Disclaimer: I own very little.

A/N: Anyone remember Empire of Earth? Or Imperial Crisis? This is sort of a prequel to them -- the day Akutsu was officially crowned the Emperor of Earth.

Faith

The coronation was a somewhat extravagant occasion. Then again, that was somewhat to be expected when someone claimed power and might over anything ever known in the entire world before. While some countries had not yet officially announced their obedience to him, they hadn't denied it either, their number so small and armies so insignificant he knew they could never stand to oppose him. They would come around in time; there was no point in wasting his energy trying to hasten the process.

He, Akutsu Jin, was now officially the Emperor of Earth.

He could have sworn he saw tears in his mother's eyes.

Jin curled up under his blanket, covering his ears in a futile attempt to shut out the noise from the next room. He still couldn't block out his mother's screaming, or the bastard's yelling, and when he heard something – or rather someone – being shoved against a wall he cringed, forcing himself not to cry.

Jin was a man. Men did not cry.

What men did was get revenge. And revenge, he would get. Once he got big and strong enough he'd rule the whole country, no, the whole world, and then he'd throw the bastard in jail for good and never let him out again.

First, though, he would have to survive until the morning.

He would have preferred a simple ceremony, something without all the annoying formalities and flowery speech and having to look like he wasn't about to murder someone as he sat on his throne for yet another hour. As it was, though, he had no choice but to endure it all; it was important to impress people, after all. Better not let them forget just who ruled them now.

Kawamura looked happy, the big oaf, dressed in a formal kimono and looking so out of place in the middle of the other guests – the royalty and elected rulers and evil dictators all together. He probably thought it was a good thing Akutsu had more complete power than anyone could have ever imagined possible. Apparently he was still convinced Akutsu was, in fact, a good guy.

Ah, well. Akutsu could just as well not prove him wrong for yet another day.

"I'm going to rule the world some day," announced Akutsu, gazing up to the sky. It was so blue. He wondered what it would be like if he could fly, away from this stupid school, stupid teachers, stupid life. Fly and watch them all far below him, insignificant little creatures.

"Really? That's nice." Kawamura didn't even look up from his lunch.

"You don't believe me." It wasn't a question.

"Ah – now, don't take this as an insult, Akutsu, but… who would?"

Akutsu glared at him.

Of course, Kawamura wasn't the only idiot there. Sengoku was somewhere in the crowd, too, probably chatting up some chicks, never minding he was hardly on their level. Atobe might have managed to mingle in, born and bred as he'd been; Sengoku's only merit was his association with the newly crowned Emperor. That and his ability to always talk himself out of trouble.

He'd even congratulated Akutsu. Fucking idiot.

"You know, Sengoku," Akutsu said, blowing a cloud of smoke to the sky, "one day I'll take over everything."

"Huh?" Sengoku blinked at him. "What do you mean, everything?"

"Everything." Akutsu watched the smoke slowly disappearing before taking another drag. "This stupid school. Tokyo. Japan. The world. Everything." He glared at the sky as though it was to blame for every thing that had gone wrong in his life. "And then I'll make every single bastard fucking pay."

Sengoku grinned. "Sure, sure. And why you are at it, why not paint the Moon blue, too?"

Akutsu muttered a curse. "Fucking idiot."

There was movement by his side, then a hand lightly touching his. Akutsu glanced to his side, careful not to be too obvious about it. The man at his side wasn't looking at him, smiling at the people gathered before them instead, all the guests and servants and the TV cameras. Nevertheless, Akutsu caught a hint of "Just be patient" in that smile, a message meant just for him. The hand lingered close to his, reassuring him, soothing his anger.

It was fortunate, Akutsu decided, that he'd chosen to have the other throne set right beside his.

"I'm going to take over the world," Akutsu said, more to see Dan's reaction than anything. "And then I'll make all this fucking homework illegal."

Dan nodded absent-mindedly, biting the end of his pen. Just as Akutsu was convinced he hadn't been listening, the kid looked up, looking at him seriously. "Politically, financially, or by some other means?"

It took Akutsu a moment to realize the brat actually wasn't making fun of him. Instead, Dan seemed convinced that if Akutsu said he would do it, he would succeed – all Dan was interested in were the details of the process. His faith in his senpai seemed unshakable.

It was, in many ways, a first.

However tired he was after all the formal crap, the moment the door to their bedroom was closed and locked behind them, Akutsu regained his energy. The thought of this moment had been all that had kept him going for the last hour or so. Dan didn't seem too surprised to find himself immediately drawn closer for a fierce kiss. He probably had been expecting this. Smart kid.

As they made love that night Akutsu made a point of kissing Dan even more than usual. If the other man noticed, he never said anything. Afterwards, as they lay together, Dan played lazily with a lock of Akutsu's hair, the older man's arms wrapped around him.

"I knew it, Jin." Dan lay his head on Akutsu's broad chest, yawning, eyes slipping shut as he breathed deep the older man's scent. "I knew you could do it desu…"

As the young man fell asleep, his ears never caught the nigh-silent murmur of, "Only because you believed in me."