Tsubame?
DUAL CONFESSIONS, PART 2
Your play was amazing.
Really? Great to hear!
Thanks!
Tsubame!
CULTURE FESTIVAL COMMITTEE
Your play was the best!
It was really great!
Wow! You guys all came to see it?
I thought tonight's afterparty would be the best time to confess to Tsubame...
Of course we did!
Thanks!
but it wouldn't be cool to push other people aside just to get Tsubame all to myself, would it?
Love is war!
CONFESSION
The person who falls in love loses.
CONFESSION
Humans play the ideal version of themselves,
keep their displeasure to themselves and deceive others in order to be loved.
Therefore, those in love live in terror.
Without having a single certainty, the one hiding their true self...
must convey their feelings into words to someone who's also hiding their true self.
Otherwise, we can never move forward.
Even if that means I lose.
Just as I thought, you're Arsène, aren't you?
Why would you do something like this?
Why do you think?
I'm afraid.
I have no idea what President is thinking.
He's always so gentle...
and yet today, I find him terrifying.
I'm about to confess my feelings for him, yet I'm too scared to even meet his gaze.
This will be my last culture festival.
I wanted to cut loose a little since it's my last chance to.
Last...
Well, that's just an excuse.
There's something I want to show you, Shinomiya.
How often do you get to see an afterparty campfire these days?
Don't you think anyone would kill for the chance to see it from these VIP seats?
And having you by my side is icing on the cake, Shinomiya.
Hey, you did corner the phantom thief.
I should've gotten some kind of prize for you.
Is there anything you want me to do or is there something I can give you?
There is.
I want...
you to stay by my side forever!
I want you to confess to me!
I'm sure you have no idea.
I'd always believed that life was just a process of enduring pain...
only to find that my values had changed dramatically, thanks to my days in the student council.
And the more I realize how kindhearted you are,
the more I'm filled with self-loathing.
The way I look at other people to gauge their usefulness without a second thought...
whether or not they'd be beneficial to me...
What a cold, hateful woman I am, with nothing but ugliness in my heart.
It's as if it's being driven home to me.
So I always question whether or not someone like you could ever like me.
That you're only kind to me because you're kind to everyone.
That my glee is only being fueled by the misunderstanding...
that I'm special to you!
Shinomiya! Is something wrong?
Sorry, did I embarrass you?
I'm a little worked up now myself, so...
It's not what you think, okay?
I'm not doing this to embarrass you.
Hey...
Come on, say something, will you?
I like you.
I want you to go out with me!
I love you!
What in the world is that cosplay outfit for?
If only you hadn't told me you were going to study abroad,
I never would've had to confess my love for you as long as I lived!
That's why I want to make you confess!
Don't you know that if you confessed to me,
your success rate would be 100%?
Hey, Shinomiya...
Let me show you something awesome.
I was saving this for later...
but it can't wait any longer.
SHUCHIIN ACADEMY
I told you there was something I wanted to show you, right?
Because I just can't make any compromises.
Because I just can't put it into words.
I thought I'd give you the most amazing gift I could think of.
Do you get it, Shinomiya?
This is...
how I feel about you.
The Ultra Romantic Campaign!
It's a plan that he set in motion
the day he turned in his application to Stanford.
MIKO IINO - PATROL DURING THE HOSHIN CULTURE FESTIVAL KAREN KINO - INTERVIEW PRESIDENT SHIROGANE
STUDYING ABROAD
I'm gonna look! I'm gonna look now, okay?
To determine his relationship with Kaguya Shinomiya once and for all on the night of this culture festival...
I'm really gonna look now, okay?
Just hurry up, will you?
What should he do toward that end?
What should he say?
He had found inspiration in his daily life.
Cosplay.
It might be cool to wear some kind of costume to give it that festival vibe.
Hmm.
This looks really promising.
Shirogane's sense of style was stunted back in eighth grade.
FIND LOVE! FORTUNE-TELLING FOR BEGINNERS
BALLOON ART FOR BEGINNERS INTRODUCTION
Balloon art.
Come to think of it, this is what our class is doing, huh?
That was when a certain scenario popped into Shirogane's mind.
Not bad.
But actually getting it done is going to be a huge hassle.
Whatever I end up doing, I have to ward off Fujiwara or it will be a lost cause.
The best way to contain that one...
This can't be anything but a challenge thrown down to me!
A mystery.
So, I'll cosplay as a phantom thief, and...
I've come to claim the culture festival.
I've come to claim your heart. Arsène.
Warnings.
If I'm not mistaken, in Greek, "arsène" means...
"Masculine."
I'm going to need hundreds of hearts.
The Hoshin Legend.
I'll insert them into a weather balloon...
Balloon art crafting.
...and pop it to release them all at once!
What did Iino say during the election?
It used to be a yearly event until three years ago,
but the neighborhood association has stopped granting us permission!
Campfire.
The hundreds of balloons that burst out ride the upper air current of the campfire...
and hover dozens of meters aboveground.
From a height, the view will be heavenly for the next few minutes!
I'D LIKE TO HAVE A CAMPFIRE
That's why I sent Iino and Ishigami to the culture festival committee.
I made sure that there were as many food stalls as possible in Iino's path.
And if I schedule Tsubame's play for a later time slot,
then that will take care of Ishigami.
These are Shirogane's behind-the-scenes machinations to make the culture festival his own!
Everything he did was for the sake of ending up in this situation.
All of this was what Shirogane had prepared for her.
I don't have Shinomiya's intellect...
or her competence.
My family's social standing pales in comparison to hers.
Back when we first met,
I bet you didn't have the slightest interest in me.
So I worked my tail off. I think I worked harder than I'd ever worked in my life.
NUMBER 1 - MIYUKI SHIROGANE NUMBER 2 - KAGUYA SHINOMIYA
That time when you were playing for keeps... I still beat your test scores.
I couldn't have been more thrilled!
You probably have no idea!
Maybe, just maybe, I can become your equal!
That hope roused me to no end!
That's precisely why I can't ask you to go out with me.
If I take the hand that you extend to me after imploring you to when I confess...
it means I'll never be your equal as long as I live!
I need you to want me and confess your love for me.
Only then can I feel like your equal!
That's why...
I can't confess to you first.
But...
there's something I wanna tell you.
Hey...
Do you think maybe the phantom thief is up on top of the clock tower?
What do you mean?
He must've calculated the campfire's position and all to make the balloons drift that way, right?
Huh? Why would he do that?
To create an environment to confess to someone to, what else?
Not in a million years!
How many people even have that kind of authority?
Besides, if the only ones with the key to the clock tower are the faculty and the student council...
Well, well, Momo!
You certainly seem sleepy.
So do you, Principal.
Hey, Ryuju...
I want to collect all the heart balloons across the academy
and stick them into this huge one.
Can you help me out?
Huh?
Not on your life!
Why should I even...
Is that your answer? What an ingrate.
Putain...
Principal...
I have the right to ask for two letters of recommendation, don't I?
Since I don't need the second one, would it be possible to give that right to the vice president?
Oh yes.
As long as that's what you want, it's fine.
Then, could you write a letter of recommendation for Shinomiya, please?
She might be needing it right away.
What?
Right away?
He can be too much sometimes, huh?
Wh-Why are you laughing?
Oh no.
I had a feeling you had something in store,
but I never dreamed it'd be something this ridiculous!
Sure, but it did take a lot of work to get all this ready!
That's why I'm laughing!
Really... What on earth are you hoping to achieve by doing this?
Even if you hadn't gone to all this trouble, I—
Of course there's a meaning to this.
This is all to lay the groundwork for you to grant my wish, Shinomiya.
Your wish?
Something more pressing and important than making you confess first or going out with you.
It's...
A once-in-a-lifetime wish from me to you!
Apply to Stanford, Shinomiya!
Come with me to the U.S.!
TO BE WITH YOU FOREVER
What you're asking is absurd!
There's no way that my father would ever allow me to do so,
and how insanely competitive is Stanford?
Not to mention, it might be too late to apply now—
You can make the deadline, Shinomiya! Come with me!
Uh...
Um, what shall I do?
All right, then, yes!
Very well!
I, too, will go to Stanford!
I-It's kind of scary to see you make up your mind just like that.
What do you mean, just like that?
I pondered hard with the intent to abandon my family!
Also scary.
Oh, it seems to me like my life's taken a dramatic turn!
So many things to take care of!
Um, I'm going to need SAT scores, right?
Studying... Convincing my father... Or else removing all obstacles in my path...
Really, there's so much to do, my head is spinning!
All right, now what?
Also... Also... How am I going to explain this to Miss Fujiwara and the others?
I was hoping that Shinomiya would confess to me right around now.
By the way, President,
you did offer a prize to anyone who caught the phantom thief, didn't you?
Yeah.
Now that you mention it, I did.
Can I ask for anything?
What? Well, if it's something in my power to give.
I'm going to hold you to that!
I hope you all get burned to a crisp.
Maki!
Dance with me!
No, thanks. Go on and dance with your boyfriend.
I'd rather dance with you.
Why would you?
Because...
you're supposed to dance with the person you like the best, right?
Oh?
You like me better than Tsubasa?
Of course I do.
Great, looks like everyone's having fun!
This is the best party we've had in years!
I wish Miko could've seen it, too.
She's patrolling the grounds all by herself right now.
That girl always gets the short end of the stick.
You worried about her?
You don't have to force yourself to be with me, you know.
No.
It's high time I weaned myself off Miko.
Since it seems like I took away her chance to grow by being hyperprotective.
Everyone's having such a blast.
Hey, look at you.
Ishigami!
What do you want?
I have something for you, Iino.
What?
I found it on the ground in front of the locker rooms.
Lost items go to the Disciplinary Committee, right?
Oh...
You gave me a start there.
Why?
No reason!
I also recorded this for you.
Since everyone's so stoked about the campfire,
I thought you should see it.
You should've sent someone else out on patrol duty.
You made it happen, so what are you doing here?
Thanks, Ishigami.
Everyone's smiling!
That's great to see, isn't it, Ishigami?
Yeah.
And so...
as this rollercoaster ride of a culture festival is about to draw to a close...
If we apply the Polybius theory to the numbers we derived from the longitude, and then scytale them...
You're just making that up as you go along, aren't you?
You're totally trying to wring out a solution!
This should be it.
There's nothing here though.
No way!
It's a miracle!
Is this a lookout tower?
Left over from wartime, I guess.
What's the view like from here, I wonder.
Canaan!
Karen?
"Through the tender mercy of our God;
whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace."
The Gospel According to Luke, Chapter 1: 78-79.
Karen!
What was it?
What was it that you just saw?
Hey, come on!
Hmm...
Let me look, too!
The balloons are in the way, I can't see a thing!
What in the world did you see?
This is how I feel about you.
HEART TO HEART
HOSHIN CULTURE FESTIVAL
LET YOUR BURNING LOVE REACH EVERYONE!
There's so much to think about.
I think I was able to let her know how I feel,
but it's not as if I put it into words and asked her to go out with me.
What's our relationship going to be like starting tomorrow?
And there's also the matter of Stanford.
I've got so much to think about!
But that kiss at the end left such a huge impact on me,
I can't get my thoughts in any kind of order!
And then! And then!
Tons of those small balloons went soaring!
CHEERFUL CHEERFUL
It was totally, totally gorgeous!
THE SHUCHIIN AFTERPARTY
There are numerous things I'd like you to tell me,
but let me start by asking you this.
The kiss...
What was it actually like?
I don't know! It was awesome!
Is that... right?
Did you know, Hayasaka?
It's a lie that your first kiss tastes like lemon!
President had just had a corn dog, so it tasted a bit like ketchup!
Taste?
A kiss has a taste, then?
Well, why not? People eat with their mouths after all.
But it did take a bit more time than I thought!
It was easy enough to put our lips together,
but after that point, things got tricky!
After that point?
Just hold on a second!
The goal of a kiss is to put your lips together!
There's no "after that point"! Just what did you do?
Oh my! You're so ignorant, Hayasaka!
You can't give the person you love just any ordinary kiss!
KAGUYA'S KISSING ADVICE
Let the lesson begin.
See? As you bring your lips together...
you go like this with your tongue! That's how grown-ups do it!
I know for a fact that Miss Kashiwagi and Tsubasa...
WAR CRIMINAL
You didn't know that, Hayasaka?
How cute!
Id...
Idiot!
Today's culture festival...
Having blundered at the very end,
Kaguya loses.
Huh?
Right at the very end.
Really, that's so like you, Lady Kaguya.
Come to think of it, President still hasn't confessed to me!
Do you still need a confession after you've already kissed?
I wanna hear him say it so I can confirm it!
After all, confessing his feelings to me shows how much he cares, right?
I mean, of course I want the person I love to tell me he loves me!
I get it.
That's what I've been striving for all this time! To make him say it!
I'm not going to give up on that now!
I wonder if there's a good way to accomplish that!
So at the end of the day...
Lady Kaguya does want to make him confess.
CONFESSION
KAGUYA-SAMA: LOVE IS WAR -ULTRA ROMANTIC-
Hello!
The Tabletop Game Club has created a new game!
Let's play it together!
Huh? Hard pass for me.
It's just another crappy game, right?
Are you sure about that?
I'll have you know that thanks to your critique last time, Ishigami,
this is the new and improved Happy Life Game II!
Last time?
I wasn't part of that, was I?
Come on now! For Miko's sake, too!
Then just make Iino play it.
You're playing, too, Ishigami!
Please join us over here, President and Kaguya!
HAPPY LIFE GAME II
Well, well, I guess we'll have to.
We're going head-to-head again, huh, Shinomiya?
Yes, President!
I'm sitting here!
No, since I sat here last time—
That has nothing to do with this time!
Come on, you two, if you're going to brawl, please do it during gameplay!
Oh, um, fine.
So, I get the seat of honor, right?
Gah! That's the same as me!
The end.
Don't bring back that horrible memory!