All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

”Oh, I get it now. In the eyes of people who participate in piano competitions, prize money is optional, because the value contained in the title of ’champion’ alone is already enough.

”For people who don’t understand piano, they might not even know who won which competition, let alone remember those who participated but didn’t become champions. But for the competitors themselves, even if they’re trying to build their reputation, they’re not aiming for some kind of massive, out-of-the-circle fame. What they want is recognition and value within the piano world.

”Leaving aside bragging rights for a moment, even if they run out of money someday, they can still apply to be a piano teacher or open a piano training school.

”As long as they write in their self-introduction that they once won a championship or achieved some ranking in a certain piano competition, then exaggerate it a bit like a résumé, they basically won’t have to worry about salary issues or not being able to recruit students.

”After all, parents who want their kids to learn piano—even if they don’t understand piano themselves—will naturally prioritize teachers or training schools that have clear, visible credentials like winning a competition.

”And later, when bragging to relatives, they can even say: My kid is learning piano from a master musician.”

”Mm, that’s right. Most people who participate in piano competitions are after the champion title to raise their reputation and value. There are also some fourteen- or fifteen-year-old contestants who are forced into competitions by their parents. Just like how my mother used to force me to participate in all kinds of piano competitions.”

Yukino Yukinoshita nodded and added:

”By the way, Kotomi, you’re really smart. I hadn’t even finished explaining, and you already figured it out on your own. It almost makes me wonder if that silly, airheaded side you usually show is just an act—playing dumb to catch people off guard.”

”Hehehe~” Kotomi Izumi laughed without responding, then continued, ”Anyway, the important thing is that you’ve regained your motivation to play the piano. That means inviting you to join my three-person band back then wasn’t for nothing.”

”That’s purely result-based reasoning—you’re just claiming all the credit in one go. But… you’re right. If you hadn’t invited me to be the keyboardist in your trio back then, I probably wouldn’t have picked up the piano again, nor rekindled that unwillingness to lose buried in my heart.

”I’m participating in piano competitions to become champion once again. After I win, I’ll keep playing the piano, but I won’t enter competitions anymore. I’ll let the piano become a part of my everyday life—playing whenever I want, whatever piece I want, however I want. Thinking about it that way, playing the piano suddenly doesn’t seem so heavy anymore.”

Yukino Yukinoshita said this with a rare smile.

”Playing the piano should’ve been like that from the start. The way your mother taught you was completely wrong. Instruments should clearly be about cultivating interest first, and only then learning seriously.”

Even though she had never met Yukino Yukinoshita’s mother, that didn’t stop Kotomi from complaining at this moment.

”You’re right. If it were you, Kotomi, with the way you talk, you might actually be able to shut my mother up completely.”

”Ahahaha… I’m a very polite person, you know,” Kotomi Izumi said quickly.

”Oh? So you’re planning to be polite first and ruthless later with my mom? If that’s the case, I’d be more than happy to help however I can. As for my mother, I don’t know if I hate her or not—but I really want to see her suffer a setback at least once.”

Yukino Yukinoshita said this half-jokingly. After saying it out loud to Kotomi, she felt her heart completely relax.

”In that case—” Kotomi Izumi sat up, stretched out her hand, and said, ”Then win a championship in a piano competition that’ll make your mother completely convinced!”

”A championship that’ll make my mother concede…”

”That’s right. If you want victory to be the ending of your piano competitions, then let that final victory be grand, earth-shaking, and deafening! Go participate in the piano competition your mother once wanted to enter, and win the championship trophy she failed to obtain but dreamed of!

”Let your mother know just how foolish it was for her to feel disappointed in you back then!”

Kotomi’s words were like a heavy hammer striking straight into Yukino Yukinoshita’s heart.

Why did she want to participate in piano competitions again after so many years?

It was because she hated losing.

But was her unwillingness to lose really only about refusing to let her piano career end in failure?

No—there was also her unwillingness to lose against her mother!

Her mother’s coldness over the years had always left a blazing fire hidden deep within Yukino Yukinoshita’s heart.

Since she wanted to compete again because of that unwillingness to lose, then she might as well seize this opportunity to release that fire completely—win a championship that would leave her mother speechless and forced to acknowledge it!

Use raw, undeniable strength to prove it to her mother.

That her disappointment back then was nothing but a mistake—an ignorant, foolish mistake!

”Alright. Let’s do it!”

Yukino Yukinoshita took a deep breath and sat up as well, extending her hand toward Kotomi Izumi. With a crisp smack, they completed a clean high-five.

”Since my mother was disappointed in me back then, I’ll use my own strength to win the championship trophy of the Brahms International Piano Competition—the one she dreamed of but never obtained!

”I don’t just want to slap her in the face with my ability and prove that I’m not the worthless person she claimed I was! I want to stand on the awards podium, right in front of her, and smash that championship trophy onto the ground!”

The Brahms International Piano Competition was regarded as one of Europe’s most famous, highest-level, and most professional international piano competitions, enjoying an extremely high reputation worldwide.

Countless pianists competed in the Brahms International Piano Competition, pouring everything they had into fighting for the championship trophy—all for the sake of glory.

But Yukino Yukinoshita’s motivation for becoming champion was only one thing:

Revenge against her cold, indifferent mother!

Become champion. Win the trophy. Then, on the awards podium, smash the trophy onto the ground.

Everything was for the sake of proving one thing to her mother:

’I am not the worthless person you call me. I never truly loved playing the piano. You, who forcibly imposed your unfinished piano obsession onto me, have no right to say the word ’disappointed’ to me!’

’Look! This is the championship trophy you once dreamed of obtaining. Now I’ve won it—but I won’t share it with you, nor will I keep it for myself. I’ll only smash it onto the ground right in front of you. And if it shatters, then even better!’

It was as if Yukino Yukinoshita had vented everything inside her. She gasped for breath again and again, wishing she could fast-forward time straight to the day she won that championship trophy.

Soon, as she gradually calmed down, Yukino Yukinoshita realized that Kotomi was still beside her. The moment she thought about the emotionally charged, image-breaking words she had just spoken, her cheeks couldn’t help but heat up.

Just as Yukino Yukinoshita tightly pursed her lips, waiting for Kotomi to tease her for being chuuni, she instead heard Kotomi Izumi say, her eyes sparkling brilliantly:

”Yukino, that was so cool!”

Yukino replayed the words she had just said in her mind. They were sincere, straight from her heart, and in the heat of the moment, saying them out loud had felt exhilarating and cathartic.

But once she calmed down, it felt exactly like when your grown-up self stumbles across the cringe-worthy username or personal tagline you used as a kid—pure, overwhelming embarrassment.

Yukino Yukinoshita had already braced herself, waiting for Kotomi to burst out laughing or tease her mercilessly. Instead, Kotomi hit her with:

’Yukino, that was so cool.’

Just five simple words, yet they echoed endlessly in Yukino Yukinoshita’s ears.

The feeling was like ordering a box of five McNuggets at McDonald’s, only to open it and find fifty nuggets inside. After finishing all fifty, you discover there’s still a Big Mac waiting at the bottom.

Never mind how a box labeled ”5 pieces” could possibly hold fifty nuggets and a Big Mac, or who on earth could finish all of that. Just the sheer, logic-defying surprise alone was enough to produce an indescribably strange sense of joy.

That said, to be fair, the question of who could finish fifty nuggets and a Big Mac did have an answer.

Kotomi could.

Kotomi’s two favorite burger chains were Burger King and McDonald’s. Her personal best at McDonald’s was eating seventy McNuggets in one sitting, along with three Big Macs, three large fries, and six double Filet-O-Fish burgers.

Before leaving, she even packed one grilled chicken burger to go—Aimi loved McDonald’s grilled chicken burgers.

Why ten?

Because Kotomi was going to eat eight of them.

Back to the point. This was exactly the state Yukino Yukinoshita was in right now.

Hearing Kotomi say she was cool made her feel incredibly good, yet at the same time, she couldn’t understand why Kotomi would say that.

Kotomi Izumi seemed to notice the confusion in Yukino Yukinoshita’s heart and explained with a smile:

”While you were talking just now, I couldn’t help imagining the scene—your standing on the podium, smashing the championship trophy of the Brahms International Piano Competition onto the ground. I even matched it with suitable background music in my head. So I blurted out ’so cool’ without thinking.”

”Th-That’s a bit much…”

Yukino Yukinoshita lowered her head, her face flushing red. Hearing Kotomi say that made her happy, but at the same time, unbearably shy.

”I’ve already picked out the BGM too,” Kotomi Izumi said seriously. ”It’s called Zero Eclipse.”

When Yukino smashed the trophy, the music would start right from the lyric ’You’re bigger’—it would be insanely hype.

”Zero Eclipse? Is that a new song you’re planning to write?” Yukino Yukinoshita asked.

”Yeah. What you said earlier gave me the inspiration. I’ve almost finished thinking up the lyrics already. Thank you, Yukino.”

After performing together on the cultural festival stage, Yukino Yukinoshita had already come to deeply acknowledge Kotomi’s composing talent. So when Kotomi mentioned a new song, Yukino didn’t think she was joking at all—instead, anticipation quietly bloomed in her heart.

Would it be similar to the previous songs, or would Kotomi try a new direction this time?

Especially hearing that this new song had been inspired by her words—that even the lyrics were nearly complete—made it feel as though a tiny person inside Yukino’s heart was jumping up and down, cheering wildly.

Yes!

”N-No need to thank me. When Zero Eclipse is finished, just let me be the first one to hear it. I’m really looking forward to your new song.”

Yukino Yukinoshita suppressed the excitement in her heart and spoke calmly.

”Alright, no problem. Leave it to me. Once Zero Eclipse is finished, you’ll be the first one I invite to come over to my house to listen.”

Go to Kotomi’s house to listen?

Those words erupted like a small volcano inside Yukino Yukinoshita’s heart.

If she’d been given a chance to fast-forward time earlier, she might have chosen to jump straight to the day she won the Brahms International Piano Competition.

But now?

Now, all Yukino Yukinoshita wanted was to fast-forward time to the day Kotomi’s new song Zero Eclipse was finished—and she was invited to Kotomi’s house to listen to it.

Kotomi inviting her over. Just the two of them in a room.

What would Kotomi do to her then…

Buzz—!

A roaring sound like a speeding train filled Yukino Yukinoshita’s ears. Her cheeks grew hotter and redder by the second, like a steam locomotive charging forward, billowing thick clouds of steam.

”Hey, Yukino, why is your face so red?” Kotomi Izumi asked with concern. ”Is it a bit warm in the carriage? I actually think this temperature feels pretty comfortable. If you’re feeling hot, I can go ask the attendant to adjust it. After all, there are only the three of us in this entire first-class car.”

Kotomi asked sincerely, though there was a faint, hard-to-read smile lingering at the corner of her lips—one that made it hard not to suspect she might be doing this on purpose.

She hid that smile well, and with the dim lighting in the carriage, Yukino Yukinoshita didn’t notice it at all.

”N-No need. Actually, every time I eat spicy food, my face turns red on its own. Sometimes it happens right away, sometimes only after a few hours. This time it just happened to be the delayed kind. Don’t worry—it’ll be fine in a bit.”

Trying her best not to let Kotomi see through her embarrassment, Yukino Yukinoshita desperately pieced together an explanation in her head.

She thought of a line and said it. Thought of another, and added it.

After finishing her flustered explanation, Yukino Yukinoshita lowered her head quickly, face still burning red.

Kotomi Izumi thought back to what Yukino Yukinoshita had eaten for dinner that night.

Cream-stewed vegetables. Chicken fried rice.

Not a single dish was spicy. There wasn’t even a decorative chili pepper in sight.

Especially the chicken fried rice Yukino had ordered—it really was delicious. Kotomi had stolen several bites of it.

So many, in fact, that Yui Yuigahama had gotten a little jealous. Kotomi had focused so much on Yukino’s fried rice that she barely touched Yui’s tomato omelet beef noodle dish.

Yui had puffed up her cheeks and eaten several big mouthfuls of noodles in protest, accidentally biting her tongue and nearly crying from the pain—yet she still saved the beef and omelet for Kotomi.

Of course, Kotomi didn’t know about Yui’s jealousy at the time. While eating Yui’s tomato omelet beef noodles later, she’d even evaluated it like a food critic in her head:

Too much tomato. The sourness was overwhelming. Whether it was the beef or the omelet, the first thing you tasted wasn’t aroma—it was sourness.

Kotomi didn’t like food where sourness was the dominant flavor.

Take pickled cabbage fish, for example. She liked it when the fragrance outweighed the sourness—just a hint of sour was perfect. Not overly sour.

She’d once eaten a version with lemon added. That taste…

Kotomi had hunched her shoulders and forced herself to finish it—not because the fish was particularly fresh, but simply because it was far more expensive than regular pickled cabbage fish.

Back to the point.

None of the dishes Yukino Yukinoshita had ordered were spicy.

So why did Yukino say her face was red from eating spicy food?

Oh—she got it.

Kotomi Izumi instantly understood.

Yukino Yukinoshita was just trying to cover up her embarrassment.

—

—

40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:

Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven