COTE: The Quiet One Can Be Dangerous

Vol. 5 Chp. 2: Preparing

'...': Writing
'...': Sign language
"...": Text to speech

I tapped Mei-Yu's shoulder, and she seemed slightly startled, "Eep!" She turned around and looked at me.

"Oh, Kagurazaka-kun, do you need something?" Mei-Yu asked.

'I'm here to give you your points."

"Eh? I already received my points," she said.

'I'm talking about helping me during the cruise ship exam.'

She panicked and started blushing, "W-Wait, I'm fine with the points I have! I'm glad I could help you..." She looked away.

'You did much more work than most of our classmates,' I retorted.

"You won't take no for an answer, will you?" She asked.

She sighed, but a faint smile appeared, "Alright."

Kagurazaka's private points: 1,834,669-305,000=1,529,669

~Timeskip~

Until the sports festival, other than deciding the participants of the contests, there is a mountain load of other things that need to be done. Preparations that need to be done to ensure the sports festival goes smoothly account for the majority of them—Marches as well as practicing from the moment of admission into the competitions to its end. Most physical education classes were declared free periods, and students were each permitted to tackle any practice they desired.

"I've borrowed it," Hirata applied to the school and obtained the grip strength measuring instrument. 

"Let's do it in order. Let's measure the grip strength of our dominant arms, shall we? If you tell me the results, then I'll record them. I've borrowed two so we can measure more efficiently and save time."

He handed one to Hondou and another to Yukimura, who stood beside him. He wanted to measure in both directions, clockwise and anticlockwise. However, Sudou wasn't interested and decided to grab the instrument forcefully and take it away.

"Let's start with me, Hirata. Because by starting with me, it'll be possible to set high standards."

If Koenji were to participate in the sports festival, he would set the standards high for fun.

"Umm... then let's have the other one start with Sotomura-kun besides Sudou-kun," Hirata said.

The starting point had to be adjusted again after the order forcibly changed.

"Keep looking, Ayanokouji. This is the strength of the man who will be carrying this class," Sudou confidently laughs and shows off his ability as the one who forcibly became the first one up.

Filled with fighting spirit, Sudou's shoulder shook as he gripped the instrument in his right hand.

The digital values quickly increased, surpassing 50 and reaching 60 before climbing to 70. Finally, the value displayed digitally was 82.4 kg, causing a brief commotion among those present.

"You're way too freakishly strong!"

"Heh. It's because I've always been training. This is natural. Hey, you do it too, Koenji."

Almost as though it were a provocation, he showed the value to Koenji while handing over the instrument.

"I am not interested. You may ignore me," Polishing his fingernails, Kouenji then blew on his fingertips.

"Are you scared of losing to me? Well, it's understandable after seeing a value like this."

He made such a cheap provocation, but Koenji did not intend to respond as he did not turn to look at him.