"What is it?"
After changing clothes, Yukinoshita Haruno noticed the way Shirai Mio was looking at her and deliberately put on a curious expression.
"N-nothing."
Shirai Mio turned her head away. When she had bathed together with Yukinoshita Haruno just now, she had already prepared herself to be teased, yet for some reason Haruno had suddenly behaved herself today.
From beginning to end, Haruno had not done anything strange to her.
That left Shirai Mio feeling rather strange—and a little disappointed.
Wait!? Disappointed?
Realizing that there seemed to be something wrong with her emotions, Shirai Mio could not help blinking. Why would she feel disappointed just because nothing like that had happened!?
Was it because of the System? Or was the problem with her instead?
Fortunately, the System could not read her thoughts. Otherwise it would probably already be mocking her right now.
Pulling back her wandering thoughts, Shirai Mio pretended to be calm and said, "Senpai, are you done changing? If you are, let's go."
"I finished ages ago. I've been waiting for you~"
The two left the Hotel again and walked toward the Restaurant.
By now, the sky had gone completely dark. All the streetlights were on, store signs flashed with neon, and the cool sea breeze carried a salty scent. Shirai Mio really liked this feeling.
The two quickly reached the Restaurant.
Since they were by the sea, of course they had to eat seafood. As soon as she sat down, Shirai Mio smoothly ordered quite a lot of food.
Yukinoshita Haruno had seen Shirai Mio order with this kind of ease more than once already. She could not help saying, "Sometimes I almost feel like you didn't come here to travel."
To her, Shirai Mio felt less like someone on vacation and more like someone who had returned to her hometown. That sense of emotional relaxation, that easy comfort—it all gave Haruno that impression.
Hearing Yukinoshita Haruno's words, Shirai Mio tilted her head. "Senpai is just overthinking it. By the way, do you want anything to drink?"
"Beer."
"Okay."
If it were anyone else, Shirai Mio definitely would not recommend drinking alcohol while they were out, but Yukinoshita Haruno was different. Ever since Mio had known her, Haruno had never gotten drunk, and Mio was there with her anyway, so there was no problem.
While the two were waiting for their food, a minor interruption occurred.
A somewhat handsome boy from the next table walked over and said to Shirai Mio, "Um, would you two like to join us? It's livelier and more fun with more people."
Yukinoshita Haruno glanced at him, then asked Shirai Mio, "What did he say?"
"He asked whether we want to join them."
"No."
An answer exactly as expected.
"Then I'll just tell him we're on a Date."
Hearing Shirai Mio's suggestion, Yukinoshita Haruno expressed one thousand percent agreement.
"Sorry, we're actually on a Date."
Although Yukinoshita Haruno could not understand what Shirai Mio had said, Mio had already told her what she planned to say. Haruno therefore naturally leaned closer to Shirai Mio and kissed her on the cheek.
The handsome boy blinked, froze for a moment, then finally said, "N-never mind. Sorry to bother you."
After the boy left, Shirai Mio could still faintly hear the conversation at their table.
"I told you those two beauties had that kind of relationship, but you wouldn't believe me."
"How on earth could you tell?"
"Since you asked that question, I have no choice but to recommend Lycoris Recoil to you."
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"What are they talking about?"
"Looks like one of them figured out what kind of relationship we have and came over to try their luck anyway," Shirai Mio explained simply.
Yukinoshita Haruno chuckled. "Then they're pretty perceptive."
"What's so good about that? For now, we're clearly just ordinary friends."
"Are we really just ordinary friends?"
"Friends who are especially close. Is that acceptable?"
"When can we become lovers?" Yukinoshita Haruno suddenly leaned close to Shirai Mio and asked softly.
"That depends on Senpai."
A thoughtful look flashed through Yukinoshita Haruno's eyes. This was not the first time Shirai Mio had said something like that to her, and Haruno always felt there was another, deeper meaning behind those words.
If her guess was correct, it probably had something to do with Shirai Mio's secret.
Although Shirai Mio had already warned her not to keep investigating, there were times when Haruno still could not stop herself from thinking about it.
Still, Yukinoshita Haruno only let herself think about it briefly before stopping.
As the two chatted, the barbecue they had ordered was gradually brought to the table.
Both of them had been hungry for a while, so they turned their attention to digging in.
After enjoying a satisfying dinner, the two strolled back to the Hotel.
Shirai Mio was just about to throw herself onto the Bed when Yukinoshita Haruno beat her to it. Left with no choice, Mio could only sit down in a nearby chair.
It was now nine in the evening. Shirai Mio took her Laptop out of her suitcase and said, "Senpai, want to watch a Movie?"
"I don't mind, but it doesn't look like there's any equipment here."
"Heh heh heh. We don't need any."
Shirai Mio skillfully turned on the Laptop, then asked, "What kind of Movie does Senpai want to watch?"
"What do you think about a Horror Movie?"
"I think that's a bad idea."
How could Shirai Mio possibly fail to see Yukinoshita Haruno's wicked intentions?
Haruno knew perfectly well that Mio was afraid of things like that, yet she still wanted her to watch one. Obviously, she planned to take advantage of Mio being frightened to do something strange to her.
Shirai Mio searched around and finally picked an effects-heavy blockbuster. After a tiring day, what she needed now was to stop thinking and simply enjoy the spectacle of the visual effects.
After connecting the Laptop to the TV, Shirai Mio climbed onto the Bed and leaned against Yukinoshita Haruno as they started watching the Movie.
Although they were supposedly watching the Movie, Shirai Mio was actually paying quite a bit of attention to Yukinoshita Haruno, afraid Haruno might try something bad again when Mio was not looking.
To Shirai Mio's surprise, however, Yukinoshita Haruno was actually watching the Movie seriously.
Something was wrong. Normally, she would definitely have started getting handsy by now. Why had she suddenly become so well-behaved today!?
At that moment, the System's voice suddenly sounded in Shirai Mio's ear. "Are you finding it a little hard to get used to Yukinoshita Haruno suddenly being so well-behaved?"
"Host, please find a way to make Yukinoshita Haruno take the initiative to push you down and kiss you. Success may grant you a [Yukinoshita Haruno Series Deck] or an item reward. Failure will require you to draw from the Punishment Deck."
"Host, do your best~"
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