All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

Hearing Iroha Isshiki’s words, Kotomi didn’t respond with her usual teasing. Instead, she let out a pleasant, melodic laugh.

”Just hearing your lively voice puts me at ease.”

Iroha was slightly taken aback, but the smile on her lips grew softer and more genuine. ”Senpai, you worry about me way too much~”

”Saying I’m not worried would be a lie. I’m not a tsundere—if I have something on my mind, I’ll say it. Like right now, I’m worried about you, and that’s exactly what I feel.” Kotomi spoke slowly, her voice carrying a sincerity so clear that anyone listening could immediately hear it.

Iroha felt as if something warm was welling up in her eyes. She gently wiped the corners of her eyes with her fingertips, sniffled softly, and murmured:

”If Senpai is that worried about me, why don’t you move in with me for a few days? I’ve always wanted to share a bed with you~”

”W-What nonsense are you spouting?!” Kotomi’s face turned red as she stubbornly retorted, ”Though… I have thought about sleeping next to you.”

”Senpai, openly expressing your true thoughts in front of a girl like this can sometimes be quite improper, you know?” Iroha lowered her head with a playful smile, her tone laced with amusement.

”I’m a girl too, so it’s not a problem,” Kotomi stated confidently.

To deal with a little devil, you have to use the tactics of a little witch!

This was the realization Kotomi had come to after spending so much time with Iroha.

She only regretted not figuring it out sooner!

If she had, maybe she could have completely tamed this little devil instead of constantly being at risk of getting poked by her mischievous tail whenever she let her guard down.

The moment Kotomi finished speaking, Iroha immediately followed up with:

”If we’re both girls, then me sleeping in the same bed as Senpai should be perfectly fine too, right~?”

No.

Aimi would definitely oppose it.

Not only oppose it—she’d probably get mad, too…

Kotomi was momentarily flustered by the little devil’s unexpected advance, and just as she was about to come up with an excuse to brush it off, Iroha’s voice drifted softly through the phone—light and wistful.

”Senpai, do you think the Dragon’s Love Bell really works? Lately, I think I might have started liking you… Just like how you’ve started to like me, even just a little.”

”Eh?”

Kotomi froze at those words.

Holding her phone in hand, she stared blankly, her mouth slightly open, completely at a loss for how to respond.

Her mind drifted back to that day in Enoshima, to the legend of the five-headed dragon and the celestial maiden, to the moment when she and Iroha had rung the Dragon’s Love Bell together.

That clear, pure chime still seemed to echo in her ears, never fading away.

Does the Dragon’s Love Bell really have an effect?

Perhaps only Kotomi and Iroha’s hearts knew the answer.

”Hehe, just kidding! What a shame I didn’t decide to video call you just now—otherwise, I’d get to see exactly what kind of face Senpai is making right now~”

”I have no expression on my face at all!” Kotomi shouted, her face burning red.

”Hey, Senpai, where should we go to play next time?” Iroha suddenly asked.

”Anywhere you want to go, I can take you there… just like before.” Kotomi gave the same answer as before, then added, ”Of course, if it’s somewhere far, we’ll have to wait for a long holiday or winter break before I can take you there.”

”Hmm~ But I was thinking about skipping class with Senpai and running away to a far-off place together~ Hehe, is your face turning even redder now? I really wish I could see it for myself.”

”You arrogant little devil, tone it down a bit!” Kotomi shouted in embarrassment.

Hearing Iroha’s words, Kotomi absentmindedly walked into the bathroom and saw her own flushed cheeks in the mirror.

There was absolutely no way she would admit she was blushing—especially not to Iroha! Otherwise, this little devil would definitely get even more smug and ”push her luck”!

”Senpai.”

”Hm?”

”I have a lot of things I want to say to you. I wonder if I’ll ever have the chance to tell you all of them.”

”Idiot. Aren’t you always so full of confidence, you little devil? Bring out that usual confidence! Of course, you’ll have the chance to tell me everything on your mind. I’d be more than happy to listen.”

If this is a story about you and me—

Then our story is bound to be a long, long one.

On the other end of the call, Iroha silently let her tears fall. But rather than disappearing, the smile on her lips only grew even brighter.

”Ah!” Iroha suddenly let out a loud cry, just like she always did.

”What now?”

”I just realized… it’s getting pretty late.”

”Congratulations, you finally noticed. We’ve already been talking for almost an hour now,” Kotomi said, twitching the corner of her mouth.

”I was on the phone with Aimi earlier for barely 30 minutes, but with Senpai, I’ve been talking for a full hour.” Iroha’s words carried a deeper meaning.

”I can stay up pretty late,” Kotomi muttered as she rubbed her eyes, then picked up the sweet milk Aimi had prepared for her earlier and drank it down in one go.

The milk was no longer warm.

Which wasn’t surprising—after all, Aimi had already prepared it at 9 PM and left it on Kotomi’s bedside table.

But after finishing her conversation with Haruno, Kotomi had started playing Princess Connect, and then she ended up talking with Iroha. It wasn’t until now that she finally remembered—she hadn’t even touched the milk Aimi had made for her.

For some, the night feels long.

For others, it feels fleeting.

As the first light of sunrise appeared on the horizon, Kotomi did something rare—she got up from bed on time, without hitting snooze!?

”Ugh… it’s already morning? But I haven’t slept enough.”

Muttering weakly, Kotomi flopped back onto her bed with great reluctance. The thought of skipping class grew stronger in her mind.

She rarely stayed up late, and unless there was a special reason, she would never pull an all-nighter.

But last night, she and Iroha had talked all the way until 3 AM!

Strangely enough, even after chatting until 3 AM, neither of them felt bored or tired. Instead, they became more and more energized, as if they had endless topics to discuss.

At exactly 3 AM, the two, who had been talking just moments before, unknowingly fell asleep at the same time. Though they were physically far apart, it felt as if there were no distance between them, as if they were lying on the same bed.

After washing her face and brushing her teeth, Kotomi felt much more awake.

She casually picked up her phone and sent a message to Iroha.

[Good morning, are you up?]

Hopefully, Iroha wouldn’t be late today because she overslept…

Kotomi thought to herself with a wry smile. Come to think of it, it was partially her fault. As a senior, she should have ended the conversation by midnight and urged Iroha to sleep early. But in the end, she was even more enthusiastic than Iroha.

After sending the message, she saw that it remained unread. Iroha was probably still asleep. Without waiting for a reply, Kotomi put down her phone and began getting dressed.

Today, she also needed to discuss transferring clubs with President Naegi.

However, the specifics of how to negotiate and make adjustments were matters for Hibiki Naegi and Kisara Tendo to figure out. If the sky was falling, the taller ones would hold it up. As an unremarkable member, whether she stayed or left was up to those two club presidents to decide.

After finishing breakfast, Kotomi left home ahead of schedule. Stepping outside, as usual, she saw Megumi Kato standing under the streetlamp.

”Good morning, Megumi!”

”Good morning.” Megumi gave a gentle smile, then, after glancing at Kotomi’s face, asked with some concern, ”Did you not sleep well last night?”

There was no way Kotomi was going to admit that she had been on the phone with Iroha Isshiki, chatting until 3 AM.

But how should she respond?

Kotomi paused for a moment, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration. She felt like a genius!

Putting on a forced smile, she spoke in an unshakably determined tone:

”I spent 10,000 gems trying to pull Princess Kokkoro yesterday, but I didn’t get a single one.”

”Oh~ So it’s another one of those times where you spent money on gacha, didn’t get what you wanted, and ended up too upset to sleep?”

Recalling the previous occasions, Megumi didn’t find it strange at all. After all, Kotomi had been in a slump before after failing to obtain her favorite ships a few times.

”Was it Azur Lane again?” Megumi asked.

Due to Kotomi’s influence, Megumi had downloaded Azur Lane a while back. However, since she was only interested in watching Kotomi play rather than the game itself, she had merely done a few token summons—

And yet, she always started with at least three SSRs in each multi-pull.

Sometimes, she even got ten completely different SSRs in a single ten-pull. After that, she lost interest in playing further.

At most, she would log in whenever a new limited-time banner was released, pull until she had every event-limited character, and then instantly ”graduate.”

Kotomi shook her head. ”Not Azur Lane, it was Princess Connect.”

After speaking, Kotomi took out her phone, opened Princess Connect, and navigated to the limited-time UP banner featuring Princess Form Kokkoro.

”This is the Princess Kokkoro you wanted?” Kotomi pointed at Kokkoro on the screen.

Kotomi nodded vigorously.

”Although there’s no guarantee I’ll get her, I’ll give it a try anyway.”

Megumi Kato took the phone and, out of habit, started with a single pull to test the waters.

For Kotomi, she almost never used the single-pull button—she always went straight for the ten-pull.

After Megumi pressed the single-pull button, colorful light flashed, followed by a summoning animation.

[”With all my heart, I shall support my Master.”]

Once again, Megumi Kato continued her streak of incredible luck in Princess Connect.

With a single pull, she had effortlessly summoned the Princess Form Kokkoro that Kotomi had failed to obtain the night before, despite spending 10,000 gems.

Megumi Kato returned the phone to the stunned Kotomi and smirked slightly with a hint of pride.

”This is the Princess Kokkoro you wanted? Here, I got her for you with a single pull. I just realized… my luck in gacha is slightly better than yours.”

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