"What kind of story should I write?"
Shirai Mio sat in front of her computer. While surfing the web earlier, she'd discovered that Fushikawa Bunko's official website had posted a writing contest with a grand prize of three million yen. It wasn't a fortune, but it wasn't pocket change either, so she thought she might give it a try.
As a transmigrator, stories were the one thing she wasn't short on. Even though some works existed in this world too, many still didn't.
It was precisely because she had so many ideas that she was struggling to decide what to write.
Maybe she should adapt the plot of that game about fighting for all the beauty in the world into a novel. She really wanted to see beautiful girls slurping noodles, and if it became popular enough, it might even get an anime adaptation. She'd been looking forward to that anime for who knows how long.
But that certain animation company just refused to make any moves, only releasing short anime clips to whet people's appetites.
Just then, the bedroom door suddenly opened. Shiina Mashiro walked in completely naked, her flawless pale skin still dotted with water droplets. Her hair was dripping wet, and behind her was a trail of wet footprints.
Naturally, Shirai Mio wouldn't pass up such free fanservice. After taking a few good looks, she stood up and said, "Why did you come out without getting dressed?"
"Clothes are wet."
"Then at least wrap yourself in a towel before coming out! What if someone saw you?" Shirai Mio lectured while finding a spare towel.
"It's fine. It's only you here."
"It's only dangerous because it's just me," Shirai Mio muttered quietly, not letting Mashiro hear.
"Hm?"
"Nothing. I'm saying you need to remember to get dressed before coming out from now on."
After helping Mashiro dry off, Shirai Mio pulled out one of the starter white dresses from her closet and helped her put it on.
Not bad—it actually fit pretty well.
She had no choice. Her closet only contained the two starter dresses and her school uniform.
Just as she finished helping Mashiro get dressed, the doorbell rang.
Standing outside was Sengoku Chihiro, who'd just gotten home. When the door opened and she saw Shiina Mashiro standing next to Shirai Mio, she chuckled softly and said, "When I got home and saw no one there, I knew she'd be at your place."
"Mashiro went out earlier and forgot her key again, so I let her take a shower here."
Hearing Shirai Mio's explanation, Sengoku Chihiro sighed helplessly. Thank goodness Shirai Mio was here—otherwise, if it were just her alone, she really couldn't manage everything.
Sengoku Chihiro gently shook the box of sweets in her hand. "Shirai, come sit at my place for a bit and have some sweets. I just waited in line for half an hour to get these—they're really good."
Shirai Mio nodded lightly. It wasn't that she was craving the sweets, but because Mashiro tugged at the corner of her clothes.
She grabbed her keys and went next door.
As soon as Sengoku Chihiro got home, the first thing she did was grab a few cans of beer from the fridge, then started drinking without any regard for her image in front of Shirai Mio.
The combination of beer and Japanese sweets—Shirai Mio didn't even know what to complain about.
That said, the sweets really did taste quite good. Even though she'd just finished dinner not long ago, she couldn't help eating a few more pieces.
"Shirai, are you living here alone?" Sengoku Chihiro asked curiously.
"Yeah. My parents got into a car accident a few months ago. That's actually why I transferred schools—maybe because staying at my old school kept making me think about it." Shirai Mio's tone was low, and the smile on her face looked somewhat sad.
This wasn't something she made up, but rather the backstory the system had given her. To avoid slipping up, she needed to show the appropriate emotions.
Mashiro, who'd been eating sweets, suddenly stopped and silently reached out to hold Shirai Mio's hand, as if to comfort her.
"Sorry, I seem to have asked something I shouldn't have."
"It's nothing. It's all in the past now. Life has to go on." To keep the atmosphere from getting gloomy, Shirai Mio quickly changed the subject. "Chihiro-sensei, you're so beautiful—you must have a boyfriend already, right? Or are you married?"
At those words, Sengoku Chihiro's expression suddenly stiffened. She silently took a big gulp of beer, then said with a lifeless tone, "They don't exist. Boyfriends don't exist, let alone marriage."
Whether it was the alcohol or being triggered by the fact that she had no boyfriend, Sengoku Chihiro grabbed Shirai Mio and started unburdening herself.
Although Shirai Mio had successfully salvaged the atmosphere, she couldn't save herself. It was only when Mashiro finished the sweets and pulled her into the bedroom that this temporarily ended.
Mashiro's room was still a mess. Unable to stand it anymore, Shirai Mio was just about to help tidy up when she suddenly heard the system's voice: "This is a girl's room, you know. Host wouldn't be thinking of cleaning up and then just leaving, would you? Have you heard the story about fixing computers? To prevent you from becoming the protagonist of that story, this system has decided to make you stay here properly."
"Please find a way to make Shiina Mashiro proactively invite you to spend the night. Success will reward you with a Shiina Mashiro series card or item. Failure will require drawing a punishment card."
"See? This system really knows how to take care of you~"
"Say that one more time and see what happens—believe me or not, I'll lock you in the basement and loop that a hundred times!" Shirai Mio said through gritted teeth.
She'd just been thinking that since the system had been quiet, it probably wouldn't pull any stunts. But the moment she relaxed, this damned system started causing trouble.
If she'd known, she wouldn't have followed Mashiro in. Wouldn't it have been better to just go back and surf the web?
There was no point dwelling on it now. Better to think about how to actually get Mashiro to proactively ask her to stay.
Shirai Mio tidied the room while thinking.
Mashiro was currently sitting at the computer, drawing something. If nothing unexpected, she was probably working on manga.
After organizing the messy clothes, Shirai Mio walked over to Mashiro's side and asked with feigned curiosity, "Mashiro, is this manga you're drawing?"
"Mm."
"Can I take a look?"
Mashiro proactively moved aside. Though her expression remained flat, her eyes seemed to hold a hint of anticipation—anticipation for Shirai Mio's evaluation.
...