All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

After her bath, Kotomi felt thoroughly refreshed.

She dried her hair with a blow dryer, wrapped herself in a towel, and returned to her bedroom. With only 20 minutes having passed, Kotomi decided not to rush to get dressed. Instead, she climbed under the blanket and started playing on her phone.

When the clock ticked closer to 7 a.m., Kotomi finally set down her phone and began changing into her uniform.

"Good morning, Mom," Kotomi greeted as she walked into the kitchen, where Akina was preparing breakfast.

Akina, seeing her daughter looking healthy again and waking up early, felt a wave of relief. She smiled warmly.

"Good morning, sweetie. Breakfast is ready. Hurry up and eat. You didn't even get dinner last night."

"I don't know what happened, but yesterday afternoon, I woke up and couldn't help falling asleep again," Kotomi said as she sat at the table. She took a large bite of noodles, following it up with half the grilled fish on her plate.

"Maybe it's because of your cold. Every time you catch one, you always seem to get extra sleepy," Akina replied.

Shortly after, Aimi came downstairs. Seeing her sister awake and already eating breakfast reassured her. The tension that had been weighing on Aimi's chest disappeared, though her cheeks flushed as she recalled her mistake from the day before that had caused Kotomi to sleep so suddenly and miss dinner.

"Aimi, why are you standing there in a daze? Come eat," Kotomi said, waving her sister over.

"Oh, okay! Coming!" Aimi hurried over. "Onee-chan, are you feeling better now?"

"Completely recovered. Feel for yourself." Kotomi leaned forward after finishing her grilled fish, tilting her head to offer her forehead to Aimi.

Aimi touched her sister's forehead and, after comparing it to her own, nodded. "Looks like you're back to normal."

"Good to know," Kotomi said cheerfully. "Though I recovered surprisingly fast. Just one day, and I'm fine!"

"Maybe it's because you took your medicine in time," Akina interjected casually.

Hearing this, Aimi's face turned red again. She buried her head in her food to avoid further embarrassment, recalling her mix-up with the fever medicine yesterday.

After breakfast, even though Kotomi's cold had cleared up, Akina insisted that she dress warmly for the next few days to avoid catching another chill.

There's a saying: "No matter what, your mom will always think you're underdressed."

Unable to argue against her mother, Kotomi swapped out her uniform shirt for a sweater under her jacket.

It's not even that cold yet, and I'm already wearing a sweater. Am I overdoing it? Kotomi thought to herself as she slipped on her shoes.

Still, she had to admit—the sweater was incredibly comfortable. It didn't itch at her neck and felt wonderfully warm.

Stepping outside, she saw Megumi Kato waiting under the streetlamp as usual.

Kotomi's lips curled into a bright smile as she hurried forward. "Good morning, Megumi!"

Hearing Kotomi's familiar voice, Megumi froze for a moment before stepping forward to gently hug her.

"Good morning," she murmured sweetly.

After sharing a tender moment, the two didn't linger. They walked side by side toward Sobu High School, a gentle autumn breeze rustling their hair.

Entering the classroom, Kotomi returned to her desk, which had been empty the previous day. She sighed, feeling a strange sense of nostalgia.

Determined to make up for the time lost to her cold, she pulled out her books and resolved to start studying diligently.

Thirty seconds later—

Kotomi stacked her textbooks into a tall "fortress" on her desk, strengthening it with an extra book or two for stability. Hiding behind the "fortress," she pulled out her phone and continued the mobile game level she hadn't finished earlier.

Since Kotomi and Megumi had arrived early, the classroom was still sparsely populated. Yukino, Yui, and the others hadn't arrived yet.

Kotomi hid behind her book fortress, tapping away on her phone. Meanwhile, Megumi sat nearby, seemingly reading a textbook. Yet her eyes were clearly fixed on Kotomi.

She observed her closely, scanning from head to toe and then back again.

Then, breaking the silence, she suddenly said, "You're wearing a sweater?"

How is she paying attention to me while pretending to read? Kotomi thought, startled. She hadn't even unbuttoned her jacket yet. She nodded and, since the classroom wasn't cold, decided to unbutton her jacket.

"I was going to stick with my regular shirt, but Mom was afraid I'd catch a chill, so she insisted I wear a sweater."

"I see. Thankfully, my mom hasn't made me wear sweaters yet. I can't stand them," Megumi replied nonchalantly, her attention nowhere near her book.

"You don't like sweaters?" Kotomi asked curiously.

"Not really. They scratch at my neck and feel uncomfortable. Plus, if they get wet, they feel horrible."

"I feel the same way, but this sweater's fabric is really nice. It doesn't itch at all."

"Let me feel," Megumi said with a sly smile.

If Aimi were present, she'd surely explode in outrage: Megumi Kato, you're nothing but trouble!

Kotomi, caught off guard, nodded absentmindedly. Only when Megumi reached out did Kotomi realize—she was up to no good as always!

Minutes later, Yui strolled into the classroom, stifling a yawn. She'd stayed up late reading manga, nearly missing her alarm that morning.

When she saw Kotomi already at her desk, her sleepiness vanished.

"Kotomi!"

"Yui!"

In their usual greeting, the two embraced in a dramatic bear hug—right in front of Megumi.

When Yukino, Mashiro, and the others arrived, Yui grinned conspiratorially and said, "I have some great news!"

Hearing it was good news, everyone perked up. Kotomi leaned forward, while Yukino and the others focused their attention on Yui.

"What's the good news? Tell us!" Kotomi urged.

"My mom decided to reopen Dango Cake Shop at the end of this month!"

Kotomi and Mashiro cheered in unison: "Yay!"

As a regular patron of Dango Cake Shop, Kotomi was thrilled. It had been nearly two weeks since she'd last tasted their cakes, and life just hadn't been the same.

Even more exciting, the reopening likely meant Yui's mom had finished the illustrations for the first volume of Sword Art Online. Kotomi made a mental note to call her after school for an update.

Mashiro, meanwhile, was even more ecstatic. She had been craving their baumkuchen since first hearing about it. Now that the shop would soon reopen, her eyes lit up with joy.

Unlike Kotomi and Mashiro's overt excitement, Yukino and Megumi reacted with subtle smiles. Still, the thought of finally enjoying those cakes again made their mouths water.

"By the way, Kotomi," Yui suddenly said, "yesterday, while you were out, Arisu Sakayanagi from Class 1-A came by looking for you."

Arisu came to my classroom?

The news genuinely surprised Kotomi. For the past few days, Arisu hadn't made any overt attempts to approach her. Instead, their encounters seemed coincidental, albeit increasingly frequent. Wherever Kotomi went, there Arisu was.

When she went to the school store, she bumped into Arisu.

When she skipped class to hang out on the sports field, there was Arisu again.

Even during a trip to the restroom, dealing with an "overabundance of hydration," she encountered Arisu.

Though these encounters added up, Kotomi didn't think much of them. After all, the school wasn't that big, and everyone tended to frequent the same places. Running into someone repeatedly wasn't that strange.

"Arisu Sakayanagi came looking for me? Did she say what it was about?" Kotomi asked curiously. As soon as the words left her mouth, she found herself instinctively glancing at Megumi Kato.

Megumi, however, was calmly sitting nearby, scrolling through her phone without a word.

Why did I instinctively look at Megumi when I heard Arisu's name?

But seeing Megumi's composed demeanor reassured Kotomi. If Arisu had visited the classroom, nothing out of the ordinary must have happened. That was a relief, though Kotomi couldn't shake the feeling that there was some unspoken tension—some quiet, mutual hostility—between Megumi and Arisu.

Maybe I'm overthinking it, Kotomi thought.

"She probably had something to discuss with you. She came by after the second period yesterday. I told her you were home with a cold, and she seemed surprised before leaving without saying much," Yui explained, filling in the blanks.

This only deepened Kotomi's curiosity. Arisu was the type who, like Kotomi herself, wouldn't go out of her way without a purpose. If Arisu had come to see her, she must have had something important to discuss.

What could it have been?

Kotomi drifted into her thoughts, speculating so intently that she didn't even notice the start of the first-period class. She failed to put her phone away, leaving Megumi to quietly take it and place it into her bag.

The first class of the day was math. Mr. Nakamori, the math teacher, was at the podium, passionately explaining a problem. About halfway through, he glanced at Kotomi, considering calling on her to answer a question.

But upon seeing her sitting with a slightly dazed expression, he hesitated. He remembered that she had been absent the previous day due to illness and assumed she hadn't fully recovered yet.

She's pushing herself to attend class even though she's not fully better, Nakamori thought, visibly moved by Kotomi's supposed dedication.

The notion of Kotomi studying diligently while unwell filled Nakamori with pride. In his eyes, she embodied the spirit of perseverance.

To teach such a student is truly an honor, Nakamori mused, tearing up slightly.

Feeling inspired, he called on a different student instead. When the poor classmate failed to answer, Nakamori promptly assigned ten additional questions to be completed before the end of the day.

Kotomi's absence the previous day hadn't gone unnoticed. Word of her cold had spread quickly among the staff, especially since teachers from other departments had visited the faculty lounge, concerned about their star student's health.

As a result, when Kotomi appeared slightly distracted in class, all her teachers instinctively assumed it was due to lingering illness. This assumption, coupled with their own overactive imaginations, made them feel deeply empathetic.

The vice principal, upon hearing about Kotomi's commitment, was so moved that he marched to Class 1-B and confiscated twelve phones.

Class 1-B:

"Finally got my phone back after two weeks! What a glorious day! First period's art? Self-study, here I come!"

"Water may part us, but nothing can sever my bond with my phone!"

"Wait, where did all my "reference material" go? My 20,000 images! I mean, not that I looked at them much, but still…"

The air in Class 1-B was filled with joy as students reunited with their long-lost phones.

SLAM!

The door burst open.

Hearing the noise, every student froze, their collective PTSD triggering at the sight of the vice principal entering the room.

But it was too late.

The vice principal walked in, shut the door behind him, and began confiscating phones left and right like a predator loose in a sheep pen.

Back in Class 1-F:

As the bell rang, signaling the end of the first period, Kotomi stood up. Her curiosity about Arisu's intentions had grown unbearable.

"Where are you headed, Kotomi?" Megumi asked casually, grabbing Kotomi's wrist as she tried to leave.

"Bathroom," Kotomi replied truthfully.

She genuinely needed to go. Having downed a large glass of water with breakfast, she'd felt the urge building halfway through math class. She hadn't asked to be excused earlier, partly because Nakamori had been so engrossed in his lecture that Kotomi hadn't wanted to interrupt.

Hearing Kotomi's answer, Megumi felt a small wave of relief. She had been worried Kotomi might be planning to seek out Arisu. Though the thought made her feel selfish, Megumi couldn't help but dislike the idea of Kotomi and Arisu interacting too much.

Even the seemingly innocent "coincidental encounters" between the two made Megumi uneasy.

Am I overthinking this? Megumi wondered.

"Megumi…" Kotomi's faint, almost pleading voice interrupted her thoughts.

"I can't hold it much longer…"

Seeing Kotomi's flushed cheeks and tightly pressed lips, Megumi finally let go of her wrist. Kotomi immediately bolted for the restroom.

"Sorry, sorry," Megumi called after her, a hint of guilt in her voice. Watching Kotomi dash off, she couldn't help but think:

Am I being too sensitive? Overthinking things again?

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