"Mmm~"
Maybe it was drinking too much cola before bed, but a sudden urge to pee dragged Mio out of her dreams. Still drowsy, she slowly opened her eyes, carefully moved Mashiro's arm off of her, and then slipped out of bed and left the room.
After dealing with her biological needs and heading back, she noticed someone sitting on the couch in the dim living room.
Mio squinted and realized it was Haruno.
What was Haruno doing sitting in the living room in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?
Before Mio had spotted Haruno, Haruno had already noticed her—the white-haired beauty who'd said she was looking for someone but then just crashed in that person's room.
Mio had no idea what time it was. All she knew was that she was incredibly sleepy. But she still walked over and sat down next to Haruno, asking groggily, "Senpai, why aren't you asleep yet? Yawn~"
"Maybe I just can't sleep alone." Haruno looked at Mio beside her. This girl had been trying so hard to keep her distance earlier, and now she was voluntarily coming closer. She really couldn't figure out what was going on in this white-haired beauty's head.
"If you can't sleep alone, you could go find Chihiro-sensei or Shizuka-sensei, right?"
"Those two drunks? Their sleeping habits are worse than the other's. I'll pass." As she said this, something seemed to occur to Haruno. She suddenly leaned a little closer to Mio and said with a playful smile, "How about I sleep with you instead?"
"Sure."
Mio murmured a groggy response, then immediately leaned against Haruno and fell asleep.
???
Haruno had only meant to tease Mio a little. She never expected Mio to actually lean against her and fall asleep just like that.
After a long moment, Haruno let out a helpless sigh. Just as she was about to carry Mio back to Mashiro's room, she hesitated, then changed direction and carried her to the guest room where she herself was staying.
She was a little curious to see what expression Mio would make when she woke up tomorrow morning and saw her first thing. That should be pretty entertaining, right~?
As if thinking of something, the corners of Haruno's lips curled into an amused smile.
The next day. Early morning.
Mio, who'd long grown accustomed to waking up early, didn't even need an alarm to get up.
Without even opening her eyes, she instinctively hugged the person beside her—Mashiro, she assumed—planning to doze for another two minutes before actually getting up.
But very quickly, Mio noticed something was off. Since when did Mashiro have such a nice figure? And her scent was different too—a familiar fragrance, kind of like... Haruno's perfume!
Realizing something was wrong, Mio's eyes shot open. What greeted her was Haruno's beautiful sleeping face.
The instant she saw Haruno, Mio's brain crashed for a few seconds before she started desperately trying to recall how she'd ended up waking up next to Haruno.
A minute later, Mio finally remembered what had happened last night.
Haruno could've just woken her up and told her to go back to her own room. But instead, here she was. She had a feeling this was probably due to Haruno's mischievous streak—like wanting to see her shocked face when she woke up or something.
Too bad Haruno wasn't awake yet. She was destined to miss it.
She had to admit, a sleeping Haruno looked far cuter than an awake one—because she wasn't causing trouble.
Suppressing the urge to pinch Haruno's cheeks, Mio carefully slipped out of bed, tucked the blanket around Haruno, and then quietly left the room.
Who knew how much time passed before Haruno slowly opened her eyes. She casually grabbed her phone and glanced at it—it was almost noon.
A flash of surprise crossed Haruno's eyes. She hadn't expected to actually sleep in today.
As the heir groomed by the Yukinoshita family, she'd shouldered immense pressure from all directions since childhood. That crushing weight had kept her tossing and turning through countless sleepless nights. Though she'd grown used to it by now, her sleep quality was still terrible. The slightest noise could wake her.
Today was a rare occasion where she'd actually slept soundly.
She couldn't even remember the last time she'd slept this deeply.
Was it because she'd been drinking?
Probably not.
She'd never been drunk before. Alcohol had limited effect on her sleep.
Could it have been because of a certain white-haired someone?
That was actually possible.
She'd have to try again sometime to find out.
Haruno idly scrolled through her phone. There were quite a few messages asking about her whereabouts. After replying to each one, her gaze landed on the message Mio had sent her.
"Senpai, I was going to wake you up, but Shizuka-sensei said there was no need, so I didn't. There's breakfast and a bento for you in the kitchen. Chihiro-sensei said to make sure you lock up when you leave."
After a brief hesitation, Haruno typed her reply: "Got it."
Just as she was about to put down her phone and get out of bed, she received another message from Mio: "Is Senpai only just getting up? Must be nice."
"How did my kouhai sleep last night?"
"Slept great. Just got a bit of a shock when I woke up and saw Senpai."
"Am I really that scary-looking?"
"Not at all. Senpai is very beautiful. I just wasn't expecting to see you when I woke up. Good thing you weren't awake yet, otherwise I would've embarrassed myself in front of you."
Reading this message, Haruno raised an eyebrow. She had reason to suspect Mio was hinting at something.
While mulling over how to respond, Haruno got out of bed and did a quick wash-up. Then she walked into the kitchen and immediately spotted the breakfast and bento Mio had prepared for her.
Mio had probably anticipated that she wouldn't be getting up early, so she'd made her sandwiches for breakfast.
How thoughtful.
Meanwhile, Mio—currently eating her bento with Yui—noticed that Haruno hadn't replied right away. A satisfied smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
Seeing this, Yui couldn't help but comment, "Mio, that smile you just had looked like a villain from a TV drama."
"Really? Must be your imagination, Yui." Mio finished speaking and flashed Yui a sweet smile.
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