At the Izumi household, a delicious and hearty dinner was served.
Actually, every meal in the Izumi family was quite generous—mainly because the eldest daughter, Kotomi Izumi, had a rather impressive appetite. If Akina didn't prepare plenty of food, Kotomi would definitely still be hungry afterward.
The bowl Kotomi used could only be described as massive. To put it in perspective—it could easily fit three normal-sized bowls inside it. As for her spoon? Only slightly smaller than the rice paddle used to scoop rice from the cooker.
However, Iroha Isshiki was already used to Kotomi's outrageous appetite. Every time she watched her senpai eat, she couldn't help but quietly sigh to herself: Senpai can really eat so much... If I get the chance to cook for her every day, each meal will be a huge project. I should really ask Mrs. Izumi someday what dishes Senpai likes best...
As she thought that, she found herself gazing tenderly at Kotomi, her eyes filled with an affection she didn't quite realize was showing. The mischievous little devil who was usually noisy and playful always grew uncharacteristically quiet when Kotomi was eating seriously.
But the moment Kotomi put down her chopsticks, the little devil would immediately spring back to life.
"I'm full. Thank you for the meal," Iroha said politely, setting down her chopsticks and smiling warmly at Kaneyoshi Izumi and Akina Izumi.
"Haha, Iroha, you don't have to be so formal. You're always welcome to come over and hang out. Kotomi and Aimi would be delighted," Akina said with a laugh.
"Next time, we should invite Mr. Isshiki and Ms. Motokawa to join us too," Kaneyoshi suggested.
"I agree completely!" Akina said, raising her thumb in approval.
"I'll make sure to tell my dad and Kumi Motokawa about it," Iroha replied cheerfully.
Sitting beside her, Kotomi sipped her miso soup and glanced at Iroha, a faint smirk tugging at her lips.
This little devil only pretends to be such a well-behaved angel during moments like this, Kotomi thought with amusement.
After finishing her meal, Kotomi looked at the darkening sky outside and said, "Iroha, I'll walk you home later."
"Eh~? Really? Thank you, Senpai!"
Iroha's face lit up with joy. To Kotomi, it was just a small gesture—but Iroha reacted as though she had just received her favorite Christmas present.
"It's just walking you home... is it really that exciting?" Kotomi muttered softly.
"Super! Incredibly! Extremely! Happy!" Iroha replied without hesitation.
"The adjectives are way too much!" Kotomi said, exasperated.
Listening to their exchange, Akina could only sigh inwardly. Her daughter Kotomi, who was so composed and emotionally intelligent when dealing with people in general—whether in social settings or important occasions—always lost that sense of balance whenever she interacted with girls.
At times, her EQ shot sky-high; other times, it plummeted so low Akina wanted to pry open her daughter's skull just to check whether there was a normal brain inside—or just a solid block of carved wood.
Once everyone finished dinner, Iroha stood up to say goodbye, and Kotomi rose as well, preparing to walk her home.
Seeing this, Aimi also jumped up and said, "Sis, Iroha, I want to come too!"
Before she could take a single step, her mother's hand pressed down on her shoulder.
"No, you don't. Go wash the dishes."
"Ehh—! I can wash them when I get back!"
"By the time you get back, you'll have forgotten. It's just a few dishes—get it done early and relax afterward."
Without another word, Akina grabbed Aimi by the collar like a chick and dragged her off toward the kitchen.
My dear daughter, this is as far as your mother can help you. The rest is up to you... Akina thought with a smile.
As a mother, her job was to provide precise and timely support when her daughter was in love.
As for Aimi... Akina figured her younger daughter had no romantic thoughts yet.
After all, when she once asked Aimi if there was anyone she liked at school, Aimi had answered solemnly, "The only thing in my heart is stu—cough, studying! I'm definitely going to get into ETH Zurich!"
"Do you even know which country ETH Zurich is in?" Akina Izumi asked.
Aimi Izumi hesitated for a few seconds before replying sheepishly, "...I don't know."
Akina sighed. "It's in Zurich, Switzerland! If you're aiming for a school, at least remember where it is, okay?"
"Then how do you know, Mom?"
"Because your father graduated from ETH Zurich."
That conversation only confirmed for Akina that her younger daughter had absolutely no thoughts about romance yet—or rather, that she hadn't awakened to that stage of life.
So there was no need to think about how to "support" Aimi's love life for now. Since she wasn't interested in romance, there was no reason for her to tag along when Kotomi was walking her friend home. Even if it was dark outside, bringing that bright human light bulb along would ruin everything.
Akina chuckled inwardly at the thought.
Meanwhile, Aimi, still being held by her mother by the collar like a little chick, looked completely unamused.
...
Night.
After leaving the Izumi house, Kotomi and Iroha walked along the quiet street toward Iroha's home.
"Whew—I'm stuffed! Mrs. Izumi's cooking is amazing. Even simple home-style dishes taste so good when she makes them. Next time, I have to ask her for some cooking tips," Iroha said, stretching lazily as the night breeze played with her hair.
Kotomi's competitiveness flared up again at that. "Hey, my cooking's not bad either. You just haven't had the chance to try it yet."
"Senpai's cooking? Aimi always tells me how good it is, but I've never had the opportunity to taste it myself. I'm so jealous of Aimi—she gets to eat your cooking whenever she wants."
The tone of envy in Iroha's voice instantly satisfied Kotomi's competitive streak. Feeling slightly embarrassed but smug, she chuckled. "Hehe, actually, there's nothing to be jealous of. I rarely cook at home. It's been so long since I last did that, I don't even remember the day. But if you want to try my cooking someday, just tell me in advance what dish you'd like to eat, and I'll make it for you."
"Really?" Iroha's eyes lit up instantly.
"Really."
"Yay! Senpai, come on—pinky promise!" Iroha said, holding out her little finger.
Kotomi sighed lightly. "Isn't a pinky promise a bit much for something so small?"
Despite her words, she still extended her little finger and hooked it with Iroha's.
"No matter how small it is," Iroha said softly, "if it's something between us, I want to make a pinky promise. Because I heard that after you make one, the gods bless the promise—so that neither of us will ever face the day when we're forced to break it."
Her smile was radiant, and in Kotomi's eyes, it was like witnessing a flower bloom in the middle of summer—one that had somehow transcended the cycle of the seasons.
"Yeah," Kotomi said gently. "It's a promise."
She smiled faintly, her eyes soft with emotion. If there really are gods who protect promises like these... then please, she thought silently.
Please bless us—so that we'll never have to face the day when we have to break ours.
Continuing along the road toward the Isshiki residence, Kotomi Izumi spoke leisurely:
"Too bad you didn't get to see Dragon and Phoenix this time. Those two cats have been going to bed really early lately. They don't like sleeping in their cat beds anymore—only in dark corners where there's barely any light. Sometimes, I really envy them. No school, no work—just eat and sleep all day. Must be nice."
Of course, the real reason Dragon and Phoenix had developed such early sleeping habits was entirely thanks to Kotomi.
She fully understood the saying: If you don't tire out the cats during the day, they'll tire you out at night.
So whenever she had free time during the day, she made absolutely sure those two didn't get a moment's rest. She'd find every possible way to exhaust them—if nothing else worked, she'd tie leashes to them and take them for a walk. A long one. Sometimes for over an hour.
However, after a while, Kotomi discovered that walking both cats on leashes was more trouble than it was worth. One cat liked to walk straight, while the other loved zigzagging around. If she wasn't paying attention for even a second, the two leashes would twist together like spaghetti.
Eventually, she came up with a simpler and far more brutal solution—still using the leashes, but instead of letting them walk, she'd grab each cat by the scruff, one in each hand, and carry them like two small gas canisters.
And considering how much those two ate, they weren't just fluffy—they were solidly heavy. Most people would be panting after carrying them a short distance.
But Kotomi, blessed with her Queen of All Females constitution and the stamina boost that came with it, could easily stroll around for a whole hour carrying both cats.
After that kind of workout, Dragon and Phoenix had absolutely no energy left. They'd fall asleep early every night—sometimes even right after sunset—terrified that Kotomi might take them out for another night walk after dinner. They'd close their eyes tight and sleep until dawn.
"Dragon and Phoenix, huh? I did see them once when I came over before. They were both so cute. I heard they followed you home on their own, right, Senpai? Are you, like, walking catnip? Most people couldn't even 'kidnap' a stray cat with a bag, yet you just walk normally and two of them start following you?" Iroha teased, laughing.
"You saw them before? Well, next time you come over, you'll be in for a surprise," Kotomi replied with a knowing grin.
Anyone who'd seen Dragon and Phoenix before would indeed be shocked to see them now.
Not because they'd somehow gained the ability to turn into catgirls—but because they'd gotten so fat they now looked like actual rabbits.
Kotomi sometimes couldn't help but wonder if she'd accidentally adopted two rabbits instead of cats. Their round bodies and soft faces made it easy to mistake them for distant relatives of bunnies.
She could already imagine it—if she ever took them to the zoo, the rabbits inside the enclosure would probably hop up and ask, "Hey, sister, where did you come from?"
Most rabbits only look fat, since their thick fur helps them stay warm in winter—even though their feet still freeze. But Dragon and Phoenix were different. They were genuinely, undeniably fat. Pure mass.
Every time Kotomi took them out for a walk, passersby would stop her with puzzled expressions, either asking, "Are those... rabbits? Are people even allowed to keep rabbits as pets?" or "Wait, are those cats pregnant?"
No one ever seemed to consider the obvious—that they were just fat cats.
Kotomi really did try to control their portions, but those two must have inherited some kind of "orange cat" gluttony gene. All it took was a little carelessness, and they'd balloon up again.
After hearing Kotomi's story, Iroha could easily picture the scene. She still remembered how small Dragon and Phoenix looked the first time she saw them—tiny, freshly grown kittens.
Now, imagining them as rabbit-sized cats, she couldn't help but mentally compare the before and after. That's... quite an evolution...
"Next time I visit, I'm definitely going to take a good look at Dragon and Phoenix," Iroha said.
"You're welcome anytime," Kotomi replied with a smile.
As they chatted, Kotomi Izumi and Iroha Isshiki soon arrived at the Isshiki residence—just as Tetsunosuke Isshiki and Kumi Motokawa were stepping out of a taxi. They had just paid the fare, and the taxi drove off into the night.
"Dad, Kumi Auntie, welcome home! I just came back from having dinner at Senpai's house," Iroha said as she greeted them with a smile.
"Have you already eaten, Iroha? Whew... that's good. On the way back, I was worried you might still be hungry," Kumi said, visibly relieved. She had long since regarded Iroha as her own daughter—naturally, a mother's first concern was always whether her child had eaten.
"Iroha, sorry about this," Tetsunosuke said with a weary smile. "For the next couple of days, Kumi and I might be getting home pretty late." Despite his best efforts to sound normal, there was an unmistakable fatigue in his voice.
Both of them looked visibly exhausted.
"Dad, Kumi Auntie, are you two all right? You look really tired," Iroha asked with concern.
"Haha, it's nothing," Tetsunosuke replied cheerfully. "We were just out handling some errands today—walked around quite a bit, that's all. Got a little worn out, but it's no big deal." His easy laughter was clearly meant to reassure her.
"Ahh... I suppose we're both getting older," Kumi said with a gentle sigh and a wry smile. "Our stamina isn't what it used to be."
At that moment, Kotomi stepped forward and bowed politely. "Good evening, Mr. Isshiki, Ms. Motokawa. It's been a while."
"Oh, Kotomi! Good evening," Tetsunosuke greeted warmly. "Thank you for taking care of Iroha today."
"It's no trouble at all," Kotomi replied with a smile. "Just an extra pair of chopsticks and a bowl."
"I heard you were performing at the cultural festival today," Kumi said apologetically. "Both Tetsunosuke and I were really looking forward to it. We'd planned to attend with Iroha, but something unexpected came up this morning that required our attention... we ended up missing your performance. It's such a shame."
"It's all right, really," Kotomi said. "There might be another chance to perform someday. If that happens, I hope you both can come watch." She smiled warmly, though in truth, she had no plans to perform at another cultural festival anytime soon.
"Of course we will," Tetsunosuke said firmly.
"If there are tickets next time, please let us know—we'll definitely be there," Kumi added.
After exchanging a few more words, Kotomi's curiosity began to stir. She couldn't help but wonder what exactly Tetsunosuke and Kumi had been doing all day to end up looking so exhausted. But since it wasn't her place to ask, she simply kept her thoughts to herself.
With a polite bow, Kotomi excused herself, turned around, and began walking back home through the quiet evening streets.
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