COTE: A Mute Guy

Vol. 3 Chp. 3: Choosing A Leader

'Bold': Sign language

"It is a river! A river! What a beautiful feeling it is! It looks like there is an equipment! It seems we will be able to have exclusive possession of a mechanism! It is only a ten-minute walk, so let's go together simultaneously."

Ike's team had left earlier for a search mission so they may have already found that spot. And it seemed they were guarding it so other classes wouldn't snatch it away.

"This is a glorious achievement; if we can maintain the river's source, our situation may vastly improve."

"Still, two teams haven't returned yet; I guess it will be trouble if no one stays here to wait for them."

The clock showed that it was almost 3 o'clock, and we might be unable to hold on to the original schedule. Besides, there are countless possibilities of where they could be wandering in this vast forest.

"I'm sorry, Hirata-kun... Kouenji-kun bailed on us," Matsushita apologized.

"It's okay. Kouenji-kun returned a little while ago before leaving to go swimming," Hirata said.

I'm not surprised.

"So, he bailed on you, huh?" Horikita asked, sighing as everyone began moving toward the river.

'I don't know what you were expecting.'

Horikita suddenly turned and looked behind her, staring sharply at Sakura.

"Eh?!" Sakura was startled.

"Were you looking at me just now?" Horikita asked.

"I-I-I-I wasn't looking at anything!" Sakura became flustered before running off to put some distance between us.

'Please don't scare her.'

"So that I allow her to mess with me as she pleases?"

We went to Ike's chosen spot at a river's edge. Hirata and his team started setting up the tents and other necessities for a camp near the river.

"Okay, the water is beautiful, and there is shade that blocks the sunlight. The terrain is level. It might be the ideal place for our base camp here. Amazing, Ike-kun," Hirata said.

"I know, right?"

The river was about ten meters wide, and the water flowed gently. Deep forests and sand roads surrounded the river, but this place looked like it had been maintained.

Our school set this up on purpose.

"Assuming we want to use this as our base camp, the question is whether or not to take possession of it."

"We should, shouldn't we? If we do, we can use the river and get points every eight hours."

"That means the leader needs to renew possession every eight hours."

"That's right. And if another class sees that..."

"Can't we just surround them while they do it?

"That's a good idea," Hirata said.

Hirata turned around and asked for the class's opinions, and they seemed on board with the idea.

"Who'll be the leader?" Hirata asked.

"Let's see..."

The class had their opinions, and then Kushida said, "Hey, guys, can I say something?"

Everyone gathered in a circle and listened to what Kushida wanted to say.

"I've been thinking about it... People like Hirata-kun and Karuizawa-san stand out, whether they mean to or not. But the person entrusted with the role of leader needs to be someone responsible, right?"