COTE one-shots

Convinced or Manipulated?

A few weeks ago, before the start of the third-year arc...

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5:30 PM

Nanase POV

As Kiyotaka-senpai told me my next objective, I immediately acted and head to her room. The library is now closed so it's only right to go home at this time.

Even though I'll obey Senpai's orders with no hesitation, I'm a little skeptical that she would actually join him. I mean, sure they are close but are they THAT close just they can be close to one another.

I put those thoughts aside as I arrived at her room and gave a few knocks.

"Who is it?" Atleast she's home and didn't stayed at her class.

"It's me, Senpai. May I please come in?" I asked.

The door gently opens...

"Ofcourse!" She greeted me with a cheerful smile.

"Pardon my sudden intrusion." I went inside, returning the smile as well.

"No need for formalities. We're already well acquainted with each other." She said.

"Apologies, Shiina-senpai. It's already a part of my nature." I gave a small chuckle.

"Hiyori is fine. Anyway, it has been a while since we've last saw each other. Would you like some tea?" She politely asked.

"That would we much obliged. Thank you." I replied as I sat on the couch.

"What brings you in today, Nanase-san? Is it about Ayanokouji-kun leaving his own class?" She asked.

So she already knew about it. News really spread fast. It's almost like a global pandemic.

Well ain't this a surprise but Kiyotaka-senpai told me that to never underestimate Hiyori-senpai's mindset.

"How--"

"I've heard it from from my fellow classmates." She answered before I could finish.

"I see. What are your initial thoughts about it?"

"It was a big suprise, I must say. While my other classmates didn't really care, Ishizaki-kun was really excited because there is a possibility that he would join our class. Ryuuen-kun is a different story however. While it did made him a massive suprise, from what I can observe about so far is that he would rather have Ayanokouji-kun as an enemy rather as a comrade." She explained.

"What about you? Surely you would want him to join your class since you two are well acquainted with each other."

"I... what makes you say that? Ehehe?" Her face became a little red.

"You two go to the library often and read a lot of books from the mystery genre and from what I can observe from the time we've joined you, you seem to enjoy his company. I can say that Kiyotaka-senpai feels the same way as he finally found someone that enjoys the world of books, am I wrong?"

There are times that everyone in the Ayanokouji Group would spy on the two and most of the time, Kiyotaka-senpai would catch them in the act.

Hiyori-senpai didn't seem to mind though as she would also accept them, myself included.

"Well... While I would gladly accept him with open arms, my main concern is that Ryuuen-kun would make him do all the hard work to just to rise to Class until graduation. It's... a little disheartening if you think about it." She made a small frown.