After Chisato explained his intent, the manager didn't hesitate and generously offered a hundred entry passes.
What's more, these were high-tier tickets—each one allowed up to three people to enter, and after using it, guests could access all attractions in both the amusement park and the adjoining zoo, completely free of charge.
Meals, of course, were not included.
Each of these premium tickets cost 9,800 yen on the official website.
As prizes for high school students, they were more than sufficient.
In the end, Chisato politely returned half of them.
He believed that was a fair return for the advertising the amusement park would receive during the sports festival.
A hundred was too much—fifty was just right.
"…Let's collaborate again if the opportunity comes."
"…Of course. Thank you for your time. Let's stay in touch."
"…It's my pleasure."
From their arrival to the deal being finalized, the whole process had taken less than thirty minutes.
Yukino felt like she was in a dream.
It wasn't until the manager walked them back to the park gates that she finally snapped out of it.
"Ah, this—this is one of the new merchandise items our park just released. Consider it a small souvenir. Please accept it with our compliments."
Accepting them one after the other from the assistant, the manager handed over a hat printed with a cute panda design and a small gift box to the two of them.
The two initially declined politely, but in the end, the manager's passionate and insistent attitude pushed the gifts into their hands anyway.
He hadn't originally intended to hand out such trivial items, but just moments ago, as they were leaving the park, he keenly noticed that the girl walking beside Chisato, who had been indifferent until then, suddenly fixed her eyes on a giant panda plush toy being played with by a child at the roadside.
Her intense gaze and subtle movement to take out her phone suggested she might've wanted to take a picture.
So he instructed his assistant to prepare some panda-themed souvenirs as a thoughtful gesture.
Judging from the look of delighted surprise on the girl's face, the gesture seemed to have worked well.
Before parting, he deliberately gestured for Chisato to have a word in private.
"The zoo that partners with our amusement park—I have a bit of say there. If you're interested, President Suzumiya, I could arrange a close-up viewing of the pandas for you."
Chisato raised an eyebrow and glanced at Yukino, who stood nearby, holding the panda merchandise with a smile she clearly couldn't hide.
"Seriously? Are pandas the kind of animals that outsiders can just casually interact with?"
"You misunderstand me, President Suzumiya. They're national treasures of a foreign country—pampered like royalty.
Direct contact is, of course, difficult, and even a small mishap could be a big deal.
But observing them up close, behind glass, as they go about their daily routine—eating, resting, etc.—isn't a problem. I've even taken my own kids to see them privately."
"I see…"
"In any case, it's something to think about. There won't be any trouble. Just contact me if you're interested."
"Thank you very much…"
"Not at all…"
After another round of polite small talk, Chisato and Yukino walked out of the amusement park area.
Their haul: fifty premium combo tickets for the amusement park and the zoo.
"How is this any different from you using your own money to sponsor the sports festival?"
Hey hey hey, Yukinoshita-san, if you're going to say that, maybe don't cling to those panda merch items so tightly.
No one's going to steal them from you.
"Of course it's different. You were sitting right next to me the entire time—I made it very clear to that manager that I wasn't representing myself personally.
I said I was negotiating on behalf of the upcoming joint school event, in exchange for promoting their amusement park with banners and flyers.
That's what got us the tickets."
"..."
Fair enough, but Yukino still felt something wasn't quite right.
"Well, the result's good either way. The amusement park gets free publicity, and we get sponsorship prizes.
That's a much better outcome than those boxes of bottled water we were practically begging for earlier."
Chisato clapped the tickets in his hand and concluded,
"No one loses anything, and like we said from the start, this is a win-win situation. Isn't that great?"
"..."
There was really no room to argue.
And she even got panda merchandise out of it. Her private collection of panda goods just gained a new family member.
A delightful and unexpected bonus.
"Of course, these tickets alone aren't enough. We still need to secure more sponsorship prizes."
Chisato checked the time on his phone.
"It's already past five. If we hadn't wasted so much time earlier, we could've gotten even more done."
Yukino shot him a glare as cold as ice. The breeze by the street seemed to instantly turn sharp and piercing.
That familiar but thrilling sense of déjà vu surged in Chisato's heart. He let out a soft sigh and, pretending to mutter to himself, quickly tried to backpedal.
"If only I hadn't overslept this morning…"
The cold stare finally withdrew.
Only then did he turn to Yukino.
"How about it? Still got energy left?"
"No problem."
"Then let's see if we can wrap this up today. Let's head to the next spot."
The two waited at the roadside for their ride. Yukino had held back for a long time, but she finally couldn't resist asking.
"Suzumiya, why did you suddenly decide to get involved in all this?"
"Oh, that…"
He tapped on his phone, seemingly replying to someone.
"It's not really a big deal. My friend Fukube dragged me into the planning team for this joint school event.
From start to finish, I've been enjoying food and drinks on the event's dime, so I started feeling a little guilty.
I just figured… if there's anything I can help with, even in a small way, I should at least try to give something back. That's all."
Yukino looked at him seriously—watched his face, his expression, the sincerity in his voice—and slowly nodded, as if acknowledging his explanation.
Either way, to her, Chisato's actions had been a huge help.
She'd find a chance to properly thank him.
Meanwhile, the message sent from Chisato's phone was relayed through countless signal towers until it reached the hands of four band members in a recording studio.
[Sorry, something came up tonight and I really can't make it. Let's postpone for now. I'll bring you all something tasty tomorrow to make it up to you.]
The moment the girls saw the message, their hopeful little faces instantly fell.
Disappointment was written all over their expressions, followed by heart-wrenching sighs.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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