Ephemeral Ability Reflects the Heart

An entry in the Miss Contest.

Chihiro freezes for a moment at the unexpected proposal. But he manages to regain his composure and guides the second-year student who brought the proposal to a relatively quiet corner of the corridor.

「Umm, Miss Contest is... a popularity contest for girls, isn't it?」

「No, it's not? We have a boys' division and a girls' division. Didn't the committee say so?」

「...oh, I see」

Indeed, he remember that the committee had talked about it in such a way.

The reason he had forgotten about it was because he was dragged by the name of "Miss Contest". And, to be frank, the committee members just treated boys as "an extra". Therefore, it is only natural that the popularity contests like this attract the attention especially Hana.

The reason for holding a boys' division is probably to silence the voices of discrimination and sexual harassment.

「So, I am entered in the men's division, right?」

「No, it's not correct」

「Eh?」

Chihiro let out a sigh of relief, but was soon followed by another blow.

The female senpai in front of him smiles at him and tells him a cruel fact.

「But you're half right... Izumi-kun entered "both boys and girls". Don't worry, I also made sure to enter the girl's division」

「So, umm, why am I in the girl's division?」

「Why don't you wait until you see what you look like?」

「Ugh」

Chihiro had to grunt when he was told such a thing.

「Also, I think the deciding factor is this. Here」

She operates some kind of smartphone and shows him the image on the display.

It was a picture of Chihiro in a maid's uniform, smiling and serving customers.

「I've registered you with this picture」

「Eh, no, no, no, why are you doing this?」

「When you were working in 1-C, didn't someone asked you if it was okay to take your picture?」

「Oh. If you say so, yes, of course」

In a sense, Chihiro thought it was part of the job, and he allowed them to take pictures under the condition that it would not be misused. Nevertheless, the existence of the photograph itself is not strange in that sense. The only reason she has them is because somebody sent them to her by e-mail or something.

「But the condition of no misuse is...」

「Is entering a contest for Miss Contest considered misuse? It's just a popularity contest within the school, right?」

Well, she didn't upload the photos to any websites or sell them.

Miss Contest is also completely free of charge and does not benefit the organizers. Rather, there should have been prizes for the top winners, so in that sense, the committee members lost money.

Having been easily persuaded, Chihiro gave up his protest and sighed deeply.

「I understand. Do I have to do something to participate?」

「No. For now, I'm just going to post some pictures here」

「For now?」

「Yes, for the Miss Contest, there are preliminary and final contests. If you win the preliminary, you'll perform on stage tomorrow. The finalists are the top five」

「Oh, I see」

He nodded in understanding.

Well, if that's the case, no problem. There is no way that Chihiro will get votes in either the boys' or the girls' division.

「...I hope it's possible...」

「What did you say?」

「No, nothing. Well, Izumi kun, good luck」

「Thank you very much. Senpai too, please do your best」

And so, with a light wave of the hand, he parted from her.

The "good luck" at the end sounded slightly meaningful to him, but he decided that it was probably just his imagination.

Once again, he went to the locker room again.

As expected, he is not stopped twice and arrives safely. So, without thinking, he opened the sliding door and peeked inside...

「Welcome back, Master!」

His eyes met Riko's with a big smile on her face.

「Heh?」

「...eh?」

From the blank expression on her face, he could tell that her voice was not welcoming Chihiro.

Riko was dressed in a maid's uniform. She is fully dressed, from her apron to her headband, ready to go out to the store at any time.

In the locker room, there are no other students. Just Riko.

「Wha, eh, Chihiro? Why?」

Riko's face turned bright red and she raised her voice again.

「I-I'm sorry. You were practicing your greetings... right?」

「Eh, um... Yes, that's right, but... why'd you open the door suddenly?」

「...I'm sorry, I was careless」

About that, it is only Chihiro's fault.

Besides, what would have happened if there had been a girl who was changing her clothes in the room? And having changed clothes twice here, he had become accustomed to the situation and had become carefree. But it's not good for him.

Fortunately, it was Riko, and she was not in the middle of changing her clothes.

Phew....

As Chihiro was reflecting on the situation, Riko seemed to have regained her ability to think.

She exhales lightly with her cheeks flushed.

「Well, it's okay because it's Chihiro. I mean, it's my fault that I was practicing in a place where people might come. So, Chihiro, are you going to get changed too?」

「Uh, yeah」

He realizes that he is still standing near the entrance and hurriedly closes the door.

Riko, on the other hand, throws a glance at Chihiro, who moves forward a few steps.

「Is something wrong?」

「Eh, no. It looks good on you, but it's a little awkward. Is that Aika's uniform?」

「...hmm, well」

He nodded his head, and this time he sighed deeply.

「You two get along really well, really」

「Thanks to Aika」

「Make sure she doesn't abandon you. If she does, we'll be there to comfort you」

「Thank you. But I hope it doesn't come to that」

A few more words are exchanged, and he learns that Riko was preparing for her next shift.

「Oh, you're changing already. It's early」

「I still have a little time. And I... had some business to attend to, so I came early」

It seems that she's talking about that practice session earlier.

And from the smile on her face and the way she was dressed, it seems that she liked the maid uniform.

If so, it was worth suggesting the maid cafe for the show.

「Riko, you still look good in that costume」

「...hmm, thanks」

Riko accepted the compliment again with open arms.

When the conversation was over, Chihiro went to the back of the partition to the changing area. If the other girls are going to come soon, he had better get changed while he still can.

Also, he is going to return this uniform to Aika later.

So, deciding to change back into his boys' uniform, he takes off the skirt first.

「Okay. I'll take care of it」

「Oh, thank you」

He hands the skirt in his hand to Riko, who stands beside him. Then, Riko carefully hangs the skirt on a hanger.

「Riko?」

「Hmm?」

「What are you doing here?」

「Well, I'm bored. I thought I'd help you anyway」

The girl's eyes were clear and showed no sign of lying.

It is a little embarrassing to be helped to change clothes by a girl in a maid's uniform. Although there was no need for such devotion, of course Chihiro was happy to receive it.

After all these years, being seen naked is not a problem for him.

While thinking so, he decides to thank her for helping him, and then hands the clothes he has undressed to Riko. This helped him to work much faster than if he had done it alone.

In between the chats, they talked about the incident that had just taken place.

「Heh~. Chihiro is in a Miss Contest for girls」

「Yeah. I tried to get her to stop, but she kept talking me out of it...」

「Okay. I'll vote for you later」

「Riko?」

He gave her a pleading look, and she said, without a hint of apology, "Eh, I can't?" and tilted her head. Then, she speaks again.

「It's okay, you're so cute. Just because you get one vote doesn't mean you'll win a prize」

「That's, well. I guess so」

「Right? So, I'll let Maria and Aika know too」

「Wait a minute」