All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

Oh, gods—I’ve always been an atheist, never believed in you. But if you could bless me to marry this beautiful, graceful, and elegant girl before me, then from this day on, through every spring, summer, autumn, and winter, beneath sun, moon, and stars, I will be your most devout believer. I beg you to let our love remain unshakable until death.

Shizuka Hiratsuka had once read those words in a book back in her university library. She couldn’t remember the title of the book, but she remembered that line with perfect clarity.

As for the plot? Most of it had faded from her memory.

Something about a male scientist in Italy—a firm atheist and staunch believer in science—who one day, after dinner, took a walk in the park and saw a girl sitting on the grass by the lake, painting. The light from the street lamps and the glow of the moon cascaded over her, dressing her in a radiant gown.

No matter how gifted a writer might be, no matter how many pages they devoted, it was impossible to truly capture what love at first sight felt like.

No formula could explain it. No equation could calculate it.

But the moment the scientist saw that girl, he understood in an instant what the books could never describe. And in his heart, he offered up that very prayer to the gods.

Shizuka had no idea why, but as she looked at Kotomi Izumi kneeling by the bedside, that very passage popped into her head. If not for her rational mind holding her back, she might’ve blurted it out loud to Kotomi right then and there.

”Shizuka-sensei, the bedding is ready. Get some rest,” Kotomi said softly, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear and smiling gently.

”Th-thank you...”

Shizuka mentally reminded herself to stay calm as she carefully sat down on the futon.

”D-do you have a spare phone charger? My battery’s almost dead.”

She tried hard to change the subject. Luckily, her phone flashed a low battery warning right on cue.

”I do. But it’s downstairs. I’ll go get it for you.”

”Thanks.”

”No problem. If your phone dies and we don’t hear the alarm tomorrow morning, we might oversleep and show up late. That’d be hard to explain for both of us,” Kotomi said with a playful smile before leaving the room with light, carefree steps.

”That little witch...” Shizuka sighed and shrugged helplessly as she watched her go.

With Kotomi gone, Shizuka was left alone in the room—and her curiosity got the better of her. She started glancing around.

Kotomi’s room was both typical and unique for a high school girl. While many girls might still be into plushies or posters of their favorite celebrities, Kotomi’s room had an entire cabinet of figurines—some of which were... pretty bold.

Especially her prized figures of Asagi Igawa and Rinko Akiyama—truly the heavyweights among her more provocative collection.

One poster on the wall featured a pink-haired anime girl in the process of putting on black thigh-highs. At first glance, it looked innocent enough. But if you blew gently on the poster, the girl’s clothes—and undergarments—would disappear.

Shizuka wasn’t even fazed. After all, Kotomi was a teenager going through puberty—it was normal to be curious about those things.

She wouldn’t be surprised if lifting the mattress revealed a stash of Kotomi’s ”forbidden books.”

There were hardly any plushies. The only one she spotted was a chibi-style owl figure on the computer desk—silly-looking but incredibly detailed, especially its eyes, which looked almost lifelike.

”Wow, even figures these days are made with such detail?” Shizuka murmured as she curiously reached out to touch the owl.

Shizuka’s gaze wandered again and soon landed on a small box placed on top of the wardrobe.

It looked plain and unadorned, with only a tiny padlock hanging from it—and not even a very convincing one. It looked like it could be yanked off with a good tug.

What was inside the box?

Shizuka wasn’t sure if it was just boredom from being alone in the room, but she found herself deeply intrigued by this small locked box. It was like the box had some kind of magical pull, subtly luring her to reach for it, take it down, and pry it open to see what secrets it held.

Shizuka had her own locked box too—though hers used a combination lock. Inside was a small tree-patterned pendant given to her by her ”little white angel.”

That pendant meant more to Shizuka than her own life.

”What could Kotomi possibly have inside her box?” Shizuka murmured, curiosity guiding her as she approached the wardrobe.