"Hm? Why's my little kouhai packing her things? Don't tell me she's abandoning me and running off?"
Yukinoshita Haruno watched Shirai Mio pack. Her first thought was that Mio might be heading home for the new year or something — but she quickly remembered that, just at dinner, Mio had said she'd be spending the new year here.
So what was she packing for?
"I've got something to take care of these next few days. Heading out of town."
"What kind of something?" Curiosity flickered in Haruno's eyes.
"Senpai, do you know about Comiket?"
At Mio's words, Haruno tilted her head, thought it over for a moment, then said, "I've heard of it, but never been. Actually, I think I saw some classmates discussing it in the class group chat recently. Is that why you're heading out?"
Mio gave a small nod. "It takes a while to get there from here, so it's best if I head over tonight, ahead of time."
That was what Eriri had told her, too.
Incidentally, Eriri had already gone on ahead — she'd even booked a hotel over there. The only catch was that, with rooms in short supply at this busy time, Mio would have to share a room with Eriri.
Mio, of course, had no complaints about that. There was no way she'd ever come out the loser, after all.
"So that's it. You should've said so earlier, kouhai — I wouldn't have minded tagging along."
"I figured Senpai wasn't interested in that sort of thing."
That was just an excuse to fob Haruno off. The last thing she wanted was for this woman to find out she drew doujinshi. If she ever did, then knowing this wicked woman's personality, Mio would be toyed with mercilessly.
Mio could already picture it — Haruno, wearing that delighted little smile, telling her: "Kouhai, you wouldn't want your classmates finding out you draw doujinshi, now would you?"
"You're right, I'm not interested in that sort of thing. But I am interested in my kouhai~" Haruno said, eyes crinkling into a smile. "Oh, that reminds me — want me to have the driver take you over?"
"No need. Public transit's super convenient these days, and there's no traffic to worry about."
Once she'd finished packing, Mio didn't head out right away. First she went next door to let Sengoku Chihiro know she was leaving — after all, with Mio gone, Chihiro was the only one who could look after Shiina Mashiro.
It was for that reason, too, that Chihiro had pushed back her road-trip plans by a couple of days. Not that it made much difference to her and Hiratsuka Shizuka.
Chihiro mainly wanted to create some space for her cousin, while Shizuka just didn't want to go home and get nagged about marriage.
Seeing Mio about to leave, Mashiro quietly sidled up to her, eyes shining with undisguised reluctance to see her go.
Mio rested a hand on Mashiro's head and gave it a few gentle rubs. "While I'm gone, you be good and listen to Chihiro-sensei, okay?"
"Mm."
Mashiro knew Mio drew doujinshi. If it weren't for the fact that Mio had things keeping her busy lately, she definitely would have brought Mashiro along.
"I'll be back soon. I'll bring you something tasty."
The moment a foodie like Mashiro heard the words "something tasty," her eyes lit right up. She nodded hard. "I'll wait for you to come home."
Watching the two of them drag out their goodbye, Chihiro — who really couldn't take any more — couldn't help cutting in. "You two. It's only two days apart. Do you really have to get all lovey-dovey right here?"
What she really wanted to say was: Has anyone considered the feelings of us poor lonely singles?
But thinking it over, even though things between Mio and Mashiro were pretty ambiguous, the two of them hadn't actually defined their relationship yet.
This wouldn't do. Things between her cousin and Mio were moving way too slowly — and a girl like Mio was very popular, mind you.
Take, for instance, a certain someone who was growing more and more interested in Mio.
Chihiro shot a quiet glance at Yukinoshita Haruno. As her former student, this was the first time Chihiro had ever seen Haruno take such a deep interest in anyone.
And even after all this time, that interest hadn't faded one bit.
Perfect timing, then. With Mio away for a few days, Chihiro would take the chance to give her cousin some proper coaching.
She didn't want to come back from her trip to find the two of them exactly where they'd left off.
Here she was, still a lonely single herself, yet fussing this much over her cousin's love life — really, she made quite the competent older cousin, didn't she~
After rattling off a whole string of reminders like some doting mother hen, Mio finally dragged her suitcase out of the apartment.
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"Still not here yet?"
Eriri lay on her side on the bed, quietly staring at her phone. Over an hour ago, Mio had texted to say she'd set out.
But there'd been no word since.
She hadn't run into some kind of trouble, had she?
Just as Eriri was wondering whether to send a text and check, the doorbell suddenly rang.
She blinked, then rolled off the bed and went to the door. After confirming through the peephole that it was Mio, she opened it.
"You finally made it."
"Oh? Don't tell me Eriri's been waiting so long her heart's started itching for me?"
"Wh-who'd be itching over you? It's just that I can't sleep properly if you're not here, that's all."
Eriri gave a cold huff, then waved Mio into the room.
Stepping inside, Mio took one look at the single large bed in the room and said, "Hm? Does this mean I'll be sharing a bed with Eriri tonight?"
"Got a problem with that?"
"Of course not. I'm even a little bit excited, actually. Maybe while I'm asleep, Eriri will—"
Before Mio could finish, Eriri cut her off flat. "I won't. Absolutely not!"
Eriri shot Mio a vicious glare. This white-haired little bitch was getting more and more shameless. Back when they'd first met, Mio had been as soft and adorable as could be — who could've guessed that once the two of them got close, her true nature would come crawling out?
"Eh!? Now that's a real shame. And here I was, looking forward to it the whole time~" Open disappointment showed in Mio's eyes.
"Stop getting your hopes up over something that's never going to happen!" Eriri shot back — and then realized Mio had actually started taking off her clothes.
She froze for a second, then hurriedly asked, "Wh-what are you undressing for?"
"To get ready for bed, obviously. Don't you know, Eriri? I like to sleep in the nude~"
"???"
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