Although Kirino was unwilling to admit defeat, she was ultimately just a beginner when it came to tennis. Before long, she was completely overwhelmed by Ichin's skill and had no choice but to concede, jogging off to sit on a bench and rest.
Ichin, meanwhile, stood opposite Aoba, Sakura Nene, and Kuroneko, feeding them balls one by one at a leisurely pace. Watching the three of them take turns returning the shots was actually quite entertaining.
They played until around eleven in the morning before heading to a nearby family restaurant for a simple lunch. After eating, everyone returned to the court for more practice.
Thanks to the morning's warm-up, those who had never touched a racket before were finally starting to get the hang of it. They were still amateurs, but at least they could now rally a few gentle shots back and forth — enough to enjoy themselves.
By three-thirty in the afternoon, everyone's stamina was just about spent, so they wrapped up the day's session and left the tennis club.
Glancing at Yukino, who still had a towel draped around her neck, Ichin asked, "How was practice today? I feel like your stamina's improved a bit."
Yukino nodded. "I've been exercising regularly, so it's gotten a little better. With a bit more private practice, I should be ready. There are plenty of people signed up for every event at the university's sports festival. For tennis, the early matches are short elimination rounds — just a single mini-set per match. Only once we reach the semifinals do we play a full set, so the physical strain isn't too bad."
A short match — that was good news for Yukino.
Hearing that, Aoba's eyes sparkled with excitement. "A sports festival at Todai, huh? I really want to see it in person!"
Sakura Nene poked Aoba's forehead with a finger. "Forget it, you'll be working that day."
"Then I'll just take a day off! I haven't used my paid vacation at all this year."
As senior employees, they all had at least ten days of paid leave. Aoba had planned to save hers for a family trip in autumn, but taking one day off didn't seem like a big deal.
Her suggestion immediately got Yagami Kou and the others itching to go too. After all, it was the University of Tokyo's sports festival — it was bound to be lively.
Before Ichin realized it, everyone was staring at him.
"…Don't tell me you all plan on taking leave?"
They all nodded in unison.
Even the usually calm and dependable Rin Toyama raised her hand. "Relax, the sports festival lasts two days. As long as Yukino makes it to the semifinals, we'll just take half a day off on the second day to go watch her match."
"And we can check out Todai's cafeteria while we're there!"
"Oh! Good idea!"
Ichin exchanged a helpless glance with Utaha and laughed. "Fine, fine. It's your paid leave, after all. Use it however you like. Even if you want to take both days off, I won't stop you — just make sure your work's taken care of first."
"Yaaay!!"
Seeing their enthusiasm, Ichin could already imagine how noisy things were going to be during those two days of the festival.
He even suspected that while Yagami and the others would be wandering around Todai having fun, he, their boss, would be the one stuck at the office working.
Well… that sounded about right.
At the tennis club's entrance, everyone split up and headed home. Most of them drove now — Aoba and Kuroneko had even gotten their driver's licenses, though they hadn't bought cars yet.
When Ichin got home, he took a shower before starting dinner prep. He'd just rinsed the rice and turned on the cooker, then started chopping vegetables when Yukino walked into the kitchen.
"I'll help too."
"Not tired?"
She shook her head. "I'm fine. My stamina may not be great, but I recover quickly. My arms and legs aren't even sore anymore."
"That's good. Utaha's still lying in the living room right now."
Yukino smiled softly, slipping on an apron from the wall. "I saw. And Peppa's curled up on her stomach — at this rate, Utaha-senpai's going to be stuck resting all day tomorrow."
"Well, she did push herself pretty hard today."
Utaha's figure was gorgeous, but that also meant the physical load during exercise was heavier. A bit too much activity, and recovery would take a while.
With Yukino's help, dinner was ready in no time. And right on cue, as if drawn by the smell, Haruno showed up too. The four of them ate together around the table.
After dinner, Ichin washed the dishes and returned to the living room, where Utaha waved him over to the sofa.
As soon as he sat down, she leaned against his shoulder with a satisfied sigh. "This is the best."
Ichin chuckled. "Tired? Want me to give you a massage later?"
"Sure, but let me rest a bit first. I just ate — not a good time to lie down yet."
Saying that, she looked down and pinched her stomach. "I ate too much… do you think I'll gain weight?"
"You won't. You exercised a lot today, and dinner wasn't heavy. But if you're worried, just work out more later — maybe play some Ring Fit at home."
"Guess that's my only option."
After today's experience, Utaha fully realized she had no future in tennis — the running alone was exhausting. The treadmill and Ring Fit at home were much more her pace.
You gain some, you lose some. Her perfect figure came at the cost of endurance; that was only natural.
Just as Ichin had said, as long as she didn't gain weight and stayed healthy, there was no need to force herself into sports that didn't suit her.
With that thought, Utaha lay down, resting her head on Ichin's lap and hugging him with a smile as they chatted softly.
Since the university sports festival was coming up next month, Yukino had started spending less time at the company, focusing on her classes and tennis practice.
Utaha was about the same — every few days she'd either go to the publishing office or visit a film set. Fortunately, her editor, Miss Machida, handled the driving, so it wasn't too tiring.
And so, time passed until September 15th — the day Apex finally launched.
After being delayed in reverse, the game went live at exactly midnight.
Before release, pre-downloads across all platforms had already exceeded two million. And within just a few hours after launch, concurrent players skyrocketed — from 300,000 at midnight to over one million five hours later.
For a free-to-play game, Apex's first-night performance could only be described in one word—
Explosive.
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