COTE: The Quiet One Can Be Dangerous

Vol. 10 Chp. 5: Behind The Scenes

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

Ichinose's POV

It was the Friday before the supplementary exam. It was later that evening when I called Nagumo. I wanted to make a final confirmation of everything in preparation for tomorrow's exam.

"Nagumo-senpai, it's me, Ichinose."

"Honami? This is about our little arrangement, right?"

"I brought it up with all my classmates earlier today, so I thought I'd run everything by you again," I told him.

"The conditions I gave you aren't going to change. Just scrape together every private point you can get your hands on, including the ones your classmates have. We can't have you get through this without sharing the suffering."

He wasn't willing to lend us the needed points while they still had them to spare.

This was one of Nagumo's conditions in exchange for cooperation.

"How many more do you need?"

"4,043,019 points."

"Is that so? The strain on my budget seems to be lower than I expected. Moving forward, this will still put me at a considerable disadvantage in the exams."

"Yes..."

Nagumo was carrying quite the burden.

He would have to take action if one of his classmates faced expulsion in the following particular exam.

In which case, it was more than possible he would have the carpet pulled out from under him because of the four million points he was lending out.

Ichinose was painfully aware of how fortunate she was to receive this offer.

"I'm truly sorry for making such a selfish request."

"It's fine. It's quite like you do not want to abandon anyone. But, well, you do remember the other condition I had for lending you the points, right?"

"...Yes. I, uh... I have to start going out with Nagumo-senpai, don't I...?"

"Yep. I'll transfer you the private points as soon as you agree."

"...The deadline is tonight at midnight, right?"

"Are you still hesitating? Don't you want to avoid losing one of your classmates?"

"Of course. It's just I'm a little anxious."

"Anxious?"

I swallowed my fear, forcing myself to speak.

"Senpai... D-do you, uh... do you like me?"

"What?"

"Oh no, uhm... I'm sorry for asking something so rude... It's just that I always thought that going out means you hold those feelings for someone..."

"I wouldn't have made this a condition if I didn't like you."

Nagumo answered without hesitation.

I should have felt happy about hearing this response but felt uneasy. Kagurazaka's words were echoing in my head.

"If you agree, I'll send you the points now."

"I'm sorry, but I can't date you. I will find a way to earn the points," I said.

Nagumo was silent on the other end, "...I see. I hope you find a solution to your problem."

Ending the call, I let out a heavy sigh as she leaned against the wall. My number one priority was helping my classmates.