All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

Kotomi likes me… Kotomi likes me… Kotomi likes me…

Even while asleep, Tomoka Yuigahama felt like her heart kept repeating those six words: Kotomi likes me. After all, last night, when Kotomi thought she was asleep, the actions she took and the words she said had been far too shocking for Tomoka.

As Tomoka was slowly waking up in the morning, her hand instinctively reached to the side. Finding it empty, she suddenly jolted awake, thinking Kotomi Izumi had already left. She hurriedly opened her eyes, wanting to go look for her.

At the very least, if you’re leaving, you should wake me up and say something!

Though she didn’t voice it, Tomoka couldn’t deny deep down that she loved the feeling of Kotomi being by her side.

Whether it was last night when they discussed illustrations together in the small room, or when circumstances forced them to sleep in the same bed, Tomoka couldn’t help feeling reluctant for it to end. She was a strong single mother, but behind that strength, she still longed for someone to accompany and support her in the quiet of night.

Before she could even sit up, Tomoka suddenly felt as though someone was lying in her arms. She rubbed her eyes and glanced at the empty space beside her, then lowered her head and gently lifted the blanket. Somehow, Kotomi—who should have been sleeping next to her—had ended up nestled right in her arms.

”K-Kotomi?!”

Seeing Kotomi sleeping soundly in her embrace, with a peaceful expression on her face, Tomoka exclaimed in surprise. Then she quickly shut her mouth, afraid of waking Kotomi—after all, it was only five in the morning.

Thinking it over, Tomoka soon realized she shouldn’t be too surprised.

The last time Kotomi had stayed at the Yuigahama house, she slept in Yui Yuigahama’s bedroom, sharing the same bed. Kotomi slept like a log, while Yui was so blissful she barely slept at all.

Her mind was full of thoughts like: When they get married, should Kotomi take her surname, or should she take Kotomi’s?

Yuka wanted Kotomi to marry in as her sister-in-law, so naturally she hoped Kotomi would take their surname and become Kotomi Yuigahama.

But Yui thought: As long as Kotomi is happy, either way is fine!

While Yui lay awake, giddy with excitement, Kotomi slept soundly, unbothered by anything. She wasn’t picky about pillows or beds. Even if it was her first time sleeping there, she had no trouble falling asleep. Once she got under the blanket, she would drift off within seconds.

But once asleep, Kotomi’s sleeping posture… became rather restless.

One of the reasons she preferred double beds was because she loved rolling around while she slept. On a single bed, she’d risk falling off easily.

Even though Yui was already in high school, she still had the habit of kicking off the blanket. Every night when Tomoka stayed up late drawing, before she went to bed she would stop by Yui’s room and cover her daughter with the blanket again.

That night, Tomoka had gone as usual to check on Yui. She had planned only to peek in and leave after making sure Yui was covered properly. But as soon as she entered, she saw Kotomi sprawled on top of Yui, fast asleep, while Yui wore an expression of pure bliss.

Tomoka had been left speechless, silently closing the door, thinking: I’ll just… pretend I didn’t see that.

It was then that she realized Kotomi had a habit of rolling around in her sleep.

And now, seeing Kotomi sleeping comfortably in her own arms, Tomoka understood perfectly well why she had ended up there.

”You really are such an adorable little one that no matter what you do, it feels cute.” Tomoka whispered softly with a gentle smile, brushing away the snow-white strands of hair that had almost slipped into Kotomi’s mouth and tucking them behind her ear.

After lying in bed for another ten minutes, Tomoka finally sat up. She carefully pulled the blanket over Kotomi to keep her warm, then tiptoed out of the bedroom and went to the kitchen to start preparing breakfast.

First, Tomoka Yuigahama began making breakfast for Kotomi. In just a few dozen minutes, the alarm Kotomi had set for six o’clock would go off. For breakfast, Tomoka decided to make ramen, since last night during their illustration discussion, Kotomi had casually mentioned that she loved ramen—especially ramen paired with fried rice.

But there was no leftover rice at home. Cooking rice first and then stir-frying it would take too much time. So Tomoka decided to just make ramen.

”Kotomi likes the fish cakes in ramen. I think I still have some in the fridge… Ah, found them.”

After gathering the ingredients, Tomoka set a pot of water on the stove. Although she hadn’t cooked for a while, making ramen wasn’t beyond her skills.

The key to ramen is the soup base. If you want it to taste good, most of the time is spent simmering the broth. Thankfully, these days, whether online or in convenience stores and supermarkets, you can easily buy instant ramen soup bases that, once added to the pot, taste almost as good as what you’d get in a ramen shop.

”Yui was the one who usually used these before. I didn’t expect it to be this convenient. All you have to do is prepare the toppings and noodles, bring the water to a boil, and then add the instant soup base.” After glancing at the instructions, Tomoka began cooking.

She made two bowls first. As for Yui and Yuka’s portions, she would wait until they woke up before cooking theirs. If ramen is cooked too early, both taste and texture suffer, and the soup runs low. Of course, there are exceptions—like Kotomi, who actually preferred ramen with very little soup.

Kotomi loved soupy, almost paste-like ramen. Especially when she could take half of it, pour it over fried rice, or add skewered meat or chicken drumsticks into it.

After setting the two steaming bowls of ramen on the table, Tomoka glanced at the clock. Only a minute remained until six. She washed her hands, placed the chopsticks and spoons neatly, and then tiptoed back to the bedroom. Just as she pushed the door open, the alarm went off.

Beep beep beep

Doo doo doo—

Two completely different alarm sounds rang out at exactly the same time. Kotomi immediately sat up from bed the moment she heard them, instinctively shutting off her alarm in one smooth motion. Such practiced movements clearly came from countless mornings of turning it off and going back to sleep—only to end up late for class.

After silencing her alarm, Kotomi frowned. Why was there still another alarm ringing? She turned her head and saw that Tomoka’s phone had also been set to go off at the same time. Looking toward Tomoka, who was standing by the bedroom door, just about to step in, Kotomi gave an embarrassed smile.

How had the two of them, without any discussion, set their alarms for the exact same time?

”Good morning, Aunt Tomoka.”

”Breakfast is ready—it’s ramen. Want to eat together?”

”Yes!”

In the kitchen, Kotomi Izumi and Tomoka Yuigahama sat face to face, eating ramen.

”How is it? There wasn’t enough time to simmer broth, so I used instant soup base.”

”It’s good. I like the tonkotsu flavor.”

”Phew…” Seeing Kotomi enjoy it, Tomoka finally sighed in relief. ”I was worried you might not like instant food.”

”How could that be? It’s not like I grew up only eating gourmet food. Some people say instant food has no soul, but I think if you’ve had a long day or are short on time, being able to quickly eat a hot meal like this is perfect. I don’t care about whether it has soul or not—as long as it tastes good and fills me up, that’s enough.”

Kotomi shrugged with a small smile. Though her parents were wealthy, they had never pampered their two daughters.

That sort of life where you rinsed your mouth every morning with expensive milk and sat down to a breakfast spread as grand as an imperial banquet—Kotomi had never experienced it. The Izumi family could afford to give their daughters that lifestyle, but they didn’t want them to develop picky tastes or wasteful habits.

As a result, neither Kotomi nor Aimi Izumi carried themselves with the spoiled airs of rich young ladies.

”Last night, I troubled you, Aunt Tomoka,” Kotomi said softly. Suddenly staying over at someone else’s home was inevitably an inconvenience. Naturally, she wanted to show her gratitude—manners never hurt.

”It’s fine, not troublesome at all. If you have time, come stay more often—I’d be happy,” Tomoka said with a smile. But then, recalling that Kotomi had actually slept in her bed last night, she blushed and hurriedly added:

”Yui really likes it when you come over. You girls probably whisper about all sorts of things before bed, right?”

Noticing Tomoka’s shy expression, Kotomi nodded knowingly and picked up the topic.

”Yeah. Last time I stayed over with her, I woke up once in the middle of the night and saw she was still awake. We lay there looking at the ceiling, talking about all kinds of things—from school to our daily lives. That conversation really brought me and Yui closer.”

She said she woke up in the middle of the night, but in truth Kotomi had slept straight through until morning. There had been no quiet late-night talk while staring at the ceiling.

Well, Yui knew the truth too. But right now Yui was still fast asleep upstairs, unaware that Kotomi was even in her house.

After that, Kotomi and Tomoka quietly continued eating their noodles, occasionally chatting about novel illustrations. But with tacit understanding, neither mentioned the fact they had shared a bed last night.

Tomoka especially didn’t dare bring it up—because just before she fell asleep, she had clearly heard Kotomi’s whispered confession, and felt her stolen kiss. She had never expected Kotomi to kiss her!

Yet when that gentle kiss ended, the feeling in Tomoka’s heart was almost… reluctant to let it end.

She couldn’t believe Kotomi would kiss her, thinking she was asleep, and even confess to her. Even more, she couldn’t believe her own true feelings—that she hadn’t wanted the kiss to end so soon!

Tomoka didn’t want to believe it, and she didn’t dare admit it. She didn’t know what might happen if she acknowledged those feelings—what kind of changes would occur between her and Kotomi?

And perhaps, no matter what changed, it would end up hurting Yui…

So now Tomoka kept warning herself silently: she absolutely must not admit that she had been unwilling for Kotomi’s kiss to end so quickly! And she must never reveal that she had heard Kotomi’s confession and felt her kiss last night! She was already an unfit mother—could she really steal away her daughter’s future happiness too?

And so, the two finished breakfast each wrapped in their own thoughts.

After eating, Kotomi went back to the bedroom to put on her coat and shoes. Instead of leaving through the front door, she slipped out the same way she had come in last night—by opening Tomoka’s bedroom window and climbing out.

”Goodbye, Aunt Tomoka.”

Landing smoothly outside, Kotomi turned and waved to Tomoka Yuigahama.

”Remember to send me a message when you get home, to let me know you’ve arrived safely,” Tomoka Yuigahama reminded.

”Got it~” Kotomi answered cheerfully before leaving the Yuigahama house.

Her scheduled meeting with Megumi Kato at the Chiba shopping mall was at 10 a.m. Counting the time, there were still about four hours left.

Kotomi decided to head home first. Since she had stayed at the Yuigahama house last night and hadn’t returned, even though Tomoka said she had already called her mother, Aimi would definitely be sulking after realizing her sister hadn’t come home.

Thinking of this, Kotomi quickened her pace, planning to hurry home and coax her little sister.

She unlocked the door and, upon entering, heard the sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen. She was ready to step in and greet whoever was there.

She expected, as usual, that her mother would be making breakfast. But to her surprise, today it was her father, Kaneyoshi Izumi, wearing an apron and cooking, while her mother sat leisurely in a chair, waiting for the meal to be ready. From time to time, she would call out:

”Dear, don’t put cilantro in mine.”

”You should’ve said so earlier, I’ve already chopped it all. I cut too much.” Kaneyoshi smiled helplessly.

”It’s fine, just put it all in Aimi’s bowl.”

”She doesn’t like cilantro either… Forget it, I’ll just throw it all into one bowl.”

”Dad, Mom, I’m back,” Kotomi said as she entered the kitchen.

”Kotomi, did you eat breakfast already?” Kaneyoshi asked with a smile.

”I did. But since you cooked today, Dad, even if I’m stuffed, I’ll still eat another portion!”

”You brat, so you’re saying if I don’t cook, you won’t eat breakfast?”

Akina Izumi tapped her daughter lightly on the head. Having not done so for an entire night, she just felt the need to knock her once. She then added:

”Why did you come back so early? Isn’t that being a little irresponsible toward Yui?”

”Mom, your train of thought is jumping way too far. I can hardly keep up.” Kotomi tugged at the corner of her mouth, speechless.

”Didn’t you stay over at the Yuigahama house last night? Weren’t you sleeping with Yui?”

I slept with Yui’s mom… Kotomi thought to herself, but instead she said:

”Yeah, I slept with Yui. But it was just pure, innocent sleeping. If I hadn’t been so tired and accidentally dozed off, I honestly hadn’t planned on staying over at the Yuigahama house last night. Mom, what are you imagining?”

”Make sure you remember those words—pure and innocent.”

Akina Izumi dropped the reminder half-seriously, half-casually. As a mother, she felt exhausted. It was one thing for her eldest daughter to have so many ambiguous relationships with girls. But now, even Arisu Sakayanagi from the Sakayanagi family had her eyes on Kotomi, and they were preparing a marriage proposal.

Still, thinking of this, Akina couldn’t help but wonder: Did Arisu Sakayanagi know that Kotomi already had so many ambiguous relationships with other girls?

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