When I Started Capturing the Academy Princesses, Things Turned into a Battlefield - V1 Chapter 23: Lunch With the Princess

Chapter 23: Lunch With the Princess

I felt kinda embarrassed for even thinking it might fail.

Of course a girl would understand how other girls think.

I was right to trust my wife.

Even doubting her for a second… yeah, that was on me.

I owed her an apology for that.

Still—

Was that really the right way to approach a girl?

I’d heard about stuff like flirting and hitting on girls, but I never really knew how people actually did it.

Maybe those flashy playboys really did talk like that.

Not that I planned to use it again.

But… I’d remember it just in case.

Anyway, time passed—

And now it was lunchtime.

Just as planned, the three of us met in an empty classroom.

“…”

“…”

“…”

The atmosphere was… suffocating.

Nobody said a word.

All you could hear was the quiet rustling of lunch boxes.

The awkwardness felt like sitting at the dinner table with your parents mid-argument.

“Hey. What is this situation?”

Ayane whispered to me, clearly irritated.

“Why are the three of us even eating lunch in this weird empty room?”

“Because you’re the one who forced me to chase a Princess.”

“Okay, fine. So… what’s your next move in this ‘chase’?”

There was no next move.

I had followed Non-Non’s advice to the letter—

But I’d only asked about how to invite her to lunch.

I completely forgot to ask what to do after that.

That one’s on me.

Well, I couldn’t rely on my wife for everything.

From here on out, I had to handle things myself.

Since Kanon Hikawa and I had zero connection and no shared topics, Ayane’s presence was absolutely crucial in making this work.

I had to use her wisely.

“Hey, quick question. You told me to knock Kanon Hikawa down a peg, right? But is there even a route where you two become friends?”

“Wait, hold on—”

Ayane paused and gave it some thought.

“…Maybe. As much as I hate to admit it, she’s really popular. And when it comes to cute girls, being in a group works better. Seeing beautiful girls getting along—it’s flashy, makes a good impression, and naturally gets more attention from others.”

Yeah, it was a well-known fact—

Princesses always drew more attention when they gathered.

Still, it felt a little gross how calculated that was.

Well, I guess everyone has their own idea of friendship.

“So what are you planning to do with that info?”

“I was thinking—if I could get you and Hikawa’s little sister to become friends, I could use that as a starting point—”

But just as I was explaining—

“…Are you two siblings?”

Kanon suddenly spoke, her voice barely more than a whisper.

“Y-Yeah! He’s my big brother and we’re super close!”

Ayane answered the question with a big, radiant smile.

…Huh?

Did she just say we’re close siblings?

If my memory was correct, I was currently being blackmailed by her.

And at home, it was completely normal for her to glare at me like I was trash and hurl insults every chance she got.

Just as I was about to correct her, Ayane grabbed my arm.

“We’re super close as siblings, right?”

She winked—and pinched me. Hard.

I flinched from the pain but somehow managed to keep a straight face.

Okay, I got the message.

She figured it’d be better if we looked like a close pair of siblings.

Having a bad relationship with your brother probably wouldn’t sit well with people.

It annoyed me to just go along with her plan, but…

Yeah, eating lunch with a pair of bickering siblings would probably feel like torture to the other person.

For Hikawa’s sake, I decided to play along.

“We’re totally the best of siblings!”

“Yup yup, we get along great! Like, really great!”

As we smiled and acted the part, Kanon stared straight at my face.

“…I want to know Senpai’s name.”

“Mine?”

I blinked, and she gave a small nod.

“I didn’t introduce myself, huh? I’m Yuma Kanbara, second year.”

“Yuma Kanbara-senpai. Got it.”

After saying that, Kanon shifted her gaze over to Ayane.

Ayane, still wearing her perfect schoolgirl mask, looked a bit hesitant.

Meanwhile, Kanon’s eyes scanned her like she was assessing her worth.

For a few seconds, their eyes locked—

A silent standoff.

Then, Kanon finally spoke.

“…This school’s uniform is cute.”

“Y-Yeah, I think so too! I really like it.”

“We’re on the same page.”

Ayane must’ve sensed this was her moment to act.

She smiled brightly.

“Super cute, right? Honestly, one of the reasons I chose this school was the uniform.”

“Understandable.”

“The facilities are amazing too. And the cafeteria food? So good.”

“I haven’t eaten there yet.”

“Wait, really? Then let’s go together sometime!”

“…Okay.”

That small exchange broke the tension in the room.

Ayane naturally took the lead as the conversation continued.

Before I knew it, I was forgotten.

The two of them chatted away, gradually opening up to each other.

It was nothing deep—just casual small talk—

But even so, I could see the distance between them slowly shrinking.

“…?”

In the middle of the conversation, Kanon glanced over at me a few times.

I wondered what it was about—

But right after, she turned back to Ayane and continued chatting like nothing happened.

That look…

Was she trying to say I was just getting in the way?

Thinking about it calmly, this whole situation was pretty weird.

Even with Non-Non’s advice, it didn’t make much sense for someone like me—totally average and not even remotely handsome—to get a yes out of her that easily.

Come to think of it, Kanon only agreed to have lunch after I mentioned Ayane.

Before that, she’d looked hesitant.

She didn’t even know my name at the time.

…Could it be that she actually wanted to get close to Ayane?

That wouldn’t be too surprising.

At school, Ayane wore the perfect mask—

Friendly, approachable, and kind of like the class mascot.

According to her, she had tons of friends.

As long as she kept her true nature hidden, she was a popular and cute high school girl.

Plenty of people would want to be friends with her.

Even though she didn’t make the Hime 6, finishing in 7th place still made her pretty popular.

On the other hand, from what I’d seen, Kanon didn’t seem to have any friends.

Honestly, it looked like she didn’t even have anyone to talk to.

People said she was cold as ice…

But maybe it wasn’t attitude.

Maybe she just didn’t know how to talk to others.

Maybe she wanted a friend, but never got the chance.

So when I invited her with Ayane, she accepted.

That made more sense.

Whether that theory was true or not, I figured I should probably stay quiet and just let things play out for now.

I sat there watching the two of them laugh and bond right in front of me.
Then after a little while, Ayane stood up, saying she was going to grab a drink.

“…”

“…”

As soon as we were alone, silence returned.

A few seconds passed.

Then I heard a small gasp—

And Kanon turned to look at me.

“What’s wrong, Hikawa—”

“Kanon.”

“Huh?”

“My sister has the same last name, so… it overlaps. A-And… since I’m your junior, I want you to call me by my first name.”

“Ah, yeah. That makes sense.”

Calling her “Hikawa’s little sister” was definitely awkward.

And not using someone’s name did feel kind of rude.

She had a point about it getting confusing with her sister.

“Got it. So, Kanon… what’s up?”

“…Thank you for today.”

“Uh, what?”

“I was… really happy you invited me.”

With that, Kanon lowered her head shyly.

Up until now she’d looked like a perfect doll, but the way her face turned red…

It made her seem like a totally normal girl her age.

Honestly, if the whole school saw her like this, she could easily take the top spot in the rankings.

From what she just said, it sounded like my guess had been right.

She wasn’t thanking me exactly—

She was thankful for the chance to connect with Ayane.

“…Why did Senpai invite Kanon today?”

“T-That’s, um…”

I couldn’t just tell her, “Because I had to for the Princess plan.”

I hadn’t really come up with a proper reason at all.

Should I just go full player and say something like,

“Because you’re cute”?

While I was still hesitating—

“Never mind. I get it now.”

…Huh?

What exactly did she “get”?

I had no idea what she meant,

But if she was satisfied, then I wasn’t going to question it.

Anyway, if she thought we were a close sibling pair, then I might as well roll with it.

No need to push anything else.

Time to play the good big brother role and stick to that.

“Keep getting along with my sister, Kanon.”

“…Okay.”

After that, Ayane came back with drinks, and the conversation picked up again.

The two of them seemed a lot more relaxed now,

Chatting comfortably like they were already close friends.

And just like that—

Lunch with the Ice Princess ended peacefully.

As for whether I actually got closer to Kanon personally…

That was hard to say.

But at the very least, she and Ayane had definitely hit it off.

It wasn’t the outcome I originally aimed for,

But honestly?

This wasn’t a bad result.

Especially since Ayane actually looked like she was having fun.