"S-sorry, are you okay?!"
Sprawled on the ground, Mio heard a voice she half-recognized.
"I think you need to get off me first, before I can answer that."
"Oh—right."
The girl seemed to snap back to reality. She scrambled to her feet in a fluster, which explained why the fall hadn't hurt—the landing had been surprisingly soft. And fragrant.
Freed at last, Mio pushed herself upright, wincing. That landing had nearly flattened her. She turned to face the culprit.
Linen-colored hair cut to the shoulders. A cute, lively face. The name rose to Mio's lips before she'd even consciously placed it.
The system was already ahead of her: "Congratulations, Host! A wonderful encounter with a very cute girl—and yes, the young lady standing in front of you is none other than the character you once loved very, very much: Isshiki Iroha~"
"Contact established with Isshiki Iroha. The Isshiki Iroha quest line is now active. You may check her information on your system panel at any time."
Mio's mouth twitched at the corner.
She'd only been idly daydreaming, and somehow she'd actually run into a girl—and of all girls, Iroha. Two new names on her system panel in a single day. Whether to call that good luck or bad luck, she genuinely couldn't say.
Isshiki Iroha: one of the characters Mio had adored before transmigrating. The fact that Iroha's initial conquest rating came in at ten points said everything about how Mio had felt about her.
"She's beautiful."
Getting her first proper look at Mio's face, Iroha came dangerously close to losing herself entirely. And she was a girl—a straight one, allegedly. Not even an idol on TV had ever made her react like this.
Mio noticed the shift as Iroha refocused—the tension draining from her expression, replaced by something between wonder and flustered disbelief.
Mio cleared her throat softly. "Do you like what you see?"
"Yes!"
The answer was out before Iroha's brain caught up to her mouth.
What am I even saying.
A faint blush spread across her cheeks, soft and rosy and mortifyingly cute.
She pulled herself together with visible effort. "Um—just now, I was looking at my phone and not paying attention. I'm really, truly sorry."
"I'm fine, honestly. You caught me before I fully went down—so thank you for that. But please don't walk with your head in your phone. It's dangerous." Mio dusted off her clothes as she spoke, running a quick check.
Iroha nodded earnestly.
Once Mio had dealt with what she could see, she turned her back to Iroha. "Could you check if there's any dust I missed back here?"
"Oh—sure."
Iroha moved behind her and carefully patted down the back of Mio's uniform and skirt. It was only after she'd finished that the exact location of what she'd been patting dawned on her.
It... shouldn't be a problem. We're both girls. There's no reason for it to be weird.
Still. That had been remarkably springy.
Ahem.
Iroha drew a very deliberate breath and evicted the thought from her head entirely.
Not wanting to trigger any further system quests, Mio smoothed out her uniform and moved to leave.
Then felt a tug at her sleeve.
She turned—and met Iroha's wide, earnest eyes.
"Is there something else?" Mio asked, genuinely puzzled.
"Um... could I ask your name? And—would it be okay to exchange contact details?"
Even Mio hadn't expected this. She'd assumed she'd have to wait until Iroha enrolled at Soubu later in the year to make any moves.
Iroha seemed to catch herself. "S-sorry, that was sudden. I should explain—I'm a third-year middle schooler and I've been stressing over which high school to apply to. You're wearing a Soubu uniform, so I thought... I could ask you a few questions? I won't bother you for no reason, I promise."
It was an on-the-spot fabrication.
She'd already decided on Soubu months ago. She was completely prepared.
But she'd just impulsively asked a stranger for their contact information, and she needed something to justify it.
Why did I even do that? she wondered. She's just another girl.
"Of course~" Mio took out her phone and they exchanged details. She gave her name while she was at it.
"Shirai... Mio." Iroha repeated it quietly, then looked up. "Isshiki Iroha. That's my name."
"Iroha—that's a lovely name. I'll remember it. Feel free to message me whenever you have questions~" Mio gave her phone a light wave, then turned and headed off down the street.
Iroha watched until she completely disappeared, then let out a slow exhale.
She looked down at the new contact entry on her screen.
She'd never asked a cute guy for his number on impulse and thought twice about it. But a girl?
She was still sitting with the question of why she'd done it when her phone buzzed—her friend.
Oh. Right. She had plans.
She was already late before the collision. Now she was very late.
She typed out a quick apology and picked up the pace. Ten minutes behind schedule, she finally arrived at the meeting spot.
"Iroha, the flowers are practically wilting."
"I'm so sorry, something came up."
"Something like what?"
"Nothing major, don't worry about it." Iroha forced a laugh.
Her friend dropped it and tugged at her sleeve, nodding toward the distance. "Hey, Iroha—look at that blonde guy over there. He's really cute, and isn't that a Soubu uniform?"
Iroha followed her gaze and picked out the golden-haired figure easily.
He was objectively good-looking, no question. Normally she might have found herself thinking up an excuse to approach him. But right now, her mind kept drifting back to the white-haired girl.
The two weren't even comparable, really—but somehow, Iroha kept landing on the same conclusion.
Mio was more beautiful.
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