"Ring-ring-ring~"
As the bell rang for the end of class, Yuigahama Yui kept her eyes locked on the teacher by the podium—right up until the dismissal was called.
The instant it was, she made a beeline for Mio and wrapped her in a big hug. "Mio~"
She had nothing left to be afraid of now. There was only one goal: to make Shirai Mio fall for her.
Miura Yumiko, who'd just been about to say something, froze at the sight. Something about this felt off.
The Yuigahama Yui of last semester had never once been this forward. Even the rare times she did take the initiative, she'd been a bundle of nerves about it—Yumiko had seen all of that with her own eyes.
But the Yuigahama Yui in front of her now felt like a different person.
Like someone who'd wandered lost for ages and finally found her goal. Her eyes, her expression—everything about her radiated confidence.
Yui's hug drew no small amount of attention, though for most onlookers the point of interest was simply two pretty girls being all cuddly.
The upside of being in Class F was the abundance of pretty girls—all of whom loved cuddling up.
8man, chin propped on one hand, watched the intimate pair a little ways off, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Pretty girls really did belong with pretty girls.
Ahem!
As the popular clique drifted over, Yuigahama Yui finally let go of Mio—only to immediately start playing with her hair, braiding it one moment, tying it into twin tails the next.
Since the break had only just ended, the natural topic for everyone clustered together was, of course, what had happened over the holiday.
While the group was deep in lively chatter, Hayama Hayato suddenly glanced over toward where Mio sat.
He was wondering whether the reason Yukinoshita Haruno had moved might be Shirai Mio.
They were both girls, sure, but it wasn't entirely out of the question. This was the first time he'd ever seen Yukinoshita Haruno take such an interest in a single person—enough to move house over it, even.
That alone seemed to say quite a lot.
Noticing Hayama Hayato's gaze, Mio smiled. "Hayama, something on your mind?"
"N-no, nothing. Just noticed you'd been quiet."
"Me? I posted everything I did over break in the group chat, didn't I~"
With Mio's powers of observation, there was no way she'd miss it—what Hayama Hayato wanted to ask clearly wasn't that.
If she wasn't mistaken, he probably wanted to ask her about Yukinoshita Haruno's situation.
Honestly, even if she wanted to explain, she wouldn't know how. Yukinoshita Haruno's sudden move had blindsided even her.
Blindsided or not, the move made one thing clear: Yukinoshita Haruno seemed to be serious about her.
Ten minutes flew by, and as the bell rang for class, everyone could only scatter, reluctant as they were.
Mio used the moment to pull out her phone and shoot Miura Yumiko a message: "Yumiko, how far have things gotten between you and Hayama?"
"No progress."
"Eh? Why not?" Mio lifted her head to glance at Miura Yumiko, only to find her looking back.
Catching Mio's gaze, Miura Yumiko instinctively looked away and typed quickly, "Probably because there's been no time."
"You said the same thing back at Christmas. But it's fine—a guy like Hayama isn't so easy for someone else to snatch away," Mio typed back, trying to reassure her.
Reading Mio's message, Miura Yumiko gave a bitter little smile. What she feared wasn't someone snatching Hayama Hayato away—it was someone else beating her to Shirai Mio.
She really wanted to tell Mio the truth: that she no longer had any feelings for Hayama Hayato, and the one she liked was her.
But if she laid her cards on the table outright—setting aside whether it might push Mio away—without Hayama Hayato as her excuse, she'd lose her reason to keep having Mio go on mock dates with her.
She knew her own behavior was despicable. But when it came to feelings, if she didn't make use of every resource she had, she'd only be letting herself down.
Seeing the wistful look on Miura Yumiko's face, Mio wondered whether the lack of progress for so long had finally gotten her down.
The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Giving up was a perfectly fine option too—Hayama Hayato really was hard to win over. But after working at it for so long, throwing in the towel now would be a bit of a shame.
Most importantly, Miura Yumiko was someone Mio had personally coached.
With that, Mio sent Miura Yumiko another message: "Yumiko, want to go on a long-overdue mock date this week? The free kind, of course—though if you feel like treating me to something, I certainly won't say no."
"Eh!?" Miura Yumiko looked over at Mio, startled. She'd just been wondering whether to use the one favor Mio owed her to land a date—and here Mio was, proposing one herself.
How could she ever pass up a chance like this?
Once Miura Yumiko nodded, Mio lowered her voice. "It's settled, then. We'll sort out the time and place tonight."
The words had barely left Mio's mouth when a piece of chalk nailed her in the forehead.
She reflexively looked toward the podium—and there was Hiratsuka Shizuka, watching her with an ever-so-amiable smile.
Without a word, Mio promptly put on her best model-student face.
Beside her, Miura Yumiko couldn't help a faint smile at the sight.
Hiratsuka Shizuka's chalk strike also caught Yuigahama Yui's attention. During class, she worked hard to keep from thinking about Mio—because the moment she did, Mio was all that was left in her head.
And that would take a real toll on her studies.
But at times like this, there was no avoiding it.
Just now—Mio had gotten chalk thrown at her while talking to Miura Yumiko, right?
Could they have been discussing how to win over Hayama Hayato?
Come to think of it, that really did seem possible. But after all this time, why didn't the distance between Miura Yumiko and Hayama Hayato seem to have changed at all?
No, no—why was she dwelling on this pointless stuff again?
Yuigahama Yui drew a deep breath and pulled her focus back to the lesson.
Meanwhile, having been called out, Mio didn't dare keep chatting with Miura Yumiko either. She could only use class time to start memorizing the new textbook material, getting ready for the exams ahead.
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