Mukuro, although not tall, was after all a Spirit with spiritual power.
With Mio's help, Mukuro had excellent control over her spiritual power, which consequently made her physical fitness far surpass that of an ordinary person.
Even with the disadvantage in height, her speed, strength, and other attributes were not inferior to a normal man's at all. If measured in data, Mukuro herself had... well, roughly the level of a B-class Servant.
Usually, the terms she heard most were things like 'little sister', 'beauty', 'girl', etc., which she found very overbearing and greasy.
Mukuro's favorite were the old-fashioned forms of address.
'Young lady'… well, don't mention it, she just had a taste for that.
Feeling somewhat displeased about Ryuya calling her 'buddy', and after confirming Ryuya probably wasn't going easy on her, for the fourth round offense, Mukuro adopted the fast-break mode from the first round.
She quickly drove past with crossovers, then made a sharp fake, followed by another fadeaway jumper.
Swish... Swish!
Following a perfect parabola, the fourth round was still Mukuro's victory.
"That's the fourth point."
"Hmm, preparing for the fifth."
Looking at the golden-haired, high-ponytailed girl before him, Ryuya smiled without speaking. He just felt that Mukuro seemed very energetic.
Sensing that long-absent feeling of breaking out of a cage from her, Ryuya thought Mukuro probably hadn't had contact with anyone besides Mio normally.
"Hey, what are you spacing out for? Focus on the game."
Annoyed by Ryuya's dazed look, Mukuro spoke while executing a beautiful pull-up jumper right on the spot.
"Three-pointer!"
Whistling to herself, seeing Ryuya remain unmoved, Mukuro got a bit angry, "Hey, what's with you? Can you play seriously or not?"
"Hmm, alright then, since you said so."
Sixth point. The moment Mukuro was distracted, Ryuya instantly stole the ball from her.
Moving quickly beyond the three-point line, he dribbled unhurriedly, slowly walking towards Mukuro.
Rather than trying to break through, it seemed more like he was deliberately putting pressure on Mukuro.
"This time, it's my turn to attack."
Suddenly moving, Ryuya's speed far exceeded Mukuro's expectations. Startled by Ryuya's movement, Mukuro didn't even have time to assume a defensive stance before Ryuya was past her.
"First point."
After a clean drive and layup, Ryuya turned back and said slowly.
"I just let my guard down."
Somewhat dazed by Ryuya's steal, score, and dribbling from moments before, Mukuro defended against Ryuya very seriously this time. But this time, Ryuya...
Thump!
As the basketball bounced high off the ground, then hit the backboard, Ryuya used his astonishing jumping ability to grab the rebound and dunked it right on the spot.
How to describe it... roughly like throwing the ball off the backboard, then following up with a putback dunk.
"Second point."
As Ryuya landed, Mukuro barely managed to hold back the word 'impressive' in her heart.
Without saying much, she just adjusted her stance, preparing for the third point.
And then...
Huff... Huff..... Huff... Heavy breathing.
Fourth point, fifth point, sixth point...
Completely different from the earlier game, it was as if Ryuya had become a different person. Each time, he used different moves to defeat Mukuro.
Winning ten points consecutively against Mukuro, Ryuya and Mukuro tacitly played an eleventh point, neither saying the game was over.
Just like that, under the glow of the setting sun, the match between Ryuya and Mukuro finally drew to a close.
"That's probably enough for today."
Not in a hurry regarding the story with Mukuro, Ryuya indicated it was already very late, and continuing today was pointless.
Huff..... Huff...
On the other side, drenched in sweat, Mukuro looked at Ryuya without speaking, only her golden pupils still fixed intently on the man.
"I lost today. Continue tomorrow?"
Tasting defeat for the first time in her life, this feeling wasn't pleasant for Mukuro.
Her golden hair was already sticking to her exquisite face. Drenched in fragrant sweat, she didn't feel particularly tired… instead, she felt an inexplicable impulse to do something.
"Tomorrow? Not possible tomorrow, I have classes."
Shaking his head, although it was the winter break, for the sake of a certain idiot with Tohka's IQ level, namely Kaguya and Tohka herself, Ryuya had to help with tutoring during this break.
Although Origami and Kurumi could also do it, Origami didn't have a great relationship with Tohka to begin with. Besides, why let others handle something he could manage himself?
Indicating he was busy tomorrow, under Mukuro's expression that seemed to say 'won and now you're running?', Ryuya added, "The day after tomorrow, in the afternoon?"
"Fine."
Nodding, Mukuro, without another word, left directly, showing no intention of exchanging contact information.
Ryuya also didn't speak, as he just calmly returned home.
In the following time, Ryuya often played basketball with Mukuro. Their schedule wasn't fixed, often requiring Ryuya to find spare time.
Time passed quite quickly. In the blink of an eye, three months flashed by.
Early spring arrived, and the school term was about to begin.
"…Huh? It's raining?"
Looking at the sky, a drizzle had started… the first rain of spring.
"Hubby, are you going out?"
Noticing Ryuya was heading out again, Kurumi had observed that over the past three months, Ryuya would often go out alone. Her gold and crimson eyes looked at the man, and her intuition told her she felt a bit of sense of crisis.
"Yeah, going out for a bit. Made plans with someone."
Nodding, as he was leaving, Ryuya seemed to remember something and smiled at Kurumi, "Kurumi, do you remember our previous promise?"
"Our promise?"
There were many promises between her and Ryuya, most being lovers' vows.
While thinking, she recalled one promise almost forgotten, etched deep in her heart. Kurumi looked up and said in an uncertain tone, "Is it... Sawa?"
"Yes, Yamauchi Sawa. Barring any surprises, I should be able to bring that child to you soon."
Leaving those words, Ryuya went out.
"Hubby... "
Watching Ryuya's departing figure, Kurumi actually had something else unsaid.
The current her was no longer so obsessively pursuing the hatred stemming from the Spirit of Origin.
As for the loss of her close friend Sawa, although Kurumi felt grief and indignation in her heart, she cherished the warmth of her current home even more.
Nia, Natsumi, Yamai Sisters, Miku, the Itsukas, etc.
Although her relationships with these sisters were sometimes good, sometimes bad, and she occasionally felt jealous, Kurumi truly liked, really liked, the life she had now.
If she had to make a choice, she would absolutely choose this wonderful life now, the happiness of being able to stay with Ryuya.
Quietly watching Ryuya leave, Kurumi took a deep breath. Deciding to do something, she wanted to have a good talk with her sisters.