Wasn’t this the first time the two of them had such an amicable exchange?
Watching them shake hands, I felt so happy; my face broke into a natural grin.
As they separated, Aritomo stared at their hands and then whispered into my ear, “Isn’t Tsukuyomi’s hand huge?”
Was now really the time to be saying something like that?
“Urara.”
“Yes, Chouko?”
“Congratulations! You completely decimated me.” Lady Chouko headed my way as she spoke.
“No, I didn’t— Hwha!?”
I thought Lady Chouko was coming to give me a handshake and so held out my right hand, but instead she threw her arms around me and wrapped me in a tight embrace.
“Um, Ch-Chouko?!”
“Hm? What?”
I patted Lady Chouko’s back, which seemed to be straighter than usual, and while she answered me, she showed no signs of completely pulling away.
Aritomo walked over to Shimozuru, looking annoyed, which left me standing there in Lady Chouko’s embrace.
I tried to think of something, anything, to bring her back to the present.
“Um, wow, you and Mondaiser sure were fast, weren’t you?”
“Thank you. But after knocking the bar over, we were no match for you.”
...Huh? Something was different about her.
Normally, Lady Chouko was so calm and collected, always smiling. In that moment, with my face in her collarbone, I couldn’t see her expression, but somehow she seemed a bit sullen.
“Chouko...are you upset about the match?” I asked softly.
“Yes,” she murmured after a pause.
The others were watching us and managed to hear her response. Murmurs of “Whoa!” and “Seriously?” rippled throughout the group.
“It’s just, both Mondaiser and I worked so hard.”
“But we don’t know how he would have done under normal circumstances.”
“Still, a loss is a loss.”
I was a little shocked. To think that someone like her, who faced everything with that cool demeanor, could be upset by something like this.
Not to mention the fact that she truly had come to see herself and Mondaiser as a team.
In the past, she wouldn’t have cared so much about the challenge. I wondered what had changed.
As I patted her back, I felt Galileo nuzzling my shoulder with his head, likely trying to get my attention.
Poor Lady Chouko, upset after losing. The way she had come to me for comfort, though, was incredibly endearing.
I hugged her tighter in hopes of comforting her, feeling happy to have seen another side of her. When I did, she pulled away, her warmth leaving with her. When I looked up at her, I saw her face was bright red, and our eyes met.
“I’m sorry. Was it hard to breathe?” I asked.
Was she bothered by me suddenly hugging her back?
“If so, I’m sorry,” I apologized, but she shook her head.
“That’s not it... I’m who’s sorry for showing you my ugly side.”
“There is nothing ugly about you. Actually, I was happy you opened up to me,” I said.
“Thank you,” Lady Chouko responded, but she looked rather uncomfortable after hearing my honest feelings.
She put her hands on my shoulders and spun me around.
“Let’s join the others. If we stay here much longer, I don’t know if I’ll be able to control myself.”
“What do you mean?” I asked as she began pushing me along.
“I might bring you back home with me,” she muttered.
I didn’t understand what that meant. Did she mean she wanted to have a sleepover? I wouldn’t mind that.
Lady Chouko prodded me the whole way back to where Aritomo awaited us with a sly smile. I wanted to ask her what that grin was for, but a cold, resonant voice spoke first.
“Well, shall we go ahead and decide the details for the next challenge?” Shinmyou said, and everyone else fell silent.
“We don’t have to decide right now. Let’s give it a few days.”
“Right. We’re all sweaty, so let’s call it a day.”
Izayoi and Mikazuki both proposed we wait to decide, likely out of consideration for us girls.
“Mitsuru said the same thing. He wants this all over by the end of August,” Shinmyou said resolutely.
“Come on, cut everyone some slack...”
“Oboro, don’t you remember what’s coming up?” Shinmyou asked, though it sounded more like a reprimand. Rather than argue with him, Shimozuru merely fell silent. I wondered what exactly he meant, but I didn’t want to intrude by asking, so I merely nodded along. I gave Aritomo a look, hoping she would get the same message.
“All right then, let’s hurry up and make a decision,” Aritomo responded quickly, seeming more and more pushy by the day.
I could sense Lady Chouko getting more annoyed by the second.
“Well, the advisor and the judge are...”
This was the final challenge, so there could only be two left.
“I’ll be your advisor this time, and Mitsuru your judge. We look forward to your efforts,” Shinmyou said nonchalantly.
I couldn’t fight the feeling that this challenge would be the one most fraught with trouble.
We decided not to stand around talking and found somewhere more suited to a longer discussion.
It would have been more logical for just the two of us to speak with our advisor, but Lady Chouko was vehemently opposed, so we all went into the clubroom together.
No one else in our group was likely to do it, so I set to work preparing tea for us.
“This is good,” Mochizuki sighed as he drank his tea.
“It really is delicious, Urara.”
“Yes, it certainly is.”
“Thank you very much. Making tea is a specialty of mine.”
In my past life, it was essential for ladies to know how to make excellent tea, so I was quite used to it. I felt so happy being praised for something that was a skill of mine.
Since I had reveled in my tea-making skills, Shinmyou once again had his own thoughts to interject.
“Did you teach yourself? Or did you learn it somewhere?”
Lady Chouko clambered to her feet, but I held out a hand to stop her, then turned to face Shinmyou.
“I’m self-taught, naturally. Not just in making black teas, but I enjoy green teas and Chinese teas as well. Shall I make you a cup?” I responded with a smile on my face, despite my irritation.
“Anyhow, let’s get back to the topic at hand. Our next challenge.”
“Our advisor has something he would like to discuss with us. What would that be, Mr. Advisor?” Aritomo said, her tone belligerent.
“Yes, I have a proposal, but first, there are conditions to said proposal.”
“Conditions?”
“Correct. Conditions I will expect you to fulfill. If you comply, then I will provide you all you need for this challenge.”
“You sound awfully self-important. Well, let’s hear your conditions first and then we’ll decide.”
The air in the room had gotten rather fraught. First of all, Lady Chouko still seemed rather intense. And then there was the way Shimozuru and the others looked on with disgusted expressions on their faces.
“Very well. My conditions, then,” Shinmyou said, turning to face the others before proceeding. “Before I can share my advice, I need Chouko to accept the challenge itself. Do you think you can do that?”
How were we supposed to take his proposal?
Up to this point, Lady Chouko had included all of us in the decisions, the cooking challenge notwithstanding. For other challenges, including the equestrian one, Lady Chouko had given her approval after the fact. That Shinmyou had said this with that knowledge must have surely been because he knew Chouko would not agree to whatever he was about to suggest.
The proof was in that it was Lady Chouko, not us, whom he had fixed his eyes on.
Exchanging glances, Aritomo and I couldn’t tell whether we even factored into this proposal.
A magnificent voice resonated in our ears as we floundered in how to express our concerns.
“So, what do you wanna do? You’re the only one who can decide,” Mochizuki was saying to Lady Chouko.
It was for her to decide?
Really? Even though it was our competition? Just as I was about to ask if it was really okay to leave it all to Lady Chouko, she shot me a look, telling me to stop.
“All right. We’ll accept your advice and conduct the next challenge accordingly,” she said, accepting Shinmyou’s proposal with a gentle smile.
Shinmyou furrowed his brows a bit on hearing those words before returning to his usual cool demeanor and announcing the next challenge.
“The next round will be a dance contest. Naturally, we’ll be expecting something high-class. Understand?”