"Anything at all?" Mio asked, managing a perfectly calibrated note of skepticism.
"The way you're phrasing that, it sounds like you're planning to do something terrible to me," Haruno said, smile unwavering. "But if it's you, senpai could probably handle it~"
Before Mio could respond, a hand materialized from somewhere behind Haruno and delivered a firm, deliberate knock to the top of her head.
Hiratsuka-sensei's voice: "Stop corrupting my student. I will call the police."
"Shizuka~" Haruno rubbed her head, expression pained and put-upon. "Could you at least control your strength a little? I was your student once, you know."
"That's exactly why I hit you that hard. Regular people don't get this level of personalized attention."
Hiratsuka-sensei shifted her gaze to Mio, steady and slightly weary. "Haruno's running more angles than a chess engine. Watch yourself."
"Understood, sensei."
Haruno glanced at Mio with private amusement. She looks like a model student—but I'd bet she's at least as devious as I am. "Anyway—think it over. I'll come find you after breakfast."
:
Mio went back to her own unit.
Honestly, she was tempted. She wasn't going to ask Haruno to do anything strange—and with Haruno's conquest rating sitting so low, related tasks would practically be bottom-tier difficulty. "Cooperate with me for five minutes" at the very hardest.
She found the kitchen looking like a small indoor water feature.
Mashiro, it turned out, had decided to wash the dishes.
Evidence: another set of soaked clothes, a kitchen floor that appeared to have hosted some kind of fluid-dynamics event, and Mashiro standing in the center of it all with dripping hair, her entire bearing communicating with sincere earnestness:
"...Mio. I washed the dishes."
"I can see that. Good job." Mio reached for a dry towel. "Next time, you can leave them for me."
She got Mashiro dried off and changed into fresh clothes. She'd spent a few minutes actually making her look presentable and was in the process of appreciating the results when a knock came at the door.
She expected Haruno. Instead: Sengoku Chihiro-sensei, dressed unusually well—polished enough for somewhere important.
"Chihiro-sensei, you look great. Don't tell me you have another social mixer today~?"
Chihiro-sensei shook her head. "I was going to, but—Mashiro's parents are in town. They want to see her. I'm going to take her over. We might be back late."
"Mashiro's parents?"
Mio's brain immediately ran through the relevant plot flags from the source material.
Wait. Is this the setup where—
"They're not here to take her back to England, are they?"
Chihiro-sensei looked at her strangely. "...Why would you think that?"
"I... read too many manga. This kind of thing always ends that way in the story."
"You're overthinking it. Mashiro's parents have always known she's here. They're just visiting their daughter." Chihiro-sensei said it plainly, like it was obvious.
Mio quietly let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
Then—seemingly from nowhere—Mashiro appeared at Mio's shoulder, and stated with complete, earnest conviction:
"I'm not leaving."
Mio's face went red before she'd even finished processing the sentence.
The System obligingly chimed in: Congratulations, Host. For reasons you're well aware of, Shiina Mashiro's conquest rating on the Host has increased by 1 point.
One point. Mio's internal alarm immediately spiked. Mashiro's conquest rating on her was sitting at 46. Almost to the next threshold. And without an active task to work against, she had no legitimate way to bring it back down.
This was fine. Everything was fine.
"Alright, alright—stop being adorable at each other and get ready," Chihiro-sensei said, steering Mashiro toward the door. "We'll be late."
Mio had put actual effort into Mashiro's appearance this morning and barely got to appreciate her handiwork before Chihiro-sensei whisked her away entirely. She had managed to take several photos first, at least. Compensation. Documentation.
She was still figuring out what to do with the rest of her morning when Haruno appeared in the doorway, smile already deployed.
"Thought it over, kouhai~?"
With Mashiro gone, the calculus was straightforward. Staying home alone accomplished nothing. Accepting Haruno's offer was the obvious move.
That said—she remained careful.
"Before I say yes—can I ask what the favor actually is?"
"It's nothing complicated." Haruno tilted her head. "I just don't have any plans today and I don't want to be alone. So I was thinking—maybe my cute kouhai could come keep me company? Walk around, go shopping..." She leaned in slightly and dropped her voice with the faintest mischievous edge: "Or would date be a more precise word for it~?"
Mio's eyebrow went up.
She absolutely did not believe that Yukinoshita Haruno was simply bored and lonely. This woman was always running some angle. She just hadn't spotted it yet.
Which was honestly fine. If Haruno wasn't going to pull anything genuinely problematic, Mio could treat this as groundwork for whatever Haruno-related task came next, and enjoy the day in the meantime.
"Please don't tell me senpai is into that sort of thing," Mio said, putting on a performance of shock with admirable commitment.
It didn't land. Haruno just looked at her with that pleasant, patient smile, waiting for an actual answer.
Two full seconds of pause.
"Since senpai's already said as much... it would be pretty rude of me to refuse."
"Wonderful~ Please take good care of me today, kouhai~"
"That's my line."
From the living room, Hiratsuka-sensei's voice drifted over: "What are you two whispering about over there?"
"We're figuring out where to go," Haruno said cheerfully. "Want to come, Shizuka?"
"...I'm going home and going to sleep." Hiratsuka-sensei pressed a hand to her still-foggy head and shook it slowly.
...