At this close distance, Mio could clearly see Eriri's delicate features—her porcelain skin, her eyes as clear as aquamarine gemstones. She could even feel Eriri's breath.
If there were bullet comments floating by right now, there'd definitely be a flood of "JUST KISS ALREADY" from the audience.
Feeling her thoughts starting to drift into dangerous territory, Mio instinctively closed her eyes to avoid triggering [As Your Heart Desires]. She looked almost like she was waiting for someone's kiss, and the atmosphere in the activity room became tinged with something... ambiguous.
Eriri wasn't doing much better. She'd only leaned in so close because she'd gotten worked up in the moment. Before she could even process what was happening, Mio had closed her eyes—as if waiting for her to make some kind of move.
This caused Eriri's gaze to involuntarily drift toward Mio's lips.
If I kissed her... it'd probably feel pretty nice, wouldn't it? Looking at those alluringly glossy lips, the absurd thought floated unbidden through Eriri's mind.
But she quickly snapped out of it, hastily putting some distance between them before speaking. "Why did you close your eyes?"
"When you suddenly got so close just now, I thought you were going to do something to me." Mio's eyes were slightly narrowed. Seeing that Eriri had backed off, she finally opened them fully.
She hadn't expected even a simple kabedon to be this dangerous. Thank god Eriri hadn't brought up anything related to doujinshi today, or she really wouldn't have been able to keep her imagination in check.
"Even if I, Eriri, stayed single forever—even if I jumped out of this window right now—I still wouldn't do that kind of thing, okay?!"
At this moment, Eriri was like a general on a stage, with a whole row of death flags planted firmly behind her.
"So... how much longer do we need to stay like this?"
"J-Just a bit more. Let me really feel this sense of helplessness."
In Mio's field of vision, there was a System countdown timer. As the one-minute countdown reached zero, time froze.
"Congratulations, Host, on completing the task. Eriri's conquest rating has increased by 2 points. Due to Host's heart rate clearly accelerating just now, an additional 1 point has been added."
[Eriri's Black-Framed Glasses]The same black-framed glasses worn by Eriri. When worn, they automatically adjust to the correct prescription. One of the Eriri series set.
[Visual Enhancement]Slightly improves Host's vision. Repeated selection enhances the effect.
[Pocket Money]Host can randomly receive between 100,000 and 1,000,000 yen. One-time-use card, disappears after use.
This time's rewards were honestly nothing special. Mio wavered between the pocket money and the glasses, ultimately choosing the glasses.
It was part of the Eriri series set, after all. She already had Eriri's green tracksuit at home—adding the glasses meant she now had two pieces. Who knows what kind of set bonus she'd get once the collection was complete.
After Mio made her choice, time resumed—but before she could say anything, the activity room door suddenly slid open.
The club president had just stepped her left foot inside when she spotted the two of them in their kabedon pose.
She blinked. Then silently withdrew her left foot and considerately closed the door behind her.
Eriri opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to explain something, but at this point, any explanation would be useless.
Why did the president always show up at the Art Club's activity room at times like this?!
And why did she always manage to catch them doing something so easily misunderstood?!
"Sawamura-san... did you not lock the door?"
"I... didn't."
Eriri had figured that she and Mio were perfectly innocent and weren't doing anything they needed to hide. Locking the door would've seemed suspicious.
Who knew Mio would suddenly ask her for a favor? In the moment, she'd completely forgotten about the door. Otherwise, she definitely would've heard the sound of a key turning and had time to react.
Whatever. What was seen was seen. No amount of explaining would help now. She'd just wait for things to blow over.
"Um... I think we're good now."
Hearing Mio's words, Eriri finally pulled her hand back. She then nonchalantly put it behind her back and shook it out—she'd hit the wall pretty hard in her earlier fit of annoyance. Even after a full minute, her palm still ached.
"I feel kinda bad that you keep getting caught in these misunderstandings because of me. How about this—Sawamura-san, feel free to do anything you want to me. Anything's fine~"
"As if I would!"
Mio had known Eriri would react this way. That's exactly why she'd said it.
She glanced at the time. There was still half an hour until lunch break ended. She needed to get back to the classroom and complete the other task.
Good thing the other task didn't require Yuigahama Yui to take the initiative. Otherwise, she really wouldn't have been confident about pulling it off.
Mio put away her phone. "Sawamura-san, I just remembered I have something to do. I might need to head back to class first."
"Oh, I should get going too."
The two had just stepped out of the Art Club's activity room when they spotted the club president hiding around the corner, peeking in their direction. The moment she noticed them looking, she quickly ducked back out of sight.
The president couldn't help but recall what Eriri had said to her yesterday. She'd originally thought maybe she'd misunderstood something, but now? What misunderstanding?
Two girls, alone together in a room, doing that kind of thing—their relationship was definitely not simple.
Who would've thought the petite-looking Sawamura-san was actually the assertive one? Talk about never judging a book by its cover.
Something crossed the president's mind. She suddenly covered her nose, feeling the yuri soul within her ignite. She decided she'd go draw a yuri doujinshi as soon as she got home—just in time for the upcoming exhibition.
Guhehehe~
Walking toward the main building, both Mio and Eriri simultaneously felt a chill run down their spines.
Mio tugged her uniform blazer tighter. "Is it getting colder lately?"
"Yeah, we'll probably switch to winter uniforms soon."
Meanwhile, Yuigahama Yui was sitting in Mio's seat, chatting with the popular clique. Suddenly, she sensed someone behind her.
She instinctively turned around—and was greeted by Mio's stunning smile.
"Sorry, I took your seat."
Yui was about to get up when Mio pressed her back down into the chair. Then Mio simply sat herself right on Yui's lap.