It Was a Mask All Along (3)

Chapter 99: S2 Episode 3 - It Was a Mask All Along (3)

"—Yes? What is it, Koshiro Miya?" Keiko responded calmly to the angry calls of Koshiro Miya.

It was obvious that Koshiro Miya was mad, but nobody could do anything to appease her. After all, she was the richest girl in school who was the daughter of the Chateau Seika president.

"YOU DEFINITELY CHEATED! HOW COULD YOU GET 2ND PLACE! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE BELOW US!"

After hearing where this was going, Keiko sighed at this self-righteous behavior from a pompous rich girl and even rubbed her forehead as if she had expected it.

"W-What are you talking about, Koshiro Miya?!" The three sweets princes decided to step in but Michiko Keiko signaled for them to back off. She looked back at the guys and her eyes seemed to say: "Back away. I got this."

Following her signal, the sweets princes and their spirits backed away from the two girls and gathered in a large crowd where everyone had formed a circle around the two girls.

The circle of people was wide and it left about 5 meters (16 ft) of space between the two girls and the crowd.

"We cheated? How so?" Keiko asked, waiting to hear the latter's response.

"YOU INFLUENCED THE HIGHER-UPS TO THINK THAT YOU GOT 2ND PLACE!!!"

Keiko could see where this was headed but nobody in the crowd spoke a word. All of the attention was on the two girls.

One was too angry to calm down and the other was too aloof to get a reaction out of.

"Tsk tsk. That's a bold statement coming from you, Koshiro Miya. Do you have any proof that Team Michiko had done that sort of thing?" Michiko Keiko asked, slightly raising her eyebrows.

Now she was anticipating what this narcissistic girl was going to say.

"Y-YOU DEFINITELY CALLED PEOPLE TO COME AND ORDER YOUR FOOD!" Koshiro Miya exclaimed fiercely but Michiko Keiko—and her team members that stood off to the side—stood completely still without uttering a word.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Pffft!" It was Keiko who had burst out laughing.

"Hahahahahaha!" She couldn't control herself after hearing such presumptuous words come out of that girl's mouth. Keiko's face shone brilliantly as she laughed that others couldn't help but admire the smile on her beautiful face. She was truly stunning when she laughed out loud, but they could feel something more behind that laugh.

"Haha—Y-you think that—huhu—Team Michiko—pfffft—cheated?!" Michiko Keiko laughed amusingly at the situation.

Most people who were in this type of situation would act a whole lot different than her, but she treated it as if it were the funniest joke she'd ever heard.

"YES! OF COURSE, YOU DID!" Koshiro Miya said without hesitance, her eyes lighting up with fury.

To Keiko, the entire situation was funny to the point where tears were forming in her eyes because she was laughing so hard. Finally, after the fit of laughing, Keiko straightened up and looked at Koshiro Miya seriously, as if she never laughed before.

"Koshiro Miya," Michiko Keiko said with a sweet smile, tilting her head to the side.

She looked at the girl as if she was talking to a small child who'd done something wrong.

"I'll have you keep in mind that my father is a *prosecutor*, so I know many things about law and how to get the truth to come out—now if you will answer my question again—WHERE. IS. YOUR. PROOF?" Keiko threatened with a poisonous smile that was as sweet as venom.

After seeing that smile, Koshiro Miya was trembling in place. She'd never witnessed Michiko Keiko make that expression before so she believed that it was alright if she could bring her down some more since Keiko never did much in retaliation. But if there was one thing that was proved to her today, it was that Michiko Keiko could no longer be seen as the quiet girl who would handle her torment. That 'girl' was abnormal; fearsome even.

"..."

Koshiro Miya remained silent as she stared straight at Michiko Keiko. The face that she had always wanted to punch so much was staring down at her like she was the prey who was found by the lion. The smile she wore was sweet, yet fake.

"Well, if you don't have proof, Koshiro Miya, then I'll have to conclude that you are framing Team Michiko for cheating. In any case, don't YOU have something to… A.D.M.I.T?" Keiko asked the quiet mouse who trembled in place, sharpy enunciating her words.

"W-what are you s-saying?" Koshiro Miya spoke up after hearing this and she could feel a rush of anxiousness flow through her body.

"Oh, I don't know—maybe using your daddy's connections to recruit people into buying your food?" Keiko pointed out with a nasty smile and glare.

It was obvious that this quiet girl was done putting up with the rich girl's antics. It didn't matter whether she exposed her here in front of a crowd or not. If anything, she wanted to teach this spoilt brat a lesson!

"Are you trying to frame me?! How could I do something like that?! Where's your proof?!" Koshiro Miya lashed out again, trying to turn the tables, but Keiko had a solid expression as she faced her. She even had a calm smile that said: "I don't need proof. Your face says it all!"

"I was willing to let it go but since you came to me first, don't expect me to go easy on you, *Princess*," Keiko mocked. Then, she turned to the crowd of onlookers and looked at each of them who had curious glances.

She showed no hint of fear in her eyes as she eyed down the crowd of spectators watching the interesting scene.

"I'm sure that everyone here has wondered how Team Koshiro gathered such a large amount of people in such a short time—I myself have wondered that as well—" Keiko was immediately interrupted by Koshiro Miya who was becoming flustered at her words.

"—Michiko Keiko! Need I remind you that my father is the President of Chateau Seika?!" Koshiro Miya threatened but Keiko was not in the least bit pushed back.

"Ah—you've brought up my next point for me! Thank you, Princess Miya!"

Koshiro Miya looked up at Michiko Keiko with a blank stare full of confusion. Where was she headed with this?

"The round was going smoothly until the tables started to turn. Adults dressed professionally in work clothes were all gathered in front of Team Koshiro's Mont Blanc shop. Why—you wonder? Ha! The sudden rise in popularity which had caused quite a stir in this competition has led me to believe that it was due to your influence—oh, my bad—I mean your *father's* influence," Keiko said, gritting her teeth as she smiled mockingly at the girl who was so confident a second ago.

A commotion stirred up in the crowd of onlookers.

"What does she mean?"

"Koshiro Miya cheated?"

"Her father was involved in the competition?"

"That's impossible!"

"Now that I think about it, it is strange…"

The eyes of everyone looked directly at Koshiro Miya who took a step back. Never had she been met before by these eyes full of disdain and suspicion. It was as if she was being singled out!

She is the rich daughter of a rich president's company! How dare they lay their filthy eyes on her?!

"You must be out of your mind, Michiko Keiko! Now it seems that you're framing me without any proof!" Koshiro Miya answered with hesitance under the pressure of the crowd's stares.

"Is that so? Then I guess you have a better excuse as to why so many business people were gathered at your shop at exactly *the same time*?" Keiko interrogated, her bright blue eyes quickly turning fierce as if she saw the dirtiest piece of trash on a street.

The Sweets Princes looked at the brave and confident Keiko who stood 5 meters in front of them. She seemed ready to expose everything right then and there.

There was no doubt that Koshiro Miya's actions were suspicious. At this rate, just about anybody could guess where this conversation was headed.

"W-well, I-I-I—" Koshiro Miya stuttered, unsure of how to respond to the fearful predator in front of her.

"Ha! As I suspected—you tampered around with this round by asking for your daddy's help! Once the announcement came out declaring that whichever team got first would be automatically in the finals, that's when you decided to call your father! You asked for your father's help to call for his employees to buy your desserts at your shop! If anything, it was YOU who manipulated the numbers by using your influence as the daughter of a rich president! Now, what do you have to say… Miss Koshiro Miya?" Keiko spoke begrudgingly, eyeing down the rich girl who was at a loss for words.

.

.

.

Not only was it Koshiro Miya who was quiet, so was the crowd of students who were watching this encaptivating scene. And it was Chairman Moriyama who was still standing on the stage, watching everything go down.

"I-is this true, Koshiro Miya?" Chairman Moriyama questioned through the microphone as he stood on the stage. He was almost speechless at this revelation but he wanted to hear it straight from the girl's mouth.

"N-n-no… I-I-I didn't…" Koshiro Miya said faintly as she felt the glares from the people around her.

"If she did that, she should be disqualified!"

"That's cheating!"

"She obviously doesn't know what "fair competition" means!"

At this point, there was nothing that she could do now. Michiko Keiko had said it all—everything that she'd done. Her main motive was to show the Sweets Princes their regret for not grouping with her if she had gotten 1st place.

She wanted to see Michiko Keiko's devastated look when she saw her rise to the top.

'ARGH! THIS DAMN MICHIKO KEIKO! F*CKING HUMILIATING ME AGAIN! BUT—WHO CARES IF I ADMIT TO IT NOW?! I'LL F*CKING KILL HER!!!' Koshiro Miya thought to herself, glaring with hostility at those bright blue eyes of the girl who seemed as if she had already won.

'No… I won't go down alone! SHE'LL GO DOWN WITH ME!'

It was at this point in time where Koshiro Miya was beginning to lose all sanity. She couldn't care less about what happened to her as her mind was clouding up with violent thoughts.

All that mattered to her was that Michiko Keiko would sink with her.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! SO WHAT IF I DID THAT?! I ADMIT THAT I ASKED FOR MY FATHER'S HELP DURING THE COMPETITION, BUT I COULDN'T LET THIS LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT GET FIRST PLACE! HOW DARE SHE LOOK DOWN ON ME?! I'LL F*UCKING RUIN YOU, MICHIKO KEIKO!!!" Koshiro Miya declared maniacally to herself, veins popping out of her forehead as she said with a wicked smile.

As if someone had taken over her body, she ran at full speed at the calm and fierce girl before her.

*P—U—S—H!!!*

Then unexpectedly, without hesitance, she forcefully pushed Michiko Keiko with all of her might.

All that was awaiting the falling girl was a hard concrete floor that could seriously crack one's head open if one were to fall violently on the ground.

'ACK! Oh no!!!' Michiko Keiko exclaimed in her mind as she was falling. Her words weren't coming out of her mouth due to the sudden shock so all she could do was scream in her head.

'Yes… NOW I CAN SEE THAT DEVASTATED LOOK ON YOUR FACE! I CAN FINALLY SEE THAT OVERCONFIDENT SMILE TURN INTO PURE FEAR!!! YOU'LL BECOME USELESS AFTER THIS! I HOPE YOU DIE!!! HAHAHAHAHA!'

People were watching the scene unfold and that was when everyone's hearts stopped beating. They all did their best to reach the falling girl before it was too late, but they just couldn't reach there fast enough.

Even the three boys on Keiko's team who were a part of the crowd tried to run up to her, but she was 5 meters away. They couldn't even sprint to save her at that distance until—

—It was too late.