"I haven't seen Kotomi all morning. I'm lonely, I want to hug more."
Mashiro Shiina tightly hugged Kotomi Izumi, clinging to her like a koala. Her restless little hands made Kotomi want to smack her. Stupid Mashiro, where are you touching!
"Hehe, Kotomi smells a little different than usual today."
Yui Yuigahama refused to lose out. Her little nose twitched, sniffing like a puppy, immediately noticing that the scent of Kotomi's body wash was different from before.
Of course it's different. Yesterday, when I took a bath, I used the body wash from Yukino's house… Kotomi thought with an awkward smile but didn't say it aloud. Forget Mashiro, she definitely didn't want Yui and Megumi to know that yesterday afternoon she went to Yukino's house and even stayed over at night.
Thinking of this, Kotomi glanced at Megumi Kato. Seeing Megumi's slightly cold expression, Kotomi paused, then as if understanding something, she wasn't surprised or nervous at all. Instead… her lips curved into a subtle, meaningful smile.
—As if, wish fulfilled.
After hugging Yui and Mashiro, Kotomi returned to her seat. With only a few minutes left before class, she took out her pencil case. For the small physics quiz in the first afternoon class, Kotomi felt no nervousness at all.
She had never felt nervous about exams since she was little.
In the past, it was because she didn't know anything. No matter how hard she studied, it was useless. She might as well just wing it and see how many answers she could guess correctly. Getting one right was good, five right was amazing, and if she managed to pass, that was champagne-worthy. If lucky, she could even copy a little from classmates nearby.
Now, it was because she knew everything. No need to study, just a glance at the question was enough to know the method and the answer.
"Megumi, can I borrow your notes from this morning's classes to copy after class?"
Before the bell rang, Kotomi leaned closer and asked Megumi Kato in a low voice.
Megumi twirled her hair with her fingertips. Ever since Kotomi had entered the classroom earlier, she hadn't spoken a word. Hearing Kotomi's voice, she turned to look at her, nodded lightly, and curved her lips into a faint smile—like a crimson predator spotting prey fallen into a trap.
"Sure." Megumi's voice was soft. "There were a lot of notes to take this morning. One break definitely isn't enough to copy them all. After school this afternoon, come to my house. My parents went out today, so you can take your time copying."
"Oh, okay."
Kotomi nodded. She had planned to finish copying after the first class break, but since Megumi said there were too many notes to finish in one break, she'd just have to go to Megumi's house later.
Seeing Kotomi agree, Megumi's smile grew darker and more dangerous.
Sitting in front, Yui Yuigahama had overheard their conversation. Her dumpling-like little head filled with confusion. Half a day of classes in the morning—teachers hardly taught much. Altogether, there wouldn't be more than two pages of notes.
So why did Megumi say there were a lot of notes, more than could be copied in one break?
Yui couldn't understand why Megumi lied. She was about to tell Kotomi that the notes were actually few, and she could just borrow her notebook instead.
"Cough cough."
Just as Yui was about to speak, a light cough sounded from behind her, like a warning not to say more.
But was that light cough from Megumi Kato, or from Kotomi?
"Ahahaha, test papers are here!"
The physics teacher entered Class 1-F with a stack of unit test papers, this time using many real exam questions from top schools.
After all, the unit they had just covered wasn't only important for first-year high school, but if students chose science later, this knowledge point would be unavoidable in exams. Since they couldn't avoid it, they had to master it!
The physics teacher, who taught very thoroughly, also wanted to see how well the students could score in the unit test.
After getting the paper, Kotomi glanced over the questions. Front and back, four pages in total. Fortunately, the first two pages were all multiple choice and true/false questions.
The questions—she hadn't reviewed, but she already knew all the answers.
Kotomi picked up her pen and began writing swiftly.
Twelve minutes later, she was done. But the class period was forty minutes.
So Kotomi just sat in the back, watching Yui Yuigahama, observing her state during the test.
It had been a while since she last tutored Yui. Although Kotomi didn't need to worry about this slightly silly girl's grades dropping just because she hadn't been tutored, she still wanted to see what progress Yui had made through her own studying.
Just from watching Yui's test-taking state, Kotomi already wore the gratified smile of an old mother, as if she had become Yui Yuigahama's second mom.
After all, Yui's biggest weakness had always been science. Asking her to seriously complete a physics paper was less reliable than handing her a dice and letting her roll numbers.
Now, though Yui's answering speed wasn't exactly fast, at least from start to finish her pen never stopped moving. Watching her side profile from behind, Kotomi could see her lightly furrowing her brows in deep thought, then the joy on her face after finally figuring out a solution.
Kotomi nodded in satisfaction. Even if she sighed right now, saying: "My daughter has finally grown up," it wouldn't feel out of place.
The unit test lasted just one class period. When the bell rang, the physics teacher collected all the papers.
"Ugh… the last big question was so hard. I spent a whole twenty minutes just figuring out a rough answer, and I'm not even sure it's right."
As soon as the test ended, Yui Yuigahama turned into a soft dumpling, slumping onto Kotomi's desk, asking Kotomi to pat her cheek. For that, she even swapped seats with Yukino.
Yukino Yukinoshita sat in Yui's seat, watching Yui in her own seat asking Kotomi to stroke her face. Her expression was cold, but inside she felt envious.
...
After school.
"Mashiro, I'm not going to art club today. Remember to ask for leave for me. I'm going to Megumi's house to copy some notes." Kotomi said after packing her bag.
Mashiro Shiina, who had been about to hold Kotomi's hand so they could walk to art club together, immediately pouted when she heard Kotomi say she wouldn't be going today, her cute little face showing displeasure.
Seeing this, Kotomi reached out to stroke Mashiro's cheek. The affectionate gesture seemed to fill the air with the sweet scent of oranges and honey.
Yes, and she did it right in front of Megumi Kato.
On the way home from school, even though Kotomi kept trying to find topics to talk about with Megumi Kato, Megumi remained low-spirited, replying only once or twice now and then.
Yet her tone was otherwise the same as usual—there was no trace of anger to be heard. She might even laugh softly while speaking. When Kotomi reached out her hand, Megumi would still take it gently like she always did.
The two of them kept that odd atmosphere all the way to the Kato house.
Mr. and Mrs. Kato were out; at that moment only Megumi and Kotomi were at the house.
"Kotomi, go wait in my upstairs bedroom for a bit. I'll grab some snacks from the kitchen," Megumi said with a light laugh after taking off her shoes.
"Okay~"
Kotomi didn't notice anything off about Megumi's tone. She slipped off her little shoes, her bare feet still wrapped in stockings, and trotted up to Megumi's bedroom like she'd done it a hundred times.
She'd been here so many times she knew the place well.
Once inside, Kotomi sat down on the bedroom carpet, leaning against the side of the bed and waiting for Megumi to come upstairs.
After a moment, she heard Megumi's footsteps above.
"Dad and Mom went out and probably won't be back until tomorrow afternoon… Ah, looks like I have to make dinner again. I can cook, but doing it alone is tiring—especially cleaning up afterward," Megumi said, placing a few bags of Kotomi's favorite snacks on the table and complaining with a faint smile. Everything sounded perfectly normal.
"I can relate—cooking and cleaning take time and tire you out. That's why being a big eater has its advantages: meals take longer. Come to think of it, that's not so bad."
Kotomi casually opened a bag of chips and set her notebook on the table. She rarely put her subject notebooks in her bag; she habitually left them in the desk pocket.
When she took Megumi's notebook and began to copy, Kotomi's brows knit in slight confusion at what she read. She asked, puzzled:
"Were these really all you covered this morning? These notes for several subjects are written in the same notebook; together it couldn't possibly be more than two pages."
She even let out a small chuckle—this little amount of notes could easily be copied in one break.
Unintentionally, Kotomi's small laugh was misread by Megumi and became the last straw that set Megumi's mood further on edge.
Megumi's body trembled slightly. She grabbed the curtain and drew it closed, blocking out the afternoon light. The bedroom remained unlit, and with the curtains shut the room darkened.
"Kotomi, you can't copy notes if you close the curtains like that. Please turn the light on. Besides, it's only afternoon—why the curtains?" Kotomi protested.
Megumi didn't do as asked. She walked over to Kotomi, hands clasped behind her back, smiling softly.
"That's the thing—today's class notes really aren't much. I told you they were a lot because I wanted you to come to my house. I have a small present for you."
"A present?"
Kotomi blinked, then smiled lightly.
"Oh, Megumi, you didn't need to bother—if you wanted me to come, you could've just said so. It's not like I don't come over often. Hehe, what are you giving me? I'm excited! But it's not a holiday or my birthday—why give me a present?"
"Love needs a little stimulation to last longer—like occasionally giving the other person a small gift." Megumi walked up to Kotomi, smiling.
"That makes sense. I wish I'd thought of that sooner. I also want to prepare a little gift for you," Kotomi said, nodding in agreement.
But for some reason, when Kotomi heard the phrase "Love needs a little stimulation to last longer," the first thing that crossed her mind wasn't sweetness. Instead she recalled the nightmare she'd had the previous night—the whispered words of that terrifying girl:
[Do you hate me? Hate me! Better that you hate me so much you want to kill me right now! Let hatred blend with love—only then will we be unable to let go… I know you like it best that way.]
"It's fine. To me, you are the best gift," Megumi Kato said with a gentle smile. "Kotomi, can you close your eyes first? I want to give you the gift this way—it'll be more of a surprise than just handing it to you."
"Oh, sure." Kotomi obediently closed her eyes.
"Until I say open, you mustn't peek."
"Mhm, I know."
Kotomi nodded and kept her eyes closed, waiting for Megumi to give her the gift.
"Kotomi, run!"
Kazumi's voice suddenly rang in Kotomi's mind, urgent and grave, leaving no sense that she was joking.
"Eh?" Kotomi was confused. She wasn't standing—she was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed, eyes closed, waiting for Megumi's gift. Her vision was nothing but darkness.
Before she could open her eyes, stabbing pain erupted in her abdomen. Warm blood gushed from the wound, splattering across Megumi's beautiful face.
Kotomi forced her eyes open through the pain, but her vision was already blurring. Vaguely, she saw Megumi sitting before her, a bloodstained dagger in her hand, her lovely face streaked with red. Tears welled in her eyes, mingling with the blood and making it blur.
"Me… Megumi…" Kotomi coughed blood, enduring the agony, eyes wide with disbelief. The massive blood loss made her voice tremble. She wanted to ask—why?
Megumi's face carried an expression both crying and smiling. Blood dripped from the blade in her hand.
"I loved you so much. I accepted every lie you told me. Yet you kept deceiving me again and again. I only wanted you to stay obediently by my side. Why must you always be so mischievous? Hehe… It doesn't matter. No matter how naughty you are, I will always love you, until death. But I need to discipline you—at least enough to make you the sweet, obedient girl you used to be."
Megumi reached out, stroking Kotomi's hair gently as though to comfort her, and whispered:
"Don't be afraid. I'll join you soon. Let's go together to another world, love each other there, eat well and sleep well. We'll marry in a small town, live in a little house, and spend our days in a warm, happy life—just the two of us."
With that, Megumi turned the blade toward herself and plunged it straight into her own heart.
...
In a space of mingling blue and pink, Kotomi sat stunned, staring blankly at Kazumi before her.
The two looked at each other in silence. After a moment, Kotomi finally spoke slowly:
"Kazumi… am I dead?"
"Yes, you died. Together with Megumi Kato. If you don't believe me, lift your clothes and see the knife wound on your stomach."
"…Is there any way?"
"If there weren't, I wouldn't have intervened just as your souls were about to disappear, to hold onto both of them. Ah… preserving souls is extremely difficult. You have to strike at the very instant before the soul disperses—not a moment earlier or later. To preserve one soul is already a miracle. Just now, saving two at once was like walking a tightrope over a cliff."
Kazumi sighed deeply, giving a wry smile. She glanced at her hand, already faint and blurry. She had used too much power, nearly pushing herself into sage mode, about to start pondering the meaning of the universe.
"Where's Megumi?" Kotomi asked.
"This is a mental space that only you and I can inhabit. She can't exist here. So I've sealed her soul temporarily within her body. In a moment, I'll return your soul to you, then rewind time a little. Done—that'll bring you back to life. Hmph, sometimes I can be pretty reliable, can't I?"
Kazumi stroked Kotomi's hair with her fading hand, her words soft, carrying a warm smile, soothing her gently.
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