Brightest Star Above

Chapter 19:

Suzuki Miyako's P.O.V.

The Autumn Election went underway. Yukihira-kun first entered the arena and there were boos crying out from all sides of the arena. He looks around and finds the spot of the Polar Star Dorm members. He sends us a casual wave and grins at us.

Confidently, Nakiri Alice struts in while waving at the judges. The audience started to chant her name in the midst of all of these. She then approached Yukihira-kun to taunt him a bit. Although inaudible, her facial expression still looked displeasing.

"Now that the participants have arrived, begin cooking!" Nakiri Sanzaemon says as he waved his hand gesturing to the two of them. The two begin to cook and everyone waits in anticipation.

I sit calmly as we watched as the two focus on cooking and sometimes engaging themselves in taunting banters. Everything was inaudible but there was one thing that was clear. Everyone was enjoying themselves in this competitive atmosphere.

Nakiri Alice presents her dish. It was a beautifully made Temari Bento. The bento consisted of three rows of exquisitely made sushi. The first row contained abalone, sea urchin roe, salmon roe, and sliced of cured bonito. The second row composed of different kinds of vegetables topped with rice. Lastly, the third row composed of beef fillet topped with wasabi. It was a highly organized and luxurious dish.

The image that came into my mind as I saw the dishes were that of an heiress walking the streets of a fashion district. As she continued to walk, she passed by an eye-catching jewelry store. She enters it and carefully selects between the different precious gemstones. Lapis lazuli, diamonds, sapphires, rubies, tanzanite, jades and so many accessories were lined up in an orderly fashion.

So, this was a bento to her? Merely a container for the organization... Such little thought process... This challenge will make her lose this round to Yukihira-kun...

I've had enough to see and know that Yukihira-kun will win. If not, then the judges are blind. I stood up and excused myself to go get some air. I started to walk outside of the venue and breathe some fresh air. The atmosphere in the arena had made me feel a bit claustrophobic.

I leaned against the white walls of the stadium and calmed myself for a bit. As I closed my eyes, I took slow and deep breathes and returned to a more organized state of mind. A bit numb but I was getting there.

"You looked quite tense back there." I heard someone say. I slowly opened my eyes and saw a familiar white-haired boy who held a bag of cinnamon sticks in one of his hands.

I smiled lightly and replied back, "I just don't really enjoy the atmosphere beck in the arena. It was too crowded."

Hayama-kun leans back on the wall as well and hands me a cinnamon stick. I gratefully accept it and breathe in the scent of the cinnamon sticks. It was able to calm me down even further.

"Congratulations on making it past the Autumn Election preliminaries." I say as I looked into his eyes and gave him a slight smile, "and good luck on advancing to the top."

"Well, I am honored that the Suzuki Miyako-sama had congratulated me." He says sarcastically. He pauses for a moment and we both laugh. The tense feeling from earlier leaves my body and I relax a bit.

"Sometimes, I don't understand what you're so tensed about. You have the skills to be on top of our generation but I can't help but notice that you don't even want it." He says as he gazes into my eyes. "Your eyes challenge us to get to the top and yet... how do I say this?"

He's more perceptive than I thought he was. Well, there's no harm if he learns anything about me... but there's also not benefit.

He pauses for a moment and frustratedly failed to put into words his thoughts. I let out a gentle smile and say, "There are things that are revealed at the right time. Regardless, shouldn't you be preparing for the match tomorrow?"