Editing Masou Gakuen HxH:Volume 6 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 2===

The inside of the room was ruled by nervousness. All present held their breaths and concentrated their minds to a single paper. The leader of Masters, Scarlet Fairchild gulped audibly and reached her hand to that paper.

When Scarlet’s fingers pinched at the edge of the paper, Henrietta raised her voice as if screaming.

“You, you are going to see it!?”

Surprised by that voice, Scarlet reflexively distanced her fingers back.

“I, it can’t be helped isn’t it! After all this is prepared so we can see!”

“Bu, but……I’m still, my heart’s preparation……”

After combing down her upped platinum blond hair and fixed the position of her glasses, Henrietta was still in a state that was really not calm.

Beside her, Leila was staring at her arm watch since a while ago.

“It has been five minutes since this staring game to that paper scrap began. How about I demand a compensation for the mental agony that is caused by this tense atmosphere? About a hundred dollars for each minute.”

“Just who is it that has any responsibility to compensate you huh!?”

Even after coming to AU, Leila was still a money-monger. Scarlet reflexively made her retort.

Clementine whose orange hair was braided was walking around the room with an irritated state.

“How long are we going to be like this. Geez, let’s see it quickly! Either way the result has come out already. We can only pray to god now.”

The remaining one person, Sharon who had grey hair wasn’t wearing her usual goth-loli clothes, she was wearing her stage outfit. She didn’t really say anything and only watched fixedly at the situation’s development.

“I, I got it already. Fine then, I’m going to look!”

Scarlet restrained her hard beating heart and slowly flipped the paper.

“……-!?”

All members leaned their bodies forward and got their faces close to that paper.

“GYAAAAAAAAAAA-!”

“DAMN ITTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!”

“Aa―nn, how unfortunateeeee-“

“EEEEEE-, it’s like we are fined!”

“……disappointed.”

Scarlet was trembling fiercely while grasping that paper of [new song ranking’s quick announcement].

“Second place……Masters is in second place, and then the first place is……”

Henrietta put her hands on her cheeks and sighed deeply.

“This week too it’s Amaterasu again……”

“Shhit―, those girls are immovable from the first place.”

The place was Vatlantis Empire’s theater that was in the imperial capital Zeltis. The Masters right now were in their exclusive waiting room inside that building. At that room, the tally of the weekly popularity ranking was reported to them. For the recent while, Amaterasu and Masters consecutively hogged the first and second rank. No, more correctly Amaterasu was at the top while Masters was at the second place. Of course, there were also the local artists and idols of Vatlantis, but these two groups which came from Lemuria were boasting an overwhelming strength.

“How―ever! I cannot accept being the second place forever like this. To keep eating Yurishia’s trailing dust even as an idol……at this rate I’m going to be called as the world’s number two girl!”

“But……what to do?”

Sharon asked with a voice without any modulation.

“There is no other choice! Strategy meeting. Conveniently, tonight we will have a joint live with Amaterasu! We are going to make everybody realize, our true power right there!”

Scarlet thrust up her fist and everyone else followed her while raising warcries “OOO―!”

“Anyway, what do we do so we can win against them, all of you give me nice, good, and cool ideas!”

“More country-style, like cowgirl! Also gunfight!”

“Let’s buy the media with bribe!”

“Goth-loli costumes. Also the dress code for the audience is also goth-loli.”

“Double our trainings and lessons……”

“You girls, are you all idiots!?”

Scarlet snapped.

“Eee!? Even my idea too!?”

Henrietta who gave out a serious idea let out a voice that almost sobbed.

“……All of you, what are you doing?”

Yurishia was peeking in from the opening of the door with knitted eyebrows.

“Aa―! This eternal first place!”

“Scarlet, is that a praise? Or are you speaking ill of me?”

“Both!”

Yurishia pressed her hand on her forehead as if having a headache.

“So, what are you all clamoring about. I can hear you until the next room you know?”

In this Vatlantis Empire theater, the waiting rooms of Amaterasu and Masters were neighboring each other. Because they were together the top idols so they were using the best floor, also considering about the possibility of them escaping they were put close to each other to make it easy to monitor them, such intention was also there.

“We are in a meeting of how to win against Amaterasu right now!”

“What a really exciting meeting you all have……but, doesn’t something like rankings not matter at all?”

“Even if the three of you are fine, we are not fine at all with that-!”

“I don’t know about saying this myself but……all of you, why are you doing idol activity? What are you thinking……I don’t think that you are thinking though.”

“Even you Yurishia are doing this aren’t you. Even if we also do this idol business, it’s not strange right?”

“I don’t particularly mind but, Scarlet and all of you look as if you all are seriously doing this idol business. I have the feeling that you all are completely losing sight of our objective right now.”

Scarlet was making a face of someone who didn’t understand what Yurishia meant.

“Of course we are seriously being idols you know? Because our objective is to become the top idol, so it’s not like we are losing sight of anything though.”

Yurishia’s opened mouth couldn’t close again.

“……Err……everyone also fine with that?”

Yurishia was looking around at the faces of the Masters worriedly.

“That is……”

All members hesitated to talk. There was no reply from anyone.

“Wait, you all! Answer that it’s fine here-!”

Scarlet yelled angrily while swinging up and down both her hands. Yurishia put her hands at Scarlet shoulders in a ‘good grief’ state.

“See here, we are prisoners you know? The original objective that you lost sight of is――”

“But, there is nothing else that we can do so it can’t be helped isn’t it? If we don’t do this idol business, we are only going to get locked up at that prison right? Like that there will be no one that will be happy isn’t it?”

Scarlet answered with a nonchalant face.

“This idol business, we are enjoying it, the common people of Vatlantis are also having fun right? Even if we get locked inside the prison, there is no one that will be happy, but if we sing and dance, there are many people that we can give happiness to. Then, isn’t that way better?”

“Scarlet……”

Yurishia was taken aback. Henrietta also couldn’t close her gaping wide mouth, but she suddenly smiled and spoke in understanding.

“Certainly that is so. We are fighting the enemy, but that is a fight against Vatlantis’s army, we are by no means fighting the people of Vatlantis.”

At once, a congenial atmosphere was born. Yurishia sighed and smiled helplessly.

“Well, that’s really like you Scarlet. Whether it’s you yourself, and also the current Masters.”

Scarlet sniffed her nose and puffed her chest proudly.

“Obviously-! After all I’m the leader of Masters!”

“I guess. It’s exactly as you say.”

Yurishia smiled in relief and then left the room. And then right before the door closed she turned back and said.

“But, I don’t have the intention to hand over the seat of the first rank. Bye bye, forever second-san♥”

“Wha-……!!”

The faces of Masters stiffened in astonishment. And then Yurishia winked snappily and closed the door.

Right after that, a scream thundered inside the waiting room of Masters.