"The reason I don't like growing my hair long..."
Kotomi Izumi thought for a moment, then smiled sheepishly and said,
"Honestly, I don't know why I dislike having long hair either. I once tried growing it out, but after only a few months, I couldn't resist cutting it short again."
"Is that so? I thought you simply didn't like long hairstyles, Senpai."
"How could I dislike them? I like both long-haired girls and short-haired girls. Of course, if a girl's hair is too short, then I'm not fond of it. I just can't appreciate that look.
"Incidentally, there's an actress I've loved ever since I was little, and she has long hair."
Kotomi Izumi spoke with a cheerful grin. The actress she was referring to was Mai Sakurajima.
"Which actress do you like, Senpai?"
"I'm not telling you."
Kotomi Izumi answered decisively. Iroha Isshiki had already decided to apply to Sobu High School. Once Iroha enrolled there, Kotomi would advance to her second year, while Mai Sakurajima would advance to her third.
Although the third year of Japanese high school was indeed busier than the first and second years, students still had plenty of time to rest.
Suppose Mai Sakurajima came to find her during a break, only for Iroha Isshiki to be there as well. Kotomi Izumi was certain that this little devil would deliberately stir things up by saying,
"Hey, hey, Mai-senpai, did you know? Senpai has loved you ever since she was little."
Just imagining it in my head is already so embarrassing... Kotomi Izumi thought.
"Ehh... Stingy Senpai."
Seeing Kotomi Izumi deliberately refuse to tell her, Iroha Isshiki puffed out her cheeks, looking a little unhappy.
"Whose fault is it that a little devil like you is always teasing me?" Kotomi Izumi suddenly realized that this might be a good opportunity to fight back and flashed her a wicked smile.
"Haven't you always enjoyed it too, Senpai?" Iroha Isshiki muttered matter-of-factly.
However, Iroha's matter-of-fact tone immediately made Kotomi, who had just been preparing to counterattack, blush all over again. After all, Iroha had spoken aloud the truth Kotomi had always kept buried in her heart.
"I-I have not!"
"Senpai, you're such a tsundere." Iroha Isshiki giggled, deliberately offering the brief assessment.
"I am not a tsundere!"
Her face flushed, Kotomi Izumi quickened her pace again.
Iroha Isshiki watched Kotomi Izumi's embarrassed figure from behind, the smile on her lips unconsciously growing wider. Then she hurried after Kotomi, who had already walked some distance ahead.
"Senpai, wait for me. Don't walk so fast. Even with those long legs of yours, you should show a little consideration for your poor junior, who's still only in her third year of middle school."
"You've already submitted your high school application. You don't count as a middle schooler anymore."
"Even after I stop being a middle schooler, I'll always be your precious junior, Senpai. After all, once I enroll at Sobu High School, I'll be a first-year student, while you'll already be a second-year."
"That's true... In that case, whenever you see me at school, you'll have to call out loudly, 'Izumi-senpai,'" Kotomi Izumi said with a smile.
"I still prefer calling you 'Senpai.'"
As Iroha Isshiki spoke, she looked at Kotomi Izumi with her beautiful eyes. Her gaze seemed capable of speaking on its own:
Senpai, once I start high school, can I still call you Senpai?
Kotomi Izumi had originally intended to oppose Iroha on purpose and insist that she call her Izumi-senpai. However, the moment she met Iroha Isshiki's gaze, her heart began beating faster. By the time Kotomi returned to her senses, she had already spoken slowly amid the pounding in her chest:
"I-I suppose there's no helping you. Call me whatever you like."
"Yay!"
A short while later, Kotomi Izumi and Iroha Isshiki arrived outside the Izumi residence.
Kotomi Izumi took a key from her pocket and unlocked the door. Normally, whenever she came home, she would call out that she was back.
However, on the way home, Iroha Isshiki had told her that Aimi was still running a fever. As a result, Kotomi opened the door and entered with exceptional care, afraid that even the slightest noise might disturb Aimi's rest. She even removed her shoes quietly and murmured under her breath, almost as though speaking to herself,
"I'm home."
The sound of the door opening caught Akina Izumi's attention. She walked out of the living room, and upon seeing that her precious daughter had returned, she hurried over, reached out, and pinched Kotomi Izumi's cheeks, speaking in a delighted tone:
"Oh my, my precious daughter spent so many days in Kyoto. I couldn't pinch your cheeks at all, and my hands started feeling strange. I could barely remember how to cook these past few days. For example, last night, I accidentally burned the grilled fish."
"Mom, rather than forgetting how to cook because you couldn't pinch my cheeks, didn't you just start making other dishes while grilling the fish and accidentally forget about it again...? Mm, Mom, it's so cold today that I think my mouth has frozen stiff. See? I've already started talking nonsense. Don't pay any attention to me."
Kotomi Izumi had originally intended to tease her mother. However, when she felt the hands pinching her cheeks gradually applying more force, she immediately yielded and changed her story.
Akina Izumi was quite a good cook, except when it came to grilling fish.
It was not that the grilled fish Akina Izumi made tasted bad. Rather, she had a habit of accidentally burning it.
The reason was simple. Whenever Akina Izumi cooked, she would think that grilling fish took a long time, so she liked to use that waiting period to prepare stir-fried dishes and miso soup. That way, she would neither become bored waiting for the fish to finish grilling nor waste time while cooking.
However, grilling fish was not as simple as placing it on the grill and leaving it there. It had to be turned over at regular intervals. Akina Izumi naturally knew that, but whenever she arranged the fish on the grill and went to prepare the stir-fry or miso soup, she easily forgot all about it.
By the time she remembered, the fish had already burned.
Once Kotomi Izumi stopped exposing her weakness when it came to grilling fish, Akina Izumi finally stopped increasing the pressure of her fingers, looking thoroughly satisfied. Sure enough, children had to be educated through loving discipline. Continuing to knead Kotomi's little cheeks, she said,
"It really is quite cold today. How does creamy miso chashu ramen sound for lunch? Iroha, stay and eat with us too."
"Thank you, Auntie, but there's no need to trouble yourself. My mother already prepared lunch for me. Once I've visited Aimi, I'll head home."
Faced with Akina Izumi's invitation, Iroha Isshiki answered somewhat sheepishly.
Although Iroha Isshiki acted like a wicked little devil in front of Kotomi Izumi, she could not have behaved more obediently in front of her future mother-in-law.
"Then have your father and mother come over and eat with us too."
At the same time, Akina Izumi had noticed something in Iroha Isshiki's words. Iroha had already begun calling Kumi Motokawa her mother.
Naturally, Akina Izumi would not bring up the matter herself. After all, a daughter changing how she addressed her stepmother was another family's private affair. The best response was simply to notice it and adjust her own wording without drawing attention to the change.
"Dad went to work at the company very early today, and Mom is still at the hospital. They'll probably both be busy until tonight," Iroha Isshiki said somewhat apologetically.
"Is that so? What a pity. In that case, the next time you have the chance, Iroha, you must properly sample my cooking."
"Mm-hmm, definitely!" Iroha Isshiki nodded vigorously.
"Mom, how is Aimi doing? That silly girl normally loves acting spoiled with me, so why has she suddenly learned to hide her illness? She didn't even tell me she had a fever. I only found out from Iroha."
Whenever Kotomi Izumi thought about it, she felt like giving Aimi's little bottom a spanking.
Although Aimi had hidden her illness to keep her family from worrying, imagine returning happily from a trip, only to discover after arriving home that your little sister was sick. The cheerful mood would plummet at once, replaced by a heavy feeling. Had Kotomi been told in advance, she could at least have prepared herself mentally.
Akina Izumi shrugged helplessly and said,
"The day we discovered her fever, I fed her some porridge and gave her fever medicine. Afterward, I planned to tell you, but when Aimi found out, she said you were away on a hot spring trip. Even if telling you wouldn't make you return early, it would still affect your enjoyment of the trip. She didn't want your mood to be spoiled because of her."
"Tsk... That brat. Don't just start making decisions for my sake without asking me."
Kotomi Izumi sighed, feeling both helpless and angry. She picked up her suitcase and prepared to head upstairs. Iroha Isshiki followed behind her, going upstairs as well.
Akina Izumi watched little Kotomi storm upstairs with an amused smile. Her two daughters had always shared a close bond. Therefore, even if they had an emotional disagreement or encountered some minor problem, she and her husband usually chose to stand back and see how the two girls handled it themselves.
Children should resolve problems between sisters on their own. Parents could offer appropriate help or advice, but they would never make decisions on their children's behalf.
Protecting their children while also knowing when to let go, allowing them to learn how to handle certain matters themselves, had always been the Izumi couple's approach to parenting.
After Kotomi Izumi and Iroha Isshiki went upstairs, Akina Izumi rotated her wrist, turned toward the kitchen, and began preparing vegetables for lunch.
"All right, I should start making lunch too. Aimi's bowl of ramen needs to be lighter and more refreshing. By the time Kotomi comes downstairs later, that little problem between her and Aimi should already be resolved. They've always been close, after all."
At that point, Akina Izumi remembered that Aimi was still sleeping in Kotomi's bedroom. A helpless smile appeared at the corners of her lips. As though she had long since realized something, she sighed and said,
"It's just that the moment I stopped paying attention, Kotomi and Aimi became a little too close. Is this really going to be all right if things continue like this? Sigh..."
At the end of her words, Akina Izumi sighed helplessly once more.
As long as one ignored Kotomi's romantic affairs, she was unquestionably a sensible and obedient child. The problem was...
When it came to relationships, Kotomi truly gave her parents plenty of reason to worry!
Kotomi Izumi reached the second floor and was just about to open Aimi's bedroom door when Iroha Isshiki reminded her,
"Oh, right, Senpai. I forgot to tell you earlier. Aimi has been staying in your bedroom these past few days."
"My bedroom?"
Kotomi Izumi froze briefly, but she was not particularly shocked. After all, Aimi slipped into her bedroom every night while she slept and secretly touched her... Kotomi merely pretended not to know. In truth, she understood perfectly well what was happening.
Kotomi wanted to give Aimi an appropriate reminder not to launch a nighttime assault every single night. She needed to understand that the field would never be ruined from being plowed, but the ox could work itself to death.
However, Kotomi was too embarrassed to know how to bring it up. Therefore, all she could do was try to fall asleep as early as possible every night. Whenever Aimi launched another nighttime assault, Kotomi would bite down on the blanket as though she were dreaming, desperately trying not to make any overly noticeable sounds.
Perhaps it could be called a blessing in disguise. In any case, thanks to Aimi's nightly assaults, Kotomi Izumi had developed the healthy habit of going to sleep before midnight every night.
"That's right. The first time I came to visit Aimi, I found it strange. I couldn't understand why she was resting in your room instead of her own, Senpai, but I didn't know how to ask her about it."
"Oh, that. The reason is simple, so I'll explain it to you. You don't need to ask her.
"My laptop has a lot of adult... Ahem, gal games she likes to play. Whenever she starts one, she plays for hours at a time. However, the laptop's battery drains very quickly, so the best way to use it is to keep it plugged in and play while it charges.
"But there isn't a wall outlet beside the bed in Aimi's bedroom, so she can't charge it while playing.
"If she takes my laptop into her bedroom, she might play only briefly before the low-battery warning appears. Then she has to stop and charge it again. Going through all that greatly diminishes the immersion of playing a gal game.
"In my bedroom, however, there happens to be a wall outlet beside the bed. She can plug in the laptop and keep playing while it charges. That's why Aimi especially likes playing gal games in my room. Sometimes, if she plays too late, she simply sleeps there.
"Maybe she caught this cold because she stayed up too late playing gal games in my room the night before, then failed to cover herself properly while sleeping and got chilled."
After Kotomi Izumi finished explaining everything to Iroha Isshiki, she opened the door to her bedroom.
The moment she opened it, she heard the familiar background music of a gal game.
A scene of dialogue was also playing.
Romanceable Heroine No. 1: [Onee-sama, the truth is, I have always...]
Protagonist: [I never realized how dense I was. The person who loved me most was right beside me, yet I still dated someone else before. I'm sorry... From now on, please let me spend the rest of my life loving and protecting you.]
Next, the gal game screen shifted from dialogue to an animated HCG.
Aimi Izumi, wearing a cooling patch on her forehead, wrapped in a blanket, and propped against a pillow while playing an R18 gal game on the laptop, stared at her older sister and Iroha Isshiki standing in the doorway. The expression on her adorable face first went blank before rapidly changing to embarrassment and shame.
Her flustered little hand hurriedly pressed the laptop's touchpad, trying to mute the sound. Instead, Aimi accidentally pressed the wrong control...
Not only did she fail to mute it, but she turned the volume up.
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