V4Ch26: Tenka Festival

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Translator: Soafp

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The biggest event at Tenka Academy.

The school festival—commonly known as the “Tenkasai.”

The first day is open to students only, and the second day is open to the public. The highlight of the first day is the Tenka Contest, a major event that draws attention not only from the entire student body but also from students in the surrounding area.

In the morning, ballots are handed out and all students cast their votes. The teachers then work hard to tally the results in time for the evening announcement.

To prevent any foul play, the vote counting process is open to observation. Anyone can enter the tallying room, though if you disrupt the process too much, you'll get scolded. The votes are signed, so in theory, it's possible to figure out who voted for whom—though doing so is discouraged.

The reason the school still uses paper ballots is also for fairness. A while back, they tried switching to digital voting, but suspicions of tampering forced them to go back to paper.

After arriving at school, I wrote down my choices for the male and female deity slots. For the male candidate, I picked the junior I cared for most, and for the female, my beloved stepsister.

And thus, the Tenka Festival began.

I started the day by helping out with my class's project. I was incredibly hyped—this was my first Tenkasai.

At my old rural school, the festivals weren't nearly this lively. I was blown away by the energy of this one and determined to enjoy it to the fullest.

Our class had set up a food stall selling karaage and yakisoba. It was a classic setup, sure, but working together with classmates to pull it off was a great feeling.

“—Nice work. It's about time to switch shifts.”

“Got it. It's all yours, Masahiro.”

“Leave it to me!”

Now that it was my break time, I set out for a place I'd decided to visit a few days ago.

Along the way, I ran into a familiar face, chatting with her friends as she walked toward me.

She was still noticeably smaller than most students, but perhaps because of her posture or her confidence, she looked much taller than her actual height.

“Well, if it isn't Shota-san.”

“What a coincidence, Shirase.”

Shirase dismissed her friends and approached me.

“The Tenka Contest is finally here. How are you feeling?”

“I'm just waiting for the results now.”

“You sound confident.”

“This year, I will claim the title of goddess once again.”

And that confidence made perfect sense.

Shirase had been very active in the lead-up to the contest.

With the issues in her home life finally resolved, she had become more positive and smiled more often. Her growing popularity reflected that change.

It also helped that her younger brother, Yakumo, was the top contender for the male deity slot. There were even whispers hoping for the first-ever sibling gods.

“I will become the goddess!”

“You're fired up. Good luck.”

“Um, if I do become the goddess—”

She seemed about to say something, her face flushed with emotion, but she clamped her mouth shut before the words came out.

“No, never mind. I don't believe in stirring things up after the fact. The matter is already settled.”

She shook her head and sighed.

“Well then, excuse me.”

“Yeah, see you around.”

I watched her walk away, her small frame filled with confidence, then resumed my walk.

Before long, I spotted another familiar figure. Delighted, I jogged over to her.

“Kikka Nee-san!”

“Oh, Sho-chan.”

“Today's the Tenka Contest, huh? Feeling confident?”

“More or less.”

She grinned, brimming with self-assurance.

She had entered the contest to rival Akazawa, but as a former goddess herself, she still had a loyal fanbase.

When last year's rumors surfaced, she publicly admitted that the boy in question had been her older brother.

That revelation had a huge impact—her name quickly shot up the ranks of top goddess candidates. As the only senpai contender, she had strong support thanks to her mature charm. Compared to the others, her assets were clearly in a league of their own.

“I'm looking forward to the results.”

“Just you wait. This Onee-chan is gonna crush that Akazawa girl.”

Crush, huh? No one says that anymore.

“R-right. I'm cheering for you.”

“Thanks. See you later!”

After seeing my confident sister off, I finally headed toward my true destination.

I arrived at one of the first-year classrooms. It had been turned into a café, and as I stepped inside, I was greeted by a cute maid.

“Welcome home, Master!”

“You look great, Shion.”

“Ah—Onii-chan!”

The adorable maid who greeted me was none other than Shion, who beamed with joy.

Yakumo-kun, noticing our exchange, looked over and gave me a polite bow. Still as much of a gentleman as ever—even in this outfit, he looked like a real butler.

Shion's class was running a café—your classic maid and butler setup, a staple of any school festival.

Shion had personally asked me to visit. I'd been looking forward to seeing her in maid attire, so I had promised I'd come.

Now that she was on break, we sat down to eat and chatted casually.

“Today's the big day.”

“Though, there's not much to actually do during the contest.”

“True. But how are you feeling about it?”

“It's my first time, so I'm not really sure. But for my Onee-chan's sake, I will become a goddess!”

Shion had been working hard in preparation for the contest.

Though unfamiliar with such things, she'd done her best to promote herself and won over many fans. I'd also done my part by encouraging others to support her. I'd like to think it helped, at least a little.

It's true that the competition was fierce. Most of the top candidates were former goddesses, and in terms of name recognition, Shion lagged behind. But I knew how hard she'd worked, and I wanted that effort to be rewarded.

“I'm excited for the contest, but I also want to enjoy my first school festival.”

“Yeah, I'll enjoy it too.”

“So, I'm gonna start checking out all the booths!”

She stood up and waved to a girl who looked like one of her friends.

“Alright. Have fun.”

“See you later, Onii-chan!”

If she'd looked nervous, I might've offered some words of comfort—but she seemed fine.

After that, I stopped by Momoka's place. We chatted happily, and before I knew it, my break was over.

Returning to the booth, I got back to frying karaage. The work wasn't any different from the morning, but for some reason, the afternoon shift felt a bit more subdued.

“……”

“……”

The reason my mood dropped during the afternoon shift was because Akazawa was handling customer service.

Since that day, I hadn’t had a proper conversation with her. There had been a strange distance between us—maybe because I'd learned a shocking truth.

“…Sho-chan. I'm going to become the goddess.”

She said it softly, just loud enough for me to hear.

“I've worked really hard.”

“…Yeah, I know.”

For days after that incident, Akazawa had looked like a lifeless shell.

But then, all of a sudden, she'd found her resolve and began working in earnest to claim the goddess title. Her popularity as the school's idol hadn't faded in the least—of course she was one of the frontrunners again this year.

“When I become the goddess, there's something I want to talk to you about.”

“O-okay.”

She didn't elaborate further. I didn't know what it was, but something told me it was best not to ask here.

After that, both Akazawa and I worked silently, focusing on our tasks.

And then—

An announcement echoed throughout the school, signaling the end of the first day.

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The first day of the Tenka Festival came to an end.

At a normal school, students might say things like “That was fun,” or “I'm kinda sad it's over,” and start packing up to go home. But here, not a single student was leaving. Everyone knew the main event of the first day was just about to begin.

After cleaning up, I headed to our meeting spot.

“—Sorry I'm late. Cleanup took longer than I thought.”

I apologized as I approached. The girls chatting nearby turned toward me.

“No worries. I was just talking to Kuromine to kill time.”

“…Though I'm a bit worn out now.”

“That's harsh.”

“Just kidding.”

Aoyama and Kuromine smiled at each other in front of me.

The Tenka Contest was about to begin, and I was going to watch it with these two.

“Hey, Shota.”

“What's up?”

“I'm really happy you invited us, but… are you sure it's okay to leave Momoka-chan by herself?”

Aoyama asked anxiously.

“No need to worry. I'm spending the whole day with her tomorrow.”

“What about the Tenka Contest?”

“She said she's going to tag along with Shion. Apparently, Shion asked her to stay close because she's feeling nervous.”

“…Now that you mention it, those two are always together lately.”

“Seems like they really hit it off.”

About a week ago, I started dating Momoka.

We'd been flirting a fair bit since then, but recently, Momoka had been spending a lot of time with Shion.

Right after we started dating, I introduced her to Shion. Well, more accurately, since both Momoka and I dropped out of the Tenka Contest at the same time, it kind of gave everything away.

After the introduction, they bonded almost instantly. Now, they even called each other best friends.

“Um, are you sure she's not going to get jealous?”

“Jealous?”

“You know, Momoka-chan can be a bit intense. Like, if a girl even tries to talk to you, she'll give them this scary look that totally drives them away.”

“It's fine. In fact, today's lineup was her idea.”

When I said that, Aoyama and Kuromine blinked in surprise.

The Four Goddesses…

That painful chapter of my life was coming to a close today. Momoka said she wanted to witness its end. I'm not sure what her exact motive was—maybe it was a form of closure.

Besides, she seemed to trust Aoyama a lot. She even said, with a creepy smile, “If Umi-san's with you, it's fine. But please don't be alone with Kuromine-senpai.”

“I didn't think about it, but… I guess this means I won't be a goddess after today.”

“…I honestly forgot. I never really cared about it.”

As we chatted, an announcement came on, saying the results had been tallied.

“All right, let's head to the gym.”

We made our way to the gymnasium.

By the time we got there, it was already packed with students. Since we were a bit late, we settled for a spot near the corner. On the way, I saw Renji chatting happily with Nekoda, but I decided not to interrupt. Best to read the room.

Soon, the student council president appeared on stage.

Because the spotlight was always on the gods and goddesses, people often forgot this school even had a student council president. She was a plain-looking girl with glasses, but those who knew her were well aware she was surprisingly outgoing.

“Now then, I will announce the results of the Tenka Contest~!”

The main event had begun.