COTE One Shots

Manabu

What if Manabu took the place of Suzune?

Also, I'm lazy and don't want to use the lines of the actual LN. I don't really remember them too well, but who cares.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka POV

If I may, I'd like to pose a question: Are humans truly equal?

With regards to personality, physical ability, intelligence, leadership, I'd have to answer with a resounding 'no'. Some people, to put it simply, are more proficient in areas where others are not. It was almost a fact of life that some people will be better. (This part was mostly just comparing Manabu to Suzune. Still, Suzune has gotten a lot better)

As I pondered the truth of equality, a commotion seems to have broken out. I opened my eyes and saw an office worker argue with a young man with blond hair, around my age presumably. He was sitting in a priority seat.

"Hahaha, I could give up my seat, but why would I expend the energy on something so meaningless? Standing up takes a lot more energy than sitting down."

The young man had no intent on giving up his seat, even if it was a priority seat.

"You... shouldn't you respect your elders?"

"Respect my elders? Hah, what a proposal. Why should I respect my elders when they aren't, in any way, superior to me? A supremely stupid question, lady."

Before the argument escalated even more, another student with black hair and piercing crimson eyes stood up and stepped between the two. I couldn't tell what he was feeling because of his stoic expression.

"Excuse me, but I'd like to give up my seat. You should stop the argument now, it's disrupting the other passengers."

He gave up his seat quickly to end the commotion. The black haired student seemed like an honor student, one that did good in their compulsory education.

The office worker seemed embarrassed at creating such a large commotion and apologized to the rest of us, but not before giving out one last jab towards the blond haired student.

"Ah, I'm so sorry for all of this. If this delinquent had an ounce of respect, I'm sure it wouldn't have escalated to this level."

The blond haired student didn't take that very lightly, and fired back. 

"Hah, very amusing coming from you. You seem like you were frustrated from going to work and living a monotonous life, so you take it out on me. Let me guess, you work a 9-5 job, can't find a partner to settle down with, and have to live life working until you die. How pathetic of you."

His words seemed to have struck a nerve within the office worker, as she became visibly angry at his remark. She walked over to him, about to slap him.

Before any physical contact was made, the black haired student stopped her and grabbed her arm. He was originally guiding the old lady to her seat.

"Please, calm down. He likely wishes to provoke you."

With that, the office worker realized what she was about to do, and retracted her hand. She walked away from the blond haired boy, not wanting anything to do with him. The blond haired boy simply put on his headphones, and listened to music.

Well, that was certainly a surprising start.