COTE Year 2 Reimagined

Volume 3:Part 4

It was the night of the second day. I was sitting in my tent about to sleep when I heard Sudo trying to make jokes at Ike. He was clearly trying to cheer him up, but nothing worked.

"Alright, that's it. Can we talk about it, Kanji? You've been down in the dumps this whole exam. I've tried everything, but nothing works. What's going on man you can talk to me, right?"

Hondo decided to join in on the conversation.

"Yeah, what the hell! We've been trying to have fun, but you're being all gloomy lately. What happened?"

Ike didn't respond. A long silence followed.

"Come on, Kanji."

Sudo pleaded with him.

"Sudo-senpai, I think It's best to give Ike-senpai some space. If you're truly his friend, then he will speak to you once he's ready."

Sudo didn't like that Nanase was butting but didn't say a word. We all sat in silence again. Each one in their own tent, but none of us tried to sleep. The silence went on for almost fifteen minutes.

"You know... well. I wanted to ask Shinohara to be in my group. I wanted to spend time with her on the island and show off in front of her so she'd like me. It's pathetic, isn't it?"

Ike laughed at himself.

"I don't think so. Your desire to impress Shinohara-senpai is by no means pathetic."

"It doesn't matter anymore she's grouped up with Komiya for two weeks she probably likes him, and they'll start dating. I guess I was too late, huh?"

He laughed again. He was clearly suffering, but he couldn't admit it.

"If you want to say something to Shinohara-senpai, then do it. If you don't, then you might regret it for the rest of your life! How can you say it's too late when she's right in front of you. You never know when someone precious gets taken away from you, so you can't hold back and hesitate. You have to tell her what's in your heart before it's truly too late..."

The others couldn't hear it, but I noticed. Nanase was crying. It was so soft that it was barely noticeable, but I could hear her.

An awkward silence followed but was broken after about five minutes.

"Damn it! You're right. What the hell am I doing! I love her. I love Shinohara. I won't give up now over this stupid exam! I'll find her and tell her how I feel!"

You could hear the fire in Ike's voice. Nanase's words touched his heart, and his spirit was back.

"Hell yeah! That's the Kanji I knew! I'll support you until the very end, man. we'll find her, and you'll do it!"

Sudo was genuinely happy at hearing Ike's determination. After that, they started making jokes with each other, and even Hondo joined in on the fun. I didn't say a word and decided to sleep now.

About four hours after I slept, I was woken up by a beeping noise. I got out of my tent to see what was going on. I heard the noise clearly now. It was coming from the forest nearby.

Just then, Nanase left her tent as well. Her eyes were still sleepy, and her hair was all messed up.

"Can you hear that noise, Senpai? I thunk someone might be in trouble."

So she noticed. The beeping was very familiar to the emergency alert we heard back when we were testing the watches on the ship. Apparently, when your health deteriorates, the watch will issue an alert to warn you. If nothing changes, then the school will be notified and called to the scene, and you'll be immediately eliminated.