Kiyotaka's POV
April 5, 2037
Ayanokouji Residence
"Dad, wake up..."
"Ugh..."
"Dad, Mom says breakfast is ready."
"5 more minutes..."
"If you don't wake up, I'll eat all of the ice cream on the fridge."
"Fine, I'll wake up."
I got up from my bed and looked at my daughter. She had inherited my brown hair and golden eyes, as well as my expressionless face. Considering that she has emotions, I am now sure that this face is somehow genetic.
She also inherited my love for ice cream too, but honestly, who doesn't love ice cream?
"You're really weak to ice cream, aren't you, Dad?" she said with a small smirk on her face, although it was barely visible.
"As if you're not weak to ice cream yourself, Honami. You really shouldn't be the one saying that." I said.
"Touche." she chuckled. "Anyway, I'll be going down now, Dad. See you."
With that, she ran down the stairs, leaving me in my room to get ready.
*****
"Good morning, Kiyotaka."
"Good morning, Kei."
I greeted my wife as I walked down the stairs to eat some breakfast.
"Where's Suzuki?" I asked, noting that my younger son was missing.
"I'm here Dad! Good morning!" Suzuki came out of his room energetically and he ran down the stairs quickly.
He had inherited his mother's looks, her blonde hair and purple eyes. He also had a small ponytail as well, as if emulating how a male version of Kei would have looked like when she was young.
"You're too excited again." Honami remarked as he entered the dining room.
"But Dad said we were going to that place he told us about!" he replied.
"You know Dad has bad memories of that place, right?" Honami said.
Memories, huh?
I then reminisced about how I got to this point in my life.
After I graduated from ANHS, I returned to the White Room, just as I had intended. I had experienced everything that the outside world had to offer, or so I thought at the time. I had ignored that feeling of emptiness inside of me, attributing it to the fact that I had returned to the persona that I had donned in the White Room. However, a few months afterwards, I had received shocking news.
Horikita Manabu had discovered the existence of the White Room.
I had been receiving news of the outside world in that place, and I heard that Horikita Manabu, who had grown influential in Japanese politics, discovered the existence of the White Room, and has exposed it to the public. Soon, I had also heard that many of my former classmates and schoolmates in ANHS had formed a group to help me break out of there.
I was apathetic about it at the time. I had thought that the whole conflict will end with that man winning. After all, he had firmly planted his roots deep in the Japanese government. There was no way a group of college aged students and a rising star in Japanese politics would be able to dethrone him.
And yet, somehow, they managed to defeat that man. They managed to destroy the White Room.
2 years after my graduation, the facility known as the White Room was raided by Horikita Manabu and Sakayanagi Shigemori's private military. I heard the explosions and the gunfire, but at the time, I was conflicted as to whether or not I should escape. However, I had made up my mind when I saw one person enter the room I was in.
It was Kei.
I had broken up with her during graduation. I knew that she would never be able to come with me, so I severed my connection with her in hopes that she can live a better life without me. When we had reunited at the time, she only said one sentence.
"Let's go home, Kiyotaka."
Immediately after that, I did escape. It turned out that a lot of my former friends came to the White Room raid to let me escape even though most of them weren't even good at combat. Horikita, Ichinose, Sudou, Hasebe, Yukimura, Akito, Nanase, even Ryuuen and Sakayanagi helped.
However, not all of them survived.
After the destruction of the White Room, many companies and universities tried to hire me. After all, I was the masterpiece of the White Room, and they wanted to have such a capable person working for them. Out of all of the offers, I accepted the job as a professor in Tokyo University. I was promoted very quickly, and soon, I became the Tokyo University's youngest dean in history.
At this time, I had married Kei, who became a successful fashion designer, and we had twins, Ayanokouji Honami and Ayanokouji Suzuki, with Honami being the older one.
Now, 19 years after my graduation, my kids are attending ANHS.
Time sure moves fast.
"Since tomorrow is your first day in ANHS, I wanted to take you there before you're gone for three years." I said.
"The White Room, huh?" Honami muttered. "This is going to be interesting."
"Yeah, so let's hurry, Honami-nee-san!" Suzuki said excitedly.
"Yeah, yeah." she replied.
"You're always so excited, aren't you?" Kei sighed, then she looked at me worriedly. "Are you going to be okay, Kiyotaka?"
"Yeah. They need to know about it." I said.
We then heard a knock on the door so I came to open it, and saw two people I wasn't expecting to see today.
One was a tall girl with medium-length magenta hair and a gentle smile on her face, while the other was a silver-haired boy with average height holding a cane.
It was Sakayanagi Shin and Ryuuen Miharu.
"Hm? Good morning, you two, why are you here so early?" I asked them.
"Good morning, Uncle Kiyotaka. Honami invited me here." Shin greeted me casually.
He is Sakayanagi Arisu's son, as well as Honami's boyfriend, though I'm still wondering how these two got together, considering how prideful both of them are. He is a natural genius just like his mother, and although he didn't inherit her heart condition, he still has a weak constitution that requires him to use a cane to be able to walk properly.
Due to the prestige of the Sakayanagi family, Arisu's husband actually married into her family, which is why Shin has her surname.
"Hello, Uncle Kiyotaka, Suzuki-kun invited me here as well." Miharu said while still having that gentle smile.
Ryuuen Miharu is the daughter of both Ryuuen Kakeru and Ibuki Mio, who was now Ryuuen Mio. She is a gentle and kind child who likes to help others, which is very unlike her two parents.
Honestly, I still can't believe that this girl is the daughter of Ryuuen Kakeru and Mio. I guess having Hiyori be a private tutor for the girl changed her attitude.
"So you're also coming with us, I see. Come in then."
*****
"This is... what remains of the White Room, huh?" Honami commented as she looked at the destroyed ruins of what was once my cage.
After a long drive to the mountains, we had reached ruins of the White Room facility. I then narrated to them everything that had happened to me related to this place, since the information that was available to the public regarding the White Room was surprisingly very lacking.
"I would have thought that the Japanese government would have erased this off the map." Suzuki said, his expression being serious this time.
"Manabu didn't want anyone to forget about this place." I said. "That's why he didn't let anybody destroy this place completely."
"Prime Minister Horikita Manabu, huh?" Suzuki said. "You know, Dad, it's still weird that you can address the Prime Minister so casually."
"It's not really surprising, Suzuki." Honami spoke. "They've known each other since high school. Nothing strange about it at all."
"It is said that Uncle Kiyotaka is the only person that the Prime Minister ever respected, so no wonder they address each other casually." Miharu commented.
"Why would you bring us here? Did you just want to tell us about the White Room?" Honami asked me.
"No. I also wanted to give you some context for our next destination." I said. "However, we're done here already."
"No, let's wait for a little, Dad. We still want to explore some more." Suzuki told me.
"Yes. I am quite curious about this place, considering the stories Mother had told me about it." Shin said as he was staring at the ruins of the White Room.
"You know that there's basically nothing here, right?" Kei said. She probably didn't want to stay here for too long since she was being reminded of horrible memories.
"I know, but we still want to see more of the place, even if it was destroyed." Kei was about to dissuade them, but I stopped her.
"Leave it, Kei. You know that both of our children are stubborn." I said. "If they want to explore more even if there's basically nothing here, let them. Let's just make sure they don't get out of our sight."
The two nodded at her and she simply sighed in response.
"Fine, but don't take too long, okay?" she told them. Both of our kids nodded, and we followed closely behind as they looked around the ruins of the White Room.
"Why would you bring our kids to this place, Kiyotaka?" Kei asked reprovingly.
"Because they need to know about this. The true story. I don't want them to stay ignorant forever." I said. "Besides, they may hear something completely false about the White Room that may cause some misunderstandings, I don't want that."
"I see." Kei replied. "I don't really like to look at this place any longer than I already have, you know. I hate this place."
"We both do. We just have to make sure that our family remember this place that used to cause us so much pain."
*****
"Where are we going next, Dad?" Honami asked. After a few minutes of exploring, we left the White Room ruins and are now headed somewhere else. The two came here with us, as well.
"The cemetery." I said. "I want to pay my respects."
"Why are you two still sticking around?" Kei asked.
"We just wanted to spend some time with our respective romantic partners before school starts, since we're in different classes." Shin said.
"While we wanted to go on a date together, we recognize just how important this trip is for you, so we decided to just come with you instead!" Miharu said cheerfully.
It didn't take long for us to reach our destination, though we did stop at some shops in order to buy some flowers that I will be using to pay respects. Once we got there, we walked towards her grave, only to see someone familiar already there.
"Hello, Hikari." I greeted the strawberry blond haired woman. She turned to me and bowed slightly.
"It's nice to see you again, Ayanokouji-senpai." she greeted me. "Are you here to visit my older sister?"
"Yes." I said as I looked at the grave in front of Hikari.
The grave had the name "Ichinose Honami" engraved on it.
"So this is the person I was named after, Dad?" Honami asked as she approached the grave.
"Yeah. The kindest woman I've ever known." I said, while putting bluebell flowers on her grave, representing kindness. Kei stayed silent, not refuting my statement, especially considering how true it is.
Miharu smiled sadly as she also offered flowers to her grave as well.
I distinctly remembered how she died. Just as me and Kei were escaping, she took a bullet to the chest that would have hit us if she didn't get in the way.
"I just... hope that you would be happy... with Karuizawa-san. I will always... love you..."
"It's an honor to be named after such a person." she smiled.
"Thank you, Honami." Hikari said to her.
"Hey Dad!" Suzuki waved at me, looking at another grave. "Is this the person I was named after?"
It was the grave of Horikita Suzune.
"Yes, Suzuki." I smiled as I approached her grave.
"It looks like you're visiting their graves before your children comes to the school, Kiyotaka." A voice spoke from behind us. It was Horikita Manabu and his wife, Horikita Akane.
"Manabu. It's nice to see you again." I said.
"That's Prime Minister Horikita to you!" Horikita Akane rebuked me. "Honestly, you've always been so rude!"
"I've allowed it, Akane. Don't worry about it." he said.
"Good morning, Prime Minister." both of my children greeted him, as well as the other two.
"At least your children are respectful." Mrs. Horikita smiled at the two.
"It's nice to meet you, Sakayanagi Shin, I have heard that you would be a classmate to my daughter." Manabu greeted him.
"Ah yes, Horikita Shizuku. I have heard great things about her. I am looking forward to meeting her in person." he said.
I then glanced at my daughter, who was smiling happily at the mention of Manabu's daughter. The two are actually close friends and rivals, though I have heard that Shizuku had an interest in another guy. I was just thankful that this wouldn't result in a love triangle, something that I am really sick of dealing with, after Kei and Ichinose.
"So what kind of person is Horikita Suzune, Dad?"
"She was quite the flawed individual in the beginning. Thankfully, she managed to grow as a person and become someone greater. She died before she managed to do something great, unfortunately." I said, putting Amaryllis flowers in her grave, which symbolizes pride and determination.
Her death was similar to Ichinose's except that she died in a hospital bed days after she had been shot.
"I'm glad that I fought alongside my brother like that. I hope you enjoy the rest of your peaceful life, Ayanokouji-kun."
I looked at all of the graves of the casualties of the White Room Raid, and remembered about all the ones I witnessed.
Sudou Ken
"Make sure that bastard pays for what he did to his son, Kiyotaka!"
Kanzaki Ryuuji
"You've helped our class a lot in ANHS, Ayanokouji. Let me repay the favor now."
Yamada Albert and Ishizaki Daichi
"We got you, bro. Go on now!"
"This is Ryuuen-san's orders!"
Amasawa Ichika
"I'm glad that I... fought alongside my beloved senpai..."
Nanase Tsubasa
"Don't worry... about me... Ayanokouji-senpai. I'm going to where... Eiichiro-kun is now..."
Even her...
"I'm sorry... for ruining your peaceful life for my... stupid dream..."
Chabashira Sae.
A small tear then formed in my eye as I stared at the graves of my fallen allies.
"Kiyotaka." Manabu spoke. "We don't blame you about all of this in the slightest."
He then approached me and touched my shoulders.
"We don't regret freeing you from that place back then. All of us believed that we did the right thing. We were all ready to risk our lives for this, so don't blame yourself. It was us who decided to do this." he said.
"None of us has regrets, so you shouldn't."
I was silent. I couldn't say anything. Regardless of everything they say about the situation, I couldn't help but feel that guilt inside of me.
I don't regret getting my emotions back, but this... is troublesome.
*****
"Hello, Kiyopon!" Haruka waved at me as I entered the restaurant. Akito, Airi, Keisei, and Hiyori were also there.
Ever since I have gained my freedom, the former Ayanokouji Group reconnected with me, forgiving my cruel act against Airi during our second year. Hiyori had actually joined the group post-graduation, but did not join the raid, and simply elected to help expose the White Room further by writing a book about it, since she became a successful author who wrote several best-selling mystery novels.
The others also had very successful lives post-graduation. Airi had become a manager of an idol group after retiring as an idol herself, Keisei had become a successful lawyer, and Akito and Haruka marrying each other, with the former becoming a policeman, and the latter becoming an accountant.
"Why are you still calling me that, Haruka? We're all adults here." I asked, sighing tiredly at the nickname.
"Because Kiyopon is Kiyopon, no matter how old you get!" she said.
"Just leave it, Kiyotaka-kun." Airi giggled. "You know that Haruka-san's never going to change her mind about that."
"I know, but I still want to try."
Both me and Kei sat down and got our orders. After a while of speaking, Keisei spoke up.
"So your kids are attending ANHS tomorrow?" he asked.
"Yes." I said. "It's sad that we won't be able to see them for three years, but it's for their future."
"You're right. What class are they?"
"Class-D." I said. The others widened their eyes in surprise.
"Both of them?" Hiyori asked.
"Yes." Kei said. "I can understand, though. While both of them are geniuses and are really strong, they are both defective in some way."
She's right. Honami, while incredibly well-spoken, is shy around strangers and is incredibly socially inept around people that aren't family or friends. She is also... insane and sadistic, in a way. She was like Horikita Suzune in that regard except less harsh and more self-aware.
Suzuki, meanwhile, caused an entire class to collapse through his manipulation. Because some of the girls in that class had antagonized Honami, he decided to take revenge by seducing those same girls, who were quite influential in their class, and caused a chain reaction that led to that entire class collapsing. While he was caring to his loved ones, he is incredibly lacking in empathy when it comes to everyone else, though he always had a charming and kind exterior.
Now that I think about it, the two are extremely similar to Kushida and Horikita, except they're very friendly with one another.
"Well, they won't be Class-D for long." Akito noted. "Both of them can probably get to Class-A by the first or second special exam."
"I don't doubt it." Keisei agreed with him. "I just know those two are probably going to cause chaos in the school."
"It probably wouldn't be so easy though." I said. "Miharu is in Class-B, while Shin and Manabu's daughter, Shizuku, is in Class-A."
"Hm, yeah, that is some stiff competition." Akito muttered.
"For now, let's just enjoy hanging out together you guys!" Haruka said. "It's rare for us to all have free time like this, especially Kiyopon and Kei, so let's just all eat!"
"Yeah!"
I'm truly glad that I'm friends with all of them.
*****
"What's going on here?"
Right now, something incredibly bizarre was happening.
When we have arrived at the house, my children said that some man had suddenly appeared inside the house. What was apparently weird about this man was the fact that...
"He looks like me."
"No, Honami-nee-san, he looks like me!"
They were either hallucinating or are lying to my face, because the man looks like me. However, he was wearing a three-piece suit like a butler. He was also smirking, watching us be confused by his appearance.
"You guys are lying, this guy looks like me." Kei remarked. "Although that suit doesn't fit me at all."
So the man's wearing the same outfit regardless of who's looking, huh?
"Well, all joking aside, we know what your deal is." Suzuki said.
"You're casting an illusion on anyone that looks at you that will make you look like whatever the viewer looks like." Honami said.
"Correct!" The man spoke for the first time. "As expected of the Ayanokouji family, I guess. Although the fact that you went straight for a supernatural answer is quite baffling."
"We're quite open-minded. You suddenly appeared in front of us without warning and your appearance changes depending on who's looking at you. The answer has to be supernatural." Honami replied.
"You're not wrong."
"So who are you and what are you doing here?" I asked.
"No need to be so hostile." the man said. "As for who I am, just call me "Author"."
"What are you doing here, then?" Kei asked.
Suddenly, everything went black. The house we were in disappeared and our surroundings became pitch black. We can still see each other, though.
"Simple. I'm giving you all a second chance. A chance to do it all over again."
The being snapped his fingers, and the Ayanokouji Group appeared. Both Miharu and Shin also appeared.
"Eh? Where are we?"
"W-What's going on, Kiyotaka-kun?"
"Hello, Haruka-san, Keisei-san, Akito-san, Airi-san, and Hiyori-san!" Honami greeted then all. "You're also here too, Shin and Miharu-chan!"
"Hi, Honami-chan!" Haruka then proceeded to hug her. The others then greeted my two children. I simply turned to the man, who was still smirking.
"What is happening, Honami?" Shin asked.
"What do you mean, a second chance?" I asked.
"You know very well what I mean, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."
"Time travel, huh?"
"Kiyopon, please explain." Haruka said nervously. I sighed, and began explaining.
"This being who calls himself "Author" suddenly appeared in my house and then put us all here." I said. "He's essentially offering us the the chance to time travel to the past in order to amend our mistakes."
"Is that even possible?" Keisei was skeptical.
"I mean, this guy put us in this weird black dimension of some sort. It's probably possible for him." Haruka replied to him.
"What's the catch?" I asked.
"Entertain me. That's all." he said.
"Entertain you?"
"Yes, that's the condition. Make your second chance as chaotic and unpredictable as possible. Though don't do things like ruin people's lives permanently or something like that, because that's not entertaining at all."
"So in what year are we going back to?" I asked.
"You'll figure it out when you arrive."
"What about my children, and these two? What about this life that I'm leading right now?"
"These children, huh?" he then turned to Honami, Suzuki, Shin, and Miharu. "First, let me explain how this time travel's going to work."
Two threads then appeared in front of the Author. One was colored white while one was colored light gray.
"Let's just say that this is your timeline." he gestured towards the white thread. "Normally, time travel is about reverting you back in time in your timeline. However, that would be way too boring. So instead, I'm putting you in this other timeline."
He pointed towards the light gray thread.
"Is that really time travel in that case?" Honami asked. "That's more like going to an alternate universe or something like that."
"You can say that." he said. "However, this other timeline is mostly similar to yours. Sakura Airi is still an idol, Yukimura... Teruhiko still has a horrible mother, Miyake Akito is still a delinquent, and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka is still the masterpiece of the White Room."
The others flinched at the mention of the White Room, but I narrowed my eyes.
"Mostly similar, huh?"
"As expected of you, you realized. There are some differences." he smirked. "Maybe some people will gain a sibling or two, maybe they'll have a different personality, maybe their fates will change a little bit, maybe there are people that will appear that wasn't there before. You'll just have to find out about those differences yourself."
"Differences, huh?" I sighed. "So? Answer my question. What happens to my life here and my kids if I accept your offer?"
"As for your life, it will still continue forward like normal, you just wouldn't be there to experience it." he said. "If any of you are confused, I won't explain it. Too complicated."
"As for the children, I'm giving them a choice. " he continued. "Either they stay in the present or they come with you. If you stay here, when you wake up tomorrow, you will be put in this alternate timeline, with all of the changes your parents and their friends have made. If you come with them, I'll have to adjust things a bit to make sure you're not both considered... ghosts that shouldn't exist, so to speak."
He then stared intently at the four. Considering their personalities, though, I already know their answer.
"We'll come."
"Great! Well then, are you all ready?!" he said with a smile.
"You already know we're not going to refuse, huh?" I remarked.
"You all want to get a second chance at this, so why would any of you refuse?" he asked.
"You're right." Kei sighed. "So, how are we time travelling?"
"You're essentially taking over the bodies of your younger selves at that time period, so if you're separated, that means you'll have to find each other! Pretty simple."
"That's going to make things incredibly difficult..."
"Don't worry. I'll be giving you all a little bit of a headstart."
"What do you mean?" Hiyori asked.
"You'll know when you get there." he answered. "So, once again, I'm going to ask, are you all ready?!"
"Yes!" All of us said. I then turned towards all of them.
"Everyone. This is going to be incredibly risky. Our victory here is not guaranteed." I said, but then I chuckled causing the others to be confused.
"Well, theoretically speaking, our victory isn't guaranteed." I continued. "However, I'm here. That's enough to change that, isn't it?"
They all chuckled at this remark.
"This time, we will save everyone." I said with determination.
"You've definitely changed, Kiyotaka." Kei commented. "If this was you from highschool saying that, I would have ran away in fear."
"That's rude, Kei. You know what?" I said, then I swiftly kissed her on the cheeks, causing her to blush massively.
"What the hell!" she said.
"Just felt like it." I responded, causing everyone to chuckle.
"I never thought that we would have an extended date." Shin joked, causing Honami to smile wryly.
"I wonder what Dad is like in the past." Miharu wondered.
"You'll be disappointed, Miharu-san." Kei shook her head, probably remembering the rooftop incident.
"Okay, that's enough for now." the Author said. "It's time for you to go."
"Good luck."
With that, my vision went white, as I lost consciousness.
*****
March 17, 2014
Ayanokouji Mansion
Have I returned back?
I felt sluggish, as I had just woken up from a good sleep. When I looked around, I saw a familiar room.
I see, so I'm already staying at the mansion at this point. This means that I have at least one year before I attend ANHS. This is a headstart, alright.
I got up from my bed, and just as I did so, the door to my room opened up. At first, I thought it was Matsuo that was going to enter. Instead, it was a girl with medium-length black hair with golden eyes and a blank expression, like a female version of me.
(A/N: If you want to imagine what she looks like, just think of Stelle from Honkai Star Rail but instead of gray hair, she has black hair.)
"You're awake, Kiyotaka-nii-san." she said. My eyes slightly widened at what she said.
Differences, huh?
=end of chapter=
(A/N: And that's the end of the prologue! What do you all think? This fic was inspired by two other time travel COTE fanfics, The Returners by RiverAlpha and The Unfamiliar Familiar World by Kiraishin. Both had really great concepts, so I wanted to use those concepts here, but that's really where the similarities end. Now, I have a few things I want to address.
First, this is going to be crossover fic as well. There would be characters that will be appearing from other series here. As for who, you'll just have to read on to find out.
Second, if you think this Ayanokouji is OOC, he has been out of the WR for 17 years now and has a wife and kids. Getting his freedom and getting his emotions back within that time makes the change in personality possible enough. Still, that doesn't mean that his ruthlessness is gone, because it's still there.
Third, the story would not be beginning immediately in ANHS. There would be a Volume 0 first, which will detail Ayanokouji's new life before he gets to ANHS as well as reuniting with the others that time travelled with him.
Fourth, Kiyo will not be too unreliable when it comes to narration, so he's going to be very honest when it comes to who he considers his friends, who he considers his tools, and who he considers his students, but he is still going to be vague about certain plans that he has.
However, unreliable narration is genetic in this fic. That's all I'm going to say.
And finally, this is going to be a KiyotakaxHarem fic. Yes, you see that correctly. While I am a massive KiyoKei fan, as my other fics will tell you, that doesn't mean that I'm not open to other pairings, or in this case, a harem. Of course, there is going to be a reason in-story as to how this becomes possible, but yes, he's going to have a harem. It's not going to be very large, though.
That will be all for now. I hope you all enjoy this story.)