Just a little over ten minutes earlier, the stage at Tengu City Plaza had still been wrapped in a heavy, tense atmosphere.
The perforrs from the first day stood onstage, waiting nervously for the announcer's voice.
That was only natural. After all, all performances and voting had already ended, and now they were in the middle of the rankings announcent.
One by one, the winners were announced, and sighs and cheers rose from all around. In contrast, Shido and the others remained tense and rigid.
For them, rely placing well ant nothing. If this performance could not beat Miku, then it was equivalent to defeat.
Because the rankings were being announced from lowest to highest, the nas of Shido's and Yutsuki's performances had not appeared yet. That let them breathe a slight sigh of relief, but it also kept everyone's nerves taut.
"Stage Departnt, third place—Shinjo Municipal Affiliated High School!—Jazz performance!"
The nad school's perforrs erupted in excited cheers, and applause broke out around them.
It was the jazz band that had perford before Shido. Shido also clapped along.
Being chosen for third place proved that the performance had been excellent. As for why his impression felt so vague, it was because Shido had been so focused at the ti that, even though he had been backstage, he had not really retained much of an impression.
But there was one odd thing here. Even though only the top two spots remained, there were still three performances that had not been ranked.
The striking performance by current idol Izayoi Miku.
The miraculous performance by the Raizen High School maid band.
And the extrely passionate solo performance by the girl nad Ryougi Yutsuki.
No matter which of the three had won, it would have been a dominant performance.
In fact, everyone assud that the top three spots would definitely be taken by those three groups.
[Second place!]
As if answering their confusion, the announcer's voice rang out again.
The announcer himself seed sowhat tense, and after a brief pause, he slowly continued.
"By a single step—Raizen High School—band performance!"
When the result was announced, the hall briefly fell silent, and then erupted into wild cheers.
"Shido, we're second place?"
Tohka tugged at Shido's maid dress and asked with a curious look.
"Mm… looks like it."
To Tohka's question, Shido gave a sowhat puzzled tilt of his head.
"But then… only first place is left, right? And the remaining contestants are still Yutsuki and Miku, aren't they?"
He wanted to answer Tohka's question, but the truth was that even Shido himself did not understand what was going on.
Not only Shido, but the audience below the stage also began muttering in confusion.
However, Yutsuki, as though she already understood the outco, wore a victorious smile.
In contrast, Izayoi Miku's face turned visibly dark.
That was not hard to imagine. If only first place remained and there were still two contestants left—
"The next winner of the Stage Performance Departnt's top prize is, unexpectedly—"
The announcer's voice trembled with excitent, but he still continued his explanation.
At the sa ti, all of the lights shone down on Miku and Yutsuki.
[—There are actually two winners!!-Izayoi Miku's concert performance, and—Ryougi Yutsuki's solo vocal performance! Their vote totals matched miraculously, and they share the championship!]
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—!"
Apparently unable to process the announcer's words, the entire hall fell into a brief silence. Then, as though the entire venue itself were shaking, a flood of cheers surged upward like a tide.
Then, all the mbers of the Raizen High School maid band jumped, excitedly, onto Yutsuki—who had changed back into her butler outfit.
"Ah! As expected of my comrade, you really did use the demonic voice of hell to capture those ordinary fools—"
"Astonishing, Yutsuki did a fantastic job!"
"Ooooh—! Yutsuki really was amazing! Let's go eat lon pan together to celebrate!"
"Aweso! Great job, Yutsuki!"
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't all of you pile onto like this! And Shido, don't get so close in that state—back off!"
Struggling free from the four people who had thrown themselves at her, her face red, Yutsuki had a hundred reasons to believe that if she did not do this, this group would definitely start playing a public "Heave—Throw!" tossing celebration ga in a fit of excitent.
So embarrassing!
After quickly straightening herself out, Yutsuki slowly walked over to Miku.
"Ara~Yutsuki-san really is impressive, to be able to tie with in singing."
Although Miku's mood should have been extrely bad, she still forced a smiling greeting to preserve her idol image in front of the public.
"Not at all, not at all. If not for Miku-san's very—care—ful——assistance, I wouldn't have been able to stride onto the stage with such fiery passion. In that sense, I should be thanking Miku-san~"
Yutsuki responded with the sa bright, elegant smile.
Mm… that superb taunt froze Miku's elegant smile in place, as if ti itself had stopped.
"Hey, hey—! Yutsuki, what are you saying?!"
Shido hurriedly tried to stop her.
Only after hearing Shido's reminder did Yutsuki realize that she was not here to argue with Miku. The main goal was to let Shido seal Miku's power. She could not let Miku's mood worsen because of this.
"Well… you're right. Then let's leave this to Shiori-chan to say."
After giving Miku a aningful look, Yutsuki patted Shido's shoulder and handed the word over to him.
Taking that baton, Shido nodded and looked at Miku's face before slowly speaking.
"Miku, we won this match. According to the agreent, we will seal away your Spirit power."
To Shido's words, Miku wore a stiff smile unlike her usual one.
"Ara—what are you talking about, Shiori-san? Yutsuki-san didn't win against , did she? We only tied. In other words… that wager had no winner or loser. It was a draw."
With the kind of stubborn, childish argunt one might expect from a spoiled child, Miku tried to wriggle free. But Shido's expression remained unchanged as he said seriously, "If I rember correctly, what Miku-san said was that the first day's results between the schools would decide the victor."
[The top overall ranking on the first day of Tenou Festival: Raizen High School!!]
As if declaring victory on Shido's behalf, the announcer loudly broadcast the result to the whole venue through the microphone.
For the first ti—no, the second ti—after being strongly denied by Shido and Yutsuki, Izayoi Miku's face once again revealed unease.
According to the announcer's explanation, it seed that this year Rindouji's performance departnt had not done well at all, and neither had their simulation booths. In contrast, Raizen High School had received excellent scores in those areas. Especially one maid café in particular, whose novelty and high-quality food and service had left the competition far behind.
While engaging in a head-on duel, Yutsuki had cleverly seized the opponent's weakness and struck there.
She never overlooked a single factor that could lead to victory, then used it to the fullest. That was Yutsuki's style.
The result was no accident.
—We won.
We won.
We beat Miku. We beat Rindouji.
[—Then, we will now begin the awards ceremony. Please have the representatives from each school co forward.]
The announcer said this and urged the perforrs from the three schools to step forward.
But—
"...Don't ss with . What is this…?"
From behind them ca Miku's trembling voice.
"There has to be so kind of mistake…? How could I possibly lose…?"
Ignoring the announcer's attempt to speak to her, Miku staggered forward with faltering steps.
[U-Um, Miku-san?]
"I—am Izayoi Miku, you know? I… I…"
"Miku…"
Shido placed a hand over his chest, as if calming the pounding of his own heart, and approached her while speaking in a low, tranquil voice.
But Miku flinched violently.
"No… I won the competition! It was all those kids… all those kids who didn't do their jobs properly, that's why this happened!"
"You can't say that. The students of Rindouji worked hard for today too!"
"I don't care! I don't care! I an… I didn't lose…"
"Ah…"
Hearing Miku's words, Shido awkwardly scratched his cheek.
"So this is what they an by… being able to succeed only because you had companions helping you… right?"
"Shido, does saying things like that not make you embarrassed? I've got goosebumps all over ."
Yutsuki looked at Shido with utter exasperation.
"Don't say it out loud—!"
"..panions…"
Miku ground the word out between her teeth, wearing a bitter expression. Shido nodded dramatically.
"Yes. In terms of singing, Miku-san may indeed be superior to us… but the students who helped run the maid café and prepare the other exhibits made up for the difference."
"That's… what is that supposed to an? Don't be absurd… companions…? Hah. They're just lowly humans, aren't they? There's no way they can be so useful…"
"But even humans, as long as they have bonds and connections with one another, can surpass you!"
Seeing Miku growing increasingly uncertain, Shido continued.
"Right? Humans… are interesting too. So Miku, you should also—"
"...tell you.."
"Eh?"
Not having heard what Miku said clearly, he asked again.
"Companions? Bonds…? I'll tell you. Those things are completely aningless in front of …!"
Then Miku suddenly raised her previously lowered face and spread her hands wide.
"—Gabriel!"
The instant Miku's scream echoed through the entire venue, ripples radiated outward from beneath her feet.
As though responding to Miku's voice, a giant tal object rose up from the center of the ripples onto the stage.
The bulky main body was connected to several long silver tubes, giving it a bizarre shape that reminded one of the giant organ installed inside a church.
The audience clearly noticed that this was not part of the performance. Muffled cries and confused voices began to rise all around.
But Miku ignored all of it, sweeping her right hand from left to right. Then, as though tracing the path of her hand, a shining band of light appeared there.
No—calling it a band was perhaps not quite accurate. Along the curve wrapping around Miku's body were several thin black lines, like the keys of a piano or organ.
Though it was unclear what she intended to do by summoning her Angel, it was easy enough to imagine that she ant to create a catastrophic situation for the people here.
"Ah… so it really did co…"
In the chaotic venue, only Yutsuki looked as though she had expected it all along, speaking in a calm tone.
"Yutsuki, you have to stop Miku quickly! But civilians are around… right! Kotori… damn it, why is the line cut off?"
"Mm—calm down, Shido."
Yutsuki patted Shido on the shoulder.
"Yutsuki?"
"At a ti like this, if you panic, what are the rest of us supposed to do? Co on—take a deep breath and calm yourself."
"...Huuuh—"
Whether Yutsuki's thod truly worked, or whether her attitude gave Shido so sense of reassurance, the panic in his heart gradually subsided.
"Mm… looks like there isn't much ti. I'll keep this brief."
Glancing at Miku's side, Yutsuki saw that Miku's Angel was still in the process of unfolding due to its enormous size. Although this would have been the best chance to take her down, Yutsuki did not move—because she still had to rember the purpose of this operation.
"Whatever happens next, please trust !"
"...Yutsuki?"
"Sing—chant—praise—Gabriel!!"
Before Shido could understand what Yutsuki ant, Miku spread her fingers and heavily struck the illuminated keyboard beside her.
After that, the connected silver tubes, after undergoing multiple layers of resonance, spread outward in all directions, producing a trendous sound powerful enough to shake the entire space.
Then, back to the present.
With the aid of her Angel, Izayoi Miku's "voice" had successfully enchanted not only everyone in the audience, but also the Spirits whose power had been sealed.
Because Shidouwas holding the power seals of multiple Spirits inside his body, he himself was not greatly affected. But because everything happened so suddenly, he had let his guard down and was restrained by the perforrs around him. Then, when Miku ca close, she had touched the mysterious♂ bulge under his skirt, thereby exposing his male identity.
In a fit of rage, Miku nearly shouted out a sonic attack that would have obliterated him completely. Fortunately, Tohka had kept her noise-canceling earphones on from her performance and had not removed them, so she had not been captured by Miku. That had allowed her to save Shido.
However, now that Yutsuki was about to fire her cannon, Shido and the others were once again facing the brink of ruin.
[Shido, you already swore that you would beco my family. So I want you to rely on my help, the sa way you rely on Kotori.]
[Whatever happens next, please trust !]
[I already told you I'm perfectly awake—stop moving and stay still, or I'll have a hard ti aiming.]
Suddenly, the words Yutsuki had spoken to him surfaced in Shido's mind.
Sothing seed to spark inside him.
At that very mont, the power gathering in Yutsuki's Ratziel was already reaching trendous levels.
"Shido! It's dangerous, get out of the way!"
"No—just stay where you are and don't move!"
"—Railgun!"
Forcing down the urge to flee that fear had brought on, Shido clenched his teeth and faced the incoming orange beam head-on.
Imdiately after, the scorching heat brushed past him, burning his skin. When he finally opened his eyes, Shido saw that a spot less than twenty centiters beside him had been pierced clean through. The wall of the stage venue had been gouged open by a massive hole. As if it had been burned by temperatures of over a thousand degrees, the steel reinforcent inside the concrete had lted and was dripping down in liquid form.
On closer inspection, one could see that the cannon shot had drilled in a straight line through multiple walls, continuing directly out of the stage.
"Now's our chance, Tohka! Let's get out of here!"
"Oh, oh."
After hearing Shido's shout, Tohka, who was a little slow to react, seed to understand what was happening. She scooped up Shido and rushed out at high speed, escaping through the "shortcut" Yutsuki had carved open.
"Ahh—she let them escape."
Seeing the result, Miku frowned with dissatisfaction.
"Onee-sama, could you stop scratching my back like that? You know, if I lose focus while using this, I can easily shoot off target."
Yutsuki complained with a face full of helplessness and regret.
"Eh? Sorry~ But Yutsuki-san was just so adorable!"
"—Ugh!"
At Miku's teasingly affectionate tone, Yutsuki's face visibly flushed red. Seeing that, Miku's previously displeased mood imdiately brightened.
It was a pity that she had not succeeded in erasing that disgusting insect from the world—but to have captured so many lovely Spirits, with Yutsuki among them, was more than worth it.
After all, there was no doubt about it. They were all cute girls.
"Well then, the job of finding that insect is up to my fans from here on out. Everyone, let's go enjoy a lovely dinner together—"
"Understood, Onee-sama. Then I'll go prepare things first."
With a sharp, crisp, butler-like bow, Yutsuki turned around. Watching her cute figure, Miku suddenly had the feeling of a child who had just bought a brand-new toy and couldn't wait to unwrap it before even getting ho.
Pwet—?
With a playful leap, Miku's full, soft body hung onto Yutsuki, producing a strange sound effect.
"Well… before that, how about the two of us—play together a bit—sothing very—very—plea—sant… waah! Yutsuki-san, why are you bleeding from your nose?!"
"Nothing, Onee-sama! It's just that I've been eating too many overly heating foods lately."
Without changing expression, Yutsuki calmly pulled free from Miku's embrace and took a tissue from her pocket to stop the streaming blood.
…Recalling the sensation of those two ample, springy pillows pressing against her.
"Ah—my nose is bleeding again!"
"Mm? Is your old problem acting up again? Would you like to cast a recovery spell on you?"
"Concern. Should we go to the hospital and have it checked?"
"Yutsuki-san… are you okay…?"
Though I do feel bad toward Shido, right now… I'm feeling pretty happy.
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