All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

Kotomi Izumi had come to Kyoto hoping for three peaceful, uneventful days.

Now that Mei Yamazaki had suddenly taken an interest in her, Kotomi just wanted to stay as far away as possible. First, because she had zero tolerance for two-faced flirts, and second... because Mei wore way too much makeup, and it was obvious her face had been surgically enhanced.

Kotomi couldn’t even imagine what Mei would look like if someone splashed her with makeup remover. How much of her so-called beauty would be left?

Girls like Mei who loved going to nightclubs and bars always had ”good luck,” so to speak. Better to steer clear.

Kotomi quickly settled on that decision.

The exclusive elevator arrived at the presidential suite floor, and Kotomi carried the case of Pepsi cheerfully back to the room.

Though Mei Yamazaki had seen that she was staying in the presidential suite, Kotomi wasn’t too concerned. The suite had top-tier security—you could only use the exclusive elevator with a suite keycard. The stairwell on this floor was also independently secured and required the same card to unlock.

Basically, no outsiders could access the floor.

That said, Kotomi figured Mei had only started showing interest in her after realizing she lived in the presidential suite.

If Mei found out that the true occupant of the suite was Mashiro Shiina, and Kotomi was just playing her ”personal assistant” for three days, her interest might shift completely to Mashiro instead.

That woman was just that transparent.

But she made her intentions far too obvious. Anyone with even a bit of social experience would immediately see through Mei Yamazaki’s act.

In the end, she was just too green. She might have total dominance over peers or anyone younger, but in front of someone like Kotomi—who was a seasoned fox in a past life—she stood no chance.

Kotomi scoffed with a smirk. As Ailun in her previous life, she had seen women like Mei Yamazaki countless times.

”Mashiro, I’m back!” Kotomi called as she entered the room, one hand hoisting the case of Pepsi, the other opening the door with ease.

Thank you, Queen of All Females aura.

”Kotomi, you really do love Pepsi, huh?” Mashiro glanced at the case on Kotomi’s shoulder and remarked sincerely.

Back at school, whenever she saw Kotomi buy soda, it was always Pepsi. If Pepsi was available, she wouldn’t even look at Coca-Cola.

Mashiro had been a Coke drinker when she lived in the UK, but after meeting Kotomi in Japan, she’d gradually switched to Pepsi too.

It was only after meeting Kotomi that she realized—Pepsi is actually really tasty!

”One case—not too much, not too little. Just enough for three days. Let’s make some snacks later and crack open a few bottles. They say fried chicken goes with beer, but my favorite will always be fried chicken and cola. Eating chicken, sipping soda, and watching a movie on the giant TV in the presidential suite... That kind of enjoyment? You only get to experience it a few times a year~”

Kotomi unloaded the Pepsi and filled the fridge, speaking with a hint of fondness.

And it really was a big TV—not just a figure of speech. It practically took up an entire wall!

Mashiro nodded obediently. She had always liked going along with Kotomi’s plans.

What the two had apparently forgotten was—they had just come back from snacking on the street.

Meanwhile, at the Izumi household...

Aimi lay sprawled on the bed after getting home from school. With her sister away, she felt no motivation and didn’t want to move at all.

Just the thought of Kotomi being in Kyoto for three days had her rolling over and hugging the pillow she took from Kotomi’s bed, flopping like a salted fish who had lost its will to live.

One would think Kotomi had gone to Kyoto for three years instead of just three days.

But for Aimi, Kotomi’s absence really did feel that long—maybe even longer. Calling it thirty years wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration.

”Ugh... after enduring what felt like an eternity, it turns out only one day has passed. There are still two whole days until Kotomi comes home. Waaaah, how am I supposed to survive that long?!”

If it weren’t for midterm exams, Aimi might’ve seriously considered ditching everything and running off to Kyoto. And if she did that, Akina Izumi would 100% tan her hide when she got back.

There was nothing in the world Aimi feared—except the Empress Dowager of their household: Akina Izumi.

Whenever they joked around, Kotomi and Aimi would playfully say to their mom: ”Calm down, Empress Dowager Akina.”

Because of midterms, there wasn’t any homework assigned. Students were just told to review for the next day’s test.

But Aimi didn’t study at all. She lay sprawled on the bed, lacking even a shred of motivation with Kotomi gone.

Not that Kotomi’s presence usually made her study much harder anyway...

Still, Aimi had always been naturally smart. Even without serious studying, her grades were never a cause for concern. She wasn’t the top student in the entire school, but in her class, she consistently ranked near the top.

So even without reviewing, tomorrow’s exams wouldn’t be a big problem—at worst, she’d just take a bit longer answering the questions.

After lying around for a while, Aimi dozed off and took a 20-minute nap. Dinner was still a ways off. Bored out of her mind, she grabbed her laptop, brought it onto the bed, booted it up, and navigated with the mouse to the D drive where she stored her galgames.

The whole process was smooth and practiced. Hard to believe she’d only gotten into galgames just last month.

”I already finished all four seasons of FLOWERS. I wonder what other fun galgames are saved on Onee-chan’s laptop?”

She casually scrolled through the folders, in the mood for something like FLOWERS—sweet, romantic stories full of cute girls bonding.

While clicking around, she accidentally opened a folder.

Inside were twenty full titles in a series, including side stories and bonus chapters.

”What is this...” Aimi rubbed her eyes and went back up one level to check the name of the main folder.

There, at the top, the title of the galgame series stared back at her:

—A Kiss for the Petals.

Aimi hesitated. This was her first time hearing about this galgame series.

She quickly did a search using Google Chrome and, sure enough, it was just what she suspected—a story about girls bonding sweetly with each other.

When she opened the first title and saw the bold, black, red, and white R18 label, Aimi froze for a second. But instead of backing out, she cheered inwardly: ”Yes! Exactly what I wanted—R18!”

Still, knowing how she could easily lose herself in a galgame, she decided to stop for now and wait until after dinner to dive in.

—After dinner—

Aimi took a shower, changed into her pajamas, and returned to her room. Sitting on the bed, she opened the first game again.

She had only reached the title screen earlier. Now, she clicked ”Start.”

The glow from the laptop screen illuminated her face like it was opening a door to a whole new world.

That night, Aimi didn’t sleep at all.

Meanwhile, after finishing a call with her parents, Kotomi set her phone down and headed into the bathroom for a shower. Mashiro was sitting in front of the giant wall-sized TV, flipping through options to find a movie.

Just as Kotomi had suggested earlier, she had put a few bottles of Pepsi into the freezer to chill quickly and ordered a large box of creamy cheese fried chicken and a big box of honey mustard chicken. The plan for the night? Enjoying fried chicken and cold cola while watching a movie—the perfect chill evening.

Kotomi didn’t really care what movie they watched. All she cared about was the food, so she left the choice to Mashiro while she went to shower.

With a casual wave, Kotomi said, ”I’ll leave picking the movie to you. Anything you like is fine.”

Honestly, Kotomi was just here for the chicken and cola. She didn’t have any particular preference for the movie and figured it was better to just let Mashiro decide.

To be completely honest, even if Mashiro picked something risqué, Kotomi probably wouldn’t mind. She might even watch it with keen interest, fast-forwarding through the juicy parts.

”Did you pick a movie yet?”

Fresh from her shower, Kotomi poked her head out of the bathroom, towel-drying her hair as she glanced toward Mashiro.

Mashiro was still flipping through movie titles with the remote. Hearing Kotomi’s voice, she was about to respond that she had decided, but the moment she saw Kotomi—damp and wrapped in nothing but a towel—she froze, her eyes fixated on her.

Kotomi wasn’t exactly oblivious. Seeing Mashiro’s expression and reaction, she blinked in surprise, then gave a teasing humph as she walked over and pinched Mashiro’s soft cheek.

”Hello? Earth to Mashiro! If I hadn’t snapped you out of it, were you about to drown in your own fantasies?”

”N-No...” Mashiro stammered, cheeks flushing as she realized how obviously she’d been staring. But instead of bowing her head in embarrassment, she kept her gaze lifted—even staring at Kotomi more intently.

Now it was Kotomi’s turn to be shocked.

She really hadn’t expected Mashiro to be this bold.

What had started as Kotomi teasing Mashiro had quickly flipped. Now, faced with Mashiro’s open and unflinching gaze, Kotomi blushed so hard it looked like her cheeks might bleed from a light pinch. Flustered, she turned and hurried back into the bathroom.

Only after changing into her pajamas did she dare come out again.

”Ahem. That... never happened, okay? Anyway, what movie did you pick?”

”This one,” Mashiro said, pointing at the screen.

As Kotomi unwrapped the fried chicken, she followed Mashiro’s finger and looked at the TV screen. The title of the movie was one she knew all too well—Titanic.

A globally acclaimed, iconic romantic disaster film. Its reputation was so immense that even people who had never watched it had likely heard its name.

Many of cinema’s most memorable scenes and lines came from Titanic.

”Mashiro, you haven’t seen Titanic before?”

”I’ve seen it,” Mashiro replied matter-of-factly. ”But I wanted to watch it again—with you.”

Kotomi had a three-viewing rule for movies: she could watch a good film up to three times. After that, the enjoyment usually dropped off significantly since she’d already memorized the plot.

Beyond that point, her attention shifted from the story to minor details she hadn’t noticed before.

Spotting those subtle, hidden clues in a film was addicting—especially when they hinted at the ending or were quietly unsettling. Noticing those things gave a deep sense of satisfaction.

When Mashiro noticed that Kotomi wasn’t saying anything, she started to worry that Kotomi didn’t like Titanic. Mashiro herself really liked the movie, but if Kotomi didn’t want to watch...

Just then, Kotomi, who was mid-bite into a honey mustard drumstick, felt a gentle tug at the edge of her clothes. Looking over, she met Mashiro’s big, watery eyes.

”Kotomi, let’s not watch Titanic then... please don’t be mad, okay?”

”Huh?”

That was by far the most confusing sentence Kotomi had heard all day.

She wasn’t sure why Mashiro thought she was mad. But knowing Mashiro, she probably misunderstood something again. Sometimes it felt like Mashiro wasn’t the brightest bulb.

Kotomi gently rubbed her soft cheek, then smiled and said:

”Come on, let’s watch a movie together. Titanic is actually one of my favorite romance films. I didn’t expect to get the chance to rewatch it today—I’m really curious to see how it feels on a screen as big as a wall.”

Was Titanic really her favorite romance film? No. But Kotomi said it anyway—to make Mashiro feel like they had similar tastes, to create more common ground between them.

Hearing that, Mashiro’s face lit up with the cutest smile. She pressed play.

The movie began.

Not long after...

Kotomi let out a sleepy yawn halfway through. Maybe the long hours on the train had caught up with her—she was feeling drowsier than usual.

She glanced at Mashiro, who was completely engrossed in the movie, then quietly pulled out her phone and opened her LINE chat with Megumi Kato.

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