Everyone was in an uproar.
Yumemi Yumemite was so bold as to want to gamble with Sachiko Juraku?
After their initial surprise, they all became excited.
It was actually a "gekokujo" (overthrowing the superior); it seemed this gamble would be highly entertaining!
"Yumemi, do you want to gamble with me? Alright, I don't mind…" A smile played on Sachiko Juraku's lips as she spoke, about to stand up.
"Lady Juraku, please don't come down! I'm not ready to gamble with you!"
Yumemi waved her hands frantically in refusal, "It's just that the lighting technician happened to shine the light there! The lucky audience member hasn't been chosen yet! I absolutely don't have such a bold idea!"
"...Is that so? Alright then." Sachiko Juraku sighed in disappointment and sat back in her seat.
Yumemi wiped away cold sweat, her heart still in a panic. She hadn't expected the lighting technician to shine the spotlight on Sachiko Juraku's face; it had truly scared her to death…
Gamble with Sachiko Juraku? Was she out of her mind?
Sachiko Juraku was a gambler at the pinnacle of this school. Other than Kirari Momobami, she had never lost to anyone in any public gambling match.
If she really gambled with Sachiko Juraku, she would definitely lose miserably. Yumemi was well aware of this.
Although Yumemi's frantic waving was amusing and made people want to laugh, everyone could understand.
After all, the opponent was Sachiko Juraku; no one wanted to go up against her.
Under Yumemi's direction, the light moved away from Sachiko Juraku's feet and randomly swept across the audience seats.
She turned around and said, "Next, I will count down from five, and then this light will stop. Wherever the light stops, that person will be the lucky audience member…"
"...5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Stop!"
As Yumemi's energetic voice rang out, the light stopped.
It stopped at Ayanokouji Kiyohira's feet.
Yumemi turned around and saw that the "lucky audience member" was Ayanokouji Kiyohira. She didn't feel surprised, and a slight curve secretly appeared at the corner of her mouth.
She pretended not to know Ayanokouji Kiyohira, enthusiastically waved at him, and called out in a clear and lively voice, "Alright, please come up to the stage, lucky audience member!"
"Eh…!? Ayanokoji is the lucky audience member?"
Meari was truly stunned when she saw the light fall on Ayanokoji, who was to her right. She had never expected such a development.
Sado Mikura was also a little surprised. She frowned slightly and turned her head to ask, "Ayanokoji, did you discuss this with her beforehand?"
Sado Mikura didn't believe this was an "accident" or "random." She had already noticed that the light was moving towards them when Yumemi called out the countdown.
It was as if she had rehearsed with Yumemi many times; after her countdown was complete, the light just happened to fall on Ayanokouji Kiyohira's head.
She instinctively guessed, was this a segment that Ayanokoji and Yumemi had planned together?
"We didn't discuss it beforehand. Who knows what she's thinking…"
Ayanokouji Kiyohira also felt a bit surprised, but he didn't show his astonishment on his face. He calmly stood up, then placed the chain in Mikura's hand.
"Mikura, you hold onto the chain for now. I'll go see what kind of trick she's pulling."
Ayanokouji Kiyohira walked down from the audience seats and headed towards the stage. The light followed Ayanokouji Kiyohira until he arrived on the stage and stood face-to-face with Yumemi.
Ayanokouji Kiyohira didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "Yumemi, you did this on purpose, didn't you?"
Ayanokouji Kiyohira had no doubt that Yumemi had communicated with the lighting technician beforehand, telling him to stop the light on his head.
Ayanokouji Kiyohira also didn't believe it was truly such a coincidence that the lighting technician could randomly pick him out of over three hundred people and have the light fall on his head precisely when she said stop. Not even a hair's breadth off.
Although his luck had always been good, he didn't think this choice was about luck.
A one-in-three-hundred chance—this was many times smaller than the probability of normal gambling.
There was still some distance from the stage to the audience seats. Once the microphone was turned off, even the audience in the first row couldn't hear what they were saying.
Yumemi turned off her headset and didn't try to argue, admitting it openly, "That's right, I did it! I just wanted to gamble with you!"
"You want to gamble with me, in this place?" Ayanokoji couldn't help but laugh, "I didn't realize your competitive spirit was so strong, Yumemi."
Yumemi had always felt guilty about using her "position" and always looked flustered in front of him. This was the first time since then that she dared to seriously say she wanted to challenge him face-to-face.
"You want to challenge me? Sure, but not now. I'm here to watch the performance. You should find another lucky audience member. After your concert, come to my casino, and I can gamble with you."
After Ayanokouji Kiyohira finished speaking, he turned to leave the stage.
He didn't mind gambling with Yumemi, but he wasn't in the mood to gamble right now, nor was he interested in that ten million. If she wanted to challenge, she could find other challengers.
"Wait!" Yumemi didn't expect Ayanokoji to refuse. She quickly turned on her headset and loudly said, "I already know this lucky audience member's name! He said he's Ayanokouji Kiyohira!"
"Wait, Ayanokouji Kiyohira? Does that name sound a bit familiar…?"
"Yes, I remember now! About a week ago, there was a gun incident, and the person kidnapped was named Ayanokouji Kiyohira. Then, the prime minister was attacked… Is this Ayanokouji Kiyohira his younger brother?"
Suddenly, just because of that name, everyone around began to discuss it.
Only a week had passed since the assassination attempt on the prime minister. They still vividly remembered the name "Ayanokoji Kiyotaka," who was a victim in the same gun incident as the prime minister.
For a moment, they all started discussing the name, and the buzz in the entire theater once again surged.
Ayanokouji Kiyohira originally wanted to leave the stage, but he saw the audience's gazes all uniformly turn towards him, their curiosity practically overflowing from their eyes.
"..."
Ayanokouji Kiyohira immediately understood. This Yumemi deliberately chose him as an opponent just to use his popularity to hype up the atmosphere…
Ayanokouji Kiyohira walked back to Yumemi with a darkened face, "You did this on purpose? If you wanted to use someone's fame, why didn't you find someone else? Why me?"
Yumemi had already turned off her microphone again before he spoke. She revealed a triumphant smile.
"Although Sachiko Juraku and the others are also very famous, I'm not familiar with them, and I'm not confident I can win against them. I'm most familiar with you, so of course, I'd choose you!"
"Couldn't you have told me about doing something like this beforehand? I don't want to attract so much attention."
"If I told you beforehand, there wouldn't be any surprise, would there? You should be happy; I've made you a little famous." Yumemi said with a giggle, even winking at Ayanokoji.
He was not like her; he had no interest in this kind of fame…
Ayanokouji Kiyohira realized that Yumemi's views on "fame" and "popularity" were different from his. As an idol, she naturally thought popularity was a good thing. She instinctively assumed he would also like the feeling of being watched, and perhaps she even thought she was helping him.
But he didn't want to be famous…
Forget it. Anyway, in a few days, he would be cooperating with Mibuomi Aoi and then challenging Kirari Momobami, the Student Council President. At that time, he would definitely have full attention.
Being famous a few days earlier or a few days later was the same.
Ayanokouji Kiyohira initially didn't want to be famous because he was worried his father, Ayanokouji Tomitsuna, would notice his abnormalities. But after the "kidnapping incident," he no longer had that concern. Even if he became more famous, Ayanokouji Tomitsuna would consider it normal.
The reason he didn't want to be famous was also out of habit, not wanting too many people's eyes on him.
But Ayanokouji Kiyohira knew that ever since the kidnapping incident, the "attention" on him would not decrease.
He should get used to it sooner.
However, habit is one thing, but Yumemi tricking him like this couldn't be simply brushed off.
"Yumemi, I can gamble with you. But… you need to be prepared; I won't hold back." Ayanokouji Kiyohira said in a deep voice, "I'll make you cry from losing, and then regret this decision in your heart."
"That's what I wanted to say too, Ayanokoji. I'm going to win against you fair and square in gambling!" Yumemi said with a confident expression.
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