COTE Year 2 Reimagined

Volume 4:Part 8

It was now the 13th day. It was time for me to make my move, time for me to finally get Ayanokoji Kiyoyaka expelled.

I thought back to everything that had led up to this moment.

Utomiya-kun and Yagami-kun were both helping me carry this plan out. Hosen-kun was in on the plan as well. Ishigami-kun from class A completely refused and said he had no interest in getting Ayanokoji-senpai expelled.

Hosen-kun said that Nanase-san was travelling with Ayanokoji-senpai and would fight him on the seventh day. Apparently, Nanase-san knew martial arts and could easily win that fight. Yagami-kun, however, suggested that we record the fight from a distance just in case Nanase-san fails.

If Nanase-san won, then Ayanokoji-senpai would be eliminated and expelled.

If Ayanokoji-senpai won, then the recording would show him beating her up, and we'd use it to expel him.

They were both good plans, but I also had a plan of my own.

The seventh day came, and both plans ended up failing. I was frustrated but also satisfied that I would get to carry out my own plan. Since I had helped them, both Hosen-kun and Yagami-kun agreed to assist me. Utomiya-kun was already under my control, so getting his help was very simple.

"Tsubaki, I don't like your plan. If the people attacking Ayanokoji get found, they'll get expelled. 20 million points isn't worth losing a friend."

"If they get found, I'll take full responsibility and get expelled in their place."

"Don't be ridiculous! What would you even gain from that?"

"I will do anything to get Ayanokoji-senpai expelled."

"Why?"

"For my class, of course."

That was a lie, but it shut him up.

"Tsubaki-san, there's another issue you're forgetting."

"No, I don't think I forgot anything, Yagami-kun."

"If you haven't noticed, Ayanokoji-senpai is in the top 25% of the rankings. How will you drop him so far? It's impossible."

"Who said my plan was to drop him in the rankings?"

Yagami looked at me in confusion.

"My plan is to corner Ayanokoji-senpai and make him believe that I aim to drop him in the rankings. Then, Hosen-kun will make his move and make sure Ayanokoji-senpai gets eliminated."

"Even with this plan, there's a problem. What if Ayanokoji-senpai formed a group with others? He did start alone, but that doesn't mean he didn't combine his group with anyone else."

"Once the leader is eliminated, information about their entire team gets revealed. If Ayanokoji-senpai is in a group, then we'll get them all eliminated and expelled."

"Wait a minute, Tsubaki. I can't agree to this!I agreed to expel Ayanokoji for the sake of the class, but he's one person. I won't allow you to attack multiple people who've done nothing!"

Utomiya-kun disapproved of my methods.

"Then leave. I don't need your help anymore. Whether you like it or not, I'll carry this plan out to the end."

"I can't let you d-"

"Then what will you do? Will you attack and try to stop me by force? That's the only way I'll stop."

Utomiya-kun couldn't respond. He had a frustrated look on his face and walked off.

"That was harsh Tsubaki-san."

"You're one to talk. You tried to befriend Ayanokoji-senpai and then stab him in the back."

"I suppose that's true. I only did it for the sake of my class. However, unlike Utomiya-kun, I'm willing to expel more than Ayanokoji-senpai if that's what it takes."

I nodded at him and pulled out the tablet he had brought me the other day. I asked him to find a tablet that had the same designated areas as Ayanokoji-senpai. Yagami-kun was in contact with Hosen-kun since he was also on the same table. Hosen-kun told Yagami-kun every designated area he's had, and Yagami-kun searched through his classmates' tablets to find one that matched.

I used that tablet for the last couple of days to understand Ayanokoji-senpai's movements. I noticed he skipped out on most of his areas, yet he suffered no penalty. Meaning that he did, in fact, combine his group. Part of my deal with Hosen-kun was for him to deal with Ayanokoji-senpai's group members after he was done with Ayanokoji-senpai himself. I didn't tell Yagami-kun and Utomiya-kun about this detail and instead told them that it was just a possibility that he might have a group.

Now that Ayanokoji-senpai was probably on the move, I used my first scan, and I was right. I decided to scan every ten minutes. That meant that my group, which consisted of me, Yagami-kun, and Utomiya-kun, would drop from our spot in the top 5 due to these scans, but I didn't care.

Ayanokoji-senpai moved as he usually did ignoring areas and heading for tasks. We used five groups from different classes to trap him. Ayanokoji-senpai knew that if he got close to them, he'd get in a fight. We instructed the first years to send out one person to fight Ayanokoji-senpai, in the case that he didn't notice their presence and headed straight towards my groups, the person fighting him would lose on purpose while someone else recorded. If anything went wrong, then instead, they'd all attack him at once and get him eliminated.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was cornered. He had to be. If he didn't notice my groups and moved towards him, he'd be expelled. If he noticed and moved around them and ran into Hosen, he'd be expelled. There was no way out for him.

Ayanokoji-senpai turned out to be smarter than he looked, and he actually noticed the groups and tried to move around them. His movements were completely predictable. I felt like a puppet master moving him to my will.

We lured him into a narrow path and tried to surround him from both sides and attack. But as I expected, he had some help. Hosen-kun said that Ayanokoji-senpai was close to Horikita-senpai. She was the leader of his class and had a lot of influence, which meant he'd probably ask her for help if he noticed our plan. What I didn't expect was also finding people from classes A,B, and C. Clearly, Horikita-senpai had more influence than I had imagined. It didn't make a difference in the end. They sent out five groups just like we did.

They cornered my groups and led Ayanokoji-senpai straight to "safety" exactly as I predicted they would. Ayanokoji-senpai moved into the forest that Hosen-kun had been waiting in. So far, every single detail has gone according to my plan. It was over.

"Hosen-kun. Get ready he's on his way to you."

"Took ya long enough."

"Keep the radio open. We need to hear to know what happens."

"Sure, whatever."

I kept scanning and saw Ayanokoji-senpai walking deeper and deeper into the forest until he finally reached Hosen-kun.

"Ayanokoji!!!"

I heard Hosen-kun yelling on the radio while seemingly running.

"Huh?? What the hell are you doing here?"

What? What was going on?

"Why are you so upset, gorilla? Did I interrupt your date with Ayanokoji?"

Who's talking?

"Hosen-kun, what's going on?? Report now."

"Shut the hell up bitch."

I heard the radio slam unto the ground and shatter into pieces. Did they see through my entire plan? What was happening? Who was that guy speaking to Hosen-kun?

There's no way... there's no way it ends like this. Not after everything I've prepared.

Did I fail?