As expected.
Akina Izumi didn't let Aimi see the letter. Instead, she quietly put it away, then pulled Kotomi Izumi—who was just about to enjoy some dessert—into the bedroom. Kaneyoshi Izumi closed the door behind them.
Clack-clack-clack.
Another joyful mixed-gender double spanking session ensued.
Leaving poor Aimi, clueless in the kitchen, with a dazed expression—like a long-distance runner who eagerly showed up for a race only to find out they couldn't even locate the track.
Thinking back to yesterday, Kotomi still felt her butt aching slightly. Sitting on a chair now required active distraction to ignore the pain.
She would never admit to anyone she had been spanked.
After coming out of her parents' bedroom post-spanking, she even "threatened and bribed" Aimi not to speak a word of it.
But unlike before, Aimi didn't immediately agree. Instead, she asked curiously, "Onee-chan, why did Mom and Dad spank you?"
Telling the truth was obviously out of the question. Kotomi had a hunch that if she actually said it, Aimi might go full yandere. Nor could she tell Megumi Kato or the others.
Kotomi worked hard to maintain a delicate balance between them all. It was exhausting, but necessary.
If that balance ever broke, Kotomi wasn't sure what might happen. Would the girls go full yandere?
And if they did, sure, a brief moment of passion might be exhilarating, but it would quickly become a crematorium-level disaster. Her cozy daily life would collapse into a hellscape of psychotic girls closing in from all sides.
Having lived a second life, Kotomi now valued her life more. While her peers were still impulsive and reckless, she understood the preciousness of being alive.
She had no interest in casually getting stabbed by a girl while walking down the street.
Unless one was prepared to go to heaven, trying the taste of a yandere's blade was better left untested.
The morning's four periods passed easily. Tomorrow was the midterm, so none of the teachers introduced new material today. Instead, they used class time to review all the key points likely to appear on the exam.
Mr. Nakamori was in high spirits while teaching, especially since Class 1-F had math during the third and fourth periods. With the midterm looming, the scheduled PE class for fourth period had conveniently been canceled—the PE teacher had "called in sick."
That said, Kotomi did see the PE teacher carrying a bag of spicy hotpot takeout on his way to the PE office right before third period...
Maybe it was just part of high school life.
PE class wasn't like elementary school anymore, where it was mostly just playing around on the field.
Now they had to jog two laps around the track to warm up, then practice volleyball. It was exhausting, and many students no longer looked forward to PE the way they had in elementary or middle school. No one was disappointed to hear the teacher was "sick."
Kotomi was one of them. She'd much rather stay in the classroom and have math class than go to PE.
Why?
Because in math class, she could show off thanks to the System-level learning ability granted by her God-Level Heroine System—solving ridiculously hard math problems with ease, drawing praise and admiration from both teacher and classmates.
One of Kotomi's favorite things to do was showing off in front of others.
To bask in glory before others, soaking up praise and worship while her rivals watched in stunned humiliation—just the thought of it made Kotomi tremble with excitement.
As for PE...
Kotomi was terrible at volleyball. Oddly enough, even if she started out okay, she'd eventually miss the ball, send it flying off target, or hit it so hard it sailed completely out of bounds.
Her volleyball partner, Yui Yuigahama, was always left gasping for air from chasing down the runaway balls.
Kotomi and Yui's team had never scored more than six successful passes.
Just thinking about the volleyball fitness test in third year—where two players had to volley the ball back and forth and reach at least ten volleys to pass—was already weighing heavily on Kotomi's mind.
Passing that volleyball test felt daunting enough just imagining it...
Which made Kotomi even less enthusiastic about PE class.
Mr. Nakamori knew Kotomi had spent three days in Kyoto and was worried whether she had managed to study properly.
So, during class, he called on her multiple times to answer questions—all focused on problems likely to appear in the midterm. Kotomi responded flawlessly each time, detailing her thought processes and solutions.
Her explanations were so thorough that Mr. Nakamori joked about having her come up and teach the class while he sat and listened.
He couldn't speak for other subjects, but at least in math, he was now completely confident in Kotomi's performance for the midterm.
During lunch break.
Yui slumped over her desk. With all four periods in the morning focused on review, she felt her brain was about to burst.
"Ugh, I'm exhausted... It feels like my brain is stuffed to the brim with nothing but facts," Yui muttered, sounding drained.
But actually, she felt happy. She used to do terribly in school. Even if she wanted to study, she hadn't known how. Even if she had the will to learn, she hadn't known where to begin.
Back before the monthly exam, when Kotomi tutored her every evening, Yui not only regained her confidence, she also discovered a study method that worked for her. Sure, Kotomi could've let her cheat—but what good was passing one test by cheating?
Give a person a fish, and they eat for a day. Teach them to fish, and they eat for a lifetime.
Now, reviewing actually gave Yui a sense of accomplishment. She was tired, yes, but at least she could understand and retain what she studied.
Still, she did miss the days before the monthly exam when Kotomi came over every evening to tutor her. Without that this time, it felt like a loss.
Yui didn't dare hope for as big a jump in her scores this time, but she was confident she wouldn't backslide either.
"Keep a calm mindset. Don't get intimidated by what the teachers say about difficulty. Remember how tough the monthly test was? And yet you ended up being the biggest dark horse in the entire grade. As long as you stay calm and pace yourself, you'll do fine. And of course, if there's anything you don't get, come find me before school ends."
Kotomi gently patted Yui's head like one would with a puppy, smiling warmly.
"Kotomi is just so gentle... Sometimes, she's so gentle I feel like calling her Mom," Megumi said, eyes curved in a teasing smile.
"That would be maternal charm, wouldn't it?" Yukino Yukinoshita chimed in seriously. Her tone sounded normal, but her gaze held a tinge of envy.
She was envious. She wanted to be patted on the head by Kotomi too.
And what about Mashiro Shiina?
Mashiro was asleep.
Really asleep.
She had stayed up all night working on her manga again. The moment she arrived in class that morning, she slumped over her desk and hadn't stirred since.
When the teacher tried calling on her during class and saw her fast asleep, there was nothing to do but skip her and move on.
The fact that Mashiro was a world-class manga artist had already become well known among the teachers at Soubu High. Having such a student at their school was already an honor—no one expected her to take classes seriously.
Before Mashiro even enrolled, the chairman and principal had held a meeting and told all faculty that as long as she wasn't disruptive, it was fine if she zoned out during class, doodled in her textbooks, skipped homework, or even scored zero on exams.
So who had the easiest life at school?
Definitely Mashiro.
Kotomi Izumi and Utaha Kasumigaoka could only cry tears of envy.
Megumi sipped her drink through a straw. After her earlier comment, she had gone quiet, simply watching Kotomi and Yui.
After lunch.
Megumi tossed her empty drink bottle into the trash, then grabbed Kotomi's wrist. Kotomi instinctively flinched, thinking Megumi was about to kiss her like she had that morning. Her cheeks flushed as she whispered:
"M-Megumi... not here... there are too many people..."
Noticing Kotomi's reflexive reaction and flustered words, Megumi couldn't help but let out a helpless laugh. Then she grabbed the jacket hanging from her chair and said, half-commanding:
"Come with me."
"Eh?"
Kotomi was just about to ask where they were going when, the next second, Megumi dragged her away without explanation.
Mashiro Shiina, Yui Yuigahama, and Yukino Yukinoshita all saw the scene unfold, each with their own thoughts in their hearts.
"Megumi, don't walk so fast."
"Megumi, slow down a little, please? I'm gonna trip."
"Megumi, don't grip my wrist so hard. It hurts."
Kotomi had no idea where Megumi was taking her. All she could do now was let herself be dragged along by the wrist, down one stairwell after another.
She'd already spoken three times, but Megumi hadn't replied once. She just kept pulling Kotomi along, heading somewhere with a determination that was more domineering than her usual gentle demeanor.
Did I do something wrong again? Kotomi wondered nervously. Thinking back, she realized she had spent the whole morning playing Azur Lane. Maybe she had neglected Megumi, and that's why she was being dragged around like this.
Ugh, is Megumi going to punish me? I'm so excited~
Wait no, I mean... scared! Totally scared! Kotomi thought, grinning to herself.
Megumi led her out of the academic building, across the sports field, and into the athletic equipment storage shed.
The main door to the storage room was usually locked tight. Only a teacher with a key could open it, and students obviously weren't allowed keys.
But who said you had to use the main entrance?
Megumi took Kotomi around the back wall. One of the windows was open. Megumi had scouted out several spots on campus in search of a private place to be alone with Kotomi. She eventually discovered this shed—rarely visited by anyone. Though the main door was sealed, the back window had apparently been left open and never shut again. It was just the right size for a normally-built high school girl to slip through.
"In you go." Megumi stopped walking and gestured toward the open window.
The window wasn't too high, and there was an old seven-level jump box nearby. The top layer was so worn down that just looking at it made you wonder where all the years had gone.
It was probably older than Kotomi herself. Most likely part of the original batch of gym equipment from when Soubu High was first founded.
Plenty of old relics like this used to sit in the school's storage rooms.
But with new equipment recently delivered, most of the older stuff had been moved out for disposal. Lately, you could see a recycling truck regularly driving in through the school gates straight to the fieldside storage shed.
Now, the shed was mostly filled with new gear. No one knew why this jump box had been left behind. It had already been taken out of the shed—why wasn't it thrown out?
Still, it was a good thing it remained. It made climbing into the window much easier.
That said, despite Kotomi's goody-two-shoes image, she had actually never climbed through a window before. But being a mischievous child at heart, she was naturally skilled at window and wall climbing.
Kotomi didn't know why Megumi wanted her inside the shed, but she figured she'd just go with the flow. After all, when they passed by the front door earlier, she had touched it and noted it wasn't too thick.
If anything serious happened, she could always use her Stand—Queen of All Females—to blast that iron door right off.
Kidding~
While squeezing through the window, Kotomi mumbled to herself, "Just a month and a half more until JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean airs... Ahh, I wish I could fast-forward time. Eh?"
A bead of cold sweat ran down her cheek.
Kotomi froze, eyes shut tight, unwilling to accept the horrifying reality—
Her chest was too big. She was stuck!!
Damn it, damn it! She had checked the window and thought it looked fine. But still, she got stuck.
Is it because I'm too big... or is the window just too small?
Uh...
Well, windows aren't exactly made for people to crawl through. But what now?
I'm stuck!
Even though she was wearing full-length white tights today, Kotomi wasn't wearing safety shorts—just a skirt. If someone happened to see her like this...
Ugh! She'd rather die on the spot. Just bury her now and let her rest in peace.
Kotomi's face turned a fiery red, almost like it could bleed. Her legs, wrapped in white tights, wiggled and pushed forward into the storage room. Whether she was going in or out didn't matter—she just wanted to free herself from being stuck in that window.
"Megumi, I'm stuck!"
"Huh? That window's not even that small! How did you get stuck!?" Megumi had just been about to urge Kotomi to hurry up when she heard the cry for help and froze in surprise.
The window didn't look that small.
How did Kotomi still get stuck?
Then Megumi remembered those large, soft, pale...
Ah. It all made sense now. She couldn't help but chuckle.
"Wifey, if we ever have a baby, they'll definitely never go hungry."
"Idiot! Pervert! Baka! Don't joke around right now! If you don't help me soon, I'm not having your baby anymore. I'll have someone else's!"
Kotomi was easily embarrassed, but when it went beyond a certain threshold, she became fearless—bold even.
Hearing that, Megumi suddenly felt her fists clench.
With a somewhat punitive air, she smacked Kotomi's butt from behind. The force was strong enough to send Kotomi tumbling forward, finally landing inside the storage room!
...Though, she almost went face-first into the floor.
Compared to Kotomi, Megumi climbed in through the window with ease.
"Ugh... Why did we have to come to the storage shed for this?" Kotomi rubbed her little nose. The ground hadn't been kind.
Megumi simply smiled, saying nothing. From among the newly delivered, still-unboxed gym equipment, she pulled out a brand-new high-jump mat.
"A high-jump mat? Megumi, you're not thinking of actually doing high jumps in here, are you?" Kotomi walked over, speaking half-jokingly like a mischievous little imp.
"Who knows?" Megumi said softly.
Before Kotomi could react, her wrist was seized once more.
Always claiming she was the top in the relationship, Kotomi now found herself being pushed down onto the mat by Megumi. At that moment, Kotomi understood exactly what the mat was for.
"So rough... Can't hold back anymore, can you?" Kotomi reached out to gently stroke Megumi's cheek, her eyes full of yearning and tenderness.
Megumi nodded firmly.
"Am I cute today?" Kotomi asked.
"Very," Megumi answered without hesitation.
"If you can't hold back... and I'm this cute today... then what are you still waiting for?" Kotomi smiled charmingly, unbuttoning the top of her blouse as she slipped off her jacket.
Megumi leaned down and kissed Kotomi's lips.
The two embraced tightly, pouring out all the longing they'd felt for each other over the past three days.
In that moment, Megumi truly understood why Kotomi had gotten stuck in the window earlier.
"Megumi, wait... I haven't taken off my tights yet—"
"Don't need to. I like them just like this..."
"Mmm..."
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