When I Started Capturing the Academy Princesses, Things Turned into a Battlefield - V1 Chapter 12: Contact! The Fire Princess-Prince!

Chapter 12: Contact! The Fire Princess-Prince!

“Your bento looks amazing today too, Tsubasa-senpai!”

“You made it yourself, right? You’re incredible at cooking too!”

“Ahh, you’re as wonderful as ever!”

It was lunchtime, and I stood by an empty classroom window, observing the scene below.

As usual, Tsubasa Shiranui was completely surrounded by female students.

She and her admirers always had lunch together in the courtyard. I had seen this scene a few times last year, but now, in our second year, it had become a daily occurrence.

However, there was one noticeable change.

Since summer break ended, her fan club had only grown bigger.

And the reason was obvious—Tsuchiya wasn’t there anymore.

From the perspective of the other girls, Tsuchiya had been in the way.

She had always been by Shiranui’s side, making it difficult for others to get close. It wasn’t hard to imagine that she had been guarding her territory, making sure no one else got too friendly with Shiranui.

Maybe she had even been unintentionally scaring them off.

Now that she was gone, the barrier had disappeared, and the other students saw this as their golden opportunity to move in. Which explained why more and more girls had been gathering around Shiranui recently.

For me, though, this was a terrible situation.

I had made up my mind to talk to her—but seeing her swarmed like that made it incredibly difficult to approach.

There was no way I could just charge in and call out to her through a wall of fangirls.

And if I tried to force my way through, I’d probably just end up annoying Shiranui. That would ruin any chance of getting her to make up with Tsuchiya.

I needed a better plan.

I couldn’t exactly ask Tsuchiya to introduce me, not with things being so awkward between them.

So the first major hurdle was figuring out how to even approach Shiranui.

And that wasn’t the only problem.

Rumor had it that Shiranui didn’t like guys.

Apparently, whenever a guy tried talking to her, she would completely shut them down. On top of that, her entourage of fangirls would glare and tell them to “get lost.” Because of that, most guys at school simply stayed away from her.

“Yeah… lunchtime’s definitely a no-go.”

I had actually tried to approach her this morning, but just like now, she had been surrounded by girls the whole time. There was no opening.

I really wanted to push forward after getting Feni’s encouragement, but interrupting a fun conversation would just be rude.

It was best to wait for the right moment.

Maybe after school would be my best shot.

I wasn’t thrilled about it, but catching her on her way home might be the safest bet. At least then, she’d probably be alone.

Deciding to give up on talking to her during lunch, I pulled out my phone.

After her stream last night, Feni had posted a new video.

Most of her content was live streaming, but occasionally, she uploaded pre-recorded videos too.

Since I had some time, I might as well drop a comment.

And, of course, I needed to properly thank her for cheering me up.

“…Man, her voice is as amazing as ever.”

The video was one of Feni’s usual cover song uploads.

She wasn’t exactly the best singer, but to me, her sweet voice made every song sound amazing.

I played the video on repeat a few times—until the chime signaling the end of lunch rang.

“Crap!”

I jumped to my feet and rushed out of the empty classroom.

That’s when it happened.

In my hurry, I accidentally dropped my phone.

To make things worse, my foot clipped it mid-fall, sending it sliding across the floor.

Panic surged through me as I ran after it. Just as I reached it, a hand—not mine—picked it up first.

“…Ah.”

The one who had picked it up was Tsubasa Shiranui.

Seeing her up close for the first time, I was momentarily stunned.

Her sharp, androgynous features were almost unreal. She was breathtakingly beautiful.

“…”

“…”

Shiranui narrowed her eyes, giving me a piercing look.

“You shouldn’t be so careless with your things. Just because it’s your phone doesn’t mean you should treat it so roughly. And you shouldn’t be running in the halls either.”

She let out a small sigh, as if exasperated.

“Uh… yeah, I, uh… it just slipped out of my hand.”

“Even accidents can cause serious problems. You should be more careful.”

“O-Oh. Yeah, you’re right.”

“Honestly, this is why boys are so…!!”

Shiranui stared at my phone, completely frozen.

…What’s wrong?

For a moment, I was confused, but then I realized the problem.

The screen was still open on Feni’s video. In my rush, I had forgotten to close the video app.

“…”

Stay calm. This is fine.

I reminded myself that Vtubers were incredibly popular. Even the girls in my class often talked about male Vtubers.

It wasn’t weird for me to be watching one, right?

Besides, I look like the type of guy who’d be into anime and games anyway. No one would be surprised.

That said, the real problem here wasn’t what was on my screen.

It was Shiranui herself.

I didn’t know much about her personally, but I had heard she was an athlete. And athletes typically didn’t have the best opinions about nerdy stuff like anime and Vtubers.

Most of the Princesses probably looked down on hobbies like this. Even Ayane, who was aiming to become one, openly hated otaku.

Kazama might have been different since she played around with guys, but even Tsuchiya never really talked about anime or games much.

Yeah, this is bad.

I needed to get out of here.

Right now, my first impression was terrible. But it didn’t matter. Someone like me was just a mob—she’d forget my face soon enough.

I’d reset and approach this again properly later.

“Um… could I have my phone back?”

“Eh—ah! S-sorry!”

I took back my phone as Shiranui finally snapped out of her daze.

For a brief moment, I thought her expression looked a little… softer, more feminine than usual.

But honestly, that didn’t matter right now.

“Thanks for picking it up. Well then—”

I turned, ready to make my escape, but—

“Wait.”

A voice from behind stopped me in my tracks.

“…Yes?”

“Um… could you tell me your name? I’ve seen you around a few times, so I know you’re a second-year, but—embarrassingly enough—I never learned your name.”

“It’s Yuma Kanbara.”

“Kanbara, huh… I see. That makes sense.”

…Makes sense?

Shiranui let out a small cough, and—was that a faint blush?

“Yuma Kanbara-kun, are you in any clubs?”

“Not really.”

“That’s good. If you’re free after school, I’d like to have a little chat. What do you say?”

“…Hoe?”

Something completely unexpected had just happened.

What the hell was that about?

Just a moment ago, she looked like she wanted nothing to do with me. But now, she suddenly stopped me, asked for my name, and even invited me to talk after school?

Judging by her expression, she didn’t seem hostile, but I had no idea what she was thinking. I barely knew anything about Shiranui, so I couldn’t even guess her intentions.

That said—this was perfect for me.

“I’ve got time.”

“Great. Then let’s meet in that empty classroom after school, okay?”

“Works for me.”

“Thanks.”

After our plans were set, Shiranui thanked me and walked away.

If I wasn’t imagining things, she actually looked… happy?

I watched her disappear down the hall, her steps light and effortless.

Once she was gone, I quickly hurried back to class, my mind still trying to process what had just happened.