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…Two days remained before the school festival.

All of the public entertainment students were finishing up their presentations now, and their last rehearsals would happen the next day. That also meant that Kou’s time there had come to an end.

*We did everything that was possible.*

All Kou could do to prepare herself now was to gather enough courage to perform on stage… And there was something else she had to do.

…It felt like an eternity had passed since the last time she had been in her own classroom.

“Here, Kou. This is what you put on next.”
“Ughhh, these types of clothes are so annoying to wear in real life!!”

Kou was losing her mind at all the clothes Hijiri was passing her. Her current plight involved the finished costume her classmates had prepared, which she would wear for the cosplay cafe they would open during the festival.

Today, they were trying out all the costumes they had prepared. And the clothes they made for Kou were… A blouse with long sleeves and frills everywhere. A puffy skirt with plenty of lace and frills as well.

Everything had been tailored to her exact measurements, so everything felt snug around her body, but despite that, she was still made to wear a tight vest around her waist, almost giving it a military uniform flair. The main color was black with red accents, and it definitely fell within the category of a gothic lolita dress.

It was clear everyone had been exceedingly motivated to work on it, judging by how well it was made.

“How does it feel? We didn’t mess up with the measurements anywhere, did we?”
“No, I’m fine…it’s just…”

The one who was checking on her was Hijiri, whose outfit was a white kimono reminiscent of a snow woman. Kou looked at herself in the mirror and replied with some reserve.

“What exactly is my role going to be…?”
“You’ll be the vampire princess!”
“…I see…”

Kou was not sure how to feel about that response.

*That just feels way too redundant.*

It was almost disappointing that she was a real vampire, but had to cosplay as a vampire too.

Around her, there were others dressed as fairy tale characters like Little Red Riding Hood or Alice, or even werewolves and ghouls.

*And who the hell thought it was a good idea to prepare a succubus outfit too? At least it got banned by the school, which makes sense.*

Her thoughts ran wild as a way to escape reality while she was being dressed up…and before she realized, she was covered in frills.

*I mean, I can’t deny that it looks cute.*

She looked at herself in the mirror again while thinking to herself.

Those types of clothes were made to accentuate everything about a girl’s appearance, so in a way, that already made it a conglomerate of all things cute.

And seen from an unbiased viewpoint, an uncommon dress like that also paired well with Kou’s foreign appearance. The fluffy and puffy skirt also felt strange as it lagged slightly behind her movements, and it was fun to watch herself move in the mirror.

*I’d almost call this deja vu, but I hate that I remember exactly what it is.*

She felt like she had done that before. She had worn a similar dress back during the first ranked tournament in Destiny Unchain Online. Only half a year had passed since then, but somehow it felt like it had been a much longer time ago.

“Oh well… Anyway, thank you for preparing a costume for me too. And sorry again for not being of any help here.”

She turned away from the mirror and addressed her classmates, who had been watching her anxiously for some reason. When she smiled at them, they all let out a collective sigh of relief.

Hearing that made Kou tense up immensely, wondering if she had looked that displeased with it so far, and had to massage her stiffened cheeks. She had to remind herself again that everyone had poured a lot of effort into it for her, and even if she felt their decisions were a bit weird, she was not unhappy with it either.

“Still, it’s pretty amazing to see everyone dressed up like this…”
“I know, and we haven’t put on any makeup yet… Mitsuki, did you tell Haru about the thing?”
“Ah, about that…”

Just as they were about to discuss that…

“Talk of the devil and she shall appear!”

…A girl burst into the classroom.

There was quite an uproar in the class, as that girl was a second year public entertainment student. She…Haru, was in quite high spirits as she had good news for them.

“I talked with the Hairmo girls as Mitsuki requested, and they all agreed to come help for the festival. Quite a few of them were excited about trying out that type of special makeup, actually.”

Everyone in the classroom cheered when they heard that.

…Also, Hairmo was the shortened name of a cosmetology school that often collaborated with the public entertainment students.

Kou had tried to negotiate an agreement with them through Haru, even if Kou did not feel like being a substitute co-host warranted that type of reward. But luckily, everything had worked out perfectly.

Haru looked around the 1-A classroom as they cheered again, nodding in satisfaction…before locking on Kou with a serious look.

“You know, Mitsuki might actually take this year’s Princess Award.”
“That’s the plan!”
“Our Mitsuki will help us beat the public entertainment department for once!”
“Huh? Wait what? Princess…what are you talking about?”

Everyone seemed to know exactly what Haru was talking about, everyone except Kou who was thoroughly confused.

“Umm, I’ve heard about it from my mom actually…”
“Prez, even you know about it?!”

Kou almost shouted that with how unexpected it was, and Kasumi gave a light nod before replying with an unsure voice.

“A little bit, I think. Apparently way back when my mom was a student, there was a bit of an incident with a bunch of visitors voting for a girl that wasn’t even nominated for the school’s beauty pageant.”
“That’s…kinda incredible…”
“Yeah, and apparently that girl was really pretty like some sort of princess. But because of that, the next year they created the Princess Award separate from the beauty pageant, with any girl being able to receive votes. All to avoid a similar incident from happening again. Or at least that’s what my mom told me.”

When Kasumi finished telling the story, she gave Haru a questioning look to verify it was correct, and Haru nodded affirmatively.

“By now the Princess Award has become a tradition of the school festival. I think it was also my mom who told me about all that…”
“And on the other hand, the beauty pageant was completely phased out a while back, but the award is somehow still a thing.”

After Kasumi’s explanation, Haru and Hijiri also provided some additional context. It seemed like that award was a long standing tradition.

“Wait, so that’s why all of you were so excited about these clothes? All to get that award?”
“You got this, Mitsuki!”

The entire class, with Kasumi at the front, cheered her on with a smile. Kou realized there was no running away from those expectations, and could only look down with lifeless eyes.