COTE Year 2 Reimagined

Volume 4:Part 6

I spent the entire day sparring with Koenji, going back and forth between us. Neither one of us had said a word during the entire experience, but nothing needed to be said.

In the end, there wasn't a clear victor, but that didn't matter to either of us. We had both achieved our goals. I kept Koenji from having complete freedom, and he had a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

I woke up on the eleventh day and conducted myself as usual, moving from tasks to task, but I wasn't trying too hard. Instead, my main goal was to run GPS scans every hour and monitor everyone's movements. Everything was going as I expected, so I hoped Arisu was ready to face her opponent. By the end of the day, I was walking around trying to find a place to camp and happened to run into a familiar face.

"We haven't met in a while, Ayanokoji-kun."

Shiina Hiyori was standing in front of me, giving me a warm her smile. She was accompanied by Ishizaki and Nishino.

"I didn't expect to run into you guys here."

"Yo Ayanokoji! How's it going, man?"

Nishino raised her hand to greet me but didn't say much.

"I'm doing fine. Are you guys getting by safely?"

"Yeah! Shiina's been doing any tasks that need you to be smart, you know. And I've been doing anything physical, so we got a lot of points. I don't think we'll win, though."

I didn't understand why Ishizaki expected to win in the first place, but I let it go. Hiyori giggled at his words, probably thinking the same thing I did. I looked at Nishino since he hadn't mentioned her.

"Oh yeah! Nishino hasn't been doing much she's just standing around, you know. But it's fine she's our friend."

Nishino didn't hesitate to smack Ishizaki on the back of the head. He turned around and gave her a confused look. Apparently, he didn't know what he did wrong. Hiyori giggled once more and then grabbed my arm and dragged me away.

"I want to show you something, Ayanokoji-kun."

I didn't understand what that could be, so I just followed.

She brought me to the beach, which was nearby, and sat down on a rock, ushering me to sit next to her.

"Isn't it beautiful Ayanokoji-kun?"

I looked forward and didn't understand what she meant. The ocean? Sky? I didn't particularly think anything was "beautiful" objectively speaking the sky is pleasant to look at, but I had no personal opinion on the matter.

Hiyori noticed my confusion somehow and started explaining.

"I'm talking about the sunset. The three of us set up camp in this exact same spot yesterday. Coincidently, we ended up here again. Thankfully, I managed to run into you."

"Thankfully? Did you need something from me?"

"No, it's nothing like that. Yesterday, when I watched the sunset, I thought about how beautiful it was. I thought it would be a more enjoyable experience if you were watching it with me."

Hiyori noticed what she said, and her face got red again. She averted her gaze from mine and looked to her right. I was about to respond but was interrupted.

"There you are! I thought something had happened to you, Ayanokoji! Shiina, you're okay too, right? I thought you guys might have gotten lost!"

Nishino smacked Ishizaki's head again.

"Read the room moron you ruined the moment!!"

"What room! We're on a beach?! You're the moron here, Nishino!!"

Nishino grabbed his hand and forcefully dragged him away from us. Hiyori started giggling and looked at me.

"Those two really are something, aren't they?"

"I suppose so. Ishizaki-kun and Nishino-san banter like this every day, but their company has been enjoyable."

She smiled and looked down before going on.

"What about you, Ayanokoji-kun? Has it been hard for you?"

"I guess. I have enough points, though. I don't think I'll be expelled."

"That's not what I meant. I was asking if it's been hard for you to be lonely?"

Being lonely? I did have Nanase, but then..no. I suppose not. In a way, I've always been lonely. Human connections are formed when you established an equal level of understanding towards each other. I understood everyone around me way too much, and none of them could even begin to understand me. The difference was so wide that it felt like I was completely alone in this world. It was like this my entire life, but I've never found it particularly difficult. I suppose it didn't matter since I had no other choice.

Hiyori noticed that I was lost in thought and grabbed my hand. I noticed her hand was surprisingly warm considering the weather.

"Take care of yourself, Ayanokoji-kun. I'm glad I met you today."

She gave me a warm smile and got up. She joined up with her group and waved at me. It seemed like Ishizaki wanted to say goodbye but was dragged away by Nishino once more.

Lonely. I wonder if it's even possible for me to reach a mutual level of understanding with someone.