The Heroines Want to Confess.

Chapter 117: Shirogane Miyuki – The Volleyball Boy

Inside the student council room.

After thinking for a while, Shirogane Miyuki started the conversation:

"Hey Sakurai. What I said to you last time, that even if you're going to be a scumbag, you should do it in a clear and transparent way — I said that so you wouldn't mess around with a girl's feelings, not because I was actually encouraging you to become a scumbag…"

In Shirogane Miyuki's heart, Sakurai Saki was actually a good person — or rather, not inherently bad. Though he often displayed unpleasant sides of his personality, at the very least he still managed to maintain a respectable exterior.

"Now that you mention it, I should thank you. What you said back then really woke me up."

ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

At the time, Sakurai Saki felt like the clouds had cleared and the sky brightened — everything suddenly made sense.

"But don't you think you went a bit too far? Right now, I only like two girls. That's not enough to be called a scumbag, is it?" Sakurai Saki turned around and handed him a cup of coffee.

A while later, Ishigami Yuu — whom they hadn't seen in a long time — walked in.

Ishigami: („• ֊ •„)੭

"Miyuki-senpai, Sakurai-senpai, good afternoon." He said timidly, then sat down beside the sofa and turned on his game console.

Sakurai Saki also handed him a cup of coffee. He had prepared four in total.

"Read any books lately?"

"A little bit." Ishigami Yuu didn't lie.

Lately, while playing games, he'd also spent a bit of time studying — not much, maybe about an hour a day, and that included time spent doing homework.

That's how people are — they swing between moments of high spirit and phases of giving up and waiting for death. With no one pushing him, Ishigami had reverted to his original nature.

Habits aren't easy to form.

Shirogane Miyuki looked up, greeted Ishigami first, then resumed the earlier conversation.

It was all guys here, and everyone kept their mouths shut, so there was nothing to worry about.

"Sakurai, I think this whole playing-both-sides thing is already pretty awful." Shirogane Miyuki's words made Ishigami pause.

Ishigami: (o_O)!

What are Miyuki-senpai and Sakurai-senpai talking about?

"Really? I think it's pretty normal. If everyone involved agrees, then clearly it's the better choice." Sakurai Saki said, then gave an example, "Galgame, you know it, right Shirogane? Galgame."

"Umu, I've looked into it." Shirogane nodded.

And Ishigami Yuu was a huge fan of those otaku games.

Seeing him nod, Sakurai Saki continued: "A game with multiple routes to conquer different characters, but in most cases, you can only pick one."

Ishigami felt like he got it.

So they were talking about galgame? Now this was his domain!

( •᷄ᴗ•́)ᕤ

In this student council, who understood how to conquer Bishoujo better than him?

...Only counting the 2D world, of course. (ಥ◡ಥ)

"Sakurai-senpai wants to play the harem route?" Ishigami thought they were talking about a game.

"Play? My feelings are serious, not some fling." Sakurai Saki retorted.

'...' This guy's really committed to the role.

Ishigami Yuu felt like even when he played games, he'd never gotten that deep into character.

"If you pick the harem route, the male protagonist gets labeled as a scumbag." Ishigami put his game console down, "The single route gives off a purer sense of love."

Ishigami Yuu was a warrior of pure love.

Ishigami: ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧

"Ishigami, think about it — if I choose one of the two, someone will definitely be left behind. What's she supposed to do? Marry another man? Or live alone for the rest of her life?"

"Can't you switch routes halfway through?" Ishigami Yuu asked, puzzled.

It's not like you can only play a game once.

"Switch routes? Isn't that even more scumbag-like?" Sakurai Saki looked at his junior with a disappointed expression.

"Choosing only one, no matter what, won't end well. The girl I like ending up loving and marrying a complete stranger — if you guys can accept that, then go ahead."

If your hearts don't align, you can't walk the path together.

Ishigami Yuu started to think.

Could it be that choosing the single route in a game is, in a way, also an act of heartlessness? The Heroines you could've pursued but didn't — are they just going to end up with some random NPC? That part is never mentioned in the story.

These days, even famous actresses and seiyuu end up marrying office workers — it's not impossible for female characters in games to marry regular people either, right? It's not like the protagonist picked her, so doesn't she have the right to love someone else?

After thinking it through, Ishigami looked up and said seriously: "Sakurai-senpai, I think being a scumbag is still better."

Ishigami: ( ｡ •̀ ᴖ •́ ｡)

Shirogane Miyuki, hearing the conversation, snapped:

"You two are underestimating how girls feel. No girl wants to be dragged into some guy's harem. Besides, our country doesn't allow polygamy. Treating girls like something to be divided up — that's just wrong."

"I already said, it's only if the girls agree to it," Sakurai Saki emphasized.

Hearing that, Ishigami Yuu pondered: "But none of us have a girlfriend, so what's the point of discussing this?"

...Silence.

The atmosphere suddenly went quiet.

"Eh?" As the other two stared at him, Ishigami felt like ants were crawling down his spine.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Sorry, Ishigami… Sakurai… he already has a girlfriend," Shirogane Miyuki said with a voice full of sorrow.

He had always known this day would come, but he hadn't expected it to come so soon.

"He has… huh? A girlfriend?" At first, Ishigami's brain couldn't process it.

The next second, his expression looked as if he had just seen a ghost.

(っ´ཀ`)っ (°Д°υ)

Unthinkable. If Sakurai-senpai was really dating Fujiwara-senpai, then what kind of place would this student council room become!?

Up until now, he could casually scold Fujiwara-senpai — but now, the senpai he deeply respected, Sakurai-senpai, and "Cancer of Earth" Fujiwara-senpai had become a couple.

How was he supposed to insult her anymore?

That's right — Ishigami Yuu believed that the person Sakurai Saki was dating was Fujiwara Chika. As for Hayasaka Ai, all he knew was that she played games with Sakurai Saki, and when she did, she was just like him — a cold-blooded killing machine, so strong that she'd gotten her account mistakenly banned multiple times.

An online gaming buddy versus someone who was constantly close in the student council room — how could those even compare?

The person Sakurai-senpai would choose — wasn't it obviously Fujiwara-senpai? Even if she acted a bit dumb, anyone could clearly see her relationship with Sakurai Saki.

You couldn't win. No matter how you thought about it, there was no way to win.

Just as Sakurai Saki was about to explain things further to Ishigami, the door opened.

Soft pink hair, a signature black ribbon — Chika-chan had just stepped into the room, twirled once on the spot, and then with a beaming face, jumped into Sakurai Saki's arms.

Chika: ✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ )و✧*｡

Seeing this scene, Ishigami became even more convinced of what he was thinking.

"Ara~ isn't that Ishigami-kun~?"

"...Fujiwara-senpai, if you're going to show affection to Sakurai-senpai, could you do it somewhere else?" Ishigami, overwhelmed by the stench of love, pinched his nose. "I'm about to suffocate here."

"This is just a friendly hug, not some public display of affection," Chika emphasized.

Sakurai Saki let her go.

The harem topic from earlier — with a girl present, it probably couldn't continue.

So Sakurai changed the subject:

"For the sports festival, are you guys planning to sign up for any events?"

"Not interested," Ishigami Yuu was the first to decline. "But if Sakurai-senpai needs cheering, I can come help support."

ദ്ദി(ᵔᗜᵔ)

Participation in the sports festival wasn't mandatory — quite a few people didn't sign up. But those types often ended up isolated for being unsociable.

Ishigami was already isolated anyway, so he didn't care.

"What about you, Saki-kun? Which event are you choosing?"

"Probably volleyball? I'm pretty familiar with it." Sakurai Saki usually played as the main attacker.

"Ooh, ooh. What about the president, Shirogane?"

"I'm not good with sports, but I'll go with volleyball too this time." Shirogane Miyuki sorted through the stack of approved documents, stretched, then sat down by the sofa.

Chika: "Then I'll choose volleyball too."

"Shirogane, we're not in the same class, right? We might end up facing each other then." Sakurai Saki pointed out.

This time, it was a class-versus-class tournament.

"That's fine. I'm not that used to volleyball, so I probably won't be much of a match for you." Shirogane sipped his coffee — Sakurai's coffee was as delicious as always.

At that moment, Fujiwara Chika seemed to latch onto a key word.

'A little bit.'

(≖ - ≖)

The last time President Shirogane sang, he also said he was only "a little bit" bad at it.

Now, Chika smelled danger.

But unfortunately, Sakurai Saki didn't notice.

"Then let's practice volleyball a bit together. Chika, come train with us too."

"..." Chika hesitated.

President Shirogane was a bomb that could explode at any moment — but she didn't want to reject Sakurai Saki's invitation.

…No matter how bad the president was in music, that only applied to music, right?

When it came to sports, it should be a different story.

'Umu, let's hope so.'

(─ ‿ ─)