Due to the unexpected arrival of Yukinoshita Haruno, today's stamina training session came to an early end.
"Why the sudden desire to train your stamina?"
Yukinoshita Haruno glanced towards the bathroom, taking the opportunity while her sister was showering to voice her doubts to Mori Shinra.
She could have asked Yukino directly, but Haruno felt this was definitely related to Mori Shinra, so she opted to ask him instead.
"Because she doesn't want to lose to me?" Mori Shinra replied with a question.
"Doesn't want to lose to you... Are you two competing?" Haruno asked thoughtfully.
"Tennis. As long as I can beat Yukino before the end of this semester, I win, and vice versa."
"And the punishment is gaining 'dominion' over the other person?"
"...It sounds strange when you put it that way, but that's more or less the gist of it."
Yukinoshita Haruno's expression showed she understood.
She then leaned back, resting against the soft sofa, crossing her legs and folding her arms.
Her indigo jeans outlined a taut curve, and her dark V-neck knit shirt accentuated her full figure.
"From the current look of things, it seems Yukino is at a disadvantage?"
If she weren't at a disadvantage, Yukino wouldn't be in such a hurry to shore up her weakness.
"Perhaps." Mori Shinra said, his gaze fixed forward.
It wasn't that he was being a gentleman; his gaze was simply fixed on Haruno the entire time. He had no need to look anywhere else.
"How did you get her to take the bait?" Haruno asked with keen interest, seemingly convinced that Mori Shinra would win.
Mori Shinra looked at Haruno, puzzled. "What do you mean, 'take the bait'? You make it sound like I set a trap to deliberately lure Yukino in."
"Based on my understanding of you, you would never join a game unless you were absolutely certain you would win," Haruno analyzed, tapping her chin.
"Your understanding of me? Haruno-san, this is only our third time meeting, right?"
"As the saying goes, once a stranger, twice an acquaintance. We've met three times, so naturally, we couldn't be more familiar," Yukinoshita Haruno replied with a grin.
She then tilted her body, leaning her full weight onto Mori Shinra's shoulder, her voice low and magnetic. "Besides... just anyone isn't allowed into my living room, you know."
"Isn't this Yukino's home?"
"Incorrect. This is the Yukinoshita home."
Haruno sat up straight, crossing her arms and mercilessly refuting Mori Shinra's mistaken viewpoint.
Although only Yukinoshita Yukino lived here, it didn't mean she was independent from the Yukinoshita family.
As her older sister, Haruno knew clearly that Yukino was far from being able to stand on her own.
Therefore, this could only be the Yukinoshita home, not Yukino's home.
"I see. So, Haruno-san, are you saying I'm not yet qualified?" Mori Shinra asked back, intrigued.
Yukinoshita Haruno shook her head. "No, you are certainly qualified to sit here. In my opinion, it's Yukino's good fortune that you became her friend."
"You have such a high opinion of me?"
"Of course. Yukino has very high standards."
"I was referring to you, Haruno-san."
"Me? My standards are much lower. I can become friends with anyone."
"Friend to all, friend to none."
"That kind of sophistry isn't meant as a compliment. You should be praising my strong social skills. Boys who can't speak nicely have a hard time winning a girl's heart, you know."
Yukinoshita Haruno nudged Mori Shinra's arm with her elbow, using a joke to evade the implication behind his words.
If everyone can be your friend, it means no one can truly be your friend.
This was somewhat similar to Hayama Hayato's "nice guy" persona, only Yukinoshita Haruno's philosophy was more extreme... or perhaps, more mature.
"Is that so. My apologies, I'm a clumsy speaker. I cannot become your friend, Haruno-san," Mori Shinra said, apologizing, but without a hint of apology in his tone.
Just as he claimed to be a clumsy speaker, his tongue was not clumsy at all. On the contrary, he was articulate, silver-tongued, and sharp...
By saying he couldn't become Haruno's friend, he was actually asking if he could become Haruno's real friend, the kind that connects on a deeper level.
Yukinoshita Haruno didn't take the bait, instead continuing, "Nonsense. Even clumsy speakers can become my friends... So, was my analysis correct?"
"Not entirely," Mori Shinra replied.
In truth, his standard for entering any contest was singular: whether he could accept the consequences of failure.
In other words, Mori Shinra would not do anything that exceeded his capacity to bear the outcome.
This logic applied to everything, whether it was betting with Yukino or acquiring wish power points.
"For me, even if I lose to Yukino, it's not actually an unacceptable outcome," Mori Shinra stated.
Yukinoshita Haruno smiled, finishing the thought for the young man three years her junior. "Because your objective was already achieved the moment the bet began."
The bet itself was not the goal; the act of betting was what Mori Shinra truly wanted.
With Yukinoshita Yukino, the difficult part wasn't getting close to her, but rather how to form a connection in the first place.
A friend is one kind of bond.
An opponent is another kind of bond.
With enough of these bonds, Yukino would have no way to escape.
This cunning spider, Mori Shinra, was continuously weaving a web of relationships to capture the butterfly named Yukinoshita Yukino.
"You truly understand me, Haruno-san," Mori Shinra admitted.
"After all, I can't just hand my little sister over to a stranger." Haruno stretched, letting out a satisfied and suggestive sigh.
"Mmm~~~ So, do you remember what we talked about before?"
Yukinoshita Haruno was asking if Mori Shinra had asked Yukino about what happened in elementary school.
The last time they parted, she had hinted he should do so.
"Of course. I even made a point to consult Hayama-kun about it."
"Hayama Hayato? That's right, you're in the same class. He's a good person to ask. And the result?"
Although Mori Shinra hadn't followed Yukinoshita Haruno's instructions to probe Yukino directly, she didn't seem dissatisfied.
Instead, she acknowledged Mori Shinra's approach.
After all, for Haruno, regardless of the process, the result was the only standard of judgment.
"The result was about what I expected."
"That's very clever. So, what do you plan to do?"
Haruno offered a perfunctory compliment, then moved on to the question she cared about most, which was also the purpose of her revealing Yukinoshita Yukino's past to Mori Shinra.
"Aren't I already doing it?" Mori Shinra asked in return.
In truth, Mori Shinra didn't think Yukinoshita Yukino needed him to do anything about her past.
The trauma Yukino suffered in elementary school was already irreversible.
Any attempt to erase the scar would first require tearing the wound open again, only to heal it once more.
Even so, it would inevitably leave a new scar.
Therefore, Mori Shinra's choice was to have Yukino look toward the future.
If you overwhelm the bitterness with sweetness, you naturally stop dwelling on the past.
—You may have lost your childhood, but you have me in your future.