Chapter 50: Cultural Festival Day One (Tournament Part 2)
...Why did I say something like that?
Cooling my head off—literally—in a stall of the girls’ bathroom, I was now regretting everything I’d said and done.
Just imagining myself kissing some guy on the cheek made a wave of disgust rise up inside me.
I buried my face in both hands and slumped forward.
『Ikuto-san...』
『Alicia, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me...』
『No, I’m fine, but are you okay, Ikuto-san?』
『I’m so embarrassed I wish the ground would just swallow me up. I got all flattered and let it go to my head...』
I’ve never had that kind of attention before, so I guess I got carried away. No denying that. The self-loathing hit hard.
『But maybe it’s actually a good thing you realized it before things got too serious?』
Alicia offered those words to console me.
She had a point. If I had kept going like that, I could totally see myself getting sweet-talked at a mixer someday and just going home with someone.
In that sense, if all I got out of it was a kiss on the cheek, maybe that was the least awful outcome... possibly.
I’ll chalk this up as a life lesson and move on.
『...Yeah, you’re right. I’ll be more careful next time!』
『That sounds like a good plan!』
When I stepped out of the stall, Yuna was waiting at the sinks.
"...Sis, what’s going on?"
"Alice, you brought your deck with you, right? Lend it to me. I’ve decided to enter the tournament too."
Yuna said this bluntly.
Her intentions were obvious. If she won the tournament, my stupid comment would lose all its weight. Since Souta and I were on the organizer side as two of the few experienced players, we weren’t allowed to join as participants. So she was going to take our place.
"Thanks, Sis."
"Not that I’m saying I’ll win or anything, so don’t get your hopes up."
Lately, Yuna had been sparring with me both at school and at home. She had the basics of the game down and a real knack for tactical play—she even beat me fairly often. I wouldn’t say she had no chance at placing high.
But more than that, there was something I wanted her to value above all.
"This happened because of me, so don’t feel pressured, okay? Just enjoy the tournament! It’s your first one, after all!"
"...Jeez, you’re still such a card game nerd."
In the end, the tournament began with a total of 118 participants. It was a single-elimination format with seven rounds—lose once and you’re out.
If the matches didn’t finish by 5 PM, which was the end of the school’s open access hours, the remaining players would move to a nearby card game shop to continue.
This contingency was put in place because the number of participants ended up being larger than expected, which meant the tournament would likely run longer. It was a precaution suggested by the shop owner.
Apparently, he had left his store in the hands of part-timers to come see the tournament that was making waves online. But when he saw how overwhelmed we were by the unexpected turnout, he kindly offered to help run the event.
Back when I used to frequent his shop, both Souta and I were familiar faces. It also seemed he knew Ando-san—the maid who visits the shop on errands for her master.
The shop owner took charge of managing one of the additional classrooms we hurriedly set up. As a bonus, he organized on-the-spot eight-player mini-tournaments using sealed booster packs for players who had been eliminated early.
He even planned to hold beginner-friendly workshops for students new to the game. Honestly, I couldn’t be more grateful. That kind of consideration should have originally come from our club.
"It's in our best interest to get more players into the game, so don’t worry about it. In fact, I should be thanking you—it’s a perfect chance to promote the shop."
The shop owner said this with a smile. A slightly stocky, solidly-built nice guy.
"Thank you all very much for coming today. I’m Kisaragi Alice, vice president of the Hirayama High School WISO Club, and I’ll be serving as one of today’s tournament hosts."
Souta and I each gave opening remarks in the two classrooms. Ando-san had prepped and compiled the key points and tournament rules on a single sheet after checking with Souta and the shop owner. The Hashimoto family’s maid was just too capable.
People asked some of the same questions again as before, but I rolled with it—even brought up the kiss incident to help lighten the mood. Festivals are meant to be fun, after all!
With the opening done, I took out my phone to check the time. A fleeting moment of silence before the matches began. The room was filled with a pleasant tension.
When the pre-arranged time appeared on the screen, I made the announcement.
"Round one begins now! Time limit: 40 minutes—start your matches!"
Across the room, voices rang out—"Let’s have a good match!"—as the tournament officially began.
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