Never in his life had Choudai despised social convention more, because he wanted to grab Hatsuki by the waist, lift her up, twirl around and kiss her full on the lips. He wanted to throw his arms around her and sob in relief. He wanted to take her by the hand and run off to the hedge maze so they could speak freely to one another.
He wanted to do a great many things.
To have had both of them recognized by the judges, here, of all places...
We've done it! We've DONE IT!
He settled for making eye contact before bowing.
"Thank you, Shosuro-san. It is... gratifying, even if I think that others- yourself, for one- came closer to the spirit of the theme than I did."