Two-thirty in the afternoon.
Mio Shirai glanced at the time, then said to Mashiro Shiina, "I'm going to head out and grab some ingredients to make dessert. I'll be back soon."
Hearing this, Mashiro, who'd been lying in bed reading manga, immediately shot to her feet. She scooted over to Mio's side and said with a perfectly serious face, "I'm coming too!"
With that, she strode briskly out of the room.
Except the moment she walked out, Mio grabbed her and hauled her back.
"You're planning to go out like that?"
"Is... there... a problem?"
Mashiro lowered her head and glanced at the bear pajamas she had on. It didn't seem like there was any problem to her.
Mio let out a soft sigh, then started changing Mashiro's clothes for her. While doing so, she also discovered that the panties Mashiro had on were Mio's own.
But this sort of thing didn't really matter anymore. After all, she wasn't in any position to talk, seeing as she was wearing a pair of Mashiro's panties herself.
Ahem!
Once she'd gotten Mashiro changed, Mio finally led her out the door.
The weather today wasn't great. The moment Mio stepped out of the apartment, she felt the cold wind blowing straight at her.
But cold like this was nothing to her, with her [Cold Resistance] skill. Mashiro, on the other hand, didn't seem to handle the temperature well and quietly ducked behind Mio.
"Didn't I just say it's pretty cold out? There's still time to head back if you want~"
"No, I want to walk around the supermarket with Mio."
"What you really want is to buy snacks, I bet."
"Mm. Stocking up on snacks is important too," Mashiro said with a perfectly serious face.
Once she'd adjusted a little to the temperature outside, Mashiro finally came out from behind Mio. But she still clung tightly to Mio's arm, as if it could make her a bit warmer.
It wasn't until the two of them walked into the supermarket that Mashiro quietly let out a breath. Even so, she didn't let go of Mio's arm.
Then again, this worked out fine. It hampered her movement a little, but at least she didn't have to worry about Mashiro suddenly vanishing.
While Mio was shopping, Mashiro's gaze wandered curiously around their surroundings, then locked onto a couple a short distance away.
She studied the couple closely, then looked back and forth between herself and Mio, seemingly pondering exactly what she had to do to make herself and Mio look more like a couple.
"Looks like we're running low on white sugar too. Let's grab a bag." Just as Mio was placing the item into the cart, she suddenly felt Mashiro rest her head on her shoulder.
A little stiffly, Mio shifted and said, "Mashiro, if you press in this close, it'll be really hard for me to move around."
"But this way it'll look more intimate."
"Isn't sleeping together every single night intimate enough?"
"That's... true, I guess."
Mashiro blinked, then quietly straightened her head back up. Her arm around Mio's, however, still didn't let go.
Mio had figured things would stay like this all the way home, but the moment they reached the snack aisle, Mashiro let go without a moment's hesitation and went skipping off to pick out snacks.
For a split second, Mio felt like she'd lost. She'd lost to the snacks.
Shaking off that strange déjà vu, Mio gave a helpless little laugh, then went over to Mashiro's side and said, "Don't get too much. We can't carry it all back."
"Oh."
Mashiro made a sound of acknowledgment, but her hands didn't slow down one bit.
The consequence of that was pretty obvious: between the two of them, they almost couldn't carry everything home.
Luckily, the supermarket wasn't far from the apartment, only a hundred or two hundred meters' walk.
Back home, Mio immediately got to work making dessert.
And it was right around then that Mashiro suddenly came over to the kitchen doorway, holding her painting tools. What she was about to do went without saying.
Seeming to recall something, Mio said curiously, "If I remember right, didn't you just paint me cooking not long ago?"
"Before was before. Now is now," Mashiro said matter-of-factly.
"There's so much beautiful scenery out there. Why do you keep wanting to paint me?"
"Mio is prettier than scenery."
Mashiro, already at work, said it without even lifting her head.
Even Mio, hearing Mashiro put it like that, felt a little embarrassed.
But Mio was Mio, after all, and she quickly composed herself, then started making Mashiro's favorite dessert.
As the minutes ticked by, and as an enticing aroma began wafting from the kitchen, Mashiro set down her brush. She obviously couldn't finish a painting that fast. It was simply that it was time to eat.
Besides, she'd already committed the scene she wanted to paint to memory. Painting it after she'd eaten would work just the same.
Sensing the eager little look in Mashiro's eyes, Mio gave a soft laugh, then picked up a fresh-from-the-oven cookie and gave it a little wave. "Mashiro, want some?"
Mashiro nodded without hesitation, her eyes following the cookie back and forth, looking like she was about to drool.
"Kiss me, and I'll give it to you." Mio tapped a finger to her own lips.
She hadn't forgotten she still had a Mashiro-related task hanging over her.
True, even if she just outright told Mashiro to kiss her, Mashiro would do exactly as told without hesitation. But Mio still wanted to give herself a little fig leaf to hide behind.
Seemingly not expecting Mio to make a request like that, Mashiro froze for a beat, then leaned right in toward Mio and kissed her square on the lips.
Feeling the familiar sensation against her lips, Mio quietly let out a breath of relief.
But soon she realized the System's voice hadn't rung out like it usually did.
Sensing something was off, Mio pulled up the System panel, and discovered that this task required maintaining a kiss with Mashiro for over a full minute to complete.
By the time Mio closed the System panel, she found that Mashiro was already half-sprawled on the living room couch, munching on cookies while reading manga, looking utterly at ease.
Sure, she could have gotten Mashiro to kiss her again right then, but after a moment's hesitation, Mio decided against it.
Having Mashiro kiss her over and over felt a little weird. Better to wait until tonight. There was plenty of time, after all.
And it was right at that moment that the System's voice suddenly rang out: "No way, no way. After being here this long, there's still someone who misreads the task description?"
"Tch."
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