Sakurajima Mai left just like that. What a cold and heartless woman.
Mori Shinra wasn't in too much of a hurry. It was their first meeting, and especially with her in that bunny girl outfit, it clearly wasn't a suitable time for a long conversation.
But since she was willing to give him her phone number, it meant that this would definitely not be their last meeting.
However, the 'Puberty Syndrome' she mentioned had caught his attention. Although it was said to be an urban legend, with a living example like her right in front of him, it wasn't entirely without credibility.
After grabbing a quick lunch at a random restaurant, Shinra headed home with the dessert in hand. But he didn't go straight home; instead, he went to Yukinoshita's place.
He rang the doorbell.
Footsteps approached from the other side of the door, and after a moment, it opened.
Yukinoshita Yukino, dressed in loungewear, appeared before him. She tilted her head, glanced at the dessert in his hand, and said with a smile, one hand resting on her arm, "Have you come to beg for mercy?"
She was clearly referring to their academic bet.
"No, this is for you to study. I want to eat this for tomorrow's dessert."
"I don't offer a la carte service."
"You'll lose all your customers that way."
"I'd rather not have a customer like you," she said, then stepped aside. "Come in and talk."
This was the first time he had entered her home. Previously, he had only ever been at the doorway.
The overall layout of the apartment was pretty much the same as his; at most, there were differences in the decor. After all, they were just upstairs and downstairs neighbors.
The TV in the living room was on, playing a movie he hadn't seen. A half-full cup of warm black tea sat on the coffee table. Judging by the placement of the pillows on the sofa, she had been enjoying a leisurely afternoon before he arrived.
"Make yourself at home."
With that, she walked towards the kitchen area, apparently to prepare tea for him.
"Can I sit in your bedroom?"
"Let me ask the police for you."
As she spoke, she expertly took out her phone, as if she had rehearsed this in her mind countless times.
"No need to trouble yourself. The sofa is fine," Shinra said, becoming obedient.
He found an empty spot on the sofa and sat down, deliberately avoiding the place where she had been sitting. At the same time, he noticed that the sofa pillows were all printed with various cartoon pandas. He remembered these pandas seemed to be from "Pan-san," a very famous mascot from a nearby theme park.
On the cabinet below the TV, there were also various panda merchandise. It was clear that she really liked cats.
Pandas are also cats.
"Here, black tea. I suggest you drink it immediately."
"It'll burn me, won't it?"
"Is that so? I thought a person who would make such a request wouldn't mind."
"Is that an indirect way of calling me thick-skinned?"
"Oh my, your performance today has given me a sense of crisis. I might even lose to you. How surprising."
After their routine bickering, Yukinoshita put down her teacup, then took the dessert and put it in the refrigerator. She then took out two portions of a previously made snack, one for him and one for herself.
Shinra didn't stand on ceremony and took a bite, then asked, "What movie is this?"
"A sci-fi movie," she replied.
Looking at the old shack on the screen, he asked in a somewhat uncertain tone, "Sci-fi? This scene doesn't look like it."
"It's about the Japanese government's active participation in rescue efforts after a major earthquake."
"That does sound pretty sci-fi," Shinra said. He couldn't find a reason to refute that.
Seeing that he was interested in the movie, she unpaused it, and the frozen image on the screen began to move again.
Then, a familiar figure appeared on the screen.
"Sakurajima Mai is in this movie?"
He recognized her. Wasn't that the Sakurajima Mai he had just met this morning?
Only, the one on the screen was younger and more tender, like a middle school student, a stark contrast to the one he met today.
Maybe it was because she wasn't wearing a bunny girl outfit on screen?
"Yes. After hearing Yuigahama talk about her, I found a few movies with good ratings to watch," she said.
He asked, "Is it good? How's her acting?"
Yukinoshita thought for a moment and replied, "If you're asking about the movie, it's just so-so. At best, it can be considered a decent work. But if you're talking about her acting... at least in my opinion, it's quite good, better than many adult actors."
Shinra was not surprised by her answer. Her acting was very good; this could be seen from her effortless control of her expressions in the library.
When she first realized he could see her, she was clearly very nervous inside, but on the surface, she pretended as if nothing was wrong.
With that kind of on-the-spot reaction, how could her acting be bad?
In fact, he suspected that during the time she had stopped her acting activities, she had never given up on honing her skills. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for her to act so naturally.
So, did she choose to stop her acting career because of that so-called Puberty Syndrome?
His thoughts inevitably drifted, and his fingers began to tap unconsciously on the coffee table in front of him.
"The black tea is getting cold," Yukinoshita Yukino reminded him with a glance.
"Liar. It's clearly still very hot," Shinra said, not falling for it.
He had only been distracted for a moment; it wasn't like he had lost his perception of time.
"You seem to be very interested in Sakurajima Mai."
"Who doesn't like a pretty girl? She's almost as cute as you."
"I can't compare to her."
Shinra compared them carefully and nodded honestly. "That's true."
Then he comforted her, "It's fine, there's still a chance. Your sister is the best example."
Compared to Yukinoshita Yukino's chest, which was like the Kanto Plain, her sister, Yukinoshita Haruno, was like Mount Fuji, full of room to spare, more than just one size bigger.
From this, it was clear that there was definitely nothing wrong with the Yukinoshita family's genes.
"Next time I make snacks, I should invite Yuigahama over," Yukinoshita muttered to herself.
Shinra immediately performed a French military salute.
"Only vulgar people care about that kind of thing. It's just a lump of fat, after all," she said, as if trying to justify something. It was a little funny, and a little pitiful.
But to avoid having his next snack poisoned, Shinra went against his conscience and chimed in, "That's right."
"You're a vulgar person," she said, launching a direct personal attack.
Shinra was heartbroken. Hadn't he just shown his loyalty? Why was she still firing at him?
Even if it's the truth, you can't just say it to my face, can you? That's too hurtful.
"Actually, small is cute too."
Come on, let's hurt each other.