"Since my kouhai's already said as much, then of course, as her senpai, I'll respect your wishes—and give some real thought to exactly what I should have you do."
Yukinoshita Haruno picked up the doujin beside her and went on, "Or, you know what, maybe I'll just use the plot in here as a reference~"
From everything Mio knew about Yukinoshita Haruno, the odds were the woman was just toying with her—but recalling the way Haruno had looked at her a moment ago, Mio had an inexplicable sense of foreboding.
One thing Mio could say for certain: she'd never really flirted with Yukinoshita Haruno. Or rather, she couldn't flirt with her if she tried.
Never mind turning her gay.
Haruno was a straight woman, no question about it—at most she was just interested in Mio. There was no real way she'd do anything weird to her... right?
Catching the high-strung look on Mio's face, Yukinoshita Haruno let out a soft laugh and rose to her feet. "Looks like my kouhai's got other things to keep her busy. I won't take up more of your time. Once you're back home, I'll drop by to mooch a meal~"
After seeing Haruno off, Mio heaved a long sigh. The venue was this huge, the booths this many—how on earth had Yukinoshita Haruno found her?
There was no time to dwell on it now. Mio headed back to the booth and threw herself into the work.
The rush kept up right until closing time.
By then their booth's stock was nine-tenths gone; tomorrow they probably wouldn't have enough left to stay busy even if they wanted to.
Bone-tired as Mio was, Eriri's parents were in surprisingly high spirits. After a quick dinner, they couldn't wait to head back to the hotel and pore over the haul they'd picked up that day.
As for Aki Tomoya—since he wasn't staying here, he headed off right after the meal.
Mio and Eriri had thought about wandering around nearby, but they'd barely gone a little way before the two of them, by silent agreement, turned back toward the hotel.
Back in the room, Mio flopped face-first onto the soft bed without the slightest regard for appearances.
Watching her, Eriri couldn't help griping, "If you're going to sleep, at least shower first!"
"I can't move anymore. Eriri, why don't you wash me instead~" Mio mumbled, voice muffled against the pillow.
"Hmph, that's the kind of thing that only happens in dreams—don't even think about it. Get up and go shower!"
As she spoke, Eriri planted her foot on Mio's rear.
Credit where it's due—that springy, bouncy feeling was actually pretty nice.
"Fine, fine~"
Mio dragged herself off the bed, grumbling. And just as she was fishing a change of clothes out of her suitcase to go wash up—
The System's voice suddenly sounded in her ear. "A rare chance to be alone in a room with Eriri. Wouldn't it be a shame, Host, if nothing happened at a moment like this?"
"It wouldn't. It absolutely would not. Now shut it!"
"Please have the Host find a way to bathe together with Eriri. Success may grant the Eriri Series Card Set or an item reward; failure will require drawing the Penalty Card Set."
"Do your best out there, Host~"
Seeing Mio's movements suddenly stop, Eriri asked, a little puzzled, "What's the matter? Can't find a change of clothes?"
"It's nothing. I just suddenly don't feel like showering anymore." Mio said, looking utterly dead inside.
She'd been counting on a proper night's rest at the hotel after a long, exhausting day—and the System just had to pick now to start trouble, on top of making her find a way to bathe together with Eriri, no less.
If the target of this task were Shiina Mashiro, Mio could've knocked it out in a heartbeat.
But with Eriri as the target, pulling it off was nowhere near that simple.
On a normal day she might've sat down and really thought through the most reasonable way to clear a task like this. But all she wanted right now was rest, so she just turned to Eriri and said, "Let's shower together."
Even Eriri hadn't expected Mio to come right out and say something like that—and from the serious look on Mio's face, she clearly wasn't joking.
They were both girls, sure, but Eriri still wasn't used to the idea of bathing with someone else.
Or rather than "not used to," it was more that, whenever she was around Mio, her thoughts had a habit of taking some strange turns.
That alone was already enough to trouble her on an ordinary day—if they actually bathed together, she didn't even dare imagine what might happen.
Just as Eriri was working out how to refuse, she realized Mio had already pressed up close, gazing at her with those expectant little eyes. "Just this once. If you'll grant me this one request, I'll do whatever you tell me to from now on."
"Is it really just bathing?"
"It really is just bathing! And besides, even if I wanted to do something weird to you, I'd need to actually be capable of it first. You know how frail I am—forget about me pushing you down, it's more likely you'd be the one pushing me down." Mio said helplessly.
True as that was, why did Eriri get the feeling that Mio was practically asking to be pushed down?
Seemingly reading Eriri's mind, Mio added, resigned, "You... how about you just think of it as me gathering material for a new doujin."
"Gathering material... why does that feel even more dangerous?"
After hesitating for a good long while, Eriri finally gave a grudging nod. "You really are impossible, just like a little kid. Does bathing together come with some kind of stat bonus or what?"
"I told you, I'm gathering material." Mio corrected.
"Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever you say." Eriri couldn't be bothered to keep arguing the point with Mio; right now all she wanted was to get the bath over with, dry her hair, and sleep.
Neither wanting to waste more time, the two grabbed their clothes and walked into the bathroom together.
The instant she got undressed, Eriri regretted it.
She shot Mio a glare full of envy, jealousy, and resentment. She had every reason to suspect the other girl had wanted to bathe with her for one simple purpose: to show off that figure of hers.
They were the same age—so why was the gap between their figures this enormous?
Noticing Eriri's stare, Mio smiled. "It's alright, Eriri. You've still got room to grow. The words 'a promising future' were practically made for you."
It sounded for all the world like Mio was trying to console her—but somehow, what Eriri heard was pure mockery.
She glared daggers at Mio, then threw both hands up and lunged.
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