As Kotomi Izumi casually opened the front door with the key, Ayani Kika—who had been smiling faintly the entire time—finally let out a soft, cheerful laugh instead of remaining silent.
"What is it?"
Kotomi glanced at her in confusion, unable to figure out what exactly Kika was laughing about. Could it be that while she had been held in her arms earlier, Kika had secretly stuck a note with a doodle of a little turtle onto her back?
"It's nothing. It's just that seeing you use the key I gave you to open this door—such a simple action—somehow gives me an indescribable sense of happiness. It's like we're a pair of newlyweds who went out late at night because we were hungry, bought some midnight snacks at a restaurant, and now we're coming home together, using the key to open the door."
Ayani Kika explained with a warm smile, revealing why she was laughing so happily at this moment.
After hearing that, Kotomi's cheeks instantly flushed red. The way Kika described it was far too vivid. Before she had even finished speaking, a clear image had already formed in Kotomi's mind—no pink or citrus-colored fantasies, just the gentle warmth of ordinary daily life.
For a moment, she truly felt as though she and Kika were already married.
"..."
Normally eloquent, Kotomi suddenly seemed to lose her ability to speak. Blushing, she turned her gaze aside and shyly avoided responding. Only after a brief pause did she mumble softly,
"L-let's go inside. It's cold out here. Let's go in first..."
"Okay~"
Kika's smile grew even brighter. It was merely returning home—a place she came back to almost every day—yet she was smiling as though it were something extraordinary.
If she had to name a reason, perhaps it was because, in the past, whenever she returned home or stayed inside, she had always been alone. She had grown accustomed to solitude, but that did not mean she liked it.
On the contrary, after meeting Kotomi, her aversion to loneliness had only grown stronger. Yet she had no choice but to continue enduring those long stretches of solitude by herself, just as before.
Now, however, Kotomi was using the key she had given her to open the door and step inside together with her. The surge of happiness and joy that filled her heart naturally made her smile—smile so brightly that she couldn't help but laugh.
There was something Kika wanted very much to say to Kotomi at this moment:
Kotomi, I'm actually not mature at all. I really want to selfishly make a request of you. But maybe because I've pretended to be mature for too long, that false maturity has grown larger than my true selfishness. So now, I can't bring myself to say that selfish request.
Even yesterday, when she had finally gotten to cuddle with Kotomi as she had long wished, Kika had not fully expressed her dissatisfaction with loneliness. When Kotomi had prepared to leave, she had temporarily suppressed her reluctance and sent her to the entryway with a smile.
The seemingly considerate Ayani Kika also had a deeply selfish thought—one she had always wanted to say to Kotomi but had never managed to voice.
That was—she wanted to stay by Kotomi Izumi's side every single moment. She couldn't even accept being separated for a single second!
That was also why, when she learned that Kotomi had returned to Kyoto from Chiba and would be staying at her house for the night, the usually mature and elegant Ayani Kika had been so happy that she bounced around holding her phone.
Kika truly loved the feeling of having Kotomi by her side. Even if they did nothing—just sitting together and chatting casually—was the greatest kind of healing for her.
Loneliness was like an illness. It required good medicine to cure it. But everyone's medicine was different. Each person had their own remedy, yet most people might go their entire lives without ever discovering what could truly cure their loneliness.
Ayani Kika felt she was fortunate, because Kotomi was the medicine that could cure hers.
The ingredients of this medicine were her love for Kotomi—and Kotomi's love for her.
Good medicine is not bitter to the mouth.
After stepping inside, Kika looked at Kotomi sitting at the entryway changing her shoes and said with a soft laugh,
"I'm really looking forward to the day we can live together in this house. In the past, every time I came back here, the first thing I felt was loneliness. I always treated this place like a rented apartment, not a home. But now that your presence fills this space, it suddenly feels like a real home."
"Then how about we take wedding photos and hang them on the bedroom wall?" Kotomi joked impulsively.
Kika's eyes trembled slightly. It was as if those words had unintentionally struck the deepest wish in her heart. But the excitement that had begun to rise in her expression and voice gradually settled after she realized Kotomi was joking.
Kotomi, you really are something. Sometimes you speak in jest, but it feels so real that I almost believed you. I nearly took it seriously just now—if I had gotten so excited that I started crying, you might have laughed at me.
Honestly... what am I even thinking? I keep telling myself to be content, yet after truly becoming Kotomi's girlfriend, I've only grown more and more greedy. It hasn't even been a full day, and I'm already this greedy. In the future...
Thinking this, Kika let out a faint, quiet sigh.
After adjusting her emotions slightly, she smiled as usual and said to Kotomi,
"That's actually a wonderful suggestion. What style of wedding photos do you prefer? Japanese or Western? I personally prefer Japanese style. I'd like to wear a white shiromuku and marry you."
"There are lots of wedding photo styles. As long as you're willing to spend the money, you can basically order a full set and shoot every style. So my answer is—I want them all!"
When it came to choices like this, Kotomi had always believed that if you could choose everything, then choose everything.
She had always thought that when a girl wore a wedding dress, it was one of the most beautiful moments in her life.
So she wanted to see what kind of beauty Ayani Kika would radiate when wearing wedding dresses of different styles and designs.
As the saying goes, if money can solve the problem, why waste extra effort debating which one to choose? Naturally, every style of wedding photo, every style of wedding dress—she wanted them all.
"That answer really does suit your personality..."
Kika smiled, though her smile now carried a trace of anticipation—uncertain whether it would ever come true. She could tell that when Kotomi talked about it, her tone still carried that half-joking air.
Even so, she still looked forward to the day in the future when Kotomi would turn that joke into reality.
When it came to the topic of marriage, no matter who asked, Kotomi Izumi felt that, at least for now, she would instinctively answer with a joke.
Calling it a joke wasn't entirely accurate. In reality, she simply didn't know how to answer yet.
Marriage wasn't the kind of question that could be answered on impulse. Without being completely prepared mentally, it was impossible to give the answer that truly belonged to her.
Kotomi felt that she simply wasn't ready for marriage yet. As a result, whenever the topic came up, she wouldn't pretend not to hear it, but she would always brush it aside with a half-joking attitude.
Ever since realizing she had reached the age where marriage was possible, even when nobody brought up the subject, she often found herself thinking about it when she was alone. She felt that she did look forward to marriage.
The only problem was that she wasn't mentally prepared yet.
And she still hadn't figured out...
How exactly was she supposed to marry so many beautiful girls at the same time?
After all, there were simply too many girls she wanted to marry. Not to mention anything else—when the time came, she would at least need to prepare multiple wedding dresses and multiple rings.
"Have you already started imagining our newlywed life together?"
Seeing Kotomi sitting absentmindedly at the entryway with one shoe off and the other still on, Ayani Kika couldn't help but smile and tease her. It was also her way of snapping Kotomi back to reality.
Kotomi finally came back to her senses a little. Of course, she wasn't about to admit that she had just been thinking about marrying multiple girls at once. So she followed Kika's words and continued naturally,
"Mm. I was just imagining that after I come home from work, you're standing at the entrance wearing a sweater and black pantyhose, smiling as you welcome me back and saying, 'Honey, welcome home. Do you want dinner first? A bath first? Or... me first?'"
At that point, Kotomi grew too embarrassed to continue.
For all that her tastes were complicated—practically like an underground labyrinth—when it came to actual execution, although she would neither retreat nor give up, her reactions were surprisingly pure.
And extremely alluring.
Perhaps that was one of the reasons she was the dominant one most of the time...
"So the outfit you like is a sweater with black pantyhose."
Ayani Kika looked as though she had discovered a new continent. Though her expression was shy, upon learning that this was what Kotomi liked, something inside her began to stir.
"To be precise, it's a backless turtleneck sweater paired with pantyhose. Whether they're white or black, I like them both!"
Kotomi blushed as she spoke. Perhaps stirred by emotion, the further she went, the louder her voice became. By the time she said "I like them both," it was practically declared outright.
Kika was momentarily stunned by Kotomi's sudden burst of enthusiasm. After recovering, feeling the strength of Kotomi's desire, she nodded without hesitation and promised seriously,
"Alright. Since you want to see it that much, I'll wear it for you. I do have a few pairs of pantyhose. But this backless turtleneck sweater you mentioned—I've never bought one before."
She then added in confusion,
"Actually, this is the first time I've even heard of a backless turtleneck sweater. In my impression, sweaters are meant to keep you warm. So I don't really understand—if you're already wearing a sweater, why would it be designed with an open back? Wouldn't you catch a cold wearing that in autumn or winter? Is this some new fashion trend?
"I really can't keep up with young people's ideas anymore. In the past, if a backless sweater appeared in a clothing store, people might have treated it like some bizarre garment..."
By the end, she was practically muttering to herself. Fortunately, she caught herself and quickly changed tone.
"In any case, if you want to see me wearing a backless turtleneck sweater with pantyhose, I'll at least have to buy one first. I wonder if any nearby clothing stores carry it. If not, I'll have to visit a department store and look around. That will probably take some time... In that case, why don't you just stay at my place for a few more days?"
And there it was—her true intention revealed.
Kotomi twitched the corner of her mouth. "So after all that, you just want me to stay a few more days."
"Of course~ In order to get you to stay longer, I'm even willing to wear a backless sweater for you. Just hearing the name 'backless turtleneck sweater' already makes it sound like something embarrassingly revealing," Kika said matter-of-factly.
"I'd love to stay a few more days too, it's just..."
Kotomi had just begun to explain why she couldn't stay longer when Kika suddenly crouched down. Gently, she helped Kotomi remove the other shoe from her foot while smiling.
"Alright, I know why you can't stay longer. The holiday is almost over, right? I was just joking with you. When you come to Kyoto next time, I promise I'll wear that outfit you like. Backless turtleneck sweater with pantyhose—I've memorized it!"
"It's a promise."
"It's a promise~"
Kika replied with a smile. Then she asked curiously,
"By the way, where do you learn about these latest fashion trends? Like this backless turtleneck sweater—it should be a recent trend, right? Yet I've never heard of it or seen it before."
"I wouldn't say it's recent. I first learned about backless turtleneck sweaters back in 2017. I don't have any fixed source of information. I just browse online, scroll through short videos, and watch things on YouTube. You naturally come across lots of new stuff that way."
"I see. Then I'll save a few pictures of backless turtleneck sweaters later. That way, when I go to a clothing store to look for one, it'll be easier to ask about it."
"Hold on, hold on. Ever since earlier, you've been saying you're going to buy it at a clothing store. Kika-nee, do you really like shopping at physical stores?"
Kotomi asked curiously. Generally speaking, something like a backless sweater would rarely be sold in physical stores. And even if it were, most people would probably order it online instead.
Kika, however, looked genuinely puzzled.
"If you're buying clothes, of course you go to a clothing store. If I don't buy clothes at a clothing store, where else would I buy them?"
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