COTE Year 2 Reimagined

Volume 6:Part 2

It was now the second day after the special exam. Ayanokoji-kun said he'll take care of everything, but I can't allow that. If he wasn't there to help during the exam, I would've undoubtedly caused our class to lose 300 class points.

I wanted to keep Kushida-san, but there was no way I could've convinced Hasebe-san to vote for her friend like Ayanokoji-kun did. There was no way I could've even exposed Kushida-san the way he did.

Ayanokoji-kun was right. I went into this exam completely unprepared and almost caused our class a massive loss. I convinced myself that if Kushida-san made a move, I'd just expel her and move on. I convinced myself that this was the right choice. Yet when the time came, I made a different choice. If only I realised that protecting Kushida-san was the right move before the exam even began. Maybe then I could've had a plan that led to nobody getting expelled.

However, it's not time to think about the past. I survived this exam due to Ayanokoji-kun. Now, I will make up for my mistake by fixing the situation in the class.

After Chabashira Sensei left, I got up to the podium to address the class.

"I'd like to ask for a moment of your time. I know many of you wish to go home as soon as possible, so I'll do my best to hurry this along."

Everyone sat down, but nobody replied. At least they were willing to listen.

"First of all, I must apologise. I took on my role as the class leader during this special exam, and yet when the final question came, I froze. I panicked. I failed you all. For that, I am truly sorry."

I bowed my head slightly and heard some encouraging words but also some dissatisfaction.

"However, I'm glad I made such a mistake. During this exam, I learned a lot. I'm glad my failure came now so I can improve myself and be a more reliable leader moving forward. To start off, I'd like to fix the atmosphere in the classroom. Many people are hurt and dissatisfied with the way the last exam went. Myself included. But we have to push through and keep going forward. Otherwise, that awful experience would've been for nothing."

Sakayanagi's Class A:1201
Kanzaki's Class B:800
Horikita's Class C:777
Ryuen's Class D:708

As awful as that exam might've been, we still ended up rising to class C and are less than 50 points away from becoming class B. That is a significant improvement and the highest our class has ever been.

"As you might know, we're currently the closest we've ever been to reaching class B. If we let our moods sour and don't take advantage of this opportunity, then we'll be left behind again."

Shinohara-san spoke up.

"That's easy for you to say Horikita, but some of us got really hurt. It's not easy to just get over it. And what about Kushida? What if she hurts us again or tries to sabotage our class?"

Shinohara-san was clearly frustrated since she's one of the people directly hurt by Kushida-san's actions.

"I'm not asking you to get over it. I'm merely asking you to try your best to move on. I will personally take care of Kushida-san and make sure she comes back to the class. I will also make sure she never betrays us again and puts her abilities to full use. I know you may not trust me after my failure, but I will make up for my mistake."

I bowed once again and, at this time, heard a lot more support and even some claps.

Hirata-kun then stepped up.

"I'd like to ask everyone here to also keep Kushida-san's real self a secret. If people find out about our class situation, we might end up in a lot of trouble."

Everyone nodded along reluctantly, and Hirata-kun thanked them all. I bowed to my classmates one final time and made my way out.

I was thinking about everything that happened when I ran into Chabashira Sensei.

"Excuse me, Sensei. I want to ask about the missing students. When will it start becoming an issue?"

Chabashira Sensei looked back and came up to me.

"You should be fine until the end of the week, at least. Any more than that, and it'll be troublesome."

The end of the week. This means I still had some time to make a move.

"I have another question. Last year, you said Ayanokoji-kun was the most defective classmate. Yet he's the only reason we even managed to survive this exam. I don't understand your reasoning. Do you still believe what you said?"

Chabashira sensei looked confused at my sudden question but then sighed and took a deep breath.

"My opinion of Ayanokoji has shifted slightly. But I still believe he's the most defective person in your class. He's not lacking any skills or talents. He's also not stupid or weak. He's lacking something much more important."

Something more important? If I had to say one defective aspect of Ayanokoji-kun, I'd say it's expressing his emotions. Is that also what Chabashira sensei meant? But that's not very important. Unless Ayanokoji-kun doesn't just struggle to express his emotions. Maybe he struggles to even feel emotions?

Chabashira Sensei wished me luck and then left without explaining any further. Before the end of this year, I needed to find out more about Ayanokoji-kun. Not for the class but for me. This was a personal goal.