various profiles of men looking for other men to date. Kjiro scans through it for a while and then a female voice says “Wow…he’s sounds interesting.” Kjiro is startled by this and quickly closes the internet window on his computer screen before he realizes that the woman who spoke was actually his close friend and work colleague Yui who laughs in response “Don’t worry your secrets safe with me.” Yui says, Kjiro grunts in response. Yui then notices the error message on Kjiro’s computer screen from the coding program “Kjiro? You still haven’t finished the code yet; you do know there is a deadline don’t you?” Yui says “I know, Yui it’s just…ah forget it.” Kjiro replies.

“You’re not still thinking about what you told me are you…Kjiro it’s OK y’know I’m sure there are a lot of men in the city who feel the same way you do.” Yui says, Kjiro sighs and then Yui continues “Y’know have you ever thought about seeing a therapist or something? I mean you haven’t been your usual self these past few months and you never usually fail when it comes to coding.” There is a slight pause for a moment and then Kjiro slowly reaches for his mouse and sits back down at his computer desk taking a breath as he does so “I guess I’ll think about.” Kjiro says as he resumes working on the code on his computer, Yui then places her hand on Kjiro’s shoulder and he looks up at her as he stops typing “Take care of yourself OK” Yui says, there is a slight pause again and then Kjiro smiles at Yui who the smiles back before leaving Kjiro’s workspace to allow him to continue his work. As Kjiro starts typing again he begins thinking to himself 'Maybe she’s right…maybe I should…talk to someone about this…but I’m so afraid right now…I don’t even think I COULD talk to anyone else about what it is I’m going through I mean how do you even explain to someone that you have no idea what turns you on anymore.'

A couple of hours later, Kjiro has finished work and is making his way home through the heavy downpour with his suitcase in one hand and an umbrella held up over his head in another. He comes to a bus stop and sits down on the bench nearby to wait patiently for his bus to arrive.

In the corner of his eye, Kjiro sees a man sitting next to him drinking a can of beer. Kjiro observes him for a moment until the man notices him and stops drinking removing the can away from his lips, he then gives Kjiro a mean look which Kjiro responds to by laughing nervous and looking away almost instantly. Kjiro facepalms himself, feeling embarrassed about his actions, suddenly a beam of light hits his face and he looks up to see his bus coming towards him from a distance. The bus arrives at the stop where Kjiro is standing and its door open allowing him to board it. The bus shuts its door after Kjiro is on board and begins to move again to continue its journey through the city.

After travelling from work on the bus, Kjiro reaches the front door of his apartment. He seems really tired and exhausted at this point. He puts his stuff down and unlocks the door using the key from his back pocket and enters his apartment closing the door behind him. He turns on the light and then he hears the phone ring located on the counter nearby, he takes off his tie and unbuttons the top button of his shirt then answers the phone “Hello” he says in a low tone of voice and then a female voice replies “Kjiro, you're home, how’s my little sweetheart?”, “Oh, hey mom.” Kjiro replies “I’ve been trying to reach you all day but you must have been really busy I hope I didn’t disturb you while you were working.” Kjiro’s mother says “No, not at all” K’jiro replies “I’m just happy to hear your voice it’s been so long since your father and I have seen you.” Kjiro’s mother says, then a man’s voice can be heard in the background “Is that K’jiro on the phone.” The male voice says “Yeah hang on, Kjiro? Your father’s here he wants to talk to you.” Kjiro’s mother says as she hands the phone over to her husband “Hey there kiddo, how you doing?” Kjiro father says “Hey dad…” Kjiro replies before his father interrupts him. “So, I heard you got that job at that software company.” Kjiro’s father says “Yeah, I’ve been working there a few months now it’s uh going great.” Kjiro replies “I’m proud of you son, listen your mother and I were thinking of coming over to visit you…” Kjiro’s father says before Kjiro interrupts him “Uh, dad I don’t think that such a good idea right now.” Kjiro says “What do you mean, K’jiro you’re not hiding anything from us are you?” Kjiro’s father replies “No, it’s nothing like that.” Kjiro says “Then what’s the problem.” Kjiro’s father replies “Nothing, I’m just really busy work that’s all I hardly have time to myself let alone time to plan for people to visit.” Kjiro says “OK, but just make sure you let your mother and I know when we can come and visit you hear?” Kjiro’s father says “Sure dad.” Kjiro replies.

After a long phone conversation with his parents, Kjiro ends up in the shower looking down at his feet with his hand pressed against the wall in front of him as the water from the shower nozzle soaks his body. After a few minutes, Kjiro turns the shower off and hops out, wrapping a towel around his waist then enters his bedroom drying his hair off with another towel before throwing it across the room into a washing basket full of clothes, changing into his pyjamas and climbing into bed.

He lies there for a moment staring up at the fan spinning around above him, his eyes slowly begin to shut as he drifts off to sleep. Suddenly, another man appears on top of Kjiro and tries to kiss him. Kjiro quickly sits up in his bed after letting out a loud scream and begins to breathe heavily until he realises that the man was only a figment of his imagination. Kjiro places his hand on his forehead and sighs, he then says to himself “What is wrong with me, why is this happening to me?” he climbs out of his bed and shoves on a pair of pants as if he is getting ready go out somewhere.

A few moments later, Kjiro enters a bar all dressed up and heads towards the bartender to order a drink taking a seat next to another man as he does so “What’ll it be?” The bartender asks Kjiro “Just a beer, please?” Kjiro replies as he hands some money over to the bartender who takes it from him and pumping some beer into a glass placing it on the counter in front of Kjiro when it is full “Thanks” Kjiro says to the bartender before he leaves him.

Kjiro takes a sip of his beer from the glass placing it back down on the counter when he has had enough. He then notices the man sitting next to him and looks over at him, the man notices Kjiro looking at him “You OK there buddy?” the man says “Uh yeah sorry I…uh didn’t mean to…I mean I was just…” Kjiro replies nervously “Relax buddy it’s ok I’m not looking for a fight.” The man says as he pats Kjiro on his shoulder which Kjiro responds to by letting out a nervous laugh. “So what’s your story, are you new around here or what you look like you’re from out of town.” The man says to Kjiro “I just moved here a few months ago actually from my home in Tokyo, I’m now a full-time programmer for a software company.” Kjiro replies “Wow” the man says in a surprised tone of voice “Man, you Japanese folks really know what you’re doing when it comes to technology and computers huh?”, “Uh, don’t you think that’s a little stereotypical?” Kjiro replies “Oh sorry I didn’t mean to offend you…” The man says, Kjiro interrupts “Oh no it’s fine really.” There is a pause for a moment as K’jiro drinks from his glass again putting it back down in front of him after he finishes, Kjiro continues “So, what do you for a living?” he asks the man “Me, ha well I don’t work with computers that’s for sure…I’m more of a get your hands all dirty kind of guy” The man replies “What do you mean?” Kjiro asks “I work with cars in a garage all day, I’ve also done couple races in my time too.” The man replies. “Wow, that sounds awesome…you must be the kind of guy that likes to take a lot of risks huh?” Kjiro says “Why not” The man replies “You only ever get one shot at life and if you don’t make the most of it now and then you might as well be sleeping in a casket.” Kjiro is deep in thought after hearing what the man had said to him reflecting on his own life and whether he is happy or not.

Suddenly, the bar door busts open as if someone gave it a kick the sound draws the attention of everyone else in the ba,r including Kjiro who looks over along with everyone else to see a guy named K’Oni with bleach white hair wearing a black jacket and jeans standing at the doorway. K’Oni enters the bar and walks up to the counter where Kjiro is sitting and orders a drink, seeing Kjiro looking up at him he turns to him gives him a wink.

The bartender comes along and gives K’Oni a drink in a glass as if he knew exactly what K’Oni was going to order. K’Oni takes the glass after handing the bartender some money and heads toward the pool table to play a game. Kjiro turns to the man next to him “Uh, who is that guy?” Kjiro asks “Oh him” The man replies “he’s a regular here doesn’t really bother with anyone when he comes though, just buys himself a drink beats a couple of guys at a game of pool and heads on home.”

Kjiro looks over at K’Oni who is about to shoot a pool ball on the table with the cue in his hand. K’Oni takes the shot and the ball goes into one of the pockets on the table, he then takes the cue and rubs the top of it with the blue chalk next to him “Hey, if you’re so interested the guy maybe you should challenge him to a game.” The man says to Kjiro grabbing his attention “What?” Kjiro replies “Oh no I was just…” The man interrupts “Oh c’mon, you’re not afraid of losing, are you?”, "It’s not like that really…” Kjiro replies “Then go over and challenge him to a game” The man says “Here” The man hand some money over to Kjiro “Take this” he says “Make the game a little more interesting if you know what I mean.” Kjiro thinks for a moment and then hand the money back over “No thanks” Kjiro replies “besides I’m not that kind of guy.” He says as he finished the last bit of his drink and makes his way to the bar entrance to leave the bar.

However, as Kjiro approaches the door to leave he stops for a moment and looks back at K’Oni who is still playing pool and winning. Upon seeing this, Kjiro slowly makes his way over to the pool table where K’Oni is. Over at the pool table, a guy who is playing the game with K’Oni takes a shot and hits some of the balls on the table causing them to ricochet of off each other but none of the balls he wants go into any of the pockets and he grunts under his breath. Kjiro appears next to K’Oni as he drinks from his glass, placing it back down onto the pool table when he is finished, K’Oni then holds the cue out in front of Kjiro as if he knew he’d be there at that very moment “I’ll let you take this shot” K’Oni says to Kjiro who is a little confused at this moment “you DO know how to play don’t you?”.

Kjiro nervously reaches for the cue K’Oni is holding out in front of him and takes hold of it allowing K’Oni to release his grip on it. Kjiro positions himself at the side of the pool table and aims the cue at the ball in front of him his hand begins to shake preventing him from having a steady aim “Relax” K’Oni whispers into Kjiro’s ear as he stands behind him and places his hands over Kjiro’s to help him keep the cue steady “Just keep your eyes on the ball, then shoot.” K’Oni moves Kjiro’s arms slightly causing him to hit the ball in front of him with cue which moves across the pool table and into the nearby pocket allowing Kjiro to win the game for K’Oni. The man whom K’Oni was playing against grunts in frustration, K’Oni releases his grip on Kjiro and walks over to the guy he was playing against who hands some money over to him “Here, take your money.” The man says before storming off.

Kjiro walks up behind K’Oni “Uh…thanks for the help back there.” K’jiro says causing K’Oni to notice him “Huh?” K’Oni replies after noticing Kjiro standing behind him. K’Oni gazes into K’jiro’s eyes making Kjiro feel a little uncomfortable and confused “Uh, are you…feeling OK buddy?” Kjiro says “You’re not from around here are you?” K’Oni replies “What, wait how did you…” Kjiro says before K’Oni interrupts ”Your eyes…you come a from Japanese heritage, right?” K’Oni replies, there is a slight pause and then K’Oni offers his hand to Kjiro “It’s nice to meet you, the names K’Oni what’s yours?” K’Oni asks “Kjiro” Kjiro replies as he shakes K’Oni’s hand before they both release their grip on each other.

“So, are you new around here or what?” K’Oni asks “I just moved here a few months ago actually, I’m a programmer for a software company…How about yourself have you been around here long?” Kjiro replies “I just got here yesterday…I’m not really the one to stay in one place for too long y’know.” K’Oni says. There is yet another pause as K’Oni drinks from his glass again then Kjiro asks “So, where are you from exactly?” K’Oni puts his glass back down on the pool table “It’s a long story besides I don’t think you would understand.” K’Oni replies “Understand what?” Kjiro asks “Forget about it OK…I didn’t come here to get all touchy feely with another guy so let’s just have a few drinks and talk about things that real men talk about OK?” K’Oni replies “Uh Ok…” Kjiro says nervously.

The night goes on, K’Oni and Kjiro begin to bond a bit more over a few more drinks. Kjiro tries to get up to leave but as he does he staggers a little and K’Oni quickly gets up from his seat and catches Kjiro in his arms before he hits the floor. Kjiro giggles and then falls asleep in K’Oni’s arms “I need to call you a cab.” K’Oni says to himself.

In Kjiro’s apartment the next morning, Kjiro wakes up to find himself in his bed. He slowly turns in his bed and he sees a blurred figure lying there next to him, he rubs his eyes to clear his vision and the blurred figure turns out to be K’Oni lying next to him looking directly at him “Morning sleepy head.” K’Oni says, Kjiro jumps out of his bed in shock letting out a scream “W-What the…what the hell are you doing in my bed?” Kjiro says “Calm down, I can explain…” K’Oni replies before Kjiro interrupts “You got that right” Kjiro says “how did you get into my apartment anyway…wait a minute if you were sleeping next to me does that me we…oh my God no, no, no, no this can’t be happening…” K’Oni giggles “Huh…hey why are you laughing this isn’t funny.” Kjiro says “I’m sorry…it’s just you’re so funny when you get all worked up like that…I think it’s kind of cute.” K’Oni replies. Kjiro grunts and then says “You’re not helping here, y’know.”

Kjiro then continues to rant to himself about the situation contemplating how he will hide it from his work colleagues. As this happens, K’Oni slowly climbs out of Kjiro’s bed and walks up in front of Kjiro who stops mid rant as he notices K’Oni standing directly in front of him. K’Oni quickly grabs Kjiro by the top of his shoulders and pulls him toward his body wrapping his arms around him, he then locks lips with Kjiro who then begins to move about as if he feels uncomfortable. Eventually, Kjiro manages to get K’Oni off him sending him flying across the room and onto the bed K’jiro begins breathing heavily “Cute and strong…I like it.” K’Oni says. Kjiro looks at him in disgust “Get out…NOW!!” Kjiro replies in anger, K’Oni gets himself up off the bed and begins to dress himself and leaves the room once he is fully dressed.

As he exits Kjiro’s apartment, K’Oni begins to hear a loud screeching sound in his ears causing him to fall to his knees covering his ears with hands and cry out in pain. “No…it can’t be…how could they find me?” K’Oni says to himself before picking himself up from the floor and dashing off out of Kjiro’s apartment block with his ears still covered.

Back in Kjiro's room, Kjiro is sat on his bed feeling a little shaken up by what K’Oni did to him. He notices the digital clock on his night stand and jumps up quickly when he notices the time. He quickly gets dressed into his work uniform, falling over a few times as he does so and quickly leaves the apartment in a rush to get to his workplace.

Moments later, Kjiro reaches his workplace. He comes rushing out of an elevator hoping to get his workstation before his boss notices he is late. But as he runs down the hallway, an arm reaches out and grabs him by the top of his shirt pulling him in. Kjiro finds himself face to face with his boss who looks down at his watch and then back up at Kjiro “You’re late.” Kjiro’s boss says “I’m sorry sir” Kjiro says “please don’t fire me I promise I’ll make it on time from now on please I need this job I have bills to pay, rent, food and all that stuff you understand, right?” there is a pause and then Kjiro’s boss releases his grip on Kjiro “OK, I’ll let you off this time.” Kjiro’s boss says “Oh…thank you sir…” Kjiro replies before his boss interrupts “But you’re working overtime today no excuses.”, “Wait…Sir but.” Kjiro replies before his boss interrupts him again “Do I make myself clear?”, “Yes sir” Kjiro says before his boss walks away.

Yui spots Kjiro dusting himself off and walks over to him. “Are you Ok?” she asks Kjiro “I’m fine…just one of those days that’s all” Kjiro replies, he then sighs and then continues “You would not believe the morning I’ve had.” The conversation continues as Kjiro and Yui walk down the hallway together heading towards their workstations.

Meanwhile at a downtown train station, a lady dressed in white holding up an umbrella which is covering her face is sitting on a bench waiting for the next train to arrive as people rush past her from different directions. A red crystal she is wearing around her neck begins to glow and she covers it with her hand and laughs quietly to herself. The train arrives and stops right in front of her, the doors to the train slide open and the lady in white boards the train with some other people still holding up her umbrella and takes a seat next to a woman who is reading newspaper and holding a cup of coffee in one hand which the lady in white knocks slightly with her umbrella as she sits down “Hey, watch it with that umbrella will ya, you almost made me spill my coffee.” The woman says the lady in white before the doors on the train close and the train starts to move again.

Back at Kjiro’s workplace, Yui and Kjiro are sitting in a room alone together taking a quick break and talking about the events that happened between Kjiro and K’Oni in his apartment “So then what happened?” Yui says to Kjiro “Well…I panicked when he kissed me on the lips out of nowhere, then I pushed him off and told him to leave.” Kjiro replies “Hmm…sounds like this guy's really into you, K’jiro.” Yui says “Yeah, well I’m not into him besides he has a really funny way of showing it I mean who comes onto another man they just met.” Kjiro replies “A man who’s madly in love with you and thinks you’re hot.” Yui says, there is a slight pause as Kjiro facial expression changes as if he is getting a little emotional talking about the event then Yui continues “Oh…I’m sorry I thought…” Kjiro interrupts “No, it’s ok I think I just need a little time to myself y’know…he just…really caught me off guard and…I don’t know how to feel about it.”, "Fair enough” Yui replies as she is about to leave the room but as she does she turns back to Kjiro and says “Kjiro…just know that there’s nothing wrong with…y’know…falling in love with another…” Kjiro interrupts her “Don’t say it…just don’t OK.” He says, Yui leaves upon hearing what Kjiro said to her then there is a moment of silence until Kjiro starts to cry quietly by himself.

Back on the train, the lady in white is looking down at her red crystal as it continues to glow. She laughs to herself quietly and then says “I’m getting close soon I’ll find the traitor and send him straight back down to the underworld with me. Then again I could always kill him, after all, I haven’t had a good kill in a very long time.” She laughs to herself out loud breaking the concentration of the woman sat next to her who gets annoyed and says “Do you mind some of us are trying to read here over here… and what’s with the umbrella anyway don’t you know that umbrellas are to be used outdoors.” The train comes to a stop and as she is about to leave the train the lady in white dips her finger into the woman’s coffee cup turning it into a black substance. The lady in white exits the train with some other passengers, the doors on the train shut and it begins moving again.

The woman decides to take a sip of her coffee and she does so oblivious to the fact that it is no longer coffee anymore, after finishing the whole cup she disposes of it and continues reading her newspaper. After a minute or so the woman begins to feel nauseous and then she feels a stabbing pain in her stomach and then soon after that she starts to hyperventilate and cry out in pain. The other passengers begin to notice her wondering what is wrong. Then out of nowhere, the woman starts vomiting black sludge from her mouth and the passengers scream and start to panic. The black sludge continues to come out of the woman’s mouth until she finally collapses into it and dies, leaving everyone on the train shocked and horrified at what they have just witnessed.

Back at his workplace, Kjiro is hard at work as he sits in front of his computer and typing really fast, occasionally reaching over to his computer mouse and clicking the left button on it with his finger. At the same time, thoughts begin to race through his mind relating to the incident that happened between himself and K’Oni in his apartment. Then suddenly an image of K’Oni’s face appears on Kjiro’s computer screen causing Kjiro to quickly get up from his computer and grab a small object off of his desk to throw at the screen. He stops himself when he realises that it was another figment of his imagination and then sits back down at his desk after taking a deep breath to rest his head on the surface.

Later on in the evening, K’Oni is running in the rain with his ears covered still as he can still hear the loud screeching sound faintly in his ears which is causing him pain. He begins to slow down as he appears to get more tired and weak and rests his body on a bench nearby assuming a fetal position. “I…can’t stop now…must keep on…moving.” K’Oni says as he slowly begins to lose consciousness.

As this happens, Kjiro just happens to be walking home from work with his umbrella up above his head to protect him from the rain. He walks past the bench where K’Oni is resting but doesn’t notice him, then K’Oni makes a moaning sound which grabs Kjiro's attention, causing him to stop and look back for a moment to see K’Oni lying on the bench. Kjiro runs off in fear upon seeing K’Oni leaving him all alone, in pain and struggling to help himself.

Kjiro reaches his home much later, he thinks to himself for a moment after shutting the door to his apartment and the begins to undress himself out of his work uniform turning on the TV as he does so. A news report appears on the TV Screen about the woman on the train who died after vomiting black sludge from her mouth, Kjiro is puzzled by the news report and the images shown of the woman’s corpse, as he has never seen anything like it before.

Suddenly, there is a loud bang at Kjiro's door which Kjiro is started by. He makes his way to the door and slowly reaches for the handle as he fears it could be K’Oni wanting his help. Kjiro then swiftly opens the door to find a friend of his named Casey who often comes to hang out with him standing there “Hey there, bro.” Casey says “Casey, will you not knock so hard like that next time? You had me scared for a moment there.” Kjiro replies “Sorry bro, I just thought you might have been asleep or something.” Casey says “Listen, Casey now’s not a really good time could you maybe come back some other time?” Kjiro replies “Sure thing bro, but y’know if you want to talk then…” Casey replies before Kjiro interrupts him “I’ll call you, OK” Kjiro says before slamming the door in Casey’s face leaving him puzzled, he then begins to walk away “What is with that guy?” Casey says to himself as he leaves.

Kjiro, on the other hand, feels slightly guilty for pushing Casey away so abruptly but also can’t seem to stop thinking about K’Oni and the fact that he left him out in the rain all by himself in pain and so he grabs a jacket from his wardrobe before leaving his apartment to help K’Oni.

Back outside in the rain, K’Oni is still struggling as he moves about on the bench crying out in pain. Suddenly he hears a female voice say “There you are.” He then looks up and as his blurred vision clears, K’Oni sees the lady in white from the train station looking down at him. The lady in white moves the umbrella she is holding away from her face to reveal herself to K’Oni “I’ve been looking all over for you.” She says before laughing to herself “D-Dahlia.” K’Oni says “Did you really think it would be that easy to escape from the underworld, you may have managed to suppress half of your demonic heritage but that doesn’t mean you can escape the demonic radar.” Dahlia says “I will be…once I…find true love.” K’Oni replies “What, Love?” Dahlia says “now where did you get that from…you’ve been around humans too long haven’t you…no matter once I drag you back to the underworld kicking and screaming that’ll all be knocked right out of you…” suddenly Kjiro shouts from a distance “K’Oni!” Dahlia looks up and around wondering where the voice came from “Huh” she says as she notices Kjiro from a distance heading her way. Once he reaches the scene, Kjiro comforts K’Oni “Are you OK?” Kjiro says “Kjiro…what are you doing here…get out of here before you get hurt” K’Oni replies “You heard him…” Dahlia says to Kjiro who looks up at her in response “Get out of here human if you know what’s good for you.”, “And who might you be?” Kjiro replies as he stands up “My name is Dahlia and I’m a demon from the underworld and also not someone you’d want to stand your ground against believe me.” Dahlia says “I am not afraid of you just because you’re a demon.” Kjiro replies “K’jiro please…don’t.” K’Oni says to Kjiro. Dahlia laughs hysterically “Well then” she says “looks like I’ll just have to teach you al lesson.” She reaches for the red crystal around her neck that begins to glow “I don’t think so” K’Oni says, Dahlia stop for a moment as K’Oni slowly gets himself up off the bench and stands in front of Kjiro to defend him, he then continues “You want to hurt him you’ll have to get through me first.”, “How dare you…” Dahlia replies “Protecting a human is treason do you have any idea what you’re doing?”, “Yes I do…” K’Oni says before looking back at Kjiro for a moment and then back at Dahlia “Fighting for someone I love.”, “What?” Dahlia replies before laughing hysterically again “You, a demon of the underworld are in love with a human and a male one at that, how amusing if I were you I wouldn’t even dare step back into the underworld now. You are an embarrassment to us all I should just execute you right now and not even bother bringing you back with me”, ”I’d like to see you try” K’Oni says as he goes to strike Dahlia with his fist but fails as the read crystal around Dahlia’s neck glows causing the screeching sound to start up again causing K’Oni to cover his ears and collapse down onto his knees once again. Dahlia laughs “You fool did you really think I would have come unprepared, I knew you’d be a challenge for me so I brought this crystal along which prevents pathetic little demons like you from even harming a fly.”, “Stop” Kjiro calls out Dahlia “Please, I’ll do whatever you want just stop hurting him” Kjiro says “Kjiro…what are you doing?” K’Oni says “If you let him go…you can take me to the underworld with you.” Kjiro says “What?” both K’Oni and Dahlia say in shock.

There is a pause for a moment and then Dahlia says “You’d seriously sacrifice YOUR soul to save him?”, “It’s the right thing to do isn’t it? Besides it’s not like I have anything to lose I have a miserable job, hardly any friends and I can just about make ends meet half the time…how bad can the underworld be compared to that?” Kjiro replies “Oh, wouldn’t you like to know?” Dahlia says with a sinister smile on her face “So do we have a deal or what?” K’jiro replies “No” K’Oni calls out “Kjiro please…I can handle this just leave now before you make things worse.” There is yet another pause the Kjiro edges close to Dahlia and she smiles at him she then offers out her hand to him and says “Ready to go?”, “No…don’t” K’Oni calls out to Kjiro as he slowly reaches out for Dahlia’s hand whilst secretly readying the other for something.

Just before Dahlia can seal the deal by grabbing Kjiro’s hand, Kjiro quickly grabs the red crystal around Dahlia's neck with his other hand and rips it off almost instantly. Dahlia gasps as she falls backwards and the screeching sound in K’Oni’s ears stops, allowing him to get up off the floor and uncover his ears. Dahlia also recovers from her fall and begins to get infuriated, she says to Kjiro “You…you tricked me but how…” K’Oni interrupts her “Save it Dahlia it’s over you lose.” Kjiro throws the red crystal onto the floor with force causing it to shatter when it hits the ground “No” Dahlia screams as the crystal shatter. K’Oni turns to K’jiro and says “Thank you.” Kjiro smiles at him in response then Dahlia says “This isn’t over, not by a long shot…” her voice gets distorted as her whole body is covered up in smoke and when the smoke clears a beast-like creature is stood where Dahlia one was. Kjiro gasps “Stand back, Kjiro” K’Oni says to Kjiro before letting out a loud roar and metamorphosing into his demonic form right in front of Kjiro’s eyes causing him to faint onto the floor.

K’Oni then does battle with Dahlia which involves an exchanging of blows, near misses, direct hits and evasive manoeuvres by both of them. Eventually, K’Oni gets the upper hand over Dahlia and manages to punch his demonic claw through her chest, rip out her heart from the demonic body and crush it right in front of her eyes. Dahlia in her demonic form collapses to the floor and her body begins to dissolve into nothing and eventually disappears.

Moments later, Kjiro regains consciousness and wakes up to find himself sitting upright on the bench next to K’Oni in his human form “Hey, are you alright?” K’Oni says to K’jiro who backs off away from him “H-hey what’s wrong?”, “Stay away from me.” Kjiro says before running off “K’jiro wait…” K’Oni calls out to K’jiro before he collapses from exhaustion. A female figure bathed in a bright light is standing up in a tree looking down at K’Oni, it’s as if she was there the whole time observing the events that took place “Hmm” the female says to herself.