Chapter 907 - 907: As Yuka's Family

Kotomi Izumi looked at Yui Yuigahama's back and quietly moved closer. A smile curved across her lips as she hugged Yui from behind and rested her head on Yui's shoulder.

"Just let Yuka grow up naturally. As her family, we should quietly watch over her as she walks her own path through life. We don't need to interfere too much. When Yuka runs into difficulties or needs help, we can reach out to her and teach her a few things.

When I was little, my dad once told me something like this.

When you're playing a game, some players like to unlock every achievement on their very first playthrough. Other players prefer to play entirely according to their own ideas the first time around, then follow a complete-achievement guide on their second playthrough and start over to unlock everything. And there are still other players who, even after finishing their first playthrough their own way, continue playing the second, third, and later playthroughs exactly however they want...

But life is like a game that only has a first playthrough and no second one. Death means game over. In this game called Life, there are far too many achievements that remain locked, and many of them may still be locked even when your game finally ends.

In a video game, the game might tell you what task you need to complete in order to unlock a certain achievement. Even if it doesn't, there will still be complete-achievement guides. As long as you follow a guide, you can unlock everything successfully. Even if you fail to unlock every achievement on your first playthrough, you still have a second, third, fourth...

But in the game called Life, there are no mission prompts at all. It won't tell you how to unlock a certain achievement, and there won't be any guide for you to consult either.

You have to walk forward entirely according to your own ideas. Whether you succeed or fail, you only get one chance to play.

After the game ends, a person might go to heaven, or they might go to hell.

That also means it's impossible to unlock every achievement in the game called Life.

Since that's the case, there's no need to constantly pressure yourself or overthink everything, because life isn't a video game. You don't need to obtain every achievement. A successful life is one where, at the moment your 'game' is about to end, you look back on everything you've experienced from the day you were born until now, and after remembering it all, you can sincerely say:

[I lived a very happy life, and I don't have too many regrets.]

That counts as a successful life.'

When Dad first told me that when I was little, I didn't really understand what it meant. Even now, I still don't think I fully understand it, but I feel like I can understand part of it already."

Hearing this, Yui Yuigahama could not help exclaiming in admiration,

"Uncle Izumi said that really well."

"Hehe. Wasn't it because I loved playing games when I was little? Whenever Dad taught me something, he often used games as examples. My dad is a successful businessman, but I believe that even if he hadn't gone into business and had instead worked in education, he still would've become an excellent educator." Whenever Kotomi Izumi spoke of her father and mother, her voice was always filled with pride.

At this point, Kotomi Izumi continued,

"So I think that when it comes to Yuka growing up, as her family, we should do a good job as 'guides' and 'educators' rather than making choices for her. What we say should at most serve as advice. What Yuka should do is listen to our opinions and guidance, then think for herself and make her own choices."

"Kotomi, you're right. I'll listen to you. Maybe it's because I've been looking after Yuka ever since she was little, but whenever I notice any change in her, I can't help worrying about it for a long time."

After Yui Yuigahama finished speaking, she kept looking at Kotomi. Her cheeks were faintly flushed, and she seemed to want to say something.

Kotomi Izumi could tell that Yui Yuigahama had something she wanted to say but was hesitating over whether she should say it. Given Yui's personality, if Kotomi let her keep hesitating like this, then even by this time next year, Yui might still not have decided whether to say what was on her mind right now.

So Kotomi Izumi simply said directly,

"Dumpling, if you want to say something, just say it. Don't overthink it. Whatever you want to tell me, just say it."

"Eh?!"

Yui Yuigahama froze in surprise. The thought had only just occurred to her, and she was still hesitating over whether she should tell Kotomi now. Yet before she had even made up her mind, Kotomi had somehow already figured it out as though she could read minds.

Now that Kotomi had said that, Yui Yuigahama simply stopped hesitating. Blushing, she asked nervously with a trace of anticipation,

"Um... Well... Kotomi, when the beginning of next year comes, would you be willing to take a family photo with me, my mom, and Yuka in front of our house? Our family has a tradition of taking a photo outside our house at the beginning of every year. I've wanted to invite you for a long time, but I was afraid you'd refuse, so I never knew how to bring it up."

After saying this, Yui Yuigahama worried that Kotomi might not want to do it but would not know how to refuse, so she hurriedly added,

"O-Of course, Kotomi, it's completely fine if you don't want to!"

Looking at how tongue-tied and nervous Yui Yuigahama was, Kotomi Izumi could not help laughing softly. She hugged the silly dumpling in her arms tightly and said gently,

"Silly Dumpling, think carefully. In what I just said earlier, wasn't there one particular sentence?"

Yui Yuigahama obediently followed Kotomi's suggestion and recalled every sentence Kotomi had just said.

!!!

Suddenly, while thinking back, Yui Yuigahama remembered one sentence Kotomi had said while discussing Yuka with her.

—As her family, we...

After recalling those words from Kotomi, Yui Yuigahama broke into a silly grin filled with surprise and joy.

So Kotomi had already given her the answer earlier without even realizing it.

Kotomi Izumi looked at the dumpling giggling foolishly and knew that Yui had already found the answer in her memories.

Kotomi leisurely listened to the dumpling's silly laughter for a while before continuing,

"Happy?"

"Hehehe. Just thinking about what you said earlier, 'As her family, we...' makes me so happy. Kotomi, if you think of Yuka as family, does that mean you think of me and Mom as family too?"

"That's right." Kotomi Izumi nodded and answered without hesitation.

"Hehehe~ Then starting today, does that mean I can openly call you my wife?" Yui Yuigahama asked expectantly.

"Call me your wife? Silly Dumpling, when we were being intimate before, didn't you already call me your wife all the time whenever you got excited? Is there really any difference?"

Seeing how expectantly Yui Yuigahama asked, Kotomi Izumi could not help feeling both amused and exasperated.

Kotomi also wanted to simply nod and say: Of course you can. I'm your girlfriend now, and I'll also be your wife in the future.

It was just that Kotomi Izumi sometimes got embarrassed too, like right now.

Under the influence of her embarrassment, Kotomi did not directly nod in agreement. Instead, she blushed and told Yui: Didn't you already call me your wife all the time whenever we were being intimate?

"Hehe, that's a little different. I don't just want to call you my wife when we're being intimate. In everyday life, whether we're at home or at school, I want to call you my wife too."

Yui Yuigahama's cheeks were flushed, but her tone was incomparably serious.

Faced with Yui Yuigahama suddenly becoming so serious, Kotomi Izumi froze for a moment and thought it over inwardly.

Logically speaking, Kotomi felt that she should not agree to Yui's request. If she allowed Yui to call her "wife" at school and Megumi Kato and the others happened to hear it, just how far would things spiral out of control?

Even Kotomi Izumi herself did not dare imagine it.

However, seeing how expectant Yui Yuigahama looked, Kotomi hesitated for a moment before her heart softened and she nodded. Blushing, she said,

"Fine. I'm going to marry you eventually anyway. Whether I let you call me your wife earlier or later doesn't seem to make much difference."

"Yay!"

After Kotomi Izumi agreed, Yui Yuigahama cheered happily and even excitedly picked Kotomi up and spun her around.

Seeing Yui Yuigahama's blissful expression, Kotomi Izumi could not help smiling gently as well and simply let Yui hold her and spin around.

Only after the dumpling's excitement had calmed down a little did Kotomi Izumi add,

"Of course, letting you call me your wife already comes with a condition you have to follow. If you don't follow it properly, not only will you no longer be allowed to call me your wife, I might even deliberately ignore you for a while."

"What?!"

After hearing Kotomi say that, the dumpling instantly felt as if peals of thunder were exploding beside her ears. She hurriedly said in an extremely pitiful tone,

"No matter what condition you want to set, Kotomi, I'll agree to it! Please, please don't ignore me!!!"

Kotomi Izumi froze. What she had just said was only meant to make the dumpling properly honor their agreement, so she had deliberately phrased it that way, with at least a little joking intent behind it. Yet she had not expected Yui's reaction to be so enormous, as though she were afraid Kotomi would really abandon her in the very next second.

What Kotomi Izumi had said certainly worked. It was just... perhaps it had worked a little too well.

To stop Yui Yuigahama from being so nervous, Kotomi Izumi had no choice but to hurry and explain the condition.

"The condition is very simple. At school, you can only call me your wife when the two of us are completely alone. If there are other people around, you absolutely cannot call me your wife, not even in a tiny whisper!"

"What about in front of Yukino and the others?" Yui Yuigahama asked curiously.

"Absolutely not!!!"

Kotomi Izumi became so agitated that her voice suddenly rose several times louder, startling the dumpling.

"S-Sorry. I shouldn't have said that..."

Yui Yuigahama hurriedly apologized nervously, terrified that what she had said had made Kotomi angry.

Seeing this, Kotomi Izumi lightly coughed several times and restrained the sudden burst of emotion she had just shown.

She could not help it. What Yui had just asked was simply too terrifying. The instant Kotomi heard it, she became nervous. If Yui really called her "wife" right in front of Yukino Yukinoshita and the others, it would definitely trigger an incomparably brutal romantic bloodbath!

Putting the other girls aside, Megumi Kato alone might hear it, silently pick up a cleaver without another word, blankly hack Yui Yuigahama to death first, and then walk toward Kotomi and demand that she explain everything properly.

Just imagining that scene made a layer of cold sweat break out across Kotomi Izumi's back.

And there was also Yukino Yukinoshita.

On the Shinkansen returning from Kyoto to Chiba, Yukino Yukinoshita had conveyed her feelings to Kotomi, but Kotomi still had not given Yukino an answer even now.

The fact that she still had not answered did not mean she had forgotten. Kotomi Izumi simply had not managed to find the time lately.

If Yukino, who's still waiting for my answer to her feelings, suddenly hears Yui calling me her wife, would she turn dark and become a yandere under those circumstances...? Kotomi Izumi instinctively pondered the question in her heart for a while.

While thinking about it, Kotomi Izumi slowly began to speak.

"It's fine. I'm not angry. I was just frightened by what you said. Yui, you need to remember this properly and keep our agreement. You absolutely cannot call me your wife in front of Yukino and the others!

To be safe, let's make this our rule. When the two of us are alone, you can call me whatever you want.

But when we're in front of Yukino and the others, you can only call me Kotomi! At least for now, it has to be that way.

That's the condition you need to follow. Do you understand?"

Faced with Kotomi Izumi's instructions, Yui Yuigahama obediently nodded and firmly engraved them in her heart.

Anything Kotomi told her to remember, Yui would always keep firmly in her heart.

There were even some things that Kotomi herself had already forgotten, yet Yui still remembered them perfectly.

Seeing Yui Yuigahama being so obedient, Kotomi Izumi smiled in satisfaction. Like petting and praising a little puppy, she stroked Yui's hair and praised her,

"Good girl, good girl~"

"Hehehe~"

Yui Yuigahama laughed happily as though she had just received the greatest gift in the world. She even stretched her neck forward, wanting Kotomi to praise her for a while longer.

"By the way, back in Kyoto, I accepted your invitation and said I'd come to your house for dinner after we returned to Chiba. But once we got back, all sorts of things happened and I accidentally stood you up. Were you upset?"

Kotomi Izumi suddenly remembered the matter and asked curiously.

Yui Yuigahama nodded and honestly replied in an obedient voice,

"Yes..."

"Did you start overthinking things again? How many days did you spend trapped in your own head this time?" Kotomi Izumi asked with a smile.

"F-From the day you didn't come to my house... all the way until now..." Yui Yuigahama whispered with a blush, looking so embarrassed that she seemed to want to bury her face in a pillow.

"Pfft—you really are honest, Little Dumpling. When Auntie Tomoka mentioned it downstairs earlier, I guessed you might've started overthinking things again. I didn't expect you really had, much less for this long. Maybe I should stop calling you Little Dumpling and start calling you Little Silly Cow instead."

Kotomi Izumi could not help laughing.

"Because... because you suddenly stood me up that day, Kotomi. You'd never stood me up before, so these past few days I kept wondering whether you did it because of Iroha Isshiki. Once I thought that might be possible, I couldn't stop wondering what kind of relationship you and Iroha Isshiki actually have."

After Yui Yuigahama quietly said this much, she seemed to finally gather her courage. She raised her head, stared directly into Kotomi's eyes, and asked seriously,

"Kotomi, what exactly is your relationship with Iroha Isshiki? Do you really only see her as your little sister's friend?!"

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