Kaguya: "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA—"
Natsuki: "MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA—"
"...Fujiwara!"
Kaguya bit her lower lip and turned to look at the girl standing behind her doing voice-overs.
"I'll stop." Chika covered her mouth with both hands, her expression innocent. "It's just that Kaguya-chan's expression was so serious. I wanted to lighten the mood."
Just now, Kaguya had lost five games in a row. Without exception, all were crushing defeats.
"One more round."
Kaguya looked toward Natsuki. Flames were burning in her wine-red eyes.
As a genius girl, Kaguya's competitive spirit had always been exceptionally strong. Whether in academics or other areas, her standard was always: either don't do it, or do it perfectly.
Same game character.
A fair and just competitive duel.
Yet she had lost five games in a row, completely powerless to fight back... Humiliating!
Losing wasn't shameful.
Not being able to win it back was what was shameful.
So she absolutely had to win it back!
"I'm done playing." Natsuki shook his head in refusal.
If they continued, Kaguya would achieve the hidden achievement of "100 consecutive losses." With the ice sculpture girl's intense pride and arrogant personality, she might secretly start crying.
Kaguya's delicate brows furrowed slightly. She was about to speak when Natsuki reminded her:
"If we don't head back now, we'll be late for class."
"Huh? We played that long?" Chika, who had been eating popcorn and watching the show nearby, quickly pulled out her phone upon hearing this and cried out in surprise. "Kaguya-chan, hurry back to school. We're about to be late!"
"..."
Though she really wanted to continue dueling Natsuki, skipping class was also not acceptable.
Kaguya let out a soft breath. Her fingers tucked the hair falling over her chest behind her ear as her tone calmed down. "Let's go."
The three left the game center and jogged all the way back, successfully returning to school before class started.
The day flew by.
The dismissal bell rang right on time.
"Kaguya-chan, I've already talked to my friends." Chika walked over to the ice sculpture girl and raised her hand in a salute. "Ready to move out anytime."
"Wait." Kaguya looked up at her. "What did you tell your friends?"
Chika's smile was radiant. "To find a hundred friends to help you complete the task, of course."
Hearing this, Natsuki could only silently exclaim in his heart:
The girl with social butterfly syndrome is terrifying indeed.
School hasn't even been in session for a month, and she can instantly gather over a hundred friends. Are you trying to dominate the entire school?!
"Your friends..." Kaguya furrowed her delicate brows slightly. "Might not work."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Chika looked confused.
Natsuki spoke up from the side. "Your friends are all schoolmates, right?"
"That's right." Chika nodded.
Natsuki said: "Shinomiya-san is quite terrifying at school..."
"Hm?"
Kaguya looked up at him, her gaze dangerous.
"Misspoke. I meant she's a flower on a high peak." Natsuki silently changed his wording. The so-called flower on a high peak was a blossom at the summit of a tall mountain—something ordinary people could only admire from afar but never reach. "Regular classmates react to seeing her the way mice react to cats. They even avoid her when walking. If you call them to do the task together, they'll probably be too nervous, and it'll be judged as not meeting the conditions."
Family background, beauty, aura... these things couldn't be seen, but they truly existed. They weren't illusions.
"Of course, this is just speculation. We won't know the truth until we verify it." Natsuki concluded. "Fujiwara, you can call one friend over first to test it and see how it goes."
"No problem, leave it to me." Chika accepted the mission. Her eyes scanned the classroom and quickly landed on a short-haired girl who hadn't left yet. She waved. "Asuka-chan, come here."
Natsuki looked at the short-haired girl. Asuka Kashiwagi—the very classmate who had walked in on them yesterday afternoon.
"Um... is Chika-chan calling me?"
The short-haired girl timidly pointed at herself.
"Yes, you. Hurry over."
"Okay."
Glancing at the ice sculpture Kaguya standing beside Chika, the short-haired girl's face paled slightly. She timidly walked over.
"Asuka-chan, do you have club activities this afternoon?" Chika asked.
"No."
"Perfect, you're the one then." Chika clasped her hands before her chest. "There's something I'd like to ask you to do."
"Wh-what is it?"
"Kaguya-chan wants to battle. Be her opponent."
O-opponent?
The short-haired girl's body trembled slightly. Her face grew even paler, and mist even welled up in her eyes.
Calling it "opponent," but it's actually to silence me, isn't it?
Yesterday afternoon I walked in on Shinomiya-san and Amamiya-kun doing that thing in the classroom. I thought I'd survived, but in the end, Shinomiya-san is still going to silence me!
"I-I'm sorry!" The short-haired girl bowed ninety degrees in apology. "Shinomiya-san is so amazing, and I'm so weak. Forget being an opponent—I'm not even worthy of being a training partner. Please let me go!"
"..."
In the end, the short-haired girl still followed Natsuki's group of three out of school.
There was no helping it. Kaguya's cool gaze was quite terrifying—it made one unable to say words of refusal.
The journey was uneventful.
The four soon arrived at the game center.
"I've said it several times already. We're just having Asuka-chan come play games. Don't be so nervous." Chika walked at the front. "I'm here."
Walking into the game center, the short-haired girl relaxed slightly. It really wasn't a scary place like an abandoned warehouse.
There were more players in the afternoon than in the morning, but it wasn't packed. The machine they'd used in the morning was unoccupied. Kaguya walked over and sat down.
"Asuka-chan, sit next to Kaguya-chan." Chika reminded her.
"Okay."
Natsuki turned to find a staff member and exchanged for a handful of coins.
When he returned, Chika had just finished explaining the basic controls. She made a fist with her right hand. "Asuka-chan, what you need to do now is play one round with Kaguya-chan."
"Um... what happens if I lose?" The short-haired girl asked carefully.
Natsuki handed her a coin and said gently: "Don't be nervous. There's no punishment for losing. It's just that Shinomiya-san is bad at the game but addicted to it. She just wants someone to play with."
"Stare—"
A sharp gaze locked onto him.
Kaguya was not happy.
What do you mean, "bad at the game but addicted to it"?
I only lost a few rounds to you this morning. Just wait—I'll definitely win it back!
"That's good then."
The short-haired girl let out a soft breath of relief, inserted the coin, and entered battle mode.
The game began.
Then the match ended.
"I'm sorry, I'm too weak." The short-haired girl apologized timidly. "And it's my first time playing this kind of game."
"Losing is fine too. Here, have a drink to calm your nerves." Chika handed over a can of soda, then turned to look at Kaguya. "Kaguya-chan, how's the task?"
Kaguya shook her head gently.
She'd won the game, but the task progress hadn't increased. Clearly, both sides weren't considered to be in "fair competition."
"So it really doesn't work." Chika was greatly disappointed. She looked pitifully at Natsuki. "Natsuki, what do we do now?"
Natsuki pondered for a few seconds. His gaze fell on an elementary school student not far away.
"Shinomiya-san, please prepare yourself. Your fame is about to spread among elementary schoolers..."