COTE Year 2 Reimagined

Volume 4:Part 13

I approached I2 and saw Tsukishiro standing in front of me. He was looking towards the ocean, paying no mind to anything else. I approached him slowly while making note of my surroundings and everything I noticed.

There was a boat. Mashima sensei had told me Tsukishiro brought an extra boat with him. Was his plan to beat me and take me on that boat? Probably. Where was the white room student? I couldn't see anyone else. It was Tsukishiro and the boat captain. The captain didn't even turn around to look at me when I approached, and neither did Tsukishiro.

"Ayanokoji Kiyotaka."

Without turning around, Tsukishiro simply said my name.

"Tell me,did you learn anything at this school?"

I felt no aggression coming from him. Tsukishiro simply wanted to talk, but whether that would change later remained to be seen.

"I've experienced new things when I came to this school. From something as mundane as eating ice cream for the first time all the way to seeing the ocean and touching the seawater with my own hands."

I paused for a moment and looked back on my experiences at this school.

"However, I can't say that I've actually learned anything. Although I would like to. That's why I can't allow you to win."

"I see. That's an admirable goal, Ayanokoji-kun. I'm afraid I also can't allow you to win. May the best man win."

He finally turned around and gave me a bow of genuine respect before taking a fighting stance.

I kept my distance,threw my bag down, and took my own stance. Tsukishiro rushed at me as soon as he saw that I was ready and immediately threw a kick towards my head. I side stepped and narrowly avoided his foot, but then he followed up with an upper cut. I jumped back at the last second and managed to avoid that as well. When I analysed him, I noted a few things, mainly that his fighting style was similar to mine. Tsukishiro didn't excel in one style but rather combined multiple of them to increase his efficiency and adapt to any situation just like I could. I also noticed that he wasn't going all out yet. He was trying to observe me just like I was trying to observe him.

However, he kept on the offensive without giving me a chance to recover. I kept dodging his attacks and moving backwards, but then he moved around me and swapped his position with me. I see. His plan was to corner me by having my back to the ocean so I couldn't dodge backwards. I let him carry it out for now and played along. I kept dodging and moving backwards at every attack he threw at me, and finally, when I was almost near the ocean, he completely shifted his stance and went all out. He was holding nothing back anymore.

I decided it was time to stop observing and begin attacking. When he went for a punch, I grabbed his arm. He expected that and instead tried to punch me with his other arm. I dodged the second punch before throwing a kick to his stomach that he couldn't dodge. He moved back at the last second and managed to minimise the damage, but he clearly still felt it.

"That was an impressive move, Ayanokoji-kun."

"You're not too bad yourself."

He laughed at my response, then lunged at me once more. Tsukishiro was truly skilled. He was keeping up with me in every way. I kept dodging and blocking his attacks, but I didn't have any openings to actually strike him. At this rate, it will end up being a battle of attrition and seeing who gives out first. If the boat captain is even half as skilled as Tsukishiro, then I might be in trouble.

I could also tell from his eyes and movements that Tsukishiro has been in real fights multiple times. Fights were he actually killed people. Whoever Tsukishiro was, he was no joke. I doubt that he worked directly under that man. Maybe a hired mercenary? But that seemed like too much work for anyone. Tsukishiro was doing all this for a completely different reason.