Whether it’s war or love, the game will determine the outcome

"Ha ha ha..."

The room echoed with quick breaths.

Chika struggled to cool her head and ears simultaneously.

She still reluctantly gazed at Shinichi, leaving no room for him to escape.

In contrast, Shinichi looked surprised, not expecting such a turn of events, and was left speechless.

They stared at each other, and a strange silence ensued.

No one spoke, and they forgot what to say. All they could see were nervous expressions in each other's eyes.

Right at that moment.

"There's a loss in being young, quite disturbing to watch~"

Toyomi poking her head out from the door, sighed and said to Shinichi in a mocking tone.

"You, my brother-in-law, Chika has taken the initiative to confess her love. You should take the initiative to pounce and kiss her~ It's impolite to just sit there looking bewildered."

"..."

"Well, anyway, this should be your first time... It's forgivable." She glanced at Chika, a meaningful smile on her lips, and said slowly, "I'll leave you two alone later, and you don't need to worry about exchanging more intimate 'feelings'! Onee-san approves~"

"But after all the fun, remember to clean up the traces."

After talking to herself, Toyomi closed the door without looking at the dull expressions of the two.

"..."

After the intruder left, the room remained in silence, with no one speaking.

Suddenly, Chika stood up and walked slowly towards her bed.

Shinichi sat there, but he couldn't see her expression clearly.

Chika got onto the bed and pulled her blanket.

Before Shinichi could see anything else, the girl shrank into the blanket and wrapped herself tightly in it.

"God is dead..."

A sad voice came from the blanket, like a final message from the heart.

"Don't drag God into this."

Shinichi sighed, and his slightly tense body relaxed.

Although the inconvenient timing caused another wave of embarrassment, thanks to Toyomi's sudden intervention, the stagnant atmosphere finally began to flow, and he also pondered on what to say.

Shinichi looked at the two chess pieces on the chessboard and deliberately sounded casual.

"Actually, you misunderstood. I didn't mean to confess now."

"..."

Chika fell silent, and the same boring voice came again from the blanket.

"Asada-kun is dead..."

"Don't make me go meet God," Shinichi shook his head slightly, although he couldn't see her, "I just want to say something else, and I definitely don't hate you."

Chika stretched her head out, her beautiful face covered in bright red.

"Really? So... Do you like me?"

"Yes..." As the last note was about to fall, Shinichi forced himself to take a breath.

"Why can't I do this? I'm still searching for the reason."

After saying that, he stared at the head in the blanket with a complicated expression.

Initially, Shinichi thought that Chika was just a bit naive, but she was still an innocent girl. But he didn't expect her to be so unpredictable and continue to play tricks.

As expected, Shinichi couldn't underestimate any beautiful girl named Fujiwara; the other side had love IQ, a big chest, no brain, and was an earth-shattering disaster...

Although everything was true, it didn't mean Chika was easily fooled.

Kaguya said something to her last night, or she herself guessed the clues, so she set this trap for him.

With this discovery, Shinichi adjusted his mindset and no longer took it lightly just because his target was a foolish pink octopus.

Some things had to be said more seriously and clearly.

"So, my confession means nothing?"

Chika stared at him, her displeasure evident in her face, but her voice playful.

"Then why are you here? If you don't give me an answer that can heal psychological trauma, just do a hundred handstand push-ups here, Asada-kun!"

Why handstand push-ups...

Shinichi arranged his words and was about to speak when Chika's expression suddenly changed. She jumped out of the blanket and shouted as if she had just woken up from a dream.

"That's not true! That's why I made this game. If you tell me directly now, wouldn't staying up all night be in vain."

As she spoke, she quickly got off the bed and immediately went back to the coffee table, taking out all the game props from the box and arranging them.

Shinichi glanced at the girl with disheveled hair who came towards him with a fragrance. His eyes stopped at the swaying fullness for a few seconds.

"So why are you playing this game? Do you have to tell the truth if you lose?"

"Huh, you're not that shallow!"

Chika focused on her game and didn't see anything strange about herself: "Although I couldn't make it too complicated in one night, and the first version was full of bugs, this is a very profound game!"

"Its depth?" Shinichi really couldn't see how deep this game was.

"You'll find out just by playing~" Chika rolled the dice while smiling.

"Issues between players must be resolved through the game! Whether it's war or love, let the game determine the outcome!"

Her eyes narrowed, and she threw the dice while shouting loudly.

"My turn, duel!"

The dice flew in the air and rolled a few times on the table.

"...Even though you look very cool when reading your lines, the points you make aren't that good."

Shinichi looked at the dice on the table and couldn't help but laugh.

Chika narrowed her eyes and smirked.

"Kukuku, this is the time for you to be proud~"

"Advance one space and choose a name tag as a partner!" After reading the words on the box, she took words that seemed to have been chosen long ago from the name tags divided into classes and grades.

"Because it's already set that you can only choose a relationship with the opposite sex, so of course, I choose—"

Chika blushed a little but pretended to be calm and shouted his name loudly.

"The person I like is Asada Shinichi, ranked 2nd in Class B, 2nd year!"

She adjusted her irregular breathing as quickly as possible, then looked at the stunned Shinichi with pride on her face.

"How is it? A true player dares to say embarrassing words and face their own heart – but you, can you do it?"

Shinichi couldn't say anything, but also because he always felt the other party was trapping him again.

He knew little about the rules and gameplay, just like facing the first generation of Yu-Gi-Oh!

The situation was very unfavorable for him, and he shouldn't respond to her provocations.

However...

Seeing her sweet smile that remained bright even though her face was red, Shinichi let go of all thoughts of protecting himself.

"A real player? Don't forget, whose help are you relying on to get through this super big game of life?"

He reached out and took the dice, sneering.

"You're just a pink little witch, please stop talking shamelessly in front of me."

Chika leaned back in surprise.

"Asada-kun is even better than me at chuuni. Are you not ashamed to say such things?!"

"You're so noisy, you pink octopus head!"

Shinichi became angry and restrained the urge to throw the dice at her.

"Hmph, move three spaces, let me see... first, choose a brand you like, then let the opponent choose for you?"

Shinichi suppressed his anger and felt a bit confused.

But according to the rules, he still quietly chose Chika's name tag from the second year, not because of someone's mockery just now; he would think about mimicking it and shouting that embarrassing sentence.

Chika didn't care about this; she smirked.

"Huhuhu, this is the right time to get to this on the first step~"

Although she didn't grab a stack of name tags, she took out a name tag from somewhere, placed it right in front of her, and said something meaningful at the same time.

"This isn't a coincidence. In my field of play, everything is predestined, Asada-kun."

"What does that mean..."

Shinichi looked at the name tag given to him; his pupils shrank, and his body tensed.

"Maid from the Shinomiya family." "Hayasaka-chan" —— This line caught his attention with its round and cute font.