17 - King of Boushi

A white title card faded in on top of a black background, ‘King of Boushi.’

Noriko’s voice behind the camera asked a question before the black screen changed, “Do you see yourself as the favourite to be crowned king of Boushi?”

“Awoooh!!” The clip from tug of war played.

“Who are you voting for as queen?”

Suddenly I saw the audiences’ view of me taking my shirt off. The people inside the makeshift cinema cheered, the video got wiped off social media after all.

“Who is your favourite teacher?”

“Oh, Hibino-sensei. Easily.” The instant response, paired with this being the only question I answered so far made the room laugh.

“Stop! Stop! Stop!” The club prez yelled as she tried to cover the screen by spreading herself wide. “Stop the video!”

The second the show on the big screen got paused, she was met with an audience booing and whistling.

Mimicking Ueda’s methods, I started a chant, “Boushi king! Boushi king!” Which quickly caught on.

It didn’t take long before the club prez gave up and continued playing Noriko’s work.
“One positive message to Mizuki-sensei.”

“Woah…”

For context, that’s generally seen as the worst teacher of our school. Old fashioned and strict. If you opened a dictionary on the word boring, a picture of him would probably be attached.

She smoothly transitioned it to the clip where I got hit by the piece of paper she threw.
An instant cut to; “You’ve earned your retirement, Sir,” got the room laughing again.

“Why should people vote for you as king of Boushi?”

“I’ve done a lot of crazy things in the first term.”

More clips of the sports festival were shown.

“A lot of crazy things…” I repeated, as a reenactment of me on my knees on the first day of school played.

“And there’s one promise I can make. If this earns me the Boushi crown, then you’ll see the wildest title defence ever in the terms to come.”

That scored some applause and cheers before the end of the video.

“Next question, ‘What’s your hidden talent?’.”

“Nice one! No one knows this, but I can predict the weather.”

The clip cut to me standing next to a window, dreamingly staring outside as raindrops raced their way down the window.

“It’s raining.” After saying that, I ducked her oncoming hit.

The remainder of the interview section gathered more than enough laughter to label Noriko’s work as a comedy.

“One final message for the viewers?”

“On the second day of the school festival, vote for the king of Boushi as your Komiya.”

“…What?”

“I messed up, can we cut that?”

The screen turned black as the title card reappeared.

“Yeah, no worries, I’ll cut it.”

The teacher turned the lights on, my eyes were already locked onto Noriko’s cheeky smile.

“I’m impressed. Who would’ve thought you were so funny?”

She placed her index finger on her thumb in a forehead-flicking position.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. In all seriousness, though, I don’t see how we don’t win with your efforts. I can’t thank you enough.”

“Hey, anytime.”

* * *

Yesterday, we escaped our film club shenanigans with a mere warning.

“Komiya-kun, good morning~”

Before I put my bike away, I ran into Suzumi-chan.

“Oh, good morning. How would you rank your excitement for today on a scale from one to ten?”

“Hmmm… Like an eight? Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” I shook my head, “You’re supposed to say eleven before your body even believes it! Fake it until you make it. Ey, I got that right,” I smugly voiced out loud, much to her confusion. I think only Noriko would’ve gotten it.

“You seem in good spirits. Oh yeah, I heard about what happened in the film club… Just when did you plan all of that?”

“It’s been in the works,” I vaguely answered. “A collaboration of two real schemers. Now all that’s left is to pray I get voted king.”

“Indeed. I’ll be sure to vote for you!” A little softer, she added, “If I’m lucky, I might have a chance of being voted queen. Who are you going to vote for?”

I evaded her piercing gaze, “I think Watanabe is going to kill me if I don’t vote for her.”

She put on a genuine thinking face as she said, “Perhaps violence is the answer to everything.”

Hearing such an uncharacteristic joke coming from her had me laughing a little too loud.

Putting my bike away, I noticed Noriko from afar, her face smothered in disdain. She must’ve spotted me with Suzumi-chan.

“No-ri-ko~” The girl I had seen her with near the start of the school year landed onto her shoulder. If that’s Miori, that means they’ve made up. I put my smile in my pocket and put my game face back on. Every step I take now must be one closer to the greatest success.

“Suzumi-chan, best of luck. I’m off to deliver the class spirit to Class D.”

“Oh, right. Best of luck to you, too.”

The entire morning was filled with boring tasks at our boring booth.

“When you’re not at the helm, not much happens,” Hibino-sensei complained.

“No matter what we did, no first year class was beating the collaborative effort of the second years.” Even without that as an excuse, a boardgame booth was the worst outcome for our class.

“Fair enough. I think we should leave. What do you say?”

I stood up, “I don’t know why a teacher is manning the stand in the first place. Let’s hit some karaoke.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

No teacher fit the Class D spirit more than her. At times, like these for example, she felt more like the oldest student of our class rather than our homeroom teacher.

* * *

When evening fell and all guests had left, the real event of today began. Our gym—temporarily turned into a gala—was packed with Boushi students, eager to cast their vote for their king and queen. At the ballot boxes, we were handed none but a single rule: don’t vote for yourself.

Once I stood at the front of the line, Yuma stood next to me, first in line of his row.

“Who are you voting for, Komiya-san?”

“Watanabe. I’d advise you to do the same.”

He laughed, “My mind’s long been made up. But tell me, who are you voting for as king?”

“You. To give you a tiny shot at landing second place.”

Once more he put on his sarcastic laughter, “You’re a good sport. I’ll put your name down as well. May the true king win.”

“May the true king win,” I repeated as I wrote down Ueda, Class 1-D. Before he had the chance of casting his vote in the ballot box, I swiped it out of his hands. “That’s not how you write Komiya.”

He snatched it back, “I was never the best at spelling.”

I wrote down Watanabe, Class 1-B as my vote for queen and left the queue.

Next up were thirty or so minutes of nervously pacing as other people got swinging to the music brought to us by a rotation of the metal club, light music club, a band formed by four third years and the brass band club.

The music got cut off for a second year student to announce the results.

“To make things a lot more entertaining, we’re calling up the top three kings and top three queens to the podium. As they say, ladies first, let’s start with the queens.”

Even though this had nothing to do with me, I felt really nervous nonetheless. Glancing at Watanabe, she gestured with her thumb slitting her throat open before she pointed at me. I knew she would doubt me! I pointed at myself, wrote in the air like I did when I voted and pointed at her, hoping she got the message.

“The three girls with the most votes are Tsukasa from 2-B, Yamada from 2-E and… oh, Watanabe from 1-D.”

I applauded as loud as I could to spare myself a death sentence.

Once the three found their way onto the podium, the announcer continued, “Third place, with a total of nine percent of the votes… Yamada from 2-E! Applause!”

The crowd cheered. Even though she didn’t win, she bowed theatrically as if she did. I noted that I should hold the same energy.

“Two finalists… but who took first place… With quite the gap, a little over twenty-four percent of the votes… from class 1-D, Watanabe!”

In retrospect, it wasn’t that surprising, given the second years voted for their favourite girls, whereas we first years all collaboratively voted to keep ourselves alive.

Still, people across the city must’ve heard the cheers coming from our gym—temporarily turned into a gala.

“Let’s make some noise for Tsukasa as well!”

My heart, pounding up in my throat, could give out at any moment. To save myself, I dubbed this feeling: excitement.

“We’ve crowned our queen, who’ll be handed a diamond crown… But who will be crowned her king? Let’s hear the top three.”

This is what I’ve waited for.

“First up, Class 1-A, Yuma!”

The cheers he got were too feminine for my liking. The girl crowd was the hardest to win over, and they’re the most loyal voters.

“Next up… of highest prestige, it’s our student council president, Nakamura!”

One more spot left. One more time the crowd could roar in my favour. Instinctively, my eyes wandered off into Noriko’s direction. Once mine met hers, she smiled and nodded convincingly; believing more in my victory than in grass being green. That might be a good saying, I thought, completely calming my nerves through idiocy. What was I even worried for? Noriko’s efforts more than reenabled my own.

“The last boy we’re calling up to the stage… Who else? Yell it with me, it’s 1-D’s—”

“—Komiya!!!”

My emotions burst out into my sprint to stage. Once elevated above the crowd, I placed my hands in my shirt’s collar, non-verbally asking if I should take it off.

“Please, Komiya, keep your shirt on today,” the announcer said, met with humorous boos from the crowd.

“Third place, with a respectable nine percent of the votes… Our very own council president, give it up for Nakamura!”

He didn’t revel in the support from his peers for too long. He nonchalantly thanked the crowd and walked down the stairs.

“That leaves us with the two most popular male first years—well, after today we’ll have to say the two most popular Boushi guys across all years. Let’s make it a little more tense here. Can I get a drumroll?”

He got one nearly as loud as the crowd has been this entire time, he took a deep breath into the mic.

I took a final glance at my main rival, Yuma, who was confidently staring into the crowd.

“The king, with an overwhelming sixty-three percent of the votes… Who else? 1-D’s Koooomiya—!!”

The crowd thundered its loudest of the night.

“Now make way for our king and queen. Let’s begin a royal dance at the Boushi gala!”

Before I could truly drink this victory, I got dished up punishment number six.

In the middle of the dance floor, I stood face to face with the Boushi queen.

“My Queen, may I have this dance?”

“I’ll deck you, my King.”

“Well, we don’t have much of a choice now, do we?

Showing off my terrible dance skills, I annoyed Watanabe with every move.

“Ugh… Follow my lead already!”

“I’d be lying if I said I was doing my best. Can’t we just freewheel it?”

“No,” she stomped onto my foot, “If you don’t get your act together right now, being crowned queen will turn into a humiliation ritual!”

Remembering her violent ways through the pain, I did everything I could to dance properly.

It wasn’t as hard as I initially thought, simply trying to keep up with her movements was the mission.

“I have to give it to you, you’re a quick learner.”

“And you’re a scary teacher.”

The killer intent reappeared in her eyes.

“By the way, how are you going to ask Yuma to dance?”

“I won’t,” she quickly replied. “I can’t be the one approaching him when he left me at the summer festival without saying a word!”

“Didn’t you… lie to him?”

“Yeah, that was a new low for me. But he’s equally evil for leading me on all this time to get closer to Suzumi-chan. I’ll apologise to him if he’s willing to apologise to me.”

“Heh, you sounded like Noriko there. I think I can see why you two are friends now.”

An astonished look painted over her face, “Did she say we’re friends?”

“Uh-huh,” I said with confidence, not really remembering if she ever did.

“Well of course. We are friends after all,” she smiled, oddly enough.

Soon after, the music faded out and our dance, too, came to an end.

“It was my pleasure,” I deeply bowed.

“Yes, the pleasure was all yours,” she bowed as well.

I looked at the crowd, but didn’t see Noriko anywhere.

“Heya, King Komiya!”

“Oh, Satou, perfect timing. Have you seen Noriko?”

She used both of her hands to cover her mouth which had fallen wide open. “Are you...? Right now...?”

“Uh-huh...”

“No way! I'm pretty sure I saw her going outside.”

“You're a lifesaver! Wish me luck.”

“Good luck, Captain!”

Making my way through the masses, I stood among the students partying outside. Before I found Noriko, I encountered Suzumi-chan.

“You really did it, Komiya-kun! How amazing! I can still hardly believe how much you’ve broken out of your shell this year.”

“If you showed our middle school selves, they wouldn’t believe it either,” I chuckled.

"Exactly," she giggled before she started fidgeting with the bottom of her skirt, “Can I ask you something, Komiya-kun?”

“Of course.”

“…How do you feel about me? You’ve said you liked me throughout all of middle school… I didn’t have the courage to tell you before… but I silently admired you as well. So… how do you feel about me now?” Her eyes shook as they shimmered.

It wouldn’t be fair to her if I half-assed a response. As bad as I am at sharing my feelings, a genuine effort is the least she deserved.

“It’s not really a secret anymore I suppose. Like you said, back in middle school, I had the most embarrassing crush on you. That day where I saw you amidst a blossom storm, I was hit with a sight straight out of a fairy tale. It was thanks to that silly infatuation that I found the courage to try and become a version of me that felt more like myself. Thank you for making me dream…”

Her gaze awaited my next words.

“But… it was in that process of chasing after the me I desired to be that I fell in love—”

“—With Ishiwata-san?” She finished my sentence.

“Yeah…"

She looked so frail, as if she could break down in tears at any second. Not knowing how else I could console her, I took off my crown and gently placed it atop her head.

“This win belongs to you, Suzumi-chan. I’m sure a girl as wonderful as you will come across someone ten times the guy I am.”

She readjusted the crown and forced a smile, “Thank you, Komiya-kun.”

“Anytime.”

The way I embraced the victory today and how genuinely happy I felt by hearing Suzumi-chan’s words confirmed that I broke free from the version of myself who feels guilty at every sign of fortune.

Further proof was my next step; finding Noriko so I could tell her how I feel.

When I didn’t see her anywhere in the gym, I had a feeling she hid away from the crowd. And if I had only one shot at guessing where she was, I’d still be confident in getting it right from the first time.

In the library, I instantly spotted her.

“There you are.”

A little surprised, she turned over her shoulder, her eyes following me until I sat down across from her.

“Did you enjoy the school festival?” She asked.

Instead of circling around the topic I wanted to bring up, I cut down the conversation in a straight line.

“I love you.”

“What—?!” She covered her flustered face with both of her hands.

“…Wait no.” That’s too straightforward.

A single eye peered through the gaps between her fingers, “You don’t?”

“I definitely do. Hm, this isn’t coming across well… It’s usually my actions that speak loud to my words.”

“Your actions… speak louder than words…?” She split her hands up, creating an opening to her lips.

I reached for her hands, this time I was the one interlocking our fingers. “I like the way you blather about your passions. I also like how you talk to yourself and then try to play it off as if you didn’t. I like the feeling of my forehead stinging when you pretend to be angry and flick it.”

“What?!”

“I like how you giggle like a freak when you’re embarrassed.”

“I don’t!”

“I like how your tongue falls out of your mouth when you’re concentrating.”

“It doesn’t! Don’t you like anything normal about me?”

“I like the way you try to pull your hat lower on your face, even when it’s not there.”

“Do I do that?”

“But what I love most about you,” I looked deep into her eyes, “is how unbelievably kind-hearted you are.” I let go of her hands. “How do you feel about me, Noriko?”

She looked down as her lips quivered.

“Don’t you get embarrassed saying all of that out loud?”

I nodded. “I do, but getting my feelings across is more important than protecting myself from feeling ashamed.”

She got off her chair. “Close your eyes.”

“What are you—”

“Close them already!”

Obediently, I did. The next thing I felt was her hand placed over my ear before she whispered the kindest words I had ever heard, “You are my world, Komiya-kun.”

I reached both arms out over her shoulders and hugged her. We stayed like that until our tender shyness passed us by and she sat down in the chair next to me.

“King of Boushi, huh… Have you sorted out your next goal?”

“I believe I’ve told you already. Getting to know you better than anyone else in the world—how’s that for a mission?”

“It might take you more than a lifetime to reach.”

“Will you give me a lifetime to try?”

She reached for my face and pressed her answer against my lips.

Current status: happiest I've ever been