All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

The school bell rang, signaling the start of class, and the teacher walked into the classroom.

However, Megumi Kato showed no intention of putting Kotomi’s phone back. Her usual calm and indifferent gaze flickered for a moment before gradually dimming. She unconsciously leaned forward slightly, as if she had just realized that the precious treasure she held so tightly was being coveted by someone else. Instinctively, her entire being shifted into a state of vigilance.

”Don’t overthink it. Maybe… it’s just a close friend of Kotomi’s who happened to send her a message right now. Yes, that must be it!” Megumi muttered to herself, as if using words to comfort her own heart.

After reassuring herself for a while, Megumi felt mentally prepared. She then tapped on the message that Iroha Isshiki had sent to Kotomi.

Iroha Isshiki: [Waking up to a good morning message from my senpai—what could be more wonderful than this? Last night was really fun, senpai~]

[Senpai, you’re so contradictory. You kept saying we shouldn’t do this, but still stayed up late playing around with me. Because of you, I could barely get out of bed this morning. I wonder if senpai is just as exhausted as I am~? (lol)]

[Senpai truly lives up to the title! I never noticed before, but last night, I finally got a taste of just how dom-i-nant you can be as a senior~ I really wish time could fast-forward to after my high school entrance exams so I could join Sobu High School right away. Then I’d be in the same school as you! (Hey, senpai, do you think magic that controls time exists?)]

[Last night was wonderful. Tonight, tomorrow night, and every night from now on, I want to be as happy with senpai as I was last night—no, even happier!]

Right after sending the four messages, Iroha Isshiki followed up with a photo.

In the picture, she was making a heart shape with her hands. Though her entire face wasn’t visible, her lips curved into a bright, adorable smile—with just a hint of mischievous playfulness.

After the photo, two more messages arrived in quick succession:

[I asked Aimi to take this for me. Pretty good, right?~ Don’t worry, Aimi doesn’t know this photo was for you. She was super curious about why I suddenly wanted a picture like this—she even thought I was in a relationship!~]

[Even though Aimi kept asking me about it for ages, I didn’t tell her about you, senpai!]

[Little Bunny Emoji: Praise me, praise me!]

Megumi Katou sat in her chair, head lowered, gripping Kotomi’s phone tightly. Her fingers trembled slightly, and without realizing it, she was squeezing the phone so hard that it seemed like it might crack in her palm at any moment.

She kept biting the fingers of her other hand, concealing her expression from view.

”Last night… tonight? Who is this girl, and why is she sending Kotomi these kinds of messages?! She’s Aimi’s classmate? That means she’s in her third year of middle school… She’s supposed to be Aimi’s friend—so why is she this close to Kotomi?”

Megumi Katou continued helping Kotomi clear the dungeon in the game. After finishing, she calmly placed the phone back into Kotomi’s desk pocket. Slowly, she lifted her head—her gaze dark as chaos itself, her hollow eyes sending chills down one’s spine.

”Why does Kotomi always have so many girls around her? I feel just a little bit… unhappy~”

Megumi bit her finger, sinking her teeth in so deeply that she even drew blood. Then, she smiled softly and spoke in a gentle tone.

Her expression was eerily still. Anyone who saw the slight curve of her lips would find not even the faintest trace of warmth in that smile.

Meanwhile, Kotomi followed behind Kisara Tendo, heading toward Class 2-B. As they passed by the entrance of Class 1-B, they once again heard a chorus of wails from inside.

”Lately, I keep hearing some classmates say that being able to advance to second year early is such a blessing.

It seems like something’s been going on with Class 1-B this semester—they’ve been getting an unusual amount of ’attention’ from the disciplinary director and the teachers.

Their experiences these past few weeks have been so rough that students from Class 2-B and Class 3-B can’t help but feel relieved that they’re no longer first-years. Kotomi, any idea why?”

Kisara Tendo was simply looking for a topic to chat about. She had realized that she genuinely enjoyed talking with Kotomi more and more. As for why Class 1-B was going through all this? She had no real interest in finding out.