COTE :  Oh No, I've Become the Substitute

The trees swayed in the wind with a ceaseless rustle. In the forest where fallen leaves danced wildly through the air, the sun had already been obscured by the drifting clouds. The scent of decaying leaves, carried by the sea wind, seeped through the gaps in the tent.

The wind through the trees grew stronger, and the light had dimmed completely, as though dusk had arrived ahead of time.

The girl named Horikita Suzune, her face flushed, sat huddled in the corner of the tent with her arms wrapped around herself. Rapid breaths streamed from her slightly parted nose.

"What are you doing here?"

Seeing that the intruder was Fuyuji Mikage, the wariness in Horikita's eyes lessened by a fraction. But she still forced herself, like an injured cat, to question him in that keep-your-distance tone of hers.

She raised her head, trying to maintain her usual icy expression. Yet her weak, listless eyes betrayed her current physical state beyond any attempt to conceal it.

"..."

Completely ignoring Horikita's words, Fuyuji let his gaze drift over her on his own. His eyes swept across her curled-up body, searching for the wristband issued by the school.

In this condition, the school's monitoring should have long since detected that this student's body temperature had been maintaining an elevated level for an extended period. Why was she still in this tent—

He saw it. The wristband, which should have been worn close to the skin to monitor heart rate and body temperature, had been loosened by a full size and clamped over the sleeve of her red jacket instead.

A simple yet effective trick. This way, the heartbeat could still be detected, while the body temperature, measured through a layer of fabric, wouldn't register as abnormal with the school.

Silence hung in the air for a few seconds.

"Haah..."

Fuyuji pressed a hand to his forehead and let out a helpless laugh.

Then he shook his head. Stepping cracklingly over the dry branches on the ground, he turned and began walking away in the opposite direction. As he walked, he muttered to himself.

"Forget it. With symptoms like these, even if she gets treated, she'll just end up drooling anyway. Might as well pretend I never saw anything and let her brain cook. That way, Horikita Manabu will have an easier time looking after her. Even in the worst case, if Horikita Manabu doesn't have time to take care of her, a brain-fried, not-particularly-bright, outwardly cold beauty type—I hear they're still pretty popular. She'd be a scarce resource on the arranged marriage market for sure."

"Add to that a huge payout from the school for negligent supervision, and I'll go back and beg Morishita-sama. Once she's old and senile, I'll arrange a nice nursing home for her. Not a bad way to live out a happy life."

The more he thought about it, the more satisfied Fuyuji became with his own idea.

"I really am such a good person."

So saying, Fuyuji looked back, waved at Horikita—still huddled in the corner—and bade her a gentle farewell.

"Well then, Horikita's little sister. Once your brain's been cooked smart, I'll come visit you again."

"?"

Horikita furrowed her brow and rubbed her arms. She felt that her physical condition might indeed have some problems right now. Not only was she somewhat delirious, she couldn't even understand what Fuyuji meant.

But even so, she still felt she knew perfectly well what she needed to do. Unconsciously licking her dry lips, Horikita gritted her teeth and raised her voice as much as she could. With a faint tremor, she spoke.

"You... won't tell anyone else my position, will you?"

Fuyuji: "..."

Still thinking about the exam. Still thinking about her position. Had this person really cooked her brain stupid? He had laid out the consequences that clearly, and she was still huddled there refusing to leave. Did she genuinely believe she had superpowers like him and could overclock her brain?

He couldn't be bothered to waste any more words on Horikita. Even if he tried to persuade her out of kindness, this stubborn mule would probably just dig her heels in and refuse to leave anyway.

His train of thought connected. Fuyuji headed straight for the beach.

He would report her condition to the school. Willing or not, under the school's supervision, she would have to withdraw.

"You—!"

Horikita, who had just barely relaxed, saw the direction Fuyuji was heading, and her pupils instantly contracted.

Forcing her body up, she rushed behind Fuyuji and seized his wrist with a sharp slap. Her fingers, abnormally scorching from the fever, slick with damp sweat, clamped onto his wrist like a vice. She barked out harshly.

"Don't you dare go!"

"Tch..."

Fuyuji let out a scoff and halted his steps, but didn't turn around. He simply let her hold on. "What I'm going to do is my own freedom. Can you stop me?"

"My affairs are none of your concern. Please follow the normal exam procedures and wait for the exam to conclude." Her icy voice shot back immediately. Horikita struggled to straighten her spine and met him head-on.

Fuyuji spun around sharply and shot back without mercy. "Do you genuinely not know, or are you pretending? I've already confirmed your identity as the leader. And you're trying to muddle through with such a clumsy excuse?"

"It's none of your business regardless!" Horikita gritted her teeth. "My being here doesn't interfere with the normal conduct of the exam. I'm no threat to your Class A either. Just pretend you never saw me!"

"Horikita Suzune, is there actually something wrong with your brain?"

Fuyuji continued with a cold sneer.

"No matter how you look at it, your withdrawal only brings benefits. For my Class A, an opposing class loses manpower, and we no longer have to keep tabs on someone like you. For yourself—your own classmates have all left, yet you're still here. Eight or nine times out of ten, it's for those few occupation points and the points from guessing other class leaders. From the look of you, there's no need to even ask whether you've found any other class leaders. The exam ends tomorrow. No matter how many more points you occupy, it'll only amount to a handful of class points. I truly don't understand what you're staying here for."

Horikita's reddened lips parted slightly. She wanted to say something, but she knew that her usual justifications would never work on Fuyuji. In the end, the words never left her mouth. She simply pressed her lips tightly together.

A long silence passed.

Horikita's face, flushed with that clearly abnormal redness, lowered bit by bit. Her feverish hand weakly held onto Fuyuji's wrist. Her cold, clear voice, for once, was tinged with a frailty rarely present. So faint it was nearly swallowed by the wind.

"Please... don't report this to the school. I'm asking you..."

"Why? Tell me the reason." Fuyuji's voice was calm.

"I am the leader of Class D this time... I don't want to give up before the exam is over. Before, all of this could have been blamed on others. But now, it's just me alone. If even I, as the leader, give up too... it means I'm also only capable of this much..."

Fuyuji was angered into laughing once more. "You really weren't misplaced in Class D! Persisting when you should give up, and letting go cheerfully when you shouldn't."

Horikita lowered her head and said nothing. Her hand, now burning hot, still stubbornly held onto Fuyuji's wrist.

"Fine! I'll admit defeat, alright?!"

He flung off Horikita's hand. Pacing irritably on the spot for two circles, he pointed a finger toward the cruise ship. His voice spiked a full octave.

"The leader can be changed! Your situation perfectly qualifies as legitimate justification! Now! Immediately! This instant! Get the hell back to the cruise ship!!"

His voice, tinged with anger, echoed through the forest, refusing to fade for a long while.

His chest heaved several times. Fuyuji caught his breath and steadied himself slightly. He turned his body away, putting on the appearance of someone who never wanted to see Horikita again.

"Hurry up and go. Once I'm back, I'm deleting you. You don't have to pay back the money. You don't have to call me anymore either. I don't even want you cooking for me—I'm afraid eating too much of it would give me diabetes."

"Why are you telling me this information?"

"Compensation for you. That morning before the boarding, you probably sensed subconsciously that your body might be having problems. That's why you went to Chabashira Sae to apply to stay at the school. If I hadn't called you back with that one phone call, you'd still be at the school right now." Fuyuji waved his hand and urged her again.

Another fierce gust of wind swept through. Horikita once again wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed them. Her feet turned inward, her knees slightly bent, as she stood rooted to the spot.

"?"

Not hearing Horikita's departing footsteps after a long while, Fuyuji turned his head slightly to the side and asked impatiently.

"Why aren't you leaving yet?!"

After hesitating for a moment, her scorching hand reached out once more. The movement was slow and hesitant as it grasped Fuyuji's wrist. It carried a hint of entreaty.

"I... want to stay here..."

Horikita's hand silently tightened by a fraction. Her eyes lowered. Those captivating fox-like eyes gradually dimmed. In a voice so faint it seemed only she herself could hear, she murmured.

"I want... to let my brother... see this exam. To prove I'm not a useless little sister..."

Again with the brother? Again with the brother?!

Damn it! What kind of spell had Horikita Manabu cast on you that you'd even throw your life away?!

A rare surge of fury rose from the depths of Fuyuji's heart. He jabbed a finger at Horikita's nose and erupted.

"Look at the state your Class D is in right now! Docked points right from the start! A disorganized mob bumbling around in chaos! Supply points distributed irrationally! Halfway through the exam, the whole group runs back to the cruise ship, leaving a few classmates behind to survive in the wild! What exactly do you still have left that's worth showing Horikita Manabu?!"

"I..." Horikita had just been about to fire back coldly as usual, but the words jammed in her throat like a stuck cassette.

"You ARE a useless little sister!" Fuyuji pressed in relentlessly. "And for raising a little sister like you, Horikita Manabu is a weakling too!"

"Don't you dare talk about my brother like that!" Horikita, who had been sickly and lethargic just moments ago, exploded like a cat with all its fur bristling. Her gaze stabbed fiercely at Fuyuji.

"That first time we met—do you know why you ran into Horikita Manabu in such a remote place?"

"Why?"

Only now did Horikita find it strange. Why would her brother, usually swamped with Student Council affairs, suddenly appear in a place like that with a first-year student?

"Because he needed an ally within the Student Council to check Nagumo Miyabi. That's why he took the initiative to invite me to join the Student Council back then."

"Do you know why every time I sell information, I specifically come to you and not anyone else? Because I knew you couldn't afford it. Every time you owed money, I would send the bill to Horikita Manabu. Every single time, it was Horikita Manabu who paid it off for you. Do you know why, when it came to Ryuen Kakeru, I chose to release that video? Because Horikita Manabu privately gave me one million personal points and asked me to help you resolve that problem."

The rapid-fire words crashed heavily against Horikita's heart. Every sentence, every word, made her breathing quicken by a fraction. Her body felt as cold as an ice sculpture.

"Thanks to you—his useless little sister—his savings of several million personal points have now been drained to the very last drop, all of it flowing straight into my wallet."

Just as Horikita's mind went completely blank, Fuyuji delivered yet another devastating critical hit, his tone dripping with mockery.

"Do you believe me when I say—if you make me waste any more breath like this—in the end, he'll probably have to swallow his pride as Student Council President, go find Nagumo-senpai, and borrow points just to clear the debt of gratitude his little sister racked up!"

A fierce gale swept through. The surrounding leaves thrashed wildly. In the entire forest, only the violent, roaring rustle remained.

Watching Horikita, who had frozen entirely in place, her pupils dilated, utterly motionless, Fuyuji drew a deep breath and fought to calm himself. He grabbed Horikita by the wrist and pulled her toward the beach.

"Come on. Go back to the cruise ship. This time, I won't tell Horikita Manabu. That pocket change of his—I can't be bothered to go after him for it anymore. If you want his approval, you've still got two more semesters. Just keep at it slowly. I'll throw in one more piece of friendly advice: there's another special exam on the cruise ship. If you keep stubbornly holding on here, you might not even be able to participate in the second exam."

The moment he pulled, the girl's body suddenly sagged. It was as if every ounce of strength had been drained from her limbs. Her knees could no longer support her body's weight. They buckled softly forward. Her disheveled long hair flew in the wind as she pitched straight ahead.

Fuyuji instinctively opened his arms. The limp, burning-hot body, carrying a startling degree of heat, crashed solidly into his embrace.

Her scorching cheek pressed against the slightly cool crook of Fuyuji's neck. Her rapid, panting breaths were like those of a dying bird. Just the heat of her breath against his skin was enough to tell how fiercely this girl was burning with fever.

"..."

He shook Horikita's well-proportioned body. After confirming there was absolutely no response, an expression of extreme agony surfaced on Fuyuji's face.

He had spent all that breath, coaxing and arguing, before he'd finally managed to convince her. And then she couldn't withstand the shock and collapsed?

Horikita's little sister... you've got to be faking this.

Did I owe you in a past life or something?!

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