"Mio, there's something I want to talk to you about."
"Hm?"
Shirai Mio, who had her head down devouring her lunch, looked up at Yuigahama Yui's words, curiosity flickering in her eyes.
"Um, I just wanted to ask—do you have time this weekend? I want to… I want to go on a date with you." Yui leaned close to Mio's ear and whispered it.
Mio's first instinct was to say it's still a ways off, but when she thought about it properly—today might be the first day of the new term, but it was already Thursday. The weekend was only two days away. There was nothing strange about Yui asking now.
She mulled it over a little longer, confirmed there was no problem, and gave a small nod. "Should be fine."
"Then it's settled."
Yui clenched her little fists. If they weren't in a classroom, she might have cheered out loud.
Off to the side, Miura Yumiko watched the two of them whispering and put on a deliberately unbothered face. "What are you two talking about? So secretive."
"Kiss me and I'll tell you."
"Forget it then."
Yumiko played it off like she couldn't care less, but the truth was she really did want to know what Mio and Yui were going on about. If they hadn't been in a classroom, she might have just gone ahead and kissed her.
Actually—she kind of wanted to kiss her regardless.
To keep Mio from catching on, Yumiko buried her head and started shoveling food down too.
Beside them, Yui glanced at Mio's lavish bento and let out a quiet little sigh.
She'd wanted to make Mio a bento herself, but Mio brought one every single day, so there was never an opening—and on top of that, Mio's bento was far better than anything Yui could make.
So what else can I do to get Mio to like me more?
Yui sank into thought for a moment.
At first she'd planned to work her way in through Mio's hobbies, but from what she'd observed, Mio's interests were ridiculously broad. She couldn't find a single good angle.
Still, it was fine. Mio had just said yes to her date invitation. She could use the date itself to get to know her on a deeper level.
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The first day of term came and went, and the second day brought the start-of-term test.
The moment Mio walked into the classroom she could hear plenty of students wailing, with a few others cramming at the last second.
Thanks to her own little cheat, her state of mind was about as relaxed as it could possibly be.
She walked to her seat, sat down, then tilted her head toward Yumiko. "Yumiko, did you study for this one?"
"Hah? Studying? I don't need any of that." Yumiko thrust out her chest confidently—and maybe it was Mio's imagination, but it really did seem a touch bigger than before the break.
Reining in her wandering thoughts, Mio took in the dark circles under Yumiko's eyes. She hadn't even put on makeup. By the looks of it, she'd been up reviewing until very late last night.
Mio didn't call her out, but Yumiko had already noticed the look and knew she'd been seen through.
It couldn't be helped, really. Whose fault was it that she'd forgotten to study?
She'd had no choice but to cram like a maniac the night before, which was exactly why she'd nearly overslept this morning and walked out the door without so much as touching her makeup.
On a normal day she might have used the time before class to fix her face. Right now, though? She wanted to use it to catch up on sleep.
Generally speaking, pulling an all-nighter to study leaves you in terrible shape the next day.
And at first, that was exactly how Yumiko felt—her eyelids practically waging war against each other.
But the second she thought about getting to go on a date with Mio tomorrow, her fighting spirit roared back to life.
The feeling was a lot like during finals. Back then she'd been determined to beat Mio, and ended up performing way above her usual level.
Except—after a full day of exams, even a fired-up Yumiko ended up wilting.
By the time she got home, ate dinner, and took a bath, she collapsed straight into bed and was out cold.
Of course, to make sure she wouldn't be late for the date tomorrow, she set herself ten alarms.
What Yumiko—whose mind was already drifting toward sleep—didn't notice was that her phone was nearly dead.
The next day, a little past ten in the morning.
Yumiko slowly opened her eyes from a deep sleep. Having finally made up for all the rest she'd been missing, she felt incomparably better than the day before.
She'd even woken up without her alarm going off… huh!?
Yumiko noticed the sunlight spilling in through the gap in her curtains.
Her alarm was set for seven a.m. At seven, the sun didn't reach her room.
Realizing something was very wrong, she snatched up her phone—only to discover it had died at some unknown point in the night.
She hurriedly dug out her charger, plugged the phone in, then rushed out of her room to borrow her sister's phone and call Mio.
They'd agreed to meet at nine. It was already over an hour past that. The thought of Mio waiting for her in the cold wind for more than an hour made her heart ache.
The second she stepped out of her room, she heard Mio's familiar voice—along with her sister's far-too-cheerful laughter.
Following the sound, Yumiko reached the living room and immediately spotted Mio sitting there, chatting with her sister.
Hearing the footsteps, Mio noticed Yumiko too. She smiled. "Good morning, Yumiko."
"M-morning. Why are you here?"
"To come get you, obviously. I waited at the park for over half an hour and you never showed, so I came over."
"S-sorry, just give me a second, I'll be quick."
"I'm already here. There's no need to rush."
Even so, Yumiko got herself ready and reappeared in front of Mio at record speed.
For lack of time, she'd only managed light makeup—a little less dazzling than usual, a little more demure.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"It wasn't all that long, really." As she spoke, Mio reached out and gently smoothed down Yumiko's clothes for her.
"What is up with this 'wife straightening her husband's clothes before he heads off to work' vibe? It's blinding!" Yumiko's sister clapped both hands over her eyes with theatrical flair.
Yumiko sighed in exasperation. Her sister covering her eyes like that was, obviously, just to avoid the glare Yumiko was about to shoot her.
Just as she was about to say something, Mio suddenly hooked her arm through Yumiko's and said, softly, "Time to head out, darling~"
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