The White Room Troubles

Yagami Takuya SS: It's either Me or You

Yagami Takuya SS: It's either Me or You

I was in the middle of a curriculum activity the entire 5th generation was taking for the day.

We were completing a mountaineering activity which was more independent than the others we of the 5th generation had faced.

Me, being the best in the 5th generation, managed to traverse the structure with ease that not even Ichika could catch up to me.

She was still a bit below me but she was catching up. I wasn't sure if she was struggling or if she just wasn't trying this time round, but I didn't care about that currently.

All I cared about was completing this activity at my own fast pace.

I finally reached the top and pulled myself up over the edge onto the flat ground of the peak. An instructor stood there waiting for us to arrive.

"Yagami Takuya, huh. Faster than everyone else as per usual. I'm expecting to see Amasawa Ichika come next."

I was given an approving glance by the instructor. But, for reasons I knew better than anyone, I didn't feel satisfied from that glance.

I wanted to be praised for being a prodigy, even if it sounded childish.

"Hey, Instructor-sensei. How was I today. I was faster right? So much better than everyone else, right? The best, right?"

The instructor paused for a moment, probably not expecting me to ask such a question. He gave a thoughtful expression before answering without turning his head.

"Yes. You were faster than before. You're improving everyday so that is good. You already know you are at the top of the leaderboards so I don't need to say anything else. But..."

He then turned to face me with an expression that was not normal for him. It was an expression of darkness.

"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka from one year ago was better."

The face and tone of the instructor changed when he said these words.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka from one year ago was better.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka from one year ago was better.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka from one year ago was better.

Those words kept replaying as the world around me cracked. Everything went dark and I fell down a bottomless pit of black...

Until my eyes opened up and the sound of that annoying machine raised it's tone next to me.

So it was a dream, huh?

I sighed and got out of bed, preparing myself for the first day of our second semester here at Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School.

Breakfast, brushing teeth, freshening up in the shower, I did all of it within a good time. Once I finished, I exited my dorm room and began making my journey to the school.

As I did so, I threw myself out of reality and back into my thoughts again as I reflected on the dream earlier.

'Ayanokouji Kiyotaka from one year ago was better.'

Every day I spent in the White Room, I kept hearing this statement. It made my blood boil, even still to this day.

Picture yourself in that position. You are a prodigy who aces everything that is thrown at you, 10 times better than the masses. And yet, you are told someone was better than you. Even after you kept improving, you kept becoming stronger, you kept being told there was someone above you, like some kind of God.