Chapter 188: Love You Without Words
Sakurai had thought he wouldn't run into Shinomiya Kaguya today.
Just like how a polar bear in the Arctic can never meet a penguin in the Antarctic.
What's that? You say they can be transported by plane to meet?
Sorry, but there are no penguins in the Arctic, and no bears in the Antarctic — so these two species literally can't meet!
"Kaguya-san, your ability to cram is kinda impressive,"
Next to the bookshelf, Sakurai glanced at the book in Shinomiya Kaguya's hand.
It was a set of last year's exam questions, published by Shuchiin Academy, and even handwritten — probably compiled by a high-achieving student from the past and left behind in the library.
Pretty impressive that she managed to find it.
At the same time, it genuinely surprised Sakurai Saki.
[You have received a quest: Kiss (Part 3)]
[Wrap your arms around Shinomiya Kaguya's petite waist and kiss her lips — must be a mature-style kiss]
[Reward: Time-stopping device]
[You have received a quest: Even Yukinoshita Yukino would want to punch you after hearing this]
[Mock Shinomiya Kaguya's chest size — at least three times]
[Reward: Obedience Candy]
Sakurai Saki wasn't going to do either of these quests.
He wasn't about to go mock a girl's physical shortcomings out of nowhere… well, calling it a "shortcoming" might be a bit much, but Kaguya's chest size really was pathetically tragic.
As for the kiss quest, Sakurai felt that was something he could only do with Chika or Ai-chan — he had zero interest in any of the other girls.
The next moment, karma slapped him in the face.
[You have received a quest: Kiss (Part 4)]
[Kiss Shinobu's loli form — duration must be at least 10 seconds]
[Reward: Stamina +5]
Huh? This one's actually pretty simple.
By vampire standards of embarrassment, kissing Shinobu shouldn't be hard, right? They'd already bathed together who knows how many times.
They'd already seen each other's naked bodies more times than he could count.
[Shinobu Shinobu, this is Sakurai Saki — if you can hear me, respond!]
[(* ´ ﹃｀*) Haa~ Codenamed Shinobu is~ currently sleeping. What does Master want?]
Her voice sounded half-asleep.
[Please kiss me! For at least ten seconds!]
[(//Ò///Ó//) You… you Italian bastard?! Kiss… kiss what?!]
Sakurai could easily imagine her blushing face.
[You won't?]
[⁽⁽(੭ꐦ •̀Д•́ )੭*⁾⁾ Of course not!]
Forget it.
Let's talk about it later.
No wait — even later, he's not doing that either. Hugging that tiny little body and kissing her… that's just full-on pervert territory.
——
Shinomiya Kaguya was flipping through the set of practice exams. Hearing a sound, she turned around, tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. Today she wasn't wearing her usual headband — her long black hair flowed like a waterfall, as dark as ink. Her expression was cold, but still incredibly captivating.
Sakurai preferred her with long, straight black hair like this.
Kaguya's "ice mode" was much more interesting than her current self.
Ever since she started wearing that headband, Shinomiya Kaguya's biting sarcasm and sharp tongue had mellowed a lot — which honestly made Sakurai lose interest.
He wasn't a masochist or anything, it's just that he'd gotten used to her S side, so the sudden switch felt super weird.
"Sakurai-san, could you kindly direct your filthy gaze somewhere else?" Shinomiya Kaguya said coldly.
She gathered up the exam sheets, looking perfectly serious. Her uniform was neat and flawless.
"I was looking at the book in your hand — how is that a filthy gaze?" Sakurai asked, confused.
Women don't need a reason to scold someone. To put it simply: women scolding people doesn't need any reason at all.
Truly terrifying creatures — are they all this thick-skinned?
"Getting turned on just from looking at someone else's practice exams… looks like I'll need to reassess your sexual preferences." Shinomiya Kaguya spoke as she prepared to take the papers elsewhere. "Don't worry — even if you're into inanimate objects, Sakurai-san, I won't judge you."
She hadn't taken more than a few steps away.
When a voice Sakurai Saki knew all too well rang out nearby.
"Oya, isn't that oba-sama?"Shijo Maki appeared from behind the bookshelf, leaning against it with a very casual posture.
A few seconds later, seemingly realizing that leaning on a bookshelf wasn't a great idea — it might knock the books out of place — she stood up straight.
Her movements flowed like water, but somehow gave off the aura of… a completely irrelevant shrimp.
"Oba-sama?" Sakurai Saki caught that keyword.
He knew Shijo Maki was somehow related to Kaguya, but he didn't expect they were separated by… how many generations exactly?
Just how big was the hierarchy gap between them?
"Sakurai-san, Shijo-san and I are relatives."
"That's right, oba-sama." Maki grinned like a country farmer who had just caught a baby lamb and was furiously plucking its wool.
Maki: (≖⩊≖)
She latched onto Kaguya's weak spot and began her relentless attack.
Kaguya's face turned red. "Shijo-san, that way of addressing me…"
Kaguya: (⸝⸝⸝> ▵ <⸝⸝⸝)
"But that's our proper hierarchy, isn't it? O-ba-sa-ma~"
"Indeed!" Kaguya grit her teeth. "Those from the branch family must show respect to those of the main family."
"Oya, is oba-sama mad? Wrinkles are about to show up on your face," Maki teased, and the moment she finished speaking, Kaguya's expression turned ice cold — in the middle of summer, Shijo Maki felt a chill down her spine.
She immediately turned to Sakurai Saki for help:
"Saki-chan, oba-sama is scary~!"
(｡>﹏<)
Kaguya clenched her teeth, trying to suppress her rage. "Shijo-san, what are you doing here?"
"Oba-sama doesn't know? I'm Saki-chan's best friend!" Shijo Maki said as she covered her mouth and giggled softly. "Now that I think about it, you've worked together in the student council for almost a year, and yet you still call him by his last name."
"Oba-sama, you're just so bad at communication~"
Shinomiya Kaguya smiled faintly and turned to Sakurai. "Sa…"
She barely got one syllable out when she realized — she couldn't say the next one.
It was way too embarrassing! She never realized that calling someone by their first name was this humiliating!
Kaguya had never known such shame before!
"Forget it, if you can't say it, then don't." Shijo Maki said smugly, lifting her chin slightly and confidently walking to Sakurai's side. She took his hand, getting ready to drag him off to tutor the five idiots.
Well, only three of them showed up today — Idiot no.1 and no.4 couldn't make it.
Nakano Ichika's career was skyrocketing like a kite caught in the wind, and as for her studies… well, fate would decide. But she'd probably manage to pass.
"Who said I couldn't do it?!" Shinomiya Kaguya snapped back defiantly.
Shijo Maki turned around mockingly. "Give it up already, oba-sama!"
The two walked side by side to the study room. Shinomiya Kaguya thought for a few seconds, then followed them.
She wanted to see exactly how Sakurai Saki was tutoring those sisters every day.
[You have received a quest: The Quintuplets]
[Conquer all five Nakano sisters — don't miss a single one!]
[Reward: World Adjustment Mode]
[You have received a quest: Kiss (Part 5)]
[You have received a quest: Kiss (Part 6)]
[Kiss Nino — she must be the one to initiate it]
[Reward: Isekai Travel – Seven Days]
…
[You have received a quest: Kiss (Part 7)]
At this rate, Sakurai felt like he was turning into a full-blown kiss maniac.
And this ability was going to last for seven days — he didn't even want to imagine how many girls would show up on the quest list by the final day.
Sakurai felt like this system wasn't any different from those garbage-tier "Harem Pokémon" light novels where every pretty girl is a collectible and it's " catch 'em all!" — with zero concern for whether the girls were even willing.
"Nino-san, what's wrong?" Sakurai snapped back to reality and realized Nino was spacing out too.
"It's nothing," Nino replied softly.
To love without the courage to speak… how do you ease that suffocating feeling in your chest?