The Heroines Want to Confess

On Thursday night, Sakurai played games with Ishigami and Hayasaka.

Because it was a new season, climbing ranks was tough.

After a whole evening, they only made it to Platinum—too many trolls and throwers.

Friday.

Shuchiin Academy, Class 2-A.

Sitting by the window, Sakurai stared outside with a blank expression.

It was morning, and students continued to stream in through the door.

The commute from his home in Setagaya to Shuchiin Academy in Minato wasn't far, so he usually arrived early.

There were some familiar faces in class, but Sakurai's interactions with them were limited to casual, surface-level conversations.

["Sakura-chan gazes out the window, but inside, he's thinking about how to have a passionate romance~ Ah, who will he choose—Secretary Fujiwara or Ai-chan? Such a dilemma~ Or maybe… both? Hehehe~"]

A strange voice echoed in his mind.

Sakurai sighed.

That was today's superpower.

["Sodayo~!"]

["Your superpower today—The Observer! That's me!"]

["Tada~ Time for my self-introduction! Listen up, okay?"]

["Observer-chan can predict what'll happen in the next five minutes for you, Sakura-chan! Isn't that amazing? Ehehe~"]

Hah. Just a variant of foresight.

["Hmph! I'm way better than plain foresight! You'll see!"]

What even is this? Am I awakening my inner… feminine side?

Sakurai just wanted to skip Friday entirely.

["In five minutes, Ai-chan will walk through the door! Hurry and give her a loving hug!"]

What kind of ridiculous romance brain is this?

Sakurai knew he was going to be cranky today.

Anyone woken up this early by such nonsense wouldn't be in a good mood.

["Why aren't you moving? Don't you like her? Ai-chan likes you too, you know! She's just a tsundere, go hug her!"]

See?

A superpower that tried to ship him with everyone.

It was almost funny.

["Hah! Says the guy who spends all his money on games and gacha, and you dare judge me?"]

That's called a reasonable investment.

You wouldn't understand, you're just a one-day superpower.

What a joke.

["Pfft! Like you don't know… In a few months, all your superpowers will fully awaken. And you still talk like this?"]

…Okay, fair point.

["Of course! Because I'm you~"]

God… Talking to a fictional voice in my head like this…

I feel like such an idiot.

["Hahaha~ Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!"]

Shut up.

["Nope! I won't! Idiot! Idiot!"]

Three minutes later…

["Oh nooo! Ai-chan's coming in! What a waste~ If you confessed to her right now, on the first day of the new semester, your success rate would be 100%!"]

There's no such thing as a 100% success rate. Except for me.

["Narcissist! You're just like Shinomiya Kaguya! Always with that smug cat face! Smile more—make all the girls in school fall for you and create your own harem!"]

I'm already popular enough.

And those girls are a bunch of ordinary, overconfident landmines.

The kind that goes 'BOOM!' the moment you step on them.

["This is just the first step toward world domination, Sakura-chan! Capture all the rich heiresses of Japan, and you'll control the entire nation! Muhahaha~"]

Sakurai ignored the villainous laughter echoing in his mind.

When Hayasaka walked in, he greeted her casually.

"Morning, Ai-chan~"

"Yoro~ Sakurai~ Miss me? It's been a whole night~"

Hayasaka slipped behind him and draped her arms around his neck.

Some classmates glanced over but didn't react—they were used to this kind of closeness.

They'd done this plenty of times last year, too.

["She's super happy right now! Hug her! Or kiss her! Ahh, I'm dying here!"]

You're not even involved. Why are you so desperate?

This isn't a drama.

Are you some romance-obsessed fangirl who cries when the couple doesn't get together?

["Waaaahhh~ I'm gonna cry! Waaahhhh!"]

So noisy… You're so noisy.

Hayasaka noticed his silence and tilted her head.

"Stayed up too late playing games? You look half-dead."

"I'm having a violent internal struggle… trying to convince myself."

…A mental struggle (physical).

"Hm? Don't flake on me tonight—we're hitting Diamond."

["Aww! She's so cute—pretending she just wants to grind ranks, but she really just wants to spend time with you! Kyaa~ Adorable!"]

You—

MOM. DEAD.

…Wait, no. Can't be dead.

Sorry, Mom and Dad in Kyoto, your son just shouted profanities in his heart. Please forgive me.

Sakurai felt a wave of guilt.

["Pfft~ You're killing me. Idiot! Idiot!"]

The entire morning, Sakurai spent bickering with Observer-chan in his head.

He didn't hear a single word of the lessons.

In the end, he had to borrow Hayasaka's notes.

Lunchtime.

Sakurai decided to head to the student council room.

He hadn't seen Shirogane Miyuki yesterday—today, he probably would.

Opening the door, he found Shirogane sitting on the sofa, eating his bento.

A typical Japanese face, hair with a slight golden tint, and a sharp, intimidating gaze that was actually just a result of nearsightedness and chronic fatigue from overwork.

"Hm? Sakurai? What are you doing here?"

"Just came to check on you."

Sakurai sat across from him and pulled out his phone, calling Fujiwara Chika.

["Oh~ President Shirogane is so hot! If Sakura-chan were a girl, you'd totally fall for him! Oh, wait… Boys can like boys too, right?"]

Fujoshi, get out.

["Ooh, you're getting defensive! By the way, Chika-chan has some serious fujoshi potential, too~ Just saying!"]

Please. I don't like Fujiwara.

I bully her purely to test my daily superpowers.

["Yeah, sure. Is that what you told yourself when you hypnotized her last time? Ehehe~ Pervert-san~"]

That trash hypnosis only lasted a minute. What good was that?

["Aww, Hypnosis-chan would be so sad to hear that…"]

Still, the voice in his head wouldn't shut up.

Fujiwara's bright, slightly panicked voice came through the phone.

"Sakurai-kun~ I forgot my bento! What do I do?!"

"It's fine, just give me yours."

"Eh? Shouldn't you offer me yours instead?"

"Hah. No way. It's my hard-earned reward."

"Ugh~~~"

With a whimper, Fujiwara hung up.

Shirogane looked up and offered a gentle reminder.

"You shouldn't bully Fujiwara so much… She's a bit… well…"

"Dense? Slow?" Sakurai finished for him.

Shirogane: "..."

This guy is a true steel-hearted tsundere.