When I Started Capturing the Academy Princesses, Things Turned into a Battlefield - V2 Chapter 11: The Smiling Goddess and the Weird Princess-Prince

Chapter 11: The Smiling Goddess and the Weird Princess-Prince

Before I knew it, Friday had arrived.

Tomorrow was the day of the double date.

As for me, I hadn’t done anything special to prepare. Sure, it was called a “date,” but I was really just tagging along. Same went for Kanon. She was in the same boat—just coming along. I doubted she’d done much prep either… probably.

For the record, Ayane hadn’t prepared anything either. She said she left everything to Yamada. Apparently, she just asked him to pick a place a bit far from town.

Nothing noteworthy had happened up to today.

No info had leaked. I’d thought Tsukihi and Hikawa might be onto us, but turns out I was just being paranoid. No suspicious moves from either of them. I’d been freaking out a little over Hikawa’s “consequences” threat, but so far, everything had been peaceful.

The only things that bothered me lately were outside school.

My favorite Vtuber, Feni the Immortal Phoenix, hadn’t been as energetic recently. And my in-game wife, Non-Non, hadn’t been logging into our online game much either. I figured they had their own stuff going on, but still—it bugged me a little.

“Ah, it’s Yuma-kun.”

It was the latter half of lunch break.

Just as I was heading back to class, someone called out to me.

“I heard, you know. Yuma-kun’s got some moves, huh?”

With a cheerful smile on her face, the academy’s very own goddess—Misuzu Tsuchiya—walked up to me.

“What do you mean I’ve ‘got some moves’?”

“Don’t play dumb. You’re going on a date, aren’t you?”

“—!”

Those unexpected words from an unexpected person snapped me out of my peaceful daze in an instant.

How did she find out?

I’d been super careful. I hadn’t talked about it anywhere at school.

If the news had gotten out, that would be seriously bad. If people found out Yamada and Ayane were going on a date, the whole point of turning it into a double date would be ruined.

“You and Yoiyami-san seem to be doing well. I’m jealous.”

Huh—Tsukihi?

“Childhood friends are always the winning heroines, right? I’m rooting for you and Yoiyami-san as your friend. Good luck!”

I tilted my head.

“Wait… are you saying I’m going on a date with Tsukihi?”

“Huh? Aren’t you two going out this Sunday?”

Oh—that. The shopping trip on Sunday.

I’d totally forgotten because my mind had been occupied with the whole mess happening the day before.

To me, it felt more like I was just tagging along to help carry her bags. But now that she mentioned it, I did have plans to go out with Tsukihi on Sunday.

I was curious how Tsuchiya knew about that… but they’d been getting close lately, so she probably heard it from Tsukihi herself.

…Wait. Was that supposed to count as a date?

I thought it was more of a favor—carry her stuff and get a free lunch in return. Kinda felt more like a job, honestly.

“Wait… don’t tell me—you didn’t even realize it was a date?”

“Unfortunately… no.”

“If a girl invites you out alone on a day off, it’s just a normal date. Come on, connect the dots. She’s asking you to hang out on her day off, you know?”

Even hearing that, it still didn’t quite register for me.

I mean, Tsukihi and I were childhood friends. We’d gone out together tons of times back in elementary school. I had no idea what her real intent was this time. If she just saw this as a continuation of those old days, I’d end up totally embarrassing myself.

“Have some confidence. You’ve been on a roll lately, Yuma-kun.”

“Me? On a roll?”

“You became super popular after the ball game tournament. In a good way, of course.”

For me, it felt more like a nightmare than a victory.

“People have been talking all over the place. They’re saying that final pass was amazing.”

“Yamada was the one who scored. He’s the real MVP.”

“Well, yeah. Scoring the final goal definitely left a bigger impression.”

Naturally, Yamada’s popularity had skyrocketed after that. He was already good-looking to begin with, so now he was practically a school prince. The only reason my own reputation had gone up even a little was because that very prince kept praising my pass like crazy.

“But still, Kanbara-kun, your popularity really has gone up.”

Me? Popular?

Yeah, I couldn’t picture myself getting excited cheers from the girls no matter how hard I tried.

While I was chatting with Tsuchiya like that—

“—Sorry to interrupt, but could I have a moment?”

Someone quietly stepped in between us.

“Shiranui?”

“Tsubasa-chan?”

It was none other than Tsubasa Shiranui—the academy’s very own Princess-Prince.

As always, Shiranui looked like a handsome girl straight out of a shojo manga. She stared straight at me with those cool, sharp eyes.

“Kanbara-kun, I want to talk with you for a bit.”

“Then I’ll come too—”

“Sorry, Misuzu, but I’d rather you didn’t.”

“Eh?”

Tsuchiya looked genuinely shocked.

As I stood there watching their exchange, totally confused, Shiranui leaned in and whispered quietly to me.

“It’s about that thing we talked about.”

That could only mean one thing.

Shiranui and I were comrades—fellow fans of Vtubers.

Ever since we discovered that shared passion, we’d occasionally chat about our favorites. Though honestly, at school we barely got the chance. Girls like Tsuchiya were always crowding around Shiranui, so we could only manage a few words in passing.

But now she was asking me to talk one-on-one.

Which probably meant… this was going to be a serious conversation.

“Got it. Let’s head to an empty classroom.”

◇

We moved to an empty classroom.

After we sat down, a heavy silence filled the room.

Shiranui kept glancing around nervously.

The place was obviously empty, but she still seemed on edge.

Was she just being overly cautious?

Well, she was a fellow comrade in the Vtuber fan club.

No need to rush her—I could wait.

After what felt like several seconds—maybe even a few minutes—

Shiranui finally let out a slow breath, as if steeling herself, and spoke.

“There’s something important I need to tell you.”

“You’re being awfully serious. What’s up?”

“It’s about my secret.”

“…Secret?”

Wait—she must mean the Vtuber thing.

Sure, I was shocked when I first found out.

But at this point, calling it a “secret” felt a little dramatic.

“Wait—did someone find out you’re a Vtuber fan?”

“Huh?”

“Just so you know, it wasn’t me, okay!? I’d never rat out a fellow fan. I swear, I’d never do that!”

“No, no! That’s not it! No one knows!”

So it was something else entirely.

Man, for a second there I thought I was about to get accused of leaking it.

“But didn’t you say this was about ‘that thing’? So it is Vtuber-related, right?”

“It is. But honestly… ever since Tsukihi showed up, I’ve been kinda panicking.”

…Why did Tsukihi come into this?

“I wasn’t planning to say anything yet, but I can’t just sit around and do nothing. That’s why I’ve decided—I’m going to come clean about everything. Even if things go badly because of it. I realized nothing’s going to change if I just stay quiet.”

With a serious look on her face, she suddenly dropped that on me.

What kind of event flag was this supposed to be?

Caught off guard by how sudden it was, I had no idea how to react.

Shiranui was clearly about to confess some kind of secret to me. That much I got.

But I couldn’t imagine what it could be.

Still… I had a gut feeling.

Whatever she was about to say—it was something big.

Something that might completely change the situation.

“Actually, I—”

“Tsubasa-chan!”

Just as she was about to speak, Tsuchiya burst into the classroom.

“Misuzu…?”

“Come, hurry up! The bell’s about to ring—we need to get back!”

And right on cue, the bell rang.

I thought we still had time,

But I guess all that time Shiranui spent getting mentally prepared had eaten into it.

“Well then, see you later, Yuma-kun!”

Tsuchiya grabbed Shiranui’s hand and started dragging her off, not giving her any chance to resist.

“S-Sorry! I’ll tell you the rest next time!”

“Come, let’s go! We’ll get in trouble if we’re late!”

The two of them disappeared from the classroom.

…Now I was curious. What was that all about?

Seriously, what a weird girl.

Just as I was about to leave the room too, Tsuchiya came back—this time alone.

She was smiling, but it was different from the cheerful grin she’d had earlier.

“Yuma-kun, you said it before, right? That you’d support my love.”

“Uh, y-yeah, of course.”

“Then be careful, okay? The way things looked just now—it totally felt like a confession scene.”

A… confession?

“No way. I doubt Shiranui’s interested in me.”

I had no idea why she was suddenly bringing this up.

But thinking about it… I guess I could see how she got the wrong idea.

I was probably the only guy who talked to Shiranui on a regular basis.

The reason was our shared Vtuber hobby—but Tsuchiya didn’t know about that.

So to her, it must’ve looked like Shiranui had feelings for me.

Maybe Shiranui would reveal the truth someday,

But for now, I should keep quiet.

No way I’m selling out a fellow comrade.

“…No wonder Yoiyami-san’s having a hard time.”

“Tsukihi?”

“No, never mind. Just—don’t let it happen, okay?”

With that, Tsuchiya turned and walked out of the room.

And just like that, I got randomly pulled into something, scolded for a reason I didn’t understand, and left totally confused.

Seriously, what was that?

Oh, and for the record—I was late to the next class and got scolded again.

Still don’t get it.