When I Started Capturing the Academy Princesses, Things Turned into a Battlefield - V2 Chapter 32: Himegasaki Festival Showdown – A Date with the Saintess

Chapter 32: Himegasaki Festival Showdown – A Date with the Saintess

The final day of the Himegasaki Festival.

And, just like the past two days, the school was absolutely packed.

I get that it’s a once-a-year event, but still—this level of hype was kind of insane.

Our class café?

Still drowning in customers.

Apparently, a post on social media had blown up about the “Mountain Prince” making an appearance,

So now it wasn’t just guys showing up.

Girls were lining up too—hoping to catch a glimpse of the so-called prince.

Even though the guy himself couldn’t care less.

To all those disappointed fangirls:

Please stop glaring at me and sighing just because I’m not your sparkly fairytale butler.

Trying to juggle both guilt and irritation at the same time,

I did my best to keep my head down and not mess anything up.

Looking back on it now, I honestly can’t believe I made it to the final day in one piece.

At the start, I’d been fully convinced something would blow up—especially with Kazama.

But surprisingly… nothing major ever did.

Apparently, there were a few close calls behind the scenes,

But Kazama handled them like a pro—

Calm, smooth, and effortlessly charming.

She really was a master when it came to dealing with people.

“…Still not here yet?”

When I got to our meeting spot, Tsukihi wasn’t there yet.

Not that she was late—I’d just shown up early.

While I waited, my thoughts drifted back over everything that had led up to today.

This was it.

The final day of the whole Princess Date.

Once today’s date with Tsukihi was over, all that remained was the closing festival event.

Sure, my “ultimate mission” was helping Ayane become a Princess—

But let’s be real: once I gave my answer to the confessions, my part was basically done.

Whether or not Ayane had what it took to climb to Princess-tier fame…

That was her problem, not mine.

These past few weeks had been rough—

Dodging death glares, fending off the envy of half the school—

But it hadn’t been all bad.

Some of it was even… kind of fun.

And now, it was all about to end.

“Sorry to keep you waiting—Oh? You okay?”

“Yeah. Just thinking.”

Snapping me out of my little nostalgia spiral, Tsukihi finally showed up.

“Sorry, I got held up by a phone call on the way.”

“You’re not even late. …Wait, phone call?”

“From my cousin. She said she’s coming to check out the festival. But since it’s super crowded—and I’ve got a date with you—I told her we’d meet another time.”

Ah. The famous cousin.

The one everyone said was gorgeous.

Also the same one dating that ridiculously handsome guy who’d made me give up on romance back in the day.

I didn’t really care about either of them anymore…

But still, part of me kinda wanted to see them.

And another part really didn’t.

“Got it. But, uh… are you sure that’s your disguise?”

Tsukihi had decided that her “disguise” for today…

Was glasses.

That’s it.

Just a pair of glasses.

No wig, no costume, no dramatic transformation.

Compared to the other Princesses, this barely even counted as a disguise.

“It’s fine. There’s a huge crowd today too, so I doubt anyone will notice me. I wandered around with some friends yesterday, and nobody recognized me then either.”

“Huh. Fair point.”

“And besides, I didn’t want to wear something weird for a date with you at the school festival.”

…Okay, yeah. That actually made sense.

Kazama wore the maid outfit because she liked it.

Shiranui already leaned toward girly clothes, so that wasn’t much of a stretch.

Kanon had her fortune-teller look because of her class booth.

So yeah—they were all weird in their own ways, but at least they had reasons.

“All right then, shall we?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

We started walking side by side.

“This is our second date, huh?”

“Yep.”

“Our first one was a disaster, so this time I have to make up for it!”

No arguments there.

Last time, Kazama barged in, and Tsukihi ended up getting sick halfway through.

From her point of view, it was probably the worst date ever.

But for me… it was complicated.

That was the day I got confessed to—for the first time in my entire life.

A moment I knew I’d never forget.

…Not that I’d ever say that out loud to Tsukihi.

“What about your class stuff? Is it okay to leave?”

“My class is doing an exhibit, so we’re mostly just standing around. It’s chill.”

Oh, right. I’d completely forgotten—

Tsukihi’s class was doing a display, not a café or a booth.

With a Princess in their lineup, they could pull in visitors easily…

But customer service is exhausting.

Maybe her class just wanted to take it easy.

Not that I, a student from another class, had any right to judge.

“So, where to first?”

“I kinda want to check out the food stalls.”

“Classic festival move. Got it.”

With that, we headed outside.

“This vibe… totally feels like a real festival.”

“Yeah, it’s so lively!”

The path from the school gate to the main building was completely packed—

Lined with food stalls, and filled with vendors shouting to draw in customers.

“Man, there are a lot of people here.”

“…What if we get separated? Um, can we hold hands?”

“Sure.”

So we held hands and made our way through the crowd.

Even though it was a pain to navigate,

The upside was that it was so packed, no one noticed Tsukihi at all.

Small blessings.

We grabbed some snacks and drinks, strolling and chatting along the way.

Honestly, it didn’t even feel like a school event anymore—

It was more like we were out at a local summer festival.

Only difference?

All the food stall vendors were high school students.

“Hey… doesn’t this feel kind of nostalgic?”

“Yeah… I was just thinking the same thing.”

Old memories came flooding back.

Back when we were kids, we used to run around the shrine together during summer festivals.

I’d always be the one dragging Tsukihi around by the hand, pulling her from one stall to the next.

Looking back now…

Those were some pretty sweet memories.

I glanced over at her—

And sure enough, Tsukihi was smiling from ear to ear, looking genuinely happy.

“You look like you’re having a blast.”

“Of course I am—my dream came true.”

“Dream?”

“I always wanted to walk around the school festival with you, Yuu-kun. You know, the whole cultural festival date thing—it’s like a classic youth memory, right? It always sounded so perfect to me.”

Yeah… she’s not wrong.

A fun school festival date with your crush is basically the holy grail of high school events.

It’s in every rom-com manga, anime, and dating sim for a reason.

“We didn’t have a culture festival in middle school either.”

“…And last year didn’t go so great either.”

Ah… right.

Last year, I felt like I lost something—without even realizing what.

I was the one who pulled away.

So doing something like this together had felt totally out of reach back then.

“What was the culture fest like for you last year?”

“I spent it with my friends.”

“Sounds like it was fun.”

“It was… kind of. But I couldn’t really leave the classroom, so that part sucked.”

“You couldn’t leave?”

“Because I turned into a total spectacle. I know it sounds a little full of myself, but… You’ve seen how crazy things are this year, right? Last year, it was even worse.”

Right…

Tsukihi had already been the top-ranked Princess back then.

And yeah, her popularity apparently went off the rails.

I wasn’t really paying attention at the time,

But judging by how wild things are now,

I can only imagine how many students from other schools showed up just to see her.

Come to think of it, I remember Tsuchiya saying she got overwhelmed too.

As for Hikawa—well, she was already on the student council, so I bet she handled it like a pro.

Given how hyped the “Big Three” were last year…

Yeah. No wonder things were that intense.

“What about you, Yuu-kun? What did you do last year?”

“I hate crowds, so I just holed up in our classroom the whole time.”

“Then I guess it makes sense we didn’t bump into each other.”

Yeah—

We were both stuck in our classrooms…

Just for completely different reasons.

“But wow… things were that intense even last year, huh? Now I’m kinda nervous about today’s date.”

“You’ll be fine. Last year, I was just overwhelmed and freaked out. But now that we’re actually walking around like this, it’s easier to blend in. And besides—if anything does happen, you’ll protect me, won’t you, Yuu-kun?”

…Was that trust I just felt?

Or emotional pressure?

Maybe a bit of both.

After that, we continued weaving through the festival stalls, soaking up the festive vibe.

“Sorry, give me a sec—I need to hit the washroom.”

“I’ll wait right here.”

Yeah… I may have gone a little overboard with the snacks and drinks.

The restroom was packed, so it took a few minutes before I made it back.

And when I returned—

There were two guys standing next to Tsukihi.

They looked older—probably college students, judging by their height and build.

“Hey, are you Yoiyami-san by any chance?”

“You’re the top-ranked Princess, right?”

Ugh.

They were definitely trying to hit on her.

I quickened my pace—

But before I could say anything, Tsukihi spotted me.

Our eyes met.

“Nope. You’ve got the wrong person.”

She didn’t even flinch.

Just calmly shook her head, like nothing was out of the ordinary.

“Wait, really?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, I’m not her. But if you’re looking for a Princess, try that classroom over there. One of the Princesses is serving customers in a maid outfit.”

“…A maid outfit?”

“Yup.”

The guys hesitated—clearly thrown off by that detail.

“Oh! My boyfriend just got here, so if you’ll excuse me~”

With that, Tsukihi walked straight over to me—

And casually slipped her arm around mine.

“Wait—she’s got a boyfriend?”

“Are we sure she’s not the Princess…?”

Deciding that no real Princess would act that casually,

The guys shrugged it off and wandered away—

Probably off to chase the image of Kazama in a maid outfit that was now living rent-free in their heads.

“…You totally threw Kazama under the bus.”

“I didn’t ‘throw’ her anywhere. I was boosting her sales.”

Gotta love that creative spin.

“And besides, I still owe Kazama-san for what happened on day one. That little payback was the least I could do. Those guys seemed like the ‘any Princess will do’ type, so she can entertain them for a while.”

That was… a very sweet smile for something so ruthless.

If I remembered right, the “incident” she’s still salty about was when she and Kanon were spying on my date with Kazama…

And got caught red-handed.

But whatever.

At this point, all I could do was silently wish Kazama “good luck” from the bottom of my heart.

“Still, though—you were super smooth shutting them down. The way you handled that was seriously pro-level.”

“I’ve had practice. Fending off flirty randos is kind of my thing.”

“…Wait. Does that happen to you a lot?”

“Well, kind of… yeah.”

If she handled that so smoothly,

She must’ve dealt with situations like that plenty of times before.

She’d been getting a ton of attention even back when we went to the shopping mall,

So I guess it figures.

…This was the side of Tsukihi I didn’t know.

Even though she was supposed to be the one closest to me,

Lately, she’d felt the farthest away.

Maybe because I’d never really tried to see her for who she was.

Thinking about all the parts of her life I’d never seen…

It stirred up a strange storm of emotions in my chest.

“Don’t worry! I’ve always been all about Yuu-kun!”

Just hearing that…

Was enough to melt away every doubt that had started to creep in.

“Ah! Look over there!”

Suddenly, Tsukihi pointed at something.

It was a couple—walking side by side, completely in sync.

Both of them were so ridiculously good-looking, they stood out immediately.

And I recognized the guy instantly.

That handsome upperclassman.

The one who made me feel like I’d lost before I even stepped onto the field.

He looked exactly the same as he did back then—no mistaking him.

And now, he was walking hand in hand with a beautiful girl—his girlfriend, apparently.

Both of them smiling, completely relaxed, like they had the whole world figured out.

“She texted to say she was coming. I’m glad we spotted her.”

“That girl… she’s your cousin?”

“Yup. And the guy next to her is her boyfriend.”

“…They look really happy.”

A beautiful girl—who looked just a bit like Tsukihi—walked hand in hand with that ridiculously handsome guy.

They both looked so genuinely happy together.

That guy—someone I once saw as a rival—didn’t even notice us.

His eyes were locked on just one person: his girlfriend.

Looking at him now…

I couldn’t help but think what a complete waste of time that whole jealousy phase had been.

“They really love each other. Kinda makes you jealous, huh?”

“Yeah… it does.”

After watching that picture-perfect couple disappear into the crowd,

Tsukihi and I started walking again.

We didn’t head anywhere special.

We didn’t do anything extravagant.

Just like old times, we wandered through the stalls, talking about nothing in particular.

And yet… my heart felt lighter.

Happier.

―

――

Time slipped by before we even realized it.

With our date winding down, we finally found a bench and sat down,

Our legs sore from all the walking.

The crowds had started to thin out.

You could feel it in the air—the festival was winding down.

That quiet, post-festival melancholy was starting to settle in.

“So… the culture fest is almost over, huh?”

“Yeah. Just about done.”

“…Next year will probably be really different, won’t it?”

“With college entrance exams and everything… not sure we’ll have time to enjoy it.”

“That’s not what I meant. I meant… us.”

Yeah.

By next year, things between us would probably be very different.

“We took a few weird detours, but… I’m really glad I got to spend time with you today, Yuu-kun.”

“Me too. I had a great time.”

“…As much as I don’t want it to end, I guess it’s time, huh?”

After the final announcement signaled the end of the culture fest,

We still had cleanup duty ahead—followed by the big afterparty.

But for me…

What came next wasn’t just a celebration.

It was a decision.

A turning point in my life.

I’d always had this mental image of what it’d be like to date Tsukihi.

And today’s date?

It pretty much confirmed that vision—while also throwing in a few surprises.

Because yeah—

No matter how vivid the fantasy, reality always feels different.

And the real Tsukihi?

She was so much more amazing than anything I’d ever imagined.

“I’ll be waiting… for your answer, Yuu-kun.”

She smiled at me—soft, radiant… just like a true saint.

I gave her a small nod.

And just like that—

The culture festival came to an end.