The end of the semester was approaching. The study atmosphere in the school had gradually intensified recently.
People always cram at the last minute, and criminals regret their actions before death, praying to gods and Buddhas for forgiveness. They don't pray to reality because they know it's useless.
There are no shortcuts to studying—you get back as much as you put in. Sakurai had always believed this. So, even after school, he was still reading in the Student Council Room.
"Sakurai-kun, you never used to read in the Student Council Room," Kaguya Shinomiya said, holding a book herself.
The two were like prisoners who knew their death was imminent, preparing to frantically "inner roll" during the last moments of their lives in order to survive.
That's right—exams are war.
No one could refute this point, because this time, the two had made another bet. The loser had to wear a miko outfit and dance—only for the other person. The latter condition had been set by Shinomiya, who had lost quite badly last time and learned her lesson. No one gets hurt twice on the same slope unless they're unlucky or have bad legs. Even though Kaguya Shinomiya was a healthy person, she still left herself a fallback, even preparing an extra leg.
"Kaguya-san, you don't think I'm working hard just to win our bet, do you?" Sakurai's pen didn't stop. "I actually think it's fine to lose."
He had to win. And win thoroughly. A miko outfit—red and white. Since it was a miko outfit, there was naturally no male version. Losing would be embarrassing. If he wasn't confident, Sakurai wouldn't have bet with her.
"I want to get good grades just to prove I have the ability to get good grades. Reputation is just fleeting clouds to me. I just want to do what I want to do and benefit myself." He glanced at Ishigami Yu. "Ishigami-kun, the final exams are coming soon. Why are you still playing games?"
"Sakurai-senpai, I'll review when I go back. I'm just relaxing a bit now," Ishigami Yu replied.
Sakurai Saki didn't speak. After a while, he asked, "Oh, by the way, about the Tanabata gathering I told you about yesterday—are you going to attend? It's at the Shinomiya family."
Ishigami Yu shook his head, pressing the game controller as he spoke. "I have to help out at my mother's flower shop that day."
He refused. He didn't actually have to help out, but he didn't really want to go to Kaguya Shinomiya's house. In Ishigami Yu's eyes, Kaguya Shinomiya was as terrifying as she had been at the beginning of the semester. Only Sakurai dared to chat with Shinomiya like that.
Hearing this answer, Sakurai didn't ask further, and neither did Shinomiya.
After a while, as the two were writing furiously, Fujiwara Chika entered. She was holding a deck of cards. It looked like poker. Oh—it was probably the homemade game she had mentioned before.
Sakurai had no expectations for it. A game made by Fujiwara Chika and members of the game club sounded uninteresting. Her next words would probably be—
"Everyone!! Let's play a game!!"
Perfect. Not a single word off. Sakurai Saki exclaimed internally. As expected of me.
"What game?" Ishigami Yu was surprisingly the first to ask.
"Ta-da~! Happy Life Game!!" Chika held the cards above her head and approached everyone as if presenting a treasure. She sat next to Sakurai, leaning naturally against his shoulder.
Ishigami Yu's eyelid twitched when he saw this scene. If he remembered correctly, Sakurai-senpai was dating Hayasaka-senpai, right? Why could Fujiwara-senpai be so shameless and intimate with a man who had a girlfriend? Didn't she understand these things?
That's right. Fujiwara-senpai was a strange creature who couldn't read the room. Snatching a man must be a very easy thing for her. Ishigami Yu grumbled inwardly.
"Life game?" He felt confused.
"Happy Life Game!"
"Fujiwara-senpai, even if you say it in English, we won't understand," Ishigami Yu retorted.
"Well~ everyone will know how to play after one round!" Chika placed the cards on the table. "Do you want to play? Do you want to play, Kaguya-san?"
Kaguya Shinomiya didn't even think, her tone cold: "No. It's almost the end of the semester. Why are you still playing games? Fujiwara Secretary, aren't you afraid of failing the exam?"
"Studying for too long will give you a headache~ Kaguya-san, come on!" Chika pressed herself against Shinomiya again.
Ishigami Yu moved his seat sideways. Then he watched the two beautiful girls stick together.
After being pestered for a while, Kaguya Shinomiya finally relented. "Just once."
"Yay!" Chika turned to ask Ishigami Yu, "Ishigami-kun, do you want to come?"
Ishigami Yu put down his game console. "Heh, it doesn't hurt to try, but this kind of game must be very boring."
He was going to criticize this game severely.
"If Ishigami-kun doesn't want to play, then forget it." Fujiwara Chika didn't care if he played. As long as Saki-kun was there.
"Sorry, Chika. I'll pass today." Sakurai looked down at his book.
"Huh?" Chika tilted her head, her cute little face full of question marks.
Huh huh~? Why? Sakurai Saki, who had never refused her, actually refused this time!! What!? Was the sky falling?
"Please!" Chika ran to Sakurai Saki's side, pushing his shoulder.
In this game, you could marry other players. Chika had brought everyone to play precisely because she saw this point.
"Fine. I'll play with you." Sakurai Saki said helplessly.
He really didn't want to play. Because this game revealed strange things everywhere.
Once Chika had arranged the cards, Sakurai asked, "Is this Sugoroku?"
Sugoroku—a board game similar to Monopoly, but without the settings of buying land and building houses. Each square had different events, such as a house catching fire, or being hit by a dump truck and ending up in the hospital. In short, there were many events, with good luck and bad luck coexisting.
"It's Happy Life Game!" Chika said, proudly placing her hand on her chest, her small face slightly raised. "By the way, I came up with the game's events!"
As her words fell, Ishigami Yu raised his right hand: "Excuse me—is it still too late for me to quit now?"
"It's too late!" Chika said, placing Ishigami Yu's piece on the board.
There were many cards on the table, almost filling the coffee table. There were three areas in total: Children's area, adult area, elderly area. The goal of victory was to earn the most money. Shirogane, that working warrior, would probably find it interesting. Unfortunately, he had a regular meeting of the Joint Club Council today.
"Alright, everyone, let's start rolling the dice!" Chika was going to act as the host. After all, she was the only one who understood this game so far.
"Who goes first?" Kaguya Shinomiya asked.
Even with such a trashy game, she didn't want to lose. It wasn't that she couldn't stand losing—she just didn't really want to lose.
"I don't care." Sakurai was ready to let others step on the landmines first.
"Oh, I don't care either," Shinomiya added.
She didn't want to appear as if she really wanted to win. It was just an ordinary board game.
"Then let Ishigami-kun go first. Next is Saki-kun, then Kaguya-san, and finally me," Chika suggested.
"Okay." Ishigami Yu didn't hesitate.
The dice rolled on the table: six points.
"Eh! It's a bad luck event! Ishigami-kun, open this card!" Chika explained.
Ishigami Yu flipped the card, looking at the back: "Traffic accident—truck."
"Roll again."
"Three points," Ishigami glanced.
"Ishigami-kun, your leg is broken." Chika said with a bright smile: "Ahaha, Ishigami-kun is so unlucky!"
"Huh?" Ishigami Yu's face was full of question marks.
What was this guy talking about?
"You were hit by a car, so your leg broke," Chika explained, stifling a laugh.
"I'm not playing anymore!" Ishigami stood up and shouted: "Trash game!!! Who came up with these events?! Are they crazy?!"
"Don't rush, Ishigami." Sakurai soothed. "Don't judge a game based on your first impression."
Then he started his roll. "Three points. Lucky card!"
Sakurai listened to Chika's voice and flipped the card—[Good Luck Event—Narrow Escape from Death]
"Oh my—you were taken hostage by a robber. Although you were rescued, you lost a hand, but you received a ten-million-yen reward from the police." Chika's voice was cheerful. "Super lucky!"
Sakurai's face was covered in black lines.
This was a damn good luck event.
Sakurai stood up: "Ishigami, I heard there's a new coffee shop in front of the station. Let's go for coffee."
He couldn't play this trashy game anymore.
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