When I Started Capturing the Academy Princesses, Things Turned into a Battlefield - V2 Chapter 02: Is the Childhood Friend Always the Loser?

Chapter 02: Is the Childhood Friend Always the Loser?

After Ayane left my room and we finished dinner,

I sat in front of my computer, waiting.

And when the scheduled time rolled around—

The stream I’d been dying to watch finally started.

『Coming at you full of energy again today! Lighting a spark in your heart, it’s your cheerful indie Vtuber—Feni the Immortal Phoenix!』

Tonight’s stream featured my favorite Vtuber,

Feni the Immortal Phoenix, after a long break.

『KonFeni, everyone! I’m finally free from midterms and able to stream again. Let’s chat a ton tonight!』

Just hearing her sugary sweet voice felt like it was melting my brain—in the best way.

I was already in a great mood.

She opened with her usual greeting, then jumped into her intro talk.

First up was a quick update on what she’d been up to.

Apparently, her school had midterms too.

She said her grades were usually decent,

But this time didn’t go so well.

Something had distracted her right before the test and messed with her focus.

I started to worry a bit, but she assured us it wasn’t a health thing, so it was probably fine.

After the updates—

『Alright, time to take topic suggestions for our chat!』

As soon as Feni said that, the comment section exploded.

Most of the comments were asking about her relationship with her best friend.

A while ago, Feni had mentioned that her best friend confessed to her, which had left her feeling conflicted.

Later, she said they made up, but a lot of viewers were still curious about what happened after that.

—I’m kinda curious about that too.

Wanting to know more, I typed a comment.

『Ah, welcome Valhalla-kun! Thanks for checking in on me. I’m still really close with my best friend—we made up just fine. Actually, we hung out yesterday to celebrate finishing midterms.』

Glad to hear they’re still on good terms.

Feni went on to talk about what things had been like since they reconciled.

Her cheerful voice made it obvious—this friend really meant a lot to her.

She kept reading viewer comments, and the casual chat continued.

After a while, a comment popped up about a romantic comedy series that had been trending lately.

『Ah, that reminds me! I’ve actually been meaning to say this for a while, so I’ll just say it now. You know, I really think childhood friends fit the role of the losing heroine best.』

Feni suddenly dropped that line out of nowhere.

Wait, what?

I wasn’t the only one caught off guard—

The chat started buzzing with confusion and surprise.

『I know it came out of nowhere, right? But lately, Feni’s been reading a lot of rom-com manga and novels. And in all of them, the childhood friend always ends up losing. Even though they’re supposed to have the advantage, they always get beaten by the main heroine in the end. It happens so often, I’ve started thinking childhood friends are just meant to be the losing heroine.』

Now that she mentioned it, there really were a lot of stories like that.

The childhood friend character usually ended up acting all cold or tsundere, or couldn’t be honest about their feelings.

And by the time they realized how they truly felt, it was too late.

They’d watch the protagonist walk off with the main heroine, crying and full of regret.

The reactions in chat were pretty split.

Still, maybe because this was Feni’s stream, there were a few more people agreeing with her than not.

『And you know, childhood friend girls always cheat. That’s so awful. Feni would never do that. So honestly, I think it’s only fair they lose.』

…Childhood friends as the losing heroine, huh?

Tsukihi’s face popped into my mind.

『Oh, and just so you know—Feni’s favorite type of heroine is the kind with a gap in her personality! You know, a girl who shows a totally different side from her usual self. That kind of thing is just the best!』

So Feni was into gap moe, huh.

It’s always been a popular trait with both guys and girls.

Like when someone acts cold and standoffish in public but becomes clingy and sweet at home.

Apparently, girls feel the same way about it too.

Like when a guy who usually acts carefree turns out to be super serious,

Or when a tough-looking guy is secretly obsessed with cute animals—those kinds of unexpected sides.

『Let me give you an example! Like, a girl who usually acts cool and princely but deep down is actually super girly. I think that kind of contrast is just the cutest.』

If we’re talking about cool and princely girls, the first one that comes to mind is Tsubasa Shiranui.

I had no idea if she had a girly side,

But yeah, if she did have that kind of unexpected gap, it’d definitely boost her popularity.

Like… imagine her sleeping while hugging a cute plushie or something.

Still, Shiranui was off-limits.

She was always with her best friend—Tsuchiya.

And honestly, I didn’t want to cause drama with Tsuchiya.

We hadn’t talked for a while because of my own issues,

But recently, we’d patched things up and gone back to being friends.

I didn’t want to mess that up again.

『Okay, time for the next topic—』

Just like that, the stream wrapped up—

Leaving me with this vague, uneasy feeling lingering in my chest.

◇

After Feni’s stream ended, I launched my usual online game.

I hadn’t logged in much lately because of midterms.

Not long after logging in, I got a message from my in-game wife like she’d been waiting all this time.

I sent her my location, and right away, Non-Non appeared.

『Darling!!! Long time no see~』

Just seeing her avatar—a blonde elf—oddly calmed my heart.

『Sorry. I had midterms.』

『Non-Non had tests too, so I hadn’t logged in for a while either. It’s fine. …Well, to be honest, I was hoping you’d log in yesterday, so I waited.』

『My bad. I was planning to, but stuff came up.』

『Then as punishment, I get to pick where we go hunting today. Let’s go~』

With Non-Non taking the lead, she chose our hunting spot and we got ready before heading out.

Since it had been a while, we chose an easy area and just relaxed while fighting monsters.

Chatting while playing with my in-game wife was as fun as ever.

Even after some time apart, our teamwork was still perfect.

Maybe that’s just what comes with being a couple—virtually, at least.

Once the hunt wrapped up, we returned home in-game.

『Hunting’s done, so let’s just chat like we always do.』

『Yeah. Haven’t had much time to log in lately, so I’ve got a lot I wanna talk about.』

I chatted with Non-Non, giving her a quick update on life while we talked.

Listening to my favorite Vtuber always made me feel happy,

But honestly, talking with my in-game wife like this was just as good.

It lifted my mood and made me lose track of time.

After covering the usual stuff—midterms, games—the conversation naturally shifted to something a bit more high school-ish: love.

『You know, Non-Non’s been thinking about something lately.』

『About what?』

『That childhood friends are always the losing heroines.』

…Didn’t I just hear something like that earlier?

『Where’d that come from all of a sudden?』

『I’ve been really into reading lately. And I started noticing a pattern. In the end, the childhood friend always loses. Even if she’s the school’s number one beauty, she still ends up getting her guy stolen by another heroine.』

…Yup. That’s exactly what my idol said on stream.

『Yeah, there are a lot of stories like that. But hey, that’s just fiction. Not real life.』

Seriously, what are the odds the school’s top beauty would just happen to be your childhood friend?

Well… okay, I do have one, but still.

『So if the childhood friend always loses… who’s the winning heroine then?』

『It depends on the story, but personally, Non-Non really loves underclassman heroines. I totally root for the kouhai types!』

…An underclassman heroine, huh.

『Mind if I ask why?』

『Because cute, devoted underclassmen are the best. You kind of get used to classmates since you see them all the time, but kouhai feel more refreshing, right? In anime and novels, underclassman heroines are often super strong contenders—and a lot of times, they’re the ones who end up bringing the protagonist a happy ending. I really think choosing the kouhai heroine is the safest route to happiness.』

I started thinking through some rom-com stories, and yeah…

There were a lot of titles where the underclassman heroine wins in the end.

Those stories had definitely been gaining popularity lately.

『Oh, and it’s even better if she’s the quiet type. That’s the ideal combo.』

…A quiet and cute kouhai, huh.

If anyone fit that description, it’d be Kanon.

She was definitely cute—and the fact that she could even be friends with someone like Ayane, who was a total personality disaster, made her pretty amazing.

Still, unfortunately… Kanon was a no-go too.

She had that overly protective, siscon older sister always breathing down her neck.

Plus, even my own sister had told me to stay away from her.

…But still—“the childhood friend is the losing heroine,” huh?

Those words, from both my idoland my in-game wife, lingered in my head far longer than I expected.