Chapter 41: Backstage, Not Yet

The backstage corridor was dimly lit. Risa walked quickly, lifting her skirt. As she passed the corner, she stopped and paused for a moment, stunned.

The boy leaned against the window, his hands casually in his pockets. The afterglow of the setting sun enveloped him, like a blessing bestowed unintentionally by the gods.

Hearing footsteps, he turned around, his eyes curving slightly, looking breathtakingly beautiful in the twilight.

"What an unexpected performance! Especially that improvisation."

His deep voice mingled with the cicadas chirping outside the window, like some invisible wave stirring her heartstrings.

"Thank you... Seeing you leave early, I thought my acting was too bad." She tried to remain calm, but her trembling eyelashes betrayed her.

“How could that be?” Yukimura straightened up. “It just suddenly occurred to me that if I continued watching, I might miss something more important.”

“More important…?” Risa tilted her head.

Yukimura walked towards her, crossing the line between light and shadow. The setting sun stretched his shadow long, gradually swallowing her figure.

A subtle fragrance wafted through the corridor, like the elegant aura that clung to him.

Yukimura stopped a step away from her, leaning slightly forward. His eyes were deep and dark, like the surface of a sea surging under the moonlight, so profound that one dared not look directly at them, yet could not bear to look away.

"Well, more importantly—"

"Matsuno-kun, it's time to take your final bow!"

The staff member's voice abruptly interrupted him, cutting off his unfinished words.

Risa snapped back to reality, as if pulled from a dream, and subconsciously replied, "I'll go right away."

Once the footsteps faded into the distance, she looked at Yukimura again, her throat tightening slightly: "What...did you want to say just now?"

Yukimura gazed at her quietly, his eyes seemingly holding a message that was about to burst forth, yet suppressed by a restraint she couldn't decipher.

"It's nothing," he finally said.

Risa opened her mouth, wanting to ask more questions, but she didn't know where to begin.

“Go ahead, don’t keep them waiting too long,” he said.

"Mm." She nodded and turned to walk towards the stage. After taking only a few steps, she couldn't help but turn back.

Yukimura remained standing, his silhouette blurred and gentle in the backlight. Seeing her turn around, he smiled slightly and raised his hand in a "good luck" gesture.

Risa's heartbeat suddenly became erratic, as if a restless little sparrow was trapped in her chest.

(What was he trying to say with that hesitant look in his eyes just now?)

She bit her lip, hesitated, and said, "Um... Akaya and I made plans to go to 'Sakurai-ya' after this. Do you want to come with us?"

He seemed to be taken aback for a moment, then his eyes curved into a smile: "Miss Witch from Another Dimension, can't you foresee my answer?"

Risa was taken aback at first, then realized that he was teasing her about her persona of flirting with girls on stage.

"Hey! Are you making fun of me?" She puffed out her cheeks, her expression a mixture of annoyance and amusement.

“I didn’t,” he said in a low voice.

His gaze was so focused that her heart skipped a beat. She unconsciously lowered her eyes and looked away, her voice gradually softening: "...So, are you coming or not...?"

"Okay, I'll wait for you." His gentle voice was low and slightly hoarse.

Yukimura only slowly withdrew his gaze after the girl's figure had completely disappeared around the corner.

Outside the window, the sunset glowed like a raging fire, dyeing the entire sky a magnificent orange-red, with golden halos flowing along the edges of the clouds, a breathtakingly beautiful sight.

He gazed at the magnificent scene, his drooping hand slowly closing, then suddenly releasing it at a certain critical point.

No, it's not the right time yet.

His eyes were dark.

—If I confront her now, she'll definitely be scared away and never talk to me again.

A bitter smile tugged at the corner of his lips. They were so close, yet he couldn't even touch them.

-

A burst of enthusiastic applause suddenly erupted in the auditorium, and the host's voice came through the microphone: "The results of the semi-finals are now announced! The final round has narrowed down from twenty to six, determined by a combination of audience votes and judges' scores—"

"First place goes to Risa Matsuno! She leads by a wide margin with a score of 97.5! The judges especially praised her performance as having the most dramatic reversal!"

As soon as he finished speaking, cheers instantly filled the entire auditorium.

After the curtain call, the three members of the Tennis doujin circle walked through the crowded people towards the backstage area.

"I wonder what Risa-senpai's reaction will be when she receives the flowers." Chinatsu excitedly waved the bouquet in her hand.

As they turned the corner of the corridor, Asuka suddenly reached out and stopped them. She pushed up her glasses, the lenses reflecting a shrewd glint: "Wait."

Not far ahead, Risa was walking side by side with the tennis club's God Child.

The girl lifted her skirt, glancing up at the boy beside her from time to time. Yukimura, usually so gentle and aloof, leaned slightly forward, a rare, soft smile playing on his lips.

"These two... seem to be getting along really well..." Chika covered her mouth in surprise.

Jieyue nodded knowingly: "It seems we'll have to postpone the celebration; we've come at the wrong time."

Asuka quietly pulled out her phone and quickly snapped a picture of the scene: "Footage acquired."

Just then, Akaya's loud voice came from behind: "Risa-nee!"

The seaweed head rushed over in a flurry, completely unaware of what a "third wheel" was.

The trio simultaneously facepalmed.

"That idiot..." Asuka sighed.

"Completely oblivious to the atmosphere..." Yuzuki shook her head.

Chinatsu puffed out her cheeks and complained angrily, "Damn it! Kirihara-kun is so clueless about romance!"

-

The appearance of two "Matsuno Risa"s in the semi-finals caused quite a stir on campus, and the students' attention to the event was unprecedented.

The Rikkai University Twitter supertopic was in an uproar.

[Popular Posts]

Title: Risa Matsuno from Class 2-A... Are there two of them?!

Content: Today was the campus image ambassador semi-final. After Songye finished her performance and left the stage, an exact replica of her appeared backstage. And the two seemed to be at odds?! Does anyone know what happened?

1L: I saw it too! The second Matsuno-senpai even winked at one of the guys on the judges' panel. I almost rushed up and strangled her...

2L: LOL, it's another con artist in disguise. He won the competition last year by impersonating a girl.

3L: Niou Masaharu? Has he gone mad? The other person is that formidable Matsuno Risa!

4L: But... his imitation is too perfect! He even imitated Matsuno's walking posture exactly...

5L: Upstairs, you're so observant? Could it be that you have a crush on Matsuno-kun?

6L: Is that the point?! The point is, why is Niou-senpai dressed up as Matsuno-kun?!

7L: Could it be... that kind of interest? (whispering)

8L: Don't speculate wildly upstairs. Niou-senpai just likes to play pranks, and Matsuno-kun's acting skills are too good. He probably wanted to see if he could fool everyone. (Forced whitewashing.jpg)

9L: It ended up crashing into the real deal, hilarious! (*^_^*)

10L: ......

-

The next morning, Risa arrived at school and, unsurprisingly, became the talk of the town.

"Yo, Risa-chan~"

A flippant voice came from behind. Risa immediately quickened her pace, fleeing from this scourge.

"Don't be so cold~ Puri~" Niou Masaharu followed at a leisurely pace, one hand in his pocket, a strand of silver hair tied behind his head swaying with his steps.

He smiled and moved closer to her, walking backwards: "I came here specifically to apologize."

Risa stopped and glanced at him: "Apologize?"

"Yeah, after all, I've caused you trouble~" Niou tilted his head, his tone innocent, "So, in the finals, I'll make sure you win the match."

Risa narrowed her eyes: "What are you up to now?"

"Pfft~" Niou smiled without answering, "I'm really looking forward to the next exhibition match."

He turned and left, waving goodbye as he did so with his back to her.

Risa: "......"

So annoying!

Those overly energetic teenagers in the tennis club are so annoying!

Just when we finally managed to deal with Liu Lian'er, that data maniac, another invincible white fox appeared.

-

The evening before the exhibition match.

Risa sat in the classroom, her elbows resting on the windowsill, the evening breeze brushing against her cheeks.

The setting sun bathed the entire campus in gold, and the sounds of training from the playground filled the air.

My phone vibrated, and a new message appeared on the screen.

Risa opened the message; it was from an unknown number, but from the content, she could guess it was from Niou Masaharu:

[PuLi~ Impromptu partner performance, tomorrow's exhibition match, have you decided on a theme yet?]

Risa gave a soft hum and tapped her fingertips on the screen:

[Even fraudsters rely on lotteries? That's surprising.]

She had just sent the message when she heard footsteps behind her. Risa turned around and saw Yagyu walking towards her.

He was wearing a summer uniform and holding a folder in his hand.

"Yagyu? Didn't he go to tennis practice?"

"Today is the student council's routine inspection day." Yagyu walked to her side and looked out the window. "I heard that during the draw for the exhibition match, Niou replaced all the slips of paper in the draw box with your name."

Risa shrugged: "I knew he would do this."

Yagyu: "There will be people from magazines and agencies at tomorrow's exhibition match. If you want to develop in this direction in the future, you should work well with Niou."

Risa: "Did Niou-kun send you as a persuader?"

"No." Liu Sheng pushed up his glasses.

"Do you know what his performance topic was in the finals?" Risa unlocked her phone, opened the photo, and handed it to Yagyu.

Liu Sheng glanced at it and saw it was the talent show program for the finals.

Dance performance: "Love Circulation"

Contestant: Niou Masaharu

“That bastard,” Risa said through gritted teeth. “The thought of him using my name and appearance to perform those shameful dances on stage makes me want to kill him.”

Liu Sheng was silent for a moment, then suddenly took out his phone, swiped a few times, and handed it to her.

A video is playing on the screen: Niou, dressed in a girl's school uniform skirt, is practicing dance moves in front of a mirror in an empty classroom.

“This was a rehearsal before last year’s Haihara Festival.” Yagyu’s voice remained calm, but Risa keenly caught the twitch at the corner of his mouth. “I have more than a dozen terabytes of similar videos on my phone.”

In the next video, Niou is wearing the same white dress as Risa, practicing winking and spinning in front of the mirror, even imitating some of her little habits perfectly.

Risa stared at the screen, silent for two seconds: "...When did you take this?"

Yagyu adjusted his glasses and said calmly, "As a future doctor, recording patients' dark histories is a necessary observation method."

Risa: "......"

Rikkai University truly is a place where hidden talents abound.

Yagyu said, "Niou is a very serious person. His phantoms are not simple imitations, but complete replicas of the other person's personal experiences, thought patterns, subtle expressions and habits."

Risa raised an eyebrow: "So?"

Yagyu: "He's not a bad person. If you just want to punish him, I'll provide you with ammunition."

Risa: "Aren't you and Niou-kun partners? Why are you helping me?"

Yagyu pushed up his glasses: "In a game between con artists, observers sometimes need to balance their strength as well."

Risa: "......"

(You just want to see a good show, don't you? You're so malicious.)

Yagyu: "What are you thinking, Matsuno?"

Risa thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement: "Deal."

“However, I have an even better idea…” She beckoned with her finger, gesturing for Yagyu to come closer.

The latter did as instructed.

Risa whispered a few words in Yagyu's ear.

Yagyu's eyes widened: "What is this...?"

Risa curled her lips into a smile: "Since he likes 'improvisation' so much... then I'll play along with him and go all out."

Yagyu: "...Okay. I'll help you."

-

On the morning of the exhibition match, the bulletin board at Rikkai University was crowded with students.

"This...this is...?!"

A huge photo was posted on the bulletin board:

Niou Masaharu, dressed in a white dress, is practicing his wink in front of a mirror.

A line of text was written next to it in highlighter:

[A con artist from Rikkai University, now working in the home renovation industry~]

"Pfft—!" Marui Bunta, who was passing by, popped his bubble gum. "Niou?! When did you—"

Kirihara Akaya's eyes widened: "Senpai! I didn't know you had this kind of hobby?!"

Nioh: "..."

He stared at the photo for two seconds, then suddenly laughed.

"Plop... Well done."

-

When the lunch break bell rang, Risa received a text message.

[Unknown Number]: "I received Risa-chan's 'gift'~ But I'm not someone to be trifled with, you know, puri~"

She had just finished reading when her phone vibrated.

[Unknown Number]: [Image]

Click to take a look—

It was her changing clothes backstage... No, that's not her. It was Niou pretending to be her taking a selfie.

Risa: "......"

That damn white fox.

She replied expressionlessly, "Delete it."

[Unknown Number]: "If Risa-chan removes the photo from the bulletin board and writes an apology letter first..."

Risa sneered and dialed the number directly.

A few seconds later, Niou Masaharu's lazy voice came: "Moshi moshi~"

Risa: "Niou Masaharu, you win! I'll take down the photos, but you can delete the one you just posted."

A mocking laugh came from the other end of the phone: "So agreeable?"

"Otherwise what? You're supposed to flaunt your photo of yourself dressed as me everywhere?"

“Puri~ I didn’t intend to show this to anyone else.” Niou teased, “However, since Risa-chan has admitted defeat… I’ll reluctantly change the performance for the final.”

Risa: "...You'd better keep your word."

After hanging up the phone, Risa rubbed her temples.

—The conman from Rikkai University is indeed troublesome.

However, she is not someone to be trifled with.