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

Chapter 24 - The Zodiac Exam, Part 3

In the end, even after I entered this school, nothing had changed.

No, it was perhaps because I had no intention to change. For better or worse, it was the same as that time. And the reason for that is simple.

That I understand myself better than anyone.

Both my strengths and my weaknesses, I know them all. I know none of the boys or the girls like me. Even though I understood this clearly I did not make a change. But it doesn't matter now. Because I had long since stopped perceiving things as hurtful. I wanted this myself.

I looked into the mirror after walking out of the shower attached to the student rooms. How many times have I wanted to smash this mirror into pieces? Every time I look into it, I am reminded of my horrible past. Suddenly feeling dizzy and nauseated, I quickly put my hands over the sink and vomit.

Why does it have to be me? Why, why, why?

God has been very cruel to me. I cannot change the past. I have lost everything, my friends, my past, my youth. I need to correct that mistake now. No matter how much they hate me, I must protect myself. Yes, I don't need youth, I don't need friends. The most important is that I protect myself.

Because I am weak.

Because I am a parasite.

~~ Kei Karuizawa's Monologue

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"You there?"

Ayanokoji snapped back to reality when I shook him awake from his daydream.

"Y-Yeah, I got a bit sidetracked," Ayanokoji said.

"So what's the answer?" I asked.

"What's the question?"

I sighed. "You weren't listening, were you?"

"Like I said, I got sidetracked."

"What happened in your group? The Rabbit Group," I asked for the second time.

"Nothing of interest. Ichinose took the lead in our Group, and talked about how we needed to trust each other and all that stuff. Surprisingly, Class A is not willing to participate in the discussion. Their apparent goal is to stay quiet throughout the exam, without uttering a single word, and get by," Ayanokoji replied.

"Wait, so they aren't participating in the discussion at all?" I asked, a bit curious.

"Nope. Are the Class A students in your Snake group doing something else? From what I inferred, the entire Class A is going with this strategy."

"No. They did not say that they would not participate in the discussion. They made it painfully clear that they were aiming for Outcome 3, where the traitor would obviously be from Class A. They refuse to cooperate, but they never said anything about staying silent throughout the exam."

Ayanokoji weighed in my words, and was lost in thought. This had come as potential information to me as well. Does that mean either The Rabbit Group's Class A, or The Snake Group's Class A are going with different strategies, even though they are from the same class? Some form of unrest, in a sense?

I could confirm my suspicions if I met up with Horikita's Dragon Group now. Katsuragi-kun was also a part of this group, so whichever strategy he had adopted was the one that Class A had discussed and agreed upon.

We approached Room 205, the room where the Dragon Group meeting was being held. The door was still locked from the inside, so I assumed that the meeting was still going on. Me and Ayanokoji waited outside the room for the Class D people to come out.