COTE: The Quiet One Can Be Dangerous

Vol. 7 Chp. 4: Fearing The Unknown

'You're going to have her depend on you more in the future, am I right?'

He's more perceptive than I thought.

'Your trust for me is superficial or non-existent, but I figured you need my help.'

"I wouldn't lie and say the extra help would be nice."

'I have a reason to help out, anyways.'

~Timeskip~

Kagurazaka's POV

I was walking to the library when I noticed someone walking towards me. As soon as she saw me, she seemed slightly surprised before her expression became severe.

"You made it easy to come to find you," Kamuro said. "Sakayanagi-san is waiting for you in the library."

Oh, I know... She's probably annoyed that I didn't respond to her text to meet her there.

I walked past Kamuro and made my way into the library. There were only two students in there. The first one was Arisu.

The other was a girl who noticed me and immediately started walking toward me, "Kagurazaka-kun, I wasn't expecting to see you here," Shiina said.

'I would read with you today, but I'm here to meet someone.'

She turns around to look toward Arisu, "I see..."

She looked at me, "Ryuuen-kun sad that he was about to find out the person from your class that he called X... If you're here, that means he was right, and you're not X..."

There was a sense of relief in Shiina's eyes. 

I patted the top of her head, causing her to blush slightly, before walking past her and going over to Arisu.

A smug smile appeared on Arisu's face, "Norogumi-kun, I'm glad you could make it. I was rather upset that you didn't message me back."

I sat in the chair.

"I was considering having a chess match with you, but I want to have a lovely conversation," Arisu said.

'I'm having a hard time believing that we are going to have a lovely conversation.'

"Fufufu," she laughed, "I want to talk to you."

I looked at my phone and saw that it was 1:30 PM.

"Is there a problem, Norogumi-kun?" Arisu asked.

I shook my head, 'I can't stay for a long chat because I have somewhere to be.'

Arisu's narrowed her eyes at me as her grin slightly strained, "I see... I'm rather sad."

'Sorry.'

"You know it was nice to hear your voice after many years," Arisu's gaze softened, "You're still the same as we were back then as we were kids."

'Can you tell me more about our childhood together?'

A serene smile appeared on her face, "I have no problem with that."

~Timeskip~

I glanced at my phone and saw that it was 2 PM. I slid it back into my pocket.

'Sorry, but I have to go.'

Arisu continued to smile, "It's too bad... I was getting to the good part."

'Let's play a chess match next time we hang out.'

"Of course! I will not bother you any longer, Norogumi-kun!"

I was about to leave when Arisu said, "Enjoy your winter holiday!"