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Chapter 143 Part 1

Winner’s Rights (1) ~Riverside Hotel~

Approximately 40 minutes by car southeast from Yuu’s house.

They arrived at the entrance of Kawagoe Princess Hotel in Kawagoe City about 5 minutes earlier than the meeting time, which was 6pm.

The hotel, which was built along the river that ran through the city, had a modern outward appearance, but when Yuu stepped into the lobby accompanied by his security personnel Kanako and Touko, he was overwhelmed by the sparkling and luxurious interior.

As if inspired by the hall of a royal castle, it was decorated in red and gold on a white base. Hanging from the ceiling was a glittering chandelier. The marble floor was sparkling brightly.

The sofas and tables were of muted colors, as expected, but the furniture was in a rococo style with a white base, gold-work patterns in parts, and elegant curves.

Perhaps it truly was a hotel that was built with the image of a princess in mind.

In the individual category of the first Ayakuni Cup Quiz Championship held on 27th last month, Sairyou’s Hanmura (Riko)-Iida team took first place along with Sairei’s Li-Kijima team.

Among the prizes given were meal tickets for restaurants from the Princess Hotel chain.

On top of that, the meal tickets were for four people.

Although it wasn’t made public, it also came with the right to invite boys.

It depended on their negotiation with the people in question, but since they couldn’t disclose the boys’ contact information for personal matters, the Sairyou Academy office served as the contact point.

Without delay, Riko exercised her right and invited Yuu to join her on Thursday, August 2nd.

And of the places where the tickets could be used, the relatively close one was the Princess Hotel in Kawagoe City.

「Yuu-kun!」

「Ah, Riko…?」

After entering the lobby, Yuu was looking around restlessly when he heard a familiar voice calling out his name and turned in that direction.

It seemed that the two were sitting on the sofa nearby.

As Riko got up from the sofa and came towards him, Yuu stared at her figure in a daze, unable to say anything.

The navy blue dress, which looked simple at a glance, was off-the-shoulder and boldly showed off her shoulders.

The knee-length hem was tapered, accentuating the length of her legs.

Riko was originally 2 or 3 cm taller than Yuu, but tonight she was wearing high-heeled shoes, so her eyes were even higher up.

When he took a closer look at it as she walked toward him, he noticed that the dress had loose pleats that gave it an elegant look.

Yuu had no idea, but it was called a draped dress, which was gorgeous and accentuated one’s mature look.

Usually, her hair was tied into a single bundle and hanging down in front of her shoulder, but tonight not only was it hanging down her back, but it was also loosely permed.

On top of that, a gold necklace was shining on her chest, and perhaps because she was wearing makeup, albeit modestly, she exuded an even more mature vibe.

「Riko… You’re so beautiful, so mature, and even more lovely than usual tonight.」

「Ah… Is, is, is that so? Thank goodness. It was worth dressing up.」

Getting complimented in such a straightforward manner, Riko blushed.

They were going to have dinner at a restaurant tonight, so Yuu was also at a loss as to what outfit to wear.

Speaking of the formal attire of a student, it would be their school uniform, but as opposed to the gakuran that he had only worn once, he thought he had made the right choice in choosing a black suit and necktie.

Yuu’s eyes turned to the woman who was hiding behind Riko, as if turning into her shadow.

He had heard that Riko’s partner was her classmate Iida-senpai, who was said to be the president of the literature club, but compared to how she looked when he saw her during the quiz championship, she was like a completely different person.

「Come on, don’t hide, say hello to Yuu-kun.」

「Huh… wait.」

She wasn’t much different from Eimi, who was always with Riko, or rather, she was a little shorter, so she was probably less than 160cm tall.

She wore a sleeveless blouse with ruffled sleeves on the top. Below was a long, flared skirt with a floral pattern on a white base.

Compared to Riko, her style was like that of a normally quiet high school girl who did her best to dress up. And that was nice.

Her hair was a dull brown, one could say. It was a color that was known as dark blonde or ash gray.

It was short and a little fluffy in a bob-cut style, which was cute.

She had been looking down since a while ago, but as she had thicker eyebrows, sharper eyes, and a higher nose bridge than the average Japanese person, she had chiseled facial features overall.

「Umm, err… Excuse me, have we met somewhere before?」

「Ah, err, I, I’m… Iida.」

「Iida… Wait, Iida-senpai?!」

When she glanced up at him, their eyes met for a moment, and he noticed that the color of her eyes were a lighter brown than the average Japanese person.

It wasn’t striking, but in some way, she gave off a non-Japanese impression.

If memory serves right, not only did he have a brief conversation with her up close before the third round, he also remembered seeing her in the finals of the quiz championship.

At the time, she wore black-rimmed glasses with large lenses, like the ones men wore. And she should have had bushy black hair cut in a bob.

「Ufufu. As I thought, she looks like a completely different person, doesn’t she? Not only did she take off her glasses and put on contact lenses, but she also went to the beauty salon with me and had her hair cut, after all.」

「Then, you dyed it?」

「No. This is actually my natural hair color.」

According to her, it seemed that her father was a scholar who had fled from a Central Asian country where men were oppressed.

He married a female university student majoring in Asian linguistics who had taken care of him and doubly served as his interpreter since he started living in Japan.

It was just that, even though international marriages had become more common, when she was in elementary school, she ended up receiving a treatment close to bullying from those around her because of her lighter hair color and sharp-looking eyes.

Since then, she had deliberately worn tacky glasses and dyed her hair black so as not to stand out, apparently.

「So that’s why you look like a completely different person… Still, as you are right now, you are incredibly beautiful, Iida-senpai. You look much better this way, so I think you should keep it like that.」

「See, isn’t that great? I’ve been telling you since a long time ago that no one at our school would say weird things about it, haven’t I?」

「I, I see… If Riko and Hirose-kun say so…」

She had always dressed herself in a plain manner, but it seemed that being told she was 「beautiful」 by Yuu had made a big impact on her.

Her cheeks were tinged in faint pink, but she nodded her head vigorously.

For the time being, it was time to say goodbye to Kanako and Touko, who had dropped him off there.

In a hotel like this, which also accommodated men, security was tight, so there was no need to worry about being attacked.

「Well then, I’ll call you when we’re done later.」

「Understood.」

They had gone as far as becoming one in the body in July, but even so, not only had Kanako and Touko never made advances on him, they didn’t cut corners in their work as his security personnel, just like before.

At most, they had physical contact, which was initiated by Yuu, in the car.

After exchanging some words, Yuu casually touched the two’s hands and held them lightly, making sure the people around wouldn’t notice.

That was all, but Kanako and Touko smiled happily, and after bowing, they headed for the exit.

「Now then, let’s head to the restaurant, shall… we?」

Before he finished speaking, Riko quietly leaned over to Yuu’s right side and linked her arm around his.

「E, excuse me.」

As Aiko, who was urged by Riko with her eyes, also held his arm from the left side, Yuu was sandwiched between the two from both sides. He was holding flowers in both hands, so to speak.