COTE\OC Unpolished Diamond Year 2

Volume 5: Start of the second semester

Chabashira Sae Monologue

Ever since I became a teacher, or even before I became a teacher, I harbored trauma that I didn't dare tell anyone. 

I keep having a recurring nightmare. 

The nightmare has the events of... that day. I'll never forget them.

Each time I have that nightmare, it takes on a different form, changing my point of view or someone else's. Sometimes, the chronological order of events is different. But there is one thing in common. No matter how many times I have that nightmare, it ends the same way.

At that time, there was nothing to be afraid of. We were Class B and we were well within reach of Class A. 

Of course, it wasn't a smooth road. 

By the time I reached my third year, the number of classmates who had been expelled had swelled to six. Even so, in my final year, I accumulated class points without letting a single student get expelled. I believed that I could graduate from Class A without having to leave anyone behind.

Until that day. 

Until that exam. 

At the end of the final semester, we were about to take the graduation exam, our last chance to turn things around. Our homeroom teacher stepped up to the podium with a stiff expression on her face and told us about a new special exam. 

Of course, we didn't realize the danger of this special exam at first. The rules were simple and straightforward, and we had no doubt that we could succeed. 

But that optimistic mood lasted only until the exam started. 

The scene changes and I am screaming in class. 

My best friend, Chie, approaches me with an angry expression and grabs my uniform collar. I scream in agony. 

The class, which had been united as one, collapsed in an instant.

Because of my choice or perhaps...my inability to make a choice.

It's...fine.

I still remember how he muttered these words with his face full of resignation and realization.

He had been my companion for the past three years, and he wasn't a trivial existence. 

He was my irreplaceable classmate, my irreplaceable friend. 

As the opposite sex, he was an... irreplaceable person.

He could get a little carried away too easily but he was honest, kind and more dependable than anyone else.

That's why when he showed me an expression that he had never shown me before...The only words I could say as I held back the tears that were about to start spiling were...

'Thank you'

Our relationship's beginning and end came at the exact same time.

If only the story ended there...

Shortly after that, when I thought I couldn't sink deeper into that misery of mine...

That man showed us that our misery, my misery was simply a pastime for people of his kind.

A misery that he carefully planned from the very beginning to destroy us and our hopes for his own pleasure and amusement.

Don't worry Sae-chan~~That's why I helped you with what you weren't able to do on your own~~