"N-nothing! We were just talking about... what we're doing over winter break." Chihiro smiled, perfectly composed.
That jolted Mio's memory. Right—Japanese high schoolers had three terms. This term was ending in about twenty days.
Time flies. It feels like my transmigration was just last week.
"Is something going on with winter break?"
"Well, I made plans with Shizuka-san to go on a road trip, and I'm a little worried about leaving Mashiro alone. I was actually about to ask if you had any plans."
Chihiro offered a silent, internal apology to Hiratsuka Shizuka. It was the only excuse she'd been able to come up with on short notice.
...How did I end up covering for her? One second I was giving Mashiro the talk, and now I'm her hype woman?
Mio thought it over for a moment. "I don't think I'm going anywhere special. I can look after Mashiro. And if something comes up, I'll just bring her along."
"Nice." Chihiro's face lit up. She almost wanted to applaud. "That's what I expect from you."
If it were me instead of Mashiro, I might've fallen for this girl too, Chihiro thought with complete sincerity. Having someone like Mio around was just... genuinely reassuring.
Beside her, Mashiro looked faintly puzzled. They'd just been talking about what it means to like someone—how had it turned into a conversation about winter break?
Before she could open her mouth, she caught the pointed look Chihiro was shooting her. Even Mashiro, guileless as she was, caught on this time. She closed her mouth and said nothing.
"Oh, right," Mio said, genuinely curious. "Mashiro, aren't you going back to England for winter break?"
"Her parents have been really busy with work lately. They don't really have time to take care of her." That much, at least, Chihiro wasn't making up.
"Ah, got it. In that case—Mashiro can just move into my place for the break. It'd be more convenient anyway."
"And if she moves in and doesn't want to leave?"
Mio gave Chihiro a slightly odd look. "If she doesn't want to leave, she can keep staying. Chihiro-sensei isn't worried about having no one to cook for her, is she?"
"W-what? No. Of course not." Chihiro looked away.
...She's not wrong.
Mio had completely spoiled Chihiro's palate by this point. Going back to living alone the way she used to? That was going to be rough.
To cover for herself, Chihiro changed the subject. "By the way—what brought you over?"
"I forgot to give Mashiro the latest script." Mio held up a stack of papers.
The moment Mashiro spotted the script, everything else stopped mattering. She crossed to Mio's side in an instant, took the pages out of her hands, and dropped her head to read.
Mio reached over and ruffled Mashiro's hair. "If I'm remembering right, you've already built up a pretty solid buffer of pages. Maybe take a proper rest tonight for once."
From anyone else, Mashiro would have ignored that and drawn anyway. But hearing it from Mio, she only hesitated for a moment before tucking the script into her bag and drifting back to Mio's side.
Seeing Mashiro about to leave with Mio, Chihiro cleared her throat. "Mashiro—remember what I told you earlier, okay? When I'm away on the trip, make sure you listen to Mio."
"It's not even break yet," Mio said, a little puzzled. "You're already giving instructions? Doesn't that feel a bit early?"
Chihiro knew it looked strange. But there wasn't much else she could do—this was the only way she could nudge her cousin without tipping Mio off.
"Mm."
Mashiro gave a small nod and followed Mio back to the apartment next door.
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It was ten o'clock—earlier than either of them usually went to bed. Mio didn't do anything in particular with the time; she just dug out the handheld console she'd won from the claw machine and started playing games with Mashiro.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was hoping a Mashiro-related task might pop up—something she could deliberately fail to keep the conquest rating in check.
But as the clock crept toward midnight, the System might as well not have existed. Not even a notification bubble.
Great. Mio sighed internally. When I want a task, nothing shows up. When I don't want one, they come flooding in. I don't even know what to say anymore.
She set aside her wandering thoughts, packed up the console, and started getting ready for bed—when she noticed Mashiro pressing a hand against her own chest.
Mio tensed immediately. "Mashiro? Are you not feeling well?"
Mashiro shook her head, just barely.
She was just... checking. To see if her heart beat faster when she was with Mio.
"What are you pressing on your chest for?"
"I wanted to see... how fast my heart is beating."
"...???"
Even Mio didn't have a response for that. First Chihiro acting weird all evening, and now Mashiro too?
Mio reached over and lightly squeezed Mashiro's cheeks between her palms. "Stop doing strange things and get in bed. If you can't wake up tomorrow, I'll..."
She'd been about to threaten her with something. But one look at Mashiro's expectant, puppy-like expression and her heart just... melted. She knew she was too soft on her. She'd always known. But what could she do—she was completely weak to that face.
The two of them climbed into bed. Mio reached over and clicked off the light, and the room sank into darkness.
Even without being able to see much, Mashiro navigated by instinct—burrowing her way into Mio's arms with practiced ease. But instead of settling in like she usually did, breathing in Mio's scent and drifting off, she asked, in her quiet, even voice:
"Mio. If you can't ask a question out loud—how do you get the answer?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"Because there's something I can't ask. But I still want to know the answer."
"...Even if you tell me that, I don't really know what to say. What is it? Why so mysterious?" Mio was quiet for a moment. "Maybe just... watch and observe. You might find the answer that way."
"Oh. I understand."
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