All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

Chapter 787: A Little Intimate Mood Between Kotomi and Yui

Yui Yuigahama was very obedient. Whatever Kotomi said, she believed. If Kotomi asked her to do something, she would always carry it out exactly as requested.

That said, the things Kotomi usually asked Yui to do were small tasks—peeling fruit, cutting fruit, making desserts, cooking. As for anything important, Kotomi would never let Yui handle it.

On one hand, Kotomi genuinely doted on Yui. Even though she often found all sorts of excuses to bully the silly dumpling and acted like a villainous young lady, a proper antagonistic heiress, anyone who paid close attention to their daily life would notice that Kotomi’s kindness toward Yui rarely appeared directly. Instead, it existed in subtle, roundabout details woven into everything she did.

And Yui Yuigahama could always sense that careful affection. Or to put it more bluntly... Yui actually liked the feeling of being bullied by Kotomi. It had gradually developed into a small romantic mood between the two of them.

If Kotomi went several days in a row without bullying her, that was when Yui would truly feel sad and wronged, wondering if she had accidentally done something to upset Kotomi.

As for why Kotomi acted this way? The answer was simple. Kotomi’s personality was wonderful in every respect—except for two flaws. One was that she was... promiscuous—no, broad-minded! The other was that she was terribly stubborn with her words.

If not for that stubborn streak, she wouldn’t keep insisting that she was probably the top.

Perhaps in the future, when little Kotomi had children and Mother’s Day came around, her child would have to sing to her: "A strong mother all her life—what can I do for you? This insignificant care, please accept it."

Kazumi had teased Kotomi’s stubborn mouth many times before, always saying, "Kotomi, when you die and get cremated, I bet everything else will turn to ash—except that mouth of yours."

That alone showed just how stubborn little Kotomi could be.

On the other hand... Yui Yuigahama was a bit airheaded. If she were entrusted with something important, Kotomi simply wouldn’t feel at ease. It was better to do it herself.

Back to the point—after comforting Yui, Kotomi asked her to peel some mandarin oranges.

Perhaps it was the side effects of the Queen of All Females constitution, but Kotomi suddenly felt unbearably thirsty, as if she might burst into flames at any moment.

Her instinct was to drink water.

But before she could act, a system panel automatically popped up in front of her eyes. A long paragraph of text appeared on the interface.

[This thirst is not ordinary thirst. Drinking water is useless. You must use a more special kind of "water" to quench it. However, if you are currently unable to obtain "water," you may temporarily use oranges to alleviate the thirst caused by the side effects.]

[Eating one segment of an orange can relieve the thirst for 24 hours, but this does not mean that eating oranges can completely resolve the thirst caused by the side effects.]

[If you do not drink "water" as soon as possible, the thirst will gradually accumulate over time. In the end, even eating more than ten oranges in one sitting will not relieve it in the slightest.]

[If the thirst caused by the side effects accumulates to a certain level, it may lead to fatal danger.]

[Please do not underestimate the side effects of the Queen of All Females constitution!]

[PS: You must drink "water" as soon as possible—as soon as possible!]

Seeing the familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar system panel, Kotomi first felt a trace of melancholy. It wasn’t until the panel popped up on its own that she realized she hadn’t actively opened the system for a very long time.

If I were the heroine of a system novel, readers would probably complain that I’m neglecting my duties, wouldn’t they?

The playful thought flickered through her mind. But after carefully reading every line of the system’s explanation, her expression gradually grew serious.

No wonder she had drunk so many beverages during dinner, yet less than an hour later felt thirsty enough to breathe fire. So it was because of the side effects of the Queen of All Females constitution.

She had initially thought dinner had simply been too salty.

Kazumi had previously explained the side effects of the constitution to her in detail. However, this kind of special thirst was something Kotomi was hearing about for the first time.

Kazumi had clearly been thorough back then. Yet after thinking back carefully, Kotomi realized that Kazumi had never mentioned this particular effect.

That made things intriguing.

Had Kazumi still been unreliable at the time and simply forgotten to mention it?

Or... as Kazumi fell into slumber, had changes gradually begun occurring within Kotomi’s body—changes that hadn’t existed before?

Those were the only two possibilities she could currently think of. In truth, many other theories had flashed through her mind, but most were far too fantastical. After mentally reviewing them, she had almost burst out laughing herself. In the end, only these two seemed logically plausible.

As for the real reason? She had no way of knowing.

Yui Yuigahama quickly finished peeling a mandarin orange.

This was far from the first time she had peeled one for Kotomi. Whenever Kotomi ate oranges, she disliked the white pith.

So every time Yui peeled one for her, she carefully removed all the strings.

At first, Yui hadn’t been very skilled at removing the pith.

But as she peeled more and more oranges for Kotomi, she gradually mastered a few little tricks. She had even bought an entire bag of oranges at home just to practice removing the pith. Before she realized it, she had peeled the whole bag.

Seeing so many peeled oranges, she worried they might spoil if not eaten quickly. So she picked one up and took a bite—only to discover that when she had chosen the oranges at the fruit shop, she had focused solely on picking ones at a price suitable for practice, without actually checking their taste.

As a result, nearly all of them were sour.

Yui hated sour things the most. She had to keep thinking about how much the oranges had cost just to barely swallow one.

There was no way she wanted to eat a second.

Then inspiration struck. She called over little Yuka, who had been lying on the tatami drawing with crayons in a sketchbook.

"Yuka, do you want some oranges? Onee-chan already peeled them for you."

"Really? Thank you, Onee-chan! Are they sweet?" Yuka was just as afraid of sour flavors as Yui.

"Of course they’re sweet. I already ate one just now. I know you like oranges, so I peeled the rest just for you. Go ahead and eat."

"Onee-chan is the best!"

Yui Yuigahama knew that Yuka hated sour things. If she told her the truth—that the oranges were sour—then it was easy to imagine what would happen. Even if she physically pried Yuka’s mouth open later, there would be no way Yuka would obediently eat them.

So, in order to get her to eat the oranges, Yui reluctantly played the role of a bad big sister and deliberately lied, saying they were sweet.

She didn’t particularly care how many oranges Yuka managed to finish. The important thing was that since she herself had suffered through such sour oranges, Yuka absolutely had to suffer too.

She couldn’t be the only one tormented by that sourness, right?

But how could innocent little Yuka possibly know any of this? Believing her sister’s words completely, she assumed the oranges on the table were all sweet. Without a second thought, she picked one up. Instead of separating it into segments, she bit into it like an apple.

The very next second—

"Waaahhhh!"

Yuka burst into tears from the sourness.

Because of that incident, she refused to speak to Yui for an entire day, puffing her cheeks in grievance and throwing a tiny tantrum.

Fortunately, Yui managed to coax her back with a plate of maple syrup pancakes. Otherwise, once Yuka saw Kotomi, she would have rushed over without hesitation, hugged Kotomi’s leg, and tearfully complained about her big sister. Kotomi, who practically spoiled Yuka as if she were her own daughter, would definitely have given Yui a severe scolding if she found out Yui had deliberately made Yuka eat sour oranges.

Yui’s current skill at removing every last bit of pith from an orange was partly thanks to Yuka’s contributions.

After all, the little bean sprout had a short memory when it came to pain. Even after being traumatized by sourness once, she still couldn’t resist coming over whenever she saw her sister practicing peeling oranges. She would sneak a bite from one already peeled on the table—and then, a second later, burst into tears again from the sourness.

There was nothing to be done. Yuka was born with absolutely no resistance to peeled oranges. As long as she saw one, she wanted to eat it.

Even if she knew it might be another sour practice orange, the moment she saw the bright fruit freed from its peel, she couldn’t stop herself from walking over, picking it up, and taking a bite.

Kotomi Izumi ate the oranges Yui had peeled for her, and the thirst caused by the side effects instantly vanished.

Only then did she relax slightly. Although she still hadn’t figured out how to obtain "water," at least the oranges temporarily alleviated the side-effect-induced thirst.

So she lay beneath the heated table, scrolling through short videos on her phone. As she thought about how to drink that "water," she couldn’t help but feel that this was the proper way to spend winter.

Halfway through a video, she began to feel drowsy. Perhaps the heated table was too warm, or perhaps the oranges prepared by Harugamo Inn were too sweet. A sudden wave of sleepiness washed over her, bringing with it an overwhelming urge to collapse onto the bed and sleep until the world turned dark.

After finishing the oranges, Yui noticed that Kotomi had already closed her eyes and fallen asleep. She set the remaining fruit aside and quietly walked over to the bedding. Gently, she picked up her own pillow and carefully slid it beneath Kotomi’s head.

Kotomi’s pillow was right there beside her, yet Yui chose her own.

It was... a tiny selfish wish of hers.

Of course, Yui had no idea that every one of her movements was being secretly watched by Yukino Yukinoshita through a narrow crack in the bathroom door.

Just as "Little Yukino" had said, while Yukino hesitated, Kotomi and Yui had already finished their intimate contact. So when Yukino finally mustered the courage to peek, what she saw was the two of them acting as though nothing had happened.

Even so, she couldn’t help but feel jealous.

Ever since realizing her feelings for Kotomi, every time she saw Kotomi and Yui together, Yukino felt both jealousy and helplessness.

Jealousy—because she didn’t want to see the girl she loved, Kotomi Izumi, staying with someone else.

Helplessness—because no matter how deeply she loved Kotomi, Kotomi’s girlfriend was not her, but Yui.

No wonder "Little Yukino" had once mocked her:

"You regret your own hesitation, yet you’re jealous that Yui confessed first and became Kotomi’s girlfriend. You’re practically a resentful wife. Do you really think that if Yui hadn’t taken the initiative, you would definitely have become Kotomi’s girlfriend? Don’t be ridiculous. The girls who like Kotomi aren’t just the two of you."

Although Yukino constantly wanted to kill "Little Yukino," she had taken those words to heart.

—The girls who like Kotomi Izumi aren’t just the two of them!

At first, the thought doubled the pressure in her heart. But soon she found it perfectly reasonable. A girl like Kotomi—cute and kind—being popular was only natural.

Not to mention, Yukino herself had witnessed several confessions from both boys and girls directed at Kotomi.

Kotomi’s desk was often piled high with gifts and love letters.

Yukino didn’t want to speak to Yui proactively. At least, not right now. Yet she still found herself saying, almost unconsciously:

"I’ve finished bathing. Do you need to use the bathroom now?"

Yui, who was still peeling oranges, finally looked up and nodded with a smile.

"Mm. Then I’ll go take a shower."

Yukino glanced down at the peeled oranges on the table. Not only had the peels been removed, but even the pith was carefully stripped away. She raised a delicate eyebrow and asked:

"Are all of these for Kotomi? Why peel so many? And you really don’t mind the trouble—removing the pith after peeling the skin? The pith is good for you, you know."

"Kotomi really likes oranges. If I peel more, then when she wakes up later, she can eat as much as she wants," Yui replied matter-of-factly.

"Isn’t she sleeping? If you peel them now, won’t they taste worse by tomorrow morning?"

Yui shook her head gently, clearly understanding Kotomi’s habits.

"She’s just taking a nap right now. She’ll wake up in half an hour or so, eat something, take a bath, and only then go to sleep properly."

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