COTE Year 2 Reimagined

Volume 5:Part 8

After the 8th discussion, I voted in favour. It was now time.

In favour=2
Opposed=37

"What the hell!?!"

Sudo now got up. He was clearly frustrated with this exam. Before he could go on, I spoke up.

"Excuse me, everyone. I voted in favour during this round as well. Clearly, the person voting in favour isn't giving up. Horikita has given them multiple chances to speak up or change their vote, and nothing changed. If we don't vote in favour, we'll lose 300 class points."

Everyone looked at me in shock, and then Horikita finally spoke up.

"As much as I hate to admit it. Ayanokoji-kun is correct. But I ask that we give this person a few more chances. We can still get through this. Please."

The atmosphere inside the class completely changed. They realised someone might actually get expelled. Horikita's calm demeanour was also gone. When our classmates looked at her and saw her confidence, they put their trust in her and relaxed. But now she was panicking, and so was everyone else.

In favour=5
Opposed=34

In favour=9
Opposed=30

In favour=13
Opposed=26

Slowly, but surely, more people voted with me. Now, it was the 12th discussion. Horikita needed to move.

"Very well. I see that there will be no changes. I ask that all of you give this person one final chance. If we don't unanimously vote opposed this time, then we shall all vote in favour next round."

Everyone kept getting more and more nervous. They were all scared of being expelled, but no one spoke up.

In favour=1
Opposed=38

Even after being given one last chance, the traitor didn't give up. After seeing this round's results, Chabashira was getting visibly sick. She stumbled and almost fell but caught herself on the podium.

"Sensei, are you alright?"

The first to speak up was Yousuke. She got up and ushered him that she's alright with a wave of her hand. She wasn't allowed to interfere during this exam, so she couldn't properly respond.

Horikita sighed and got up.

"It seems we have no choice. Please vote in favour next round. We will only expel the person who's been voting in favour this whole time."

Sorry Horikita, but I simply can't allow that. She could still be very useful to me. I took a deep breath and prepared myself for what I was about to do. Being cruel was nothing new to me. Being heartless was something I could pull off ever since I was young. However, during my time at this school, I developed a persona that my classmates believed was the real me. Part of me also got used to this persona and tried to believe that it was real, which made it difficult to shatter my fake self in an instant. It wasn't like I could simply flip a switch. I took another deep breath and closed my eyes. Then, the results were in.

In favour=39
Opposed=0

There was no going back now.

"Horikita-san, what do we do now?"

Yousuke looked back at Horikita, and all he saw was the panicked look on her face. Horikita was the only person other than me who knew exactly who was voting in favour all this time.

"Suzune, what do we do?? Someone has to get expelled this time!"

Sudo was also panicking and asking Horikita for help. And soon enough, the entire class lost their cool. People were yelling left and right while Horikita was still frozen.

After about 10 minutes of this chaos, someone else spoke up.

"I feel disgusted that I'm even saying this. But I feel like I have to say something. If we don't know who the person voting in favour was, then I think Horikita-san should take responsibility as our leader and Ayanokoji-kun as well since he's the one who said we should vote in favour first."

Kushida spoke, and everyone listened. The panic started to calm down after listening to what Kushida said. Then Kei spoke up.

"You have GOT to be kidding me! Why the hell should Kiyotaka be expelled for suggesting a solution? I think you're just being cruel, Kushida-san. You look down on Kiyotaka, so you want him out!"

Good job, Kei. Keep going.

"Hold up, Karuizawa, what the hell? Kushida is right! Ayanokoji was the one to suggest this idea, and now we're stuck!"

Hondo came to defend Kushida.

"Look down on him? I would never do something so awful, Karuizawa-san. I'm so sorry!! I never meant it to sound like that."

"Oh yeah? Then why did you bring up Kiyotaka? He brought up the idea, but Horikita-san was the one who agreed to it. And everyone else in this class voted with him as well. So why is Kiyotaka the only one you targeted? You may pretend to be a good girl inside, but you just think you're better than all of us, huh?"

Kei was performing her role perfectly. Even though she was going against Kushida, the girls were listening to what she said closely, and some of them even nodded their heads. Kushida noticed that people were starting to turn against her, and she was panicking.

Even if I suggested the idea, it was still unreasonable to suggest expelling since Horikita was the leader and the one who agreed. Kushida, bringing up my name, shows a clear bias in her judgement. That fact was undeniable.

Kushida was about to speak up, but she was saved by the timer. Now, we had to vote for someone.

"I nominate myself for expulsion. Please vote for me, everyone."

Yousuke nominated himself as I expected.

Expel Hirata Yousuke:

In favour.
Opposed.

I voted opposed, but I doubt he would have been expelled regardless.

In favour=6
Opposed=32

Now we were going into the 15th discussion. It was finally time for me to make my move.