COTE: Self-Preservation

Y2V4: Beginning of the End

It was the crack of dawn on the 10th day. It's a little surprising to think that last year, the exam would have already been over for quite a while now.

I'd be back on the ship, watching the other 66 episodes of Dragon Ball Z; Abridged...

"Just 4 more days and it's all over," I muttered under my breath.

I'm looking forward to sleeping on something that's not grass or my lumpy backpack.

Just how much had happened in the last 10 days? I feel like in the future, this time on the island would be something I look back on fondly. It'll be burned into my mind.

The humid air of last night led me to sleep early, so I had gotten up a little earlier today. There was nothing to do besides wait.

"Second place, huh?"

As of now, I was only 9 points behind Nagumo. Interestingly, Yagami had gone down to 4th place. I don't have any clear idea why, though. I had done some GPS searches yesterday like usual, and Yagami didn't seem to be doing anything too odd. Still, there was only a small difference between those of us from 2nd-4th. On the 9th day, I had jumped up from 4th to 2nd by 2 points, barely beating Koenji who beat Yagami by 4 points.

Could it be simple exhaustion?

Or, alternatively, he sacrificed points for a reason.

The first area of the day was D8, too far for me to get first place, but a second or third-place Early Bird bonus wasn't impossible. I began to sprint there, my heart pounding over my chest as my feet pounded the ground at every moment as if it were a drum beat.

The students I had passed showed no reaction anymore. It didn't even matter if I had never seen them before, they weren't phased by seeing others sprint down the paths of the island.

The red students eventually subsided as my feet entered the area, receiving a second-place bonus. But still, Nagumo was beating me with an even larger gap than before.

My eyes laid upon the starting point, and naturally, it drifted towards the showers...

I've had to make do with deodorant for so long... I feel disgusting. I can spend some time in there, right? I've earned it.

I entered the showers, finding Katsuragi in the changing rooms drying himself off. He looked rather tired, I have to say.

That was the curse of being defeated in class A, I guess. It's as if Yamauchi remained, being branded as a traitor and isolated from everyone. Katsuragi might be going through the same right now.

But I don't have time to worry about him, I'd rather savour the water hitting my body inside the shower.

* * *

Exiting the shower, it seemed like you were able to put your dirty pairs of clothes in the laundry and they'd give you some new ones. That was a nice thing, I admit.

I put those clothes on and found my feet sinking into the sand as I looked for a swimming task.

"Sorry, the task is filled up already."

Looks like I was just short.

"You were too slow, huh?"

I turned around, finding Kei there with a cheeky expression.

However, her smile seemed to wane as she looked around for a moment, finding nobody staring at her, then she grabbed my collar, pulling my ear close to her lips.

"Do you know how many questions I got when I delivered that letter?! I was getting interrogated," she complained.

"I know, I know..." I sighed.