Ko-chan’s Chronicles

This time, an entire procession of people headed for the second to last stage. The Carnival was approaching its climax, and the time for carefree pin collection was at its end.

Along the way, Matsuko checked the chat group again, but this time it was nearly dead silent. Most of the group had already allowed themselves to be muzzled or been targeted by the skeptics. The few remaining chatters were the ones that had specifically dropped out earlier and stopped attempting challenges.

Matsuko immediately commandeered the situation at the seventh challenge stage. "May I have your attention, please? In the interest of the time remaining, we will now have a group ascent, instead of individual challenges. May I ask that anyone interested in challenging, please make their way to the stage now?"

A chaotic few minutes later, about thirty girls were lined up in front of a flight of thirty steps. Each girl's legs were locked together in multiple places before being laced, zipped, and locked into a tight hobble skirt. A few of the girls had trouble keeping their balance, even without moving. They would have no chance at clearing the mission.

Matsuko looked out across the lineup with a smile. "Alright, ladies, the final challenge only has three slots for challengers left." She held up three fingers as she spoke, causing the fires of competition to light in many of their chests.

"The three that get closest to the top before falling will be the designated challengers for the final challenge. You may start on my mark....GO!" Matsuko snapped her fingers as a signal to start the climb.

The stairs were wide, but they definitely could not support thirty girls all at once. This caused a lot of shoving and jostling as the challengers tried to climb the first few steps. Any girl that fell off or down the stairs after starting their climb would be caught and carried away by the assistants.

Several minutes in, none of the girls had gotten past the tenth step. There were some murmurs from the audience and one bold girl even shouted, "Isn't this too hard? None of them are going to even get close to the top!"

Matsuko picked up the microphone again. "Are you doubting the validity of the challenge? My little Ko-chan does this all day every day, and in much less time than these novices."

She gave me a kiss, then little push from behind, and said "Go, Ko-chan, show them your brilliance~"

"Y-yes, My Lady!" I hopped from where Matsuko was over to the stairs, then I started to climb. It was an easy set of stairs, and I even started to take them two at a time. In under a minute, I was standing at the top, looking down at the crushed egos of the challengers.

I was sure if they were not all muzzled, they would be hurling insults and obscenities at me right now. Regardless, I hopped back down and back to Matsuko, rubbing up against her to fish for praise.

"Do you still believe it's too hard? Maybe you all just aren't good enough?" Matsuko goaded on the remaining challengers, and that seemed to be all it took to cause quite the incident.

On the thirteenth step, two girls were right next to each other, and currently pressed up against each other.

Matsuko smirked and poured gas on the fire. "Oh? This seems to be a grudge match! These two girls were partners back in the Muzzled Cry For Help, but their challenge tragically ended in betrayal. I wonder who will come out on top?"

The girls pushed back and forth, until one particularly wild ass swing made the other girl lose balance and tumble down the stairs, caught by the assistants.

"Oh, it seems that revenge is sweet today! She may have failed her sixth challenge, but she will be one of the final three competitors!"

A few minutes later, all of the girls had been cleared off the stairs and the three "winners" were lined up in front of Matsuko.

"Very well. We will depart for stage eight. Everyone should follow along, it's going to be a final challenge to be remembered!" Matsuko ended the festivities with brevity and handed the microphone to an assistant.

She picked me up in a princess carry and moved over to one of several carts readied for the occasion. Now that there were so many hobbled girls, it would take far too long to move everyone to the final challenge area just by hopping.

Matsuko got on the back of a cart and placed me on her lap. "Hurry up, girls. We've got places to be."

Naruyo, Hinari, and Sakari struggled to keep up with Matsuko's pace, hopping along to get on the cart before it left them behind.

"Wow, guys, you're getting way faster! Later, we should have a race around the dorm. I'm sure it'll be fun!" I kept talking to them to keep them company, since they couldn't speak right now.

* * *

A caravan of carts showed up at the eighth stage where the sea of tutus had gotten even larger. There's not a single school uniform in sight, and at the center of the crowd is the stage with a large glass box on it.

Matsuko riled up the crowd. "Are you ready, everybody? This is it, the final challenge! As you may know, sight is important in your daily life for just about everything. Close your eyes and think for a second. Just what do you think you could do easily if you were unable to see? Could you navigate the halls and reach your classes on time? This challenge will show you the crushing reality about how much you rely on your eyes."

Matsuko walked up to the large glass box. "This box is a small maze designed to simulate getting from one classroom to another. There are steps up, steps down, pedestals to dodge, swinging doors to dodge, and only one way out the other side. All you have to do is get to the other end within five minutes to clear the challenge and win the fairy's kiss and adoration~"

"Shall we meet our challengers? The three victors from the race at stage seven are here. First, after completing her revenge in the last race, a newcomer who hopes to get closer to her idol!" The crowd didn't really recognize her, but cheered anyway.

"Next, you may also recognize her. She caused quite a scene at the Armbinder Cuddle Dodge where she was caught quite firmly and held in the air to be easily caught. Not satisfied with her loss, she started a fight with my cute Ko-chan while being held down on the ground by the staff. Surely, she will prove that Ko-chan is a fake with her performance here, right?" The crowd booed at the girl who had caused a scene at nearly every stage throughout the day.

"And finally, ah, you may recognize her, she spent two days running around school naked and bound, before she finally managed to get released a while back." The girl blushed deeply as her past secrets were revealed, and the crowd cheered and chattered happily.

Now, let us begin the ceremonial equipping. The girls were guided to sit down on chairs and lean their heads back. Assistants placed the contacts with chains and locks in their pupils into each eye, and then strapped and locked blindfolds over their eyes. The girls shook their heads and looked around as if trying to see through their blindfolds, but everyone knew they would not be able to.

The first challenger was led to the maze, and a loud beeping sound was heard. She started hopping forward, and within three hops, she ran into a wall and fell onto her ass. Since the maze was made of glass, the crowd could see everything that happened, and they burst into laughter when she fell. Despite everything, she managed to get to her feet and turn sideways, but a few feet later, she ran into another wall. Five minutes later, she was lying on the ground, crumpled into a ball, sobbing, while the crowd was cheering wildly.

"It seems our first challenge was a failure! Let us prepare for the second challenger, then" The crowd was loving this desperate race for survival amongst the final three challengers.

The second girl, the skeptic, seemed to get some kind of idea what the maze was like from the running commentary of the first run, and indeed, was doing better, checking with her head and wings for walls before jumping. Unfortunately, she got lost in the maze and could not find the end before five minutes was over.

The third girl, the zealot, was able to hear two sets of commentary, and had the best shot at succeeding. She too got lost for a while in the maze, but finally she made it out of the maze. She felt a thrill like never before when she felt herself exit the maze onto the rubber surrounding mats. She would finally get to be the closest person to the Holy Maiden. She waited for the announcer to declare her victory with bated breath.

"It looks like the third challenger has made it out of the maze!....Back out the front door! I'm so sorry, this is also a failure. It looks like there won't be any winners today." Matsuko drew out the final announcement for dramatic flair, holding her finger up to her mouth so the crowd would also get in on the joke. No one laughed or cheered until she finally broke the bad news that the last challenger failed.

At the second she broke the news, the crowd burst into laughter and hysterics, and the combination of the news and the crowd's reaction nearly crushed the girl's mental stability. She slumped to her knees and started to doubt her whole goals, when she heard a voice in her ear. "The Maiden's Order, huh? I have something to say you might be interested in. Ko-chan doesn't even know you guys exist. Everything you've done here was pointless. You girls never had a chance to get close to her. Instead, suffer divine punishment for your treatment of her this year."

The girl's psyche could not take the constant blows and she finally couldn't take it anymore. She slumped over, and was carried away by the assistants.

Right when Matsuko stood up to bring proceedings to a close, a voice was heard from the audience. "This is a farce. No one could navigate this maze blind. Why even subject people to this kind of humiliation?" The crowd started to murmur among themselves and Matsuko approached the microphone. "A joke, huh? Well, I suppose there's only one way to be sure, right? Have at it, Ko-chan"

When she said my name I knew it was my time. I hopped over to the maze, entered, and flawlessly navigated it without a single bump or fall. When I came out the other side I got a round of applause, but the voice was not satisfied. "Wow, big deal, you cleared a maze with your eyes open. Anyone could do that. Like I said, what a farce."

Matsuko came and picked me up, taking me to the front of the stage. She put me down and then held my head, holding my eyes open widely. "Can you see this? Does this look like a real pupil to you? Ko-chan's "fairy eyes" have kept her blinded since before she even came today. Just because you can't do it, doesn't mean others can't. So, do you have anything else to say?"

...The voice fell silent, and finally, applause started, which built into a thunderous wave of cheering and clapping. Many people were shouting Ko-chan's name or other various compliments.

Matsuko smiled and carried me back to the microphone, where she concluded the challenges. "With this, the challenges are over, but your chances with Ko-chan are not! You have one last shot at the auction, starting in thirty minutes at the central park. I hope to see you all there." She scooped me up and left the stage in haste.