A New Masterpiece (COTE x OC)

Chapter 13 - A Break

"Oh... hi..."

It was awkward being called out by someone I didn't know, she could definitely tell I was nervous as she walked closer to me.

"You probably don't know me. My name is Nishino Takeko, I'm from Class C," she extended her right hand to me.

Class C, huh. I remember having a brief stint with them at the beginning of the year. And with Ryuuen recently confronting our class, this may not have been a coincidence.

"Nice to meet you, Nishino. You obviously already know me, so I'll save my introduction," I reached out and returned her gesture.

"So... What are you doing here?"

"Same as you, the school gave us a vacation on a cruise ship, and I'm just..."

Nishino gave a playful chop to my head from my sarcastic answer.

"Idiot, I meant, what are you doing walking around all alone."

"Oh," I gave a small chuckle, "looking around, I guess."

"All alone?"

"Yep, just me, myself, and I."

"Well... since you're alone, would you mind if I tagged along? I heard of a pretty good cafe on this deck," Nishino turned away from me, but I could tell she was trying to hide a slight blush.

"Sure. I don't have any plans. But; I can't guarantee it will be fun since we barely know each other."

Nishino turned back to face me with a triumphant pose. "That's what going to the cafe is for!" She started walking and gave me a slap on the back to follow.

"Ow..."

"Oh, c'mon, are you really that weak?"

"Maybe, you are absurdly strong," I contorted back.

"Gosh, you don't know how to talk to women."

Nishino and I arrived at the cafe on the second deck. It wasn't very crowded, but a few first-years were hanging out.

Once we had both ordered our drinks, we sat close to a window that overlooked the sea.

I was still cautious because of the chance that this meet-up was not a coincidence. That Ryuuen had sent Nishino on purpose to get class info out of me. I also had partially agreed to this arrangement, because it would provide me the chance of a real look into Class C. You could only gather so much information before having to go to a source.

"You don't have to worry," Nishino said to me.

"Worry about what?" I replied. "Worry about whether we end up like the Titanic? Worry about an anvil hitting me? There's a lot to worry about."

"You think you're so funny, eh? I meant about this being a setup. It's all over your face, you think someone told me to do this."

"Isn't saying that trying to throw me for a loop and make me believe you?" I fired back my own question.

"Over-thinker much? I wanted to talk with you, that's all."

Nishino had called out my suspicions. She seemed to be a relatively observing individual, although it did feel like talking to a more outgoing Horikita.

"So, why me then? We've never interacted before, plus you already knew my name."

"You're pretty dense, huh. You're a pretty popular guy among the first-year girls, so I wanted to see what you were like."

"Is that so?" I said teasingly back to her.

"Yes, my only reason," Nishino turned her gaze away from me.