Supported by Kotomi Izumi, Yui Yuigahama gasped heavily for a full minute before her heartbeat finally settled a little.
Even Yui herself didn't understand why she was this exhausted. It was only a few steps, yet she was this worn out. If this was how it felt, then once school started and they had PE class, wouldn't a simple warm-up run practically send her off to an untimely end?
At that thought, Yui couldn't help but shiver. She feared death, yet at the same time didn't.
If it was for Kotomi, she could take out her own heart without hesitation and offer it to her without the slightest fear of dying.
But if it was for any other reason, she would be terribly afraid. She didn't want to die. She wanted to stay with Kotomi for a lifetime, to grow old together, hand in hand through every passing year.
Kotomi Izumi had no idea that Yui was currently thinking about life and death. Seeing that Yui's breathing had steadied a little, she deliberately put on a slightly displeased expression and said,
"Panting like this—anyone who didn't know better would think you're running for your life."
"Sorry..." Yui Yuigahama lowered her head and apologized.
"Do you know why I was angry just now?"
"I do... When you asked me why I was crying, I didn't say it directly."
"You knew I'd get mad if you didn't tell me, and you still deliberately kept it from me, didn't you?"
Kotomi scolded as she lifted her small foot and kicked Yui squarely on the butt, sending her stumbling forward, nearly falling to the ground.
If you said Kotomi had no sense of restraint, that would be true. Her small hands might look cute, but in reality she had no control over her strength.
But it wasn't entirely without control either. Kotomi knew that kick would make Yui stumble, so she had already prepared herself. The moment Yui lost her balance and was about to fall, Kotomi reached out in time, grabbed her, and pulled her straight into her arms.
It made one wonder whether Kotomi had kicked her just so she could hug her.
At least, that was what Yukino Yukinoshita—who was hiding behind a corner not far away—thought.
After making her decision and leaving the room to chase after Kotomi, Yukino had still been a step too slow. By the time she arrived, she saw Kotomi supporting Yui.
Although there had been nothing beyond the bounds of friendship just now, if Yukino pretended not to notice anything and walked forward, she could avoid becoming background decoration in their "movie."
But perhaps it was her pride getting in the way.
Looking at Kotomi and Yui standing together, Yukino felt as though an invisible, intangible yet heavy barrier surrounded them, keeping her—the third person—far away.
Yukino Yukinoshita stood there, unable to take even a single step forward. Like a coward, she could only hide behind the corner, secretly watching them, secretly listening to their conversation.
It wasn't that Yukino hadn't thought about turning around and leaving. But her feet felt as if they were nailed to the ground. She couldn't step forward to interrupt them, nor could she turn away to escape. She could only stand there like a background prop in a two-person film.
Unable to step forward, unable to leave—forced to watch them like this... it truly was the cruelest punishment in the world.
This wasn't a movie for three people. It was clearly a movie for two—and she was nothing more than background decoration...
Yukino Yukinoshita thought bitterly. Her clenched hands caused her nails to dig into her palms, bringing waves of piercing pain.
Neither Kotomi Izumi nor Yui Yuigahama knew that Yukino was watching from nearby.
After nearly falling, Yui steadied herself with Kotomi's help. She sniffed softly, her voice tinged with a faint sob as she pitifully recounted, word for word, the dream she had during her nap.
She had already felt wronged from the nightmare where Kotomi abandoned her. Now that she had to recount it from beginning to end, it was like tearing open a wound that had just begun to scab, leaving her heart bleeding again.
As soon as she finished, Yui rubbed her eyes and stubbornly added in a small voice, "I just got something in my eyes..."
Pfft—
After listening, Kotomi hadn't even fully processed it yet. Seeing Yui wiping her tears with that aggrieved expression, she knew it wasn't the right time to laugh—but she couldn't hold it in.
She burst out laughing.
She had been wondering what kind of nightmare could make Yui cry like that. Now she understood.
No wonder her face had been covered in tears.
Who would've thought this silly dumpling had such a strong competitive streak? Just because of a few "failures" during intimacy, she had imagined such a melodramatic, heart-wrenching romance scenario.
Especially that line—
"I think I used to like you, but... I've already become an adult before you."
If that were written into a modern romance drama, wouldn't it make audiences ache with emotion? Housewives watching TV in the afternoon would probably cry their eyes out.
Still, laugh as she might, after finishing, Kotomi put on a serious face. She reached out, pinched Yui's cheek, and said sternly,
"You've got quite the imagination, huh? Even in a dream you can come up with something this dramatic. Do you really see me as someone who abandons her wife and child? Hmm?"
As she spoke, her grip tightened.
Yui's eyes filled with tears from the pain. Even if she hadn't cried earlier, this alone would have made her cry. But because it was Kotomi, she endured it, afraid that crying would make Kotomi unhappy.
After saying it, Kotomi thought to herself,
Wait, that's not right. We don't even have a child yet, so "abandoning wife and child" doesn't quite fit... whatever. Even as a novelist, I forget my words sometimes.
"Not..."
Yui shook her head with tearful eyes. In her heart, Kotomi was the most beautiful and gentle girl in the world. How could she possibly do something like that?
The reason she had such a nightmare was because she hadn't overcome a hurdle in her own heart.
When it came to intimacy, Yui had a competitive urge—she wanted to "conquer" Kotomi, to make Kotomi's eyes and heart belong only to her.
But recently, she had been losing again and again. She couldn't even last five minutes. Even though Kotomi always comforted her, saying it might just be nervousness, Yui still felt upset.
If this kept going, forget conquering Kotomi—she'd be lucky if Kotomi didn't get tired of her!
Because of that pressure, along with that competitiveness, and the events of that morning where she had barely lasted two minutes before almost losing her breath...
All of it combined into that nightmare during her nap.
And the aftereffect of that dream was strong. Even now, thinking about it made her feel wronged, on the verge of tears.
Kotomi knew she should comfort Yui at a time like this.
But for some reason... she just wanted to laugh.
She didn't know whether to call this little dumpling foolish—or say that her competitiveness was just a bit... strange.
Yukino Yukinoshita, hiding not far away, heard every word of Kotomi and Yui's conversation without missing a single syllable.
Even though she despised herself for eavesdropping, the moment they began speaking, she had already pricked up her ears, unwilling to miss even a single word.
After listening, Yukino parted her lips slightly, stunned as she replayed Yui's description of the nightmare.
Just hearing it was enough to make one's heart ache. Let alone experiencing it firsthand in a dream.
At the same time, Yukino felt a little surprised by Yui's rather peculiar competitiveness.
She had never noticed it before. It wasn't that Yui lacked a competitive spirit—it was just that the place she wanted to win was... a little strange.
Strange, yet completely understandable.
Recalling the nightmare Yui had described—being abandoned by Kotomi—Yukino felt countless thoughts surge up within her. Yet there were too many, leaving her mind in chaos. It was like having a pile of slips of paper covered in writing stacked in her heart, not knowing which one to pick up.
Or perhaps she knew exactly which slip she truly wanted to read. All she had to do was reach out gently and take it into her hand, confirm the words written on it, and acknowledge the restless thought deep within her.
Since Yui has already dreamed about being abandoned by Kotomi... perhaps her heart has already been prepared once. Then when I truly take Kotomi away from her, would the pain hurt just a little less...?
Smack!
Before the thought could fully take shape, Yukino raised her hand and slapped herself hard across the cheek.
She couldn't forgive herself for even thinking such a thing.
Whether it was because of her friendship with Yui, or the pride within her heart, she could not allow herself to harbor such an idea.
Yukino took a deep breath and leaned weakly against the wall. While continuing to eavesdrop, she thought,
I once believed I would never fall in love with anyone. Yet, as if refuting my own childish conviction, I unknowingly fell for Kotomi. And by the time I realized it, that love had already sunk into my bones—impossible to erase, impossible to forget, impossible to fade.
The ridiculous part is that I realized my feelings at the very moment Yui confessed to Kotomi and they became a couple.
Yui is my best friend. I treasure our friendship.
Is it truly impossible to have both love and friendship?
At that thought, Yukino let out another silent sigh.
After a moment, she steadied herself and continued listening to their conversation.
...
"Since you know I'm not the kind of person who would abandon her wife and child, why would you have such a nightmare? Don't you trust me? Or do I usually bully you and treat you badly?" Kotomi asked while kneading Yui's cheeks.
"It's not that... It's just that the past few times when we were being intimate, I performed so badly. I was afraid you'd be unhappy, but I didn't know what to do. This morning too... I panicked, and then I had that nightmare..."
Yui said, her eyes reddening. Kotomi didn't wipe her tears, merely continuing to揉 her cheeks.
Strangely enough, if Kotomi wiped her tears, Yui's nose would sting and she would want to cry even more.
But when Kotomi kneaded her cheeks like this, she didn't feel like crying anymore.
Yui couldn't understand why. So in her heart, she thought with admiration:
Kotomi knows magic!
Of course it wasn't magic. This was something Kotomi had concluded from experience back in kindergarten.
When children were in kindergarten, arguments and small conflicts were inevitable. Once things escalated, someone would cry—or sometimes both would.
Though little Kotomi had been a bit slow and silly back then, her future scoundrel tendencies were already showing.
Whenever she saw a girl crying, she would go up to comfort her—not out of kindness, but because she knew that comforting a crying girl would make the other party subconsciously depend on her, and in the process, unintentionally make some intimate gestures.
That way, Kotomi could openly hug other little girls.
Even though she couldn't speak clearly at the time, it didn't matter. Being cute was enough. Seeing such an adorable little Kotomi come to comfort them, the crying girls wouldn't even bother talking—they would just hug her and bawl loudly.
At first, whenever she was hugged, little Kotomi would just stand or sit there foolishly, not knowing to say comforting words or pat the other girl's back.
Later, one day while eating snacks in the teachers' office, she happened to see a female teacher watching a drama. On the screen, the male lead was comforting the crying female lead.
Finding the actress pretty, little Kotomi toddled over on her short legs, hugged the teacher's thigh, and tried to climb up to watch.
Naturally, the teacher's heart melted at the sight. She picked Kotomi up and let her watch together, even handing over all the snacks she had bought for her afternoon break.
With a shredded pork bun in her left hand, potato chips in her right, seaweed in her mouth, eyes fixed on lychee yogurt on the table, and still wondering what the kindergarten's nutritious lunch would be that day, little Kotomi was almost too busy eating to pay much attention to the show.
But with just a casual glance, she saw that when the male lead comforted the crying female lead, he wiped her tears with the back of his hand.
Little Kotomi suddenly had an epiphany.
So the next few times she comforted crying girls, she used her fingers to wipe away their tears.
The result?
They cried even harder.
After several experiments, little Kotomi finally understood—when a girl was crying, wiping her tears with your hand only made her feel more aggrieved, causing her to cry even more fiercely.
But if you kneaded her cheeks instead, you could subtly divert her attention.
Sometimes, kneading and kneading would even make her laugh.
And sure enough, under Kotomi's cheek-kneading offensive, Yui quickly stopped wanting to cry.
Seeing that Yui was no longer shedding tears, Kotomi continued,
"I always call you silly, but I didn't expect you to actually be this silly. Just because you didn't perform well a few times, I'd abandon you? You make it sound like I'm someone whose mind is filled with nothing but that sort of thing. Hmph. I'm not that shallow!"
As she spoke, she pinched Yui's cheek again.
"You silly dumpling, do you know why I brought you to meet my relatives today? Obviously it was to let you get familiar in front of them, to lay the groundwork for when we publicly announce our relationship—and get married in the future. Did you think marrying me... cough... I mean, did you think marrying into my family would be that easy?"
After finishing, Kotomi bit Yui's cheek in mock annoyance.
The annoyance was fake. She mainly just wanted to bite her cheek.
"R-Really?"
Hearing that, Yui's gloomy heart instantly cleared like the sky after rain. Sweetness spread through her chest, and her cheeks gradually warmed.
"Of course it's true. I didn't say it outright, but something this simple and you still couldn't figure it out? Sigh... In the future, when we have children, I'm definitely the one raising them. I absolutely can't let you do it. If you raise them, our kid will turn into a little airhead!"
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