Chapter three, 2016, school festival, madness and glory: 8

'Now that was a waste of time,' Ulf thought. He knew he had better than average looks, but putting him in a beauty contest was a joke. Well, the joke was over, and now he could return to the job that needed to be done.

Ulf rushed to the service gates. With the contest running almost a third of the radios were out of commission, and key stations ran dangerously understaffed. This was the critical phase of the festival, but he had prepared just about everyone with scare stories about the twenty minutes when the contestants took the stage.

'Should have told them about the two hours after that.' With that thought he continued to make certain the service gates were closed for entrance. With the open grounds deceptively empty it was all too tempting to let everyone inside, and that spelled disaster when the gym hall eventually emptied.

Guests sitting at the tables just inside the gates rose or turned when a roar erupted from the gym hall.

'That's Christina for all of you.' Ulf smiled as he ran.

Fifteen minutes to count the votes, including all votes collected from ballot boxes strategically placed around the school for those who wanted to make their opinion heard but disliked crowds.

At the gates the security patrol allowed more guests inside in exactly the uncontrolled manner Ulf feared, and he pulled one of them aside and handed her a paper slip with instructions.

She looked at him with questioning eyes. Then she gave the relative calm around the outdoor café a long gaze and stared at him again with even more questions in her eyes.

"Just trust me on this," Ulf said. "We've packed fifteen hundred guests inside the gym but sooner or later they'll go outside."

She just shrugged and joined the rest of the patrol. All of them pointed at Ulf when queuing people asked what was happening as they closed the gates.

He waved at the irritated queue and made a time-out sign hoping they'd understand. After that he left an unhappy patrol who pointedly refused to look at him. Even their backsides were unhappy.

'Well, I'm the better scapegoat.' He smirked and went behind the gym. The back door must have been closed to avoid letting daylight inside and he stood knocking on it for a while before he realised the futility in what he was doing. The cheering from the other side prevented anyone on the inside from hearing him.

With a sigh he prepared himself for a wrestling match all the way from the main entrance to the stage and turned.

'Red Rose? What are you doing here?'

The first strike fractured both bones in his left upper arm. The second gifted him with a concussion and sent him sprawling to the ground.

Before he lost consciousness he felt two of his ribs crack as he frantically shouted for help into his radio.

***

Kyoko grinned when she was announced as fifth place together with one of the third year boys. Noriko beat her with less than a ten vote margin and lined up beside the other third year.

Hitomi-chan fidgeted uncomfortably when it was clear she wasn't partnered with anyone. Urufu apparently timed his absence superbly to miss out on receiving his third place prize.

The junior took second place with a solid margin to Hitomi-chan, and the cheering from the audience told Kyoko how popular she was among her fellow second years. Ryu smiled shamefacedly when he was announced as the runner up and joined the grinning second year girl.

A wave of roaring rolled in over the stage when Nao-sempai and Kuri-chan entered the scene. Kyoko guessed last day's fashion show decided the results, because both won their respective first place by a margin so large it wasn't even funny.

'Urufu, that was nasty of you. Hitomi-chan didn't deserve to stand here alone.'

Truth be told Kyoko felt a little bit betrayed. After a scowl she made up her mind and twisted those feelings into something good. If Urufu didn't think this was important enough for him to drag his lazy arse here, then she could spend the next twenty minutes together with Yukio watching the band.

In front of her Noriko turned and faced Kyoko. "Where's Urufu?" she shouted.

Kyoko shrugged with both palms out. She had learned the outlandish gesture from Kuri-chan, and by now most of the club members used it jokingly whenever they were clueless.

Noriko smirked and shook her head before facing the audience again. Any longer conversations were impossible with the thundering cheers drowning all other sound.

'Ah, I like your kindness!' Kyoko thought when Ryu caught Hitomi-chan's hand and greeted the crowd sandwiched between two girls. 'I wish you find someone for yourself.'

She couldn't see Hitomi-chan's face, but Kyoko noticed how the left wing beauty stood straighter after Ryu's gesture.

'I'll chew your face off for this, Urufu. Yukio and I both will.' He could have as much problems understanding girls as he wanted, but what he had just done was just inconsiderate.

She felt bad for Hitomi-chan, and when the ceremony was over she hurried backstage and turned off her radio. Yukio smiled at her all the time and she grabbed his hand and followed him into the crowd.

"Watch the band with me?" she said, putting her lips close enough to his ear that it counted as a kiss.

He nodded back at her and led her through a mass of bodies. They couldn't go too far away or they wouldn't make it back in time for the fashion show. Both she and Yukio had small parts to play in it.