In any case, after Fujiwara Chika finished swapping cards, the Student Council was finally able to play their first honest game of Concentration.
"Two threes. I'll take them." Sakurai Saki flipped over the three of hearts and the three of spades, then placed the pair beside him.
Excluding the jokers, there were fifty-two cards in total—twenty-six points. Successfully flipping a matching pair earned one point. With Shirogane Miyuki not participating, the points would be distributed fairly evenly. Roughly six points each?
No. This was a game of both luck and memory.
Sakurai had flipped a matching pair in the first round, gaining an early advantage. But even a perfect memory didn't guarantee success if it wasn't your turn—someone else might claim the match first. Moreover, there was no rule for consecutive turns upon scoring. Only two cards per turn, no matter what.
In short, there were many intricacies.
"Saki-kun~ You can't cheat!" Chika reminded him.
"Cheat?" Ishigami Yu looked up from his cards. "Sakurai-senpai isn't Fujiwara-senpai. How could he cheat?" He was a staunch follower of Sakurai Saki.
"That's right, Chika." Sakurai's face betrayed no emotion. "How could I cheat?"
He had cheated quite a few times before. He was no better than Fujiwara the Cheater. But Chika studied his expression and found that he genuinely didn't seem to be lying.
Which meant he was simply lucky. That was the only explanation for scoring in the first round.
"I hope you're not lying." Chika didn't quite believe him anymore.
After losing hundreds of times last year, how could it not be her own problem? Could anyone fall in the same place hundreds of times?
Kaguya Shinomiya flipped cards: a seven and an eight.
Ishigami Yu flipped cards: an eight and a nine.
Fujiwara Chika flipped over both eights and claimed a point. Her luck was good—she snagged one.
Sakurai Saki flipped again: a four... and another four.
"...Sakurai-senpai, you're really lucky." Ishigami Yu's tone was admiring. Besides good luck, he couldn't think of any other possibility.
"Fools have their fortune." Kaguya sniffed. "It's nothing amazing."
"Heh." Sakurai's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Don't cry when the results come out next week."
Just wait to wear a maid outfit and meow like a cat.
"I really envy confident people like you." Kaguya flipped again: a king and a four. "Still thinking you can win after losing more than ten times."
Ishigami flipped: a jack and a ten.
"Are you two making a bet?" Chika asked while flipping cards. She didn't find a match. Sakurai was still in the lead.
Speaking of which—Kaguya-san had just scolded her, too. After all, she had lost hundreds of times and still thought she could win.
She was a little annoyed.
"It's a bet on exam scores." Sakurai's expression didn't change, as if he didn't care. "The loser has to wear a maid outfit and serve the other person for a full day."
He cared a lot. But showing too much concern would make him seem inferior to Shinomiya for no reason.
"Yes." Kaguya's tone was equally nonchalant. "Just a simple, ordinary competition like that."
Ishigami Yu listened, then exclaimed, "You seniors play for high stakes."
No matter who lost, this was social suicide.
Wearing a maid outfit...
Ishigami glanced at Sakurai Saki. Sakurai-senpai actually had a very good face shape and a body suited for women's clothing. His muscles weren't very visible from the outside, but according to rumors, he was quite strong. Where had the rumors come from? That was a secret.
He had learned about it from female classmates chatting. It was normal—Sakurai Saki was now a school idol at Shuchiin Academy. People with high appearance were easily sought after by girls.
"You two must be joking, right?" Shirogane Miyuki sat beside Ishigami Yu, looking down at documents.
"Joking?" Sakurai General Affairs never made such jokes. "No. We're serious."
"The Shinomiya Family isn't afraid of challenges." Lady Kaguya, with Hayasaka Ai as her shield, remained unflustered. If push came to shove, she would simply have Hayasaka invite him on a date after school. He would eventually leave. Moreover, even if she lost, it was only for the after-school period—despite having agreed to obey the other person's commands for a full day.
"Oh, and the loser has to wear the maid outfit in the classroom too~" Sakurai flipped another card.
The room fell briefly silent.
Ishigami Yu slowly set down his cards. "Senpai. That's diabolical."
Chika nodded vigorously. "That is diabolical."
Kaguya's eye twitched—just slightly. "You wouldn't dare."
"Try me." Sakurai's smile was serene.
The game continued. But the stakes had just gotten much, much higher.
"Two kings. Taken."
Sakurai had already earned four points.
"We stipulated that personal dignity cannot be insulted." Kaguya Shinomiya's voice was cool, measured. "Wearing a maid outfit in the classroom, I believe, crosses that line."
"That's true." Sakurai nodded.
"...Sakurai-senpai." Ishigami Yu's eyes narrowed. "You really didn't cheat?"
"It's just good luck." Sakurai's explanation was simple.
This was a brand-new deck of cards that Fujiwara Chika had brought. Unopened. Naturally, Sakurai couldn't have tampered with them.
But... could he really not cheat?
Not so!
This gentleman, how about a look at superpowers?
[Today's Superpower: Luck
Effect: Luck improves
Side effect: None]**
As everyone knew, the flashier the ability, the more useless it was. Sakurai had complained about Kotodama being useless more than once. And it was truly—truly—useless.
Subsequently, the Student Council members looked at Sakurai Saki with increasingly strange gazes. As if they were looking at a deity.
In a game of twenty-six points, Sakurai Saki had won eleven.
If not for the rule allowing only two cards flipped per turn, the gap might have been even more absurd.
"Sakurai-senpai." Ishigami Yu bowed deeply, his voice loud and urgent. "I have something important to ask of you!"
This might be his only chance in this lifetime.
"Tell me."
"Help me with gacha pulls!!!" Ishigami thrust his phone forward.
Seeing Sakurai's extraordinary luck, Ishigami couldn't hold back. His luck in games had always been abysmal. He always had to hit pity—character exchange, three hundred pulls for one spark. Saving for months, and still getting off-banner characters. Trash game. If he hadn't invested so much already, he would have quit long ago. All fifty thousand yen of his monthly allowance went straight into it.
"Okay." Sakurai took the phone. "What game is this?"
He didn't play many mobile games.
"Idolmaster. Specifically, Idolmaster Shiny Colors." Ishigami opened the gacha screen. "It's a game about raising idols."
"Which character do you want?"
"Higuchi Madoka."
One minute later.
"Holy crap! Madoka!" Ishigami Yu's excited shout echoed through the Student Council Room.
After pulling in several games in a row, Ishigami—now thoroughly satisfied—retreated to his corner to grind.
"Sakurai." Shirogane Miyuki's voice was thoughtful. "Please buy me a lottery ticket."
"Seriously?"
"Haha. Just kidding." Shirogane patted his own head.
Though he had entertained the thought of winning the lottery, it was too vague to act on.
Sakurai turned to Kaguya Shinomiya.
Kaguya met his gaze. "Can you destroy the Earth?"
"Kaguya-san." Sakurai tilted his head. "You want the Earth destroyed?"
"Is what I said difficult to understand?" Lady Kaguya took a sip of tea, her posture perfect. "My meaning is—aside from impossible things like that, I can obtain almost anything else I desire. So there's no need to ask you for anything."
Sakurai Saki's expression didn't shift. "If you truly encounter something you cannot handle in the future, prostrate yourself before me and ask. I might help you."
"That possibility will never arise." Kaguya Shinomiya sneered.
Unless the Shinomiya Family collapsed tomorrow. Otherwise, absolutely impossible.