"Mashiro, time to go home."
Mio Shirai stood at the Art Club's activity room entrance, holding cookies she'd just snagged from the Cooking Club. She'd just casually toured a few clubs but hadn't decided which one to join yet.
The Art Club's activities had already ended, and only a few students still tidying up remained in the classroom, along with Mashiro Shiina. There was no sign of Eriri.
Although she had a whole week, Mio Shirai didn't have much hope for this Eriri task. She thought that if worse came to worst, she'd just let the task fail and see what happened. She still hadn't failed a task yet and didn't know what the consequences would be.
Hearing Mio Shirai's words, Mashiro Shiina quietly responded, then quickly packed up her things and walked over to Mio.
"Here, this is for you." Mio Shirai handed the bag containing the cookies to Mashiro Shiina.
After Mashiro Shiina took it, she was about to start eating when Mio Shirai stopped her. "Wait. Wash your hands clean before eating."
Mashiro Shiina, who'd just finished club activities, still had paint residue on her hands.
Under Mio Shirai's supervision, Mashiro Shiina washed her hands clean before happily eating.
However, after eating just a few pieces, she seemed to think of something, then picked up a cookie and held it to Mio Shirai's lips, saying, "Want some? They're very delicious."
"I already ate some earlier."
Although that's what she said, Mio Shirai still opened her mouth and bit into the cookie. After all, it was Mashiro Shiina voluntarily feeding her. If she didn't eat it, she'd feel like she was somehow losing out.
Before going home, Mio Shirai first took Mashiro Shiina to a nearby supermarket to buy ingredients.
She was too lazy to go out foraging for dinner tonight, and besides, she didn't have much money on hand. It was more economical to buy some ingredients and make home-cooked dishes she liked.
Mio Shirai enjoyed cooking. Before transmigrating, when she had free time, she always liked watching cooking videos online, then copying them herself. At first, the taste was truly terrible, but as she practiced more, it naturally improved.
Wasn't there a saying that to capture a girl's heart, you must first capture her stomach? This was one of Mio Shirai's reasons for learning to cook.
Unfortunately, up until her transmigration, aside from her mother, no girl had eaten her home-cooked meals.
Thinking about it made her feel inexplicably sad.
"Mashiro, is there any dish you want to eat?" Mio Shirai stood in front of the shelf, looking at the dazzling array of seasonings.
After quite a while without receiving a response, Mio Shirai finally realized that Mashiro Shiina, who'd been beside her, had somehow run over to the distant snack shelf.
Mio Shirai sighed helplessly, then walked over to Mashiro Shiina and said, "If you want to buy snacks, just tell me directly. Don't suddenly run off alone—I'll worry."
Mashiro Shiina blinked, seeming to think about something. After a while, she proactively took Mio Shirai's hand, then looked at the shelf and said, "I want to eat baumkuchen for dinner."
Before Mio Shirai could say anything, the System's voice sounded first: "The host's heartbeat just accelerated. Mashiro Shiina's affection toward the host has increased by 1 point."
"It's just an accelerated heartbeat! Why are you increasing my affection rating!"
"Just an accelerated heartbeat?" The System's voice sounded somewhat meaningful.
Mio Shirai rolled her eyes, then put on a displeased tone and said, "Whatever, I'm too lazy to argue with you."
"Thanks for the plane ticket while you're still being stubborn~"
Ignoring the System provoking her, Mio Shirai turned to Mashiro Shiina and said, "Just how much do you like eating this? We can buy some to take home as snacks, but you can't have it for dinner, and you also can't eat it before dinner."
Mio Shirai suddenly felt her tone of voice inexplicably resembled her mother's. Every time she got hungry before meals and ate something, she'd inevitably get lectured by her mom.
After dismissing this strange sense of déjà vu, Mio Shirai casually grabbed some baumkuchen and put it in the shopping cart, then headed straight for the ingredients section.
By the time the two returned to the apartment, the sky had already darkened.
Chihiro Sengoku hadn't returned yet, so Mio Shirai directly brought Mashiro Shiina to her own place.
Putting on her newly bought apron, Mio Shirai entered the kitchen and began skillfully processing the ingredients.
Mashiro Shiina sat obediently in the living room, her gaze constantly on Mio Shirai, as if observing something.
But as Mio Shirai brought today's dinner to the table, Mashiro Shiina's gaze shifted from Mio to the dining table.
After placing the last dish on the table, Mio Shirai glanced at Mashiro Shiina. Although expressionless, she could sense a feeling called anticipation emanating from her.
"You can start eating now."
There was no need to specifically ask if it tasted good. Just by observing Mashiro Shiina's eating speed, you could tell how the dinner tasted.
Originally, Mio Shirai had planned to start outlining her novel after sending Mashiro Shiina home, but right after opening her computer, she remembered she hadn't done her homework yet.
Fortunately, there wasn't much homework. Although she didn't quite understand some parts, with the computer by her side, she finished all the homework in less than an hour.
Just as she was about to take a bath, the doorbell suddenly rang.
Mio Shirai scratched her head somewhat strangely, not knowing who would be looking for her at this time.
Probably either Chihiro Sengoku or Mashiro Shiina, right?
Although she already had a guess in her heart, since she was currently a powerless weak girl, to avoid accidents, Mio Shirai still cautiously looked through the peephole first before opening the door.
After seeing Mashiro Shiina's figure, she opened the door. She could see that Mashiro Shiina was currently soaking wet, her clothes clinging to her body, her hair still dripping water—looking bedraggled yet giving off an inexplicably cute feeling.
"You... what happened?"
"I ran out of body wash."
"Then wait here for a moment. I'll go get mine."
Just as Mio Shirai was about to turn around and go get the body wash, Mashiro Shiina suddenly tugged at her sleeve and said, "I forgot to bring my key when I left."
Mashiro Shiina was expressionless, as if talking about something unrelated to herself.
Mio Shirai laughed bitterly. "That's so like you. Well, take a bath at my place first. You can go back after Chihiro-sensei returns."
She hoped the System wouldn't suddenly cause trouble at a time like this.
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