"What's wrong? Why are you suddenly looking at me with such a terrified face? It's not like I'm going to eat you."
"Right now I'm a little worried you might just suddenly eat me, senpai," Shirai Mio couldn't help shooting back.
"Even if I did eat you, it wouldn't really matter, would it? After all, the ones my little kouhai likes are girls, aren't they?"
Though she was a bit surprised Yukinoshita Haruno would say something like that, Mio still nodded naturally. "That's right, I'm into girls. But you're not, are you, senpai?"
Haruno gave it some serious thought before answering. "I don't actually know whether I am or not. Or rather—I can be, and I can not be. It depends on who the person I like is. For instance, right now I'm very interested in you, my little kouhai. So right now, I'm into girls."
"As the heir to the Yukinoshita family, is it really okay to be saying things like that?"
"It's fine. Probably. Anyway, I'm only saying it to you." Haruno's face was the picture of not caring in the slightest.
Before Mio could get another word in, the System's voice piped up first. "Yukinoshita Haruno's conquest rating toward the host has increased by 1 point."
"Would you like me to walk you through her inner emotional journey, Host~?"
"That won't be necessary."
Did she really not understand why the conquest rating had gone up?
After all this time, Mio had more or less pieced it together—this so-called "conquest rating" was really just a measure of her own fondness for the other person.
The higher that fondness climbed, the closer she was to being fully conquered.
Of course, the theory wasn't necessarily airtight. Haruno's conquest rating toward her was only a measly ten points, after all—yet Mio felt that her own fondness for Haruno was definitely worth more than ten.
As for the exact number—well, that she couldn't say.
"Oh right—last time you came over to my place to slack off, did you get a lecture once you went home?" Mio asked.
"Got a serious earful," Haruno said. "But I'm used to it by now."
"And you still came to goof off."
"Well, I just suddenly felt like seeing my little kouhai, didn't I~"
Feeling the heat of Haruno's gaze, Mio suddenly felt like she couldn't quite keep up. She even started to suspect—this wicked woman couldn't actually be drunk, could she?
Seeing Mio's reaction, the corner of Haruno's mouth curved into a pleased smile. She stood up. "I suddenly feel like going for a soak in the hot spring. Come with me, little kouhai~"
"Let's wait a bit. You just finished drinking—it's really not a good idea to soak right after."
"Is my little kouhai worried about me?"
"Yeah. You're the only one here—who else am I supposed to worry about, the air?" Mio rolled her eyes at her.
"Then let me think... what should we do now? Are you really not going to come sit in my room, little kouhai? I've got some good stuff in there, you know~" Haruno's tone was positively dripping with temptation.
Mio got the distinct sense that this line sounded dangerous, so she turned the offer down again.
After resting in the lobby for a while, the two of them set off to wander the inn once more.
The screening room would've been a decent option, but there were already people inside—a sappy, lovey-dovey couple, no less, all over each other. So the two of them decisively gave up on killing time there.
What surprised Mio was that the place even had a game room, and there was mahjong in it, no less.
That gave her hands a real itch to play.
Thinking back to her life before she transmigrated—every New Year and holiday, when she went home to her hometown, she'd loved rounding people up for a game of mahjong. A pretty great way to pass the time.
The only pity was that it was just her and Haruno here, nowhere near enough to fill a table of four.
Noticing Mio's gaze, Haruno asked curiously, "Does my little kouhai want to play this?"
"Mm, kind of. Speaking of which, where are Chihiro-sensei and the others?"
"Oh, they're drunk. Probably won't be coming around anytime soon." Haruno glanced off to the side. She certainly wasn't about to tell Mio that she was the one who'd drunk the two of them under the table.
"That's a shame. If Chihiro-sensei and Shizuka-sensei wake up tonight, we could've roped them in for a round of mahjong."
Mio had already started picturing the glorious scene of herself wiping the floor with everyone at the table.
The System, however, chose that exact moment to pour a bucket of cold water on her. "Host hasn't forgotten about her terrible luck, has she~?"
"Uh."
Her fantasy shattered, Mio let out a soft sigh, then tugged at the hem of Haruno's clothes. "Never mind. Let's go somewhere else, senpai."
Mahjong was fun, sure—but the fun part hinged on actually winning a hand. If you went the whole night without winning more than a couple, then it wasn't a game anymore, it was pure jail time.
"You were so full of energy just a second ago, and now you've gone all listless. My little kouhai's heart really is impossible to read~"
"I think that line fits you pretty well too, senpai."
"Then doesn't that just prove the two of us are a match made in heaven?"
"You really don't let a single chance to make a move slip by, do you, senpai."
"Can't help it. Whose fault is it that I'm interested in my little kouhai?"
Haruno laughed, then turned to look out the window. "Oh, by the way—I wonder if my little kouhai has ever heard the ghost stories they tell about hot spring inns?"
The perfectly composed look on Mio's face froze in an instant.
Though she tried hard to act like nothing was wrong, her body instinctively edged closer to Haruno, as if doing so would lend her a little more security.
"Senpai, we hardly ever get to go on vacation—let's not bring up buzzkill stuff like that."
"Oh dear, I almost forgot—my little kouhai is scared of this kind of thing, isn't she? But it's fine. You've still got me right here beside you~" Haruno extended a hand toward Mio.
She'd realized Mio really was terrified of this sort of thing. She hadn't even started the story yet, and the girl was already huddling closer for safety—if she actually told one, Mio would probably burrow straight into her arms.
That felt... actually, kind of nice.
Catching the pleased smile spreading across Haruno's face, Mio quickly said, "If you start telling ghost stories, senpai, then I'm going back to my room."
"This weakness of yours is just so obvious, little kouhai. I feel like I'd be doing myself a real disservice if I didn't put it to good use."
"Senpai, please don't say your inner thoughts out loud!"
"Even if I didn't say it, my little kouhai could tell anyway, couldn't she?"
After spending so much time around Mio, Haruno had long since seen through her—this seemingly innocent, white-haired little kouhai was every bit as scheming as she was.
"Oh, and speaking of weaknesses—I've still got another piece of leverage on my little kouhai, you know~"
The moment Haruno said it, Mio quickly clued in to exactly what leverage she meant.
······