The Heroines Want to Confess

She had been tricked.

Even Fujiwara Chika realized she had completely fallen into his trap.

Ladies and gentlemen!

Love is war!

The one who falls first is the loser!

To exploit or be exploited, to give or to take!

The strong must humiliate the weak!

And the consequences of failure?

Losing confidence in love? A lower status in marriage?

No!

None of that matters!

For Fujiwara Chika, who had lost 186 times and tied 4 times last year—

Victory in the game of confession was the only thing that truly mattered!

She would make Sakurai fall for her!

But things… weren't exactly going as planned.

"Chi-chan is really adorable." Sakurai Saku smiled blissfully.

"Just hugging her is enough to heal me."

So cute! Chi-chan?!

"If possible, I want to be with Chi-chan forever."

Sakurai took out his phone.

…Forever?

With Chi-chan?

Steam seemed to rise from Chika's head.

Her brain was overloading.

"T-That… President, Sakurai-kun… I don't feel well, so I'll be leaving first…"

Fujiwara Chika wobbled out of the student council room.

Leaning against the door from the outside, she placed her hand on her forehead.

'So hot~'

After school.

Sakurai left the home economics classroom.

Tomorrow was his tutoring day for the Nakano quintuplets.

To be honest, it was annoying.

Just thinking about the constant scornful looks he would receive when he got there made him frustrated.

Inside the student council room.

"Huh? Sakurai-senpai, what's wrong?"

Ishigami Yuu looked at him as he walked in and sat beside him.

"Ishigami, let me ask you something. As a former truant student, what were your thoughts when you decided to skip school?"

Sakurai set his bag down.

"…Why are you asking this?"

"For my tutoring job tomorrow."

"…Sakurai-senpai, you're working as a tutor?" Ishigami looked impressed.

"Yeah, but they're problem children. Not just truants—I suspect they hate men."

"Hate men?" Ishigami's interest piqued. "Wait, 'they'? It's multiple girls? Elementary schoolers?"

"They're second-year high schoolers."

At his desk, Shirogane Miyuki casually provided the answer as he reviewed documents.

"The teachers originally wanted me to do it, but I didn't think I was up to the task, so I recommended Sakurai instead."

"That's basically the situation," Sakurai nodded.

If not for Shirogane's request, he probably wouldn't have taken this thankless job.

And those five were like idiots dancing on the edge of failure.

The difficulty of teaching them was beyond absurd.

He had already gone twice last week.

Since the new semester had just started, he had only met two of them so far—Miku Nakano and Itsuki Nakano.

He suspected the other three were intentionally avoiding him.

But he had never promised the school he would meet all five of them.

Turning five idiots into functioning students?

That was practically impossible.

"Sakurai-senpai, in my experience, they probably don't want to study because their foundation is too weak."

Ishigami pressed buttons on his handheld console as he spoke.

"If they can't see any progress, they'll just give up…"

So they just needed to experience the joy of learning?

Sakurai thought with a blank expression.

At that moment—

The door to the student council room swung open.

Shinomiya Kaguya and Fujiwara Chika entered.

Chika was clinging to Kaguya's arm.

"Kaguya-senpai~ play with me~"

She was bothering people into playing games again.

"Fujiwara-senpai, can't you just go play with the board game club?"

Kaguya tried to push her away—but failed.

"They're all busy today! And it looks like Sakurai-senpai is too!"

Chika's gaze shifted across the room.

The moment she spotted Sakurai—

She instantly let go of Kaguya.

Kaguya watched her walk away.

…For some reason, she felt a little lonely.

"Sakurai-senpai!!!"

Chika ran over, pulling a box out of her bag.

Monopoly.

Facing Chika's sparkling eyes, Sakurai found it hard to refuse.

"I have work soon, so we can only play for an hour."

It was 3:30 PM.

Since the tutoring location was also in Minato Ward, he wouldn't be late.

An hour was enough for a round.

"Ishigami, want to join?"

"Not interested, senpai. Classic board games are boring."

Ishigami kept playing his console, clearly uninterested.

Meanwhile, Shinomiya Kaguya looked tempted.

That was the real reason Ishigami refused.

She was the embodiment of terror itself.

Better to keep his distance.

"…Ishigami-senpai, are you scared~?" Chika smirked, covering her mouth as she giggled.

Ishigami looked up.

He scoffed.

"Fine. But Fujiwara-senpai—didn't you come last place in the last game? After losing so badly, you still want a rematch? If I were you, I'd be too ashamed to show my face."

His trash talk was relentless.

But—

"But Sakurai-senpai came in first!"

Chika tilted her head innocently.

…What does that have to do with you?!

Ishigami grumbled internally.

Kaguya sat beside Chika, watching as she set up the Monopoly board.

She had heard of this game before.

A game of luck.

And Kaguya Shinomiya trusted her luck.

…But why was she actually joining?

Just to show off the power of the Shinomiya family.

Definitely not because she was intrigued after watching them play last time.

Definitely not.

"When do we start?"

Some of the iciness in Kaguya's expression melted away.

"Kaguya-senpai, it'd be boring to just start like that~"

Chika wagged a finger, her expression mysterious.

"…So you're adding a prize?" Ishigami guessed.

"Nonono~! This time, we're adding a penalty!"

Sakurai glanced at the board.

Let's see what she came up with.

"Whoever wins gets to ask a losing player one question! And they can't lie!"

Chika explained with excitement.

"It's basically Truth or Dare! President, want to join~?"

Her tone was lively as she invited Shirogane Miyuki to participate.

If she won and asked Sakurai a question—

She could find out if he liked someone!

A perfect plan!

Just as planned.

Chika smiled like victory was already hers.

"I'll pass." Shirogane rubbed his tired eyes.

There were still club recruitment issues to handle, plus the new student welcome event later today.

But at least the club schedule was finalized.

"Then it's a four-player game!"

Chika pulled out the tokens and cards.

As she set up the board—

Sakurai and Ishigami exchanged a knowing glance.

Because Monopoly, too, had a guaranteed way to win.