Chapter 393: Mua
"I-I was only joking!"
Realizing that something had been off about her tone, Isshiki Iroha hurried to explain the moment the words left her mouth.
Hearing Isshiki Iroha's words, Shirai Mio smiled as well. "Oh, that's all? I thought my little kouhai was confessing to me. I was already wondering how I should answer."
For a moment, Isshiki Iroha had the urge to ask Shirai Mio what her answer would have been if she really had been confessing just now.
But if she actually asked that, whether Shirai Mio said yes or no, she had no idea how she herself was supposed to respond.
To keep the awkward atmosphere from dragging on, Isshiki Iroha blinked and said, "Thank you for showing me around the clubs today, Senpai. I still have something to take care of, so I'll be going now."
"Then I'll see you tomorrow, little kouhai. And make sure you think carefully before deciding which club to join."
"Mm."
Isshiki Iroha answered, then turned and walked away. The moment she rounded the corner, her previously normal pace suddenly sped up considerably.
Only after she had walked out through the school gates did Isshiki Iroha quietly let out a breath of relief.
What on earth had gotten into her? She had been so nervous just now that even a joke had come out sounding like a confession.
What if Shirai Mio had taken it seriously?
Shirai Mio's almost unfairly beautiful face surfaced in Isshiki Iroha's mind, and she suddenly felt that dating Shirai Mio might not actually be so bad.
Ahem!
Meanwhile, after Isshiki Iroha left, Shirai Mio returned to the Art Club.
Club activities had already ended by then. Shiina Mashiro had packed up her things and was sitting there quietly, waiting for Shirai Mio to come back.
The moment Shirai Mio entered the classroom, the club president came over and asked, "Mio, where's that pretty first-year from earlier?"
"She went home~"
"That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking whether she decided which club she's joining."
"Not yet. Let her think it over properly. Haven't you heard the Chinese saying, 'A melon picked by force isn't sweet'?"
"Whether it's sweet or not doesn't matter as long as it quenches your thirst."
Shirai Mio smiled helplessly. After saying goodbye to the club president, she turned and walked over to Shiina Mashiro.
"Mashiro, let's go~"
"Okay."
Hearing Shirai Mio, Shiina Mashiro immediately stood up, came to her side, and familiarly took Shirai Mio's hand.
······
"Little kouhai, what are you spacing out about?"
Lying on Shirai Mio's bed, Yukinoshita Haruno looked at Shirai Mio, who was staring blankly at her computer screen, and voiced her curiosity.
"I'm just thinking about how I want to compose this painting." Shirai Mio spoke without changing expression.
She could hardly tell Yukinoshita Haruno that she was thinking about how to make Haruno's younger sister act as her girlfriend for a day, could she?
If she actually said that, Yukinoshita Haruno would probably arrest her on the spot, lock her in a basement, do this and that to her, and then finally······
Shirai Mio banished the strange images from her mind and focused on drawing again.
There was no point thinking too much about it right now. Tomorrow, she planned to feel Yukinoshita Yukino out and see how she reacted. If there really was no other way, then she would use the [Freebie Card] to force the mission through.
Or she could simply let the mission fail. She had quite a few [Purification Cards] now. If she were not worried about accidentally purifying away [Unfortunate Person], she would have used one long ago.
Right now, the card she most wanted to get rid of was [Afraid of Ghosts].
To keep Yukinoshita Haruno from noticing anything strange, Shirai Mio simply put brush to canvas and started drawing in earnest.
Yukinoshita Haruno gave the painting a casual glance and quickly lost interest, but she did not disturb Shirai Mio either. She simply lay quietly on Shirai Mio's bed and played with her phone.
That continued until midnight.
Yukinoshita Haruno gave a lazy yawn and asked, "Little kouhai, what if I fall asleep on your bed?"
"Then sleep." Shirai Mio did not seem to care.
"Aren't you worried little Mashiro will get upset if she sees me here?" Yukinoshita Haruno asked with a smile.
"I can't exactly wake Senpai up and throw you out, can I?"
Hearing Shirai Mio's answer, a faint smile tugged at Yukinoshita Haruno's lips. She slowly stood, stretched, and said, "All right, I was only teasing you. I'll head back, then."
"Good night."
"Good night. Mua~"
Yukinoshita Haruno leaned close to Shirai Mio and kissed her to her heart's content before finally leaving with a smile.
Shirai Mio lightly brushed her fingertips over her own lips, a faintly helpless smile appearing on her face.
······
The next day, after school.
Isshiki Iroha had just finished packing her things when the classmate who had visited clubs with her yesterday came over. "Isshiki-san, want to go to the club together?"
"Actually, I still haven't decided which club I want to join."
"Eh!? I saw you with Shirai-senpai yesterday, so I thought you'd already joined the Art Club. If you join the Art Club, you'll get to see Shirai-senpai every day." As the girl spoke, pink hearts seemed to appear in her eyes again.
"Is Shirai-senpai really that attractive?"
"Of course. Shirai-senpai is beautiful and gentle. Don't you think it feels really comfortable being around her?"
Isshiki Iroha thought back carefully. It really had been quite pleasant.
Feeling her thoughts starting to drift in a strange direction, she silently stood and said, "You go ahead. I'll look at some other clubs first."
"All right."
She said she was going to look at other clubs, but as she walked, she somehow ended up in front of the Art Club anyway.
The club president was standing at the door. The moment she saw Isshiki Iroha, she came over with a smile. "Well, if it isn't Isshiki-kouhai from yesterday. Have you decided to join the Art Club?"
"I-I actually came to find Shirai-senpai."
"Mio? She went out a little while ago to take care of something. Why don't you come in and sit down while you wait for her?"
"N-no, that's okay."
Isshiki Iroha hesitated, but in the end she still declined the club president's invitation. Somehow, if she really went inside and waited specifically for Shirai Mio, it would feel far too deliberate.
She started wondering whether, if she joined the Art Club, Shirai Mio would assume that she had joined because she had feelings for her.
Normally, Isshiki Iroha would never have cared about something like that. If anything, deliberately making other people aware of such a thing was closer to her usual style. But now, whenever she thought about Shirai Mio, she became inexplicably shy.
What was she supposed to do?
······