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Chapter 48: The King's Game (Youth Edition)
🕑 Added 2025-07-30 20:48:01 +0000 UTC‘Knock, knock—'
The soft sound of knocking echoed in the quiet room.
A voice followed from outside the door:
“Yukinoshita-san, may I come in?”
Inside the Service Club room, Yukinoshita Yukino, who had been half-distracted with a book, instinctively tightened her grip on it.
‘Aoki Kei... knocking on the door?’
That in itself was already suspicious enough—he never knocked.
Not to mention the timing: right after the test results had come out.
Yukinoshita had never imagined she would actually lose to Aoki Kei in the rankings.
She had held the top spot for years.
Since middle school, even.
This was the first time she had ever been ranked second.
And now, everything she had smugly said before was coming back around like a boomerang—merciless and uninvited.
Especially that one line...
“Aoki-san, I hope you can maintain that attitude after next week’s exams.”
She gripped her book even tighter.
Recalling her own past overconfidence felt like a cruel form of psychological punishment.
Yukinoshita inhaled deeply, forcing herself to shut down the train of humiliating memories.
In her usual cold, composed voice, she finally responded:
“Come in.”
The door handle turned, and in walked Aoki Kei.
“Good afternoon, Yukinoshita-san,” he greeted, casually placing his bag beside a chair just like always.
He pulled out a book, just like always.
Flipped through it—also like always.
The only difference was that this time, he had actually greeted her politely.
Yukinoshita said nothing.
Aoki Kei also stayed quiet.
Only Hikigaya Hachiman, who had followed them in, seemed vaguely suspicious.
He could sense something was off.
And he definitely noticed Aoki stopping him from opening the door earlier, only to knock instead.
That had to mean something... but with the limited information he had, there was no way to piece it all together yet.
So, Hachiman pulled out a light novel and pretended to read, while covertly paying full attention to the two in front of him.
The room was silent.
Aside from the soft sound of turning pages, not a word was spoken.
After what felt like a long silence, Yukinoshita finally gave in.
With a long, slow exhale, she closed her book with a sharp snap, then looked straight at Aoki Kei.
She opened her mouth but didn’t speak right away.
What should she even say? The words didn’t come easily.
After another beat of hesitation, she asked flatly, “Aoki-san… don’t you have something to say?”
Her tone felt less like a question and more like an interrogation.
Aoki Kei closed his book too, cocking his head innocently.
“Huh? What do you mean?” he asked, feigning ignorance.
Hachiman flinched.
He had expected the two to exchange a few words, but he hadn’t expected the tension to spike immediately.
The atmosphere was so sharp it could cut glass.
Yukinoshita hesitated again.
She wanted to drop the subject.
But her principles didn’t allow her to back out of something she’d committed to.
After another moment, she glanced briefly at Hachiman, then refocused on Aoki.
With a breath of steely resolve, she finally said:
“...About the apology.”
Aoki blinked, then slowly placed his book back in his bag.
“Ohhh... I thought maybe you’d forgotten about that,” he said in a drawn-out voice. “So... you’re going to apologize?”
Yukinoshita deeply regretted ever making that bet.
She gritted her teeth slightly.
But she wasn’t the kind of person to break her word, no matter how much she hated it.
After taking a calming breath, she began carefully:
“Ao—Aoki-san. I’m sorry about what I said that day. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions when I could’ve taken the time to understand.”
Her voice who is normally so cool and collected—faltered just slightly.
And maybe it was the memory of her bold, misplaced confidence from earlier, but her face started to flush red with embarrassment.
Hachiman stared, dumbfounded.
‘Yukinoshita Yukino—apologizing?! To Aoki Kei?!’
He turned to look at her, then to Aoki again, utterly shaken.
‘Was this some weird roleplay? Had he been the third wheel all along?!’
Meanwhile, Aoki tried (and failed) to hide his amusement.
His lips twitched with a smile, but he covered it with a cough.
Then he casually leaned back and replied:
“Eh, I didn’t really care about that. But still... I bet it doesn’t sit well with you, huh? Coming in second this time. So... want to make another bet for next month’s test?”
Aoki Kei wasn’t stupid.
On the contrary, for someone to take first place at a prestigious school like Shuchiin High, he had to be a genius.
And for someone like Yukinoshita, who had just been overtaken for the first time, the idea of beating him in just a month was statistically close to impossible—even if she gave it her all.
Yukinoshita knew that.
She wasn’t stupid either.
And while she wasn’t happy about losing, she also wasn’t reckless enough to take a bet she was almost guaranteed to lose.
So, still recovering from the awkward apology, she decided to simply ignore Aoki’s challenge.
But Aoki wasn’t done.
“What’s wrong, Yukinoshita-san? Not answering... are you scared?”
The page she had just turned froze in place.
A blatant, childish provocation.
Even a grade schooler could see through that.
Yukinoshita slammed her book shut again and looked him dead in the eye.
She wasn’t someone who liked to be taunted. And she certainly wasn’t someone who let others look down on her.
Coldly, she said:
“A pathetic attempt at provocation...”
Then her eyes lit with fire.
“But fine. I accept. So—what’s the wager this time?”
Aoki blinked.
He hadn’t thought that far ahead.
Before he could answer, Yukinoshita beat him to it.
Her voice was calm again—cool, but no longer faltering.
“A simple apology like last time would be boring... Let’s raise the stakes. The loser has to grant the winner a request. Something reasonable, of course.”
“Something reasonable, huh? I can live with that.” Aoki nodded.
On the side, Hachiman stared at the two of them.
Then turned to Aoki.
Then back to Yukinoshita.
The disbelief on his face returned full force.
‘What kind of bet was this?!’
‘Wasn’t this basically a low-budget version of the King’s Game?!’
This kind of thing only happened in trashy rom-com manga!
And now he was certain of it— He was just an unwilling extra in their twisted little game!
