At the Yuigahama residence.
After finishing her phone call with her mother and telling her that she would be staying at the Yuigahamas' house tonight, Kotomi Izumi put down her phone.
Grumble...
Kotomi Izumi had originally planned to lie in bed for a while longer, but her stomach suddenly started growling from hunger.
Although she had eaten plenty of yakiniku at noon, she had also spent nearly eight hours exhausting herself throughout the afternoon. By now, Kotomi Izumi was already starving.
Kotomi Izumi propped herself up with one arm and sat upright on the bed. During the time she had spent talking to her mother, she had also recovered a little of her strength.
"Yui, do you have any spare pajamas? Let me borrow a pair," Kotomi Izumi said.
"I do! I'll get them for you!"
Yui Yuigahama had still been completely immersed in the joy of Kotomi is staying over tonight until she heard Kotomi's voice. Only then did she snap back to reality, nod vigorously, and spring upright before hurrying over to the wardrobe to find some pajamas for Kotomi.
Watching Yui Yuigahama move so energetically, Kotomi Izumi tugged at the corner of her mouth and thought helplessly,
I have the stamina boost from the Queen of All Females constitution, so why do I feel like I have less stamina than Yui right now?
Yui Yuigahama quickly found a set of brown long-sleeved pajamas decorated with several adorable little bears.
"Kotomi, are these okay?"
"Mm, they're fine. As long as I have pajamas to wear."
Kotomi Izumi accepted the pajamas from Yui Yuigahama. Although Yui's bust was not as large as Kotomi's, it was still quite substantial.
After all, figures as exaggerated and impressive as Kotomi's were usually something one only saw in manga or novels.
Therefore, when Kotomi Izumi put on Yui Yuigahama's pajamas, although they still felt somewhat tight around her chest, at least they were not like Yukino's pajamas, where the buttons became completely impossible to fasten once she reached chest level.
After fastening the buttons with a little effort, Kotomi Izumi sighed in relief and stretched. Just as she was about to try getting out of bed, she suddenly noticed Yui sitting beside her, staring at her in a complete daze.
Kotomi Izumi found it strange. She had no idea what this silly dumpling was staring at so intently.
But once Kotomi noticed exactly where Yui's gaze was directed, her pretty face immediately turned red. Embarrassed, she irritably knocked Yui on the head.
"You silly dumpling. I call you stupid, and you really decide to act stupid? Why are you staring at me like that?! If you want to compete with a baby for food, then at least get me pregnant first!"
Yui Yuigahama snapped back to reality. She froze for a moment, then cautiously yet expectantly asked,
"Then... should I try hard tonight?"
"Try hard, my foot!"
Kotomi Izumi irritably knocked Yui's little head again. After saying that, she blushed and quietly added,
"We can keep trying tomorrow..."
However, Kotomi Izumi's voice was so soft that Yui Yuigahama did not hear what she said clearly.
"Wife, what did you say? I didn't hear you."
Ever since Kotomi had given her permission to call her "wife" whenever the two of them were alone, Yui Yuigahama had become much bolder. Now she called Kotomi "wife" in a slightly excited tone.
Even though Kotomi Izumi herself had given Yui permission, when she actually heard Yui call her that, her cheeks still grew faintly hot with embarrassment.
"N-Nothing. If you didn't hear it, then you didn't hear it. That's your fault for not hearing."
Kotomi Izumi spoke with a red face, then extended a hand toward Yui.
"Help me up. I still don't have enough strength to get out of bed by myself."
"Oh, okay!"
Although she was extremely curious about what Kotomi had whispered just now, the moment she heard Kotomi's request, Yui hurriedly nodded and carefully helped her out of bed.
With Yui Yuigahama supporting her, Kotomi Izumi barely managed to stand steadily. She then took several deep breaths and tried to draw on the Queen of All Females constitution's stamina enhancement to recover a little more strength.
After several breaths, Kotomi Izumi could clearly feel that some more of her stamina had returned.
It was not much, but it was better than nothing.
Kotomi Izumi definitely did not want Yui Yuigahama supporting her when they went downstairs later. If it were only the two of them, then being helped by Yui would not matter.
But this was the Yuigahama residence. If Mrs. Yuigahama or Yuka saw Yui supporting her downstairs...
Whether it was Mrs. Yuigahama or Yuka, they would definitely wonder why Yui needed to support her.
If they asked Yui, the simple-minded girl would definitely be unable to come up with a convincing excuse.
The problem was that Kotomi Izumi herself had no idea what excuse she could invent either.
Could she say she accidentally twisted her ankle while going downstairs?
But a sprained ankle would only affect one leg. Both of Kotomi Izumi's legs were currently weak, so she could not even convincingly pretend to have twisted an ankle.
After thinking it over repeatedly, she decided that trying to recover as much stamina as possible before going downstairs was still the most reliable solution.
For an ordinary person, rapidly recovering after exhausting a huge amount of stamina would be impossible.
Fortunately, Kotomi Izumi was not an ordinary person. With the Queen of All Females constitution enhancing her stamina, she was confident that she could recover more than half her strength before reaching the first floor.
She might not recover enough to become bursting with energy again, but she should at least regain enough strength to walk by herself.
At the very least, she would not remain like this, with both legs barely able to keep her standing.
"Yui, support me and walk slowly."
While drawing on the Queen of All Females constitution to restore her stamina, Kotomi Izumi reminded Yui Yuigahama to walk slowly.
If they moved too quickly, then setting aside whether Kotomi could even keep up in her current unsteady condition, reaching the first floor too fast would also mean she would not have enough time to recover.
"Mm-hmm!" Yui Yuigahama nodded. "Kotomi, why don't I carry you downstairs on my back?"
In truth, even if Kotomi had not told her to slow down, Yui would have moved extremely slowly anyway. She could see that Kotomi was exhausted and naturally would not rush her.
"No need. I just don't have much stamina right now. It's not like my legs can't move."
Kotomi Izumi thought about it before shaking her head.
Given Yui's personality, if Kotomi really let her carry her downstairs, Yui would definitely carry her all the way to a chair in the kitchen before finally putting her down.
If Mrs. Yuigahama and Yuka saw Yui carrying her downstairs on her back, that would be even harder to explain!
"All right."
Yui Yuigahama nodded and then carefully supported Kotomi as they slowly walked downstairs.
Along the way, Kotomi Izumi continuously drew upon the Queen of All Females constitution.
Although the constitution had been rather useless while she and Yui were being intimate, its various enhancements were extremely effective during ordinary situations.
During the time Yui Yuigahama spent helping Kotomi downstairs, Kotomi Izumi had already used the Queen of All Females constitution to recover more than half of her stamina.
When they reached the final stair, Kotomi Izumi patted Yui's shoulder and said with a smile,
"All right, Yui. You don't need to support me anymore. I can walk by myself now."
"Eh? Are you really okay? Kotomi, don't force yourself," Yui Yuigahama said worriedly.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Trust me."
Only after Kotomi repeatedly assured her that she was completely fine did Yui Yuigahama carefully let go.
Even then, Yui did not fully pull her hand away, so that if Kotomi suddenly lost her balance, she could catch her immediately.
Yui's attentiveness often revealed itself in tiny details like these.
With the help of the Queen of All Females constitution, Kotomi Izumi had recovered part of her stamina and walked into the kitchen with relatively light steps.
Mrs. Yuigahama, who was preparing dinner, heard the footsteps and turned around. When she saw Kotomi, she smiled and asked,
"Kotomi, are you staying for dinner? Auntie is making hamburger steak tonight~"
"Sure. Hamburger steak is one of my favorites. By the way, Auntie Tomoka, can I stay here tonight? I promised Yui that I'd tutor her in biology over the weekend."
"I originally planned to use the afternoon to tutor her, but Yui and I started playing around and completely forgot about studying."
After speaking, Kotomi Izumi gave an embarrassed laugh. Both her explanation and her tone sounded completely convincing.
Kotomi is staying tonight? Yay! Ahem. Seriously, this isn't even the first time Kotomi has stayed over. Why am I still this happy every time I hear it...? Yui Yuigahama thought.
Out loud, however, she said,
"No problem!"
"Haha, then I'll be imposing," Kotomi Izumi said politely.
"How could that possibly count as imposing? Auntie couldn't be happier to have you stay! To tell you the truth, I'd actually love it if you stayed here for several days!"
Only halfway through did Mrs. Yuigahama suddenly realize that she sounded far too enthusiastic.
Those were hardly the sort of words a girl's mother would normally say to her daughter's girlfriend.
Her mature, beautiful face reddened slightly, and she hurriedly added,
"Ahem... What I mean is, it's wonderful that you can stay!
Yui's grades have improved a lot recently, but compared with you, Kotomi, she's still far behind.
Besides, this girl isn't especially quick-witted, and she's also shy. Sometimes she clearly doesn't understand something from class but feels too embarrassed to ask.
Kotomi, I'm really grateful that you're willing to stay and tutor Yui. Auntie doesn't even know how to thank you."
Madam, the best way you could thank me would be for you and Yui to marry me together!
Kotomi Izumi thought with turbulent emotion.
She truly wanted to say those words aloud to Mrs. Yuigahama.
However, when she remembered that her relationship with Mrs. Yuigahama had not yet progressed that far, and that she had not even confessed to Yui about her feelings for Mrs. Yuigahama, Kotomi Izumi could only bury those words deep inside her heart.
She would wait for some future day when she could finally say them aloud.
Hiding what she truly wanted to say, Kotomi Izumi smiled softly and replied,
"It's fine. Teaching Yui also helps me reinforce my own understanding of the material."
As Kotomi Izumi spoke, she helped bring out bowls, chopsticks, and plates.
She did not look at all like someone who had been too exhausted to get out of bed only ten minutes earlier.
After setting the table, Kotomi Izumi glanced toward the living room and saw Yuka sitting on the sofa reading a picture book of fairy tales.
The moment she saw Yuka, Kotomi suddenly remembered that Yuka did not seem to have gone upstairs even once throughout the entire afternoon.
When Kotomi and Yui first started being intimate that afternoon, Kotomi had been worried that Yuka might hear something.
Because of that, she had forced herself to remain somewhat clearheaded, constantly listening for sounds outside so she could push Yui away the moment she heard footsteps near the stairs.
However, after struggling to remain clearheaded for more than an hour, Kotomi Izumi realized that Yuka still had not come upstairs even once.
After that, Kotomi stopped forcing herself to remain clearheaded.
Mainly because staying lucid for over an hour had already been Kotomi's absolute limit.
She would not have lasted even one minute longer...
"Auntie Tomoka, did Yuka stay in the living room the entire afternoon?" Kotomi Izumi asked curiously as she moved closer to Mrs. Yuigahama.
Tomoka Yuigahama glanced toward the living room and also looked somewhat puzzled.
"Come to think of it, she really did. After lunch, Yuka never went upstairs again.
She watched Action Mask in the living room for a while, then took a nap on the sofa. After waking up, she played with building blocks by herself for a while.
After that, she just sat there reading fairy-tale picture books."
It's almost as if she knew Yui and I were being intimate upstairs and deliberately stayed downstairs the entire afternoon so she wouldn't disturb us... Kotomi Izumi thought inwardly.
However, the moment the thought appeared in Kotomi Izumi's mind, she immediately rejected it.
Yuka might be smart, but Kotomi Izumi did not think she was that smart yet.
After thinking about it briefly and failing to reach any conclusion, Kotomi Izumi stopped dwelling on the matter.
Instead, she went into the living room to call Yuka for dinner.
"Yuka, put the storybook down for now. Come eat dinner," Kotomi Izumi said with a soft laugh.
The moment Yuka heard Kotomi Izumi's voice, she raised her head in delighted surprise and asked expectantly,
"Penguin Onee-chan, are you staying here tonight?"
"Of course I am."
Kotomi Izumi stroked Yuka's little head.
"Then Penguin Onee-chan, can you sleep with me tonight? I want you to tell me a bedtime story!"
Yuka asked with slightly excited anticipation, as though she had been looking forward to this for a very, very long time.
However, the instant Yuka finished speaking, Yui Yuigahama, who was helping her mother carry dishes out of the kitchen, hurriedly said,
"No!"
"Why?! I want to sleep with Penguin Onee-chan! Onee-chan, you're such a stingy meanie!"
Yuka refused to back down. With a whoosh, she climbed onto Kotomi Izumi's back.
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