A month and a half had passed since school started. Mae Keiko kept her arms close to her body as she walked to class. The students she passed gazed at her with admiration, only to turn away when she got closer.
A young woman said, “There she is. Keiko’s amaz…”
She was cut off by another girl, “Oh my god, she’s getting too close. Let’s talk elsewhere.”
They shivered with fear. Keiko hid a tear that fell from her eye. Why had this happened?
Before she had entered middle school, her father talked to her. He was a muscled, imposing man with a grizzled face. The man was in a long and narrow room with a row of subordinates and officers on each side of it. Keiko walked down the center, between the two rows, and sat in front of him.
“You called me here, father?” she asked.
He answered, “I did. Keiko, do you know what our family does?”
“I do not.”
“Hmm, now is not the time for you to find out. Right now, what is important is that you are my heir and the future head of our family,” her father said, “This is a big responsibility. Do you know what this means?”
Keiko hesitated, “It means I have to be very good?”
“No! It means you must be the best!” he snapped.
She jolted back and looked around. Everyone in the room had their gaze locked on her.
Her father said, “Keiko, you can’t be good. You can’t even be very good. You have to be the best. If you are anything other than the best, you are not fit to be the head of our family. From now on, you must be perfect at everything you do.”
Middle school was spent with that pounded into her head. Her family stacked pressure on her like a mason laying bricks. Every hour of Keiko’s day was spent studying or at a club. Any time her grade was less than 99%, she was struck with a rod. In her kendo club and kenjutsu practice at home, never losing wasn’t good enough. If she didn’t win in three hits or less, the discipline of the rod was used.
Keiko’s family drilled in her the importance of having an heir. Every day, they’d tell her that the father needed to be someone with perfect genetics and a high rank at a type of organization they never clarified.
When Keiko entered high school, the students were drawn to her by her beauty, her skill, and her intelligence. She became the talk of the school.
Her family kept up the pressure all the while. Keiko had to do better than she did before. She was ordered to always get 100%. Keiko was ordered to enter more clubs too. In addition to kendo, she joined the chess, poetry, and judo clubs. All this was pushed onto her until, at the end of her second week of school, it hit a breaking point.
A boy asked her out. She remembered the words of her father of how important it was to select the right boy. Keiko was the carrier of her family’s bloodline. She froze. The boy left in tears with everyone assuming that he was beneath her notice.
After that, a distance formed between Keiko and the other students. From then on, they avoided her. The words of praise she had become accustomed to were now distant and fleeting.
Worse still, Keiko’s family decided that she was a failure. While she still had great grades, always above 90%, that wasn’t good enough for them. Her father disowned her and told her he would make someone else the heir of her family. From that point on, the rest of her family treated her as little more than a guest.
“Why?” she shook her head as she walked through the school halls, “Why did things turn out like this?”
Boom, Keiko collided with someone and fell to the ground. Her eyes narrowed with anger. She had bumped into Baba Haru, who landed next to her. She could tell just from the grimace on his face that Haru thought she was worthless.
“What do you want?” Keiko snapped.
Haru held up his hands, dropping a ton of books to the ground, “Nothing. It was just an accident.”
As a crowd of students formed around her, a kid called out, “I can’t believe he tried to pull that. That pervert did it on purpose to grope her.”
“He’s not smart enough to come up with a plan like that,” a boy scoffed.
Keiko got up and took a deep breath. She had to get to class.
“You’re right. We were both at fault. Just get out of my way,” she said.
A tough kid stomped over and glared at Haru, “Hey, what the hell were you doing?”
“Carrying books,” he replied.
“Don’t play dumb with me!” he yanked him up and pushed him against a wall, “You’re jealous that she’s popular, so you knocked her over on purpose!”
“If I did that, wouldn’t I put my books down first?” Haru pointed out.
The student said, “Don’t think I’m an idiot! You’re just the type of jealous asshole to hurt yourself just to get at someone!”
The student swung a fist at Haru, who opened his mouth and muttered something that no one could hear.
“Stop that,” Keiko grabbed the flying fist, “He was carrying a lot of books. That’s why he bumped into me.”
The student retracted his arm, “Mae-san, why are you taking his side? Everyone knows he’s no good!”
“Because you’re overreacting. What exactly did he do to deserve this? Isn’t it a bit extreme for an accident?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “But we all know he’s up to no good!”
Keiko questioned, “How do you know that? What did he do?”
“He’s tricky like that. Remember how he got those two delinquints to prank the teacher while he distracted her?” another student spoke up.
A memory flashed through Keiko. The teacher pulled Haru aside on her own. If he was a distraction, he didn’t know it.
“And he’s done perverted stuff like this before!” said a young woman, “He bumped into another student last week!”
“Was it a girl like me?” Keiko asked.
“It was a boy, but his perversion knows no bounds!”
The tough kid spoke up, “Then that settles it! I’ll kick his ass!”
He threw a knee kick at Haru, only to trip and smash his head against the wall before collapsing to the ground. The student rubbed his scalp while moaning in pain. The crowd glared at Haru.
An angry young man said, “You may have gotten away from him, but do you really think you’ll get away from us?”
“Bring it, but first, there’s something you should know,” Haru said, “I could have been the track champion if they’d let me join the club.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Haru took off, blasting down the hallway like a cheetah on crack. A group of students chased after him. He outran them with ease.
A puzzled expression overcame Keiko’s face. She wondered why the student body hated Haru so much. They had to jump over hoops to say he did something bad. Keiko resolved to investigate this.
Ved'ma Story 