"Close? What gave you that idea, Haruno-senpai?"
Mio's expression was perfectly composed. She'd half-expected this question—no matter how well she played things, Haruno had a knack for catching whatever didn't add up.
"Yukino almost never accepts that kind of invitation from people. I thought maybe you two were already closer than I realized~"
Honestly, even Mio found it a little strange.
Up until today, Yukino hadn't been on her radar at all. And yet her name had somehow appeared on Mio's system panel out of nowhere, attached to a task. The timing made no sense.
She was still trying to figure out what to say when time stopped.
The system's voice came through flat: "Yukinoshita Yukino has left the building. Task failed. Please select your penalty card, Host."
[Sugar Baby Aura]
The Host will radiate a certain... irresistible energy, making it easy for others to entertain certain ideas about them. Repeated selection enhances the effect.
[Schrödinger's Card (Penalty Deck)]
At midnight every night, the Host randomly receives one penalty card lasting 24 hours. Repeated selection raises the grade of the random card.
[D]
One component of the DEATH card set. Collect all five—[D], [E], [A], [T], [H]—and the Host dies. Selecting this card will significantly increase the drop rate of further DEATH components. Choose carefully.
Mio read through all three with careful attention.
On paper, [D] looked like the obvious pick. As long as she kept task failures to a minimum, it would sit in her hand doing nothing. Simple.
Except she needed to fail tasks on purpose. Intentionally. To manage conquest ratings.
So [D] was out.
[Schrödinger's Card] she'd dealt with before. She knew exactly how bad random effects could get. Hard pass.
That left [Sugar Baby Aura].
She'd have killed to use her card-refresh ability right now—but it didn't apply to penalty selections. Of course it didn't.
Five minutes on the clock. Mio didn't overthink it.
[Sugar Baby Aura] selected.
Time resumed.
"Actually, I only really got to know Yukinoshita-san for the first time today." Mio gave Haruno a brief rundown of how the afternoon had gone—carefully editing out anything to do with the system. There was no version of this where she let Haruno find out about that. Ten pulls was not a risk she was taking.
"But you seemed pretty focused on her~ Your eyes kept drifting her way all evening."
"She was a first-time guest. Of course I was paying attention." Mio tilted her head. "...Haruno-senpai, are you jealous?"
Anyone else would've denied it on reflex.
Not Haruno.
"Yeah," she said, easy as breathing. "I am. I don't like watching my kouhai get cozy with other girls."
Mio pulled the corner of her mouth. She knew exactly what that was really about—Haruno was keeping tabs on her, making sure she wasn't up to something weird with Yukino.
She changed the subject before it could go further. "Senpai said you're staying tonight. Don't you have class tomorrow?"
"I drove myself this time, so I'll just head back to school in the morning." Haruno's voice took on a low, suggestive lilt. "Speaking of tonight~ What if we shared a bed, kouhai?"
It bounced right off.
Mio smiled. "Probably not going to work—Mashiro's sleeping with me tonight."
"You two really are close."
"We're neighbors. We transferred in on the same day."
"Is that really all it is?" Haruno's smile curled. "Because you two act more attached than most couples I know~"
"Do we?"
Haruno looked at Mio—just playing dumb over there—and decided not to push it. Fine.
It was a shame about the sleeping arrangement, though. She'd genuinely been curious whether sharing a bed with Mio might help with her sleep quality. With Mashiro already in the picture, that experiment was clearly off the table.
She was still thinking of something to say when the apartment door swung open.
Mashiro walked in.
The instant she spotted Mio and Haruno together, she made a direct line to Mio's side, grabbed a fistful of her sleeve, and turned a narrow, watchful stare on Haruno.
It was barely nine at night. By Mashiro's usual schedule, she'd still be painting.
"Mashiro?" Mio looked at her, confused. "How come you're here?"
"...Just missed you."
Haruno's eyes narrowed slightly. Interesting. That felt a lot like the expressionless blonde was staking a claim.
Was she worried Mio was about to get stolen away?
Noticing the smile gradually brightening on Haruno's face, Mio immediately put some distance between them. She knew that look. Haruno wearing that smile meant she was about to cause problems.
Seeing Mio retreat, Haruno felt a small flicker of disappointment. She'd been one second away from leaning against her shoulder—and genuinely curious what reaction that would've drawn from the blank-faced little blonde.
Ah well. The moment had passed.
Haruno stood, stretched lazily—a motion that showed off her figure in a way that was probably not entirely accidental—and said, "I won't get in the way of you two. I'll go keep the drunkards company."
After she left, Mio noticed that Mashiro still hadn't released her sleeve.
"Mashiro. Are you okay?"
"I... don't know."
Mashiro looked up at her.
When she'd walked in and found Mio and Haruno sitting together, she'd felt something heavy and tight press down on her chest. She'd read about it in manga. If she remembered correctly, that feeling had a name.
Jealousy.
The thing that happened when you saw someone you liked getting close to another person.
If what she was feeling right now was jealousy...
Then did that mean she'd fallen for someone?
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