"I'm done for!"
To Mio's ears, that crisp doorbell chime might as well have been a death countdown.
From what she knew of Yukino, at this point in time the girl still didn't have any friends, and on top of that she'd just moved out on her own. The only person who'd come knocking at this hour... Mio couldn't think of anyone but Yukinoshita Haruno.
If Haruno caught her here, Mio had no idea what would happen, but she knew for a fact it wouldn't end well for her.
She might get hauled off to some basement by Haruno and subjected to this and that, then that and this, at which point she could probably go ahead and reserve her spot as the heroine of an R18 doujin.
While Mio's mind was busy running wild with these scenarios, Yukino came walking back cradling a delivery parcel.
The sight of it made Mio feel like maybe she was back in business after all.
She rubbed her stiff cheeks and asked, curious, "Mind if I ask what's in the package, Yukinoshita-san?"
"Some books. Want to take a look?"
"I'm good, you enjoy them. I'll go start cooking."
Mio headed into the kitchen and opened the fridge, hunting for ingredients.
Yukino was in the habit of cooking for herself, so she kept a stock on hand. Not much, but enough.
Mio tied on an apron, rolled up her sleeves, gathered her loose hair into a ponytail, and got down to business.
She hadn't even finished prepping when she noticed Yukino had appeared at the edge of the kitchen at some point, quietly watching her.
Catching Mio's glance, Yukino said mildly, "Don't mind me. I'm just watching."
"Sure." Mio gave a small nod, then started walking Yukino through each step of what she was doing, tossing in a few of her own cooking tips along the way.
As she listened, Yukino's expression turned serious, and at the important parts, she actually started taking notes.
"Shirai-san, I've noticed your signature dishes and your techniques both lean heavily toward Chinese cooking."
"Yeah. I really love Chinese cooking, and I've been teaching myself for a while now. If you're interested, I can show you sometime when we've both got the time."
"I'd like that." This time, Yukino didn't refuse.
After tasting Mio's cooking, she'd wanted to recreate it herself. That way she could treat herself to good food on the regular, and with Mio there to coach her, she should get results fast.
Lunch finished, Yukino covered her mouth and yawned.
Mio caught it and asked, "Feeling like a nap, Yukinoshita-san?"
"If you're sleepy, go ahead and sleep. I'll stick around another two hours or so, then I'll see myself out."
Yukino raised an eyebrow. "That's a strange way to put it. Is there some special significance to staying at my place for exactly two more hours?"
"For you, maybe not. For me, it means a whole lot, but I can't tell you why."
"Suit yourself."
Yukino gave Mio a look, then picked her book back up and kept reading.
Except the longer she read, the heavier her eyelids got. After nodding off a few times, Yukino finally lost the battle and drifted asleep leaning against the sofa.
She had no idea how long she'd been out. When Yukino woke again, she found herself lying on the sofa, her head, no less, pillowed on Mio's thigh.
The discovery had her bolting upright. She shot Mio a slightly panicked glance, only to find the other girl fast asleep too.
Yukino looked up at the clock on the wall and realized she'd slept over three hours. Any longer and it'd basically be dark out.
Which raised the question: should she wake Mio or not?
Looking at Mio's peaceful sleeping face, even Yukino caught herself lingering a beat too long, reluctant, somehow, to wake her.
And right then, the doorbell rang.
Yukino shot to the door at record speed, checked the ground-floor entrance camera, and found her sister standing outside.
She glanced back at the still-sleeping Mio, then buzzed the front door open.
Her sister's timing was perfect. Now she could take Mio off her hands.
A short while later, Yukinoshita Haruno appeared at her little sister's door.
Before Haruno could get a word out, Yukino spoke first: "Perfect timing. Take your girlfriend home with you."
"My girlfriend?"
Haruno blinked, then quickly caught on. Her sister had to mean Mio.
"How'd she end up here?"
Yukino gave her a rundown of everything that had happened that day.
As she listened, a thoughtful glint surfaced in Haruno's eyes.
"Fine. I'll take her. It's still fairly early, though, so let her sleep a bit longer."
"Suit yourself. It's got nothing to do with me either way." And with that, Yukino went right back to her book.
Haruno, meanwhile, walked over and sat down beside Mio, then carefully guided her to lean against her shoulder.
Deep asleep, Mio was having a dream. She couldn't tell if it was a wet dream or a nightmare. She dreamt Haruno had locked her in a basement and done all sorts of strange things to her.
She had no idea how long it lasted. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and taking in the faintly unfamiliar surroundings of Yukino's apartment, she felt a wave of relief.
"Thank god it was just a dream."
"A dream about what?"
"A dream about..." Still half-asleep, Mio started to explain, then jolted. That voice sounded awfully familiar. Almost exactly like Yukinoshita Haruno's.
Realizing something was very wrong, Mio instinctively put some distance between herself and whoever was beside her, and found herself looking at Haruno's gorgeous face, wearing that all-too-familiar delighted smile.
For one horrible second, Mio felt like she'd been dropped straight into the basement.
"Sleep well, little kouhai?"
"Y-Yeah, pretty well. Wh-What brings you here, Senpai?"
"I came to see my little sister. The real question is what you're doing here, little kouhai. You weren't doing something weird to my sister behind my back, were you~?" Haruno narrowed her eyes and leaned in close.
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