"Iroha, want to go to karaoke together?"
After club activities ended, Isshiki Iroha got an invitation from a friend.
She glanced at her phone, then gave a small shake of her head. "Not today. I've actually got something to take care of."
Her friend leaned in curiously. "Don't tell me you've got a date with some handsome guy? You'd skip karaoke for that?"
"It's not like that. A friend wants to meet up with me about something."
The image of Mio's stunningly beautiful face floated up in Iroha's mind. She had no idea what this almost unfairly gorgeous senpai wanted with her.
Given that it was Valentine's Day, could this white-haired senpai be planning to confess to her?
Not that Iroha seriously believed that—it was just an idle thought. There was basically no way it would actually happen.
And even if it did—she was a straight girl, after all, so she probably wouldn't say yes... probably.
If you'd asked her a while ago, she'd have been certain she wouldn't. But after crossing paths with Mio a few times, she found she wasn't even sure of that anymore.
Scary. Way too scary.
Reining in her wandering thoughts, Iroha finished packing up and told her friend, "I'm heading off, then. I'll come sing with you next time."
"Fine, fine. A handsome guy definitely beats a good friend, after all~"
"I told you, it's not a guy. It's not even a boy."
"What? You're into girls?!"
Iroha rolled her eyes, gave her friend a dismissive wave, and headed for the stairwell.
The moment she stepped out of the school gate, Iroha immediately spotted Mio a short distance away.
That head of long, silvery-white hair was just too eye-catching—even in a sea of people, you could pick her out instantly.
Let alone here.
Iroha instinctively fixed up her bangs, then walked over to Mio with light, quick steps, beaming. "Senpai~"
At the sound of her voice, Mio looked up from her phone. Taking in the youthful, spirited Iroha, she gave a soft laugh. "Long time no see, kouhai."
"It sure has been. You never come find me, senpai, and I don't dare come find you."
"I'm not some kind of criminal—why wouldn't you dare come find me?"
"I just didn't want to be a bother, that's all~" Iroha smiled sweetly, then asked, "So, senpai, did you need something?"
"Mm. I just wanted to give you something." Mio took the chocolate out of her bag and pressed it into Iroha's hand.
"I made it myself."
"Eh?!"
Looking down at the chocolate in her hand, Iroha froze. She really hadn't expected Mio to come all this way just to give her chocolate.
"Um, don't read too much into it, kouhai—it's only friendship chocolate." Mio put on Eriri's tsundere tone as she said it.
"Th-thank you."
Iroha had assumed it was friendship chocolate too, at first. But after hearing Mio deliver that little line in such a tsundere voice, she suddenly wasn't so sure anymore.
Could this actually be the white-haired senpai's honmei chocolate?
On Valentine's Day, when she hadn't even given anyone chocolate herself, she'd somehow ended up receiving some instead—and from a ridiculously beautiful senpai, no less. What kind of development was this?!
Seeing Iroha's dazed expression, a pleased little smile curved Mio's lips. Just as she was about to leave, the System's voice suddenly sounded in her ear. "You've already come all this way—wouldn't it feel like a waste to head back without doing anything?"
"Waste, my foot!"
"Host, please find a way to keep Isshiki Iroha within your line of sight for a continuous thirty minutes before parting with her. Success may reward you with the Isshiki Iroha Series Deck or an item reward; failure will require drawing from the Penalty Deck."
Mio pulled out her phone and checked the time. Satisfied it was still fairly early, she said to Iroha, "Kouhai, do you have time right now?"
"Y-yeah, I do."
"Then let's find somewhere to sit and get something to drink. Feels like it's been ages since we last talked~"
"Okay." Iroha answered, then followed Mio to a nearby café and sat down.
She noticed that from just now until this very moment, the white-haired senpai's gaze had stayed fixed on her the whole time. Being stared at for that long would make anyone a little bashful.
Iroha honestly never imagined the day would come when she'd feel shy under another girl's gaze.
Thirty minutes was neither long nor short.
To drag things out as much as possible, Mio not only chatted with Iroha about how she'd been doing at school lately, she even asked about all sorts of other things.
To Iroha, this behavior looked like Mio was gathering information about her without the slightest attempt to hide it.
No matter how she looked at it, this white-haired senpai seemed to have her sights set on her!
What do I do—has a super-gorgeous white-haired senpai actually fallen for me?!
Noticing the faint fluster in Iroha's expression, Mio got the sense Iroha had misunderstood something. But even so, there was nothing she could do—she had a mission on the line, and if she looked away now, all her effort would go to waste at the very last step.
The countdown in her vision still had five minutes left.
Mio thought for a moment, then asked curiously, "Today's Valentine's Day—did you give anyone chocolate, kouhai?"
"Haven't found the right person yet." Iroha smiled. Somehow it felt like the white-haired senpai was fishing to find out whether she had someone she liked.
"Um, it's getting late—I should be heading home." Iroha drained the drink in her cup, then quietly stood up.
"Let's walk out together, then."
Three minutes left. As long as she walked alongside Iroha for a stretch, the mission would be complete.
The two left the café together, and Iroha noticed the white-haired senpai was still right beside her. Puzzled, she asked, "Senpai, are we headed the same way?"
"No. My place is in the other direction—I just wanted to spend a little more time with you, kouhai."
Iroha blinked. Could this white-haired senpai be trying to figure out where she lived?
Just as Iroha was wondering whether she ought to take Mio around in circles a couple of times, she suddenly noticed Mio come to a stop, her gaze finally shifting away from her, an air of relief about her.
"Alright, I should be heading back too. See you around."
"Eh?!"
Watching Mio decisively turn and walk away, Iroha was left completely baffled for a moment. What on earth was going on?!
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