"We're heading out then, Aki-kun~"
Mio waved goodbye to Aki Tomoya with Megumi's arm still looped through hers, a grin plastered on her face.
She had a feeling her smile probably looked pretty bitchy right about now—but she couldn't help it. As a transmigrator, certain memories from her previous life just kept bubbling up.
Who would've thought I'd be playing NTR villain one day.
Even if it was only phantom NTR.
Tomoya, of course, had no way of knowing what was going through Mio's head. He simply thought her smile was a little strange, and that her relationship with the girl beside her did seem pretty... ambiguous.
If the guys at school who had a thing for Mio ever found out about this—he could only imagine how many of them would be beating their chests in despair.
Not that any of it was his problem. He had zero interest in 3D girls, no matter what. He'd rather spend his energy looking forward to the next episode of White Album.
Meanwhile, once Mio had put some distance between them and the restaurant, she quietly let go of Megumi's arm.
As much as she enjoyed strolling around with a pretty girl on her arm, it did get a bit cumbersome when walking.
The moment her left hand was freed, Megumi looked at Mio in mild surprise. She'd already mentally prepared herself to spend the entire afternoon with Mio latched onto her—yet Mio had let go.
Especially when she hadn't let go even once all morning.
Just then, Megumi noticed Mio staring at her with wide, expectant eyes. Out of habit, she asked, "What happened?"
"Megumi, how come you're not going to ask me why I let go?"
She'd clearly noticed—and Mio had her explanation all prepared—yet Megumi hadn't said a single word. Acting as if nothing had changed at all. As expected of Kato Megumi, I suppose.
"I had a feeling that if I asked, it'd make you think I cared about it. And knowing your awful personality, you'd definitely say something that could be easily misunderstood." Megumi said flatly.
"Awful? That's so mean, Megumi."
"Did I say something wrong?"
"...No, not really."
Mio was starting to realize that her personality had indeed taken a bit of a… mischievous turn. Before transmigrating, she'd been pretty mellow—so why had she gone full unhinged after crossing over?
After a moment of reflection, she decisively chose not to dwell on it.
The two soon returned to the shopping center.
Compared to the morning, the afternoon foot traffic hadn't decreased at all—if anything, it felt like it had increased.
Mio sighed softly. She wasn't exactly strapped for cash, so why had she chosen to come shopping during a sale event of all times?
Right. Blame the system. If it weren't for the system, she wouldn't have asked Megumi to come here in the first place. Well, technically Megumi had asked her—even though Mio was the one who'd orchestrated the whole thing.
If Mio had wanted to, she could've ended the date right after lunch and called the task done. But since the morning had been eaten up by the task, Megumi had barely gotten to browse—which was why Mio hadn't pulled the plug.
This time, free from any task constraints, their shopping trip went smoothly. Even Mio, who hadn't planned on buying much, ended up with several shopping bags.
She couldn't help it. Now that money wasn't an issue, every time she spotted something cute, she had this irresistible urge to buy it—like how she used to play dress-up games before her transmigration, seeing a pretty outfit and feeling that itch to throw money at it.
Same principle.
The only difference was that before, she'd been spending money on 2D characters. Now she was spending it on herself. Felt like a net win, honestly.
At the same time, the Miura Yumiko and Hayama Hayato duo was also making their rounds through the shopping center.
Hayama noticed that ever since they'd arrived, Yumiko's eyes had been constantly scanning the crowd—searching for something. Even when they walked into stores, she'd just do a quick lap and walk right back out, which was pretty unusual for her.
"Yumiko, are you looking for someone?"
Caught off guard by the question, Yumiko reflexively denied it. "N-No, I'm just checking which stores are worth browsing."
The truth was, she'd already bought everything she needed that morning. According to her original plan, the afternoon was supposed to be for a movie or karaoke with Hayama—something that would actually move things forward. But for some reason, she'd chosen to come back here instead.
As much as she hated to admit it, she had been searching for a certain someone.
Why?
She'd gone through all the trouble of getting Hayama alone for the day, yet here she was, subconsciously looking for someone else.
Yumiko was starting to think something might be wrong with her head.
After a brief moment of thought, Hayama quickly landed on the most likely suspect—Shirai Mio. She was probably the only person who could make Yumiko this preoccupied.
"You know, Shirai's only been at our school for less than two months, and you two are already this close."
"I-I'm not looking for Shirai Mio!" The words tumbled out before Yumiko caught herself—and by then, it was too late. She realized she'd just answered a question nobody had asked.
Hearing that, Hayama chuckled. "I didn't say you were looking for anyone specifically. Sounds like you just gave yourself away, Yumiko."
"I just—she mentioned she'd be here this afternoon when we were texting, so I thought maybe we'd run into her. Don't get the wrong idea."
Hayama gave her a slightly puzzled look. That in itself wasn't unusual—so why was Yumiko getting so worked up about it?
She almost seemed… guilty.
"Want me to text her and find out where she is?"
"N-No, that's not necessary. If we don't bump into her, that's fine. It's not like I have to find her or anything."
That's what she said. But Yumiko's eyes still drifted toward the bustling crowd, her heart secretly hoping to spot a familiar flash of silver-white somewhere in the sea of people.
Just as she was about to rein in her emotions and actually focus on her date with Hayama—a familiar scent hit her, and then a pair of hands covered her eyes.
"Guess who~?"
"Mio?"
Yumiko grabbed the hands over her eyes in surprise, then turned around to see Mio's familiar smiling face.
A flash of genuine delight crossed her features—but she caught herself almost immediately. She quickly schooled her expression into something stern and dignified. Unfortunately, the stubborn upward curl of her lips completely betrayed how she was actually feeling.
...