"Yep. I write the story, Mashiro does the art."
Mio freely admitted it. It wasn't like the manga she'd made with Mashiro was anything to be ashamed of. And this was Eriri—even if it were something embarrassing, she could've admitted it without blinking.
Still, she was curious how Eriri had found out. She hadn't mentioned it to her before.
"I knew it! I kept thinking the author's name looked like a combination of yours and Shiina-san's. Guess I'm pretty sharp, huh~" Eriri puffed out her chest proudly—though even with that deliberate posture, the rise and fall of her chest remained... conspicuously subtle.
"Oh, and about the manga's future developments—" Eriri started to say something, then seemed to catch herself. She pivoted decisively. "Actually, never mind. Don't tell me anything. I don't want to know what happens next. I'll read it myself."
"Sawamura-san, ask whatever you want. As the one who wrote the story, I could tell you the ending and everything," Mio said in a teasing tone.
Even though she knew Mio was just messing with her, Eriri responded dead seriously: "If you dare spoil it, I'll... I'll make you experience what it's like to be a doujinshi heroine firsthand!"
"Now that you mention it, Sawamura-san, I'm kind of looking forward to that. What should I do?"
Eriri's skin was ultimately a bit too thin for this game. Faced with Mio's flirting, she stammered and stuttered for a solid minute without finding a single comeback. In the end, all she could manage was her fiercest possible expression.
Unfortunately, when someone as cute as Eriri tried to look intimidating, it had exactly zero effect on Mio. If anything, it just made her cuter.
The two of them chatted like this as they began the day's club activities.
A little over an hour flew by. When the club president announced the end of today's session, Mio and Eriri simultaneously stretched with matching sighs of relief.
Eriri hadn't meant to compare. She really hadn't. But after catching sight of Mio's graceful curves mid-stretch, she instinctively glanced down at herself—and a wave of defeat washed over her. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel that Mio looked... incredibly alluring in that moment. Even as a girl, she found certain images popping unbidden into her mind.
Maybe her expression was a little too obvious, because Mio smiled and patted her shoulder. "Sawamura-san, you're still young. The future is bright!"
The words sounded comforting, but Eriri had a strong suspicion Mio was thinking something incredibly rude.
Before she could even get a word in, Mio had already gotten up and grabbed Mashiro, making a swift escape.
Watching the two of them leave, Eriri clicked her tongue and started packing up.
That's when the club president materialized beside her, gazing off in the direction Mio and Mashiro had gone. "Eriri, if you keep this up, someone's going to steal Shirai-san away from you~"
Eriri sighed, the picture of resignation. "Club president, I'm going to say this one last time—Shirai and I are not the kind of relationship you're imagining!"
"Did you two have a fight?"
Hearing that response, Eriri finally understood what people meant when they said some things were beyond explanation.
"Mashiro, you don't have to follow me everywhere. I'm really not going to vanish into thin air." Mio, in the middle of preparing dinner in the kitchen, looked helplessly at Shiina Mashiro, who was crouched in the kitchen doorway watching her.
She'd assumed Mashiro would go back to normal once they were home. But no—even after returning to the apartment, Mashiro showed absolutely no signs of letting her guard down.
Aside from bathroom breaks, wherever Mio went, Mashiro followed.
"I want... to look at you." In that signature flat, inflectionless voice of hers, Mashiro said something that made Mio's heart do a full somersault.
Just as Mio was about to ask whether Mashiro had finished the manga pages, the system's voice rang in her ears: "I know it's a bit awkward popping up while the host is cooking, but hey—tasks are tasks, and a system's gotta eat too~"
"The host must find a way to remain within Shiina Mashiro's line of sight for the rest of the day. If the host leaves Shiina Mashiro's line of sight for more than three minutes, the task will be considered failed. Success may yield a Shiina Mashiro series card or item reward. Failure will result in drawing a punishment card."
"Do your best, host~"
After hearing the task description, Mio couldn't help but mutter: "I knew you were up to something!"
Completing this task would be absurdly easy for her. Right now, Mashiro didn't need any guidance whatsoever—her eyes were glued to Mio of their own accord.
But here was the problem: the host's conquest rating with Mashiro had already reached 47 points. If she completed this task and got unlucky, Mashiro's conquest rating would enter the next stage.
The current stage's tasks were already giving her a hard enough time. If the difficulty went up again, she'd be absolutely done for.
Fortunately, since Mashiro was already watching her, all Mio had to do was disappear into the bathroom for a while when the time came, and the task would count as failed.
Right now, Mio's only hope was that the punishment card she'd draw after failing would be something... merciful.
Deciding there was still plenty of time, Mio refocused on cooking.
Soon enough, a lavish dinner was ready. Lured by the aroma of the food, Mashiro finally stopped camping outside the kitchen doorway.
Of course, since the apartment had an open kitchen, Mashiro could still see Mio bustling around even from the living room.
But it didn't matter. There were still several hours until midnight, so Mio was in absolutely no rush.
She waited until after dinner and a short rest before turning to Mashiro beside her. "Mashiro, can I ask you a favor?"
"Hm?" Mashiro tilted her head, looking at Mio curiously.
"Close your eyes for three minutes. No peeking."
The reason Mio was so confident was simple: Mashiro genuinely listened to whatever she said.
"Okay." Though it was a strange request, Mashiro obediently closed her eyes.