School—in front of the hallway bulletin board.
A crowd had gathered, scanning the posted names. Every few seconds, someone let out a triumphant cheer; others deflated with a sigh.
Mio stood at the back, rising onto her toes to peer through the gaps.
Among the dense columns of names, she found hers near the top almost immediately.
Seventh in her year. Exactly what she'd expected.
She had the system to thank for a perfect memory of every textbook page, plus Yuigahama Yui's meticulous notes as a bonus—but rote memorization only went so far. A top-ten ranking was more than enough to satisfy her.
Eri spotted her name shortly after: forty-ninth in their year, noticeably better than her usual performance.
No mystery there—Mio had coached her intensively in the lead-up to exams. If she had that kind of one-on-one tutoring every day, Eri thought, she could probably crack the top twenty. But that was just a nice thought. The fact that Mio had already dedicated so many evenings to her was embarrassing enough. If it went on any longer, Eri would feel obligated to offer herself as payment, or something.
Cough.
She cleared her throat to cover the wayward thought and turned to Mio. "Thanks to your tutoring, my score actually came out pretty well."
"It's nothing—if you ever want help again, just say the word. As long as there's good food involved, I'm in~"
"Just food?" Eri felt that was almost insultingly easy.
Though come to think of it, despite Mio saying this every time, Eri had only actually bought her one proper meal.
"Well, if Eri wants to offer herself instead, I certainly wouldn't say no~"
Mio's words pulled Eri straight back to the thought she'd been trying to suppress. She shot Mio a sharp glare. "It's the middle of the day. What are you dreaming about?"
"A person has to have dreams. What's the difference between someone without dreams and a dried-out fish?"
Mid-conversation, Mio felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned on reflex—and found herself looking directly at Miura Yumiko's striking face.
"Have you checked your results?"
"Yep. Seventh in my year." Mio's smile carried a hint of smugness. She hadn't forgotten the bet she'd made with Yumiko.
Yumiko's eyebrows rose slightly. When Mio had first transferred in, her grades were nothing short of catastrophic. That she had climbed this far was frankly baffling.
"Let me guess Yumiko's score~"
"Don't bother—fifth in the year."
"What?!"
Mio knew Yumiko's track record well—she usually placed somewhere in the top twenty, not the top five. How had she pulled this off?
Even Yumiko herself looked a little surprised. It was a peak performance. Maybe the pressure of the bet had done it.
"Mio, you haven't forgotten our bet, have you?"
"Relax—I always pay my debts. Whenever you decide what you want from me, just name it. Anything goes~"
"Truly anything?"
"Of course. Even if Yumiko wants to do something weird with me, I'm open to it~" Mio kept her voice low, leaning close to Yumiko's ear so the words stayed between them.
That said, she wasn't taking the threat especially seriously. She knew Yumiko well enough—the girl wouldn't actually follow through on anything like that. This was just Mio being her usual incorrigible self, poking at her for fun.
"Hmm, hmm, hmm. I hope you don't regret saying that~"
Eri, still standing nearby, caught the exchange. She turned it over in her mind, connecting dots and filling in blanks with practiced ease.
This could work as material, she thought. Being around Mio never failed to supply her with inspiration.
The only problem was that all that inspiration kept bleeding citrus-scented undertones into her art.
After collecting their report cards, Mio and Yumiko headed back to class together. There was still a short homeroom session—probably just holiday reminders—and then they were done.
Mio started weighing her options. Should she use the break to tackle Kato Megumi's related tasks? Or should she track down Eri? Tomorrow was the opening day of Winter Comiket, and she'd barely prepared anything.
She was still turning this over when a familiar voice reached her, and before she could even turn around, Yuigahama Yui had wrapped her arms around her from behind and nuzzled against her cheek.
When had Yui become so forward?
This kind of thing used to be her move entirely—and now she was the one being caught off guard. Not that she minded. Actually, she kind of liked it.
It's definitely this stupid system's fault, Mio thought. Constantly nudging her to bait others into making the first move—it was bound to leave marks on her, given enough time.
She set the thought aside and smiled warmly. "Yui, long time no see. I missed you~"
"I missed you too~"
The day after finals ended, Yui had gone back to visit her grandmother with her mother. Christmas had come and gone in the countryside, and she'd only gotten home yesterday.
She really had missed Mio. Breaks used to feel uncomplicated—now they felt incomplete without seeing her every day.
Hm?
Mid-thought, Yui noticed Miura Yumiko watching her with an expression she couldn't quite read.
Right—she'd completely forgotten to say hello.
She straightened up and smiled over at Yumiko. "Long time no see~"
"It's barely been a few days since exams ended," Yumiko replied, her voice even—but there was something in the way she watched Yui that she rarely showed.
She wanted to lean against Mio too, just like that, completely unguarded.
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