Stealing Spree

Chapter 2394: Three Winners

The voting process commenced immediately after our presentation.

Each member of the audience was handed a slip of paper to cast their votes for the three most deserving classes. Tachibana-sensei emphasized the importance of considering creativity, feasibility, and potential audience appeal.

Nevertheless, their votes would probably only amount to 20% of the total score, and the panel of judges consisting of teachers from different grades would decide the remaining 80%.

It was a tense few minutes as the chatter of the deliberating audience and panel buzzed inside the conference room.

Although I only focused on the presentations where my girls were involved, the other two classes also had some great creativity with their ideas. I wouldn’t be so confident to think that we already bagged the price.

I glanced around us and noticed Maaya’s group still radiating confidence. Yeah. If it’s that girl, as long as it’s anything not involving her Nee-sama or me, she’d never break character.

Arisa remained to be all smiles whereas Izumi was the one showing signs of anxiety as they waited for the announcement result.

Meanwhile, Marika was crowded by her classmates, looking like they were trying to make amends for turning their backs on her. She remained calm and collected, acting like she didn’t mind what happened in the past.

Well, even though Tanaka-senpai selected them carefully, they’re still far from her who’s now trying to become Marika’s friend rather than her follower.𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

If they try something against Marika again, I won’t be lenient even if they’re girls or just following orders.

Once the votes were collected and tallied, Tachibana-sensei stepped forward, clipboard in hand, and clapped her hands for attention.

”Alright, everyone! The results are in. Before I announce the winners, I want to commend each group for their hard work and creativity. We, teachers, look forward to a peaceful Cultural Festival this year. You, first years, had no idea how chaotic it was last year. Apart from the disastrous flood, there were more technical and logistical errors that were committed because of their excessive creativity. Hopefully this time, you can make us all proud and entertained without giving us headaches.”

She smirked at the senior classes before continuing with a playful tone, dispelling the anxiety in the room brought about by waiting.

Mhm. She’s kinda great at that.

Tachibana-sensei’s smirk and lighthearted tone broke the tension in the room as some of the students exhaled.

A ripple of chuckles then spread even among the senior students she had teased. Her ability to handle the room with ease was impressive and perhaps part of the reason she had been chosen to host this workshop. She was also well-liked among the senior students and staff alike.

She held the suspense a moment longer, scanning her clipboard before continuing.

”Now, without further ado, let’s move on to the winners of the presentations. Remember, this was a close contest, and every group here brought something unique to the table. So even if your class isn’t chosen, you’ve all done a fantastic job.”

As she said that, the hands gripping mine tightened as both Nami and Chii waited in bated breaths. Nami did everything she could to present it concisely. On the other hand Chii, as the source of the idea, wanted to bring it out to reality. And with the additional funding, it’d be more viable.

Influenced by their nervousness, I also gulped down as Tachibana-sensei’s eyes scanned the whole room before her lips curved up into a pleasant smile before pointing at our table.

”First up! Year 1 Class 1: The Haunted Mystery Room!”

When she called our class’s name and the title of our concept, the cheer that erupted at our table was a mixture of pure joy and relief. The three girls, Nami, Chii and Shimura all stood up and rejoiced.

And since I was between them, I also ended up getting pulled by them, revealing our joined hands underneath.

Not minding the focus on that, the girls wore radiant smiles as we bowed to Tachibana-sensei, to the panel and then to the rest of the audience.

Shimura let out a soft ”Yay!” before covering her mouth in embarrassment when we sat back down.

”We did it, Ruu!” Likewise, Nami couldn’t contain her joy even though she tried to maintain her composure.

”Hehe… We’ll get everyone on board for this idea. Kii, leave this to us. You have the Literature Club to worry about, after all.”

”Sure but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t help at all.” I nodded, ”Anyway, this was thanks to everyone’s effort. You did great too, Ogawa.”

”Yeah.” Perhaps surprised that I would address him with praise, the guy was slightly taken aback as he replied stiffly.

As long as he stays in his lane and takes care of Mami from now on, I won’t be so petty as to torment him at any given moment. After all, he’s going to be my brother-in-law, no?

Now, I’m missing Kazuha-nee. Forget it. I’ll just give her a call later.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Maaya giving me an approving nod, though her smile carried a trace of competitiveness, a silent acknowledgment of our accomplishment. Misaki, as usual, waved energetically, mouthing something I couldn’t quite catch but assumed was a congratulation.

Naturally, Arisa, Izumi, Marika, and the other girls in the audience were also congratulating us.

As the applause died down, Tachibana-sensei continued with her announcement.

”Now. Now. For the next class…” Her voice trailed for a bit as her face twisted a bit as though she was finding it unacceptable that she couldn’t bend the rule of picking only three from the six unique concepts. ”... Year 2 Class 4: The Time Traveler’s Market!”

As expected, Arisa and Izumi’s group secured their spot.

The applause for their ’Time Traveler’s Market’ was just as enthusiastic, if not more so, given its innovative and educational appeal. Izumi, though visibly relieved, tried to keep her composure. She shot me a brief glance that was half gratitude and half her usual challenging demeanor. I decided. I would tease her about this later.

Arisa also acknowledged the applause with a graceful nod, her eyes meeting mine briefly then she openly sent me a flying kiss, drawing attention to me once again. Enjoy new adventures from empire

That was intentional. Arisa was also announcing to those who could pick it up that she was close to me or I was the one she gave her heart to.

Those unhappy upon realizing that were already glaring at me.

”You’re proud, aren’t you?” Nami teased, nudging me.

”Of course,” I admitted with a chuckle. ”They earned it.”

Soon, Tachibana-sensei continued for the final class that will receive additional funding for their Cultural Festival.

She playfully let the room boil in anticipation as well, her eyes darting over the remaining four classes to hype them up.

”Finally, the final class whose creativity shone brighter than the rest was none other than…”

At that point, her eyes alternated between two classes only. Marika’s and Maaya’s.

Really, she’s making everyone anxious again.

In any case, the wait was soon over as her arms pointed somewhere and remained there.

”... Year 1 Class 3: The Grand Ball Cafe!”

The room instantly burst into applause as Maaya and her group celebrated their well-deserved victory.

Misaki’s innocent cheerfulness then spread as she squealed happily while bouncing out of her seat to run to our table and hugging my head from behind.

”Ruki! We won too!” The innocent forehead girl rubbed our cheeks together as she expressed her joy.

I patted her head and nodded, ”Good job. I’m looking forward to visiting your booth during the festival. Will you be the queen or my princess?”

”I’ll be your wife…” Misaki blushingly whispered which Nami and Chii reacted to by hugging my arm tightly.

Because of Misaki’s actions, Tachibana-sensei who was watching everything from the front couldn’t help but playfully comment with the microphone still in her hand, ”Look at what we have here. Onoda-kun is winning in a different department.”

That drew a peal of laughter from the girls while most teachers facepalmed at how I somehow outshone the celebration of the winning classes.

I guess they’re free to blame me but there’s no way I will stop my girls from rejoicing like this.