Assassin! Ishimaru Kiyotaka

The beginning

( so fair warning, this story so far has 4 chapters of backstory before it gets to the real tale. If that's not your thing, you can skip to the 5th chapter, though you might be lost, or you can not read it. I really don't care if you do or not. This story is already posted on AO3, I just wanted to see if it would do well on Wattpad. So without futher ado!)

Kiyotaka Ishimaru had always been good at following instructions. So good in fact, one could almost make the assumption he was the world's best at following instructions.
An Ultimate Moral Compass, if you will.
At a very young age, Kiyotaka was taught the history of his name, of the success and imminent destruction of his late Grandfather and ex-Prime Minister, Toranosuke Ishimaru. Hearing of the corrupt scandals and media press spread about his grandfather, and how it had completely ruined his family's name and honor, Kiyotaka had vowed to do everything in his power to bring the Ishimaru name back from the grave and make headlines of his success.
During his youth, he had never had much time to connect with other children or garner many other interests besides his school studies. His parents had worried he was going to overwork himself, and would frequently give him lectures about burnout and proper nutrition. He would simply smile at them and assure he would be fine. Somewhere in his young mind, he had made the decision that his life was only meant to make his parents proud. Make his family name proud. Hobbies and friends would only get in the way.

Kiyotaka had become a moral figure for many students by the time he had entered junior high. His strict militant outlook on school in general had gotten him the distasteful nickname of 'hall monitor' and 'rule hound'. Teachers fought to have him in their classes, admiring his strict attitude and helpful nature. But the students were another story. Kiyotaka was constantly bombarded with hated nicknames, insults, glaring looks, sneers and jeers alike. Being the resident goody-two shoes, of course most everyone avoided him in fear of being reported for rules they found silly. It took him a little bit to get used to this treatment of his classmates, not understanding their hatred for him. But he soon came to realize that none of it mattered. All he needed to do was keep a clean reputation to achieve his desires. And that's exactly what he did. He would chastise students who were out of line, and praise those who followed the rules. He didn't care if that made him hated. He didn't care how many glares he got, or how many threatened him with violence. He didn't care how many times he would come home with a busted lip or a bruised cheek from a delinquent who got too fed up. He would continue to live as he always had.
That is until during his final high school year, he received a letter from Hope's Peak Academy. The most esteemed college in the country. Kiyotaka had never felt more happiness in any moment of his life until that moment. It felt as if his life was finally clicking into place.

His expectation of college living was cracked a bit when he arrived at Hope's Peak. Sure, the students there were a little bit harder working than in high school, but he had expected more people to be like him. He had visibly frowned when he had figured out just how many parties happened nightly. One too many. But he couldn't complain too much. Classes were held to a rigid schedule and students who refused to accustom to that lifestyle got a rude awakening. Kiyotaka, much like every other year of his school life, excelled in his classes and quickly became a favorite of his teachers.

Taka always studied in the library. It was quieter and more cozy than his dorm room. His neighbors weren't the quietest people plus it seemed only people who were serious about their studies went to the library.
He had two books on physics currently laying across the table, a spiral notebook laying atop the two thick books. His ruby eyes scanned back and forth, across the pages and the formulas. His hand had begun to cramp as he scrawled down each important phrase and string of numbers. He sighed softly, leaning back in the old wooden chair that creaked beneath his weight. He rolled his wrists absentmindedly and heard the soft pops and cracks as they sighed in relief.
As he was reaching across the table to grab his electrolyte flavored water (Hydration and proper nutrition are important kids) that's when he noticed it. A group of brightly dressed youth were staring at him from across the isles of educational content. They stood out among the academics who had regularly gathered, bright dyed hair and vulgar shirts, their chains and multiple pieces of jewelry clinked with each movement. They eyed up Kiyotaka, turning and whispering to each other, a few snickers thrown in for good measure. Kiyotaka narrowed his eyes, grumbling to himself as he took a swig from his water bottle and adjusted his crisp white uniform. He averted his eyes from their prying gazes and voices dripping with desires to bring him down with them. He had no intention of speaking with any of the delinquents, and lesser intentions of letting them keep his focus from the physics papers in front of him.
He picked up the worn pencil again, letting his mind slowly wrap around each word his eyes picked apart, their secrets collecting in his mind as they whispered knowledge of ages past into his ears. He was nearly done with the chapter he had been working on when a soft "ahem" crashed his thought train, destroying any hope of reaching its destination.
His pencil froze, midword, as he turned to assess the distraction.
Kiyotaka laid his eyes upon one of the troublemakers from down the hall. A tall lanky man with bright red hair and an equally vibrant goatee growing from his pointed chin. His silver necklaces shimmered in the sunlight that filtered through the dusty library window. It hurt Kiyotaka's eyes.
"Hey there!", the boy sauntered up, his hand that didn't occupy his metal studded pockets flew to his hair, scratching absentmindedly and nervously at the back of his head. The noise was grating.
"The name's Leon, Leon kuwata." The scraggly boy held out his hand in an awkward display.
His nails were short cut, it seemed to be from a nervous biting habit, Kiyotaka mused to himself. Dirt coated each nail bed, some half covered in the remnants of a chipped black polish, following up slender fingers and thin wrists. Easy to break, if things got out of hand. Kiyotaka thought, a bloom of frustration clawing its way to the front of his mind. Multiple bracelets that jangled at Leon's movement peeked through the offwhite jacket he wore. Kiyotaka merely glanced at his extended hand, before returning his gaze to the books, ignoring Leon. He tried to disregard the shadow blotting his perfect study environment.
Leon made a noise in the back of his throat, letting his hand fall to his side, before trying a different approach. He leaned over the boy's shoulder, putting one hand on the back of his chair, and the other on the blank space on his desk.
"Whatcha studying? Physics?" Leon snorted, a disgusting noise. "I've never been much good at it." His voice shook barely, so soft that if you didn't have a trained ear it would be unnoticable, as if being in kiyotaka's presence made his nerves jump. Good.
Kiyotaka once again ignored Leon's spurr for conversation, but his mind was far from the comforting lull of academic information he was in moments before. He sighed inwardly, feeling his teeth begin to grind as his hand struggled to transfer what his eyes were taking in. Leon smelled of cheap cologne and cigarettes. But also of dyed leather and sports chalk. It irritated Kiyotaka's eyes and made them water.
He realized the only way to make Leon leave would be to engage and kindly ask him to, else the fiery red head would keep pestering.
Kiyotaka clenched his pencil tighter, clenching his jaw before letting out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding, and let his muscles relax. He put the pencil down, and raised his head slightly. He refused to engage any more than that.
"What do you want", Kiyotaka said in a level and calm tone he had mastered over years of dealing with people like Leon.
The boy perked up instantly, moving to stand as direct into Kiyotaka's view as the table would allow.
"Great! So my friends and I" he gestured back to the group of teens, "are having a chill party in the dorm commons room and I recognized you from my hall! I haven't seen you around much and I uh... wanted to know if you were interested in coming. It's tonight-"
Leon spoke in a rapid fire spit, his hands never staying at his sides as they fiddled with his necklace, picked at his nails, and tugged on his tied beard.