"Megumi, check your desk drawer."
Kato Megumi had just come back from the restroom and pulled out her phone when the message from Shirai Mio arrived.
She tilted her head and glanced down at her desk drawer. Sure enough, tucked in beside her books was a beautifully wrapped little gift.
Given what day it was, unless she was mistaken, there was only one thing it could be—chocolate.
Just as Megumi was wondering whether it might be friendship chocolate, her phone buzzed again. Another message from Mio.
"It's honmei chocolate~"
Reading that, Megumi instinctively turned to look at Mio, who was seated at the back of the classroom.
Catching her gaze, Mio flashed her a sweet little smile—though Megumi's unruffled expression left her feeling just the tiniest bit deflated.
Megumi looked down at her phone again. She was wondering whether Mio actually understood what honmei chocolate was supposed to mean. And if she did understand, and still gave it to her anyway...
Whatever it was she'd started thinking, a subtle, uncharacteristic shift flickered across Megumi's face.
Meanwhile, the System's voice sounded in Mio's ear—not because of a mission this time, just a small remark. "Host, you've got quite a lot of honmei out there."
"Thanks to a certain garbage System, I don't even know who my own honmei is anymore," Mio replied flatly.
"Come to think of it, without this System around, Host, you never would have made it this far. Pity there's no such thing as 'what if.'"
Mio silently rolled her eyes at that, then opened the System Panel to see who else was still on her list for chocolate.
Everyone else would be easy enough. The only tricky one was Isshiki Iroha—she went to a different school and didn't live nearby.
Still, no problem. Mio would just shoot her a message later and arrange to meet up.
Before long it was the lunch break.
Mio said a quick word to the others, grabbed her bento, and left the classroom, heading over to Eriri's classroom.
Usually it was Eriri who came looking for her—this time she'd come looking for Eriri.
Standing by the window, Mio let her eyes sweep across the room and spotted Sawamura Spencer Eriri almost at once.
After all, that golden hair stood out in this school—much like Mio's own white hair.
Eriri had just taken out her bento when she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was one of her classmates.
"What's up?"
"Look outside."
Following her classmate's gaze, Eriri immediately saw Mio waving at her through the window.
One glance at the bento in Mio's hand and Eriri knew exactly why she was there.
She hesitated, then fished something out of her desk drawer and stuffed it into her pocket before standing up and carrying her bento out of the room.
Facing the smiling Mio, Eriri asked in a low voice, "Did you need something?"
Mio glanced at the bento in Eriri's hand and let out a soft laugh. "You already know exactly what this is about, and you're still going to ask?"
"Hmph. If you don't say it, how's anyone supposed to know what you're thinking?"
"I want to have lunch with you, Eriri. Is that okay?"
"The usual spot?"
"The usual spot."
With the location settled, Eriri led the way toward the Art Club room.
Outwardly Eriri looked no different than usual, but the truth was she was pretty nervous.
It wasn't as if they hadn't eaten together plenty of times before. All she had to do was act like she always did—so what on earth was she getting so worked up about?
The Art Club room was empty, as usual.
Eriri set down her bento, then quietly slipped a hand into her pocket.
She took a deep breath, pulled the thing out, and said, "Here, this is for you. Don't get the wrong idea—it's just to thank you for all the advice you gave me before, that's all!"
"Baumkuchen? I quite like these, actually."
Eriri froze at Mio's words, only then realizing that what she'd pulled out was the extra breakfast she'd bought that morning.
She blinked, then hastily shoved it back into her pocket and stammered out an explanation. "N-no, not that, I grabbed the wrong thing by accident!"
"It's fine. I've got something for you too."
Mio placed the chocolate she'd prepared in advance right in front of Eriri. "This is my honmei chocolate."
"H-honmei?!"
Eriri stiffened, and a flash of panic surfaced in those aquamarine eyes. "D-do you think teasing me is fun?"
"Fun? Of course it's fun."
Eriri shot Mio a vicious glare. She'd known it—this white-haired little bitch was messing with her.
There was no way, absolutely no way, Mio would ever give her honmei chocolate for real.
They were both girls, after all. Then again... two girls, that wasn't necessarily off the table either.
Wait. What in the world was she even thinking?!
Watching Eriri's cheeks flush scarlet, Mio thought that if this were an anime, Eriri would be sprouting steam from her head about now.
It took a good while before Eriri managed to calm down a little. Then she said, "I'll give it to you during club activities this afternoon."
"May I ask what it is?"
"What else could it be besides chocolate? Just plain giri chocolate, so don't read too much into it!" Eriri stressed again.
"Oh."
Watching the still-smiling Mio, Eriri got the distinct feeling her words hadn't sunk in at all.
Never mind. She could stress it a few more times and Mio would still react exactly the same way—better to just change the subject.
After thinking it over, Eriri suddenly remembered something and spoke up. "Oh, right—didn't you say your novel was going to be serialized?"
"Mm. Lately I've been polishing up the first volume, illustrations included." That was what Mio had been busy with recently.
This was where being able to draw really paid off—Mio could easily render whatever she pictured in her head, so there was never any mismatch between what she wanted and what ended up on the page.
"This novel of yours—what kind of story is it, exactly?"
"A bright, uplifting, wholesome story. When the collected volume comes out, you'll see."
Looking at the smile on Mio's face, Eriri couldn't shake the feeling that this white-haired little bitch was up to no good. And "bright, uplifting, wholesome"—what was that supposed to mean? Something about it sounded distinctly off.
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