At first, when she learned that her unreliable Demon King cousin had a girlfriend, Yuyu Izumi felt conflicted, and she decided that she absolutely wouldn't call her "sister-in-law" until the two of them got married!
Of course, if her sister-in-law paid a "change-of-address gift" in advance, then that would be a different story.
However, all of Yuyu Izumi's thoughts vanished the moment she met Yui Yuigahama for the first time.
Even before receiving any "change-of-address gift," Yuyu had already started calling her "sister-in-law" again and again.
And it wasn't an act.
After all, even with Kotomi Izumi not present, Yuyu still called Yui "sister-in-law" loudly the moment she saw her.
It's just that... if Yukino Yukinoshita weren't here right now, Yui Yuigahama would be very happy to be called that. But the problem is—Yukino Yukinoshita is standing right beside her!
Kotomi Izumi had even specifically warned her: "Our relationship can't be told to Yukino for now."
The moment she thought of that, Yui Yuigahama started to panic. Feeling Yukino Yukinoshita's gaze on her, her already slow-thinking little brain, even when pushed to its limits, still couldn't come up with a way to resolve the current crisis of "our relationship is about to be exposed."
Sob... sob... If Yukino finds out that I'm dating Kotomi, Kotomi will definitely get angry... Yui Yuigahama thought painfully.
Just as Yui Yuigahama was desperately trying to think of a way to explain Yuyu's form of address without letting Yukino discover her relationship with Kotomi, Yuyu Izumi glanced at Yukino Yukinoshita beside her, then at her sister-in-law, who had her mouth open for a long time but couldn't seem to figure out what to say...
Kotomi Izumi's words involuntarily surfaced in Yuyu's mind.
...
Kotomi Izumi: "This time when I came to Kyoto, I brought two girls with me. One is your sister-in-law, Yui, and the other is Yukino Yukinoshita. She's your sister-in-law's friend."
Yuyu Izumi: "Huh?! Sis, does that mean I'll have three sisters-in-law in the future? First is Sister-in-law Yui, second is Sister-in-law Megumi, and third is Sister-in-law Yukino. Oh my god... I definitely won't help take care of your kids in the future. You're definitely going to have a whole bunch, and I won't be able to handle it. Let Aimi help you take care of them instead."
Kotomi Izumi: "Get lost, why are you thinking so far ahead? Yukino and I are just friends right now. Besides, you think you're worthy of helping me take care of kids?
Oh right, let me remind you—don't call Yui 'sister-in-law' in front of other people. Her personality is a bit slow, so if you call her that outside, she might not react in time.
And I've already told Yui not to let others know that we're dating. She's kept that in mind this whole time. If you call her that outside, aren't you basically announcing to everyone that we're in a relationship?"
Yuyu Izumi: "Don't worry, sis. As long as I remember you'll buy me a full ROG setup in the future, my mouth becomes extremely tight! Don't worry, ever since I was little, I've always completed every instruction you gave me very reliably!"
Seeing how readily Yuyu agreed, Kotomi Izumi even patted her "fish head" and painted her a big promise: "Keep it firmly in mind. When I get married, your change-of-address gift definitely won't be small. At the very least, no matter which series graphics cards have been updated to or how high the prices get scalped, you'll be able to buy one with your eyes closed."
Yuyu Izumi: "Hehehe, sis, you're the best. But honestly, I'd already be satisfied with just a full ROG setup. By the way, when are you getting married? Who are you marrying? Can you hurry up and get married? After you give me the gift, I want to buy a 512GB Steam Deck."
Kotomi Izumi: "If you dare to rush me into marriage, do you believe that not only will you not get a Steam Deck, I'll even throw away the Switch I bought you before?"
Yuyu Izumi: "Nooo! At least let me finish playing Super Mario: Odyssey before you throw it away!"
Recalling that earlier conversation with Kotomi, then looking at the black-haired, cold-looking girl sitting on the bench right now, even though Yuyu hadn't asked her name yet, based on that icy temperament, she had already more or less guessed that this black-haired girl was probably Yukino Yukinoshita.
Then looking at Yui Yuigahama, who had her mouth open for a long time but didn't know how to speak, Yuyu Izumi's mind turned quickly, and she immediately understood.
Her earlier shout of "sister-in-law" had been heard by Kobayakawa Tomoyo and Yukino Yukinoshita, and it was precisely because of that that Yui Yuigahama now didn't know how to speak. After all, she and Kotomi had an agreement that "we can't let others know we're dating."
That one shout had practically announced that Kotomi and Yui were in a relationship.
Yuyu's fish head wasn't for nothing. Not only did she think quickly, but her ability to adapt on the spot was also extremely strong... in this regard, she was exactly like Kotomi Izumi. After all, having grown up playing together with Kotomi, she had more or less learned some of her strengths.
Of course, she had also picked up a bit of Kotomi Izumi's flaws...
From the moment her voice fell to now, in just a few seconds, Yuyu Izumi had already completed the entire process from confusion to understanding to coming up with a solution. After thinking of a solution, she didn't waste even a minute and directly went, "Ehe!"
"Ehe, I usually pay attention to controlling my dialect, but just now when I came over to greet you, maybe because I was too excited to see Yui-nee, I accidentally said 'sister-in-law' instead of 'sister.' Hehehe, the Kansai accent is really hard to control, after all I've lived in Kyoto since I was little."
Perhaps this was one of the conveniences Kansai people had when communicating—if they accidentally said something wrong, they could correct themselves by saying it was just because of a homophone in the Kansai dialect that made it sound like something else.
Most people didn't really understand the various homophones in Kansai speech, so they would naturally believe it.
Seeing that Yuyu Izumi had given such an excellent explanation, Yui Yuigahama first let out a sigh of relief, then smiled and asked:
"Yuyu, good afternoon. Are you heading home right now?"
Yui Yuigahama asked with a smile, while also looking at Yuyu with some confusion. She had heard from Kotomi that yesterday, Yuyu had been beaten by her parents in a "violent aesthetics" double-team for stealing the "intimate clothing" of a girl she had a crush on, to the point where she was almost sent to the hospital.
Logically speaking, Yuyu should either be lying in bed unable to move or at least limping when she walked. But just now, when Yuyu came over, she looked full of energy, lively and spirited—like a big carp jumping around.
She didn't look like someone who had just been beaten at all.
Could it be that Yuyu had extremely strong recovery ability, and after getting beaten by her parents, she just slept for a night and fully recovered?
Yui Yuigahama had an almost obsessive trust in Kotomi Izumi, so no matter how much Yuyu's current behavior contradicted Kotomi's description from yesterday, Yui would never suspect that Kotomi had lied to her.
"It's not that, it's just that school ended early today, so I wanted to go grab lunch at a pizza place with my friend."
After saying that, Yuyu Izumi began introducing:
"Yui-nee, this is my friend, Kobayakawa Tomoyo."
Kobayakawa Tomoyo, who had been listening to their conversation from earlier, naturally revealed a bright smile when she heard herself being mentioned and gave a slight bow.
"Hello, Yui-nee. I'm Yuyu's friend. It's my first time meeting you, please take care of me."
"Hello, Yuyu is often taken care of by you."
"Not at all, I'm the one who's often taken care of by Yuyu. I've heard her mention you many times before—meeting you today truly lives up to the reputation."
Kobayakawa Tomoyo's manner of speaking carried a refined, scholarly elegance. Just from her demeanor alone, it wasn't hard to tell that she was a polite and traditionally raised girl.
At this moment, Yui Yuigahama also introduced Yukino Yukinoshita to them:
"This is a good friend of Kotomi and me, Yukino Yukinoshita. The three of us came to Kyoto together after the cultural festival."
"Yukino-san— I mean, Yukino-nee, hello!" Yuyu Izumi immediately greeted sweetly.
Kobayakawa Tomoyo followed along, "Hello, Yukino-nee!"
Although Kotomi had said before, "Yukino and I are just friends for now," Yuyu didn't believe a single word of that. Having grown up together with her, how could she not understand her Demon King cousin's personality?
With Kotomi's personality—where she would even tease a cute little female dog that happened to pass by—how could she possibly let a cold, beautiful girl like Yukino Yukinoshita go?
Even if they were only friends now, it could only mean that Kotomi simply had too many girls around her and hadn't gotten to Yukino yet. Being friends now didn't mean they would stay that way. Maybe the next time they met, her sister would already be dating Yukino-nee... Yuyu Izumi thought to herself.
And she had already made up her mind—once her sister and Yukino started dating, she would immediately switch to calling her "Sister-in-law Yukino!"
Being called "Yukino-nee" by Kotomi's cousin gave Yukino Yukinoshita a faint sense of being acknowledged by Kotomi's family. A rare smile appeared on her face as she said:
"Hello. I've often heard Kotomi mention that she has a cousin named Yuyu, so I've always been curious about what you were like."
"Heh, when my sister talks about me, there's probably not even half a good sentence out of ten."
Yuyu Izumi curled her lips. As for why she was so certain—it was because when she described Kotomi, she also couldn't produce even half a good sentence out of ten.
Thinking about it, it was quite strange. Kotomi was a mature, stunning beauty with a graceful figure, while Yuyu, although a bit flat-chested, was undeniably a cute girl in terms of looks.
Having a cousin like that should have been something to be happy about.
Yet when it came to Kotomi and Yuyu, they had turned into a pair of rivals who disliked each other. They couldn't stay together for more than five minutes without starting an argument.
Every argument was over something childish, yet they could always escalate those childish reasons into intense fights. It wasn't even unusual for things to get physical. Perhaps it was because their personalities were largely dominated by childishness...
The reasons for their arguments were childish, and the speed at which they started arguing was fast, but strangely enough—the speed at which they made up was also fast. After arguing, their cold wars rarely lasted more than a day.
Of course, even after making up, it wouldn't take long before they found another reason to argue again.
Faced with Yuyu's blunt remark, both Yui Yuigahama and Yukino Yukinoshita didn't know how to respond, because yesterday, when Kotomi described Yuyu to them, she truly hadn't said a single good thing.
Not only had she said nothing good, she had even casually made up a "true story" about how Yuyu, because she had a crush on a girl in her class, had stolen that girl's "intimate clothing."
People who are in love tend to be sensitive when it comes to matters of romance.
That's why when people who are already in relationships hear their single friends hesitating about whether to confess to someone they like, they can often give sharp, even somewhat harsh advice.
Just by hearing how the person they like treats them, they can more or less guess the situation.
If they've even met the person a few times, they might be able to tell from a single look or sentence whether that person likes their friend or not.
For example, right now, after looking at Yuyu Izumi and then at Kobayakawa Tomoyo, a sudden guess flashed through Yui Yuigahama's mind.
Could it be... the girl Yuyu has a crush on is Kobayakawa Tomoyo?!
The reason Yui thought this was because when Yuyu had just introduced Tomoyo, the way she looked at her didn't feel like the gaze between ordinary friends. It was open and natural, yet carried a shy, hesitant undertone—just like someone looking at the person they secretly liked.
Thinking about how Yuyu, lacking the courage to confess, had resorted to stealing the other person's "intimate clothing"...
Yui Yuigahama thought about it and felt that, as Yuyu's future sister-in-law, she had a responsibility to have a proper talk with her.
At the same time, looking at Kobayakawa Tomoyo standing beside Yuyu, still maintaining a good relationship with her, Yui couldn't help but sigh inwardly: Tomoyo is such a kind girl. Even after having her "intimate clothing" stolen once, she still chose to forgive Yuyu and remain friends with her.
"Yuyu, can I have a word with you?" Yui Yuigahama said softly. Even though there wasn't really a need to lower her voice, she did so out of habit.
"Oh, okay!"
Although Yuyu didn't know what Yui wanted to say, she still nodded.
After the two of them walked to the side, Yui Yuigahama became a bit awkward again. The words she had just prepared in her mind for giving advice completely slipped away the moment she was about to speak.
She couldn't remember how she was supposed to educate Yuyu at all.
After thinking for a while, Yui cleared her throat and deliberately lowered her voice. One reason was to avoid being overheard by Kobayakawa Tomoyo and Yukino Yukinoshita, and the other was to make herself sound more earnest and serious.
"Yuyu, when you secretly like someone but don't yet have the courage to confess, that's understandable. But you absolutely must not use extreme methods to express your feelings!"
???
Yuyu Izumi looked at Yui Yuigahama with a blank, innocent expression, as if a ring of question marks were hovering above her head like a halo.
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