Fated to Meet(COTE X Tomodachi Game)

Chapter 23: Drunk on Games

(Yuuichi POV)

After coming back from the showers, our group decided to head for breakfast.
The ship had a little Cafe with pastries, but it wasn't very cheap.
Luckily, I had saved most of my points.

I was used to living with little money, so I'm sure I can make it a few months with what I currently have.

On the way to the Cafe, Horikita kept stealing glances at me.
I decided to pretend not to notice. She has clearly realized how we're going to win the exam. It would be no use to explain things now.

I don't have much work to do today. Most work today would fall on Ayanokoji.
He would fight all of Class A today.
It would be no easy task.

I had told Chiaki to tell Horikita everything. I can't say I feel bad about leaving her in the dark.
She was just becoming annoying.
I wasn't sure what Chiaki said, but I can't say I really care.

I'm sure I'm going to collapse soon. So, I put all the pieces in place to help the class in the next exam.

At the Cafe, me and Ayanokoji both chose a plain bagel. Cheap, and it fills you up.
Chiaki decided on just coffee.
Horikita seemed to distracted to order anything.
I thought about telling her to order something so she could operate, but I decided against it.

Chiaki sat with her friends that happened to be there.
I sat across from Ayanokoji. I had lost sight of Horikita.
"Will you be okay today?"

He would do a lot today. I wanted to make sure he could handle it.
"I should be fine. I've been getting better at the game."

He had played shogi against Horikita a few times, winning most times. After he learned the game well, it seemed she had no chance.
"That's good. It took a lot of convincing to get you to do it in the first place."

He swallowed what he had in his mouth.
"I would rather not stand out."

Deciding to respect that wish, I said I would take full credit for anything. I didn't really mind standing out.
People would probably come to hate me after this, but I couldn't say I cared about that either.

After finishing our food, we decided to go to the first location. The first class A group should already be there. We would have to win eight total games of shogi today. Not an easy task.

I had confidence in Ayanokoji though.
It felt strange to put my trust into someone else, because I really only ever had trust in myself.
—
After meeting back up with Chiaki, we headed towards the location.
I assumed Horikita went somewhere else.
Maybe to the shower?

"Hey!"

I heard a voice behind me, so I turned around to see Shiho standing there. She seemed happy, but then looked at my group members.
"Oh...are you guys going somewhere?"
"Yeah, we're going to play a game."

Ayanokoji held up the shogi board to show her.
"Oh, well I just wanted to tell you that Ichinose liked the idea of the contract. Tenji seemed skeptical for some reason, but we convinced him it was for the better.

Ah, yes. The contract. I now had two with two different classes.

"What about Kei?"
Chiaki asked the obvious question.

"He didn't really seem to care, he really wanted to play Ryuuen again..."

It seemed someone was very eager to play against Class C.