COTE: Horikita Is My Childhood Sweetheart

Chapter 31: Nagumo: When Have I Ever Been Panic

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Rin Matsuoka, sitting next to Asahina Nazuna, said in a sweet voice, "Senpai, you're so kind to me."

"Oh, didn't I tell you to stop talking?" Asahina Nazuna rolled her eyes at Rin playfully and touched her cheek with her palm.

Hmm, it's a bit warm.

Asahina Nazuna felt the heat in her cheeks as she glanced at the handsome Kohai sitting beside her. She made a decision that would violate the school rules!

So what if it violated the school rules?

Even if it did, she, Asahina Nazuna, would let this handsome Kohai know about the class points to save him from suffering through that awful wild vegetable set meal!

Besides, she had already let slip the term "class points," which was technically a breach of the rules.

Asahina Nazuna figured that since she had already broken the rules once, a second violation wouldn't matter.

"Come closer, and I'll tell you," she whispered.

"Okay," Rin agreed.

Asahina Nazuna tucked her orange hair behind her ears and leaned over to Rin, who eagerly leaned in to listen. In a soft voice, she began to explain all the details about the class points system.

She revealed that each of the four classes would start with 1,000 class points during the first month of the new students' enrollment.

If any student in a class violated the rules, the corresponding class points would be deducted based on the severity of the infraction.

"So, if you want to earn a lot of personal points every month, you need to find a way to retain as many class points as possible during this month," Asahina Nazuna advised kindly.

"I understand. Thank you, Senpai," Rin nodded.

With genuine gratitude, Rin added, "You're such a good person, Senpai. May good things always come your way!"

"Oh, stop flattering me!" she replied with a playful smile.

[Congratulations, host. You have discovered all the information related to personal points and completed the task.]

[You gain three personal quality enhancement points (targeted enhancement). Would you like to use them now?]

Although Rin was tempted to use the enhancement points immediately, he knew this wasn't the right moment.

'Not now. Save them for later.'

[Understood.]

Although Rin had obtained the information he needed, he didn't immediately look for an excuse to leave Asahina Nazuna. Instead, he continued chatting with her as they finished their lunch.

Earlier, Rin's questions had been deliberate and purposeful, driven by his objective.

But now, Rin genuinely wanted to befriend this Senpai, so his attitude became much more sincere.

After their conversation, Rin realized that Asahina Nazuna had a generous and cheerful personality, making her an excellent candidate for friendship.

As they finished their lunch and continued to chat, Rin finally polished off his tempura set. He turned to Asahina Nazuna, who was resting her chin on her hand beside him.

"Senpai, I'm done eating. How about we take a walk around the school together?" he suggested.

"Okay... No, I actually have something to do later. Let's exchange Line accounts, and I'll invite you out next time," Asahina Nazuna replied, taking out her phone. Her phone case was beautifully decorated with a charm-like pendant attached to it.

"Sounds good."

Rin took out his phone, and they exchanged Line accounts, following each other right away.

Just then, a boy who had entered the student cafeteria noticed Rin and Asahina Nazuna exchanging Line accounts with smiles on their faces.

When the boy saw this, his eyes widened in disbelief. "Isn't that one of Nagumo's girls? Why is she smiling so happily with another guy?"

"See you later then, Senpai," Rin said as he stood up.

"Yeah, see you later," she replied with a cheerful wave.

After saying goodbye to Asahina Nazuna, Rin returned his tray to the counter in the student cafeteria. He took a moment to glance over to where Horikita Suzune had been sitting, only to find the seat empty. Horikita Suzune had already left after her lunch.

Rin Matsuoka was not surprised by Horikita Suzune's sudden departure; she was, after all, a loner by nature.

Rin left the student cafeteria and noticed a boy standing at the entrance, staring at him blankly, looking somewhat confused.

"Please make way."

"Oh..." Jūyō denai instinctively stepped aside for Rin.

After Rin left the student cafeteria, Asahina Nazuna followed suit. She looked at the stunned Denai in surprise. "Isn't this Denai? What are you doing here?"

"I... that... Ah, Asahina, who was the boy you were talking to just now?" Denai asked hesitantly.

Asahina Nazuna smiled happily. "He's a very interesting junior. Handsome, isn't he?"

"..." Denai twitched his lips. Handsome, sure, but...

Asahina Nazuna had no intention of continuing the conversation with Denai and walked past him with her slender legs.

Denai quickly took out his mobile phone and called the contact listed as "Boss Nagumo."

The call connected quickly, and Denai immediately said, "Boss Nagumo, I have something to tell you. But you have to stay calm after you hear it!"

Miyabi Nagumo frowned at Denai's tense words. He sneered and said, "What's got you so nervous? Is it serious?"

"This... it might be quite serious for you, Boss Nagumo..."

"Tsk, just spit it out. I've weathered all kinds of storms. When have you ever seen me panic?" Nagumo replied arrogantly.

Miyabi Nagumo had good reason to be so confident.

When he was in his first year of high school, Miyabi Nagumo was a student in Class B and had joined the student council.

With the influence of the student council, Miyabi Nagumo led Class B to Class A by the time he reached his second year and managed to make all the second-year students obey him.

Today, Miyabi Nagumo had become the leader of the second-year students, nearly unifying the entire grade, and now served as the vice president of the student council.

"Didn't the student council have a lot of business to deal with this morning? I was there handling everything, and I just came to the student cafeteria for lunch. Then, I..."

Getting annoyed, Miyabi Nagumo shouted, "Denai, cut out the useless details and get straight to the point!"

Shivering, Denai quickly said, "I saw Asahina talking and laughing with a boy in the student cafeteria, and they even exchanged Line contacts!"

"..."

Silence.

Miyabi Nagumo was silent.

Just when Denai was about to ask why he wasn't responding, a deafening roar erupted from his cell phone.

"Who is it?!"

"Who is that bastard?!"

"I'm going to kill him!"

Miyabi Nagumo, gripping his cell phone tightly, kicked the desk in front of him hard. The desk toppled over with a squeak, and all the books in the drawer scattered to the floor.