Time moved to July.
With a crisp, clean smash, the tennis match that had lasted for nearly a month finally concluded with Mori Shinra winning a tough victory against Yukinoshita Yukino, coming back to win two sets after losing the first.
Although Yukinoshita's stamina had significantly improved during this time thanks to systematic training, it was ultimately no match for someone with cheats.
With the buff from 'Heaven Rewards the Diligent', the speed of Mori Shinra's tennis improvement was far faster than the speed of Yukinoshita's stamina improvement.
"Huff... huff..." The young woman panted heavily.
Crystalline beads of sweat slid down her cheeks, finally gathering at her chin before dropping onto the plastic court.
Seeing Mori Shinra walking towards her with a towel from not far away, Yukinoshita couldn't help but feel a trace of bitterness in her eyes.
I lost in the end.
If I had started seriously training my stamina from the very beginning, would the result have been different?
The moment this thought appeared, Yukinoshita already knew the answer.
It wouldn't.
The reason was simple: Mori Shinra's learning ability and rate of improvement were simply too fast.
Even if Yukinoshita possessed the same bottomless stamina as Mori Shinra, she would likely still be defeated in the end by his raw skill.
When a normal person practices a skill, a talented person will often pass through the early and mid-stages quickly, but this progress gradually slows down in the later stages.
But when this rule was applied to Mori Shinra, it seemed to be completely ineffective.
Yukinoshita could clearly feel that the pace of Mori Shinra's tennis improvement had not slowed down as his technique refined.
On the contrary, it continued to advance at an exaggerated speed, as if there were no bottlenecks at all.
If someone had told her in the past that you could become a professional tennis player after just one month of training, Yukinoshita would have thought they were joking.
But now... Yukinoshita discovered that there really are people in this world who cannot be explained by common sense.
"Wipe your sweat," Mori Shinra said, handing the dry towel to Yukinoshita.
"You won." Yukinoshita's voice was a little weak.
It was hard to tell if it was from fatigue or from having just lost the match.
Perhaps it was both.
"Does this mean Yukino owes me a favor now?"
"Don't go too far." Yukinoshita gave Mori Shinra a weak glare, like a holy maiden who, despite having been compromised by evil forces, was still holding onto her bottom line even as she conceded.
"Does that mean a little overboard is acceptable?" Mori Shinra replied with a smile.
Yukinoshita didn't want to speak anymore.
She just gave him a look, letting him figure it out himself.
"In that case, then..." Mori Shinra deliberately paused, and the effect was significant.
Yukinoshita's hand, which was wiping her sweat, froze, and her breathing hitched.
She was clearly very worried about what Mori Shinra would demand.
"Then accompany me to the Chiba Zoo. I heard the Chiba municipal government spent a lot of money this year to invite a real, genuine panda over from China." Mori Shinra said, starting to pull out his phone to show her the news.
But Yukinoshita, in a complete change from her earlier low spirits, began to rattle off facts like a family treasure.
"I know about that. Her name is Xiang Xiang, and she's a five-year-old female panda. But she was invited here by the Chiba government to 'visit'. She'll probably stay here for about a month, and then she'll return to her home in Tokyo..."
This girl really loves pandas.
Mori Shinra had seen many panda plushies at Yukinoshita's apartment.
The vast majority were the D*sney mascot, Mr. Pan, but there were also a few panda-related items from the Chiba City Zoo.
Furthermore, the cabinet under the TV was filled with boxes of documentaries about pandas.
But those were just merchandise and toys.
How could they compare to a real, living, moving giant panda?
Perhaps it was because she had said too much at once and her mouth was dry, or perhaps the young woman realized she had gotten a bit too excited.
In short, after finishing her long string of facts, Yukinoshita held her water bottle with both hands, her gaze drifting uncertainly towards Mori Shinra.
She asked, with slight hesitation, "So, your favor is... this?"
"Of course. I've already bought the tickets." Mori Shinra claimed the tickets Haruno had given him as his own without batting an eye.
Yukinoshita looked at the tickets in Mori Shinra's hand, somewhat in disbelief.
Is this really Mori Shinra?
Has his body been taken over by someone else?
"You... don't have any other additional conditions?"
"Such as?"
Such as, of course, making me change into some strange outfit.
In professional terms, it's called cosplay.
Like the maid servers at that maid cafe we went to. They aren't real maids, just dressed up as maids.
Yukinoshita had thought Mori Shinra would use this opportunity to make her change into a similar outfit and go to the zoo with him.
But now, it seemed that wasn't the case.
So, in response to Mori Shinra's question, she obviously couldn't tell him what she was thinking.
What if he replied with, "Since you've already requested it, then let's do that"?
Wouldn't that be terrible?
Would I wear it then? Or not wear it?
It would be a no-win situation.
"L-like splitting the cost of the tickets, or something..." Yukinoshita said, dodging the question.
Heh. Women.
Seeing Yukinoshita's appearance—afraid he wouldn't ask, but also afraid he would ask for too much—how could Mori Shinra not guess what she was thinking?
Admittedly, going to the zoo with Yukinoshita dressed as a maid was very tempting for Mori Shinra.
But if he did that, he would be happy, but Yukinoshita's own experience would be greatly diminished.
Strictly speaking, this would be his first-ever proper date alone with Yukinoshita Yukino.
Therefore, compared to satisfying his own little perversions, Mori Shinra valued Yukinoshita Yukino's first experience more.
Only when both parties are satisfied will there be a second time, and a third...
To put it in simpler terms—let out a long line to catch a big fish.
"There's no need to split the cost."
Mori Shinra waved his hand, then his tone shifted.
"But now that you mention it, I do have one small request..."
Yukinoshita's heart leaped into her throat.
So, what's coming is finally coming.
"I'll leave the itinerary planning to you."
"I will absolutely not wear a maid outfit."
The two sentences came out at the exact same time.
Afterward, both of them froze, their expressions completely different.
Mori Shinra's expression was playful, while Yukinoshita's was quite spectacular.
Surprise, embarrassment, shame... it was difficult to describe with a single word.
If one had to say, it looked as though Yukinoshita desperately wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
"It's because I've never been to the Chiba Zoo, so I'm not familiar with the facilities, the layout, or the different park areas. I was thinking I'd ask you to make a plan," Mori Shinra explained.
"I-is that so..."
"So, what's this about a maid outfit?"