All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

Kotomi froze for a moment before quickly saying,

”Mom! How did we suddenly get onto this topic? You sure have a knack for making bold statements, haha...”

Seeing Kotomi’s slightly flushed cheeks, Akina wore an expression that seemed to say she had already seen through everything.

”Did you really think I wouldn’t notice your little thoughts? If you truly didn’t like Iroha, your first instinct would have been to immediately shake your head and deny it, trying to convince me otherwise. That would mean your conscience is clear, and you honestly have no feelings for her.”

”But just now, instead of your usual reaction, you nervously tried to change the subject. And that means... well, I don’t need to spell it out, do I?”

After finishing her deduction, Akina smirked triumphantly as if to say, Nice try, kid, but you can’t fool your mom.

Her words left Kotomi speechless for a moment. She didn’t know what to say—or rather, she did know what to say, but the words felt stuck in her throat. The chaotic thoughts in her head made it difficult to articulate that one sentence smoothly.

”Feeling a bit overwhelmed? Maybe even a little dizzy?”

”Like a three-year-old struggling to express themselves—you know exactly what’s in your heart, but when you try to say it out loud, the words just won’t come. It’s as if your ability to form sentences has completely shut down.”

”The harder you try to speak clearly, the more clumsy your words feel. Your subconscious starts telling you that you’re just rambling nonsense, making you second-guess everything you say. And the more you worry, the worse it gets.”

Akina spoke with a knowing smile.

Kotomi nodded, surprised that her mother had managed to put her exact feelings into words.

Just as her mother had described, it was as if she had suddenly lost the ability to speak.

Do you like Iroha?

Kotomi already had a clear answer in her heart, but right now, she felt utterly incapable of saying it out loud.

Converting thoughts into spoken words was usually such a simple thing, yet at certain moments, it became incredibly difficult. It was like trying to punch through cotton—leaving her with a strange, nagging frustration.

Seeing Kotomi nod, Akina chuckled and reached out to ruffle her daughter’s neatly styled hair, completely messing it up.

For a high school girl, her hairstyle was no small matter.

Even someone like Kotomi—who never bothered wearing her uniform properly—would still glance in the mirror now and then to check if her hair was tidy. If time allowed, she’d even try out different hairstyling techniques she had seen online.

That said, whether or not she wore her uniform properly didn’t really have much to do with her hairstyle...

No matter how impressive Kotomi might be elsewhere, in her mother’s hands, she was like a helpless little lamb caught by a tiger. Akina’s rough head pats had Kotomi wailing in protest.

It couldn’t be helped. The Nagachou family primarily dealt in walnuts, and even though Akina didn’t particularly like eating them, she had spent her childhood helping shell them. Over time, she had unknowingly developed a much stronger grip than the average woman.

Whenever she ruffled her daughters’ hair, her hands instinctively applied the same force she used for cracking walnuts. Sometimes, when she tousled both Kotomi and Aimi’s hair at the same time, the scene didn’t look warm and affectionate—it looked more like...

One tiger taking down two lambs.

”Mom, let’s talk this out—no need for violence!” Kotomi wailed. ”Ugh, I was just admiring how naturally good my hair looked when I checked the mirror earlier. I was planning to take note of the details so I could replicate it tomorrow morning... but now you’ve completely ruined it!”

”Do you know what ’naturally maintained’ means? It means you don’t maintain it at all—you just let your hair do its own thing.”

Akina spoke with utmost seriousness as she continued ruffling Kotomi’s hair. The silky texture was too addicting—just running her fingers through it once made her want to do it again and again.

After thoroughly messing up Kotomi’s hair for who knows how long, Akina finally let out a satisfied sigh, as if she had just finished an intense workout. Only then did she get up and leave the room.

A few moments later, she returned, this time holding a book—the first-edition limited version of Sword Art Online Volume 1.

”Here, this is what you wanted, right?”

”Mhm, thanks, Mom.” Kotomi nodded and took the book.

”Although I can make plenty of guesses, I can’t say for sure exactly what’s on your mind when you’re giving this book to Iroha. Maybe you just want to share your joy with a friend, or maybe... it’s something a little more like love~”

Akina deliberately trailed off, making sure Kotomi fully understood her implication. The effect was immediate—Kotomi’s cheeks turned slightly red as she struggled to maintain a calm expression.

”Haha! Don’t worry, this book is yours now. I already have my own copy anyway. As for when you ’learn how to talk properly,’ just hurry up and tell Iroha, okay? I’m only interested in the results. Besides, it’s not just anyone you’re giving this to—it’s Iroha. As your mother, how could I be stingy over a book? Make sure to sign it properly and give it to her soon.”

Akina chuckled before adding a final remark with an amused smirk:

”Don’t keep Iroha waiting too long.”

Kotomi stared at her feet for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. Seeing this, Akina didn’t press further. She casually turned off the TV, played with Wolong and Fengchu for a bit using a cat teaser, and then returned to her bedroom, leaving Kotomi alone in the living room.

”Phew, done signing.”

After neatly signing her pen name, ”Izumi Ki,” on the copy meant for Iroha Isshiki, Kotomi stretched her wrist as if she had just finished a grueling, hours-long book signing event.

Meanwhile, her suitcase sat quietly in the corner, still unpacked...

”Oh, right! Last time Iroha sent me a photo—maybe I should return the favor!” Kotomi’s brilliant mind suddenly lit up with an idea. For some reason, she had an impulse to send Iroha a photo as well.

She decided to take one in the same style as the picture Iroha had sent her before.

With her mind set, Kotomi snapped a photo with her phone. Then, she suddenly remembered that she had a Polaroid camera buried deep inside her cabinet. She had used it a few times after buying it, but afterward, it had just been left sitting around.

She began rummaging through her things, trying to find where she had stashed the camera.

”I remember how hard I worked to save up for this Polaroid camera. When I finally bought it from the electronics store, I made a solemn vow to use it to capture the world’s most breathtaking landscapes—images so beautiful I’d never forget them. For the first few days, I was full of ambition. But after two weeks, it just sat on my desk. Two months later, I tossed it into the cabinet.”

Thinking about it now, Kotomi couldn’t help but twitch the corners of her mouth in embarrassment. If not for wanting to take a photo for Iroha today, she might not have remembered the camera’s existence for another year.

After searching for a while, she was relieved to find that it wasn’t buried too deep. She finally pulled out her Polaroid camera, adorned with a crystal case and a rainbow shoulder strap. The color? A lovely lavender purple—her favorite at the time.

She had spent ages debating between avocado green and lavender purple before finally settling on the latter.

-Inside the cabinet, Kotomi also found a box of ten photo papers—of which only three remained—a thin, colorful photo album, spare AA batteries, and two unused mini photo frames.

If she needed more photo paper, she could easily order some from Amazon or buy it at a local electronics store, whether online or in person. But after thinking it over, she realized she wasn’t that interested in photography anymore. In fact, buying the camera had just been a spur-of-the-moment decision.

She wasn’t even sure if she’d ever use up these last three sheets.

Maybe after taking this picture for Iroha, she’d put the camera back in the cabinet and forget about it again. Kotomi mused to herself.

After setting up the timer, she struck the same pose as before and successfully captured a Polaroid photo.

It wasn’t quite the same as the one Iroha had sent her. There was no helping it—Iroha had Aimi to take her picture, while Kotomi had to rely on herself.

Even though both her phone and the camera had timer functions, the result still wasn’t quite the same as having someone else take the picture. Still, Kotomi was satisfied with the outcome. After all, she was naturally photogenic.

Even with a low-resolution camera, her beauty could outshine the moon itself.

Low resolution? No, this was vintage steampunk aesthetic!

After admiring her work for a while, she compared the Polaroid with the digital version on her phone. There was something uniquely charming about the instant film print.

She tucked the photo inside the book she was giving to Iroha. The size fit perfectly between the pages.

”Does this count as an exclusive ’bonus’ gift?” Kotomi chuckled.

Iroha’s copy of Sword Art Online might be the only one in the world like it—a special first-edition limited copy.

Not only did it come with bookmarks and an autograph, but it also contained a personal Polaroid of Kotomi.

After using up so much energy dealing with Megumi after school, even her queen of all women physique couldn’t fully replenish her stamina. Mentally, she still felt drained.

The moment she sat on her bed, her eyelids grew heavy. Without forcing herself to stay awake, she slipped under the covers and fell asleep almost instantly. She hadn’t planned to stay up late anyway.

Just before drifting off, she had the nagging feeling that she had forgotten something.

Oh well. Not worth thinking about.

Sleep first!

Two seconds later, Kotomi was sound asleep, her gentle breathing filling the room.

”Hoo~”

Meanwhile, her suitcase sat untouched in the corner, abandoned once again...

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