"Thirty questions in total. Although the score was a close 16:14, Nanami is the winner..."
"So, Nanami will take the first shift. For the next week, she remains Mashiro's primary owner."
Rin Ito gently patted Mashiro's head and nudged her toward Nanami.
"I'll leave Mashiro in your hands for the next seven days."
"Ugh... damn it. I can't believe Nanami knows more about Mashiro than I do."
Rita put on the face of a defeated loser for a second, but her expression turned cunning in the next heartbeat.
"However..."
Even though she had lost for now, and this duel only decided who went first, Rita wasn't going to let herself fall behind that easily!
"If Miss Nanami is busy taking care of Mashiro, then I guess I'll just have to move in with Rin-kun~"
Rita winked at Nanami. She knew that with Nanami's gentle personality, she could never kick a guest out or make them sleep in the living room.
But as a girlfriend, Nanami surely wouldn't allow her boyfriend to share a bedroom with another girl!
Therefore...
Nanami: "Sure, sounds good."
Rita: "Eh?"
OvO?
Rita's brain short-circuited before her plan could even finish forming. Nanami had agreed far too easily.
Isn't she his girlfriend? Why is she okay with another woman sleeping in his room?
"There's only one bed in his room," Rita added quickly. "Rin-kun wouldn't be so ungentlemanly as to make a guest sleep on the floor, would he?"
Rita didn't actually mind sharing a bed with Rin; she trusted him not to force himself on her. Her goal was simply to make Nanami jealous enough to take Rin for herself.
She never expected Nanami to be completely unbothered!
But then again, it made sense... If Nanami were the jealous type, she wouldn't have let Mashiro move in.
Mashiro had lived with him for so long; if he wanted to violate her, she'd be pregnant by now.
"I didn't expect Miss Nanami to love Mashiro that much. In that case, I'll be the one taking care of Rin-kun, okay?"
"I'll leave him to your care then, Rita-san."
Nanami bit her lip to keep from laughing. Mashiro was still plotting how to drag Rita into their "sisterhood," and here Rita was, delivering herself on a silver platter.
"..."
After a hot shower, Rita walked into Rin's room, drying her hair with a towel. She was wearing a pair of pale pink pajamas.
She had originally intended to take Mashiro back to England immediately, so she hadn't packed any extra clothes. She was currently wearing a set borrowed from Mashiro.
The pajamas, bought to fit Mashiro's frame, were a bit too small for Rita.
Her much more developed breasts stretched the fabric taut, the buttons groaning as if they were about to scream for mercy.
Rita didn't mind the tight fit. When they lived in England, Mashiro often wore Rita's clothes, and occasionally Rita would wear Mashiro's if hers weren't dry.
They had spent half their lives together; clothes were an afterthought. When she entered, Rin was sitting at his computer, focused on his drawing.
"Phew... I can't believe Miss Nanami is comfortable with me being in here with you. Whoa!"
She leaned over to look at the screen and saw a drawing of a girl in an M-legged pose. The steam from her shower hadn't fully faded, but her cheeks flushed a fresh shade of cherry blossom.
"Have you decided what kind of manga you want to draw?"
Rin turned his chair to face her. The ill-fitting pajamas were pushed to their limit, revealing a deep, ivory cleavage at the collar. The gaps between the buttons offered glimpses of her hydrated, porcelain skin.
"Mmm... I haven't decided yet."
Rita sat on the edge of the bed, her bare feet still damp. Her gaze drifted aimlessly—not because she was afraid of the erotic art on the screen, but because of a guilty conscience.
"Is it because you don't know what to draw, or because you're afraid?" Rin looked at her with a knowing smile. "Are you still scared of being ruined by Mashiro?"
"..."
The energetic smile vanished from Rita's face, replaced by a hollow loneliness. She curled up on the bed, hugging her knees as if she had already been broken.
Rin sat beside her. After a brief pause, he gently rested a hand on her shoulder. Mashiro had truly left a massive psychological scar on this girl.
"Why... why can you face her so normally? It's not just me. Ever since Mashiro arrived at the studio when we were kids, everyone else eventually left. They were all ruined by her talent," Rita whispered.
"I... I can't do it. If I pick up the brush again and lose to her at manga too... I'll break. I'll really break."
"If you're already worried about losing before you start, you've already lost as a creator."
Rin gently ruffled her hair. Her dazzling blonde hair was as damp as her eyes.
"But... I will lose, won't I?" Rita muttered. "Even you... once Mashiro starts her serialization and truly surpasses you... I don't believe you'll keep this attitude."
"If you're so afraid of being ruined, why are you so desperate to take care of her? You know Mashiro is a flawed girl." Rin spoke in a calm, neutral tone.
"I don't know... I guess I just can't leave her alone when she's being so clumsy."
Rita didn't truly understand her own motivations, and Rin chose not to pierce her delusions just yet.
In the few months she'd spent with Nanami, Mashiro had actually gained some basic life skills. But what about the previous ten years? Did Rita really have no chance to teach her those things?
Rin guessed that Rita subconsciously kept Mashiro dependent. By being the "all-capable" caretaker to the "helpless" genius, Rita maintained a psychological upper hand to protect her own ego from being shattered by Mashiro's art.
But that didn't change the fact that she was Mashiro's best friend.
"Let's not talk about depressing things." Rin patted her head and asked wickedly, "What if Mashiro gets married one day? Will you move in with her then, too?"
Rita tried to imagine it, but she couldn't picture Mashiro being in love with anyone.
However, an intrusive thought popped into her head... What kind of face does Mashiro make when she's masturbating?
Nanami must have taught her. Mashiro used it as "research" to draw the expressions of aroused girls. In oil painting, you draw statues and still lifes; you don't paint the wanton face of a girl reaching her limit.
After Nanami taught her, Mashiro surely tried it herself, perhaps in front of a mirror.
But... could Mashiro actually feel pleasure?
Rita couldn't imagine Mashiro making a face of bliss.
Maybe next time she asks me to perform for her, I should make her do it too?
No, no, no! Stop thinking about perverted things! Rita shook her head violently to clear her mind.
"I don't think Mashiro will ever love a man. She only cares about art. It's hard to find a man in this world who draws better than she does."
"Are you sure she only loves people who draw better than her? A genius's perspective is different from a normal girl's."
"...Eh?"
Something is wrong. Why does he sound like Mashiro already has a man she likes!?