149 Chapter one, 2016, the value of friends: 10 (1/2)

Kyoko stared at the bulletin board. 'Is this a joke?'

Signed by the student council the short-list for the beauty contest sat neatly nailed to the official slot only the council could use.

During the last days' worth of frantic planning she recalled voting for Kuri, and mostly out of loyalty, for Yukio as well. She felt some heat rising to her cheeks. In her world he deserved a spot among the five, but she also preferred having him to herself without any competition.

She read the list of girls again. Kuri-chan first with close to a third of all votes, but that was expected. That she'd end up the winner was a given. After her name Kyoko read a second year unknown to her. Hitomi-chan's name after that wasn't exactly a great surprise, and after their show of strength ending the bullying attempt, neither was Noriko's. The last name, however was a major surprise.

'Why the hell am I on that list?'

There had to be something wrong, and she hoped it would be cleared up soon. As an afterthought she threw a look at the boys' list as well.

Ryu's first with over ten percent of all votes and after him, with almost as many, Nao-sempai's name looked down at her. So far no surprises. Urufu at third place would have been an impossibility a few months earlier, but given his rising fame the last weeks Kyoko wasn't really all that surprised to find his name there.

The list petered out with two third years as unfamiliar to her as the second year girl.

'I just have to find the clown who put my name on that list tomorrow morning, before the real voting starts.' But first she needed to join the rest of the club.

An hour of negotiation earlier that evening, between headship, student council and the club saw Urufu in charge of patrolling the school grounds in addition to his other chores.

Kyoko remembered watching the first real quarrel between Kuri-chan and Urufu before she left for home to wash and collect some clothes in a bag before returning to school.

Her parents scowled, but the signed slip from Principal Nakagawa was enough to silence their protests, and now she was back in school with the underwear and toiletry needed for two nights on a hard floor.

After making her way up the stairs she walked through the empty corridor and slid open the door to their club room.

'What on earth?'

The lounge area had given way to a sea of futons, air mats and closed foam pads.

”When did this happen?” she asked into the air.

”Dunno, but I know Hamarugen-san is who happened,” a voice answered. There was a tinge of awe in it.