Chapter 5 – The Belle Fleur in Full Bloom

The happiness I felt when I was chosen as the Tsubomi back then…I could remember it clearly.

I was in my third grade at the time and to me the Belle Fleur wasn’t merely a high schooler or a notable young adult, but an existence close to that of a Goddess.

But, there was another girl who was also chosen as the Tsubomi. A polite and quiet girl, wearing a blue ribbon.

‘I want to become the Belle Fleur! No, I will!’

That smile of hers was the spark for my admiration for the Belle Fleur’s position.

And that became a bitter memory of my first love.

* * *

The last Thursday of November. Everyone in school was talking about the upcoming vote for the Belle Fleur next Monday.

Contrary to the fourth-years who openly showed their excitement, the fifth-years did it in a more subtle way. Then again, I guess they wouldn’t just get all merry and cheery in front of Rui and me.

After school, Ryouko-chan caught me in the hallway, and we just kinda talked while walking.

“Will Saitou-san become the dress coordinator again this year?”

“Ah, yes! When I contacted her, she happily agreed to work with us again! Also, she said that she’ll also need to provide us with the underwear and the accessories that will go along with the dress! And also…uh…she said she needs to take your measurements and stuff, Sara-san. Ah, but there’s a chance that she could only measure it up on short notice, so it’ll be better if you give her the rough measurements beforehand…”

As I listened to Ryouko-chan’s confusing report, I let out a smile accompanied with a “Thank you.” Seeing her smiling sheepishly like this, it was hard to connect her to the same person who did that behind everyone’s back the other day.

“Alright, I’ll be in the meeting room for the rest of the day, so if you need me, just come over, okay?”

“I understand~!”

With that, Ryouko-chan dashed away. As I made my way toward the Cultural Affair Building, I became more conscious about the envelope in my bag.

When I entered the meeting room, Rui was sitting by herself there, flipping through three large files in a row while filling out a form.

“Hello.”

“Ah, hello.”

After we exchanged our greetings, I sat down on a seat a distance away from Rui. Then, I reviewed the work that I had done yesterday, while going over the things that I needed to work on today.

Right, I had to assign who was in charge of guiding the guests to the parking lot. After that, I needed to make a timetable for the reception, then I needed to go to the Broadcasting Club to discuss who’d be the emcee for the event, then I also needed to discuss the flower arrangement with the Gardening Club…

And after I finished those things…

I kept my face locked in the direction of my notebook while moving my gaze upwards towards where Rui was. Her visage as she poured all her concentration in her work made a beautiful painting. Just by her being here, it soothed both my heart and soul. I probably sat dumbstruck there for a few seconds.

“?”

Thanks to that, she noticed my gaze and glanced back at me, tilting her head slightly. I let out an awkward smile, whispering “Later, okay?” to her. Receiving my message, a pretty smile bloomed on her face.

For the next hour and a half, I worked in a relaxed mood. Maybe this was what they said by losing one’s grip on reality?

A lot of people came to Rui, forcing her to postpone her work for a few times, but she never wore a disgruntled look on her face. She treated each and every one of them kindly. Everyone left the room, thanking her with a smile on their faces.

Seeing this appearance of hers, there shouldn’t be anyone in this school who would deny that this it was one that befit the Belle Fleur. Including me.

* * *

After practically everyone had left the school, I brought Rui to the chapel near the auditorium. The same chapel where the Belle Fleur would depart from on her way toward the auditorium during the final event of the Aitan Festival.

This place was big enough to accommodate two classes worth of students. Its ceilings were high, and there were sets of wooden benches neatly set up on either side of the room. Under the stained glass on the back, there was an altar, the place where they would start the ceremonies at.

Barely anyone would come and visit this place outside of such occasions.

The sun had already set, and the lighting inside the chapel wasn’t really reliable, so the place was dimly lit. Thanks to that, it felt like we were in a whole different world even though we were still within the school grounds.

“Why did you bring me all the way here?”

“To set the mood, of course. Don’t you think it’s more romantic this way?”

“Hm, I see. Then, do you want me to play the piano for you? An emotional song would fit the occasion.”

“If you can make a copy of yourself, sure, I’d love to hear some music right now.”

After that short conversation, we walked side by side down the path in the middle of the chapel. We both brought our bags and wore our coats here, so everyone would think that we went home already.

Which meant that we had all the time and space to ourselves, at least until Rui’s pickup came.

Enough time for us to settle this matter once and for all.

I knew that things between us wouldn’t end up on a happy note.

On the contrary, this would end in a really, really painful one…

“Rui.”

I opened my bag and took out the envelope that I had been carrying. Seeing it, Rui’s gentle smile turned stiff as a nervous expression crept up onto her face.

“You said you want a love letter from me, didn’t you?”

“W-Well…s-since you’ve taken the trouble to write it, I-I guess it’s only right if I were to read it, right?”

I handed the envelope to her without saying anything. She received it with both hands, as if it was the most precious treasure in the world. Carefully, she tore the seal open and…

“H-Huh…?”

…Noticed that there was nothing there.

“S-Sara-san? T-This…?”

Unable to understand what was going on, Rui stared at my face. From her expression, it seemed like couldn’t decide what kind of emotion she should show. Anger? Sadness? Or maybe she wanted to brush it off and tease me about my inability to write a simple letter?

Whatever her emotion was, it was irrelevant. Without holding anything back, I told her, who had her back against the stained glass, what was in my mind.

“…’Please be my lover.’”

Those were the words she threw at me back then.

“Looking back, I completely failed to understand the meaning behind those words. At that time, I just took everything that you told me at face value.”

“H-Huh? S-Sara-san…?”

Rui’s expression stiffened. Her eyes widened in surprise as she placed a hand over her mouth.

I knew it.

“Yes. I noticed everything, Rui.”

“…Since when?”

Even at times like this, her low voice still got me going.

“I want to say that I’ve noticed it from the beginning, since it would be cooler that way, but sadly I only noticed it recently…”

I narrowed my eyes as I stared at her. Even in this dimly lit chapel, I could still see her face clearly. Now, I knew the reason why I was so attracted to her, and why I felt like her face checked all the marks for me.

It was all because she was my first love.

“I’ve never thought that I’d become lovers with the only person who’s ever dumped me.”

“…”

Rui averted her gaze from me.

“So, did you think because you once dumped me, you could do whatever you want to me? You could easily make me give in and get me to do whatever you want? Is that how it is? It should also be why you’ve been hiding this from me.”

She shook her head, her blue ribbon swayed in the air.

While my tone sounded like I was accusing her of all this, in truth, I wasn’t actually mad at her. It was my fault for not realizing it in the first place, so I had no reason to complain. Rui was the only one who thought that she was at fault here.

The reason why I did this was because I wanted to know why she had done this in the first place. Knowing her from back then, unless I used some strong words to pressure her, she would just find a way to run away.

And so, the stage was set.

“Because…”

Her voice was a pitch higher than usual, and hearing it pricked my heart a little.

“You’ve forgotten about it, haven’t you, Sara-san?”

Suddenly, she sent me an angry glare. At that moment, I felt my blood being drained from my face. ‘Not now,’ I told myself that, but I couldn’t stop it from happening. My heart started to beat faster and…

I started to spill out the painful emotions I felt back then…

“I’ve been trying to forget it.”

“Such a thing…”

“I don’t want to make myself feel miserable for the rest of my life. Such memories should be buried and forgotten to begin with.”

We had always been up against each other, so exchanging such harsh words wasn’t big of a deal for us. This was what we had always done.

Except that this time, we were determined to settle everything once and for all.

“We were still in grade school, it happened eight years ago, why are you still holding on to it?”

“Me? Holding on to it? Didn’t I tell you that I’ve been trying to forget it? Besides, you’re the one who hid everything away from me. You’re definitely planning something heinous since you went out of your way to do all that.”

I knew she wouldn’t do that. While Rui could be sly and cunning sometimes, she wouldn’t do cowardly things such as that.

Despite everything, we’ve been together for more than a month. Thanks to that, I was constantly reminded of how perfect she was as the Belle Fleur.

Though I knew this in my heart, harsh words kept on flowing out of my mouth, as if it had a mind of its own.

“I didn’t hide it, you never asked! And there’s no reason for me to bring it up anyway! Do you want me to prove it to you?”

“As if. I know how cunning you are, I know that you could just come up with a convenient excuse while we’re arguing like this.”

I could see that she was hurt by my words.

However, she immediately recovered from that. This girl was really good at hiding her emotions that people would unilaterally feel that she was indifferent to anything. But I knew that wasn’t the case. Because right now, she was baring all her hearts to me.

“That is not something I would do. I would never, ever even think of taking advantage of you. But, since you’re going to doubt my words anyway, there’s nothing I can do to convince you.”

“This is exactly the convenient excuse that I was talking about. Just say that you don’t want to be honest with me. That’s why you hid everything—”

“Rich words coming from someone who didn’t even remember anything just a few days ago.”

Seeing the tears welling up in the corner of her eyes, I realized something.

This was the outcome that I wanted.

To lash out at her, showering her with harsh words. As I did that, expressing all the negative emotions in my heart that coexisted in the same space as my adoration for her, Rui shot me a hateful glare.

Those negative emotions kept on coming out of my mouth, and I was powerless to stop them. Once again, I realized that this was probably what I wanted from the beginning.

“Let’s just stop this farce. Tell me, what are you up to exactly? I want to know the reason why you’re doing all this?”

“I didn’t plan anything. Rather, isn’t it you who are up to something? You were the one who gave me this empty envelope for no reason.”

No…I just couldn’t write a love letter for her. She might be deceiving me, planning to ditch me after everything was over, so there was no way I’d be able to open all my heart to her…

But I was unable to say those words out loud, so I selfishly attacked her instead. Because doing this was way easier…

“That’s not what—”

“—Enough.”

Rui walked towards me— no, towards the chapel’s door.

“Good bye.”

Her tone was ice cold.

As if declaring that this was the end of our relationship.

No, this wasn’t the outcome I wanted! I just wanted to know the reason why she was doing all this!

“…”

She passed me by. There was anger and sadness in her gait. Seeing it made my heart ache. Why did I have to go through this pain when she was the one who hid everything from me? This was all her fault…

‘You know, this wouldn’t happen if you didn’t dump me back then!’ I wanted to scream those words to her.

It wasn’t my fault, but hers…

I wouldn’t lose anything if she were to leave anyway. Since she ran away from me, that meant she really was hiding something from me.

Since that was the case, this showdown ended in my victory. My anger was completely justified and Rui was the one who ended up hurting more than I did. After all, she was the one who ran away.

Finally, I defeated Mareshino Rui! Even someone as powerful as her was no match for me!

It was worth getting hurt for this kind outcome!

At that moment, a certain memory flashed in my mind.

‘Sorry!’

After hearing my confession, that girl…my first love…turned her back and ran away.

The sight of her back, running away from me, was etched into my mind.

At that time, I could only stand still, frozen, not knowing what to do, not knowing the reason why she left me just like that.

It was only when I was sitting in the car, on my way back home, that I realized that she rejected my confession. When I was lying down on my bed, I cried, wondering if she had rejected me because we were both girls.

Thinking back, it was truly stupid of me. All I had to do was to chase after her and ask her directly. If I had done that, I wouldn’t be so distressed.

All this year has passed, and I realized that I should not make the same mistake. That was why…

I turned around.

And grabbed Rui’s wrist.

“O-Ow—! Hey!”

She tried to break free, but I tightened my grip so that she wouldn’t be able to. I clenched my teeth as I gave her an intense stare.

“Rui.”

With a determined tone, I called her name.

“This time, I won’t let you go.”

I was someone who constantly fought against all of my ugly desires and emotions just to practice self control.

This much should be nothing for me.

Seeing how determined I looked, there was a hint of fluster on Rui’s face. I grabbed her free hand and brought both of her hands closer to me.

“Why did you hide everything from me?”

“Because—”

“This time, I’ll believe your words.”

To bare your hearts out was always something scary. Especially when you didn’t know if the other person would receive it well. And I had always been having trouble with it, but that was a trivial matter now. I’d rather let my feelings bare than show an uncool side of myself.

Because I was Kureha Sara.

Our eyes met.

“I’ll believe you. Our time together might be short, but I know how sincere of a person you are.”

Rui’s eyes widened.

“T-That’s…”

I loosened my grip on her hand. Even so, she didn’t try to run away. Her eyes swam around, but I could tell that she was trying to gather all the courage that she had.

If this was the kid Rui, like back then, she’d probably try to run away at this point. But like me, she had also grown stronger.

Both of us became more mature. That was why we were picked as the Belle Fleur candidates among hundreds of students.

That was why I believed in her. I believed in Mareshino Rui.

She would definitely tell me everything.

“B-Because…you’ve forgotten…Sara…san…”

Her face contorted, as if in pain.

“W-When we met again back in middle school…I instantly recognized you…but you ignored me, Sara-san…actually, when you confessed to me, I was so happy…but at the same time…I was so scared that I ended up running away…s-so I thought…that you were just mad at me back then…b-but…y-you actually…forgot…”

I listened to her words without saying anything.

As if trying to receive her trembling words with all my being.

“I remembered everything, and I’ve always been beating myself over it, but you’ve forgotten everything, Sara-san! It’s unfair! But…I know that everything is my fault…because I didn’t give my answer properly back then…everything is my fault…”

Tears started to well up on her big eyes.

“I-I know that my regret came too late…way too late…a-and I’m completely at fault…b-but, the fact that you forgot, made me a little mad…I know it sounds petty, b-but…for five years…I’ve been holding on this feeling for five years…”

If it wasn’t for the current atmosphere, I woulda embraced her right here and then.

The way she expressed her emotions was too cute.

“So that’s why.”

“Since we’re going to graduate anyway, I-I figured that I might as well do it…to experience the result if I were to respond to your confession back then…I regret what happened, I really do…b-but at the same time, I don’t want everything to end just like that! It’s selfish, I know, but…”

I was about to say that it wasn’t selfish at all, but I held myself back.

What she needed at the moment wasn’t such superficial words of comfort.

Rather…

“…I haven’t forgotten everything.”

“B-But…”

“You see, the reason why I want to be the Belle Fleur…”

To Rui, who covered her mouth with her hand in surprise, I bared my feelings.

“…Is because you admired her so much.”

“Huh?”

“Back then, I was taken in by the gaze of a certain girl who was looking at the Belle Fleur in such admiration. I figured that if I were to become the Belle Fleur, maybe I’d be able to get back at her. If I become a perfect woman, she would finally look at me and accept my love as it is.”

Hearing those words, a droplet of tears flowed down on Rui’s cheek.

“S-Sara-san…”

“And so, I tried to put in the effort to make every girl love me. Stupid? Yeah, I know. I mean, just now I made you sad by forcing you to answer a question I don’t even care about. I really just want to know if you are planning to abandon me or not…because I like you…”

Smiling between her tears, Rui looked just like a pure saint.

“Sara-san…I…like you too…I like you too!”

Except that she wasn’t a pure saint, but a girl whose warmth I could touch with my hands.

“I’ll tell you my feelings right now, Rui.”

“Mm…”

She stood still, like a bride who was about to be proposed to.

I held her hands tightly.

“Next month at the Aitan Festival, I’ll definitely become the Belle Fleur. I’ll become the prettiest Belle Fleur to ever exist, so pretty that I’ll outshine the girl in your memory, so that you could only think about me…remember about me…that’s why…”

I took a step closer to her.

“Please, entrust your dream to me.”

Amidst her crying, Rui started to laugh.

“Are you telling me to give up?”

“Yes.”

No need to beat around the bush anymore.

“In exchange for that, you’ll have the right to take the Belle Fleur, the best girl of all, as your lover.”

“Pfft…what are you talking about, jeez…!”

She tried to laugh again, but instead she burst out into tears.

“Me to…I can also be a pretty Belle Fleur too…”

“Yes, I won’t deny that. But you won’t be better than me.”

“Why is that?”

“Isn’t your goal to become just like the Belle Fleur you’ve seen years ago? Well, mine is to surpass her so that you can only ever remember about me in your memories. From that, isn’t it obvious which one of us is better?”

This time, she was finally able to laugh.

“Big talk~”

“Well, yeah, I guess you can take it as that…”

Our foreheads touched. Rui put her hands behind my back.

“Ugh, now I can’t even think of a way to retort you…it feels like I should just surrender everything to you…so frustrating…”

“Well, let me put it in another way to make you feel better…”

I embraced her.

“I’ve been doing my best to woo you over for eight years, while you’ve only been doing it for five years at best. So isn’t it obvious who should win between the two of us?”

“Oh, jeez!” She groaned.

“I just can’t beat you, Sara-san…”

“Honestly, there’s no need for you to think about it too much. Just give in and leave everything to me. I’ll make you happy, don’t worry.”

I patted her on the back.

“…Ugh…”

“It’ll all be fine, really. You can rest easy, Rui.”

I brought my lips closer to hers.

But, just before they were about to touch, I stopped.

“Just give everything to me, Rui.”

“Mmh—!”

Then, I kissed her. I could see another droplet falling down from her cheek.

For a while, she resisted me, but eventually she gave in as she put her hands around my neck. Despite her decision to surrender everything to me, her face looked like she was drowning in bliss.

She pressed her lips against mine, all while wearing the purest, most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen from her.

Inside the chapel, under the dim light, we held each other tightly. After our long kiss had ended, Rui looked up to me with an embarrassed look.

Then, with a happy tone, she said…

“…I lost…completely…it’s your win…jeez…”

Thus, our long showdown had come to an end.

* * *

Mareshino Rui’s withdrawal from her candidacy before the voting even started caused quite a little bit of commotion. However, it quickly subsided because I was still there as the remaining candidate.

She did provide them with a made-up excuse on why she withdrew. She said that she’d rather do her job to ensure the Aitan Festival could go smoothly from behind the scenes rather than coming out under the spotlight.

That wasn’t exactly a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either.

Then again, there was no way she could go out of her way to say something like, ‘I withdrew because I want Sara-san to make me happy~ ♡‘

* * *

December passed in a blink of an eye.

Since the Aitan Festival was coming up, there was a sudden increase in my workload, so I had to suffer through that for quite some time.

In the meanwhile, my relationship with Rui reverted to back when we first started, because when I confessed to her, I said something along the lines of, ‘You’ll have the honor to become the lover of the greatest Belle Fleur ever’, and since I wasn’t the Belle Fleur yet…you know…

The other day, during our nighttime call, which had become our routine lately, she said, “If you actually don’t become the greatest Belle Fleur ever, I can’t become your lover, can I?” in a sulky tone. I nonchalantly replied, “Then I guess I’d just have to give up on you, Rui,” to tease her. The way she said, “…Stop bullying me…” as a response sounded so cute.

Anyway, since I talked the talk, I had to walk the walk too.

That was why.

I had been running around frantically as if my life depended on it, getting various things done, all while enduring the weather that had become even colder lately.

* * *

“Um…”

The day before the Aitan Festival, after the committee meeting ended.

It was time to say goodbye to this meeting room that I had accustomed to. Because the Cultural Affair Building was a distance away from the main building, the heater didn’t work well, so in hindsight, it wasn’t really the most pleasant place to hang around in, but my memories with Rui overwrote all the bad things.

Rui poured out some tea from her thermos. It seemed like it was the same tea that I drank back at her house. When everything was over, I wanted to go there again.

“Thank you for your hard work, Sara-san.”

“Likewise. It feels like I’ve grown even more popular than ever today…”

“Juggling between your duty as vice president of the committee and the Belle Fleur is tough, isn’t it? Glad that I withdrew my candidacy.”

Ahh…the sweet taste of the tea…I feel half-alive now…

“It is tough. Can I have a kiss? That’ll surely cheer me up a little.”

“…Jeez…”

She complained under her breath, but she still obediently kissed me. This girl had been acting cuter lately, it was simply incomparable to the past…

“By the way, I’ve heard about a certain rumor…”

“Hm?”

“‘Lately, the number of times Kureha-san was seen hanging out with different girls has increased’.”

“…”

For some reason, the tea’s taste became more bitter. Was it just my imagination?

“W-Well, since the festival is coming up soon, it’s inevitable that I’d have to meet up with a lot of people to take care of the preparations and stuff, right? And since our school is an all-girls school, of course everyone I met would be girls…”

Hearing my answer, she stared at me dead in the eyes.

“Am I not good enough for you?”

“I wish I brought a recorder so I could listen to that line every night. Seriously, that’s one hell of a line that you just said.”

When I said that, she averted her eyes sulkily.

“Recently, I realized that I got jealous quite easily. Since Kureha-san is quite popular, I do feel a little insecure…”

It was true that a lot of people had been trying to meet me secretly, but it wasn’t like I could tell her that! Ugh, what to do in this situation…?

If we weren’t at school, I’d just embrace her, pamper her and do all sorts of things to calm her down, but I couldn’t just do that here…

“You don’t need to worry, Rui.”

I patted her head.

“After the Aitan Festival ends, things will definitely change. Specifically, things between us will change.”

“Is that so?”

Look at her gaze! What did she give me that doubtful look for?!

Did she think my passionate confession to her was just me messing around?!

“Fine, whatever. If things don’t change after the festival ends, I won’t be staying silent.”

She then caressed my cheek.

“I won’t concede to anyone else other than you, Sara-san. The only one who has the right to eat you is me.”

Though she looked like a mess just a while ago, there was a confident expression on her face now.

“…I’d have to watch my back then.”

“A wise decision.”

It seemed like she hadn’t completely given in yet.

What a cheeky girl.

* * *

24th of December.

It was finally the day of the Aitan Festival.

We’ve done the final check a day before. Mayuko had tailored a pretty dress for me. It was so pretty in fact that I ended up embracing her tightly when I tried the dress out. That hug would become a once-in-a-lifetime experience for her, I guarantee it.

On an unrelated note, Mayuko was worrying about something, but I reassured her that she would be fine. From the data that I had gathered when I hugged her naked, I knew that she would be perfectly fine.

Anyway, as the president of the committee, spent her morning leisurely seeing what the festival had to offer, but she’d have to receive the visitors at the reception desk in the morning. Meanwhile, I had to do the opposite; I would be free during the afternoon, but I had to spend my morning receiving the visitors. Our schedule overlapped, but this was to be expected given our position in the committee.

“I-I’m happy to be with you here, Senpai!”

By the way, Rin-chan was also here with me.

The Aitan Festival was only open to the students’ families and relatives. It was because the whole point of the festival was so that you could spend Christmas with your families. For the occasion, the cafeteria even served some turkeys and bûche de noël.

“Are your parents here, Senpai?”

“No. Well, my mom is an alumnus, so she’s already way too familiar with the festival. She won’t come until the final event starts.”

“Ah, I see! I bet you’ll look pretty when you take the stage as the Belle Fleur, Senpai!”

She let out a sigh of admiration. Admire me all you like, but please don’t fall in love with me. We didn’t want Ryouko-chan to get jealous, did we?

As the Belle Fleur of the year, there was a white flower decorating my chest. Visitors who knew what it meant would occasionally make comments like, “Oh my, the Belle Fleur this year is really pretty~” Their words made me nervous, but it also made me happy.

After two hours working at the reception desk, my break time finally came. My friend came to pick me up and we went around the festival together. When I passed by the other students, they’d cheer me on with a “Good luck for today!” It made me feel like an idol or something.

This was when I realized what it meant to become the Belle Fleur. All those girls who previously never approached me gathered their courage and tried to speak with me. It made me feel that I should never do something wrong to betray their trust in me.

In any case, there were a lot of people approaching me. If Rui was here, she would definitely say something like, ‘I’m glad I withdrew my candidacy…’

“Ah.”

Speak of the devil. Just when I was thinking about her, she passed me by in the hallway. Just like me, she was also walking in a group of three with her friends. I called out to her, “Mareshino-san,” pretending that I had some business with her.

“Sorry everyone, I forgot that I need to discuss something with Kureha-san. Please go on ahead without me.”

“Ah, okay~” Her friends said before they waved their hands and walked ahead, and my friends followed soon after. Then, Rui and I walked side by side through the bustling hallway. There were various exhibits on our right, and there were people presenting their research on our left. When we passed by the students’ parents, we’d bow our heads. There were too many things going on here, so it wasn’t exactly the right place to hang out with Rui.

“So, what do you want to talk about exactly?”

“It won’t take long, don’t worry.”

Her footsteps didn’t waver. I followed her to an empty classroom at the end of the third floor. As expected of the president of the committee, she knew which part of the school would be deserted today.

“I expected this, but we really can’t hang out together for long today.”

“Yeah, well, it is what it is. Anyway, are you really thinking of doing it today, Rui?”

“Of course not.”

After closing the curtain, she took out something from her pocket.

“Since it’s Christmas and all, I want to give you this.”

“Is this a present…?”

“Uh…yeah…”

The sight of her nodding while blushing was so cute that I almost embraced her right there and then.

“Thank you. Can I open it now?”

“…Go ahead. If you don’t like the design, the cooling-off period has already passed, so you can throw it away, I guess…”

That meant she must have prepared the present for me a long time ago.

I opened it and found a garnet necklace inside. So she remembered my favorite jewel, huh? The design of the necklace was nice too. Why was she so good at this?

“…So, what do you think?”

“I like it a lot. Thank you, Rui.”

“Is that so? That’s great then…”

She looked relieved.

“Alright, that’s all from me. Good luck for today, Belle Fleur-sama.”

When she turned around and was about to leave, I grabbed her hand.

Then I pressed my lips against hers.

“Watch me, Rui. I’ll give you an amazing sight to return your present.”

“And I’ll look forward to it. I’m sure you’ll look wonderful in your dress, Sara-san.”

We smiled at each other before parting our ways. This meeting was short, but it was enough to reconfirm my love for her. It felt like I could do anything now.

Alright, it was time to go.

* * *

Inside the waiting room of the chapel. I was changing into my dress, the one that Mayuko tailored for me.

In French, Belle Fleur meant ‘pretty flower’. Following that name, the dress I was wearing was a red dress, resembling that of a blooming flower.

Honestly, I didn’t think anyone in this school would look good in a red dress other than me. There was a large red ribbon adorning the chest area. I specifically ordered them to add this. Because it would pair well with the blue ribbon that Rui usually wore.

The dress coordinator, Saitou-san, came all the way here to make sure that my request would fit the dress perfectly. She was a cool and dignified woman, and she reminded me of Kitagawa-san.

As she helped me get dressed, she let out words of admiration.

“I had a feeling that you would be the one who’ll become the Belle Fleur this year, Kureha-san. It feels like a dream come true, I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you very much.”

My position as the Belle Fleur meant that I’d be carrying the dreams of everyone in the Mizugahara Academy. After all, there wasn’t a single girl in this school who didn’t admire the Belle Fleur. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I had to be grateful for this.

And of course, I was also carrying the dream of the most important person in my life.

Saitou-san applied my makeup for the finishing touch. And all done. I could proclaim that I am the Belle Fleur now.

“I’m an alumnus, and I’ve seen more than ten Belle Fleurs if I were to count the time when I was a student.”

She placed her hand on my shoulder and smiled.

“And I genuinely think that you’re the prettiest Belle Fleur among them all. Don’t tell anyone that I said that, okay?”

Her playful smile was so cute. If Rui hadn’t occupied my heart already, I’d kiss her right there and then.

I sat in front of the mirror, and stared at my reflection. Then, I tried to score my appearance like usual before I realized that I didn’t need to do that this time. Because anyone who’d see me there would find me beautiful.

That was why I sent Satou-san a smile as a reply.

“Don’t worry, Satou-san. Everyone knows that I’m the prettiest girl in this school anyway~”

I wore my high heels then started walking with Satou-san on my side.

Rui. If you from eight years ago were to see me right now, would she look at me in admiration too?

* * *

In front of the auditorium. I took a deep breath.

The final event of the Aitan Festival would begin at 5 pm. With flowers in my hands, I patiently waited for that moment.

It was about to snow outside. Despite my shoulders being bare, I didn’t feel the cold. Instead, I felt warmth from my chest.

Behind me were the two Tsubomis, holding the hem of my dress, looking visibly excited.

They were third graders, and they were both cute. One of them had light-colored hair while the other one had short, reddish hair, a resemblance of both Rui and I back then.

The light-haired girl approached me.

“O-Onee-sama…you’re so pretty…”

“Do you think so? Thank you.”

Her cheeks turned red like apples as she smiled.

“But, you’re also pretty, you know? Of course, you are too.”

When I told them this, both of them stared at me for a while, dumbstruck, before glancing at each other and laughed.

Now that I achieved my dream and became the Belle Fleur, I wanted to share that dream that I once had with others. As I thought of this, a warm feeling spread within me.

“Alright, let’s begin.”

Minato-sensei opened up the door. I took a step forward, slowly, one step at a time, so that the Tsubomis could keep up with me. Each of my steps was wide though, as I didn’t want to step on my dress by accident.

From behind me, I could hear Minato-sensei’s energetic voice, “Do your best, Kureha-san!” With a smile on my face, I replied, “I’m going!” and entered the auditorium.

As I did, voices of astonishment filled the room.

The sight of me in the red dress with my hair tied up captivated all the people here.

When I walked through the parents’ seat, I could see my mom sitting at the very front. She mouthed the words “You look pretty, Dear,” to me. There were tears in her eyes. It was as if she was seeing me off to get married or something. Jeez, she was overreacting.

I could hear the murmurs from every corner of the room. They expressed their admiration towards me, and how their heart fluttered when they saw me.

At that moment, I passed by Rui. There was a satisfied smile on her face. Just by seeing it made me happier than I already was.

‘Thank you so much, Rui.’ I showed her the garnet necklace that I wore. When she saw it, she blushed before turning her gaze away. I loved her so much, ugh!

Eventually, I climbed the stairs and reached the altar that they brought out from the chapel just the other day. Then, I turned around and gave a deep bow to everyone there. A thunderous applause followed.

Having completed their duties for now, the Tsubomis went to their seats and sat down. Good, good, take a good rest until your next duties start, okay?

I went behind the microphone. Then, I bowed down again before addressing the Mizugahara Academy’s students, from first years to sixth years, who were lined up in rows.

“Good evening, everyone. With this, the 52nd Aitan Festival has come to a successful end.”

With a clear and resolute voice I said those words. My voice, that a lot of people had grown accustomed to, echoed. I had been training my voice just for this moment, and all my effort paid off.

“I pray that God’s blessings reach everyone who spared their time to visit our school, and all those whom you formed a connection with.”

Still holding the flowers, I clasped my hands together and closed my eyes, offering my prayers. When I did that, voices of camera shutters echoed. Despite everything, I was a completely normal person, so I was unfamiliar with this…photo session kind of thing? Anyway, would they distribute the photos somewhere later?

After finishing the greeting, I relaxed my tone a little.

“This year, me, Kureha Sara, was chosen as the Belle Fleur. I was nominated as the only candidate this year, and honestly, I still find it hard to believe that I was nominated to begin with, let alone chosen…nevertheless, I’m really thankful for this great opportunity that had been bestowed to me by God…”

Some chuckles leaked out from the audience. In response, I widened my smile too.

“When I was younger, my mom took me here to become a Tsubomi. That was the first time I’ve seen the Belle Fleur, and she left a deep impression on me. From that, I was inspired to become the Belle Fleur myself. Also, back then, I met a friend who also happened to be a Tsubomi.”

I focused my gaze on Rui among the large crowds. She was stunned, clearly she didn’t expect me to do this.

After a brief pause, I announced her name to the crowds.

“And that girl is…Mareshino Rui-san!”

A loud cheer came from the crowds.

Rui looked so surprised. Good, good, the surprise was a success then~

“Back then, we made a promise to work together so that both of us could become the Belle Fleur. I’m already standing here, so what about you, Rui~?”

I directed everyone’s attention on Rui and the students started to get rowdy. Girls, please, this was still a formal occasion, so contain your thirst, okay?

Meanwhile, Rui was keeping her mouth shut, giving me an intense stare from her seat.

“So, Rui. What do you think? Am I as pretty as the Belle Fleur from back then?”

She nodded her head. Tears were welling up in her eyes.

“Yes, Sara-san. You’re pretty…I’m so glad that you became the Belle Fleur this year…”

“Thank you, Rui. But, if it’s like this only half of our dream is fulfilled, right?”

I turned my gaze to everyone. It was a cue.

To the people who knew what was actually going on, the members of the committee except for Rui, and all my other collaborators.

This was the reason why she thought I was cheating on her, jeez…

“Preparing for this year’s ceremony was difficult. It was a miracle that we managed to finish tailoring another dress in mere three weeks. If our Fashion Club’s President isn’t the passionate person as she is, we would never get the work done! But even with two people, it was still a borderline impossible job, so thank you to everyone who was willing to support us! Without you, this occasion wouldn’t have happened!”

I let out the brightest smile I’ve shown yet toward them as they smiled back at me. Mayuko was smiling shyly, as she was being teased by everyone who was sitting around her.

One of the committee members, Ryouko-chan, approached Rui. Without any warnings, she grabbed her hand and dragged her toward Rin-chan, who was waiting outside the auditorium. Not knowing what was happening, Rui could only obediently follow their leads.

She had done her makeup prior to this because she’d be giving her speech after I was done with mine, so all she needed to do was to dress up. Still, did she not feel suspicious at all when Satou-san did her makeup for her?

Anyway, that was that, so time to stall for time until she was finished.

“That’s it for my speech. For now, we’ll continue with the event until she is ready~”

I bowed my head again and I received another round of applause. After that the ceremony continued, even though everyone aside from me and my collaborators didn’t know what was coming up next.

After my speech, the teachers and the representative of the alumni gave theirs. Then, the representative of the sixth years gave out her speech, followed by an award giving ceremony. While this was all unfolding, I was standing at the edge of the stage, grinning.

Despite its splendor, the final event of the Aitan Festival only lasted for thirty minutes. As the time was almost up, the door to the auditorium swung open again.

From there, Rui, wearing a blue dress, walked in.

Her dress was made to match mine, so there was a blue ribbon on her chest. She was wearing the same princess-like dress as me, but they designed it to make the dress fit her. Honestly, instead of a princess, she looked more like an angel.

She seemed like she was in a daze, probably thinking that she was dreaming or something. But the loud cheer coming from the audience should wake her up from that stupor.

At this moment, I went behind the mic again to welcome her presence.

“With this, our dream, Mareshino-san’s dream and mine, to become the Belle Fleur together has been fulfilled! Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible!”

‘There’s no one who stated that there should only be one Belle Fleur per year, right?’ was the thing that I said to satisfy this selfish charade of mine.

Thanks to that, I couldn’t get any sleep for a good while, but it was all worth it.

I had no regrets.

“Come here, Rui.”

I reached out my hand to her. The Tsubomis diligently raised the hem of her dress as she walked up the stairs to reach me. After what felt like an eternity, we finally stood, side by side, while holding each other’s hand on the platform.

“This feels like a dream…I still can’t believe that this is happening…”

“Well because this is your dream, isn’t it?”

“I just gave you a necklace, don’t you think this is a little too…extravagant…?”

“Well, I didn’t do this by myself, you know?”

I pointed at the other students.

“Even though you withdrew your candidacy, everyone still thought that you deserved to be the Belle Fleur. See? None of them are mad because of this. Even the budget for the dress was paid by everyone from various clubs. This is the result of your hard work, Rui. If you didn’t study so hard to become a role model for everyone, they wouldn’t come to admire you and this occasion would never happen.”

Everyone, including me, of course, loved her.

And that was why they tried to make her dream come true. That was all there was to it.

It was just unfair that even though everyone loved her, she was unable to become the Belle Fleur.

We stood on the platform, side by side, wearing our red and blue dresses. We must have looked like two blooming flowers from the audience’s perspective.

“But, Sara-san…”

“Did you forget already? I told you to entrust your dream to me, didn’t I? Since you did that, your dream became mine, so it’s natural that I work hard to fulfill it, no?”

“Pfft…what are you even…on about…?”

I caressed her cheek.

“A once-in-ten-years beauty shouldn’t give up her dream just because a once-in-a-hundred-years beauty is right in front of her.”

I smiled confidently at her, and at that moment she burst into tears.

Yay, I did it again. I made her cry. Mission accomplished.

“So, what do you think, Rui?”

I whispered in her ear.

“Did I make you happy?”

While puffing my chest, I…

“Which means, it’s my win, isn’t it?”

In the middle of her tears, her smile bloomed.

“Jeez, Sara-san, I really can’t…with you…”

With this, I proclaimed myself as the top in our relationship. I managed to win her over completely in front of the whole school.

I won in life and Rui let out her happy tears, which meant this was the best possible scenario.

That was why I let my guard down a little. Since she was THE honor student, I really never expected that she’d do something like that here.

“I love you.”

Still in tears, she suddenly hugged me.

When I realized what was going on, it was already too late.

She pressed her lips against mine.

In front of the whole school, all the students, the teachers and even the parents…

That day, it was said that the students’ screams were so loud that it reached the neighboring town. But there was no way for me to know if that was true or not.

Wait, actually, there was one bad thing about this situation.

I couldn’t get a harem anymore.

Wait, maybe Rui did all that to prevent me from fulfilling that dream in the first place? …You know what? Whatever, that didn’t matter. In exchange, I got the prettiest Belle Fleur— no, the prettiest girl in the world as my lover.

From now on, I promise to take care of her well, until the day we breathe our last.

Surrounded by the thunderous applause, our kiss lasted for a while.