The next day, Mori Shinra returned to his loyal Sobu High.
Although only two days had passed, it felt like a lifetime ago.
The matter with Mai was temporarily settled. Both the request settlement and her subsequent comeback plan needed time to ferment.
In the end, the donation to Minegahara High was just pocket money. The subsequent acquisition of her mother's agency was the real main event. After all, buying a company wasn't like buying a bag. There were many procedures involved, and even with a professional team, it couldn't be done overnight.
"What should I get at the cafeteria later?" Shinra was pondering the epic problem of what to eat for lunch, but he also had a nagging feeling that he had forgotten something.
"Mori-san."
A voice awakened his memory.
The gentle and lovely Totsuka Saika had come to his desk, and behind him followed a dead-fish-eyed bodyguard.
"Oh, Totsuka," Shinra remembered. He seemed to have promised to give him special training.
"You didn't come to school yesterday. Did something happen?" Totsuka asked with concern.
"I just went to the hospital for a follow-up on my leg," Shinra said, the lie rolling off his tongue without a second thought.
"I-is it okay?" Hikigaya couldn't help but ask.
"It's recovered very well, no side effects at all."
As he spoke, Shinra stomped his right leg.
"Eh? Wait, wasn't it your left leg that was broken?"
"It's all the same~"
"How can that be the same?!"
After a satisfying round of retorts, Hikigaya didn't pay any more attention to his absence yesterday, but instead started talking about the training session during the lunch break.
Although it was called 'hellish training,' it was actually just simple racket swinging practice and technique explanation on the tennis court. After all, strenuous exercise right after a meal wasn't advisable. It wouldn't be worth it if they hurt themselves. Only when the lunch break was almost over and their food was mostly digested would they have one or two practice matches to test what they had learned.
On a side note, the main technical instructor was Yukinoshita Yukino. This campus goddess, whose skills were maxed out in everything except stamina, had a level of understanding of tennis that could be considered top-tier among amateurs.
He didn't know why she had bothered to learn this, and he understood even less why her stamina was still so poor after practicing to this level.
After a casual lunch, Shinra followed Totsuka and Hikigaya to the sports field. Totsuka had already applied to the school for the tennis court and had obtained the right to use it during the lunch break. This also meant that for the entire duration of the lunch break, only they could use this court.
Shinra felt that changing their lunch spot to here in the future would be pretty good. There was light, water, and shade. Most importantly, there were few people around. Perfect!
Just as he crossed the field and arrived at the court, he saw Yukinoshita Yukino reading a book in the shade of a tree. She was still wearing her school uniform, unlike Yuigahama at the side, who had changed into sportswear.
Upon seeing them arrive, Yuigahama happily ran out of the shade and waved at them. "Yahallo~"
"Good afternoon, Yuigahama-san," Shinra nodded at her.
"What were you doing yesterday?"
This question came from Yukinoshita. And it was because she had said it that he had the illusion of a wife questioning her husband about where he had been fooling around all night.
"I went out on some business," he said vaguely.
"Weren't you at the hospital for a check-up?"
This Hikigaya fellow really knew how to poke a sore spot.
"How were the results? Are you okay?" Hearing Hikigaya's words, Yukinoshita immediately looked at Shinra's left leg. Her tone was still cool, but anyone could hear the concern in it.
Alright, take back what I said. Good job, Hikigaya!
"Completely fine," he said, stomping his right leg again.
She didn't even retort!
Seeing that he was indeed fine, she continued, "Then, without further ado, let's begin today's training."
With that, Yukinoshita took the lead and walked to the wall at the edge of the court, then signaled for Totsuka, Yuigahama, and Hikigaya to start their special training. Oh, and today, they had to add him to the list.
Looking at the tennis racket being handed to him, Shinra asked a soul-searching question, "Aren't you joining?"
"I don't need to practice."
She flicked her hair, her tone so matter-of-fact, filled with the composure of someone whose skills were maxed out.
"Not going to train your stamina?"
"It's tiring."
"Isn't that all the more reason to train?"
However, she saw right through his intention of dragging her down with him and said, unmoved, "I only provide technical guidance. As for me getting on the court to practice with you... we'll talk about that when your skills have reached the standard."
The implication was, you're not yet worthy of making me feel the need to practice.
Very good. This was very Yukinoshita.
Shinra wasn't annoyed at all. Instead, he said, "Then how about we make another bet?"
"A bet?" Yukinoshita's interest was piqued.
Although they hadn't yet come to a conclusion on the condition for the last one, it didn't stop them from starting another. Perhaps the result of this one could open up a new path in their deadlocked negotiations?
"The content of the bet is very simple. Let's guess how long it will take me to train to the point where I can defeat you," he said, raising a finger.
Hearing this, she raised an eyebrow. A bet that was premised on her inevitable defeat?
Admittedly, the physical differences between men and women would have a considerable impact on the outcome of a tennis match, but she was confident she could make up for it with technique. At least for a short period of time, a beginner like him could pose no threat to her.
Although there was a net in the middle, tennis was not as easy as badminton. The weight of the racket alone was enough to give an untrained ordinary person a hard time.
According to the NTRP standard, tennis players were divided into seven levels, from 1.0 to 7.0.
Generally, those below 3.0 were called beginners. Further up, 4.05.0 was the average level for a regular tennis enthusiast. 5.06.0 could already be called professional, and this group only accounted for 5% of the tennis population.
And 7.0 was the top level in the field, the realm of international players.
Yukinoshita's technical level could be classified as 5.5~6.0, a tennis powerhouse at the peak of the semi-pro realm.
But due to the huge shortcoming of her stamina, the level she could actually display might have to be adjusted down a notch, probably to the 4.5~5.0 level.
But even so, it was enough to show her strength in this field.
You had to know that the highest level among the third-years in the school's tennis club was barely 3.5, a full two major realms below her.
Only a newborn calf who did not fear the tiger, like him, would dare to propose such a challenge.
Therefore, faced with his challenge, she readily accepted.
"If you can defeat me before the end of this semester, you win."