With short hair the color of deep blue-purple and a modest, steady personality, Sairenji Haruna stepped forward at once and introduced herself in a soft voice.
After finishing she bowed and returned to her place, and Haruna then subtly put her hands behind her back and lightly tapped her seemingly-unresponsive companion with her tennis racket.
"Ah? Um, I-I'm Saeki Ai, a second-year. My tennis skills aren't mature yet; I hope President Hikigaya can spare some time to train us."
Saeki Ai, with an innocent face and black hair tied up into a long ponytail that fell down her back, only reacted after being tapped. Her cheeks flushed slightly as she, like Sairenji Haruna, stepped forward to introduce herself.
"First-year, Sugiyama Mio."
The last tennis club member was the most slender of the four, the twin-tailed girl Sugiyama Mio.
Yet she was the least uneasy of them, her lively eyes darting around; she seemed quiet and obedient but was constantly observing the Service Club's situation.
After the three introduced themselves they fell back behind Kitamura Kaori.
Most of them were slim and willowy, not the voluptuous figures of the swim club members who were always soaking in the pool.
Although "slim and willowy" is relative, except for Sugiyama Mio, both Sairenji Haruna and Saeki Ai were larger than Yukinoshita Yukino, and Kitamura Kaori in particular had well-developed chest muscles.
"After the seniors from last year graduated, our tennis club's strength declined a lot. Now several third-year seniors have left the club to focus on their studies, so we urgently need to raise the members' ability, otherwise we won't place well in the next tournament."
After Haruna and the others finished introducing themselves, Kitamura Kaori explained why they needed Hachiman to train so many people.
Sobu High's tennis club was indeed a strong athletic club, not at all inferior to the track club, swim club, soccer club, baseball club, and so on.
But their tennis club had a large gap: strong members had graduated or left the club, and they were now in a transition period.
She and Hayakawa Nishi, who served as captain, didn't want to abandon the club's former glory or betray the seniors' wishes. So when Chika said the Service Club president could greatly improve their training results, she brought a few promising members with large potential to the Service Club, holding onto a sliver of hope.
There were more people in the tennis club, but she wasn't sure about Hikigaya's temperament or how effective his training really was.
So she came with just a few people this time to request help; if more was needed later, she'd have the captain Nishi Mi come next time to formally ask the Service Club president for help.
"Just train Haruna and the other three? I do have time, but my training methods might not be suitable for them," Hachiman let out a small breath while playing with the silver-red-black braided strands of hair of Tsukishiro Sayo and Hanamori Kotomi, then turned and looked toward Yukinoshita Yukino, who seemed completely uninterested in this side of things.
"Yukino, what do you think of this request? Want to take it?"
"Deal with it yourself!", Yukinoshita Yukino didn't even look up, refusing Hikigaya's probe without hesitation.
This request was clearly directed at Hikigaya. Now he asked her opinion?
Whatever the reason, it was obviously a trap, she wasn't going to say more to Hikigaya.
"Looks like Yukino also thinks this request is thorny. But my training guidance isn't something that works in a day or two. Kitamura, what's your deadline for this request?", Hikigaya was undeterred when he couldn't rope Yukinoshita into doing the work for free; he turned to Kitamura Kaori and asked that crucial question.
Yukinoshita's tennis skills weren't bad, but her physical stamina was poor, she couldn't last long.
Having Yukinoshita teach technical skills to well-conditioned seed players wouldn't be convincing and wouldn't be very effective; after all, they weren't like the original's low-level tennis player Totsuka Saika, ordinary training wouldn't bring big improvements.
That said, Hikigaya could train Haruna and the others himself; the only real issue was time.
After completing the swim club task, the system unlocked the club branch feature and also added a club activity, club training camp.
In club training, the more people who train together, the better the camp's effectiveness.
Logically, even without parties, normal training should still improve their results.
But with the Service Club halo, special training can raise everyone's basic ability more quickly, thereby improving their training scores.
However... the club training camp wasn't like the Service Club halo, which granted a halo to anyone who had truly served him. The camp needed time before its effects became evident.
"Our request has no strict time limit. We're not in a huge rush."
Seeing Hikigaya's continued confidence, Kitamura Kaori thought for a moment and then asked, "However, since President Hikigaya feels your training methods might not suit us, how about we set one week as the agreement?"
"One week later, regardless of the training's effectiveness, our request will end."
"If Haruna and the others show a noticeable improvement in one week, we will properly reward President Hikigaya."
Chika had hyped him so much as if anyone who trained under Hikigaya for a few days would see dramatic improvements.
She wanted to see how much Haruna, Sugiyama, and Saeki could actually improve after a week of training.
["Ding~"]
["Character task triggered—Excellent Coach for the Tennis Club.
Hearing the system task trigger, Hikigaya nodded with a smile and signaled Yuigahama Yui, who was sitting beside Yukinoshita, to see the visitors out.
That was right, otherwise why was he working day and night?
The Service Club's principle was to help others without expecting returns, but they could freeload; he shouldn't actually do everything for free.
["'Excellent Coach for the Tennis Club'"]
["Sobu High's tennis club is strong, but due to past members graduating or leaving, the current roster is much weaker than before."]
["The tennis club urgently needs an excellent coach to train potential members and increase their abilities."]
["Task reward: New club activity, club training camp." (ps: camp participants limited to club members)]
'Another new club activity?'
Hearing the system occasionally describe task rewards in advance, Hikigaya knew this reward was fixed and wouldn't change depending on how he completed the task.
Still, system rewards were always good things, and this one concerned clubs and multiple people, which fit the Love Life system's emphasis on club activities.
If the club training camp function proved useful, just with club training and the camp, he could probably make frequent appearances across clubs and become a sought-after trainer, eventually dominating the high school scene starting from Sobu High.
Although he hadn't yet seen a clear difference between the club training camp and regular club training, both aim to improve training results and consolidate gains.
Maybe the camp provides beds?
"We'll take our leave now. Goodbye, President Hikigaya. Goodbye to everyone in the Service Club."
"If President Hikigaya is free, please come to the courts after school today to observe our training before making a plan."
Kitamura Kaori didn't know Hikigaya could earn from system tasks. Though she didn't fully believe in his prowess, she bowed politely to take her leave.
After all, Hikigaya had agreed to act as their temporary coach for a week without expecting rewards, they couldn't be careless about that.
Especially with Chika praising him so highly and Yumiko also thinking he was impressive, he must have some ability.
Saeki Ai and Sugiyama Mio bowed politely too, and Sairenji Haruna lingered last. She glanced subtly at the Service Club's only male, Hikigaya, bit her lip, and gently closed the door.
"Another request... the president really is busy...", Yuigahama Yui, tasked with seeing them out, watched the Service Club return to quiet. She glanced at Hikigaya, who hadn't left his seat, and carefully returned to her own, picking up her lunch. She ate while watching Yukinoshita, who seemed completely unaware, and thought to herself.
Though she was shocked by Miura Yumiko and Hayase Saki's relationship with the president and worried about ever facing Hanamori Kotomi's sweet smile again in class, she had to admire Hikigaya's abilities. No wonder he'd started the Service Club and been favored by elf princesses and mermaid idols.
Since she came to the Service Club last week, she'd seen them take several requests, many seemingly tied to the president. She'd heard most prior requests had been completed by him and were highly praised, many clients even joined the Service Club afterward.
Hmm... thinking that made her a little scared.
Their Service Club seemed to help freely, but in reality, those helped eventually became Service Club members.
Yuigahama swallowed nervously, stole another glance at Hikigaya finishing his lunch, and kept her head down, too afraid to pry into his secrets.
She'd considered asking Yukino to bring her into the group so she could fit in, but seeing how the president and others tacitly excluded Yukino, she didn't dare disturb that balance.
She wasn't sure whether it was isolation or bullying, but if not being included counted as bullying, then it felt strange to call it bullying.
After Yuigahama closed the door in a hurry, their steps faded, and Tsukishiro Sayo reappeared, her bright silver hair swaying.
"Phew! It's so hard to stay quiet!"
"Though it's a bit thrilling…"
Hayase Saki climbed up from the floor, brushed dust off her slightly reddened white knees, and sat contentedly beside Naranomi Miki.
Being behind the vice president Yukino was exciting, just thinking that the fierce vice president was right behind them made Saki bolder.