COTE: Self-Preservation

Y2V1: The Difficult First-Years

The class had erupted into chaos at the idea of the exam.

"H-hirata, I'm fucked! There's gonna be no way I make it out of this..." Ike cried in frustration.

Ike wasn't the only one, however, many students were crowded around that table. While this place was erupting into chaos which Yosuke was dealing with on his lonesome, Horikita looked to be deep in thought.

That is, until, Sudo meekly grew towards Horikita's desk.

"S-suzune... I dunno what to do..."

Horikita raised a brow in confusion, "Don't you have plenty of first-years in your club? I'm sure some of them are competent enough, aren't they?"

Sudo averted his eyes at the mention of his club, "Well, we've kinda been goin' hard on 'em. The same thing happened to us, so I just thought it was, like, a tradition or somethin', you know?"

Club activities seem to have a different system than before. Last year, there was a large showcase for all of the first-years to go and pick one out. This time it just seems like it was up to the individual. These first-years also arrived only a few days ago, unlike us who arrived and began school on the very same day.

It's impressive how much things went wrong only in the span of a few days.

Horikita let out a deep sigh as she began to rub her temple with her left hand, "Alright, I thought Ike was the most difficult one to deal with, but right now, you are."

"Sudo's ability is higher than what the OAA shows, though, no? If I were to give it a new value, it'd be at least a D or D+," I chimed in.

Sudo's face lit up as I praised his ability, but I don't really know if you could call it praise. Even Kei, someone who rarely studies, has a higher number.

"If you were to put it on a numerical scale from -100 to 100, Ike would be at a 0 because he's never interacted with the first years. Sudo is in the negatives, and even if his actual ability is higher, his perceived ability is the same as Ike's."

A rational conclusion.

"What about you, Ayanokouji? Will you get a partner in time?" Horikita asked me.

My partner, huh?

"I'll find some way to make do. I assume you're asking because you think I'll struggle at getting one, correct?"

Horikita's face tightened slightly at my accusation, "Slightly, yes. You have a C rating."

Horikita's was at an A-, she'd have no issue in this exam. But she's not striving for individual success.

"Hmm, you seem to have your work cut out for you, I wouldn't want to add to that. A C rating isn't the worst. Although I do have to ask, Horikita..."

My eyes locked with hers.

"What's your strategy with the class?"

Horikita's eyes were fixed on her phone screen, mulling over her plans.

She had gone through a big change over the holidays, her mindset was incomparable to before, however, change can be a double-edged sword. When one wall is overcome, another may take its place. As a leader, Horikita doesn't yet understand what that new wall is.

And neither do I.

It's new territory, and I aim to see how the landscape has changed.

"The first thing would be to make sure that the weaker ones are taken care of. After that is completed, only then can the rest be accounted for."

It's not a bad conclusion to reach, target the liabilities and leave the ones who can hold out to be dealt with later.

"Could you help me?" Horikita asked with no hesitation.