All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

When Atsuki said those words, her tone was light—like a feather drifting gently through the air—but to Megumi Kato, it felt more like a heavy rock crashing down on her heart.

She admitted, Atsuki had been very tactful in her phrasing. But that tactfulness only served to mask the cruelty of her underlying meaning.

That someone like you is not worthy of Kotomi Izumi. Atsuki had nearly said it outright, and Megumi wasn’t stupid—how could she not understand?

”Don’t think I’m being harsh. This is already the gentlest way I can put it. Sure, part of what I’m saying comes from my personal bias in helping Ojou-sama deal with a romantic rival, but it’s also a reality I’m telling you.”

”Fairy tales about Cinderella don’t exist in real life. In reality, love is often built on an equal footing in terms of wealth, family background, and social status.”

”As a maid, maybe it sounds arrogant for me to say this. But even among maids, depending on the family and master they serve, there is a hierarchy. As the head maid of the Sakayanagi family, serving their Ojou-sama, I can say this with confidence. Does that make me someone who flaunts her master’s power? Haha!”

Atsuki ended with a self-deprecating laugh. She had seen too many love stories with stark disparities in background—very moving tales, like a princess falling for a poor boy, a wealthy young master falling for a maid in his household, or a female employee in a company. Such stories did happen now and then among wealthy families, but the more dramatic the romance, the more likely it ended in tragedy.

In Atsuki’s eyes, love with too wide a gap in background was often doomed before it even began.

Now, seeing what looked like another impending love tragedy, she couldn’t help but speak up.

She figured Kotomi and Megumi were just high schoolers, perhaps still naively believing that love only required feelings. They didn’t yet understand that to sustain love in the long term, you needed more than affection—you needed bread to support it.

”I can guess why you’re saying all this. As a maid to Sakayanagi-san, you’re constantly surrounded by the upper echelons of society. You’ve probably seen many heartbreaking romances ruined by a disparity in status, haven’t you?” Megumi responded calmly, not showing a hint of anger.

”That’s right. I’ve seen a lot. Any one of those stories could be turned into the script for a hugely popular romantic tragedy drama,” Atsuki said jokingly.

”Well, thanks for the warning. But I’m sorry to disappoint you: I won’t break up with Kotomi. The reason is simple. I like her. I love her. Even if I know there will be obstacles, difficulties—if I let fear of those things stop me, wouldn’t that be a shameful waste?”

”A shameful waste?”

”Even if the odds are small, as long as I keep moving toward my goal, the possibilities I encounter along the way are all unknowns. Among those unknowns could be the very opportunities that lead me to succeed, to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. If I just gave up because of what you said and felt weighed down by pressure, wouldn’t that mean throwing away all those potential chances? Isn’t that a shameful waste?”

At this point, a rare sense of confidence shone through Megumi’s usually composed smile:

”What if, by seizing those opportunities, I can really end up with Kotomi?”

Atsuki’s eyes widened slightly, clearly surprised. She had to admit, she found herself somewhat persuaded by the girl in front of her.

”Is it youthful fearlessness, or just reckless bravado?”

”Isn’t a bit of bravado what youth is all about? Even a toad can dream of eating swan meat. And besides, I’m a swan too. A white swan falling for another white swan—how is that arrogant? That’s what I call confidence,” Megumi declared with absolute conviction.

”Wonderful speech!” Atsuki nodded. ”If my hands weren’t full right now, I’d give you a round of applause. Then allow me to wish you success in turning what would have been a tragic love story into a sweet and happy ending.”

”You’re wrong,” Megumi corrected the latter half of Atsuki’s statement. ”The love between Kotomi and me was never going to be a tragic story from the start. It’s always been a sweet romance—one that, ideally, would make every ’audience member’ watching feel like they’ve just bitten into a lemon.”

As she finished, Megumi cast a provocative glance at the still-un”awakened” Arisu Sakayanagi and chuckled softly.

Atsuki raised an eyebrow. She had thought, as the Sakayanagi family’s head maid, that she’d seen every kind of scenario.

But this? This was definitely new.

With Arisu slung on her back, Atsuki exited the old school building. Megumi followed close behind.

There was still an hour left of lunch break as they walked toward the classroom building, so there was no rush to grab lunch.

”I really want to eat lunch with Kotomi... maybe buy a ton of yummy stuff from the school shop and treat her. That might cheer her up a little.”

Having upset her sweet, fragrant wife that morning, Megumi was now racking her brain for ways to coax her adorable penguin back into a good mood.

Kotomi had said last time that if Megumi treated her roughly again, she wouldn’t even let her hold her hand for half a month! Just thinking about it made Megumi want to slap herself.

”Ughhh, what if she really won’t let me touch her for half a month? I’d die!”

Megumi muttered pitifully to herself, and before she knew it, she had arrived at Class 1-A’s exam room. To avoid having to rearrange seating, students were spending lunch breaks in their assigned exam classrooms during midterms.

She peeked inside, but after scanning for a while, Megumi couldn’t find any trace of her snow-white little penguin.

Where did this little penguin run off to?

A big question mark practically floated above Megumi’s head. She looked everywhere, but Kotomi was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, a sense of alarm crept into her heart. Could it be that while she and Arisu were duking it out, some other girl swooped in and whisked Kotomi away?

”Tch... there’s really no room to relax even for a second. Too many people trying to sneak into my territory,” Megumi clicked her tongue in annoyance.

”Ah, Megumi, good afternoon. You haven’t had lunch yet?” Yukino Yukinoshita, who was also in the Class 1-A exam room, came over to greet her.

”Good afternoon, Yukino~ Hey, by the way, have you seen Kotomi? Isn’t she supposed to be with you?” Megumi asked.

Yukino shook her head. ”After the last exam this morning, Kotomi went out to lunch with another girl. I don’t know her name, but she had a great figure and seemed to get along really well with Kotomi. I think she’s from Class 1-B.”

”They got along because of what exactly?”

At first, hearing that Kotomi had gone to lunch with a female classmate made Megumi a bit curious, but she wasn’t too concerned. That changed the moment Yukino mentioned the girl had a great figure.

Megumi’s internal alarm went off.

Kotomi had almost zero resistance against beautiful girls with great figures—Megumi knew this all too well!

Just from the anime wallpapers on Kotomi’s computer, all featuring busty female characters, and not just still images but animated ones, it was clear enough.

Apparently, Kotomi sometimes just stared at her desktop wallpaper, doing nothing else, for quite a while.

”I think they play the same game. What was it called... App...?”

”Apex?”

As Kotomi’s girlfriend, Megumi also knew Kotomi could get completely absorbed in gaming, especially Apex. There were many times she had called, wanting to chat, only to hear intense game noises blasting through Kotomi’s end the moment the call connected.

”Yes, that’s it. Apex.”

”Do you know where they went to eat?” Megumi was now in full panic mode and quickly asked again.

”No idea. Kotomi did ask me if I wanted to join them, but I brought a bento today, so I didn’t go.”

Yukino smiled apologetically. Honestly, she was starting to regret not going with them herself.

Just the thought of Kotomi eating lunch right now with a well-endowed girl who also liked Apex made Yukino feel sour and frustrated.

After Atsuki left the old school building with Arisu Sakayanagi, she exited through the south gate and returned to the car.

After settling Arisu into the back seat, she returned to the driver’s seat and closed her eyes to rest. A while later, the long-feigning unconscious Arisu slowly opened her eyes.

”Ojou-sama, could you maybe be a little less cautious next time? Actually, the moment we left the old school building, Megumi Kato was already walking in a different direction.”

Atsuki let out a helpless smile. Her hand chop might have looked forceful, but in reality, it had very little effect.

From the moment she struck until Arisu ”passed out” and then ”came to,” no more than five minutes had passed.

Still, the important thing was that it managed to bring Arisu back from the brink of bloodthirsty madness. If not, the situation might have ended very badly. In her then-unhinged state, wielding her cane-sword, Arisu could’ve turned Megumi into a corpse—or at the very least, left her severely crippled.

After coming to her senses, Arisu didn’t open her eyes right away but instead continued pretending to sleep, quietly listening as Atsuki told Megumi about Kotomi’s past.

Arisu adjusted her collar, returned her cane-sword to its disguised form, and finally spoke:

”You’ve got some nerve, telling Megumi about Kotomi’s past. Especially when Kotomi herself hasn’t even remembered it yet.”

”I originally just wanted Megumi to back off...”

Atsuki gave a wry smile. Her good intentions had completely backfired. She had meant to help her Ojou-sama deal with a romantic rival, but instead of dissuading Megumi from dating Kotomi, she’d only fired up her determination.

”If she were the type to give up so easily, I wouldn’t consider her a worthy rival,” Arisu said flatly.

”I just didn’t expect to lose control of my emotions like that. I nearly killed her... Thanks again, Atsuki. If you hadn’t stopped me in time, when I finally came to my senses, all I would’ve seen was Megumi’s corpse.”

”It’s nothing. I’m your maid, Ojou-sama, and also the head maid of the Sakayanagi family. Everything I do is based on your best interests. By the way, when did you actually wake up? I was mid-sentence when I looked over and realized you were already awake.”

”I woke up right after you finished bandaging Megumi’s wound. I just kept pretending to sleep.”

In other words, from the moment Atsuki began recounting the fire incident involving Kotomi and Arisu, to her warning that Megumi and Kotomi came from different worlds and could never find happiness together, and finally to Megumi’s declaration of her love and determination—Arisu had listened to every word without missing a beat.

”Ojou-sama, you’re a master at playing possum.”

”Flattering, truly.”

Arisu brushed her hair back with a flourish and continued:

”What’s strange, though, is that Megumi also knew I was pretending. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have flashed me that provocative smile when you went to carry me. Her words weren’t just a declaration of love—they were a challenge. Heh, how interesting. She’s the first person worthy of being my rival.”

”She knew you were pretending?!” Atsuki was stunned.

”Yes. Still, I did hear her true feelings for Kotomi. It’s clear she genuinely loves her. Her feelings are so deep, even I have to acknowledge them.”

”That really is surprising,” Atsuki murmured in disbelief.

”Surprising how?” Arisu asked.

”That you’d compliment someone like that—and a love rival you nearly killed, no less. That’s what’s truly surprising, Ojou-sama.”

”You can’t just focus on how hateful your enemies are—you also have to see their strengths. Constantly reflect on where you fall short compared to your rivals and figure out how to improve and surpass them. Only then can you be the one smiling at the end as the ultimate victor. I acknowledge Megumi’s feelings for Kotomi—but so what? In the end, she will be the one who loses, forced to watch as Kotomi and I live a happily ever after.”

Arisu Sakayanagi chuckled, looking every bit the classic villain...

With more exams in the afternoon and still an hour left of the lunch break, Arisu slowly made her way back to the Class 1-A classroom with her cane.

”I bet Kotomi’s missing me~” The more Arisu thought about it, the more her smile deepened.

But upon reaching the classroom, she couldn’t find any sign of Kotomi. Arisu even wondered if she’d entered the wrong room. Stepping back out to double-check, she confirmed—it was indeed Class 1-A.

”Where’s Kotomi?” she muttered, clearly frustrated.

”Class Rep Sakayanagi, I think Izumi-san went out to eat with Matsumatsu-san just now,” said a female classmate from 1-A. She was the same one who earlier had told Kotomi that Arisu had turned in her paper and left.

”Matsumatsu?”

”Yeah, Kiyoko Matsumatsu from Class 1-B. She and Kotomi seemed to really hit it off. After the exam, they decided to grab lunch together at that new ramen shop just outside school.”

Crack!

Arisu’s hand clenched involuntarily. Her cane nearly snapped...

Meanwhile—

At the ramen shop.

After finishing her sixth bowl of fried rice and tenth bowl of ramen in different flavors, Kotomi Izumi finally set down her chopsticks.

She had basically ordered every ramen flavor from the left half of the shop’s menu.

The shop owner looked stunned.

Kiyoko Matsumatsu—busty and a fellow Apex enthusiast—stared blankly at Kotomi. Noodles dangled from her chopsticks, almost falling back into the bowl, but she didn’t care. Her eyes were fixed in disbelief on the mountain of bowls in front of Kotomi.

Thinking back to when she insisted on paying before they ordered, and Kotomi kept refusing, Kiyoko had felt a bit miffed at the time.

But now? There was no room left for annoyance. All she felt was overwhelming gratitude!

Thank you, Izumi-senpai, for sparing my wallet!

Kotomi dabbed her lips with a napkin and finally remembered she hadn’t come to eat alone. Smiling sheepishly, she said, ”I didn’t eat much this morning, so I might’ve overdone it a bit at lunch.”

”Hahaha, it’s fine! A good appetite is a good thing.”

Kotomi glanced at a small side dish nearby, then called out to the owner: ”Excuse me, could I get another serving of pickled radish?”

”Of course.”

A fresh plate arrived. Kotomi immediately began eating the pickled radish plain, savoring each bite with visible enjoyment. Her face lit up with bliss.

”Matsumatsu-san, the pickled radish at this shop is amazing. I don’t know why, but the sour-and-spicy combo is just addictive. Lately, I’ve been craving sour and spicy things like crazy.”

Kiyoko, clearly not thinking straight, blurted out:

”Sour cravings mean a girl; spicy cravings mean a boy?”

”Hahahaha! Matsumatsu-san, you’re hilarious! As if that could be true~”

Kotomi froze for a second, then burst out laughing uncontrollably.

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