Unleash

What are you talking about? I don't even know you. Why are you even in my room?

Ryo found himself in the center of the Albastor Courthouse, ears ringing at the sight of the bronze statue. The ringing in his ears became worse the more he concentrated on the statue's bizarre face as if it was moving. Yet behind it, was a young woman with wings who stood still in the opposite direction.

The precious angelic goddess that Ryo had come to know turned into a devil in his sleep. It was a masqueraded devil that had no recollection of the gift that she had brought into the universe with her voice or her beauty combined. Yet Ryo was still alluded to the devil, approaching her despite the darkness overshadowing her figure.

As close as he was, Ryo could not touch her when he reached out with his hands.

"You are terribly mistaken," The devil spoke, revealing herself to be April. "There's something wrong with me. Something's inside me."

"What?" Ryo whispered. "What's wrong?"

Ryo's eyes gently opened, awakening from his nightmare-induced sleep. He wiped his eyes with his hands and found himself inside a small violet-colored tent, wrapped comfortably in a sleeping bag on top of a sandy beach. A tiny crustacean clacked its claws next to Ryo, moving past him after finding a speck of food left behind on the shore.

Alerted, he pulled himself up and took a single breath in. A single whiff of the plagued air in Kathuz was not present. He removed his sleeping back and bolted out of the tent, greeted by the sandy morning shores of the docks leading to the underground. He was back on the surface without any memory of him leaving the underground.

"You're finally up." Jinrai's coarse greeting startled Ryo, forcing him to turn around. He sat on the edge of a palm tree with his legs propped up.

"What the hell is going on? What are we doing here?" Ryo asked, scanning the perimeter of the shores. "Where's Natia and Claire?"

"Questions, questions, questions," Jinrai repeated, kneeling on the edge of the palm tree with his feet while staring down at Ryo. "They're fine. I brought you here."

"I see that," Ryo said. "Why?"

"Because..." Jinrai began, leaping down on the shores below him. "I need to know that you're ready for this. You said it yourself, that you'd be willing to take your sister's position in this mission. I have no doubts about the one who stopped Genesis, but you still concern me."

"I thought we already had that sorted out." Ryo reminded him.

"Yes, we did," Jinrai said, pacing around him. "There's not a doubt within my mind that you're a viable asset. But I expected more of you. You strike with hesitance, move at such a slow pace, and you're unaware of just how powerful you can be if you let your worries go."

"What's your point?" Ryo asked.

"The point is..." Jinrai smirked at him with a sinister glare. "I think you're weak. Unless you can prove to me, that is, that you're ready to take down the Jester. In case you are unaware, the Jester is not exactly the kind of people that you have fought in the past. She's cunning, cruel, and fast on her feet. Perhaps, even faster than me." He explained.

"The Jester tried to kill my sister," Ryo said with a defiant expression. "You think I'd hold back just because of that?"

"Of course not," Jinrai said. "But I know that you have a history of blowing up in front of other people. Failing to control your emotions. Letting guilt and concern shroud your mind."

"And how do you know that?" Ryo asked, reminding himself of the time that he had assaulted Akai for failing to uphold his standards and even his past with Ash.

Jinrai grinned joyfully. "Well, let's just say that Rose Accel knows a little bit more about you than you thought." He said. "But your past doesn't interest me, at least not right now. So I'll make this quick. Consider this your training for this mission. Speaking of which, if you can land a single blow on me, I'll let you in on the mission. If you can't, well..." Jinrai bowed sarcastically with a smirk on his face. "I'll see you back home."

Ryo clenched his teeth, irritated by Jinrai's dilemmas. He knew that Jinrai's lightning-fast speed was too much for him to handle. He also knew that despite Jinrai's jokester personality, he was dead serious about his requests. Without another choice, Ryo gently pressed against his chest to activate his V2 nanosuit. The suit's helmet visor failed to activate as a result of the Seething Viper's corrosive acids malfunctioning.

He shifted his left foot back and clenched his fists. Jinrai did the same, only appearing much more confident than Ryo did with his light grin.

"Ryo Nakai," Jinrai called. "Begin!"

Ryo's right eye madly rotated, launching his ignition booster at full speed toward Jinrai. He swept his leg towards him, only missing by a long shot after Jinrai vanished. Spinning around, Ryo sliced his leg toward Jinrai who reappeared behind him, striking him directly in the jaw. Despite his attack, Jinrai did not flinch, nor blink.

"Got you." Ryo confidently stated, declaring his victory.

"Did you?" Jinrai's voice reappeared behind Ryo, standing with his hands behind his back.

"What?" Ryo turned back to the Jinrai that he had kicked. It was nothing but a mere illusion, fading out of existence and leaving Ryo collapsing on the ground with his leg extended. He turned around quickly and saw Jinrai chuckling down at him. "Was that... a clone?"

"Close," Jinrai said. "It was a physical afterimage that my speed created."

"Now you're just toying with me," Ryo grunted.

"I never said I couldn't have fun," Jinrai laughed. "It's a unique type of afterimage. Not only can I make it appear to confuse you, but..."

Ryo watched as Jinrai vanished once more, leaving behind another afterimage with Jinrai standing smugly with his fists primed. The afterimage then began battling for Jinrai, assaulting Ryo with several swift blows. Ryo blocked a majority of them. but the final blow was concussive and hard-hitting, sending Ryo flying back against the sand.

"I can also have them fight for me," Jinrai stated, reappearing on top of the palm tree. "If you were to fall to an afterimage, that would be pretty humiliating."

Ryo shouted and brandished his combat ax. He hurled it over to Jinrai, passing through another afterimage of him. Ryo pulled his ax back with his mag booster, but Jinrai kicked him away back down to the sand. Jinrai caught the ax and juggled it with one hand.

Ryo recovered almost instantly by kicking himself off of the sand. Jinrai dropped his ax and swiftly dodged another punch to the face. Ryo stringed several blows toward Jinrai, but he could not hit his target. Each consecutive punch was like slugging condensed mist. The final blow Ryo failed to land ruined his combat posture. Jinrai tripped Ryo, snatched the back of his head, and slammed his face into the sand.

Ryo lashed his left hand out, activating his ignition booster to retrieve his ax. The ax sliced through another afterimage that Jinrai left behind, and Ryo pulled himself up as soon as he retrieved it. He wiped the sand off of his face and scanned his surroundings once more.

"We're wasting time here!" Ryo shouted, frustrated at his inability to strike his target.

"Then learn!" Jinrai shouted, reappearing behind Ryo once more. "Let the guilt and concern inside you go. Control your speed and unleash it!"

Ryo roared at the top of his lungs and charged at Jinrai once more, but to no avail, he was much too slow for Jinrai's speed. He used his ignition booster and charged at all of Jinrai's afterimages. By the time he had wiped several of them, his stamina was running low. Ryo tripped once more and fell flat on the sand, holding in his anger for as long as he could.

"You're so weak," Jinrai said, scorning him from a distance. "You can't even touch me."

"I can't... touch you," Ryo repeated in a hushed tone. He looked at his left hand and examined his mag booster closely. His eyes widened, believing that there was one way that he could defeat Jinrai without touching him. He stood up and turned around, wiping the sand off of his face. "That's right. I can't touch you. But I don't have to."

Jinrai smirked. "What are you on about?" He asked.

Ryo slammed his fist against his mag booster, unveiling a thin thread inside of the forcefield inside its hold. He yanked on the thread like revving a chainsaw, causing the mag booster to spiral out of control. Its violet energies from within began to rupture, dragging in all matter near Ryo's position. The sands around his feet spiraled like a torpedo around his aura. Clusters of rocks, water from the shores, and even Jinrai's afterimages slipped up and surged toward his position.

"What the fuck?!" Jinrai roared, attempting to escape. "You're overloading your mag booster!?"

A sharp pain surged through Ryo's left hand as he shouted. He kept his eyes open despite bringing a storm of sand around his position. Jinrai struggled to move, but the overloaded mag booster was too strong. Ryo managed to regain control of his left arm and stood up straight. He pointed it at Jinrai with a scowl on his face, aiming the gravitational pull toward him. No number of afterimages could stop Ryo's sudden epiphany.

Ryo released the mag booster off of his nanosuit as Jinrai soared toward his hand. He grabbed Jinrai's throat and pummelled his face toward the ground. The debris around the two collapsed toward the sand, dousing them in water.

"I got you," Ryo said, clenching his left hand in agony. He toughened himself out of it, attempting to appear stronger than Jinrai in the moment.

Jinrai laid his wettened hair back and spread his arms and legs wide open. "You are one crazy son of a bitch." He stated, resting himself down on the ground. "You didn't surpass my speed, but you cracked a wise one, I'll give you that."

Ryo looked at his hand tingling as light burns scalded his palm. He kneeled next to Jinrai before laying down with him, staring at the morning cloudy skies. The waves crashed next to their toes as their exhaustion drained their stamina.

"You still need to work on improving your speed, not trying some insane trick like that to stop me," Jinrai stated. "But a deal is a deal. I'll let you in on the mission. But you better know what you're getting into."

"I might not," Ryo admitted. "But even so, I know I have to do this. I can't rest until I know that person who tried to kill my sister is down for the count."

"Some grudge you hold," Jinrai said. "Don't you think that it's worthless to think that way, Ryo Nakai?"

"No, I don't," Ryo continued. "Because it's not just about the Jester. There are people out there who want to help revive Kathuz, like Claire. And yesterday night, I saw a side in Natia that I had never seen before. One side that was filled with hope, and she's never really like this."

"You two seem close," Jinrai said. "The way you defended her when we first met was really brave. I've never seen someone like that try so hard to stop me and my antics. Although she isn't my cup of tea, she must be yours."

"Oh, Natia?" Ryo shook his head. "We're not close."

"You're not?"

"I mean, we weren't before, but... now it seems a little different," Ryo said. "The thought of me in her mind would make her gag in the past. But she's a little comfortable with me now," He thought about yesterday night when Natia unexpectedly placed her head on Ryo's shoulder for comfort. "A lot better than before."

"I can tell from a distance, all day and night yesterday, that something was bothering her," Jinrai said, sitting up from his position and facing Ryo with his legs crossed. "And what Claire told me yesterday is that you care about her."

"Wait, what?" Ryo sat up as well. "Claire told you that?"

"Mmm-hmm..." Jinrai smirked. "I don't know the full story, so the only person that could possibly cheer that girl up... is you. So, if you really want to know how you can make her forget whatever's hurting her, well, there's several ways."

"Ways? Like what?" Ryo asked.

"Well..." Jinrai launched himself up and pretended to do several charades based on the action he described. His face squished together, pretending to kiss the air as he spiraled out of control. "There's taking shots, heading to the strip club, making the lady feel nice, you know?" His voice roughened up near the end. "Lifting weights makes women impressed with you-"

"That's not what I meant," Ryo said, staring blankly at him. "This is serious."

"Is it now," Jinrai stopped, sitting back on the wet sand. "Then... the only way to fix whatever it is with her is to make her understand how important it is to live in the present. This doesn't mean you have to throw the past under the bus, but it means you have to acknowledge it and move on."

"That's a lot simpler said than done," Ryo said. "Natia's not like that kind of person."

"Neither was my girl," Jinrai sighed, turning around to face the waters. His gangster vibe had vanished entirely. "You know, Ryo Nakai... the reason why that girl of yours irritated me so much was that she reminded me of my fiance."

"You had a fiance?" Ryo asked.

"I know, right?" Jinrai chuckled. "A guy like me, living an entire life in a gang trying to find myself. She wasn't exactly proud of that, and that's when she completely changed. She acted just like that girl. Always having a sour attitude over everything, bragging over the littlest achievements, always being hot-headed over every fucking little thing..."

Ryo was reluctant to explain how he was tangled in a gangster's life hoping to change his life. He realized that Jinrai and he came from very similar backgrounds.

"I was drawn between two lives, and eventually, I chose the wrong one. After the night she left me, I wanted to go back to her because I knew that the woman I loved wasn't like that. She changed... all because I did. I gave her a reason to despise me, and I didn't know it until a day later," Jinrai explained, clumping his hand in the sand. "To think I had changed someone for the worst only made the hurt worse."

"You can't blame yourself for that," Ryo said. "You made a bad decision." After Ryo said those words, he looked down at himself and realized that it applied to him as well. Yet he still kept chasing Ash for his entire life trying to seek redemption.

"And that's the point," Jinrai said. "It's terribly difficult to find out whether or not the decision you make will make you happy or not. And that's life," He turned around and stared into Ryo's eyes with a keen expression. "That's why I don't want you to be like me, Ryo Nakai."

Ryo could not say anything. It already happened to him before.

"I look at you and I see myself," Jinrai continued. "But there are parts of you that are different because you still have a chance to change that girl, unlike me. I made the wrong choice. You still have a chance, you hear me? You choose the right person and you live a happy life with your choice."

"Choose... the right person?" Ryo said. His forehead perked up, realizing what Jinrai had meant. "Wait, you don't mean-"

"Did you really think that she was the only one that I saw you defending?" Jinrai mentioned. "Yeah, that girl at the hospital was one of them. I saw myself in there too. So, which one is it?"

"Whoa, hold on, we weren't talking about girls!" Ryo shouted, waving his hand to declare his mistake. "This was about..."

"About you, Ryo Nakai," Jinrai clarified. "What I see in you is exactly what I saw in myself. You have so much hatred and anger inside you that you have lost focus in what you have to do to survive. Life isn't always about walloping and sulking in your tears. You need someone to lighten up your shit."

"Hang on, I think you're still on this whole girl thing..." Ryo continued.

"All I'm saying is that maybe if you were to find the right person, it would lighten your load," Jinrai said. "Don't be like me."

Ryo was slightly confused by his terrible explanation. Despite this, Ryo was honored to be granted advice by one of the top Sunlight operatives, relating to him beyond the scope of what he had imagined. Jinrai was the kind of person that Ryo never believed he would want to be around, and even though that was the case, Ryo sensed familiarity in his soul.

"Okay," Ryo said.

Jinrai swept himself up and brushed the sand off of his sticky hands. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to dry my shit, and you should do the same," He said. "Maybe after when this is all done, I'll teach you how to be faster."

"Really?" Ryo's eyes opened in astonishment.

"Yeah," Jinrai said with a grin. "Just not faster than me."

Ryo nodded in understanding, watching Jinrai vanish at the speed of light. He fell back down and laid on the wet sand again, eyeing the sun separating the gloomy clouds on the horizon. His conversation with Jinrai, combined with his sister Sumire's at the other beach made him realize that people were changing, except him. Even Natia was changing for the better, and Ryo wanted to do the same as well.

He closed his eyes to rest until the distant sound of footsteps awoke him once more.

"You look like you're having a good time." Natia's monotone voice rang loud and clear.

Ryo pulled himself up, seeing Natia standing next to him on the sand with a giant white towel in hand. "Natia, hey...!" He awkwardly began, scratching his head. "Wait, why do you have a towel?"

"Because you're wet." She blatantly said.

"Wait, how did you know that I was wet?" Ryo asked as Natia plopped the towel on his head. "Wait, were you listening to everything that Jinrai and I were saying?"

"Maybe," Natia said, grinning at Ryo while crossing her arms. "Not hard to hear something exploding from miles away after trying to find you two. What if I was?"

"Then surely you'd change your mind about-" Ryo stopped as he dropped his towel in pain from holding it in his left palm. He clicked his tongue and waved it around in an attempt to ease the scalding pain. "Man, that hurts."

Natia gasped and slid down after seeing Ryo's red palm blemished. "Oh my god, what happened to your hand?" She asked, raising her voice with concern.

"I did something stupid while training with Jinrai," Ryo explained, holding in his pain by biting his lower lip. "Not the best idea."

"You're so stupid," Natia said, holding his left hand to observe it. "Doing this before our mission?"

"He wouldn't let me in unless I did," Ryo explained. "That was the deal."

"Fuck his deal, you're hurt," Natia's voice faltered, looking up at Ryo's eyes. She could sense the veins in his wrists throbbing and gently rubbed the back of his hand warmly. "Can you use your nanosuit to heal it?" She asked.

"To be honest, ever since those Seething Vipers attacked us, my nanosuit's been acting up," He said. "I don't think it'll work. It's losing its healing power."

"Damn it," Natia condemned, activating her nanosuit and transferring part of it onto his burnt hand. "This should work. Just stay still while it does its thing. God, why the fuck are you so stupid?" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, I got that the first time, thanks," Ryo sarcastically remarked. "And you were listening, weren't you? Did you change your mind about the kind of person Jinrai is?"

Natia bent her chin down, gazing into the sand. "A little," She admitted. "He still irritates me, but I can see the merit in him. You two were very similar when you guys grew up. That leads me to you that I want to talk about."

"Me?"

"Yeah. You're still feeling guilty over everything that you did, aren't you?" Natia mentioned.

It was difficult not to agree with her. After April seemingly lost her memories, Ryo could only fathom how much he had lost in that time when he failed to grab her hand. He remembered Jinrai's words, however, and wanted to steer from it to change. He knew everyone was.

"I am, but-"

"Didn't I tell you to forget about it all?" Natia continued.

"You should be the one telling yourself that!" Ryo interrupted. "It's easier said than done. We both have our share of problems and it's too difficult to let it all go at once. It just... takes time."

Natia sighed, removing the nanomachines on Ryo's hand as it fully healed him. She rotated it around to check for any other scratches or minor burns. She flipped her short hair back and lightly smiled at Ryo. "All better." She said.

"Yeah, all better. Thanks," Ryo said, smiling back at her. Her smile was rare, and he knew he needed to treasure it as much as he could. "If you weren't here, this would have-"

"I don't want to hear it," Natia returned to being completely unreasonable like her previous self. She swept the sand off of her thighs and turned back without another care in the world. "Now hurry up back. Claire's waiting for us."

Ryo sputtered and chuckled lightly. "Yes, ma'am." He sarcastically voiced out, following her across the beach. He had never seen Natia so energetic or supportive before. With Jinrai and his father's words etched in his heart, Ryo had a new resounding mindset in his head. For the first time in a long while, Ryo was looking forward to the future, especially with how much fun he was having with Natia, who seemed completely different than before.