1 Vol.1 Chapter 1: A First Awkward Impression

The sound of bashing and smashing echoed through the empty void as one person could be seen under the shining light trying to break an indestructible wall of souls. They glittered like diamonds as they reflected the light into the nothingness and the young man's eyes.

"How long?..." A lone Asian man asked. As expected there were no responses. He chuckled before taking another punch at the wall. Like thousands of needles have impaled him at once he gave a loud cry of pain. "Must I endure this pain?" but he did stop there. He gave the wall another punch and yet again the same pain surged through his body. looking down at his knuckles he could see them intensely bleeding.

Kenji didn't know where he was nor could he remember how he got here. Trying to think about anything would cause a painful headache as if his mind is restricting his thoughts. But in the growing seconds, he was becoming more and more impatient. From what he remembers he had just awoken in this void of total darkness before a light guided him to this very place. To where the wall lies, the Wall of Souls as it was labelled by the flashing symbols that occasionally appear in Kenji's visions. The symbol told Kenji that freedom was beyond the wall and hence why he's been trying to demolish the wall for the past hours if not days.

Once again, multiple flashes of light fill Kenji's vision as the second passes by. Another symbol then flashes around him.

'Trapped'

"Life? Like Forever? An Eternity?" Kenji gave a hard chuckle at the Kanji Symbol. "Is that so?!" He punches the wall yet again.

The light intensity increased as the young man couched to the floor in pain, revealing his surroundings. Kenji was stunned and yet afraid... His heart started to beat faster than he could handle the view. His stomach started to feel uneasy as he did not mentally prepare for the scene.

A mountain of piled skulls could be seen surrounding him and the wall. Its skeletal surface was decayed and was covered with dirt showing the age of the skulls. Its head creepily turned and locked on to Kenji as he made his every move. The skull then started to laugh at the young man. Kenji covers his ears trying to ignore the sound and turns back to the wall.

But all that shock would come to an end when Kenji turns his back to the wall. As he looked up Kenji was in awe. It's not just a wall but a mountain.

Suddenly, Kenji's vision was filled with multiple symbols that appeared for only a second and then disappeared. Some were unknown, but many Kenji could identify. Those symbols that he identified as Japanese Kanji.

Pain, Mercy, and Regret. Those words burn deeply into Kenji's mind. Those words then started to merge into one symbol which gives out,

Grief.... that word surrounded Kenji. The word flashed everywhere he tried to look, he tried to back away from the wall as far as he could, hoping that would solve the situation but unknown to Kenji, it was about to get worse.

The ground started to shatter as he approached the wall of skulls and the Young man started to descend into a free fall.

Another symbol appears for a split second. Before Kenji was plunged into a sea of water. His vision was now nothing but darkness as his body slowly sank motionlessly into a deep pool of water.

"The voice... The symbols... It consumes me..."

Deep inside Kenji's mind, Kenji heard those voices, and again the same symbol flashed yet again, now Kenji could make out what it says. The symbol was his name, Kenji spelt in Japanese Kanji. The character keeps flashing in his vision for a few minutes before it stops for a few seconds and another word appears,

'Wake up'

The alarm rang as a traumatised Asian man awoke from yet another nightmare he had. But at this point, Kenji is not surprised as he knew his mental health was growing more hazardous. Not only is he having more weird dreams but he has started to hallucinate voices that echo through his mind, all either shouting for his first or last name and weird-looking symbols that occasionally flashes through his eyes.

Kenji never went to the doctors, fearing they'll list him as mad, he could already foresee the scenario in his head a thousand times over. And as for his friends... Well, they saw enough to think Kenji is insane. There's no chance of redeeming himself, not after what he did to Korrina. Kenji gave a heavy sigh and started to prepare for the day.

As always Kenji would begin his day by entering the bathroom, but as he did a flash of light sparked from the corner of his eyes to which Kenji naturally turned hastily to investigate. As usual, his mind is playing with him again. Kenji sighs deeply then another flash appears and again he turns to see what it is, but it was nothing but his reflection in his mirror.

Kenji stared deeply into his reflection seeing the messiness of his face. His beard has slightly grown longer than usual, and his hazel eyes were bloodshot from the drinks he had last night.

The realisation struck Kenji deeply.

The scruffiness of his face and the sorrow in his eyes made him think about the choices he made. The number of mistakes that have been left undone.

Nobody wishes to be his friend, and certainly, nobody will be.

'Look at you... freaking bastard.' he thought. Kenji reaches for the razor and begins to shave.

Gradually, his mind then diverts from the past to the present, not only did he again fail to hand in his work for the university, but he'd also forgotten to check on his mother who was in the hospital.

Kenji's relationship with his mother was varied, ever since his father abandoned the family, she's never been the same.

As the oldest of the siblings in the family, Kenji would be tormented and pressured by his mother to succeed to the point she kicked him out of the house for a whole year. All it did was worsen Kenji's mentality. But Kenji knows she just wants her oldest son to be the best he can be, he understands why. But that's him from today speaking, not him from fourteen years ago.

It's a pain to be putting up with a stubborn mother but that's not always the case. On a few occasions, his mother would take him and his sister on holiday to Japan to see their grandparents. That was possibly one of the most memorable times he had with his family.

'Pain'

A Japanese Kanji character flashes in Kenji's view as he was shaving, but this is nothing out of the ordinary for him. It usually happens from time to time when Kenji is in emotional distress or when he is in deep thought. He had this for almost twelve years now and it took him a while to get used to it. It's nothing too serious. It's just some annoying words, sometimes it could be random symbols that Kenji can not understand or it could just be a voice echoing in his mind.

After shaving, another light flashes from the mirror but this time Kenji's temper got the best of him. He angrily clutches his left fist and swiftly jabs the mirror, putting a giant crack on his reflected face. Momentarily after the pain surged through his left hand, causing Kenji to curse as loudly as he could. Suddenly, another flash appears but this time it flashes a bright blue symbol.

'Regret'

"I know! I know!" Kenji looked at the mirror to see unknown symbols flashing and glitching around his face. He quickly runs the cold water on the tap and splashes a face full of water to hopefully cure this insanity. But it did the opposite, the symbols again translated themselves into Japanese Kanji characters which translated to Kenji's very own name.

'Kenji'

The characters keep flashing in his visions, no later than how tight he shuts his eyes he could see these symbols flashing. In a panic, Kenji rushed out of the shower room. The flashing would stop immediately as he left the room, and there Kenji sighed in relief.

"Could my day get any worse?" The Asian man muttered.

'Kenji...' the voices repeat. "Wake up!"

Kenji's eyes widen and hastily he jerks his head in every direction to see his surroundings. It was just pitch black but his body was emitting a pale blue light that outlines his body.

Kenji didn't understand where he was nor could recall how he got here. Attempting to think about how he got here would result in a painful headache, almost as if his mind is prohibiting his thoughts.

Suddenly a series of lights twinkle in his vision,

The symbol repeated itself several more times before the Asian man crouched anxiously as he started to beg for the symbols to stop. Soon the symbols would intensify in the thickness of the font and size as it was followed by a loud echo that overwhelmed his thoughts.

'Kenji...' the voices repeat.

"Kenji!" the voice shouted to which the Asian man turned to the source. As his head turned there he blinked to which his surroundings completely changed. Kenji was now back in college, he was now facing his friends but this was not possible, it must have been two years ago.

"Kenji? Wana tab mate?" A young man in a green hoodie offers. "Seems like a stressful day for ya."

Kenji blinked twice. "Brian...? I- Just.... the usual arse-kicking I get from Eric." Kenji stutters.

On the outside, Kenji made a sad and stressful look but on the inside, his mind was filled with confusion.

Slowly he tried to take in his surroundings, questioning himself how he was back. 'Is this a dream?' Kenji thought. 'It can't be real.'

"Eric? The Policing course leader?" A female in a red jacket inhaled but only choked on the smoke as she inhaled. This earned her a good laugh from the other two apart from Kenji. "Fuck me!" She cursed and handed the lighter back to Brian.

"Ah heck! You wasted a good puff, Missy..." another friend called Dave laughs.

"I've never taken you for a smoker, Heather," Brain said.

"I found out that it relieves stress." She coughs, "I don't smoke too often though, Mum will kill me if she finds out."

Kenji remembers Heather's words well, ironically Kenji also started smoking because he wanted to relieve his stress but slowly it became an addiction.

"Kenji, I never asked but why are you taking the Policing course again?" Brian curiously asked. "I've never taken you to be a fed."

"I know right." Heather added, "What happened to the old Kenji Gordon we used to know, huh?"

Kenji's face gradually frowns with the mention of his old self. Kenji almost forgot those questions since it was two years ago, he remembered the response as well and it didn't go so well. Kenji isn't like that anymore and he doesn't want a reminder of it.

Kenji took a breath, "Times change."

At that moment at the corner of Kenji's eyes, he swore that he could see a flicker of light causing his eyes to twitch.

'What the hell?' Kenji thought. He looked around to see what could cause the light to shine. The skies are dull so the sun couldn't be the problem and nobody would be flashing lights randomly.

Seeing Kenji in an odd state, Heather tapped on his shoulder to grab his attention. "Kenji? Are you alright?

Kenji then snaps to his female friend with a slight hint of confusion. "Yeah I'm fine," he replied. "I'm just stressed -." Suddenly a shining ray blinded the Asian man. His body felt light as well as his mind. Kenji also felt motionless due to a lack of feeling of his surroundings, almost like he was floating.

"Wake up..." a voice echoed.

"What?" The light flickers around his body and slowly it forms multiple symbols around Kenji. Most of them look like a mixture of Chinese, Korean, or Hebrew.

Again, Kenji blinked and suddenly he was now staring mindlessly into River Tyne, leaning at the edge of the rail with a bottle of Strongbow in his hand. "What the fu-" before he could finish his sentence, his mind abruptly interrupts him with a flash of memories of his past to the present.

"What about Korrina?" The voice echoed through his mind as it mimicked Brain's voice.

"Korrina." an echoing voice repeats over and over in his head. Kenji's mind was bombarded with memories of him and her from the first day they met to their recent time together. Kenji could clearly remember her smiles, smell and tears before she plunges down the concrete stairs.

"Your fault, your fault." the voices repeated several times.

Unknowingly to Kenji, his face and eyes were violently twitching and shaking every second he thought of her. He unconsciously turned his head to the left and right as his mind was desperately trying to suppress the voices.

"How could you do this?!" Heather's voice echoed through Kenji's head. "Kenji! Kenji! You can't run from this! KENJI!"

'It's not my fault. It's not my fault. It's not my fault.' he mentally repeats.

"If you think an apology will be enough then you're more delusional than I thought!" Dave's menacing voice shouted through his ears. It felt almost as if someone had put a microphone into his ears and played it on the maximum volume.

Now with pain slowly rushing into his mind, suddenly his body felt numb and his hand tightly gripped on the rail. Then his leg slowly vaulted over the rail to Kenji's dismay. "Wha- What the actual Hell!" Kenji had no control over his body and now the Asian man was in a state of panic.

Kenji vaulted over the rails to where his body leaned down towards the river. Kenji could swear his mind was dazed by the sheer height of the bridge.

"N-N-No, What the hell?! What the bloody hell?!" Kenji's face turned pale as he shifted his head down to see the tyne river. The breeze of the wind blew at his body, giving the Asian man a nasty chill. One by one his fingers started to let go of the railings.

Seeing the situation becoming more and more daunting, Kenji could only close his eyes in fear and hoped that this was only another stupid nightmare.

"Please!...Please!" Kenji's cowering voice echoed loudly but nobody was there to hear his begging.

"Wake up...!" The voices echoed in a deafening volume. At that moment, Kenji felt light almost as if his body was in an empty void. He had his eyes tightly shut as his mind rapidly flashes his memories while his fingernails dig into his palm he clenches his fist as he waits for the Inevitable pain to be felt. Kenji swore he could see his entire memories flashing at that point, all those times,

Wasted...

His ears were ringing and his body felt numb but soon those feelings would disappear. Kenji's eyes then opened and soon sounds of ringing would be replaced by a loud ticking sound which Kenji would find to be a grandfather clock sitting beside a door. Kenji wiped off the sweat as he came to his senses and found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. Kenji wiped his eyes twice thinking they were deceiving him but he would soon realise this was the reality.

There was no window in the room to better understand his location. Instead of a hospital bed, he found himself in a small wooden room. It was half empty, only having one bed, two chairs, a wardrobe and an old-looking grandfather clock. The last thing Kenji remembers was a deafening noise that echoed through his ears before his vision blacked out.

As Kenji tried to move a sudden surge of pain could be felt on his left hand causing him to hold his left hand tight to his chest. It was almost as if it felt like someone trying to split his hand into two. Kenji heavily inhales-exhale his breath as he tries to suppress his pain and try to keep in the cry. The pain was so immense that it caused Kenji to fall back to the bed and make him break into tears.

Kenji can't think what could cause this kind of pain, It took a few seconds for the pain to ease off before Kenji was curious and wanted to see the hand and remove it from his chest. As he got a glimpse of his left hand, Kenji couldn't express the amount of panic he got.

His breathing was heavy and was completely motionless and speechless, not taking a single blink after what he'd just seen.

A crystal was fused into his left hand, it was covered with blood as it was evident that someone had been trying to take it off by using a hammer and chisel as it was laying on the tiny table on the side of the bed where also his phone and wallet was placed.

Then a sudden flash of words came through his mind.

'Look left'

The words flash brightly as they attract Kenji to reading words. His head jerked left as instructed by the words.

Right there, Kenji was facing a pale young woman who was dressed elegantly in her black and blue aristocratic-like dress which perfectly contrasted with her polished snow-white hair that fell past her shoulders, stretching like a silk road and her pale blue eyes that could easily block a man's thought. Her face was exquisite and would cause a few men to lose themself in her seductive trance.

Kenji saw her fidgeting with her wide-brim straw hat as if she was bored. He couldn't understand what a woman of such contrast of natural beauty and deathly aura could be doing sitting in isolation, legs crossed, as if she was waiting.

Her eyes then fixed on Kenji, "I see you're finally awake".

Kenji didn't say a word, he was too busy focusing on staring at the beauty in front of him. But eventually, the Asian male shook himself back to reality.

"Wh- Whe-?" Kenji stuttered. "Who are you? Where am I?"

The woman only giggles at Kenji's question, "I don't know."

Kenji swore that his heart had stopped at that moment, just who is this woman and how does she know him?

"You don't know?!" Kenji attempted to lean forward but his back felt as if it was split into two.

"You're lucky, Kenji. A very lucky boy."

"Who are you?" Kenji asked with a frightful yet authoritarian tone.

The woman diverted her gaze away from Kenji for a second before answering, "I don't know. I don't know if I have a name or what I am. It's all blank..."

Kenji squinted his eyes in confusion, "Sorry? You don't know yourself or where we are?"

"I wish I did." She smiled warmly. "But I don't." She giggles.

The energetic wave of the woman didn't help Kenji's newly found scepticism but his eagerness remained steadfast so continued to inch towards the bed.

"But do you know anyone that can help?" Kenji calmly asked. "I don't need to know who you are but you could at least you can get someone to tell me where I am."

"Huh..." She said scratching her chin. "I just thought of a place that is nice and safe, but I've no idea where we are or the people in this place."

"You've got to be joking right?"

With the woman about to answer Kenji, the door of the room opened to reveal a middle-aged woman with dark brown hair and ocean blue eyes. Kenji could see their clothing, it looked old, very old-fashioned, roughly about 18th-century style clothing. The woman was wearing a leather stays above her white top with a yellow cotton dress.

Her eyes widened in surprise, causing parts of her hair to expand upwards to it which resembled wolf ears, "Oh my lord, you're finally awake." she then hastily exited the room and loudly shouted, "Darling! He's awake!"

"Who are you?" Kenji curiously asked but as he looked up towards her head he saw the two unnatural ears. At that point, Kenji's mind had enough and the young man quickly collapsed back into the bed.

"Honey?" A man then entered the room. "You said he was awake."

"He just fainted," she mutters

"He what?"

The demi-human sigh. "I just heard him talking to someone. Probably himself…"

The husband huffed, "Please don't tell me Melody brought a madman into my house."

"He seems confused. Whoever he is." Out of curiosity, the woman observed the room, 'Just who was he talking to?"