"That's right!"
Mio said with a beaming smile, "Even though this is just a mock date, as a professional actor, I have to nail even the details no one can see."
"How does that count as a detail?"
"Battle lingerie. Hearing that word, you should get what I mean by 'details,' right?"
"It's... it's just a date. We're not at that stage yet, are we?" Yumiko shot her a sidelong glance, trying hard not to let her mind fill in some strange images.
"Just in case, you know. By the way, Yumiko, I don't think you got a look last time. Want to take a look this time?"
Even though there was a tiny part of Yumiko's heart itching to look, she forced down the impulse and did her best to put on an indifferent act. "N... no need."
If she said she wanted to look, she'd probably end up getting treated by Mio as some kind of shameless pervert.
Then again, the one wearing sexy lingerie and deliberately bringing this stuff up to her, wasn't that the bigger pervert?
Seeing Yumiko's embarrassed look, the corners of Mio's mouth curved into a pleased arc.
To keep Mio from continuing this topic, Yumiko just dragged her straight into a nearby clothing store.
Mio asked curiously, "Yumiko, are you here to buy clothes?"
"J... just browsing."
That's what she said, but as she browsed, she found herself unconsciously thinking, again and again, about whether these clothes would suit Mio.
And thinking about it eventually turned into action.
Mio stood inside the fitting room, staring blankly at the clothes Yumiko had just shoved into her hands.
After a soft sigh, she finally started changing.
She had to admit, Yumiko's eye for fashion was really quite good. Mio tried on several outfits in a row and felt every one suited her. In the end, she even forked over the money to buy them.
And here she hadn't even planned to buy clothes today.
But there was no helping it. Seeing herself in those clothes in the mirror, she still couldn't resist wanting to buy them, just like playing games before she transmigrated, when she couldn't resist buying a nice-looking outfit she came across.
Since her hands were now full of stuff, Yumiko thought it over for a bit, then took Mio straight to a nearby café.
Of course, this wasn't an ordinary café either. It was a cat café.
She knew Mio's family kept a cat, and Mio had mentioned many times that she really liked cats, so when she'd been planning the date, this place had come to mind.
Looking at all the adorable cats in the shop, Mio wiped away nonexistent drool, then said excitedly, "This place is basically heaven."
Before transmigrating, she'd often gone to cat cafés too, because she could pet cats to her heart's content without being responsible for scooping litter.
As for now, even though she already kept a cat at home, she'd still want to come to a place like this.
Looking at those cute cats really did have a way of healing the body and soul. She could even forget about the System's existence for a while.
Petting a cat, Mio asked, "Yumiko, how did you come up with the idea of bringing me to this place?"
"Didn't you say before that you like cats? So when I was researching places, I had my eye on this one."
Actually, to make sure the place looked as good in person as it did in the photos, Yumiko had even come to scout it out beforehand, not just the cat café, but the restaurant and everything else too. You could say that for this date, she'd done even more thorough prep than the last one.
Of course, this was something she couldn't tell Mio.
Hearing Yumiko's words, Mio said with a beaming smile, "Looks like my special training for you really is paying off."
"Mm."
"Mm?"
Noticing Yumiko's somewhat flat reaction, Mio couldn't help feeling a little surprised.
If this had been before, given Yumiko's personality, after she said something like that, shouldn't Yumiko have worn a look like it was only natural?
"Yumiko."
"What is it?"
"Why do I feel like lately you hardly ever give me that haughty, queenly attitude anymore?"
"Are you an M?" Yumiko said, a little speechless.
"I can be."
At Mio's answer, even Yumiko was at a loss for how to respond for a moment. Did this white-haired little bitch have no sense of shame at all?
But just as Mio had said, ever since she'd become aware of her feelings for Mio, she found it hard to act tough in front of the other girl anymore. She hadn't expected that Mio would actually pick up on even this.
"We're on a date right now. No matter what, there's no way I'd show that kind of attitude in front of my girlfriend, right? Of course, if you're asking me to do it, then I suppose I can." Yumiko felt like she was a genius for being able to come up with a reason like that.
"That... actually does make a fair bit of sense."
Mio didn't have any strange kinks for the time being, so she wouldn't ask Yumiko to do that sort of thing.
As for why it was "for the time being," well, what else could it be but the System? With enough failed tasks, even Mio had no idea how many strange kinks she might end up picking up.
The cats at this cat café were adorable, but the coffee and desserts could only be called pretty average.
Mio didn't mind, though. After all, of the people who came to a place like this, how many were actually here for the food?
The two of them ended up staying at the cat café for nearly an hour.
By the time they left the café, the sky outside had turned even gloomier, and the temperature had dropped quite a bit too.
As the cold wind blew against her face, Yumiko breathed out a puff of white mist. "The weather forecast said it's going to snow tonight."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. Anyway, what are you getting so excited about?" Yumiko gave Mio a puzzled look, not understanding why the other girl would get so worked up over hearing it was going to snow.
Before transmigrating, Mio had been a southerner. Although her work meant she traveled out of town fairly often, the number of times she'd run into snow could still be counted on one hand.
Mio realized she'd gotten a bit too excited. She gave a bashful little smile, then explained quietly, "Actually, I really do like snow."
"Is that so."
Yumiko nodded thoughtfully, then quietly committed Mio's preference to memory.
Mio had taught her before that when you're spending time with someone you like, you have to learn as much as you can about them, and by now she'd already made a habit of it.
This was all thanks to Mio's coaching back then, too.
If Mio ever found out that she was using the very techniques Mio had taught her on Mio herself, who knew what kind of expression she'd make?
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