"Honestly—don't go drinking that much when you're out."
Panting, Shirai Mio hauled Sengoku Chihiro onto the bed, slipped her shoes off, and pulled the blanket over her.
Off to the side, Yukinoshita Haruno wiped the sweat from her forehead. "They didn't actually drink that much, you know. It's mostly that they can't hold their liquor—and we were right there with them."
"I'm used to it by now. You're the one who had it rough, senpai."
"You think I haven't dealt with this kind of thing plenty of times?"
Now that Haruno mentioned it, Mio supposed that was true—the two of them did drink together pretty often, after all.
The two exchanged a glance and, without meaning to, both broke into a smile.
Once the two drunks were settled, Mio and Haruno headed back to the living room.
Mio took two bottles of water from the fridge and handed one to Haruno.
"Thanks." Haruno twisted off the cap and took a big gulp, finally easing the dryness in her throat.
When she finished, she noticed Mio wrestling with her own bottle cap.
"You can't get it open?"
"I-I can. I just hauled someone into bed, so my hands are a little useless right now." Mio never would've imagined the day would come when she couldn't open a bottle cap.
But there was nothing for it—her hands were limp as noodles and refused to put out any strength.
Haruno held out a hand. She didn't say a word, but her meaning was clear enough.
After a moment's hesitation, Mio handed the bottle over.
Haruno popped the cap off with ease and passed it back.
"Thanks."
"If you really want to thank me, how about my little kouhai comes and sleeps over at my place tonight~"
"Senpai, I was just being polite. You didn't actually take that seriously, did you?"
"Aw, come on! Ever since I moved in here, I've never once gotten to sleep with you~" Haruno leaned in close, something simmering in those dark eyes of hers—enough to set Mio a little on edge.
"You make it sound like we've slept together before."
"We actually have. Although, besides you, there was a certain Shiina Mashiro there too."
At that, the memory came back to Mio. There'd been a task once, one that required her to sleep in the same bed as Haruno. For that task, she'd even promised to make Mashiro a whole pile of desserts.
Right then, the System's voice piped up in her ear. "Host, no need to get all nostalgic about the past—there's a perfectly good opportunity sitting right in front of you."
"Host, please find a way to sleep in the same bed as Yukinoshita Haruno for six hours or longer. Success may grant a Yukinoshita Haruno series card set or an item reward. Failure means drawing from the penalty deck."
"See? Isn't this System so considerate? The second you start reminiscing, I hand you the exact same task~"
"Why don't you go drop dead?" Mio ground out through clenched teeth.
She'd been about to go shower and sleep—she never expected the System to pop out and stir up trouble at a time like this.
Noticing the shift in Mio's expression, Haruno raised an eyebrow. "Kouhai, what's wrong?"
"N-nothing. Just thinking about some stuff." Crap. I forgot to control my expression again.
Lately, Mio felt like she'd let her guard down around Haruno a little too much. If things kept going like this, it'd be all too easy for the woman to pick up on something.
But that wasn't what she needed to worry about right now. What she needed to worry about was how, exactly, she was going to end up sleeping in the same bed as Haruno.
She'd literally just turned the woman down. Bringing it up out of nowhere now would feel beyond awkward.
But if she didn't bring it up, there was no way to make it happen.
After a moment's hesitation, Mio finally spoke. "S-senpai, could I sleep over at your place tonight?"
"Hmm?" The corner of Haruno's mouth curled into a delighted smile, her eyes gleaming with open interest. "But didn't you just turn me down a second ago? And now all of a sudden you want to sleep at mine?"
Just as Mio scrambled to explain, Haruno waved a hand. "Never mind, you don't need to explain. If you want to come, come. Here, take this."
Haruno pulled a ring of keys from her bag and handed them to Mio.
"This is..."
"The spare key to my place."
"Aren't you afraid I'll take your key and clean the whole place out?"
"If you wanted the place, I'd just give it to you—no need to go to all that trouble." As she spoke, Haruno rose to her feet and stretched lazily, her graceful curves on full display in that single motion.
"All right, I should go shower too. Come over tonight if you're coming. I usually don't lock my bedroom door."
Mio looked at Haruno's retreating back, then down at the keys in her hand, torn.
Something about Haruno felt off—and now she'd handed over a key, on top of everything.
Unable to make sense of it for now, Mio decided to just head home first, shower, and decide afterward. There was plenty of time, anyway.
Freshly showered, Mio returned to her room to find Shiina Mashiro sprawled across the bed.
She'd assumed Mashiro was reading manga, but when she stepped closer she realized the girl had already fallen asleep, the manga tossed carelessly to one side.
Mio carefully tucked the blanket around her, then tiptoed out of the room.
She figured she'd go check out the situation over at Haruno's.
The task had already been issued. She wasn't the type to give up without lifting a finger—one way or another, she at least had to give it a shot.
Standing at Haruno's door, Mio didn't use the key. Instead, she rang the bell.
A good while passed before the door finally opened.
Standing before her was Haruno—wrapped in nothing but a bath towel.
Flawless, snow-white skin, rounded shoulders, delicate collarbones... even Mio couldn't help sneaking a few extra glances.
"Didn't my kouhai have a key?"
"It didn't feel right to use it while you're home."
"I think it'd have been perfectly fine. If you'd let yourself in just now, you might've caught an even more thrilling view than this one." Haruno's voice was pure temptation.
Unfortunately, it didn't have much effect on Mio—or rather, she'd already built up a resistance to Haruno's brand of allure.
Tucking away her wandering thoughts, Mio followed Haruno inside.
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