"I've been played."
Even Fujiwara Chika understood: she'd walked straight into a trap.
Gentlemen!
Love is war!
To fall in love first is to lose!
It's a battlefield of power plays—manipulation, emotional ambushes, psychological warfare!
The strong must trample the weak!
And the price of failure?
A ruined reputation? A diminished status after marriage?
No! Far worse!
For Fujiwara Chika, who racked up 186 losses and 4 draws last year in the romantic battlefield, winning a confession was everything!
She didn't just want Sakurai to like her.
She wanted him on his knees, head over heels, confessing his love first.
But reality?
Reality was not going according to plan.
"Chika-chan is just too adorable," Sakurai Saki said, a blissful smile on his face.
"Just hugging her heals my soul."
Adorable!? Chika-chan!?
"If I could, I'd want to be with Chika-chan forever."
He even took out his phone as he spoke.
Forever? With Chika-chan!?
Steam seemed to rise from Chika's head.
Overload imminent.
"U-um, President, Sakurai-kun, I'm not feeling so good. I think I'll head back first…"
She stumbled out of the Student Council Room, leaning against the door for support.
She pressed her palm to her forehead.
"So hot~"
After school.
Sakurai left the home economics room, grumbling.
Today, he had to tutor the Nakano quintuplets.
Frankly, it was a pain.
Just thinking about five faces all scowling at him made his stomach twist.
Back in the Student Council Room—
"Hmm? Sakurai-senpai, what's wrong?" asked Ishigami Yu, watching him slump into the seat beside him.
Sakurai dropped his bag like a man defeated.
"Ishigami, tell me—back when you used to skip school, what were you thinking?"
"...Why do you ask?"
"Today's tutoring session. I need insight."
"You're tutoring someone?" Ishigami blinked. "Respect."
"Yeah. They're all problem students. Hate studying, probably hate men too."
"She? So it's a girl? Wait—elementary schooler!?"
"Classmates," Shirogane Miyuki interjected without looking up from his paperwork. "The teacher asked me first, but I passed. I knew I couldn't handle it, so I threw it to Sakurai."
"Pretty much," Sakurai nodded. "Five sisters. None of them want to study, and I'm 90% sure three of them are dodging me on purpose."
He'd met two: Nakano Miku and Nakano Itsuki.
The rest were probably in hiding.
Honestly, he didn't sign up to save the world. If they didn't want to learn, that was their problem.
"You know," Ishigami said, mashing buttons on his game console, "they probably gave up because their foundation's trash. When you can't see any improvement, it's easier to just quit."
Sakurai's eyes narrowed in thought.
So... if I just let them taste a bit of success...
Then the door opened.
Kaguya Shinomiya entered—with Fujiwara Chika clinging to her arm.
"Kaguya-saaan~ Play with meee~"
She was on a mission to find a playmate.
"Fujiwara-kun, can't you play with someone from your Tabletop Game Club?"
"They're all busy today! And Sakurai-kun's probably busy too…"
Chika peeked inside the room.
The moment she saw Sakurai, she broke free of Kaguya's arm like a jailbreak.
Kaguya blinked.
Why do I feel... disappointed?
"Sakurai-kun!!!" Chika rushed over, pulling a box out of her bag with a flourish.
Monopoly.
Sakurai, faced with her beaming expression and sparkling eyes, sighed in surrender.
"I've got work soon, so we can only play one round."
It was 3:30 PM. He had time.
"Ishigami, want in?"
"No thanks. Monopoly's ancient. Too slow." Ishigami didn't even look up from his console.
Kaguya, on the other hand, was visibly excited.
That alone was enough to keep Ishigami far, far away. He valued his sanity.
"You're not... scared, are you~?" Chika taunted sweetly.
Ishigami looked up and scoffed. "Bring it on. But Fujiwara-senpai, you do remember you came dead last in Ludo, right? After a loss that bad, most people would bury their face in shame and disappear."
Chika responded without missing a beat—
"But Sakurai-kun came in first!"
She tilted her head, eyes sparkling.
What does that have to do with you?
Ishigami Yu grumbled inwardly.
This was exactly why he didn't want to get involved.
Across from him, Kaguya Shinomiya sat down beside Fujiwara Chika, quietly watching as she began setting up the Monopoly board.
Monopoly... Kaguya had heard of it.
A game of luck, supposedly.
And Kaguya was confident in her luck—as befitting someone from the Shinomiya family.
Not that she cared about this childish game.
Of course not.
Absolutely not.
It was definitely not because she'd been watching them play Ludo last time and found herself kind of interested.
Not at all.
"When do we start?" she asked, her usual icy tone melting just a touch.
"Kaguya-san~ how boring would it be if we just started like that?" Chika wiggled her right index finger, smiling with exaggerated mystery.
Kaguya blinked.
"…So? What, we're playing for prizes?" Ishigami glanced at her sideways.
"No no no~ This time, we're adding a punishment game!"
Sakurai Saki paused from checking the money pile. His expression sharpened slightly.
He had a bad feeling.
"The first person to win," Chika explained, "gets to ask a truth from the loser! No lying allowed!"
She struck a dramatic pose.
"Ta-da~! It's basically Truth or Dare, Student Council style! President, wanna join~?"
Shirogane Miyuki didn't even look up from his paperwork.
"No thanks," he said, rubbing his dark circles. "There's still the club recruitment stuff from this morning, and the welcome party prep's running late. I'm buried."
"Then it's a four-player game!" Chika clapped happily and began setting out the player tokens and property cards.
Her eyes sparkled.
If she won, she could ask Sakurai anything.
"Do you like anyone?"
And he couldn't lie.
Plan dori. Perfect.
A smug grin bloomed across her face.
Meanwhile, just out of her line of sight—
Sakurai Saki and Ishigami Yu exchanged a glance.
Then a smirk.
They didn't even need words.
They both knew.
Monopoly had a guaranteed winning strategy.
And Fujiwara Chika… didn't stand a chance.