"This is pretty good."
Eriri voiced her approval while eating the breakfast Shirai Mio had made for her.
"If it tastes good, eat more. Maybe if you eat enough, you'll finally put some meat on." Shirai Mio deliberately glanced at Eriri's chest, making her implication perfectly obvious.
Sensing Shirai Mio's gaze, Eriri narrowed her eyes and gave her a dangerously pleasant smile. "You know, if you keep poking at other people's sore spots, someone's going to pin you down."
"If it's you, Eriri, I wouldn't mind~"
At that point, Shirai Mio suddenly remembered the accident from the night before. She guiltily avoided Eriri's gaze and continued, "Um, Chihiro-sensei should be arriving soon. I'll go wait for her."
With that, Shirai Mio turned and fled.
Eriri naturally noticed the guilt in Shirai Mio's eyes and remembered what had happened the previous night. Could that white-haired little bitch think the accident had been her own fault?
If so, Eriri could not help feeling somewhat guilty toward Shirai Mio.
The problem was that she was too embarrassed to tell Shirai Mio the truth. If she did, would Shirai Mio not discover that Eriri had pretended to be asleep last night?
And that Eriri had been the one to take the initiative.
A faint blush spread across Eriri's cheeks.
About five minutes later, Shirai Mio returned to the living room carrying a bag and a schoolbag.
"I'm going to change first. I'll be right back."
"Okay," Eriri replied softly, pretending to focus on her breakfast.
If Shirai Mio had come closer at that moment, she would have seen just how red Eriri's face was.
By the time Shirai Mio finished changing, Eriri had also finished breakfast, and the blush on her face had faded. As she prepared to leave, she asked, "Do you make breakfast for Shiina every day at home?"
"Mm. Why?"
"Nothing. I was just asking."
Despite what she said, after hearing Shirai Mio's confirmation, Eriri still felt a sour sensation in her heart. She wanted someone to wake up and make breakfast for her every morning too.
If she started dating Shirai Mio, would she get to eat Shirai Mio's cooking every day?
Sensing Eriri's gaze, Shirai Mio tilted her head. "What is it?"
"N-Nothing. Let's go."
After the two left the house together, Eriri casually looked around and asked curiously, "Why don't I see Shiina?"
"She went to school with Chihiro-sensei today. Do you miss her?"
"I'm just used to seeing her go to and from school with you, so it feels a little strange when she's suddenly not here." Besides surprise, Eriri also felt a tiny bit happy.
As for why she was happy, only Eriri herself knew.
Eriri's house was not far from the school. In less than ten minutes, the two walked onto campus.
Just as Eriri was about to head to her own classroom, someone suddenly tugged at the hem of her clothes. She turned to Shirai Mio and asked, "Is there something else?"
"I forgot to give you this." Shirai Mio took out the bento she had prepared earlier and placed it in Eriri's hands.
"Huh?!"
"I only made it with the ingredients left in the refrigerator. I hope you won't mind."
After handing Eriri the bento, Shirai Mio turned and headed toward her own classroom.
Eriri watched Shirai Mio walk away, then looked at the bento in her hands. In a voice only she could hear, she muttered, "Don't think this is enough to make me fall for you."
With that, a delighted smile curved Eriri's lips.
The moment Eriri entered her classroom and sat down, her friend leaned over with an excited expression. "Eriri, did Shirai just give you a bento?"
"Mm. Is there a problem?"
"No problem. Of course there's no problem." Eriri's friend grinned foolishly, her face practically screaming that she shipped them.
Eriri naturally knew exactly what her friend was thinking. Normally, she would have offered at least some explanation, but this time, after thinking about it, she decided not to bother.
She merely felt that explanations no longer worked on her friend. There was absolutely no other reason. Absolutely none.
Elsewhere, Shirai Mio had just entered her classroom and sat down when she heard Miura Yumiko's voice. "Mio, where did you go this weekend?"
"I went to gather references."
"Gather references?"
"Yeah. I've been studying how to draw backgrounds lately, so I went out to gather references."
"I see. The next time you want to gather references, you can ask me to come along. I'm pretty good at taking photos." Miura Yumiko smiled at Shirai Mio.
"Ah, mm." Shirai Mio gave a dry laugh. She had no idea how Miura Yumiko would react if Mio invited her to gather reference material for a lewd doujinshi, so it was probably better not to.
Just then, Yuigahama Yui's voice joined the conversation. "Mio, spring break is coming up soon. Do you have any plans?"
"Spring break? I haven't decided what I want to do yet. Do you have anything in mind?"
Shirai Mio tilted her head and thought seriously. Spring break seemed to last less than two weeks, and she had no idea what she should do with it.
"I… don't have any ideas yet either. But that's okay. There's still some time before spring break, so we can take our time thinking about it," Yuigahama Yui said softly.
In truth, she already had a few ideas. She simply wanted to mention them when she was alone with Shirai Mio. If she brought them up now, Miura Yumiko would definitely try to join them.
Although the two of them were very close friends, when it came to Shirai Mio, Yuigahama Yui had no intention of giving Miura Yumiko an opportunity.
Miura Yumiko had similar thoughts. She had already been considering the question before the subject even came up.
She simply had not decided where she wanted to go or what she wanted to do with Shirai Mio.
Still, as Yuigahama Yui had said, there was time before spring break. She could take her time deciding.
But she could not take too long. If she waited, Shirai Mio might accept someone else's invitation first.
That had happened several times before.
Miura Yumiko always had the feeling that Yuigahama Yui was not her only romantic rival. There might be others she had not discovered yet.
Why did this feel even harder than winning over Hayama Hayato back then?
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