Another Like Me - Part I (CoTE x OC) ✔

Chapter 21 - No Break

The next 3 days on the cruise liner were fun, to say the least. I had the chance to interact with several members of the opposite sex, and in the process, had also strained the relation that I possessed with some of the boys in the class. By some of the boys, I meant Ike, Yamauchi and Sotomura. But to be blatantly honest, I didn't even know who Sotomura was until yesterday when the trio arrived and tried to lecture me on the importance of something along the lines of 'bros before hoes'.

Today, the third day, I had decided to actually hang out with the guys for once. Me and Hirata have not had a chance to speak to each other properly ever since the island exam. Even though we both resided in the same guest cabin, whenever either of us made it back to the room, the other would either be absent, or asleep. 

This morning, I had an appointment with Hirata, and another with Chiaki in the afternoon. There was a certain rumor that had enveloped the grade, which involved me and Chiaki in some sort of romantic relationship. I had heard some of the Class D girls whisper about it, but it looks like it was prevalent even in the other classes from A to C. Though it did not bother me in the slightest, I wondered how Chiaki felt about it. She probably did not feel good being paired up with me in a lewd way. I had to clear up the misunderstanding.

I glanced at my wristwatch. It was 8:30am, and I wasn't supposed to meet Hirata until 12:00 noon at the cruise bar. The bar was an excellent place to have a light-hearted conversation, but it consisted of only a long bench with high stools, so it wasn't very popular among the large friend groups and social circles.

Speaking of which, I despised large friend groups. Not that I wasn't able to mix well, but it just never appealed to me. The concept of a few close friends seemed more logical and mannered compared to many superficial friends. The only people I could really call friends were Hirata, Chiaki, Sudo, and to an extent, Ayanokoji and Horikita. 

I had over 3.5 hours to kill, and no place seemed suitable to satiate my boredom now. I decided it would be wiser to retire to my room and take the morning easy. I turned around, only to unexpectedly bump into Kanzaki Ryuji, one of the leaders of Class B. Ichinose Honami was nowhere to be seen around. DAMN IT.

"Fancy meeting you here, Takeyama-kun," Kanzaki started curtly. "Here to enjoy the view of the ocean?"

"I am here precisely for that," I replied. "I assume you are too?"

"More or less. I was planning to go and meet a few friends from Class B."

"You must go on then; I cannot hold you back here. Don't keep them waiting."

"It's alright, there is still time remaining until the scheduled meet. I might as well spend some time by the ocean." Saying so, Kanzaki walked up to my left, and stood beside me, looking out into the ocean.

"I must say, I was very surprised at the results of the Island Exam," Kanzaki said. "I never expected Class D to get so many Points. Congratulations."

"I didn't really do anything, Horikita was the reason we won," I said. "I just did the best I could to protect my identity as Leader. Horikita had found out the identities of all Class Leaders except yours, of course."

"That truly is a marvelous feat. Your Class seems to be in good hands."

"That is true." I looked out silently into the ocean for a while, before turning my attention back to Kanzaki. "Say, Kanzaki-kun, why did Class B not try to guess any Leaders from the other classes? I understand that Class B and D are in an alliance, but what about the others? Classes A and C? Surely you could have tried to identify their Leaders?"

"Class B went in with a thoroughly defensive strategy this time," Kanzaki replied. "We did not guess the Leaders of any other Class because we never tried to find them out either. We could not risk having our Leader's identity thrown out into the open."