Midnight.
The night poured down like a surging waterfall, drowning the entire city in darkness. After the plane landed at Narita International Airport, Aunt Matsusaka drove the car she had already prepared and headed toward the Kato family's direction with Kotomi Izumi.
Of course, although she knew Aunt Matsusaka was always tight-lipped, Kotomi still did not directly tell her the exact location of the Kato residence. She only gave a general direction. When the car was about to pass a wonton shop that opened only in the evening, Kotomi asked Aunt Matsusaka to stop.
"Aunt Matsusaka, there's a parking lot next door. I need to take care of something. Please park there and wait for me. It might take a while, so you can rest in the car first."
"Understood, Miss. Please be careful. If anything happens, call me immediately."
"Mm-hm."
After saying that, Kotomi closed the car door and walked toward the wonton shop that only opened at dusk.
It was not because she was hungry. Before boarding the plane, she had just eaten French-style pan-seared rabbit. Kaori Izawa had always been generous with her portions, and Kotomi's little stomach was still full.
The reason she came into this wonton shop was to buy a bowl of wontons for Megumi Kato.
As Megumi's girlfriend, Kotomi naturally understood her personality. Especially after having been "stabbed" once before, her understanding had become even more comprehensive.
After finding out I lied to her, Megumi will definitely be angry enough to skip meals all day. She called me in the morning. After I hung up and promised to call her back once I returned to the hotel, she'll definitely refuse to eat or drink and stubbornly wait for my call, afraid she'll miss it if she isn't paying attention.
But I got busy in the afternoon and completely forgot about it. After waiting so long without hearing from me, she'll start wondering what's going on while still waiting. In the end, when she can't bear it anymore, she'll call Yui to ask what I'm doing.
Yui won't know what I'm doing either. The moment she says something... haha, that little lie I told Megumi at noon will completely fall apart.
Thinking this, Kotomi stood in front of the menu posted on the wall and placed her order.
"Boss, one serving of pure fresh pork wontons. Pack the soup separately. I want the wontons mixed with sesame sauce. Takeout."
After speaking, she scanned the code and paid.
The first time she had come to this shop was with Megumi. From her very first visit, Megumi had fallen in love with the sesame sauce wontons here, and she preferred the pure fresh pork filling.
After learning that, although Kotomi had not said anything out loud, she went home and opened her browser to search for tutorials like [How to Make Pure Fresh Pork Wonton Filling] and [How to Wrap Wontons].
The owners of this shop were a middle-aged couple. It was said that they had once worked as music teachers at a junior high school. After resigning, they rented this storefront and opened the wonton shop.
At first, they sold only wontons. Later, as business gradually improved—and since most of their customers were office workers who worked overtime into the middle of the night, gaming-obsessed homebodies, or young men and women just beginning their nightlife—they adjusted their opening hours from morning to evening. The menu gradually expanded to include rice bowls, pan-fried dumplings, ramen, fried skewers, fried rice, and other popular late-night dishes.
From junior high school music teachers to wonton shop owners—what a drastic career change.
"Alright."
The owner, who had just finished stir-frying a plate of pork belly with green peppers and onion fried rice, nodded. Even though it was already late at night, there were still quite a few customers in this late-night diner.
After waiting for a short while, Kotomi watched as the owner packed the wontons together with disposable chopsticks and a spoon into a plastic bag.
"Young lady, your sesame sauce wontons are ready."
"Thank you."
Kotomi stood up, took the bag, and left the shop.
The wonton shop was not far from the Kato residence. It was only a five- or six-minute walk away, so she did not trouble Aunt Matsusaka to drive her all the way to the door.
As she walked, she continued thinking to herself.
Maybe when we meet later, and Megumi sees that I flew all the way from Kyoto back to Chiba in the middle of the night just for her—and even bought her favorite fresh pork wontons—maybe she won't even wait for me to give her the ring before she forgives me.
At that thought, Kotomi chuckled inwardly. Of course, she did not truly believe it. As Megumi's girlfriend, how could she not understand her personality?
Usually, if she was just teasing out of boredom, the worst she would get was a spanking from Megumi.
And Kotomi happened to especially enjoy being spanked by Megumi. If Megumi went a while without doing it, Kotomi would even deliberately create an excuse just to earn herself another spanking.
But this time, the lie she told at noon had been completely exposed...
Even though she had mentally prepared herself, Kotomi could not help rubbing the back of her neck, which had suddenly grown a little cold.
If I accidentally trigger the "knife" again later, I hope the Clock of the Twilight Demon can come through and save my life.
As she thought about it, she arrived at the Kato residence before she knew it.
Kotomi took out her phone and checked the time. There were twenty minutes left before one in the morning.
She wondered whether Megumi's parents were home.
But Kotomi had not planned to use the front door in the first place.
Of course, she was not going in through the back door either...
She looked up at the second-floor bedroom window. That was Megumi's room.
After estimating the height... yes, it should be manageable.
This was exactly the moment to use the Queen of All Females physique.
"Damn it. When the side effects flare up, you're fierce enough. Now that I actually need your enhancement, you'd better be just as fierce!"
Recalling the sensation of the Queen of All Females physique when its side effects erupted, Kotomi gritted her teeth and cursed the physique inside her.
Mainly because Kazumi had fallen into a deep sleep, there was no one around for Kotomi to complain to at any time. So she could only vent at the Queen of All Females physique out of boredom.
Kotomi stepped back several paces. After deciding the running distance was sufficient, she quietly activated the Queen of All Females physique's enhancement to her jumping ability. With a few swift strides and a powerful push from both legs at the final step, she leaped high into the air as if wings had spread behind her, then landed lightly on the windowsill.
Then she looked at Megumi lying on the bed.
Even though she could only see her back, it was not hard to tell from that silhouette alone that Megumi was in a very bad mood.
Wife, I was wrong!
Kotomi shouted silently in her heart. Then she reached out and gently knocked on the window.
...
Ever since hanging up Yui Yuigahama's call, Megumi Kato had been lying on her bed. She felt utterly exhausted, yet sleep would not come.
She knew very clearly that this fatigue came after heartache.
She did not know what Kotomi was doing right now. But one thing she could confirm was that when Kotomi called at noon, she had lied to her.
"Why did you lie to me...?"
Megumi murmured hoarsely. If Kotomi were standing in front of her now, she felt she would definitely question her loudly, demand an explanation, demand an answer. But at this moment, combined with her exhaustion and the fact that she had barely eaten all day, she did not even have the strength to raise her voice.
Besides... Kotomi isn't in front of me.
Megumi's heart trembled slightly as she thought this. She did not know what Kotomi was doing now, but one thing was certain—whatever Kotomi had done today must be something she could not tell her openly. Otherwise, she would not have lied at noon.
With that premise, an image began to form in Megumi's mind—
After finishing her fabricated lie, Kotomi used the excuse of "bad reception in the restaurant" to hang up. After putting down her phone, she chatted and laughed intimately with another girl. After finishing their meal, perhaps they would even...
The moment she imagined Kotomi, far away in Kyoto, possibly doing something she could not tell her about, Megumi felt her spirit wandering at the edge of darkness, as though her sanity might collapse at any moment.
Her constantly twisting heart gradually left her with only one thought—to use some extremely drastic method to make Kotomi, who had learned to lie and become disobedient, return to her original obedient self.
Even if a little blood had to be shed in the process...
As the idea of making Kotomi obedient grew stronger, what surfaced in Megumi's mind next was the knife in the kitchen.
For some reason, ever since the thought of making Kotomi obedient appeared, that knife had also appeared in her thoughts.
Yes, the knife in her mind was the very one she had once used to stab Kotomi.
When Kazumi revived both Kotomi and Megumi, although she did not erase Megumi's memory of killing Kotomi, she had tampered with it slightly, making Megumi believe that "personally stabbing Kotomi to death" had merely been a nightmare.
"I would never kill Kotomi with a knife like in that nightmare. I would only give her a small injury, then let her stay obediently in a room. From then on, everything in her life would be taken care of only by me."
Megumi muttered to herself in a low voice. In her mind, a scene she considered incomparably beautiful emerged. In contrast, the light in her eyes grew dimmer and dimmer, gradually becoming hollow.
Knock, knock, knock—
Just as Megumi was about to fall completely into darkness, a sudden sound of knocking came from the window.
Megumi sat up and looked toward it.
Love is both a poison and an antidote.
The moment she saw Kotomi Izumi sitting on the windowsill and knocking on the glass, the negative emotions and exhaustion that had filled her heart vanished instantly. After a brief moment of stunned disbelief, Megumi jumped out of bed. Her steps were unsteady from urgency as she hurried to the window.
Her hands trembled from excitement, yet also from fear that this might only be an illusion born from longing—that once she opened the window, Kotomi would disappear.
Entangled in excitement, grievance, longing, worry, and love, Megumi stared at Kotomi as if trying to capture every detail of her in her eyes, while slowly pulling the window open.
"Megumi, good evening. Did you miss your little cutie~?"
Sitting on the windowsill, Kotomi smiled sweetly. It was as if her smile carried healing magic. In that instant, the emotions that had been teetering at the edge of collapse returned to normal.
Megumi said nothing. She did not know what to say, so she chose to act first.
She reached out and slowly wrapped her arms around Kotomi, pulling her in from outside. Kotomi's hips were still resting on the windowsill, and Megumi—who had always cherished and protected her—naturally did not feel at ease letting her sit there. Kotomi could be a bit silly sometimes. If she was careless, she might tumble off.
When Megumi embraced her, Kotomi behaved very obediently. She did not move, her small hands looping around Megumi's neck. Even after being carried fully into the room, she still refused to let go, acting coquettishly. Not only that, Kotomi brought out every trick in her repertoire to make Megumi happy.
Either she clung to her without letting go, or she rubbed her cheek against hers while saying, "Wife, I missed you so much." Or, "Megumi, I'm your little koala. From now on I'll cling to you every day and never go anywhere."
Kotomi's sudden appearance in the middle of the night was already enough to fill Megumi with overwhelming joy. Now, with Kotomi speaking so sweetly and calling her "wife" every other sentence, saying things like "wife is so sweet" and "I'm also wife's little cutie," Megumi felt as though her entire heart was about to drown in Kotomi's sweetness, unable to escape.
Megumi carried Kotomi to sit by the bed. Kotomi then grew a little shy and, with a slight push, stepped out of her embrace, standing in front of her with a soft smile.
Looking at the person she loved so dearly right before her, Megumi's gaze first showed relief, then gradually turned into grievance and resentment.
"Why did you lie to me at noon...?"
It was only a few short words, yet Kotomi could feel the deep sorrow and melancholy within them.
Ah...
Kotomi sighed silently in her heart. She had known that when Megumi found out she had lied, she would feel terrible. It was even possible she might spiral into darkness.
But seeing the tearful sadness in Megumi's beautiful eyes now, the softest part of Kotomi's heart trembled. She believed she could treat everyone fairly—so why did she still end up hurting her girlfriends sometimes?
"When did you learn to lie? When did you become so disobedient? Why would you lie to me? Do you know that compared to hearing you lie to me, I would rather you stab me to death with a knife? The moment I think about you lying to me, it feels worse than death..."
Megumi tried to keep her voice steady, but she could not suppress the trembling rising from the depths of her heart.
"I didn't want to lie to you either..."
Before Kotomi could finish her sentence, Megumi suddenly dropped to her knees in front of her, clutching tightly at her clothes as she pleaded.
"I beg you, don't lie to me, okay? And don't break up with me! Kotomi, if one day you really stop loving me, take me somewhere no one can ever find us. Let me turn my back to you. Don't say anything—just stab me from behind. Whether you dismember my body or burn me to ashes, as long as you're happy... I'd rather be killed by you than hear you lie to me!"
Megumi's eyes trembled as clear tears streamed down her cheeks, leaving visible trails. Her voice shook uncontrollably.
"Megumi, don't do this. Please get up. Let's talk properly, okay...?"
Kotomi tried to help her up, but Megumi refused to stand. With tear-filled eyes, she looked at Kotomi and said hoarsely,
"Kotomi, I want to hear you say it yourself—that you'll never lie to me again..."
Looking at Megumi's pitifully beautiful face, Kotomi felt guilt and remorse rise within her. She had never imagined that a casual lie at noon would hurt Megumi this deeply.
Never lie to you again... Can I truly give Megumi that promise with complete sincerity?
Kotomi kept asking herself.
To perfect one lie, another lie would be needed to patch and repair it.
But... were the words she was about to say truly a lie?
No.
As Kotomi made a decision in her heart, her hand slowly reached into her pocket, touching the toy ring inside
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