"Can I ask why you're standing so close to me, Shirai-san?"
Megumi glanced at Mio, who was practically glued to her side. Every time she tried to put some distance between them, Mio would close the gap right back up. She was starting to suspect that if they were just a bit closer as friends, Mio might actually link arms with her.
Hearing Megumi's question, Mio let out an awkward laugh. "Sorry, I think I haven't fully switched gears yet."
After all, she'd spent the entire previous day on a date with Yumiko. Some things were becoming habit—like instinctively sidling up to whoever she was walking with, or the urge to link arms.
If it had been anyone else, Mio probably would've just gone for it. But her relationship with Megumi wasn't quite at that level yet, so she held back.
Then again, even if she did, knowing Megumi's personality, the girl would probably just make a deadpan comment or two and leave it at that.
Just as Mio was about to put some space between them, the System's voice—absent for what felt like ages—suddenly rang out in her head.
"Hiii~ Dearest host! Your cutest System is finally baaack~ Did you miss me?"
"No. Get lost."
That wasn't Mio talking—the System had followed up its own cutesy intro with the rejection itself.
Mio, who'd been about to say something, was rendered momentarily speechless. After a long pause, she sighed: "Fine. Just tell me. What do I have to do?"
"Host can relax~ Katou Megumi's conquest rating with the host is currently only 9 points, so the task is definitely gonna be super easy!"
"For this task, please find a way to maintain continuous physical contact with Katou Megumi until noon. You may separate during this period, but each separation cannot exceed five minutes. After each separation, you must resume contact for at least five minutes before you can separate again, or the task will be judged as failed. Successful completion may reward a Katou Megumi series card or item reward. Failure will result in drawing a punishment card."
The task description was pretty long. To make sure she hadn't misheard anything, Mio cautiously opened the System panel and read through it carefully. After confirming the details, she concluded this task really wasn't that hard.
You could even call it... humane.
After all, they were here to go shopping.
Shopping at a mall obviously meant clothing stores, and if she couldn't separate from Megumi at all, was she supposed to follow her into the fitting room? Or drag Megumi in with her?
But there was no time for overthinking. Once the task started, instead of pulling away, Mio moved closer and said to Megumi: "Um, can I hold your hand?"
It was technically a question, but by the time the words left her mouth, Mio had already expertly linked arms with Megumi.
Megumi silently tried to extract her arm from Mio's grasp. But she quickly discovered that Mio's grip was stronger than expected—like she was terrified Megumi would break free.
After a few futile attempts, she gave up struggling and said in her usual even tone: "Shirai-san, don't you think doing this could easily give people the wrong idea?"
"Wrong idea? What wrong idea?" Mio looked at Megumi with those innocent, clueless eyes, as if she genuinely had no idea what Megumi was getting at.
With anyone else, that act might have worked. But Megumi was certain Mio understood perfectly well what she meant.
Still, if even Mio didn't care about appearances, then she—a background character through and through—probably had even less reason to worry.
With that thought, Megumi let Mio keep clinging to her arm without further protest.
Megumi had never imagined that someone like Mio—one of the most dazzling presences not just in their class, but in the entire school—would voluntarily seek her out.
When it first started happening, she'd honestly wondered if this was some new form of school bullying.
She didn't think that anymore, but a different question had taken its place: What was Mio's goal in getting close to her?
This question had been bugging Megumi for quite a while. She'd racked her brain trying to figure out what she could possibly have that would attract Mio's attention, but she kept coming up empty.
Mio couldn't possibly be after her body, right?
Even Megumi almost laughed at her own thought.
Even if Mio really was into girls, there were plenty of prettier options. The two of them had practically zero overlap in their social circles. There was absolutely no reason for Mio to seek out a background character like her.
Before long, they arrived at the shopping center.
Being a weekend and with a sale event running, the place was significantly more crowded than usual.
Megumi shelved her wandering thoughts and turned to Mio. "Shirai-san, is there anywhere in particular you'd like to browse?"
"Anywhere's fine with me~ As long as I'm by Megumi's side, that's all that matters." Mio said sweetly.
The words had barely left her mouth when her expression stiffened slightly. She'd instinctively slipped back into yesterday's mode—the way she'd talked during her date with Yumiko. She'd even forgotten to adjust her tone. But it probably wasn't a big deal.
Judging by Megumi's composed expression, her little slip-up didn't seem to have any effect.
Or so she thought.
Megumi only looked calm on the surface.
Even as a fellow girl, hearing Mio say something so sweet in that almost-flirty tone made Megumi's heart rate tick up noticeably.
It made her marvel once again at just how terrifying Mio's charm really was.
She was even starting to wonder—if she spent too much time around Mio, would she actually get her preferences bent?
The answer was pretty obvious.
"Shirai-san, if you could try not to use that kind of tone, I'd appreciate it. It's very easy to cause misunderstandings."
"Really?" Mio studied Megumi's neutral expression. No matter how she looked at it, Megumi didn't seem like someone who'd misunderstand anything. But since she'd pointed it out, Mio figured she should at least try to be careful.
"Somehow, it feels like you're showing off, Shirai-san."
"Not at all! I was just curious—would you actually get the wrong idea?"
"No." Megumi said. Though she didn't entirely mean it.
Clearly not wanting to keep going back and forth on this topic, Megumi took the lead and pulled Mio toward a nearby clothing store.
She hadn't forgotten the real reason she'd come out today. It wasn't to keep Mio company—it was to take advantage of the sale and grab some new clothes for herself.
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