I Got Dumped by My Childhood Friend Fiancée Who I Didn’t Even Like, I Thought I Could Finally Have a Peaceful School Life… But Then I Got Targeted by SS-Class Beautiful Young Ladies

Chapter 18: [The Romantic Comedy] When the Young Ladies Kept Saying “I Love You” During the Game, I Ended Up Totally Dominating

The projector was hooked up to the game console, and the puzzle game we were about to play versus each other filled the big screen.

Right in front of it sat two chairs. I took one, and my first opponent, Shiramine, settled into the other.

“Okay… just to double-check the rules one more time?”

Minase-senpai stood behind us. She clapped her hands lightly together, then kept going in a voice dripping with way too much excitement.

“Best of three in the game on screen right now! Yoichi loses if he drops even a single match to anyone! We’re running the ‘I Love You’ game at the same time as the versus matches, and whoever gets embarrassed or loses focus first gets put at a disadvantage—any objections, right?”

“I’ve got nothing but objections, actually…?”

“Denied.”

“Then why even ask…?”

The whole exchange felt so pointless that a sigh just slipped out of me.

But honestly—even saying all that—there really wasn’t a single problem here… I thought.

When it came to versus puzzle games, I had zero intention of losing. And as for the I Love You game… it wasn’t gonna be a handicap. Probably. No way some empty words like that were gonna throw me off.

“Well… whatever. Let’s just get this started already.”

I grabbed the controller I’d been handed and said that. Shiramine, sitting right next to me, tilted her head just a little.

“Hmm~? Yoichi-kun, you sound pretty confident, huh~?”

“Yeah… ’cause it’s true.”

“That cool-headed vibe… I’m really looking forward to seeing how long you can keep it up~”

She let out a soft little chuckle, left it at that, and gripped her own controller.

Once we were both ready, the countdown popped up on the game screen.

—Three, two, one. Start.

The second it kicked off, my fingers moved on pure reflex.

The opening block placement wasn’t bad. Actually, it was pretty damn good.

I steadily stacked blocks to set up chains while sneaking a glance at Shiramine’s board out of the corner of my eye.

…Got it.

Nothing flashy, but a setup that was really hard to break.

She wasn’t forcing huge chains early on—just reliably landing mid-sized ones. The steady type.

…She must play a fair amount.

At the very least, her finger movements made it obvious she wasn’t a total beginner.

I mean, sure, it’s a club activity and all, but seeing a conglomerate heiress playing a pretty normal game like this… felt surprisingly fresh. Totally clashed with the usual image.

Even while thinking that, my own hands never slowed down for a second.

I built up a clean, packed board and was just about to trigger a chain when something suddenly tickled my left eardrum.

It was Minase-senpai. Her breath brushed right against my ear as she whispered from insanely close range…

“…Yoichiii. I love you.”

“…!”

Her voice came out sweet and a little high-pitched.

My shoulders jerked up involuntarily at the sound.

But that was only because she’d spoken so freakishly close to my ear—definitely not because of the actual words. Still, she clearly loved my reaction, because the follow-up attacks didn’t stop.

“…Hehe. You’re so cute, Yoichi. I really like you. Like you a lot. …What about you?”

Man, the way she says it feels way too real…

A bit thrown off by her full-on acting, I still kept my fingers moving and answered.

“I love you too… I like you a lot… Minase-senpai.”

“…! Nghhh!!!”

…Uh, what was that noise just now!?

Senpai let out this agonized groan like someone had just tortured her. Behind us came the sound of something collapsing to the floor, followed by Tachibana’s pained shout.

“W-Wait, Rei!? Why are you on the ground!?”

“No… it’s not that… the destructive power was just too much…”

Pretty sure Minase-senpai was the one who suggested this whole format… but isn’t she way too weak for it?

Anyway, if one person was already out, that worked in my favor.

I cranked up the speed of my button presses even more.

Three more moves until the chain I was aiming for. No need to rush and trigger it early.

I made that call and was sliding the next falling block into place when a quiet, slightly shaky voice came from my right rear…

“…Y-Yoichi-kun.”

Tachibana’s voice trembled a little—probably from nerves.

She took a big, determined breath, then pushed through her hesitation.

“I… I love you. I… um, I really love you, Yoichi-kun!”

She forced the words out even though embarrassment was clearly killing her.

The most refined, ladylike girl out of the three conglomerate heiresses had just said that line. The second I heard it—

“…………”

I couldn’t help it—I thought it was kinda cute. Hearing her say it while genuinely blushing made me start feeling embarrassed too.

“…Me too. I love you.”

But that level of thing wasn’t gonna mess up my gameplay at all.

I kept my face completely neutral, said it calmly, then dropped the final piece into my finished board. Once that landed, it was only a matter of time before the match was decided.

Chains connected in a satisfying rhythm. Blocks vanished from the screen in huge clumps.

By the time the massive combo finished, my side of the board was completely empty. In their place, the word ‘WINNER’ flashed across the screen, celebrating the victory.

“Whoa! Yoichi-kun, you’re seriously strong. And I practiced a bunch too…”

Shiramine raised both hands in surrender, shrugged her shoulders, and said that.

I turned to look at her and just said exactly what I was thinking.

“Nah, you were actually really good. Like, good enough to hang with people in the top ranks.”

“Wait, really…? Hehe, even if it’s just flattery, I’m honestly happy you said that.”

It wasn’t flattery—I genuinely meant it—but… whatever.

Shiramine stood up to switch out with the next person. She walked over to Minase-senpai, who was still sprawled on the floor, and poked her cheek a few times while talking.

“But… when it’s time to play Charlotte-chan next… it’s not gonna go like this, okay?”

“…You mean Tachibana’s actually better?”

“Not better, exactly… but from now on, I’m joining the I Love You game too. Look—innocent little Rei-chan wasn’t any help at all, right…?”

“You’re really blunt about it…”

Her sharp, straight-to-the-point comment made me let out a wry laugh.

While we were having that conversation, someone had quietly taken the seat next to me.

Tachibana held the controller in both hands. She took one huge deep breath, opened her already big eyes even wider, and declared,

“I’m up next! I’m definitely not losing!!”

And just like that, without any break, the second match began—against the Tachibana family heiress.