COTE: Horikita Is My Childhood Sweetheart

Chapter 180: What do you mean? Who harmed you?

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It was a perfect opportunity to deal a severe blow to Nagumo's reputation and fame—how could Tachibana let it slip away?

As a result, Tachibana immediately sought approval from the student council president, to broadcast the announcement to the entire school.

Because of what he had told the chairman earlier, Manabu felt indebted to Rin. So, when Tachibana asked for his permission, he simply agreed.

"Boss..." Dianhe and the others stared nervously at Nagumo, whose body was trembling as his face darkened with a mix of anger and humiliation.

Now, Nagumo was forced to seek out the boys he had previously expelled from the swimming club, asking them for letters of forgiveness.

However, Tachibana's broadcast had made this task far more difficult.

The boys in the swimming club now knew, thanks to the broadcast, that Nagumo was no longer the vice president of the student council and that the school had taken note of his abuse of power.

Without the authority of his title as vice president to intimidate them, the boys were unlikely to agree to write letters of forgiveness for him.

"Damn you, Tachibana," Nagumo muttered coldly, clenching his fists. "Just you wait! I'll kick you out of this school sooner or later!"

Because Tachibana had informed the entire school of the chairman's decision, Nagumo's hatred for her began to grow.

It had to be said—Nagumo truly was narrow-minded.

Just then, Nagumo's phone rang. Annoyed, he considered hanging up immediately, assuming the call was yet another person asking about the broadcast.

But when he checked the caller ID, he paused. Instead of ending the call, he answered it.

The caller was none other than his childhood Frieren, Asahina.

Suppressing his inner anger, Nagumo hoarsely said, "Hey, Nazuna. Are you calling about something?"

"Aya," Asahina began, her tone disapproving. "I told you before not to abuse your power in the swimming club. Now the whole school knows what you've done, and you're no longer the vice president of the student council."

Asahina's scolding made Nagumo's face twitch with frustration. He retorted unhappily, "Nazuna, who do you think is responsible for all of this?"

"Huh? What do you mean, 'who's responsible'? Didn't you kick the boys out of the swimming club and make up rules without permission?"

Nagumo's breath hitched. Yes… she was right.

But still!

"Even if I made those decisions on my own," Nagumo snapped, "I did it for you!"

Asahina frowned, her discomfort evident. "What do you mean, for me? Are you saying I asked you to kick those boys out of the swimming club?"

Realizing he had misspoken, Nagumo quickly backtracked. "No, no! That's not what I meant! Nazuna, please don't misunderstand me."

"Tsk," Nazuna clicked her tongue, clearly displeased. "That's exactly what it sounds like. You've been like this since we were kids—when something goes wrong, you blame everyone else and never consider that the problem might be with you."

Nagumo's face darkened further, his frustration mounting.

In his mind, however, he didn't blame himself. Instead, he decided that his removal from the position of vice president was entirely Nazuna's fault.

If Nazuna hadn't attracted the attention of that bastard, he wouldn't have gone after him in the first place.

If there had been no conflict between him and Rin, Rin wouldn't have targeted him, and the school wouldn't have stripped him of his title as vice president.

As expected, Nazuna, Nagumo's childhood friend, truly understood him well.

She knew he never admitted fault and always shifted blame onto others.

Taking a deep breath, Nan Yunya decided to change the subject, unwilling to continue arguing with Nazuna.

"Nazuna, you should quit the swimming club," he said abruptly.

"Why?"

"No reason. You just need to quit the swimming club," Nagumo said in a firm, commanding tone that left no room for discussion.

His authoritative tone made Nazuna even more upset. "I'm not your subordinate! Don't talk to me like that!"

With that angry retort, she hung up the phone. Furious, Nagumo immediately called her back, but Nazuna rejected the call.

When he tried again, she blocked his number entirely.

"Damn it!"

Fuming with anger and frustration, Nagumo punched the tree next to him. The force of the punch made his fist tremble with pain.

"Miyabi is unbelievable!" Nazuna muttered indignantly, putting her phone away. "He's so controlling, demanding that I quit the swimming club without even giving me a reason!"

In truth, the reason behind Nagumo's demand was simple.

He couldn't stop Rin from joining the swimming club, but he could make Nazuna leave.

After seeing the video recorded by Arata in the chairman's office, which included Rin, Nagumo couldn't help but feel threatened.

The thought of Rin, with his undeniably attractive presence, joining the swimming club made Nagumo uneasy.

He couldn't bear to imagine how Nazuna might react to Rin's presence.

The more Nagumo thought about it, the more he felt an irrational sense of jealousy, as though he were being cuckolded.

For that reason, Nagumo was determined not to let Nazuna, whom he viewed as a "forbidden delicacy," remain in the swimming club.

Unfortunately for him, Nazuna wasn't his subordinate, lackey, or handyman. She wasn't going to follow his orders.

Meanwhile, at the school library, Rin was enjoying the quiet and peaceful atmosphere. The library was large, but with only a few students present, it felt particularly calm. Rin appreciated this environment.

Following the signboards in the library, he discovered a small section labeled [Chess Training Materials] and headed toward it.

On the second floor of the library, Shiina Hiyori was deeply engrossed in a famous novel. After maintaining the same posture for over an hour, she raised her head and stretched her delicate body, which had grown stiff.

As she stretched, Shiina's beautiful purple eyes caught sight of Rin wandering around on the first floor.

Her eyes lit up instantly, and her crystal lips parted slightly as she instinctively wanted to call out to him.

However, realizing she was in a quiet library, Shiina quickly closed her mouth. Instead, she inserted a bookmark into her novel, closed it, and placed it neatly in her bag.

Carrying her classic novel and backpack, Shiina stepped forward, her slender legs wrapped in gray stockings, moving gracefully toward the stairs.

Finally spotting Rin in the library, Shiina decided it was the perfect opportunity to say hello to him.

Rin stopped at the [Chess Training Materials] section. Picking up a book titled Chess Tactics and Combination Skills, he began flipping through its pages.

About a minute or two later, Shiina found Rin, who had his back turned to her. A soft smile appeared on her lovely face, and she tiptoed toward him, eager to greet him.