All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

Ayani Kika's voice always carried a unique charm.

For example, just now, when she hugged Kotomi Izumi from behind and finished speaking, Kotomi almost instinctively wanted to nod in agreement. She even wanted to continue working hard without stopping.

Ding.

Just as Kotomi Izumi was about to nod, her phone suddenly rang.

It was the notification sound from LINE when a new message arrived.

Kotomi Izumi jumped in spite of herself. Her small hands trembled slightly as she hurriedly pulled out her phone, afraid that the message might be from Megumi Kato.

She did not even unlock the phone at first, only glanced at the lock screen to see who had sent it.

When she saw that it was from Yui Yuigahama, she finally let out a small sigh of relief. Even though she had not read the message yet, she figured it was probably asking when she would be heading back.

When Ayani Kika saw Kotomi take out her phone to check the message, she thoughtfully released her and lay back down lazily. In reality, she was simply avoiding looking at Kotomi's screen, silently telling her: I won't peek. Don't mind me. Talk to your girlfriend about whatever you want.

Seeing how considerate Ayani Kika was, Kotomi could not help thinking, Actually, you could keep hugging me from behind...

Even though Kotomi had not said it out loud earlier, it was obvious from her expression that she had quite enjoyed being held from behind by Ayani Kika.

Now that Ayani Kika had let go, she felt a tiny bit disappointed.

Looks like I should stay over tonight after all. I'm a devoted and single-minded good girl, after all...

Thinking that, she unlocked her phone and tapped on Yui Yuigahama's profile picture.

Yui's avatar was a pale peach-colored dango with a pair of plump, fluffy dog ears growing on top.

Kotomi had drawn it for her some time ago. After sending it to Yui, Yui had jumped around in excitement and loved it dearly. That very day, she changed her avatar on LINE, Twitter, her music app, her novel app, her manga app—every single app on her phone that allowed profile pictures—to that pale peach dog-eared dango.

Kotomi had not drawn the avatar on a whim. It was because some time ago, Yui had asked her, "Kotomi, can I use our photo together as my profile picture?"

Kotomi had been startled when she heard that. The main reason was that when she had first accepted Megumi Kato's confession, Megumi had asked a similar question. Megumi had wanted to use a photo of the two of them as her avatar as well. After finding out, Kotomi had spent a long time beating around the bush before finally persuading Megumi—barely—not to use their photo.

The price Kotomi had paid for that was... being held tightly by Megumi for six whole hours.

Although even after six hours, Megumi still had not taken Kotomi's most precious thing.

After all, Megumi had always planned to take Kotomi's most precious thing on a meaningful occasion. She had already chosen that occasion—it would be during the upcoming winter break.

Kotomi and Megumi had agreed earlier that they would go camping in Yamanashi Prefecture during this year's winter vacation.

Megumi had intended to take Kotomi's most precious thing on the night of that winter camping trip, and to offer her own most precious thing to Kotomi as well. Otherwise, she would not have deliberately chosen pure white bedsheets when buying supplies for the trip.

What Megumi had never expected—and still did not know—was that while she eagerly looked forward to winter break and prepared to take Kotomi's most precious thing on that camping night...

Yui Yuigahama had already beaten her to it.

Back to the point.

When Yui had brought up changing her profile picture, Kotomi had persuaded her just like she had persuaded Megumi—not to use their photo together.

But Yui, although gentle by nature, had a tendency to overthink. Faced with Kotomi's refusal, she had felt confused and started brooding alone, wondering why Kotomi would not let her use their photo.

Seeing Yui quietly stewing in her own thoughts, looking wronged and pitiful, Kotomi had felt both distressed and helpless.

So after returning home from school, she picked up her drawing tablet and, in less than ten minutes, sketched a pale peach dango with dog ears and sent it to Yui, saying:

[This is an avatar I drew for you. If you like it, you can use it.]

[Now do you understand why I didn't agree when you asked at school if you could use our photo as your profile picture?]

[To draw this avatar for you, I spent over a month thinking about the concept, the design, and the color scheme. Every night I sat in front of my computer, racking my brain, revising it again and again. If I wasn't careful, I'd end up staying up until two or three in the morning. All just to create an avatar that suits you and that you'd like.]

[That's right. I already wanted to draw an avatar for you more than a month ago. If you used our photo instead, wouldn't that make this drawing completely pointless?]

[Do you like it? If you don't, I'll revise it again. Hmph!]

Back then, the moment Kotomi sent the messages, Yui immediately called her. Kotomi still remembered Yui's tone—so happy she sounded like she was about to cry. "Kotomi, I'm going to use this avatar for the rest of my life! You've worked so hard this past month. Thank you. I love you!"

"Do you like it?" Kotomi had asked.

"I love it!"

"As long as you like it, that's all that matters. Even if it took a year, I wouldn't feel it was hard work."

Looking at the avatar she had drawn in under ten minutes, Kotomi had spoken solemnly, moving Yui to tears.

Now, staring at Yui Yuigahama's avatar and recalling why she had drawn it—and how touched Yui had been after receiving it—Kotomi silently muttered in her heart:

You little idiot.

After that, she opened Yui's messages.

There were two in total.

Yui Yuigahama: [Kotomi, it's almost ten-thirty. When are you coming back?]

Just as expected—it was asking when she would return.

I'll just make up some excuse later. I want to stay over at Ayani Kika's place tonight...

Thinking that, she looked at the second message.

The moment she read it, Kotomi froze in shock. It felt as though her soul had nearly left her body.

Because the second message read:

[Oh right, Kotomi, Megumi called earlier and asked what you were doing. I told her that you went to your third uncle and aunt's place this morning.]

[Megumi didn't say much. She just asked what Yukino and I had for lunch.]

[I told her we had spicy kimchi stir-fried pork belly, beef rice bowls, and minced eggplant rice. After that, Megumi said that once she returns from Kyoto, she'll have me over to her place for meat sauce lasagna, and then she hung up.]

[When the time comes, I want to learn how to make meat sauce lasagna from Megumi.]

[My mom can make meat sauce lasagna, and it tastes amazing. But no matter how hard I try, I just can't learn her method. There are so many steps, and it requires so many ingredients and seasonings.]

[I wonder if Megumi's version will be simpler in terms of preparation and ingredients?]

[But no matter how difficult it is, I'll definitely learn how to make meat sauce lasagna!]

[Because isn't meat sauce lasagna your favorite, Kotomi~?]

[I want to learn it and make it for you myself!]

Clatter.

Kotomi Izumi's hand trembled, causing her phone to fall to the floor.

She did not even reach down to pick it up. She remained frozen in the same posture, the hand that had been holding the phone trembling slightly as large beads of cold sweat slid down her cheeks and dripped onto the floor one after another.

Although Ayani Kika, sitting on the bedding, could only see Kotomi's back at the moment, the sound of the phone hitting the ground still caught her attention. Slowly sitting up, she asked with concern,

"What's wrong? Why do you suddenly look so nervous? Did your girlfriend send you one of those GIFs that's pitch black at first, then suddenly flashes a ghost face at the end while you're chatting?"

Kotomi slowly came back to her senses, let out a long sigh, and muttered softly to herself,

If only it were something like that...

"Your expression looks weird. What exactly happened?"

Seeing that Kotomi genuinely looked frightened, Ayani Kika stopped joking around and asked gently,

"Did something happen?"

Whether it was merely psychological or not, after hearing Ayani Kika's words, Kotomi felt that although her mood had not completely relaxed, she did feel slightly calmer.

It was like suddenly finding a safe shelter to rely on amid a violent storm.

Kotomi Izumi had not experienced this feeling in a very long time.

Because the last girl who had ever made her feel this way was Kazumi.

Ever since Kazumi fell into that deep sleep from which no one knew when she would awaken, Kotomi had never felt this kind of reassurance again.

Clearly, not that much time had passed since the day Kazumi fell asleep. Yet after feeling this mixture of familiarity and unfamiliarity, the longing for Kazumi that Kotomi had buried deep inside surged forth once again.

Even though it had not truly been that long, the yearning she felt for Kazumi still gave her an indescribable sense of distance, as though an entire lifetime had passed.

At the same time, Kotomi turned curiously to look at Ayani Kika.

She said nothing at all.

She simply stared blankly at her, trying to find even the slightest resemblance between Ayani Kika and Kazumi.

Kotomi herself did not really understand why she was doing this.

Was it because she wanted emotional comfort?

Or was it because a ridiculous thought had suddenly popped into her mind?

The sense of security Kazumi gave me and the feeling Kika just gave me are a little different, but overall they're still strangely familiar... Could it be that... Ayani Kika is actually Kazumi in disguise?

After repeatedly comparing Ayani Kika's appearance with Kazumi's in her mind, Kotomi could not help silently sighing in disappointment.

Other than the feeling of reassurance they gave her, the two had absolutely nothing in common.

Once she calmed down slightly, Kotomi recalled her earlier thought that Ayani Kika might be Kazumi in disguise and could not help laughing at herself internally.

She really was grasping at straws.

To think she had actually imagined something this absurd just because of a fleeting emotional sensation.

Not to mention anything else, when she first met Ayani Kika, Kazumi had still been inside her body eating chips while reading Sea Tiger.

With Kazumi's personality—someone who loved showing off whenever she had the chance—if she truly knew Ayani Kika, she definitely would have introduced them back then. She probably even would have bragged about it.

Kotomi could already imagine exactly how Kazumi would boast about it:

Wow, I know this oiran. Heh heh, amazing, right? I know the number one oiran of Kyoto's Gion pleasure district. Pretty impressive, huh?

In any case, one thing was certain now.

Ayani Kika was not Kazumi in disguise.

At the end of the day, Kotomi felt that the reason she had thought such a thing was simply because she became anxious whenever Kazumi was involved.

Although Kotomi already had some guesses regarding the request Kazumi entrusted to her before falling asleep, she had no real clues or evidence to support them.

She simply lacked far too much information.

Otherwise, she would not have ended up thinking something like "Could Ayani Kika actually be Kazumi in disguise?" just because of a similar feeling of reassurance.

"It's nothing."

Kotomi forced a smile and spoke to Ayani Kika.

Perhaps because she had just been thinking about Kazumi, the panic in her heart instantly calmed down.

At the same time, a clear solution appeared in her mind.

Ayani Kika opened her mouth slightly. With a single glance, she could tell that Kotomi was hiding something in her heart.

But she also knew that if Kotomi was not telling her now, then it meant she did not want her to know.

After staring at Kotomi for a long while, Ayani Kika ultimately chose not to continue asking.

She was very sensible and understood boundaries well.

She knew that even if she kept asking, Kotomi probably still would not answer.

If anything, continuing to pry might only make Kotomi dislike her.

All the complicated emotions in her heart ultimately condensed into a single sentence:

"Alright then."

Kotomi smiled at Ayani Kika.

Originally, she really had planned to stay the night.

But under the current circumstances, there was no way she could stay anymore.

The fact that Megumi had called Yui meant that all the lies she had told at noon had already completely fallen apart.

It would be nearly impossible to patch them back together.

At this point, the only solution left was...

Kotomi quickly reviewed the plan she had just come up with in her head.

Although it was a bit crazy, and although it guaranteed she would not sleep at all tonight, it was still far better than potentially dying under Megumi Kato's knife after returning to Chiba.

"I still have something I need to take care of tonight, so I should head back after all. I really do want to stay here, but... sorry. When there's another chance in the future, forget one night—if you want me to stay with you longer, I'll stay however long you want."

Kotomi spoke apologetically.

Ayani Kika had invited her so sincerely, yet she still had to leave.

A beauty's affection was difficult to bear. At the very least, she had to properly express her apology.

"Alright, I'll remember that. I'll wait for the day you make good on those words."

Ayani Kika smiled brightly.

Just as Kotomi was about to stand up, Ayani Kika suddenly asked another question.

"Are you still curious?"

"Hm? Curious about what?" Kotomi asked.

"At the restaurant this afternoon, weren't you curious why I knew you'd only just woken up recently? And why I knew you wouldn't go straight to Gion, but would stop by the tempura restaurant near Gion first?"

Ayani Kika briefly summarized the matter.

Only after hearing her mention it did Kotomi remember that she really had been curious at noon.

But Ayani Kika had accidentally diverted the conversation, and if she had not brought it up herself now, Kotomi probably would have completely forgotten about it.

"If you hadn't mentioned it, I seriously would've forgotten. So how did you know? You're honestly strange too. At noon you deliberately changed the subject before I could keep asking, so I thought you didn't want to tell me. But now you're bringing it up yourself."

Halfway through speaking, Kotomi added teasingly,

"You're really impossible to understand sometimes."

"I didn't want to tell you at noon, but now that it's nighttime, I suddenly do. Is that not allowed?"

Ayani Kika shrugged confidently.

"Fine, fine. Of course it is."

Kotomi was completely helpless against Ayani Kika's back-and-forth teasing.

Seeing her reaction, Ayani Kika smiled in satisfaction.

Sitting beneath the covers, she crooked her finger toward Kotomi.

"Call me something nice first, then obediently bring your little ear over here. Big sister will tell you~"

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