"Morning, Eriri~"
Aki Tomoya had called out on reflex the moment Eriri came around the corner—a habit by now.
What he hadn't expected was to see Shirai Mio emerge right behind her, stepping into view barely a beat later.
Wait. Didn't Mio live in a completely different direction? He usually saw her walking with Shiina Mashiro, coming from the other way. Why was she with Eriri?
The sound of Tomoya's voice sent a small jolt of tension through Eriri—but not the usual kind. Not the butterflies she got whenever she bumped into him. This was the tension of running into your boyfriend while you were out with an affair partner.
Which was ridiculous. Tomoya wasn't her boyfriend. Mio wasn't her anything-in-particular. But it still felt exactly like that.
Before Eriri could spiral any further, she felt Mio's arm loop through hers, and Mio's voice chimed brightly beside her:
"Oh, isn't this Aki-kun? Good morning~"
"G-Good morning."
Faced with Shirai Mio—the peak of the popular crowd made flesh—Tomoya felt a pressure he'd never experienced before. It rolled off her in waves.
His gaze drifted, almost involuntarily, to the way Mio's arm was hooked around Eriri's. Close friends did things like that—sure—but something about it still felt a little off to him.
At the same time, a memory surfaced: the other day at his part-time job, he'd seen Shirai Mio together with a different girl. That scene had stuck with him.
At the time, he'd meant to find a chance to mention it to Eriri. A friendly heads-up. But life had gotten in the way, and he'd forgotten. Seeing Mio with Eriri now brought it all rushing back.
Eriri, arm still looped with Mio's, glanced sideways at her. She couldn't tell if she was imagining it or not—but Mio seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood right now. No. More than that. Pleased was the word.
She didn't dwell on it, though. She turned back to Tomoya. "Tomoya, did you need something?"
"N-Nothing, really. I just saw you and wanted to say hi."
He'd actually come over to chat about something specific, but one look at Mio had shut that down. Eriri had told him plainly that he shouldn't bring those topics up at school if he could help it.
Tomoya forced a short laugh and did the only sensible thing—turned and made a clean exit.
It wasn't until he'd put some distance between them that a thought struck him.
Had Shirai Mio… stayed over at Eriri's place last night? That would explain why they'd come out of her house together.
And if Mio had stayed the night, did that mean—yesterday afternoon, when he'd come looking for Eriri—Mio had been in her bedroom the whole time?
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
He'd also noticed that Eriri hadn't been coming to him for advice lately. Not the way she used to.
Normally she'd come around constantly—story problems for her doujinshi, asking him to pick up a newly released game for her, that kind of thing.
Was it because of Mio?
Well, no, not entirely. The game stuff, maybe. But the doujinshi? He couldn't see Eriri letting anyone in on that. Getting found out would be, in her words, a live social death.
Or maybe she'd just already finished the doujinshi for the event and didn't need to consult on it anymore.
Back at the corner, after Tomoya walked off, Mio gave a small pout. She'd actually been thinking about leaning a little closer to Eriri for effect—just to see his reaction—but he'd dropped one line and bolted before she could.
Slightly disappointing, really.
"Shirai—how do you even know Tomoya? Your tone just now—"
Mio gave a soft laugh. "Don't you remember? He greeted you at school once, and I happened to be there. I remembered his face."
"And one time I ate at the place where he works part-time."
At that, Mio put on a look of dawning realization and beamed at Eriri. "Don't worry, Eriri. I'm only interested in you. I don't have any feelings whatsoever for Aki-kun~"
"???"
Eriri seriously thought Mio might be sick in the head.
On any normal day, she'd have had a full retort ready to deploy. But after everything that had happened this morning, she couldn't quite figure out what to say.
In the end she just shot Mio the most ferocious glare she could muster—in her own estimation, anyway—and stalked forward without another word.
Mio, left behind, didn't seem to mind. She just smiled, picked up her pace, and caught up.
"Don't walk so fast."
"If we don't hurry, we'll be late."
"And whose fault is it that Eriri slept in?"
"It's yours. You kept treating me like a body pillow all night. I was practically falling off the bed, and you just kept scooting over." Eriri couldn't help the complaint.
Mio tilted her head. She often joked that she slept restlessly, but that was just small talk—she actually slept pretty peacefully, as far as she knew. And she didn't have the habit of sleeping with a body pillow.
…Wait. Oh.
She'd gotten so used to falling asleep with Shiina Mashiro in her arms every night. That was probably it.
Mio gave an awkward little laugh. "Sorry. Want to cuddle me back next time?"
"There is no next time!" Eriri huffed. If she ever slept over at Mio's again, she'd eat her own shoe.
The two bickered their way to school.
Just as they were about to split up to their respective classrooms, Mio suddenly leaned in close to Eriri's ear and whispered, "Eriri, don't forget about our thing. I'll be waiting at the usual spot during lunch."
Then she took off at a light, springy pace.
By the time Eriri snapped back to herself, Mio was already some distance away, glancing over her shoulder to pull a face at her.
Cute. Undeniably cute. But what was this inexplicable irritation she was feeling?
That little beeping bitch. If Eriri caught her at the wrong moment, she was going to make her regret it.
At minimum, she was going to make Mio beg in that same soft, pleading voice she'd used last night.
Mio, already stepping into her classroom, felt a sudden chill and hunched her shoulders. For no reason she could articulate, she had a very bad feeling all of a sudden.