Chapter IV

"Do you think we're making the right choice?"

"Well, regardless, I think it's too late to back out now, don't you think?" Umi sighed heavily as she stared nervously at the girl beside her then down to the paper she's holding with her name written on it. Apparently, the Kyudo club, sans Umi, had a meeting and finally decided that someone else would be their representative for the contest, much to the bluenette's surprise, with the members apologizing profusely for having troubled her.

"Never thought I'd compete against you in anything other than Kyudo, though," Umi said, and the two of them shared a laugh to ease their nerves.

"Come on, it's pointless to just dawdle here. Let's get this over with." The girl knocked on the door of the Student Council room then entered, Umi following behind.

"Ne, ne, Kayo-chin. The Student Council's going to post the representatives for each club today for the contest, right? I'm so excited – nya!"

"Hai! I guess they want to start advertising for the event as early as now. But I heard Umi-chan talked to Eli-chan, Nozomi-chan, and Nico-chan about this last week. I'm not certain what they decided, though. They wouldn't tell us anything. You think Nico-chan will be our representative, Maki-chan?"

"How should I know? As long as no one's pressuring anyone, it's fine with me. We just need to wait for them to make the announcement," the redhead said dismissively, mind preoccupied with something else.

The three first years walked down the hall towards their classroom, but paused when a group of girls suddenly ran past them, giggling. They looked at each other then resumed walking, but stopped again when they saw that a crowd was blocking their way. Hanayo's eyes widened when she realized what they were looking at, then dashed forward to try and get a closer look without being swallowed up by the other students.

"Kayo-chin!" "Hanayo!" Rin and Maki shouted as they forced their way into the crowd and stopped when they spotted Hanayo staring dumbly at the school notice board.

"Don't just run off like that – nya!" Apparently, Hanayo wasn't listening as her eyes were glazed over and her mouth hung open. Then suddenly, she smiled so wide and surprised her two classmates when she hugged them tightly.

"Umi-chan! It's Umi-chan! She entered the contest after all!" Rin and Maki peered over Hanayo's shoulder towards the notice board, and sure enough, Umi's name was, in fact, written on it next to their club.

"Wow! She really went through with it - nya!" The students dispersed from the hallway and headed towards their respective rooms just as the bell for first period rang.

"We didn't see who entered for the Kyudo club, though. I hope they're not too disappointed that Umi-chan chose to represent us instead." Maki walked behind her friends, one thought replaying in her mind: 'Kyudo Club – Takeda Vere.'

"Maki? Is it okay if you could accompany me somewhere after practice?" Umi whispered to the redhead as all the members headed up to the roof. Maki wanted to say no, but she hated to disappoint her senior, regardless of how miffed she was at her at the moment.

"Sure, I guess," Maki answered tightly, then went on ahead. Umi just stared at her junior's back, a little sad because of how the redhead's been acting towards her lately. She wasn't even sure why Maki was acting like that, but it all started ever since their talk in the music room the week prior. The bluenette just sighed then followed her fellow members upstairs.

"Alright, everyone. We only have three weeks to prepare for the school festival. So far, preparations for our live and the butler café have been progressing well. As you all know, Umi finally decided to represent our club for the Miss Handsome contest. Let's - "

"Yey, Umi-chan!"

"Thank you so much – nya!"

"W-we'll support you all the way!"

"Can I make your costume?"

"My cards tell me that you'll do great, Umi-chan!"

"Hmph. I guess I can teach you how to act properly during the contest. Just don't beg."

Maki just stared at Umi as the others pestered her with unnecessary gratitude and well wishes. Umi just stayed quiet, but it was obvious to Maki that she was getting really uncomfortable with all the attention she was receiving, from how red she was to how fast her eyebrows were twitching in irritation. Eli also seemed to notice so she, again, took control of the situation before Umi could explode.

"Okay, okay. Settle down, everybody. Let's not make this into that big a deal. We're just doing this for fun, so we need to make this as enjoyable and, err, as pain-free as we can for Umi. Got it?" Everybody nodded their heads at that.

"Good. Let's make this quick so we can start practice. Umi? Do you have any ideas on what kind of image you'd like to portray during the contest? A theme or something?"

"Huh? Oh! Umm, I'm not entirely sure yet. I have a few ideas, but I haven't worked out anything specific as of the moment. But I would like to make one simple request from all of you though." Everybody's full attention was suddenly on Umi. It wasn't like her to ask for something, so all of them were really curious.

"Forgive me for this, but I want to plan for the contest on my own." Silence met her, until what she said finally dawned on the other members. Their eyes bulged, their mouths hung open.

"Huh?"

"W-what?"

"What the hell are you saying, you stupid girl!"

"You're joking, right?"

"Umi, are you feeling well? How can you plan this on your own? It's supposed to be a team effort."

"That's right – nya!"

"You mean you don't want me to make your costume?"

Umi looked at her fellow members with as much patience as she could muster as they rattled their confusion and displeasure at her request. She then caught Maki's concerned stare, and they locked gazes for a few seconds before Honoka suddenly pounced on the bluenette, shaking her hard.

"Umi-chan! Don't just stand there! Answer us!" Umi's patience had ran out, her icy stare directed towards her childhood friend. Honoka was smart enough to know that Umi wasn't in a very good mood, so she let her go and hid behind Kotori as quickly as she could.

"Enough!" Umi crossed her arms, her hard stare made Honoka, Kotori, Hanayo, and Rin shiver. Even Nico gulped in fear but tried not to show how affected she was.

"I'm not asking for much. Just as Eli said, I don't want to make this a big deal for anyone. Well, technically it really is, but we have more important things to worry about. It's still only a beauty contest. I go up on stage, let people cheer, answer a few questions, and sing. That's basically it, right? Eli already gave me the program, and we already drew lots on the order of the contestants. I'm not even sure if it's fortunate or unfortunate that I'm last." Umi's eyes softened.

"Look. I'm not used to this. The least amount of time I spend worrying about this, the better. I'm sorry if I'm being a bit selfish, but having you guys fuss all over me only adds pressure, and you all know I can't handle that. It's one thing performing in front of an audience as a group, but I'll be going up there on my own. Of course, I'll ask help if I need it, but let's see how I fare first, okay?" The others just nodded, albeit reluctantly.

"We'll support you all the way, Umi-chan. But if things get too heavy for you, all you need to do is ask." Umi smiled widely, glad that that's over with. Practice started after that, and before they knew it, it was time to go home.

As usual, Umi was the last one to leave the rooftop after checking if they left anything behind. She already informed Honoka and Kotori to go home without her. As she turned around, she found Maki leaning on the wall near the door, waiting for her. Umi smiled as she approached the redhead.

"To be honest, I thought you left. But you're still here, so I'm really grateful." Maki blushed and looked away.

"I said I'll accompany you, didn't I? We better hurry and change so we can leave."

"So where are we going?" Maki asked Umi when she couldn't stand the silence any longer. Umi just grinned at her junior, took her hand, and led her inside what looked like an old music store.

"We're here." Maki looked around, confused. She followed her senior through an aisle of old vinyl records and got intrigued herself, finally stopping to browse through the vast collection in awe.

"These are classics! I didn't know they still sell these. How'd you know about this place, Umi?" Maki looked up, only to realize that Umi was looking at her, an amused expression on her face. The redhead blushed and covered her face with the record she was holding. Umi giggled softly, then reached out to take the disc from Maki's hands.

"I thought this place might interest you. Vere and I accidentally passed this place on our way to the bakery last week. I wanted to bring you here sooner, but for some reason you're very difficult to catch these days." As soon as the blonde's name left Umi's mouth, Maki felt her mood turn sour again. She turned away from Umi and fixed her attention on the records in front of her. The bluenette noticed the quick change in Maki's mood, and hurried to apologize for her insensitivity, even if she didn't know what it was she did.

"Maki? I'm so sorry! Did I say something inappropriate? I'm not sure if you're trying to be subtle, but it's pretty obvious that you've been ignoring me this past week. If I did something to offend you, then I apologize. I guess I'm not used to you not talking to me, and I-I, umm, really miss spending time with you," Umi softly said, her blush apparent on her face. Maki, also, had a blush on her face, but inside, she was grinning like a silly person because of what her senior said. The redhead walked a few paces away from Umi, contemplating on what she should tell the older girl as the bluenette followed the other with her eyes.

"It's not really because of something you did, per se." Maki wrung her fingers nervously, still not looking at Umi. Of all the people in the world, Umi's one of those she really couldn't lie to. Their friendship was based on honesty to begin with, and her senior would know if she's telling the truth or not.

"I-it's just that, w-well I…"

"Umi?" The two girls turned around to see a petite blonde walking towards them.

"Vere! What are you doing here?" Maki unconsciously clenched her fist as she finally had the opportunity to meet Umi's infamous friend.

"I was looking around for inspiration for the contest and thought to come here when I saw you." The second year then noticed the redhead behind her blue-haired friend.

"Oh, hi! You must be Nishikino Maki. It's great to finally meet the person who Umi talks very highly of. I'm Takeda Vere, by the way, from the Kyudo club." The blonde moved to shake Maki's hand and, albeit reluctantly, the other took it, blushing.

"Ditto," was the redhead's caustic answer and took her hand back immediately, earning confused looks from her two seniors.

"Uh, Maki's not much of a talker when she meets new people." Umi noticed Maki's fists shaking slightly so she reached out and intertwined their hands together, effectively calming the younger girl. The two didn't notice the gleam of mischief in Vere's eyes as she observed her schoolmates. "This'll be fun."

"Anyway. I know we're sort of "rivals" now because of the contest, but I really wanted your opinion on something. Nishikino-san, is it okay if I steal Umi away from you for the rest of the day?" Vere asked Maki, and wasn't disappointed on the answer she got.

"No! She's here with me, isn't she? She doesn't have any reason to go with you!" Maki hissed and tightened her hold on Umi.

"Maki!"

"Aww, that's a shame. But I think Umi can answer for herself, don't you think?" The blonde was intentionally goading the redhead and Maki knew it, and both were glad that Umi's too dense to notice anything.

"Err, Vere, I was the one who asked Maki out today. It'll be rude and dishonorable of me if I just left her. We can talk tomorrow, if that's alright with you." The blonde looked towards her friend and noticed the worry reflected on her face, so she decided to let up on Maki for now. Well, not really.

"It's okay, Umi." At that, the petite girl reached for Umi's unoccupied hand and clasped it tightly, whispering loudly so that Maki could also hear.

"Since we'll be spending the whole day together tomorrow, anyway. You promised we'd go shopping, remember?" Vere winked at a dumbfounded Umi and let go of her hand, smirked and waved goodbye to Maki, then left.

A/N: my apologies again for the late update. The next chapter's already in the works, so hopefully it wouldn't take as long for me to update. Thanks again to those who's still reading!

PS: for those who posted reviews on my other stories, I am truly humbled by your kind words. Thank you for the support, everyone! Hopefully I'll continue to meet your expectations in the future. If not, well, I guess I'll just try harder. ^_^v