"Let me take a look."
Sitting in the rest area, Yukinoshita Haruno held a doujin in one hand and her phone in the other, then searched the name "Kashiwagi Eri" online.
After scrolling carefully through the related results, she was fairly certain this wasn't Shirai Mio.
Next she picked up another book and searched the name "Shiro-ke." There was almost nothing on "Shiro-ke" itself—but she did find a matching account on a social media app.
Shiro-ke's account regularly posted all sorts of artwork, some all-ages, some 18X. Most importantly, just yesterday the account had posted promo for attending Comiket, with the cover image of the very doujin in her hand attached.
She could already confirm it: this was Shirai Mio's work.
As for why she was so sure, the reason was simple—she'd seen Shirai Mio draw before.
Mio's art style was something she could more or less pick out.
And the clincher: the avatar on the "Shiro-ke" account was a sticker Mio used all the time.
In Mio's own words, it was one she'd drawn specially for herself—and the only person who used it was her.
Honestly, Haruno hadn't expected Shirai Mio to have a hobby like this.
Something seemed to cross her mind, and the corners of her lips curved up into a pleased little smile.
Then, while Mio still hadn't come over, she idly began flipping through the other girl's work.
Over at the booth, Eriri noticed that something seemed off with Mio. She couldn't help asking, "Shirai, what's wrong with you?"
"Eriri, if your secret identity got found out by someone you know, what would you do?"
Eriri clearly hadn't expected Mio to ask something like that. She blanked for a second, her hands even freezing mid-motion, and it took a good while before she came back to herself. "How would I know? It's never happened to me."
Then, narrowing her eyes: "Wait—don't tell me you just got recognized by someone?"
"More or less."
Mio let out a soft sigh. With a personality as nasty as Yukinoshita Haruno's, who knew what kind of toying-around she was in for?
She didn't get long to dwell on it. Having sorted out lunch, Eriri's parents came back to take over for the two of them, and Mio seized the chance to make up some excuse and slip away from the booth, heading for the rest area.
The rest area was packed, but Mio spotted Yukinoshita Haruno's figure soon enough.
As she got closer, though, she found the other girl holding her work—reading it with obvious relish.
Already feeling an inexplicable wave of shame, Mio could only force herself to look composed. "Senpai, I'm here."
In truth Haruno had noticed Mio's arrival long ago; she'd just deliberately played it off as if she'd only now spotted her, then laughed a little sheepishly. "Sorry, I got a bit absorbed there~"
As she spoke, Haruno waved the doujin at Mio, as though hinting at something.
"I thought Senpai wasn't interested in this kind of thing?"
"I'm not all that interested in this kind of thing, no. But I'm very interested in a certain someone's work."
This time, Mio had grounds to be sure the other girl really was hinting at something. Still, without proof, there was no way she'd admit the doujin's author was herself.
She decisively played dumb and smoothly steered the topic elsewhere. "Senpai, how come you're here?"
"Because it was a little boring without you around, so I took a friend up on her invitation to come wander the place. Didn't expect to run into you. Wouldn't you call that fate?"
If it really were pure coincidence, then sure, you could call it fate—but Mio didn't believe for a second that Yukinoshita Haruno had bumped into her by chance.
"Then how come I don't see your friends?"
"Oh, them? They ditched me to go ogle 2D pretty boys, and I'm not into the paper-thin type. I happened to remember you were over here, so I figured I'd stroll around and try my luck—and look, I found you~"
"I really didn't expect my little kouhai to have a hobby like this~" Haruno gave the doujin another wave, her meaning beyond obvious.
Mio cut her eyes sideways. "Senpai, what are you even talking about? A friend just happened to drag me here to help out. This doujin's got nothing to do with me."
"Is that really so?"
"Th-that's right. Of course."
Seeing how self-assured Yukinoshita Haruno looked, Mio felt a small flicker of panic. Could the other girl have actually found some kind of evidence?
Just as Mio was busy calculating the odds of being exposed, Haruno wasted no breath—she simply pulled up the page for the "Shiro-ke" account.
Staring at that all-too-familiar avatar... Back then she'd just slapped one of her own stickers on as a profile picture for convenience, figuring nobody would ever pay attention to her account. She'd never imagined Yukinoshita Haruno would actually dig it up.
Finding herself fresh out of excuses to argue with, Mio could only sigh in resignation. "Looks like Senpai's already figured it out."
"Not going to struggle a little more?"
"The evidence is laid out right in front of me—struggling now would just be wasted effort. Senpai's such an upstanding person; surely you wouldn't hold this over your cute little kouhai's head, hm?" Mio looked at Yukinoshita Haruno with the most guileless eyes she could manage, hoping to make the other girl give up her bargaining chip.
Anyone else might've easily caved under Mio's pure, innocent gaze—but Yukinoshita Haruno was different. She paid that look absolutely no mind, and instead, with a thoroughly pleased expression, leaned in close to Mio's ear and murmured, "Kouhai... you wouldn't want everyone at school finding out you draw doujinshi, now would you~"
Hearing that, Mio nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood. Just last night she'd thought about how, if Yukinoshita Haruno ran into her, this exact situation might come up—it had only been an idle what-if, and now here it was, actually happening.
Sure, Haruno's personality was on the nasty side, but she probably wouldn't go so far as to blackmail Mio into anything truly bizarre.
With that thought, Mio went ahead and put on a look that was equal parts shy and expectant. "Well, since Senpai puts it that way, I'll do whatever Senpai wants me to. Even something... unspeakable. I'm fine with it~"
Mio had figured her proactive attitude would give the naturally suspicious Yukinoshita Haruno at least a moment's pause.
But after the other girl heard her out—somehow, for some reason—Mio got the distinct sense that the way Yukinoshita Haruno was looking at her had taken a turn for the dangerous.
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