3:00 p.m., Taimadou Academy Dormitory
It was uneventful after lunch, as the school only held practical classes from the second day onwards; as a means of compensation for measuring the student's mana reserve values. Instead, the usual magic class was an extended homeroom, with nothing notable.
Currently, Rin was walking side-by-side with Mihiro, on the way to his dorm room. It was unusual that Mihiro did not act nervous in the slightest, Rin noted. She looked thoroughly prepared for this situation. Was this much predicted?
Akane had informed Rin earlier that she would loiter with Fuka and the rest, which Rin agreed was better.
It took around 15 minutes for them to reach the dormitory, during which time passed by with silence. Both were thinking of their respective objectives. For Rin, he had to check something.
They took the escalator to the 5th floor and were now in front of the room door.
"Rin, I feel a bit nervous now…"
Mihiro was fidgeting around while her body was shaking slightly. Rin did not fall for this, however.
"Don't worry, the inside isn't that cold. The AC isn't left on."
He retorted with a joke of his own. Mihiro heard this and laughed.
"Let's go in, then?"
The one who mentioned this was Mihiro, not Rin.
They both entered Rin's room and closed the door. Rin locked the door and they both proceeded to the living room area. Mihiro was prompted to sit down on a cushion while Rin went to their kitchen to make some barley tea.
"This is bigger than I expected."
Mihiro took the time during which Rin was making tea to look around his room. As her unit was a 1LDK instead of a 2LDK, it was noticeably smaller.
"Yeah, it is."
A while later, Rin came with two glasses of barley tea and placed Mihiro's glass before his own on the table. As they sat opposite each other, Rin took a sip of his tea but noticed that Mihiro, on the other hand, appeared hesitant in drinking it.
"Do you not like barley tea? I should've asked you beforehand."
Rin sounded regretful; he did not want to waste drinks. However, that was not the reason why Mihiro did not want to drink it.
"Is the tea spiked?"
Rin spits out his tea. He apologized, believing it to be extremely rude of him. He grabbed a tissue to wipe the tea away. Sitting back down, he answered Mihiro's question.
"No, it isn't. Aren't you a bit too cautious? To be fair, it was certainly my bad, considering I invited you here suddenly. Added with the fact I placed your glass first and very close to you. But don't worry, it's just normal tea."
Appearing to be satisfied by Rin's explanation, Mihiro drank her tea. After sipping her tea, she smiled.
"I just had the concern that a young man such as yourself would attempt to force his way with a young lady such as me."
Her alluring mannerism was trying to evoke a response from Rin as if she was trying to judge his character. True to his skeptical nature, Rin did not find this to be a joke but decided to play along anyway.
"Haha, I considered doing that, actually."
"It appears you stuck to your morals. That was the right decision."
Ironically, Rin had a drug prepared beforehand in case of a situation like this. It was not to do inappropriate acts, but rather to knock someone unconscious and restrain them. However, he had sensed that Mihiro was a sharp one, and so decided against it.
Mihiro appeared to be enjoying her time here, while Rin was amused. For a high school student, she was certainly too perceptive.
"Was it the clan leader?"
Rin threw a vague question without any relation to the current conversation. He stared at Mihiro's face to see if there was any reaction, but she simply had a large smile plastered.
"Cynical as mentioned in the reports; the data was accurate, it seems. Also, sorry about the way I forced this."
Mihiro apologized, which Rin. She had confirmed his doubts, allowing Rin some room to relax.
"So, why did you intentionally let me figure you out?"
The most confusing element was that his father had hired someone to keep an eye on both him and his sister. If so, why would she approach them directly? Was it not better to watch them from afar?
"Considering your nature, I decided that it was better to watch you close rather than afar. Even though I was from the fourth floor, you somehow noticed me among all others."
Mihiro puffed her cheeks in slight annoyance. This much was more like her age.
"So, I chose the more-direct approach instead."
"I see."
Rin thought it made sense for Mihiro to come to this conclusion. He was very perceptive to the gazes of others, making it hard to be spied on. He was still not satisfied, however.
"You are allowed to do this?"
"Yes."
The contract seemed loose.
"If the clan leader wanted to hire eyes, why did he go for a member of the water clan?"
During lunch, Rin could not make out Mihiro's intention as even though he had considered this scenario, why would the clan master ask a person from their rival clan?
"I think you know the answer."
Mihiro threw back his question to Rin. She did not want to give an answer. Alas, this information was more than he had expected to begin with.
"Okay, I won't ask anymore, thanks."
Rin continued to sip on his tea and placed it down on the ground, treating this like a guy's day out. Mihiro was bewildered.
"So… um…"
She was fumbling with her words.
"You need something?"
"Yeah! Why are you so accepting of this anyways?"
"It's not my choice. Even if I had some authority, would you stop even if I wanted you to? You still need to finish your studies, right? Other than that, it would be in my favor for someone strong to watch out for us."
It was flawless reasoning. Despite Rin sounding bored of this conversation, he had given this significant consideration and thus, had prepared in advance.
"Hahahaha, you sure are an intriguing one. Perhaps that's why I found myself interested in you."
Rin had initially thought Mihiro said that she was interested in him due to needing to get close to him for the sake of her contract. However, she was now stating this to be self-interest. Whenever it came to personal feelings and the sort, as there was no proper logic, Rin always found them frustrating to deal with. He himself had a heavy share of uncertainty. Technically, Rin did not have any reason to question her further as he had gotten what he wanted, but was nevertheless curious. Rin's voice increased slightly in pitch, making him sound more like his age.
"Interested?"
"Even you can act like your age, I guess. That's calming, to say the least. What were we talking about again? Oh, yeah, I think I like you. Though I cannot say it is entirely romantically, as I am also interested in your background and also given this is the first time I have met you in person. But let's just say it is purely romantic. I also think you have the wrong idea, Rin."
Mihiro paused midway before continuing.
"I am not contracted to do this job; it is rather a favor asked by the clan master. I could have declined it if I wanted to, but I heard about your circumstances and it made me interested Rin, or should I say, Faker."
The temperature dropped. Rin regained his seriousness and sat properly. He had assumed Mihiro did not know that much about his situation and was merely an eye for hire, but the fact that she knew this much was alarming.
"You know, even though you don't have magic, you still challenged the student who spoke badly of me. I guess he wasn't entirely wrong. Knowing your situation, I felt you were reckless. Even though you had the odds in your favor as he feared your unknown ability, in the off chance he somehow agreed to your challenge, what would you do then?"
"He wouldn't, though."
'What if he did?"
Mihiro was persistent. She had some concerns about Rin's reasoning.
"It was a needed gamble. I had to show that I was confident in victory."
This much Rin was not willing to back down for. He had to demonstrate that he was confident in his ability so that people would not mess with him.
"Sure, I guess I'll accept that. Besides…", Mihiro looked down while slightly flustered, "I was happy."
Rin heard what she said. He tried to consider a hidden intent behind her behavior but unknowingly felt that these were indeed her true feelings.
"Therefore Rin, if you don't mind, we could try dating."
"…"
A somewhat expected turn of events while also being a new experience for Rin. This was probably the first time he was confessed to. Other than Kana confessing when they had been smaller, that was.
"I'm serious, Rin. Please give me your answer."
Mihiro leaned her body forward and grabbed Rin's hands with her own. This accidentally made a bit of cleavage visible. Rin noticed this and moved back in return. However, Mihiro thought that Rin was trying to escape and so moved even closer. She was so close that nearly her entire top half was hovering over the wooden table between them. Her cleavage was even more exposed than previously to the point that he could somewhat make out the color of her underclothes.
"I can see them…"
Rin felt slightly feverish as he was embarrassed. Mihiro monopolized this and placed her mouth to his ear.
"I don't mind it as it's you… Rin."
Consistently getting called by his name might have contributed to making him flustered, as Rin could not think properly. Added with Mihiro's attempt at seduction by whispering lightly, this was a grim territory.
"Say… do you want to do it?"
Mihiro was suggesting something ridiculous. However, taking the setting into account, it was not that strange of an offer, other than the fact they were not even dating.
"No no no, there is a process to these things!"
Even Rin was acting like a child in times like this.
"Just let big sister handle you, Rin."
Mihiro was not willing to give up. Rin, however, was still trying to oppose it. He was forcing himself to keep his own curious desire in check. A miracle allowed him to voice his thoughts.
"Let me consider it."
"Huh?"
Now Mihiro was completely flushed. Her face reddening, she had not expected that Rin would accept her proposal. She had just been playing around with Rin, as he appeared gullible to sexual relations. However, now he was accepting the offer. Realizing what this may result in and that it was very much possible, Mihiro was internally panicking. It was going to be her first time after all.
Rin, noticing her slight hesitation, went on the offense. He whispered into Mihiro's ear.
"Shall we go to my room?"
Mihiro took a few seconds to process it. Then she started backing away from Rin and flailed her arms in front of her face. This was still too early for her.
Rin smiled to himself and stood up. He stepped towards Mihiro. As he walked one step, Mihiro took two steps back. They were gaining distance, to Mihiro's favor, until…
"Why can't I move farther back?!"
A wall. It was checkmate.
Rin slowly approached the cornered Mihiro, who seemed to be in internal conflict with herself. Mihiro, noticing the distance being covered quickly, even though Rin was in actuality walking slowly, wanted to run out of the room.
"Why won't my legs move??"
She was in a disarray; her legs had given up on her. She could not escape this.
Mihiro considered shouting out for help but remembered that school had just ended, meaning that there was a low chance people would be back at the dorms. Moreover, if this got reported, it would be bad for them both.
So she just stayed where she was, having already given up on resisting.
'I mean… it was my idea after all, so I can't really blame him for falling into my temptation. Plus, I don't think I'll really mind it… An affair between a spy and a surveillance target… how romantic.'
Mihiro was quite the romantic herself, it seemed. She was coping well.
A few seconds later, Rin was right in front of her. He stared straight into her eyes, then crouched down and placed his face in front of hers.
'Is he going to kiss me?'
Mihiro closed her eyes in surrender, waiting for his kiss. What she got in return, however…
"Oww…"
A flick to her forehead. It hurt quite a bit.
"That's enough playing around for today. Akane will be back soon."
Mihiro was dumbfounded. She was already resolute in doing the deed.
"I'm saved…"
She exhaled deeply while regaining her bearings.
"Weren't you the one who offered it in the first place, haha?"
Rin was laughing at Mihiro who had gotten intimidated. He had seen a new side of her, and the same went for her. Rin was quite the actor, it seemed.
"Dummy."
Mihiro was mad. However, it was the kind of 'mad' that was more of annoyance that she had been fooled.
"You should thank Akane when she comes back."
Stopping his laugh, Rin turned towards Mihiro and once again looked at her intently.
"…"
"I'm just joking. Hahaha."
Mihiro puffed her cheeks. Her face was still slightly red.
"On that note, I'll accept it."
"Accept what?"
Mihiro was confused as to what Rin was saying. Her mind was still in turmoil and could not think straight.
"You want to be my girlfriend."
"Huh?"
"Unless you were joking about that as well, then too bad I suppose."
Mihiro realized that Rin had given consideration to her proposal, which further jumbled up her mind. However, she already had an answer before she had even asked.
"Sure thing, Rin."
They both laughed loudly at how this resolution turned out, oblivious to the footsteps arriving at their doorway. With that, a new couple had been made.