Prove Me Wrong

“Zinia…”

Ravel stares at her, astonished. She hit the nail on the head. He had always believed himself to be the nice guy, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. He has been merely chasing the ideal of a ‘nice guy’, masking his true nature - selfish and short-tempered.

“I didn’t realize you were that sensitive about your ears, I’m very sorry, I’ll talk to Seko and the others to not call you that anymore, but it’s just the way Seko is, he really doesn’t have any ill intentions, he is-“

“I’m not talking about myself, dammit!” Zinia’s gaze shifts to the stage, where Eleona stands frozen in a place, looking down. “You really are hopeless, Unique! Don’t speak to me!” Zinia turns her back, wiping away her tears.

Ravel could feel her pain, he isn’t that insensitive. But does he really not understand the world around him at all? How many times did he miss something important?

“Hey, why the gloomy face? We have the final question ahead of us!” Liko tries to cheer Eleona up after the sparkles in her eyes vanished.

“I strongly believe appearances don’t matter at all!” Eleona regains her composure and her confidence, lifting her head up high. “I have a wonderful friend who has the most beautiful soul in the history of the world! And I think beauty is very subjective. Just look at Zinia, many people wonder how she made it to the finals but here we are!”

“I swear, I'll pour a bucket of yellow paint over your head!!” Zinia’s done being emotional. Now she will fight. Before she can rush toward her on stage, she is stopped by Violet and Kanade, each of them pulling one of her arms, urging her to calm down.

“We do love some drama! Now, judges! And please, we need you to actually rate her answers, not anything else…” Liko already anticipates her words will likely fall on deaf ears.

“I found her speech on health to be incredibly genuine. Once I rule the world, you shall be the World Minister of Health Care! 4!” Silveria raises her card.

Zhang stares at his mobile phone, engrossed in the game. He holds up a card with a number 8 on it.

“Zhang, try a different card, that one cannot be used in this round,” Liko’s vein pulsates on her forehead.

He then proceeds to replace the card with a 4, not even realizing what he is holding.

“Hmmm, I was actually listening to your answers. A solid 4 from me.” Diantha proclaims loudly.

“No, you weren’t.” Zhang exposes her while not taking his eyes off his mobile screen. “Damn! I lost!” He rages, slamming the phone on the table.

“Geez, you don’t have to slam that phone like that!” Diantha jumps, startled by the loud noise.

“I do have to,” Zhang retorts.

“Thank you for your valuable opinions, judges, now, Zinia of 1.B, please come switch with Eleona!”

As they exchanged gazes while switching positions, frowns adorned their faces.

“This is your debut as well! How do you feel?” Liko inquires.

“I cannot be swayed by her primitive mockery,” Zinia says confidently.

“Well, you know the questions, we just need to hear your answers!”

“My greatest wish is to be rich! Richer than rich! Filthy rich! I want to be a billionaire! No… even more than that!” She declares proudly, not even caring to look around herself for any reactions.

Laughter erupts throughout the hall, but Zinia remains unaffected.

“5 out of 5! Finally, a woman who openly admits that all they care about is money, Lanboorjeany and coc-“

“It’s not the evaluation time yet!” Liko cuts Zhang off before he utters something outrageous.

“5 out of 5!!!” He insists, raising the card higher.

“Whatever… on to the second question, Zinia?”

“I think that ultimate form of happiness is a lot of money. Because money buys you freedom, you have potentially infinite possibilities in your life. I want to be the freest girl in the whole world!”

“Look, Eleona, she sounds like the MC from None Piece!” Ravel looks at Eleona but she wears a sad expression as her eyes are getting wet. “E-Eleona…?”

“They all just laugh at her not knowing anything about her situation at all.” Eleona speaks in a serious voice as she conceals her tears from Ravel.

“And the final question for you! What is your take on appearance and beauty?”

“Heh… If you have money, you can be as pretty as your bank account allows it. You can buy beauty these days. But some people can’t afford it. I don’t think it would help Eleona much, but at least it might make things bearable.” Zinia doesn’t want to owe anything to Eleona after the earlier altercation.

“I suppose I deserved that, hahah.” Eleona chuckles, accepting the jab.

“Alright ! Judges? Except for Zhang…” Liko looks at Zhang who is still holding the card with 5 points in the air.

“Hmmm, which card have I not used yet? … This one!” Diantha trying to calculate on her fingers raises the card with 5 points.

“Wow, that looks like we could finally get a perfect score? Let’s see what our Queen has got on her mind!”Liko hypes up Silveria who stares intensely at Zinia.

“Awww, I must appreciate your honesty~. Part of me wants to give you a perfect 5, which I wouldn’t ordinarily do…” Silveria places her finger on her bottom lip, assuming her wicked witch persona again, “But that was disgustingly plain! A part of me wants to give you a 1! Thus, a 3 it is!”

Liko records Silveria’s score on the paper. Silveria switchs back to her usual smile that other people call nothing but ‘bitchy’.

“Zinia, you must be proud! This brings your average score to the highest so far! Thank you! Now a big round of applause for our first male contestant in the history of the Beauty Contest! Welcome Ravel from the class 2.A!”

Liko attempts to incite applause from the audience but he gets booed at instead.

Yeah, that’s to be expected. But where is Fantasia so long?! It’s gonna be her turn soon! Ravel slowly walks on the stage.

“Where’s your purse, little girl?” Ares suddenly jeers at Ravel with the intention to belittle him. The audience bursts into a collective laugh.

“You’re still here? You were surprisingly silent while your girlfriend was on the stage.” Yutaka confronts him.

“None of your business.” Ares doesn’t take off his eyes from Ravel even when speaking to Yutaka.

“So, brave man, here are your questions! Make every word you speak be etched into history!” Liko hands him the microphone, which he takes and clutches tightly.

“I do have a wish. No, it’s more like a dream to me. I dream of a world where people wouldn’t judge people based on their appearance, physical imperfections or other circumstances.”

Both Zinia and Eleona watch him without making a single sound. Perhaps, the words hit home.

“I dream of a society that values inner beauty and appreciates the uniqueness of individual,” He speaks to the audience, unwavering in his convictions. “As for the second question, I thought about it a lot. And I think there’s one form of happiness that could be considered as the ‘ultimate form’. That’s making people around me happy and fulfilled. When everybody is happy, I am happy, too.”

“How nice~.” Seko and Yutaka exclaim in unison.

“That’s wonderful, man! So what do you think about the appearance and beauty? Do they matter?”

Ravel pauses, contemplating Liko's question. After a moment of reflection, he answers resolutely, his voice resounding clearly through the venue's speakers.

“Yes. Unfortunately, appearance does matter and I’m tired of pretending it does not.”

The atmosphere in the vestibule grows tense.

“And don’t you act so surprised. From this place, I challenge all of you! If what I’m saying is not true, then prove it! Prove me wrong with your votes! You cowards know very well what I’m talking about!”

Ravel’s intensity in voice grows stronger with each sentence.

“I have decided to go up against the whole world for a single girl and I’ll see it through!”

CHAPTER 18: END