"It's freezing!"
Club activities wrapped up, and Mio stepped out of the school building with Shiina Mashiro trailing beside her.
The cold wind hit immediately. Mio instinctively tucked her chin down into her collar, and Mashiro—equally on instinct—sidled closer to her, as if physical proximity would somehow make things warmer.
Mio had been considering heading straight home, but she'd promised Mashiro a proper dinner tonight. That meant a supermarket run first.
She was just mentally planning her route when she heard someone calling her name.
She looked around—and spotted Yukinoshita Haruno in a sleek sedan parked at the curb, waving at her.
Mio walked over. Haruno leaned out and greeted her with a bright smile: "Good afternoon, kouhai~"
"Haruno-senpai. Are all university students this relaxed?"
"Blame you for that." Haruno gave her a languid, playful look. "Sending someone that kind of message first thing in the morning—I've been restless all day. The second class ended, I drove straight here."
The phrasing was, as always, maximally ambiguous. Mio reflexively glanced at Mashiro standing beside her—who showed zero reaction. She probably hadn't caught the implication. Let alone misread it.
Mio exhaled quietly. "Senpai, if you keep saying things like that, I'm going to stop messaging you altogether."
"Don't! I'm only teasing~" Haruno stuck her tongue out, unbothered. "Anyway—you were heading to the supermarket, right? Perfect timing. I'll drive you."
"Since when do you drive?"
"Just got my license~"
"The supermarket is pretty close from here, actually. Walking's good exercise."
Haruno recognized the joke and played along with mock seriousness: "Get in the car. Or I'll forward that photo to everyone in your class."
Right. Mio had almost forgotten—Haruno still had that photo of her. The one that could not, under any circumstances, be seen by other people.
She had a photo of Haruno too, of course. But the two were not remotely in the same league.
Mio and Mashiro climbed in without further argument. Haruno was just about to pull out when she noticed something and rolled the window back down, calling out toward the school gates:
"Yukino! Over here~"
Yukino had been on her way out when she heard her name. She spotted her sister's car and started walking over.
As Yukino approached, Haruno turned back to Mio. "Do you mind one more passenger?"
"Only if senpai covers the groceries tonight."
"Deal." Haruno hadn't even hesitated—she'd already planned to pay. She'd been mooching Mio's cooking often enough that it felt wrong not to contribute, even when she helped out in the kitchen.
When Yukino reached the car and looked inside, she found Mio already seated alongside a girl she recognized as Shiina Mashiro. She'd seen Mashiro around school a few times, though they'd never spoken.
"Did you need something?" Yukino looked at her sister.
"I'm heading to kouhai's—Mio's place to freeload dinner tonight. Thought you might want to come."
"Thank you, but no. I have studying to do this evening."
"Books can be read anywhere, anytime. Mio's cooking is a limited-time experience."
Haruno threw a glance at Mio. Mio sighed.
"Yukinoshita-san. Consider it doing me a favor—if you don't come, senpai is going to talk my ear off the entire night."
"I do not talk that much!" Haruno shot Mio a look. When exactly had this little white-haired kouhai started speaking to her so freely?
Yukino had been about to decline again. But then it occurred to her—this might actually be a useful opportunity to learn more about her sister's relationship with Mio.
She hesitated. Then:
"I'll... be intruding, then."
Haruno blinked, a flicker of genuine surprise crossing her face. Honestly, she hadn't expected this. She knew her sister's personality—and Mio was essentially a stranger. The odds of Yukino agreeing had seemed slim.
And yet here she was. Which meant there was almost certainly something behind it.
Come to think of it, Yukino had been acting slightly off since yesterday. Paying unusual attention to Mio. And earlier—Mio had supposedly told Haruno she and Yukino had never really interacted. But the way they'd spoken to each other just now...
Something didn't add up.
Haruno tucked the thought away as Yukino got in, and steered toward the supermarket.
Mio had her shopping list ready, so the trip was quick. The four of them returned to the apartment complex in a small procession.
Chihiro and Hiratsuka-sensei were already back. When Hiratsuka spotted Yukino, she looked briefly surprised, then smiled warmly.
"Yukino! Feels like ages~"
"We were in the faculty office together less than an hour ago," Yukino said flatly.
"An hour is a long time. There's a saying—a day apart feels like three whole seasons."
Yukino's mouth twitched. She declined to respond.
She hadn't forgotten her reason for being here. Once they'd settled in the living room, her gaze drifted naturally toward the kitchen—where her sister was currently tying Mio's apron strings.
Which would have been fine, except that somewhere in the middle of tying, it turned into a hug.
...Yeah. Yukino thought.
Something's definitely off with these two.
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