COTE: Class D's Masked Guardian

Vol 1. Chapter 23 - An Awkward Way to Start the Day

"Can we meet in the lobby at about 7:40? Of course, if you need more time then just say so."

"At 7:40? That's fine, I'm sure I can get ready in 30 minutes."

"Perfect. Thanks, Ichinose. I'll see you then." I waited for her to finish speaking before hanging up the phone and continuing with my workout.

...

How did things come to this? I, myself, had arranged the time and place for my meeting with Ichinose. However, somehow, I was running late.

With a maximum of one minute left, I ran into the elevator and mashed the button for the lobby several times before the door finally shut.

The whole ride down was filled with the other people in the elevator looking at me weirdly, questioning why the second vice-president, with strangely wet hair, was hurriedly tapping his feet while the retro-style elevator music played in the background. It was awkward, to say the least.

Curse you, shower thoughts! If only I hadn't dwelled on the concept of equality for so long, maybe I wouldn't have been in such a situation.

Finally, after what felt like centuries, the doors opened, and I dashed as fast as I could towards where I had agreed to meet Ichinose.

After spotting her, I breathed a sigh of relief, and then called out to her to apologise for my tardiness. "Haahh, sorry Ichinose. I ended up being late... hehe." My hand naturally found itself scratching the back of my head while I tried my best to form a look with my eyes that Ichinose could easily translate to "please, please, please forgive me".

"That's alright, Ayanokouji-kun. I wasn't even waiting for that long," she forgave me.

Okay, fuck shower thoughts. I really wanted to say that cliche line to Ichinose (it would make me feel as if we were on a date, don't judge me), but I ended up being told that instead. Life sure is cruel.

"But... your hair is really wet. Did you just have a shower?"

Ashamed, I nodded my head, which caused her to let out a small yet cute laugh.

"Ah, hold on a second..." She reached her hand into her bag and pulled out a neatly folded towel. "Here, you're lucky I have swimming lessons today, so I have a towel ready in my bag. Would you like me to dry your hair for you?"

She's... too cute. She rivals Kushida, no, she surpasses her. With Kushida being revealed to be a ticking time bomb, Ichinose far surpasses my 'angel' friend.

There's no way I'm missing out on this one in a million chance. No way in hell. I'd rather go back to the White Room.

"YES!" I blurted out a tad too loudly. "Ahem. I mean, yes please. That would be appreciated."

Giggling, Ichinose lifted up the towel to my head and started to dry it. "I think you were a bit too passionate there, Ayanokouji-kun."

Great, this day just keeps getting better, doesn't it? I want to die in a hole, right now. I wonder how he would react if he found out his masterpiece committed suicide due to embarrassment?

What an entertaining thought.

"So, why did you want me to meet you here?" Ichinose asked me, pulling me back to reality.

"Ah, right. Well, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Is it something you needed help with? If it is, I'll do my best to give you a hand," she said. How unexpected. I had long since established an image of Ichinose Honami in my mind as a social goddess, one who knew how to read the atmosphere of a conversation, how to make friends, and knew absolutely everything about social interaction.

But with my recent hanging out with Karuizawa and Matsushita, I had picked up on things that I believed that girls would all obsess over. Those things being romance, and teasing people about romance.

Naturally, I also assumed that Ichinose was like those two, and would immediately jump to the conclusion that I may be confessing to her. I had almost thought that this was a certainty with how she talked about Kushida and her group to me during our first encounter (see Vol 1. Chapter 11). However, it seemed that she was more innocent than I thought.

Or at the very least, more rational than my two friends.

"Actually, Ichinose. I wanted to ask how many points you received this month."

"How many points? Ah, so it's about that, isn't it?," Ichinose said, coming to the realisation. "I got a notification this morning saying that I'd gained 75,000 private points."

So Class B had managed to salvage 750 class points. Quite impressive, considering I had not told them how class points would be decreased, or whether they could be decreased in the first place. All I had given them was a recording of Sae saying that class points could be changed; for all they knew, their points could have increased rather depending on certain factors rather than decreasing.

This mystery person from Class B is getting more and more interesting.

"I know you have a lot of questions about this whole thing, but they'll most likely be answered during today's homeroom session. So there's really no point asking me when your teacher will be able to explain it to you much more thoroughly," I told her.

In response, Ichinose simply nodded, and gave me a quick "I see..." before the conversation quickly turned away from the subject of class points and private points to more trivial matters.

Finally, we reached the school, and it was time for Ichinose and I to split up into our respective classes.

She started to head to her class, but I quickly stopped her. "Wait, Ichinose," I called out. "During the first period, can you bring three representatives from your class over to ours? We need to talk about the contract."

Nodding her head, she accepted my request almost immediately.

"And also, make sure that you understand everything, and I mean absolutely everything, about what your teacher tells you today. It'll give you a huge advantage going forward," I added.

"Thanks, Ayanokouji-kun."

WIth that, we exchanged our goodbyes and entered our classrooms with almost 20 minutes left before the bell.

A/N:

Originally, I was going to add class points to both Class D and Class B because Kiyotaka and Ichinose were accepted into the student council. However, while writing, I realised how flawed such a system would be.

I.e. Kiyotaka could simply hire students from Class D to gain a multitude of class points. Additionally, he could easily just refuse the entry of other students from different classes, granting him a large advantage in the race to Class A.

So, in place of the reward, I will have to think of something that can't be easily exploited. Or perhaps there won't be a reward.

And, as for why it took so long for this chapter to come out?  I've lost a lot of my drive and motivation to continue writing. That's why this chapter is so short and contains so little genuine material. Honestly, I was supposed to include everything in here; from the contract negotiations and a couple of other scenes that would help drive the plot forward. But I've gotten so little done these two and a half weeks since I last updated, I just decided to keep this as a set up chapter and publish it now. 

Regardless, I want to continue writing, no matter what. My motivation to do so might be low, but I do really want to see the ideas I've had for so long written for others to read. 

Anyways, enough of my rambling. See you in the next (hopefully longer, and earlier) chapter.