When I Started Capturing the Academy Princesses, Things Turned into a Battlefield - V2 Chapter 07: Ball Game Tournament – Part 1

Chapter 07: Ball Game Tournament – Part 1

At Himegasaki Academy, the ball game tournament was held twice a year—in spring and autumn—spanning two full days.

There were various events for both boys and girls,

But the one that drew the most attention was, without a doubt, soccer.

It wasn’t divided by grade either—the whole school competed together.

On the first day, teams played a round-robin within their assigned blocks.

Only the top two teams in each block would move on to the final tournament on Day 2.

“We’re absolutely gonna win this!”

The one yelling that at the center of the field on the tournament’s opening day—

Was none other than our class’s pride and “Prince”… Yamada.

He was clearly more fired up than usual.

Not surprising, given the reason behind it.

My strategy had worked perfectly.

Yamada had agreed to the conditions Ayane set.

If he won, they’d go on a date.

If he lost, he had to back off.

After the deal was made, I had a quick chat with him.

Apparently, he actually felt kind of grateful for it.

His heartbreak over Kazama had been the first time he’d ever been dumped, and it hit him harder than he expected.

Even though he’d been chasing Ayane, he was too scared to go all in.

He kept hesitating at the last step.

“The tournament will decide my fate. After the date, I’m definitely going to confess.”

…He said that with a straight face.

I seriously didn’t get what he saw in that annoying little sister of mine,

But apparently, he planned to follow up the victory date with a confession.

Well, not that the outcome wasn’t already set in stone.

I just didn’t tell him that part.

He’d be crushed, and if he took it out on me, that’d be a huge pain.

“Let’s do our best out there, Kanbara!”

“Y-Yeah.”

“We’re totally gonna win this!”

“…Sure.”

Just to be clear—I had no intention of doing my best.

That said, I also wasn’t planning to deliberately mess things up.

Lately, I’d already been getting a lot of heat from the other guys.

Just being friendly with the Princesses was enough to make me a target.

If people started thinking I was slacking off in the tournament too, I’d be completely screwed.

So I decided to just play normally.

Not that it mattered—there was no way we were winning.

There were way too many classes with actual soccer club members.

At our school, there wasn’t any rule that banned club athletes from joining.

So in the end, the class stacked with soccer club members always ended up taking the crown.

I figured most of my classmates would just go through the motions.

…Or so I thought.

“Let’s gooo! Time to crush it!”

“We’re taking the win for sure!”

“Time to show off!”

The boys in our class were fired up.

Almost all of them had set their sights on winning—just like Yamada.

The reason was simple.

Their motivation stood right in front of them.

All their eyes were fixed on the gym.

That’s right—where the school’s Princesses were.

They just wanted to show off in front of the Princesses.

That was it.

A little shallow, sure, but it’s basically instinct.

Guys will always want to look cool in front of cute girls. That’s just how it is.

The main target for the guys in our class was Yukina Kazama.

Since she was a classmate, they figured she was their best shot.

Most of the other Princesses were either in different classes or upper years—

Which meant they probably wouldn’t even be watching our matches.

…Half of you guys are gonna get rejected, you know.

I couldn’t help but sigh at the whole thing.

But you can’t really stop someone’s feelings.

That just went to show how attractive Kazama was.

Impressive… and kind of terrifying.

Just then—

A few girls walked out from the gym.

Kazama was among them.

By the way, the girls’ events were all indoors—basketball, ping pong, and volleyball.

As soon as Kazama spotted us, she came walking over.

“Good luck, everyone!”

She waved with a bright smile.

And just like that, our class morale shot through the roof.

Some guys even looked like they were about to lose their minds from excitement.

While the group turned into a mini festival,

Kazama quietly stepped closer to me.

“I’m cheering for you, Kanbara-kun.”

“Yeah.”

“Make sure to show me your cool side, okay? If I get the chance, I’ll come watch your match.”

Kazama gently took my hand.

Since the start of the week, Kazama had gone back to her usual self.

No—she might’ve become even more charming than before.

Her smile felt more genuine somehow, and she seemed cuter overall.

Even now, her cheeks were flushed while holding my hand.

That blush felt oddly real… nothing like the fake reactions I’d expect from my annoying little sister.

…What happened to her?

Just last Friday after school, she’d looked totally unmotivated.

It was like something suddenly flipped a switch over the weekend.

Not that I was complaining—this version of Kazama felt more like her anyway.

“If we’re doing this, let’s both win—boys and girls.”

“Y-Yeah. Sure.”

“See you later. Oh, and make sure to come watch me play too, okay?”

…She’s actually kind of cute.

As Kazama walked off,

Tsukihi came out of the gym next.

The moment our eyes met, she walked straight over to me.

“Yuu-kun, do your best today.”

“Leave it to me. You better do your best too, Tsukihi.”

“Yes, I’m definitely going to win.”

Right after she said that—

“I can’t let that slide. We’re the ones who’ll be taking the win.”

It was Shiranui.

“Yo, Kanbara-kun.”

“Hey. You sound pretty confident, Shiranui.”

“I’ve always been good at basketball. Used to play with the boys all the time. So yeah—my class is totally winning this.”

She shot a glance over at Tsukihi.

“My class is the one that’s going to win.”

“Guess this’ll be our warm-up round, then. I’m looking forward to it, Tsukihi.”

“Same here.”

The two of them exchanged smiles.

…Tsukihi?

Since when were those two so friendly?

And what do they mean by warm-up round?

While I stood there looking confused,

They kept chatting as they walked back toward the gym.

Yeah, they really did seem to be getting along.

Between Kazama’s sudden change and this…

Girls really are impossible to figure out.

Just as I was thinking that—

“…Senpai. Do your best.”

At some point, Kanon had quietly appeared beside me.

“Thanks. You make sure to do your best too, Kanon.”

“I will.”

“By the way, what event are you in?”

“Basketball.”

Kanon too, huh?

That’s a pretty physical sport. I hope she doesn’t get hurt.

As I started to feel a bit worried,

The root of all evil suddenly slithered out from behind Kanon.

That stiff, fake smile of hers had none of Kazama’s charm.

“Do your best, Onii-chan.”

“…Thanks.”

I replied in the most emotionless voice I could manage.

Ayane made an irritated face for a second, but quickly switched gears and started walking.

“W-Well then! Let’s go, Kanon-chan!”

What’s with the sudden fluster?

The answer revealed itself instantly.

Right behind me, Yamada was staring at Ayane like his life depended on it.

Guess even she couldn’t handle that kind of pressure.

“…Kanbara. We’re definitely gonna win.”

“Y-Yeah.”

And just like that,

The ball game tournament began.

◇

Just as planned, I joined the match as a defender.

Our first opponent was a team of underclassmen.

From the looks of it, they didn’t have any soccer club members, and their energy was kind of low.

You could tell they weren’t taking it seriously.

Honestly, I got it.

I used to be the same until spring.

I figured it’d be a pretty even match.

…I was completely wrong.

“Let’s go!”

Yamada, our ace, was absolutely dominating on both offense and defense.

The other guys were way more motivated than usual too,

And their movements were sharper across the board.

We were on the offensive the entire time.

Well, winning the first match shouldn’t hurt anything.

With that in mind, I gave it my all in defense.

I didn’t exactly “shine,” but I intercepted passes,

Sent clean passes up to the front line,

And kept things steady overall.

At the very least, I wasn’t dragging the team down.

We won our first match without any trouble.

“At this pace, we’re going all the way!”

Somehow, Yamada had become our team leader—despite the fact that we actually had one real soccer club guy in class.

But no one complained.

We kept pushing forward, with Yamada at the center.

At first, I was still trying to think through every move.

But after a while, I stopped overthinking and just played to win.

Before I knew it, I was actually enjoying the tournament.

And the result?

“We made it past prelims!”

Our class finished the qualifying round at the top of our block,

Advancing to the final tournament.

…W-Well, as long as we lose tomorrow, it should be fine, right?