"Ah, I get it now. The host must've done it on purpose. You deliberately left the task unfinished just so Mashiro Shiina would kiss you a little longer. You really, I'm crying my eyes out."
Listening to the System's smug, sing-song voice, Mio Shirai silently clenched her fists. This trash System—when it got the worst of it, it'd go quiet and lie low, but the second it caught her slipping up, it came scampering out to be a snide little jerk. If this System had a physical body, she'd absolutely drag it off and drown it in a pig cage.
But since the System had no body, she couldn't do a thing to it. Mio flat-out ignored its snark and walked out of the kitchen into the living room.
Seeing Mio come out, Mashiro Shiina very obligingly scooted over to make room for her. Once Mio sat down, Mashiro leaned right against her, savoring that soft, sweet-smelling warmth. Even Mashiro's lips curved up into the faintest little arc.
Noticing that Mio hadn't touched the dessert, Mashiro asked, a little curious, "Mio, aren't you eating?"
"I had a few pieces right after I finished making them. You think everyone's like you? Able to pack away mountains of food no matter how much there is." Mio glanced at Mashiro's flat little tummy. The old her, the one from before she transmigrated, might've felt a stab of jealousy.
But the Mio of now had picked up the Eat Without Getting Fat trait too, so there was nothing to envy.
Hearing that, Mashiro blinked, then popped another cookie into her mouth.
Maybe it was because the TV program was too boring, or maybe because she'd stayed up late the night before. Not long after Mio sat down, she sank back against the couch and drifted off to dreamland.
By the time she woke again, it was already six in the evening. The sky outside had gone fully dark, and Mashiro was leaning against her, fast asleep too.
It was right then that Mio suddenly heard the System's voice ring out by her ear: "Congratulations to the host on completing the task. Mashiro Shiina's conquest rating toward the host has increased by 3 points. Please select your reward."
"Wait, why'd the task complete itself just from me taking a nap?"
"You know the reason better than I do, Host. I won't bother explaining~"
As the System finished speaking, three cards surfaced in Mio's field of vision. But her mind wasn't on the cards right now; it was stuck on the question of how the task had suddenly completed.
Just as the System said, the task had been to get Mashiro to kiss her, on her own initiative, for over a minute. The task completing meant exactly that: Mashiro had snuck a kiss while she was asleep, and held it for more than a minute.
As for why Mashiro would do that, if Mio claimed she had no idea, she'd be lying.
Whatever it was she'd thought of, Mio let out a soft sigh, then casually picked a One-use Card that boosted task trigger probability. It was a bit of prep to avoid the awkward situation later where her conquest rating got too high but no new task would trigger.
The moment Mio made her choice, time resumed its flow.
Just as she was carefully trying to wake Mashiro, the doorbell suddenly rang.
The chime made the slumbering Mashiro open her eyes.
She rubbed her bleary eyes, then asked in a small voice, "Mio, you're awake?"
"Shouldn't that be my line to ask you?"
After tossing out that little jab, Mio got up and went to the door. Just as she'd predicted, the person standing there was Chihiro Sengoku.
Since the students were on break, her own clock-out time as a teacher was a good bit earlier than usual.
Seeing the sleepiness still lingering in Mio's eyes, Chihiro made no attempt to hide her envy. "Oh, nice. Real nice. I want to sleep the day away at home too."
"I just woke up. Dinner's probably going to take a while still." Mio finished, then let out a lazy yawn.
"Perfect that you didn't make dinner. Let's go out and eat together for the first time in ages. We've got a rich lady footing the bill."
The instant she heard "rich lady," Mio knew exactly who Chihiro meant.
Sure, restaurant food might not be as good as her own cooking, but at least she wouldn't have to lift a finger.
So Mio agreed without a moment's hesitation.
Back in the living room, Mashiro hadn't changed clothes after coming home from the supermarket, so Mio just tidied up Mashiro's hair, which had gotten messy while she slept, then took her out the door.
Since Chihiro wanted to drink, and the place they were eating wasn't all that far, she hadn't driven.
The three of them braved the cold wind for a dozen-odd minutes and finally arrived at their destination: an upscale all-you-can-eat yakiniku restaurant.
Shizuka Hiratsuka and Haruno Yukinoshita were already inside, waiting.
Spotting Mio, Haruno waved with a sunny little smile to show where she was.
"Senpai, long time no see."
"Yeah, lately I've been so swamped I haven't even had time to come mooch a meal off my kouhai. Come on, let your senpai give you a big hug and recharge a little on that kouhai energy~" Haruno pulled Mio straight into a big embrace.
Mio honestly hadn't expected Haruno to actually hug her. Caught completely off guard, she ended up being pulled straight into the other girl's arms.
Being hugged by a beauty like Haruno was pretty comfortable, sure, but thanks to that hug she also drew plenty of stares from the people around them.
The moment Haruno let go, she noticed Mashiro watching her with a blank expression. True, that was just Mashiro's usual deadpan face, but Haruno could clearly sense it: the girl seemed to harbor a touch of hostility toward her.
As for why the hostility... Haruno glanced quietly at Mio, and could pretty much guess.
"It's been forever since I've seen you, kouhai. Why don't you sit next to me in a bit? I'd like to have a nice long chat with you."
Phrased as a question, but Haruno had already tugged Mio down into the seat beside her.
Mashiro seized that moment to plant herself on Mio's other side, glaring fixedly at Haruno, that look in her eyes practically warning her not to try any funny business.
Unfortunately, Mashiro, who normally showed no emotional fluctuation whatsoever, came up a little short on the intimidation factor right then.
Though even if Mashiro had mustered the proper menace, Haruno wouldn't have been scared anyway.
Once everyone had settled in, Mio finally spoke up. "Senpai, are you still as busy as ever lately?"
"Yeah, but it's mostly wrapped up now. I can finally take a good rest~" Haruno gave a lazy stretch, her lovely figure on full display in that instant.
The eyes of more than a few people nearby were drawn to her unconsciously, or rather, drawn to the whole table of them.
It was a whole table of beauties, each with her own distinct style. Who wouldn't like that?
There was even a couple who got into a tiny little spat because of them.
Stretch finished, Haruno flopped softly against Mio, breathing in the faint fragrance drifting off her, and the corners of her lips curled into a slight smile.
She couldn't quite say why, but being beside Mio really did carry an indescribable sense of ease.
It even gave her, worn out from such a long stretch of being busy, the urge to just sleep right then and there.
But she held back. This was a restaurant, after all, with other people around, not a place to nap. If she really wanted to sleep, she could just find a chance to slip over to Mio's place later and mooch a nap there.
Beside her, Mio suddenly had a bad feeling.
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