"Ahahaha..."
Kotomi Izumi let out an awkward laugh and twisted her alluring, snake-like waist, trying to shake Yuyu off her back. But Yuyu, who was clinging tightly around her neck, was not someone who could be shaken off so easily.
Not only did she not fall off, but when Kotomi twisted like that, Yuyu actually hugged her even tighter. As if she had everything under control, she leaned close to Kotomi's ear and whispered:
"You annoying big sister, if you don't explain yourself properly today, do you believe I'll go straight to the sisters-in-law and expose you? I'll tell them that yesterday you made up an excuse, saying you came to my place, but in reality you went who-knows-where to fool around at some woman's house.
I'm actually quite curious—if Yui, who looks so gentle, finds out you lied to her, do you think she'll get angry and hit you?"
"You little brat. I shouldn't have let you eat so much nougat when you were a kid. Now you've become just as sticky as nougat." Kotomi sighed helplessly.
"Heh heh heh, Sis, just tell me obediently. Once you tell me, I'll know, and I won't tell anyone else. Then it'll just be a secret between the two of us. Isn't that nice?"
Yuyu grinned happily, starting to negotiate with her.
"...Fine. But remember—don't tell Yui or Yukino. And what's with that 'sisters-in-law' you mentioned just now?"
"Even though you stubbornly say you and Yukino are just ordinary friends, I'm certain she'll definitely marry you in the future!
"Since that's the case, I'll just practice calling her sister-in-law in advance. Hehehe. Of course, I won't actually call Yukino that right now. It's just rehearsal—so that when you and your wives get married in the future, I can get more money for changing how I address you!"
Yuyu Izumi said this with complete confidence.
"I really don't know what to do with you..."
Kotomi sighed helplessly, while thinking to herself: Then just keep dreaming about how much money you'll get from me in the future. As for this year's New Year's money, there's no way I'm giving you any!
Since childhood, this was already the 162nd time Kotomi Izumi had thought about not giving Yuyu any New Year's money.
Every time, she thought it firmly—but when the New Year actually came, she still ended up giving Yuyu some anyway.
Although at Kotomi's current age, she technically didn't need to give New Year's money to younger relatives, she had developed the habit of secretly giving Aimi some every year. After Yuyu caught her doing it once, Kotomi simply started preparing an extra portion for Yuyu as well each year.
Getting back on topic, Kotomi glanced at Yui Yuigahama and the others behind her, then lowered her voice so only she and Yuyu could hear, and began recounting from start to finish the excuse she had made up the day before.
"Yesterday, I had something to do and wanted to go out alone. But to keep Yui and Yukino from getting suspicious, I made up a story as an excuse. Simply put, it was like this..."
After listening to Kotomi's explanation, Yuyu Izumi fell silent for a few minutes. Then, in a burst of anger, she reached out and grabbed Kotomi's cheek, pinching and even biting it.
"Ah—Yuyu, can you not react so impulsively? You're not ladylike at all. I wonder if you'll even be able to get married in the future?"
Kotomi could only let Yuyu pinch and bite her, though she still couldn't help but complain.
"Get married? With you slandering me like this, how am I supposed to marry anyone? Waaaah! At this rate, you might as well take responsibility and support me for the rest of my life!"
"Is that really necessary..."
"You idiot sister! Of all the excuses you could've made, why did you have to come up with something so outrageous? And fine, even if you were going to make something up, couldn't you have used a different main character? Why did it have to be me?"
"I just thought I'd flesh out your character a bit~"
"No thanks, I don't need that!"
Yuyu snorted, then bit Kotomi's cheek again with extra force, muttering indignantly:
"Now I finally get it. No wonder when I tried to help you cover up earlier, and Yui kept asking questions, and I had to awkwardly say 'yeah' and 'uh-huh,' she looked so shocked. Turns out you made up such a ridiculous story about me.
"Right now, in Yui and Yukino's minds, my 'glorious deed' of secretly stealing Tomoyo's personal clothing because I had a crush on her has probably already become a real event!
"You lousy sister—give me back my reputation!"
"Sorry, sorry..."
Kotomi smiled awkwardly. She really hadn't expected things to line up so coincidentally—when Yui and Yukino were waiting for her at the entrance of Harugamo Inn today, they just happened to run into Yuyu and Kobayakawa Tomoyo, who were on their way to a pizza place.
While Kotomi and Yuyu were whispering to each other, Kobayakawa Tomoyo, who was walking behind them, looked at Yuyu lying on Kotomi's back with a complicated expression in her eyes.
It seemed like envy toward Kotomi... and also something else...
But very quickly, she hid those emotions and smiled as she spoke, her tone carrying an indescribable depth:
"Yuyu and Kotomi-nee really have such a great relationship. Is this what it's like for cousins who grew up together? I'm so envious..."
"Hm? Envious of what?" Yui Yuigahama asked curiously.
"I'm envious of..."
Tomoyo paused for a moment, as if organizing her thoughts, before smiling and continuing:
"I'm envious that Yuyu has such a gentle, refined, and beautiful older cousin like Kotomi-nee.
"I have an older brother, and he's very good to me. Ever since I was little, I've relied on him a lot. My mom has even complained more than once, saying, 'You're so dependent on your brother—you act like a child who'll never grow up. Will you even be able to get married in the future?'
"One day, on a whim, I wondered—if I were the older sister, what kind of sister would I be?
"After that thought came to me, I really started looking forward to the day I'd have a younger sibling. It's just a pity that my parents are already older. Having another child would be difficult, and even if they did, it would be risky.
"In our family, both my grandparents passed away early. After the elders were gone, contact between relatives gradually faded. We still keep in touch occasionally, but we rarely meet. I heard I have a few cousins, but either I've only met them once without really talking, or I've never met them at all.
"So the idea of becoming an older sister became an unreachable dream for me.
"That's why, seeing how close Yuyu and Kotomi-nee are now, I feel especially envious. If only I could have a little sister like Yuyu..."
As she finished speaking, Kobayakawa Tomoyo cast another deep glance at Yuyu's back as she clung to Kotomi.
...
While Kobayakawa Tomoyo was speaking,
Kotomi Izumi and Yuyu Izumi had always had sharp hearing. Even though the two of them were whispering and bickering quietly, it didn't stop them from hearing what Tomoyo had just said.
Yuyu, who had been looking for an opportunity to snap back at Kotomi, immediately seized the chance and said meaningfully:
"Tomoyo, you can envy my sister for having such a good little sister like me, but you should never envy me for having a sister like her. You have no idea how awful my sister is—she's basically a demon who devours people without even spitting out the bones!"
Hearing this, Kotomi naturally didn't hold back and shot right back:
"Yuyu, I think you should stop flattering yourself. A 'good little sister'? The only one I can call that is Aimi from my family!"
"Hah? Weren't you just thanking me in your heart for helping you cover—mmph mmph! You stinky sister... if you have the guts, take your hand... off... mmph mmph!"
Seeing that Yuyu was about to expose what had just happened, Kotomi didn't hesitate. In one smooth motion, she shook Yuyu off her back and immediately covered her mouth, leaving her unable to say another word.
"Phew... I should've used this method earlier."
Kotomi let out a long breath, but her hand didn't relax in the slightest as she firmly kept Yuyu's mouth covered.
Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at the two of them and said calmly:
"We're about to cross the street. Stop arguing."
Yuyu was so touched she almost wanted to say, 'Sister-in-law Yukino, you're the best!'
But Kotomi's hand was clamped tightly over her mouth, making it impossible for her to say anything at all.
Watching the sudden 180-degree shift in how Kotomi and Yuyu were interacting, Kobayakawa Tomoyo twitched her lips slightly, unsure how to describe their relationship.
Were they close... or not?
...
And so, along the way, Kotomi kept up this strange way of interacting with Yuyu—her hand firmly covering Yuyu's mouth, while Yuyu occasionally struggled and bounced around in protest.
This odd dynamic continued all the way until they reached the entrance of the pizza restaurant.
"Phew... phew... Sis, why do I feel like you were trying to murder me just now?"
Thud!
As soon as Yuyu finished speaking, Kotomi knocked her lightly on the head and said irritably:
"Stop spouting nonsense all day. If I really wanted to murder you, would I go through the trouble of covering your mouth? Back when we were crossing that busy road, I could've just picked the right moment and pushed you into traffic. Maybe an oncoming tanker truck would've sent you straight to another world."
"Waaah! If this were an otome novel, you'd definitely be the evil stepsister villain, and I'd be the pure, kind-hearted duke's daughter who gets bullied by you all the time!"
"Heh, keep dreaming. If this were an otome novel, we'd both be villains. I'd be Villain No.1, and you'd be Villain No.2," Kotomi sneered.
At this moment, Yui Yuigahama stepped in to smooth things over:
"Alright, Kotomi, Yuyu, stop arguing. We're already at the pizza place. If we keep standing at the entrance without going in, it'll bother other people."
"Huh? We're already at the pizza place? Yuyu, it's all your fault for nagging non-stop—I didn't even notice we were already here."
"The reason we've been arguing this whole time is because of you!"
"Oh really?"
Kotomi and Yuyu exchanged a few more lines, but compared to before, the tension had clearly eased. It was obvious the two of them were tacitly using this as a way to wrap things up.
Sure enough, as soon as they finished, their earlier hostility instantly turned into intimacy.
"Sis, look! This place has new items—an ultra-large cheese-stuffed beef truffle pizza! It looks so good! And this new cheese waterfall meat sauce pasta too. Wow—this is heaven for cheese lovers! I want to eat everything~"
"If you want everything, then we'll order everything later. With our appetites, even if we order several of those ultra-large pizzas, we can still finish them. When eating with me at a pizza place, you never have to worry about ordering too much. If anything, you should worry whether the biggest table in the shop can even fit all the dishes we order."
"As expected of you, Sister!"
"Hehehe, you're too kind. Alright, let's go in! Those ultra-large pizzas are waiting for our challenge!"
"Mm!"
Linking arms with Kotomi, Yuyu walked into the pizza restaurant with her, the two of them looking extremely close.
"Their relationship... is it good or bad?" Kobayakawa Tomoyo gave an awkward smile.
...
After enjoying a hearty meal at the pizza restaurant, Yuyu tactfully left first with Kobayakawa Tomoyo.
After all, the two girls by her sister's side—one was her future sister-in-law, and the other was very likely to become one. Yuyu had no intention of staying behind as a third wheel.
"Phew—this pizza place is amazing. Whether it's the pizza, steak, snacks, or main dishes, everything is delicious. Even this bowl of borscht is fantastic, especially the herbs added to it—it really brings out the flavor.
The only thing that needs improvement is the cola used for the lemon cola—they're using Coca-Cola... Hmm, Pepsi is clearly better. I really wish they'd add an option on the menu so customers can choose whether to use Pepsi or Coca-Cola."
After finishing her soup, Kotomi wiped her lips with a napkin, looking completely satisfied like an elegant gourmet.
I really want to bring Kika here to eat together...
Kotomi thought silently to herself, though she knew this idea could only remain a thought for now. If she wanted to make it a reality, the first problem she had to solve was how to introduce Ayani Kika to Megumi Kato and the others.
Since she hadn't figured out how to do that yet, she could only keep the idea buried in her heart for the time being.
"Kotomi, where should we go after eating?" Yui Yuigahama asked. When it came to questions like this, she always followed Kotomi's lead.
"Let me think... There are so many places worth visiting in Kyoto, it's hard to choose right away." Kotomi thought for a moment, then asked Yukino, "Yukino, do you have anywhere you'd like to go?"
"I'll follow your lead," Yukino Yukinoshita replied calmly.
Seeing that both Yui and Yukino were leaving the decision to her, Kotomi felt a subtle sense of satisfaction she couldn't quite describe, and began seriously considering where to go.
After thinking for a while, she suggested:
"Let's go to Kiyomizu-dera!"
"Kiyomizu-dera?"
"That's right!"
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