All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

Yukino Yukinoshita very much wanted to say that, but the moment she thought about how the relationship between herself and Kotomi Izumi was only that of friends, it felt as though a basin of cold water had been poured over her head. The chill made her shiver, and she could not help thinking:

If Yui weren’t here right now, would I have enough courage to tell Kotomi how I feel?

Yukino Yukinoshita felt certain that would be the case.

What she did not realize was that, with her personality, even if Yui Yuigahama were not beside her at this moment, she still would not have the courage to confess to Kotomi Izumi.

At least for now, Yukino Yukinoshita did not possess that courage, even though she constantly dreamed of the day she might become Kotomi Izumi’s girlfriend.

It was precisely because of Yukino Yukinoshita’s own hesitation and weakness that she only suddenly realized the love in her heart for Kotomi after seeing, with her own eyes, Yui confess to Kotomi and the two of them embracing in a kiss.

By the time she realized it, her feelings had already taken root deeply. By the time she realized it, her best friend had already taken the first step...

When she thought of that, Yukino Yukinoshita felt bitterness, yet the corners of her lips also curved into a self-mocking smile, as if lamenting, yet also ridiculing herself.

What is this? It feels like one of those tangled romances from literary fiction.

Neither Kotomi Izumi nor Yui Yuigahama knew what Yukino Yukinoshita was thinking right now. Seeing her wolfing down food, they simply assumed she was hungry.

Because Yukino had always been used to burying her thoughts in the deepest place. She hid them so deeply that even she herself could no longer notice them.

After dinner, when they returned to the luxurious Japanese-style guest room, Yukino Yukinoshita said nothing and went straight to the bathroom to take a cold shower.

Kotomi and Yui were both stunned.

Although winter had not arrived yet, summer had ended long ago. On top of that, the current temperature was already nearly the same as winter.

Taking a cold shower in weather like this, even with how warm the room was, was still a little too disrespectful to the season’s temperature.

”Yukinon, since when did you start liking cold showers?”

”I don’t know. Maybe after reading a classical novel with a scene describing one. How about it? Should the two of us try it later?” Kotomi Izumi said with a grin, half joking.

Whether it was a cold shower or not did not matter. Kotomi Izumi’s true focus was bathing together with Yui Yuigahama.

Although Yui Yuigahama did not understand Kotomi’s hidden meaning, when she heard Kotomi say she wanted to take a cold shower, she was just about to persuade her not to. In weather like this, it was easy to catch a cold.

But when she realized she could bathe together with Kotomi, Yui’s heart wavered. Just imagining such a scene made her heart pound wildly. The heat rising from that excitement even made her feel that, even in a cold shower, she would not feel cold at all.

Yui Yuigahama opened her mouth, hesitated for a moment, then softly replied:

”I want to bathe together with you, Kotomi, but taking a cold shower in weather like this makes it easy to catch a chill. I’m better at handling the cold, so I’d be fine, but you’re frail. Don’t take a cold shower, okay? Did you forget that you only just had a cold not long ago?”

Her words were filled with concern. For Yui Yuigahama, taking a cold shower herself did not matter. But if Kotomi Izumi wanted to do it, even if it might make Kotomi unhappy, Yui would still try to stop her.

The reason was simple. Kotomi had only recently recovered from a cold. Though it had come quickly and gone quickly, being sick was unpleasant. If it could be avoided, then it should be avoided.

Kotomi Izumi naturally heard the concern hidden in Yui’s words. Though it did not show on her face, it was reflected in what she said next:

”Hehe. If I catch a cold, then you have to sit beside my bed and feed me yellow peach canned fruit with a spoon.”

Whenever she was sick, Kotomi Izumi loved eating yellow peach canned fruit.

She especially liked drinking the syrup inside the can.

And if the canned fruit had been chilled beforehand, that was even better.

”Even if you don’t catch a cold, if you want yellow peach canned fruit, I’ll feed it to you with a spoon...”

As Yui Yuigahama quietly committed to memory that Kotomi liked yellow peach canned fruit, she softly said those words, her cheeks turning faintly red.

The courage she had during her confession did not exist all the time. Usually, Yui Yuigahama’s personality was airheaded, somewhat insecure, and shy. Saying words to Kotomi that sounded almost like love talk was already enough to fill her heart with embarrassment.

”Hm? What did you say? I didn’t quite hear you.” Kotomi Izumi had heard every word clearly, but deliberately claimed otherwise just to tease Yui.

How could the innocent Yui Yuigahama know Kotomi was being mischievous on purpose?

Though burning with embarrassment, after being asked like that by Kotomi, she still blushed and tried to raise her voice.

”Even if you don’t catch a cold, if you want yellow peach canned fruit, I’ll feed it to you with a spoon.”

Kotomi Izumi heard it perfectly clearly, yet did not respond immediately. While Yui was not paying attention, her little hand quietly slipped into the pocket holding her phone.

Then Kotomi continued pretending not to hear, asking Yui again with a puzzled tone. This time, there was even a trace of grievance in her voice as she pursed her lips.

”Yui, what are you saying? Why can I still not hear you? Were you saying bad things about me just now? Uu... Even if I bully you once in a while, you can’t retaliate like this. I really want to hear what you’re saying now. But your voice is always so soft, like you don’t want me to hear it at all.”

At that point, the dramatic little Kotomi even sniffed theatrically, looking as though she were about to cry from grievance.

For Yui Yuigahama, who had sworn in her heart to protect Kotomi Izumi and make her forever happy, the thing she feared most was making Kotomi unhappy or making Kotomi cry.

Just seeing Kotomi sniffing with reddened eyes, looking as though she were about to cry, already made Yui’s heart ache so much it nearly shattered. She wanted nothing more than to pull Kotomi tightly into her arms, much less actually see her cry.

At this moment, seeing Kotomi on the verge of tears, how could Yui Yuigahama care about embarrassment anymore?

Blushing fiercely, she shouted loudly:

”Even if you don’t catch a cold, if you want yellow peach canned fruit, I’ll feed it to you with a spoon! If I can... I-I want to feed you yellow peach canned fruit for the rest of my life!! No, not for the rest of my life. A lifetime is too short. I mean forever, with no end!”

Yui Yuigahama was an airhead who often spoke shocking things whenever her blood rushed to her head.

Just like now. She had only wanted Kotomi Izumi to hear clearly what she said earlier, but after seeing Kotomi on the verge of tears, Yui added one more sentence as the words left her mouth.

”If I can... I-I want to feed you yellow peach canned fruit for the rest of my life!! No, not for the rest of my life. A lifetime is too short. I mean forever, with no end!”

Was it really only about yellow peach canned fruit?

It was not.

What Yui Yuigahama truly wanted to express was that she wanted to stay by Kotomi’s side forever.

Just as she emphasized.

A lifetime was too short. What she wanted was forever, an endless forever.

Kotomi Izumi froze for a moment. Her pink eyes looked toward Yui Yuigahama with complicated emotions, as though countless words she wished to say were hidden in their depths.

If she tried to speak them one by one, even a thousand and one nights might not be enough.

All those countless words condensed into one spoiled little complaint that slipped from Kotomi’s lips.

”You silly dumpling...”

Kotomi Izumi’s pretty face also became faintly flushed without her noticing, warming slightly.

How strange. I thought I’d already gotten used to flirting with girls, so why do I still feel shy and my heart still races every single time...?

Thinking that, Kotomi touched her slightly heated cheek with a snow-white hand.

Kotomi Izumi, who was usually so good with words and expressing herself, unexpectedly found herself unable to fully say everything she wanted to tell Yui.

After being called a silly dumpling by Kotomi, Yui Yuigahama gave a foolish little laugh. In truth, Yui loved hearing Kotomi call her dumpling, especially the doting affection hidden in Kotomi’s tone when she said it. Yui had always been the one doting on Kotomi, but Yui also hoped Kotomi would dote on her.

The moonlight shone bright as frost. Kotomi Izumi reached out and caressed Yui Yuigahama’s cheek. The corner of her eye unconsciously glanced toward the bathroom. Only after seeing the bathroom door tightly shut, with Yukino Yukinoshita still bathing inside, did Kotomi withdraw her gaze and focus entirely on the girlfriend before her, the future wife before her—Yui Yuigahama.

The gaze in those pink eyes was a tenderness unique to Kotomi Izumi.

Kotomi’s tenderness and love could make anyone sink helplessly into them.

But at the same time, Kotomi’s tenderness and love were destined never to belong to only one girl.

Kotomi herself understood that clearly. But after another thought, she decided that for now, it was better not to think about such things yet.

Kotomi Izumi’s gentle gaze rested upon Yui Yuigahama’s lovely and beautiful face, and a doting smile curved at her lips.

A moment later, Kotomi slowly shortened the distance between them. It was not only the distance between their bodies that shrank, but also the distance between their lips.

”Yui, I love you. I really love you. In the future, I may make you angry, and I may make you sad. If possible, I’d like to apologize in advance. But no matter what happens, please never doubt my love for you. This heart of mine will love you forever and ever.”

Those were the words Kotomi Izumi softly spoke just as the distance between them was about to become zero.

Yui Yuigahama widened her beautiful eyes after hearing it, but before she could respond, Kotomi pulled her into an embrace. Before Yui’s cherry lips could speak, they were already kissed by Kotomi with a faint trace of forcefulness.

Perhaps because the mood was right, Kotomi Izumi seemed even more assertive than usual at the beginning today.

Only...

Six seconds later.

The dominant side changed from Kotomi Izumi back to Yui Yuigahama.

On a night without insects chirping or birds calling, their kiss felt so quiet and serene. Yet beneath that serenity was a passion fierce enough to overturn heaven and earth.

Or perhaps it was not that quiet after all.

Because faintly, one could still hear the sound of Yukino Yukinoshita taking a cold shower in the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom.

After turning on the shower, Yukino Yukinoshita did not switch it to hot water. Instead, she directly bathed under cold water, hoping to cool down her mind.

Naturally, at a time like this, Little Yukino could not be absent as she mocked her from inside her heart.

”Heh, look at you now, running away from Kotomi and Yui as if fleeing, hiding in the bathroom like you’re taking shelter, bathing alone in cold water. Do you know what you look like right now?

”You look like a coward so weak that you can’t even remain beside the two of them.

”You arrogantly think a cold shower can numb yourself and cool your head.

”But the way you look now, taking this cold shower, is like a stray cat trembling in a storm, hiding in a corner that blocks neither wind nor rain. You struggle to lift your head, only to discover that in the warm house across the street, the Kotomi Izumi you love most is being held in the arms of your best friend, Yui Yuigahama.”

”Shut up!”

Yukino Yukinoshita punched the bathroom wall with her hand. Not only did she not raise the water temperature, she turned it even colder.

”Are you trying to freeze yourself to death? Heh, then good luck. If you want to die, my suggestion is to hurry up. Maybe when you’re reincarnated, you’ll just happen to become Kotomi and Yui’s child~”

Every sentence Little Yukino spoke was like a bucket of gasoline poured onto blazing flames, making Yukino Yukinoshita’s murderous intent toward Little Yukino grow stronger and stronger.

”Unfortunately, I have no intention of killing myself. But if something must die, right now I only want to freeze you to death!” Yukino Yukinoshita said through gritted teeth.

”Hahahahahahaha!”

To Little Yukino, Yukino Yukinoshita’s words sounded like the funniest joke in the world. Her clear and pleasant laughter sounded unbearably harsh to Yukino now.

Just as Yukino Yukinoshita was about to loudly scold Little Yukino and tell her not to laugh, Little Yukino’s voice suddenly stopped. When it sounded again, the teasing in her tone had grown even stronger.

”O useless literary girl Yukino Yukinoshita~ Instead of threatening me here and shouting about killing me, why don’t you listen carefully to the sounds outside the bathroom~ Heh, truly delightful to the ears~ Of course, if you have the courage to open the door a crack and peek outside, then it might not only delight the ears... it may delight the eyes as well.”

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