"This is my place."
Standing downstairs from her apartment building, Yukinoshita Yukino turned to look at Shirai Mio.
After the two of them stared at each other for a while, Yukinoshita Yukino was the first to give in and ask, "You aren't waiting for me to invite you upstairs to sit for a while, are you?"
"No. I was just waiting for you to go upstairs before I left. Who knew you wouldn't leave or say anything? I thought you had something you wanted to tell me~" Shirai Mio said with an innocent look.
Actually, Yukinoshita Yukino wanted to say that she had been waiting for Shirai Mio to leave first as well. But after hesitating, she did not say it aloud and merely said flatly, "Then I'll head up first. See you at school tomor... the day after tomorrow."
"Mm. See you."
After waving to Yukinoshita Yukino, Shirai Mio finally turned and walked toward the intersection.
She hailed a taxi and rode straight home.
Fortunately, she was not short on money now. Back when she had first transmigrated here and had hardly any money, there was no way she would have been willing to take a taxi.
Shirai Mio had just gotten home and was about to sit down and relax when she heard the sound of a key turning at the door. She turned toward the entrance.
As the door opened, Yukinoshita Haruno pushed it open and walked in.
Seeing the bag Shirai Mio had casually tossed onto the sofa, Yukinoshita Haruno asked curiously, "Did you just get back too?"
"Mm. Senpai, did you get everything taken care of?"
"More or less." As Yukinoshita Haruno spoke, she walked over and sat down beside Shirai Mio, then said, "You went out with Yukino today, didn't you?"
Shirai Mio, who had been relaxed a moment ago, instantly tensed up when she heard Yukinoshita Haruno's words.
Had she and Yukinoshita Yukino actually been spotted earlier?
Seeing Shirai Mio's nervous expression, Yukinoshita Haruno chuckled and said, "I didn't follow you two. You just smell like Yukino, and there is cat hair on your clothes. It isn't Cake's fur, so you probably went somewhere like a cat café, right?"
"From what I know about you, now that you have Cake, you wouldn't go to a cat café unless someone invited you."
"And Yukino really likes cats, so there is a very high chance you were with Yukino today."
After hearing Yukinoshita Haruno's explanation, even Shirai Mio was startled. She had not expected Haruno to figure out that she had been with Yukinoshita Yukino from such tiny details alone.
As expected of Yukinoshita Haruno?
While Shirai Mio was marveling at that, Yukinoshita Haruno suddenly leaned closer and said, "You didn't do anything strange to my little sister, did you?"
"N-no, of course not. We just went to a cat café to pet cats, then went to see a movie together." Shirai Mio felt very guilty, but to avoid being locked in the basement by Yukinoshita Haruno, she brought every bit of her acting skill to bear.
Yukinoshita Haruno carefully studied Shirai Mio's expression, then caught her off guard and kissed her.
The sudden attack left Shirai Mio stunned for a moment.
"My little kouhai really is cute~"
"Senpai, you ambushed me again!" Shirai Mio puffed out her cheeks as she glared at Yukinoshita Haruno.
Just as Shirai Mio was about to say something else, the door opened again and Rita and Shiina Mashiro walked in together.
Seeing the two of them sitting in the living room, Rita said in surprise, "You're both back already."
"Is there a problem?"
"No, of course not. More importantly, have you eaten yet?"
"Not yet. I'll go make something now."
Just as Shirai Mio was about to get up and head to the kitchen to cook, Yukinoshita Haruno stopped her. "We're eating out today. Shizuka has already gone on ahead."
"That works too."
And so, not long after getting back, the group left the apartment again, took a taxi, and headed to the place they had agreed on.
To Shirai Mio's surprise, besides Hiratsuka Shizuka, Yukinoshita Yukino had also been dragged along.
When Yukinoshita Yukino saw Shirai Mio, her expression changed ever so slightly, but she quickly returned to her usual calm look.
After everyone sat down, Shirai Mio took out her phone and sent Yukinoshita Yukino a message telling her that Yukinoshita Haruno had already discovered that the two of them had gone out together today.
However, Yukinoshita Haruno only knew they had gone out to have fun. She did not know it had been a date.
After reading the message, Yukinoshita Yukino silently breathed a sigh of relief.
Going on a date with her own sister's girlfriend was bizarre enough. How could she possibly let her sister know about it, even if the date had only been pretend?
Just as everyone was discussing what to eat, the System's voice suddenly rang in Shirai Mio's ear. "Ahem. I imagine Host doesn't particularly want me showing up at a time like this, but there is no helping it. Host, you know how it is."
"I don't want to know!" Shirai Mio glanced around at Yukinoshita Haruno, Yukinoshita Yukino, and Shiina Mashiro.
All three were people on the System's list. In a situation like this, a mission involving any one of them would be bad news for her.
While Shirai Mio was wondering who the target of this mission would be, the System spoke again. "Before leaving the restaurant, please have Kato Megumi take the initiative to kiss you somewhere on the face. Success may earn you a Kato Megumi series deck or item reward. Failure will require you to draw a penalty deck."
"Wait, Kato Megumi?"
Shirai Mio froze after hearing the mission description, then instinctively looked around. In the end, she spotted Kato Megumi not far away.
As expected of a woman who came with a built-in presence suppressor. Shirai Mio had been in the restaurant for so long without noticing Kato Megumi at all.
Besides Kato Megumi, there were also several people Shirai Mio did not recognize at her table. They looked like Kato Megumi's family.
She was supposed to find a way to get Kato Megumi to kiss her right in front of Megumi's parents? What kind of messed-up setup was this!?
Even Shirai Mio felt a headache coming on.
Fortunately, Kato Megumi's meal seemed to have only just started as well. At the very least, Shirai Mio still had time to think about how to complete the mission.
While Shirai Mio was watching Kato Megumi, Kato Megumi also looked over at her.
In fact, Kato Megumi had noticed Shirai Mio as soon as she entered.
That long silver-white hair was simply too conspicuous.
Noticing Shirai Mio looking at her, Kato Megumi gave her a small wave in greeting.
Even that little gesture made her look adorably cute.
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