All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

Kotomi twitched the corner of her mouth and asked helplessly, ”Neither of us got a room card?”

Mashiro looked around and noticed that everyone else had received their room cards and was taking the elevator to their respective floors.

”Kotomi, it really looks like only the two of us didn’t get room cards.”

Mashiro said the words in a tone that should have sounded anxious, but the slight smile tugging at the corners of her mouth made it clear she wasn’t the least bit worried.

In fact, from Mashiro’s perspective, not receiving a room card was a good thing.

She had always wanted to share a room with Kotomi. Even if her cousin could arrange for them to sit together on the Shinkansen, arranging for them to stay in the same hotel room? That seemed nearly impossible. After all, the number of participants selected for the first round of the art exhibition was 40 people.

As soon as they were selected, each of them had been assigned to a single-occupancy room. Which floor, which room—it was all predetermined. Quietly swapping two of them into a twin room or a room with a double bed? Absolutely out of the question!

But now, neither she nor Kotomi had a room card. On the surface, it looked like a problem, but to Mashiro, it was the perfect excuse for the two of them to go out and book a hotel room together.

And if anyone asked? Then clearly the issue was on the organizers’ end. Who told them to mess up the room card distribution?

Hehe, now I can share a room with Kotomi... Though Mashiro’s expression remained calm, her heart was bursting with joy.

Just as Mashiro was getting ready to drag Kotomi out to find a nearby five-star hotel and check in, Hibiki Naegi returned from the front desk with a few complimentary mint candies in hand.

Hibiki picked up her suitcase and asked, ”Kotomi, Mashiro, which floor is your room on? Those two elevators near the lobby already have huge lines. And since everyone’s on different floors, and those elevators only fit ten people at a time, going up and down will take forever. If we line up there, it’ll be at least 15 minutes.”

”But no worries, I asked the front desk while I was snagging mint candy. Aside from the two lobby elevators, there are others near the outdoor water park, the nighttime BBQ terrace, and the bar. I got the directions—let’s go there instead.”

After finishing, Hibiki casually pulled two mint candies from her pocket and handed them to Kotomi and Mashiro.

Kotomi knew Mashiro didn’t like mint candy, so she took both pieces and popped them into her own mouth before replying with a bitter smile:

”President... looks like Mashiro and I didn’t get any room cards.”

”Huh? Neither of you got room cards? That can’t be right. Maybe the staff made a mistake? Don’t worry, I’ll go ask someone.”

With that, Hibiki approached one of the staff members who had not yet left.

”Excuse me, sorry to bother you. Two of our students didn’t receive room cards. Was there an oversight during distribution, or maybe an error during the count?”

”What?! No room cards?” The staff member looked surprised. ”That’s strange. I wasn’t in charge of distribution myself, but normally every room card is pre-counted the day before.”

The staff member looked troubled. She was only working as a temp, helping move tables and chairs. Now that she knew two students hadn’t received their room keys, she had no idea who to ask about it.

Kotomi glanced at the girl. It was obvious she was a student herself, probably a second-year in college, inexperienced, just trying to earn some extra cash. Expecting her to resolve the issue would be too much.

”It’s okay, really. This kind of thing, we can handle it ourselves. You’ve worked hard all morning, go ahead and rest,” Kotomi said, waving her hand in reassurance.

”I’m really sorry.”

”No need to apologize. You weren’t responsible for the room keys to begin with, right?” Kotomi gave her a gentle smile.

The girl hesitated, then quickly pulled out a small notebook and scribbled something down with a pen. She tore out the page and stuffed it into Kotomi’s hand, her voice a little rushed—perhaps out of nervousness.

”U-um... I’m in Kyoto University’s Humanities Department. This is my phone number! If you run into any problems, please call me! I might not be confident that I can solve it completely, but I’ll help you until the very end!”

That’s a bit dramatic, Kotomi thought. It’s just a missing room key—not the final battle of some epic war. Worst case, the organizers refund them and she and Mashiro book a new room somewhere else.

Still, seeing this shy and awkward girl choosing to step forward and help, Kotomi couldn’t help but feel a bit of warmth. She smiled and accepted the note.

”Sure, I’ll hold onto your number. But don’t worry about the room key. It’s not your responsibility. I was just thinking, since I’m new to Kyoto, if I ever get lost or need directions, would it be okay if I called you for help?”

”Absolutely! Leave it to me. I grew up in Kyoto!” the girl nodded enthusiastically.

Kotomi smiled and watched her walk away. Her earlier words had just been a polite way to ease the girl’s anxiety.

Kotomi really wasn’t familiar with Kyoto, but with how advanced map apps were now, getting lost in a city was hardly a worry.

She had her phone, and if worse came to worst, she could always ask someone. A lot of students might get too shy to approach strangers, but Kotomi wasn’t one to be bashful over something like that. In this area, she was definitely more mature than her peers.

She didn’t really need help from that girl, and they’d probably never cross paths again. Even if Kotomi did get into Kyoto University, the odds of meeting her again were slim. But still, she saved the number in her phone as a little memory.

The girl had been shy and soft-spoken, but she was cute.

”There’s no other staff around now,” Hibiki kindly reminded her.

Kotomi shook her head with a smile. ”Even if I had asked her to stay, she probably couldn’t help anyway. Most of these workers are Kyoto University students doing part-time jobs for a bit of cash. They didn’t even get any training. How could they be expected to handle unexpected situations?”

”Kotomi, when you said that just now, you really sounded like someone who’s been grinding in the adult world for years,” Hibiki said, genuinely impressed.

”Haha, I was just imitating how my parents talk,” Kotomi replied with a small smile, casually making up the excuse.

Not having a room key wasn’t exactly a huge problem. Kotomi figured she could just book another room with Mashiro, and if Mashiro minded, they could simply get two rooms instead.

Still, an issue like this shouldn’t be overlooked. If they really weren’t issued room keys, then Kotomi was determined to get a proper explanation from the organizers.

Why did this happen?

Where exactly did things go wrong, that everyone else received room keys while the two of them didn’t?

Who was responsible for managing the room assignments?

And how would they be compensated? What kind of measures would be taken? When would the compensation start?

Kotomi had already mentally lined up a whole list of questions.

Even though Hibiki had a room key, there was no way she’d just leave her two juniors to fend for themselves while she went off to her room. She was tired, sure, but she popped three mint candies into her mouth to stay alert and joined them in figuring things out.

”First things first, we need to solve the lodging problem.”

After thinking for a moment, Hibiki suddenly looked like she had an idea.

”Right! I asked the front desk earlier about the single room layout, and they showed me a reference photo. As expected of a five-star hotel, the bed looked super comfy, and there was even a wide sofa beside it.

”Kotomi, Mashiro, if it comes to it, we could all share one room. The bed might technically be a single, but it’s probably close to a double. If we squeeze a bit, we might all fit.”

”Or we could draw straws: one person gets the bed, and the other two share the sofa or sleep on the floor.”

”No.”

Mashiro instantly rejected the idea without hesitation.

Just then, Professor Eiren Kanagawa’s voice floated over to them:

”Kotomi, Mashiro, Hibiki—finally found you three! I thought you’d already left the lobby. I was searching everywhere... Turns out you were still here.”

She jogged over, slightly out of breath, and stopped in front of Kotomi and Mashiro. Then, she pulled out a sleek black-and-gold room key card from her wallet—clearly unlike the ones given to other students.

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