After coming out of the restroom, Yukino Yukinoshita walked back toward her seat. When she saw Kotomi Izumi and Yui Yuigahama, she paused, then asked with a hint of confusion:
"You two... what just happened?"
"N-Nothing happened," Kotomi Izumi said with an awkward smile, trying to brush the topic aside.
That was what Kotomi said, but when Yukino looked again at Yui Yuigahama, whose face carried a faint, resentful pout, several small question marks seemed to appear above her head.
Yukino remembered that when she had gone to the restroom earlier, Yui had been half-asleep, lying on Kotomi's lap. Now that she had returned, Yui was sitting upright with a slightly unhappy expression on her face.
Could it be that while she had been away, some kind of conflict had happened between Kotomi and Yui?
Even though she still didn't know whether they had argued or not, just the thought that they might have quarreled made Yukino feel a trace of happiness, and she couldn't help but repeatedly suggest to herself inwardly: Does this mean I might finally have a chance?
But soon afterward, Yukino scolded herself internally for having such despicable thoughts.
She tried to shift her attention elsewhere, yet when she saw Yui puffing her cheeks in a sulky, disgruntled manner, she still felt curious. In Yukino's impression, Yui rarely showed her unhappiness so openly.
Yui's current pouting expression truly made Yukino wonder what had happened.
She wanted to know, but asking Kotomi was pointless. Kotomi clearly looked like she would never tell the truth.
Asking Yui... Yui looked unhappy right now, and asking directly might come across as rude.
After thinking carefully, Yukino decided to restrain her curiosity and not ask.
Giving up on asking didn't mean she wasn't curious. Even until the train gradually came to a stop, Yukino kept wondering what exactly had happened between Kotomi and Yui.
Could it be that Yui had woken up with morning grumpiness? Yukino considered this possibility and found it reasonable, since Yui still looked like she hadn't fully woken up.
"Dear passengers, thank you for choosing the Shinkansen. This train has now arrived in Kyoto. Please remember to take all your belongings with you. Watch your step when exiting the train. It is still snowing outside and the temperature is low, so we recommend wearing warm clothing before disembarking. We wish you a pleasant evening and a smooth, enjoyable journey ahead. All Shinkansen staff look forward to serving you again. Once again, thank you for choosing the Shinkansen."
Once the train had completely stopped, Kotomi Izumi stood up and stretched her neck. Although she had slept for several hours on the train, it was still the middle of the night, and she felt drowsy.
They stepped off the train and walked through the station, which was relatively quiet due to the late hour.
Compared to daytime, the Shinkansen station felt much calmer now.
While pulling her suitcase halfway across the station, Kotomi glanced toward a still-open KFC not far away.
Grrr...
Her stomach seemed to be announcing that it was hungry.
In the end, sleepiness won over hunger. Compared to grabbing a burger at KFC, Kotomi wanted more to lie in bed under a blanket and sleep.
"I wonder if there's still anyone at the front desk of Seiya Tower Inn right now?"
Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at the time on her phone. It was 3:26 a.m. She looked at Kotomi and couldn't help letting out a soft laugh.
"Izumi-san, your time management is really impressive~"
"Hahaha... sorry. When I bought the ticket, I really didn't calculate the time properly."
Kotomi smiled awkwardly and apologized. Thinking back, it was strange. When she bought the ticket, she had even felt proud of how well she had arranged the timing. She hadn't realized at all that boarding the Shinkansen at eight o'clock and riding for seven hours meant arriving at three in the morning.
Having miscalculated her schedule, Kotomi couldn't even pretend to argue her way out of it and could only honestly apologize.
"Forget it. Let's just call a taxi outside the station and go directly to Seiya Tower Inn first. Hopefully, a traditional hot spring inn like that still has staff on duty at the front desk this late."
Yukino rubbed her heavy, sleepy eyes. If possible, she just wanted to lie face-down on Kotomi's back and fall asleep.
After all, Kotomi and Yui currently looked like they were in the middle of some sort of conflict...
"If it's Seiya Tower Inn, let's go tomorrow instead. It's too late now. Even if we get a taxi, it'll take at least over an hour from the station to reach it," Kotomi said, disagreeing with heading there immediately.
"Then where are we staying tonight?"
Yukino asked in confusion. If they weren't going to Seiya Tower Inn, where would they sleep? On the station benches?
For a moment, Kotomi almost made Yukino laugh in exasperation.
"When the weather turns cold, any city with famous hot springs experiences a tourism boom. If we try other hotels or inns now, there definitely won't be any rooms left. Traditional hot spring inns like Seiya Tower Inn might even have their front desk staff already off duty.
"If we rush there by taxi and find no one at the front desk and can't check in, first we'd waste expensive taxi fare, and second we'd struggle to find another place to stay.
"After all, inn owners aren't stupid. Who would open their inn right next to Seiya Tower Inn? That would just be challenging the record for fastest bankruptcy in Japan.
"So in my opinion, the best option now is to stay at a hotel near the station. Coincidentally, when we were about to get off earlier, I checked the map app and found a few love hotels near Kyoto Shinkansen Station. If we walk quickly, it'll only take about five or six minutes."
"Love hotels?!"
Yukino Yukinoshita was so shocked she nearly bit her tongue. She had only seen that term in novels before. She hadn't expected Kotomi to say it so naturally, as if she frequented such places.
Kotomi's natural tone made Yukino feel extremely conflicted.
Could it be that Kotomi and Yui often went to love hotels?! Th-That was far too shameless!!!
But... Kotomi and Yui were a perfectly legitimate, openly acknowledged couple. Even if they went to love hotels, it seemed completely normal...
The moment she imagined Kotomi and Yui possibly having gone to love hotels together, Yukino instantly lost her composure.
Because she couldn't help but imagine what the two of them might do inside the room.
In an instant, the cold iceberg seemed to transform into a volcano ready to erupt.
"Yukino, if you don't come over soon, we're leaving you behind!"
After walking a short distance, Kotomi Izumi turned to look at Yukino Yukinoshita, who was still standing there in a daze, and called out to remind her.
"I-I'm coming!"
Only then did Yukino snap back to her senses. She hurriedly dragged her suitcase and jogged to catch up. She hated the feeling of being left behind Kotomi.
While waiting for Yukino to run over, Kotomi glanced at the still-pouting little dumpling beside her and couldn't help letting out a soft chuckle.
She was immediately met with a resentful glare from the dumpling.
Kotomi raised an eyebrow. Oh? This little dumpling is getting bold now? Trying to counterattack?
Even though the dumpling was technically the top... a timid top was still a top!
But Kotomi had always believed that with how timid the dumpling was, she was definitely meant to be the bottom. The only reason she had remained the top so far was because Kotomi hadn't gotten serious yet. She had deliberately yielded a little, letting the dumpling feel proud and play the top role a few more times.
When she decided she had yielded enough, she would get serious.
With how fierce I, Kotomi Izumi, am, I'll definitely make this little dumpling meow!
However, right now, Kotomi clearly understood why the dumpling was sulking.
The reason lay with herself.
Time rewound to when they were still on the train, just after Yukino had stood up and left.
Kotomi Izumi and Yui Yuigahama had been kissing each other as if they intended to continue until the seas dried up and the rocks crumbled.
No one knew how much time had passed, but Kotomi—whose hearing had been enhanced by the Queen of All Females physique—instantly picked up the sound of the restroom door opening. Yukino Yukinoshita was about to come out.
If she and Yui were seen like this...
Wouldn't that mean Yukino would find out that she and Yui were dating?
The moment she realized this, a small alarm bell went off in Kotomi's mind. She abruptly pushed away Yui Yuigahama, who had been hugging her neck and kissing her nonstop.
After being shoved aside, Yui sat there blankly for a second, staring at Kotomi with stunned, aggrieved eyes. Then, as if the more she thought about it the angrier she became, she puffed up her cheeks in a sulk, her adorable face truly resembling a delicious little dumpling.
This was the first time Yui Yuigahama had ever gotten angry at Kotomi. Not only was she angry, she actually showed it.
To Yui, even if Kotomi hit her or scolded her, she could accept it. But being pushed away in the middle of a kiss—that made her feel unbearably wronged. When Kotomi and Yukino hadn't been paying attention earlier, Yui had secretly turned her head away and wiped away tears several times.
Of course, that was only what Yui believed.
Yukino hadn't noticed.
But Kotomi had noticed long ago. She had seen Yui secretly wiping her tears several times and simply pretended not to see.
It wasn't that Kotomi was deliberately playing hard to get.
She simply... didn't have the time to deal with Yui at that moment.
Because when she saw Yui wiping her tears, she had been thinking about Mashiro Shiina.
The last time she had come to Kyoto, she had nearly changed her relationship with Mashiro from friends to lovers.
Now, returning to Kyoto after some time, Kotomi couldn't help recalling what had happened between her and Mashiro back then. She sighed inwardly.
If I had stayed in Kyoto one more day back then, maybe my relationship with Mashiro Shiina would have completely turned into that of lovers.
While thinking about Mashiro, even though she saw Yui feeling so wronged that she secretly wiped away tears because of being pushed aside, Kotomi didn't respond.
It wasn't that she didn't want to.
It was that sometimes her brain functioned like a single-threaded processor. During certain periods, it could only handle one thing at a time. Only after finishing processing one matter would she move on to the next.
Just now, she had been in exactly that state.
That said, seeing Yui secretly wiping her tears, Kotomi felt both heartache and helplessness. She simply hadn't wanted Yukino to see them kissing.
Putting aside what Yukino might think in her heart, there was no way to explain it properly on the surface.
If the situation had been reversed—if Yui had seen her kissing Yukino—Kotomi was ninety-eight percent confident she could talk her way out of it. The remaining two percent existed only to keep herself from becoming too arrogant.
In that situation, she couldn't possibly tell Yui directly, "Yukino is coming out, stop for a moment." The instant Yukino opened the restroom door and stepped out, she would have seen them. There was no time.
In that split second, Kotomi judged that pushing Yui away was the optimal solution.
And so she had pushed her away.
And now Yui was sulking like this.
Kotomi took the initiative to hold Yui Yuigahama's hand.
Usually, it was Yui who would reach out first, and only then would Kotomi hold her hand.
After all, Kotomi had held the hands of far too many girls. If she had to take the initiative every single time, that would be too troublesome. So she simply waited for the girls to reach for her first.
When her small hand was suddenly held by Kotomi, Yui froze.
The sulky expression on her face vanished in an instant, replaced by surprise.
Normally, she was the one who took the initiative to hold Kotomi's hand. Now that Kotomi was the one reaching out first, the happiness brought by this change made Yui feel as if she were dreaming.
She knew she shouldn't forgive too quickly.
But Kotomi was holding her hand!
Yui couldn't help lowering her head with a shy smile, happiness overflowing from her expression.
So easy to coax...
Kotomi sighed inwardly. At the same time, a certain idea began to sprout in her heart.
Just then, Yukino Yukinoshita dragged her suitcase over.
Just as she was about to walk up beside Kotomi, Kotomi suddenly said to her,
"Yukino, could you watch our suitcases here for a moment? Yui and I want to use the restroom."
"Huh? Oh... alright."
Yukino looked at Kotomi, who had just waited for her only to leave again. Even knowing that Kotomi would come back shortly, she still felt inexplicably disappointed.
Yui tilted her head in confusion. She hadn't said she wanted to use the restroom.
Before she could react, Kotomi grabbed Yui's wrist with a hint of dominance and pulled her away.
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