While manning the front counter of their café, Mami is still thinking of what happened yesterday afternoon and whether Ryoma and Ryouko are in good terms or not. They had too little interaction that day because of Hotaru-kun's presence and Mami could not detect a single hint.
For starters, she felt quite relieved that neither Ryoma nor Ryouko questioned her about the warehouse incident nor did the two of them seem to be at total war with each other. She's betting a lot on Mr. and Ms. Seishun pageant. Mami wished that it would play a part for them to make up with each other.
Meanwhile, the members of Class 1-2 talked about the arrival of Fujioka Hotaru while he and Ryouko were gone for lunch. They exchanged occasional gossips in between serving customers and resting in the storage or changing areas. May it be him or Ryouko, how can the Fujiokas be so beautiful? Most of them have seen Ichidou once or twice, and some had gotten a glimpse of Natsu, Ren, Gaito and Setsuna when they visited the Seigaku tennis courts from a while back.
All of them had such great looks and fresh personalities, and for such rich kids, none of them are snobbish. They always thought that most rich kids would act high and mighty. But Hotaru-kun is so sweet and so shy. He's like a delicate prince, perhaps a male counterpart of Snow White herself. They liked his vibe a lot.
That is... up until Ryouko and Ryoma had left to prepare for the third round of the pageant.
Hotaru forced himself to behave an hour before they had gone but a few minutes later, he reached his limit. Acting like a good boy is such a pain in the butt. "Well... Ryouko's not here anyway... I guess I can drop my guard now..." he told himself.
"Atsui... (So hot...)" Fujioka Hotaru said with a different tone of voice from what they have heard earlier. Slowly, his proper and timid posture changed and his demeanor became a lot heavier and somewhat domineering. His shoulders slouched and his back relaxed as he placed his right leg over the other and cross his arms over his chest.
With a sharp gleam in his eyes, he turned to nearest person waiting tables. "Is there something wrong with your air-conditioning system? I understand that this isn't a posh school but can't the owner at least do something about the temperature of this place? I'm getting roasted here," he snapped, his tone full of complaints.
"Eh?" Jun said dumbly. He was the unfortunate person that Hotaru had randomly picked. Other members of the class turned to their direction as they overheard the change in Hotaru's voice.
"Umm, Hotaru-kun... Is the temperature too uncomfortable for you? We can't really turn the air-con on without permission. Shall we open the windows?" Kurumi said. After all, Ryouko had left him in her care.
With an annoyed glint surfacing on his gray eyes, Hotaru looked at Kurumi. "Ehhh? Maji de? (Seriously?)" he droned, his tone half-bored and half-annoyed.
He uncrossed his legs and arms and began to stand up. Putting his hands inside his pockets, he looked around the room skeptically. "The ventilation system sucks, the building itself is mediocre, the rooms are suffocatingly small and the facilities are nothing to look at... Yare, yare... (My, my...) Why is our Ryouko forcing herself to attend this second-rate school? She could've gone to a better one," he said.
The class members looked at each other in confusion. Are they hearing Hotaru's words right? Is this really the boy that Ryouko had brought with her that morning? All of a sudden, he felt like a totally different person.
"Hotaru-kun..." Miyako said, approaching him. She was about to ask him if there's something wrong when he suddenly cut her off before she could say anything.
"Would you stop calling me so casually? Mukatsuku... (Pissing me off...)" he snapped, giving her a particularly icy scowl. Miyako became tongue-tied at the shock and watched Hotaru walk towards the counter.
"Say..." he said as he approached Mami and Kurumi. "What's this so-called pageant about and why is Ryouko the one participating in it?" He traced his thin and pale forefinger on the counter glass display as he gave them a simper. The malicious glint in his eyes told the girls telepathically that they had no choice but to answer.
Kurumi automatically opened her mouth to provide a reply. There's something about Fujioka Hotaru's eyes that made her feel that something terrible is going to happen if he doesn't hear a proper answer. "The pageant is an event for the festival. It's kind of like a popularity contest. Well, Ryouko-chan is quite popular... And so is Echizen-kun. Having them participate in the pageant will make the contest more exciting. And they're also advertising for the class booth at the same time..." Kurumi looked up at Hotaru nervously.
"Hmm..." Hotaru said, looking thoughtful. "Naruhodo ne (I see)," he added and fixed the girls a piercing stare. "In simple terms, you're merely using her to your advantage. Even though she didn't want to participate in that, you forced her anyway. May it be here or there, there're so many people who loved using others to their advantage..."
"Excuse me," Mami said and stood up. She sounded offended. "Phrasing it that way isn't very nice. It's true that I didn't inform them prior to registering their names in the pageant, but Ryouko-chan and Echizen-kun are members of the class and they also wish for our class to do well in the festival." She returned his cold stare with an obstinate one.
Hotaru merely shrugged nonchalantly. "Nevertheless, it's true that they didn't want to participate. If given a choice in the matter, they'd refuse registering their names for the event," he countered. He looked at Mami from head to toe. "Ohh? Are you the 'Mami' girl that Ryouko was talking about earlier? Using Ryouko's kindness like that, quite a manipulative wench, aren't you?"
"Oi!" Shuu's voice echoed from the back of the room. By that time, the guests of the café have noticed the disorder that was happening. He marched towards the counter and faced Hotaru squarely. "Watch your words. You don't even know her, what right do you have to shoot your mouth off like that? I don't care if your Ryouko-san's precious cousin. If you say more insulting things to our class members and our school, I'm not gonna tolerate it," he said, his tone threatening.
Hotaru merely raised his eyebrow at Shuu. "Whatever..." he said and started towards the door.
"Hey you! Get back here!" Shuu yelled at him. "Ryouko-san told you not to go anywhere."
"Ryouko-chan entrusted you to us. Please just stay here," Miyako told him.
"No worries. I'll tell her that I got lonely and went looking for her," Hotaru said and lifted a hand in a carefree manner. They could only watch him leave.
Afterwards, Kurumi and the others apologized to the guests about the commotion and returned to servicing the customers.
"Was that frail boy earlier just an act?" Mami muttered under her breath.
"Who cares?" Shuu said. He looked quite irked. He casted Mami a glance. "Don't mind what that two-faced guy said. He's obviously just a spoilt brat," he told her and went back to waiter duty.
"How shocking... Such a delicate-looking boy can have such an unexpected side. I actually got a little scared," Kurumi whispered to Miyako.
"Maybe his mood just turned bad?" Miyako remarked.
"I hope so... It's disappointing if that's his real personality," Kurumi commented.
"Keep at it everyone. We'll be closing in thirty minutes and support Ryouko-chan and Echizen-kun in the pageant!" Mami announced. The class answered with cheer and focused on their jobs.
After that, Mami turned quiet and she spent the last half hour inside the girls' changing room. She began reflecting on the words that Hotaru told her.
'Manipulative', he said... Mami admitted that she can get real selfish at times and she doesn't bother asking other people for their opinion especially when she already decided on something specific. She already knows that some people get annoyed at her for that but she didn't really mind.
But being called 'manipulative' to her face like that is a first... People only tell her that she's annoying, irritating or crazy. Somehow, the word 'manipulative' hurts more, especially when coupled with Fujioka Hotaru's tone of voice. It makes her sound somewhat like a cunning fox or an evil person. Perhaps... is that what her classmates think of her? A manipulative wench?
~~~
"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the final round of Mr. and Ms. Seishun Pageant! It's a rough and fun day for the school as we finally got through the third day of our week-long festival. Did everyone's booths and stalls earn a lot today?" The emcee's voice amplified by the microphone sounded energetic and refreshing which quickly won over the attention of the crowd.
"YEAH!" the audience answered enthusiastically.
"Ooh... Looks like the fight for the best booth would be intense!" he raised his eyebrows and commented. "Well, let's see how the next three days would fare but for now, we have more pressing matters to deal with. Everyone, are you ready to crown this year's prince and princess?"
This question was greeted by loud cheers especially from members of the classes who still have representatives among the ten surviving pairs.
"Class 2-5! Fujikawa! Hirai! Fight-o!"
"Goda-senpai, suteki! (Goda-senpai, you're lovely!)"
"Shiraishi-san, our goddess!"
The cheers from the different classes began overlapping with each other.
"Come on!" Mami told her classmates over the noise. "We should also make our support be heard by Ryouko-chan and Echizen-kun!"
"Aye!" the class exclaimed enthusiastically and began joining in the cheers, screaming and squealing Ryouko and Ryoma's names.
The emcee waited patiently for a few seconds and let the audience have their moment. Afterwards, he raised a hand for them to minimize their noise. He started on the mechanics and the crowd listened closely to his words.
"For the third stage of the pageant, we'll go back to the basics of a real pageant. The ten pairs of contestants will be showing their beauty and charms by appealing to the audience. Each pair would be presenting to you a performance that they have prepared two hours prior to this event. The contestants are given a maximum of three minutes for their performance. We have provided them with the Drama Club's costumes and assisted with the music, props and other things needed for their act. Afterwards, the audience would be given the right to choose Seishun's prince and princess according to whose performance impressed them the most. We would use a noise dosimeter to measure the decibel of the cheers from the audience after each performance ends. The pair with the highest point in the dosimeter would be the winner!" The emcee took off a white cloth covering the table beside him and revealed the noise-measuring device.
The crowd went wild with the prospect that they get to choose their winner. Many are also intrigued at the quality of the acts to be presented. Only two hours to prepare! Such time pressure!
"Impromptu performance? Oh no. Hayashida's so weak-hearted, can she be able to take that?" a junior in front of Mami and the others said.
"Baka. An impromptu performance is done on the spot without preparation. They were given two hours to put up a performance so it'll be alright," her classmate told her.
"So that's why they were called out early then..." Miyako told Mami, tugging on her friend's sleeve in exhilaration.
Class 1-2 became riled up with excitement. A performance! Fujioka Ryouko and Echizen Ryoma are actually performing onstage!
"What do you think Echizen-kun and Ryouko-san will do for the performance?" they asked each other.
"Dancing? Singing? A duet?" the girls told each other before squealing.
"Magic tricks? Playing instruments?" the boys mused, looking thoughtful.
"They're not gonna play tennis onstage, are they?" Shuu suddenly said and threw cold water on their excitement. The class became quiet and they looked at each other with blank eyes.
Thinking about it, they don't have any idea what those two's interests and other talents are but their famous talents that everyone knows about are: one, tennis and two, being naturally aloof. None of those is really useful for a stage performance.
They could totally see Ryoma and Ryouko showcasing different kinds of tennis shots onstage.
A mini Ryoma danced in their mind, saying 'Twist Serve'; a mini Ryouko returned the shot, saying 'Acrobatic volley' whilst demonstrating the move.
If such a thing happens, the members of Class 1-2 might dig a hole and bury themselves under the ground in embarrassment.
"They're not gonna do that, are they?" the girls began whispering nervously.
Mami elbowed Shuu on the ribs and threw him a dirty look. "Great going, Sherlock. Why'd you have to say that? Now everyone's worried."
"There's still the option that they'll act onstage but is it alright to spoil some scenes from the play?" Kurumi said, placing a hand under her chin thoughtfully.
"That might actually be a good idea. They'll be able to advertise further for the play then," Mami said and caught herself. 'Manipulative wench', Hotaru's words came back to haunt her. She shook her head and banished the thought.
"Now, now... I'm sure that no matter what Ryouko-chan and Echizen-kun prepared, they'll be wonderful onstage. We should do our best to cheer for them," Miyako told them, smiling in a reassuring manner.
"Yeah. Kurihara's right. Let's support them as they're carrying the dignity of Class 1-2," one of the boys said.
However, as the performances end one by one and their representatives' turn came nearer, they began gulping down excess saliva from nervousness. Ryoma and Ryouko are the last to perform. Deep inside, they were still worried about what kind of performance the two of them had prepared.
"Now folks! We have the last remaining pair of contestants left! Our candidate number ten are perhaps the most famous freshies in the whole school due to their popularity in the field of sports, specifically as part of the pride of Seishun Academy, our tennis club Seigaku who won in this year's national championship! Well, ain't that an honor! I give you, Seigaku's youngest regular, Echizen Ryoma-kun and Seigaku's female manager and assistant coach, Fujioka Ryouko-chan! Let's give them a big hand!"
There was a thundering applause as the curtain moved up. Everyone gasped audibly when the curtain was lifted completely.
~~~
Two hours prior
"A performance huh?" Ryouko said and placed a finger to her lips thoughtfully.
Ryoma sighed. "Just how much do they want to torment us? I personally would like to strangle an Executive Committee member right now for thinking up these stupid ideas," he said and became reminded of a fact. "Oh, that's right. Ayase's a member of the Executive Committee. I'm gonna strangle her later and vent my anger," he added, flexing his fingers.
Meanwhile, Mami who was at that moment manning the counter of their café felt a cold shiver down her spine.
"Hai, hai... Strangle her later. I'll even hold her down for you," Ryouko said and gave him a slap on the shoulder. "For now, why don't we focus on the matter at hand? I'm actually relieved after hearing that they're only making us perform onstage. Since it's the third round, I thought they'd think up something more complicated."
"So what should we do for the dang performance?" Ryoma said and settled down.
Ryouko sat down on a chair opposite him. "Well, thankfully, it's only for three minutes," she told him.
"Can a demonstration of tennis moves count as a performance? That's the thing I'm most confident about," Ryoma piped up, placing an elbow on the desk and resting his chin on his open palm.
"Are you planning to bore the audience to death? Unfortunately, not everyone is nuts with tennis like the two of us. That won't fire up the crowd," Ryouko replied.
Ryoma looked at her with narrowed eyes. "You're more serious about this than I thought... You're not planning on trying to win this thing, are you?"
Ryouko intertwined her hands on her nape. "I'm different from you. When I decide to do something, I don't make a half-assed job at it just to get it done. We're representing the whole class so we might as well exert some effort for the sake of our classmates."
"Ahh, so responsible... You're so lovely, Ryouko-chama," Ryoma droned in a fake impressed tone.
"Shut up," Ryouko snapped.
Ryoma stopped playing around and decided to just play along. "Well, what is it that you plan on doing then?" he asked her.
"How experienced are you with the waltz?" Ryouko suddenly asked back.
"Just so-so... The last time I danced the waltz was perhaps on Nanako-san's eighteenth birthday... All the males in the family were required to dance with her. Mom made us practice so we won't make a mistake," Ryoma answered.
"Nanako-san? Your cousin from Rinko-chan's side of the family?" Ryouko asked casually.
Ryoma nodded in response.
"Ohh?" Ryouko mused aloud. "Poor Nanako-san... Must've been a struggle dancing with a midget like you..." she said with a sigh.
A vein throbbed on the side of Ryoma's temple. "Clam it," he told her threateningly.
"Well, since we both know the basic waltz, why don't we just dance onstage? We can wear an eye-catching costume to make up for the simplicity of the performance. After all, we have access to the entire wardrobe of the drama club. There ought to be a suitable outfit there somewhere..." Ryouko said, immediately changing the subject.
"In that case, wouldn't our current costume make the cut? These are medieval outfits and all," Ryoma said and motioned to his Robin Hood costume.
"We ought to change. Everyone saw these outfits today. We'll lose our element of surprise," Ryouko replied.
Ryoma made a face. "So troublesome..." he complained in monotone.
"Wah, you sound just like that basketball senpai back in the camp," Ryouko commented with a simper.
"Which one?" Ryoma said.
"The tall purplehead who likes snacks," Ryouko replied. "I'm suddenly reminded of the basketball senpais because of the waltz. It was Sei-sama who taught me the whole dance routine on the last summer he spent with me in London." The reminiscence brought a gentle smile on her face and her eyes softened.
"What a wonderful memory," Ryoma said grimly, rolling his eyes. To change the topic, he stood up and said, "Let's go pick out our outfits first before practicing the dance. We also still have to notify the Executive Committee members to download the music we need."
Ryoma and Ryouko went to work quickly to prepare for their performance. In ten minutes time, they had told the people in charge of the event about what they planned for their act. The music was downloaded and they were provided with a Bluetooth speaker in their designated practice room. A senior led them to the drama club's wardrobe area to pick out their outfits.
"You can pick anything you like then go back to your practice room right after. I'll check on you guys after an hour," he told them before leaving the two amongst the wide selection of clothes hanged before them.
"There's much more choices than I originally thought," Ryouko said as she walked over the closets and touched the fabric of one dress.
"But these are mostly ridiculous-looking..." Ryoma commented as he spread out a bizarre green outfit.
"Maybe that's because the one you're holding is for the Princess and the Frog. That's the frog's costume," Ryouko told him.
"How'd you know?" Ryoma asked.
"There's a label attached," she replied and pointed at a tag at the back of the costume.
"Genius," Ryoma commented sarcastically.
"At least I'm not blind," Ryouko retorted, hinting the fact that Ryoma did not notice the tag labels.
They inspected a few more costumes but both of them were not really impressed. Ryouko suggested that they make their own outfits by fusing parts of different costumes together. Ryoma seconded the suggestion and they spent some quiet time as they concentrated on coordinating their own outfits.
After they selected a set of clothes that fit their taste, they went right into dressing up. Ryouko entered one of the changing areas and Ryoma went to one next to it.
"I feel like a kid playing dress-up," Ryouko commented as she donned on a baby blue silk dress. "I've never been a fan of dress-up. Mom was disappointed about that..."
"Well, we're not exactly adults so I'll say we're finally doing something that normal twelve-year-olds does," Ryoma remarked, putting on the pants and shirt before pulling out a blue and white doublet from the bundle of clothes near his feet.
"Stupid. Twelve-year-olds do not play dress-up. This is for children under seven years," Ryouko said, smoothing out the sleeves of the dress.
"Shit," Ryoma cursed in English. Ryouko slitted her eyes and scowled, thinking that it was his response to her latest remark.
"Don't cuss at me," she snapped.
"I'm not cussing at you. I'm cussing at these damn buttons. I missed a button on the shirt and it's not aligned properly and now one of the buttons is stuck at some loose threads," he said.
Ryouko rolled her eyes and went out of her changing space. "Sheesh, you are so hopeless..." she commented as she approached his changing area. "Come out of there and I'll help you out."
Ryoma came out, fumbling with the buttons, but as Ryouko went closer to him with the prospect of helping out, he turned away from her. "On the contrary, I'll settle this myself..." he said with her back onto her.
"What's your deal?" Ryouko said and raised an eyebrow. "Just let me help out. It's faster that way..."
"I don't have an undershirt. I don't want to bare my chest in front of you, thank you very much," Ryoma snapped at her.
Ryouko smirked. "As if there's anything worth seeing in there... Stop it with the fake timidity. It's not as if you don't take off your shirt in the beach and the pool."
"For your information, I rarely take my shirt off in the pool and the beach since I turned ten," he told her.
Ryouko rolled her eyes. "Puberty..." she murmured under her breath.
"Just shut up. Your yapping is making me struggle with this even more," Ryoma snarled at her.
Ryouko raised her shoulders helplessly. "That's why I'm telling you to just let me help," she said simply and went to the direction where Ryoma faced. He took a step back when she went face to face with him.
"Come on. Let me at it," Ryouko said and pulled him close by the collar of the shirt. Ryoma was propelled towards her with that strong and sharp tug.
"Seriously, will you stop that?" he said uncomfortably.
"If I don't pull on you, you won't move closer. Now hands off on those buttons. I'll deal with them for you," she remarked.
Unwillingly, Ryoma relinquished the shirt buttons to Ryouko. He sighed, his shoulders drooping. His face slowly became a total mask of discomfort as her pale and slender fingers worked their way to untangle the thread that made the button stuck.
"Say... I've been curious about your behavior today... Why is it that you seem to act really uneasy around Hotaru? I remembered that you also acted that way on that last semester before Hotaru got too sick to go to school," Ryouko suddenly said, keeping her eyes on the buttons.
"I'm not really uneasy," Ryoma replied, lying blatantly.
"Usotsuki (Liar)," Ryouko remarked, shifting an accusing gaze at his face. "Well, it's fine if you don't wanna tell me. I won't really force you..." she added as she finally untangled the button.
"I'll do the rest," Ryoma said as he noticed that she got the button unstuck. Ryouko was not listening and undid the next button above it. She could see Ryoma's bare stomach properly and raised an eyebrow. The kid's actually got a six pack. A smirk suddenly worked its way to her mouth.
"Ohh, impressive..." she said teasingly and poked his abdominal muscles. "Chanto haitteru janaika... Igai da ne... (So it's actually there... How unexpected...)"
Ryoma flinched at the light poke and immediately covered his stomach with both hands while stepping back. "Sagare, sukebe! (Back off, lecher!)" he exclaimed, his cheeks pink. "This is why I don't want to ask for your help," he added in a complaining tone.
Ryouko merely gave an amused simper. "Ain't it okay, just taking a small peek... It's not like we're strangers. Misete, misete (Show me, show me)," she teased with a saucy tone.
"Sore yamero (Stop that)," Ryoma said with a blank tone and fastened the buttons of the shirt from the bottom up.
"First three buttons still not aligned properly," Ryouko told him matter-of-factly, pointing near his collar. "Unbutton them first. Should I unbutton them for you?"
"Stop saying 'unbutton'," Ryoma snapped, quite annoyed.
Suddenly, they became aware of the light knocking on the door. They swerved their necks to the direction of the doorway and saw a couple of juniors from the window. Ryoma and Ryouko recognized them as one of the pairs participating in the pageant with them.
Seeing that the people inside have noticed them, the girl opened the door a gap and peeked inside, saying, "Umm... If you guys are done, can we go pick our outfits next?"
"Oh, sorry, senpaitachi..." Ryouko immediately said. "We'll finish up in three minutes and vacate the room," she told them.
"Ie, ie (No, no). There's no need to rush..." the junior girl replied, waving a hand in a carefree manner. "We'll go back later. Our practice room is near anyways..." With that, she and her partner closed the door and left.
"Hey, since when were they there?" Ryoma asked, giving Ryouko's foot a little kick. Ryouko shrugged, indicating that she doesn't know.
"Yana yokan ga suru... (I have an unpleasant inkling...)" Ryoma mumbled.
While the juniors were leaving, Ryouko and Ryoma followed them with their eyes. They were able to hear a portion of their conversation, a bit muffled by the door.
"Zettai tsukiatteiru, ano futari! Kawaii sugi! (They're so totally dating, those two! Cuteness overboard!) the girl piped up to the junior boy.
"Saikin no ko da ne... (Children these days...)" the guy commented.
The juniors had disappeared a second later and Ryoma heaved a sigh. "And there goes the making of another ridiculous rumor... Tainting my respectable image..." he mumbled.
"Respectable image?" Ryouko echoed, raising an eyebrow skeptically. "Since when did you and the word 'respectable' ever belong in the same sentence? Respectable image, my butt," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Ryoma threw a dirty look at her. "Just finish up stupid! There are people waiting to use this place next!" he yelled at her.
After completing their look, they gathered the clothes they took off and the other articles of clothing that they took from the closet, setting them aside so the room wouldn't look too messy.
"Shall we go now? We still have to practice," Ryouko said, clapping her hands to rid her palms from dust.
The two of them spent the next half hour deciding on a simple choreography and practicing the dance diligently. With the music flowing smoothly from the small speakers and filling the room, Ryoma suddenly became overly conscious of Ryouko's hand in his. He had been itching to bring something up for the whole day but the timing and the situation were not very cooperative. Since Ryouko seemed to be in a better mood than yesterday, he decided to try his luck.
"Say..." he said as he lifted his arm and assisted Ryouko in a spin. "Kinou no koto... (About yesterday...)," he started.
"Jiko deshou? (An accident, right?)" Ryouko suddenly said. "Iwanakutte mo, shiteiru (Even if you don't tell me, I know)," she added as she swayed to the beat of the music and twirled.
Ryoma's eyes widened a little. From the tone of her voice, he knew that they are talking about the same thing. He heaved an internal sigh of relief at the nonchalance in her tone. Finally he can have peace of mind about what happened yesterday afternoon.
In his relief, Ryoma missed a beat while dancing. "Oi, wrong foot!" Ryouko exclaimed, a little too late. Ryoma became unbalanced and he tripped on her left foot.
Ryouko fell on her back and Ryoma was barely able to support himself with one hand to avoid falling on her. His right hand landed on the side of her head and the other fell on her shoulder.
"Ah, seriously..." Ryouko groaned. She fell quite hard on her behind.
"Warui (My bad)," Ryoma said immediately.
Ryouko looked up and her eyes locked with Ryoma's. They blinked in confusion for a second before realizing the situation they are in.
Despite thinking that the incident is incredibly similar to what she had witnessed yesterday afternoon, Ryouko felt her cheeks go warm. "Sheesh, clumsy idiot," she hissed to hide her embarrassment and placed a hand on his chest, trying to push him off.
At that instant, the door opened and the junior girl from before stood in the doorway. She's sporting the outfit for her own performance and looked quite surprised while staring down at Ryoma and Ryouko, Ryoma's hand still on Ryouko's shoulder and Ryouko's right hand still resting on Ryoma's chest. The waltz music floated in the background.
"They told me to tell you that we're starting in ten minutes..." she said, sounding a bit abashed and uncertain.
Ryoma and Ryouko looked sideways at her; Ryouko still on the floor and Ryoma still on top of her. "Hai. Gokurosamadeshita (Thank you for your hard work)," they chorused, their tones flat.
The junior girl gave a smile of exasperation and slowly closed the door. "T-then... I'll go ahead..." she stammered, her voice a pitch higher. The door closed quietly and she was gone as quickly as she appeared.
"She misunderstood, didn't she?" Ryouko said.
"I'm afraid so," Ryoma replied.
They looked at each other for a second before bursting in laughter. Ryoma sat down on the floor and Ryouko lifted herself up, the both of them still submerged in giggles.
"Ahh, I wonder what kind of interesting stories would float around campus this time..." Ryouko commented in a carefree tone as she stood up. She wiped the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes.
"Geez... Why are you not even worried about those rumors? I'm not very pleased when people make gossips about me..." Ryoma remarked, leaning relaxedly on the floor with both arms for support, his legs spread before him.
"Unfortunately, being a Fujioka guarantees a lifetime of gossips so I'm used to it. Besides, if it's you whom I'm being paired up with dating rumors, I don't really mind," Ryouko said, tidying up her crumpled skirt.
Despite of himself, Ryoma felt his heartbeat skip. "Why wouldn't you mind?" he asked simply.
"Well..." Ryouko said, looking up thoughtfully. "You're my best friend and in movies, best friends of a different gender offer the best type of camouflage. For instance, we can avoid unnecessary attention from the opposite sex," she explained. An idea suddenly hit her. "Say, ifever my family forces me to get engaged with someone, maybe we can use these rumors as a base and I can have an excuse to refuse the engagement?" she said, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
Ryoma responded with a blank look. Her answer somewhat made him a bit mad. "Oh please... Spare me the honor..." he told her, sounding bitter. He was about to pick himself up from the floor when Ryouko suddenly offered her hand to him.
"Here... I'll pull you up, spineless prince. Let's practice once more before the event starts. I have to make sure that you won't step on my foot or fall down again in the middle of the performance," she told him with a smirk.
"Who knows? Maybe falling on top of you onstage might actually please the audience... The people here like that kind of drama," Ryoma joked.
"Oh please... Spare me the honor..." Ryouko said, quoting Ryoma's earlier remark with the same tone of voice.
Ryoma gave an exasperated smile. "Oh well... At least there are no longer any misunderstandings between us..." he thought and reached out to take her hand. "One more time then..." he said aloud.
~~~
The sound of soft piano music wafted from the speakers and filled the air. On the stage, a prince and princess stood, standing opposite each other. They gracefully bowed before stepping forward. The prince offered his hand and the princess delicately lifted her pale and slender arm, placing her hand on the boy's open palm. Swaying to the music, they began to dance.
Ryoma and Ryouko's eye for fashion struck gold for both of their outfits stood out better than the costumes of the previous nine pairs of contestants. Ryoma combined a pair of dark brown breeches with a white shirt and a posh-looking doublet on top of it. He also wore a red cloak with white fur lining the collar. His appearance is prince-like indeed and he even accentuated the look with a thin, round gold-plated crown on his head.
On the other hand, Ryouko's outfit is a simple blue flowing silk gown which she made more fashionable with a white tunic with baby blue ribbons. Her hair flowed behind her, making her seem more feminine and on her head also sat her own crown which is a silver tiara adorned with flower designs. It twinkled under the lights of the stage.
The overflowing piano music and the majestic and graceful dancing onstage made the audience speechless and almost hypnotized. The routine looked simple enough, a turn here and there, a few twists and spins, but the execution of the moves are so elegant that it really felt like they are witnessing the exhibition of true royalty.
There were a couple of instances when the two dancers stood a little too close to each other, making the girls squeal in excitement. When Ryoma pulled Ryouko close to support her waist while she bended backwards, elegantly lifting one hand while the other held onto the back of Ryoma's neck, the cheers could've broken someone's eardrums.
"Suteki! (Lovely!)"
"Chou kawaii! (Super adorable!)"
"Subarashii! (Wonderful!)"
"Echizen, zurui! Ryouko-chama o hanase! (Echizen, you're sly! Let go of Ryouko-chama!)"
"It's your Ryouko-chama who has to unhand our Ryoma-sama!"
"Oi, oi... Why is this suddenly turning into a fanwar?"
"Shhh! Shut up and appreciate the grand performance in front of you, freaking blockheads!"
The song reached the climax and Ryoma gently lifted Ryouko by the waist as she made a graceful side jump, her arms in the air. It made the illusion like she was floating down like a fairy. After that, they resumed the common dance position, Ryouko's left hand clasped onto Ryoma's right one and his left hand on the right side of her waist. They swayed to the rhythm of the music and finally delivered the final dance moves wherein Ryoma gently threw Ryouko to the side, holding her left hand. They spread their arms sidewards with a wide, sweeping gesture then Ryouko started twirling back to Ryoma and folding her torso around his right arm. Ryoma caught her finally and they tilted their faces towards each other in a suitable ending pose.
The crowd erupted in cheers and applause. Some even whistled. The members of Class 1-2 were especially eccentric. Alas! No tennis shot demonstrations! They needn't dig a hole and bury themselves alive!
"They did so well! They did so well!" Miyako and Kurumi chorused as they jumped up and down, their hands clasped together.
"Victory!" Mami shouted in English and laughed maniacally with one hand on her waist, the other up in the air with her fingers in a V sign, and standing in a very unladylike manner with her feet apart. Who cares about being called a 'manipulative wench'? She doesn't care if she's truly a manipulative wench if she can savor this taste of triumph sprouting from her harmless, or maybe-harmful, schemes.
Ryoma and Ryouko bowed towards the audience and as they did so, Ryoma's crown slipped out of place. He held onto it as they stood upright again and tried to pin it back in position. Ryouko saw his struggle and lent him a helping hand. Ryoma stood still and bowed his head a bit whilst Ryouko worked on his hair. This made the audience even more fired up.
"Wow! What a night! What a night!" the emcee said as he returned onstage. "As expected of students attending Seishun Academy! So creative and so skillful! To think that they managed to pull off such amazing performances with only two hours of preparation! They are truly talented! Give them a big round of applause everyone!" he announced as the ten pairs of contestants made their way on the stage.
"And now, to compare the points on the noise dosimeter! Everyone saw the scores of the previous nine pairs and we've not yet revealed the score of our last freshman pair. Standing as victors from the current highest decibel measurement are Ms. Shiraishi Nako and Mr. Yamato Haruto of Class 3-5 with 105 dB. Can the score of the last pair possibly go over their record?"
There was a drumroll as the emcee picked up the edge of the white cloth covering the noise dosimeter that contained Ryoma and Ryouko's scores. With a gallant and flashy tug, he revealed the numbers.
"113 dB! Seishun Academy's Prince and Princess of the 75th Cultural Festival are Ms. Fujioka Ryouko and Mr. Echizen Ryoma!" the emcee declared. The announcement was once again met by thunderous applause and cheers. Two bouquets of flowers were carried onstage and handed to the winners. They also received a trophy and a prize-money of 2,500 yen each. The nine remaining contestants were also handed a single white rose for each of them while the runner-ups received sashes and a smaller trophy.
"As a custom, the currently crowned Prince and Princess from Mr. and Ms. Seishun Pageant are given the honor to host the rewarding ceremony on Saturday evening. Congratulations to the winners! It's been a while since a pair of freshmen won this pageant. How amazing!" the emcee said and gave them an appreciative set of applause. As the event neared closure, the emcee announced an ending remark and a few reminders about the festival.
"Everyone, let us all give our best for a shot to win a slot for the eight categories! I'm sure everyone already knew this information via the festival pamphlets but I'll announce them anyway. Categories for the Class Booth are Best in Sales, Most Creative, Best in Themes, Most Popular and Best in Management. Details about each category can be found in the pamphlet. Categories for the Class Presentations are Best Screenplay, Best in Storyline and the Popularity Award that everyone is anticipating!"
The crowd cheered enthusiastically and displayed their competitiveness. Everyone seemed to be aiming at a specific prize among the eight categories. Class 1-2 aimed for all of them. After all, it won't hurt to be ambitious.
"And now, to close off the pageant, may we request another dance performance from our Mr. and Ms. Seishun winners?" the emcee said, making Ryouko and Ryoma look at each other in exasperation. They do not wish to perform again.
But the response from the audience was so full of enthusiasm that it would be hard to refuse. Ryoma and Ryouko handed their prizes back to the members of the Executive Committee and prepared for another dance.
While this is happening, Masamune Jun had made his way to where his fellow classmates gathered, looking quite disheveled and teary-eyed. "Jun-kun!" Miyako said as she noticed him.
Mami approached him with her hands on her hips in a reprimanding manner. "Where have you gone? You said you're just going to the toilet but you actually missed Ryouko-chan and Echizen-kun's performance. As a fellow member of Class 1-2, what do you have to say for yourself?" she demanded.
"It wasn't my fault!" Jun cried. "I was assaulted!" he told them.
"Assaulted?" Mami replied, blinking.
"Hmm?" Shuu said as he noticed something different about Jun. "Hey bro. Where'd your costume go? What are those clothes?"
At Shuu's remark, the others have also noticed his sudden change of wardrobe. They looked at him from head to toe and found the beige print-patterned sweater and gray pants a bit familiar. Now where have they seen that outfit today, they wondered in unison.
"H-Ho-Hotaru-kun... I r-ran into him in the toilet..." he stammered, hiccupping a bit. "He said he has to borrow my costume... When I refused, he took it all off himself."
"Ehhhhhh?" his classmates chorused, their eyes bulging.
Some of the girls have a different reaction, including Miyako, Mami and Kurumi. "The two-faced bishounen Hotaru-kun undressing the soft and timid Jun-kun with his own hands in a forceful manner... I actually wanna see that!" they quietly said with silly grins on their faces, their imagination going wild.
"As expected, Hotaru-kun is a top," Mami said mischievously.
"And Jun-kun is forever a bottom," Kurumi added.
"But it'll also work for me if you reverse that..." Miyako followed.
The three of them giggled with deep voices, emanating a dark aura.
Shuu looked at them like he's looking at a pile of trash that the crows rummaged over. "Somebody call the cleaning crew. The minds of these girls are totally in the gutter."
"Take this seriously you guys!" Jun exclaimed in a complaining tone, tears forming on the corners of his eyes.
Meanwhile, something very unexpected happened as Ryoma and Ryouko were delivering their encore dance performance. While everyone was busy, someone had sneaked his way to the side of the stage.
"Oi, kimi (Hey, you)," one of the Executive members said in a reprimanding tone when he noticed an unknown boy climbing onto the steps leading onstage. The boy merely looked over his shoulder and smirked. The charming face of the intruder made him distracted and thus, Hotaru's invasion became successful.
He waited by the side for the most appropriate moment during the dance routine to make his entrance. When Ryoma twirled Ryouko, his hand only touching her fingertips, Hotaru entered onstage wearing the breeches and tailcoat that Masamune Jun originally wore. It was a piece of cake for him to simply grab Ryouko's hand from Ryoma's while she was turning.
Although he was too sick to attend many balls and formal gatherings that their family usually holds, Hotaru was still adept at the waltz. He didn't like the idea of being unable to dance with Ryouko during her birthday parties whilst his brothers and cousins can, thus he learned little by little.
Smirking at the wide-eyed Ryoma, Hotaru waltzed away to the center of the stage with a surprised Ryouko in tow. "Hotaru, what are you doing?" she hissed at him in alarm.
The audience saw the drama unfolding onstage and created a buzz.
"Who's that? A freshman?"
"What a charming boy! How come I've never seen him before?"
Hotaru danced the next four measures with Ryouko before Ryoma snapped to his senses. With an annoyed glint in his bronze-gold pupils, he stole his partner back from the thieving magpie. He threw a sneer at Hotaru as he spun a confused Ryouko to the other side of the stage.
A vein throbbed at Hotaru's temple and he got back his cousin in the next four measures.
The buzzing of the audience slowly got louder as they witnessed the bizarre dance routine onstage. Two princes and only one princess? What a disaster!
"What's this, what's this? An extra event?"
"The Executive Committee sure prepared a lot for us... But who's that white-haired boy? Does he really go to Seishun?"
With absolutely no regards to the people watching them, Hotaru and Ryoma continued on their little tug-of-war, stealing Ryouko back and forth from each other every four measures.
The members of the Executive Committee desperately signaled from the side for them to stop but the two boys closed their ears off from everything else except their fight and Ryouko was too dizzy from spinning too much to pay them any attention.
With an exasperated sigh, the main organizer of the pageant motioned for his fellow committee members acting as stage directors to lower the curtains. The music slowly came to a close and the heavy, maroon drapes fell down and hid the stage from view.
"Ohh? It's ending?"
"Did the pageant end?"
With that extremely ambiguous closure, the audience scattered away from the venue quite confused. Meanwhile, the organizers of the event were full to the brim with exasperation as they watched the tug-of-war still ongoing behind the curtains.
"Hanase! (Let go!)" Hotaru hissed.
"Omae koso hanase! (You let go!)" Ryoma hissed back.
Ryouko had finally recovered from the shock and jerked their hands from her arms. With their support suddenly gone, she felt woozy and almost lost her balance. The two boys fumbled to steady her but she gestured for them to stay away. "Not one step..." she told them in a threatening tone, her eyes glinting with malice.
This made the boys behave for a bit but it didn't stop them from staring daggers at each other.
Ryouko stood with one hand on her hips and another on her forehead. She waited a few seconds for the world to stop spinning. When she finally reclaimed her senses, she turned to the two boys.
"Let me have a word with you guys..." she said.
"Me as well? I don't have anything to do with this and you know that, Fujioka Ryouko," Ryoma said in his defense, sounding defiant.
Ryouko acknowledged the truth in his words and turned to her cousin. "Fujioka Hotaru, you better come up with a good explanation for this tomfoolery," she told him, her voice firm.
Hearing her serious tone, Hotaru reverted back to his cute boy façade. "Datte~ (But~)" he said poutily but Ryouko cut him off.
"No buts. Let's go to the back of the school building where we can attract no attention. Let's have a serious talk, the three of us..." Ryouko said, grabbed the naughty Hotaru by the wrist and walked off the stage.
"Dakara, doshite ore mo? (Like I said, why me too?)" Ryoma mumbled in complaint under his breath but he followed behind her anyways.
Thank you for waiting guys! I added a lot of fluff in this chapter to feed RyoRyo shippers! I've been neglecting that lately. Teehee.
I'll be updating again in a week or so! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and anticipate the next! Love ya! Muah!