When I Started Capturing the Academy Princesses, Things Turned into a Battlefield - V1 Chapter 20: The Ice Sisters

Chapter 20: The Ice Sisters

Their name—The Hikawa Sisters.

They’re the most famous siblings in the school.

And in more ways than one, they’re known as the strongest duo in the academy.

Ranked 6th in the Himegasaki Academy General Elections: Arisa Hikawa.

The older of the two—and without question, the strongest figure in the entire school.

Her nickname is The Ice Queen.

And yes, before you ask, she’s still considered a Princess, despite the title “Queen.”

That contradiction?

Yeah, we don’t talk about it. That’s just how it is.

For the record—

Up until last year, she was called The Ice Princess.

The title only got upgraded to Queen starting this year.

And no, the change wasn’t because she moved up a grade.

It was because her little sister enrolled.

Another terrifyingly beautiful girl, who caused a full-blown school-wide meltdown the moment the Ultimate Beautiful Sisters made their debut.

The younger sister also secured a spot in the Hime 6.

And as if passing the torch, she inherited the title Ice Princess from her older sister.

She’s the only lowerclassman in the Hime 6—

The one my annoying little sister sees as her biggest rival—

And the most absurdly popular girl among the new first-years.

Also, unfortunately…

She’s the next Princess I’ve been ordered to target.

“The Queen really has that overwhelming aura, huh.”

Kazama muttered, sounding a bit worn out.

“No kidding. My heart’s still pounding.”

“Such a coward.”

“Shut up. Anyone would be freaked out after that.”

“True. Seeing her up close was seriously intense. It felt like we were standing in front of a real queen or something. The pressure was insane… but she was so beautiful, I couldn’t look away. It was a weird feeling.”

“…Stunning, huh.”

Yeah—

Arisa Hikawa really was the perfect example of the word “stunning.”

She always carried herself with such sharp grace.

Gorgeous and elegant—she was the real deal.

Shiranui had well-defined features too, but her vibe was more of a cool, handsome type.

Probably had something to do with her hairstyle.

But Arisa Hikawa—

She was what you’d call a true, classic beauty.

Symmetrical features, a refined nose, smooth semi-long hair.

She was a bit taller than average, with long, slender arms and legs that gave her the kind of figure you’d expect from a model.

If I had to nitpick one flaw…

Well, her chest was kinda in the plains category.

“You think she’s stunning too, Kazama?”

“Obviously. She’s on a whole other level.”

“A whole other level, huh.”

“As a fellow girl, I don’t even want to be compared to her. It’s not just about effort—she was born different. Her looks are unreal, she’s a genius, her family’s loaded, and she’s even good at sports. She’s one of those people you can never catch up to, no matter how hard you try.”

Even Kazama had that much praise for her, huh.

But honestly—

She wasn’t exaggerating at all.

That’s the scary part.

Hikawa was one of the academy’s famed Big Three.

Since last year, she’d been captivating students left and right with her cool, elegant beauty.

Right now, she was serving as our student council president.

Top of the grade.

Actually—she’d been number one since last year.

And to top it off, she was the daughter of a major, nationally-known corporation.

She was born with everything—brains, looks, talent, status.

Calling her the strongest wasn’t an exaggeration.

“Kanbara-kun, are girls like Hikawa-san your type?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. A guy like me wouldn’t even be on her radar.”

“You’re seriously underestimating yourself.”

“That’s got nothing to do with it. We’re talking about Hikawa here.”

“…Fair point.”

With specs like that, she’d obviously had tons of guys confess to her.

But the result?

A complete massacre.

Not one of them stood a chance.

Some even got rejected so hard, they reportedly had full-on emotional breakdowns.

Hikawa was known for being cold to everyone.

She showed zero interest in people.

No one had ever seen her hanging out with friends.

She truly lived up to her title—the untouchable Ice Queen.

If there was one exception, it’d be her younger sister, who she always commuted to and from school with.

And yet, even with that frosty attitude—

Her popularity never dropped.

In fact, it only added to her appeal.

Guys admired her, and girls respected her for never faking it.

Even the teachers trusted her completely, thanks to how capable she was.

“Yeah… Hikawa-san really is something else. Even after she handed off her support to her sister, she’s still insanely popular.”

“…Handed off her support?”

“Oh, Kanbara-kun, you didn’t know?”

Kazama blinked at me like she couldn’t believe it.

“Tell me the details.”

“Hikawa-san told the people who supported her to vote for her little sister in the election. She said it’d make her happy if they gave their votes to her instead. Everyone was shocked. It was the first time she ever said anything about the general elections.”

That was news to me.

Last year, in her very first election after enrolling, Hikawa had landed in second place.

And she kept that position all year.

But this year—

She suddenly dropped to sixth place in the first vote.

I had just assumed her sister had stolen some of her votes.

But if she asked people to vote for her sister…

Then it all made sense.

The sudden shift in rankings was her own doing.

But still—why?

Why would she go out of her way to push people to vote for her sister?

It made no sense.

Hikawa never seemed all that interested in being a Princess.

And honestly, she probably wasn’t.

The Princess title was just a school-exclusive thing, and it didn’t exactly offer any real benefits.

Especially for someone like her—

Top of the grade, student council president… she didn’t need any extra titles or recognition.

Maybe she didn’t like being the center of attention?

But that didn’t fit either.

She ran for student council president—

Which meant she wasn’t the type to shy away from the spotlight.

“Just in case—do you know the reason, Kazama?”

“Not a clue.”

Even Kazama, the most sociable girl I knew, didn’t have any answers.

“What about Hikawa’s little sister? Maybe she wanted to be a Princess?”

“Who knows? I’ve never talked to her, but I doubt that’s the case.”

“Why do you think so?”

“From what I’ve heard, she’s a lot like her sister. Same kind of intimidating aura. And when she talks to people—well, it’s not just cold, it’s freezing. Total ice mode.”

…I’d never even heard the term ice mode before.

“Basically, she doesn’t care about anyone. One time, I saw her completely ignore this girl who was desperately trying to talk to her. Just acted like she didn’t even exist. Honestly, I don’t get what goes on in that family’s heads.”

That lined up with what I’d heard too.

The younger Hikawa also had zero interest in others—

Her responses were as cold as ice.

And just like her sister, she was top of her grade.

An elite student all around.

“…”

Just from what I’d heard so far—yeah, this was hopeless.

Even if I managed to approach her, I had no idea how to even start a conversation.

And there was no way she’d be into Vtubers or anything like that.

Actually, let’s be real—

I didn’t even think I’d be able to approach her in the first place.

Yukina Kazama, my classmate.

Misuzu Tsuchiya, a friend from middle school.

Tsubasa Shiranui, Tsuchiya’s close friend.

Even if our connections were weak, they existed.

There was at least something there.

But the Hikawa sisters?

Nope.

The older one was in the same grade, sure—

But we weren’t in the same class last year or this year.

And we didn’t share any mutual friends either.

The younger one was even worse.

Not only was she in a different grade, but just like her sister, I had zero connection to her.

Technically, she was in the same class as Ayane.

But that was it.

And even Ayane said they weren’t friends, so there was no link to rely on.

If I suddenly walked up and started talking to her, it’d just look like some random guy trying to hit on her.

And that definitely wouldn’t leave a good impression.

Not to mention—

I’m sure plenty of guys had already tried that and failed.

Yeah… this was going to be ridiculously hard.