"It's getting late, and I imagine the host is about ready to turn in. So before bed, asking Yukinoshita Haruno for a goodnight kiss wouldn't hurt, right?"
"Host, find a way to have Yukinoshita Haruno kiss you of her own initiative before midnight—face only. Success may earn the Yukinoshita Haruno Series Deck or an item reward; failure means drawing from the Punishment Deck."
"Do your best now, host~"
Eleven at night, just as Mio was getting ready for bed, the System popped up out of nowhere and rattled off a whole spiel.
Which left Mio more than a little exasperated.
But what good was exasperation? The task was right there in front of her. If she didn't want the Punishment Deck, she had one hour to figure out how to pull it off.
Honestly, the task wasn't hard for her—but something about it felt off.
Noticing that Mio had shut down her computer, Haruno smiled. "Done already?"
"Mm. Drew all evening—time to rest."
"And here I thought you'd draw something a little naughty—that's the only reason I waited around all evening. Can't believe it's over just like that." Disappointment was plain on Haruno's face.
"How could I draw something like that with someone sitting right next to me?!"
"Oh please. I've gone through your work front to back several times, and I follow your Pixiv account too. Since when do we need to worry about that between us?"
Mio was about to ask how Haruno knew her Pixiv account—but before she could, she remembered her account used the same pen name as her doujinshi. It was no surprise Haruno had found it.
"E-even so, no means no."
"Fine, fine. It's late, and I've got class tomorrow—I'll head out."
Seeing Haruno about to leave, Mio shot to her feet. "W-wait!"
"What is it? Don't tell me you want to sleep with me tonight after all?"
"No, I—" With the clock bearing down on her, Mio hadn't even come up with a decent excuse.
Watching Mio's stiff little expression, Haruno sidled up to her again. "If there's something you want my help with, just say so. What kind of senpai would I be if I didn't help you, hm~?"
"Um... senpai, could you give me a kiss? I just want to—"
"Save it, no need to explain. I'm happy to kiss you—but where I kiss is my call. Or you can spend one of the favors I owe you, and then I'll kiss wherever you tell me to."
"Huh?"
Haruno let out a lazy yawn, looking thoroughly ready for bed, as if to tell Mio her window to decide was closing fast.
Honestly, Mio was a little torn.
Sure, Haruno still owed her a few favors—but each favor was as good as a free task completion. Saving one wherever she could was worth it.
After a full minute of wavering, Mio finally closed her eyes. "Go ahead, then."
A soft sensation spread across her lips.
Mio had braced herself, and yet what Haruno did still caught her off guard.
Normally, when Haruno said she liked her, Mio didn't really buy it. But this kiss made it clear that Haruno wasn't just teasing her with empty words.
"Yukinoshita Haruno's conquest rating toward the host increased by 5 points."
"Mission complete. Yukinoshita Haruno's conquest rating toward the host increased by 3 points. Yukinoshita Haruno's conquest rating toward the host has reached 25 points. The difficulty of Yukinoshita Haruno–related missions has increased."
The System's string of chimes left Mio momentarily stunned. When did Haruno's conquest rating toward me climb that high?
It was only one difficulty tier, but Haruno-related tasks were already on the harder side. Another bump up left Mio fretting over her future.
The rewards for Haruno-related tasks were as generous as ever. This time Mio picked a card called [Redraw Card].
It let her pick one card to redraw during any card draw—usable once per draw. A pretty solid card, all things considered.
As time resumed its flow, the kiss between her and Haruno was already over before Mio had even gathered herself.
Opening her eyes again, Mio looked at Haruno, faintly puzzled.
"Why does my kouhai look like she's left wanting more? Don't tell me you'd like to explore the matter more... deeply, with your senpai?"
"As if." Mio pursed her lips. A moment ago she'd actually thought Haruno would go for the more intense kind of kiss.
"Fine, fine—I really am heading off this time. If there's ever anything you need your senpai's help with, you be sure to tell me, okay? Your senpai will absolutely come through for you."
"Yeah, yeah."
After Haruno left, Mio flopped lazily onto her bed, turning over what had just happened.
······
Monday again.
As usual, Mio strolled into the classroom right as the bell rang.
No sooner had she sat down than she felt Miura Yumiko's eyes on her.
Yumiko had put on makeup, but Mio could still tell she hadn't slept well—she looked a little worn out.
As for why, Mio figured it had to do with the confession two days ago.
If it had been her in that spot, she probably wouldn't have fared any better than Yumiko.
"Yumiko, you okay?"
"I'm fine. I just stayed up late doing homework, that's all. It's got nothing much to do with you."
That's what she said—but with a whole weekend to work with, the only reason her homework had ended up pushed to Sunday night was that she'd spent the time stewing over how a certain someone would answer her confession, and gotten so lost in it she forgot the homework entirely.
It wasn't until she was already lying in bed last night, about to sleep, that she remembered she hadn't done it.
Naturally, that was something she'd never, ever let Mio find out.
"Your sister told me you spent all of yesterday spacing out. You sure you're okay?"
"How do you even have my sister's contact info? Block her, now!" Yumiko clicked her tongue in irritation. Is that the kind of thing you go around telling people?!
"I thought it over carefully after I got back. If I told you that you're a good person, what would you do?"
"Then I'd just have to find a way to make you fall for me. Either way, I'm not giving up."
It was the answer she'd expected. Mio gave a helpless smile and said, "Then go ahead and find a way to make me like you."
······