Chapter 54: Beauty Contest Preliminaries
11:00. After Tanaka-kun and I finished watching Yukari-san's documentary, the film club's exhibition time in the gymnasium ended, so we returned the equipment and entrance signboard to the film club's clubroom.
The signboard gets carried as-is to the front of the film club's clubroom and reused.
As Tanaka-kun watches the documentary looping, he mutters under his breath,
Tanaka: "The reaction was better than I expected, and it turned out great. And I think it's going to make waves, but this isn't good, is it."
Yeah, that's true.
"Yeah, it's not fair, is it."
That's right—the beauty contest participants can only promote themselves during the 12:00 PR time and the main event.
Well, there are some girls who just go, 'I'm entering! Wish me luck!' but something like this documentary, which is almost like an official commercial, feels like it's almost cheating.
If it's just a class or club cheering someone on, that's one thing, but after seeing this documentary, almost everyone will probably vote for Yukari-san.
This time, entering the contest was only supposed to be a "maybe okay if we start filming a documentary?" thing, but Yukari-san actually got entered without her even knowing—total irregularity.
Tanaka: "So, I'm not going to make any more documentaries that basically turn into personal commercials. It was fun and turned out great, though, you know? ...Class 6 is really sly... Tomonaga-san, you're going to do the PR in a maid outfit next, right? Clever... but almost too clever, it feels kind of calculated."
He's a little irritated. He probably doesn't like his work being used for profit as the director.
We chat a bit, and then Tanaka-kun and I head together to the event venue in the courtyard, where the beauty contest preliminaries, the advance PR, will start at noon.
I wonder if Yukari-san isn't nervous?
☆ ☆ ☆
The event venue in the courtyard is pretty packed.
This advance PR is important. This, along with the PV filmed earlier, will be played nonstop in the event venue all the way until tomorrow's main event.
This beauty contest is contested by up to nine people per year, max eighteen.
Apparently, it hardly ever hits the maximum.
Most people are either super confident or just joining for the memory.
They say it gets pretty heated every year.
By the way, the top girl in each year gets the title of Miss Year 1, Miss Year 2, or Miss Year 3.
The overall winner receives the prestigious title of Miss Hokusho, and in that case, the Miss Year title is left vacant.
By the way, last year's Miss Year 1 was our very own Tendou Airi-senpai.
Voting is done with tickets given at the event venue entrance today and tomorrow, and the vote count decides the winner.
Even after entry is closed, you can still watch, but you can't vote. Since the courtyard only has one entrance, to keep people from getting multiple tickets, you have to return your ticket when you leave.
Apparently, there was cheating in the past.
Of course, you can't just abandon your class's booth, so even if people are cheering, not every class or club member can come—hence this rule.
That's why it's important to see how many free guests you can attract.
This year, there are twelve contestants in total.
Four from each grade.
Starting with the first-years, they put on their appeal outfits, walk across the stage, face the camera, announce their class and name, and say a word. This is recorded and played on an endless loop.
It's an important appeal time.
And then, the time arrives.
The girl from the broadcasting club serving as MC declares the opening, and it's finally starting!
First up: the first-years.
...She's a beautiful girl.
...Yeah, she's cute.
Third up among the first-years—
Satsuki...
Satsuki does her appeal time in the class's maid café outfit.
She's walking properly... But she seems a little off her game compared to usual.
Satsuki: "1-5, Mishima Satsuki! My friends entered me without asking! Nice to meet you! Please check out the maid café, too!"
Satsuki uses a higher-pitched voice than usual to highlight her cuteness, bows, and takes her place as the third contestant.
Next up, it's finally Yukari-san... Is she going to be okay?
It's Yukari-san!
Wait, is she...? No, she's nervous... Her face is pale, and her movements are stiff?
Are you okay?
Yukari-san is also competing in Class 6's maid café maid uniform!
Her walk is a little rigid, but... yeah, she's doing it properly!
It's Yukari-chan!
Go for it, Yukari-chan!!
She's stunningly beautiful!
You can do it!
Yukari-san is startled by the cheers from the crowd! When she realizes it's support, she bows her head. Cheers erupt for Yukari-san!
Satsuki is visibly irritated...
Whew. I take a deep breath and look ahead.
Yeah, you're fine! That confident look! Go for it!
Yukari: "1-6, Tomonaga Yukari! My friends entered me without asking! Nice to meet you! Oh, and please come visit the maid café too!"
She got through it! Thank goodness!
Tanaka-kun mutters,
Tanaka: "Class 6 is really sly. I bet they figured Tomonaga-san might be too nervous to remember her line or say it right, so they told her to copy the exact line from Mishima-san in Class 5 right before her."
I thought, ah, that's it!
"...You're right, same greeting. And the same maid uniform, so it's a real head-to-head showdown."
Tanaka: "That's the thing, the maid uniforms are different. I think Mishima-san's is the standard maid outfit the class shares. But the one Tomonaga-san is wearing is probably her own custom maid outfit, slim cut, with accents on the sleeves and collar—a made-to-order piece, right? It's like general-purpose unit versus custom unit!"
You noticed all that? Wow!
"Yukari-san said she had it made to fit her planned post-diet measurements. That's why it shows off her figure—she said it made her nervous."
Tanaka-kun nods, his eyes laser-focused on Yukari-san... Don't stare at her like that.
Tanaka: "But there's a big difference in presence between models in a tense outfit and a loose one. Tomonaga-san's fitted chest... It's on display! That's after dieting, too! ...Uh, sorry, Kousuke-kun? Don't glare at me like that?"
Maybe I'm just biased.
But there's no doubt Yukari-san is the cutest!
I hate to admit it, but Satsuki is a close second.
But, side by side, even the maid uniform itself looks cuter on Yukari-san. Satsuki looks kind of desperate.
With the same maid outfit, Yukari-san can finally compete head-on with Satsuki in terms of beauty and figure.
Yukari-san was nervous at first, but now she seems to radiate confidence.
She's come so far...
Even as all the beauties from the second and third years line up, I couldn't take my eyes off Yukari-san standing proudly on her big day.