After class, Haruto stood calmly on the court, a tennis racket in hand.
Across from him, Totsuka gave it everything he had.
He ran, swung, and chased the ball with all her strength—yet it was like trying to break through an unshakable wall.
No matter what he did, he couldn't get past Haruto.
Instead, after a few rounds, his movements slowed, his swings weaker. The ball slipped past his racket and bounced across the court.
The truth was undeniable: Totsuka's tennis ability was, at best, average.
And unlike the protagonists in sports manga, he couldn't roar his way to victory against a stronger opponent. He didn't suddenly awaken techniques like Memory Kill, Our Bond, or I Can't Just Stand By!
All he could do was run back and forth, panting heavily as sweat rolled down his forehead.
Plan one had failed.
Haruto glanced over at Yukinoshita Yukino and gave her a meaningful wink.
But Yukino simply turned her gaze away. She was too busy bickering with Yuigahama Yui to pay him any mind.
That only made Haruto dissatisfied.
Yukino was really a bad example of a president! As Service Club president, wasn't it her job to assign tasks to the members while staying above the fray? How could she just dump the responsibility elsewhere? Who did she even learn this from?
With that thought, the Foundation President in him sighed.
"Totsuka-san," Haruto called out. "Please stop for a moment. I don't mean to offend you, but relying on sheer hard work might not be enough."
Totsuka nodded in resignation. He understood his own limits well enough.
"Since you can't do it alone," Haruto continued, "then this is the time when you need to rely on your companions!"
He strode over, grabbed Yukinoshita Yukino by the arm, and pulled her forward. Yui, left without her sparring partner, shuffled over too.
"Totsuka-san, let me introduce Yukinoshita Yukino," Haruto said, motioning grandly. "She may look cold and detached, but she's actually a true lady, upright and strong. More importantly—she's a formidable tennis player!"
Yukino froze.
"While it may be difficult for you to reach the national competition alone," Haruto went on, "if you team up with Yukino for doubles, then with my training and guidance, your chances are real. Winning a place in nationals won't be a foolish dream!"
Yukino's heart sank.
Meanwhile, Totsuka's eyes widened in shock. Yukinoshita-san… that amazing? I never knew!
And Yui's eyes practically popped out of her head. She looked down at her own racket in disbelief.
If Yukino's a tennis genius, then… who was the one I was just rallying evenly with?
Miss Dango fell into deep self-doubt. Could everything that just happened have been an illusion?
"Yukinoshita-san, please!" Totsuka bowed deeply, almost ninety degrees. "Please play tennis with me!"
Yukino tilted her head back slightly—and there was Haruto, taller, standing just behind her. He gave her shoulder a reassuring pat.
It was his way of saying: It's fine. Trust me.
Yukino hesitated.
She hated lying. But this was a Service Club request, and she was the president. Fulfilling commissions wholeheartedly was her justice.
So she agreed.
Thus, Yukino and Totsuka became a temporary doubles team.
Of course, Yukino wasn't actually good at sports—outside of aikido, anyway. How would she possibly carry Totsuka to nationals?
Simple.
After all, it wasn't illegal to use enhancement medicine on your own "employees." Yukino should have already received her basic injections long ago, but she'd been stalling. Tennis skills could also be machine-taught.
As long as Yukino entered the tournament, the Service Club would be tied up until at least April—meaning no major new commissions.
Convenient, as long as Yui didn't cause trouble.
With that in mind, Haruto decided he'd spend the next couple of days training Miss Dango properly. Maybe then, Yui would learn how to reject people firmly.
Yui, still clutching her racket and stewing in doubt, suddenly shivered.
That was the end of today's "tennis practice."
Yukino headed to the Foundation's facilities. Haruto returned to his apartment and logged into GGO.
Tomorrow was the BOB preliminaries.
The moment he went online, he saw Asada Shino. She had just logged in too.
Shino froze when she noticed Haruto. She didn't know how to act—part of her was happy they'd come online together, but yesterday's awkwardness still lingered.
"Did you just get home, Shino?" Haruto asked casually.
She nodded.
"I had duty today… so I was delayed."
Haruto frowned. He glanced at the corner of his HUD. By now, it was over an hour after high school dismissal. At most, duty should've delayed her by ten or twenty minutes.
When they'd first met, he'd seen her uniform. Her school wasn't far from her home. A fifteen-minute walk at most.
So why was she so late?
"Shino," Haruto asked bluntly, "did something happen?"
Her eyes widened. How did he know?
The truth was, after class, the other members of the duty group had dumped all their chores on her.
Some even deliberately made extra mess just to bully her. It wasn't the first time.
A few girls in her class had learned her secret fear of guns. They took pleasure in tormenting her with it.
It made her sick.
She wanted to resist, but there were too many of them.
Teachers wouldn't take it seriously. At best, they'd give the bullies a slap on the wrist, which only made things worse.
And transferring schools wasn't an option—her family couldn't afford it.
So Shino bore it all in silence.
She tried to hide it.
To endure.
Until someone asked.
Suddenly, all the weight in her chest pressed down harder, stealing her breath. She lowered her head, not wanting Haruto to see her like this.
But her silence was enough. Haruto knew he was right.
Why did this kind of thing always happen in schools?
He thought of Nishimiya Shouko. If he hadn't encountered her by chance, would she have ended up too broken to go on, jumping from a rooftop one day?
Now, Shouko smiled brightly in the sunlight. But in the original "plot," she had been so crushed by guilt she wanted to die just to atone.
The thought made his blood burn.
"…Do you have time next week?" Haruto asked with a smile. "I'd like to invite you out for coffee after class."
Shino blinked in shock. The subject change was so sudden. He was… inviting her?
No one at school ever asked her to hang out. She was gloomy, withdrawn. This was her first invitation.
And it came from him.
Her heart raced. She wanted to say yes immediately. But then she realized—he wasn't just inviting her. This was his way of reaching out, of telling her she didn't have to endure alone.
"It's okay," she began, "you don't need to do that for m—"
But Haruto cut her off, smiling gently.
"Looks like I'm free. Let's meet after class on Monday."