All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

When Megumi Kato suddenly requested a hug, Kotomi felt a bit puzzled. Was Megumi even really nervous? But then she thought, since she’d already hugged Yui, wouldn’t it be unfair not to do the same for Megumi?

With the logic sorted out, Kotomi didn’t hesitate. She opened her arms and gave Megumi a big hug.

”Still nervous?” she whispered softly in Megumi’s ear.

”Maybe just a little… Hold me a bit longer, would you?”

”I could have sworn you said this morning that the exams were a breeze and nothing to be nervous about.”

”Did I?” Megumi feigned innocence, then casually deflected, ”Maybe Yui’s nerves rubbed off on me. Sometimes emotions spread like a cold—one second you’re fine, the next it’s contagious.”

Hmm… that actually made some sense, Kotomi thought.

As they hugged, Megumi gently rested her chin atop Kotomi’s head. Normally, Kotomi’s height difference with Megumi wasn’t noticeable, but standing this close, it became clear that Kotomi was just a tiny bit shorter. Her current height wasn’t especially short, but it wasn’t tall either—she was stuck at 169 cm, just shy of 170.

In her last life, she’d been a proud 180 cm! After reincarnating, Kotomi had vented to the system, Kazumi, about this many times, who could only helplessly explain that height was randomly assigned and out of her control.

Whenever she thought about her reduced height, Kotomi would sigh wistfully for several minutes, then console herself with the fact that, at least, she hadn’t been reborn as a little kid.

Just as Megumi was enjoying the hug, a familiar voice rang out.

”Are you two… dating?”

Startled by Yukino Yukinoshita’s voice, Kotomi reflexively tried to pull away from Megumi’s arms—only to find that Megumi had already wrapped her arms around her. And her grip was tight.

Seeing the adorable little penguin squirm in her embrace, Megumi smiled, satisfied, before finally letting go.

”Good morning, Yukino! Finally, exam day is here. I reviewed all weekend, yet somehow, I’m still a little nervous… Oh, but Kotomi’s hug just now was like magic; it really helped me relax.”

Even after being spotted, Megumi greeted Yukino as casually as ever, her tone so natural that it seemed like just a simple explanation of why they were hugging.

”Nervous? I’m fine; I’ve reviewed what I needed to. Besides, the exam questions shouldn’t be that difficult.”

”True,” Megumi nodded. ”Although, I heard the questions for the midterms will be much tougher. Thankfully, I’m not in the Class A exam room, so I don’t need to worry about those brutal questions.”

From what Megumi had heard, the midterm exams would be split into two different versions: the standard version, which would be similar to typical exams in terms of difficulty, and a special advanced version meant for top students across the school, with more challenging questions that required dynamic, creative thinking.

”If I remember correctly, Megumi, you’re in the Class 1-B exam room. If you do well this time, you might be assigned to 1-A for the midterms,” Kotomi pointed out.

”Eh… no thanks. I’d rather avoid those insane questions,” Megumi laughed, half-jokingly. ”I think I’ll try to score somewhere comfortably average this time.”

Her tone was casual, almost convincing. She might have been joking, but her expression was unreadable—it was just how Megumi spoke.

”Accurately aiming for a specific score range… well, that’s pretty impressive if you pull it off,” Yukino said, glancing at the time on her phone. ”Kotomi, shall we head to the exam room together?”

”Oh? Yes, let’s,” Kotomi replied, reluctantly putting her phone away after watching a promo for the new Azur Lane event.

”I’m coming with you two,” Megumi added, ”though, besides Yukino and Kotomi, I didn’t really check who else in our class is in the Class 1-A exam room.”

”Is Kotomi the only person you care about?” Yukino teased. ”Not many students in our class are placed in the 1-A exam room. Besides me and Kotomi, there’s Seiko Kirigiri as well.”

It wasn’t surprising that Yukino was in the 1-A room—her grades had always been stellar. But Kotomi couldn’t help feeling a bit surprised to hear that Seiko Kirigiri, who often slept through class and kept a low profile, would be joining them.

”Seiko’s in the Class 1-A room too?” Megumi asked.

Once, while chatting, Seiko had mentioned that compared to her sister, she didn’t consider herself academically gifted, and she was generally uninterested in studying. Yet here she was, a top student in the advanced exam group.