"You tell me, hic, how can a woman as good as me, hic, not have anyone who wants me? Hic."
"You're asking me? I want to ask you! Hic."
Watching the two drunk teachers clinging to each other and rambling nonsense, Mio sighed wistfully. "Teachers, please remember you still have to work tomorrow."
Hearing Mio's words, both Chihiro and Hiratsuka said in unison: "Can work help me find a boyfriend?"
"Like I said earlier, boyfriends might be hard to find, but you could probably find girlfriends~"
Leaving those words behind, Mio ignored the two drunkards and headed straight into Mashiro's room.
She found Mashiro sitting at her computer, working on her manga.
When Mashiro noticed Mio enter, she paused what she was doing and said, "Mio, Ayano said she wants to meet with us sometime."
"Your editor? Sure, how about tomorrow after school?"
"Mm. I'll reply to her now."
Mashiro quickly tapped on her phone a few times, then returned her attention to drawing.
Just as Mio was about to leave, she noticed that at some point, the painting Mashiro had done that afternoon had been hung on the wall.
Yep. Both she and the painting looked beautiful.
If she didn't need to work on her doujin, Mio might've stayed to spend more time with Mashiro. But she had no choice—her doujin wasn't finished yet, so it was time to get back to drawing. Before leaving, she grabbed Mashiro's spare key to prevent getting locked out tomorrow.
One uneventful night passed.
In her sleep, Hiratsuka Shizuka suddenly caught the faint aroma of food. She slowly opened her eyes. The hangover made her let out a pained groan.
After moving Chihiro's leg off her body, Hiratsuka shakily got to her feet. That's when she saw Mio standing in the kitchen wearing an apron, busy cooking. She looked like the picture of domestic bliss.
Hearing Hiratsuka's voice, Mio glanced back at her and poured her a glass of sugar water. "Shizuka-sensei, have some sugar water first. Breakfast will be ready soon."
She hadn't been able to find hangover tea or anything like that, so she'd just made sugar water based on her own experience.
"Thanks." Hiratsuka rubbed her temples. She'd completely forgotten how much she'd drunk last night—she'd actually passed out in the living room.
The noise of Hiratsuka getting up must've disturbed Chihiro, because she woke up soon after. From her furrowed brow, it was clear she wasn't feeling much better than Hiratsuka.
After drinking the sugar water Mio gave her, Hiratsuka said with a look of existential despair, "What should I do? I don't want to go to work today."
Though she said that, she still shakily stood up and headed toward the bathroom.
By the time she finished washing up, Mio had already set a light breakfast in front of her, along with two neatly packed bentos.
"There's one for me too?" Hiratsuka said, somewhat surprised.
"If only Shizuka-sensei didn't have one, that'd be too pitiful. Just pretend it's a loving bento from your boyfriend."
Hiratsuka glanced at Mio's beautiful face. There was absolutely no way she could imagine her as a boyfriend.
A girlfriend though? That fit way better.
If she had a girlfriend who made her breakfast every morning like this... Hiratsuka suddenly clicked her tongue. Why did she feel like Mio was leading her astray?
After setting out Chihiro's breakfast as well, Mio washed her hands and walked into Mashiro's room.
Today, Mashiro wasn't sleeping on the floor—she was actually lying properly in bed.
Based on Mio's understanding of Mashiro, she probably hadn't pulled an all-nighter last night. Otherwise, she'd definitely have just collapsed on the floor.
Just as Mio was about to wake Mashiro up, the System's voice suddenly rang in her ear: "Host..."
The System barely got a word out before Mio cut it off: "If you've got something to say, just say it. Stop with all the unnecessary chatter."
"Fine. Host, please find a way to get a good morning kiss from Shiina Mashiro within three minutes of her waking up. Success may grant you rewards from the Shiina Mashiro series card set or item pool. Failure will result in drawing from the punishment card pool."
"I feel like this task isn't very difficult for you, Host." The System's voice carried a hint of regret.
Because it was exactly as the System said. If this were Yuigahama Yui, the task might actually have a chance of failing. But with Mashiro? Completing it wouldn't be too difficult.
The only issue was the slight sense of guilt from tricking an innocent beauty.
Mio sighed softly, then reached out to gently wake Mashiro.
Mashiro groggily opened her eyes and slowly sat up. From her hazy gaze, it was clear she wasn't fully awake yet.
Just then, Mio playfully tapped her own cheek and said, "Mashiro, give me a good morning kiss."
Mashiro didn't overthink it at all. The moment she heard Mio's words, she simply leaned over and kissed Mio's cheek. Then she rested her head on Mio's shoulder, trying to go back to sleep.
At the same time, the task completion notification chimed: "I knew it would go like this. Task complete. The host's conquest rating with Shiina Mashiro has increased by 2 points."
"I complete a task and you're sighing? What, did you actually want me to fail?"
"Of course not! I'm very happy when Host completes tasks. It's just that tasks like this that can be finished with one sentence have zero analytical value for me."
"What are you analyzing this stuff for?" Mio asked curiously.
"For... well, just think of it as me watching for fun. Anyway, hurry up and pick your reward."
As the System's words ended, three cards appeared before Mio's eyes. However, she didn't immediately check the rewards. Instead, she stubbornly tried calling out to the System again. But the System seemed to have vanished—no matter how much she called, there was no response.
With no other choice, she could only select her reward first. As for the System? It would show up eventually. She could ask then. If it never came back? Even better.
...