Chapter Text
White Room. An educational facility with the goal of raising a perfect human being while excluding unnecessary weaknesses. It aimed to create a human that could excel in any field and be of use to any company. Be it the perfect athlete, engineer, soldier, politician. The main objective was to form a person rid of impurities that could be marketed and sold to the highest bidder.
Unfortunately, you could never facilitate perfect results while using the same methods every single time. That was why several different generations were formed from the ground, taught from birth everything that was needed.
Each generation that came after the first had something changed to its course. Some had a deeper focus on building one's body or cramming as much information into a human brain as possible.
Yet out of the hundreds of children that were raised through the first 4 generations only one succeeded where others failed.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was the only survivor of the so-called Demonic 4th Generation that according to his father, Professor Ayanokouji, was put under the most strenuous conditions. Especially the young brown-haired child that exceeded all expectations.
“Why bother with trying to recreate that effect now when we could simply harden our already perfect product.” Kiyotaka’s father said as he observed the pure white room his progeny was in. The young child was sitting on a plain white colored wooden chair as he moved his queen piece into an occupied spot, knocking over an enemy black horse. “He already exceeded all expectations, having the capability to outthink and put smart an adult chess master in a manner of 10 moves, defeat an adult bodyguard with a simple police baton as his weapon and write a thesis without any supervision.”
A prodigy born under extreme circumstances. Most investors could only salivate at the thought of obtaining such a powerful pawn and stashing it away in a corner until it needed to be played.
Most investors, as one gazed down at the scene and could only frown in sadness at the cruelty of humanity. Sakayanagi Narumori was a wealthy businessman with an upon and coming government project that was slowly gaining speed and being constructed. His own goals weren’t too far off from what the White Room desired. He wished to nurture new generations into better human beings that could further Japan and help their country grow.
Of course, every plan he made was put through a deep inspection by the government and only given a green light if it didn’t violate any human right. Unlike the white hellscape that he was now walking through he wished to see people from all backgrounds, no matter how varied become better while retaining their true personality and sense of self. He didn’t wish to create humans without emotions and manufactured like factory products like the young child below him. ‘Any human should be able to live out their life however they wish to…’
The white-haired man gritted his teeth and stayed quiet while walking behind the main orchestrator of the whole experiment, momentarily forgetting about his own charge that the brought with him.
Sakayanagi Arisu stared with wide eyes and hand touching the large glass window as the mysterious boy beat grandmaster after grandmaster at the interesting game she took to observing. Her violet eyes carefully watched the unchanging expression on her new fascinations face as his every move was fluid and calculated, betraying nothing but overwhelming victory and might.
It was without a doubt that the 7-year-old was deeply attached to the game and the brown-haired player. Her young mind wondered of scenarios where she had the chance to fight against him. Yes, a truly spectacular battle that would be remembered for ages to come, one that would shake the very foundations of logic and she would come out on top!
Yes, Arisu was determined to master the beautiful game of strategy and crush her new best friend. (She was reassuring herself that that was how you made friends for life.)
The young girl walked over to her father, her cane lightly tapping the ground with each step as she neared his taller figure. As soon as she reached him her petite hand tugged at the hem of his shirt. “Father.”
Her tone betrayed none of her inner storm of thoughts as she faced her maker with unwavering resolve.
Narumori turned around and kneeled down next to his daughter, a kind smile hidden his displeasure at watching the scene down below of children being subjected to further agony. “What is it darling?”
“Would you grant me the chance to learn that magnificent game and the opportunity to face my friend in battle in a months' time?”
The elder Sakayanagi could only stare in perplexed confusion at his daughter before losing any type of resistance to her idea as she pouted adorably.
That was how the next 31 days passed without a hitch and Arisu found herself face to face with her new opponent.
They were situated in a plain white guest room, only two chairs opposite of each other and a simple table with a chess board already painted onto it. 32 pieces were already taking up half the available positions as the excited girl was joined by Kiyotaka.
The boy glanced around the room for 2 seconds before joining the new face he hadn’t seen before.
She could feel butterflies in her stomach as her best friend joined her for a game. His blank face betrayed nothing while she struggled to maintain composure. Her cane almost fell out of her lap as she fidgeted in her seat at his intensive gaze.
The young boy on his end simply walked up and took a seat before his new opponent. ‘No camera’s inside the room. Only one way inside and no visible windows. Chance of attack minimal as the only other breathing creature in the room has to use a cane for proper movement. Lack of wheelchair shows a sign that she might still be able to attack if given a proper opportunity and opening. Better to stay on guard.’ “Are you my new opponent?”
The iliac haired girl smiled kindly and bowed her head at his question. “Fufufu, indeed. How about we first introduce ourselves and skip other pleasantries so that we might relish in our fated duel. I’m Sakayanagi Arisu.”
Kiyotaka didn’t understand what the girl was talking about. Relishing in their duel? He never felt anything while fighting others and wouldn’t start now. “Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.”
With that the former took control of the white pieces and the latter commanded the white ones.
2 weeks before the match that was now unfolding Arisu had proudly proclaimed to her father that a false genius born under extreme duress wouldn’t be able to stand up to her. After all, greatness was in her blood and victory in her pocket. She would prove that she could soundly best the brown-haired boy and proclaim her superiority. ‘I’ll have him admit defeat after one match.’
10 matches later and Arisu was pouting adorably at her now definitely true best friend Kiyotaka and clutching her dress. “Can’t you show at least a little bit of compassion to your best friend that you just defeated again?!”
“Sorry.” Said Ayanokouji in the blandest tone possible. “You got better after the first match. You first admitted defeat after 8 moves before lasting for 15 on the next one.” He started grabbing his pieces and putting them back in place. His hands worked in tandem as one placed his own back while the other, for some reason he couldn’t understand, placed her white ones back.
“After that you steadily improved and got better at predicting my actions, setting up your own counters and even taking my queen in our 8th match. After that this fight had been your best, had you not blundered during your second counterattack you’d have had a higher number of my pieces knocked over.” He explained and sat stoically in his seat without moving. While others would have taken his delivery as him mocking them Arisu preened and his words and leaned in to be closer.
She carefully hanged onto his every word and couldn’t help herself but be lost in them. The young Sakayanagi wasn’t at a proper age to realize what sort of concrete emotions were coursing through her body but of one thing, she was sure. From now one Kiyotaka and her share a special bond that will never be replicated by anyone else. She will forever be his only equal. “T-Thank you…”
This wasn’t normal for her, she never stuttered like this. Arisu knew something was wrong the longer she sat with the boy before her. But… “C-Can we play another round? Please…” …She couldn’t stop herself at this point.
“Sure.” Was his short reply, and his partner gave him the most cheerful smile he had ever seen.
His brown eyes widened by the smallest length as he witnessed an expression he had only ever read about. A pure smile that hid nothing malicious behind it. It made him want to be able to bask in its light again. Kiyotaka wished to reach out and grab that warmth once more.
A neglected child that feels warmth for the first time will burn down his entire village to experience it once more.
——
Fast forward 8 years and Kiyotaka was trying his best to acclimate to his new environment, a high school.
He stared aimlessly at his student ID card that supposedly was the only way to actually pay for anything while inside the premise of the school. The prodigy had already wandered around the area after their first period and introductory class had ended and they were allowed to get acclimated with the new environment. “100000 points to use however we like.”
Chabashira Sae explained everything to them about the system and structure of the school and his classmates took it at face value, accepting the ‘free’ money and going to town with it. They all seemed far too excited by the prospect of something being given with no strings attached that they stopped looking at the true meaning behind their teacher’s words.
“It that what the books referred to as humanities greed for owning more than they should?” It very much so interested Ayanokouji that people could so quickly turn on a dime. His fascination with the wide array of human behavior that was being displayed almost had his stalk some of them to the nearest shopping mall and see what else they would do. He quickly slapped that idea out of his head and relocated himself to some small convenience store to buy supplies for himself.
While inside Kiyotaka noticed how almost every type of essential product, ranging from soaps, toothbrushes and cleaning supplies had a free variant. Even some deodorant to ensure classes wouldn’t smell like a pigsty. “For people who ran out of points?”
That did make sense on a basic level. A guaranty that some people didn’t suddenly have diseases breeding in their sink because they couldn’t afford basic cleaning supplies. But that would only encourage patterns, he argued. Some morons would spend everything they had on unnecessary items before opting to take something from the free aisle.
The school boasted that it churned out perfect members of society each year that could enter any college they wanted and a great employment rate, no matter where or when. That sort of situation wouldn’t be possible with students recklessly spending all they had knowing there’s free items wherever they look. That’s not how society works, at least from the books Ayanokouji had read. “That means there must be a reason why some people wouldn’t be able to afford basic supplies.”
Chabashira-sensei did hint at something while everyone was gushing about the amount of money. “Is there a reason as to why someone wouldn’t have any points at the start of the next month?”
Unfortunately for now his theory would remain a theory as he lacked concrete information and evidence to back up his claims.
Just for safe measures he grabbed one of each free product and went to the checkout. And to his surprise they were indeed free as had been marked. The cashier hadn’t even flinched when he bought the supposedly inferior product, showing how used she was to the situation. That meant that there must be at least a substantial number of students in each year that had run out of points.
More pieces were put into place when he went outside and saw one of his classmates getting harassed by some seniors, calling him defective for being in class D. ‘A hierarchy perhaps?’
Kiyotaka opted to interfere in the conflict and help out his classmates whose name he learned was Sudo. He defused the situation by stating that starting an argument in front of a camera wasn’t a very good idea.
Pointing out the fact that there was a camera didn’t seem to surprise the three seniors but the fact that it was a freshman pointing it out was what made them back away, muttering something about a Class A freak appearing.
After a short conversation with the red headed classmate Ayanokouji walked away quietly and left the premise to find his housing complex.
The night sky was already overtaking the light as he reached his building. In total he noted the existence of four major apartment blocks. He arrived at the conclusion that each one must be dedicated to a given year and the last one for the staff members.
He walked in through the front door and greeted the receptionist at the ground level and found out where his room is located at. Thanking her for her help and the key card, Kiyotaka walked up to the elevator and pressed the call button. He waited patiently for it to arrive and when it did, he stepped inside.
A sizable 2 meters by 2 meters square elevator with mind numbing music raised up into the air as it reached the fourth floor. The trip lasted less than 15 seconds as he arrived at his destination and searched for his designated room. “401…”
Thankfully the door with the appropriate name card was right next to the elevator so Ayanokouji entered through it before anyone could notice he was ever there.
The room had white walls and a light wooden floor. He noticed the lack of a carpet and wondered if that was something he needed to buy himself. “Providing only the basic necessities to sustain life.”
Kiyotaka put down his plastic bag filled with essentials and took out one of the ramen cups be bought.
Following the instructions on the bottom of the flimsy plastic he started to boil water in an electrical kettle and went back to his bag. He pulled out a roll of bandages and antibiotics ointments. The teen quickly entered the bathroom and reapplied everything to his right arm, making sure to leave some space for his skin to breathe.
Finishing his business, Ayanokouji decided to browse the internet while on a school mandated cellphone and wait for the water to finish reaching 100 degrees.
Thankful only a minute later he was alerted that the kettle had finished its duty, and that he could ready his food. Opening the plastic cup was easy enough, not requiring any substantial amount of force and he poured the steaming water into the container and let it simmer.
As it cooked and the smell of soggy noodles filled the room Kiyotaka laid down in his bed and stared blankly at the white ceiling above his head. “Some things never change.”
He ate his food quietly before changing into sleeping ware and turning off the lights in his room. As his head snuggled to the pillow, he began to dream of warmth that he oh so missed.
For the first time he truly felt like a free bird, soaring through the skies of opportunity. The chains that once bound him to the ground had vanished momentarily.
While most people chose to go to the Advanced Nurturing High School for the offer of a shinning future, he desired to live on his own terms. To finally stop being manipulated by others and live however he wants.
Kiyotaka turned in bed and faced the wall as sleep slowly took him. The school forbade any interaction with the outside world. Even information on the changes of the world were severely limited to what the schools' systems allowed to pass through. If he closed his eyes the entire school looked far too close to his previous place of living. “Trying to create better members of society by giving them a semblance of freedom…”
Everything went dark and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka completed the first day of his new life.