Pushing Through

“Ahahah, we’re not here to answer your questions, sweetie!”

Liko does her job perfectly, responding well as if this was a confrontation between a politician and a journalist.

“S-sorry, I got carried away a little! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Fantasia bows multiple times in a row to Liko.

“No, no, no, it’s quite alright! It’s your right to answer any question anyhow you want, I’m sorry for pressing you into the answers I wanted to hear, that was very unprofessional of me!”

“No, no, no, you did nothing wrong!” Fantasia counters Liko, bowing to her two more times.

“Well then, let’s ask our judges for the last time in the first round what they thought about your creative answers!”

Diantha grits her teeth, glaring at Fantasia. Her hand is trembling and she reluctantly raises her card, revealing a number 2.

“Woah, I was almost certain she’d give her a 1!” Ravel is surprised to see a better score than he anticipated.

“Looks like even Diantha liked her answers,” Eleona remarks with a smile.

“Eeeh… I mean, that last answer wasn’t really an answer. But if stars can be different, you can be different,” people don’t really understand his thought processes and reasoning, but at least Zhang understands Zhang, revealing a card with 3 points.

“Well, at the very least he didn’t give her a score as low as mine…” Ravel feels relieved but that feeling would soon transform into the feeling of anticipation. So, Silveria, you’re the most important person right now, Ravel hopes for the best.

“You truly showcased a different perspective on these stereotypical questions. You’re a little dumb, haha. But royalty does need a clown in their kingdom.” Silveria gives out a perfect 5 for the first time during the event.

“Woah~! I didn’t think she would be actually willing to give anybody a perfect score!” Kanade, knowing her rival, recognizes this as an unprecedented situation.

“Yes!!!” Ravel, Leanna and Eleona all jump from their seats with excitement.

Ravel and Eleona look confused at Leanna who joined this act. What happened between these two?

“Fantasia, sweetie, you can assume your seat now. And on the screen behind me, now we will see the ranking of our contestants after the first round! Don’t forget, points are a culmination of starting points of each finalist plus the average score of the points from our judges!”

Contestants, judges and audience all eagerly push the screen with their eyes to load faster. After a few seconds filled with excitement, the scoreboard reveals the new ranking, starting with the last place.

Rank 8 - Lucy of 2.C – 1 point (Disqualified)

Rank 6 – Violet of 3.B & Leanna of 2.C – 5 points (tied)

Rank 5 – Kanade of 4.A – 8 points

Rank 3 – Ravel of 2.A and Eleona of 1.B – 9 points (tied)

Rank 2 – Zinia of 1.B – 10 points

Rank 1 – Fantasia of 1.B – 11 points

“T-this is unreal, I’m actually leading a scoreboard of a Beauty Contest!” Fantasia cannot contain her disbelief marked by excitement.

“I knew you could do it!” Ravel wraps his arms around her.

“Hmph, this means nothing, it’s just the first round,” Zinia says indifferently.

“Looks like we should take our rivals more seriously, eh, Vice Miss?” Violet smirks at Kanade.

“I won’t underestimate anyone anymore,” Kanade as the defending Vice Miss declares.

“I’m s-so happy for you, big sis!” Leanna isn’t even concerned about her ranking anymore.

“You see? I have always believed in you, babe!” Eleona expresses her genuine happiness with Fantasia’s rank.

“But no, this is all just because the judges were very subjective…” Fantasia does make a point.

“Let’s leave now, Yutaka, this is bullshit,” Seko pulls his shoulder.

“Huh?” Yutaka’s still gazing at Silveria in a dream-like state, not having looked at the screen yet.

“At least you’re very happy, right?” Seko looks behind to confirm if Ares is satisfied with the ranking of his girlfriend, Zinia.

Ares’ facial expression says it all. His face is illuminated by sparkles and a shining smile.

“Ugh, I guess you are…” Seko concludes.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen! It’s time for the second round! In this round, the contestants can be awarded maximum of 5 points yet again! But they need to captivate the audience and judges with any skill or entertaining act they possess! The order of our contestants is again determined by their rank! So Violet, would you please be so kind?”

“Eehh, this is going to be so boring~, I hate all the singing and dancing shenanigans that everybody always showcases,” Silveria expresses her distaste, already dreading what was to come.

Violet comes forward and takes the microphone, “I’m going to show you how accurately I can predict future.”

“Oh? The stage is yours,” Silveria’s eyes glitter.

“All of you will award me with either 1, 2, 3 or 4 points,” Violet smirks slyly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ravel asks for clarification.

“I think I know,” Kanade offers the explanation, “if they do give her 1, 2, 3 or 4 points, they are going to prove her ‘prediction’ right. But in that case, they will have no choice but to rather give her 5 points! It kind of creates a paradox. And if they do award her 5 points, her prediction is going to be incorrect, rendering the points unearned. But that shouldn’t matter anymore because she just wants to gather the points!”

“That’s pretty awesome~! She isn’t showing them her ability to predict future but rather her wits!” Fantasia recognizes the ingenuity in Violet’s approach.

“Well, what are you going to d- WHAT?!” Violet’s face is struck with a shock when all of the judges simultaneously raise cards with number 2.

“Are you mocking your Queen?!” Silveria pops a vein on her forehead, transitioning into her other personality soon after, “E-ehm, it’s alright sweetie, you tried. You guessed correctly, but it wasn’t that mind blowing, sorry~.”

“Hmph!” Violet hurries back to her seat, mumbling to herself, “Whatever, the first two rounds are just for the show anyways!”

“Now that was embarrassing, better luck next time, Violet!” Liko, undeterred by the previous anticlimax, invites Leanna to showcase her skills.

“W-wish me luck!” Leanna says to Fantasia as she walks up to Liko, not taking the microphone to her hands but rather just leaning her body to the microphone, “T-this is a trick I p-practiced a lot lately.”

She gets down on the floor, assuming a plank-like position with her hands firmly placed on the floor, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Her body aligns in a straight line, as she pushes against the floor, the muscles on her chest, arms and shoulders tighten. Making her first push-up, the short sleeves on her school uniform rip.

“W-what’s she doing?” Zinia raises an eyebrow at the sight of Leanna doing push-ups.

“She wasn’t this ripped before,” Ravel recalls memories of her from the year ago.

“So you watched her body before, eh~?” Fantasia nudges her elbow against his ribs with a smug face.

“N-no, I didn’t mean it like that!!”

“I’m going to do thousand push-ups, p-please watch me! 11, 12, 13…” Leanna’s determination proves how strong her body is as she counts each repetition.

The whole venue starts cheering for her, as the whole crowd joins the counting.

“Whooo, that girl’s gonna be mine one day! She exercises!” Seko obviously doesn’t want to leave anymore.

Does he have a choice though? The event is mandatory to attend since it is being handled through a regular school day. It’s either this or the school studies as usual.

“I always thought you were going after Zinia with all that attention you were giving her,” Yutaka says nonchalantly.

“What? Big Ears? No, no, I’m certainly not!” Seko protests while his own ears turn red.

They both realize Ares is sitting right behind them but he seems to be focused on Leanna’s push-ups.

“Dad…” he mumbles for himself.

“31! 32! 33!” The whole vestibule keeps counting; Leanna doesn’t seem to even break a sweat.

“Okay, okay, let’s stop this! You proved your point, little Leanna! You shall be my personal royal guard in this kingdom!” Silveria stops the presentation of Leanna’s skills, raising a card with a number four.

“Even if your hair is not yellow, I must admit you’re not a weakling, so 4 points,” By ‘yellow’, Zhang means his obsession with blonde girls.

“I see I didn’t break you the first time. What- No. Who did help you to stand on your feet? No matter, I will break your spirit sooner or later!” Diantha awards her with a mere 1 point again.

Standing up from the floor and wiping a single bead of sweat from her forehead, Leanna claims the microphone from Liko.

“Y-you won’t make me cry anymore, because I was empowered by the strongest and prettiest soul in this w-world!” Leanna’s gaze shifts to a smiling Fantasia.

CHAPTER 20: END