COTE One Shots

What Freedom Entails

Volume 0 Spoilers ahead.

~2.2k words

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka POV

"You two are going to continue with your usual sparring sessions. I'll be out of the room for a bit."

The instructor who was acting as the referee left the room in a hurry as if he'd been summoned.

We were left behind and started out Randori as instructed. We clutched each other's judogi.

Shiro and I had done the same thing dozens and hundreds of times.

"Can I have a word?" 

The past months' silence was broken when Shiro whispered in my year. 

I thought it was a mental attack, but he stopped moving completely.

"It's been many, many years since I've last beaten you in Judo, hasn't it?"

"That's right."

I had been winning since the second round after I lost my first fight.

"Boxing, Karate, Jeet Kune Do—it's the same for everything. I'll win the first one or two fights, but once you turn the tables on me, I can't do anything about it. You're really great."

Why would he say that in the middle of a brawl like this?

"I have one thing to say to you."

"...What?"

I listened to the mumbling, which continued at such a close distance that the adults couldn't pick it up.

"I've decided to leave this facility."

"Only the outcasts get out of here."

"So I'm going to drop out and get out of here. If you look at the dropouts' tendencies and the adults who have to deal with them, you can imagine what kind of paths they take. At least I won't be killed."

"What are you going to do out there? Is there a point to that?"

"Yes. I want freedom."

"Freedom?"

"I want to be free. I want to have friends. Isn't it normal to feel that way? Look around you. It's just me and you. We're going to be like this for over ten years."

A/N: Deviation from canon starts now.

Freedom. An interesting concept. For years, my life has been dictated to the instructors' will. Should I really explore the outside? I didn't understand any of what he's feeling, yet I was curious nonetheless to find out. Noticing my lack of a response, Shiro offered me something.

"Would you like to leave with me?"

All signs I've noticed had been telling me the direction of the conversation would be pointed towards my freedom. But what exactly do I want? Was it the realization of my potential inside the White Room? Or is it the satisfaction of my curiosity being fulfilled?

"Yes."

I don't exactly know why I said it, yet I felt like I needed to.

"Alright. I'm sure you know what to do. I'll see you there, Kiyotaka."

I could feel Shiro's extraordinary determination, as well as a strange determination to win against me in this battle. The opponent in front of me wasn't an easy opponent compared to a half-baked adult. And yet...

"KUK!"

Shiro's attack was repelled, and I got a clean blow.

I couldn't lose to an opponent who had learned from the same mistakes I had made.