When I Started Capturing the Academy Princesses, Things Turned into a Battlefield - V1 Chapter 01: The Time I Was Forced to Capture the Princesses

Chapter 01: The Time I Was Forced to Capture the Princesses

Barging into my room with some pretty threatening words, my younger sister—Ayane Kanbara, one year below me—plopped herself down on my bed.

“…Unbelievable. Your room is still as gross as ever.”

She glanced around, her expression somewhere between disappointment and disgust.

That was completely uncalled for.

Sure, I had some figures and merch, but they were neatly placed in one corner. It’s not like I owned anything that flashy.

Still, Ayane coming to me for a favor…?

It had been a while since she last came into my room. We used to be a relatively normal pair of siblings, but after she started middle school, we barely talked anymore. Ever since I locked myself away in my own world, she started giving me this ugh, gross look whenever we crossed paths at home.

“So? What do you want? You stormed in here on the last day of summer break like it’s an emergency.”

Wanting to get this over with as soon as possible, I cut straight to the point. Ayane blinked, as if just remembering something, then said—

“Before I get to that, I need to confirm something.”

“Confirm?”

“My cuteness. I mean, I’m ridiculously cute, right?”

I wasn’t sure if she should be saying that about herself, but… well, I had to admit it—she was cute.

And no, I wasn’t just being biased because we were siblings. Her personality was far from praiseworthy, but when it came to looks, she was undeniably adorable.

Ayane had just started high school this year, but she was so small that she barely looked the part. Her facial features were still childlike, and if she put on a backpack, she could probably pass as an elementary schooler. Even her voice had a slightly lispy, childish tone that only added to the effect.

“Well… I guess you’d generally be considered cute.”

I kept my response vague to avoid saying anything that might make this conversation even more annoying.

“See? You do get it, Aniki. That’s right—I’m cute. So doesn’t it make zero sense that I’m not a ‘Princess’?”

“…”

The moment those words left her mouth, I had a bad feeling about this.

Ayane and I both attended Himegasaki Academy, and there was one particular event that our school was known for.

The Himegasaki Academy General Election.

Anyone with a sharp mind would probably figure it out just from the name. It was a popularity contest for female students—an unofficial event run by the school newspaper, heavily inspired by a certain national idol group’s election system.

Though not officially recognized by the school, it had become a tradition.

The main highlight of the event was the title given to those who ranked at the top.

In that idol group’s version, the highest-ranked members were honored as the Kami 7, a title that had become widely recognized and sparked nationwide attention.

“If they have ‘Kami 7,’ then we’ll have ‘Hime 6’!”

That was the slogan of the person who first came up with the idea, and so the Himegasaki Academy General Election was born.

The students loved it, and over time, it became one of the school’s signature events.

As a side note, the reason the numbers are different—seven for the original and six for this one—is because the original used Kami (God), while ours uses Hime (Princess). Since we were just a school event and not some divine ranking, they felt it was only right to lower the number out of some weird sense of respect.

The election took place at the end of every term, and the results were published in the school newspaper.

Apparently, in the early days, they used to announce every ranking, but after some students raised hell over it, they decided to only publish the top ten.

I had zero interest in this kind of thing, so I didn’t even know it existed until I entered the school. But when I finally saw how the rankings were revealed, one thought immediately came to mind—

Wouldn’t it make way more sense to just announce the ones who actually get the ‘Princess’ title?

Even now, I still wondered about it. But apparently, there was a reason for it.

They announced the top ten to prove that no cheating had taken place. The school newspaper even published the number of votes to show everything was fair and transparent.

I guess that was all well and good… but this system ended up creating an entirely different problem.

Yeah. The almost Princesses—the ones who just barely missed the cut—ended up crying themselves to sleep.

And among those unfortunate girls… was my dear sister, Ayane Kanbara.

In the election that took place before summer break, Ayane ranked seventh.

With her small frame and childlike features, she fit squarely into the loli-type category. She had a ridiculously dedicated fanbase, but in the end, she fell just short of the Hime 6.

And since Ayane had been completely convinced she was getting in, she lost it.

For the first few weeks of summer break, she was a total wreck. I’d hear her screaming from her room, and if our eyes met, she’d randomly curse me out for no reason.

“I want to become a Princess because this pisses me off.”

“So… the favor you want from me is?”

“Make me a Princess.”

I let out a deep sigh. Yeah, I saw this coming.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Besides, you’re cute—just wait, and it’ll happen eventually.”

“…Hah?”

“Maybe not this year, but by next year, you’ve got a real shot.”

I thought I was being encouraging, but Ayane’s eyes suddenly sharpened.

“You seriously think I’d have a chance if I just wait until next year?”

“…Oh. Right. My bad.”

The moment I said it, I realized my mistake.

None of the current Hime 6 were seniors, which meant they wouldn’t be graduating next year. The rankings wouldn’t change on their own. In fact, with new freshmen coming in, her position might actually drop even further.

“Well, whatever. That’s why you’re going to make me a Princess. Specifically, before the next election.”

“Are you even hearing yourself? And why would I even help you? There’s nothing in it for me.”

“Oh? In that case, I’ll just spill your little secret.”

Ayane flashed an evil grin.

“W-What secret? I don’t have anything like that!”

“Oh, I dunno… how about the fact that you’re a creepy otaku?”

“…That’s not even a big deal. Being an otaku is normal these days.”

So she was threatening me, huh? I wondered what kind of dirt she had on me… and this was it?

These days, being an otaku wasn’t even something to be ashamed of. Anime was mainstream, watched by both kids and adults. Tons of middle and high schoolers were addicted to mobile games. Cosplayers appeared on TV, and Vtubers had become one of the most popular genres on video platforms.

This wasn’t even a secret.

Besides, I wasn’t exactly a standout at school. People probably already saw me as a quiet, nerdy guy. This wasn’t much of a threat at all.

“That’s true for a normal otaku. But Aniki, you’re on a whole other level.”

“The hell are you talking about?”

“Oh? You sure you wanna say that? Then take a look at this.”

Ayane smirked and turned her phone screen toward me.

It was a matome site.

[TLN: content aggregation websites]

I’d seen this site before. It covered anime, games, and other subculture topics, but lately, it had been flooded with Vtuber-related articles.

And the headline of the page Ayane pulled up was—

“In case you can’t read it, let me help you. The title says… ‘Spotted a Wild Wall-of-Text Niki Dropping Superchats on an Indie Streamer lmao’.”

“Give me that!”

I snatched the phone from Ayane and started scrolling through the article.

It was basically a hit piece mocking some guy who had sent a ridiculously long Super Chat to a Vtuber.

At the top of the article was a screenshot—of the Super Chat in question.

“Thanks for always streaming, Feni-chan. Lately, showing my appreciation to you has become a daily routine. Anyway, onto the main topic—I really hope you’re feeling okay. I mean, getting confessed to by your best friend must’ve been a huge shock, right? And on top of that, they’re the same gender… But I think it’s important to really think things through and give them a proper answer. No matter what that answer is, what matters most is that you take the time to consider it seriously.

Well… not that I’d know. I’ve never confessed to anyone or been confessed to myself. So I guess that makes my words pretty unconvincing and unreliable. But if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m always here. No matter what happens, I’ll always be on your side, Feni-chan.”

That overly long, embarrassingly pointless Super Chat message… was sent by an account called [Valhalla].

And yeah. That account was me.

My whole body started trembling.

At the time, I must’ve been in some kind of trance because I didn’t think much about what I was writing. But looking at it now… this was seriously cringe.

And there were more screenshots.

Other just-as-long Super Chats from me had been exposed for the whole internet to see.

“This is disgusting. No, beyond disgusting.”

“‘Disgusting’ and ‘beyond disgusting’ mean the same thing!”

Ever since I got into Vtubers in high school, I’d fallen into the Super Chat rabbit hole.

The thrill of having my comments read on stream—it was addicting.

Now, more than half of my part-time job earnings went straight into Super Chats.

Honestly, at this point, I was pretty much working just to fund my Super Chat and gaming habits.

“If this gets out, your life is over, right?”

I tried to picture it.

Yeah, no doubt about it—my peaceful everyday life would be completely destroyed.

I’d be branded as “Long-Text Niki,” and people would mock me relentlessly.

And it wouldn’t just be me. Even my favourite Vtuber might get dragged into this mess because of me.

“So, here’s the deal. If you make me a Princess, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

“…What, you want me to advertise for you or something?”

“Like that would do anything. I already know how to promote myself.”

“Then what the hell do you want me to do?”

Ayane’s smirk widened.

“Seduce the Princesses. Or to put it in your favorite game terms—capture them.”

…Capture?

“Yep. You just need to start dating one of the Princesses. Once a girl gets a boyfriend, her popularity drops like crazy. That way, I can move up in the rankings. You get a girlfriend, I become a Princess—it’s a win-win, right?”

Win-win, my ass. She was blackmailing me—where the hell was the fairness in that?

Ayane made it sound like some genius strategy, but unfortunately for her, this deal wasn’t going to work.

“Impossible.”

“Why not?”

“You seriously think I can seduce one of them? That’s like trying to beat an unwinnable game. And unwinnable games aren’t just bad—they’re straight-up unfinished trash.”

A loser like me, capturing one of the school’s most popular, idol-tier beauties? Yeah, right.

If I could do that, I wouldn’t have given up on love in the first place.

“Hmm, so you really don’t want to do it? Then I guess it’s fine if I spill everything?”

“Guh—”

“Worst case, you don’t even have to date them. Just getting close is enough. Think about it—if people even suspect they have a boyfriend, their popularity takes a hit. Even just being seen hanging out with a guy will cost them votes.”

She made it sound so damn easy.

“You’ll do it, won’t you?”

I really wanted to refuse. But there was no way out.

With no other choice, I gave a silent nod.

Ayane grinned in satisfaction and stood up.

“Alright then, I’m counting on you, Aniki. No—actually, let’s go with this instead… Starting tomorrow, I’m counting on you, Long-Text Niki.”

…Shut the hell up.

And just like that, on the last day of my second-year summer break—

My own sister blackmailed me into starting my Princess Capturing Life.