By the time Yukino Yukinoshita was almost done packing her suitcase, she turned her head to glance at Kotomi. Just as she was about to ask whether Kotomi needed help, she saw her lying lazily beneath the kotatsu blanket, looking completely intoxicated by the warmth.
"Hey, Kotomi, why are you being so lazy? I know that having to pack up this late and go to the station to wait for the train is exhausting just thinking about it, but the reason the three of us have to do this in the first place is because you bought the wrong departure time for the return ticket, right? There's no time for you to lie here and act spoiled."
Yukino Yukinoshita spoke sternly as she reached out, intending to drag Kotomi out from under the kotatsu.
"Ugh... but I just got out of the hot spring, and I feel so tired..."
As Kotomi Izumi said this, she stretched lazily beneath the kotatsu.
"I'm going to take a quick nap first. Yui, I'll leave my luggage to you."
"Don't worry, Kotomi. The suitcase I'm packing right now is yours. Go ahead and rest for a bit. I'll wake you up once everything is done."
Yui Yuigahama, who had been busy packing with her head lowered, looked up and smiled after hearing Kotomi's soft, spoiled tone.
Yukino Yukinoshita was taken aback when she heard this. She looked over and realized that the suitcase Yui was packing really did belong to Kotomi!
Could it be that helping Kotomi pack first before her own had already become a habit for Yui?! Yukino thought in surprise.
"Yui, you can't keep spoiling Kotomi like this. Don't you have a younger sister at home? Do you treat her like this too?"
Yukino Yukinoshita said, her emotions a bit complicated.
Rather than being unable to accept it, it was more like she felt unconvinced. She believed that if she were Kotomi's girlfriend, she would definitely teach Kotomi how to pack properly instead of indulging her endlessly.
Thinking this, Yukino even felt inwardly: compared like this, I really am the most suitable to be Kotomi's girlfriend!
Facing Yukino's subtle reminder, Yui Yuigahama continued packing Kotomi's suitcase while speaking as if it were only natural:
"Of course not. I'm actually pretty strict with Yuka. Before, when she brushed her teeth, she always wanted me to do it for her. She would stand on a little stool with her eyes closed, dozing off. After I scolded her a few times, she learned to brush her teeth properly by herself.
Hehe, maybe it's because I've taken care of Yuka a lot since she was little. Whenever I get angry, she's really scared of me.
Honestly, compared to Mom, Yuka seems more afraid of me when I'm mad."
"Since you know that your sister should handle her own responsibilities, why do you spoil Kotomi so much?"
The cold and tsundere little tigress, Yukino Yukinoshita, found herself genuinely confused by Yui's answer.
Only then did Yui Yuigahama pause her packing slightly. She glanced at Yukino and smiled.
"Because Kotomi isn't my sister."
Kotomi is my lover! Yui shouted silently in her heart after saying that.
If she could, she truly wanted to say those words out loud without hiding anything. But since Kotomi wouldn't allow it, she obediently kept that final sentence buried in her heart.
...
After finishing packing both Kotomi's and her own suitcase, Yui Yuigahama finally sat down on the floor and let out a long breath. After resting for a moment, she walked over to the kotatsu and gently shook Kotomi's shoulder.
"Kotomi, Kotomi, it's time to wake up."
"Mm... is everything packed already?"
Kotomi Izumi rubbed her sleepy eyes as she sat up. When she saw the neatly packed suitcases, she smiled softly and reached out to pat Yui's head as a reward.
"My little dango is amazing!"
"Hehehe~" Yui Yuigahama giggled happily, lowering her head slightly so Kotomi could pat her more comfortably.
Having already finished packing her own suitcase, Yukino Yukinoshita sat on the tatami and sighed when she saw this scene.
Hearing Yukino's sigh, Kotomi half-jokingly asked:
"What's wrong, Yukino? Do you want a head pat too?"
"Of course not!" Yukino shouted, her face turning red like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Tsundere... Kotomi muttered inwardly. To avoid provoking this cold yet prideful little tigress into pouncing on her, she didn't say it out loud.
After sitting under the kotatsu for a while to warm up, Kotomi picked up the last orange from the fruit plate and peeled it. Earlier in the morning, when she saw that the fruit was almost gone, she had considered calling Saori Funamoto to deliver more. But now it seemed unnecessary.
Saaki Funamoto, Saori Funamoto, Mari Funamoto... Kotomi thought about the three of them while eating the orange.
Saaki Funamoto was an old fox. Every word she spoke and every action she took was not only well-planned overall but also flawlessly executed in every detail. She was like a slippery ball that gave no one anything to criticize. Without enough skill or strength, it would be difficult to control her. Grandfather really was impressive to be able to keep someone like Saaki in check.
Then there was Saori Funamoto, the notorious prodigal of the entire Kansai region. Over the past few days, Kotomi had learned a bit about her past actions. She was truly on another level—being able to squander wealth to that extent was a kind of talent in itself. No wonder she was called the disgrace of the Funamoto family.
Whenever people mentioned the two daughters of the Funamoto family, they would endlessly praise the eldest daughter, Mari Funamoto, believing she could lead the family to even greater heights in the future. As for the second daughter, Saori Funamoto, the most common words used to describe her were "prodigal" and "worthless." Out of ten sentences about her, eleven would be negative.
But the problem was that all of it was just an act.
Her playboy image, her extravagance, her apparent lack of education—it was all a mask she deliberately showed to the world.
Although Kotomi wasn't sure what Saori Funamoto was really like, this alone made it clear that she was someone both capable and deeply calculating. Otherwise, no ordinary person could endure years of ridicule and contempt without either snapping and proving themselves or truly falling into ruin.
Yet she had endured it all, as if waiting for the right opportunity. Someone with that level of patience was truly chilling...
As for Mari Funamoto...
In the end, even after coming to Kyoto this time, I still didn't get to see her in person. Everything I know about her is still based on rumors—top graduate from a prestigious school, highly capable, already taking over a significant portion of Saaki Funamoto's business and managing it in an orderly and efficient manner. Some of the ventures have even achieved further growth under her leadership.
Not only is she no worse than her mother, but in the eyes of some partners, Mari Funamoto is already more outstanding than Saaki Funamoto.
Heh. Precisely because she has real ability, she has the confidence to deliberately avoid meeting me, even knowing that I came to Harugamo Inn.
Even if I stayed a few more days, I probably still wouldn't see her—unless I explicitly requested it. But if I were to name her directly and ask to meet, then I would lose the moral high ground when we finally did meet.
From the very first day, the fact that she didn't come to see me already made her attitude clear.
Heh... looks like some people really don't like me, the eldest young lady of the Izumi family.
Thinking this, Kotomi Izumi bit into the last segment of the orange, casually tossed the peel onto the table, then stood up and said to Yui and Yukino:
"Let's go. Even though the departure time is midnight, if we leave too late, it'll be hard to get a taxi."
"Do we need to check out at the front desk?"
"No, no. I'll send a message to Saori Funamoto later. She'll take care of it for us," Kotomi Izumi said with a smile.
After getting dressed and picking up their suitcases, the three of them left Harugamo Inn.
The weather outside was cold—colder than when they had arrived.
"Haa... it's so cold. There's definitely something off about Japan's temperature this year. It's only the end of October—not even November yet. Even for November, this is way too cold," Kotomi muttered as she rubbed her hands together while walking. Even though she was wearing gloves, once the temperature dropped low enough, they didn't help much.
Fortunately, as they stood by the roadside, a taxi soon drove by.
"Driver, to the Shinkansen station," Kotomi said as she sat in the front passenger seat.
"Alright," the driver replied, steering the taxi toward the station.
With the heater running inside the car, her slightly frozen hands gradually warmed up.
After resting for a while, Kotomi took out her phone and sent a message to Saori Funamoto.
Kotomi Izumi: [Something came up, so I'm heading back to Chiba early. We left in a bit of a hurry, so could you please help handle the checkout? Thanks for taking care of us these past few days.]
After sending the message, some time passed with no reply and no read receipt. Kotomi didn't think much of it. After all, Saori Funamoto was usually busy playing the role of a prodigal daughter who constantly tried to drive her mother mad. Right now, she was probably somewhere in a nightclub, dancing as the most eye-catching girl on the floor.
If she got excited enough, she might even grab a bottle of Ace of Spades from the table, pick up a microphone, and shout:
"Tonight, everything is on me!"
After messaging Saori, Kotomi opened LINE and started sending messages to her beloved sisters.
The first person she opened was Iroha Isshiki's profile, and she sent her a message.
Kotomi Izumi: [Damn, I was planning to go sightseeing in Kyoto tomorrow. But after the hot spring, I casually checked my return ticket and realized I picked the wrong departure time. It's set for midnight tonight. Yui, Yukino, and I are on our way to the station now.]
After sending the message, Kotomi opened LINE's camera function, switched to selfie mode, and casually took a photo of herself sitting in the front passenger seat with her seatbelt on, then sent it to Iroha.
Since she was outside using mobile data—and inside a moving taxi at that—the signal wasn't great. The photo uploaded much slower than it would have over Wi-Fi.
While the photo was still loading, the message she had just sent was already delivered and quickly marked as read.
Before the photo even finished uploading, Iroha's reply popped up instantly.
Iroha Isshiki: [When I think about it being something you did, Senpai, it somehow makes perfect sense!]
[But I just thought of another possibility—could it be that you missed me so much that you deliberately chose today's departure time so you could come back sooner?]
Seeing this message, Kotomi's face flushed red. She quickly typed a reply.
[Idiot! Of course not! I really just picked the wrong time by accident! It's all because the ticket website's UI is so badly designed—that's why I messed it up!]
Blushing, Kotomi silently shifted the blame onto the ticket website's interface.
Iroha Isshiki: [Is that so? That's disappointing. I thought you came back early because you missed me.]
[Looks like I was overthinking it.]
[Every time I think about going to your house to see you, just as I'm about to leave, I remember that you're not home right now. So I can only sigh and keep counting how many days until you're back.]
[I even thought about calling you, but then I figured you might be enjoying your hot spring trip in Kyoto, and I didn't want to disturb you, so I held back.]
Seeing this, Kotomi—who had been about to tease the little devil back—softened. After thinking for a moment, she replied:
[Although I did come back early this time because I picked the wrong time, to be honest, I've had a great time in Kyoto these past few days. But it always felt like something was missing, and I couldn't quite describe it... Now I know what it was.]
[You weren't by my side. No matter how many fun things there are in Kyoto, it wouldn't feel complete without you.]
[I don't really want to admit it, but my heart keeps telling me the truth... I miss you right now. I miss you a lot. I wish that the moment I arrive in Chiba and step out of the station, I can see you right there.]
After sending those two messages, Kotomi subconsciously touched her cheek and felt it faintly burning.
"Seriously... why is it that every time I'm with that little devil, I can't control my emotions properly? With just a small slip, I either get flustered by her—or end up making myself flustered..."
Kotomi muttered softly, her face still red.
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