KiyoxKei (School Reunion!)

School Reunion-12(Revelation Arc-Ichinose Realisation arc)

"That boy was Kiyotaka Ayanokoji."

She paused and looked around.

Some eyes contained a glint of sadness and pity while some were gleaming with anger.

She continued without any delay,

"During his training I met him-no,it would be more appropriate to say-I saw him twice.
Once when he turned 5 and again when he was 14.The last time I saw him,there was no glimmer of hope left in his eyes.
This time I couldn't bring myself to calm down.I knew something had to be done.
So,I started planning.

The duration for the entire training was supposed to be 14 years but since Kiyo surpassed all expectations,another year of a more tedious training programme was incorporated to accumulate more data.
As much as I hated them for treating him like an experimental species,this one year gave me enough time for planning.
After his 15 years of harsh training was over,White room closed for 1 year as apparently they finally had a successful 'end product'.
During this time,Kiyo was brought out of white room for the first time in his life and lived in a confidential hotel where only a few could approach him.
Meanwhile my husband was busy overseas resolving some issues and gaining support for the white room programme.

This was my chance.

I formed a group of trustworthy people which consisted of our family butler,Matsou-san chairman of ANHS,Sakanayagi san and me.
During the end of this one year gap,Matsou secretly left the hotel with Kiyotaka and kiyo was instructed to stay in a inconspicious dwelling until further instructions were relayed.I produced fake records of kiyo and handed them to Sakanayagi.He did the other necessities and then officially Kiyotaka Ayanokoji was made an eligible class-D student in ANHS.

All this time,I just couldn't bring myself to meet him.After all,I had done nothing a mother would have done.The least I could do was hope he could lead a normal highschool life.

I wanted him to experience freedom.

Feel human emotions.

Know what it means to make unproductive choices.

Know that not everyone has a hidden mask.

Know that people can be trusted.

Know what it means to love and to be loved.

I knew it would be tough for him,But deep within,I felt that maybe,just maybe he would make some genuine friends.Then perhaps a tint of color would stain his cold white heart.

My husband returned to resume White Room only to find that his masterpiece,his trumpcard,had disobeyed orders and had taken refuge in ANHS.

He tried to use his power but ANHS is an exclusive organisation that can only be influenced by the government.

He knew chairman Sakanayagi had a hand in this and as long as he was present,he couldn't expel Kiyotaka.So,using some underhanded tactics he filed a case against him which led to Sakanayagi's house arrest.It would only be a matter of time until the suspicions were cleared but this was all the time he needed.

With his influence,he appointed one of his pawns as the Acting Director of ANHS-Tsukishiro-all in order to expell Kiyotaka and bring him back to the white room.

Worried about his movements,I sent Ichika as a first year in ANHS to back up Kiyotaka if things went horribly wrong.

Ichika was a year younger than Kiyotaka.She too was a white room student however she loves her brother immensely even though they had not met once.Kiyotaka was always isolated from the other WR students since the last thing my husband wanted was for kiyo to attain a will of his own.

Hence,Kiyotaka was not even aware he had a younger sister.

Fortunately for her,she had experienced a bit of normal life as my husband was solely focused on Kiyotaka after seeing him perform far beyond his years.

My husband was so fixated on him that he would not resume White Room without Kiyo.Thus,she joined ANHS as a first year easily without him noticing under the name of Amasawa Ichika.

The rest is known to all of you as he finally completed his three years of high school and graduated from ANHS.My husband-"

"Tch.What a scumbag-"

Before she could continue ,she heard these words from the mouth of Ichinose-a girl who was always lively and cheerful,someone who always helped others and worked for everyone's happiness.
Still,no one seemed shocked.
Apparently everyone present shared the same feelings on the matter.

"How dare he treat his own son like this!"

At this point,Honami could clearly not control her emotions.
Small beads of tears formed near the corners of her eyes and a few moments later she fell on her knees and tightly hugged Kiyo's mom.

"I am s-sorry.I am so sorry."

Stream of tears were falling down her pink cheeks as she hid her face in Hina's bosom(kiyo's mom).

"When the whole school targeted me for expulsion,when my own class lost trust in me,when my criminal charge was exposed to the whole school,when I had lost all faith in myself....
Every single time the world around me crumbled,he saved me.
He engulfed the darkness in my life.
He was my light and was always there besides me when I needed him the most.
And yet-"

She couldn't bring herself to continue.Her grip tightened.Hina understood what was weighing honami down all this time.
The guilt.
The guilt of being so close to him yet so far away.
Helplessly watching him suffer day by day.
Pretending it was alright,even though everything felt wrong.

This was the same guilt she had been living under for the past 23 years.
She was no different from Honami.She caressed Honami's head and spoke softly,
"It's alright."

"I never t-tried to understand what he was going through."Honami said ,still in heavy despair.

"It's alright."She repeatedly said so softly.

Ichinose POV

Why was I so selfish?I never considered what he went through.
I showed him my weaknesses not knowing he had to stay so strong all this time.
He never had a shoulder to cry on.
Someone he could rely on.

As my eyes reddened and tears flowed with such thoughts,I hugged her tighter.The motherly figure continuously comforted me by saying it's all right.
Slowly,I found my chest at ease as though all this guilt and repressed emotions had found a way out.

"It's all right."She said again.

I knew it better than anyone else that nothing was all right.

No,it's not alright.

But I will make it alright.