Another Like Me - Part I (CoTE x OC) ?

Chapter 38 - Exposed, Part 1

Sudo slowly walked up to Horikita.

"You haven't forgotten your promise, have you?" Horikita said, as the redhead approached.

"No, I'm a man of my words. I couldn't get the MVP, so I'll call you Horikita and not Suzune," Sudo said with a tone of sadness. "But I'll definitely make up for it."

"That's good to hear."

There was an awkward silence between the two of them, and I was stuck in between. I was being a major third-wheel here right now. I should just curl up in a ball and die.

"That being said, I have been a major liability in this festival as well," Horikita said, as she seemingly stared off into nowhere. "I deserve a punishment as well."

"P-punishment?" Sudo muttered awkwardly.

"I guess you can call me by my first name. That will be my punishment." My tsundere radar was suddenly going off. I wonder why.

"I--- wait, what?"

"You heard me the first time, Sudo-kun. I give you permission to call me by my first name. It's what everyone calls 'finding common ground'."

"R-right," Sudo said, and he widened his eyes and screamed a scream of pure joy and ecstasy.

"Alright! Wooooohooooo! This Sports Festival is the best, Suzune!"

And the redhead ran off to celebrate his newfound success with his friends.

"I can't believe you actually allowed him to call you by your first name," I muttered. "When do I get the privilege? I'm like, your first friend and stuff."

"You shall never be granted permission to use my first name," she replied coldly.

"Come on! I'm like carrying the Class right now!"

"I don't care. If you call me by my first name, I'll skin you alive."

"..... right."

***

(The Sports Festival; Horikita, Suzune POV):

I slowly left the crowd along with Takeyama and Kushida. The 3 of us silently made our way out of the grounds, being the only ones who knew the gist of the situation we were currently in.

We reached an empty classroom in the main building, and Ryuuen was standing there, waiting for us to pop out. His smile grew wide as the 3 of us approached Class C's dictator.

"Look who we have here," Ryuuen sneered. "So you've come to finally admit your mistake?"

"I will continue to call myself innocent. You can think of me as guilty, Ryuuen-kun. It does not change the fact that I have been ensnared in lies this time. I am only admitting defeat to your strategy this time," I said.

"Kuku, so you're admitting defeat? Takeyama, you hear that?" Ryuuen taunted the man standing next to me. "You've lost. Admit it. You tried to pull off some sort of dirty strategy, and this is what you ended up with. I thought you weren't like me. But you're quite the violent leader, aren't you?"

Takeyama stayed silent to his taunts. Getting riled up now would not help us in any way, and Takeyama-kun knew that very well. Did he really have nothing up his sleeve this time?

"Before we proceed, I think it's okay for you to end this farce, is it not, Kushida-san?" I said.

"Eh? Farce? What do you mean, Horikita-san?" Kushida looked at me with puppy eyes.

"I don't really mind you playing the good guy here but that's not what you're after right? This sports festival. You leaked the information. That's why Class C was able to pull it off so brilliantly. Even though you incurred a loss of 200 Class Points. I must say, your tactics are demoralizing."