Watching Kotomi Izumi bury her face into the pillow, her body trembling as if she were shivering, Yukino Yukinoshita grew even more confused. She thought it must be because of the cold, that Kotomi had been chilled, and so she wanted to cover her with a blanket.
However, Kotomi was currently lying directly on top of the futon, and to pull the blanket out from underneath her just to cover her again would look far too strange.
After thinking for a moment, Yukino finally came up with an idea—she stood up and spread her own blanket over Kotomi.
Just then, Yui Yuigahama, who had been hiding under her blanket to change into her pajamas, finished changing and poked her head out—only to see Yukino Yukinoshita placing her own blanket over Kotomi.
???
What was Yukino doing?
Covering Kotomi with a blanket?
Kotomi obviously had her own blanket, so why was Yukino using hers to cover her?
One question after another popped up in Yui Yuigahama's little head.
After Kotomi had tutored her in the past, Yui Yuigahama had regained her confidence. She thought she wasn't stupid at all—in fact, she was quite smart! When she worked on math problems now, she could even figure them out with a bit of thought.
But seeing Yukino cover Kotomi with her own blanket, Yui suddenly felt that her brain had turned back into that same old clumsy one. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't figure out what was going on.
Still, Yui was well aware that seeing Yukino and Kotomi like this stirred something in her—something unpleasant. She felt jealous, indignant even. Why was Yukino allowed to cover Kotomi with her blanket, leaving Kotomi's fragrance on it?
The thought of Yukino Yukinoshita sleeping under her blanket tonight, enveloped in Kotomi's scent, filled Yui Yuigahama with envy—and not just envy, but a tinge of jealousy too.
That's right, Yui Yuigahama knew clearly—she was jealous!
She was simply feeling upset!
She too wanted to cover Kotomi with her own blanket, so that when she slept tonight, the scent of Kotomi would linger there.
Compared to Yukino Yukinoshita, Yui Yuigahama was far more honest—both in thought and in action. She either did nothing, or went straight for the direct approach.
At this moment, Kotomi finally stopped giggling, lifting her head from the pillow and noticing that a blanket was draped over her.
There weren't many girls who had ever shared a bed with her, so Kotomi could easily tell whose blanket this was.
The texture… this was Yukino's blanket!
Having spent a night at Yukino's house before, Kotomi immediately recognized that the blanket covering her was Yukino Yukinoshita's. But even after identifying it, she couldn't understand why—and so she asked,
"Yukino, why did you cover me with your blanket?"
"I saw you burying your face in the pillow, your body trembling. I thought the classroom might've gotten colder and that you were freezing, so I covered you up in case you caught a chill."
Yukino Yukinoshita's reasoning was perfectly sound, leaving Kotomi momentarily speechless.
But what Kotomi hadn't expected was that Yukino had mistaken her laughter—her trembling shoulders—as signs of being cold.
For a moment, Kotomi felt a little touched. Yukino always appeared cold and aloof, but beneath that exterior, she was warm and gentle, someone who truly cared for others.
"Are you still cold?"
Yukino still thought Kotomi had been freezing, so she asked with concern.
"Not anymore, thank you."
Kotomi shook her head, sat up, and handed the blanket back to Yukino.
"As long as you're not cold anymore."
Yukino accepted the blanket and replied softly. As she did, her nose twitched slightly—catching the faint scent of Kotomi still lingering on the fabric. Though she hadn't had such intentions when she first covered Kotomi, once she smelled it, she suddenly wanted to let Kotomi keep her blanket for a little while longer.
Yukino, of course, was far too embarrassed to admit this thought, let alone say it aloud.
Yui Yuigahama, on the other hand, was far more straightforward.
Or perhaps, a little too straightforward…
Just as Kotomi sat up and returned the blanket to Yukino Yukinoshita, the little dumpling who had been lying in wait saw her chance. With a whoosh, she leapt forward, tackling both Kotomi and the blanket together, knocking them both down in one move.
"Waaah!"
Startled by the dumpling's sudden "attack," Kotomi couldn't help crying out in surprise.
Yukino, who was still holding her blanket, was equally stunned.
Both Kotomi and Yukino had the same question pop into their minds—What on earth is Yui trying to do?
After finally covering Kotomi with her own blanket, Yui Yuigahama rolled off her contentedly. But under Kotomi and Yukino's strange gazes, she suddenly felt her cheeks heat up.
Just now, she'd been so focused on the idea of letting Kotomi experience her blanket that her actions had turned out a bit too… direct.
Awkwardly scratching her cheek, Yui forced a laugh. Unable to come up with a proper excuse, she stiffly tried to explain,
"Ehem… well, when people see something beautiful, don't they just want to jump in and hug it?"
Yukino Yukinoshita still didn't quite understand what she meant.
Kotomi, on the other hand, was both exasperated and amused. She really wanted to grab a pillow and smack Yui a couple of times! Half laughing, half annoyed, she said,
"So you wanted to hug something beautiful, huh? Cute little Yui, thanks for the compliment~ In my eyes, you're something beautiful too. So—don't expect to sleep peacefully tonight! Your punishment is to let me hold you until morning!"
When Kotomi finished speaking, she hadn't expected Yui to be scared at all. Instead, Yui's eyes lit up.
"Wait—there's something that good?!"
Kotomi: "..."
Listening to the two of them, Yukino Yukinoshita stood up abruptly, cutting off the conversation. "I'm turning off the lights. Let's go to sleep."
"I remember I locked the doors earlier. Yukino, check again before turning off the lights," Kotomi reminded her.
"Got it." Yukino nodded.
She first made sure both doors of the Second Music Room were closed and locked securely. Only then did she flip the switch, and the entire room instantly plunged into darkness.
After turning off the lights, Yukino opened her phone and used its faint glow to find her way back to her bedding.
"Let's sleep."
Kotomi neatly folded her pajamas and undergarments, placed them aside, then pulled her blanket over herself. Lying down, she glanced to her left at Yui Yuigahama, and to her right at Yukino Yukinoshita, whispering expectantly to herself.
Yes—this was the moment she had applied to stay behind for rehearsals for!
To fall asleep with a beautiful girl on each side—that had been Kotomi's lifelong dream!
She even planned, once Yui and Yukino had both fallen asleep, to stretch her arms out in the most natural way possible—one hand gently around Yui, the other around Yukino.
The little dumpling really wasn't good at staying up late.
Only a few minutes after lying down, as the clock's hands reached ten o'clock, Kotomi heard the steady, peaceful breathing from Yui Yuigahama's side.
The dumpling was asleep.
Kotomi's heart thumped with excitement. Now all she needed was for Yukino to fall asleep too. Once both of them were asleep, she would stretch her arms to both sides and try to pull them into her embrace.
She had waited far too long for this moment!
Three minutes.
Ten minutes.
Thirty minutes…
Kotomi was dumbfounded. Though she had kept her eyes closed, pretending to sleep, she had been secretly watching Yukino the whole time, waiting for her to drift off.
But thirty whole minutes had passed, and Yukino hadn't fallen asleep at all. Covered under her blanket, she lay on her back, occasionally closing her eyes for a while, then opening them again to stare straight up at the ceiling. Kotomi couldn't tell what she was doing—or why she still wasn't asleep.
Even Kotomi herself was getting drowsy from waiting.
She even began to wonder—had Yukino figured out her plan? Was that why she was still awake, silently resisting her?
After a few more minutes, Yukino Yukinoshita slowly sat up. She was wearing her pajamas, but as if preparing to go out, she took them off and changed into her school uniform—shirt, skirt, and blazer.
After putting on her shoes, she turned toward Kotomi, who was still pretending to sleep, and asked softly,
"I can't sleep. I'm going to take a walk around the school. Are you coming with me, or are you going to keep pretending to be asleep?"
"..."
Kotomi's lips twitched slightly. She thought she had done a pretty convincing job of faking sleep, but apparently, Yukino had seen through it immediately.
Little Yukino was too smart—smart enough that it was almost unfair.
Realizing she'd been caught, Kotomi decided there was no point pretending anymore. She threw off her blanket, stood up quickly, and flashed a bright grin.
"Let's go~ take a walk."
However, Kotomi had stood up too quickly—and completely forgot one important thing…
Yukino froze in place, her face quickly turning crimson.
Even though they were both girls, Yukino couldn't help but be stunned. She was at a loss for words, even forgetting to avert her eyes, which she definitely should have done.
Seeing Yukino's shy, flustered expression, Kotomi found it unexpectedly fascinating. It was rare to see Yukino look embarrassed like this.
Just as Kotomi was about to ask if Yukino's face was red because the room was too warm, she suddenly felt a cool draft brush against her skin. She instinctively hunched her shoulders and, following the movement of her gaze downward, finally realized why Yukino was blushing so hard.
The reason was obvious.
Even so, Kotomi didn't seem overly flustered. Her cheeks turned slightly pink, but she spoke in a cheerful tone to lighten the mood:
"We're all girls here, right? No big deal~"
"Y-you'll catch a cold…"
Yukino finally snapped out of it. Realizing she had been staring absentmindedly, she grew even more embarrassed after Kotomi's teasing words. She quickly turned her gaze away, thankful that the lights were off—at least her blushing face wouldn't be too noticeable.
Little did she know, under the moonlight streaming through the window, Kotomi had already seen Yukino's rare and adorable blush clearly.
If not for the fear that Yukino might get too flustered and lose focus before their performance, Kotomi would have loved to take out her phone and snap a photo of her like this.
Maybe she could even use it as her wallpaper?
But then again, her current phone wallpaper—both lock screen and home screen—was already a picture of Iroha Isshiki.
Not long ago, Kotomi had explored her phone's wallpaper settings and discovered that it didn't have a function to group multiple wallpapers for rotation. It couldn't randomly switch between sets each time the phone started.
Tsk… If only I'd asked the store clerk when I bought my phone which models had that kind of wallpaper function, Kotomi thought to herself.
Yukino Yukinoshita turned her back, refusing to look at Kotomi. She was afraid that if she looked again, the blush on her face might not fade until morning.
Kotomi, meanwhile, acted perfectly calm, as if nothing had happened, and began getting dressed.
Even if Yukino hadn't looked away, Kotomi wouldn't have felt shy at all.
First, she was used to it—after all, Kotomi already had a girlfriend. And besides, Yukino was a girl too. How could she possibly feel embarrassed about this?
Second, Kotomi was extremely proud of her figure.
If Yukino didn't react after seeing her, Kotomi might've been annoyed instead.
"Yukino, let's go~"
"Your coat buttons aren't fastened," Yukino said softly, her voice carrying a faint note of embarrassment. She had turned around only after hearing the sound of rustling fabric stop. Kotomi had already changed into her school uniform—shirt and skirt—with her long black school coat draped loosely over it, unbuttoned.
"It's fine. We're just walking around the building anyway," Kotomi replied casually with a small shrug.
Sobu High School's uniforms were designed separately for summer, autumn, and winter. There was no special spring version, since students could just wear the autumn uniform during that season.
The mid-length black coat Kotomi wore was the school's winter uniform—neither too long nor too short, perfectly balanced in length.
Among all her clothes, that coat was one of Kotomi's favorites.
Mostly because, during her particularly chūni phase, she often imagined herself wearing a white trench coat with its buttons undone, the hem fluttering dramatically in the wind, the sound echoing in the stormy night. On the back of the coat was a black cross emblem. In her hand, she held a dark blade.
Enemy: "Y-you… who are you?!"
Kotomi: "I am the executor of divine judgment—the blazing inferno that scorches both heavens and earth—Kotomi Belmod Melina Lani!"
Enemy: "What?! You're—who exactly? Never heard of you."
Kotomi: "Ignorant fool, blind to my glory! I shall sever your life and soul, shred them into dust! Even killing you a million times wouldn't be enough!!!!!!!"
After putting on her shoes, Kotomi and Yukino Yukinoshita quietly left the Second Music Room. Since Yui was still asleep, Kotomi locked the door from the outside with her key.
At night, the school building felt cold and silent. As they passed by classrooms, some were completely dark, while others still glowed faintly with light.
In those lit rooms, some students were resting, while others were preparing for an all-night rehearsal.
Whether it was the cultural festival itself or the final night of rehearsals before it, both would become unforgettable memories for every student who took part.
Students from all grades participated in the festival—some were first-years who had just entered high school, others were second-years who had already experienced one festival, and there were also third-years, who would soon graduate after this final event at Sobu High School.
Next year, the second-years would become third-years, and today's first-years would one day take their place.
Year after year, students would leave Sobu High School, and new ones would arrive.
And through it all, Sobu High would remain where it always stood—silently watching its graduates depart, and welcoming each new generation that walked through its gates.
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