COTE Year 2 Reimagined

Volume 1:Part 3

And so it begins. Today was officially the first day of our second year at ANHS I was walking towards the school surrounding by familiar faces most of which I haven't seen for a while now but thankfully nobody came up to speak to me.

When I made it to class, it seemed I was one of the first students to arrive. However, one person in the room immediately shifted their gaze towards me. I set down my bag and tried to sit at my usual spot, but she was already right in my face.

It was Hasebe Haruka, a member of the Ayanokoji group, and someone I should normally consider a "friend"

"What's going on with you, Kiyopon? You didn't hang out with us once over spring break, and now you completely ignore me when we finally meet after so long?"

"Sorry, I've been kind of distracted during break. I had a lot on my mind,"

"Well, you could've at least responded to our texts Airi, and the guys really missed you, you know?"

Despite her aggressive attitude, it didn't seem like she was angry at me but just concerned.

"You're right. I can try to meet you guys this week?"

"You'd better."

She seemed satisfied with my answer and walked over to her seat, and just then, Chabashira entered the room she was one person I certainly didn't miss but I suppose since she was helping me against my father for now I had to grin and bear it.

She waited for about 5 minutes for everyone to arrive during that time Kei and Yousuke arrived, giving me a slight glance and huge grin, respectively and then there was Horikita who walked up to her seat and sat down next to me without even acknowledging my existence.

Chabashira gave us the usual talk for students starting their second year of High school before introducing us to the OAA,an app proposed by the student council president Nagumo that let's you not only track everyone's name but also their recorded capabilities in Academics,sports and even social skills this was good news for me since it significantly reduced the work I'd have to do to track down the agent sent by that man I kept a mental note to go through the app and memorise all the first years name's and abilities as soon as school was over for the day.

Unlike me, no one else seemed to really care for the app I suppose for a normal person this wouldn't be very interesting.

Just as soon as we thought that was it, the big surprise was here.

"Now I'm going to go over your first special exam of your second year."

As soon as those words left her mouth, pretty much everyone started to object, which I did kind of understand. This was only our first day back after all.

Chabashira slammed her hand onto the podium multiple times to shut everyone up so she could go on.

"Relax. The exam itself takes place 2 weeks from now. However, the announcement happens today, so you could fully prepare for what's to come this upcoming exam is a cooperative written test,so not only would you have to study you're expected to find a suitable partner before the exam."

Of course Ike was the first person to raise his hand.

"Sensei, can't I just partner up with Ken or something? Why would we need 2 full weeks to prepare?"

Surprisingly, it wasn't a bad question.

"That's because you can't just pick anyone,if the total score you achieve isn't above the 50% mark you will end up getting expelled that means you would have to score at least 501 throughout a total of 5 subjects."

She took a deep breath before speaking on.

"And your partner needs to be a student from the first year,however, their punishmen would not be expulsion."

I see.

As soon as she said that, all the pieces fell into place, and that man was undoubtedly involved in this since we need to be over the 50% mark to avoid expulsion it meant that if I ended up partnering with the agent even if I scored a perfect 500 if they scored a 0 then that's it,I would be expelled.

His influence on this exam and the inclass voting from last year also tells me that he must have someone working inside the school not just a student,someone important enough to alter or even fully create our special exams.

I sent Kei a quick message even though Chabashira was glaring at me from across the room. Thankfully, she was subtle enough that no one seemed to notice her.

Kei then raised her hand.

"Excuse me, sensei if we need 501 points, that means that even if you score a perfect grade, you could get expelled if your partner refuses to answer. How is that fair?"

A lot of eyes were now on Kei,some were thinking about what she said, and others were shocked that she would notice such a thing so quickly,Ofcourse she was only doing what I asked but they didn't know that.

"That's a surprisingly perceptive question, Karuizawa-san."

Chabashira crossed her arms and started to speak.

"With the introduction of the OAA everyone's Academic ability is not only on display but it is also monitored by the school,if a student with a rating of A for example happens to score a 0 that student will be immediately expelled for altering his or her grade and purposefully holding back."

Horikita was the next to speak up, and she asked the question that was just on my mind.

"If that scenario does play out, what happens to the second year who paired up with the student who was holding back?"

"Unfortunately, the second year will be expelled for failing unless they pay 20 million points. But that situation is quite unlikely, no one is going to purposefully get themselves expelled in order to hurt one of you."

"What about protection points? That way, they can hold back and not suffer any consequences."

Horikita did make a fair point, however...

"Protection points only apply to special exams,if a first year were to purposefully hold back they'd be expelled for breaking the school which is irreversible even with 20 million points,not to mention the fact that not a single first year has yet to earn a protection point."

Horikita just sat back down and kept silent for the rest of class,even if Chabashira did shut her down Horikita made a good case and asked some reasonable questions she might be frustrated with herself right now but she did make the right call.

"Anymore questions?"

Surprisingly, not a single student had anymore questions Chabashira proceeded to head towards the door before stopping and...

"You can officially confirm your partners as soon as next week rolls around, but you can still form alliances and partnerships right now."

With that, she walked out and left us all to discuss the contents of the exam.