"The cats really do love you, Mio."
Watching the cat sprawled across Mio's lap, a flash of envy crossed Yuigahama Yui's eyes—she wanted to lie in Mio's arms just like that cat! She really never thought the day would come when she'd be jealous of a cat.
"I guess I'm just popular with cats." Mio gave a soft laugh. With [Animal Affinity], she could not only draw animals' attention but even communicate with them a little. The cat in her arms right now, for instance, was demanding she keep stroking its fur and insisting she not stop.
Normally she'd have settled in and given herself over to petting it, but with a task hanging over her, she really wasn't in the mood. Mio was a little worried—what if Yukinoshita Yukino suddenly left the cat café? To keep that from happening, she needed to finish the task as fast as possible.
With that, Mio quietly set the cat in her arms aside, stood up, and said, "Um, I need to visit the restroom."
Both Yuigahama Yui and Miura Yumiko had already gone earlier, so Mio had deliberately waited until now to pull the restroom excuse. Once she was sure neither of them reacted in any particular way, she headed off toward the restroom.
Stepping inside, she planned to wait a bit before coming back out, act as if she'd just happened to spot Yukinoshita Yukino, and use that as an opening to sit down and complete the task. The plan should have been flawless—but Mio hadn't counted on stepping out of the stall to find Yukinoshita Yukino walking into the restroom.
Mio froze for a second, then immediately put on a surprised expression. "What a coincidence, Yukinoshita-san~"
"Ah, right."
Yukinoshita Yukino looked at her. After Mio had given her chocolate a while back, she'd been a little worried that Mio might have some strange ideas about her—she'd even thought about mentioning it to her sister. But after the chocolate, Mio had barely interacted with her—at most a quick hello when they crossed paths at school—nothing at all like someone with intentions toward her. Realizing she'd gotten ahead of herself, even Yukinoshita Yukino felt a touch embarrassed. So after returning Mio's greeting, she went into the restroom.
When she came back out of the stall, though, she found Mio standing by the door—waiting for her, without a doubt. Yukinoshita Yukino raised an eyebrow, walked over, and asked, "Did you need something?"
"I was just wondering what it would take to make Yukinoshita-san blush," Mio said, completely straight-faced.
"Huh?"
Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes filled with confusion. She hadn't misheard, had she? Her sister's girlfriend was actually trying to figure out how to make her blush—and just came out and said it? Was that really okay?
But Yukinoshita Yukino was still Yukinoshita Yukino. Stunned as she was at first, she quickly regained her composure. "Shirai-san, did you happen to hit your head just now?"
"Nope."
"Then why are you suddenly asking me something like that?"
"How about we say I'm gathering material for a novel?" Mio blinked, wearing an earnest expression.
But Yukinoshita Yukino wasn't buying it in the slightest. "Sorry, but I don't think gathering material for a novel requires making someone blush. This feels less like research and more like sexual harassment."
"As expected, she'd taken it as sexual harassment." Mio sighed glumly. If she'd actually had any idea how to make Yukinoshita Yukino blush, she wouldn't have put it so bluntly.
Yukinoshita Yukino had been about to leave, but seeing how downcast Mio looked, she softened in the end. "If you can give me a proper explanation for why you want to make me blush, I might just be able to help you."
"If I could explain, I wouldn't have said something so easy to misread in the first place. For certain reasons, I genuinely can't—but your blushing really is quite important to me."
"Why do I get the feeling you're incredibly suspicious?"
"How about this—I let you pet Cake to your heart's content, and you blush for me?"
At the mention of a cat, Yukinoshita Yukino's aloof expression shifted for just an instant before snapping back to normal. She looked away and said, "Don't think you can bribe me with a cat and expect me to help you."
"Then how about we swap Cake out for me?"
"Huh?"
A flustered look flickered through Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes. If anyone else had said that to her, she wouldn't have given it a second thought—but she and Mio were on reasonably good terms, and most importantly, Mio was her sister's girlfriend. Her own sister's girlfriend saying something like that to her—even Yukinoshita Yukino couldn't just ignore it!
Just as she was groping for something to say, the notification of task completion reached Mio's ear.
In the frozen moment of stilled time, Mio looked at Yukinoshita Yukino's slightly flustered face and quietly smiled to herself. She'd assumed that, given Yukino's personality, she'd just brush the remark off—she never imagined she'd complete the task this inexplicably easily. Something about it felt off, but as long as the task was done, it didn't matter.
This time Mio chose [Yukinoshita Yukino's Reading Time] as her reward. The card boosted her reading efficiency—not that she thought she'd use it, but it beat the other three options. As Mio made her choice, time resumed its flow.
Mio cleared her throat. "Um, Yukinoshita-san, that's enough now."
"Eh?!"
"Well, someone's waiting for me, so I'll head back. And what I said earlier—I meant it, you know. Whether it's Cake or me, either's fine."
With that, not waiting for Yukinoshita Yukino to say anything, Mio hurried back to her seat.
Seeing Mio return, Miura Yumiko said, a bit oddly, "What took you so long?"
"I ran into Yukinoshita-san over there just now and chatted with her for a bit."
"Yukinoshita Yukino?" The moment Miura Yumiko heard the name, her expression shifted subtly. After all, people were forever comparing her to Yukinoshita Yukino—and she always came up short. In Yumiko's eyes, Yukinoshita Yukino had practically become her arch-rival. She just hadn't expected Mio to be on familiar terms with her. Yukinoshita Yukino was famously cold and aloof, after all.
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