COTE: The Best Version of Me

Chapter 5 - A normal person

The bell finally rang. The shrill sound echoed through the classroom like the heavenly toll announcing the end of an excruciating journey. I sat there, still recovering from the day's events... or rather, from the epic battle that had just transpired. No, it wasn't just a simple class, nor just an ordinary lesson period. This was a test of endurance, an odyssey of titanic proportions.

Dante's Inferno... no, that would be an oversimplification of what I had just endured. Purgatory? No, too mild. Even that seemed gentle compared to Hoshinomiya-sensei's withering glare, which seemed to be constantly daring me to fail, as if my mere existence in the environment of her class was a test of mental survival. The battlefield, I thought, had not been kind to me today.

If I had to make a comparison, Hoshinomiya-sensei would be... Epstein's island? No, it wouldn't just be the island, she's the entire archipelago. 

While the other students were casually standing up, tidying up their notebooks, chatting excitedly about what they would do at the end of the day, my mind was busy recounting the chaos I had faced. How many minutes had passed? No, how many eternities? Because, surely, that class was not something that a mere temporal unit could measure. It was a test... a challenge that I could never have foreseen.

Every word that escaped the professor's lips carried the weight of divine judgment. Her gaze, sharp and precise like that of an eagle hunting its prey, hovered over me more than once, as if waiting for me to crumble under the pressure. No, I had resolved. Not today. But the battle had been fierce. And as I glanced at the clock, the hands had moved with the sluggishness of a lazy tortoise.

The descriptions of equations and grammar rules? Mere illusions, part of the mental labyrinth designed to disorient me. Every explanation she gave felt like I was being carried down a turbulent river of information, ready to drown me at any moment. I could hear the echo of her voice in my mind, repeating over and over, like a dark incantation. More than once, I feared I might never find my way back to sanity.

But then... the bell. That blessed sound. The end. I, the survivor of this unparalleled war, was finally free. My mind, wrapped in almost tragic drama, narrated this victory as if it were the final scene of an epic. "He survived," I imagined a deep voice narrating. "After bearing the weight of a hundred eras, he emerged victorious."

I rose from my chair with the solemnity of a hero who had just survived an epic battle. This is it, Kiyotaka. You've done the impossible. You've survived! No one will ever understand the weight you carried. No one will ever comprehend what you endured.

"What are you doing, Ayanokoji-kun? You look strangely relieved." A curious Horikita, who was in the seat next to me, interrupted my thoughts.

"Can't a gladiator warrior celebrate his victory after surviving a war?"

"War? What are you talking about?"

After all the internal drama, I slowly came back to reality. The air in the room felt lighter now that classes were over, and the murmur of students quickly leaving filled the room.

"It's okay. It was just an overreaction." Horikita, still with a confused look, just put it aside and started packing her things. While I was packing my own things, a male voice interrupted our conversation.

"Ayanokoji-kun, do you have any plans now?" It was Hirata, with his usual friendly tone. I looked up, noticing that he was surrounded by a few girls who looked... excited. Another social invitation, I thought, noticing the glint of anticipation in their eyes.