Ko-chan’s Chronicles

I left the first challenge with Hinari and headed for the "Mittened Tea Delivery" station. Hinari gave me a little cuddle as we walked. "You were great, Ko-chan~ I haven't seen your smooth walk in a while, since you got your hobble skirt~"

"T-t-thanks, Hinari-chan. Your speech was really cool too! Did you see that girl fall after talking such a big game? Does she think I learned to walk like that overnight?" I gave Hinari a hug back.

"They have no idea, Ko-chan, but they will learn. Now, off you go, Sakari is already giving the introduction to the second challenge." She pushed me forward a little towards the stage where Sakari stood with a microphone.

"I'm sure everyone here has been in a restaurant before, right? You always see waitresses walking around with a plate that has a bunch of drinks on it, effortlessly delivering to all of their guests." Sakari started her pitch to the surrounding audience.

"Ko-chan made quite a splash at our own maid cafe with her own unique style. She could easily flit around just like a fairy and deliver tea to anyone. That's why the challenge this time is to put a cup of tea on the plate, then carry it through this obstacle course, and place it on the table without spilling it." Sakari pointed to a path filled with other tables, chairs backing out and in, and doors opening suddenly.

"Seems easy enough, right? Well, if you think that's a cinch, then try the secret level, and try to earn the fairy's kiss~" This time, Sakari's words contained a small bit of magic, making them seem more reasonable and appealing than they otherwise would.

"Now, for a demonstration, our fairy has just arrived!" Sakari pointed me out and the participants made space for me to approach the stage.

"Um.. Hello, people" I waved and smiled before Sakari grabbed my arm and dragged me across the stage

"No time to waste, we need you to show us your unrivalled skills with a tea cup" Sakari brought me over to where two assistants waited with racks and racks of shoulder length mittens.

"In this time's secret level, you must deliver the cup, all while you are wearing these cute mittens. I assure you it will not be as easy as the first attempt." As she was talking, the two assistants put some mittens on my arms up to my wrists, and I turned back to Sakari.

"I'm going now." I slid the plate with the cup off of the desk and held it above my head with my mittened hand. I was already able to do this before, but with my improved agility since my awakening, this kind of thing is a cake walk. I swirled my tea cup around, dodging left and right before finally placing the tea cup on the table where Sakari was sitting with her legs crossed. She picked up the tea cup and took a sip.

"Beautifully done, Ko-chan~ The tea is the perfect temperature too. This time, let me give you the kiss~" Sakari pulled me over and gave me a peck on the cheek, causing me to blush.

She stood up from the chair and went back to the crowd. "Now that you've seen our amazing Ko-chan, who is going to be the first to try it?"

A hand flew up in the front and shouted "I have a question, first."

Sakari smiled, "What is your question, miss?"

The excitable girl, who was already wearing ballet boots, yelled, "Um, if I succeed at the secret level, instead of a kiss from Ko-chan, could I kiss her cheek instead?"

Sakari looked over to me and I blushed from the question, after which she said "Wow, look how much she's blushing! I think that's a yes~"

The girl immediately climbed the stage. "Great! I'll skip the normal run and go straight to the secret level!" She ran over to the assistants at the rack of mittens, and came back a few minutes later, locked into mittens up to her shoulders.

"I'm going to go now, wait for me, Ko-chan!" She managed to survive a few obstacles, but a door suddenly opened and knocked the plate off of her hand, sending it clattering to the floor.

"Oh no! So close! You almost had that kiss~ Sorry dear, you'll need to try again at the next challenge. I'll give you this pin as a consolation prize, though" Sakari gave the disappointed girl a little pin showing a pair of mittens, and her little pep talk was laced with magic, making her feel like she would have no problem clearing the next challenge.

"Now, I'll pass you off to the assistants, so please make an orderly line, ladies." Sakari gave her final words, then handed the microphone to an assistant and came to me.

"He, he, are you having fun, Ko-chan? You don't get to move around this freely nowadays, do you?" Sakari grabbed my wrist and tugged me close.

"Ah, Sakari-chan! Um.. I'm sure My Lady would let me free if I really wanted to.." I blushed a little thinking about how Matsuko usually completely overrides my opinions on how to be restrained or not.

"It's good that you still have hope, Ko-chan." Sakari tried to avoid laughing when I told her that.

"Wait, what do you mean by that!" I was pulled along to the next challenge without getting an answer.

* * *

"Sakari-chan~ What are you doing over there so secretly?" I noticed Sakari was furiously typing on her phone with her other hand while we were walking.

"Oh? I'm just updating your fan club about the current leaderboard status. They sure are eager for your attention." Sakari smiled deviously.

I looked over to see what they were saying.

"Ah! I can't believe I failed on the second challenge! I was over halfway through when I got hit by a door!"

"You already did the second one? I just failed at the first one. I cleared the challenge easily enough since I am on the track team, but as soon as I tried the secret level, I could only make it a few steps before losing my balance. I don't know how Ko-chan does it!"

"Did you hear? If you complete a secret level, you can have a choice to either be kissed by Ko-chan or give Ko-chan a kiss! I've dreamed of giving Ko-chan a kiss all year, I can't give up this chance!"

"I don't know about you guys, but since I tried the second challenge, I've been having a lot of trouble using my phone with the mittens."

"I agree, that's why I started using the voice chatting feature instead. It's much easier that way."

"I'm already at the third challenge, but there's a girl who won't let us get close. She's been ranting about what fools we are to believe in Ko-chan's trick, and she would go first to open our eyes to the truth."

Sakari laughed. "That looks like our cue. Are you ready to prove yourself again, Ko-chan?"

I blushed a little and scratched my cheek. "Am I really so controversial?" I tried to figure it out in my head as we reached the third station.

* * *

"Watch out, bunny coming through. Excuse me, thank you" Sakari pushed through the crowd forcefully while holding my hand and leading me towards the stage.

"Finally, you show yourself! Your time is ticking, Miss Fairy!" A girl was standing right in front of the stage in both mittens and ballet boots, shouting at anyone who came near her.

"Um... have we met? Did I do something to you?" I spoke back to the girl who was pointing at me with her mittened hand.

"You've poisoned the minds of the students with your pretense! Look, those girls over there would go to such lengths just for the chance to get close to you!" She pointed to the front row, where several other students in matching mittens and boots seemed like they wanted to approach but were intimidated by the girl yelling.

"And what's further, your entire image is a lie! You go through so much effort to make it seem like you are moving elegantly, and your constant twisting and turning to shake your wings is incredibly fake!"

Sakari smiled, as she noticed the perfect time to step up. "Well, funny you say that, because the focus of the third challenge, Winged Obstacle Course, is exactly those cute wings that Ko-chan always wears. Shall we see a demonstration?"

Sakari led me up to the stage to have me show off my skills, but the girl in front shouted before we even got up the stairs. "No need, I know it's possible because it's fake! Let me be the demonstration this time!"

Sakari grinned as the girl's self delusion started to boil over. "Well, in that case, don't let me stop you. All you need to do is put these on and then walk through the obstacle course without knocking over any of the objects or falling down." Sakari held up a pair of cosplay wings attached to straps like a backpack. These were smaller and less substantial than the ones I normally wore, but they were perfect for a casual challenge.

The girl stomped up the stairs and snatched the wings. "Give me those. I only need a minute" She slid them onto her arms like a bag and went to the start of the course. Spread around the stage were various pedestals with wooden blocks of different shapes on them. Each block had the face of a student on the front and back. Some were tall, some flat, some more ornately shaped. In addition, there were some vertical poles and even some moving obstacles to make things more difficult.

Sakari clarified the rules. "This obstacle course represents Ko-chan trying to walk through a busy hallway while not inconveniencing anyone or causing a mess. If you knock one of the 'students' to the ground or you run into the obstacles more than 3 times, you lose. You may begin."

The girl gritted her teeth and slowly began to move along the path. She turned her torso to guide the wings through the course as she dodged the obstacles and poles representing walls. About halfway through, she bumped into one pole with her wings, causing one of three lights to turn on. Later, she nearly toppled a wooden block student, but caught it with her mittens and kept it upright. At the end, an obstacle designed to ambush the participant as they exited the course nearly knocked her over. She finished the course with two out of three collisions, but otherwise successful.

Sakari clapped her hands as the girl came over, smug. "Well, that was fairly impressive, but definitely not perfect. Either way you have earned your pin. Leave the wings on that table so we can introduce our next participant."

"You can't be serious. You'd continue this charade even after I proved how simple it was?" The girl wasn't ready to give up her chance to expose me on stage.

I felt like I had to defend myself. "Um, excuse me... I just want to say that those aren't even my real wings. Mine are much bigger and cooler."

The girl gave me a death glare strong enough that I took a step back. "It doesn't matter what the wings look like. The fact remains that this skill is nothing and anyone could clear it without trouble."

Sakari grinned like a demon as she started to enhance her words with magic. "Ah, if you're so confident, then let me introduce this challenge's secret level. If you look over to the corner, you'll see racks of tutus and wings just like Ko-chan's. Go over there and have the assistants help you into one and then repeat the course. Of course, you have to have a perfect score to be like Ko-chan. No bumps or saves allowed."

The girl was incensed. "Hmph, save your mockery for someone else, I'll clear your challenge in record time. Be right back." She went over to the corner where the assistants quickly stripped her in plain sight of everyone and then helped her step into the tutu. They worked together to lace the corset tight from bust to hips and then lock it securely. This costume already had the built in armbinder between the wings, but it was folded up with small clasps and not really visible at a quick glance.

Sakari riled up the crowd a bit when the girl returned. "Wow, everyone, doesn't she just look amazing in her new tutu? Look how slim she's become! Of course, our Ko-chan is much slimmer, but that doesn't mean we can't cheer her on anyways."

The girl was looking far less confident now that she was laced into the tutu. Her breathing was shallow, and it was clear that she had underestimated the weight of the wings attached to the tutu.

"Well, you look ready to attempt the secret level, so let's have a hand for our new challenger!" Sakari held out her hand to show the girl to the crowd, and got a round of applause back. The girl felt like she couldn't back out at this point, or else her entire rant from earlier would make her look like a fool.

She came to the entrance of the course and was even more careful than before, slowly twisting and turning to avoid hitting anything. Sadly, less than a quarter of the way through the course, the larger wings clipped a wooden block as she turned and it clattered to the floor.

Sakari seemed to expect this outcome. "So sorry, it seems you have hit someone in the face with your wings and caused them to trip. Such a scene would never have happened to Ko-chan. Maybe Ko-chan is just that awesome, or maybe it is merely your own failings?"

The fan club members backed Sakari up from the front lines. "Of course, Ko-chan is the best!" "How could you doubt her abilities!" "Go rant somewhere else already! I want to get my own wings faster!"

The girl trembled with anger and humiliation before finally storming off towards the next challenge. "Just you wait, this isn't over, Ko-chan!" Her voice triggered waves of laughter from the fans as they mocked her relentlessly.

The next fan club member stormed up to the stage, stopping in front of Sakari. "I don't need to run the challenge, just let me please get a set of wings, I have been dreaming of this for months now!"

Sakari's face twitched. Wasn't this going a bit too well? "Don't worry dear. You can have your wings, but why don't you try the challenge while you're at it? If you manage to complete it you can get a kiss from fair Ko-chan while you're at it."

The girl looked over at me, then blushed and covered her face. "I-I-I could never! She is too good for someone like me! I can only watch from afar~"

Now my face twitched as this girl professed her love for me. Look, miss, I already have My Lady in my heart, there's no space for you too!