While Aimi Izumi was messaging Kotomi Izumi, Kotomi had already taken off her yukata and arrived by the hot spring pool.
Believing she had calculated the timing perfectly, Kotomi moved noticeably faster as she stepped toward the water this time. She could hardly wait to meet the beautiful older sisters and gentle married ladies soaking in the springs. Several times she nearly slipped in her haste, but in the end she still made it safely to the edge of the pool.
Kotomi widened her eyes and eagerly began searching for her target. When she was little and watched Super Sentai, she had rarely looked this carefully.
Unless, of course, a particularly beautiful female villain had suddenly appeared in the show.
After looking around for a while, the anticipation on Kotomi's face gradually faded into an expression devoid of worldly desire. It was not because she had rewarded herself with a quick glance and been satisfied. Rather, she had already given up on the idea of finding any beautiful older sisters in the hot spring.
She had deliberately chosen a different time to soak, yet the pool was still filled with kindly grandmothers. Forget beautiful older sisters—she had not even spotted a single gentle married lady!
Kotomi's face drooped like a sulky little penguin. With a hint of disappointment, she stepped into the water, found a quiet corner, and sat down. All she wanted now was to finish soaking as quickly as possible and return to her room.
At this moment, she felt like an author who had absolutely no motivation to write, yet for various reasons had no choice but to sit in front of the computer, racking her brains to force out a plot. All she could think about was writing faster so she could finish sooner and rest earlier. After what felt like a long stretch of time, she would glance at the word count at the bottom of the screen—only to discover she had written less than a few hundred words, enough to make her want to die.
Yui Yuigahama tilted her small head and looked at Kotomi in confusion. She had noticed that every time Kotomi came to soak in the hot spring, her emotions would undergo a dramatic shift before and after.
Before entering the pool area, Kotomi always gave off a lively, cheerful impression.
But once she reached the edge of the hot spring—before she even stepped in—her cheerfulness would vanish instantly. She would lower her head, walk into the water, find a quiet spot, and soak like a little quail.
Yui could not understand what exactly had happened to cause Kotomi's mood to change so drastically in such a short time. And this emotional swing happened every single time they came to the hot spring.
If Yui were to ask Yukino Yukinoshita right now, Yukino would surely say with a look of disdain, "The reason her mood changes so drastically in such a short time is because she's been expecting to have a fateful encounter with beautiful older sisters and gentle married ladies while soaking in the hot spring."
Ever since she had overheard Kotomi's muttering to herself last time, Yukino had never once forgotten Kotomi's wish to encounter beautiful older sisters and gentle married ladies in the hot spring.
In fact, it would be strange if she had forgotten. After all, not even a full day had passed since she first overheard that self-talk.
How could she possibly forget so quickly?
Although she had overheard it, Yukino had never truly intended to bring it up.
She had not even considered mentioning it privately to Kotomi, nor would she ever use that muttering as leverage to threaten her:
"Heh heh, Mrs. Kotomi, you wouldn't want your little muttering to be heard by your 'husband,' Yui Yuigahama, would you? I've said enough. You understand what I want, don't you~"
That would be far too strange.
Yukino knew that if she revealed Kotomi's muttering, it would inevitably affect the relationship between Kotomi and Yui to some degree. With Yui's personality, she would not quarrel with Kotomi—but she would spiral into overthinking. And when she spiraled, she would not tell anyone. She would silently bear the discomfort alone.
Fortunately, Kotomi was sharp enough to sense whenever Yui was about to start spiraling and would always clarify things in time to resolve it.
It was not as though Yukino had never considered finding an opportunity to drive a wedge between Kotomi and Yui, to create cracks in their relationship. If they broke up, she could pursue Kotomi openly and be with her.
But the moment that thought formed in her mind, Yukino immediately shattered it. She knew she was no saint. If becoming a little selfish would allow her to obtain her own happiness, she would not feel guilty about being selfish.
Yet the pride in her heart made it impossible for her to resort to underhanded tactics like sowing discord. In her eyes, that was a despicable method. Even if it succeeded, it would not be a victory won uprightly.
Whenever such moments arose, the little Yukino in her heart would sneer:
"There you go again, clinging to that useless pride and persistence. No matter how prettily you dress it up, it's just a cover for your cowardice. If you weren't so cowardly, Kotomi would already be your girlfriend instead of you standing pitifully on the sidelines watching her be lovey-dovey with Yui."
When she was first mocked by this 'little Yukino,' Yukino had been furious. But gradually, her mindset began to change. It was not that she no longer felt angry at the mockery.
She simply refused to waste too much time being angry because of it.
Whenever 'little Yukino' taunted her, she still became angry. In fact, she had progressed beyond mere anger—she had even begun to feel murderous intent. But she controlled her emotions and limited how long she allowed herself to remain angry.
Previously, she might have been angry for an hour because of the taunts. Now, she had reduced it to barely more than ten minutes.
Though within those short ten minutes, she could still devise hundreds of unique ways for 'little Yukino' to die.
Returning to the main point—even if 'little Yukino' mocked her pride and persistence as useless, Yukino chose to uphold her convictions. She wanted to take Kotomi from Yui, but she would never resort to tactics like sowing discord or any other despicable means.
In the Middle Ages, when knights dueled, they would throw a glove at their opponent's feet. If the opponent picked it up, it signified acceptance of the challenge.
Struggle is about pursuing profit, so any means may be used. A duel, however, stakes one's life, so it demands etiquette and uprightness—so that when victory is claimed, it can be claimed openly and honorably.
If she could, Yukino Yukinoshita truly wished she could act like a knight in a duel—throw a white glove at Yui's feet and decide through a formal contest who would become Kotomi's lover.
...
After finishing her soak and returning to the room, Kotomi Izumi was just about to open her phone and check Twitter.
The moment she unlocked the screen, Aimi's messages filled her view.
First came several photos of freesia, followed by a few messages.
[Onee-chan, look at the freesia I'm raising. Isn't it especially beautiful~]
[Beautiful, right~? Doesn't it make you want to hurry back and admire its beauty up close~?]
[Then you—come back early! I miss you!]
Seeing Aimi express her longing so openly, without even a hint of tsundere pride, Kotomi smiled softly.
Even if Aimi had not sent such candid messages, just a few pictures of freesia would have been enough for Kotomi to understand immediately—Aimi missed her and wanted her to come home sooner.
This was just how Kotomi was. Sometimes her reactions were strangely inconsistent. At times she could be as dull as a block of wood. At others, she was so perceptive that before the other person even opened their mouth, she could accurately predict the next ten sentences and the meaning behind them.
Of course, there were also times when Kotomi was not truly slow.
The number of times she was genuinely slow could be counted on one hand.
The reason she sometimes pretended not to understand was simply that, even though she had understood, she had not yet come up with a good response.
If that was the case, she might as well play dumb for a moment.
Conversely, when she had already understood and knew exactly how to respond, Kotomi would never pretend to be clueless. She firmly believed in one saying: if a person pretends to be foolish for too long, they might accidentally become truly foolish.
Kotomi had no desire to become truly foolish, so she was always clear about when to feign ignorance and when to be clever and socially adept.
Looking at Aimi's messages, Kotomi smiled faintly. She first glanced at Yukino Yukinoshita, who was sitting not far away watching television, making sure Yukino was not paying attention to her and Yui. Only then did Kotomi scoot a little closer to Yui and show her Aimi's messages.
"My little sister—your future little aunt... no, your future sister-in-law—is messaging me, saying she misses me and wants me to go back soon."
Kotomi did not know what had come over her. She had almost said "little sister-in-law" instead.
For Kotomi, who firmly believed she was most likely the top in their relationship, even such a small detail mattered greatly. When she had nearly said "little sister-in-law," she suddenly realized that a wife's younger sister is called a sister-in-law, while a husband's younger sister is called a little aunt-in-law.
Since she was almost certainly the top, that meant after marriage she would hold the "husband" role. And as the "wife," Yui Yuigahama would have to call Aimi her little aunt-in-law.
"Then let's go back a bit earlier," Yui said softly, her cheeks growing redder as she continued. "But before we return, I want to buy gifts for Uncle, Auntie, and Aimi. I'm your girlfriend now. If we travel together and I go back empty-handed, wouldn't that be a little inappropriate?"
"It won't be. And remember? It hasn't even been a month since my last trip to Kyoto. We don't need to buy anything special again. I already bought gifts last time." Kotomi paused, knowing Yui would not give up so easily on the idea of buying presents, and added casually, "Of course, if you really want to buy something for my parents and sister, that's fine. Just don't spend too much. If it's too expensive, my parents won't accept it."
Yui nodded, committing Kotomi's reminder to memory.
At the mention of the gifts from the previous Kyoto trip, Yui immediately recalled the Kiyomizu ware and the letter Kotomi had given her.
The Kiyomizu ware was still placed solemnly on her desk, covered with a dust cover. Almost every day she would carefully lift it with both hands, as if afraid it might shatter if held too firmly or melt away if treated too casually.
As for the letter Kotomi had written to her, Yui had even bought a photo frame of a suitable size and preserved it inside, placing it on her bedside table.
When Kotomi had visited her house last time, she had complained more than once:
"Kiyomizu ware may be a Kyoto specialty, but it's not that valuable. There's no need to treat it so ceremoniously. Anyone who doesn't know better would think it's a museum exhibit. And the letter was written on stationery I bought at a regular store, not some treasured manuscript of a classical masterpiece."
Even though Kotomi said that, Yui felt she could only be at ease by preserving them this way. Even a candy wrapper casually tossed aside by Kotomi after eating would be a priceless treasure in Yui's eyes.
Not to mention that the Kiyomizu ware and the letter had been specially bought and written for her.
At that thought, Yui was just about to say how much she loved the Kiyomizu ware Kotomi had bought her during the last Kyoto trip, and how much she cherished the letter Kotomi had written.
"Kotomi, when you came to Kyoto last time and bought me—mmph!"
Just as Yui was one word away from finishing her sentence, Kotomi reacted swiftly.
She instantly realized Yui was about to mention the Kiyomizu ware and the letter. If it were just the two of them, it would not have mattered. But Yukino was right there.
Even more dangerously, during her last trip to Kyoto, Kotomi had also given Yukino Kiyomizu ware and a letter.
Without time to think, Kotomi reached out and firmly covered Yui's mouth. Her pink, adorable eyes turned fierce as she shot Yui a sharp glare, as if saying silently: If you dare say one more word, I'll kiss that little mouth of yours raw.
Any girl who had even a slight connection to Kotomi had basically... received something from her. Although the gift she gave to Senior Kisara Tendo was not Kiyomizu ware but an ornamental hairpin, what remained the same was that Kotomi had written a letter to every single girl.
This absolutely could not be discovered by the girls themselves.
Otherwise...
She was not entirely sure what exactly would happen if they found out about each other. But whenever she imagined it, a strange and vivid sensation would suddenly crawl over her body.
As if countless cold, gleaming blades were pressing against her limbs and her throat.
—
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