Kawaii princess's Arc

Chapter 40 of 54

The rival's shout caught fire. Her supporters slammed gloved hands against a wall of stacked metal drums crusted with ice, and a chant rose: "Not music! Not music!" The head scout paused on the open platform of the stone tower, token still pinched between two fingers. The noise climbed the tower walls. Kawaii Princess saw his hand begin to lower. She spun the mirror toward a tall pillar of crystal ice panels at the stage's edge. Light struck the panels and split into shifting colors that washed across the arena floor. She tapped the rhythm again — long, short, long, short, long. The colors pulsed with each beat, painting the chanters' faces blue, then gold, then rose. The drums faltered. Children pointed. Even the rival's front row tilted their heads up to follow the colors climbing the tower walls in time. The head scout leaned over the rail of the open platform and counted the pulses out loud, one finger lifting with each beat, until the fifth. He let the carved crown token drop from the tower. It struck the stage and skidded to her boot. "Counted and confirmed," he called down. The chant broke into scattered gasps. Kawaii Princess picked up the token. The crown was hers in this round — but the rival was already climbing the tower steps, demanding the head scout name the final stage of the contest before the colors faded.