Chapter 2
By the time Kiyotaka left the cafeteria, ANHS had already decided he was a problem.
Not officially.
Officially, he was only a late-enrollment third-year who had passed his approval exams and walked around campus like he had every right to make people nervous.
Unofficially, the school's private blogs had already made him into a campus event.
The posts kept multiplying.
Kiyotaka read none of them.
He simply walked through one of the quieter paths behind the cafeteria, hands tucked into his pockets, that same playful smile sitting on his face as if the day had been mildly entertaining so far.
That was when someone stepped out from the side path.
Then another.
Then two more.
The air shifted.
Not the soft kind of attention he had received from curious girls and whispering students.
This was heavier.
Rougher.
A different language entirely.
Ryūen Kakeru stood in front of him with his usual shark-like grin, eyes sharp with interest. Ishizaki cracked his knuckles behind him.
Albert loomed silently near the wall. Kondō stood a little to the side, watching with the kind of caution that meant he had already decided this would not be normal.
Kiyotaka stopped.
Ryūen looked him up and down.
"Kukuku. So you're the new guy everyone's losing their heads over."
Kiyotaka's smile remained.
"I only enrolled today."
"That makes it worse."
Ishizaki grunted. "You're trending already, bro."
Ryūen shot him a look.
Ishizaki stiffened. "I mean... not bro yet."
Kiyotaka's eyes moved briefly past them.
Near the corner of the building, half-hidden behind a vending machine, a girl held her phone low against her chest. The angle was poor, but the camera was pointed directly at them.
A Crown Hearts fan, most likely.
Her breathing was too shallow. Her grip too tight. She was not recording because she was brave.
She was recording because she thought she had found a scandal.
Kiyotaka noticed.
He did not look at her again.
Ryūen tilted his head. "Want to take a walk?"
The words sounded casual.
They were not.
Kiyotaka's smile brightened.
Just a little.
The kind of brightness that made the invitation feel accepted before he even spoke.
"Sure."
Ishizaki blinked.
Kondō muttered, "He agreed too fast."
Ryūen's grin widened.
"Kukuku. Interesting."
They led him away from the busy paths, past the back of the cafeteria, toward one of the narrower service alleys between buildings. It was not hidden enough to be dangerous, but private enough for ANHS to pretend it had not seen anything.
A perfect place for students to settle things without involving teachers.
When they stopped, Ryūen turned around.
The playfulness in his eyes had sharpened into something ugly and amused.
"So tell me, Ayanokōji." He dragged out the name like he was testing its weight. "Are you one of those Crown Hearts bastards?"
Kiyotaka said nothing.
Ryūen's grin twitched.
"You know them, right? The school's beloved little prince parade. Pretty smiles. Fanclubs. Girls carrying their secrets like love letters."
His voice dropped.
"They've been crawling over this school for years. Every time my class makes a move, somehow information leaks. Plans get twisted. Girls get whispered to. Fanclubs start acting like private armies. Suddenly everyone knows what they shouldn't."
Ishizaki's face darkened.
"They act clean, but they play dirty as hell."
Kondō nodded. "They hide behind popularity."
Albert said nothing, but his silence agreed.
Ryūen stepped closer.
"They ganged up on my class without ever throwing a punch. That's what pisses me off. Cowards using perfume and smiles as weapons."
Kiyotaka's eyes stayed calm.
Ryūen studied him.
"So I'm going to find out what you are."
He rolled his shoulders, grin turning feral.
"If you're one of them, I'll kick your ass now and save myself trouble later."
Kiyotaka's smile did not change.
"Is that how you welcome new students?"
"Kukuku. Only the suspicious ones."
The girl near the corner kept recording.
Her phone trembled.
Ryūen did not wait for a proper answer.
He raised his hand slightly.
That was enough.
Ishizaki moved first, direct and heavy, rushing in with the kind of strength that would scare normal students into backing away.
Kiyotaka did not back away.
His playful smile vanished.
For one second, his face went still.
Then something else appeared.
Not anger.
Not fear.
A grin.
Sharp. Commanding. Almost delighted.
The kind of expression that did not belong on someone being surrounded.
It belonged on someone who had been waiting for the room to finally become honest.
Ishizaki saw it too late.
Kiyotaka stepped inside his reach and turned the charge against him with a movement so clean it barely looked like a fight. Ishizaki hit the ground hard enough to lose the air in his lungs, eyes wide in disbelief.
Kondō came from the side.
Kiyotaka's hand caught his wrist, redirected the strike, and sent him stumbling straight into the wall with a dull thud. Not cruel. Not messy. Just efficient enough to be humiliating.
Albert moved next.
That was when the alley truly changed.
Albert was not easy to move.
Everyone knew that.
Kiyotaka did it anyway.
Not by overpowering him like an idiot.
By stepping in at the exact wrong angle for Albert and the exact right angle for himself. A twist. A shift of weight. A strike placed where balance mattered more than muscle.
Albert dropped to one knee.
The girl recording forgot to breathe.
Ishizaki pushed himself up, grimacing.
"What the hell...?"
Kiyotaka stood in the center of the alley, still wearing that grin.
There was a faint mark near his cheek where someone had barely grazed him. A small smear of red at the corner of his lip, more insulting than painful.
He looked thrilled.
Not loud.
Not reckless.
Worse.
Controlled.
Like the fight had finally given his mask permission to slip.
Ryūen stared at him.
Then laughed.
"Kukuku... you're not one of those Crown pretty boys."
Kiyotaka turned his eyes toward him.
"No?"
Ryūen entered his stance.
"No. They'd have started negotiating already."
Kiyotaka's grin sharpened.
"You talk a lot before fighting."
"And you smile too much for a guy surrounded."
"Maybe I like the view."
Ryūen's laughter echoed against the walls.
Then he attacked.
Unlike the others, Ryūen did not rush blindly.
He tested.
A feint. A low movement. A sudden angle. Dirty timing. Street instinct. He was not polished like a dojo fighter, and that made him more interesting.
Kiyotaka moved with him.
The alley became a blur of shoes scraping concrete, quick breaths, sharp turns, and controlled violence. Ryūen fought like someone trying to drag the world down to his level and bite it there.
Kiyotaka fought like someone deciding how much of the answer sheet to reveal.
Once, Ryūen managed to land a hit against Kiyotaka's shoulder.
His grin widened triumphantly.
"Got you."
Kiyotaka's eyes lowered to the spot.
Then back to Ryūen.
His smile returned.
"Congratulations."
Ryūen's grin twitched.
The next exchange ended with Ryūen on the ground, one arm pinned, Kiyotaka standing over him with his shoe planted close enough to make the message obvious without needing to press down.
The alley went quiet.
Not even three minutes had passed.
Ishizaki stared from the ground.
Kondō looked like his soul had briefly left campus.
Albert slowly rose, silent as ever, but his eyes were different now.
Ryūen stayed still for a moment.
Then he laughed.
Not bitterly.
Not angrily.
For real.
"Kukuku... you monster."
Kiyotaka's battle grin faded.
The usual playful smile returned like a curtain falling back into place.
He stepped back and offered Ryūen a hand.
The girl recording zoomed in without meaning to.
Ryūen looked at the hand.
Then at Kiyotaka's face.
There was no mockery there.
No fear either.
Just that calm, dangerous amusement.
Ryūen took his hand.
Kiyotaka pulled him up.
For a second, neither said anything.
Then Ryūen wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb and grinned.
"Yeah. Definitely not Crown Hearts."
Ishizaki sat up, still dazed. "Boss... he beat all of us."
Ryūen glanced at him.
"I noticed, idiot."
Kondō exhaled. "So what now?"
Ryūen looked at Kiyotaka again.
This time, there was something like respect beneath the grin.
"You got enemies yet?"
Kiyotaka smiled.
"I enrolled today."
"That means yes."
A faint laugh escaped Kiyotaka's throat.
Small.
Low.
Enough to make the alley feel colder.
Ryūen's grin widened.
"Kukuku. I like you, bro."
Ishizaki blinked.
"Bro?"
Ryūen ignored him.
"The Crown Hearts are going to hate your face."
Kiyotaka glanced toward the hidden camera for the first time.
The girl jolted.
Her phone dipped slightly.
Kiyotaka only smiled.
Not angry.
Not threatening.
Playful.
Like he had known from the beginning and had simply allowed the scene to be recorded.
The girl's blood ran cold.
Then Ryūen noticed where Kiyotaka was looking.
His grin turned vicious.
"Someone's watching?"
Kiyotaka looked back at him.
"Someone's sharing."
Ryūen barked a laugh.
"Good."
The video reached the Crown Hearts fan group before Kiyotaka even left the alley.
The caption was messy.
Panicked.
Perfect.
At first, people clicked because they expected scandal.
A transfer student getting beaten up on the first day.
Easy gossip.
Maybe proof he was not worth the sudden hype.
Then the video played.
And the chat stopped being normal.
The footage shook at the beginning, catching Ryūen's grin and Kiyotaka's relaxed posture. The audio was poor, but "Crown Hearts" and "cowards hiding behind girls" came through clearly enough to light the fuse.
Then Ishizaki moved.
Then Kiyotaka's smile disappeared.
Then that grin appeared.
The comments exploded.
Someone clipped the exact moment Kiyotaka's expression changed.
The still image spread faster than the original video.
Kiyotaka in the alley, head slightly tilted, eyes sharp, grin almost wild.
A trace of red near his lip.
No panic.
No hesitation.
Just danger with a face.
The unofficial blog updated within minutes.
Too late.
It had already started.
In Class 3-D's side chats, the reaction became less discussion and more worship service.
Ike sent the clip with no context except:
Yamauchi replied instantly.
Sotomura followed with a screenshot of Kiyotaka's grin.
Okitani typed:
Ijuin answered:
Hirata, after watching the video twice, sighed softly.
Ike replied:
In the second-year building, Ichika watched the video with her elbows on the desk and her face in her hands.
Her eyes practically sparkled.
"Senpai..."
Yagami stood behind her, silent.
The clip replayed.
Kiyotaka's smile vanished.
The grin appeared.
Yagami's thoughts moved with cold devotion.
Ryūen Kakeru. Violent instincts. Useful. Rough but perceptive.
Ishizaki and the others. Acceptable supporting force.
Crown Hearts comparison: laughable.
If ordered, Yagami could handle most of them himself, though some would require effort due to influence and positioning.
But this?
This was why Ayanokōji Kiyotaka did not need to order anyone.
Senpai could change a faction's loyalty with one brawl and one smile.
Ichika giggled like someone watching a romance scene instead of a street fight.
"He looks so happy."
Nanase, who had seen the clip from across the room, frowned.
"That was not happiness."
Sakurako watched while eating a small snack.
"Looked fun."
Nanase turned to her.
"That is not the point."
Yagami finally spoke.
"It was a test."
Ichika's smile widened.
"And Ryūen passed?"
Yagami's eyes stayed on Kiyotaka's face in the frozen frame.
"No. He survived."
In the university division, the clip moved through private chats with different reactions.
Some admired the technique.
Some questioned the violence.
Some only saw the grin.
Fūka Kiryuin watched the video beside Nazuna Asahina near the glass walkway connecting the university buildings.
Fūka's lips curved.
"Well, that's new."
Nazuna's eyes narrowed slightly, not afraid, but thoughtful.
"He noticed the camera."
"Of course he did."
"He allowed it."
Fūka laughed under her breath.
"That makes it better."
Nazuna looked at the frozen image of Kiyotaka's grin.
"He looks dangerous."
Fūka tilted her head.
"He looks entertained."
"That is worse."
"Exactly."
Ryūen's own reaction was simpler.
He sat on a low wall behind the alley afterward, rolling his shoulder while Ishizaki complained beside him.
"That guy's insane," Ishizaki muttered.
Ryūen laughed.
"Kukuku. No. He's worse."
Albert stood quietly nearby, arms crossed.
Kondō looked at his phone as the video spread.
"It's everywhere."
"Good."
"Good?"
Ryūen's grin cut across his face.
"The Crown Hearts will see it."
Ishizaki frowned. "Won't that cause trouble?"
Ryūen looked toward the direction Kiyotaka had gone.
"That's the point."
For years, the Crown Hearts had ruled without getting their hands dirty. They smiled, girls trusted them, rumors moved, and classes bled information before anyone knew where the cut came from.
But Kiyotaka?
He had taken a challenge head-on.
No fanclub shield.
No pretty excuse.
No hiding behind girls.
Ryūen licked a trace of blood from his lip and laughed again.
"Finally," he said. "A guy worth calling bro."
By late afternoon, the original Crown fan group was in chaos.
Some tried defending the Crown Hearts.
Some insisted the fight was barbaric.
Some said a true elite would never dirty his hands like that.
Then someone uploaded the slow-motion clip of Kiyotaka taking down Albert.
The argument changed shape immediately.
A Crown Hearts loyalist typed:
Someone replied:
That comment was screenshotted.
Then reposted.
Then argued over.
Then pinned in a private anti-Crown chat by someone from Class B who was very tired of pretending Hiro's influence was harmless.
Kanzaki saw it later.
He said nothing for a long moment.
Then he saved the video.
Hope did not always arrive cleanly.
Sometimes it arrived with a dangerous grin in an alleyway.
Kiyotaka, meanwhile, walked back into the main campus like nothing had happened.
His expression had returned to its usual playful calm. The trace of the brawl remained only in small details most people would miss at first and obsess over after noticing.
A girl passing by saw the mark near his lip and stopped dead.
"Ayanokōji-kun, are you hurt?"
Kiyotaka looked at her.
Then smiled softly.
"Not enough to be interesting."
The girl's face went red so quickly her friend grabbed her by the sleeve.
He continued walking.
Behind him, whispers bloomed again.
"Did he just say that?"
"He's insane."
"He's calm."
"He's both."
"Crown Hearts are finished."
"Don't say that out loud."
"Everyone is thinking it."
Kiyotaka heard enough.
Not all.
Enough.
He glanced toward one of the upper walkways, where students still pretended not to watch him.
For a moment, his smile sharpened.
The school had seen the video.
Good.
It saved time.
Project EDEN had not sent him to ANHS to beg for attention.
It had sent him to change gravity.
And after one afternoon, the first thing to fall was not a girl.
Not a class.
Not even a Crown Heart.
It was the idea that the school's prettiest boys were untouchable.
Kiyotaka slipped one hand into his pocket and kept walking, the campus whispering around him like a forest after lightning.
Somewhere, the Crown Hearts would already be watching.
Let them.
His smile returned.
Sweet.
Dark.
Patient.
The hunt was more enjoyable when the prey learned his name first.