Chapter 34: Mia Evolved into... Passive-Aggressive Mia!

Unable to reverse her fortunes, Mia continued to trail far behind Rafina through the last stretch of the election period until finally, the day had come for the ballots to be cast.

“U-Ugh... What do I do...”

She was now fully up the proverbial creek without a paddle, and her desperate attempts over the past couple days to locate some sort of metaphorical rowing instrument had not only been futile but also left her mentally drained. She’d thought and thought, racking her brains for a way out of her conundrum, but no inspiration struck. The clock was ticking — all that remained was the final speeches before the voting — and there was no way to turn the tide.

Ahh... I don’t feel anything coming. There’s no wind at my back. No wave pushing me forward.

She sat stranded in her creek, windless, waveless, helpless. The whims of fortune that had always come to her aid when she was in trouble seemed to have forsaken her this time.

There’s nothing! Absolutely nothing...

Only now did it begin to dawn on her that this might be the direst strait she’d been in since leaping backward through time.

Elections were a sacred affair at Saint-Noel, and the voting was carried out with the same air of solemn ceremony as the Opening Mass. As its proceedings would decide the next president, the day was considered especially hallowed, and candidates were to humbly cleanse their bodies and don holy garments of pure white.

Located beneath the academy was a place called the Cleansing Spring. Surfaces of white, polished stone lent an air of tranquility to the spacious underground chamber, in the middle of which was a fountain that emitted a continuous stream of clear spring water. Custom dictated candidates wash themselves off in the fountain.

Mia parted with her garments at the entrance and walked in, chastely unclothed. She slipped into the water, wincing a little at first at its temperature. It wasn’t bitingly cold — some hot water had been added beforehand — but it still stung a bit. She soon acclimatized, however, and her feverishly overworked head found its coolness quite pleasant.

“Phew...”

She exhaled as she lowered herself into the water. Then she looked sideward, where Rafina was methodically cleaning herself from head to toe.

Ugh, why is she so infuriatingly gorgeous? I can’t even...

Her smooth, milky skin and long, silky hair sparkled in the clear water, highlighting her beauty in a way that even a fellow female like Mia had to admit was attractive.

Gah! It’s not fair! It’s not fair at all!

Mia’s already-low spirits deteriorated further at the realization that Rafina trounced her in the beauty department too, completing her transformation into a new state of being. No longer was she just Mia; now, she was Moody Mia.

“Hm? Mia? Is something the matter?” asked Rafina, who’d noticed Mia’s furrow-browed gaze.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Nothing at all. Ohoho,” she said with a deflecting chuckle before undergoing another transformation.

Moody Mia, you see, was only her first evolution. Now, she underwent her second to reveal her final form: Passive-Aggressive Mia.

“But I must say, Miss Rafina, you look awfully tired. It must be so hard for you.”

To be so perfect all the time.

Passive-Aggressive Mia still lacked a real spine, so she kept the truth of her comments to herself. In her head though, she was going all in.

“I can only imagine how it must feel to be in your position...”

...Knowing that you’re smart and pretty and good at everything you do. I wish I had such a difficult life!

In her mind she spat the words like venom, punctuating each one with an angry scrub of her legs with the washcloth.

“Say, Mia...”

Hearing her name spoken, she shot a humorless glance at Rafina, who’d submerged the entirety of herself in the pool, leaving just enough of her head above water to speak.

“Would you...” Rafina said, turning to face her, “be willing to withdraw your candidacy?”

Mia stared back.

“...Excuse me? And what exactly do you mean by that?” she asked, her eyes hard.

Rafina parried the hostile gaze with a polite smile and continued.

“Knowing you, Mia, I’m sure you’re fully aware that we don’t even need to count the votes to know how this election will turn out. You won’t win.”

Polling could only provide an estimate of voter preference, but for this election, the difference was so stark that it might as well be confirmation.

“The results aren’t out yet. If you back out now, you can soften the blow.”

No matter what reasons her fellow students suspected her of having for running in the election, their opinion of her was generally unfavorable. Most saw her as an egotistical princess who thought too highly of herself, and should the election proceed as planned, its results would surely cement that image. However, if she were to withdraw her candidacy right now, it would suggest to people that she possessed at least enough awareness — both of herself and prevailing opinions — to see the writing on the wall and bow out, thereby preserving some of her dignity.

“You’re my friend, Mia... I don’t want to fight you, much less hurt you. So, please?”

It was, for Rafina, an act of kindness; she felt it her duty to offer mercy for someone she considered a friend.

“I’m sorry, Miss Rafina, but I can’t do that,” Mia said with a shake of her head. “I can’t afford to lose...”

She needed to win against Rafina in order to avert the calamitous future that awaited them all. She had to do it one way or another; she just hadn’t figured out how. Disappointment, tinged with the pain of betrayal, clouded Rafina’s brow.

“This is really quite upsetting,” she said, her eyes downcast, before lowering her voice to a whisper. “Because... I thought we were friends...”

“Don’t you mean... because we are friends?” Mia muttered back.

Her resentful tone caught Rafina off guard, drawing her startled gaze right back.

Because we’re friends... I figured you’d go easy on me and leave me some freebies... Well, so much for that!

The policy proposals Rafina included in her platform covered every important issue that was currently relevant to Saint-Noel. All of them. She didn’t leave a single one for Mia. This inevitably meant Mia’s list of promises would end up being utterly unremarkable due to the similarity of its contents; there simply weren’t any significant issues left for her to mention. For obvious reasons, such promises were not going to bring her any closer to victory.

She took all the good issues for herself! That’s so mean! Here I was hoping she’d leave some for me, considering we’re supposed to be friends and all, but nope! She just went into full beatdown mode! No mercy whatsoever!

Her passive-aggressiveness had reached its peak, and she delivered her most indirectly hostile remark yet.

“But then again, maybe I’m wrong... Since you seem to be perfectly fine with holding onto absolutely everything!”