"There's obviously so much space over here. Why do you insist on pressing up against me?!"
Mio silently put some distance between herself and Haruno, then looked at her with a face full of exasperation.
It was a huge table, and there were only a handful of them, yet she just had to keep leaning into Mio. It was winter, true, but the yakiniku restaurant had heating, and with the table grill right in front of them, it got plenty warm.
If that were all, fine. But as soon as Mashiro, sitting on her other side, saw Haruno cozying up to Mio, she also started copying her and pressed in.
Right about now, Mio felt like she was turning into a sandwich.
Hearing Mio's frustrated outburst, Haruno put on an innocent face. "I just haven't seen my little kouhai in forever, so I wanted to get nice and close with her."
"Tch."
If there weren't so many people around, Mio absolutely would've shown Haruno what real closeness meant.
It was right then that the System's voice rang out by her ear again: "The host's been bullied this badly by that wicked woman. I know the host can't possibly put up with it."
"No, I can put up with it!"
"Even if the host can put up with it, this System can't. So the host had better find a way to push Haruno Yukinoshita onto the floor, on your own initiative, before the two of you part. Succeed, and you might earn the Haruno Yukinoshita Card Set or an item reward. Fail, and you'll be drawing from the Penalty Card Set."
"Go get your revenge, host~ This System will be cheering you on from the shadows!"
"Get the hell out of here!"
Mio let out a soft sigh, then quietly glanced at Haruno beside her. The instant she caught that delighted smile on the other girl's face, Mio felt a headache coming on.
Tasks involving Haruno Yukinoshita could sometimes be a breeze to clear, but other times, no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't pull it off.
It was as if everything were under the control of this wicked woman, Haruno.
Catching Mio's gaze, Haruno said with a beaming smile, "I know I'm good-looking, but if you keep staring at me like that, kouhai, you'll make me all shy."
To head off any retort from Mio, Haruno even put on a bashful expression, acting so flawless that even Mio, a professional, couldn't find fault with it.
Except Mio just flat-out ignored the performance and started thinking.
Inside a yakiniku restaurant, knocking her down was basically impossible. If she wanted to do it, the best option, no question, was to get her back to the apartment.
If she actively invited her over right now, though, there was a good chance Haruno would catch on to something and turn her down.
So Mio decided to do the opposite: to act, for the moment, like nothing was going on at all, and keep eating her yakiniku.
Based on past experience, Shizuka Hiratsuka and Chihiro Sengoku should invite Haruno back to the apartment to keep drinking once the meal wrapped up.
And her task wouldn't fail as long as she didn't part ways with Haruno.
This time, however, Mio miscalculated.
After dinner ended, Chihiro and Shizuka showed no intention of inviting Haruno to start a round two.
Seeing this, Mio couldn't help but ask, "Chihiro-sensei, you're calling it here?"
"Can't really be helped. We're not like you. We've got work tomorrow," Chihiro said lazily.
"Is that so."
Mio gave a small nod to show she understood.
Her plan had failed, but she never prepared just one plan. Since Chihiro hadn't invited Haruno, Mio would do it herself.
"Senpai, do you have anything planned later?"
Hearing this, Haruno gave her an odd look, then said, "Nothing for now~ Don't tell me my kouhai wants to invite me over to her place? If so, I'd cancel any plans I had~"
"Mm. Feels like it's been a while since I've seen you, Senpai. Want to drop by my place for a bit?"
It seemed Haruno hadn't expected Mio to invite her so directly. Even she couldn't quite figure out, for a moment, just what was going through this white-haired little kouhai's head.
Based on her own past experience, Mio seemed to have already caught on to some of her behavioral patterns.
For instance, the more the other person didn't want her to do something, the more she wanted to do it.
Could the reason Mio said this be to get her not to come over?
On second thought, that really was possible, but... was it really that simple?
After mulling it over a little, Haruno smiled and said, "Well, since my kouhai's asking so nicely, then I'll take you up on that~"
At Haruno's answer, Mio let an obvious look of surprise show, then stiffly said, "Not at all. I'm just happy you're coming, Senpai."
This, of course, was something Mio put on deliberately, precisely to make Haruno think her scheme had been seen through, so as to dispel the other girl's suspicions.
Except she had a feeling Haruno wouldn't be so easily fooled.
But even if she got found out later, that was fine. As long as Haruno came home with her, that was the prerequisite for completing her task.
Soon, the group walked out of the yakiniku restaurant and quickly returned to the apartment.
Chihiro, who'd already decided against a round two, couldn't help but drag Shizuka back too once she saw Haruno tagging along, planning to have a few more drinks.
At Chihiro Sengoku's place, Mio watched Haruno drinking with the other two drunkards and started thinking over exactly how she was going to pull off knocking her down.
Since they'd already had plenty to drink back at the yakiniku restaurant, the two drunkard teachers passed out cold in the living room just half an hour after getting home, one sprawled on the couch, the other flat on the floor, not a shred of teacherly dignity between them.
Mio, who'd been waiting for this exact moment, stepped up without hesitation, put on a helpless expression, and said, "Senpai, could you help me carry them into a room?"
"No problem~"
The tipsy Haruno had a faint flush on her cheeks and a slightly hazy look in her eyes, but her movements were unusually crisp.
With Mio's help, she quickly carried the two drunkards back into the room.
After tucking the two of them in, Mio followed Haruno out of the room.
And it was right then that Mio seemed to trip over something. After two wobbly stumbles, she pitched straight forward toward Haruno.
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