Going to the restroom was just an excuse. Kotomi Izumi mainly wanted to take Yui Yuigahama away for a short while.
After walking to a corner, Kotomi glanced behind her to make sure Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't see them and that hardly anyone would pass by this spot. Only then did she stop.
Seeing her stop, Yui—who had been pulled along the whole way—asked in confusion,
"Kotomi, weren't you going to the restroom?"
Kotomi pursed her lips. "You annoyed me so much I don't feel like going anymore!"
She had never planned to go in the first place. It had only been an excuse. Now she deliberately twisted it into something else just to tease Yui.
But how could the simple-minded Yui possibly realize Kotomi was doing this on purpose? Whatever Kotomi said, she believed.
The moment she heard that Kotomi was angry, Yui panicked, completely at a loss.
Was it because she had shown her unhappiness earlier and made Kotomi angry?
Yui stood frozen in place, so anxious she was on the verge of tears, desperately racking her brain for a way to cheer Kotomi up.
Clearly, it had been Kotomi who made Yui unhappy at first. And yet now it had somehow turned into Yui trying everything she could to coax Kotomi instead.
Kotomi released Yui's wrist.
It was such a small action, but to Yui, it felt like a devastating blow. She thought Kotomi was abandoning her. Tears instantly welled up at the corners of her eyes, and she hurriedly reached out, wanting to grab Kotomi's hand.
But just as her fingers were about to touch it, she hesitated and stopped midair.
She was afraid that grabbing Kotomi's hand without permission would only make her angrier.
Kotomi turned around and reached out with both hands, pinching Yui's smooth cheeks from either side.
"Throwing a little tantrum at me and puffing up without saying a word. Are you satisfied now? Hmm?"
Yui felt a bit wronged.
When Kotomi had pushed her away during the kiss, she truly had felt uncomfortable. Kotomi could hit her or scold her and she would have no complaints. But being pushed away like that had given her the illusion of being abandoned. That was why she had gradually grown upset.
But the moment she thought that her brief little tantrum had angered Kotomi this much, Yui no longer cared about her own feelings.
In her heart, Kotomi's happiness was the most important thing.
She quickly apologized.
"Kotomi, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have thrown a tantrum..."
Kotomi kept her face expressionless, but inside she was practically slapping her thigh in delight. She hadn't been angry at all. She had only said that to scare Yui a little.
Besides, seeing Yui pout like that for the first time had been strangely novel.
It was just a pity she hadn't had the chance to take a photo of Yui's puffed-up little expression.
If it weren't for the fact that her LINE friends list contained far too many girls with ambiguous or not-yet-ambiguous relationships, Kotomi would have loved to snap a picture of that sulky dumpling face and set it as her LINE profile photo.
She should have pretended to be even angrier earlier—like she was about to break up—and flung Yui's wrist away dramatically. Yui would definitely have burst into tears and hugged her from behind...
The more Kotomi thought about it, the more she found herself enjoying the feeling of bullying Yui until she cried.
After a moment, Kotomi finally released Yui's pretty cheeks, satisfied.
"It's fine to have little tantrums. Everyone has moments when they're unhappy. Letting it out can be a good thing. But why would you have a tantrum at me? Have I ever done anything to wrong you?
I, Kotomi Izumi, can honestly say with my hand on my conscience that I have never done anything to hurt Yui!
Yui, my love for you is wholehearted and single-minded. Even the gods couldn't change that!
So when you were sulking just now, I really couldn't understand what I had done to upset you."
Kotomi's words filled Yui with guilt.
Kotomi's love was so devoted, yet she had thrown a tantrum over something as small as being pushed away. No wonder Kotomi had been angry. Yui even wanted to slap herself.
"Because... when we were kissing just now, you pushed me away. It made me feel like you were abandoning me. It felt really bad... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten angry."
Yui explained everything honestly, holding nothing back.
Kotomi felt quite satisfied.
She wasn't afraid of Yui throwing tantrums. What she feared was Yui keeping things bottled up inside.
In truth, Kotomi had known perfectly well why Yui had been upset. She had just pretended not to, wanting Yui to say it out loud.
"Silly dumpling. I just realized you really are silly. We definitely can't let you raise our future child. You're so silly—you might pass it on to our kid."
It was just a simple sentence.
Yet it made Yui feel as though her entire heart had been filled with shyness and happiness.
She felt embarrassed when Kotomi called her silly, because she knew it was true.
But hearing Kotomi casually talk about their future child made her feel indescribably happy.
Ever since falling in love with Kotomi, Yui's greatest dream had been to marry her, build a warm family together, have or adopt a child, and grow old side by side.
If they could even die together one day, that would be even better...
"I'll try to become smarter..." Yui said softly, her face flushed.
Please don't actually become smarter. If you do, it'll be harder to trick—no, harder to coax—you in the future, Kotomi thought silently.
No matter what, once the topic of children came up, the atmosphere between them turned faintly ambiguous, as though sweet pink bubbles were floating in the air.
Kotomi was well aware of her Queen of All Females physique.
Even though she and Yui were both girls, there was no need to worry about pregnancy.
She didn't quite understand the principles behind it, but if she wanted to get pregnant, her special physique would definitely make it possible.
So how exactly would they make a baby?
Now that was a topic that instantly erased her drowsiness.
The moment the thought surfaced, all traces of sleep vanished from Kotomi's mind. She looked at Yui with heated eyes and said,
"I want to bite you."
Blushing, Yui turned her body slightly.
Even though no one was around, they were still at a station. She felt shy.
Kotomi leaned closer.
Yui kept dodging shyly, which made Kotomi a little annoyed. Wasn't this the same girl who had been wrapping her arms around her neck and demanding kisses earlier?
Her tone suddenly carried the domineering edge of a villainess who had stepped straight out of a dating game.
"Don't move!"
Yui jumped in fright and obediently froze, closing her eyes and waiting.
The distance between them shrank.
Yui assumed it would be a kiss, and the thought of kissing Kotomi at the station made her heart race like a restless deer. Her long eyelashes trembled.
But suddenly, there was a sharp sting on her cheek.
Kotomi had meant what she said. She actually bit down—and even applied a bit of force on purpose.
It hurt a little.
But Yui didn't resist.
She didn't even whisper that it hurt.
She simply stood there quietly, wrapping her arms around Kotomi and allowing her to bite her cheek.
No one knew how many minutes had passed before Kotomi Izumi finally released Yui Yuigahama's cheek, looking thoroughly satisfied.
"Ahh, that felt good. Let's see if you dare throw a little tantrum at me again. I pushed you away earlier because I didn't want Yukino to know that we're currently dating."
At this point, Kotomi spoke with a serious tone.
"Even though Yukino is our friend, our relationship is a bit special. Not everyone can accept a same-sex relationship. I want to first test what Yukino thinks about same-sex love before telling her that we're together."
"So that's why... I'm sorry, Kotomi. I didn't understand your good intentions earlier. I even got upset with you..."
Yui lowered her head in shame. So when Kotomi pushed her away during the kiss, it had been because she had thought so far ahead. Yet she had acted childish and gotten angry over it.
"It's fine. As long as you know you were wrong."
After finishing the explanation she had made up, Kotomi secretly thought to herself: At least for now, Yukino absolutely can't find out about my relationship with Yui. If Yukino knows I'm already dating Yui, it'll be much harder for me to pursue her and make her my girlfriend.
Even though she was confident that she could still make Yukino Yukinoshita her girlfriend even if Yukino knew she was dating Yui, the difficulty would obviously be different.
Why turn something into hell mode when it could be done on easy?
At least for now, Kotomi preferred to remain a "single person" in the eyes of other girls.
Yui didn't understand why Kotomi had bitten her earlier, and she didn't ask. Whatever Kotomi said was what she accepted. She didn't want to make Kotomi angry.
"Let's clean up and head back. We've been gone too long. Yukino will start worrying."
After speaking, Kotomi took out a pack of tissues from her coat pocket and handed it to Yui. Seeing the teeth marks and saliva she had left on Yui's cheek made her feel oddly satisfied.
That was just how Kotomi was. When she pampered someone, she went all out. But occasionally, she also wanted to bully her silly little dumpling.
Yui shook her head and didn't take the tissue.
Seeing that she refused, Kotomi didn't insist. She put the tissue back and turned to leave, walking ahead of Yui.
Yui followed behind with small steps. She secretly wiped the saliva off her cheek with the back of her hand, then brought it to her lips and gently bit down on it...
Afterward, she let out a silly little laugh.
That counted as kissing Kotomi in another way, right... Yui thought to herself.
"What are you laughing at?"
Hearing Yui's classic silly giggle, Kotomi turned around and asked.
"I want kisses!"
Yui said exactly what she wanted. The earlier interrupted kissing had left her with lingering attachment.
Kotomi could only sigh helplessly. She patted Yui's head gently and said slowly,
"Be good. Once we get to the hotel and Yukino falls asleep, we can kiss as much as we want."
"Mm!"
Yui nodded happily, like a little puppy hearing its owner promise meat later.
In fact, long ago, Yui had often told herself in her heart: being Kotomi's little dog didn't sound so bad.
And gradually, it had turned into: I am Kotomi's little dog! Woof woof!
However, while feeling excited, Yui also felt a little confused. Why did Kotomi say they had to wait until Yukino fell asleep before kissing? Wouldn't they book two rooms, with Yukino in one and herself sharing a room with Kotomi?
If she and Kotomi shared a room, they could just close the door and kiss freely!
Yui secretly wondered about this and opened her mouth to ask, but seeing that Kotomi looked deep in thought, she obediently closed it again.
Kotomi was indeed thinking about something.
Because just now, she had seen a figure in a white dress—Ayani Kika.
When she saw Ayani Kika standing not far away, Kotomi was startled. Kika had indeed said she would come to the station to wait for her, but it was three in the morning!
The distance from the Gion hanamachi to Kyoto Shinkansen Station wasn't short. It would take at least an hour to get there, maybe two if traffic was heavy.
At first, Kotomi thought she had seen wrong. But after taking a closer look at that familiar white dress, it really was Ayani Kika!
Were oiran schedules really this free now?
Coming to the station at three in the morning instead of resting?
And it was snowing outside. She was only wearing a spring-like white dress. Wasn't she cold?
While Kotomi was thinking about how she should introduce Kika to Yukino and Yui later, Kika seemed to sense what she was thinking. A faint smile appeared at the corner of her lips. She waved gently, then turned and left without disturbing Kotomi.
No wonder Kotomi often thought Kika was like a ghost. Sometimes she really did appear like one, showing up silently and leaving just as quietly.
More accurately, she was a very considerate "ghost," because she never disturbed Kotomi.
It even made Kotomi occasionally wonder whether only she could see Kika and everyone else couldn't.
Kotomi wondered whether she should take out her phone and send Kika a message or call her.
She rarely hesitated once she made up her mind. Immediately pulling out her phone, she sent a message.
Kotomi Izumi: [I don't know if I just saw a ghost or what, but I just arrived at the station and saw you when I was about to leave.]
After sending the message, it showed as unread for a few seconds, so Kotomi put her phone away for now.
They returned to the main hall of the station, where Yukino Yukinoshita was waiting for them while sitting on a suitcase.
As Yui approached, she instinctively glanced at the suitcase Yukino was sitting on and suddenly realized—it was Kotomi's suitcase?!
Yui couldn't understand why Yukino wasn't sitting on her own suitcase instead. Yukino's suitcase looked no different from Kotomi's except for the color, and they were the same size.
Could it be that Kotomi's suitcase was more comfortable to sit on?
Yui kept this question to herself.
"Yukino, sorry to keep you waiting. Let's go," Kotomi said.
"Mm, okay."
After seeing Kotomi and Yui return, Yukino didn't feel embarrassed at all about having been seen sitting on Kotomi's suitcase. She naturally got down and handed the suitcase back to Kotomi.
Kotomi said nothing. More precisely, she didn't think much of it at all.
After all, in her eyes, although she and Yukino weren't lovers yet, they had already shared a bed before. Sitting on her suitcase wasn't a big deal.
Only Yui cared deeply about it.
After all, another girl sitting on her girlfriend's suitcase—even if that girl was her good friend—made her feel like she had just swallowed a whole bottle of vinegar.
Kotomi sniffed the air and looked around, feeling a little puzzled.
Why did it smell like jealousy here?
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