Another Like Me - Part II (CoTE x OC) || 𝕆ℕ ℍ𝕀𝔸𝕋𝕌𝕊

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟘𝟡 - 𝔽𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕖𝕤

( Takeyama POV )

"King.....?"

"Don't ask me. Hashimoto started calling me that," Kiyotaka replied in his usual monotone.

"But why?"

"I don't know."

Kiyotaka and I were lounging in his room during some rare free time. There was no one else in the room, so the risk of being overheard was nil. We weren't talking about anything confidential anyways.

But currently, I'm quite confused.

"You can't keep saying 'I don't know '," I replied exasperatedly. "There has to be a reason he calls you King now. Just so you know, Hashimoto calls Arisu 'princess'. And from that, I can assure you my thoughts are leading towards the NSFW range."

"What's NSFW?"

"....."

"....."

"..... don't change, Kiyotaka. Don't change," I replied half-heartedly, patting the brown-haired man on his back. "On an unrelated note, is Yosuke doing good?"

"He's reverted back to his cheerful self," Kiyotaka replied. "He had some serious issues regarding your transfer, but it seems that you've ironed it all out."

"I have. Dude's had it rough."

"..... he has?"

"I would rather not tell you about it, unless you're very interested," I said, a smirk making my way up to my face. Kiyotaka stared at me for a few seconds, before letting out a disappointed sigh.

"I don't know why, but your smirk is very irritating."

"The hell? Did The Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, Masterpiece of the White Room, feel an emotion known as irritation?"

"That must be it. Although I'm unsure," he admitted truthfully. I felt a stab through my heart at his blatant honesty, but I controlled myself.

"Say, Kiyotaka. What is your take on all of this Class S bullshit?"

The brown-haired boy remained aloof for a bit, as though in thought. He was staring up at the ceiling without a care in the world, but as someone who's known him long enough, it was obvious that he was thinking of an answer.

"It doesn't matter to me," he said finally. "If that man's aim is to separate the two of us so that we're unable to help each other, he's wrong. I'm sure we can find a way to cooperate even if we're in different classes. However, the situation changes if Class S comes under direct control of the new Acting Chairman."

I raised my eyebrows. "Direct control?"

"In other words, if Class S turns into a plaything for whoever is going to replace Chairman Sakayanagi," Kiyotaka said. "Since this is an experimental class, the Acting Director could do whatever he likes with it, such as add absurd rules and regulations, curb freedom and such, under the pretext of stress testing. For everyone who is not aware of the White Room, which is basically everyone except Sakayanagi, you and I, this would just be looked upon as simple procedure."

"You're telling me I might be barred from being involved in the Special Exams in any way?"

"That is a possibility."

I mulled over Kiyotaka's words. Now that I thought about it, it made perfect sense. There was always a possibility that to make Kiyotaka's expulsion easier, they're going to do everything in their power to subdue me.

Ayanokoji-sensei is not interested in getting me back into the White Room anyway. So I'm currently the only major obstacle in his way. If he can somehow remove me from the mix, a process which he has already initiated, expelling Kiyotaka becomes much easier. Especially so if there are White Room students in the new First Year batch.