"This should be our first time meeting, Senpai. Otherwise, with your looks, there's no way I'd forget you once I'd seen you." After pretending to think for a moment, Mio said this with complete conviction.
"You're going to make me blush saying things like that."
Though Haruno said that, her face showed no hint of embarrassment. Instead, her smile grew even brighter.
As if Mio's words had genuinely made her happy.
But Mio knew better—Haruno wasn't the type to get happy over a simple compliment.
That displayed happiness was almost certainly an act.
Mio genuinely had no idea what about her had sparked Haruno's interest. She hadn't even interacted with Yukino Yukinoshita yet.
Could it really be because she hadn't managed to control her emotions quickly enough when she first saw Haruno, and that had caught her interest?
Honestly, Mio wasn't scared of Haruno herself. What she feared were tasks involving Haruno.
If tasks involving Mashiro were Easy Mode, then tasks involving Haruno were straight-up Hell Difficulty.
Now that Haruno had become one of her targets, even though no task had appeared yet, Mio needed to prepare for whatever unknown challenge the system would throw at her next. After all, who knew when the system would pop up to cause trouble?
Since Haruno was interested in her for some unknown reason, Mio might as well maintain that interest.
Although Mio didn't know Haruno all that well, she did know one thing: Haruno only paid attention to people or things that interested her. Anything she wasn't interested in, she treated like it didn't exist. Things she hated? She'd thoroughly destroy them.
Being interesting to Haruno might not be great, but it was still better than being ignored. Most importantly, she needed to avoid being hated.
As for how to maintain Haruno's interest... Mio didn't have a clue yet. After all, she still hadn't figured out why Haruno was interested in her in the first place.
For now, she'd just have to wing it.
"I haven't met Senpai before, but I think I've heard your name somewhere." As Mio spoke, she seemed to suddenly remember something. A hint of subtle admiration flickered in her eyes. "Oh right! I heard some seniors in my club mention you before, Senpai. They said you were student council president last year and that all the events you organized were really well-received."
"Looks like my reputation at school is still pretty good even after I graduated~"
That tiny bit of admiration in Mio's eyes naturally didn't escape Haruno's notice. But she didn't take it seriously.
How could she possibly believe the admiration shown by someone who seemed to already know her and was wary of her?
What kind of secret was this white-haired beauty hiding?
She was getting a little curious.
"By the way, is Yukino Yukinoshita your younger sister, Senpai?"
"You know Yukino?"
Mio shook her head lightly. "If I had the chance, I'd really like to get to know her, but we're not in the same class. Plus, I only just transferred here recently. I've just heard her name a lot because she's kind of famous at school. Just now, I was trying to remember where I'd heard your name before, Senpai, and then I thought of Yukinoshita-san."
Of course, Mio was making this all up on the spot. Now that Haruno had appeared in the system panel, Mio would do everything possible to avoid contact with Yukino Yukinoshita.
Mio was absolutely certain that the moment she interacted with Yukino, the system would make her a target. And if Haruno—Yukino's extreme siscon older sister—found out Mio was doing weird things to her little sister...
She'd explode.
Forget anything else, completing Haruno's tasks would become basically impossible at that point.
Just then, the server brought over their food, along with drinks and alcohol. Haruno finally stopped interrogating Mio and started casually chatting with Shizuka and Chihiro about university life, while gleefully asking about their recent situations.
Upon hearing that both of them were still single, Haruno burst out laughing without a care in the world.
Watching from the side, Mio's heart jumped into her throat. Chihiro was one thing, but mocking Shizuka so brazenly like this—was that really okay?
Then Mio suddenly remembered: Haruno practiced Aikido.
Oh. Never mind then.
In the end, the clown was just her.
Just then, the system's voice rang out once more: "Considering how quickly the last task was completed, this system feels the need to issue another one. Just kidding, just kidding~ It's simply that your luck is especially good, and you've triggered a new task. But don't worry—it's a very simple one."
"This kind of luck I'd rather not have!" Mio grumbled internally, her face expressionless.
"Please find a way to get Haruno Yukinoshita to feed you before dinner ends. Success may reward you with a Haruno Yukinoshita series card or item. Failure will result in drawing from the punishment deck."
"You call this simple?!" Mio's lips twitched.
Sure, the task seemed straightforward—just get fed some food. If the target were Mashiro, Mio could probably complete it with a single sentence. But the target was Haruno Yukinoshita. If it were just the two of them alone, maybe Mio could figure something out.
But in front of all these people? Even Mio had no idea how to pull this off.
Haruno, who'd been subtly keeping an eye on Mio, noticed the white-haired girl's expression freeze for a moment. Though she recovered quickly, Haruno still caught the flash of helplessness in her eyes.
Nothing had happened just now, so why the sudden emotional shift?
Had she suddenly remembered something?
"Not eating? Just spacing out like that—what are you thinking about?"
Just as Mio was racking her brain trying to figure out how to complete this task, Mashiro, sitting beside her, noticed Mio hadn't touched her chopsticks. She picked up a piece of fried meat and held it up to Mio's mouth. "Mio, eat."
Seeing Mashiro feed her, Mio felt her heart warm. Sweet, caring Mashiro—if there weren't so many people around, she'd give her a huge hug right now.
But wait.
The task required Haruno to feed her, not Mashiro.
Mio's eyes slid over to Haruno, who was still chatting and laughing with the teachers, completely unaware of Mio's internal crisis.
How the hell was she supposed to pull this off?