My youth story, a crossover anime, turns out, is FGO!

"First, the first step."

"Kintaro," Kaguya Shinomiya said calmly, "Summer vacation is almost over, and there should be quite a few letters accumulated over the years. Could you go and get them for me?"

"No problem, Master!"

Sakata Kintoki answered energetically, obediently went to get the letter, and then very well did not read any of the contents of the email, naturally ignoring the colorful flyers about the fireworks festival mixed in with the pile of letters.

"Master, this is your letter." Sakata Kintoki placed a thick stack of letters on Shinomiya Kaguya's desk.

then……

Kaguya Shinomiya: ...staring

Sakata Kintoki: ...

"Is there anything else I need to do, Master?" Sakata Kintoki belatedly realized.

Kaguya Shinomiya, still somewhat unwilling to give up, pressed on, "Didn't you read these letters?"

"Ah, I mean, you didn't peek, did you?" Kaguya Shinomiya realized she had used the wrong words and quickly corrected herself.

“Of course not.” Sakata Kintoki laughed heartily. “Don’t worry, Master! I would never do something as awful as peeping!”

"He's so reliable, Kintaro."

Kaguya Shinomiya forced herself to say those words.

As soon as Sakata Kintoki left, Shinomiya Kaguya went crazy. She had painstakingly sent herself a huge pile of junk mail, and then cleverly mixed in a beautiful fireworks festival flyer, just to get Sakata Kintoki's attention!

And what happened? He didn't even look at it!

Kaguya Shinomiya's plan to have Sakata Kintoki invite her to the fireworks festival, Project A, has failed!

“Next, the second step.” Undeterred, Kaguya Shinomiya continued—

"Kintaro," Kaguya Shinomiya called out.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Master?" Sakata Kintoki deactivated his spirit form.

"I have some things delivered to the door, could you go and get them for me?" It wasn't easy for Kaguya Shinomiya to come up with an excuse, after all, what wasn't delivered to her by her maid?

Hayasaka Ai remained expressionless, pretending to be invisible.

"Leave it to me, Master!"

Sakata Kintoki replied cheerfully.

As Sakata Kintoki walked through the long corridors of the Shinomiya residence, the maids and servants passing by all bowed respectfully to him.

After all, the Shinomiya family prides itself on being a long-established and prestigious family, and Sakata Kintoki is a famous samurai who serves the Genji clan and holds a high position, so it is natural that he needs to pay his respects.

Sakata Kintoki didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Even though he liked to mingle with commoners, he wasn't completely ignorant of aristocratic etiquette. When he was a samurai, he would also bow to the nobles.

As I turned the corner, I heard a conversation coming from a door that was only slightly ajar.

"Nene, do you know? There's a fireworks festival in a few days."

"Really? I can't wait!"

"Hehe, you want to go with someone you like, right?"

"Well, of course."

Hayasaka Ai changed her clothes and, using her trained skills, slightly altered her voice to perform a play with another maid who had already been instructed.

Kaguya Shinomiya said confidently, "As long as Kintaro knows about the fireworks festival, he will definitely invite me!"

Really? Kaguya-sama.

Hayasaka Ai had no expectations; after all, she was just a maid who only needed to carry out her mistress's orders.

Moreover, unlike Miyuki Shirogane in the original work, the Shinomiya family, while not particularly approving of Kaguya and Kintoki Sakata's relationship (although there is no such thing as a relationship at all), does not oppose it either, and is in a rather ambiguous stage, at least not holding them back.

However, Sakata Kintoki's reaction was...

Fireworks festival, what is that?

Born in the Heian period, Sakata Kintoki was completely unaware of the fireworks festival, which only became popular in the Edo period. The Holy Grail would not impart such irrelevant common sense. He thought it was some kind of ritual, so he passed by without changing his expression or reacting at all.

He even recognized one of the voices as belonging to Kaguya's personal maid, Hayasaka Ai, and remarked, "Is she slacking off?" But everyone has times when they want to take a break.

Sakata Kintoki understood and decided not to tattle.

So Kaguya Shinomiya waited and waited, but still didn't receive the invitation she wanted.

Kaguya Shinomiya's Plan B—to have Kintoki Sakata invite her to the fireworks festival—has failed!

The next few days—

Plan C failed, Plan D failed... Sakata Kintoki, with his overly thick skin and straightforward, straight-male thinking, ignored Kaguya Shinomiya's many hints and traps.

What a tragedy...

"Why?!" After getting rid of Sakata Kintoki, Shinomiya Kaguya collapsed onto the bed in despair. "Why didn't Kintaro invite me to the fireworks festival?!"

"It shouldn't be like this, why did it turn out like this..." Kaguya Shinomiya lay on the bed, unwilling to move.

"That's where it comes in, Kaguya-sama." Hayasaka Ai said expressionlessly, but actually, watching these two causing trouble, well, even Kaguya herself felt tired from all the trouble.

"You've wasted all your time on the premise of getting Lord Sakata to invite you to the fireworks festival."

Hayasaka Ai shook her head helplessly: "Seriously, why don't you just ask him to come along yourself? You know perfectly well he won't refuse."

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Kaguya Shinomiya's cheeks flushed red, and she almost jumped up. "Isn't that just like I really want to go with Kintaro?!"

Hayasaka Ai has dead fish eyes, doesn't she? Young lady!

“And besides,” Kaguya Shinomiya’s gaze drifted, her crimson eyes glistening, “I don’t want to do this. If I invite Kintaro, he certainly won’t refuse, but wouldn’t that be ordering him around as a Master? It would become an activity between Master and Servant, not… love at all!”

Hayasaka Ai sighed with utter despair. To be honest, even as an observer, she felt utterly hopeless: "But you haven't made any progress at all, Kaguya-sama."

Do you really expect someone as thick-skinned as Sakata Kintoki to respond to your subtle hints?

He would simply say cheerfully, "I like Master too!" without any hint of ambiguity.

Kaguya Shinomiya blushed and her heart pounded; she almost fainted on the spot and didn't even dare to confess.

"Ugh!" Kaguya Shinomiya blushed, her face turning red with anger. "Anyway, I'll definitely make Kintaro fall in love with me, and then he'll confess to me, and then... the two of us..." Kaguya Shinomiya's cheeks were flushed red with embarrassment.

Then you get stuck at the first step.

Hayasaka Ai is beyond words.

“I understand, Lady Kaguya.” The blonde maid sighed, already knowing that Kaguya’s roundabout approach wouldn’t lead to any progress. “Please continue to wait.”

For a guy like Sakata Kintoki who doesn't really have much of a romantic side, just go for it!

Miss Suzuki next door, you summoned her much later, and she's already being called your girlfriend!

"Aaaaaah!!" Kaguya Shinomiya continued to scream in despair.

"I'll take my leave now, Kaguya-sama." Hayasaka Ai bowed expressionlessly, left the room, and closed the door.

Then, the blonde maid went to find Sakata Kintoki without looking back.

The most important thing is to be straightforward! Otherwise, Kaguya Shinomiya can forget about making any progress with Kintoki Sakata!