COTE: A Man On A Mission || Love is War?

Staircase.

Just like the dormitory is a whole building for each grade, the teaching building is also similar.

It has a total of seven floors.

The first floor is where Class D of the 1st grade located, and the second floor is for Class C students.

But the third and fourth floors are science laboratories.

Then the fifth and sixth floors are the classrooms of Class B and Class A of the first grade.

This distribution looks a bit strange.

’There are four classes in one grade, but why are they separated by a science laboratory in the middle?’

However, if you understand the encouragement mechanism of this school, you will feel that this is normal.

Probably the school didn’t want the students in Class A and Class B to be disturbed.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Class D was regarded as the 40 students ranked at the bottom among the 160 freshmen who entered the school.

So, since we are boarding in this school and have to compete on a class basis, is there still any chance?

The results can be imagined.

’If there is no strong man descended from heaven, nothing can be done to remedy this situation’ But these troublesome things have nothing to do with Hachiman.

Because he has other channels to obtain private points.

At least, he has already obtained Kushida’s, worth 200,000, while he has yet to get his hands on Horikita’s, another 200,000.

But Kushida is a little angel with a friendly aura. So, maybe he can get some information about Horikita from her.

In this way, the two of them walked to the stairs together, and then walked up a level.

Kushida seemed to be feeling emotional.

Then she said, something like that out of nowhere, “Hikigaya-kun seems to like Horikita-san just like the boys in the class.”

”Eh?” Hachiman was stunned for a moment. Because what kind of rhetoric is this.

”Hikigaya-kun must have been distracted by looking at Horikita-san during class,” But Kushida didn’t care, she was determined to label Hachiman as a creep, ”...I found out during the second period that you looked at her five times in just 40 minutes.”

That’s it. You saw it.

’There really is no way to deny it...but it’s so weird!’

’Kushida do you understand that in your rhetoric, you are the scary one?’ Hachiman wanted to complain against her crude remarks.

’Because you can pay attention to my actions, does it mean that you have been paying attention to Horikita, that’s why you know that I was staring at her, right?’

”....” Hachiman. ’Kushida-san....was it because you were kicked away by Horikita when you talked to her that morning?’

’Does she hold a grudge because she feels embarrassed?’ At this time, Hachiman did not deny or agree that he looked at Horikita during class.

He felt that this was not what Kushida cared about. She probably had something else to say.

Really.

”Actually, I said hello to Horikita-san yesterday.” Kushida said as if she was confiding, a very painful topic, ”...I also met her when I went to the shopping mall, but she seemed to be ignoring me.

And today, I wonder if she was really disgusted, ” She seemed very emotional about this issue, like someone kicked her very hard, “As for Hikigaya-kun, you are Horikita-san’s seatmate, so it’s easier for you to talk to her than me. ”

In other words, does Kushida want me to help test Horikita’s likes and dislikes for her?

This is consistent with her self-introduction that she wants to be friends with everyone.

Because Horikita Suzune is also classmate.

So naturally, Kushida, one of those people who wants to be friends with everyone is targeting her, a lone wolf.

Only. ’Kushida-san, I think it’s better to give up on your idea of being friends with everyone’

Because some people are terrible and not worthy of your attention.

It’s just that Kushida is a bomb, and Hachiman doesn’t want to get burned by intervening and detonating her.　

”What do you want me to do?” Hachiman thought there was no point in continuing this farce, ”No need to beat around the bush.”

”Yeah...that’s right, I hope...eh...” However, Kushida nodded slightly, but suddenly stopped then raised her face and looked at him with pitiful eyes.

Then she took his left hand.

Hold it up. The girl’s body temperature suddenly passed from her body.

Then she continued to use the cute attack, ”....Hikigaya-kun is really annoying, your way of thinking is too mature. Why are you going around in circles? I’m not using you!”

’But Kushida’s current words are that although she has discovered it, she still wants to use me’

And she didn’t even try to hide it, and just used real actions to get started.

’This is a very dangerous creature!’

Even though he thought so, Hachiman found it impossible to deny it because Kushida is indeed cute. ’And I don’t know what type of shampoo she’s using, but it smells nice’

Of course it could be perfume. ’Girls are really amazing and terrifying at the same time’

This made Hachiman couldn’t help but recall the last time a girl held his hand like this...

Well, the last time he was also held by this Kushida-san.　

The boys in the class became agitated because of puberty and because there were so many beautiful girls in the class.

And now Hachiman realizes that he may also be a layman. There is a feeling of heartbeat speeding up.

After all, some girls grow up eating cuteness. ’Just like the silver-haired weak loli, I saw at Keyaki Mall yesterday’

The delicate face is matched with a weak temperament, but it also embodies the aura of a superior person.

That kind of girl is quite cute. In this way.

Even though his hand was being held by Kushida Kikyo, the popular little angel in the class, Hachiman found himself thinking of others in a rude manner.

”Then what do you know about Horikita Suzune?” Hachiman began to collect information and withdrew his hand in a quiet manner.

Kushida also took out her cell phone.

Hachiman said honestly, ”My relationship with her is also very cold. Or rather, we don’t even talk to each other..... It’s just a simple relationship of being lone neighbours.”

”So.” He continued without looking at Kushida’s face which was getting slightly depressed, ”If you have any information, for example, if you came from the same junior high school as her, that would be great...”

... Thud! However, at this moment.

The mobile phone held by Kushida in her left hand fell to the ground with a loud sound.

She seemed to be stunned for a moment, but quickly knelt down to pick it up.

”...” Hachiman.

As an observant man, this was the first time he saw Kushida looking so confused.

Even when it was directly revealed that she wanted to use him, Kushida was not so panicked.

That is to say. Eh!?  It seemed like he suddenly stepped on Kushida’s landmine.

_________

Horikita Suzune is a girl with an extremely beautiful appearance.

Good at studies and sports.

But she doesn’t like to socialize with others, and even thinks that talking to these people is a waste of time.

But she is very interested in learning. Spend most of her day studying.

This is the information Kushida-san has learned. But in this case... isn’t it quite dangerous?

Because the information she gave, can be gained by spending a little time observing.

But the really important news was that Horikita Suzune and Kushida might have been in the same junior high school, so she kept silent on this matter.

And Hachiman, a wise man, just pretended not to notice.

Class D is the worst class, being assigned here means that once they explode, everything may be ruined.

It’s a very dangerous bomb.

Hachiman hasn’t earned enough points with Chabashira-sensei yet, so he certainly doesn’t want to blow up Kushida here.

So, he pretended to be stupid. It’s just that Kushida is a bit dangerous today.

Her seat was in the center of the second row below the podium table.

Very prominent location. But she seemed very unfocused during class in the afternoon.

From time to time, she would look back here. When Hachiman noticed and caught her gaze, she smiled quite sweetly.

’What a cute smile!’ It’s just that this is a classroom, and there are many students who are distracted.

So, some boys immediately misunderstood and seemed distracted, thinking that Kushida-san was smiling at them.

After all, most of their students were not outstanding in junior high school, and good-looking girls basically ignored them, so Kushida-san who was actually willing to talk to them, is just like an angel.

In this way, her popularity continues to rise.

________

Hachiman accidentally stepped on Kushida’s landmine, and he didn’t think it was a good thing.

And her vigilance was a little too strong.

Even though they were already in class, she wanted to check whether he really didn’t care that she and Horikita might be from the same junior high school.

And also used such a cute attack.

’You are so good at using your own weapons!

Then. Almost all the students were distracted throughout the day, and some students even found a new revelation that the teacher ignored them, so they started boycotting the class openly by sleeping.

”Today’s class ends here.” Chabashira-sensei, the teacher of the second period in the afternoon, announced the end of class after ringing the bell.

She teaches history. Today’s story is dominated by clans.

Like other teachers, she does not delay class or ask questions from students.

However, when she picked up the lesson plan and left from the front door, she walked directly from the podium.

Then went through the aisle next to the window, seemed to be preparing to leave through the back door.

And this makes some students feel bad.

If Sae were an ordinary classroom teacher, she wouldn’t be able to put pressure on everyone. But she is their homeroom teacher.

So, will I be criticized for the desertion?’ Most students think so.

Because all the head teachers in junior high schools did this in the past.

But.

”Ka ka ka ka -” Chabashira stepped on her high heels rhythmically and walked slowly through the aisle.

Then. Stayed in the last row.

But she didn’t say anything, and continued to make a thump-dong-dong sound with her high heels, passing directly between the tables of Hachiman and Horikita, and then came to the back door.

Left through the back door. It seemed like nothing happened. The students breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems that this school is really great, with free tuition, super loose discipline, and even no homework after school!

’It’s just like heaven!

Hachiman didn’t pay attention to the thoughts of these students. He knew that Chabashira-sensei came over deliberately just now, probably to confirm whether he had completed Horikita’s task.

But.

’Hey, hey, Chabashira-sensei, less than a day has passed. How could I collect so much information about Horikita Suzune?’

’Did you know, me and Horikita have never spoken at all?! Even though Hachiman wanted to say it out loud but he didn’t.

And ahead. Hachiman noticed that Kushida was talking to girls. Today was our second day of school, but she was already friends with many people.

Everyone greeted her. Popularity is quite good.

But there are also kinships and distances. It seems that now she has formed a best friend relationship with a classmate.

The other party’s name is Wang Mei-yu, and she is petite.

While Hachiman was working as a camera, he collected some information about the other party.

She comes from China, and never scored less than 100 points in English.

It’s terrible. Now the two seem to be planning to go shopping together at Keyaki mall.

’Of course, they are’ Yesterday, the students seemed to be in a dream, so they probably only purchased the minimum amount of items.

But now, after discovering that even the teacher doesn’t control them.

They definitely want to go shopping, waste money like water

’But, a good brother like me who is willing to save money for his sister as pocket money must be unique!’

If Komachi knew about it, then it must be that Hachiman’s score was extremely high.

And thinking about it.

”This school is really tolerant to students.”

”Whether it is ignoring their small actions during class or providing such a huge amount of living

allowance.... when I was shopping in the supermarket, I also found some relief items.”

”It seems to be specially provided for students who have run out of points.”

A cold female voice came from beside him.

? ?

Hachiman seemed to pause for several seconds. Because this was black-haired beauty taking the initiative to talk to him?

”What’s the problem?” The neighbor continued to look over.

”You probably don’t understand.” Suzune dismissed her own question, when she saw Hachiman looking extremely confused. ’Probably another idiot like Kushida-san.’

Then it was like a sigh. ”There seem to be quite a few morons in this class.”

’Oh! Then you must be a great student.’

”Horikita, are you very academically capable?” Hachiman decided, it was a good topic to communicate with.

”....Are you talking about my grades? I’ve always been among the best.” Horikita was taken aback by this question, but she said proudly.

Even her eyes seemed to be smiling, so cute. But then it suddenly turned....cold.

”Or do you want to laugh at me because I study all day long to get those excellent grades? I don’t think there is anything to be ridiculed about my efforts.” Suzune clicked her tongue in annoyance, knowing how these people’s brains work quite well.

Oh no. He had no such idea.

”So what about your physical exercise?”

”Probably the more advanced type among girls.” Suzune now had a small frown on her face, ’Why are there so many...?  ”....My physical fitness is quite good.”

At the same time, her appearance is also superb.

If it were a pure beauty pageant, then the aloof Horikita Suzune might be able to win first place based on her pure appearance.

But because she doesn’t take her aloof temperament into account, his neighbour can’t attract a lot of votes like Kushida.

So, that’s it. Horikita Suzune seemed to have good fundamentals, but she was assigned to Class D.

’Is there still the risk of being a bomb?’ Do I need to be cautious when approaching it?’

After all, the whole day, Kushida looked like, she was about to explode.

So, do I have to be careful with this cold girl too?

Only, Hachiman doesn’t think so.

Because, If he were the interviewer, Horikita, who has an excellent panel, would have a lot of points deducted by him.

“So, do you hate Kushida?”

”...” Suzune. ’W-what happened all of a sudden?’ ”...Why do you think that I hate her?”

”Didn’t she come to talk to you this morning?”

”...” Suzune, then she seemed to sigh, ”I’m really not interested in the class group. I came here to study, so I don’t want to be distracted.”

”Kushida-san is inviting other people to join the group. This is her personal goal, so I won’t dislike her.” That’s what she said.

Hachiman also noticed that the little angel Kushida seemed to be content and left the classroom with her new best friend Wang Mei-yu.

It seems that she got the news that Horikita Suzune doesn’t hate her.

So, she was in a good mood. But Hachiman felt that high % of the source of her good mood came from him.

During the lunch break, Kushida’s flustered behavior revealed that she and Horikita Suzune were from the same junior high school.

And now the other party was worried that the news would be leaked. So, she has been supervising him from the afternoon.

See, if she catches him snitching this important news that is very risky for her.

And now, Hachiman can still help Kushida to test whether Horikita hates her, which shows that he doesn’t think much about anything else.

That’s why Kushida felt relieved.

But. ’Just give it a normal performance, would you so easily believe it, Kushida-san?’

’It’s so easy for you to be deceived’ Hachiman realised that his classmates are a bit naive.

As for Horikita Suzune...

He is also thinking that she can talk to people, so maybe he can get information about her from the conversation.

But when he came to his senses, he found that the seat next to him was empty.

Horikita Suzune packed her schoolbag and left.

Yes. She was still a lone wolf, unreasonable, so there was no need to stay and continue talking to him.

Because Suzune thought Hachiman was a creep, who’s very curious to know every single detail about her?

So, obviously there is no need to notify anyone when leaving.

Sigh. ’Chabashira-sensei, you think so highly of me, how could I collect Horikita’s files so quickly?’ Hachiman was just an ordinary person, not a secret mastermind or something.

______

Night.

On the second night of staying at Advanced Nurturing High School, it was nine o’clock in the evening.

There is a vending machine next to the dormitory near the railing of the lake.

Hachiman completed Horikita Suzune’s file.

_________

ANHS with free tuition and living expenses. At the same time, the employment and admission rate are also 100%.

Very eye-catching.

However, in this promotion, only free tuition is true. Living expenses need to be obtained by students based on their own performance, and the other good things...enmm~

Hachiman has already acquiesced that this has nothing to do with Class D.

After all, in the teaching building, among the four classes, Class C and Class D are separated by the science laboratory, so the school probably only has expectations for students from Class A and Class B.

’It’s just like that sentence, mutual happiness is definitely impossible’

If there are people who are bright, then there must be people who are in the mud.　　

So, the current D class is probably the people who were born to be in the gutter.

But what does it matter?

[Then just work hard. ]

[There is no guarantee whether you will meet a rich woman who will support you in the future. But you can make yourself rich first during the three years in this school. ]

Chabashira-sensei said it well.

Therefore, it is already a very good life to be able to go to school for free and make money during school time.

In this way.

Even if there is no one willing to support him in the future, Hachiman can still support himself.

And because he earned extra living expenses, he did not treat himself badly.

Dinner is a deluxe set menu worth 1,500 points ordered from the cafeteria.

Only.

”Too full.” After returning to the dormitory, he walked around the room a few more times, but still felt too full.

His stomach showed no signs of digestion. Sure enough, the dormitory is indeed very small.

So, he left the room. Hachiman remembered that when he had a private meeting with Chabashira-sensei yesterday, he passed by a vending machine.

At that time, he just took a quick glance and didn’t remember the types of drinks placed inside.

But as for coffee, there should be some.

Drinking coffee for a long time is not good. ’Although it can refresh you, it can also cause the secretion of gastric acid and may even hurt your stomach’

But it might have some effect on his current over-satisfied state.

It’s just that this is an idea, the plan is perfect, but the reality does not give you a chance at all.

Because.

When Hachiman walked through the trees and saw the vending machine, he also saw someone there.

It’s a man and a woman.

But before he saw them, their voices reached his ears along the wind.

”Suzune, I didn’t expect you to chase me here.” This was a male voice, which has a special magnetism effect.

There was no anger in his tone, just a chilling coldness.

But Hachiman felt that the voice was somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere recently.

”I came here to catch up on my brother’s footsteps!” The girl’s voice came next.

And this voice, Hachiman  recognized very well.

Because that was the voice of Horikita Suzune who spoke to him this afternoon.

So, Hachiman looked over. It was a very beautiful girl, with a delicate face that was slightly nervous, and her small hands were clenched, revealing the owner’s uneasy mood.

A head of long straight black hair like a waterfall, with a scent of lily that is refreshing.

’Of course, you can’t smell it from this distance’

’Confirmed’ Horikita Suzune was indeed there.

She stubbornly raised her head and looked at her brother, her usually indifferent tone became excited, and explained anxiously, ”I am no longer the loser that my brother knew at first!”

Oh ho! To be able to make Horikita, who is so cold in class, say that she is a waste, it seems that she really admires her brother, and the pressure he puts on her is also quite high.

But even so, she still wanted to follow in her brother’s footsteps, and Hachiman once again saw her  stubbornness.

This may be collected into her exclusive file.

”In order to catch up with me...?”

But Brother Horikita turned his back to her, sneered, stretched out his hand to gently push the glasses on the bridge of his nose, and said coldly, ”You still haven’t noticed any of your shortcomings yet? Choosing this school is a failure.”

”Maybe you don’t know now, that this school is about strength.... Do you even know what kind of bad class you were assigned to?” The brother said.　　

At this time, Hachiman recalled that he had heard this boy’s voice, especially when the other party called out the words ”strength first”.

Such a arrogant and cold tone.

He was the Student council president who organized the opening ceremony for new students, and at that time he introduced himself as -

I am the Student council President of this school, Horikita Manabu.

Horikita? I see. ’He and Horikita Suzune are siblings’

”The students in the class may seem loose or even stupid, but if you say they are completely bad...” Suzune frowned at this statement, because this is too much.....

”Haha...” But Horikita Manabu seemed to laugh condescendingly, “Quit school, Suzune.” His tone suddenly became cold.

”Why, why?! I obviously came to this school following my brother’s footsteps!”

”You don’t understand anything.” Horikita denied outright, ’What an idiot!’ ”Class D is the worst class, to which you are assigned. This will make me, as the Student Council President, embarrassed.”

”How... like this...?” Horikita’s sister was unable to catch her brother for a while.

”This news is not something you can know now, and if I leak it like this, I also need to pay a price of 1 million.”

”So, my sister, as soon as you came to school, I spent 1 million. It is equivalent to the living expenses you received from the school 10 times.”

Then you are great, Student council president. He spent 1 million for his sister in one minute.

This is equivalent to the more than 600 luxury meals Hachiman had today.

However, as an older brother, Hachiman thinks in a wider scope, so he seems to understand why Horikita Manabu took the initiative to deduct money from himself.

Because. This sister doesn’t understand people’s hearts at all.