“W-We forfeit! WE FORFEIT!”
And so Team Nakayama was eliminated from the battle.
Nakayama stood with her arms crossed in an X shape in front of her chest. Meanwhile, she stared at the ground like she was trying not to cry. Then Ishikawa gently set a hand on her shoulder.
“Whew. Good thing she’s not totally braindead,” Himeko commented, looking relieved, as they returned to their side of the ring. At one point the crowd had started complaining that they “didn’t go all the way,” but she shut them up.
“So basically, you were just bluffing to get Nakayama to forfeit?”
“Well, if the two of us kissed, the two of them would have to do something to surpass it. The crowd would start demanding actions instead of words.”
“They could have waited to forfeit until after we kissed, but they didn’t... I guess they felt guilty? Or they knew they’d lose regardless?”
He glanced over at Nakayama, sniffling as Ishikawa consoled her. Knowing her, she must have genuinely sensed that she couldn’t beat them.
“Now we’re up to 112 fake flowers... I imagine the final round is coming up soon.”
“Man, we’ve lasted longer than I thought we would. Who’s still in the tournament?”
“I don’t know, but now that we’ve made it this far, I really want to win. I need to win. Originally I was doing it for the prize, but now I feel like we owe it to all the people we eliminated from the tournament.”
Each flower in their possession represented a pair that had lost their battles. As he looked down at the flowers, he could almost feel their hopes and dreams riding on him... This was what it meant to surpass people.
Then, in the distance, they heard it: the footsteps and murmurs of a massive crowd traveling across the athletic field. They were headed in the direction of the gym... and leading the charge was Nagase Iori and Katori Jouji.
Ten, thirty, fifty, seventy people... The numbers kept rising and rising.
Nagase and Katori carried four bouquets between them — enough flowers to practically bury them — and the dreams they carried were surely innumerable.
“Why do they have a whole army with them?” Himeko snarked, folding her arms.
Then a boy ran over from Nagase’s group to the Love Pageant crowd.
“Nagase and Katori just won a four-way battle, and now they’re looking for whoever’s left in the game!”
“Ah, I see. Then that army of people must be the spectators from that battle... Anyone else picking up the ‘final boss’ vibes, or just me?” Himeko grumbled.
Taichi clenched his fists nervously. Between their flowers and Nagase’s, they must have had close to three hundred. There were no other opponents left in the game. This next battle would decide the winner of the entire tournament.
Meanwhile, Nagase and Katori were smiling like they were having the time of their lives.
Dozens upon dozens of battles had happened today, all leading up to this moment. This was the finale. But no matter whether they won or lost, Taichi wanted to end this tournament on a high note.
But that was when... a third party stepped out from the shadows.
Winner: Yaegashi Taichi/Inaba Himeko
Total Flowers: 112