Chapter 2
Kuroko woke up feeling groggy and slightly nauseous but the feeling came as no surprise to him after the painful beating he received yesterday night. With caution, he gently pulled himself out of the slumped position of his exhausted sleep on the floor of his little basement-like room. Padding over to his small bathroom he proceeded to prepare for school before his father was awake.
After packing his bags in his tiny barren bedroom, he pushed on his door hesitantly and was relieved to find that it had already been unlocked. The house was quiet and the sky was still dark but he was not eager to linger so he turned around to lock the outside bolts on his door.
He gave the kitchen a cursory glance when he felt his stomach softly grumble, but the sight of a bottle of scotch and shattered glass on the dining table quickly stopped any train of thoughts of sneaking out food. So he started to walk to school with the grim knowledge that today will be another bad day.
Kuroko arrived at school two hours before the bell rung to quietly search for a place to hide from the soon-to-be arriving students. As usual, the spot he had unofficially claimed in the very isolated corners of the huge library was empty and he slumped against the wall in exhaustion. He blearily glanced at his watch and decided to nap before the school started at 8 AM.
Around 7:30 he was roughly awakened by the chattering voices of students who were starting to filter in to the library. Grabbing his bag and hauling himself up he began to silently slip between the students when he realized that they were all heading towards the opposite direction. Greatly confused by the flow of students heading towards the auditorium, he followed.
The chattering in the hall increased in volume as the students slowly trickled in. Kuroko took surreptitiously took a seat all the way at the back, out of sight of prying eyes and harsh glares. The sound of a clap shook him out of his wandering thoughts and he focused on the principal standing on the podium.
The principal, a stern intimidating man with sharp eyes and an almost lean wraith-like body, started his speech with a voice that oozes warmth that belies the constantly sly glint in his eyes.
"Teikou has been a school that has prided itself on ultimate perfection and flawless achievement. All obstacles are inferior to the strife of being the best, because we are superior beings compared to the normal average citizens. This is because we have been chosen because of our family lines and because we are the perfect manifestation of this world's Supreme directive: Superiority is judged by genetic disposition and only the most influential wins"
"Therefore, I am proud to announce that the selection for the elite student council committee has been finalized." The raucous applause dies down when the principal holds up a hand.
From the corner of his eyes he saw five people walk onto the stage. The sheer diversity of the group was a bit odd and he was struck by a feeling of familiarity when he looked at the five new students of the committee that seemed to only get more pronounced the more he stared at them.
When he finally shook his gaze away from them. The principal had already dismissed the students, and he hurriedly followed the flow of students out, determined to not to be late to homeroom.
The bell for lunch rang and Kuroko was anxious to get to the safety of his hiding places. The atmosphere of the school was even more tense because of the strong speech the principal gave at the assembly this morning. He did not want to be targeted again by malicious students looking for someone 'Inferior' to them to pick on.
He did not need the presence of other students and their discrimination when he's well aware of the conditions of his enrollment. Again, he silently cursed his father for working under men whose pockets were lined with corruption and blood money, but to be honest, his family had no choice but to work for the elite 'Superiors' of the country.
His father owed a debt to the Superiors that he was still paying for now, but what Kuroko did not expect was for them to make him and his mother pay off his father's debts too. When his father demanded that he attend Teikou on orders from the Superiors he had no choice but to comply. Day in and day out he was required to be the 'phantom observer' of the school and was required to report any acts of rebellion against the Supreme Directive.
However, there was nothing he could do to break free from this life yet. He was simply not strong enough as an Inferior for any freedom to be awarded to him, but those thoughts were for another day. Another day where he could actually do something about his freedom and his label of as an Inferior in society's eyes, so he waited.
