All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

Kotomi Izumi couldn't be sure where the singing was coming from. Judging by how clearly the voice carried, the girl must be nearby.

All three music rooms were on the fifth floor. The closest place—

Could it be one of the classrooms? No, the voice sounded like it was coming from above.

The moment that thought crossed her mind, Kotomi was already sprinting up the stairs. Each step felt driven by an undeniable emotion. She didn't check the sixth floor—she headed straight for the rooftop.

Her footsteps urgent, Kotomi nearly stumbled her way to the rooftop door, pushing it open with all her strength.

There she was.

The singing girl stood right in front of her.

With pale peach-colored hair, she stood in the glow of the setting sun, hands behind her back, singing with a smile on her face.

"You knew I meant no harm, yet you turned a blind eye, numb and indifferent."

When she heard the door swing open, the girl abruptly stopped singing, her expression visibly stunned as she turned toward Kotomi.

"Uh?! Ko-Kotomi..."

"Uh... Yu-Yui?!"

Kotomi slowly spoke the name of the girl before her. She wasn't some student from the music department—she was her very own classmate: Yui Yuigahama.

That flawless singing voice—clearly untrained, guided purely by feeling—was incredibly captivating. For the three-member band still missing a vocalist, it was the perfect fit.

Yui Yuigahama can sing?! That was the first thought that hit Kotomi's mind.

Until now, she had never once heard Yui sing seriously. When discussing potential vocalists, neither she nor Yukino Yukinoshita had considered Yui.

After all, Yui's usual behavior made it hard to associate her with singing. She had never even mentioned liking to sing.

"Umm... Kotomi, did you... hear me singing just now?"

Yui loved singing, but she had never told anyone about it.

Not even her mom or little Yuka knew she liked to sing.

Yui always loved listening to music with headphones. One time, she couldn't help but sing along—and before she knew it, she had sung through an entire song.

That's when she began to enjoy the feeling of singing. But she lacked the confidence to sing in front of others, so every time, she only sang secretly by herself.

Whenever she went home, she first had to pick up Yuka from kindergarten. After bringing Yuka back, she no longer had any private time to sing freely.

To be precise—she was too shy to sing.

Even in front of her mom and sister, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

She wasn't sure if her singing voice was good or not. She'd never learned to sing—she always just followed her own feelings.

In the past, she would hide under the covers and softly sing a few songs before sleeping.

Later, she discovered that the school rooftop wasn't locked even after class ended—and it was quiet, with no one else around.

After all, most students went straight home or joined clubs after school. Who else would come to the rooftop?

So every day after school, Yui would sneak up to the rooftop to sing for a few minutes. She usually sang along with songs playing on her phone.

But today, when she came up, she suddenly heard the guitar and piano arrangement of Duvet. She happened to know the anime Serial Experiments Lain, and really liked its opening theme.

So she unconsciously joined in and started singing.

"Yui, your singing is amazing. It was truly beautiful. I was honestly shocked when I heard it. You never mentioned you could sing," Kotomi said sincerely.

"Umm... so you really did hear me..." Yui murmured.

Yui Yuigahama's gaze darted nervously. She was afraid that her voice might actually be terrible and that Kotomi was just trying to comfort her.

But Kotomi's warm and sincere praise made her wonder—could it be that her singing really did sound good?

Shy and flustered, Yui just wanted to leave the rooftop as quickly as possible.

But at the same time, she really wanted to ask Kotomi—was her singing truly good?

"Kotomi, tell me honestly—my singing... is it really that good?!"

Kotomi nodded earnestly and said with a smile, "If this were a music movie, I'd already be hopelessly in love with you by now."

Was it the golden hour lighting? Yui's face flushed even redder.

She couldn't tell whether it was Kotomi's enthusiastic praise or that "hopelessly in love" line that made her heart pound.

"Kotomi, can you keep it a secret that I like singing? Especially the part where I come to the rooftop alone after school to sing in secret!" Yui asked, her face bright red.

"But I want to invite you to be our lead vocalist," Kotomi said directly.

"L-Lead vocalist?!" Yui was momentarily too stunned to process what Kotomi meant.

"Yui, would you be willing to be the lead singer in our band? Including you and me, it'd be a three-member band."

A three-person band?

Yui stood there frozen, unable to comprehend. When had Kotomi formed a band? Why hadn't she heard anything about it?!

Seeing Yui's confusion, Kotomi continued:

"The cultural festival is coming up. I want to form a three-person band to perform on stage. We've already got a guitarist and a keyboardist, but we still haven't found the right lead singer. If you join us, with your voice... we'd absolutely shine on stage."

"C-Cultural festival stage? Y-You mean... singing in front of a lot of people?!"

Yui's expression instantly turned tense, her words stumbling. She didn't even have the courage to sing in front of her mom and sister, and now Kotomi was inviting her to perform on stage at the cultural festival? That was a massive leap!

"Exactly," Kotomi nodded.

"But Kotomi, I've never learned to sing—really! My family can't afford singing lessons, so all I do is sing based on feeling. My skills are basically nonexistent. I don't understand any vocal techniques... so I don't think I can be your lead vocalist. I'm sorry."

Yui spoke quickly, not just out of stage fright but also from a deep fear of letting Kotomi down.

"But I love your voice," Kotomi said bluntly.

She could tell Yui had no technical training—her singing was purely guided by feeling.

But so what?

She loved Yui Yuigahama's voice!

Back during the duet with Yukino, the moment she heard Yui's voice, she fell in love with it—completely, inexplicably.

Yui Yuigahama could feel Kotomi's passion—she could sense how much Kotomi truly wanted her to join the three-person band. And that gave Yui just a little bit more confidence in her own singing voice.

But... when she imagined performing in front of so many people at the cultural festival, she still felt nervous. She was afraid that a single mistake from her might ruin all the hard work Kotomi and the other member had put in.

"Kotomi, can you give me a little time to think it over?" Yui asked after some hesitation.

Kotomi wasn't surprised by her answer. She could tell—asking Yui to sing onstage at the cultural festival was a big leap. Heck, even getting her to sing in front of the class would be a challenge.

"Sure."

Kotomi nodded. She liked Yui's voice, so she was willing to give her some time.

But she also wouldn't wait too long. If Yui didn't give her a definite answer within three days, Kotomi would change the plan from a three-person band to a two-person band—and take on both the guitarist and vocalist roles herself.

After all, there were at most a little over ten days until the cultural festival. Even being generous, that was just two weeks.

Kotomi didn't want to waste too much time just picking members.

"Sorry... am I messing up your rehearsal plans?" Yui asked cautiously, sneaking a worried glance at Kotomi.

"Not at all. At least not right now. I'll give you three days to think it over. No pressure. Even if you ultimately decide not to join, it won't change anything. I invited you simply because I like your voice. That's all there is to it. Even if you don't join, it won't affect my performance at the festival. Worst case, I'll just multitask and do both guitar and vocals myself."

Kotomi's words were straightforward, but they helped ease the pressure Yui had been feeling. Still, when she heard Kotomi mention taking on both guitar and vocals, Dango was briefly stunned.

Kotomi had invited her to be the vocalist... which meant Kotomi's role in the band was guitarist?!

Dango was struck with realization.

"Kotomi, you can play guitar too?!"

Almost everyone who found out Kotomi could play piano reacted with surprise. Kotomi felt a bit helpless about it—did she really not look like someone who could play guitar?

"Do I really look like someone who can't play guitar?" Kotomi said with a wry smile.

"Of course not," Yui said quickly, shaking her head and looking flustered—so cute that it made Kotomi want to tease her. "It's just that you never mentioned it before. I was so surprised I almost couldn't process it. Hehe."

"Once you join the band, you'll get to hear me play guitar every day before the cultural festival. And you'll hear Yukino's piano too," Kotomi said, never missing a chance to tempt Dango into joining.

"Wait—Yukino joined your band too? Eh?! She can play piano? But during music class, she's always got her head down reading whatever book she's into."

You're one to talk—you're always sneaking your phone in class... Kotomi chuckled inwardly. But then she remembered that she herself was usually the one sleeping soundly during music class, so she didn't have the right to judge Yui either.

"So if I join, it'd be me, you, and Yukino—we'd be the full band?"

"Exactly. That duet you heard earlier—the guitar and piano—that was me and Yukino playing together. Come to think of it... that might've been our first trio performance by pure coincidence," Kotomi said with a cheerful smile.

After finding out that the guitar and piano duet she'd heard earlier was performed by Kotomi and Yukino Yukinoshita, Yui Yuigahama's expression darkened slightly—lost in her thoughts—before quickly returning to normal.

"Kotomi, your duet with Yukino was really beautiful. The better it sounded... the more I feel like my singing might not measure up. Actually, I never planned on telling anyone that I liked singing. You're the first person to ever know. It's not like I've been secretly practicing to one day surprise everyone with an amazing performance. Like I said earlier, my family doesn't have the means to support voice lessons. Forget vocal equipment—even just the cost of singing lessons is out of reach."

"My mom works so hard just to support me and Yuka in school. I don't want to add any more burden on her. So I always treated singing as just a private hobby—something I do quietly, by myself."

"That's totally fine," Kotomi said with a smile. "Relax. It's not like we're performing at Budokan. Success doesn't matter—we're just here to enjoy the experience."

Saying that, Kotomi let her acting instincts take over again. Her expression turned somber as she softly added:

"This is the first and last cultural festival I'll be part of during high school. More than the result, what I want is a process without any regrets. Getting to perform on stage with friends at the festival has always been a dream of mine."

Yui's mind froze at those words. She didn't fully process them at first, but then her body reacted before her thoughts did.

"Kotomi, why would you say that? High school is three years long, right? That means we still have two more cultural festivals after this! Why would you say this is your last one?"

Faced with Yui's urgent question, Kotomi only smiled faintly and slowly walked over to the rooftop railing in silence.

The more evasive Kotomi acted, the more anxious Yui became.

"Kotomi, please tell me—why would you say something like that? We still have more festivals ahead... We've only known each other for a little over a month, can you not leave me so soon..."

By the end, Yui's voice carried a slight tremble. She didn't know why Kotomi would say this was her last cultural festival—but the moment she heard it, it felt like invisible hands were squeezing her heart.

In that instant, Yui felt fear. Fear that Kotomi might suddenly vanish from this school without warning, disappear to a place she could never find.

Kotomi's tone and expression earlier—it all felt exactly like someone about to leave Sobu High for good. No wonder Yui panicked.

Of course, that was exactly the impression Kotomi had intended to create—her carefully crafted performance aimed at making Yui feel this very fear.

Yui didn't know it was all an act. All she could think about was—what would she do if Kotomi left and disappeared from her life?

Just imagining such a future was unbearable. She knew she was becoming more and more greedy. She wanted to see Kotomi every single day.

"Kotomi..." Yui looked at Kotomi's back, then slowly stepped forward and gently wrapped her arms around her.

Kotomi's body trembled slightly.

She had been about to move into the next stage of persuasion to try and get Yui to accept her invitation sooner—but Yui had suddenly hugged her from behind...

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