COTE Year 2 Reimagined

Volume 2:Part 10

It has now been two weeks since the special exam was announced. Groups were already forming quickly, and Horikita even told me rumours about an alliance between Sakayanagi and Ichinose. This "alliance" was probably Sakayanagi manipulating Ichinose. If she went too far, I'd have to intervene, but I let it be for now. Surprisingly, no one had bought my card yet, and I started to get worried. If no one does buy, then Kei might be in trouble. Speaking of Kei, she was one of the only ones who still hadn't picked a group.

I was walking towards school when I spotted the person I was just thinking about. I walked up behind her, but far enough that it would seem we were each walking alone.

"Good morning."

Kei freaked out but kept walking without looking back. She was getting better and better at this.

"Kiyotaka, you scared me. What's wrong with you?"

"I didn't know I was so scary. I'll leave, I guess."

I decided to tease her to lighten her mood.

"Wait, that's not what I-"

She realised that she fell for my trick and clicked her tongue, then started pouting.

"Did you form a group yet?"

I knew she didn't, but I wanted to bring it up anyway.

"No..not yet."

"You need to hurry, or you'll be in trouble. No one bought my card yet. I'll leave it for a few more days, but if no one contacts me, I'll try to sell it manually."

Kei looked down in guilt. She didn't want me to sell it just for her.

"You'll be fine. Don't worry, I won't let you get expelled. Trust me."

"You'd better not."

Her mood seemed to have improved, and we kept walking in silence for the rest of the way.

When I made it to class, I saw Shinohara storming out seemingly going to the bathroom to vent.

"What happened?"

I decided to ask Yousuke out of curiosity.

"Ike-kun and Shinohara-san had an argument. Apparently, the problem involved Komiya-kun from Class-D."

Yousuke was clearly worried. He wanted to ask me something but probably felt bad.

"Do you want to ask me something?"

He looked up at me, then replied.

"Yes. I wanted to ask if you could look into this Kiyotaka-kun. Ike-kun and Shinohara-san are already towards the bottom of the ranks. If they're not performing their best, they may end up getting expelled. I hate to ask this of you, but I don't want to lose anyone else."

Yousuke looked down in shame after he was done. I didn't want to help, but Yousuke was really troubled. If I let him down now, he might lose trust in me.

"I'll do my best."

He was ecstatic at my response, and her mood completely shifted as if the problem had already been resolved. Did Yousuke believe I was some kind of deity who could never fail?

Regardless, I went to sit in my place and glanced at my seatmate Horikita she looked back and met my gaze, then chuckled. She probably remembered my encounter with Albert and Class D. I sighed and pulled out my phone to text Ishizaki. I asked him to investigate this Komiya issue.

<I won't let ya down Ayanokoji! Meet me after school, and I'll tell ya what I learned!>

He was happy to help.