COTE: YEAR 2 REACTION

Chapter 9: Tug of War

Sakayanagi, too, similar to Ryuen, was chuckling, 'At least that deadweight is off of my shoulders. Katsuragi-kun was going to be discarded down the bin the moment I had the opportunity. Hopefully, the future me is smart enough to wrangle Ryuen-kun by his throat. Getting rid of the stupid deal Katsuragi-kun made over the summer with Class 1C would be ideal for starters.'

"So you're strollin' 'round the island with a lass on your arm, eh? You get tired of that Karuizawa chick and ditch her?"

"Karuizawa? Why are you bringing her up?"

Katsuragi looked back at Ryūen, confused.

"Kuku, it's nothin'. Don't mind it."

"A fellow KiyoKei shipper. I approve, Ryuen-senpai!" A girl said.

"Kuku." The boy in question simply continued chuckling, 'That Karuizawa chick should count her lucky stars, monster decided it was experimentin' time. I wonder how long that little charade will last, 3 months? or 6 months? A year? Can the emotionless robot stay still after building his little harem?' Ryuen sighed before fixing his hair, 'It's almost like I'm living in those shitty cliche light novel melodramas.'

Ichinose visibly cringed at the throwaway words spoken by the kouhai, 'Hmph, I won't give up. You may have won the first round, Karuizawa-san, but I won't let you get away with it!'

"It seems you two have been doing pretty well for yourselves."

You could easily check the top ten highest-ranked groups through the tablet. As of this morning, I had a cumulative total of 52 points, putting me in 74th place overall. If you took into account the fact that I was a one-man group, my placement was fairly high.

Be that as it may, Ryūen and Katsuragi were ranked even higher, occupying tenth place with a cumulative total of 92 points.

Of those 92 points, 29 had come from Arrival Bonuses, 41 from Early Bird Bonuses, and 22 from Tasks.

"Oh shove it with the sarcasm. Isn't that freak with a few screws loose one of your classmates?"

"Well, that's true."

The 'freak with a few screws loose' that Ryūen was referring to was none other than Kōenji.

Like me, he was taking on the exam alone. But despite that, he currently sat in fourth place. Out of all the groups in the top ten, he had earned the most points from Early Bird Bonuses, not to mention the noteworthy number of points he had racked up from Tasks as well, all for a cumulative total of 126 points. His performance so far had been truly outstanding with practically no room for error.

"So he was serious when he made that challenge." A student mused, his brow furrowed in thought.

"Will Nagumo-kaichou be fine?!" Another student fretted, concern evident in her voice.

"It would be a disgrace if the second years lose to this narcissistic, blonde bimbo!"

Nagumo brushed aside his classmates' concerns with a wave of his hand, "Relax, you idiots. Do you even realise who you're talking about? This Nagumo Miyabi would never lose so easily!"

Mizowaki whispered to Asahina, "Knowing Nagumo, I fully expect him to underestimate Koenji and throw this."

"Would be very funny if that happens." Asahina stifled a giggle, nodding in agreement.

"Sheesh and here I thought us Class-D defects were over-reactive." remarked Ijiun with a self-deprecating chuckle.

Nishimura chimed in thoughtfully, "The rules are set up to be advantageous for the groups with many members. As there is still another ten days left in the exam, all of Koenji's efforts could burn to flames if he gets an injury or over exhausts himself. There simply isn't enough time to rest in a two-week uninhabited exam. Plus, if Koenji has to push himself to limits, he would need enough nutrients to keep himself going. Honestly, everything is stacked against him."