After finishing her meal, Kotomi Izumi immediately pulled Megumi's hand to go to school together, before Aimi left.
As an older sister, though actually only a few years apart in age, Kotomi had practically grown up with Aimi. Could she really not see Aimi's awkwardness, and that the excuse of 'going to school early today' was just something Aimi made up because she didn't want to deal with Megumi's stubbornness?
As for the relationship between Aimi and Megumi Kato, at least for now, it didn't seem like there was any easing. The moment they met, they would quarrel, neither willing to yield. And every time, it was always Aimi who provoked first, making it difficult for Kotomi to even try to tell Megumi to go easy on her silly younger sister.
Because every time it was Aimi, weak yet playful, who initiated the provocation, Megumi's counterattacks, no matter how strong, were always justified.
How could their relationship improve? Kotomi was troubled by this and even considered a more radical idea—left arm holding Megumi, right arm holding Aimi, all three of them sleeping in the same bed. At most, she herself would just have to suffer a little.
Back to the point—after realizing that Aimi's words, 'going to school early today,' were just an excuse to avoid Megumi, and seeing Aimi caught in a difficult spot—since she didn't actually need to go to school early, it was only Megumi's sharp words that made her stubbornly refuse to back down—Kotomi had no choice but to step in and take Megumi away from home in advance. This way, Aimi didn't have to leave early.
At Chiba Private Middle School, after autumn and winter set in, even third-year classes started later in the morning. Even teachers preferred arriving later when it was cold. If Aimi really went early, she would just sit alone in an empty classroom.
Letting Megumi hold her hand as they walked toward the road to Sobu High School, Kotomi glanced back at her once Megumi looked at her—and then she immediately shot Megumi a reproachful glare.
Kotomi was extremely protective, especially toward her younger sister. To put it simply, she was a sis-con.
She knew very well that with Megumi's quick mind, there was no way she hadn't noticed that Aimi was just being stubborn. But instead of stepping back, Megumi had even pressed harder.
If Kotomi hadn't just stepped in to pull Megumi away, Aimi would probably already be on her way to school unwillingly.
"I was wrong." Megumi interlaced her fingers with Kotomi's and said softly.
"Wrong about what?" Kotomi snorted lightly.
"I need to learn to give in to my future sister-in-law."
"Pfft!" Kotomi's pretty face instantly turned red, and she shyly let out a sound: "Shameless! I haven't even fully decided to marry you, and you're already calling her that? Let me tell you, marrying me isn't going to be easy."
Kotomi's tone was shy and girlish, but the latter half of her words were also a reminder of the truth—she was the eldest daughter of the Izumi family.
Even though the Izumi family wouldn't violently oppose her relationship, nor would they throw a bank card at Megumi and tell her to take the money and leave, it would still be extremely difficult for Megumi to marry Kotomi. The difference in status alone was daunting.
Kotomi was no longer a naive little girl who understood nothing. Fairy-tale crystal shoes might be beautiful, but in reality, for love to blossom, it required real ability.
And besides, both she and Megumi were girls—would the Izumi family even approve?
Her grandparents, with their personalities, would definitely not want her to marry out. Which would mean Megumi could only marry into the Izumi family… Wait, didn't that mean Megumi would be the one marrying her?
…Sweet!
Kotomi's eyes suddenly lit up. She had never thought about it that way before. If her grandparents didn't want her to marry out, then she could just marry Megumi herself!
Just imagining the scene of marrying Megumi, Kotomi—who had always felt like she was the more dominant one—felt a deep sense of satisfaction inside.
In her imagination, Kotomi saw herself in the wedding hall, looking at Megumi Kato dressed in a pure white gown. She lifted Megumi's chin and whispered domineeringly in her ear:
"Little woman, I finally married you, didn't I? Tonight, I'll make you understand who the real head of the family is!"
If summarized as a book title, it might be—
"The Domineering Female CEO's Gentle Pampering"
"Ten Babies at Once: The Heiress Mother's Road to Chasing Her Wife"
"Magnificent Marriage: The Female CEO, Sweet and Salty, Pampered 9999 Times"
"The Queen Above, Me Below: Your Highness, If You Love, Please Love Deeply"
"The Heiress's Fatal Pampering"
"Becoming the Consort in the Arms of the Domineering Heiress"
As Kotomi was lost in fantasies of a beautiful future where she married Megumi and became the dominant one, Megumi, after a brief moment of thought, asked seriously:
"Is marrying you really that hard?"
"Very hard," Kotomi said with mock seriousness.
She only wanted to tease Megumi a little. But to her surprise, Megumi grasped her hand firmly and said, word by word:
"I'll work hard."
Just five simple words, but they made Kotomi blush for the entire day.
...
Sobu High School.
Once in the classroom, Kotomi swiftly stacked a few textbooks on her desk into a 'fortress,' then took out her phone and openly began to play.
Her seat was farther inside, so even if teachers walking by peeked through the door window, it was hard to see her using her phone. What's more, whenever Kotomi played on her phone, Megumi would deliberately lean forward to block Kotomi's little hand with her own body.
Today's supervising teacher for morning study was Shizuka Hiratsuka.
During morning study, teachers rarely taught lessons. The default was for students to recite or review. Those who hadn't finished homework the night before would use the time to make it up.
Even if you were making up homework, teachers usually turned a blind eye. After all, if they didn't allow students to make it up during morning study, then when class reps collected the homework afterward, out of thirty-plus students, fewer than ten notebooks would be handed in. Which teacher wouldn't see their blood pressure spike?
If a class rep was strict and fair, it was one thing. But often, class reps were just fellow students. Naturally, they sided with classmates. Even if only five notebooks were collected, they would calmly tell the teacher: "Teacher, all 30 students in our class handed in their homework."
Kotomi had done this before, back in middle school.
Of course, she wasn't a class rep. With her hopeless grades back then, who would dare make her one? But she would sometimes help the homeroom teacher collect homework.
Even though Kotomi's grades were bad, she was well-liked. Whether in speech or in her little expressions, she made it impossible for people to get angry at her.
One time, she helped collect math homework. She quietly slipped out a workbook, flipped to the unfinished question in her own notebook, copied the answer, then slipped her workbook into the pile, placing it third from the bottom.
When turning in homework, it couldn't be on top, nor could it be the very last.
Holding the eight notebooks she had collected, she carried them to the teacher and placed them on the desk confidently, saying:
"Teacher, everyone's homework is here. I handed mine in too."
The teacher, touched to the point of nearly tears, thought: Kotomi actually did her homework?! With a smile, they prepared to start the day by grading.
But the moment they saw the small pile of eight notebooks—when there were supposed to be thirty-seven students in the class—the teacher's expression stiffened.
Awkwardly, they asked:
"Kotomi, how many students are in our class?"
"Thirty-seven."
"And the homework you collected…"
"I got them all!"
"All of them? Even if I multiply what you brought by three, it still wouldn't be enough!"
Shizuka Hiratsuka sat at the podium, occasionally raising her head to glance at the students in the class, then lowering it again to type on her Macsoushu555.com laptop.
Honestly, the butterfly keyboard on the Macsoushu555.com was incredibly annoying to use, but she had no choice. She needed to supervise morning study while also finding time to work on the speech she would need tomorrow.
To avoid disturbing the students during their morning recitation, she tried to keep the keyboard noise as quiet as possible.
"I should have bought a ThinkPad back then. At least its keyboard feels good…" Shizuka muttered softly. Normally, she wasn't picky about keyboards, but the butterfly keyboard had made her picky after all.
She had thought the membrane keyboard the office provided was bad, but compared to this, that one was actually great.
Her typing speed wasn't very fast—write a bit, pause, flip through the grade sheets of her students from the last two exams, and glance at the feedback she had received from other teachers.
By the time morning study was nearly over, Shizuka rubbed her eyes. In just one session, she had written another 500 words. I really am diligent, she thought. Since she didn't have classes for the rest of the morning, she decided she would continue writing in the office on a desktop computer—she had had more than enough of the butterfly keyboard.
After hitting save, Shizuka closed her laptop and looked over the students. Some were reciting, others hurriedly finishing homework. Occasionally, a few lifted their heads to check if she was still on the podium. If she stepped down, they would quickly put away their homework and pick up a textbook, pretending to study.
Sometimes she wanted to tell them directly: Don't bother pretending. I know perfectly well whether you're reciting or making up homework. These are the exact tricks I was tired of back when I was a student. Just finish your homework seriously! Don't let the teachers get furious when it's collected later.
Overall, today's morning study was relatively calm. Whether reciting or finishing assignments, at least most of the students' focus was on learning—except…
Shizuka's lips twitched when she noticed Kotomi. The little troublemaker was holding a pencil in one hand, propping her cheek with the other, staring at the desk with a look of deep thought, as if she were tackling a difficult question.
Any passing administrator who saw this would feel relieved, thinking: She's already scored first in the entire grade twice, first in all of Tokyo, and yet she's still working so hard. Remarkable!
Feeling both gratified and touched, the administrator would then head downstairs to Class 1-B.
Soon after, cheerful laughter would come from 1-B.
But only Shizuka Hiratsuka and Megumi Kato knew the truth—Kotomi wasn't studying at all. She was secretly playing on her phone.
Shizuka had scolded Kotomi several times for it, but Kotomi always admitted fault so earnestly that it was hard to keep lecturing her. Yet, not long after, Shizuka would catch her sneaking her phone again—even sometimes wearing Bluetooth earbuds to secretly watch movies in class!
How did Shizuka know so clearly? Because once, during a self-study class, she had caught Kotomi wearing in-ear Bluetooth earbuds to watch a movie. And since Shizuka was the supervising teacher that day, she ended up quietly standing behind Kotomi, watching half of the movie along with her.
The movie was Lolita.
When it came to Kotomi sneaking her phone in class, Shizuka found it hard to say much. If Kotomi's grades or class performance showed any decline, she could have used that as a reason to lecture her seriously.
But the key issue was this—according to every teacher, her class performance was flawless: though they often wondered why she always had her head down, whenever she was called to answer, she not only gave the correct answer with clear reasoning, but sometimes even surprised the teacher with a new way of interpreting the problem.
When it came to test scores, there was no doubt. Since the start of the term, there had been two school-wide exams: one monthly test and one midterm. In both cases, Kotomi ranked first in her entire year at Sobu High, as well as first in all of Tokyo.
It wasn't just other high schools that wanted to recruit Kotomi—even her own school's Class 1-A homeroom teacher, Yachiyo Kuhama, was still scheming to transfer her into Class 1-A.
So, when it came to Kotomi secretly playing on her phone during class, Shizuka Hiratsuka could only turn a blind eye. After all, even with her constant phone use, her grades remained perfect. To lecture her felt like doing so without any ground to stand on.
"Alright, everyone, we have a few minutes left before morning study ends. You can continue with what you're doing, but please give me a little of your attention.
This Friday marks the long-awaited cultural festival.
The festival will last three days—Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Then, next week, Monday through Wednesday will be holidays for rest. Since this is a school-wide celebration, classes will end starting tomorrow afternoon so everyone can focus on preparing for the festival.
For those performing in the festival who feel they still need more rehearsal, you may apply to stay after school. Of course, bedding, pillows, and dinner will be your own responsibility."
Staying at school to rehearse was a special privilege given only during the days leading up to and during the festival, so that participants could practice more thoroughly. Any student who wished to stay simply needed to apply through their homeroom teacher. That way, they could spend the night at school and save more time for practice.
Since Sobu High didn't have dormitories, students would sleep directly in their rehearsal rooms. For example, if Kotomi and her group applied, they would end up sleeping in the Second Music Room after practice.
So those who stayed had to bring futons, blankets, and pillows in advance.
The moment the words stay overnight to rehearse were spoken, Kotomi's little ears perked up. Instantly distracted from her phone, her bright eyes sparkled as she glanced at Yukino Yukinoshita and Yui Yuigahama.
Her whole expression seemed to say: Yukino, Yui, let's stay and rehearse together!
Beside her, Megumi Kato looked puzzled. She couldn't understand why Kotomi, who had just been slouched over her phone, suddenly became so energized.
She nearly dropped her phone!
Megumi quickly reached out to catch it and placed it back into the pouch on Kotomi's desk.
While doing so, she sneaked a look, curious about Kotomi's wallpaper. But instead of the wallpaper, she only saw Kotomi's phone running Azur Lane.
Megumi withdrew her gaze, resolving that she would find another chance to see Kotomi's wallpaper later.
—
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