"Mio, are you free this weekend?"
Mio, who was enjoying her bento, thought for a moment after hearing Yui's question, then nodded. "Yep, I'm free. Are you asking me out on a date, Yui?"
Though she'd already figured out how to counter Mio's teasing, the earlier kiss had left Yui feeling strangely guilty, so she just blushed and said, "No, I just wanted to ask if you'd like to come over to my place this weekend."
"Meeting the parents already? Should I prepare something?"
Yui looked at Mio helplessly, then explained, "I've been learning how to cook from my mom recently, and I wanted you to try it."
"How about we discuss that date idea some more?"
"Mio!" Yui puffed out her cheeks, looking absolutely adorable.
Mio stopped teasing her and nodded seriously. "Sure, I'm really looking forward to seeing what you've learned."
"Then it's a deal."
A happy smile bloomed on Yui's face. She was already looking forward to the weekend.
"That's about all the time we have for today. Everyone head home safely, and be careful on your way." The club president checked the time and announced the end of today's club activities.
After Mio finished packing up, she left the school gates with Shiina Mashiro.
Just as Mio was thinking about what to have for dinner tonight, Yukinoshita Haruno suddenly appeared in front of her.
Seeing Mio's surprised expression, Haruno showed a pleased smile and said, "Isn't my cute little kouhai happy to see me~?"
Mio actually wanted to say it was more of a shock than a pleasant surprise, but to maintain her image in front of Haruno, she put on a sweet smile and said, "What brings you here, senpai?"
Though Mio covered it up quickly, Haruno—being Haruno—noticed that slight hint of exasperation when Mio first saw her. Did her appearance make Mio feel exasperated?
Haruno had originally just planned to say hi, but she changed her mind without hesitation: "I didn't have class this afternoon and suddenly missed my cute kouhai's cooking, so I came to mooch a meal. You don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not. Having senpai come for a meal is recognition of my cooking skills."
"Don't say that—I already feel bad enough mooching food. How about I pay for today's ingredients~?"
"Sure, senpai can order whatever you want."
Mio wasn't about to be polite with Haruno. If she actually tried being polite, knowing Haruno's personality, she'd definitely twist the conversation around. Then Mio would end up both paying for ingredients and doing the cooking.
Haruno glanced at Mio with some surprise. She'd expected Mio to at least be a bit polite, but she agreed so readily that all of Haruno's prepared lines went to waste.
This white-haired little kouhai really is interesting~
"As long as it's something my kouhai makes, I'll love it~"
"Don't say that, senpai. You'll make me embarrassed."
Haruno felt like those words sounded familiar—she'd said something similar to Mio before.
But she didn't dwell on it and simply followed Mio and Shiina Mashiro to a nearby supermarket.
Since Haruno was treating, Mio didn't hold back at all when buying ingredients. She went straight for the expensive stuff.
After just one casual lap around the store, the shopping cart was packed full.
Just as Mio was wondering if she should grab anything else, the system's voice suddenly rang in her ear: "Shopping at the supermarket with your admired senpai—how could nothing happen?"
"Please find a way to maintain physical contact with Yukinoshita Haruno for more than three minutes before leaving the supermarket. If contact is interrupted, the timer will restart. Success will potentially reward you with cards or items from the Yukinoshita Haruno series. Failure will result in drawing a punishment card set."
"Do your best, host~"
"Why isn't this a Shiina Mashiro task?" To avoid triggering Haruno-related tasks, Mio had been holding onto Mashiro this whole time.
"While the host is indeed closer to Shiina Mashiro, when tasks trigger with multiple targets nearby, the system will randomly select one."
"Tsk."
Giving up on struggling, Mio turned her gaze to Haruno beside her. Physical contact tasks were easy to complete with anyone else, but Haruno was different. If she acted too obviously, Haruno would definitely notice something.
If Mashiro weren't here, Mio could shamelessly cling to Haruno's arm and was confident she wouldn't get shaken off within three minutes.
But with Mashiro right there, she really didn't want to do something so embarrassing.
So... what should she do?
Noticing Mio's gaze, Haruno flashed a sunny smile. "What's wrong?"
"N-Nothing, I was just thinking about what else we need to buy." As Mio spoke, she subtly increased the distance between herself and Haruno.
Knowing Haruno's twisted sense of fun, as long as she showed signs of wanting to keep her distance, there was a good chance Haruno would move closer on her own.
Haruno did notice Mio's little move. Normally, she'd definitely move closer, but after that incident at the shopping center, she felt like she'd fallen into one of Mio's traps. So she decided to stay put and see what Mio was trying to do.
"Hmm?"
After pushing the cart forward a bit more, Mio realized Haruno had absolutely no intention of getting closer. In fact, she'd deliberately maintained distance.
Wait, when did this bad woman become so considerate?
When Mio wanted her close, she stayed away. When Mio wanted distance, this bad woman would press right up against her.
This wasn't going to work. The cart was already pretty full, and even if she stalled for time, she couldn't drag it out much longer. She should've known better than to stuff so much in there.
Mio bit the bullet and kept moving forward, but Haruno remained unmoved. Mio realized she needed to actually do something.
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