COTE: The White Room War

Vol 2 SS: Kanzaki Ryuuji 1

Year 1

Season 1

Volume 2 - "The Whistleblower"

SS: Kanzaki Ryuuji 1

Kanzaki Ryuuji POV

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

I don't trust him, and I was right not to, at least in the rivalry between all of our 1st year classes. He's dangerous, manipulative, cunning, and intelligent beyond belief.

But above all, he's deceptive because he's X, the masterpiece of the White Room hiding in plain sight.

Something in my gut told me so, that the leader of Class B is more than what they appear, whoever they are. That was my thought process before I attended this meeting.

He's dangerous.

But the leaders of the other classes have created an alliance with him. Not only would choosing to be hostile towards him create more unnecessary enemies and bad outcomes that could be avoided, but I'd rather just not. I mean, there's no way I'm fighting a guy who has that scary of a glare, much less not even mentioning the things he's capable of.

Besides, he has been chosen as the leader of our entire grade.

I sigh, accidentally being louder than I intended as I thought of all this.

"Is something wrong, Ryuuji-kun?" Ichinose's voice broke me out of my thoughts. I've noticed that she sometimes refers to me by both my last name or my given name, so I return the favor.

We just finished the meeting with the other class leaders. Kamuro and Koenji went their separate ways from us.

Now, the two of us are heading back to our dorms.

"Nothing much. Just thinking about everything."

"Oh... A penny for your thoughts?"

She's too kind for her own good, but if she wants to lend me her ear, then I won't say no.

Our relationship is strange. I don't know what to make of her other than the fact that I trust her and that she calls herself friends with everyone, which reminds me of how genuine her thoughts are.

Unlike most people, she isn't two-faced.

She says I'm her confidant, someone she can be completely honest with. I've been a loner all my life, so I appreciate her saying that.

Ichinose Honami is a nice girl. But because of this, she is a little too innocent and needs someone to protect her. Me and the other guys vowed to do our part for her sake. All the girls of Class A matter to us as well, but she is our leader, our captain, our pride.

As her best friend, it is my job to be her second in command and help guide her to the path of success... Even if that means cutting down her ideals for her own good.

I am not a harsh person, but now, I may need to force her to question herself.

I reply to her, "... I was having an internal argument between my emotional side and my logical self. It's frustrating because of how my logic wins most of the time, and yet, I don't feel any sense of satisfaction, only impending doom. I tend to go against the crowd like that, by being more insightful than the rest."

"Because of what Sakayanagi-san said?"

I nod. "Yes. To be honest, I am terrified of this whole White Room business, mainly the kids from there. You should be, too. My main concern is how your relationship with Ayanokouji could potentially harm our class."