"And there he goes, just like that. I was even going to treat him to a meal as a thank-you."
Mio sounded a little regretful—though Hayato leaving outright was a good thing, really. At least she didn't have to worry about the System suddenly acting up while he was around, slapping her with some task like kiss Yukinoshita Haruno or get Yukinoshita Haruno to kiss you.
Otherwise the damage to him would only have been worse.
"Kouhai, quit spacing out. I'm absolutely starving over here." Haruno rubbed her tummy pitifully as she said it.
"I know, I know. I'll go start cooking now."
She hadn't cooked in days, but the moment Mio stepped back into the kitchen, she found her rhythm again fast.
Humming a little tune only a transmigrator would know, she got to work on today's lunch.
Haruno didn't sit idle either—she came over and pitched in, eagerly at that. It would've been even better if she hadn't kept staring with that scorching gaze the whole time.
"What's that song you're humming, kouhai? I don't think I've heard it before," Haruno asked, curious.
"Heard it somewhere a while back. Forget where. I only remember a little snatch of the melody."
"Is that so."
Even with an extra mouth to feed, with Haruno helping out Mio was startled to find the whole thing went noticeably easier than usual. Letting Haruno mooch meals had its upsides after all.
She didn't even have to buy the ingredients herself.
What surprised Mio was that after lunch, Haruno didn't linger and loaf around like usual. Instead, once she'd helped deal with the dishes, she got ready to leave.
Catching the surprised little look on Mio's face, Haruno—right in front of Shiina Mashiro—pulled Mio into a great big hug. "I don't want to go either, you know. Shame my vacation's already over."
"If senpai's got things to take care of, then you'd better get to it. No dawdling around here." Before Mio had even finished talking, Mashiro had already pried Haruno off her.
Right now Mashiro was like a little mother hen guarding her chick, tucking Mio safely behind her and glaring daggers at Haruno.
Haruno didn't seem to mind. She gave Mio a reluctant goodbye and only then turned to leave.
Whether that reluctance was genuine or just an act—well, only Haruno herself knew.
Once she'd left the apartment, Haruno climbed straight into her family's car—only to find, to her surprise, that her own mother was sitting inside.
"Why the sudden move out here?"
"Because out here I get to eat delicious food every day."
"It's because of that white-haired girl, isn't it."
It was phrased as a question but delivered as a statement. Haruno was long used to it; she figured her mother knew her recent comings and goings down to the last detail.
"Nothing gets past you, does it."
"You're the heir to the family. You ought to know what you can and can't do, don't you?"
"..."
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"I'm baaack~"
Sengoku Chihiro pushed open the door to Mio's apartment, her voice bright and cheery.
Sprawled on the living room sofa watching TV, Mio spared her only the faintest glance. "Sensei, your place is next door. This one's mine."
"Nobody's next door, so I came over here to assert my presence a little."
"How are you back so soon, Sensei?"
"It's not like I wanted to be. But you think I'm like the rest of you? Waiting until term actually starts to head back? As a teacher I've got to get back early and prep." The excitement drained from Chihiro's face, replaced in an instant by gloom.
She'd had a perfectly cozy winter break, and the thought of going back to work at school tomorrow had her stifling a sigh.
"To celebrate Sensei finally heading back to the grind, let's have a big dinner tonight to mark the occasion."
"A big dinner I'm all for—but could we maybe swap out that reason for celebrating?"
"I'm just asking whether you want to eat it or not."
"Never mind, then. Use whatever reason you like, I've got no objections." As Chihiro spoke, she wandered over to Mashiro's door.
The moment she opened it, she found Mashiro seated at her computer, drawing. Chihiro couldn't help another sigh, then walked over to her cousin's side and said, in the tone of someone who couldn't get iron to turn into steel, "The break's almost over—you really haven't made any progress with Shirai?"
"There's... some? I think?" Mashiro tilted her head.
"Forget it. If you say there is, then there is. More to the point—you want to move back over to my side?"
"No."
Chihiro had already guessed her cousin's answer. She nodded, satisfied, and said, "Fine. Then I'll go tell Shirai."
Back in the living room, she got straight to it with Mio. "Mashiro doesn't seem to want to move back. What do you say on your end?"
"Then just let her stay here. Saves her running back and forth every night. Though Sensei, that might mean you'll have to come over to mine for meals."
"No problem. As long as there's food, I'm good."
"Speaking of—if Mashiro's staying at my place, won't living all alone get lonely for you, Sensei?"
"Lonely—of course I'll be lonely. Which is exactly why I made a wish a while back: that this year I'd finally get myself out of singlehood." A fierce fighting spirit kindled in Chihiro's eyes.
"Sensei, if you say a wish out loud, it won't come true, you know."
At that, Chihiro's expression froze on her face. She stared at Mio, deadpan. "Did I just say something?"
"Nope. Sensei didn't say a thing just now, and I didn't hear a thing either. Still, I'd sincerely recommend not boxing yourself in too tightly on the whole gender thing."
"If I could find someone like you, then I wouldn't be against giving it some thought."
"Sensei, aren't your standards for a partner a little too high, then?"
"Don't think I can't tell—that's you backhandedly complimenting yourself."
After a few more rounds of bickering with Mio, Chihiro headed back to her own place first.
She'd been driving for the better part of a day; right now all she wanted was a good long nap, then to get up in the evening just in time for the big dinner.
Not long after Chihiro left, Mashiro suddenly came out of her room, walked up to Mio, pecked her on the cheek with a quick mwah, and then went right back to her room to draw.
Mio touched her cheek. What was up with Mashiro—why had she suddenly darted out just to give her a peck like that?
Puzzled, Mio walked into Mashiro's room and asked, "Mashiro, can you explain why you suddenly kissed me just now?"
"The manga said—when you kiss someone you like, your heart races."
"So did your heart race just now?"
"Kind of? Kind of not? I don't know."
What Mio wasn't about to tell Mashiro was that just now, her heart had raced.
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