The lock screen wallpaper on Kotomi Izumi's phone was a selfie that Iroha Isshiki had sent her last time.
Originally, Kotomi only intended to use it as her lock screen wallpaper, but gradually, she changed her phone's main wallpaper as well, replacing it with a photo of her and Iroha taken together at Enoshima. Fortunately, Kotomi didn't yet have the courage to go as far as customizing a phone case with a picture of herself and Iroha.
When it came to lock screens and wallpapers, even though neither of them had ever discussed it, both used photos that included each other.
Just like Iroha Isshiki's lock screen wallpaper was a couple photo of her and Kotomi taken at the octopus sister's sukiyaki shop. Back when they took that couple photo—was it really just for the sake of eating that oversized fruit carnival?
Her phone wallpaper, on the other hand, was the photo of her and Kotomi at Enoshima.
Two photos: the first was their very first date, and the second was an unforgettable experience for both of them.
Although Kotomi felt a little embarrassed, she couldn't resist the little devil's soft pestering. She reached out and gently wrapped her arm around Iroha's fragrant shoulder. Iroha smiled like a flower, leaning into Kotomi's embrace. Standing together, even the beautiful sea view behind them paled in comparison.
Tomoka Yuigahama stared at Kotomi's lock screen wallpaper, stunned for several seconds before slowly thinking in her heart: The girl on the lock screen… is she Kotomi's girlfriend? She looks so young, maybe still in junior high? But then again, Kotomi herself only just started her first year of high school this year, so the age gap shouldn't be too big…
"Kotomi already has a girlfriend… That's not surprising. Leaving aside her commercial success in light novels and manga—she has looks, she has emotional intelligence, and her grades are decent too. With such an outstanding girl, no wonder she'd find such a cute girlfriend. I wonder if Yui still has any chance?"
Tomoka Yuigahama let out a bitter laugh, but the emotion hidden in her words… was it really only about wondering if Yui still had a chance?
Tomoka, can you see it now? Kotomi really does like girls younger than herself. You, this old auntie, should stop harboring unrealistic fantasies in your heart! Tomoka scolded herself inwardly.
After calming her emotions slightly, Tomoka held Kotomi's finger against the back of the phone.
The phone easily unlocked. But when Tomoka saw the photo of Kotomi and Iroha Isshiki at Enoshima as the main wallpaper, she was once again dumbfounded. She hadn't expected that Kotomi and the light-orange-haired girl in the photo had already gone on a date—perhaps more than once.
Tomoka now felt like running upstairs to the second floor, showing this photo to Yui and asking: They've already gone on a date, maybe more than once—so why did you only just arrange to go karaoke with Kotomi this Sunday?! Your progress is way too slow!
For some reason, looking at Kotomi's wallpaper of her and another girl, Tomoka felt a sourness in her chest. In short, she felt uncomfortable.
It wasn't because Yui wasn't on Kotomi's wallpaper. As a mother, she only felt frustrated at her daughter's slow progress, like iron that refused to become steel.
But deep down, Tomoka knew that even if the wallpaper had been a photo of Kotomi and Yui, she would still feel the same inexplicable sourness, and her emotions would still become complicated—part relief, part envy, and perhaps even part jealousy.
She opened Kotomi's contacts and dialed the landline number labeled 'Home'.
Since Kotomi had told her mother she was going to Yui's for a study session before coming over, that would make it easy to explain why she was staying over.
"Kotomi, it's almost 9 o'clock. Haven't you finished your study session yet?" Akina Izumi's voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Hello, Mrs. Izumi, this is Yui's mother. Kotomi and Yui studied until they got too tired, and Kotomi fell asleep. I was worried you'd be concerned, so I called first."
"Oh, Mrs. Yuigahama! I'm so sorry, Kotomi even stayed at your house last time too, causing you trouble."
"It's no trouble at all, really. Kotomi is already a high school student, and such a sensible girl. Not troublesome in the slightest. Yui even said she hopes Kotomi can come stay over more often."
"Their relationship really is quite good."
"Yes, when I first met Kotomi, I was surprised too. Although Yui isn't exactly introverted, this was the first time she ever brought a friend over to the house. These two kids must get along very well at school. I even heard they've made plans to go sing karaoke together this Sunday."
"Karaoke? That shows their relationship is indeed close. Kotomi rarely ever liked going to karaoke before. Even when she did, she would never take the initiative to sing. She'd basically just sit quietly in a corner and keep eating snacks from beginning to end."
Akina Izumi clearly remembered that one time their whole family went to karaoke, Kotomi spent the entire time just eating nonstop. After finishing the fruit platter, she moved on to pizza, and after pizza, to French fries. Someone who didn't know better would have thought Kotomi had gone to a restaurant instead of a karaoke place!
"I called Kotomi a few times earlier, but seeing her sleeping so soundly, I couldn't bring myself to wake her. Let her stay the night. Tomorrow, after breakfast, she can head home. Tomorrow's Saturday anyway, no school," Tomoka Yuigahama suggested.
"I'm terribly sorry for troubling you, Mrs. Yuigahama."
"Not at all, don't worry about it. She just happened to fall asleep in Yui's bedroom." As Tomoka spoke, she glanced at Kotomi, who was lying there snoring softly on her bed, and her lips curved into a helpless smile.
"Oh right, did Kotomi have dinner? When she rushed off to meet Yui earlier, she didn't even have time to eat."
"She did. After dinner, I noticed she already looked a little drowsy. Later, when I went upstairs to bring them juice, I found Kotomi had already been carried to bed by Yui and was fast asleep."
"This child, eating and then immediately sleeping~"
Akina Izumi couldn't help laughing as she said it. In her memory, Kotomi had only been to the Yuigahama house twice, yet both times she somehow ended up falling asleep there and spending the night.
It was just like how every time she went out with Megumi Kato, she somehow conveniently missed the last train.
After exchanging a few more polite words, Akina Izumi and Tomoka Yuigahama ended the call. After all, it was already past nine, and some early sleepers would already be in bed by now.
Tomoka Yuigahama then walked over and began helping Kotomi out of her clothes.
This time, Tomoka didn't feel shy. The reason she used to blush around Kotomi was because of the girl's words and her naturally charming aura in her every move.
Now that Kotomi was asleep, Tomoka felt no problem at all—no more shyness, no more blushing.
"At the end of the day, I'm almost forty already. Kotomi even calls me Auntie. If I kept blushing in front of her, that would be far too embarrassing…" Tomoka smiled wryly to herself.
Once she finished changing Kotomi, Tomoka quickly pulled the blanket up to cover her, cheeks slightly flushed.
Partly because she was worried Kotomi might get cold, but also because if she didn't cover her up quickly, Tomoka honestly didn't know where to rest her gaze!
Kotomi's figure… Just what on earth does she usually eat?!
No wonder Yui loves hugging Kotomi so much!
...
After hanging up the phone, Akina Izumi returned to the living room. Half-jokingly, she said to Aimi, who had been sitting on the sofa waiting for her sister to come home:
"No need to wait for your sister anymore. She's staying at Yui's house tonight. The fruit cake you love so much is from her family's shop. How about tomorrow, when Kotomi comes home, we ask her to bring a slice back for you?"
"She's staying at Yuigahama-senpai's house again? Every time she goes, she ends up spending the night there. Is Yuigahama-senpai's bed that attractive to her?"
The moment Aimi heard that her sister wasn't coming home, she instinctively felt a bit upset. Her little jar of jealousy overturned instantly. Luckily, Kotomi wasn't in front of her right now, otherwise Aimi would definitely hold her down and refuse to let her leave, just to settle old scores with her.
Akina Izumi deliberately pinched her nose and stretched out her voice: "Strange… why does the whole living room smell so strongly of vinegar?"
"Huh? After dinner I cleaned the kitchen myself. I didn't knock over the vinegar bottle."
Aimi Izumi blinked her pretty, innocent eyes. Why did Mom suddenly say there was a vinegar smell in the living room? She even sniffed the air carefully—but there was no vinegar smell at all!
Seeing Aimi's innocent look, as if she were seriously saying there really wasn't any vinegar, Akina covered her face speechlessly. She only had two daughters, and normally they seemed smart enough, but when they acted silly, one was even sillier than the other.
Still sulking because her sister wasn't coming home and was staying at the Yuigahama house instead, Aimi sat with her arms crossed on the sofa. But then, after her thoughts shifted, she decided—well, at least her sister wasn't staying at Megumi Kato's house. Since it was only at Yuigahama Yui's house… that was still acceptable!
If her sister had gone to Megumi Kato's house tonight, and happened to "accidentally" fall asleep there, then that sinister and dangerous bad woman Megumi would definitely take advantage of her sister while she slept. Just imagining that scene made Aimi grind her teeth in fury.
With Megumi Kato as a comparison, when she thought again about Kotomi spending the night at the Yuigahama house, Aimi's bad mood gradually eased.
"Achoo!"
Meanwhile, as Megumi Kato was sitting at her desk doing homework, she suddenly sneezed. She rubbed her nose and muttered in surprise:
"Is it cold? Looks like I should switch to a thicker set of pajamas."
Megumi stood up, intending to change into warmer clothes. But after a second of thought, she simply reached out and switched off her desk lamp, then turned off the bedroom light. Stripping off her clothes, she climbed into bed, pulled up the blanket, and said comfortably:
"Oh right, the reason I felt cold just now was because I was sitting at the desk doing homework. Now that I've stopped and am lying under the blanket, I'm not cold anymore. It's Friday night, after all—there's still two full days of weekend left. I'll finish the homework whenever I feel like it~ Tomorrow I'm going shopping with my wife, so I'll just do the homework the day after! Mm—nothing feels better than snuggling in bed when it's cold."
Lying under the covers, Megumi scrolled through the photo album on her phone filled with Kotomi's pictures, muttering softly, anticipation in her voice as she looked forward to their outing tomorrow.
Too bad they were only going to the shopping mall in Chiba City. If it had been Tokyo or another city, Megumi would already be scheming on how to naturally miss the last train tomorrow night with Kotomi.
...
When the drama on TV ended, Aimi didn't stay in the living room any longer. After saying goodnight, she got up and went upstairs to bed.
Strictly speaking, she went to Kotomi's bedroom.
Every time Kotomi didn't come home at night, Aimi would quietly sneak into her sister's room, lie down on her bed, and tightly hug the pillow Kotomi usually slept on.
"Kotomi still hasn't come back?" Kaneyoshi Izumi, who had just come in from making a phone call outside, pushed open the door at that moment. Seeing that Kotomi wasn't home, he couldn't help asking.
"She's staying at Yui's house. That child eats and then gets sleepy. She went for a study session, but in the middle of it she ended up studying herself to sleep."
Akina Izumi shrugged and smiled helplessly. This wasn't the first time Kotomi had fallen asleep at Yui's house. Every time she went there, she ended up staying the night. How embarrassing was that?
After listening, Kaneyoshi Izumi laughed heartily, then sat down and began eating the apple slices Akina had peeled for him, picking them up with a toothpick.
"What did Dad say on the phone just now?" Akina lowered the TV volume and asked curiously.
Earlier, when Yakken Izumi called, Kaneyoshi had answered and stepped outside.
"Business matters."
"Trouble?"
"No. With the Izumi family's capital flow, how could we run into trouble so easily in business? It's more like a pie that fell from the sky—but no one's ready to eat it yet."
Kaneyoshi chuckled. As the eldest son of the family, their father often called him to discuss business matters.
"A pie from the sky?" Akina tilted her head, puzzled.
"The Izumi family just closed a deal worth 100 billion US dollars yesterday. Originally, we had already planned to abandon it. The Sakayanagi conglomerate was competing fiercely with us for it. Just as they were about to succeed—only one step away—not only did the Sakayanagi family head, but their entire conglomerate suddenly gave up and handed the deal over to us."
The Izumi, Hishinaga, and Sakayanagi families all had extremely competitive business relationships on the surface. If all their maneuverings were made into a drama, it would surely be the highest-rated business war series ever, with no precedent and no equal.
This 100 billion deal had been no exception. The Izumi family and the Sakayanagi family had clashed for quite some time, going head-to-head.
Just when the Sakayanagi family held a slight advantage and seemed ready to secure the deal, the family head, Shoujin Sakayanagi, together with the current chairman of the conglomerate, Aoshi Sakayanagi, suddenly backed off and gave it all up to the Izumi family.
And just like that, the Izumi family earned 100 billion US dollars effortlessly.
Yakken Izumi had spent decades in business battles, and Shoujin Sakayanagi had been his long-time rival. From the very start, he knew—this wasn't his old opponent's style. Something was off.
Before Yakken could figure it out, Shoujin Sakayanagi personally went to Yamanashi to visit him.
At the dinner table, the old rivals never once mentioned the 100 billion deal. The two crafty foxes just exchanged drinks, catching up in a cheerful atmosphere.
But after Shoujin left, Yakken Izumi's face turned solemn. He immediately picked up his phone and called Kaneyoshi. His very first words were:
"This morning, I had a meal with that old fox from the Sakayanagi family. And just as I thought, that bastard finally revealed his fox tail. No wonder he gave up that deal—he's planning to use that 100 billion dollars as a stepping stone… to propose marriage to the Izumi family!"
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