Chapter 908 - 908: Kotomi Izumi's Counterquestion

Yui Yuigahama's sudden question genuinely caught the completely unprepared Kotomi Izumi off guard.

Kotomi Izumi truly had not expected Yui Yuigahama to ask her that.

Kotomi wanted to wipe away the layer of cold sweat that had unconsciously formed on her forehead, but she was afraid Yui might notice such a tiny gesture and misunderstand something.

Although Kotomi Izumi had always thought Yui was easy to coax, she also knew very clearly that Yui was no fool. If Yui genuinely became suspicious about something, her powers of observation were no weaker than Megumi Kato's!

I can only pray Yui isn't the kind of yandere who reaches for a cleaver at the slightest provocation like Megumi... Kotomi Izumi could not help thinking as her mind raced at full speed.

Kotomi Izumi felt as though her current thought process resembled that of an author who normally slacked off every other day, only to suddenly realize the deadline was tomorrow. Countless plotlines were frantically woven into prose inside her head while her fingers flew across the keyboard, all in a desperate effort to finish the novel before the deadline.

And Kotomi Izumi's thoughts were racing right now for only one reason—to come up with an explanation she could confidently give Yui as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, Little Scumbag Kotomi Izumi's skills were not merely for show. On top of that, the person she was facing was not Megumi Kato, but the comparatively easy-to-coax Yui Yuigahama. As a result, Kotomi quickly came up with what she considered an excellent explanation.

"Ahem..."

Kotomi Izumi cleared her throat before slowly beginning,

"The relationship between Iroha Isshiki and me is nothing more than the most ordinary friendship imaginable. Haha, you might not believe this, but my little sister has extremely, extremely few friends. The only person who can really be called her friend is Iroha Isshiki.

Whenever I hear Aimi talk about Iroha, she always says especially happily, 'Iroha is my best friend!'

She's my little sister's best friend, so as her big sister, I obviously can't embarrass my own sister when I interact with her, right?"

At the very end, Kotomi Izumi deliberately threw a question back at Yui Yuigahama, reclaiming control of the conversation.

The simple-minded Yui Yuigahama had no idea that Kotomi Izumi's final counterquestion carried such an ulterior purpose. After Kotomi asked her that, she merely obediently followed Kotomi's question and thought it through.

Once she had finished thinking about it, Yui Yuigahama suddenly felt that it really did seem to make sense.

The jealousy churning violently inside her heart immediately subsided quite a bit.

Kotomi Izumi, who had been carefully observing the dumpling's expression the entire time, realized that her counterquestion had worked. Taking advantage of her momentum, she immediately pressed on.

"Back during the cultural festival, Iroha also said that she wanted to apply to Sobu High School for her high school entrance exams. In other words, even though I'm only a first-year student right now, once I move up to second year next year and Iroha enrolls at Sobu High School, I'll officially become her upperclassman. Put another way, she'll be my future junior. As her upperclassman and senior, of course I should take extra care of my future junior, right?"

At the end, Kotomi Izumi once again deliberately asked her another counterquestion.

How could Yui Yuigahama possibly realize what hidden meaning lay behind Kotomi's repeated counterquestions? After hearing Kotomi's question, she did not doubt her in the slightest and instinctively followed the logic Kotomi had laid out. After thinking it over, although she still vaguely felt that something was not quite right, her absolute trust in Kotomi ultimately led Yui Yuigahama to nod and believe her explanation.

"So that's how it is. I'm sorry, Kotomi. I guess when we came back from Kyoto a few days ago, you accidentally stood me up and left with Iroha instead. Seeing that made me feel a little unhappy, and before I knew it, I started overthinking everything and got jealous."

Yui Yuigahama lowered her head and apologized to Kotomi Izumi. She believed she had misunderstood Kotomi just now.

Since she had misunderstood Kotomi, then she needed to apologize properly.

"It's fine. When you get right down to it, I also bear some responsibility. I clearly promised to come to your house for dinner, yet I still stood you up. It's only natural that you'd become suspicious about my relationship with Iroha, get jealous, and start overthinking things because of it."

Faced with Yui Yuigahama's sincere apology, Kotomi Izumi felt so guilty and uneasy that she hurriedly admitted she bore some responsibility too.

At the same time, Kotomi Izumi guiltily thought to herself,

Ugh... I was clearly the one who stood Yui up, and just now, to avoid a romantic bloodbath, I lied to her and deceived her. Yet in the end, Yui believed every single word I said and even apologized to me.

Thinking this, Kotomi Izumi let out a silent sigh. A sense of guilt spread through her heart. She knew perfectly well that what she had just done was wrong and could not help lamenting inwardly: Yui, you silly girl. Why do you trust me this much?

It was precisely because Yui always trusted Kotomi without the slightest suspicion that every time Kotomi lied to Yui, she would feel at least some guilt and remorse afterward.

"N-No, it isn't your fault, Kotomi. I'm just too greedy. I always want to spend a little more time with you."

Yui Yuigahama spoke quietly. Whenever Kotomi apologized to her, Yui would constantly tell herself inwardly: This isn't Kotomi's fault!

Hearing Yui Yuigahama say that made Kotomi Izumi's heart itch. For one brief instant, Kotomi genuinely wanted to hug Yui and confess every lie she had ever told her.

But just as she was about to act on impulse and confess every lie she had told before, a flash of hesitation passed through Kotomi Izumi's mind, instantly making her abandon the idea.

In less than a single second, her mentality had swung between two opposite extremes so violently that even Kotomi Izumi herself did not quite manage to process it.

Only after a long while did Kotomi Izumi hug Yui and speak from the heart.

"Silly girl, how is that greedy? I want to spend more time with you too."

"Really?"

Yui Yuigahama, who was sitting between Kotomi Izumi's legs and leaning back against her chest, raised her head in delighted surprise after hearing Kotomi's response.

Yui had always been somewhat insecure, which often made her wonder whether wanting to spend more time with Kotomi might become a burden to her.

"Of course it's true. If I didn't want to spend more time with you, why would I have come inside with you earlier when we were at the door?" Kotomi Izumi replied with a soft laugh.

Then Kotomi Izumi gently stroked Yui's hair, encouraging the slightly insecure girl.

"Little Dumpling, don't look so dejected. Cheer up and have a little more confidence. After all, I'm still waiting for you to marry me. If you don't have any confidence or courage, how could my parents ever feel comfortable entrusting me to you? Don't you agree, my dear wife~?"

As she finished speaking, Kotomi Izumi leaned in amid a faint trace of fragrant air and took the initiative to kiss Yui Yuigahama on the lips.

After the kiss ended.

Looking at the flushed and breathless Yui Yuigahama, Kotomi Izumi, who had always believed there was an eighty-percent chance she was the top yet had never actually managed to become one, suddenly felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment.

There was nothing she could do about it. Whenever things genuinely progressed to full-on intimacy, forget taking the initiative—Kotomi Izumi considered it her greatest effort if she did not simply turn into a delicate little wife lying on the pillow and doing nothing but whimpering and whining.

Of course, there were times when Kotomi lost her temper too.

The reason she lost her temper was very simple. Sometimes Megumi or Yui forgot to trim their fingernails...

Kotomi Izumi leaned close to Yui's flushed ear and provocatively whispered in an ambiguous tone,

"Little Dumpling, your performance in Kyoto was terrible the entire time. Now that we're back in Chiba, are you sure you don't want to work hard and show me what you're capable of? Prove to me that there's not only nothing wrong with your abilities, but that they absolutely shouldn't be underestimated.

I'm not exactly a bad girl, but if you can never satisfy me when we're being intimate, then maybe one day in the future, I might accidentally get stolen away by another girl.

Could it be that you actually want to see me held in another girl's arms while she does this and that to me? If I ended up pregnant afterward, maybe the child in my belly would even be hers instead of yours."

Kotomi Izumi's soft, provocative whispers beside Yui Yuigahama's ear instantly made Yui's eyes widen. Countless feelings of crisis intertwined inside her heart. She did not want Kotomi to fall for another girl, and she absolutely did not want another girl to steal Kotomi away!

Under that intense sense of crisis, Yui Yuigahama's rationality gradually began to fade.

"No!"

Yui Yuigahama immediately pushed Kotomi Izumi down onto the bed and gripped her wrists tightly. The emotions surging and intertwining inside her heart even made her voice tremble.

"Kotomi, you're mine. I absolutely won't let anyone else touch you!"

Faced with Yui Yuigahama suddenly acting completely unlike herself and becoming extremely forceful, Kotomi Izumi gave a seductive smile. She reached out with one pale hand and gently caressed Yui's cheek, her voice seemingly possessing the enchanting magic of a siren as she said alluringly,

"Then—make me completely yours~"

Yuka and her mother were eating downstairs. Although lunch was Yuka's favorite beef curry, the moment she saw onions in the curry rice, Yuka still shrank her neck slightly and protested with a miserable expression,

"Mom, next time you make curry, can you please leave out the onions?"

"No. Children who are still in kindergarten aren't allowed to be picky eaters. Being picky will stop you from growing taller. Besides, curry doesn't taste good without onions."

"I feel like curry would taste better if you didn't put onions in it," Yuka muttered quietly.

"All right, hurry up and eat. To make sure you'd obediently eat the onions, I deliberately chopped them very finely. That makes them much easier to swallow," Mrs. Yuigahama coaxed.

Although Yuka was very obedient, she was still a child, so naturally she had some of the common problems children tended to have, such as being picky with food.

Yuka was not even particularly picky compared with other children. Other children disliked many different vegetables, while Yuka only disliked onions.

Yuka could even eat green peppers, yet she had always disliked onions.

But if a dish really did contain onions, although Yuka would grumble unhappily, she would still force herself to swallow them and finish eating.

Still, while eating, Yuka could not help muttering complaints about why onions tasted so awful and who had invented onions in the first place. At the same time, she would use her tiny spoon to gather as many onions onto it as possible, then swallow them all in one go to get the suffering over with quickly.

Just like right now.

Yuka poked at the onions on her plate with her tiny spoon and muttered,

"Mm... It's exactly because you chopped them so finely, Mom, that now I can't even pick them out."

Hearing this, Mrs. Yuigahama could not help twitching the corner of her mouth before lightly tapping Yuka on the head.

"You were still planning to pick out the onions? Children who are still in kindergarten aren't allowed to develop the bad habit of picky eating!

It's not just because picky eating affects your health. Once you grow up and go to a boarding high school, you'll have to eat at the cafeteria every single day.

A high school cafeteria isn't like a university cafeteria. Universities have large cafeterias, small cafeterias, and lots of different food counters, so you can basically always find something you like. High school cafeterias usually just serve these few dishes today and those few dishes tomorrow.

What are you going to do if one day the cafeteria serves something you don't like?

Are you going to go an entire day without eating?"

"Th-Then I just won't live at school. Onee-chan and Penguin Onee-chan are both high school students, and neither of them lives at school," Yuka replied confidently.

"I'm not discussing whether you'll live at school during high school. I'm telling you that children aren't allowed to be picky eaters! You're still growing. How can you be picky with food? If you're picky, you won't grow tall and you'll get sick all the time. Do you really want your Penguin Onee-chan to worry about you?"

Mrs. Yuigahama knew that Yuka greatly admired Kotomi Izumi. Yuka's feelings toward Kotomi were an innocent affection mixed with a child's admiration and dependence toward an older girl.

Sure enough, the moment her mother said that, Yuka's adorable little face immediately became somewhat nervous.

"I've even heard Kotomi say before that she hates picky children the most~" Mrs. Yuigahama continued while the opportunity was ripe, completely inventing something Kotomi had never once said.

Because Kotomi was picky too!

Ever since she was little, Kotomi had disliked green peppers, multigrain rice, and chopped scallions.

However, neither Mrs. Yuigahama nor Yuka knew that Kotomi Izumi was picky too, so once Mrs. Yuigahama made that up, even the clever Yuka genuinely believed her.

A child was still a child, after all. Unless they were some kind of prodigy, no matter how clever they were, it was still difficult for them to outsmart an adult.

The instant Yuka heard her mother say that, she hurriedly and obediently ate every last onion in her curry. As she forcibly swallowed them, the onion-hating Yuka even had a faint glimmer of tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.

Seeing Yuka like this, Mrs. Yuigahama could not help feeling both amused and exasperated as she said,

"You don't have to eat all the onions in one go. Just eat them naturally, one bite at a time."

"Ugh—I-I'll try. At least right now, I can't manage that yet."

Yuka wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve and spoke quietly.

Seeing this, Mrs. Yuigahama smiled faintly and used her chopsticks to transfer every piece of beef from her own curry rice onto Yuka's plate before saying gently,

"Here. This is a reward for being such a good girl."

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