December 31st.
The last day of the year. Mio lay sprawled lazily across the sofa, Shiina Mashiro held in her arms, savoring the soft, sweet-smelling girl against her while she watched TV. The sheer comfort of it was beyond words.
It was practically the exact scene he'd once imagined, back before he transmigrated, would only happen after he'd landed himself a girlfriend.
On top of that, today was the once-a-month day off, so there was no worrying about the System popping up out of nowhere to stir up trouble. This carefree, weightless feeling was almost too good.
For once, Mashiro hadn't holed up in her room to draw, either — she was glued to Mio instead.
"This is some serious laziness. But I like it," Mio couldn't help remarking.
At Mio's words, Mashiro lifted her head and shot her a puzzled look. She didn't say anything, though — she just picked up a potato chip and held it to Mio's lips.
And Mio, naturally, ate the chip without the slightest hesitation.
"It's just the two of us spending New Year's together this year. Think you'll feel weird about it, Mashiro?"
Mashiro gave a gentle shake of her head. "As long as Mio's here, that's enough."
With that, she shifted her position so the back of her head could nestle more comfortably against Mio's chest.
"I wonder how Chihiro-sensei and the others are doing right about now."
As she said it, Mio took out her phone and fired off a message to Sengoku Chihiro.
The reply came quickly — a photo. Mio took a careful look and realized... wasn't this the same hot spring inn from before?
What happened to the road trip?
So they'd driven as far as the hot spring inn and then just started vacationing, huh.
As if she'd guessed exactly what Mio was thinking, Sengoku Chihiro shot back right away: "We were planning to keep driving, but it just felt too exhausting, so after talking it over we decided to settle in at the inn for the holiday. No need to worry about us at all. More importantly — how's Mashiro doing these days?"
"Same as always."
Reading Mio's reply, Sengoku Chihiro couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Was her little cousin still making no moves even after she'd left? And here she'd taught the girl plenty.
Well, no use dwelling on it now. All she could do was send Mashiro a message of her own, telling her to pick up the pace.
"All right, well — with you there, I'm not worried in the slightest."
"Oh, right. I left some New Year's money for the two of you. It's in the... in the drawer under the TV in the living room. Don't forget to grab it~"
Reply sent, Sengoku Chihiro went straight back to drinking with Hiratsuka Shizuka.
On the other end, Mio had barely set her phone down when she heard Mashiro's phone buzz. She glanced casually at the screen and said, "Chihiro-sensei's telling you to pick up the pace. What pace would that be?"
At that, Mashiro tilted her head, looking as if she were turning over how to answer.
"Never mind. If you can't think of how to answer, don't force yourself." Seeing the message Sengoku Chihiro had sent Mashiro — along with some of Mashiro's odd behavior lately — Mio could pretty much guess what "pick up the pace" was getting at.
She just hadn't expected that, as Mashiro's cousin, Chihiro would actually be backing Mashiro's feelings for her.
If it weren't for the System, she might've been over the moon about it.
So how exactly was she supposed to deal with the System problem?
According to the System, it would only disappear once she became someone's girlfriend. And not through a normal confession-and-dating route, either — it required someone's conquest rating toward her to hit 100 points.
Mio had no idea whether, under the influence of that conquest rating, she'd still be herself.
Which was exactly why she kept agonizing over it.
Noticing the melancholy on Mio's face, Mashiro asked softly, "Mio, why are you frowning?"
"It's nothing. Just thought of a few things all of a sudden. Don't worry about it."
Not wanting Mashiro to see her like this, Mio got her mood back in order fast and went back to watching TV, laughing and chatting away.
Even if, for the vast majority of it, she was the one talking and laughing to herself.
But even so, Mio was already plenty content.
Before long, evening rolled around, and the year's Kōhaku Uta Gassen was about to begin.
Mio took out the red envelopes Sengoku Chihiro had prepared in advance, handed Mashiro her envelope, and kept her own as well.
What Mio hadn't expected was that Mashiro had actually prepared a red envelope for her, too.
Mio, who couldn't remember how many years it had been since she'd last received a red envelope, found that right then and there, Shiina Mashiro's conquest rating toward the host had risen by 1 point.
Not that Mio minded in the slightest — she even planted a kiss on Mashiro's cheek.
Mio rarely did that sort of thing with Mashiro, mainly because she spent every waking hour with her. If she let herself do it too often, she'd inevitably struggle to resist the urge to take things a step further.
At Mio's kiss — even just on the cheek — Mashiro let slip one of her rare, faint smiles.
It was a little stiff, sure, but a good deal better than before.
Beyond the New Year's money, what came flooding in even more were the holiday greetings.
Among them were no shortage of invitations to go for hatsumōde.
Meanwhile, over at the Yuigahama house, Yui had just sent Mio an invitation of her own — asking if they could visit the nearby shrine together tomorrow.
The instant the message was sent, she sat there nervously, eyes glued to her phone. But more than ten minutes ticked by with no reply.
Mrs. Yuigahama watched the earnest look on her daughter's face and asked, smiling, "Yui, who are you texting, looking that serious about it?"
"I-It's nothing like that. I just messaged a friend to ask if she's going for hatsumōde tomorrow, that's all." Yui locked her screen on reflex — but less than a minute later, she couldn't help unlocking it again for a sneaky peek.
Nearly another ten minutes passed before Yui finally got Mio's reply.
"Sorry, there were way too many messages just now — I only just saw yours."
"Tomorrow works fine! Should we meet up at the shrine? Or the usual spot?"
"The usual spot."
Yui fired back without a moment's hesitation.
It had been several days since she'd last seen Mio, and right now all she wanted was to see her sooner — even just a minute sooner.
And it would be a good deal more than a minute earlier, at that.
Seeing the smile that spread across her daughter's face, Mrs. Yuigahama narrowed her eyes. "Yui, judging by that look, I'm guessing you won't be coming with your dad and me tomorrow?"
"Ah — um, yeah. I just made plans with a friend."
Yui couldn't shake the feeling that her mom's gaze saw right through her.
But none of that mattered anymore. Right now, all she wanted was for today to hurry up and end, so she could meet Mio that much sooner.
To her mother's eyes, Yui right now looked exactly like a girl head over heels in love.
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