COTE: The White Room War

Vol 4 SS: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka 2

Year 1

Season 1

Volume 4 - "To Deceive The World"

SS: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka 2

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Ayanokouji Kiyotaka POV

While the Island Exam lasted from August 3rd to the 10th, the Zodiac Exam ran from the 11th to the 14th, a total of four days if you count each one.

All first years on this cruise have been given an extra nine days to relax from the 15th through the 23rd, and again, counting each day.

According to the schedule, we are then going to dock back in the Tokyo harbor and arrive at our dorms in the early morning of the 24th of August, a Saturday, and with travel, we should make it back to our own beds by 7:00 AM. All students are under strict orders to head back to their dorm rooms and rest for that day.

Currently, I am in my swimwear, relaxing under an umbrella on this hot summer day.

It may have been a mistake to come out here. The weather is almost too hot to do anything, as my muscles feel sluggish, but I do not have the willpower to move since I wish to be lazy right now and observe the loud people around me, most of whom are taking a dip in the outdoor swimming pool.

"Are you okay, Sakura-san?" I hear the voice of Yousuke say.

"E-Eh?! Y-Yes! I'm fine. Thank you for asking!" The unfamiliar girl responds, sounding quite nervous.

Be careful, Yousuke. Not everyone is as chipper, outgoing, and borderline riajuu as you are.

Albert taught me what the word riajuu means, which apparently refers to a fake "normie" who goes with the crowd and can't think for themselves while hanging out with the popular kids.

Hirata Yousuke almost fits that description. He is quite fake, in a certain sense; his attempts to cover up his violent past come to mind, but his kindness is real.

"Are you sure you're okay, Sakura-san? It's just that you seem really down, so I was wondering if there is anything I can do to help out... Maybe if you have something on your mind, then I wouldn't mind hearing you out."

Even trying to include someone as reclusive as this Sakura girl...

I glance over my shoulder and peek past the headrest of my beach chair.

She's a girl with long, strawberry-pink hair, blue eyes, glasses, a rather large... Well, forget that last part.

What stands out about her is her aura that screams introvert.

"W-Well... It's just... I... feel really homesick."

"Homesick for your dorm? Or for wherever you came from before high school?"

"My dorm."

I can tell by her good looks and soft, shy tone of voice that she is a girl that most guys would consider cute.

Ah, but homesickness, eh. This brings me back to my thoughts earlier about the schedule.

Home, huh...

Do I even have a home? The concept is strange. It's just a roof over my head, and yet, at this school, it's more than I could have ever dreamed of.

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The days pass us by, and our vacation slowly winds down.

Every day, I go relax by the outdoor pool in my swimwear with similar thoughts in my head, thoughts of home.

I haven't seen Fuuka and Suzune in a week, so maybe they're avoiding me.

I don't blame them. Even I feel that we need a break in our relationship so that we can better understand one another.

A more selfish part of my head whispers, "Or is it to better understand you?"

No, I understand human beings perfectly fine for the most part.

Okay, maybe not perfectly. There are so many illogical things about them that I still don't know or don't get.

Sitting up, I skootch to the edge of the chair and look down into the pool.

My eyes stare deep into the reflection of their golden orbs.

Suddenly, it gets really dark. I don't have to look up to see that it has gotten cloudy.

"All students," A feminine voice announces from a loudspeaker, "Please vacate the upper decks and take shelter inside. We are entering a storm."

Drip.

Drip.

Drip drip.

Drip drip drip.

DRIP! DRIP! DRIP!

Pitter.

Patter.

Splash.

Flash.

BOOM!

A thunderstorm is kicking in. Around me, people scramble to grab their things and hurry on inside, but I remain glued to my spot, uncaring of my surroundings, unable to tear my gaze away from my own reflection.

The pool's water churns and ripples violently due to the sudden downpour of rain that I can no longer see my own reflection.

Instead, I see him.

I see that man, or at least my resemblance of him.

I see a monster.

My vision begins clouding, and I'm probably starting to see things that aren't there, but to me, it looks as if the pool is filled with blood instead of water, the blood of the ones whose lives I've taken.

How ironic. Me, the boy who wanted to experience human emotions, the one who hurts others just to survive, and the one who yearns for warmth is also the one whose very sanity hinges on being closest to those who claim to be my friends.

After the last exam concluded, I may have bumped into Albert and Hiyori here and there, as they are also my friends, but where are those two girls whose hair color contrasts one another perfectly?

Above all, the most ironic thing is that I, much like that Sakura girl, wish for a home to belong.

I'm not clingy, but I don't want to be alone either. Right now, I feel like I am going to do something awful as I sit here, reflecting on all the people I have hurt.

I feel nothing for most of them. I was only protecting myself.

There is no remorse inside me.

And yet...

I really am a terrible-

To Be Continued