"Remember our first date? You brought me here back then too."
Looking at the love hotel in front of them, Shirai Mio chuckled. "We didn't go inside that time, though."
"Given the situation back then, there was no way we could have gone in. But now that I think about it, I kind of regret it. I should've worked up the courage to go inside with you."
"Even if you'd seriously wanted to go in back then, I would've stopped you." After all, they had only been on a practice date at the time.
"By the way, is this the last place for today?"
Miura Yumiko had said she was taking Mio to the final location of their date. Mio had wondered whether Yumiko might bring her somewhere to watch the sunset. She had not expected to be taken straight to the entrance of a love hotel.
"Yep. This is the last place." As Miura Yumiko spoke, she looked up at the gloomy sky.
The weather forecast clearly said it would start raining at five in the afternoon. Why was it still not raining yet?!
Just then, she suddenly felt a drop of water land on her face. The rain quickly grew heavier, and the two of them moved beneath the entrance of the love hotel to shelter from the sudden downpour.
Looking at the sheets of rain before them, Shirai Mio seemed to realize something. She turned to Miura Yumiko and said, "I was just wondering why you'd been standing here for so long. So you were waiting for the rain?"
"You noticed?" Miura Yumiko said a little sheepishly.
"Think about who taught you these tricks in the first place."
Shirai Mio had previously taught Miura Yumiko to make clever use of the weather. Rain, for example, was extremely useful and could be exploited to accomplish all sorts of things.
The simplest trick was trapping someone somewhere, such as at your own home—or at a place like this.
Now that Shirai Mio had seen through Miura Yumiko's plan, she naturally knew exactly what was supposed to happen next.
The rain probably was not going to stop anytime soon, so she could only turn toward Miura Yumiko and say, "Since things have already turned out like this, let's go inside."
"Mm."
This love hotel was unmanned. All they had to do was put money into a machine to get a room keycard.
That avoided a certain amount of embarrassment, but it also came with considerable security risks.
After taking the keycard, the two of them went straight to the assigned room.
This was not Shirai Mio's first time in a place like this. She had come to one with Yukinoshita Haruno before.
For Miura Yumiko, though, it was her first time. After entering the room, she looked a little nervous yet curious.
"Since we're already here, go take a shower first."
"Eh?!"
"Don't overthink it." Shirai Mio flicked Miura Yumiko on the forehead. "Haven't you noticed that you're soaked?"
"How could I not think about it in a place like this?" Miura Yumiko muttered quietly, but she still went into the bathroom.
Shirai Mio lazily sat down on the bed and casually turned on the television. A distinctly indecent sound immediately came from it, startling her into hurriedly turning it off again.
Nearly twenty minutes later, Miura Yumiko emerged after finishing her shower.
Seeing Miura Yumiko wearing nothing but a bath towel, even Shirai Mio could not help taking a few extra glances before she went into the bathroom herself.
Since Miura Yumiko was soaked, naturally Shirai Mio was not much better off.
After a quick rinse, Shirai Mio came out of the bathroom and found Miura Yumiko leaning against the headboard, looking down at something.
Curious, she moved closer and asked, "Yumiko, what are you looking at?"
"They sell certain items here too. Want to take a look?"
Shirai Mio casually glanced over them and said, "We're not quite ready for things like that yet."
"So that means we can use them later?"
"Let's talk about it after we officially start dating."
Shirai Mio glanced sideways at her. Why did it feel as though Miura Yumiko had become much more proactive after Mio came back from her trip?
In the past, the moment Mio came over, Miura Yumiko would definitely have pretended nothing was happening. Now she was calmly talking about this sort of stuff with her instead.
It was enough to make even Mio feel a little embarrassed.
If Shirai Mio had looked a little more carefully, she would have realized that Miura Yumiko was only pretending to be calm. In reality, the moment she heard Shirai Mio's voice, her heart had nearly leaped out of her chest.
"By the way, how long are we planning to stay here?"
Shirai Mio walked to the window, pulled the curtain open a tiny crack, looked at the rain outside, and said, "We'll leave when the rain stops."
"What if it doesn't stop tonight?"
"Then we'll just make do here for the night~"
"Then let's make do here for the night. I just checked the weather forecast. This rain is supposed to last until tomorrow."
Seeming to think of something, Shirai Mio closed the curtain again, walked back to Miura Yumiko, and sat beside her. "I don't really mind, but are you sure you'll be okay if you don't go home?"
"It'll be fine. When I call home, just help cover for me."
"I don't mind covering for you, but how are you planning to repay me?"
"If you help me with this, then you can do whatever you want with me. How about that?"
Shirai Mio had only meant to tease Miura Yumiko, but she had not expected Yumiko to say something like that. For a moment, even Mio did not know how to respond.
Besides, why did that line sound so familiar?
Had she said something similar at some point?
As though she had seen what Shirai Mio was thinking, Miura Yumiko smiled brightly and said, "That's right. You said something similar to me before."
"Don't go taking something like that seriously."
Seeing Shirai Mio at a loss made Miura Yumiko happier than she could say. Normally Mio was always teasing her; at last it was her turn to tease Shirai Mio.
Putting those thoughts aside, Miura Yumiko picked up her phone and called her mother.
But when the call connected, it was her older sister's voice that came through.
"Yumiko, what's up?"
"Um, I'm staying over at a friend's place tonight. Tell Mom for me."
"Got it. Leave Mom to me, and you make sure to do your best too."
Before Miura Yumiko had any chance to explain, the call ended. Most awkward of all, Shirai Mio, who was leaning against her, had heard their entire conversation.
"When did I become your girlfriend?"
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