Another Like Me - Part II (CoTE x OC)

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟛𝟚 - 𝕀𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨

After another grueling day of classes, Ichinose and I walked down the corridor of the Academic Building, and knocked on the last door on that level.

"Enter."

Nagumo's voice sounded from behind the door, and I gently swung the door open. It seemed that I had come much earlier than I had anticipated for the meeting — the only person here was Nagumo. The rest of the council hadn't showed up yet.

"Good afternoon, Prez."

"Good afternoon Takeyama, Honami — please seat yourselves."

The two of us nodded, and we took our respective seats in the room. Nagumo was reading through some files that were kept on the table, and he paid no heed to his two secretaries. Ichinose and I simply sat in silence, while waiting for the rest of the members to file in.

Ichinose looked a little pensive to me. She was staring down at her own hands, while twiddling her thumbs in a nervous fashion. It didn't show up in her face, but it was clear that she was going through something.

I quietly left my old seating spot, and seated myself next to the strawberry-haired blonde. Ichinose acknowledged my presence, and she smiled.

"Takeyama-kun."

"Ichinose-san, are you feeling well?" I asked quietly, making sure to keep my voice low so that Nagumo doesn't eavesdrop. Ichinose immediately shook her head with a smile.

"I'm fine, Takeyama-kun. Thank you for asking."

"You don't look fine," I replied, and Ichinose stiffened. "You look..... nervous."

"A-ah..... is it that obvious?" Ichinose laughed at herself. "Well then, Takeyama-kun. I guess you're someone I can trust."

"Of course. Is something bothering you?"

"It's just..... it's Himeno-san," Ichinose breathed out. "She's been avoiding me. I know that I am in no position to approach her and advice her, but as her friend, I want to do my best and help her settle down into her new class. But with that speech you gave that day, about cooperating with the class, I feel like I need to reevaluate my decision."

"How so?" I asked. "The only thing I told her was that she cannot be individualistic, and she must support the class in every way possible. I don't think I said anything that could possibly sour your relationship with her."

"N-no, of course not, Takeyama-kun!" Ichinose immediately corrected herself. She probably thought that she had offended me in some way. "I didn't mean it that way. Of course, Takeyama-kun would want the best for all of us in class. There's no doubt."

"Then what is the issue?"

"It's..... well, you see, Takeyama-kun, I heard of..... of the deal that you had with Class B during the Training Camp," Ichinose's voice dropped down to a whisper. "My friends in Class B told me about it."

"I see..... are you angry with me?"

"I'm not, Takeyama-kun. I know that what you did was in the best interests of our class, and it might have taken a worse turn if you hadn't laid down the deal the way you did. I'm just..... I just thought that maybe you should have consulted the rest of the class before jumping into it."

To be fair, I couldn't exactly counter that point. After all, I should have consulted the class. The only reason I did not was to make sure that I did not lose the opportunity that Kanzaki was providing me with.

"What's your take on all of this?" I asked, and Ichinose turned to look at me cluelessly. "Do you think I did the right thing?"

Ichinose gulped, before answering. "From a moral standpoint, no. You did not do the right thing, Takeyama-kun."