Kaguya-sama Wants Me to Surrender

"Seriously, what's so fun about such a boring game!"

"When I was little, I played this with my friends, and I won almost every time," Fujiwara Chika said, hands on her hips, chin lifted proudly. "We played with the people sitting in front and behind us. You need to be close to feel the competitive spirit... You two, go sit on the sofa and try again."

"Try again."

Shinomiya Kaguya nodded slightly, agreeing, and got up to sit on a two-seater sofa.

Amamiya Natsuki left the round table and walked over to Kaguya's side, sitting down without any psychological pressure.

In the eyes of others, Shinomiya Kaguya was Kaguya-hime of ice and snow, cold and unapproachable, exuding an 'ice halo' that could freeze anyone who got too close.

Too bad Amamiya Natsuki was different.

Ever since he could see strange prompts, he had realized that the Kaguya classmate before him was only cold on the surface.

"Stare—"

Their eyes met.

Shinomiya Kaguya's expression was cool and composed, like a divine maiden seated in the frosty heavens, her face devoid of emotion, yet inwardly surprised.

(Strange.)

(Why doesn't his gaze shy away when we make eye contact?)

Shinomiya Kaguya thought of the other boys at school. They wouldn't even dare to speak to her, let alone meet her gaze. Why wasn't this young man afraid of her?

Just the night before yesterday, he told her to have some ambition... How dare he!

"Kaguya-chan, how is it now?" Fujiwara Chika asked with concern.

"It really is related to the distance."

Her thoughts swirled, but Shinomiya Kaguya's expression remained unchanged. She was the epitome of a cold-faced girl, though her voice was clear and pleasant. "The mission has been activated and is currently in progress."

"That's good then."

"..."

The interest mission was in progress.

Fujiwara Chika sat down next to them, pulling out a box of chocolate sticks from somewhere. "Do you want some snacks?"

"How are we supposed to eat in this state?" Amamiya Natsuki couldn't help but ask.

Fujiwara Chika offered him a chocolate stick. "I can feed you."

"I absolutely do not want to eat."

Shinomiya Kaguya flatly refused.

Bzzzt.

The phone suddenly vibrated.

"It's my phone..." Fujiwara Chika took out her phone. "The teacher is messaging me, asking me to come to the office."

Fujiwara Chika stood up quickly and waved goodbye.

"I'm going to the office. You two continue with the mission."

"..."

As the chattering Fujiwara Chika left, the Game Club fell silent. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The two could clearly hear each other's shallow breaths.

A gentle breeze blew.

The white curtains fluttered softly beside them.

Bright morning sunlight streamed in from outside the window, falling precisely on Shinomiya Kaguya's face. The light and shadow perfectly divided by her nose, as if the girl before them was standing between darkness and light, waiting for someone to reach out and save her, or to fall into the abyss.

Amamiya Natsuki looked at the young Kaguya seriously for the first time.

Her eyes... were very beautiful.

Her wine-red irises were like red gems, sparkling in the sunlight.

Her eyelashes were slightly curled and long, so cute.

Her skin was as white and delicate as if it had been steeped in milk, so fair in the sunlight that it was almost transparent.

Her nose was delicate and exquisite, so cute.

And her lips, pink and moist, looked like cherry blossoms after a spring rain.

From any angle, Shinomiya Kaguya was undeniably a beautiful girl.

It's just that her personality was too cold, easily freezing people.

Compared to her, Miko, who often exposed her lazy side, was actually cuter.

"What are you looking at?" Shinomiya Kaguya suddenly asked.

"Um..." Amamiya Natsuki hesitated for a moment, then decided to tell the truth. "Your eyes are very beautiful, Kaguya-chan."

She must have heard this kind of compliment countless times since she was little, right?

He couldn't lie and say her eyes weren't pretty.

The next moment.

Amamiya Natsuki's gaze suddenly sharpened, and he was shocked to find a faint blush rising on Shinomiya Kaguya's face.

The blush mingled with her fair skin, making it particularly noticeable in the sunlight.

Wait, you're actually blushing?

Kaguya-sama, who bleeds but doesn't cry, is blushing! This is huge news!

If the News Department members catch a photo of this, it'll definitely be on the school's front page tomorrow!

Watching Shinomiya Kaguya's pretty face turn redder and redder, her long eyelashes trembling, Amamiya Natsuki suddenly thought of a possibility:

"You... you're about to sneeze again?"

"I am not!"

Shinomiya Kaguya bit her silver teeth lightly, secretly clenching her delicate fists, and recalled a terrible memory.

Being treated like a sandwich cookie on the sports field was bad enough, but then she even sighed regretfully. A lifelong shame!

The boy in front of her still had some use. Once he was drained, she'd make him surrender and confess!

"It's just my eyes that are uncomfortable," Shinomiya Kaguya's voice had a rare tremor. "It's not that I want to sneeze."

There was another reason she didn't say.

For some reason, looking at her own clear reflection in the boy's eyes, Shinomiya Kaguya's heart began to beat faster.

"My eyes are uncomfortable too," Amamiya Natsuki mused. "The mission only said you couldn't blink. I should be fine, right?"

"Hold it in, don't blink," Shinomiya Kaguya said, crossing her arms, her ladylike voice cold and ruthless. "Nearly three-quarters of the time has passed. If you blink and it affects things, we'll have to start all over again."

"Starting over would only take ten minutes."

"If you're going to do something, do it perfectly. Things that can be done in one go should never fail."

"..."

I didn't realize you were such a perfectionist!

The warm, sweet breath the girl exhaled landed on his face, tickling him slightly.

Wait.

Amamiya Natsuki suddenly realized.

When did I get so close to the Ice Sculpture Girl?

Chapter 28: Zhuge Kaguya

Mere inches apart.

Breathing mingled.

Looking at her own clear reflection in Amamiya Natsuki's eyes, Shinomiya Kaguya finally realized that the distance between them had unknowingly become incredibly dangerous.

(Too close, too close, too close!)

(Will he suddenly lean in?)

(Very likely.)

(Hayasaka said boys are beasts. Once they get hot-headed, they become super impulsive.)

(Will I get pregnant if he leans in?)

As a deep-boudoir young lady raised in a 'sterile' environment, Shinomiya Kaguya had extremely limited knowledge of physiology. She still believed that boys and girls could get pregnant just by kissing.

Under this self-induced panic, the fair-skinned, pretty face of the long-black-haired girl quickly flushed, resembling the brilliant rosy clouds of a summer evening, much to Amamiya Natsuki's surprise.

So... Kaguya's blushing just now wasn't because she was about to sneeze, but because she was shy?

What happened to the Ice Sculpture Girl? She could clear Vengeful Spirit Academy without a change in expression. Why is she shy now?

Amamiya Natsuki held his breath.

Not only did he not impulsively lean in, but he even quietly increased the distance.

It was one thing to mess with Miko. At most, he'd get a beating.

But if he messed with Kaguya, Amamiya Natsuki figured he'd be feeding the fish in Tokyo Bay tonight.

Shinomiya Kaguya's long eyelashes trembled slightly, and she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The next moment.

Bang.

The door was suddenly pushed open.

"Hu Han San is back!"

The voice of the girl known as Cancer of the Earth resounded throughout the room.

Amamiya Natsuki and Shinomiya Kaguya were startled, a subtle sense of guilt washing over them simultaneously as their eyes met.

The game prompt appeared before Shinomiya Kaguya.

[Game Failed, Progress Reset, Please Restart Challenge]

"Kaguya-chan, how's the mission going?"

Fujiwara Chika walked over to them with light steps and asked crisply.

Shinomiya Kaguya closed her eyes, her slender, fair fingers like scallion segments pressing against her brow. She took a deep breath and bit her lower lip. "The mission failed."

"Eh? How could that be?" Fujiwara Chika asked, confused. "Why did it fail?"

A smile appeared on Shinomiya Kaguya's face, a dangerous smile like a queen about to sign a death warrant.

"What reason do you think it was, Fujiwara-san?"

"Kaguya-chan's smile is so scary!"

Fujiwara Chika jumped, took two steps back, and hid behind Amamiya Natsuki, hugging herself. "I feel like a cat seeing a hamster, wanting to gobble me up."

Amamiya Natsuki said speechlessly, "It should be a mouse, right?"

"I don't want to be a mouse," Fujiwara Chika quickly shook her head. "They're ugly and black. If I get reincarnated in my next life, I choose to be a little hamster."

So you're a face-value person after all.

As the saying goes, coarse willow is a winnowing basket, fine willow is a fight. Who in the world has ever seen an ugly man? Face-value people are unreliable.

"It's normal for Kaguya-san to be angry," Amamiya Natsuki rubbed his tired eyes. "I'm angry too."

"Why?"

"The mission was almost complete, and you suddenly pushed the door open without knocking. Now I have to start all over again."

"Ehh, it's like that." Fujiwara Chika quickly clasped her hands together and bowed in apology, her attitude of admitting fault quite good. "I'm sorry, Kaguya-chan. I forgot to knock just now. It's all my fault. I'm willing to offer pudding as a sacrifice, please forgive me."

"Pudding?"