Chapter 43: Kaguya-sama Wants to Help Her Maid Flirt with a Guy
After dinner, Sakurai Saki, along with Gabriel and Ishigami Yuu, started playing games.
Ai-chan usually didn't get online until around eight or nine at night. Lately, there were even days she couldn't log in at all.
As soon as they logged in, the three of them formed a party and turned on voice chat.
Ishigami Yuu's voice came through the headset:
"Yo! Sakurai-senpai! Can you hear me?!"
(„• ֊ •„)੭
"I can hear you." Sakurai Saki pressed the party button.
( ദ്ദി ˙ᗜ˙ )
"Aki, why didn't you ask if I could hear you?" Gabriel suddenly chimed in.
(¬`‸´¬)
"Because even if I don't ask, you'd speak up on your own anyway." Sakurai Saki replied Gabriel.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The three of them entered the character selection screen.
"Sakurai-senpai, what are you planning to play?"
Ishigami Yuu was getting ready to play support — in other words, to be the "meat shield" for the team.
"I'll play Bloodhound, you pick Wraith, and Gab-chan will take healer, she's the newbie." Sakurai Saki assigned the roles.
Gabriel didn't object either:
"You're the one who dragged me here, Aki. I was farming a dungeon~"
Ishigami Yuu let out a quiet "umu."
But in his mind, he was wondering:
'Who is this girl…? Did Sakurai-senpai get stood up today, so he found someone to game with to cheer himself up…?'
'Is Hayasaka-senpai no longer the first choice?'
Thinking that, Ishigami Yuu let out a breath of relief.
His skills were far below those of Hayasaka Ai and Sakurai Saki, so he usually played support, doing tasks like scouting and locating enemies. Today, though he was still supporting Sakurai Saki with scouting, at least there was someone even more noob than him.
After finishing that thought, Ishigami Yuu debated whether he should greet this unfamiliar girl online.
No, forget it. It's just one session anyway. He'd just call her by her in-game name later.
Ishigami Yuu was the introverted type; his first instinct when dealing with strangers was to minimize contact.
Unfamiliar classmates? No good! Unknown girls online? Definitely not! Girls who are sweet to everyone? Absolutely not!
As long as he didn't interact with others, there'd be no misunderstandings, and no tragedies would occur.
ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
…
While the three of them were gaming—
At the Shinomiya mansion in the Tokyo bay district.
Hayasaka Ai was grinding her teeth as she walked through the hallway, brimming with fury. She wasn't in the mood to chat with Kaguya anymore.
Flirt, flirt, flirt! Every day, it's flirting!
Does Kaguya-sama have no hobbies besides venting her feelings?
I'm your personal maid, not your toy!
Even if we're as close as sisters, you still can't interfere with my attempts at flirting with guys! And wasn't that your suggestion in the first place?
<(ꐦㅍ _ㅍ)>
Hayasaka took a deep breath, forcing down her anger. With a blank expression, she pushed open the door.
"Hayasaka, our plan went really smoothly today." Shinomiya Kaguya had just finished speaking when she saw the dark lines on Hayasaka Ai's face.
( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ )
"What's wrong?"
( ╹ -╹)?
'You seriously have the nerve to ask me that?' Hayasaka Ai thought back to what happened that afternoon and felt a headache coming on.
(｡•̀ ⤙ •́ ｡ꐦ) !!!
That sidewalk rumor had been spread by Shinomiya Kaguya herself. According to her plan, as long as Sakurai Saki was surrounded by onlookers, anyone who came to confess to him would back off out of common sense!
The outcome was exactly as she had predicted—almost down to the last detail.
But there was one huge problem.
After going through that, would Sakurai Saki ever accept a love letter again? He'd worked up the courage to face someone's feelings, only to end up humiliated like that. If it left him with PTSD and made him afraid of "love" itself? That wasn't out of the question!
Sakurai: (っ- ‸ - ς)
"Kaguya-sama, right now Sakurai is basically the boyfriend of every girl in school."
(ㅅ´ ˘ `)
Hayasaka Ai spoke with a smile that wasn't really a smile.
This is all your fault, Kaguya-sama!
From what Hayasaka Ai understood about Sakurai Saki, there was no way he would accept that kind of confession.
Because with someone as amazing as herself—Hayasaka Ai—by his side, and even then he hadn't clearly expressed any romantic intention toward her, how could he possibly be interested in some wild grass that just popped up out of nowhere? No chance!
This wasn't narcissism on Hayasaka Ai's part—she was simply stating the truth.
（￣へ￣）hmph!
Now, thanks to Shinomiya Kaguya's interference, Sakurai Saki had suddenly gained the traumatic experience of being watched by the entire school as he got stood up, and on top of that, was saddled with a bunch of "backup girlfriends."
"Hayasaka, what exactly are you worried about?" Shinomiya Kaguya looked a little puzzled.
Those girls, anyone could tell they were just joking!
There's no way any of them actually believed they were in a relationship with Sakurai!
"You're worried Sakurai-san will go from 'Sakurai of one person' to 'Sakurai of everyone,' and from there, give up on love? Is that what you're worried about, Hayasaka?" Shinomiya Kaguya guessed.
Give up on love? Hayasaka Ai didn't care about that at all. She firmly believed Sakurai Saki would be the one to confess to her first—it was just a matter of time.
"It's fine. After a while, everyone will forget about it."
Hayasaka Ai stayed silent.
Kaguya-sama, do you really not get it? Or are you just pretending not to understand? That Sakurai Saki guy, at school, he totally fits the image of a warm and gentle boy. The number of female fans he has is absolutely terrifying.
For a moment, Hayasaka Ai didn't even dare continue the thought. She started to worry—what if, after she actually managed to win Sakurai Saki over, some crazed fangirl sent a kitchen knife to her mailbox?
Mysterious fangirl *cough*pink-hair*cough*: (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈)っ▬ι═ﺤ
The girls at Shuchiin were all daughters of tycoons. And she? Just a tiny little maid-chan. There was no way she could bear that burden!
Especially after this whole commotion, his popularity would definitely shoot up another level. At that point, becoming Shuchiin's idol would be a piece of cake.
If he just raised a hand and shouted, the entire nation of Japan would tremble three times.
Sakurai: ( •◡-)-♡
Fangirl: (∩˃o˂∩)♡ kyaa!!!
"Hayasaka, you really are the jealous type. Just because Sakurai-san treats you a bit differently than others, you think he likes you? Let me be blunt—you still have a long way to go if you want to win him over." Shinomiya Kaguya teased.
"Given the current situation, if you were to come and ask for my help, I wouldn't necessarily refuse to humble myself and assist you."
（￣^￣）
Lately, in order to help her maid flirt Sakurai, Shinomiya Kaguya had been obsessively reading psychology books.
She was confident she could help Hayasaka Ai conquer Sakurai Saki!
Even though she had never dated anyone herself, and was a textbook theorist, that didn't matter—everyone starts from zero, after all!
Hearing that, Hayasaka Ai clenched her fists tightly.
If he doesn't like me, do you think he likes you?
(ꐦ○_○) !!
Wasn't it you who argued with him every single day last year? And every time you came back, you made me go and get revenge on your behalf. Clearly, you just couldn't win the argument.
Hayasaka Ai recalled Sakurai Saki's way of arguing—his verbal skills were brutally sharp.
He always hit right at people's weaknesses.
"Kaguya-sama, do you think I can't win him over?" Hayasaka Ai asked, slightly irritated.
<(ꐦㅍ _ㅍ)>
She felt like Kaguya was just spouting theory without any practical understanding.
"Without my help, it'd be really tough~" Shinomiya Kaguya hugged a book on her bed to her chest.
<( °^° )>
Lately, she'd been reading the book "Tips for Flirting with Boys 101" every night before bed.
"Then why don't you try flirting with him yourself!! Talking like Sakurai's easy to fall in love with or something!!" Hayasaka Ai snapped.
Kaguya-sama, you really have no idea just how much of a headache that guy is!!
"Fine, I will!!" Shinomiya Kaguya was also provoked by Hayasaka Ai's words.
ʰᵘʰ (ꐦ○_○）✧
I'll win him over, and then flaunt our affection like crazy right in front of you!
Yes! I'll flaunt it like crazy in front of Secretary Fujiwara too!!
Kaguya-sama, what's in front of you is hell itself~ Hayasaka Ai's face remained expressionless.
He was a boy as wildly unpredictable and chaotic as Fujiwara Chika herself.