All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

When Kotomi Izumi heard that, she immediately felt a bit displeased.

”What do you mean I’ve been a slut since I was little? The thing I despise most in this world is that kind of girl! You little tigress, let me tell you—just because I’m stunningly beautiful, gentle and kind, virtuous and generous, pure and spotless, refined and dignified, doesn’t mean I don’t have a temper. If you keep slandering me like this, I’ll ignore you for a whole... ahem, a whole day!”

”You are indeed stunningly beautiful and gentle, but those last three idioms... do they really have anything to do with you?” Yukino Yukinoshita couldn’t help but ask with a faint smile.

Kotomi Izumi really was breathtakingly beautiful and gentle, but those last three descriptions clearly didn’t suit someone like her—a little flirtatious troublemaker.

”I’m not virtuous and generous? I’m not pure and spotless? I’m not refined and dignified? A treasure of a girl like me is impossible to find even with a lantern! If someone could marry me, it would be a blessing they couldn’t earn even in ten lifetimes!”

Kotomi raised her delicate brows, completely confident in herself, speaking with utter dissatisfaction.

At that moment, Yukino suddenly had the urge to reach out and pinch Kotomi’s cheek, just to see how thick her skin really was.

She even glanced at the fruit knife on the nearby table.

Ever since being stabbed once before, Kotomi had become extremely sensitive to anything resembling a blade. She instantly noticed Yukino’s gaze drifting toward the knife. Her previously smug and teasing tone softened immediately, and she asked in a small voice,

”W-What are you looking at...?”

”Just the fruit knife on the table. I was wondering whether it could pierce through your thick skin.”

Yukino said it with a gentle smile—half statement, half question... and perhaps something more.

Kotomi wasn’t particularly brave to begin with. Hearing that so suddenly almost made her break out in a cold sweat. She quickly leaned her face closer, acting obedient yet a little playful.

”M-My skin is actually really thin! If you don’t believe me... try kissing it~”

”Get away from me.”

Faced with Kotomi openly inviting her to kiss her, Yukino was startled at first—and even a little tempted—but she quickly calmed down. She cautiously glanced at Yui Yuigahama, who was still nearby talking on the phone with her mother and Yuka. Seeing that Yui was still occupied, Yukino finally let out a quiet breath of relief.

She shot Kotomi a slightly annoyed look and gently pushed her face away.

Something that could have been done with just words, Yukino deliberately used her hand to push Kotomi’s cheek instead. Whether that action was meant to push her away—or to take the opportunity to touch her—only Yukino herself knew.

”Hmph. Kiss me or don’t. If people lined up to kiss me, the line would start in Tokyo and wrap around the Earth several times,” Kotomi said with a hint of smug pride.

Yukino deliberately ignored that and continued,

”You’ve told me the second reason, and I’ve kept my promise to let you take a photo of me smiling. Are you going to take it now?”

Kotomi thought for a moment, then replied lazily,

”Not in the mood. I don’t feel like taking it anymore. Maybe next time... unless you give me a shoulder massage and beg me to take it.”

Those words instantly made Yukino feel a surge of impulse—she wanted to pin Kotomi to the ground and kiss her hard, just to see if that mouth of hers would still be so arrogant.

But reason still held the upper hand. She took a deep breath, calmed the impulse inside her, then mimicked Kotomi’s earlier tone and snapped,

”Take it or don’t!”

Once a thought takes root, it becomes impossible not to dwell on it. Yukino was no exception.

Although she had firmly refused Kotomi’s invitation to kiss her just now, she couldn’t help feeling a trace of regret afterward.

Why did I refuse?

That feeling was just like when someone, in a moment of clarity, deletes all the videos and bookmarked sites they had painstakingly collected—telling themselves it’s better this way, cleaner, and frees up storage space.

But not even twenty minutes later, they start regretting it, wondering why they impulsively deleted everything.

Yui is still on the phone right now... even if I had secretly kissed Kotomi just now...

No, kissing her lips right away would’ve been too much. I should’ve started with her cheek.

Either way, if I had stolen a kiss, Yui probably wouldn’t have noticed... right?