When Kotomi Izumi heard Shizuka Hiratsuka finish speaking, the pink light in her eyes gradually dulled.
Shizuka Hiratsuka couldn't bear to see that expression in Kotomi's eyes, so she lowered her head and said softly:
"...I'm sorry."
Even though Shizuka Hiratsuka had never been in a relationship—not once in all thirty years since she was born—that didn't mean she was a dull fool.
The feelings contained in Kotomi Izumi's kiss just now… Shizuka had already understood them long ago.
Kotomi liked her.
And precisely because she understood that, Shizuka didn't dare respond to Kotomi's feelings. Not even now, when she had already resigned from Sobu High School.
It felt like she was faced with two choices before her: on one side was Kotomi, the mischievous girl who loved teasing her like a little witch; on the other side was the white-haired little angel she had fallen for at first sight so many years ago, someone she had only met once and never seen again since.
Who should she choose?
Shizuka didn't know... but she still couldn't let go of the white-haired little angel she had been waiting for all these years.
She didn't know what that little angel looked like now, all grown up—but in her heart, that long-held attachment kept whispering: Just wait a little longer. Maybe in the next moment, we'll meet again.
How much longer must she wait?
Shizuka didn't dare to think about that question. She was afraid that if she let her mind dwell on it, her obsession with that white-haired little angel would begin to waver.
After all, compared to that uncertain, perhaps never-to-be-seen-again white-haired little angel, Kotomi Izumi was someone real—someone standing right before her eyes.
Aside from their personalities, Kotomi Izumi's appearance almost perfectly matched the image Shizuka had imagined of that little angel grown up—perhaps even surpassing it.
If there was one thing that didn't fit her imagination, it was that Shizuka had always thought the little angel's white short hair would grow into long white hair when she became an adult. But Kotomi Izumi's hair was still short.
Shizuka didn't know how to face the silent Kotomi at that moment. When Kotomi had kissed her just now, Shizuka had felt... happy. Because, without realizing it, Kotomi Izumi had already taken root in her heart.
If not for the sudden echo of that little angel's voice from years ago—when she had made her promise—Shizuka might have been completely lost in Kotomi's tenderness, purity, beauty, and love, unable to ever pull herself back.
Kotomi Izumi quietly took a deep breath, lifted her head, and after a few seconds of silence—
She laughed.
"Ahahaha~ Shizuka, you look so cute right now! Like a kid who accidentally broke a vase. Did you really think I was angry just now? Or maybe you thought I was actually confessing to you?"
Kotomi laughed as she spoke, the laughter bubbling out so happily that she nearly bent over, unable to stand straight.
"Eh? Isn't that what it was?" Shizuka blinked in confusion, unable to process what she'd just heard.
"It was acting, acting~! We're going to pretend to be a couple soon, remember? We need a little practice with intimate interaction, don't we? I just didn't expect your reaction to be so huge. You're so pure, Shizuka~"
Kotomi lifted her head again, the corners of her eyes slightly red as a mischievous witch-like smile curved across her lips.
"E-even if we're pretending to be a couple, you didn't have to kiss me right away! That was my first kiss!" Shizuka stammered, her face burning bright red.
Her first kiss—stolen by Kotomi Izumi. It was supposed to be saved for the white-haired little angel...
"What a coincidence. That was my first kiss too," Kotomi said with a soft laugh.
"Ah..." Shizuka, who had just tried to stand up, froze when she heard that. Her legs gave way and she fell back onto the floor.
K-Kotomi's first kiss?!
Then again, it made sense. Kotomi didn't seem like the type who'd have dated anyone before. That meant the kiss from earlier was also her first...
Ahh, I actually stole Kotomi's first kiss! Why... why do I feel happy knowing that? I'm such a monster!
Shizuka was mentally breaking down, raising her hand to slap herself—
Only for Kotomi to catch it in time.
"Alright, Shizuka. I gave you my first kiss, and you gave me yours. We're even now. You're already thirty years old—how can you be more flustered than a young girl like me?"
Kotomi added teasingly, "Good thing I helped you get used to it early. If you reacted like that in front of Uncle and Aunt Hiratsuka when I suddenly linked arms with you, even ten mouths wouldn't be enough for me to explain myself."
"I used to think calling you a little witch might be an exaggeration," Shizuka Hiratsuka said wryly. "Now I realize it wasn't. You really are one."
"Thanks for the compliment~" Kotomi said cheerfully with a bright smile.
After saying that, Kotomi stood up, smoothed the wrinkles from her skirt, and looked down at Shizuka.
"How long are you planning to sit on the floor?" she asked.
"Ahaha…"
Shizuka let out an awkward laugh. Kotomi was right—she was already thirty years old... well, twenty-nine years and twelve months—and yet she had acted more flustered than the younger girl. That wasn't how a mature adult should behave.
At that moment, she suddenly understood why her mother always scolded her for being an "immature adult who only grew older in years."
In the past, Shizuka would have argued that her mother was being too harsh. But now... she felt her mother might have had a point.
Without paying much attention to Shizuka's thoughts, Kotomi reached out and pulled her up from the floor, even brushing the dust off her pants. For a brief moment, Shizuka felt dazed—was Kotomi... taking care of her now?
That feeling of being cared for by Kotomi Izumi made Shizuka slowly begin to develop a subtle sense of dependence…
"Alright then." Kotomi clapped her hands lightly. "I should get going. Tomorrow evening at six, we're taking the train to Kyoto for our hot spring trip—to reward ourselves for all the exhaustion from rehearsals. So, to prepare for tomorrow, I need to get home early and rest up."
A trace of reluctance welled up in Shizuka's heart. She wanted to stay with Kotomi a little longer—even just ten more minutes. But when she saw Kotomi turn to leave, she took a deep breath and smiled.
"Mm. Have fun, then. I'll wish you all a pleasant trip. Enjoy the hot springs."
"Thanks, Shizuka~"
Kotomi's words carried more meaning than they appeared to.
"Even after hearing you say it so many times, the nickname 'Shizuka' still sounds kind of strange to me," Shizuka said with a gentle laugh.
"Doesn't it sound nice?" Kotomi asked.
"It's not bad—it just feels a little weird being called that by a girl fourteen years younger than me. There's this odd sense of mismatch."
"I think it's a great nickname! Makes you sound younger too. Let's stick with it! I insist!" Kotomi puffed up her cheeks playfully, her expression full of childish stubbornness.
"Alright, alright—you win. If you want to call me that, then go ahead," Shizuka said quickly, surrendering to Kotomi's girlish persistence.
Satisfied, Kotomi let out a happy little "hehe" and turned to leave.
After Kotomi Izumi left, Shizuka Hiratsuka also followed suit a few minutes later.
Standing at the doorway, she glanced back at Class 1-F one last time, then smiled faintly, switched off the lights, locked the door, and walked away.
Leaving like this wasn't so bad... Shizuka thought to herself as she strolled down the corridor.
Neither Kotomi Izumi nor Shizuka Hiratsuka noticed that, at the corner of the hallway, another person was hiding—Seiko Kirigiri.
Seiko was crouched quietly in the shadows, and only after confirming that both Kotomi and Shizuka had left did she finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"Good thing the lights in the hallway are off right now. Otherwise, there'd be nowhere to hide..." Seiko muttered under her breath.
She pinched her own cheek once again. It hurt a little—which meant what she had just witnessed wasn't a dream...
One day earlier, Seiko Kirigiri had been lying in bed, idly scrolling through short videos on her phone when she accidentally tapped into a campaign page on a video-sharing platform.
[Record Your Life with Video!!!]
She hadn't planned to watch anything, but since she'd already clicked, she decided to look around out of curiosity.
Before long, one particular line caught her attention—
—Record a video for a chance to win cash prizes!
Each month, Seiko received pocket money from her parents. When they were home, they gave it to her in cash; when they were away, they'd transfer it to her bank account. It wasn't a lot, but it was always enough. In fact, in months when she spent less, she'd often end up with money left over.
And rather than saving that leftover money, Seiko always used it to buy sketchbooks, pencils, and art supplies for her older sister, Hibiki Naegi. It wasn't much, but at least it helped her sister spend a little less of her own allowance.
Through watching her sister's expenses, Seiko had realized just how costly art could be. Nearly seventy percent of Hibiki's monthly allowance went toward drawing materials. And since she spent long hours drawing every day, her consumption of sketchpads, pencils, and erasers was almost double that of most art students.
Seiko thought that while she couldn't afford expensive tools, she could at least help by buying essentials like sketchpads, erasers, and pencils with her spare allowance. That way, her sister could use her remaining money to buy some good food, something fun, or maybe some clothes she liked.
She remembered that the last time her sister bought new clothes was a year and a half ago.
Their parents weren't very good at picking clothes for their daughters—they never knew what styles the girls liked—so they always just handed them money to choose their own. But Hibiki usually thought that the money could be better spent on art supplies, so she rarely wanted new clothes.
That one time a year and a half ago, Hibiki had only gone shopping because Seiko had practically dragged her there.
Back to the present—when Seiko saw the prize listed on that video campaign, she felt a flicker of excitement.
She didn't expect to win the first or second prizes, but even the "Newcomer's Pick" award came with an 80,000-yen prize, which made her heart skip.
It wasn't that she wanted to buy anything for herself. She just thought—if she could win that 80,000 yen, and add it to her monthly allowance, she could take Hibiki on a trip.
She hadn't decided where to go yet. She just wanted to go on a trip with her sister—just the two of them.
Ever since they had their argument, things between them had technically been patched up, but there was still a faint, invisible rift between them. Seiko wanted desperately to close that gap, but she found that the more she tried to bridge it, the thicker it seemed to grow.
Maybe a trip together could erase that rift... Seiko thought.
She wanted to earn money—to go on a trip with Hibiki. Anywhere would do, even if it was just to the next city over for a day.
That desire grew stronger and stronger, filling her with determination to win the 80,000-yen Newcomer's Award.
Seiko knew that many YouTubers earned money by posting videos—some did it part-time for extra income, while others made it their full-time job and even became rich or founded their own production companies.
But no matter what kind they were, Seiko always felt that those people—the ones who made videos for a living—were from a world far beyond her reach. There was no way she could become one of them.
After all, Seiko Kirigiri knew of several video-editing and production programs. She had even downloaded a few out of curiosity before—but the moment she opened them, the interface alone made her dizzy. Every section and button had labels and explanations, yet she couldn't make sense of any of it.
That was until she came across a lifestyle vlogger in the contest's recommendation section—someone who didn't use any fancy effects or elaborate scripts, just shared small, heartwarming moments from their daily life.
Seeing that, Seiko suddenly realized—maybe I could make something like that too.
And since the cultural festival was coming to an end, it seemed like the perfect chance to gather some material.
So that morning, Seiko brought her handheld video camera with her to Sobu High.
But as the day went by, she still hadn't captured anything particularly interesting.
Just as she was about to head to the rooftop to film the bonfire festival from above, she noticed that the lights in Class 1-F were still on.
Who could be in there at this hour? Seiko wondered curiously.
Without turning off her camera, she walked over. The moment she reached the doorway, what she saw made her eyes widen in shock.
Kotomi Izumi and Shizuka Hiratsuka were... kissing?!!!
She almost screamed, but instinct made her clamp her hands over her mouth. And before she could recover from the shock, the scene in front of her grew even more unbelievable.
Shizuka grabbed Kotomi's wrist and pinned her down on the desk!
Seiko immediately averted her gaze and ducked behind the doorframe, not daring to peek again. She wasn't an ignorant child—she instantly understood what was happening.
She stayed hidden there, resisting the urge to look, but she couldn't help straining her ears to listen.
The walls were thick, so all she could hear were faint, muffled voices. But after seeing that earlier scene, the vagueness of those sounds only made her imagination run wild.
Then, when she heard footsteps approaching the door, Seiko panicked and quickly slipped around the corner of the hallway. Thankfully, the corridor was pitch-black, and the classroom's light didn't reach far enough for her to be spotted. Neither Kotomi nor Shizuka noticed her presence.
"Are they... dating?" Seiko whispered to herself, then glanced down—and froze.
Her handheld camera was still recording.
With a quiet gasp, she quickly stopped the recording and rewound the footage.
And there it was—the moment Kotomi Izumi and Shizuka Hiratsuka kissed.
...
Meanwhile, Kotomi Izumi walked lightly toward the bonfire dance, a soft smile lingering on her lips ever since she'd parted from Shizuka.
She was happy.
Yes—truly happy.
"The Onee-san from the summer fireworks festival... I finally found you~ But really, have I changed so much since childhood? That silly Shizuka... she remembers everything so clearly, even keeps our token of love like a treasure, yet she still doesn't realize that I'm the same white-haired little angel she met back then?"
Kotomi spoke to herself with a mix of joy and exasperation. She was overjoyed because the "Onee-san" she'd met all those years ago at the summer fireworks festival turned out to be Shizuka Hiratsuka—and because Shizuka hadn't forgotten her.
But she was helpless, too. Even though Shizuka remembered her so deeply that her longing had become an obsession, she still hadn't noticed that the white-haired little angel she'd been yearning for all this time was standing right in front of her.
"She even said I look exactly like the little angel from her memories. If that's the case, couldn't she just ask me if I'd ever been to a summer fireworks festival before? Saying my personality's different—ha, that blockhead Shizuka hasn't even realized that everyone's personality changes as they grow up."
The more Kotomi spoke, the more she grumbled in her heart about Shizuka's obliviousness.
But one thing never changed—the gentle smile that stayed on her lips.
She smiled for reunion.
She smiled because, after so many years, their promise and their feelings had never faded from each other's hearts.
—
—
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven