"Ah, yes, yes, yes, Senpai's the prettiest of all."
Shirai Mio flattered Yukinoshita Haruno in a flat, wooden monotone.
But Yukinoshita Haruno acted as though she hadn't caught the tone at all, sidling up to Shirai Mio with a beaming smile and pulling her into a big hug.
Right then the two of them looked about as intimate as two people could possibly be.
Rita, who had been watching from the sidelines this whole time, felt seriously alarmed.
Not for herself, but for Shiina Mashiro.
"Care to explain to me, kouhai, why my little sister is here?" Yukinoshita Haruno murmured softly into Shirai Mio's ear as she held her.
Her tone sounded impossibly gentle, yet Shirai Mio could sense a thread of danger woven into it.
Still, having been an actress before she transmigrated, Shirai Mio could keep a straight face even in a situation like this. "Didn't Yukinoshita-san already explain? She came all the way over here just to pet the cat. I'll have you know my Cake is super adorable!"
Of course Yukinoshita Haruno knew her little sister loved cats, but making a special trip over to Shirai Mio's place just to pet one didn't quite seem like something her sister would do.
Then again, she knew Shirai Mio very well too, and even if her sister had come because of Shirai Mio, it was probably on account of that secret Shirai Mio carried.
Shirai Mio had assumed Yukinoshita Haruno would keep pressing the matter, but to her surprise the other woman didn't seem to doubt a word she'd said, and instead turned and started helping her prep the ingredients.
A little startled, Shirai Mio asked, "Senpai, aren't you even going to be a little suspicious?"
"There's no need for that. My kouhai has her own hardships to bear, doesn't she?"
Faced with such an understanding Yukinoshita Haruno, all Shirai Mio could do was let her conquest rating tick up a point to express how she felt in that moment.
With Yukinoshita Haruno's help, tonight's dinner was soon on the table.
Tasting Shirai Mio's cooking once more, Yukinoshita Yukino found herself, for one fleeting instant, actually half-wanting to be like her sister and drop by here to mooch meals all the time.
Not only could she get a free, delicious meal, she could pet the cat and so on too. It seemed like a pretty good deal.
But thinking it was one thing; Yukinoshita Yukino wasn't about to actually do it.
Constantly coming over to her own sister's girlfriend's place to mooch meals. People might get the wrong idea.
And there was no telling what strange favor Shirai Mio might rope her into the next time she came by.
Today alone she'd already been roped into two of those strange favors.
Truth be told, Yukinoshita Yukino had wondered whether Shirai Mio's helplessness was just an act, a way to tease her or to make her take notice of her.
But if that were really the case, then Shirai Mio ought to be seeking her out all the time—yet lately, aside from the odd chance encounter, she'd had almost no contact with Shirai Mio at all.
So she could more or less conclude that Shirai Mio hadn't asked for her help with any weird ulterior motive in mind.
With the matter of dinner settled, Yukinoshita Haruno sidled up to her little sister with a sunny smile and said, "Yukino, do you want to stay over at my place tonight?"
"No thanks."
"You really won't give it a try? I could get my kouhai to lend me Cake for the night, you know."
At her sister's words, a flicker of struggle passed through Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes, but in the end she still refused.
Faced with a Yukinoshita Yukino capable of resisting even the temptation of a cat, even Yukinoshita Haruno had no choice but to give up. "Fine, then at least let me walk you home~"
"Isn't there a driver?"
"Let's just walk today. There's something I want to talk to you about."
"Okay."
Once her sister had agreed, Yukinoshita Haruno immediately leaned in close to Shirai Mio and said, "Little kouhai, I'm going to walk my sister home first, but I'll be back soon~"
"Why are you going out of your way to tell me that?"
"Well, I wouldn't want you suddenly being unable to find me~"
Cheesy lines like that—if it were anyone else, forget whether they could even get the words out; even if they managed, it would come out all halting and stammered. Only someone like Yukinoshita Haruno could deliver such a thing without the slightest hitch.
Seeing Shirai Mio's smile grow more and more dangerous, Yukinoshita Haruno didn't say another word and promptly dragged her sister off.
Leaving Shirai Mio's home, the two of them came to the elevator and waited for it to arrive.
"Nee-san, I feel like you've changed quite a bit lately."
"Have I changed?" Yukinoshita Haruno pointed at herself, then tilted her head. "I feel like I'm pretty much the same as before."
"It's just a feeling." Yukinoshita Yukino couldn't quite put it into words either.
Hearing her sister, Yukinoshita Haruno let out a soft laugh and said, "If you feel I've changed, then I suppose I have."
"So, whatever it is you want to say to me, hurry up and finish, and then you can head back."
"Mio—she has you do some strange things now and then, doesn't she?"
"Mm. Do you know the reason why?"
Yukinoshita Haruno twirled the ends of her hair and said, "I'm not too clear on the specifics myself, but there's one thing I can be sure of: as long as you don't get close to her, this sort of thing won't happen."
Yukinoshita Yukino raised an eyebrow. Why did she get the feeling her sister was hinting that she shouldn't go near Shirai Mio?
Could it be that she was jealous?
In all fairness, no matter how you looked at it, she wasn't about to make a move on her own sister's girlfriend—besides, she was a straight girl!
"You're probably thinking I'm beating around the bush trying to tell you not to get close to her, aren't you?"
"More or less."
"I'm saying this for your own good. You should know Mio is a maddening little vixen; let your guard down for a second and you might just end up falling for her."
"Hmph."
Yukinoshita Yukino gave her a sidelong glance. Even with her sister saying all this, she didn't think she would ever develop any special feelings for Shirai Mio.
After all, she was straight; something impossible was simply impossible.
One look at her sister's expression was enough for Yukinoshita Haruno to more or less guess what she was thinking. She heaved a slightly troubled sigh and said, "In any case, I've said my piece, and I hope you'll take it to heart."
"Rest easy, I'm not going to have any designs on your girlfriend!"
"Girlfriend?"
At her sister's words, Yukinoshita Haruno blanked for a moment, then broke into a radiant smile—so her sister had taken Shirai Mio to be her girlfriend.
Though it seemed her sister had misunderstood something, it wasn't a misunderstanding she minded in the slightest.
"You've said everything you needed to say, so why are you still following me?"
"Didn't I say I'd walk you home? Besides, it feels like it's been ages since the two of us took a walk together."
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