When I Started Capturing the Academy Princesses, Things Turned into a Battlefield - V1 Chapter 26: Stares

Chapter 26: Stares

Ever since the second term began, Mondays had always felt heavy—mentally and physically.

But today was different.

For the first time in a while, I felt light. Calm. Clear-headed.

…All because I didn’t have a target to chase.

Who knew not having someone to go after could make such a difference?

Back in the first term, this had been normal.

It was only now that I realized how precious that “normal” really was.

Not that realizing it made any difference.

Sure, I felt more relaxed…

But that didn’t mean I could just sit back and do nothing.

If I stayed still, I’d just be slowly walking toward social death.

If I wanted to change the current situation, I needed a proper strategy.

I tried putting my brain to work—but nothing good came to mind.

Still, after thinking it over for an entire day, I finally settled on a plan.

Rather than aim for the two Princesses I hadn’t talked to yet,

It’d be smarter to focus on the ones I already had some connection with.

The odds would be better, and it wouldn’t wreck me mentally.

Now that I had a direction—

I had to figure out how to actually get closer to one of the Princesses.

After some thought, I came to a conclusion.

What I lacked right now was experience—specifically, romantic experience.

So I jumped into action.

I started reading all sorts of rom-com novels and manga—stuff I usually avoided.

I spent days soaking it all in, trying to study what romance was all about.

…But in the end, it turned out to be a total waste of time.

In every single story, the heroine would fall for the protagonist way too easily.

The main characters were just too perfect.

All it took was a little effort from some ridiculously handsome guy, and boom—every girl was instantly in love with him, forming a full-on harem in no time.

None of that was even remotely helpful to me.

Since I couldn’t come up with any solid ideas, I switched gears for a bit—

I watched some streams from my favorite Vtubers and went on some relaxing hunts in-game with my online wife.

Before I knew it, another week had passed.

September was coming to an end.

There was no check-in with Ayane this week.

I told her in advance that I hadn’t made any progress, and for once, she didn’t come to my room.

Looking back, it really had been a wild month.

Without a doubt, the most eventful one in my entire life so far.

If possible, I’d like to spend next month in peace.

…Though, deep down, I knew that was probably impossible.

And so, on the final day of September—

After school, I headed home for a bit, then hopped on my bike and started pedaling toward a certain destination.

I was heading to a convenience store.

There was a special collab going on with a popular idol Vtuber group, and I wanted to grab some of the merch.

Of course, I made sure to go to a store far from home—I didn’t want anyone from Himegasaki Academy catching me there.

Unfortunately, my actual favorite is an indie Vtuber, so she doesn’t have any merch like that.

So no—this wasn’t cheating. Definitely not cheating.

It was on my way to that convenience store—

That I spotted someone in a familiar school uniform coming from the opposite direction.

“Ah, Yuma Kanbara-senpai.”

“Ugh… Onii-chan.”

There they were—my hopeless little sister and Kanon, walking side by side.

Both of them were still in their school uniforms, so it looked like they’d come all the way here straight from school.

They really stood out.

Between the distinctive uniforms and their flawless looks, they were attracting a lot of attention.

“H-Hey. What a coincidence.”

I got off my bike and greeted them awkwardly.

“Come here for a second!”

The moment I finished my greeting, Ayane grabbed me by the arm and dragged me away.

“What are you doing here?! I told you to put the Princess plan on hold!”

“It’s just a coincidence, alright? I came here because I needed something from this convenience store.”

“…Wait. Is this about that Vtuber collab?”

How the heck did she figure that out?

She’s not even into this kind of stuff.

“Some of the otaku in our class were talking about it. Gross guys just like you.”

“Hey, don’t lump me in like that. Have a little pity for them, will you?”

“They don’t deserve it. Thanks to them blabbing about that in class, Kanon got curious about it.”

“…Wait, seriously?”

Kanon got interested in Vtubers?

That caught me completely off guard.

She didn’t seem like the type who’d care about that sort of thing.

So then… was she here for the same reason I was?

“It’s not like I’m that interested or anything. I just thought it sounded kinda interesting, so I wanted to check it out.”

“Still… that’s pretty unexpected.”

“She’s been super sheltered, right? So when she hears about something new, of course she gets curious. It’s like when a rich princess falls for a dumb delinquent in a manga.”

That… was a very Ayane-style example.

“Anyway, whatever. You’re in the way, so hurry up and disappear already.”

“Relax. I was just about to leave.”

I glanced over for a moment—and saw Kanon quietly staring at me.

“…You two really are close.”

She dropped that line without warning.

Totally a misunderstanding.

An absolute, complete, painful misunderstanding.

There’s no universe where I’d call myself “close” with her.

“W-Well, yeah. Me and my big brother are suuuper close.”

“That’s nice. I’m jealous.”

“Eh? Wait a sec—that should be me saying that! Kanon-chan, you and your sister are super close too, right? Everyone at school knows how well you two get along.”

Yeah, if anyone asked who the closest pair of siblings at school were,

The answer would be the Hikawa sisters, no doubt.

They were often seen going to and from school together.

Even Arisa Hikawa—known as the strongest Princess and the Ice Queen—

Would soften her expression when she was with her little sister.

That contrast between her usual cool beauty and her gentle side had been the talk of the school back in spring.

“My sister and I… are close.”

The way she said it felt a little loaded.

Could it be that they actually don’t get along?

No, that couldn’t be it.

Even when I saw them talking, there was no hint of dislike or tension.

No matter how you looked at it, they clearly got along well.

“My sister’s just a little overprotective. Like today—when I told her I wasn’t going home with her, she demanded to know why. She means well, but… it can get a little tiring.”

Ah, so that’s what she meant.

“Well, that’s understandable. Kanon-chan, you’re really cute after all.”

“Ayane-chan’s the cute one.”

“Fweh!?”

“You’re smaller than me, Ayane-chan, and kind of clumsy. Your looks, your personality—everything about you is just adorable.”

Being called cute had Ayane trying—and failing—to hide her huge smile.

She was blushing like crazy.

Man, my little sister’s way too easy

Not long ago, she was glaring daggers at Kanon… and now she was totally charmed.

But yeah, it made sense.

Getting praised by Kanon—a real Princess—meant the world to her.

Ayane had always looked up to the Princesses.

So hearing one of them compliment her? Yeah, that was basically peak happiness.

“Kanon, keep being good friends with my sister, okay?”

“Yeah.”

As Ayane kept squirming with embarrassment, the two of us shared a smile.

That was when it hit me.

“…!”

I suddenly felt someone’s eyes on me and instinctively turned around.

“…?”

But there was no one there.

Weird.

I could’ve sworn someone was watching us.

“Senpai?”

“Nah, I just… felt someone staring at me.”

Lately, I’d gotten weirdly good at sensing when eyes were on me.

Ever since I started getting close to the Princesses, people had been looking at me with straight-up hostility.

Especially after I interacted with Shiranui—

That’s when the murderous stares really started becoming obvious.

But the one I just felt wasn’t the usual kind of hostility.

It felt closer to… actual killing intent.

“…No, it should be fine. I made sure not to get followed.”

Kanon mumbled under her breath, almost like she was trying to reassure herself.

Thinking about it calmly… yeah.

Getting hit with murderous glares in this situation wasn’t all that surprising.

From an outsider’s perspective, it probably looked like I was happily chatting with two beautiful girls.

Sure, one of them was my sister—but people from other schools wouldn’t know that.

To them, I was just some average guy hanging out with cute girls.

Anyway, the Princess plan for Kanon was on hold, and there was no real reason to keep talking here.

“Alright then. I’ll get going.”

“Wait.”

Just as I turned to leave, Kanon grabbed my hand.

“What is it?”

“…See you again, Senpai.”

“Y-Yeah. See you.”

That she went out of her way just to say goodbye…

Honestly, kind of adorable.

And right at that moment—

I felt it again.

A sharp, intense gaze full of murderous intent.

Tch… so I was being watched.

Could it be one of Kanon’s fans?

Wouldn’t be surprising.

She ranked second in the general election, after all—of course she had a ton of admirers.

I should move before someone gets the wrong idea.

I hopped on my bike and pedaled away from the scene.

In the end, nothing else happened.

I got the merch I came for without any trouble.

I never did find out who was watching me,

But I guess they decided to let it slide.

…

…………

Or so I thought.

The very next day—

Disaster struck, without warning.