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

Chapter 37 - Final Leg

I watched the scene unfold in silence.

This was not my place to say anything.

This was Horikita's problem.

Ryuuen had specifically targeted Horikita, because she was the only leader in Class D who Ryuuen can currently take advantage of. He cannot throw me into any trouble; he knows it is unwise to do so.

However, I had not expected Chabashira-sensei to shoot down Kanzaki that easily. What was the deal with this teacher? All her actions pissed me off. She might be pretty and stuff, but her personality and cold attitude makes her quite unlikeable.

Ryuuen left the room along with Kinoshita, glancing once in my direction before leaving.

I inferred that my presence in the cubicle was currently not required, and I left, leaving Horikita, Kushida and Chabashira-sensei in the room to deal with the deafening silence. 

________________________________________________________________________________

"Keisuke," Hirata jogged up to me as I returned back to the grounds. The Recommended Only Participation Events had already started, and I was forced out of the omnidirectional tug-of-war due to my injury.

Currently, Sudo and I had missed out in the boys tug-of-war event, which costed the class 200,000 Points. Horikita's absence in the festival also had a similar impact on the girl's tug-of-war, and 100,000 more Points were shelled out. The next event, the three-legged race, would also be missed out by Horikita and Sudo. I had somehow managed to convince Hirata and Chiaki that I was alright, and that I would participate in the races.

Speaking of which, I had to find a new partner for the three-legged race.

I couldn't partner up with Ayanokoji or Hirata, since they were racing together. I turned my gaze back to the camp, and tried to search for someone who could possibly fill Sudo's position in the race alongside me.

***

"You sure you wanna race with me, Takeyama-kun?"

"Do you recommend someone else?" I deadpanned.

"Umm..... now that you say it, no," Miyake said, and he bent down to tie the string between my left leg and his right. "We've not done this together before, so I guess it's okay to not take 1st place."

"Of course. We cannot take first place without practicing. Do you want me to keep counting numbers so that we can keep running in sync?" I asked.

"That'd actually be real helpful," said Miyake. "We're starting off in the 2nd lane. What a pain. We've got too much of turning to do now."

"Oh well. Nothing to do about it. We'll start off with the untied leg?" I suggested.

"Yeah, that makes sense."

As usual, I was pitted alongside Ryuuen and a student from Class C called Hiroya Tokito. If my information sources are correct (source : Chiaki), Tokito-kun was someone who was adamantly against Ryuuen's dictatorship regime. He paired up along with Ryuuen himself? What a shame. Well, it's not like anyone in Class C actually gets a say on the matter.

"Yo, Takeyama," Ryuuen said, as though greeting an old friend. "That redhead isn't here, eh? You've sure got it tough."

"We have, in fact," I answered. "He's got a pretty short fuse. He probably won't come back."

"Kuku, I'm sorry for the loss," Ryuuen snickered. "Say hello to Suzune for me, okay? And Kikyo as well. Such babes in your Class. I'm jealous."

I sighed. "You know I won't respond to your cheap provocations, Ryuuen. Why do you even try?"