Five in the afternoon.
The sky was slowly dimming.
Outside the karaoke place, Miura Yumiko glanced up at the fading light, then turned to Shirai Mio. "So... is it time for our date to end again?"
"Yeah. It's getting late, after all."
"You know, you told me before that a date ends with you either taking your girlfriend home or off to a love hotel. Want to pick one?"
"I... did I really say that?" Mio blinked.
As if she'd seen that coming, Yumiko pulled out her phone and gave it a little shake. "Want me to play you the recording?"
"When did you record anything?!" Mio's eyes went wide.
"Pretty sure recording it was your idea. Something about taping the whole date so I could go back and study how I should be doing things."
Now that she mentioned it, Mio had a sinking feeling she really had said something like that.
What was this feeling—like lifting a rock only to drop it on her own foot?
"Relax, I'm just teasing. But as your girlfriend—even a temporary one—a goodbye kiss before we part isn't too much to ask, right?"
"Fine."
Mio glanced at the people passing by, then tugged Yumiko over to a quiet corner where no one was around.
Just as she leaned in to plant one on Yumiko's cheek, Yumiko tilted her head at the last second—and Mio, caught completely off guard, kissed her right on the lips.
The instant their lips met, Mio knew she'd been played.
Catching the flustered look on Mio's face, the corners of Yumiko's mouth curved into a faint smile.
Seemed like this so-called master of romance was only a master in theory.
"What are you smiling about?" Mio puffed her cheeks at that subtle little smirk.
"Nothing. I'm just curious—have you actually never dated anyone before?"
"Wh-what? No way. I'm a romance master. Dating? I've done it more times than I can count. It's a home-cooked meal to me, you get it?"
"Yeah, sure, you're totally right. Everything you say is right." Yumiko humored her with a perfectly straight face, then took her hand again. "Come on. I'll walk you home."
"You don't have to. It's not far, and you'd just have to go out of your way."
"As long as I get to spend a little more time with you, a detour's worth it."
"Whatever makes you happy, I guess."
About twenty minutes later, the two of them arrived back at the foot of the apartment building.
Mio looked at Yumiko. "Okay, hurry home. I'm heading up."
"Mm. I'll go, then."
She watched Yumiko walk off into the distance before finally turning to head upstairs.
She'd just wrapped up a date with Yumiko today, and tomorrow she had another one—with Yuigahama Yui.
Going on dates with gorgeous girls was supposed to be a happy thing. But right now, Ning Chu's mood was a tangled mess. She couldn't manage to feel happy about it at all.
"What's with you? You go out shopping and come back looking like that?" Seeing Mio flop onto the couch the moment she walked in, limp as a wrung-out rag, Sengoku Chihiro asked, curious.
"A whole bunch of stuff happened. Too much to explain right now. More importantly—I'm not in the mood to cook tonight. Let's eat out."
"Sure, why not. It's not often you suggest something like that. Tonight it's on me—er, on the Yukinoshita family heiress living right across the hall. I'll go let her know."
Meanwhile, on the other side of things, Yumiko had just stepped through her own front door—straight into the sound of her sister's voice.
"Oh? Little sister, you're home already? And here I thought you'd be spending the night out."
Yumiko's elder sister was clearly in a teasing mood.
Yumiko changed out of her shoes, then slid under the kotatsu. "If it were up to me, I'd have loved to stay out. But it didn't pan out, so here I am."
"Huh?!"
At her sister's words, Yumiko's elder sister's expression turned a little strange.
If Yumiko had said something like that in the past, she'd have shot back a glare sharp enough to kill. But now, not only was there no glare—her little sister had volunteered a surprising amount of information.
"Um... did something go wrong on your date today?" she asked, treading carefully.
"No. It went pretty smoothly, actually. If something had gone wrong, I wouldn't be sitting here chatting with you right now."
"Fair enough. So... you seem to be in a great mood. Did something good happen?"
"I'm not sure if it's good or bad. Point is, nothing's wrong for now."
"What kind of answer is that? That's no different from saying nothing—are you even getting anywhere with this?"
"Okay, okay. Why are you so worried about my girlfriend, anyway? Weren't you the one who said you'd find a better girlfriend than Mio? So where is she?"
"Well, see, the kotatsu's got me sealed in place, so... I haven't really gotten around to it." Yumiko's sister forced out a dry little laugh, trying to cover up the awkwardness of her own slacking.
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Eight in the evening.
Inside a certain yakiniku restaurant.
Yukinoshita Haruno, having just finished work, was led by a waitress to the door of a private room.
The moment she pushed the door open, she found Shirai Mio diligently grilling meat, Shiina Mashiro diligently eating it, and the two drunks off to the side sipping away, looking thoroughly at ease.
Spotting Haruno, Mio greeted her with a smile. "Senpai, you finally made it. Any later and we'd have eaten all the meat."
"Eat, eat all you want. We'll just order more when it's gone."
No sooner had Haruno sat down than Chihiro poured her a drink.
After a light sip, Haruno asked, curious, "What's got you in the mood for yakiniku today?"
"Mio said she didn't feel like cooking, so we came out for a feast for once."
"Is that so."
Haruno leaned in close to Mio, curious. "Did something happen to my kouhai today?"
"It's really nothing. Don't worry about it, senpai."
Seeing that Haruno was about to press further, Mio simply picked up a fresh piece of grilled beef tongue and held it up to her lips.
There was no way Haruno couldn't tell that Mio didn't want her digging any deeper.
In the past, she'd have cracked the clay pot wide open just to get to the bottom of it. But now—she hesitated, and in the end let the topic drop.
Even so, Haruno could still read a few clues off Mio's face.
It seemed like something genuinely had her tied up in knots. Otherwise, Mio wouldn't have been too out of sorts to even cook dinner.
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