"So there's actually a saying like that..."
Aimi Izumi murmured softly as she quietly gazed at Kotomi's profile. Then, as she sat up, Aimi gently pressed her lips against Kotomi's.
What began as a fleeting peck gradually became more assertive and lingering.
Perhaps because Kotomi had taken the initiative to kiss Aimi yesterday, the relationship between the two sisters had begun to grow warmer than before. As a result, even though Aimi had suddenly kissed her just now, Kotomi did not feel overly embarrassed.
Of course, the moment she realized Aimi was kissing her, Kotomi's cheeks still began to feel faintly hot.
Only after Aimi lay back down did Kotomi Izumi, her cheeks slightly flushed, lower the volume on her phone while asking:
"Why did you suddenly kiss me? The story-explanation video had just reached a scary part. Who kisses while watching a horror-game explanation video? At the very least, you should wait until we're watching a romance movie or something."
"I just... suddenly really wanted to kiss you. I-Is that not allowed?"
Aimi Izumi asked cautiously, tugging the blanket upward with both hands to lightly cover her mouth. At the same time, the blanket also concealed her reddening cheeks.
Whenever she normally launched her nighttime raids on Kotomi, she always waited until Kotomi was sound asleep. Doing it while Kotomi was still awake, like she had just done, was an exceptionally bold move for Aimi, so she naturally felt extremely embarrassed afterward.
Faced with Aimi's embarrassed yet strangely righteous answer, Kotomi Izumi froze for a moment before smiling helplessly.
Kotomi knew it was time for her to respond to Aimi's feelings as well.
I've always known perfectly well that Aimi likes me. She's liked me ever since we were little. That affection is a mixture of romantic love and familial love intertwined together. And I like Aimi very much too.
Kotomi Izumi thought to herself. Whether it was Aimi's feelings for her or her own feelings for Aimi, Kotomi understood both perfectly well.
The reason she had never responded until now was not because Kotomi lacked the courage. She was simply worried that responding too soon might affect Aimi's ability to focus on studying before her exams.
After all, Aimi Izumi was a third-year middle school student, and she would be taking her high school entrance exams next February. Kotomi was somewhat worried that responding to Aimi's feelings now might affect her studies over the coming months.
After hesitating for a moment, Kotomi Izumi finally made up her mind and slowly said:
"It's allowed."
"Eh?"
When Kotomi finally gave the answer Aimi had been waiting so long to hear, Aimi could not process it at first. As her heartbeat gradually accelerated, she kept asking herself whether she had heard correctly.
Seeing Aimi submerged in shock and unable to recover, Kotomi Izumi smiled gently, rolled onto her side to face her, and gazed at her tenderly:
"If you like it, then before we go to sleep every night, we can give each other a kiss. We'll treat it as... a goodnight kiss!"
Aimi finally snapped back to reality. Kotomi's answer was exactly what she had always hoped for, yet precisely because it was the response she had dreamed of hearing for so long, Aimi found it difficult to believe now that she had actually heard it.
"R-Really? That's really okay? Really? Really? Really? We can kiss every single day?"
Overjoyed, Aimi repeatedly asked in excitement.
Faced with such an excited Aimi, Kotomi Izumi smiled indulgently, reached out, and gently pulled her into her arms before answering seriously:
"Of course—it's really okay!"
After receiving Kotomi's definitive answer, Aimi Izumi's emotions were like a mouthful of popping candy, bouncing joyfully amid overwhelming sweetness.
Her excitement also made Aimi bolder. In a trembling voice, she tried to ask whether they could go a step further than kissing.
"Then—"
"No."
Before Aimi could even finish, Kotomi Izumi seemed to have already guessed exactly what she wanted to say and rejected her cleanly and decisively. She even raised one finger between their gazes, making both her words and her actions perfectly clear: No!
"Eh? Why?"
Aimi felt as though her emotions were riding a roller coaster. Her happiness had not even faded before disappointment came rushing in. She had thought that since Kotomi was willing to exchange goodnight kisses with her every night, she might be able to go one step further on top of those goodnight kisses.
But before she could even voice that desire, Kotomi had already rejected her.
It was almost as though Kotomi could read her mind.
Aimi's cheerful little face from moments earlier was now gradually filling with disappointment. She had just been thinking that from now on, she would no longer have to wait until Kotomi fell asleep every night before sneaking over for her nighttime raids. She could finally cuddle with her openly!
Yet before she could even express that wish, Kotomi had already killed it.
It could not even be called killing it in the cradle. It had clearly been killed before it had fully taken shape!
It was like King Qin suddenly drawing his sword and killing Jing Ke before Jing Ke could even take out the map concealing his dagger.
"Of course it's because you're about to take your high school entrance exams. I know exactly what that little head of yours is thinking. No matter what, goodnight kisses are the furthest we're going for now. As for all those other things you're imagining in that little head of yours, I'll think about them after your entrance exams are over."
The more Kotomi Izumi spoke, the redder her cheeks became.
"You mean after my exams are over, I'll be able to cuddle with you?!"
Whenever Aimi became excited, both her words and actions became extremely straightforward.
Just like now.
"I-I said I'd think about it after your exams are over. Why does it feel like you've already interpreted that as me completely agreeing?"
Kotomi Izumi said with a bright red face, utterly embarrassed.
"Aw, it's basically the same thing either way~" Aimi Izumi giggled.
"How is that remotely the same thing?!"
Kotomi Izumi complained helplessly. Starting to sulk a little, she gently pushed Aimi away:
"Seriously, it's not like I didn't give you your own pillow. Why do you insist on lying on mine? Move your little head over. You're squishing me to death!"
Aimi knew Kotomi was only throwing a tiny tantrum. She smiled sheepishly and hugged Kotomi's arm beneath the covers.
"Honestly, stop clinging to me like a piece of chewing gum all the time."
Kotomi Izumi muttered complaints under her breath, though the little bit of sulkiness in her heart quietly faded away.
After the bedroom lights were turned off, Aimi also fell silent.
However, that silence did not last very long.
Before long, Aimi shook Kotomi's arm and whispered:
"Hey, hey, Onee-chan. Let's keep talking."
"Hurry up and close your eyes and sleep. It's already late. Even if tomorrow is a day off, you still can't stay up too late. Also, how long are you planning to keep hugging my arm?"
As Kotomi Izumi spoke, she even tried to pull her arm free from Aimi's embrace.
But Aimi was holding on tightly.
"Let me hug it a little longer~"
"Honestly, I can't do anything with you..."
Faced with Aimi acting spoiled, Kotomi Izumi could only sigh helplessly and give in.
Kotomi Izumi lay on the bed staring at the familiar ceiling. Perhaps because she had only recently taken a shower, she was not particularly sleepy yet.
To pass the time before falling asleep, Kotomi Izumi thought for a moment before saying to Aimi:
"Come to think of it, when I went back to school today, the homeroom teacher responsible for our class had already been replaced."
"Eh? Your homeroom teacher was replaced that quickly? Something must have happened, right? I remember you saying before that once Sobu High School assigns a homeroom teacher, they basically stay with the same class for all three years of high school."
Aimi Izumi was somewhat surprised when she heard this. She remembered that her Onee-chan's homeroom teacher was Shizuka Hiratsuka, who had even stayed at their house once before. Aimi could not say she knew her particularly well, but the woman had certainly left an impression on her.
Naturally, Aimi was surprised to suddenly hear that her Onee-chan had a new homeroom teacher.
After all, it had already been almost two months since school started. It was neither an especially long nor especially short period of time.
If the homeroom teacher was replaced less than three months after the beginning of the school year, some parents might start thinking Sobu High School was unreliable once they heard about it.
After all, changing homeroom teachers was a major event for middle school students. Some parents in particular would immediately start asking around about what kind of person the new homeroom teacher was after learning that their child's class had gotten a replacement.
It was understandable. As parents, naturally they did not want their children ending up with a bad homeroom teacher.
"You could say something happened. Ms. Shi... Ms. Hiratsuka received an acceptance letter from the Royal College of Art. It's been the dream she's pursued and worked toward all these years. Ever since graduating from university, she's never given up on taking the Royal College of Art's entrance examination.
"This time, she'd originally decided it would be her final attempt. If she failed again, she wasn't planning to take the examination anymore. But unexpectedly, this time she actually passed and received an acceptance letter.
"She hesitated for a long time between her job and her dream, but with my encouragement, she finally made up her mind, submitted her resignation, left Sobu High School, and decided to attend the Royal College of Art."
Kotomi Izumi had almost habitually called her "Shizuka," but remembering that she was talking to Aimi, she hurriedly changed the name she had nearly let slip to "Ms. Hiratsuka" so Aimi would not become suspicious about her relationship with Shizuka Hiratsuka.
"Eh? Onee-chan, are you really willing to let Ms. Hiratsuka leave? She's going to study in Britain, after all. It'll be hard to see her whenever you want from now on."
"Getting into the Royal College of Art has always been Shizuka's dream. Of course I'm going to support her."
Kotomi Izumi answered as though it were obvious. Then she added with a cheerful smile:
"Besides, Japan might not exactly be close to Britain, but for our family, we can go whenever we want. Don't forget, our family has a private jet. If I miss Ms. Hiratsuka, I can hop on the plane whenever I want and fly to Britain to see her."
"Oh, right. Our family has a private jet."
Only then did Aimi Izumi remember. Because they rarely traveled by plane, and because a private jet was hardly anything unusual to the Izumi family, Aimi had gradually almost forgotten the fact that their family owned one.
However, Aimi quickly realized another problem. Her tone immediately became serious as she asked Kotomi:
"Onee-chan, don't tell me you're planning to go to Britain alone to see Ms. Hiratsuka?"
"Y-Yeah? What else would I do?"
The sudden question left Kotomi momentarily dumbfounded.
"No, no! I don't trust you going to Britain alone!"
Aimi excitedly sat upright, her adorable little face covered in displeasure.
"Hey, hey, you're making me sound like I'm three years old. Ms. Hiratsuka isn't leaving for Britain until next September. By next September, I'll already have had my birthday and be seventeen. I'll practically be eighteen by traditional age reckoning."
"No means no! If you go to Britain by yourself, what if some evil British woman accidentally kidnaps you? If you're going, then Mom, Dad, and I need to go with you! At the very least, let me go with you!"
"That's not going to happen! And what is that supposed to mean? Are you the older sister, or am I? I'm not so unreliable that I need my little sister accompanying me just to travel abroad, am I?"
The moment Kotomi heard that Aimi wanted to come along, she immediately became unwilling. If she went to Britain alone, she could fully enjoy having Shizuka Hiratsuka all to herself.
If she brought Aimi along, wouldn't that be the same as having an enormous third wheel following her around?!
"No matter what, you can't go alone! Even if some evil British woman doesn't trick you away, what if that Ms. Hiratsuka suddenly develops wicked intentions toward you and reaches out her evil claws?"
The moment Aimi imagined Kotomi going alone to Britain and living together with Shizuka Hiratsuka, just the two of them, she began imagining that perhaps feelings might develop between them. Then Kotomi might return from Britain with a swollen belly, carrying Shizuka Hiratsuka's child... Aimi immediately felt her head grow unbearably heavy, as though an enormous green hat were about to appear on top of it.
Because of that, Aimi became even less willing to let Kotomi go to Britain alone.
I'd be delighted if she developed wicked intentions toward me! Kotomi Izumi thought.
Of course, that was something she could only say inside her own head. She absolutely could not say it aloud, at least not in front of Aimi.
"Ahem... I see. No wonder you're so worried about me going to Britain alone. Let me explain this to you very seriously and solemnly. Shizuka Hiratsuka and I are nothing more than perfectly ordinary friends. We absolutely do not have the kind of relationship you're imagining!"
Kotomi Izumi tried her hardest to make her tone sound grave and serious, even though she felt extremely guilty inside.
Stare...
Faced with Kotomi's declaration, Aimi neither said that she believed her nor that she doubted her. She merely stared quietly at Kotomi with a deeply suspicious gaze.
Kotomi had already been feeling guilty, and under Aimi's prolonged stare, that guilt only intensified. She hurriedly looked away and asked:
"W-What? Why do you keep staring at me like that?"
After staring at Kotomi for a while, Aimi exhaled and spoke in a tone almost like a prayer:
"I hope you're not lying to me, Onee-chan."
"Of course I'm not lying to you. How could I possibly lie to you?"
Kotomi Izumi declared with complete righteousness.
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