In the early morning, feeling a weight pressing down on her, Shirai Mio slowly opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw was Shiina Mashiro's familiar face—except that, instead of lying beside her as usual, Mashiro was straddling her and looking down at her.
And unlike her usual detached self, this Mashiro gave off a distinctly dangerous vibe.
Mio, who a moment ago had still been half-asleep, snapped fully awake in an instant.
Blinking up at Mashiro in complete bewilderment, she asked, "Mashiro, what's gotten into you?"
"I wanted to see whether Mio would wake up," Mashiro said innocently.
"...?"
The answer left Mio at a loss for a second. Curious, she pressed, "And if I hadn't woken up—what were you planning to do?"
"Kiss you."
"That's really all?"
"Mio, is there something else you'd like me to do to you?" Mashiro tilted her head, and for once a flicker of anticipation surfaced in those orange eyes.
"What I'd like is for you to get off me. I need to get up and make breakfast."
"Oh."
The anticipation in Mashiro's eyes gave way to disappointment, and she obediently climbed off to the side.
Free at last, Mio sat up and stretched. "It's still early. You can rest a little longer—I'll call you once breakfast is ready."
"I want to take a bath."
That gave Mio pause. Mashiro rarely bathed first thing in the morning. What was going on?
But before she could voice her confusion, Mashiro had already disappeared into the bathroom.
The patter of running water soon followed.
Mio let out a helpless little laugh, then pulled a fresh change of clothes from her wardrobe and set them on the bed.
"Mashiro, I've left your change of clothes on the bed. Don't forget to put them on."
"Mm."
Satisfied that everything was in order, Mio finally headed out of the room.
She had just finished washing up and hadn't even started on breakfast when the doorbell rang.
Opening the door, Mio found Rita standing there. "How come you're up so early today too?"
"Too? Is Mashiro up already?"
"Mm, but she's in the bath right now. You can wait for her in the living room—I'll go get breakfast started."
Watching Mio's retreating back, Rita blinked, then walked over to the living room and sat down.
She had no idea whether Mashiro had actually looked at the study material she'd given her. It had only occurred to her late last night that she'd never explained to Mashiro what it meant for "the mood to be right." She just hoped nothing had gone sideways.
Still, judging by Mio's reaction, Mashiro probably hadn't done anything strange last night... right?
Mashiro had barely stepped out of the room after her bath before Rita pulled her right back into the room.
Staring at the door that had clicked shut, a spark of curiosity lit in Mio's eyes. Why did those two always seem to be up to something secretive?
Ever since Rita had shown up, Mashiro seemed to have changed a little too—she'd gotten more forward. And a little more dangerous.
Was Rita teaching Mashiro something weird?
It wasn't until breakfast was ready that the two of them finally emerged.
Mio noticed at once that Mashiro looked slightly confused—like her old, pre-transmigration self after zoning out in class for a moment, only to come back and find she couldn't understand a word the teacher was saying.
Yeah, that description fit perfectly.
"So—what were you two talking about in there?" In the end, Mio couldn't hold back her curiosity.
"Nothing much. Just some stuff about drawing. Right?"
"Mm. Just talking about drawing. Nothing about the study material," Mashiro said with a nod.
The moment the words left Mashiro's mouth, Rita instinctively buried her face in her hands. Was that really something you were supposed to say out loud?
"Study material?"
Mio narrowed her eyes, then turned an amiable gaze on Rita. Mashiro was hardly the type to go hunting for study material herself—which left only one person who would.
Feeling the weight of Mio's stare, Rita cleared her throat twice, picked up two servings of breakfast, and headed for the door. "I'll take Chihiro-nee's breakfast over to her!" she said as she went.
Once Rita was gone, Mio turned to Mashiro. "The study material Rita gave you—if you want to read it, go ahead. But whatever you do, don't go mixing it up with reality. And if there's anything you don't understand, you can always come to me. You know I draw doujinshi myself, after all."
"I can... come to you?" Mashiro looked at Mio with those big, guileless eyes, brimming with anticipation.
"Of course you can. Why wouldn't you?"
When it came to that kind of curiosity, Mio figured it was better to guide than to forbid. As long as she steered things properly, there shouldn't be any real problem.
Why does this feel like raising a kid, though?
Giving her head a little shake, Mio stood. "Go ahead and eat. I'm going to check whether Senpai's awake."
"Oh."
As usual, Mio carried a serving of breakfast over to Yukinoshita Haruno's door.
She knocked softly. Normally, the door would open within a minute at most.
But this time she waited a full three minutes. Just as she was starting to wonder whether Haruno wasn't home, the door suddenly opened—and a rather haggard-looking Haruno appeared before her.
Seeing the state she was in, Mio asked with concern, "Senpai, what's wrong?"
"A bit of a fever. Probably just a common cold."
"Let me see."
Mio pressed a hand to Haruno's forehead, and the searing heat made her frown. "You're burning up."
"It's fine, it's fine. I'll be better after some rest."
"Then don't just stand there—get back to bed. Have you taken any medicine?"
"Not yet."
"I'll go find some medicine, and I'll make you something light to eat while I'm at it. You're not planning to go out today, are you?"
Catching Mio's wary expression, Haruno laughed softly. "Relax. Do I look like the kind of person who'd push herself for work while she's sick? I'll cancel everything for today."
"That's more like it. I'll head back for now, then, and come check on you again in a bit."
Watching Mio walk away, a lovely smile curved across Haruno's lips.
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