It was near the middle of the second year in ANHS when things had began to go haywire. Kiyotaka had revealed a considerable portion of his abilities to the entirety of the school body, students and teachers alike, by defeating the esteemed student council president Nagumo undisputedly in a group special exam.
The likes of this victorious feat couldn't be compared to Kouenji besting Nagumo in the Island exam. No. This was in an all-out open confrontation with all eyes in the school trained on them with a fearsome concentration.
But when all was said and done and when the dust finally settled down, there was nothing anyone in the audience could do but stare in astonishment as the student council president was being pummelled to death by a mysterious junior towering over him.
It was beyond Kei as to why Kiyotaka would do this when he absolutely despised attracting attention. But as always, she couldn't read him or his fantastical mind in the slightest.
It was needless to say that from that point on, Nagumo's obsession towards Ayanokouji multiplied several fold.
It was then the real nightmare started for Kei.
Somehow Nagumo had concluded it would be a wonderful idea to target her instead of dealing with Kiyotaka directly. The method seemed to be working seeing that it managed to make Kiyotaka more concerned than any other means Nagumo had employed in past to try and corner Kiyotaka.
"Karuizawa, why don't you abandon Kiyotaka for me? I'm much better you know?" Nagumo suggested with a stare that creeped her out.
"Senpai." Kiyotaka intruded with a peculiar monotone, reminding Nagumo that he was still here.
"No. I'm happy with what I have, Nagumo-senpai." Kei retorted, barely controlling her explosive anger at the comment.
From that point on, people stared at wherever she went. A set of five third-years always followed her. Always. Watching her every move. Their surveillance didn't end even when the school did. They had followed her all the way to her dorms.
Attention was something Kei loved but no one could possibly tolerate this much attention.
Numerous attempts were made by third-years to expel her in special exams throughout the second half of the year. Although Kiyotaka managed to save her every single time, It was incredibly draining to have a bounty in your head for half an year.
Thankfully Nagumo and Kiyotaka finally agreed on settling their matters of conflict by themselves and Kei was left alone.
She had heaved a big sigh of relief as she had thought that would be end of all her troubles in ANHS.
She couldn't be anymore wrong.
What had awaited her in the one of the last special exams of her school life was beyond any nightmare her mind could summon.
It was her own hell on earth for two hours, which left her completely shattered, body and soul.
She was broken beyond any hope of repair.
Her heart which had been overflowing with happiness a few moments ago was now bleeding gruesomely like a wound that has festered.
The betrayal of the one person she had wanted for herself seeped into the deepest pockets of her soul.
Anger, frustration and pain poured into her like a bloody shower.
She didn't have an ounce of strength in her limbs to pick herself up when it was all over.
She was left alone in the eye of the storm with the air surrounding her being slowly sucked out, suffocating her softly.
******
Life after ANHS had been simple. She got a job on sales and made barely any friends. She wore the perfect mask of being kind and considerate on the outside while she was barren of any beautiful emotions on the inside like a dried up well which had been used way too many times.
Nightmares still tormented her everyday. Even though it has gotten better with time.
The voice she wanted to escape so ardently reiterated the words that had crushed, squashed and beaten her heart out blue.
The voice she had once wanted to be the first thing she heard every morning was now haunting her nights ruthlessly spewing those poisonous words again and again.
The indifferent eyes which had once made her heart twist, flutter and skip a beat now gleamed at her sinistrously in the reels of her mind-crafted nightmares.
More than hate. More than feeling betrayed. Kei had grown to be numb through the passing years. Her heart became her most guarded possession. She wouldn't let anyone see even a glimpse of her real self, that is if there was some real self of her left in the first place after everything she had been through.
Kei had cut ties with everyone in ANHS after she graduated, which had been an herculean task. But she couldn't tolerate looking at any of their faces while they sent her varying looks of pity in her direction.
The rumours of what had happened in the special exam had spread far and wide. Thankfully there was only two months left which she barely withstood with every bit of her sheer will.
Her heart was screaming at her to drop out and be free of this predicament but her mind didn't allow her to. After everything that she had been through, she would rather die than give him power over her.
She had done that once and it had almost killed her.
He will never have any power over her. Nor her actions. Nor her future. Nor her destiny.
Even though her heart was still clinging on to him due to the attachment of those beautiful two years, she was ready to cut her heart out if it meant she would be free of him.
She would erase him from her memories like he never existed in the first place. She would discard anything and everything that reminds her of him.
She turned a new leaf with a vow she would hold onto with her very life.
"Never trust anyone. Never ever."
It was the mantra that was running continuosly in the hidden corners of her mind all throughout the years after high-school.
*******
The advent of a new political system changed the political landscape of the country in indescribable ways.
Democracy had long been established to be inefficient in the postmodern times. Searching for a better alternative, there was something all the Japanese men and women of the world agreed upon : Rule of a perfect dictator.
Although in theory it might sound more horrible than democracy, an autocracy lead by a worthy dictator had shown mind-boggling growth of the small countries that had experimented with it in the past and correlates with the long-standing history of the world.
Instead of everyone getting a right to vote, in this form of autocracy, everyone held the right to compete to be the ruler of the land of the rising sun.
Japan had been stagnant in the past decades, falling behind rapidly emerging third world countries in Asia. It was a time when it desperately needed a new powerful leader who would put Japan on the global stage as a ruthless competitor like it had been in the past.
The ruler had to be a perfect being who could extend the limits of what it meant to be human. They had to be the symbol of prosperity who would revive this dying nation back to life.
A ruler with the absolute power to change the country as they please forever once they gain the authority to lead. That is as long as the country is shown to be developing in multiple fronts: economy, military, space venture, nuclear technology, renewable technology etc. That was the only condition imposed upon the god of the Japanese land.
The ruler was allowed to use whatever methods they pleased, whatever means they thought they was necessary for the growth of the country. The law cannot question them. Their words are the law.
Initially the wealthy co-operations had protested vehemently fearing they would lose profits due to the new government in place which might reduce wealth inequality and hope to bring in more benefits for common workers.
It was then the head of the largest business empire which ruled over southeast Asia with an iron fist intervened, making the others fall in line obediently.
Unlike other democracies there was no age restrictions as long the ruler was older than the maturing age of 18.
The competition to become the ruler was only one of the merciless competitions the world had ever seen.
Many youth rushed to participate seeing that this was a real chance for them to make the change they had envisioned for the Japanese world. Many former students of ANHS swarmed through the crowd to apply. Many foreign nationals attended the event to witness history being made with their own eyes.
To filter the endless amount of applicants, a simple academics and fitness test was used which eliminated almost 70% percentage of the applicants.
The physical and mental abilities of the ruler was paramount.
The remaining were sent to the competition arena, where they were ruthlessly tested in every imaginable subject and skill set. One by one, their spirits were crushed and their bodies were tattered till there was a last man standing.
And there was a last man standing.
The name on his white badge clearly read: "Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."
Author Notes:
I'm very happy to see the response this fic gotten in a few days. Since I had some free time in hand, I have updated the second chapter.
As you can see this chapter is bit of a background for the kind of world this is and is bit vague.
Don't worry. The story has barely started. The next couple of chapters might be similar, having tiny bits of flashback and a bit more insight about the future before I start the story as a whole. That is Kiyokei meeting.
This idea had been stuck in my head for a while and I'm so glad that I finally chose to write this.
As you can see from the tags, Kiyokei in this story is going to be little toxic (more like a lot but okay) by conventional standards. They both have had difficult lives and their past relationship had gotten ugly so it is going to get dark.
Also remember that one time Ayanopapa said Kiyotaka will lead Japan in the future. I took that seriously :P
I might do Ayanokouji POV next chapter. No promises though.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.