"I know you're there."
Rita Ainsworth looked at the message on her phone, then at Shirai Mio, who was smiling at her. She decisively put on an expression as though she knew absolutely nothing, turned around, and made her escape.
Only after Rita Ainsworth had left did Shirai Mio put down her phone and mutter softly, "Lucky for you, you got away fast."
Once Rita Ainsworth was gone, Shirai Mio went back to being her woefully unqualified model.
"Mashiro, when Rita was in England, did she teach you a lot of strange things?"
"Mm. But I don't know when I'm supposed to do what," Shiina Mashiro said calmly.
Shiina Mashiro was not stupid. On top of that, Rita had taught her so many things that she actually did know what she was supposed to do and when. She simply did not want to do them.
As far as Shiina Mashiro was concerned, being together with Shirai Mio was enough.
Shirai Mio knew that too. Otherwise, she would never have let Rita teach Shiina Mashiro all those things.
Time passed little by little. Once Shiina Mashiro finished her painting, everyone who had left earlier came back as well.
Looking at Shiina Mashiro's new painting, Sengoku Chihiro blinked and said, "We were gone for that long, and all you two did was make a painting?"
"What else? Did you think we'd do something indecent in full view of everyone, Chihiro-sensei?"
"Fair point."
Still, she and Rita had gone to all that trouble to give Shiina Mashiro a chance to be alone with Shirai Mio, only for her to spend the whole time making a painting.
"I spend time alone with Mio every night."
Hearing Shiina Mashiro's words, Rita Ainsworth sighed softly. That was true, but the location was different.
In a beautiful place like this, with the two of them alone, even if they did not do anything indescribable, confessing or whispering a few sweet nothings would have been nice.
"All right, all right. Since you're all back now, we should get going too."
"You're not planning to drink here all night?"
"Out of everyone here, only you and Shizuka-sensei are that fond of drinking. As far as I'm concerned, rather than sitting here watching you drink and listening to you complain, I'd rather go home and work."
Sengoku Chihiro protested, "When have we ever complained? I was merely lamenting the injustices of this world."
Sengoku Chihiro still wanted to say more, but Hiratsuka Shizuka, unable to watch any longer, dragged her away.
Since it was rare for the group to go out to see the cherry blossoms, they did not go home for dinner. Instead, they found a nearby Japanese restaurant and ate there.
Sengoku Chihiro had originally wanted a little alcohol, but Shirai Mio stopped her. She had driven there, and dealing with drunk people was a huge pain.
Mio remembered the last time she had gone through hell dragging two drunks home.
In any case, Shirai Mio had no intention of going through that again.
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"Finally back~"
As soon as Shirai Mio got home, she launched herself onto the sofa.
Shiina Mashiro quietly asked, "Mio, are you going to take a bath?"
"You go first. I want to rest for a bit."
"Okay."
After Shiina Mashiro entered the bathroom, Shirai Mio lay sprawled on the sofa playing with her phone when she suddenly received a message from Miura Yumiko.
"Mio, do you have any time before spring break ends?"
"I do. What's up?"
"I want to go out and walk around with you. I guess it would count as a date."
After sending the message, Miura Yumiko grew nervous, afraid Shirai Mio might turn her down.
"Sure. I don't have anything to do lately anyway."
"Then can we meet at the usual place when the time comes?"
"Mm."
After getting an affirmative answer, Miura Yumiko could not help cheering. She failed to control her volume, instantly attracting her older sister's attention.
Her older sister looked at her curiously and asked, "What just happened? That was a pretty loud cheer."
"My girlfriend agreed to go on a date with me. Happy with that answer?"
"It's just a girlfriend. I have one too!" Yumiko's older sister lowered her eyes to her right hand, and for some reason, a sudden wave of sadness washed over her.
Damn it. She wanted a girlfriend who was as pretty and capable as Shirai Mio too!
"If you want to roll around, go roll somewhere else. Stop rolling all over my bed!" Miura Yumiko told her older sister with an exceedingly friendly smile.
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The day Shirai Mio and Miura Yumiko had agreed on soon arrived.
At the entrance to the park near the school, a carefully dressed Miura Yumiko stood waiting for Shirai Mio to appear.
She had been planning today's date ever since before spring break even started.
Just as Miura Yumiko was reviewing the details in her mind, Shirai Mio's voice suddenly rang out. "Yumiko, over here~"
Hearing the voice, Miura Yumiko instinctively looked toward it and saw a carefully dressed Shirai Mio.
"Did you put on makeup?" Miura Yumiko asked curiously once Shirai Mio came closer.
"Mm. It's a date, after all. I should take it seriously." After saying that, Shirai Mio shifted her gaze to Miura Yumiko, silently signaling that it was her turn next.
Catching the hint, Miura Yumiko immediately took Shirai Mio's hand and said, "Come on. I'll take you somewhere."
"Where are we going?"
"You'll know when we get there." Miura Yumiko took Shirai Mio by the hand and headed straight toward the subway station.
The two of them rode the subway for a while and arrived at a shopping center.
Miura Yumiko had told her before that she had spent quite a lot of time planning this date. Shirai Mio had originally assumed Yumiko would take her somewhere special, so she had not expected to be brought to a shopping center.
Seeing Shirai Mio's surprised expression, Miura Yumiko smoothly linked arms with her and said, "Do you remember our first practice date? This is where you brought me."
"So you're planning to show me what you learned."
"More or less. I don't know if you noticed, but the techniques you taught me never worked particularly well on Hayato. When I use them on you, though, they're super effective."
"Well, I did choose them based on my own preferences back then."
Back then, Shirai Mio had never imagined that Miura Yumiko would one day turn the very techniques Mio taught her back on Mio herself.
Was this what they meant by what goes around comes around?
"All right, stop thinking so much. Let's start our date~"
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