COTE: The Quiet One Can Be Dangerous

Vol. 10 Chp. 2: Courage

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

So, at the end of the week, this class will have thirty-nine students instead of forty.

Kouenji had an altercation with Suou during the homeroom class this morning, and he claimed that this was an excellent opportunity for this class to think about its future.

I don't think anyone understands and approves of this point of view except for me, of course.

I went to a cafe and saw Ryuuen sitting alone, reading a book. I approached him and sat down. He must have noticed me but kept reading until he eventually looked up at me.

He closed the book, "First, it was Horikita and her mindless follower, and now it's you," Ryuuen said.

'Well, was it about the exam?'

"Yup, it's nice seeing your precious leader struggling to find her resolve about what she needs to do for this exam."

'What are you going to do?'

"Nothing," Ryuuen said, "By doing this, I allowed them not to have any remorse... They need a bad guy, and I'm a good role for this... everything will be easier for them."

~Timeskip~

Kiryuuin broke into my room that night, and I wasn't surprised. What shocked me, though, was seeing Asahina in my room, too.

'I don't care about her being here, but what are you doing here?'

"You wound me, kouhai," Kiryuuin said, but I ignored her.

"You know Honami, right?" Asahina asked.

I nodded.

"She's a real good kid, isn't she? Cute. Smart. Nobody has anything bad to say about her, even among the second-years."

'Why are you bringing her up?'

"I've heard a bit about the first-years' exam. Somebody's being forced to drop out of school, yeah?"

I nodded.

It seems the news had already managed to spread to the second-year students.

"Honami cares deeply for her friends, or how should I put it... You know she's not the type who would sit back and let someone from Class B be expelled, right?"

I nodded.

"Then, how do you think Honami will tackle the exam?" Asahina looked at me with prying eyes.

It was more like she was trying to coax a particular out of me.

'She would be stupid and try to sacrifice herself.'

Asahina sighed, "I hate to admit it, but that's true."

"It seems she's gone and asked Miyabi for assistance. Can you guess how he responded?"

'He wanted something, though.'

"Bingo," Asahina said,  "Of course there isn't. Sure, it'd be a different story if we only talked about a few thousand points. In that case, there'd be plenty of room for discussion. But once it gets into the hundred thousand or the millions? Nobody's going to give away that many."

This is awkward because it gave away millions to Mei-Yu.

"The third and second-year students must be thoroughly prepared for the special exams awaiting us moving forward. Whether we'll need our private points won't become clear until the end, so there shouldn't be any room for charity just for a couple of first-years."