COTE Year 2 Reimagined

Volume 3:Part 5

I woke up early and noticed Shinohara had set her tent up. It seemed like she was going to stay with Ike and Sudo until they could combine groups. I packed my things and waited outside for Nanase to get up, I wanted to leave early.

"Good morning, Ayanokoji-senpai."

"Morning Nanase"

It was strange, but we greeted each other in this exact manner multiple times by now.

"Do you always wake up this early?"

That was a strange question.

"Yeah, I've never been one to sleep much. Should we get going?"

"If you want to go, I'll pack my things right away."

I nodded to her, and she quickly started packing her tent. When she was done grabbing all her stuff, she ran up to me and fixed her posture like she was a soldier lining up for roll call.

I sighed at her ridiculous behaviour and started walking. I wondered if Sudo and the others would be fine, but it shouldn't be too much trouble if they managed to combine groups soon. I also wondered about Kei since I hadn't seen her since before the exam started. I quickly pushed that thought away and kept moving forward.

I headed in the direction of my fourth area from yesterday since the first area today would be relatively close to that. But before we arrived, our first area was already selected. Thankfully, it was really close, so we kept walking. Nanase followed me closely as always without saying a thing.

On our way there, however, we saw a task getting set up. I glanced back at Nanase and spoke.

"You can wait here and participate if you want. You don't have to follow me."

"No, it's alright, Senpai. I think if we go to our area, we can still make it back here in time."

I nodded and kept walking. I was testing her to see if she had noticed that, and she did. Soon after, we reached our first area. I got first place, and Nanase was second. I learned from Sudo, however, that you wouldn't receive bonus points until the entire team makes it to the destination. So Nanase hasn't been receiving any bonuses this entire time.

We walked back towards the task that was being set up. Nanase managed to snatch a spot, but I was too late. Kiriyama seemed to be saving a spot for someone but took it for himself when he saw me.

"Should I cancel the task Ayanokoji-senpai? I don't want you to waste your time on me."

"It's fine, just do it,I'll be watching."

She nodded and ran to the changing booth. The task was a game called Beach Flags. From what I gathered, you just ran on a set path, and whoever grabs the flag at the end first wins. It seemed simple enough. I wanted Nanase to register since she wasn't getting any points from the early bird bonus, so she should do a task instead.

I noticed that every student around was a third year. Were they all travelling together? I wanted to observe and see what was going on.

Before long, Nanase came out of the changing booth and walked up to me. She was wearing a very provocative swimsuit, which was strange considering everyone else had gone with the school issued rashguard. Maybe she didn't understand what others normally did in these situations?

"Umm, Ayanokoji-senpai, is something wrong? I don't want to be rude, but you've been staring at my swimsuit for a while now."

I was so lost in thought about a meaningless topic that I didn't even notice that I had been "staring." I quickly looked away towards the beach.

"Sorry, I was distracted and didn't notice."

I decided to speak the truth.

"No, it's alright. I'll get going now the task will start soon."