A New Masterpiece (COTE x OC)

Chapter 35 - Breakpoint

When I rejoined Class D in our tent, apparently the Class D girls were finishing up their next event. Tamaire.

From what I could gather, it was quite a simple game.

The girls were given a set time limit to see how many colored balls they could toss into a basket above them.

Why couldn't we get a simple event like that?

After the round had finished, a teacher came and went to each team and counted all the balls in the basket.

"Red team 79. White team 71. The Red team wins."

All the girls on the Red team jumped in the air with joy at their victory. It was a strong morale boost for them. Something that may help get the rest of Class D out of the slums.

Class D's wins were starting to get sparse at this point. But any win was a good one at the moment. Without almost any time to rest, the start of the boy's tug-of-war was announced.

We made our way over to the event and met up with Class A once again. Hopefully to have a better result than last time.

"Everyone," Hirata chimed. "I know the last event didn't go our way exactly. But this one, I know we can succeed. The chance of injuries is low, and now it's one class's strength versus another."

The surrounding members nodded along in approval with Hirata's sentiment.

"Alright, Class A and D coalition," Katsuragi spoke up. "To have the highest chance of success in this event, we should arrange ourselves according to height. This will give us the maximum force possible for each person."

A simple and effective strategy.

"Should we really be trusting your foolish nonsense?" a single voice spoke up from the group.

A tall, skinny man, with his long blonde hair tied back in a bun, filtered out of the group.

"You can't arrogantly take charge of the class forever. I mean, look where that got us last time," Hashimoto mocked.

A few snickers were heard from Class A students as the dispute continued.

"Hashimoto, I don't follow you?" Katsuragi replied with a tight face.

"It's quite simple. How can we hope to win under a leader who hasn't gotten us anywhere yet?"

Everyone in Class D stood and watched on in silence. It was a difficult situation sitting back and watching with our own eyes the strife within Class A.

"So, will this plan guarantee our victory?" Hashimoto pressed more.

My eyes left the civil war playing out right in front of me and looked toward Class A's tent.

It was plain as day. Sakayanagi watched with a slight smile on her face as Hashimoto continued to batter Katsuragi.

So, Hashimoto was the pawn of this plan, while Sakayanagi was the brains behind it.

"Hashimoto," Katsuragi finally spoke. "We should set this aside for later. Not everyone may agree with my methods, but this isn't a discussion we should be having so openly with our enemies around."

There was silence for a moment as the two finally acknowledged the ill timing of this disagreement.

"Yeah, no," Hashimoto responded. "I think right now is the best time and place for it. Let everyone know the failure you are."

Hashimoto wasn't pulling his punches. Openly airing out how disgusted he was with Katsuragi's results so far. But not only Hashimoto, many other Class A students murmured along in approval. It was quite easy to tell now that Katsuragi's time as Class A's leader was nearing its end.