Rindo Akane’s Raison D’Etre

This story is not a continuation of the Kakuyomu web novel version of “She Cheated on Me with a Senior, so I’m Cheating on Him with His Girlfriend.”
It is a special short story tied specifically to the printed light novel edition.
Please sit back and enjoy the overall atmosphere!

…There are two kinds of people in this world: those who possess power, and those who do not.

When I say power, I do not mean mere physical strength.

Intellect, financial wealth, authority… it encompasses every form of “power capable of moving others.”

And “beauty,” too, can undeniably be classified as a form of power.

Beautiful people are viewed with envy by others simply by virtue of existing, and they possess the inherent power to sway those around them. It is a force otherwise known as “charm.”

There is an absolute limit to how much of this beauty one can acquire through effort after birth.

The beauty one is born with is what truly matters.

In other words, beauty is a power bestowed by God; those who possess it are “gifted.”

They operate on the exact same plane as those blessed with a genius intellect or unparalleled athletic ability.

I, Akane Rindo, am someone who possesses this “exclusive power of beauty.”

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been fully conscious of the fact that this power made me a special existence.

That reality has remained entirely unchanged from my childhood up until now, as an adult.

Every single person praises me, gushing, “Akane-chan truly is incredibly cute.”

Once I entered school, I was an absolute idol.

It was the exact same story in elementary school, middle school, and high school.

Boys scrambled desperately to catch my eye, and girls simply could not ignore my existence.

The choices available to those girls boiled down to two paths:

They could either become my sycophants in the hope of catching my leftover crumbs, or they could destroy themselves trying to compete with me.

It was strictly one or the other.

The moment I entered university, I was approached by the pageant organizers and asked to enter that year’s Miss Joto U competition.

It was a perfectly natural progression.

If they didn’t select me, whom on earth did they expect to crown as the campus queen?

Even so, I refused to leave myself wide open.

For some bizarre reason, pageants occasionally crown some completely unpolished nobody who just entered on a whim, riding a wave of sheer momentum.

Because of that, I meticulously vetted the multiple organizations that approached me and aligned myself with the club that wielded the greatest influence over the pageant. It was a flashy, textbook events-based circle operating under the plausible-sounding name of the “Event Planning Research Society.”

However, the Event Planning Research Society maintained deep, calculated ties with other organizations that held massive sway over the pageant, such as the Advertising Research Society and various cosmetology clubs.

Thus, backed by a flawless institutional setup on top of my own raw talent, I claimed the crown of Miss Joto U as a mere first-year student.

“Ah, if only Sakurajima Touko had entered the competition…”

The moment the coronation ceremony concluded, those exact words drifted over from the auditorium seats.

I instantly scanned the crowd to locate the speaker, but the audience was already filing out of the venue, making it completely impossible to decipher who had said it.

Sakurajima Touko. I had heard that name countless times since the start of the academic year.

Ever since her enrollment, she had been saddled with the archaic, old-fashioned moniker of “The Madonna of the Faculty of Science and Engineering.”

I had personally caught sight of her on a few occasions.

While she was undeniably beautiful and possessed a fine figure, she didn’t strike me as someone who put a single ounce of effort into self-improvement.

(At the end of the day, she is merely the exact type of woman preferred by a specific subset of otaku boys.)

A girl only needs to have black hair and wear natural makeup for a barrage of fools to start barking about how “refined and pure” she is.

Operating under that assumption, I paid her absolutely no mind.

However, the situation soon escalated to a point where I could no longer just ignore it.

“If Sakurajima Touko had entered Miss Joto U, she would have won the grand prize without a doubt.”

“I suppose that makes her the shadow Miss Joto U, huh?”

“No, Sakurajima Touko is the one who truly deserves to be called the campus queen.”

Those exact whispers began echoing from every corner of the campus.

(Why on earth is a woman who won’t even step into the ring—who has completely forfeited the battle—being hailed as the true campus queen?)

It was completely beyond my comprehension.

Sakurajima Touko hadn’t accomplished a single thing!

The title of “True Campus Queen” is a honor that should be strictly reserved for someone who actually enters the pageant and fights her way to absolute victory.

(Fine then. At the next Miss Joto U pageant, I will explicitly settle the score and make it crystal clear who the real queen is!)

With that fierce resolve anchored in my heart, I sat tight and waited an entire year.

Sakurajima Touko was being showered with an immense amount of adulation.

No human being is displeased by having their appearance praised; surely, she would enter the pageant next time.

Yet, even as a second-year student, Sakurajima Touko completely refrained from participating in Miss Joto U.

And that was despite the fact that I had made even more meticulous preparations to guarantee an absolute, flawless victory.

Needless to say, I claimed the Miss Joto U Grand Prix for the second consecutive year.

However, despite my absolute triumph, the reputation of Sakurajima Touko—who had done absolutely nothing and hadn’t even submitted an entry form—only soared even higher.

“Akane Rindo just wants to be the center of attention. Normally, you’re only supposed to win Miss Joto U once, but she entered two years in a row just because she desperately wants the title of ‘First Two-Time Consecutive Champion in History.’”

“In contrast, Sakurajima Touko is so beautifully modest. Even though everyone knows she would win the crown hands down if she participated, she remains perfectly natural without ever boasting about herself. She is a true Yamato Nadeshiko—the absolute ideal woman for any guy.”

My blood turned completely boil-hot with rage.

I was a “mere attention-seeker,” while Sakurajima Touko—who hadn’t lifted a single finger—was “the absolute ideal woman”?

Not just the boys, but even the girls were shamelessly singing her praises.

It is entirely unforgivable.

Sakurajima Touko.

The very first woman in my life to dare stand in my path when it comes to the arena of beauty.

I will make absolutely certain to crush this woman completely.

I swore that sacred vow to my core.