The Last Day of School

After the direct question from Ravel, Yutaka sits down, sighing. “It’s not that I hate her… it’s just. I don’t know. Sometimes I simply feel like talking to other people that I like more.”

“Is it because you don’t find her pretty? She’s trying to fit so hard with you, she endures Seko’s faces he makes around her, she accepts any comments you guys have and she always laughs them off.”

“Look, of course I don’t find her pretty. She’s a 5/10 for me, I won’t lie to you.”

“I’m talking to you now because you’re the most rational one among the four of us. How can you let her appearance dictate how you perceive her as a person? How can I make the whole world accept her if I can’t do it with this small world… with my inner circle?”

“I really don’t think anything bad. I simply don’t have the urge to talk to her or be with her.”

“But I dreamed of going for trips together, I wanted all of us to have girlfriends and be one big happy family.”

“And why do you think it’s not feasible now?”

“Because you don’t like Fantasia. You treated her so weirdly during the games…”

“Look. She’s your girlfriend and I accept her as that. I think that you have it backwards. You’re not going to make the entire world fall for her. Sometimes, there are individuals who simply don’t feel certain way.”

“Yutaka…”

“But! That doesn’t mean I hate her. Quite the opposite. You’re just oversensitive towards her because you love her. I promise that I view her as a good girl, despite how she appears to me. Besides, I am the guy who liked Silveria when everybody else deemed her repulsive. What other proof do you need that it’s not about Fantasia being unattractive, but about me not finding her unattractive?”

“I value your honesty. What you say makes sense. If you started being fake, you wouldn’t be the same Yutaka I know.”

“Just give us time, we’ve known each other for only couple of months.”

“Yeah, you’re right…”

“By the way, how is the writing going?”

“Yesterday, I didn’t sleep much, but I made a significant progress… this is going to be huge.”

***

30th June, Friday. The last school day has finally arrived. All students from Bratislava High School have gathered in the vestibule where the Beauty Contest took place.

The principal of the school, an older man with grey hair and glasses, gives a ceremonial speech to close the year 2022/2023.

The group from yesterday’s Gaming Guilt is seated in the first row that is usually reserved for student council, Beauty Queen or honorary students. Ravel used the situation and made Silveria pull some strings and let them sit together in the first row, since for today, she has to obey the winners of the ‘Accused’ game. Speaking of Silveria, she’s just getting some snacks from the school buffet, as instructed by Seko, a member of the Light Faction.

After principal’s speech, Zinia, the reigning Miss Bratislava High School, is asked to say a few words.

She walks gracefully towards the speaker’s desk, with her green hair still styled in a ponytail, but something feels different about her.

“Hey, she’s not wearing the tiara, how come?” Ravel asks a rhetorical question.

Silveria returns to her seat with all the snacks.

“These are my favorite! You’re such a good girl for bringing these to us, President~,” Seko teases Silveria and enjoys the fact he can command her for today.

“I’ll kill you. Starting tomorrow, you better be aware of your surroundings,” Silveria’s demonic glare pierces Seko’s heart.

“You were the one to suggest this, so accept the consequences!” Seko retorts.

“Dear students, it is my pleasure to have the honor of speaking to you after such a difficult year at Bratislava High. It was difficult especially for me, the first year, having to accommodate to a new environment after the elementary school and getting to know with a lot of different people. But I was lucky, for I had my best friend right next to me the whole time, though the path toward her was full of thorns.”

Zinia glances at Eleona with her purple eyes, which makes Eleona a little emotional.

“However, it didn’t take long to understand that I was not alone and I made a lot of different friends.”

Zinia continues her speech and looks through the audience in the first row, where Ravel and Fantasia are seated as well, right next to Eleona.

“Where’s her boyfriend?” Seko asks Yutaka who points him at the direction a little further above where Ares is seated.

Ares, noticing their staring, gives them his usual cold look. But when he spots Ravel a little more to the right, he immediately softens, smiles happily and waves at him, with Ravel waving back.

“I believe that the story of searching for myself applies to other first years as well. But I’m a living proof that you can do anything you set your eyes on! I am the Beauty Queen, after all! Which takes me to the last point of my speech.”

Almost entire vestibule listens to her words carefully.

“You may have noticed that I am not wearing my tiara. That’s because… I sold it.”

‘She sold it??’

‘She did say she was poor but this is fucked up.’

‘How could she do that?’

‘That tiara has been passed down for generations!’

The audience is horrified by Zinia’s revelation.

“SHUT UP, PLEBS!!” Silveria stands up and yells at the whole vestibule which immediately goes silent. “Let your Queen explain herself! Do you think she would do it without principal’s and student council’s approval?!”

“Thanks, President. We put the tiara at auction just on Wednesday and it was gone for a huge amount of money the very next day. The money the school received will be sent to charity.”

“But what about the next Beauty Contests? I think that tiara was very cute,” Fantasia says to Ravel.

***

Ravel and Zinia talk secretly at the rooftop of the school.

“I’ve heard the student council approved the rebranding of the whole Beauty Contest. You’ve got the authority to do something about it now, are you going to?”

“I already expressed my opinion in my victory speech at the contest, that a certain little bitch deliberately missed,” she scolds him with her laser glare. “I liked the idea of searching for the personality and not a beauty queen. But you’re doing this only for Fantasia, right?”

“Yes… I’m sorry for being so selfish. But she’s probably not going to join the contest next year, so the new first years that will come here in September will not see her greatness just how the whole school witnessed it. And I want to make sure nobody focuses on her appearance. We have to teach the new generation.”

“I never want any younger girls to feel inferior because of some ‘beauty flaws’, just like I did. So naturally, I’ll support this for my own reasons. The new project shall be called…”

***

“…Personality of the School Year!” Zinia speaks to the audience, her eyes sparkling with optimism.

“The students will be evaluated based on their personalities, contributions to the school society, skills, studies and other important factors. The appearance is not going to play any role! And on top of that, since the official title will no longer have ‘queen’ in its name, now it should be much clearer that such a contest will be fit for any gender!”

‘I actually like this!’

‘Yeah, I can finally be motivated to join more clubs and out more effort into studying!’

Zinia’s speech is resonating with the students.

“The sooner you announce your candidacy, the more points you can gather, because your endeavor will be watched closely throughout the whole school year.”

The entire venue erupts in an applause.

“The sold tiara is a symbol of how seriously the school authorities take this matter, and there’s no turning back!”

“Woohoo, that’s gonna be so amazing!” Fantasia can’t help but to feel excited.

Thank you, Zinia, for making my dream come closer to reality, Ravel claps loudly with his hands along the crowd.

***

After all the formalities were done, the students moved from the vestibule to their classrooms one last time this school year to get their year-end school report.

Ravel, Fantasia, Yutaka, Seko, Zhang, Eleona, Silveria and Leanna promised to meet in front of the school entrance before heading their own separate ways.

“Exactly seven days from now, we’ll meet at that place!” Ravel excitedly reminds them of the plans they made.

“I’m so happy!! The eight of us have grown quite close!” Fantasia can’t contain her excitement.

“Eight…?” Ravel dashes to the streets, making everybody else surprised at his sudden departure.

Having a certain bus stop in his mind, he feels that there’s still somebody missing.

CHAPTER 36: END