v01_c30_Beauties

GJ-Bu

Volume 01

Chapter 30

Beauties

“I was wondering...”

Mao suddenly said from the tea table.

Megumi and Shion, who were having a laugh together, turned to face her. Kirara, who was chowing down on some meat, tilted her neck.

Kyouya too stopped his hand that was reaching for a cookie and looked at Mao.

“Among the four of us, who do you think is the prettiest?”

Mao said for whatever reason, facing Kyouya.

“Eh?”

“I was told in my class that everybody was a beauty in our club. I had never really paid attention, but when I stopped to think about it, we don’t look half bad.”

Mao said, taking a good look at each of them.

As those evaluating eyes crossed the room, Shion, Megumi and Kirara all fixed their postures on their seats.

“And so I started wondering how you see it.”

“Why did you turn to me?”

“Well, you know, you’re a man after all. You can be the judge.”

“No way. I don’t want to judge that.”

“This guy just said he’ll desert us in the face of the enemy. I think a shooting execution is in order.”

He looked around at everyone.

That harmonious mood that’d been shared by them had been blown away somewhere in an instant.

“W-wait. L-look, you know... Er... Err... Megumi-chan...?”

He turned a dependent look to Megumi, begging for her to stop that.

“It’s fine, isn’t it?”

He got a bright smile as a response.

Megumi might be an angel, but she was unexpectedly fond of competitions, and was an unexpectedly sore loser.

“Shion-san.”

Kyouya turned to face Shion, intending to have the cool and logical girl explain the pointlessness of that.

“I understand that the practical significance of things such as games and contests is non existent. However, isn’t it precisely because of this lack of significance that we derive pleasure from them? I reckon that the essence of pleasure lies in leisure. In that case, if it’s pointless, we can say that it’s to some degree beneficial through pleasure. Also, this is in accordance with the principles of this club’s activities’ regulations.”

He got such thesis for a reply. In other words, she was no help to him.

“What about... Kirara?”

He thought it wouldn’t do him any good, but he still tried asking the last person he could, Kirara.

“Kyoro. Who do you like?”

“Y-you idiot! You! What!? What are you saying!? That’s not it! We’re just asking him who’s the prettiest! Pay attention to the conversation! Where the hell did you get this idea from!?”

Mao exploded, turning bright red. She started blurting out a drawn out protest against Kirara. It took her about three minutes to settle down. In the meantime, Megumi prepared everybody's tea, setting down an hourglass and putting the black tea leaves to steam. Shion read a few pages of her paperback.

Kirara kept facing Mao, but she wasn’t listening at all, even yawning.

“So, who is the prettiest?”

Kyouya’s wish that the thing would end unresolved like that was not granted.

“Well, when your mouth is shut, I think you’re very pretty, president.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Practically speaking, if you’re not talking and if you don’t bite-... Ouch! Ouch! That hurts!”

After pulling away from Mao’s teeth, Kyouya turned to face Shion next.

“Shion-san is the most intellectual one, I think.”

“Y-yes. W-well, I wouldn’t hesitate to acknowledge that.”

“Megumi-chan is kind and the most feminine, I think.”

“Yay. Thank you.”

“Hey, Megu, he didn’t actually say that you’re pretty.”

“And Kirara...”

Kyouya turned to face Kirara, the last one.

He searched for flattery words. The only word he couldn’t use was “pretty”. He searched for a word that would praise her strong points. It was a survival technique, finding the keyword that would grant him victory and allow him to go on living.

“Err...”

As he gazed at her, Kirara tilted her head. He faced the girl and started talking.

“Err... Kirara is... The most eccentric? She’s got gap moe.”

“Moe, huh?”

Mao slapped her knee.

“Moe is one thing, it has no relation to beauty, right? Well, to sum it up, it’s a tie between the four, right?”

Mao smiled with satisfaction.

Kyouya didn’t really understand it, but things seemed to be settled, so he let out his breath.