Kaguya-sama Wants Me to Surrender

Miko's new friend from the start of the semester had apparently evolved into a bestie by now, and they occasionally ran into each other on the way to school.

"Hey hey, Miko, how come your dark circles are even worse?" Yurikawa Hana's attention quickly landed on her bestie. "Staying up late is a girl's worst enemy, you know."

"Yeah, I know..."

Yotsuya Miko yawned again.

"You just got up and you're already sleepy—don't tell me you didn't sleep at all last night?"

Yurikawa Hana's eyes widened.

Yotsuya Miko pulled out the same excuse: "Last night I watched a horror movie with my little brother, and I couldn't sleep well after that... that's all."

"Ah, I get it. When you watch horror movies, even though you know it's all fake, you still get too scared to fall asleep."

No. You don't get it.

The evil spirits are all real.

And what about that whole 'safe under the covers' thing?

If you lift the blanket and find a human head lying there, only a ghost could fall asleep!

She couldn't tell anyone about seeing evil spirits. No one else could see them, only her, and there was no proof they existed... either she'd be written off as a chuunibyou or suspected of having mental issues.

Another day of despair.

Slap.

Yurikawa Hana raised her hand and smacked her forehead with a crisp sound: "Oh right, I ran out of pencils last night. Let's go to the convenience store and buy some?"

"Huh?"

Shinomiya Kaguya's eyes widened as she scrambled for a quick save: "I can lend you some—"

"The convenience store's right there, why borrow?" The golden-haired, big-chested girl hugged Miko's arm and dragged her toward the convenience store, her voice crisp. "Come on, we can stock up on snacks too."

With that, she turned to look at Amamiya Natsuki: "Amamiya-classmate, you go ahead to school first."

"...Truly a bestie."

Amamiya Natsuki silently agreed, watching Miko with tears in her eyes get dragged into trouble by her oblivious best friend.

At the convenience store entrance.

A twisted evil spirit in an employee uniform bent down and looked at Miko: "Welcome... come in..."

Amamiya Natsuki thought for a moment, activated the Evil Spirit Repellent Aura, and took a few steps toward Miko, who was on the verge of tears.

His childhood sweetheart was being bullied by an evil spirit—of course he couldn't just stand by!

He quickly entered within five meters.

The Employee Spirit recoiled as if scorched by flames, stepping back as its body dissolved into mist, fleeing and dispersing rapidly.

"Wha—?!"

Miko's eyes widened, her face full of disbelief. "How... did it disappear?"

"It looks like... it was repelled?"

Miko spun around sharply and saw Amamiya Natsuki standing behind her, giving her a slight nod.

"...Natsuki?"

"Come on, come on, let's go buy stuff."

Her bestie cut Miko off and pulled the bewildered girl into the convenience store.

Amamiya Natsuki turned and headed to school.

He soon arrived at Shuchiin Academy.

This school... those who know, know. No need to elaborate.

Amamiya Natsuki walked to the shoe lockers in a corner on the first floor, ready to change into indoor shoes, when he suddenly noticed a girl standing in front of the female lockers. She had black hair reaching her waist and radiated an icy, aloof aura—an ice sculpture of a girl. It was last night's gaming teammate, Shinomiya Kaguya.

It had been half a month since the first year started, and they were even in the same class, but Amamiya Natsuki had never spoken to her.

Ice Kaguya-hime's aura was in full force; anyone daring to approach would be frozen solid.

"How strange..."

Amamiya Natsuki soon noticed that Young Lady Kaguya was acting very off. Her body was stiff, frozen in the pose of opening her shoe locker, motionless like a statue.

As he stared, a line of text appeared above Shinomiya Kaguya's head.

[So scary so scary so scary... What do I do what do I do what do I do... Why is there something like this in my shoe locker?]

Curious, Amamiya Natsuki looked over and saw that inside Shinomiya Kaguya's shoe locker was a human-headed evil spirit, its red eyes fixed unblinkingly on the ice sculpture girl.

Sensing Amamiya Natsuki's gaze, the head turned its eyes and stared straight at him.

"You can... see me?"

There it was again. Are all you evil spirits just broken records?!

Amamiya Natsuki's expression didn't change. He walked over to stand beside Shinomiya Kaguya, then activated the Evil Spirit Repellent Aura. The Head Spirit in the shoe locker, as if scorched by flames, twisted and screamed as it turned into black smoke, vanishing in an instant.

Chapter 5 Cancer of the Earth Fujiwara Chika, You Are the Pig Teammate?

"Amamiya-classmate... it's you?"

Shinomiya Kaguya let out a sigh of relief, her gaze landing on Amamiya Natsuki as a guess formed in her mind.

Amamiya Natsuki reached into his shoe locker, pulled out his slippers, and said casually:

"Do I still need to turn myself in now?"

"Please consult the police station for matters regarding turning yourself in. I'm not very clear on that." Shinomiya Kaguya crossed her arms over her chest, her voice cold and devoid of any emotion.

Wipe the tears from the corners of your eyes when you say that!

Only Amamiya Natsuki knew that the Young Lady Kaguya before him was putting on an act.

Just a moment ago, she'd been screaming 'So scary' in her heart countless times—this calm composure was all a lie!

After a pause, Shinomiya Kaguya couldn't hold back any longer. As if finding 'asking without shame' deeply embarrassing, she bit her lower lip, turned her face slightly away, and murmured quietly:

"Amamiya-classmate... what method did you use just now to drive away the vengeful spirits?"

As a daughter of the Shinomiya family, Shinomiya Kaguya's daily schedule was exceptionally regular, unchanged for over a decade—to put it simply, the routine from elementary school had carried straight through to high school.

Drink a glass of milk at nine, read for half an hour, rest for half an hour, then go to bed at ten on the dot.

Yesterday, she entered the game around nine in the evening. She'd already taken a bath, was in her pajamas reading a book, and when she put the book down and looked up, she found herself in a strange space. Her first reaction was naturally that she'd been kidnapped. Seeing Amamiya Natsuki standing before her with a rope in hand, of course she'd be extremely wary.

After clearing the game, Shinomiya Kaguya suddenly noticed many vengeful spirits around her. No one else could see them except herself, and she'd even been teased by Hayasaka with, 'Are you telling a horror joke?'

Up to now, Shinomiya Kaguya had tried salt, prayer, crosses, prayer beads, even garlic... but none of it worked.

These vengeful spirits seemed like beings from another world, a despair humanity couldn't fight.

But at this very moment, the vengeful spirits had been driven away by yesterday's teammate?

Shinomiya Kaguya made up her mind in an instant.

She had to learn the Evil Spirit Repellent method... even if it meant bagging this guy and dragging him off!

"Actually, it's simple. I pulled a blind box when I got up this morning..."

Amamiya Natsuki, unaware he'd just narrowly escaped being stuffed into a sack, casually explained the reward of the 'Evil Spirit Repellent' aura. Since it couldn't be stolen or transferred, he only omitted the part about being able to see the blind box hints.

Amamiya Natsuki had already noticed that he seemed to be the only one who could see the hints.

"I see... a blind box, is it?"

Shinomiya Kaguya's slender dark eyebrows furrowed slightly, her tone cold: "A blind box full of uncertainty is equivalent to gambling—a very unwise and foolish act."

Hey hey, no matter how much of a scam blind boxes are, at least there's something inside to fall back on. Gambling is what really bankrupts you!

The next moment.

A black blind box the size of a fist suddenly appeared in Shinomiya Kaguya's hand.

Amamiya Natsuki's eye twitched, and he couldn't help but retort:

"Who was it just now saying that pulling a blind box is an unwise and foolish act?!"

The moment she finished speaking, she immediately pulled a blind box—where's your dignity as a young lady of a wealthy family?!

Shinomiya Kaguya's ears grew slightly hot.

It did feel a bit embarrassing, but...

Her beauty and wisdom stood at the top of the academy, so her luck surely wouldn't be bad either.

If someone else could pull the 'Evil Spirit Repellent' aura, she could too.

And if, by some misfortune, she ended up with a 'Vengeful Spirit' blind box, she could still have Amamiya Natsuki help deal with it—she wouldn't be left helpless.

"I'll head to the classroom first."

Amamiya Natsuki said his goodbyes, ready to leave.

Blind boxes were a matter of privacy. If she pulled something incredibly powerful, it would definitely attract others' greed, so it was only wise to step away.

"Don't go."

A hand suddenly tugged at the corner of Amamiya Natsuki's shirt. Shinomiya Kaguya's expression remained cold, but the tips of her ears flushed slightly red. Clearly unaccustomed to asking for favors, she parted her red lips and whispered with difficulty:

"...Wait until I open the blind box."

Amamiya Natsuki paused, then quickly understood, nodding slightly. "I get it."

With that, he stepped back a few paces, putting distance between himself and Shinomiya Kaguya, but still staying within the range of the 'Evil Spirit Repellent' aura.

"Hah..."

Shinomiya Kaguya took a deep breath, her fingers resting on the blind box as she felt her heartbeat quietly quicken.

This feeling... was it anticipation?

Shinomiya Kaguya began to understand why blind box mechanics had taken the world by storm—this thrill and expectation were utterly addictive.

Click.

The blind box opened.

A silver-white card appeared in Shinomiya Kaguya's hand.

Amamiya Natsuki observed silently. The sunlight was nice, the air was quiet—this should not be an Evil Spirit Blind Box.

"It's not something that dispels evil spirits..." Shinomiya Kaguya's tone was disappointed. "It's a Game Card."

"A Yu-Gi-Oh! card?" Amamiya Natsuki was shocked.

Could she really be a Lucky Girl, hitting a One-shot Jackpot and pulling a Blue-Eyes White Dragon?

"What is Yu-Gi-Oh!?"

You don't know Yu-Gi-Oh!, and you don't know Snake either—so you really are a Deep-boudoir young lady who's never touched a game before!

"...It's a Game Team-up Card."

[Name: Game Team-up Card] [Effect: After use, refreshes game cooldown and allows teaming up with others to participate in games]

Looking at the displayed card attributes, Amamiya Natsuki was speechless.

As expected of a blind box—you could pull anything from it.

But from Kaguya's expression, it was clear this Team-up Card wasn't satisfying her.

She wanted to draw another blind box, but unfortunately, she had no Points left, leaving her with nothing but a sigh.

"Amamiya-classmate, thank you."

Shinomiya Kaguya quickly calmed down and gave a slight bow of thanks.

"Slap!!"

A hand suddenly landed on Shinomiya Kaguya's shoulder.

Then, from behind Kaguya, a pink-haired girl wearing a Black Bow Hair Ornament appeared. Her skin was fair with a healthy pink flush, her smile was exceptionally bright, and the little rabbit beneath her school uniform couldn't help but bounce.

"Kaguya, good morning." The girl's voice was especially crisp. As she spoke, she turned her gaze to Amamiya Natsuki. "Amamiya-classmate, good morning."