Kaguya-sama: Love is War IF - If Shirogane Had Embraced Her Behind the Gym
Shuchiin Academy. Student council president Miyuki Shirogane and vice president Kaguya Shinomiya are both secretly in love with each other. But due to their ridiculous pride—believing that 'whoever confesses first loses'—they continue their daily battles of wit.
Then one summer day, during sports festival practice, Kaguya feels dizzy from mild heatstroke and heads toward the infirmary. Worried, Shirogane follows her and calls out behind the gym where no one is around.
'Shinomiya, are you okay?
Kaguya-sama: Love is War IF - If Shirogane Had Embraced Her Behind the Gym - Piano Reverberations — A Night of Blood and Mud
[[Status: 5 Days Remaining]]
[[Inner State: Urgent]]
[[New Mission: Respond to Fujiwara Maya's Invitation]]
My phone vibrated.
Monday night. In my apartment in Itabashi Ward, I was slurping down a discount cup ramen. From the next room, I could hear the sound of my little sister Kei watching TV.
The thing that vibrated was my phone.
"...What?"
I looked at the screen. A notification on the messaging app "TalkLink," from an unfamiliar ID.
*This Saturday, I will be holding a small recital at the Shinomiya family villa. I would very much like for you to see reality, Shirogane-san. — Fujiwara Maya*
My chopsticks stopped.
*I would very much like for you to see reality.*
That one line stabbed into my eyes with a strange intensity.
"[cold]...Reality, huh?"
I brought the noodles to my mouth. They had no taste.
I knew what Maya was aiming for. She intended to throw me into that villa — a symbol of money and power — and show me, beyond any doubt, that I'm not someone who can stand in the same world as Kaguya.
It's a trap.
I know that perfectly well.
But what surfaced in my mind was Kaguya's face from last Friday. How shaken she'd been in the student council room just from hearing Maya's name. There's something there. Something between Kaguya and Maya that I don't know about.
"[whispers]...I've got no choice but to go."
I can't let Maya and Kaguya be alone together. I don't even know if I can protect her, but the fact that I'd decided I could — I laughed at myself, just a little.
I put down my phone. I dumped the leftover broth from the cup ramen into the sink and went back to my room.
I opened my closet. School uniform. T-shirts. Jeans. That jacket with the too-short sleeves I'd worn to the high-end lounge with Hayasaka.
"[sad]...Is this really all I've got?"
A sigh escaped me.
I put it on. Sure enough, my wrists were visible. I looked in the mirror. I didn't own a necktie or a dress shirt. No matter how you looked at it, I was a poor student who didn't belong.
"[sarcastic]Well, no point worrying about it now."
I gave a bitter smile. I had no choice but to laugh.
The fact that I still had enough composure to laugh here — that was my one and only saving grace.
**
Saturday.
4:00 PM. A high-class residential area on the western outskirts of Tokyo.
I got off the bus and walked for ten minutes, following the directions. And then, it appeared before my eyes.
"[surprised]...This is a villa?"
My voice cracked.
The gate alone was taller than the first floor of my apartment building. Beyond the polished iron, a vast garden stretched out before me. Meticulously maintained pine trees. And in the distance, a massive Western-style mansion that looked like a hotel. Its white walls, bathed in the orange light before dusk, seemed almost divine.
A gatekeeper in formal attire gave me a hard stare.
"[cold]May I see your invitation?"
"[nervous]Ah, here it is."
I showed him my phone screen. The gatekeeper checked it, then slowly opened the gate.
I took one step inside.
The ground was different. Not ordinary dirt — it was covered in fine white gravel. Every step I took made a crunching sound. An out-of-place sound, coming from my worn-out sneakers.
Rose arches lined both sides of the path leading to the mansion. Even though it wasn't the season, large blossoms were in full bloom. Probably grown in a greenhouse. I started wondering how much each one cost, then stopped myself.
At the entrance stood a butler in a tailcoat.
"[cold]You must be Shirogane Miyuki-sama. Please, this way."
The inside was even more incredible.
The ceiling was high. A chandelier glittered brilliantly. Oil paintings hung on the walls, and the floor was marble. Only my sneakers made small, pitiful footsteps.
"[whispers]Shirogane-san."
I heard a voice and turned around.
She was there.
Shinomiya Kaguya was there.
She was wearing a black dress. Her long black hair, which reached her waist, was done up, exposing the pale nape of her neck. At her throat was a diamond necklace that looked like scattered stardust. Her crimson eyes were wide open, staring at me as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"[surprised]President... why are you here?"
Her voice trembled with shock. But that wasn't all. Seeing my out-of-place jacket, as if she'd realized something, her face crumpled for just an instant.
I felt like she was apologizing to me.
"[serious]I was invited. By Maya."
I said it as casually as I could.
"An observation visit. Of this recital thing. Not something a poor guy like me usually gets to experience."
"[sad]...Please don't say it like that."
Kaguya looked down.
Just then, light footsteps approached.
A chestnut-brown bob swayed. Today, she was wearing a navy tuxedo. Her slightly greenish-brown eyes sparkled with amusement as they moved back and forth between Kaguya and me.
"[excited]Shirogane-san! Thank you so much for coming. And Kaguya-san, it's been far too long. I've prepared a special piece just for you today."
Saying that, Maya gave an elegant bow.
As if she didn't notice the heavy atmosphere between Kaguya and me at all.
**
I was guided to the hall.
It was large enough to seat about a hundred people, with a single grand piano sitting majestically in the center. There were about twenty invited guests. All of them were clearly wealthy, and all adults. I took a seat near the back, a conspicuously out-of-place presence.
Kaguya sat in the very front row.
Her back was perfectly straight. She didn't turn around to look at me even once.
Eventually, the lights dimmed, leaving only the piano illuminated.
Maya took the stage.
"[gentle]I will now play my favorite piece. Chopin. Ballade No. 1. I dedicate this to you, Kaguya-san."
Maya's fingers touched the keys.
The moment the first note resonated through the hall...
Something raced across my skin.
I don't know anything about technique. But I understood. This was incredible. On a completely different level. The air itself trembled. It felt like being left behind alone in the flow of time, mercilessly battered by a storm named music.
This was the gap.
An absolute wall, born from the talent and environment Maya possessed — a wall that could never be overcome, no matter what.
I clenched my fist.
(*Don't lose.*)
I felt like an utterly insignificant existence.
That's when it happened.
Right at the moment the performance reached its middle section.
With a twitch.
Kaguya's slender shoulders, sitting in the front row, trembled.
**
Memories played back in her mind.
A stage. A large piano. In the audience, her father and her brothers. Their eyes held not expectation, but appraisal. If she couldn't play perfectly, she had no worth.
Her fingers wouldn't move.
The keys felt distant. The sound grew muddled.
(*Stop it.*)
Her heart was pounding in her ears. It was too loud. She couldn't breathe. Cold sweat ran down her back. The noise in her head drowned out the music.
(*Please, stop—*)
The piano sounds of the past and present mixed together inside her.
"—!"
Clutching her chest, Kaguya collapsed forward.
She crumpled from her chair.
"[shouting]Kaguya!!"
I was shouting. My body moved before I could think. I practically kicked aside the chair in front of me and ran down the aisle.
"Kaguya!"
I shouted again.
My arm was grabbed from behind with tremendous force.
"[cold]Outsiders, please step back."
A man in a black suit. When had he appeared? He had both my arms pinned behind my back.
"L-let go! She's collapsed! Can't you see that?!"
"[cold]Do not touch the young lady."
"I'm her boyfriend! I said let go!"
I twisted my body with all my strength, trying to shake him off.
In that instant.
*Thud.*
A heavy impact to my stomach.
"—Gahah!"
All the air was forced out of my lungs. My vision whited out. My knees buckled.
A large hand from another man grabbed my neck.
"[cold]I believe you were warned. Do not touch her, outsider."
*SLAM!*
My face was smashed against the cold marble floor.
I heard a dull, bone-deep sound from inside my nose. My vision turned red. A lukewarm liquid flowed from my nostrils into my mouth. A nosebleed.
"Ugh... ah..."
It hurt.
But more than that, pinned to the floor, all I could do was watch the scene unfolding before my eyes.
Kaguya was being carried away.
To another room.
Her pale face. Her closed eyelids.
She wasn't looking at me.
"Ka... guya..."
There was no way my voice could reach her.
My mouth was filled with the taste of iron. My own nosebleed spreading across the polished marble floor looked terribly vivid, and utterly miserable.
In the hall, Maya's piano music still flowed on, elegant as ever.
Not a single person looked at me.
It was as if only the sound of the piano and my pain had been left behind in this world.
**
The performance ended.
Silence.
Applause erupted.
The refined applause of adults. The bodyguards pinning me down released their grip and clapped as well, as if nothing had happened.
I remained sprawled on the floor, unable to stand up.
*Clack.*
The sound of leather shoes approached.
Polished leather shoes stopped right in front of my nose.
Maya crouched down.
On her face, looking down at me, there was no sneer, no pity. Just a quiet, composed expression.
"[whispers]Shirogane-san."
Maya spoke quietly.
"[cold]What were you able to do here today?"
I couldn't answer.
The hand I'd lifted to wipe my nosebleed was trembling pathetically.
"[cold]You couldn't protect her."
Maya stated the fact, flatly and matter-of-factly.
"[cold]That is the difference between you and me. This is reality."
Those words pierced far deeper into my heart than any shouted insult ever could.
I couldn't say anything.
Anything at all.
Because there wasn't a single fact I could use to argue back.
The bodyguards grabbed both my arms and hauled me to my feet.
Just like that, I was dragged along to the entrance.
The heavy door opened.
Outside, it was already starting to get dark.
I was quietly tossed out beyond the gate.
I landed on my backside.
Behind me, the heavy sound of the gate closing.
Alone, I sat there in front of the gate.
My jacket with the too-short sleeves was stained with dirt and my own nosebleed.
I should have been able to laugh.
"[crying]...Dammit."
My voice shook.
I couldn't laugh at all.
**
Late at night.
My apartment in Itabashi Ward.
I changed the tissue stuffed up my nose. It was bright red. Looking in the mirror, my face was a terrible mess. My nose was swollen, and a faint blue bruise was forming under my eye.
Just then, my phone rang.
An incoming call.
The name displayed on the screen was — *Hayasaka Ai*.
My heart shrank as if seized by a cold hand.
I took a breath. With trembling fingers, I tapped the call button.
"[whispers]...Hello?"
"[cold]Shirogane-san. Regarding today's incident, my evaluation of you is zero."
It was a voice like ice water being poured into my ear.
The single thread of hope that had still remained deep in my heart, like a candle flame, was completely extinguished.
"You dragged the young lady into a dangerous situation and couldn't even help her. Your powerlessness is what hurt her."
I couldn't say anything.
"[cold]...Never approach the young lady again."
Before those words could even finish...
A soundless noise escaped from the back of my throat.
"Hic..."
The strength drained from my knees.
Just like that, I collapsed onto the cold flooring.
Still clutching my phone, I cried.
No excuses, no anger — nothing welled up inside me. I was just so pathetic, so frustrated, and the tears wouldn't stop overflowing.
"Uu... aah...!"
I tried to stifle my voice, but it was impossible. I just cried out loud, like a child.
I couldn't help her.
I couldn't protect her.
In the end, I never had the right to stand beside Kaguya in the first place.
Hayasaka didn't hang up.
She said nothing. No reprimand, no consolation.
She was just... there.
My sob
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