Another Like Me - Part II (CoTE x OC)

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟙 - ℝ𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕡𝕖

A knock sounded on my door, and I turned to stare at it.

Someone visiting me at this hour? A bit strange, if you asked me.

I walked over towards the door, and peeked through the spyhole.

..... oh.

Oh boy.

I forgot that he even existed.

I slowly unlatched the chain on my door, and turned the lock around twice.

"Takeyama-kun? Are you in there?"

"Yeah yeah, just a second."

I wasted no more time and opened the door, allowing the visitor to walk in. He took off his shoes at the entrance and wiped his feet at the doormat.

Dark brown hair, and about average height. He looked a lot like what Ike would look like if he were a bit more handsome, to be honest.

"Takeyama, we need to talk."

"Yeah, I figured. You wouldn't drop in without a reason, would you senpai?" I replied, and closed the door behind me. "Tea? Coffee?"

"Please, spare the hospitality. I won't be here for more than 10 minutes," Ikuto Kiriyama replied, and he took his seat on my chair. "I'm here for a reason."

I can see the topic come from almost miles away.

"And that would be?"

"Your stance, Takeyama. Your stance."

"On what?"

"Don't act ignorant," Kiriyama warned. "I need to know whether you're on my side or not. Ever since Nagumo has become President, things have become petty. There's no law, order, decorum or elegance. Just plain war."

"Your point?"

Kiriyama clicked his tongue. "You said before that you were going to remain a neutral spectator on the matter. But I was hoping you would have changed your mind after all the drama and fiasco with Class S being formed."

"I'm sorry, senpai. Nothing has changed, and I hold strong to my opinion. I don't care about what the Council President does."

"You've joined the Council as their Secretary, Takeyama. You're one of the only first year secretaries in ANHS in many years. You have the respect and friendship of several prominent and powerful seniors on campus. You'll be taking the wrong path if you follow Nagumo on his journey."

"His journey means nothing to me, Kiriyama-senpai. I'm not biased. I'm only in the Council because I feel it will be good experience for me. Otherwise, I don't see a reason for me to be in the Council. Do you think my involvement with the Student Council has anything to do with following Nagumo-senpai's ideologies?"

"I did not explicitly say that, but it was implied. You were invited by Nagumo, so there is a high possibility that you're involved in his grand scheme of things. I'm not disrespecting your decision, Takeyama. I'm just asking you to reevaluate."

"I take my own decisions, senpai. And I have deduced that my decision needs no reevaluation. There is nothing that would coax me to take your side. Besides, I've never believed that Nagumo-senpai's methods are bad, after all."

Kiriyama raised his eyebrows. "You're defending Nagumo?"

"Not at all," I corrected myself. "I'm just saying that the individual meritocracy system that Nagumo-senpai has initiated brings out the hidden talents of students who otherwise lag behind because of their class."

"That's exactly something Nagumo would say too," Kiriyama snapped. "You're making a grave mistake, kouhai. As your senior, I want you to take the decision that you will not regret in the long run."