COTE: A Gathering of Geniuses

Chapter 1 Class 1-B

Class B 580

"Okay, then how about we do a study group for the midterms? I doubt anyone here is going to be expelled but we can simply increase our class average score while getting more CP!"

A strawberry blonde-haired girl stood behind the teacher's desk as she faced the anxious looks of Class B. Her name was Ichinose Honami and was, without doubt, the most popular girl in her class and, possibly of her year due to her kind and friendly personality.

It helped that she was attractive with bright eyes and an alluring body but, then again, so were most of the other girls in the school. No, many of the boys in (and out) of her class had noticed her beauty had suddenly multiplied in the last month.

None could explain it with the most prevalent rumor being that she had gotten a boyfriend as only such a thing could have inspired the lightness in her step and the extra sparkles in her eyes. The girl in question denied it, besides, where would she have the time to befriend everyone in school if she had a boyfriend?

Ichinose Honami had no time for love and a lot of the boys (and girls) were just as ready to accept no one had stolen her heart before they could.

There was no one more trusted in Class-B than her, which explained why she had become its leader, no, Class B's Representative even before a formal vote. After the revelation regarding the rankings, Honami had requested if the last few thirty minutes of the class could be used for a class meeting which their homeroom teacher had allowed.

There was an undercurrent of pressure in the air. While it was great that Class B was second place in the current rankings...it wasn't by much with Class A having a staggering lead over every other class. Rather, it was more worrying how there was less than a hundred points between them and Class C.

Maybe, if the gap between B and C was larger people wouldn't have worried, but the current situation was cutting it too close which was why a strategy meeting was needed. It would have been easy to blame those that had clearly been usually tardy or outright disturbing class, but the class was thankfully under one Banner that was Ichinose Honami.

It was a banner that flew under honesty, positivity, and trust so Honami couldn't find it in her to blame the ones who had contributed to their demotions. She believed that everyone should be able to graduate together with no expulsions.

Even for Honami, the initial month of high school almost came and went like a dream with how the school was basically a paradise where students could do what they wanted. She could still easily recall each new initial meeting she had since arriving along with all the fresh experiences she had gained. This had truly been the new start she craved.

The most important memory Honami had was when she was finally able to accept her application to join the Student Council being rejected. Although, her memory of the whole ideal was slightly hazy, possibly due to the whole experience being a negative one. She could recall talking to the Vice President, something about a confession, on why she had been placed in Class B, and suddenly being able to face her past sins and history.

Honami could barely recall how she was able to gain such an epiphany, but she could only vaguely remember talking to someone. Her sister, maybe? Or it may have even been herself and she had done it in a dream. The image in her mind was fuzzy and it didn't help how she also got oddly flustered thinking about it.

Yet... Honami's heart felt as if something was still missing from the picture. Whatever it was that happened rid the girl of all the weight in her heart she had been carrying. Any guilt left from her middle school years had vanished leaving her feeling light as if she had wings on her back.