"Oof!" I clumsily collided with the shoulder of another student in the hallway, and grinned in relief when I saw who it had been. "Oh, good afternoon, Yosuke-san. I almost didn't see you there."

"Meh…" Yosuke whined, not even sparing a glance at me. "Naoto-kun…" He finally peered down at me with his coppery eyes, which seemed to be full of contained panic. After looking over me, he sighed with a pained expression. "How do you LIKE to do it…?" He shuffled away like a weary lost soul, and seeing as he was headed toward the faculty office, I didn't suppose that he knew exactly where he was going.

I smirked slightly as I walked away. Obviously he had found out about Chie-san's scheme. Speaking of Chie, I spotted her descending the staircase from the second floor on her way to the front doors of the building, accompanied by Yukiko.

"I assume our plan went as expected?" I said when I approached her.

Chie grinned like a fox at my words. "You should have seen it. He crumbled like cheese in my hands… Ooh, that sounds good… Wanna go get something to eat on our way home?"

"Perhaps something small."

Chie-san and Yukiko-san told me all about the reactions of the boys while we sat at the ramen bar at Aiya. Apparently, as we had expected, Yosuke-san was the one to react the most defiantly. He had refused, just as Chie-san had, to be entered without his consent. However, since Kashiwagi had been organizing the cross-dressing event as well, he was stuck in the same boat as us females were. Kanji's reaction, however, had not been as resistant. Chie mentioned that initially, Kanji-kun had resisted, but then welcomed the idea as long as we would make him look "pretty." That's another aspect… We were apparently the ones who were going to dress them up and do their makeup, and generally transform them into females. Though I was good at convincing people I was male, I wasn't too sure that I could efficiently dress one of them up as a female… So I opted out of that portion of it. Also, Yu-san's reaction to the pageant was similar to that of Kanji, although he hadn't even resisted in the first place. Chie-san mentioned that he had actually been willing to do it. I was rather surprised… Though Yu-san's unexpected reactions to things had become quite a common, yet confusing norm to me. ...Okay, perhaps he still never ceased to surprise me. Still, though, I felt slightly better about being entered in the beauty pageant now that we had gotten our revenge. It continued to make me shiver, however, whenever I thought about it.

The following day, October 29th, was the beginning of the culture festival. There wasn't much to be noted about my class's event, seeing as it was just your average dance club, though it was in a classroom with all the desks cleared away. My head began to hurt after several minutes of flashing lights piercing into my skull. To soothe my headache, I retreated to a darker corner of the room, where a long table (just a few desks with a tablecloth laid out over them) held several bowls full of various snacks and punch. There were a few bottles of water laid out on the table, as well, and I took one of them, twisting off the cap and taking a few hearty gulps of the clear liquid in hopes of clearing my head.

"Hi, Naoto-kun!"

I almost jumped, startled by the sudden voice and the face in front of mine. Then, I sighed. "Good afternoon, Jin-san."

"How about this dance club?" Jin-san said, looking around at the multiple guests we had, dancing to the rave music the sound system was playing. "Pretty cool, isn't it?"

"It's very loud," I had to raise my voice over the volume of the music.

"Yeah, that too," said Jin. "So, hey, I was wondering-"

"Please excuse me for a moment," I said before she could finish the sentence. I hurried out of the room, taking a few swigs of water on the way out. After sliding the door open and closed, I sighed in absolute relief. The hallway was rather quiet relative to the classroom, and it felt as if I had cotton stuffed in my ears because of the sudden transition. I searched for an excuse to have left the room, and when my eyes fell upon Rise-san, who was walking through the hallway with an awkward expression on her face, I bolted after her.

"Rise-san," I said, slowing as I walked beside her, "How are you doing?"

"Huh?" she had seemed lost in thought about something. "Oh, hi, Naoto-kun! I'm feeling good. What are you doing wandering the hallway? Aren't you supposed to be helping out in your class?"

"I stepped out to clear my head," I said, "It's awfully loud in there… And truthfully, I felt somewhat lonely. I could ask the same of you, though. What are you doing out here?"

"Me?" said Rise-san, "Well… I've just been looking around at some of the other exhibits. I sort of needed to leave my room, too… So many people were asking for autographs that they weren't paying attention to the actual exhibit. My class worked hard on it, so I felt bad that I was wasting it. I thought it'd be better if I left."

"I see," I said, "That's quite a predicament."

"Mhm," Rise nodded. "So I decided to go check on Senpai and the others. They're doing this weird Group Date Cafe thing… Uh… They kinda looked busy."

"I see."

"Hey," said Rise-san, "What are you feeling about the beauty pageant, by the way? You still scared?"

I blushed a bit. "Of course I am scared," I said bashfully, "In all honesty, if I had any choice not to do it, I wouldn't. I'm really not the type of person who should be on a stage…"

Rise nodded. "I remember you telling me that. Let's see… 'Having the ability to even set foot on stage… That's something that I would never be able to do.'" She imitated my voice in the best way that she could. I was surprised.

"Wow," I said, "You remembered that word for word?"

"I'm an actress," Rise-san giggled, "I'm good at memorizing things." She looked ahead with an expression of reminiscence. "Besides, I sort of went over those words a few times in my head. I thought about some of the things you said. It sort of made me realize that quality I have, where I CAN go out on stage like that without getting stage fright. Not many people have that ability… But I do."

I let out a quivering sigh. "As of now, I wish that I did."

"You know what you gotta do?" Rise-san said as she turned to me. "Just do what I do, right before you get out on stage. You're gonna feel kind of like how you feel now… But worse."

"This isn't exactly helping…"

"You're going to feel shaky and nervous, like you don't think you can do it. Your stomach's gonna clench up and you'll feel like you're gonna be sick, but you can't let that feeling take over you. You can't push it away, though, either. You have to take that feeling, and make it do your bidding. You need to take it, and turn that fear into a rush, into a drive to want to do well out there on stage. You have to hear the crowd calling your name, and realize that those voices aren't there to yell at you or to chase you away, or even to judge you. Those voices are there to cheer you on, and to appreciate everything you've worked for…" She suddenly fell completely silent for a few moments, and stopped walking beside me. After a few steps, I turned and faced her, feeling concerned. She was staring at the floor in front of her, obviously deep in thought.

"Rise-san…?"

Her brazen eyes suddenly flicked up at me. "Oh-Sorry, Naoto-kun! I lost my train of thought for a moment… Anyway, that's what you gotta do when you go on stage." She gave me a big smile. "Don't worry. It'll be alright."

I nodded hesitantly, and continued to walk beside her. I noticed that, though Rise-san was a very talented actress and could undoubtedly fool many people into seeing emotions she did not feel, I could sense a hint of falseness in the smile she wore. After wondering why, I realized that this must be another aspect of knowing someone as a friend.

October 30th. The day of the cross-dressing competition. "C'mon, Kanji-kun. Over here!" Rise-san said as we all piled into one of the classrooms that was being used as a break room, which we had decided would be our costume and makeup area. The boys looked timid and terrified, as if being led to a torture room, and for some reason, Teddie was there with us as well.

"Don't worry," Yukiko-san said, looking at Yu-san, who she had been assigned to dress up. "I won't hurt you."

"What about me?" Teddie said, "It turns out I'm entering this too. I must win this contest to see my dream realized!" He seemed a little too excited about this. Everyone looked at him with confused expressions.

"He seemed bored, so we signed him up as a last-minute contestant," Yosuke-san said.

"So you're making him suffer too, huh…?" said Chie. "Well, if he's been signed up, there's nothing we can do about it. Naoto-kun, can you lend us a hand? We'll leave Teddie to you."

"M-Me?" I really was not confident that I could do it.

Teddie seemed excited. "The Naoto-Teddie team's unstoppable!"

"Well then, um…" I wasn't partial to the idea, but I didn't want to disappoint Teddie, since he seemed to excited about this.

"First, I need some dazzling makeup!"

"Y-You're right," I said, "Then I'll go borrow a makeup kit from someone…" Nervous and unsure of what to do, I dashed out of the room.

"Wait!" Teddie wailed after me, "The battle begins by choosing the right equipment!" He followed me out of the classroom and down the hallway.

"Makeup kit…" I said to myself, "There should be someone who would have one with them… Ah!" When I reached the end of the hall, I saw a poster on the door leading to the gymnasium. It was for the play being held by the drama club and one of the classrooms: Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. I wasn't too fond of the idea, but I assumed that if I could find a makeup kit anywhere in this school, the drama club would have it.

I hurried inside to find that one of the play's performances was currently in action. When the heavy door loudly opened and closed as I entered, some members of the audience turned and looked at me. Pulling down the brim of my hat as if to hide, I scurried around the audience to the backstage door, Teddie following closely behind me.

Backstage, there were many performers and makeup artists preparing for upcoming scenes. They were all whispering hastily to each other, trying not to be heard by the audience in the gym.

"Hey everybody!" Teddie suddenly squealed.

Immediately following his outburst was a loud, simultaneous "SHHHHH!" from everyone backstage.

"Oh," Teddie whispered, "Sorry!"

"Can I help you with anything?" a girl, slightly taller than me, with short black hair clipped to the side, whispered as if she were in a rush.

"Uhm…" I said shyly, "Y-yes, I would like to ask… Is there a makeup kit I could borrow for a few minutes, by chance?"

The girl looked curiously at Teddie, who said "I wanna be pretty!"

"I-it's for the cross-dressing pageant," I explained with red cheeks.

After looking both of us over for a few minutes, the girl turned and quickly began to rummage through supplies on the tables backstage. "I'll see if I can find one… Here." She handed me what looked almost like a small briefcase. It was much heavier than I had expected. "Can I trust you to bring it back to me when you're finished? It's sort of expensive, seeing as it's professional costume makeup."

I nodded. "I promise. You have my word, um…"

"Yumi Ozawa," she introduced herself.

I nodded in reply. "Thank you, Yumi-san."

After hurrying back to the break room, I laid out the makeup kit on one of the desks. Everyone else had their own, though they weren't nearly as big as the one Yumi-san had given me. They were also about halfway done dressing the boys.

"You gotta hurry up, Naoto-kun!" Chie-san said while applying fake eyelashes on Yosuke, who was groaning nonstop.

"Yeah," said Rise-san, "The pageant starts in half an hour!"

"Okay," I said, opening up the makeup kit as Teddie sat on one of the desks, childishly kicking his legs. When it was open, I sat and stared in shock. There were so many different kinds of makeup, and I didn't know where to begin. After thinking for a few short moments, I decided to use shades of blue eyeshadow and eyeliner to draw attention to the bluish color of Teddie's eyes. I was too afraid to try going too bold with his appearance, so I decided to simply accentuate and compliment his natural looks. Because I was pressed for time, I decided to use mascara on his eyelashes rather than glue on fake eyelashes like Chie. I also added a very light hint of blush, being careful not to go overboard and fading it delicately into his skin color. Then, rifling through some of the costume supplies that Rise-san had brought, I selected a small, simple-looking blue dress and a long, blonde wig that would match Teddie's hair color. The wig, however, looked too simple on him, so after searching through some of the accessories the girls had brought, I chose a bluish headband and slipped it over his head. I also dressed him in decorative white stockings and simple, dark-colored shoes. Finally, with only minutes to spare, he was ready.

But… I couldn't help but notice that he looked somewhat like Alice. I sighed out in frustration. Perhaps I should have put in more effort to make him look "pretty" rather than to make him look realistically like a girl.

It was then that I turned around and saw the other three boys. When I did, I quickly averted my eyes and gagged as I covered my mouth.

"What's so funny, Naoto!?" Kanji's voice boomed from behind me.

I hesitantly turned around, looking at him painfully. He wore a plain white dress and a bleached blonde wig, and his makeup was overly-accentuated like some sort of retro Hollywood movie star. Rise-san had obviously tried her best to make him look like an idol. What ruined the effect, however, was the fact that his muscles bulged under the dress and made him look as if a plastic surgery had gone wrong.

"I apologize," I said, swallowing rapidly to avoid bursting into laughter, "...But you look like a slightly deformed Marilyn Monroe."

"WHAT!?" he bellowed, and everyone burst out laughing. Kanji-kun ran to the window and desperately tried to look at his reflection in the glass, but became frustrated when he could not see it. "Dude, this isn't funny! Someone get me a goddamn mirror!"

"H-here you go, Kanji-kun," Rise-san said as she handed Kanji a small pocket mirror from her makeup bag. He hastily peered into it, and when he saw his reflection, his face went pale white under all the caked-on blush.

"Aw, c'mon!" he shouted, "T-this is just stupid!"

"You actually wouldn't look bad if you weren't so muscular," Yukiko-san snorted through her uncontrollable giggling.

"Huh." said Kanji-kun, "Ya think so?" He looked into the mirror again.

"Okay, we get it," Yosuke-san groaned, "Hand it over… Ugh, the awful moment of truth… H-huh!?" When he looked into the mirror, his face went bright red. Chie-san had outfitted him with a schoolgirl-type look. He was wearing a white sweater, a red skirt, and a red bow around his neck. He also wore black stockings and brown loafers, and his long brown hair was pinned up in one small pigtail on the side of his head. The makeup style Chie-san had chosen was somewhat similar to her own, and made Yosuke look like some kind of cutesie anime girl. As the girls giggled, he stood there in shock. "T-this is… AGH! Chie, you're really gonna pay for this one day!"

"Oh," said Chie-san, "You mean like at the beauty pageant? Already got you covered, girlie."

"Auuuugh…" Yosuke moaned and practically threw down the mirror on the desk.

"And you…" Rise-san said, "You look a few tentacles short of a hentai film…"

"Okay!" Yosuke said, blocking his ears, "That's enough! I just want to get this over with…"

Then, I saw Yu-san. I had hardly noticed him. My face lit up red at the sight of him. He was wearing a long, silvery wig the same color of his hair, tied back in braids, as well as a seifuku-style uniform, and in his hand he was carrying… I didn't even want to know what. I hoped it was a Kendo bat, though I was sure it was not.

"Narukami looks just as beautiful as both of you!" Rise-san giggled as he peered into the mirror. "What do you think, Senpai?"

"I look hot," he said in a monotone voice.

Everyone was quiet for a few seconds. "Shut up," said Yosuke-san.

"Oooh," Chie-san said when she saw Teddie, "Teddie actually looks pretty cute!"

"R-r-reeeeeeeally!?" Teddie squealed, standing up and twirling around.

""You're so adorable!" Rise-san cooed as she hopped up and stroked Teddie's long, golden hair. "Wow, Naoto-kun, you're actually pretty good at this!"

"I-I am?" I said, "Well, it is a cross-dressing pageant, so I just did what I could to make him look female."

"He sure looks female, alright," said Yukiko as she looked him over. "It looks so natural!"

"Well," I said, "You do want to make it look believable, right?"

"YAAAY!" Teddie was jumping through the air. "I'm so cute! See what I told you, Yosuke? All girls love Teddie!"

"Can it, bear," Yosuke grumbled from where he sat at a desk with his face buried in his arms.

"Ooh, such lovely costumes," a deep, sensual voice came from where the door had slid open. When we all looked, we saw that it was Ms. Kashiwagi. She stood there against the doorway with her arms crossed, emphasizing her cleavage as she always loved to do. "Come on, boys, or should I say, girls… The cross-dressing pageant's about to begin." A crocodilian smile parted her red, lipstick-coated lips, and she briefly eyed the actual girls, including me, with a squint. "Everyone get backstage. You've got ten minutes."

As she said, we all rushed through the thankfully awkward hallway and piled into the gymnasium, which was empty after the play had ended. There were still students clearing away the scenery from the play and quickly putting up new decorations for the pageant, though they were almost finished. The boys headed backstage with varied reactions, and the four of us remaining stood at the base of the stage, eagerly waiting for the pageant to begin. When the decorating was finished, the gym doors opened, and students gradually began to pour in, forming an audience.

When the lights turned off and runway music began to play, the hushed murmur throughout the crowd quieted in excitement. Out on stage stepped a third-year student wearing sunglasses, an oversized bowtie and a large pink afro wig. The audience cheered. They must have known this student rather well. Perhaps he hosted things like this regularly.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" He said into the microphone he held in a voice that suited a pageant host rather well, "We now begin the second day of the Culture Festival with the ever-popular "Miss" Yasogami Pageant! Let's get right down to it and introduce our first contestant!" I was excited to see them have their revenge handed to them, though I couldn't help but feel somewhat embarrassed for them. "She's a runaway express train who's Inaba born and bred, and can kill with both her fists and her looks!Presenting Kanji-chan of the first-year Class 3!"

Kanji stepped out on stage. At first, he looked rather timid, but then he lowered his eyebrows and seemed to drop all care of the situation. It seemed as though he just wished to get it over and done with. "'Sup!"

"Gyaaaaaah!" a girl yelped from behind me. "Ewww! That's so creepy!"

"This is wrong on every level…" said a boy who seemed to be next to her.

"Now, don't rip me apart for asking, but…" said the MC, "What would you say is your best feature?"

Kanji-kun seemed to think for a few moments. "…My eyes?"

The audience burst into laughter, and the MC chuckled before speaking again into the microphone. "Whoa! A conventional answer from this all-too-unconventional beauty! After such a strong start, I don't know how much of a chance the others have, but here's our second contestant! An eloquent heiress of the noble Junes, she's pure disappointment from the moment she opens her mouth!" I guiltily agreed to that description. "Presenting Yosuke-chan of the second-year Class 2!"

Yosuke-san hesitantly walked out on stage. He didn't look happy at all. "H-hi!" he tried, failing, to make his voice sound feminine.

"Holy crap!" said a boy in the audience, "And here I thought Yosuke-senpai would be able to pull it off!"

"Dude, it's terrifying…" another boy added, "I can just imagine someone like him sitting across from me on a train!"

"Now," said the MC, "You look ready to win in that outfit… Do you often dress like this?"

"Hell no!" Yosuke panicked and slipped out of his high-pitched imitaion. "Uh…" He coughed, trying to maintain character. "Like, no way!" The audience began to laugh uncontrollably.

"What is with this?" said Kanji-kun, being careful not to speak into the mic system. I could still hear them, however, being so close to the stage. I couldn't tell if his cheeks were red from the blush or if he was actually blushing. "We're laughingstocks up here!"

"What did you think this was about…?" Yosuke-san said.

"I've already had about enough of this," said the MC, "But there's still more to come! Up next, our third contestant! She has the mildly bitter tang of the city, and she's made more girls cry than there are stars in the sky! Presenting our transfer student who's been breaking hearts in the second-year Class 2, Yu-chan!"

For a moment, everything seemed to slow down for me. I found myself exhaling slowly and heavily, and for some reason, my chest felt tight. Perhaps it was just the binding, but it felt different somehow. Though I had already seen Yu in his costume, I was anxious and excited to see him on stage. Maybe I was embarrassed for him, or maybe I felt worried that he would get upset. I expected him to come out with a timid expression like the other two, but instead, he strutted out on stage, emotionless as usual, and looked straight out toward the audience, not a fiber of fear resonating from him.

"N-no more!" a girl piped up. "S-Senpai!?Why are you doing this!?"

"Whoa…" I heard a boy say, "I thought he was cooler than that…

"Sounds like your entrance is causing quite a stir!" said the MC, "Did you sign yourself up?"

"Damn straight," Yu-san said in his serious voice.

"Wow," Yosuke said, surprised, "He was more gung-ho about this than Kanji…" He grimaced at the floor. "Damn that Kashiwagi… How dare she tear away our innocence like this! Now I'm scarred for life, dammit!"

"Our last contestant is a random, unaffiliated entrant!" said the MC. "She's a friend of our other 'beauties'! Calling herself 'King of the TV World,' she's a cute, sexy little number! Give a warm welcome to Teddie-chan!"

Teddie skipped out on stage, the blue dress I had chosen, as well as the long, blonde wig, flowing gracefully behind him. I felt somewhat proud of my work, though it was not much to be proud of. He stopped front and center, flashing a girly pose and shouting "Gimme your hearts!"

The crowd immediately went wild. I heard things such as "Huh!? That's a boy!?" and "He's so cute!"

I also heard a boy beside me say "I'd hit it…" And I stepped cautiously closer to the other girls.

We were all given some time to vote, and I initially did not know who to vote for. I tend to be rather indecisive about these types of things. So, as a last-minute decision, I hastily picked Yu-san, because he had been such a good sport about being forced into it. Eventually, when all the votes were tallied, the MC stepped back up on stage with the boys and prepared to announce the winner.

"And the winner of this year's "Miss" Yasogami Pageant is…" he paused dramatically before speaking up. "The random contestant who won everyone's hearts, Ms. Teddie!"

Suddenly all the girls flashed smiles at me, as if to congratulate my work. My face briefly went red. I hadn't expected this… Though, it did make sense, since I had had so much experience myself with cross-dressing. Teddie had skipped to the front of the stage, and confetti sprayed out of the two small confetti cannons on either side of it.

"As our champion, Ms. Teddie will receive a very special prize… Later this afternoon, we will be hosting the Miss Yasogami Pageant, with actual beauties this time! Your reward is a position as an honorary judge in that pageant!"

Teddie looked very happy. He was so excited that he began to jump and dance on stage, only prompting the crowd to cheer more. I was happy for him, but… Wait, did he say Teddie was going to be the host!?"

"Woohoo!" he was cheering.

"A-An honorary judge…? Yosuke said disappointedly, "That's one lame prize for what you gotta go through…"

"Not everyone can get that excited over a judge position," said Chie-san.

"Seeing him so happy kind of makes me happy too…" Yukiko-san smiled. I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," said Rise-san, "He's like over the top innocent."

"Well then, Ms. Teddie," said the MC, "How does it feel to have won the pageant and become a judge?"

"Hmhmhm…" Teddie chuckled deviously, "The long-awaited day has finally come! I decree that one of the judging criteria later this afternoon will be… Tadaaaaa! A swimsuit competition!"

My eyes widened and my heart seemed to freeze over. Swimsuit…?

...Uhh… If you would please forgive me, I must express how I felt to you with the full extent of the emotions I was feeling.

SWIMSUIT!?

"Wh-Wh-What the hell!?" Chie-san stuttered, "Over my dead body!"

"Aww," said Rise-san, "I didn't bring a swimsuit!" She seemed a little too serious about this.

"That bear needs to be disappeared…" Yukiko said quietly in her dark voice.

My mind was racing, but I forced myself to calm down and think rationally. Teddie couldn't possibly have the power to request that on a last-minute basis. "Well," I said, "I doubt he has the authority to declare that unilaterally…"

"W-what do you mean he does have the authority!?"

"I mean," Chie-san said, "You can try talking to her yourself, but… You know Kashiwagi… She thinks this is a good idea."

No… No, no, no, no, no. I was not going to go on stage in a swimsuit. I hated stages and swimsuits APART, and I would NEVER encounter them together. I was doing enough by going on stage fully clothed!

We all stood in silence in the break room we had been using for changing. I supposed that Rise-san was the only one who knew she could go through with this.

"Dress yourselves up as well as you can, you little brats," Kashiwagi's voice came to us as she approached us from where she had been standing with the portly Hanako Ohtani.

"What is she, the rival woman on a soap opera…?" Chie said, practically chuckling to herself and refusing to look back at her. "Wait, is Kashiwagi serious about winning this?"

The door suddenly slid open and a female student walked through carrying a Junes bag. "Mr. Teddie dropped this off," she said, "He said that they're swimsuits…"

Swimsuits…!? No… Now I didn't even have an excuse not to go through with this...

"Hey!" Chie-san piped up, "We don't need them!"

Kashiwagi began to chuckle maniacally, like an evil, seductive witch in a fantasy movie. "My mature charms will win the day! I brought my own swimsuit, of course."

"I brought my own too," Hanako-san smirked.

"Wh-what's with these people…?" Chie said.

"Hey," said Yukiko-san, "L-let's not do this…" I agreed with her. There was no way that I was going to do this.

"What's that?" said Kashiwagi, "Getting cold feet? Wise of you to back out of a fight you can't win." She confidently turned with a smirk to Rise and looked her sharply in the eye. "You call yourself an idol… But you're just jailbait with no brains, no guts, and especially no figure."

"What…!?" Rise-san was understandably offended. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Never before had I seen a teacher acting so threateningly toward a student. Rise-san did not deserve it, either. I felt rather defensive of her, but I decided it was best not to speak out of turn.

"There's no way their type would be crowned Miss Inaba," Hanako said with a smug voice, "Why not just let them back out?"

"Oh," Chie growled, turning to face Hanako, "Oh, and I suppose you think you're gonna take the crown!? You little… Snoring pig!"

"Snoring?" Hanako said, "What're you talking about? Your face is as foul as your mouth, and your brain's rotten to boot."

"We went through hell because of you…" I didn't know what Chie-san was talking about, but I assumed that something had happened between the two of them before I had become associated with their group. "Th-That's it! Now I'm pissed!"

"Oh? You're going to challenge me?" Hanako-san's arrogant attitude was beginning to put me off. If there was any quality in a person that I did not like, it was arrogance. "It's useless… Don't waste your energy." She looked at the rest of us. "Let this be a warning to the others, too. You're going to lose. Now's your last chance to run away."

If they were going to give us an outing, I would gratefully take it.

"R-run away?" Chie-san said, "Why the hell would we run from someone like you?" I didn't like where this was going. I wished that I could go home and hide in bed.

"We… Did kinda run away last time…" Yukiko said.

"That's what I'm saying! We gotta stand our ground and get our revenge for that!

How can we cower and hide when they're picking a fight!?" Her words were valiant and bold, but I did not think that now was the right time for this kind of "fighting spirit."

"Y-yeah…" Yukiko said.

Chie motioned back to us. "Right, Rise-chan? Naoto-kun!? We won't run from this, right!?"

"Huh…!? Me too!?" I had been hoping to take the outing that Hanako-san had given, regardless of the dishonor associated with it. Only a moment ago, they had not wanted to do this! Why were they all for it now that something as senseless as peer pressure was involved? "Why are you letting yourself be so easily provoked!?" Everyone was looking at me intently. My eyes were wide, sweat was beading on my forehead, and my heart was thudding heavily inside my chest. "Th-th-th-there's no way! Absolutely. No. Way. That I'm wearing a swimsuit!"

Chie slowly began to walk up to me, her coppery eyes glaring into mine as if she planned to devour me alive. Her merciless, snarling mouth seemed to hunger for my exposed flesh, and I had the sense to immediately cover my bound breasts, although they were already fully concealed. I felt the blood drain from my face, and although she was merely a few inches taller than me, I felt dwarfed as I looked up at her in terror. "You're not goin' anywhere…!"

"...Ngh!" Panicking, I stumbled backwards and immediately grabbed for the door handle.

"Grab her!" Chie cried, and Rise-san and Yukiko-san quickly snatched me up by the arm and the waist. I fumbled and fell backward against the door, losing my grip on the handle. They maintained their hold on me even though I desperately writhed to break free of their grip.

"Let go of me!" I cried, "I don't want to do this! Please, Rise-san, let me go!" I pleaded with her, hoping that she might understand.

"Naoto-kun…" Rise-san had her arms wrapped around my waist. "Please, help us out. It'll only be for a few minutes! It won't be that bad, I promise you!"

"You're an idol!" I said, "Of course it wouldn't be that bad for you!"

"Oh no, you're not backin' out, Naoto-kun!" Chie growled in my face, "We're doing this together as a team, alright!?"

"All the guys held up their end of the deal," said Yukiko-san.

I whimpered weakly, wanting nothing more than to go home. Still, I looked into Rise-san's eyes, and saw something I hadn't before. Her eyes were pleading and emotional, the face she always put on to get what she wanted. However, I could sense a hint of sincerity in them. It felt like she actually wanted me to do this.

"Please, Naoto-kun?" she said.

Eventually, I felt much too guilty to refuse. Guilt was most definitely one of the worst feelings for me. "...Alright…" I let out the word in a long sigh. "Fine… I will try, if that is what you want from me…"

The three of them cheered, and Yukiko let go of my arm, but Rise-san still clung to my waist. "Thank you, Naoto-kun!"

"B-but," I said, "I assure you, I really do not have much to offer in terms of looks…"

"Aww, c'mon," Chie-san said, "You'll look great."

Kashiwagi chuckled darkly again. "So be it, then. Let's see just who comes out on top."