THE next day of the competition arrived. the second match was composition, just like nanako had said.

"welcome back ladies and gentlemen! let's give a round of applause to our wonderful princesses and queen nemuri!!", hizashi said, hyping up the crowd.

the crowd applauded, cueing the entrance of the three princesses.

"alright, we will first start off with the second match. this match is all about knowledge. you will be given forty-five minutes to answer these questions. also, write your FINAL answers on this paper, okay?" yagi looked around for confirmation.

all three princesses nodded as they sat down on their chairs with tables prepared. everyone was watching, making it more nerve wracking but also making sure that there was no cheating.

✿.｡.:* ☆:**:. nanako's pov .:**:☆ *:.｡.✿

with about two minutes left, I finished the last problem. now scribbling all my answers onto the other sheet, the timer went off right as I wrote the last letter.

"pencils down!", hizashi announced. I sighed in relief as I dropped my pencil onto the desk.

aizawa, the hobo looking man who's also one of my mother's personal knights, grabbed my paper and started grading our work.

after a tense fifteen minutes, he finally spoke.

"this round, the highest scorer gets two points. first we have princess momo with a score of 96%. then princess itsuka with a score of 90%. and finally", aizawa paused, looking at me. "princess nanako with a score of 38%".

I choked on air. "e-excuse me?!"

"sorry princess nanako, but it seems like you missed a blank, causing all your answers to shift down one. thus, from question #16 and onward, all of them are incorrect", aizawa explained in a monotone voice.

'is he fucking with me right now?!'

"and I'm not kidding with you", aizawa said, as if reading my mind.

"a-alright. well congratulations to princess mo—"

before hizashi could finish announcing the winner, a voice stopped him.

"wait!", tomura said, standing up from his seat. everyone's attention was on his sudden outburst, especially mine.

"I think you should grade princess nanako's test with her actual answers from the test, and not the paper. what if she got a higher score than princess momo?", he reasoned.

"I'm sorry prince tomura but rules are rules. if it's not on the final paper, it doesn't count. and I appreciate you standing up for princess nanako, however, this has no relation to you", aizawa countered.

"you—"

"it's alright", I said. I looked over at tomura and gave him a small smile. he scoffed before sitting down.

"a-anyways, as I was saying before, princess momo earns two points. princess itsuka and princess nanako still at one!", hizashi said.

"onto the final round, the make or break!! princesses, you three will be blindfolded while we set up the maze", hizashi said.

three ladies in waiting came over to each of us and helped put our blindfolds on.

within another ten minutes, it was all set up. many whispers were exchanged as the three princesses sat waiting patiently.

"alright, first up, princess momo"

I heard some shuffling and steps going further and further away from me. 'dear lord, it took me hours just getting through the maze. being blindfolded will take me days!!'

seeming to have sensed my worry, someone walked over to me, placing their hands on top of mine.

"eri...?", I questioned. facing my palms upward, I felt small hands on top of them.

"it's going to be okay mommy. you can do it. we all believe in you", eri said quietly.

I smiled at her kind words. squeezing her hands, she stayed with me until it was my turn.

"princess nanako", yagi called.

I felt eri's hands slip out of mine as a lady walked over to me and took my hand in hers.

standing up, I allowed the lady to guide me towards where the maze was.

✿.｡.:* ☆:**:. tea .:**:☆ *:.｡.✿

"alright. same as the others. this is a maze with an entrance and an exit. you will be timed as soon as you enter the maze, understand?", aizawa asked as he held a pocket watch.

nanako nodded as she was spun in a circle five times before guided into the maze.

"you're now in the maze, start trying to get out now", aizawa said.

nanako stuck both her hands out in front of her, trying to feel for anything but the empty air. still being a little dizzy from the spins, she stumbled a bit before feeling a tight rope.

feeling the rope, she followed it until she felt a pillar. continuing to follow the rope, she felt another pillar, then another one, and another one.

nanako continued feeling the rope for another round until she was sure the four pillars and rope formed a square shape.

that meant that she was in the middle of a square.

'but how the fuck do I get out of a square?!', nanako thought.

people who were watching her were dead silent. everyone was wondering what was going on in the third princess's mind.

eri clutched her dress, making her knuckles almost white. ochako placed her warm hand on top of eri's.

"don't worry, she'll get it", ochako whispered. eri looked up and nodded, slowly forming a smile. 'I have to believe in her', she thought to herself.

tomura was worried, however his calm exterior said otherwise. tomura wasn't sure whether or not nanako would be able to beat momo's time. despite going first, she had figured the maze out pretty quickly.

nanako's palms started sweating. she started freaking out. she felt like she was trapped in a square box.

"remember, if there's an entrance, there's an exit", aizawa said, bringing nanako out of her panic.

nana took a deep breath. calming herself down, she thought about aizawa's words. 'entrance, exit. entrance, exit. where did I come in from...?' 

as if a light bulb suddenly went off, nanako gripped onto the ropes tighter. she tried to remember which direction she heard aizawa's voice. she assumed that aizawa was standing next to the exit, thus, she started making her way towards him, only to be stopped by the same pillar she had felt moments ago.

pulling on the rope, she felt a slight tug back. squeezing her hand in between the pillar and the rope, she felt an opening. a very small opening.

she tried squeezing herself through, despite how tight the rope was against her stomach.

stumbling on her feet, someone seemed to have caught her. nanako took her blindfold off, seeing tomura hold her.

"you did great", he whispered.

standing up straight, out of tomura's embrace, nanako replied, "thanks".

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a/n: hey readers!! i hope you're enjoying this so far. if so, please take a moment to comment, share, and like.

also, sorry if the maze challenge was a bit hard to comprehend. it was suppose to look something like this:

pretend the people in the corner are the pillars, creating a square^^

anyways, thank you for reading and i hope to see you next chapter!! <3