Yuu returned to the group of university students, observing the first contender—the half-blonde guy, Yamada Daisuke—who enthusiastically put on the boxing gloves, showing off his tanned, fairly muscular right arm, staring intently at the punching bag that appeared in front of him.
Each session allowed three punches, and they would compare the highest score.
So, to achieve peak performance, the first two punches shouldn’t be too serious. The goal was to get used to the feel and thod of exerting force, then unleash full power on the final punch.
Daisuke did exactly that. He threw two punches with decent form, though his posture was a bit off, resembling a street brawler’s style. Still, his scores were respectable: 788 and 801 points.
"Ah~ So far from 985..." He scratched his half-yellow blonde hair, then flashed a slightly fierce grin. "Alright, the last punch has to be super serious!"
"Ora!"
The punch shot out swiftly, with a loud thud, and the bag slamd back into the machine.
891 points.
A few people behind clapped. Daisuke chuckled sheepishly, then took off the gloves and handed them to Kouichirou.
"Ah, my condition’s a bit off today. Looks like I can’t beat Kouichirou... Your turn! You’ve trained in martial arts—it’d be embarrassing to lose to ."
"Relax, since you said that, I definitely won’t lose," Kouichirou smiled, taking the gloves and putting them on with practiced movents, then adjusting his fist’s position.
"Big talk," Daisuke patted his shoulder, then turned to Yuu with a hearty laugh. "What about you, Tenkuji? Feeling confident?"
"I’ll do my best," Yuu replied flatly.
Given his character’s deanor, Daisuke didn’t mind the cold response. After shrugging, he joined the others to watch Kouichirou, who was hopping lightly in place, adopting a standard boxing stance.
While no one else was paying attention, Haruno quietly slipped to Yuu’s side, leaning her soft shoulder against him.
A whisper scented with perfu reached his ear: "All-capable Yuu-chan, can you box too?"
"No, so I’m learning," Yuu replied, his sharp gaze fixed on Kouichirou’s upper body, observing the preparatory movents of his waist, shoulders, and arms.
"Learning?" Haruno tilted her head, puzzled.
"Yeah, thanks to you."
A strange glint flashed in his eyes. As Kouichirou threw his first punch, Yuu’s pupils narrowed sharply, as if ti slowed down, allowing him to clearly see the process of the punch, which lasted less than a second.
"Ora!"
*THWACK!*
902 points.
Ignoring Haruno’s chatter beside him, Yuu nodded thoughtfully, replaying the scene in his mind.
He’s definitely trained. Just watching, his strength is more focused than Daisuke’s, with a stable stance and concentrated power...
By the way, what’s with that "Ora" shout?
Did he just say it instinctively? Or was he deliberately mimicking it to gain invincible strength?
"Hey~ Yuu-chan, are you listening to ?"
As Kouichirou prepared for his second punch, Haruno’s voice reached his ear again.
His mind preoccupied, Yuu answered with slight impatience: "Yeah, what now?"
"Do you want to punch ?"
"...Huh?" His thoughts halted, and Yuu couldn’t help but turn, his face confused. "What did you say?"
The corners of her lips curved slightly upward. Unlike her earlier cunning, wicked smile, Haruno lightly twirled her ponytail, speaking softly as if mocking herself or perhaps sighing:
"I an, I let Yuuki-kun drag you into this ga and forced you to agree with that attitude... Are you so mad you want to make the punching bag?"
As she spoke, Kouichirou threw his second punch.
"Muda!"
Distracted by Haruno, Yuu didn’t see the process, only knowing the score was a shocking 943 and that this guy had definitely watched JOJO.
And after achieving that score, Kouichirou still looked relaxed, warming up for his final punch.
Not wasting the opportunity, Yuu, now in Learning (Proficient Level) mode, ticulously observed every tiny movent Kouichirou made while casually answering Haruno’s question.
"Haruno, do I look like soone who gets mad easily and doesn’t think?"
"Oh? I’d love to hear your explanation," Haruno said with interest. "And calling your senior by her first na? You’re pretty bold~"
Yuu was used to her teasing nature, even her topic-shifting antics.
With an icy tone, he began explaining:
"First, this issue isn’t serious enough to involve violence against a woman. Second, even if I was upset with you at the ti, I wouldn’t forget to think—why did you do this, and what’s your goal..."
"Besides, making angry is pointless for you. You’re paying to experience ’free love,’ so why would you go looking for trouble?"
After all, what Haruno should be doing was separating [the existence of a rent-a-boyfriend] from [her real life]. She should avoid letting Yuu draw attention as much as possible.
If so, what she was doing now was clearly contradictory.
"Indeed, Yuu-chan, you’re a lot like in this regard," Haruno clapped gleefully, her voice low and aningful.
"Always calculating, always overthinking. Living like this... don’t you get tired?"
Feeling that Haruno saw him as a kindred spirit, Yuu couldn’t help but sneer.
"Of course not, because I have soone who can always be with without needing to do this... I don’t live for you, but for her."
"..."
Haruno fell silent for a mont, her lips pursing, her eyes lowering as if carefully digesting his words.
"Her..."
"Enough, don’t bother anymore," Yuu waved his hand as if shooing a fly. "I’m definitely getting that helt. I don’t want any surprises."
Her pensive expression vanished, and Haruno said with amusent: "You really like that virtual reality helt?"
"My sister likes it."
"...Is that so? Well, that’s great then."
Maybe it was just an illusion.
Yuu always felt that whisper seed to reveal Haruno’s genuine sincerity.
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