245 – Winning is anyway
‘Please! Just keep it a secret this time!’
Something happened in the bathroom, but it wasn’t long before the results were announced, so Ryuji went back to the auditorium one step ahead.
Thanks to that, I was left alone in the bathroom and thought while washing my hands.
‘I never thought Chiaki would have such an ability.’
I thought that her appearance was unusual from the time she dressed up as a woman in a maid outfit, but Ryuji, who was half-female with Chiaki’s music, was a tremendous beauty.
‘Well, the younger sister is that kind of pretty girl.’
My parents, whom I saw in family photos when I went out to play before, were also good men and women, so in a way, it may be genetic.
When I went back to the auditorium after doing my errands, the atmosphere in the audience was quite chaotic.
Anyway, ahead of the announcement of the results, I don’t know who will win first place, so should I say it’s a strange feeling of tension?
“It’s been a while. Yuseong-kun.”
“Uh! Hello, Mr. Musashi.”
It was Rika’s father, Musashi-sensei, who calmly stopped me from returning to the judges’ seat.
“What are you doing here?”
“My daughter gave me an invitation to the cultural festival. She was free at the end of the day, so I came with her wife.”
Next to Musashi-sensei, who said that, stood Maria-san, whom she hadn’t seen since Comiket, with her arms crossed.
“Hello~”
Instead of bowing my head slightly, I looked around.
“Have you already met Rika?”
“I met her briefly after the preliminaries were over. To be honest, I never imagined that she would compete in a beauty pageant or something, but she was surprised to see a new side of her today.”
Musashi-sensei scratched his cheek shyly while saying that, and was startled when he saw the red-haired yakuza approaching him before he knew it.
“It’s been a while. Yuseong-kun.”
“Oh, yes. Hello.”
I reflexively greeted Karen’s father, Mr. Naoto, and introduced him to Mr. Musashi, who did not understand the English language.
“This is Karen’s father, Naoto Tojo.”
“Ah! Miss Karen’s!”
Musashi-sensei was surprised to hear that he was the father of Karen, who is now almost like Rika’s best friend, and bowed to Naoto-san.
“I’m Sojiro Kishimoto, Rika’s father. My daughter is always taken care of.”
Mr. Naoto, who finally realized the true identity of Mr. Musashi, hurriedly waved his hand and said,
“No, no, in the circumstances, we’re losing. I’m Karen’s father, Naoto Tojo.”
The two greeted each other with bows and exchanged business cards like members of society.
Then, Mr. Naoto opened his eyes wide as he checked Mr. Musashi’s business card.
“Is Musashi Kishimoto famous?”
“Ah, yes. It’s embarrassing, but I’m active as a cartoonist.”
“It’s embarrassing! I’m a longtime fan of your work!”
Mr. Naoto’s eyes twinkle so much that it’s burdensome for the viewer.
When the scary-looking old man, who looked like a yakuza to anyone, raised his face with his eyes shining, Musashi-sensei smiled with a troubled expression, hahahaha.
Well, since you have been working as a cartoonist for nearly 20 years, it must be strange that there are no fans of a man in the same age range.
When the two of them were in harmony with each other in that they were writers, readers, and fathers with daughters, Ivan, who was sitting quietly in the corner of the auditorium and watching, suddenly moved.
“This sounds like a story you can’t ignore.”
“What?!”
Musashi-sensei looked up with a bewildered expression when a huge Russian man who looked like he had jumped out of a comic book suddenly appeared.
Okay or not, Ivan took off his stylish white fedora and said, slightly bowing his head to Mr. Musashi.
“A friend of your daughter, Miss Rika, and the father of Alexandra Ivanovna Romanova.”
Extremely normal behavior like a member of society.
I felt a great sense of distance from Ivan, who wields unbridled power in the underworld, being polite, but since I thought he was acting for his daughter, it didn’t feel as strange as I thought.
“I didn’t know Sasha’s father could be such a wonderful person.”
“hahahaha! That’s why Sojiro-san looks like SAMURAI!”
While the fathers of their daughters strengthened their friendship by painting each other’s faces with gilt, Satoru, who was standing on the stage, hurriedly waved his hand to come up, as if the voting result had finally come out.
“Well then, I still have work to do, so I’ll go first.”
After saying hello to the three of them, I went up to the judges’ table and sat down in a hurry.
“Hey! You’ve waited a long time! As a result of the tally, a total of 528 people voted for this contest! The glorious winner has finally been decided!”
The atmosphere in the cluttered auditorium was silenced by Satoru’s words.
While everyone was quiet like that, Satoru proudly waved the paper bag the tournament coordinator handed over.
“And that name is now in this envelope!”
Ohhhhh!!
Quit to finish Satoru’s words, exclamations burst out from the audience.
Anyway, since men support each other differently, it seems that the votes are divided a lot on who will win first place.
Satoru looked around in a tense atmosphere and suddenly turned his head towards the judges’ seat.
“Then, before announcing the results! I would like to ask the three people who worked hard as judges today for their impressions! How was it! Today’s competition!”
The vice president, who was the first to accept the microphone, said with a cold face.
“To be honest, they did a better job than I expected. Due to the sudden size of the tournament, I want to thank the volunteers on behalf of the student council.”
Contrary to the expectation that he would pour out vicious words, applause erupted from the audience at the very generous evaluation.
Next was Ayabe-senpai.
“Today, I really want to say thank you for inviting me to this event. During the three years of high school, I think it became a cultural festival with the most memories.”
This one said the same thing as normal, so it’s rather embarrassing to me.
“Lastly, it’s Yuseong Kim’s turn! How did you feel about today’s tournament?”
I was taken aback by the sudden thrust of the microphone, but then I calmed down and answered.
“It was good.”
“Yes?”
“It was good.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes.”
As if he hadn’t expected me to finish his tournament impressions in just one sentence, Satoru, who had a dumbfounded expression, regained his senses and turned the microphone away while swearing at me with his eyes.
“Now that we’ve heard what the judges have to say, it’s time to announce the results! Are you all ready?”
Yes!
“Your voice is small!”
Yes!
From noble mtl dot com
Satoru, who skillfully drew the audience’s response, opened the paper bag that was tightly closed.
What came out of it was a cue card with the winner of this competition written on it.
Satoru, holding it in the palm of his hand and taking a peek at the contents hidden from the eyes, suddenly oh! And exclaimed.
“This is a completely unexpected result?”
Then, the atmosphere in the audience was boisterous.
The first place in this tournament is because Nao Minato has been treated as a spouse.
There was a comment saying that it was unexpected, so of course I had no choice but to say it.
“Ah~ No way, how many fans does Nao Minato have?”
“No, just in case. Girls and adults voted for this contest.”
While Nao’s fan club members gathered in the crowd waited for the results with anxious expressions, Satoru, who was the only one who knew the results of the contest, spoke to the contestants standing behind the stage with a relaxed expression.
“Fuma-senpai, what will you do with the prize money?”
“I will use it for living expenses.”
Answer without hesitation.
It seemed that she participated for the purpose of prize money from the beginning, so it was not particularly strange.
“Then it’s a pity. You’re in 5th place with 67 votes. It’s just 5 votes away from 4th place.”
“…….”
For reference, prizes are paid starting from the 3rd place.
Fuma-senpai stares at Satoru, who bullied herself, with her sharp eyes.
It seemed that one person could be immersed only with the blood that spewed out.
However, perhaps her liver was swollen, Satoru, who passed Fuma-senpai lightly with a smile, looked nervously at the other contestants who were only looking at her.
Soon, his steps stopped in front of Karen, who was clearly nervous.
“…If you’re kidding, just go.”
Karen, who has tried to act as much like her old lady in this competition, smiles her forced smile and tries to drive her Satoru away, but Satoru shrugs her shoulders and says,
“I’m not here to play.”
“Then?”
Satoru turned around and shouted into the microphone instead of answering Karen’s question.
“The long-awaited 4th place! That’s Miss Karen with 72 votes!”
“What?”
Karen looks at Satoru with a dumbfounded expression.
She beat Fuma-senpai’s popularity, who is famous as one of the top 3 beauties at the academy, and it seems that she never even thought that she would become the 4th.
Otherwise, Satoru walked past Karen and called out the names of the people who caught the most attention in this tournament.
“Miss Rika, Miss Nao, Miss Ryuko, and Miss Sasha, please come forward.”
Then four people came forward with puzzled expressions.
Satoru, with an excited voice, made a shocking remark as if being a stage MC suited him.
“Among the four people who have been called, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places all exist!”
That means that those who remain are automatically eliminated.
Out of the nine finalists, the other three who were not even called by Satoru had tears in their eyes, but the world of competition is always cruel.
The audience’s attention was focused on the top four contestants who appeared in front of the stage.
However, it didn’t end there, and Satoru continued the story with an excited expression.
“Surprisingly, the audience votes of the four people are almost even! But the judges’ scores overturned the result!”
The unexpected result Satoru was talking about earlier seemed to mean this.
A tense atmosphere filled the auditorium, and Satoru, who waited for a while, finally decided to announce the final result.
“The 33rd Ichijou Beauty Contest! The winner is nooooo!”
“This is Miss Rika Kishimoto!”