When I Started Capturing the Academy Princesses, Things Turned into a Battlefield - V1 Chapter 14: The Princess-Prince’s Dilemma

Chapter 14: The Princess-Prince’s Dilemma

A favor?

It felt a little odd to be asked for advice by someone I had just met, but then again, Shiranui and I shared the same hobby.

It was probably something Vtuber-related.

“Alright. What’s this about?”

“Well… I’ve been having trouble because girls keep confessing to me.”

…Not what I was expecting.

“I’ve been getting love confessions from girls for as long as I can remember. And honestly… it’s exhausting. It’s tough when someone you thought was just a friend suddenly confesses. I don’t see them that way, so it puts me in a really awkward position. So… do you have any ideas on how to deal with this?”

It was the kind of problem only someone like Shiranui would have.

I couldn’t relate to it at all.

I had never been popular—not with girls, and definitely not with guys. This was the kind of issue I would never experience firsthand.

But I could imagine how it felt.

If I ever got confessed to by a guy, I wouldn’t know how to handle it. Just realizing that someone saw me that way would leave me completely thrown off. At the same time, I wouldn’t want to be outright cruel about it. After all, I’d be friends with them because we got along.

It would definitely mess with my sense of boundaries and emotions.

And funny enough—there was someone else I knew dealing with the same problem.

My beloved Vtuber—Feni the Immortal Phoenix.

She had been confessed to by girls multiple times.

During summer break, she even had an entire stream talking about how her best friend had suddenly confessed to her.

That long-winded donation I sent—the one that got mocked online—was actually about that exact situation.

Though in Feni’s case, it was probably a little different.

With a voice that sweet, it was easy to imagine she was just a naturally cute girl. She was probably getting confessed to simply because she was too adorable to resist.

“Why are you asking me for advice?”

“Honestly… I don’t have any male friends. I don’t even have anyone I can properly talk to. So I figured I’d ask for advice from someone with a guy’s perspective.”

Now that I thought about it, I had never seen Shiranui talking to any guys.

Considering the rumors about her disliking men, she had probably just been avoiding them altogether.

“Is it really that bad?”

“You remember how I mentioned quitting my club? Well… this was actually the reason. It turned into a whole mess, and eventually, I had to leave.”

So she quit because she was too popular?

Imagine being so attractive that it actively interfered with your daily life. That was something I could never relate to.

Since she was asking seriously, I tried to think of a good solution—but, unfortunately, I came up empty.

“Sorry, but I don’t think I can help. I have zero experience with being popular, so I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

As much as I wanted to help a fellow comrade, this one was way beyond me.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. I should be the one apologizing for dumping this weird problem on you.”

Shiranui shrugged, looking a little awkward.

That was my cue.

Now that we had already touched on the topic of romantic problems, this was the perfect time to bring up my real reason for coming here.

I straightened up and looked her in the eye.

“Alright. Now I need to talk to you about something.”

“…Something else?”

“It’s about Misuzu Tsuchiya.”

The moment I said that name, Shiranui’s eyes went wide.

“How do you know about me and Misuzu!?”

“Tsuchiya told me herself. She confessed to you over the summer… and now things between you two are a mess.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, Shiranui visibly panicked.

“W-wait, Misuzu actually told you about that!? No, more importantly—why the hell were you even talking to Misuzu about something like that!?”

Her reaction was understandable.

From her perspective, Tsuchiya and I had barely spoken since entering Himegasaki Academy.

She probably assumed we had nothing to do with each other.

So the fact that I suddenly knew about something as personal as her confession? Yeah, she had every reason to freak out.

“I get why you’re surprised. But let me ask you one thing—do you actually want to make up with Tsuchiya?”

“Eh? Well… yeah, of course I do.”

Good. That was all I needed to hear.

“I just… haven’t had a chance. Ever since that day, it’s been hard to approach her. And she seems to feel the same way. I have no idea how to even start closing that distance.”

I’d never been confessed to, so I had no way of knowing how that felt.

But even just imagining it—I doubted I could just go back to normal after rejecting someone.

And if that person had been a best friend? It would be even worse.

“That’s where I come in.”

“You…?”

“I came to talk to you for that exact reason. Tsuchiya asked me to help out. She wants me to play mediator and get you two talking again. I’ve actually been looking for the right moment to approach you—but then, well… I accidentally dropped my phone, and you ended up talking to me first.”

After I explained, Shiranui let out a small breath.

“I see… that makes sense.”

She finally looked like she understood what was going on.

“…But before that, can I ask about your relationship with Misuzu, Kanbara-kun?”

“We’re friends.”

“Friends!?“

…That was way too much shock.

“I had no idea Misuzu even had a male friend.”

“We went to the same middle school. Plus, my younger sister is one of Tsuchiya’s closest underclassmen. So, we had a few connections.”

“Your sister… Oh, right. That small girl. I think her last name was Kanbara too.”

So Ayane was on her radar.

I decided not to mention that I used to have a thing for Tsuchiya back in middle school. That would just make things unnecessarily awkward.

“Well, to be honest, we didn’t really talk much after starting high school.”

“Now that you mention it… I think Misuzu did talk about you once. She said there was this really kind guy in middle school who used to help her out a lot.”

…She actually talked about me?

And not in a bad way?

That felt… kinda nice.

“So, just to be clear—you do want to make up with Tsuchiya, right?”

“Yeah. Misuzu is a very important friend to me.”

“Got it. I’ll talk to Tsuchiya and set things up. I’ll make sure you two have a private place to talk—there are probably things you don’t want me overhearing.”

“Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

Mission complete.

I had accepted this task on pure impulse, but somehow, I actually pulled it off.

“But still, Kanbara-kun… you’re really kind, aren’t you? You even went out of your way to come talk to me just to help your friends make up. I think that kind of thoughtfulness is really admirable.”

…Yeah, I couldn’t tell her the truth.

The real reason I took on this job was because I completely lost my cool and agreed on impulse.

And to make things worse, the only reason I was even doing this whole princess-capture thing was to keep my own secrets from being exposed.

As a cold sweat ran down my back, I forced on my best friendly smile.

“Of course! Friendship is important, after all!”

I said something that sounded incredibly noble—despite not believing a single word of it.