"I'm not too heavy, am I?" Mio asked softly.
Yui silently shook her head. With Mio's figure, she definitely wasn't heavy. Or rather, this wasn't about weight at all—shouldn't she be more concerned about whether this kind of intimate behavior would give people the wrong idea?
She instinctively glanced around, but the other students didn't seem to be paying them any special attention. Well, the ones who were looking were focused on Mio, not them as a pair.
This let Yui breathe a small sigh of relief.
To make them both more comfortable, Yui wrapped her arms around Mio's waist and rested her chin on Mio's shoulder.
She had to admit—holding Mio felt pretty nice. Like hugging a life-sized body pillow.
Noticing that Yui wasn't showing any resistance, Mio quietly let out a breath of relief. There were still about twenty minutes until lunch break ended. She needed to find a way to kiss Yuigahama Yui within that window.
No specific restrictions were given, which meant kissing anywhere should count.
If they'd been alone, this kind of task wouldn't have been that hard. But this was the classroom. The popular kids were right next to them. And as a silver-haired beauty, just sitting in the classroom drew plenty of eyes.
Mio really couldn't make a move easily.
She'd have to observe the situation and wait for an opening.
Spotting Mio, Tobe Kakeru grinned and said in that weird tone of his, "Shirai-san! Perfect timing! We were just talking about, like, romance stuff. I was wondering—do you have a boyfriend?"
In this hormonal teenage phase, romance was always an evergreen topic.
"Nope~ But I do have a girlfriend. That'd be my darling Yui right here~" Mio turned and wrapped her arms around Yui's neck, making a show of leaning in for a kiss.
With everyone watching, she couldn't exactly just go for it.
But if she used this momentum to actually kiss her—that would complete the task right then and there.
Looking at Yui's cheek, now tantalizingly close, Mio suddenly felt a powerful urge surge through her. An urge to kiss her.
By the time she realized she'd triggered [As Your Heart Desires], she'd already planted a big "MUA~" right on Yui's cheek.
Time froze in that instant, and the System's voice rang out: "Task complete. Yuigahama Yui's conquest rating has increased by 3 points."
[Level-Up Card]Randomly increases the level of one card you already possess. One-time-use card, disappears after use.
[Gourmet]Slightly enhances Host's sense of taste, making it easier to discern the quality of dishes. Repeated selection enhances the effect.
[Child of Water]Slightly improves Host's swimming technique and slightly extends the time Host can hold their breath underwater. Repeated selection enhances the effect.
Looking at the three cards floating before her, Mio had no mind to focus on them. Right now, while time was stopped, she was desperately trying to figure out how to explain this to Yui.
Her original plan had been to guide Yui into covering her mouth with her hand—since the task didn't specify where she needed to kiss, kissing Yui's palm would've counted as complete.
Who knew her luck would be this "good" and actually trigger [As Your Heart Desires]?
Now she had no idea how to explain herself. So much for "extremely small chance." How many times had it triggered since last night?
Looks like not choosing this card back then was absolutely the right call.
Mio spent about fifteen minutes thinking before finally coming up with a passable explanation.
Then she selected [Level-Up Card] as her reward.
Among the cards she owned, there was one golden card. If the random upgrade happened to hit that one, the effect should improve significantly.
Honestly, Mio didn't have much faith in her luck. For her, as long as it didn't land on a punishment card, she'd consider it a win.
Of course, she wasn't planning to use the card right now. She'd save it for when she was spending time with Eriri later.
As Mio made her selection, time began flowing again.
Before Mio could even get her explanation out, Ebina Hina was already panting with excitement, face flushed. "Ohhh!! Pure love between two beautiful girls?! I think I just reached enlightenment!"
"I-It's not like that! Mio was just joking around!" Yui's face was bright red as she tried to explain.
She'd thought Mio was just putting on an act. She never expected her to actually go through with it. Even though it was just on the cheek, the sensation immediately brought back memories of that accidental kiss.
No, no, no. The more she thought about it, the harder it became to control her heartbeat.
Just then, Yui heard Mio's voice, soft as a mosquito's buzz: "Yui, I'm really sorry. I think I misjudged the distance just now."
"I-It's fine! I mean, we've already... n-never mind, it's nothing."
Yui's mind had still been wandering, and she'd almost blurted out what she was thinking. Thank god she caught herself in time.
"We've already... what?"
"N-Nothing!"
Thankfully, because the two of them were always goofing around together, even Mio planting a kiss on Yui's cheek didn't cause much of a stir.
"That was just a joke, you know. Due to certain personal circumstances, I am, in fact, spectacularly single~ But speaking of romance—I'm curious, Hayama-kun. Someone as amazing as you must have a girlfriend, right? Or at least someone you like?"
To keep the spotlight off herself, Mio decisively redirected the topic, lobbing the bomb over to Hayama Hayato.
Hearing Mio's question, Yui's arms tightened around Mio's waist. Her gaze unconsciously drifted toward Miura Yumiko. Seeing no particular reaction, she quietly relaxed again.
Though the topic had shifted to him, Hayama's expression didn't change at all. He smiled and said, "Me? Actually, my situation's pretty similar to Shirai-san's. Because of certain reasons, I'm also still single. Right now, I'd say my focus is more on academics."
"I see~" Just as Mio was about to ask something else, the bell signaling the end of lunch break suddenly rang, and the romance discussion had to be put on hold for now.