Face-off

When Chiharu showed me her phone, I was shocked to see what it contains.

I forgot, the competition between Enju and Yuki is today.

That explains why the club has been locked.

Looks like I owe Chiharu a treat.

" So where is this place held again? " I asked Chiharu who's idling on her phone.

" Oh, um.. " she trailed, " It's not really a far, it's on the stage. Not far from school. "

I hummed in acknowledgment and continue looking around, finding that I'm actually lost here, " Hey Chiharu?" She looked up from her phone.

" You're not going to find your way to the stage are you?" I chuckled at her embarrassed expression.

She sighed loudly but nodded yes and I ruffled her hair before walking off towards where I'm suppose to be heading.

As expected, the auditorium was right behind our school, just as we've said, the stage looks quite big, with an open area and people sitting around. I saw some familiar faces so I quickly ran over there, making sure to greet them first of all.

It's been a while since I've been to this kind of event.

" There you are, and Chiharu's here too great " Rika smiled as she offered us a seat.

I sat at the available space, and now in between of Chiharu and Rika.

" Where's Sophie? " I asked.

" Sophie? Ah, she's helping Yuki to set up at the back. " That explains why I haven't seen them.

" What about Eri? "

Suddenly a head of someone rest on top of mine, it was Eri , " Eri, I know you said you'll help out but did you forget we're having a competition today? " I teased her which earned me a pout and a glare.

She then stood up straight, " Sorry, I guess I got a little distracted by something else."

" But you're late too! " As when the battle was lost, the war wasn't over for her.

What a great comeback by Eri.

" In fact, it's Sophie who only helped Yuki today. " We all nod in unison.

I kinda feel bad for Yuki.

As I think about Yuki, I caught a glimpse of Enju who looked at the us.

She seemed to be searching for someone as she kept looking from one direction, to another.

Suddenly her eyes landed upon me and I could see that she wanted to come and talk to me.

Before I could move my hand, I hear a voice.

" Hey, look! Isn't that one of the judge from that one famous show? " I heard Rika ask and everyone turned their heads, except for myself.

They were probably talking about one of the shows that is going famous.

I was completely focused at Enju, who seemed to be uneased.

I was thinking if I should approach her or leave her alone, I thought for a moment that would be better.

But my curiosity won me over so I decided to go to her.

I don't know why I decided that but I just felt like I have to talk to her and that she needed to hear it.

" Hello... "

Enju immediately turn her head around, surprised to see me, " Hey... " she greeted me as she scratched the back of her neck awkwardly, I couldn't help but chuckle as she did so.

" What's so funny?" she asked me as she gave me the side eye.

Something's wrong with Enju today.

Normally she'll say something like.

" Ha? Why did you come here? "

" I don't need it. "

" No, don't even try. "

But her being pushy was out of the picture, is it perhaps that she's nervous?

No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't figure out why she was acting this way.

The longer I stared into her eyes, the more I notice her face was slowly turning pink.

She seems uncomfortable and shy.

" Umm... " she trailed again as she glanced at her surroundings nervously.

" Anyway, is there anything you want to say? I'm gonna have to perform. " There was no sign of hostility on those words, only the opposite.

Instead of saying anything, I simply nodded.

" I came here to say, goodluck. " I said with a smile on my face.

I noticed that her cheeks were now flushed red.

With a small nod, I watched as she goes at the back at the room.

Why did she have to act so weird?

When I finally finished cheering Enju, I found Yuki and Sophie staring at me from the sides.

" Womanizer will always be a womanizer. " Sophie shrugs.

However, Yuki seemed to have a pained expression.

Is she jealous?

Yuki's so stunning in her dress.

The color looked so soft and fluffy, it almost looks white.

The silver heels were so beautiful.

" Hey, is there something bothering you?" I ask her gently.

I can tell she's bothered by what happened earlier.

" It's nothing important... " within those words, I could definitely feel that Yuki is mad at me.

" Goodluck, Yuki. " I grasped her hands, and smiled.

Her eyes widen slightly before nodding in agreement.

Afterwards, I went back to my seat next to Rika and took a sip of juice.

" Where did you go? Did you have a stomach ache? " Rika teased.

" No, I just went to cheer them up. "

I replied casually.

" Hm? " I sensed a displease tone from Chiharu.

" What's wrong, Chiharu? You look upset." I turned my gaze to her direction.

It seems that she saw through me.

" Actually, I was worried about Enju." I admitted.

" Why? " It caught their attention.

I shook my head and sigh, " Well, no one's cheering for her. But also she's my friend too. "

Rika looked away and nods, " Fair enough. "

Suddenly Eri made a noise.

" Urgh, the seat here is too bad. " She stood up and goes to us.

We looked at her, " What's wrong? " I noticed that she was looking at me specifically.

That's when she sat on my lap.

" Oi, what the heck?! " Chiharu suddenly shouted in anger, " Don't sit on him like that! "

Eri didn't seem bothered, instead she just smirked at her.

" Jealous~? " She cooed.

Chiharu blushed furiously.

As if this wasn't bad enough, Chiharu decided to play with the fire more.

Taking the cup I was drinking on and gave it a taste.

" This cup will do. " She grinned devilishly.

My eyes widened in shock as I tried to grab the drink away from her.

" Stop drinking! " I yelled.

Rika just gave me an amused look as nods repeatedly.

" I see, I see! " Yuki shouted.

What's with this fanatic and the two cats.

I, Akabe is now being cursed on by the stare of my other classmates.

Jealous by the heaven i'm recieving right now.

" Everyone, please welcome our two lovely ladies for this day. " The host spoke taking everyone's attention.

The lights dimmed and a man with black hair started speaking.

" Hello everyone, thank you very much for coming, I'm your host, Tsuruhime Akira. "

My classmates clapped and cheered enthusiastically, " I hope you have all of your hearts ready and prepared for today's performance! " The host said eagerly.

I glanced at the assigned judge, she was clearly strict.

It looks like this is going to be tough for both of them.

Yuki, Enju.

Do you best!

I silently prayed.

Two beautiful ladies snatch everyone's attention.

It was them.

Yuki in a white dress and Enju in black.

They started to resemble Ying and Yang.

Their smiles are bright and happy unlike each other.

And they were both smiling with confidence and pride towards one another.

Both their personalities were shining brighter than usual, giving off a positive aura, and it really suited them.

As for the audience, they were already in awe of their looks.

That even they had forgotten what's the original plan.

That's right, a contest.

But at this point it became a beauty pageant.

From the left side, you could hear the roar of Enju's supporters.

From the right side, you can hear the applause coming from Yuki's fans as well.

All of these combined together created an overwhelming feeling of excitement inside everyone.

" Let the competition begin! " With the sound of the judge's voice, everyone began to scream excitedly.

I, obviously being on the abstain side.

" Wow, Pres really looks beautiful on that. " Rika complimented.

" Of course, i've helped her on that. " When the crowd's noise lowered.

A girl wearing a jacket and a cap approached us.

It was no other than, Sophie.

" So, who wants to bet what's going to happen between them. " She whispered to the girls.

" I'm not betting with either of them, but let's watch first and decide later. " I answered back, " You're no fun. "

Sophie shrugged.

" I mean, I would still pay attention to it, though. " She added after awhile.

Everyone was quiet for a second while pondering whether or not to bet.

" Okay, everyone. Please focus here! " The host called for everyone, presenting us a box.

" This will be our box score, once the contestant presented their act. Please act accordingly and submit your vote. " Hearing this cause a rift for everyone, even at my group.

This only means that, it has finally begun.