COTE: Self-Preservation

Y2V4: Face-Off

The dawn of the 8th day had arrived.

The sky was so clear you couldn't tell it had rained the previous night.

As for the ground...

"My first area is E2, so I'll be going now, Kiyotaka," Suzune told me, departing.

I nodded, beginning to traverse to my next area as well, which was E6. I guess it's a random area this time.

The mud was rather uncomfortable to travel through.

"My socks are wet now..." I sighed.

It felt like the muddy terrain was a virus and had eaten up the solid ground. Considering it was 3 squares down, and with the muddy ground, it took me nearly an hour and a half to reach there. I wanted to climb on the trees once again, but they were too slippery to get on top of.

Slowly making my way through the path, I began to think about the island exam.

As of now, Nagumo was still in first place.

Yagami was second, and Koenji was in 3rd.

And I was only 4 points behind him. Just how would he be dealing with this, I wonder?

Finally, I set foot inside E6.

"Kiyopon!"

Turning my head, I found Haruka waving at me with a wide grin on her face, surrounded by many of our classmates. I made my way over to them, and it seemed like maybe 50% of our class was here. Maybe the other 50% were with Suzune?

I didn't see anyone else from the Ayanokouji Group here, nor did I see Kei.

The classmates were all talking with each other, sharing food and chatting like there was no exam going on at all. None of them paid attention to me, which was nice. I noticed someone else coming up to greet me.

"Kiyotaka, looks like you're here as well," Yosuke greeted.

I nodded, "Yeah, seems like there's lots of us right now. How's your exam been so far?"

Yosuke raised his hand and shook it about as if to say 'alright'.

"You've been impressive, though. At this rate, you might even get first," he praised.

"Maybe," I shrugged, looking at my tablet for any available tasks but finding absolutely nothing in my area.

Yosuke scratched his cheek with an awkward expression, "Yeah, that's why we're all just relaxing right now. Nothing to do."

I guess I should've expected that...

I made my way towards a tree with nobody around it, Haruka following me as she sat down on her knees.

"Kiyopon, you seen anyone else in the group?" Haruka asked me casually.

I nodded, "I've seen everyone at least once now. I saw Suzune yesterday actually, I was with her until the morning."

Haruka's grin began to grow wider, making me realise that I should not have said that...

"Oh, wow. It was pretty cold last night, too. Did you magically need to cuddle for body warmth?"

I'm sure if I had ever even asked, Suzune would try to murder me.

"No, we didn't. What kind of scenarios are you imagining?"

Haruka shrugged, rolling her eyes with a smug expression, "Just something from lots of enemies to lovers dramas. The two people find an inn, but there's only one bed, the guy sleeps on the floor, but then, all of a sudden, the girl has nightmares! She looks for comfort in the guy, who slowly starts to open up to her, and then..."