A/N: Thanks to CelticX and Hotknight82 for your awesome reviews. I would have updated sooner, but life intervenes. I noticed a continuity issue with last chapter. Grr! If you didn't find it, then it's all good. If you did, I'm sorry. As far as who will get Mizuho, I only have one vote for Takako, so if anyone wants Mariya, please vote! I hope that everyone has fun with this chapter!
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Otobuku but the idea for this little story.
Our Beautiful Day
Chapter 4: Ice Skating Battle!
Sunday Morning, the day of the race
As his alarm blared, Mizuho awoke with a groan. He knew that two girls he liked were going to have a race with him as the prize. He didn't feel much like a prize, and he knew that he would soon need to choose one of them to be his girlfriend. He wasn't ready to decide yet, and he knew it. Both girls were beautiful and talented in his eyes. Takako's charm points were her long silky blonde hair and her diligent personality. Mariya's charm points were her feistiness and her sexy athletic body. He immediately chided himself for being greedy and indecisive, but while he was washing his face, he realized that he simply did not want to hurt one of them. Both Mariya and Takako were dear to him, and he understood sadly that he might not be able to stay friends with the girl that he didn't choose. He sighed as he put on his pink turtleneck sweater, 'This is going to be one troublesome day.' After checking his make-up, he grabbed his winter coat and hurried downstairs.
He reached the foyer and saw that Yukari and Kana were already there, chatting excitedly. Kana noticed him first and ran to him, calling happily, "Oneesama! Good morning nanodesuyo!" Mizuho looked around for Mariya, and then responded, "Good morning, Kana-chan, Yukari-chan. Are you both ready for today?" Yukari and Kana both nodded enthusiastically. Mizuho smiled because these two girls were the little sisters that he never had but had always wanted. Their warm smiles never failed to cheer him up when he was feeling down. They thought the world of him and he never wanted to disappoint them. He knew, however, that they would be upset and might not forgive him when they found out that he had been a man all along. Nevertheless, he was determined to treasure the time that he would have with them for as long as possible.
Yukari looked concerned, "Mizuho-oneesama is everything alright? You don't have to worry about my Oneesama. She's going to win the date with you today for sure!" When Mizuho chuckled nervously, Kana sighed dramatically, "Isn't it so romantic nanodesuyo? Two suitors having a showdown for her favor is every girl's dream, right nanodesuyo?"
Mizuho smiled nervously and Yukari answered for him, "It might be an ideal dream, Kana-chan, but it looks like a perfect nightmare when you are living through it for real." Both younger laughed loudly when Mizuho nodded vigorously. "Poor Oneesama," they giggled. Feigning irritation, he cried, "Please stop teasing me!" This did little more than to inspire Yukari and Kana to double over in laughter. Mizuho pouted, "Mou!"
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Yukari checked her watch, "It's time to go. We don't want to be late witnessing Mariya-oneesama's triumph." Startled, Mizuho looked around the room and asked, "Shouldn't we wait for Mariya?" Yukari shook her head, "No, Oneesama left already. Shall we go everyone?"
Shocked and a little disappointed, Mizuho sighed, "It can't be helped. Let's go then." As they walked to the ice rink, Mizuho was amused listening to Yukari and Kana's chatter. They were excited and told him that the whole school would be there to see the battle for the beloved Elder Oneesama. This exponentially raised his embarrassment. To counter this, Mizuho tried to distract the girls, "I have a great idea for a Valentine's Day event," he began. That got their attention and when they asked what it was, he answered, "We could do a Queen of Hearts talent competition where the students vote for the best performance. The prize would be dinner for two and a suite in Takako-san's hotel. I would emcee and pay for the prize, so I would be ineligible to perform, but do you still think that lots of people would participate?" Predictably, both girls loved the idea and Mizuho spent the rest of the way explaining how it would work and not thinking about the embarrassing event to come.
As they arrived at the ice rink, Mizuho steeled himself for the attention that being the prize would certainly focus on him. Suddenly, Takanashi Kei appeared at Mizuho's side and gestured at the rink. She had her normal creepy expression, which detracted from the fact that she was exceptionally cute; a fact for which her girlfriend, Takane Michiko, was very grateful. "Oneesama, I was angry when I heard that the Student Council President had lured Mikado-san into a battle that she couldn't win, so I took the liberty of leveling the playing field, or ice as it were. Heh heh heh," she chuckled evilly before making a peace sign and disappearing. Now Mizuho was really worried and thought, 'What did you do, Kei-san?'
Fortunately, Mizuho had no time to worry about what Kei had done because the instant that he entered the ice rink, it exploded with the cheers of Seio students excited to see their Elder Oneesama looking elegant, but cute in her pink turtleneck sweater. He nervously waved as he made his way to his assigned seat with Kana and Yukari at his side. He fidgeted in his seat until music started playing, announcing the entrance of the first contestant.
Mizuho groaned as first notes resonated in the arena. Only Mariya would choose an old song like Morning Musume's "The Manpower!" as her entrance song. 'It could've been worse,' he thought. 'She could have chosen something cheesier, like an AKB48 song.' As Mariya circled the rink, Mizuho thought that she looked lovely in her red and black skating dress. He marveled at how well she was skating until it was time to stop. That was something that Mariya had not practiced, and to the amusement of the crowd, she skated shakily to the wall and held on for dear life. Cockily, she raised her fist in victory and everyone laughed but Yukari and Mizuho. "Oneesama never could stop," Yukari muttered worriedly.
Moments later, Namie Amuro's "Wonder Woman" blasted through the arena as Ishikawa led her mistress onto the ice. If Mariya looked lovely, Takako was breathtakingly so in her pink and white ice skating dress. She glided around the rink effortlessly, performing double axels, double toe loops, and a perfect spin combination. The crowd oohed and ahhed at Takako's routine. She came to a perfect stop and saluted the crowd. As the music subsided, Hisako-sensei shakily skated to the center of the ice with a microphone in hand. "The competition is twenty-five laps around the rink, and the one who crosses the start/finish line will win a date with the Elder Oneesama, Miyanokouji Mizuho!" She announced to the cheering crowd. Mizuho noticed that half were supporting Mariya and the other half were rooting for Takako. Kana and Yukari were definitely on Mariya's side, so he was the only one with a divided heart.
Just as Hisako-sensei was about to fire the starter pistol, Kei skated out onto the ice and whispered something in Sensei's ear. She laughed, and handed the microphone to Kei, who smirked and began, "Like many observers, I thought that a normal ice skating race would be boring. So with the permission of the teachers and in the interest of fairness, I made some changes to the battle. I hope that everyone enjoys the event. Heh heh heh."
Takako and Mariya looked at each other nervously, suddenly remembering the past summer's swimming race. Takako then shot an angry look at Kei, who replied with her usual creepy smile. Inwardly, the blonde heiress was panicking. She set this up so that she could defeat Mariya, but Takanashi had taken her advantage away. Yoshizawa and Ishikawa looked at their mistress, shrugged, and said in unison, "Good luck, Ojou-sama!" Mariya, on the other hand, felt her first surge of hope, and toeing the start/finish line, she taunted Takako, "What's the matter, Student Council President-san? Are you going to give up now that your victory is no longer certain?"
Red-faced, Takako responded with ice and venom in her voice, "Not on your life, Mikado. I will still beat you and capture Mizuho-san's heart!" Her raven-haired rival looked momentarily shocked at the heat in Takako's reply, but recovered quickly and countered insultingly, "We shall see about that Takako-chan, won't we?" As the tension rose, Mizuho would later believe that he saw a dragon spirit manifest itself behind Mariya and a tiger appear behind Takako. Hisako-sensei hurriedly raised the starter pistol and fired, starting the race. Both combatants were so surprised that it was several heartbeats before they started skating.
Takako easily led the first three laps, but Mariya doggedly pursued her, staying on the same side of the rink with her. At lap 4, Kei's obstacles began to drop with the first being strategically placed hockey sticks that forced the President to slow enough for the track star to catch her. Lap 10 brought carpeted sections on the ice that tripped up both of them to the amusement of the crowd. For lap 18, Kei had removed the carpets, but replaced them with a slalom course. This allowed Takako to regain her natural advantage, dismaying Mariya's supporters. Just before the tired girls were to begin the final three laps, Kei dropped a rink-wide wall that stopped them both at the start/finish line. Takanashi used the force-stop to replace the hockey sticks, and then raised the wall for a sprint to the finish. Mariya and Takako were even as they rounded the corner on the last lap and crossed the finish line in a dead heat.
The rink was silent as everyone realized that the race had ended in a tie. Mizuho exhaled slowly as he had held his breath for the last two laps. Hisako-sensei, Kei, Mizuho, Takako, and Mariya looked at each other, thinking 'what now?' As arguments erupted between the combatants' partisans, a voice came over the loud speaker. "I trust that everyone had fun with this race. Unfortunately, there was no winner, but as Headmistress, I declare that likewise there are to be no losers. Mikado-san and Itsukushima-san will both receive a full-day date alone with Miyanokouji-san with the order determined by a coin flip." The arena exploded, with only Mariya, Mizuho, and Takako looking upset. The Headmistress continued, "Kajiura-sensei, if you would please conduct the coin flip, and I will ask Mikado-san to call it in the air."
Both women nodded, and Hisako-sensei took a 100-yen piece from her pocket, and tossed it into the air as Mariya prayerfully intoned, "Heads please." Everyone held their breath as Hisako-sensei deftly caught the coin. She looked in her hand, and announced, "It's…"
To be continued
A/N: Cliffhangers are fun, aren't they? Hopefully, my life settles down enough to update by next weekend. The next two chapters will be the dates. I everyone enjoyed this offering, if you didn't please me know how to improve. Thanks for reading and for your patience!