Yukinoshita Haruno stared at the girl leaning against her shoulder, at a loss for words.
She'd been joking. Obviously. Mio was sharp enough to hear it—so why had she played along?
And not just played along—Mio had practically melted into her side, gazing up at her with this weirdly sincere, doe-eyed expression. The acting was so convincing that even Haruno had spent a full second wondering if Mio actually had feelings for her.
The passersby certainly weren't immune either.
The two of them were already drawing attention just by existing. The moment Mio leaned in, a whole wave of tourists who'd been edging toward them backed off and quietly gave up.
Of course, there was another possibility.
Maybe Mio really did have a thing for her—and was using this as an excuse to get a little closer.
And honestly, looking at the satisfied look on Mio's face? That wasn't entirely implausible.
Mio noticed Haruno's surprise but didn't particularly care. She breathed in the faint, clean scent drifting off Haruno's hair and said, lazy and unbothered: "Didn't senpai want to see if people would misread our relationship? I thought it sounded fun, so I figured I'd give it a shot~"
"Or was senpai just joking?"
"I was going to, but since my little kouhai's already being so proactive—let's just keep the bit going." Haruno matched her without missing a beat. She even slipped an arm around Mio's waist, pulling them closer together.
The moment her hand landed, she noticed it—a tiny, involuntary shift. Mio's whole body gave a little flinch.
Ticklish.
She filed that away. And then she started wondering what would happen if she gave that waist a small, deliberate pinch.
Almost like she'd sensed the thought forming, Mio leaned up close to her ear: "Senpai. Your hand. Behave~"
"Kiss me and I'll stop."
The words had barely left her mouth when something soft pressed against her cheek.
She'd been messing around. Clearly. Mio knew she was messing around. And yet—without a moment's hesitation—Mio had just done it. Leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Like it was nothing.
It was only the cheek. But it was enough to genuinely catch her off guard.
Enough, even, to pull her back to that night a few days ago. The one that was—maybe—an accident.
Haruno's tongue flicked across her lips before she could stop it.
"Senpai has to keep her word now," Mio said, doing her best impression of someone bashful.
The bashfulness was mostly performance. But there was still a small, honest flutter underneath it. Under normal circumstances, she'd never have done something like that.
She didn't have a choice, though. The task was there, and it wasn't going away.
Still—this approach had limits. Haruno was the type who treated every opening as an invitation for some new form of mischief. If she made some absurd demand, Mio only had one chance to refuse. She needed to wrap this up faster.
Based on what Haruno had said earlier, today's goal was to hit every ride in the park. Fine. Mio would just power through them all.
Once they walked out the gates, the task would be done.
She considered other ways to cut things short—but thought better of it. Haruno's observational skills weren't something to take lightly. If she noticed something was off, the whole thing would fall apart.
Decided. Mio pulled out the park map. Several attractions already had checkmarks—her own marks from earlier. A record of what they'd cleared.
Good thing this wasn't a huge park. Or a crowded one. Otherwise hitting every single ride would've been basically impossible.
Haruno leaned over, curious, and peeked at the map. "How far have we gotten?"
"About a third."
"Already? Doesn't feel like we've done that many."
"Small park. Anyway—rested enough? Should we keep going?"
"Sure."
The moment she got the green light, Mio grabbed Haruno's hand and set off toward the next ride at a noticeably faster pace.
Haruno caught it immediately. The Mio from earlier—unhurried, easygoing—had shifted. Something had changed.
What's she in such a rush for?
Something flickered in those pretty eyes. Quiet curiosity.
Under Mio's efficient guidance, they arrived at the roller coaster. Even with the park's modest crowd, the line here was solid. A few riders had clearly gone straight from exit to queue for a second round.
Dramatic screaming rolled across the park in waves.
Haruno put on her best damsel face and caught Mio's hand. "I'm a little scared. What do I do?"
"If I remember right, senpai said the exact same thing before the drop tower—and then screamed louder than anyone."
"Normally my kouhai is supposed to comfort me at this point, right?"
"Don't worry, senpai. I'll be right there with you."
The voice was tired in the most resigned possible way.
Haruno narrowed her eyes. Technically Mio had done what she asked. But something still felt off.
Given Mio's personality, shouldn't she have found some excuse to wiggle out of this by now?
Mio noticed the look and probably already knew what was behind it. She pivoted before it could go anywhere: "By the way—if senpai was going to come to a theme park anyway, why not bring Yukino?"
"It's a date. Three people isn't a date." She said this completely straight-faced. Then: "Besides, she probably doesn't care about this kind of thing. And I doubt she'd want to come with me anyway."
"Do you two not get along?"
...