When Kotomi Izumi heard that, she couldn't help but laugh as she looked into Yui Yuigahama's serious little eyes.
"Are you really jealous?"
The silly dumpling pulled the blanket tighter around herself and leaned her head against Kotomi's chest, as if declaring that this spot belonged solely to her.
"I know why you pushed me away earlier," Yui said softly. "But still… I couldn't help feeling a little upset. You spoil Yuka so much—it makes me kind of… jealous."
Kotomi felt like her lips were about to go numb from smiling. She hadn't expected her usually well-behaved Yui to reveal such a jealous side after they started dating.
Sometimes, Yui's jealousy was on par with Megumi Kato's.
She even got jealous over her own little sister.
"So, you're jealous because I spoil Yuka too much? Alright then, from now on, I'll give her the cold shoulder whenever I see her. How about that?"
"That's not what I meant!" Yui said quickly, taking it seriously. "It's just… could you maybe share a bit of that affection you give Yuka with me too? Sometimes when I see how you treat her, it feels like you're a mom doting on her daughter."
Kotomi chuckled softly. "Yuka's so cute and well-behaved—if I really had a daughter like her, I'd be overjoyed. Of course I'd spoil her endlessly."
But those words, when they reached Yui Yuigahama's ears, carried an entirely different meaning.
Her face turned red almost instantly, the blush spreading to her ears. Then, in a timid but determined voice, she said:
"Then… let's work hard together, okay? I want to give you a baby that's super cute and super sweet, just like Yuka…"
"Eh?"
Kotomi was momentarily stunned by Yui's words.
Seeing Kotomi not respond right away, Yui thought she might be dissatisfied, so she blushed even deeper and added shyly:
"If one isn't enough… then maybe we can have two… But if we have too many, we might not be able to afford it…"
Then, after a brief pause, she mumbled again, "But if you really love kids and want a big family, then I'll work extra hard. Once I take over the dumpling cake shop, I'll make lots of popular desserts, open more branches, and earn plenty of money to take care of you and our children."
Yui's face was completely red, but she spoke with a mix of bashfulness and excitement, describing her dream for the future.
Her dreams weren't grand. Having never left Japan since she was born, her world was small compared to Kotomi's—who had traveled abroad by plane and ship even as a child, seeing different countries and cultures. Yui's family wasn't well-off, so to her, true happiness meant earning a stable income, taking care of her mother and sister, and building a warm, loving home with the person she loved.
As for "poetry and distant places"? Yui admired the idea—but deep down, she thought of it as a beautiful, unreachable dream.
Kotomi reached out and held Yui close, gently patting her back. Feeling how thin she was, Kotomi couldn't help but wonder, Does she even eat properly?
"If we ever do get married," Kotomi said softly, "I definitely won't let you work yourself that hard. You don't have to close the shop, but you should run it however you like—open when you want, rest when you feel like it. Enjoy life a little. As for kids, we can have as many as we want."
"Mom always said you can't make good desserts if you work on and off," Yui murmured shyly, face still flushed.
"Then just make them for me every day~"
"Okay." Yui nodded seriously, still nestled in Kotomi's arms.
Whether it was that gentle yet resolute "okay," or the brush of Yui's soft hair against her skin as she nodded, something inside Kotomi began to itch—her heart fluttering in a mix of warmth and desire.
Her gaze softened, her voice lowering into a tender whisper.
"Yui, didn't you just say you wanted me to tell you two bedtime stories?" Kotomi murmured with a teasing smile. "Hehe… Tonight, I am your bedtime story. Read me carefully~"
Her seductive tone wrapped around Yui like invisible silk threads—like a spider weaving a web of temptation. Before Yui realized it, Kotomi's voice and presence had already ensnared her whole heart.
...
But in the midst of it all, Kotomi Izumi, who had gone straight upstairs after her bath, seemed to have forgotten one small thing.
That small thing was her phone—still in Mrs. Yuigahama's hands.
After finishing her conversation with Akina Izumi, Mrs. Yuigahama hung up and prepared to return Kotomi Izumi's phone. She recalled that Kotomi had gone to take a bath.
When she arrived at the bathroom door, however, she found it empty—Kotomi had already finished.
Just as she was about to head upstairs to give the phone back, a realization struck her. Kotomi and Yui were now dating—and earlier that very morning, they had already shown how close they'd become.
Although Mrs. Yuigahama felt that it might be a little soon for the two girls to be that affectionate, she also knew how it was for new couples. When love was fresh, everything about the other person seemed dazzling; even sitting together and looking into each other's eyes was enough to make the heart race.
Now, Kotomi and Yui were upstairs in the same bedroom. It wouldn't be strange if they were… sharing some private closeness again.
The mere thought of such a scene flashed through Mrs. Yuigahama's mind, and she could feel her face heating up uncontrollably. Quickly, she set Kotomi's phone aside and splashed her face with cold water to calm down.
After all, Mrs. Yuigahama was a mother of two. She was no longer a naïve girl who didn't understand such things.
Besides, she was also an illustrator—one whose drawings were known for being especially detailed and expressive. Her specialty, in fact, leaned toward romantic and mature themes.
To be honest, when she first started drawing that way, it wasn't intentional. She simply drew based on her instincts, but when she completed her first illustration, she realized it carried a surprisingly bold tone. Since the style became popular and well-received, Mrs. Yuigahama decided to refine it further, playing to her strengths and steadily improving.
In order to polish her skills, she often studied professional materials and references, analyzing composition and expression. Her familiarity with emotional nuance and subtle gestures naturally grew from there.
And so, Mrs. Yuigahama could easily imagine what Kotomi and Yui might be doing upstairs—not because she was prying, but because she understood affection all too well.
Her experience as both an artist and a woman made her sensitive to the delicate emotions of love, and she couldn't help but smile knowingly at the thought.
Then, after taking a deep breath, Mrs. Yuigahama picked up Kotomi's phone again, hesitated briefly, and finally began to walk toward the stairs.
After washing her face, Mrs. Yuigahama let out a quiet sigh.
Her cheeks still carried a faint warmth, but she managed to calm the strange flutter that had risen in her chest moments earlier.
After drying her hands with a towel, she picked up Kotomi Izumi's phone again. For a moment, she considered bringing it upstairs—but if she happened to walk in on Kotomi and Yui during a private moment, the situation would undoubtedly become very awkward.
Just then, Kotomi's phone displayed a low battery warning—less than 10% remaining.
After a short thought, Mrs. Yuigahama decided to leave the phone charging in the living room. That way, when Kotomi woke up in the morning and came downstairs, she'd find it fully charged and easy to locate.
She plugged it in, and as soon as the low-battery pop-up disappeared, the phone's lock screen appeared.
The wallpaper hadn't changed—it was still a photo of Kotomi and Iroha Isshiki at Enoshima.
"This girl in the picture—her name's Iroha Isshiki, right? She came to the cultural festival yesterday too. I heard she's Kotomi's sister's friend… But Kotomi and her sister's friend seem awfully close, don't they? It doesn't even look like her sister was there that day."
Mrs. Yuigahama murmured softly, recalling the look in Iroha's eyes when she had glanced at Kotomi during the festival. That playful, tender gaze lingered in her mind, making her curious about their relationship.
"Ah, what a terrible habit I have," she muttered, patting her own cheek with a self-deprecating smile. "Always reading too much into things… But, well, since Kotomi is dating Yui, it's natural for me—as Yui's mother—to be a little curious about the people around her. Perfectly reasonable. Yes, perfectly reasonable."
Still, when she looked again at Kotomi's lock screen, an inexplicable feeling of wistfulness rose in her chest. She noticed it, but couldn't quite admit to herself what it was. Instead, she convinced herself that she was simply wondering why Kotomi hadn't changed her wallpaper, even after starting to date Yui.
"It's a bit inappropriate, isn't it?" she muttered. "Even if they're just friends… I wonder if Yui's seen this wallpaper, or if she knows about it. Then again, with her personality, she'd probably just pretend not to notice and quietly feel hurt inside."
Mrs. Yuigahama sighed softly. "Should I talk to Kotomi about it sometime? No… this is something between them. I shouldn't interfere."
With that, she set Kotomi's phone down, letting it continue to charge, and walked back toward her room, acting as though nothing had happened.
She sat in her small work corner for a while, planning to draw for an hour before bed. But no matter how she tried, her hand wouldn't move smoothly. After struggling for ten minutes, she gave up, shut off the computer, and decided to sleep instead.
Late at night.
The Yuigahama household lay in silence.
Before heading to bed, Mrs. Yuigahama had turned off all the lights on the first floor. The living room was pitch dark—only Kotomi's phone rested on the coffee table, its charging cable glowing faintly.
Then—buzz…
The phone vibrated softly, and its screen lit up.
A call was coming in.
Megumi Kato was calling Kotomi Izumi.
But at this moment, Kotomi was still upstairs, in Yui's room—entirely unaware of the call.
The two were wrapped in quiet closeness, their voices low and filled with laughter and affection, the night around them soft and endless.
"Ko–Kotomi… I'm getting a little tired…"
"Hehe, hang in there a bit longer. I'm not quite done yet~"
"…Kotomi, can we rest for a minute? I'm starting to see stars in front of my eyes."
"Just a little more," Yui whispered playfully, her voice light with joy. "I still want to stay like this a while longer."
"You really are such a greedy little dumpling," Kotomi said with a playful smile. "Alright then, let's stay like this until morning…"
...
Meanwhile, Megumi Kato frowned slightly when her call went unanswered once again. The phone rang for a long time before automatically disconnecting.
She had called Kotomi Izumi three times, yet Kotomi hadn't answered any of them.
The first time it happened, Megumi thought maybe Kotomi had already gone to bed. But then she glanced at the time—Kotomi never slept this early. Usually, she would either be gaming on her computer or lying on her bed watching anime. Going to sleep this soon didn't seem like her at all.
So Megumi tried again. Then again.
Still, no answer.
Lying on her stomach across the bed, she pouted slightly, staring at Kotomi's name on her contact list and murmured:
"Wife, I know how much you love looking at the night sky. It's really beautiful tonight. I wanted to call and tell you, so we could look up at it together while hearing each other's voices through the phone... But why aren't you picking up? Did you go to sleep early today?"
Letting out a soft sigh, Megumi got out of bed, padding barefoot to the window. She opened it gently and leaned forward against the frame.
The rain had stopped about an hour ago. The night sky after the rain was breathtaking—stars glittered across the heavens, as if slowly falling in an illusion of motion. The air was cool and crisp, the moon hung luminous and round among the constellations. The entire sky felt vast and peaceful, wrapped in quiet harmony.
The autumn breeze after the rain was chilly. Megumi exhaled softly, watching her warm breath turn into a faint mist before fading away.
She lifted her gaze toward the stars, her eyes distant and full of wonder. In her heart, she imagined Kotomi standing beside her—her arm gently around Kotomi's shoulder, the two of them quietly admiring the same night sky together.
Maybe Kotomi is standing by her window right now too, Megumi thought, looking up at this same sky. Maybe she got so absorbed in the stars that she forgot to charge her phone, and it ran out of battery—that's why she didn't answer.
Thinking this, she looked out in the direction of Kotomi's home, a small, contented smile softening her lips. The thought that they might still be sharing the same sky brought her a strange sense of comfort.
As for why she didn't just turn on her tablet and check through the owl plushie's built-in micro camera—well, that was simple. She had accidentally broken her tablet last time. And since it was connected to the camera hidden in the owl's eyes, she couldn't risk taking it to a repair shop.
So she had started learning to fix it herself, even buying a repair kit online. But the delivery was slow—it would take another two days to arrive.
Picking up her phone again, Megumi found the best angle and took a few photos of the starry sky.
"These turned out great," she murmured happily. "The sky looks amazing tonight! I never used to care much for stargazing, but after being with Kotomi, I guess it rubbed off on me. Hehe, she's probably standing there, totally lost in thought, not even realizing her phone's dead. When she finally notices and reaches for it, she's going to make that cute little face like she's about to cry. Just imagining it makes my heart melt! I should take a few more photos and show them to her tomorrow morning on our way to school. She'll love them—her face when she sees something she likes is always the cutest!"
After choosing her favorite shots, Megumi finally closed the window and climbed back into bed, feeling content.
Kotomi always smiled so brightly whenever she saw something she loved.
Megumi couldn't help but look forward to seeing that same expression tomorrow when she showed her the night sky photos.
Before turning off her phone, she glanced one last time at her wallpaper—a picture from the day she and Kotomi had gone to the cinema for the first time together.
Remembering that first meeting, Megumi felt a deep sense of happiness. Back then, she had wished that one day she could be with Kotomi—and she had worked hard toward that dream. Now, that wish had come true.
To be Kotomi's girlfriend was, to her, the most wonderful thing in the world.
"Kotomi… good night~" she whispered softly, her voice full of quiet joy.
—
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