Chapter 238: The Beauty Pageant
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 238: The Beauty Pageant
It was completely unexpected.
For Minato Nao, a first-year junior I hadn't given a second thought to, to suddenly appear and snatch Kim Yoo-Sung away.
'Was I too complacent, thinking it was my turn next?'
Sasha clicked her tongue inwardly, recalling the smug face of the President's lackey who had been so confident that this plan was perfect.
"Class President, is it alright if I step out for a bit? Something urgent came up."
"Huh? Right now?"
"Right now."
Since Sasha was the type of person who would never ask anyone for a favor, Ayase stared at her with surprised eyes before quickly nodding.
"Alright. Go on."
"Thanks, Class President."
Sasha patted the class president's shoulder and left the classroom, still in her butler outfit.
With her blue hair tied in a ponytail and a butler's uniform that suited her slender figure, Sasha looked like a handsome, androgynous man.
As she, a foreigner, stepped into the hallway, the gazes of passersby focused on her, but Sasha paid them no mind and chased after the distant figures of Kim Yoo-Sung and Minato Nao.
'That little minx.'
Sparks flew from her eyes.
*
Nao, who had suddenly shown up at my class, unceremoniously dragged me to a relatively deserted spot: the landing of the staircase leading to the school roof.
I could have resisted, but she might have gotten hurt, so I let her pull me along. Leaning my back against the wall, I asked Nao,
"What are you thinking?"
"About what?"
"If rumors start spreading that a celebrity like you is close with a senior from school, it could turn into a scandal and tarnish your career."
"Aww, why bring that up now of all times?"
But Nao herself was unfazed.
In her school uniform, she clasped her hands behind her back, leaned against the railing, and said,
"You don't really think I'd come to see you, Senpai, without being prepared for that much, do you? Especially after being rejected once already."
With that, Nao looked at me and grinned.
"Honestly, I was a little shocked at first. I've always thought of myself as a pretty popular person."
"You're certainly full of confidence."
"It's an objective fact. I've been asked out a lot."
Nao said, tucking her hair behind her ear, then looked me straight in the eye.
"So when you rejected my confession, Senpai, I was out of it for a while."
"Oh... I see."
Honestly, I had no idea how to respond.
We were seeing each other again after a long time, yet here we were, talking about such a heavy topic.
"So, while I was away from school, I thought about it alone. About the reason why you had to reject my confession."
Back at the summer festival, I had rejected her confession because of the difference in our social standing.
She was a celebrity and I was a normal person; I didn't think a proper relationship could ever work between us.
Thanks to that, I was now dating the President, so in a way, it was the right choice.
"But then last week, that worry was suddenly resolved, you know?"
But it seemed Nao had a different idea.
"I never imagined you'd become famous overnight like this, Senpai. I was picturing you slowly gaining experience as an extra and growing into an action actor, but to think you were actually the disciple of someone as incredible as Fuma Kotaro! I knew my eye for muscles wasn't wrong."
A faint madness flickered in her shining eyes as the words poured out of her like a machine gun.
'Was she always this intense?'
Overwhelmed by her fervor, I stumbled back with a "Huh? Uhh?" Realizing she'd gotten too excited, Nao took a soft breath to compose herself and said with a much calmer expression,
"So, I'll say it again. Please go out with me, Senpai."
"......"
A confession at a rather random time.
I glanced around, checking if anyone had overheard.
It was a good thing we were in a deserted place. If someone had heard this confession too, it could have seriously damaged her acting career.
I hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can accept your confession."
"What is it this time? What's the reason?"
"That's..."
To reject Nao's confession here and now, I had no choice but to reveal that I was already dating the President.
Just as I hesitated, a familiar voice suddenly came from the bottom of the stairs.
"Sorry, but I called dibs on Kim Yoo-Sung first."
The person who said this, slowly revealing herself, was Sasha.
"You're..."
Their gazes crossed.
Sasha and Nao had met before.
They'd already encountered each other once at the summer festival.
She ascended the landing with unhurried steps and looked up at Nao.
"Third parties should stay out of this."
Nao snapped, glaring at Sasha, but who was she dealing with?
The one and only daughter of Ivan, the God of Destruction, the godfather of the Russian Red Mafia.
She could easily brush off the unapproachable aura unique to a celebrity like Nao.
When she finally reached the top of the stairs, the two girls stood side-by-side. Since Sasha, being a foreigner, was much taller than Nao, the tables had inevitably turned.
"As I just said, I claimed Kim Yoo-Sung first. I don't know what stray mutt you are, but I won't forgive you for trying to outbid me for the man I've already called."
"S-Stray mutt?! Have you said your piece?!"
"No, there's more. Flatty."
Sasha said, proudly puffing out her chest.
Even though she was dressed as a man, her overwhelming combat power was as formidable as ever.
Nao, who had a relatively slim figure, gasped "Kuh-" at the sudden personal attack and placed a hand on her chest, but she quickly retorted to Sasha in a defiant voice.
"I don't know how long you've liked Senpai, but my feelings for him won't lose to anyone! I love not just his muscles, but his kind heart, too!"
"Hoh. How can you say such embarrassing things so casually? I suppose Japanese girls don't know the meaning of the word 'shame'?"
"Y-You're just a lanky giant!"
"Well, it's better than being flat in both chest and stature, isn't it?"
"Men prefer petite women over ones that are needlessly huge, you know?!"
The two's argument was gradually becoming more childish.
Somehow caught in the middle, I could only look back and forth between them, not knowing what to do.
After bickering with Nao for a while longer, Sasha must have decided the argument would never end this way. She let out a deep sigh and said,
"Fine. Let's do this, then. We'll decide which of us is the more suitable woman for Kim Yoo-Sung with this competition."
Saying that, Sasha pointed her finger at, of all things, a poster stuck to the wall of the staircase landing.
'Ichijo Academy's Supreme Beauty Pageant'
It was just a for-fun event, a poster that no one paid any attention to.
But right now—
"Fine. Let's settle this with the pageant! We'll see which one of us is the more suitable woman for Yoo-Sung Sunbae!"
With two powerful dark horses declaring their participation, the situation began to take a dramatic turn.
*
To be honest, it's been a while since I stopped caring about the original plot.
I don't even know what it was about in the first place, and I'm well aware that my interference has likely changed the original storyline significantly.
But still, a beauty pageant at a 21st-century high school festival.
A competition that wouldn't be out of place even if it were flooded with complaints from parents and students was being held openly under the pretext of 'upholding tradition.'
Is this the power of a rom-com world?
It's making my head spin.
Anyway, as if some restraining force had been lifted, the aftermath of the bet that started with Sasha and Nao's argument spread through the entire school like wildfire.
"Did you hear? Minato Nao from the first year is entering the beauty pageant tomorrow."
"Minato Nao is entering? Then she's guaranteed to win first place."
"No, the winner isn't decided yet. Another powerful dark horse from the second year is participating."
"A dark horse?"
"That's right. The monster transfer student who appeared like a comet early this year, 'Alexandra Ivanovna Romanova,' a.k.a. Sasha, announced she's entering."
"...How do you even shorten that long name to Sasha?"
"I don't know. They say it's a Russian nickname."
The hallways were filled with nothing but talk of the beauty pageant.
I don't know how or where the rumors started, but they had clearly succeeded in capturing the entire student body's attention.
After somehow parting ways with the two of them, I dragged my exhausted body back to the classroom, where Rika, also in a butler outfit, rushed over to me.
"Ryu-chan! Is it true?! That if you win this beauty pageant, you'll grant the winner any one wish?!"
"What?"
What was this nonsense now?
I stared at Rika in disbelief as she spouted this complete nonsense, but she was waiting for my answer with eyes sparkling as if stars were about to pour out of them.
"No, who did you hear that from?"
"From Sasha-chan! I just heard it!"
That girl...
I pictured the face of the absent Sasha and was about to tell Rika it was a misunderstanding, but just then, Karen appeared beside Rika and spoke to me.
"Sasha said she's going to use that wish you promised her before."
"What?"
The moment I heard that, a memory buried in the depths of my mind resurfaced.
To be precise, it was the promise I made when Sasha looked after Chiaki for me while I was de-aged from the side effects of the Ghost Pill.
'Grant me three wishes later.'
Ah.