Kaguya-sama Wants My Surrender!

"Chika-chan is Shinomiya-san's only friend here at school," Kashiwagi said, clasping her hands as if steeling herself for a daunting mission. "Shinomiya-san would be heartbroken if she found out that you and Chika-chan were secretly seeing each other."

Bracing herself with a final breath, she added, "So please, stop doing things that hurt everyone involved!"

Amamiya held her gaze for a couple of quiet seconds before responding, "Did you ever consider another possibility?"

"…Another possibility?" she asked, puzzled.

Amamiya raised a finger. "The truth is, Chika and I are hiding it from Shinomiya-san."

"W-What?" Kashiwagi gasped, covering her mouth in shock. Was Kaguya actually the "third party" in this dynamic? The one unknowingly caught between Chika and Amamiya?

Her disbelief flared up, and she shook her head. "But that's impossible, right? I mean, Shinomiya-san is so beautiful and incredibly smart. She's always at the top of our grade, a literal genius. How could someone as amazing as her be… left out?"

"She isn't exactly a 'third party,'" Amamiya replied calmly. "In fact, there's a significant reason that binds us together, something that can't be broken."

"A special reason?" Kashiwagi's mind immediately spun into overdrive, her eyes brightening with excitement. "Let me guess! Maybe you and Shinomiya-san were born on the same day, in the same hospital, even in the same room, and your parents accidentally swapped you at birth. And then, when they found out, they arranged for you two to get married?"

"That's… not quite it." Amamiya closed his eyes, sighing. "Have you ever heard of prenatal ultrasounds? They reveal the baby's gender before it's born."

While babies might be mixed up, confusing genders would be a stretch too far.

Amamiya leaned in, whispering conspiratorially, "Actually, the truth behind this is even more bizarre. Do you want to hear it?"

"Yes!" Kashiwagi's eyes lit up, her curiosity soaring.

A mischievous smile spread across Amamiya's face. "I'm not telling you."

"Wha—!" Kashiwagi's face flushed, her cheeks puffing up indignantly like a pufferfish. She clenched her fists, unable to resist thumping them lightly against Amamiya's chest in frustration. He was being absolutely insufferable, like a riddle only half-revealed.

Just then, a voice echoed from down the hallway.

Kashiwagi froze, turning slowly toward the source. A girl with a black ribbon in her pink hair was approaching, a puzzled expression on her face. Kashiwagi's heart lurched. "Chika-chan! I—I can explain!"

"Don't panic," Amamiya reassured her, not looking the least bit worried. "We've done nothing wrong."

Though if she looked closer, Kashiwagi would have noticed that the shadows in the hallway told a different story.

"Well… what happened was…" she started, grasping for an explanation.

It was too early to share the whole truth with Chika. The delicate dynamic between her and Kaguya still had to stay secret… Sorry, Chika-chan!

"Alright," Chika replied without pressing further. "Oh, by the way, why did you bolt out of the supermarket yesterday?"

Kashiwagi bit her lip, her expression tinged with guilt and surprise. Chika had actually noticed her sudden disappearance the night before—and she didn't seem suspicious in the slightest. Could it be that Chika truly was the one kept in the dark?

"I… I got a last-minute message and had to rush home," Kashiwagi answered, her voice soft.

Then Amamiya turned to Chika. "So, why are you here?"

"The teacher asked for a report on club activities," Chika replied, shrugging. "I asked Asuka-chan to fetch it, but she was taking forever, so I came myself."

"Sorry," Kashiwagi murmured, bowing her head.

"Where's Kaguya-chan?" Chika asked, her gaze shifting to Amamiya.

Amamiya nodded toward the door. "She's inside the activity room."

Just then, the door to the room opened, and Kaguya emerged. Dressed once again in her school uniform, she looked completely composed, as though the bunny girl moment had been nothing but a figment of imagination.

The flustered young lady kept her face tense and expressionless, though the blush across her cheeks hadn't yet faded.

"I'll head in and grab the report," Chika announced, striding into the room with a resolute thump.

That left Amamiya and the two girls standing alone in the corridor.

Kaguya crossed her arms over her chest, fixing Kashiwagi with an intense, unblinking stare from her wine-red eyes.

Kashiwagi, visibly anxious, leaned against the wall, trembling under Kaguya's gaze.

"I've spoken to Kashiwagi-san," Amamiya assured, "and she's promised not to breathe a word of this to anyone."

Kaguya bit her lip, shooting a reproachful glare at Amamiya. 'You are the worst one for taking that photo with your phone!'

"It's getting late," Amamiya noted, breaking the tension. "Kashiwagi-san, you should head back to the classroom."

Kashiwagi couldn't hide her relief. She glanced at Kaguya, who seemed unwilling to speak, then quickly gave a deep bow before darting down the hall.

Handing a card to Kaguya, Amamiya said, "Keep the transformation card. It'll come in handy for changing back in a pinch."

At this, Kaguya finally couldn't hold back. "I'm never using that skill again!"

'Changing clothes each time I transform is terrible!' Kaguya thought in frustration. 'This skill is getting permanently sealed.'

"Look, after you transform, you can always slip into the shadows and use the Dress Up Card to switch outfits instantly," Amamiya suggested. "It'd be a waste not to use such a powerful skill."

"That bunny girl uniform was humiliating! I don't want to wear it at all!" she retorted.

"…"

As they were talking, Chika returned to the hallway.

"Kaguya-chan, how did your skill test go?"

As her teammate, the pink-haired girl was well aware that Kaguya had learned a new skill the day before.

Kaguya's lips parted slightly, her face flushing again, too embarrassed to say a word.

Finally, Amamiya explained, "It's a powerful skill. It lets you blend into shadows, making you practically invisible. But it does have one flaw… rather like the 'Sheep Shift' skill we all know."

"Huh?" Chika blinked, suddenly recalling the comically awkward incident when she'd first asked Amamiya to exorcise a "ghost" at night in her room. Blushing, she shook off any other ideas and urged, "Come on, let's get back to class!"

"…"

The day passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, school was over.

Originally, Amamiya and Kaguya planned to continue searching for Miss Guide Ghost's cat, but thanks to the bunny girl incident that morning, Kaguya's embarrassment meter hadn't quite reset. So, they postponed the mission.

"Since you're free, why not come do some role-playing with me?" Umi suggested, hands clasped behind her back and her smile sunny and bright, complete with a small fang gleaming in the light. "Let's try and boost the Dream Demon role-playing level today. Maybe we'll unlock some new active abilities!"

"Don't get too optimistic," Amamiya warned. "The role-playing skills get harder to unlock as they go."

"Where there's a will, there's a way! You've got to try to find out," Umi replied cheerfully. Then, she perked up. "Oh, by the way, how did Shinomiya-san's skill test go?"

Amamiya gave her the quick version.

"I see," the sunny girl mused, her tone playful. "Shinomiya-san does have thin skin, but if it were me, I wouldn't mind at all~"