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A Truth Unveiled
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At eighteen, Kazue thought he knew everything about his life. He grew up in a warm, nurturing household with his loving mother and a father who, though often distant due to his work, was a figure he respected. Kazue inherited his mother’s pale white hair, soft and flowing like silver, but his golden eyes—sharp and intense—were unmistakably his father’s. He was the cherished child, the product of a carefully built life, or so he believed.
It was the night of his 18th birthday when everything changed.
He was alone in the family library, a quiet space filled with his father's collection of books on philosophy, science, and psychology. His mother had retired early after a small birthday celebration, but his father had promised to talk to him later in the evening. Kazue waited, curiosity growing—his father had been acting strange for weeks, his eyes holding something unspoken whenever they lingered on Kazue.
Finally, the door creaked open, and his father entered. For a moment, there was only silence, the kind that felt heavy with meaning. Kazue straightened in his chair, waiting for his father to speak, but when he did, it wasn’t a greeting or a birthday wish.
“Kazue, there’s something you need to know.”
His father's voice was calm, but there was a tension beneath it, one Kazue had never heard before. A faint shiver crept up his spine.
“What is it, Dad?” Kazue asked, sensing the gravity of the moment.
His father walked to the large window, staring out into the night. “You are a fine son, Kazue. You’ve grown exactly as I had hoped into someone strong, capable, kind. But there are… things you don’t know. Things I haven’t told you.”
Kazue’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”
His father’s hand tightened on the windowsill. “You’re not my only child.”
The words hit Kazue like a blow. Another child? He had never heard a whisper of this before. Was this some mistake? A lie?
“There’s someone else,” his father continued, his voice low. “A boy, not much younger than you. His name is Kiyotaka.”
Kazue struggled to process this. “But… why have I never met him? Why have you never mentioned him?”
His father turned then, and Kazue saw something rare in his expression—regret. “Because he isn’t like you, Kazue. You were raised in a home full of love. But Kiyotaka… he was born out of something else entirely.”
And then, for the first time, Kazue’s father explained the White Room.
A secret facility where Kiyotaka had been raised—not as a child, but as a subject in an experiment. His mother had been a nameless woman, paid to bear a child created for one purpose: perfection. Kiyotaka had been tested, moulded, and trained from the moment he could walk, all to fulfill their father’s twisted dream of creating a superior human being. No warmth, no family, only cold calculation.
Kazue felt his throat tighten. His father, the man he admired, had done this?
“You created him for this… White Room?” Kazue asked, his voice strained. “Why?”
His father sighed, looking suddenly older. “I’ve always sought to push the limits of human potential. Kiyotaka was an experiment—my attempt to forge someone beyond ordinary human limits. But he was never meant to live a normal life. You were. You were always meant to be the one who would carry on our family, the one with a true heart. Kiyotaka… he’s something else.”
Kazue stood abruptly, his chest tight with anger and disbelief. “He’s your son, too. You used him, cast him aside like a tool!”
“I gave him what he was made for,” his father said, his voice cool. “He doesn’t need a family. He doesn’t want one.”
Kazue’s mind reeled. How could this be real? How could their father have done this—to Kiyotaka, to him? All these years, he had lived in blissful ignorance, unaware of the half-brother who had been condemned to a life of suffering, isolated from everything Kazue had known.
“Does he even know about me?” Kazue asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
“No,” his father replied simply. “He doesn’t need to.”
But Kazue couldn’t accept that. How could he? This wasn’t just about Kiyotaka’s existence—it was about the betrayal of everything Kazue had believed in. His father wasn’t the man he thought he was. The family he thought was whole was fractured by secrets, lies, and a twisted obsession with perfection.
Kazue clenched his fists, a storm of emotions brewing inside him. “I want to meet him.”
His father’s face hardened. “Kazue, that isn’t wise. He’s not like you. Kiyotaka is… different.”
“I don’t care,” Kazue said, his voice firm. “He’s my brother. I have a right to know him.”
His father stared at him for a long moment, then sighed deeply. “If that’s what you want… then you’ll have to find him yourself. But don’t expect a family reunion. He isn’t looking for you.”
Kazue didn’t respond. His heart had already made the decision.
That night, he lay awake, staring at the ceiling, his mind consumed by the truth. He had a brother. A brother who had been denied the life Kazue had been given so freely. And no matter what his father said, Kazue couldn’t turn away from that. He couldn’t leave Kiyotaka in the shadows, not when he had the chance to bring him into the light.
His father’s words echoed in his mind, warning him, trying to keep him away from Kiyotaka. But Kazue’s heart was too kind, too full of the love he had always known, to walk away from the family he had just discovered.
For the first time in his life, Kazue knew what he had to do. He would find Kiyotaka. He would meet his brother. And no matter what it took, he would bring him out of the darkness his father had cast him into.
The journey to find his brother had just begun.
YOU ARE READING
COTE:SHATTERED BONDS
Fanfiction▪︎◇ CLASSROOM OF THE ELITE PRESENT TO YOU: SHATTERED BONDS ▪︎◇ At the prestigious Advanced Nurturing High School, where competition and manipulation are the keys to success, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka has lived a life of isolation, shaped by the cold and c...
