Kiyoko Matsumatsu asked Kotomi Izumi with a subtly suggestive smile:
"By the way, Izumi-san, don't tell me... this is your first time?"
"Hm? First time what... huh?"
At first, Kotomi didn't catch on. But after a brief pause, she quickly understood. Her adorable face flushed visibly red.
"R-Really, Matsumatsu-san, what are you talking about! Ahaha, of course it is."
"Eh? Izumi-san doesn't have a boyfriend?" This time, it was Kiyoko's turn to be surprised.
"How could I? My family's pretty strict," Kotomi replied with an awkward chuckle, tossing out a convenient excuse.
She didn't mention that she liked girls. Even though she and Kiyoko were getting along and having lunch together, that didn't mean she could casually share something so personal with someone she'd only just met today.
"No wonder—you really do look like the obedient honor-student type, Izumi-san~"
Kiyoko smiled slightly. At first, she'd only started talking to Kotomi because they shared a love for the same game—Apex. Most of their chat on the way over and during lunch had been about that.
But after a short time together, Kotomi revealed herself to be like a magnet—constantly, effortlessly radiating charm.
Under that overwhelming allure, once a girl noticed it, she could no longer tear her gaze away from Kotomi. Deep inside, a desire would begin to form—an urge to know more about Kotomi, a longing to close the distance to zero.
Kiyoko didn't know if saying this out loud would scare Kotomi. After all, even she had been shocked when she first realized it herself.
At first, she had just seen Kotomi as a fellow gamer friend. But now, Kiyoko felt that Kotomi's inner and outer charm had a fatal pull. She had tried to resist it, but soon realized resistance was pointless.
If Kotomi doesn't have a boyfriend... then maybe I could be her girlfriend? Or better yet, she could be mine! Ugh... but I don't even know how to date a girl. Kiyoko's thoughts spun in every direction.
Just as she was about to reach for Kotomi's hand and blurt out, "Let's try dating!"
Clatter!
The ramen shop door swung open with some force. In the relatively quiet restaurant, the sound was loud and clear. Kotomi and Kiyoko instinctively turned to look.
There, leaning on a cane, was Arisu Sakayanagi—panting heavily as she appeared at the entrance. She looked like she'd run all the way from school.
"Arisu? You came for ramen too? Come join us!" Kotomi was surprised to see her, but quickly went over to take her hand and tried to pull her in to sit down with them.
Arisu's breathing was labored. She had jogged over from school with her cane. While her leg wasn't seriously injured, her stamina hadn't fully recovered—and most of it had already been spent fighting Megumi earlier.
Heh, this is all Megumi Kato's fault! Arisu thought bitterly.
Glancing at Kotomi and confirming they really were just eating, Arisu finally relaxed a little.
"Good afternoon, Sakayanagi-san. If you haven't eaten yet, would you like to join us?" Kiyoko asked with a friendly smile, her tone casual.
Arisu exhaled and quietly scolded herself for overreacting. Kotomi had probably just gone out for lunch with someone she clicked with, and here she was, panicking and running from school to a ramen shop.
"No thanks, I've already eaten. I just heard Kotomi went out for lunch and got worried she might be late for the afternoon exams, so I came to find her."
As she said this, Arisu glanced at the tall stack of bowls in front of Kotomi—and couldn't help but laugh aloud:
"Because Kotomi can really eat a lot, I was worried she'd lose track of time while eating," Arisu said.
"Izumi-san's appetite really is something else," Kiyoko Matsumatsu agreed, still in disbelief at the sheer volume Kotomi had just consumed.
How does she eat so much and not gain weight? Kiyoko wondered. When her gaze wandered to Kotomi's chest, realization struck her.
She had thought she was already quite well-endowed, but in front of Kotomi, she felt like a tiny snowman standing before a snow-covered mountain...
Ouch! Just as Kiyoko was getting lost in admiration, a sharp, stabbing pain shot through her cheek—as if she'd been pierced by a blade.
Was it just her imagination?
Arisu Sakayanagi subtly averted her gaze. She hadn't expected her future wife to possess such overwhelming charm. Even doing nothing—just eating a meal—was enough to attract yet another girl.
"Since we're done, let's hurry back to school. Lunch break only has a few dozen minutes left before the afternoon exams," Arisu said, her eyes fixed solely on Kotomi.
"Alright," Kotomi replied just as she finished the last of her pickled radish.
They settled the bill and headed for the door. As they were leaving, Arisu suddenly furrowed her brows slightly. She deliberately took a deep breath, making sure it was loud enough for Kotomi to hear.
"Arisu, are you not feeling well?" Kotomi asked with concern.
"My leg... maybe I ran too fast coming over earlier. It feels weak now, like I can't support my upper body."
Arisu feigned fragility and let her body lean against Kotomi, as if her legs truly couldn't hold her up.
Caught off guard, Kotomi instinctively let Arisu rest against her and said, "Arisu, hold onto me. Just treat me like a reliable walking cane that can carry you."
"Thank you, Kotomi," Arisu replied with a "weak" smile and wrapped her arm around Kotomi's waist—rather low on the waist, at that.
Such a blatant move, but Kotomi was too worried about Arisu's leg to notice. All she could think about now was whether she should take Arisu to the hospital. The midterms could wait.
"Tell me if it gets worse. I'll take you to the hospital right now."
"No, no, no need! It's just a little weakness. If I walk too much or too fast, it sometimes feels like this. Normally, I just lean against a wall or sit down to rest... But now that you're here... it's really nice~"
As Arisu spoke, her fake-weak face lit up with a smile—one so radiant, it bloomed like the only flower in a lifeless field. Beautiful enough to steal one's breath, lonely enough to break one's heart, fragile enough to disappear in the next second.
Kotomi stood stunned. Even years later, she would still remember this smile—along with the stirring sensation deep in her heart.
It was the same feeling she'd had as a child, when she had seen Arisu smile like that.
Back then, a little girl with disabled legs had stood in the face of raging flames, seemingly accepting her fate to perish in the fire. She had smiled with resignation and regret at the white-haired girl in the distance and shouted, "Don't worry about me, run!"
And what choice had that white-haired girl made back then?
Kotomi furrowed her brows slightly. In her mind, it felt as if a locked door was trembling, on the verge of shattering, ready to release the memories sealed within.
The last time she felt this way was when she remembered that she had always been Kotomi.
Kotomi kept digging through fragments of her old memories, hoping to find some thread that would unlock her past. But no matter how hard she tried, even with her mind trembling from the effort, she still couldn't break that mental lock and release what was sealed inside.
Compared to last time, this attempt felt much harder.
Maybe the time still hadn't come to recover that part of her memory? Last time had been so easy—perhaps because the timing was just right, allowing her to recall things smoothly, like going with the current.
Looks like I'll have to put this on hold for now... Kotomi sighed silently and let go of her immediate pursuit to break the fragile, shaking lock in her mind.
She supported Arisu Sakayanagi all the way back to school, with Arisu holding tightly onto her slender waist until they reached the exam room.
Once they were back in the classroom, Arisu finally dropped her act. But since good acting requires commitment, she continued to lean on her cane and had Kotomi help her sit down slowly, like someone just returning from surgery.
Kotomi still hadn't realized Arisu was faking and earnestly reminded her, "Arisu, if you really don't feel well, don't push yourself. Make sure to tell the teacher immediately."
"Don't worry. For your sake, I'll take good care of my health too," Arisu replied with a meaningful smile.
After several more concerned reminders, Kotomi finally returned to her own seat, unwillingly using the remaining 25 minutes of lunch break. During that time, she kept turning around to glance at Arisu behind her.
They looked just like a pair of love-struck teenagers deeply in love.
Meanwhile, Kiyoko Matsumatsu had returned to her seat and recalled what she'd just seen: Arisu hugging Kotomi's waist—quite low, almost touching her butt!
After a moment's thought, Kiyoko's eyes widened in shock.
Earlier at the ramen shop, she'd asked Kotomi if she had a boyfriend, and Kotomi said no.
But... she hadn't asked if Kotomi had a girlfriend!
Thinking back to how Arisu came all the way to the ramen shop with her cane just to find Kotomi, and how casually she held her so intimately...
"Could Izumi-san and Sakayanagi-san actually be dating?!" Kiyoko muttered in disbelief, thankfully keeping her voice low enough for only herself to hear.
Now that the idea had taken root, the more she thought about it, the more sense it made.
Everything about how Arisu acted toward Kotomi, the way she looked at her—it all screamed romance.
In that instant, a deep sense of loss welled up in Kiyoko's heart.
So Kotomi already has a girlfriend...
And not just anyone—it was Arisu Sakayanagi, the class rep of Class 1-A. Her own feelings for Kotomi had only just begun to bloom, and now reality had already crushed them before they could blossom.
Though Kiyoko might seem a bit flirtatious on the surface, she was actually very devoted when it came to love. She believed in lifelong commitment. To love one person forever, to hold their hand and grow old together.
So even as her friends started dating one by one, and even though she received plenty of confessions, Kiyoko stuck to her belief—waiting for the one destined for her. She wanted to fall in love once, and only once, with someone who would eventually become family.
She had thought Kotomi might be that person. But now, after sensing the true nature of Kotomi and Arisu's relationship, her heart ached. Yet despite the reluctance, she chose to quietly bless them and step back.
Her views on love would never allow her to become the third party who disrupted someone else's relationship.
"I can't believe it... In just one day, I experienced both the thrill of falling in love and the sting of heartbreak..."
Kiyoko Matsumatsu murmured softly as she gazed out the window.
The sky today was such a vivid blue.
But soon, she shook off the bitterness of "heartbreak," because she suddenly realized—if Kotomi Izumi and Arisu Sakayanagi really were a couple, then... weren't they just way too sweet?!
A physically frail, assertive ojou-sama top, who relied on a wheelchair and cane...
And a gentle, teary-eyed, pink-eyed white-haired domestic wife-type bottom.
Oh my god! This pairing is absolute perfection! If this were a story written by an author, that author would be nothing short of a genius! So sweet! I don't know why, but my brain has already drafted a 9-million-word fluffy yuri novel.
By the time the bell rang to start the afternoon exams, who knows how far Kiyoko had gone with her imaginary plotlines? All anyone knew was that she had to wipe away drool from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, completely caught up in excitement.
The proctor handing out papers even suspected she'd taken some kind of stimulant.
For the two afternoon exams, Kotomi maintained her incredible answering speed. The moment she finished the final word, she set down her pen and laid her head on the desk to nap. The whole process was smooth and effortless, not wasting a single motion.
As if checking her answers would insult her intellect.
The teachers proctoring Class 1-A were long since used to this. One quietly walked over and gently draped a blanket over Kotomi.
One particularly straightforward student saw this and misunderstood completely. He thought the school was being incredibly generous this time—no need to check your answers after the exam, you could just nap at your desk, and the teacher would even come cover you with a blanket!
This is amazing!
That student had just finished his exam, and it had been a tough one. He'd tried his best and checked his answers twice. Though there were still 15 minutes left, even one extra minute of rest felt like a win.
So he set down his pen and leaned forward to nap.
But before he could fully close his eyes, thwack!—he got smacked on the forehead with a piece of chalk.
"Ouch!"
"Student, did you finish your paper?"
"Y-Yeah."
"Then why aren't you checking it again? This midterm was extremely tough! Or are you confident you got every answer right?"
No way! It was English, and the questions were really tricky. Scoring in the 90s would already be a win!
The student shook his head.
Seeing that, the teacher grew even more annoyed:
"Since you can't guarantee full marks, why aren't you putting in the effort to check your answers? And you're trying to nap during the exam?! For this round of midterms, our top priority as proctors is cracking down on the serious issue of napping during exams!"
Cracking down?!
A serious issue?!
Hearing this, several confused students glanced over at Kotomi.
Teacher... you literally just tucked her in with a blanket a minute ago!
Arisu Sakayanagi suddenly regretted sitting behind Kotomi. From this angle, she couldn't see Kotomi's sleeping face!
Oh well, once I marry little Kotomi and bring her home, I can look at it every day! Arisu consoled herself internally.
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