There are those who are shaped not by the world, but against it. Forged in the cold of isolation, trained not to live, but to dominate. Their mind is a machine, their will a fortress. They feel no attachment, no doubt, no failure. Everything within them is measured, calculated, perfected. From the outside, they seem invincible... but inside, all is silence. For someone like that, life is a chessboard. Every piece has a function. Every move, a purpose. Nothing is left to chance. Affection is a distraction. Tenderness, a design flaw. Love... a trap. But even the most precise gears can come to a halt before something that fits no formula. A soft voice, a daily laugh, a hand that reaches out without asking for anything. Something so simple... and yet so deeply unsettling. Because it stirs what had long been buried. Because it makes him feel. And then comes the moment to choose. To follow the same path as always: the clear, calculated road where nothing hurts but nothing truly lives either. Or to dive into the unknown, into a life where perfection doesn't exist, where mistakes are inevitable, where the soul may bleed... but might also bloom. He chose the latter. Not because he was wiser. Not because he was certain. But because, for the first time, he wanted to discover what lies beyond logic. Because something within him longed to love. And to be loved. Now he walks a road he cannot control. Filled with doubts, with shadows, with promises he cannot guarantee. There is fear. There is uncertainty. There is weight in every step. But there is also something new. Something warm. Something real. Perhaps this is the beginning of his undoing. Or perhaps, the most beautiful gift life could have ever offered. Only at the end will he know. And so, without looking back, he chose... 𝒜 𝒹𝒾𝒻𝒻ℯ𝓇ℯ𝓃𝓉 𝓅𝒶𝓉𝒽

A Story of What if Ayanokoji dropped out of ANHS during his third year to join the Blue Lock.