Take Me With You

by Ash Masters

  Yamamoto Akira was young when his father went to fight in World War Two. It was a confusing time in his life, and without a father to give him the answers to the questions that he asked, Akira had to find them himself.

  His father was different when he returned from the war, baring physical and emotional scars that had made his idol nothing more than a ghost a the shell. He had fought to create a better world for his son to live in but, the horror of war had made it so that he could never bring himself to enjoy it for himself.

  The sight of his father who spent most of his remaining days in an idle state in their home, frightened Akira. At the same time however, he admired his father for what he had done and wanted to follow in his footsteps even if it meant risking his own sanity. When he was old enough he enlisted in the army but was quick to learn things about himself, things that he would grow to despise. Akira discovered that he lacked discipline – a fact that ashamed him and lowered his confidence and self-esteem.

  As soon as Akira could, he left the army to pursue a career in politics, believing that if he couldn’t inspire change through the force of numbers and physicality then he would inspire change from within; through the people. And so Akira studied hard and rose through the ranks of politics, first starting out as a secretary for a high-profile politician.

  Akira remembered the day the man whose name he didn’t remember had asked him to stay during a meeting that had lasted hours, the members bickering back and forth, unable to come to a decision. That was however, until Akira found a solution that spawned a deep and thoughtful silence among his superiors.

  From then on he would be the protégé to that politician and evolve into a high-profile politician himself. Within time Akira was able to join the members of the people who held Japan together. But it wasn’t enough, he needed to be in a more fixed position. And so the time came in his career when he wanted to run for Prime Minister.

  Akira was proud of himself as he managed to rise through the ranks through sheer hard work and dedication but this wasn’t because of moral obligation. Instead, Akira was holding his ability to control minds close to his chest so that he could deploy it when the time was right.

  He remembered the day, sitting outside a coffee shop, elbows planted firmly on the metal table as he swirled a half-empty cup of coffee in his hand. His wife was sat back, looking into the road as cars zipped back and forth.

  ‘I don’t like this, Akira.’ Mariko said, avoiding her husbands resolved gaze.

  ‘Whether you like it or not is irrelevant.’ Akira continued to play with his beverage.

  Mariko leaned forward, resting her arms on the table also. ‘It’s wrong and it’s not good politics.’

  ‘Are you going persuade me otherwise?’

  ‘No. I wouldn’t do that to you because I know you’re a man of integrity. You’ve gotten this far from the strength of your will and the confidence you inspire in your peers. It’s what made me fall in love with you and your charisma and morality... You’re on the track to becoming Prime Minister so why would you do something to jeopardise it?’

  Akira was almost moved by Mariko’s desperate eyes. ‘As a precautionary measure, Mariko. I can’t have myself not gain this crucial position. It’s important for my plans.’

  ‘But if you go through with it you’ll have to keep all those you manipulate for ever. You’ll create a dictatorship under the guise of government. Is this worth it in the name of Paradise? Paradise is just a childish fantasy!’

  Akira put his cup down then wiped a drop of coffee that had splashed on his hand. Looking at his skin, he scrutinised the lines that plagued his it, a gift from mother nature to show how old he was becoming. ‘I thought that this is what you wanted, Mariko? A world where people like you and your brothers wouldn’t have to hurt. Even if I choose not to, I will have to take their minds eventually. If I want to make the world I envision then I will need the support of every member working for me. It’s the only way to secure my Paradise.’

  Mariko fell back in her seat, returning her stare to the world as it passed her by.

  Of course it had been his wife who had exposed Akira to the Emperor, shattering his reputation and ending his career swiftly. She was a devoted wife and Akira had loved her for that quality but at the same time, politics was Mariko’s life and she couldn’t bare to witness the world she loved turned into a poisonous game for power. That wasn’t the world she wanted.

  With his career over and his plan outed to the public, Akira’s life was effectively over. In addition, Akira faced prosecution for hiding the fact that he was an Advanced Tier Key – a Key with an ability that warranted caution as well as monitoring. Mariko also lost her position in the government because no-one was willing to trust her.

  Akira ultimately saw no choice but to show the world just how strong of a Key he was and so his takeover of Japan began on July the Sixteenth nineteen eighty-eight. The world discovered then that a Key walked amongst them who was on an entirely different level.

  He didn’t expect the resistance that he face but, Akira knew that he would win, his power was too great.

  The final phase of his plan was to have another child and raise him or her to train their ability as a Key – an ability involving the mind he was sure of, as both parents had mind-based abilities. He dedicated another task to his twenty eight year-old son Hiro.

  When Ayumi was born, Akira had no further use for the woman who had betrayed him and so he killed her himself, strangling her before breaking her neck. He had loved her once. Akira realised that day that he was capable of brutality, the only discovery he made about himself that brought a smile to his face.

  After years of struggling, Akira was finally Emperor of Japan with everyone living the dream he had envisioned; a country efficient and relevant to the world; crime-free and secretly one of the strongest nations in the world as the majority of his people were Keys. With enough breeding Japan would become a race of pure super-powered people and with enough planning he could rule the entire world with the world’s largest army.

  For that to happen he would need the help of his son Hiro.