Early Days

Kei grew up in a very average family. He has a mother, father, and a younger brother. Growing up, everything was meant to be normal. Live in a nice house that's not too big and not too small, go to school, make friends, play a sport, move up in the world. That's what his parents wanted of him but Kei was already challenging that when he continued to say that certain words tasted funny.

At first, his parents assumed he was sticking random things into his mouth, given he was about four years old, but when he started saying "happiness tastes like celery," they thought it'd be best to have him see a doctor. It turned out that Kei had synesthesia, specifically Lexical-gustatory synesthesia. It wouldn't affect his daily life, so his parents weren't overly concerned about it.

Sadly, kids at school weren't as relaxed. Most of Kei's friends thought it was cool, even called it a superpower, but some other kids thought it was weird and freaky. Kei would get called names or picked on, up until the end of middle school. Although his friends would stand up for him, Kei often just took the abuse. He didn't enjoy getting in fights, even when his friends were doing it, he'd beg them to stop.

By high school, Kei began to think about what made him stand out. Obviously, his weird condition caused him grief in the past, but what if he embraced that strangeness? He looked into several fads and hobbies, trying to find something to connect to. When he stumbled across fashion styles like lolita, gothic, and decora, it started to click. He'd always been a fan of cute and colorful things, though he didn't get to show it much as a child. His parents wanted him to remain practical, so anything considered 'unneeded' was left alone.

After obtaining his first part-time job at the end of his freshman year, Kei could finally dabble in hobbies not controlled by his parents. He first started small, wearing things like bracelets or a brightly colored shirt. It didn't raise any flags so he could pass by daily unbothered. But as the hobby grew, concern began to fester in Kei's parents and teachers. Kei was normally encouraged to study at home and therefore was a fairly smart and capable kid. These new fashion choices were worrying to those authority figures because they feared that it would derail Kei from a good future plan.

When his parents finally brought up their concern to Kei, he was shattered inside. He promised to keep his focus on his schooling with little fuss but begged his parents to let him keep his interest. After consideration, they allowed it, but minimally. Kei began changing in secret from there on.

He joined clubs and social groups that showed or expressed similar interest in secret so that no one could inform his parents. He'd lie about going to study groups in order to hang out with people. When he finally graduated high school, Kei didn't waste time moving out. He was accepted into college with good scholarships and managed to rent an apartment.

This freedom was the push he needed to completely change and go full scale with his hobbies and interest. However, such a strong move resulted in strong reactions. His parents were obviously disappointed and Kei's relationship with his family became very distant. Kei's younger brother showed special disgust in Kei's choices, even voicing his disapproval rather aggressively at one point.

Although Kei suffers from confidence problems, he lives his life now trying to ignore what haunts him. He has good friends and a busy life, its easy enough to get lost in. He decided though that working part-time in the mall wasn't doing much paycheck wise.

He may have a full ride for school, but he was still paycheck to paycheck for living expenses. He took a gamble and decided to apply for a part-time position at the Dulcet Laeta factory. To his surprise, he got the position! He quickly moved to a new apartment in the sector and is excited about this new chapter in his life.

The Factory

Working at the factory allowed Kei to indulge in his hobbies and interests and himself with no problems. The pay was nice, with benefits like full coverage healthcare. It was gaining these things, and living with his best friend Jesse, that gave him the courage to pursue top surgery properly.

While adjusting to the factory life, and going through the appointments to prepare for the surgery, Kei went on a few blind dates. One was Quinn, a fellow employee from Dulcet Laeta who ended up being a long-running partner after a one night stand. While at first intending to keep everything casual and physical, both boys struck feelings and messily admitted to them, resulting in a relationship. Kei wasn't used to committed relationships, being someone who preferred the loose and casual way of doing things to avoid getting hurt. Despite Quinn's assurances, he often found himself doubting his feelings or being afraid of them as they became more serious. On top of this, his relationship with his family was more and more strained as stuff he was unaware of was happening back home.

Everything sort of came to a head at once, with Kei learning of his father's affair, his parents divorcing, his little brother taking it poorly, and him admitting to himself that he was inlove with Quinn. It was a lot to swallow but Quinn's dedication and support was enough to convince Kei that he would be okay in the end and the relationship between the two just grew stronger.

Rebellion

After the events at Hanacon, Quinn was inspired to join the rebellion when he actions of the SSF didn't sit well with him. Kei, not thoroughly thinking through the seriousness of it and wanting to trust Quinn, eventually follows his lead into joining.

Kei never found himself able to be much of an active participant in the rebellion's actions. Frankly, he was never someone who felt that strongly one way or the other about stuff that didn't affect him. It wasn't that he didn't think it was bad or a problem, just not a problem for him to fix. This meant finding the will or want to really be involved with the events the Rebellion would cause was difficult for him. This also put a bit of a wedge between him and Quinn, as Quinn was far more invested in the cause.

Eventually Kei came clean to Jesse about his joining, having severe second thoughts about having done so and questioning where his and Quinn's relationship would be going. Jesse, angry and concerned for Kei's safety, ended up scolding him about being so reckless. Despite apologizing soon after, Kei couldn't help but feel even more conflicted and the lack of direction and added stress was driving him further and further down a hole.

In order to feel like he had a purpose within the movement, after the North was taken over, Kei offered his assistance to a local daycare where many of the rebel children would be looked after. It kept him out of the field and away from dangerous missions, but he finally felt like he was contributing and bonded with the daycare owner and children easily.

Unfortunately, this would come to a crashing halt when a loyalist psychopath made it past the dome on a homicidal rampage. With the interest of finding the main hub for the rebellion, he hunted down the daycare and went to attack the children. Kei managed to get the kids and the other workers away in a back room, and attempted to the distract the assailant with major consequences. Losing easily to the attacker, he cut off Kei's hand while interrogating him about the location of the children. Just in time, before more damage could be done, another rebel appeared and managed to lure the attacker away and kill him. Kei was taken to the hospital but his hand was unsalvageable.

After this event, Kei's mental health tanked. He no longer had an optimistic outlook, he took to smoking and drinking more and no pleading or talking to him was going to fix it. There was a distance that grew between him and Quinn, as he missed the life he had before the Rebellion.

During the final battle, Kei simply went where he was told, or begged to in Quinn's case, and watched it happen. He had low expectations of them coming out on top, and when they won, it was difficult for him to even have hope from that.