When I Started Capturing the Academy Princesses, Things Turned into a Battlefield - V2 Chapter 28: The Final Showdown Begins – Himegasaki Festival: Day One!

Chapter 28: The Final Showdown Begins – Himegasaki Festival: Day One!

The Himegasaki Academy Cultural Festival—

AKA the famous Himegasaki Festival—

Was a massive three-day event that completely took over the school.

Day one was students and staff only,

Then from day two onward, it opened up to the general public.

The place was always packed.

I mean, I lived nearby, so I knew it was a thing,

But back then, I never really got what all the fuss was about.

Then I enrolled last year… and everything made sense.

The Princesses.

Sure, they weren’t the only reason for the hype,

But let’s be honest—they were a huge part of it.

The Himegasaki General Election was pretty well-known in the area,

And the results made the rounds both online and off.

Even students from other schools knew who the Princesses were.

So yeah, the festival turned into this one rare chance

For outsiders to step on campus and maybe catch a glimpse of them in person.

Basically, it was Princess sighting day.

But this year?

The hype was off the charts.

Why?

Because my year was being called the golden generation.

Every single Princess was top-tier—

Even the upperclassmen were impressed.

Rumor had it this was the strongest lineup in school history.

And on top of that, there was one more wildcard…

Kanon—the one and only lowerclassman Princess—

Apparently, she’d been pulling in tons of attention, too.

How do I know all this?

Ayane, obviously.

Not gonna lie, hearing it gave me a little ego boost…

But at the same time, it also made me feel like one wrong step

Could get me stabbed in a dark alley.

“—Kanbara, you nervous or something?”

The one calling out to me was none other than our class’s pride and joy—

The so-called Mountain Prince himself, Haruto Yamada.

He’d gone MIA for a while after that whole double date disaster,

But now that he was back, he seemed totally unfazed.

Like nothing had ever happened.

I wasn’t actually nervous, but I figured I’d just roll with it.

“Maybe just a little.”

“Don’t worry. That outfit looks good on you.”

I glanced down at what I was wearing.

Our class had gone with the classic café theme for the festival.

Guys were dressed in butler uniforms, girls in maid outfits.

The whole cosplay café thing had basically become a cultural fest staple.

Even last year, a senior class did something similar.

“When you say that, it kinda sounds like sarcasm.”

“Huh? Really?”

Yamada looked absurdly good in his butler uniform.

Like, unfairly good.

Girls had been staring at him nonstop since morning.

Even I had to admit—he looked cool.

And I’m a guy.

So for the girls? Yeah, basically dreamboat-tier.

Lately, I’d been sticking close to Yamada whenever I could.

My reputation had taken a massive hit thanks to the whole Princess Harem Situation,

And honestly, if not for him, I probably would’ve been totally exiled by now.

“You think Ayane-sama would like me dressed like this?”

“…”

Ayane-sama, huh…

Lately, Yamada had gone all in on his obsession with Ayane.

Somehow—don’t ask me how—he’d become her full-on personal fanboy.

At this point, we’d long passed “fan” territory and crossed into full-blown “stalker” mode.

According to Ayane, he confessed to her during that infamous double date.

She rejected him.

Pretty cleanly, too.

But the way she rejected him—

She absolutely tore into him.

And for some reason, that verbal curb-stomp awakened… something inside Yamada.

Yeah. Even she didn’t see that coming.

Well, not my problem.

“She might like it.”

“Then I hope she visits while I’m on duty. I must serve her with all my heart.”

“Y-Yeah. Sure. Best of luck.”

“Right. Let’s both do our best out there.”

Yamada flashed his signature sparkly smile and strode off like a knight heading into battle.

Now then—my job at the café was customer service.

I got the role because I’d worked at a convenience store before,

So I actually had experience dealing with customers.

Honestly, I’d wanted to back out—the butler outfit was way too embarrassing.

But hey, my reputation was in the gutter,

So I sucked it up and took the gig.

Not like there was a long list of eager volunteers anyway.

“Looking sharp in that butler uniform, Kanbara-kun.”

I looked up—

And standing there in a maid outfit was Kazama.

“Oh. Thanks.”

“How about me? Does it suit me?”

“Absolutely. Looks amazing on you.”

“Yay! Thanks. I’ve always wanted to try on a maid outfit at least once.”

With her fluffy, carefree vibe, Kazama and the maid outfit were honestly a perfect match.

“Hey, Kanbara-kun… do guys actually like it when girls do stuff like this?”

Kazama tilted her head, gave me the classic puppy eyes,

Then formed a heart with her hands—

And topped it off with that shy, skirt-pinching pose.

Basically, she went full-on, textbook-level cute.

And yeah—of course it was adorable.

Ridiculously adorable.

“I read in a magazine once that if you act like this at a maid café, guys will totally melt. And judging by your face… I don’t even need to ask if it’s working.”

“!!”

“Ah, I’d love to keep chatting, but looks like it’s almost time.”

Right on cue, the school announcement echoed over the speakers.

“Well then, let’s do our best out there.”

“Yeah.”

“And don’t forget our little appointment this afternoon, okay?”

“I won’t.”

I gave her a nod—

And with that…

The Himegasaki Festival officially began.

◇

We got off to a solid start.

Apparently, having a literal prince and princess on service duty was a massive draw—

Our café was packed.

Group after group kept pouring in,

And before long, every table was full.

The crowd was a nice balance—pretty even split between guys and girls.

And just as expected, everyone was here for Yamada and Kazama.

I spent most of my time backing them up.

My job was to make sure they could hit as many tables as possible,

While the rest of us handled everything behind the scenes.

Honestly?

I was killing it in my humble sidekick role.

Then… something stirred out in the hallway.

At first, I had no clue what was going on—

But the moment they stepped into the classroom,

Everything became clear.

“Hope we’re not interrupting, Kanbara-kun.”

“We came to see you, Yuma-kun~”

Shiranui and Tsuchiya had arrived.

“Wait, what are you two doing here?”

“Well, obviously—we came to see you working your butler magic.”

“…R-Really?”

“You look great, by the way. That butler outfit suits you. Very dashing.”

“Ehh, I mean it’s not bad, but honestly, I think Tsubasa-chan would rock the butler look even more.”

Yeah… I kind of agreed with that.

“But seriously, should you even be here right now? Aren’t you two starring in that class play?”

“No worries. We’ve practiced it to death. Now we just need to nail it during the real thing.”

Their class was putting on a play for the festival,

And these two were cast as the main leads.

As we chatted, another wave of chatter rippled through the hallway.

I glanced toward the door—

And sure enough, three more girls had just stepped inside the room.

“Ah! Yuu-kun in a butler uniform!”

“Senpai, you look really good!”

“…”

Tsukihi and Kanon had shown up together—

Which was already rare enough on its own.

But the real surprise… was the one who came in after them.

It was Ayane.

She was clearly acting strange—eyes darting around, fidgety, visibly on edge.

My little sister, usually so bold and bratty, looked almost… shy.

And then, just a second later—

It all made sense.

“—AYANE-SAMAA!”

“Ugh…”

Yamada came charging toward us with the intensity of a knight reuniting with his queen.

It was honestly kind of impressive—

He practically radiated loyal servant energy.

Meanwhile, Ayane looked absolutely horrified.

Without a word, she ducked behind Tsukihi like, nope nope nope.

“Welcome, my lady!”

Yamada’s over-the-top display of devotion earned him plenty of stares from the surrounding crowd.

Which, yeah—not exactly ideal.

Great.

Princesses showing up, Yamada going full fanboy, and now the whole room’s turning into a circus.

At this rate, the festival’s going to end in flames.

“Sorry—gonna borrow her for a sec.”

I grabbed Ayane by the arm and quickly pulled her out into the hallway.

We still got a few curious looks on the way out,

But thankfully, most people were more focused on the actual Princesses and their royal entourage.

As for poor Yamada?

Yeah… I just pretended I didn’t see him sulking in the corner.

“Ugh, that was disgusting. This is exactly why I didn’t want to come!”

Once we were far enough from the crowd, Ayane finally exploded—her face twisted in pure revulsion.

“Then maybe don’t show up next time?”

“Not like I had a choice, okay? Those two basically dragged me here. And walking around with Princesses makes me stand out. Tomorrow, kids from other schools are coming, so I had to cash in my points today. The general election starts right after the festival ends!”

Ah.

So this was a visibility stunt.

Boost her presence by tagging along with royalty.

Well, if that’s the plan… she kind of walked right into this one.

“Also, I came to give you a warning, Aniki.”

“…A warning?”

“Just take a look at that.”

With that, Ayane glanced back toward the classroom.

Shiranui, Tsuchiya, Tsukihi, and Kanon had all gathered around the same table.

Basically, every Princess except Hikawa was now in one spot.

And the amount of attention they were pulling? Off the charts.

Someone had probably already blasted a photo on social media or something,

Because the hallway was quickly filling up with curious onlookers.

“This is what it looks like with just our school. When students from other schools show up tomorrow? It’s gonna be chaos. You just know someone’s gonna try to hit on them.”

“…Yeah, that does sound bad.”

“You’re going on dates with them, right? So keep your guard up, got it?”

Yep.

As part of the Himegasaki Festival, I’d agreed to go on a one-on-one date with each of the Princesses who’d confessed to me.

The plan was to spend time with all of them during the festival,

Then give my final answer at the big closing event on the last night.

Kazama was up first—our date was scheduled for this afternoon.

“Never thought I’d see the day where you were worried about me.”

“If something goes wrong and you can’t give your answer, I’m the one who gets screwed over, okay?”

Yeah…

Getting caught up in some drama with outside students would definitely be a nightmare.

Couldn’t afford any accidents right now.

“Look, I don’t care who you end up dating. But you better make your declaration properly.”

Right.

Just answering the confession wasn’t enough.

For whatever reason, I was expected to give some big, public announcement to the entire school afterward.

“…Do we really need the public part?”

“Of course we do!

I need that declaration to make my Princess ranking rock-solid.”

“So it’s all for your benefit?!”

Ayane huffed through her nose and gave a firm little shake of her head.

“Kidding. It wasn’t my idea. Come on, like I’d force something that extreme. They’re all upperclassmen and active Princesses—ticking them off would be suicide.”

“Yeah, true… So wait, they came up with the public announcement thing?”

“They want a clean-cut result. No ambiguity. They’ve all agreed—whoever gets chosen will make it official. Apparently, they want to scare off any ‘pests’ before they show up. Not that anyone besides the Princesses would dare go near you, Aniki.”

So the Princesses were the ones pushing this whole plan, huh?

“Still, it works out for you too, doesn’t it? Sneaking around in secret is way riskier. If they’re willing to go public for you, that’s less stress on your end.”

Yeah…

She wasn’t wrong.

Keeping things low-key might sound easier,

But if it ever got out?

Yeah, that’d be way worse.

Way more terrifying.

“Also works out for me,” Ayane added with a smirk.

“Once it’s official, that’s one less Princess to compete with.”

“…And what if I choose not to date anyone at all?”

“Oh, that’s not an option. If that happens, I won’t become a Princess—Which means your little secret gets leaked to the entire school.”

Yeah…

That threat didn’t hit quite as hard now that Shiranui already knew the truth.

Still, if that info actually did get out?

It’d be game over.

My reputation was already barely hanging on.

If people found out I was that guy—the one who wrote all those cringey, long-winded posts with cash attached?

Yeah. I’d never live it down.

I felt a deep sigh building in my chest—

But before I could let it out, Ayane beat me to it with a huge one of her own.

“Finally… these agonizing days are coming to an end. Seriously, it felt like forever.”

…Huh?

You’re the one saying that?

“What’s with that look?”

“Pretty sure I’m the one who’s been suffering here.”

“Hah… No way. I was supposed to become a Princess at the end of first term. But no, here we are—end of second term, and still no crown. That’s pure agony. Whatever ‘suffering’ you went through? Not even in the same league.”

Her smug tone flipped a switch in me.

So I turned back toward the classroom.

“Hey Yamada, want to come chat with Ayane?”

“Wha— Don’t you dare!”

“She said she’s ready to insult you again.”

“Really?! I’m on my way!!”

…Yeah.

That set the whole classroom into chaos.

Between the growing crowd of gawkers and Yamada’s completely unhinged excitement,

The atmosphere hit critical mass.

Eventually, things got so out of hand

That Student Council President Hikawa stormed in to shut everything down.

Naturally, I got scolded like I was the evil mastermind behind it all.

And honestly?

I couldn’t even argue with her this time.

――――― Afterword ―――――――――――――

Due to various circumstances, the next chapter will be delayed.

Doesn’t look like it’ll be out in May.

Apologies!