Ephemeral Ability Reflects the Heart

The final round of the Miss Contest was not a joint competition between male and female contestants, but rather they took turns to compete.

The boys' division was held first, followed by the girls' division.

The top five contestants from the preliminary rounds went up on the stage and were briefly introduced by the announcer. After that, they introduced themselves and performed one by one, and the session ended with a question period.

The voting is separated from the preliminary round.

Those who voted in the preliminary round and those who did not in the preliminary round can vote, and they can vote for different contestants from those in the preliminary round.

A student may vote based on the performance on the stage, or he/she may vote again for the opponent of his/her choice.

Due to the nature of the re-voting, it is possible that the student who won the fifth place in the preliminary round may win the first place. However, the difference in the number of votes received in the preliminary rounds was calculated by the committee members, and a slight handicap was added.

Among the male contestants, most of the nominees were tall students.

Starting with Kamishiro, the ace of 1-C, the vice-chairman of the public morals committee, and so on, the nominees were all tall and stout. In addition, all of them have good faces.

It seems that not only good looks but also athletic ability, especially fighting ability, is an important factor in judging the students.

「Uh, I am Kamishiro Yuuki from class C of the first year. I don't know much about this kind of thing, but I'm glad that so many people voted for me. For my performance, I will be doing acrobatics」

After Kamishiro greeted the audience in such a way, he performed a series of backflips, somersaults, and side rolls.

He jumped around on the narrow stage, showing off his speed, dynamism, and stability. His physical abilities were demonstrated even in these techniques that are not so much related to combat.

It must be that he has been training like this on a regular basis.

To his performance, the audience responded well. Especially, the yellow voice from female students was quite loud.

「As expected, the boy that Shiramine-san has chosen」

「Of course. If a man is good enough for my eyes, he should be able to do that well」

Sayuki proudly replied to Yotsuba's admiration.

Then, during the question time that followed the five contestants' performances, the audience asked frank questions such as whether they had girlfriends and what type of women they liked.

Kamishiro answered "I don't have" to the question about his girlfriend. However, he glanced at Sayuki and he seemed to have a somewhat "natural" look on his face.

「Am.. Am I going to answer the same question...?」(*Note: Chihiro answered with "boku" first, but he suddenly change to "watashi")

「Of course, you will. I mean, the questions that will be asked to us are probably more complicated than the ones to them」

Lucille snorted beside Chihiro as she muttered and then she spoked again.

「Isn't it good? Just tell them you have a girlfriend, not a boyfriend」

「Wait, isn't that a bomb statement?」

Before long, the boys' session was over.

As for the boys, all they have to do now is to wait for the results of the voting. The votes themselves will be accepted until the end of the girls' performances and the question-and-answer session, so they will have to wait for a while in suspense.

「Kamishiro-kun, welcome――」

「Kamishiro, that was pretty good」

Chihiro was about to go to Kamishiro when he came back, but Sayuki was talking to him before he did so.

She started to talk to him enthusiastically about the movement of his torso and the sharpness of his movements, which made him realize that he should not interrupt her.

「Fufu. Sayuki seems to be very passionate about him」

「Kurohane-senpai」

Yotsuba comes up to Chihiro and smiles.

Then she moves her face closer and whispers to him.

「Is there a problem?」

「Yes. There is a girl named Ibusuki Kaname... She's looking for me... Izumi-kun. I think she might be dangerous」

「I understand. I'll be on the lookout, too」

She nodded her head in agreement.

Immediately after that, the committee members asked them to go on stage. Chihiro walked up to the stage starting from Yotsuba who was in the first place, and he could see the whole audience.

It was quite a crowd. In addition to a few dozen students, there were about half of the public audience.

Aika, Riko, and Hana were sitting together. And when their eyes meet, Aika waves to him on behalf of the others. He noticed Suzu and Marika standing elsewhere. Ayase is not there, probably staying in the student council room as long as the other four students are here.

When he looked around, he couldn't find Kaname.

――No, she was here.

She was a little far from the stage, just in the shadows, which delayed his discovery. But there was no mistaking that punk Lolita.

Is she here just for the sake of curiosity, or what?

『First of all, who is No. 5? She is a mysterious maid of unknown age and unknown surname from the maid cafe in 1-C, Chisato-chan!』

The announcement interrupted his train of thought.

Chihiro smiles and bows as the crowd applauds. He tried to look as beautiful as possible, but he wonders if his nervousness showed in his appearance.

Following him, the girls from the fourth place onward were introduced one after another. The other four girls were not feeling any pressure from the number of the audience.

However, Maria's expression was stiff.

Probably, it was not because of the Miss Contest. But because the name of Kaname, which he told before the competition and somehow weighing her down.

At the same time, he feels sorry for her, but at the same time, he thinks it was a good decision to tell her that Kaname is here.

『Now, let's continue with the individual appeal time. Let's start with Chisato-chan, the fifth place winner from the preliminary round!』

「Ah, yes!」

Chihiro takes a step forward, a little behind the other four who have moved back. He moved from his standing position at the left end of the stage to the center, and bowed again.

He then holds the microphone close to his face.

「Ouch!」

He lightly hit his chin, and the microphone picked up the sound.

There was a light laugh from the audience.

「I-I'm sorry. Uhh, I'm Chisato. The details are confidential, but I'm just a first-year student」

As a result of the prior discussion, it is agreed to keep the fact that "Chisato-chan" is Izumi Chihiro a secret from the audience.

The committee members agreed that it would be more interesting and mysterious, although it would not deter those who knew the name from revealing it.

「Thank you very much to everyone who voted for me, and thank you also to everyone who came to the cafe. ...As for me, just standing here is enough, but let me make a final appeal」

"Why am I talking like a beautiful, innocent maid girl?"

As he was saying this and thought so, he felt so embarrassed that he wanted to die, but he held on and continued to speak.

When he managed to finish, he turned off the microphone.

Tap, tap…

He takes a light step and turns around on the spot. When he managed to touch down on the ground almost without deviating from his standing position, he put his hands on his skirt after his skirt was fluttering calmly.

Then, with both hands clutching her skirt, he smiles and bows reverently.

「...That's all」

『Huh? Is that all you do?』

「Yes. I'm a maid. And I think that's enough to convey my feelings」