Mia continued, “It’s clear that I can’t beat you at sports. You have the physique of a wild ape. So, I made up my mind... to beat you in beauty!”
“Beauty?”
“Yes. I hate to admit it, but you’re quite popular among the boys,” Mia told her. “‘Pretty as long as she keeps her mouth shut,’ ‘the supersonic old man girl,’ ‘the gift-eater that you wouldn’t want to date...’”
“Hang on, none of those titles are complimentary, are they? And do they really say that about me?!” Kaname asked, with tears forming in her eyes.
Mia shot a glare in her direction. “You must find it quite satisfying, Chidori-san.”
“I don’t. Not at all!”
“It’s that sarcasm of yours that I hate. Anyway, I spent all summer break refining my looks. I spent most of the rainy season going to salons, buying skin lightening oil, and refraining from my favorite hobby—surfing—to keep from getting a tan. I even underwent grueling training, standing in front of a full-length mirror and posing until I fostered the sort of mannerisms that all the boys like!”
Mia, who had always been the tomboy type, posing flirtatiously in front of the mirror... Just thinking about it made Kaname sad in a way she found hard to describe. “R-Really?”
“Are you ready, Chidori-san? I’m going to be Miss Jindai this year,” Mia boasted. “You can’t possibly beat me. This time, I’m going to win fair and square.”
“What?” said Kaname, her eyes going wide.
Mia frowned at her. “You are participating in Miss Jindai, aren’t you?”
“I didn’t have any plans—” Kaname started to say, but just then, Sousuke entered the student council room.
He set down the empty trash can and said, “I’m afraid the garbage area is almost full. It could be the result of the preparations for the culture festival, but we must think up countermeasures before it becomes a problem... Hmm?” He hummed as he saw the two girls in the room together.
Kaname leaned forward. “Hey, Sousuke, did you see what Shoji-san—”
Interrupting her, Sousuke said, “Shoji? What do you want?” He didn’t seem at all surprised to see her.
“Where were you, Sagara-kun? You promised you’d help the women’s basketball team get their crêpe shop ready,” Mia reminded him. “Did you forget?”
“Did I promise that?”
“You did. And look, see?” Smiling, Mia pulled an apron from the paper bag she was holding, pressed it up to her chest and did a twirl. “I bought it yesterday. I thought I’d wear it at the shop.”
“I see,” Sousuke said neutrally.
“What do you think? Isn’t it adorable?”
“I suppose.”
Kaname watched the exchange taking place between Sousuke and Mia, glassy-eyed. The two of them had barely interacted, as far as she knew. How could they be so friendly with each other now?
After putting on an ostentatious show of closeness with Sousuke, Mia turned back to Kaname and said, “Well, I really should be going. If you want to drop out of the Miss Jindai pageant, now’s your chance, you know? That’s all I wanted to say to you.”
“Hang on,” Kaname protested. “I haven’t even signed up for the—”
“No worries. It’s not as if I’m going to tell everybody that Chidori Kaname ran away from our fight.”
“Grr...”
With a casual smile, Mia told Sousuke that she’d meet him in their club room later, and then left.
Once Mia was gone, Kaname raised her voice to Sousuke and said, “What was all that about?”
“What?”
“When did you get that close to Shoji Mia?”
“As far as I could tell, I was just interacting with her normally,” Sousuke told her.
“Really? That was normal?”
“Yes. Ever since second term began, she’s been seeking frequent interactions with me. She always seems to need advice in some way or o— Chidori. Why are you angry?” Sousuke furrowed his brow.
“I’m not angry,” Kaname insisted.
“You seem quite angry to me.”
“I am not angry!” she said angrily.
All Sousuke could do was stare at her in confusion.
The next morning, before class...
“I’m entering,” Kaname proclaimed.
Onodera Kotaro stared, not comprehending. “You’re entering... what, exactly?”
“Miss Jindai High,” she clarified. “You wanted me to, right, Ono-D? Didn’t you?”
“What’s gotten into you?” he replied cautiously.
“I suddenly decided I wanted the DVD recorder. That’s all.”
“Huh? But... well...”
“Are you gonna nominate me or not?” she demanded to know. “Make up your mind.”
“Um, okay, but—”
“Good. Thanks.” Kaname turned coldly on her heel and strode back to her own seat.
“She was rather intense there,” said Sousuke, who happened to be nearby.
“Yeah,” Ono-D observed. “She’s really in it to win it.”
“The Miss Jindai High contest?”
“Yeah. Even though she said yesterday she wasn’t interested... Wonder what got into her. Any idea, Sagara?”
“No, not one,” Sousuke said, and pathetic as it was, he meant it.
The day of the culture festival arrived. While busy with her class project and student council duties, Kaname found moments of free time to preen in front of a hand mirror, mess with her hair, and flip through makeup magazines. That first day proved to be quite a chaotic time, but they’d managed to make it through. Then the second day arrived.
That morning, once they had the class café finally up and running... “Okay! The class café’s good to go. Time to move on to the next task!” Kaname declared, slapping herself on the cheeks to rev herself up.
“What next task?” Kyoko asked.
Kaname sniffed and smiled indomitably. “Miss Jindai High, of course. It’s going down in the courtyard this afternoon. Didn’t you know? I’ve entered.”
“Oh, right,” said Kyoko. “But what made you decide to take part all of a sudden, Kana-chan?”
“Shoji Mia in Class 2. She decided to pick a fight, but she doesn’t know who she’s dealing with,” Kaname declared. “Just watch me... I’m about to prove my superiority to her in a whole new field.”
“You seem pretty confident.”
“Heh, of course I am. I’ve got it in the bag,” she said with great confidence.
“I’m not sure I like you when you’re like this, Kana-chan...” Kyoko mused.
“Hmph.”
In female society—especially that of Japanese girls—overconfident personalities weren’t usually considered desirable, for reasons Kaname couldn’t understand. She herself felt that the tendency to work hard on one’s appearance behind closed doors and then be self-effacing about it in public was frustrating and gross. For the same reason, she hated people who studied their heads off for tests, then complained about how poorly they thought they’d done. She figured if you worked hard and you thought you did well, you should just be willing to just say so!
Kyoko’s comment here was actually coming from a slightly different place, but Kaname had assumed it was more of that typical attitude. Kyoko’s a nice person, but I guess she’s got that weird reticence like the rest of them, Kaname decided.
“I-It’s fine! I can be a little arrogant for stuff like this,” she said out loud. “As Muhammad Ali used to say, you can’t do anything without confidence!”
“Did he say that?” Kyoko asked.
“Yeah. Last year’s runner-up, Saeki-san, might be tough competition, but at least I won’t lose to Shoji Mia. And anyway, my greatest competition isn’t entering.”
“Who’s that?”
“The girl with supreme innate charm, in a polar opposite way from me. Although she’s an unconventional pick, her potential can’t be underestimated.”
“Wow. No idea who that is...” Kyoko said with an awkward smile.
Kaname side-eyed that angelic face, and whispered, too quiet for her to hear, “Truly terrifying...”
“Eh?”
“Nothing.”