"This is so awkward. Why do we have to sit next to each other?" Jousuke asked himself.
"This is bad, people might ship us again; a lot of customers in line are the one who saw us in Shibuya Parco." said Leah.
"U-uhm, D-Daikuhara-san. There's a customer..." said Leah.
"Y-yes. My bad, I spaced out a little." said Jousuke.
"How much for these?" a customer asked while holding up four mangas.
"¥1,400, Senpai." said Jousuke.
"Here." said the customer as he paid with cash. He added "Can I get a bag?"
"Sure thing!" said Jousuke and Leah.
They reached for a bag, making them hold hands briefly. They stopped and stared at each other for a moment.
"U-uhm, you can take it!" said Leah as she blushed and removed her hands from the bag.
"O-okay!" Jousuke replied as he took the bag. As he gave the bag to the customer, he said "Here you go, sir! Have a nice day!"
Leah spaced out for a moment and thought to herself "He always makes me feel excited and nervous. This is bad. My heart's always pounding around him."
As Kenshin looked at both of them, he thought to himself "She wants you, Jousuke." and then smiled happily.
-12:44PM MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016-
"Crap, what should we do? We only have sixteen minutes left and we still have to sell seven more mangas." said Jousuke.
"We'll be late if we waited for more customers. But if we didn't, the funds will be questioned by the manga club, the art club, the student council, and the principal." said Leah.
"What do we do, Kenshin?" Jousuke asked.
"Hmmm, I'm thinking about it." said Kenshin and then closed his eyes.
In all of a sudden, someone enetered and then shouted "I would like to buy the remaining mangas!" and then laughed.
"She's weird, who is she?" Jousuke asked himself.
"Mashiro-chan, are you sure?" Leah asked.
"Don't show off your wealth, Betchaku-chan." said Kenshin.
"Shut up, Esashi-kun. I'm helping y'all." said Mashiro.
"Oh, they know her, huh." Jousuke thought to himself.
As Mashiro looked at Leah, she noticed Jousuke and thought to herself "That's that guy from Shibuya Parco and from the hallway. Isn't he?"
Mashiro approached Leah. "I'm so happy for you Leah-chan! You're sitting next to your boyfriend, huh? So lovely!" said she as she held Leah's hands while smiling.
"E-eh? He's not my boyfriend! He's just...my friend!" said Leah.
While listening to their conversation, Jousuke thought to himself "What? Boyfriend?"
"Well, do you like him though?" Mashiro asked as she giggled.
Leah was shocked and she blushed as well when she heard Mashiro's question.
She thought to herself "I don't know..." In spite of that, she replied "No, we really are just friends. Nothing more intimate than that!"
She once again thought to herself "Stop teasing me, Mashiro-chan!"
"Hey, Betchaku-chan. Stop teasing Boutsuki-chan. Just do your thing, all of us will be late if we don't hurry."
"Okay, okay! Jeez." said Mashiro-chan.
-EVENT HALL-
-12:57PM MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016-
"We made it before time!" said Jousuke as he, Kenshin, Leah, and Mashiro were panting.
"Y-yeah. W-we should take our seats!" said Kenshin.
"You okay, Esashi-kun?" Mashiro asked.
"Y-yeah!" said Kenshin.
"You're panting so hard." said Leah.
"I really am, let's go!" said Kenshin and then he rushed to a chair.
Jousuke, Leah, and Mashiro followed him. As they all sat down, Okabayashi approached the stage and then started speaking.
While Okabayashi's speaking, Leah thought to herself "We're sitting next to each other once again. I'm starting to get used to his presence..." and then she looked at Jousuke.
Jousuke thought to himself "Why is she always staring at me? Do I always look bad?"
"You're handsome as always, Daikuhara-san..." Leah thought to herself as she blushed and smiled.
"...with that being said, let's start our contest. Please welcome our emcees—Aria Poku, Kaede Miyazaki, Jin Asano, and Rika Sakurai" said Okabayashi.
As everyone clapped, Poku started speaking "Everyone, are you all ready for this big day?"
Everyone replied and cheered "Yes!"
-POKU'S POINT OF VIEW-
:Then let's start this! Please welcome our first contestant—from class 1-A, Ryuusei Douko!
:From class 1-E, Kaito Kishinoue!
*Kaito entered the stage*
:From class 1-F, Natsu Date!
*Natsu entered the stage*
:From class 1-F again, Asa Ebihara!
*Asa entered the stage*
:From class 1-F again, Seiichi Sakamoto!
*Sakamoto entered the state*
:From class 2-A, Ryouka Jouho!
*Jouho entered the stage*
"I didn't know my little sister joined. Well, it's not like she can't though."
As Poku introduced the ten male canditates and ten female candidates from first year to third year, she gave the microphone to Rika.
"All right, thank you, Poku-chan. Please wait shortly, everyone. We are now computing the judges' scores." said Rika.
Rika gave the microphone to Miyazaki.
"Good afternoon, everyone. As we all wait, we, the admins of this event, would like to greet you a happy halloween." said Miyazaki.
Everyone clapped and cheered for Miyazaki.
"You're so pretty, Miyazaki-san!"
"Please be my girlfriend!"
"Marry me!"
"Miyazaki-san, can I get your number?"
"I'm your biggest lover!"
Asano grabbed the microphone from Miyazaki and said "Sorry everyone. But can we please maintain our professionalism, please? This is still a school after all. Additionally, Miyazaki-ch...san seems to be uncomfortable. Please let us stay quiet and enjoy the event."
Everyone behaved and said "Sorry!"
"W-why, Asano-kun?" Miyazaki asked herself and then amiled. She smiled and asked for the microphone again from Asano. Asano gave the microphone to Miyazaki.
"Thank you so much, Asano-kun. By the way, the results just came in. Everyone, are you all ready!?" said Miyazaki.
"Yes!" everyone replied.
"With that being said, Okabayashi-sama, please announce them!" said Miyazaki and she gave the microphone and a paper to Okabayashi.
"Sure, Miyazaki-chan. Let me just read the citation first..." said Okabayashi.
While listening, Jousuke asked Leah "Are you okay? You're coughing a lot."
"Y-yeah, I'm fine! It's just a little cold here, I guess." said Leah.
"No wonder why, it's fall." said Jousuke.
Leah was surprised when she felt a warmth behind her. She looked at Jousuke. She realized that Jousuke removed his jacket and gave it to Leah.
"H-hey, you don't have to!" said Leah.
"Oh, yeah I have to. I need to help you, you're my friend." said Jousuke.
"What's with this man? He's always there for me." Leah thought to herself and then she remembered Jousuke carrying her and then blushed.
"If that's so, t-thank you, Daikuhara-san." said she.
"Now, we will announce the winners. Please step forward, our third placer..." said Okabayashi and then she paused for a moment and said "From class 1-F, Seiichi Sakamoto!"
Everyone clapped and Sakamoto stepped forward and said "Thank you, everyone!"
"Congratulations, Sakamoto-kun! Now, please step forward, our second placer..." said Okabayashi and then she paused for a moment and said "From class 1-A, Ryuusei Douko!"
Everyone clapped and Ryuusei stepped forward and thought to himself "Huh! I'm second placer, Kaito!" as he looked at Kaito.
"Congratulations as well, Douko-kun! Now, we will announce the first place who got the highest score. Please step forward, our first placer..." said Okabayashi and then she paused for a moment and said "..."