"Why does it feel like this place is full of couples too?"
Sitting in the restaurant, Isshiki Iroha glanced around and realized that she and her white-haired senpai seemed to be completely surrounded by couples.
Hearing this, Shirai Mio tilted her head. "Probably because they all did the same thing we did—caught a movie and came down here to eat afterward. The restaurant's right downstairs, after all, and the reviews aren't bad."
"If all the couples are bothering you, kouhai, I wouldn't mind playing your girlfriend for a little while."
Iroha instinctively shot Mio a glance. She was a little tempted, honestly—but on second thought, she decided against it. She was a straight girl, thank you very much, and if someone she knew happened to spot them, it'd be a nightmare to explain.
Just then, Iroha overheard the couple at the next table discussing their Valentine's Day plans.
She sighed a little wistfully. "Senpai, Valentine's is coming up soon, huh? You'll probably get tons of chocolate."
"I'm not interested in anyone else's chocolate. Yours, though—that I'd like to try."
Iroha knew perfectly well Mio was just teasing her, but she still turned her face away, a little flustered, and mumbled, "Senpai's making fun of me again."
"By the way—do you have anyone you're giving chocolate to this Valentine's?"
"I do."
"Who? Who's the lucky person that gets to receive Senpai's chocolate?" Iroha's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"You, obviously." Mio propped her chin on one hand, utterly casual.
That simple little answer was enough to send Iroha spiraling back into bashfulness.
Mio was about to keep teasing her—but then she remembered how things had shifted with Miura Yumiko. Not wanting to repeat that particular mistake, she caught the words on her tongue and changed course. "Giri chocolate—the obligation kind, that is. You weren't reading too much into it, were you, kouhai?"
"I—I was not!"
Iroha puffed up her cheeks and glared at Mio. Then again... she and her white-haired senpai hadn't actually spent all that much time together, and you could count the number of times they'd met on one hand. Giving her giri chocolate didn't quite add up either.
Could it be a case of read as "giri," written as "honmei"?
Maybe her white-haired senpai actually did have feelings for her, but was too embarrassed to say it out loud, so this was the only way she could—
In the space of a second, Iroha's mind had spun up a plot even a soap opera wouldn't dare to air.
But she quickly caught herself and laughed at her own runaway imagination. Come on—there was no way her white-haired senpai was that kind of person.
"So, kouhai, do you have any plans this afternoon?"
"This afternoon?"
Iroha thought about it. Originally she'd planned to watch a movie with a friend and then hit the shops, but the friend had flaked on the movie, and by extension the shopping too.
"If you're free, want to just wander around with me for a bit? We could pick up the stuff we need for making chocolate while we're at it."
"Sure."
It wasn't like she had anything else to do this afternoon, so tagging along with her white-haired senpai actually sounded pretty nice.
Seeing Iroha agree, Mio quietly let out a breath of relief. The real reason she'd suddenly extended the invitation was that the System was, once again, stirring up trouble.
Even though the [Strong Luck Card] was gone today, she'd still triggered her second task of the day.
Go on a date with Isshiki Iroha—for no less than three hours.
For Mio, this one wasn't hard. As long as she stayed with Iroha, it was basically a non-issue.
After lunch, the two of them started strolling around aimlessly.
Iroha's original reason for going shopping had been to buy clothes.
So when they passed a clothing store, she instinctively slowed down—though she didn't actually stop.
Just as she was telling herself she'd circle back to it later, Mio, walking beside her, came to a halt.
With all the observation-boosting cards Mio possessed, not a single one of Iroha's little movements could escape her notice.
Like right now—she'd caught Iroha slowing down, and immediately knew the girl wanted to go in and look.
"Senpai, do you want to buy clothes?"
"Something like that."
Mio smiled and led Iroha into the store.
Iroha, it turned out, was thoroughly enthusiastic about clothes shopping. The moment she stepped inside, her eyes lit up and she started picking out outfits for herself.
Mio, meanwhile, stood off to the side and offered the occasional bit of advice.
And so, armed with her chosen outfits, Iroha slipped into the fitting room.
Just as she was about to change, something occurred to her. Hadn't her white-haired senpai said she wanted to buy clothes? So how come Mio hadn't picked out a single thing, and had spent the whole time helping her instead?
Wait—had her white-haired senpai seen through her from the start? Realized Iroha was the one who wanted to shop, and stopped walking on purpose?
The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed—and not by a small margin, either.
Iroha took a deep breath and started changing.
Between her own careful selections and her white-haired senpai's guidance, Iroha found the outfit really did suit her.
Still, her own eye had its limits. So she pushed open the fitting room door, walked over to Mio, and asked, "Senpai, do you think it looks good?"
"I think it looks pretty great." As Mio spoke, she reached out and tidied up a few spots on Iroha's outfit that hadn't been smoothed into place.
Watching Mio fuss over her clothes, Iroha suddenly felt her whole body go a little stiff. It was a perfectly ordinary thing—and yet her mind kept conjuring scenes that belonged in an idol drama.
By the time she finally reeled her scattered thoughts back in, she found Mio watching her with a warm little smile.
"Wh-what is it?"
"That's my line, isn't it? You were perfectly fine while I was fixing your clothes—so how'd you end up spacing out on me all of a sudden?"
"It's... it's nothing. I just remembered something. Don't worry about it." With that, Iroha immediately spun around and ducked back into the fitting room.
She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling her heart slam against it. Just now, she'd actually wanted to do something strange to her white-haired senpai.
She'd never once imagined she could have these kinds of weird thoughts about another girl.
Even when she spent time with her close female friends, nothing like this had ever happened.
Was it because her white-haired senpai was just too beautiful?
The kind of beautiful that made you forget gender entirely.
······