"Aren't you going to get the door?" Yukinoshita Yukino looked at Mio, puzzled.
"In a sec. Just a little longer."
One short minute—right now, to Mio, it felt longer than a whole year.
Why did someone have to ring the bell at exactly this moment? And if she wasn't mistaken, whoever was at the door was very likely Yukinoshita Haruno.
Which made it even more unbearable.
At the very least—at the very least, let her finish the task first.
Maybe because no one answered, the doorbell started ringing more and more insistently. Mio could already picture Yukinoshita Haruno out there mashing the button, out of patience.
But the countdown had dropped below thirty seconds. No matter what, there was no way she'd give up here!
Thirty seconds is short. It's also very long.
As the countdown hit zero, time froze, and the System's voice sounded in Mio's ear. "Congratulations, host, task complete. Yukinoshita Yukino's conquest rating toward the host has increased by 2 points. Please select your reward."
Even though she'd cleared the task, Mio felt not the slightest joy.
She barely even glanced at the rewards before picking a card called [Easy Mode].
This card could knock the next task's difficulty down by one level—though it was single-use only.
The moment Mio made her choice, time resumed its flow. She shot to her feet and ran to throw the door open.
Seeing the door finally open, Yukinoshita Haruno wore a dangerous expression. "Kouhai, you finally opened the door. I was starting to think you couldn't hear me~"
"I heard. Something just came up for a second."
"Something? You're not hiding away in here doing something weird, are you?"
"H-how could I be? Anyway, did you need something, Senpai?"
"Mm. I left my phone here. Came to grab it."
As she spoke, Yukinoshita Haruno stepped inside and quickly spotted her phone on the living room table.
Phone in hand, she didn't linger—she headed right back next door to drink and chat.
Only then did Mio quietly let out a breath.
And at that point Yukinoshita Yukino rose to her feet too, setting Cake down with obvious reluctance. "It's getting late. I should be heading back."
"It's already this late—why don't you just stay over, Yukinoshita-san?"
"No need for that. Someone's coming to pick me up."
Yukinoshita Yukino was worried that if she stayed, she might overhear sounds she really shouldn't.
After seeing Yukinoshita Yukino off, Mio finally relaxed a little. She'd finished two tasks today. Going by past experience, a third was pretty unlikely.
Pah—pah—pah!
Realizing she'd just set a flag, Mio hurriedly clapped a hand over her mouth.
Even with a Penalty Card Set capable of tanking her luck hanging over her, she still didn't have much faith in her own fortune.
And as it turned out, Mio was right.
Just as she was getting ready to shower and call it a night, the System bubbled back up.
"Is the host about to go take a bath?"
"What if I am?" A sudden bad feeling crept over Mio.
"Oh, nothing. Just—host, find a way to get Shiina Mashiro to help you bathe. Success may reward a Shiina Mashiro Card Set or an item reward. Failure means drawing from the Penalty Card Set."
Once the full task description registered, Mio nearly coughed up a mouthful of old blood.
So this was a third-stage task. If the difficulty climbed one more level, who knew what would happen.
Mio, who'd just been thinking about a bath, silently sat back down on the couch. She wondered: if she had Shiina Mashiro scrub her back, would that count as Mashiro helping her bathe?
It felt like it was worth a shot.
With that thought, Mio got up again and headed to Shiina Mashiro's room.
She found her seated at the computer, drawing something with total focus—so absorbed she didn't even notice Mio come in.
Mio didn't disturb her. She sat on the edge of the bed and waited until Shiina Mashiro finished the piece before speaking up. "Mashiro, want to take a bath together?"
"I do!"
Shiina Mashiro nodded without a moment's hesitation and, not even waiting for Mio to say more, went bounding off toward the bathroom with light, quick steps.
Mio had been about to remind her she hadn't even grabbed a change of clothes, but thought better of it. She'd just bring them herself.
By the time she walked into the bathroom with the change of clothes, Shiina Mashiro had already stripped down and was waiting for her.
It wasn't her first time bathing with Shiina Mashiro, so Mio took a deep breath and started undressing as she spoke. "Mashiro, could I trouble you with something in a bit?"
"Hm?"
"Help me scrub my back."
"Okay." She'd never scrubbed anyone's back before, but she'd seen it in manga, so she figured she had the gist of it.
After a quick rinse, Mio sat on the stool with her back to Shiina Mashiro and swept her long hair over to her chest, baring her flawless, snow-white back.
She had to admit—even though it was Shiina Mashiro's first time scrubbing her back, it felt pretty nice.
Just as Mio was enjoying the service, Mashiro's hands suddenly went still.
Mio glanced back, puzzled. "Mashiro, why'd you stop?"
"Mio's back is really pretty. I want to memorize it." Shiina Mashiro studied Mio's back with utter seriousness—enough that even Mio felt a little shy under that stare.
"Don't you think that sounds a little weird?"
"Hm?"
Shiina Mashiro looked at Mio with pure, blank innocence, as if she didn't quite get what Mio meant.
Mio gave a helpless little laugh and let it drop. If Mashiro wanted to look, then let her look—it wasn't like Mio lost anything over it.
A good while passed, and right about when Mio started feeling a little cold, Shiina Mashiro finally remembered she had a job left unfinished.
When she'd finished scrubbing Mio's back, the System's voice still didn't sound.
Which meant a back-scrub alone wasn't enough to complete the task.
But aside from her back, Mio really didn't dare let Shiina Mashiro wash anywhere else.
Noticing Mio's conflicted expression, Shiina Mashiro tilted her head. "Mio, what's wrong?"
"N-nothing." Mio let out a mournful sigh, then played one of the only two [Freebie Cards] she had.
Mio honestly never thought she'd end up using this card on a Shiina Mashiro task.
As the card took effect, time froze, and the System's voice rang out once more.
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