After getting Ona Sagawa's LINE, Kotomi Izumi immediately "pressed her advantage" and managed to get Ona Sagawa's phone number too.
Satisfied, Kotomi Izumi let out a pleased chuckle. As she ate her noodles, she thought that today's Ramen Jiro tasted especially delicious.
Originally, she had only planned to visit this Ramen Jiro branch for a few bowls before her trip to Kyoto. Although there was also a Ramen Jiro branch in Kyoto, when she had gone there last time, she felt the taste wasn't very good—and the portions weren't nearly big enough. It had all the greasiness of Ramen Jiro but none of its signature richness and generous quantity.
Kotomi Izumi swore to herself that she had really come only to eat noodles. After all, she had no idea she would run into Ona Sagawa today.
After finishing her noodles, Kotomi grabbed a bottle of iced oolong tea and gulped it down in one go.
After eating twenty-five extra-large bowls of ramen, two large pork rice bowls, and one bottle of oolong tea, it truly wasn't quite enough to quench her thirst.
...
After returning home, Kotomi Izumi first opened LINE to message all her future wives—ahem—that is, her beloved "big sisters" and "little sisters."
She started with Megumi Kato.
[Megumi, I just woke up. Good morning~ I'll be heading to Kyoto at 6 p.m. tonight. If you miss me, feel free to call anytime~ I highly recommend a video call!!! Hehe, by the way, I dreamed of you last night~]
After sending the message to Megumi Kato, Kotomi didn't wait idly for a reply. Although the sky was already beginning to brighten, it was still only six in the morning. It was a rare vacation day, so Megumi would surely want to sleep in.
Kotomi long-pressed her own message, copied it, then opened Utaha Kasumigaoka's chat, pasted the same message, and simply replaced "Megumi" with "Senpai Utaha."
Successfully sent.
Copy, paste, rename… Kotomi repeated this process several times. Every girl she had a good relationship with received the same message—except Yukino Yukinoshita, Yui Yuigahama, and Aimi Izumi.
She didn't send it to Yukino and Yui because both of them were going to Kyoto with her. If she copied, pasted, and sent the same message to them, Yukino and Yui would immediately feel something was off.
Yui was a little airheaded, so she might not notice and would probably just be happily giggling that Kotomi had messaged her "good morning." But Yukino was sharp—within minutes, she'd probably figure it out.
And if Yukino told Yui… good grief, that little jealous Yui would explode on the spot.
Although they had only been dating for less than a month, Kotomi Izumi had already realized that the seemingly docile Yui Yuigahama was, in fact, a rather jealous girl.
Now, jealousy in itself wasn't the problem. Megumi Kato also got jealous from time to time—but at least Megumi knew to express it, so Kotomi could immediately tell when she was upset.
Yui Yuigahama, on the other hand, would get jealous and just sulk quietly, keeping it bottled up in her heart while overthinking everything by herself. Sometimes it made Kotomi want to pin her down and give her a few good smacks on her cute little bottom.
As for why she didn't message Aimi Izumi? Kotomi knew exactly why. If she sent that kind of message to Aimi, Aimi would treat it like a battle trumpet, and then—forget leaving the house—Kotomi probably wouldn't even be able to get out of bed.
After all, ever since Kotomi discovered that Aimi sneaked into her bedroom every night to do that with her, she had always been pretending to be asleep… Kotomi thought to herself.
Once all the messages were sent, Kotomi Izumi opened Kiyoko Matsumatsu's chat.
Kotomi Izumi: [Online? Game time—Barotrauma.]
On the other side, Kiyoko Matsumatsu had woken up early and couldn't fall back asleep. She threw off her blanket, propped her pillow up against the wall, and leaned back with her headphones on.
It had been a week since she last "rewarded" herself. Since she had woken up early today, she decided she might as well reward herself a few times.
Opening a familiar yellow-and-black website, Kiyoko searched for a while but couldn't find anything that suited her taste. So she switched to a red-and-black one and kept looking, unhurriedly.
After all, one of the pleasures of "rewarding" herself was in the process of searching through countless videos to find the perfect one.
Suppressing her excitement, Kiyoko Matsumatsu kept reminding herself to be patient. She only rewarded herself once a week—so the video she picked had to be worthy of her time.
If she couldn't find the right one, she could always open her browser bookmarks and revisit a few of her all-time favorites.
"Oh, oh! This is it!"
Among the countless videos, Kiyoko finally found the one she liked. Just as she was about to click play, a LINE notification popped up from Kotomi Izumi.
[Online? Game time—Barotrauma.]
Recently, Kotomi Izumi and Kiyoko Matsumatsu had bought a new game together called Barotrauma. They had downloaded it some time ago but never found the chance to play together. Although the game could be played solo, Kotomi didn't dare to play it alone.
After all, once you grow up, you realize—the most precious gaming peripheral isn't a graphics card, controller, keyboard, or mouse. It's the friend who has time and is willing to play the same game with you.
Kiyoko's reply came quickly.
Kiyoko Matsumatsu: [I swear, you little cutie, I just opened my eyes, and the first thing I see is you asking me to play a game with you. Fine, fine—but could you at least pick something light and cute for a morning game? No, of course not. You just had to pick Barotrauma. You know I'm on a diet, right? Trying to save me from breakfast, are you?]
Though her reply sounded grumpy, Kiyoko still took off her headphones and began putting on her pajamas properly.
Kotomi Izumi: [So aggressive? I see how it is. You weren't asleep—you were about to reward yourself, weren't you? I must've interrupted. Be good~ I'm heading to Kyoto tonight, so keep me company in-game, and I'll send you some pretty pictures~]
[I'm changing into my pajamas right now~]
Kotomi mischievously added that last sentence on purpose.
Kiyoko had planned to refuse—but after reading Kotomi's final message, by the time she came back to her senses, she was already sitting in her chair, with her PC booting up.
Kiyoko Matsumatsu: [Honestly, I can't deal with you. But hey, that's what good friends are for, right? Let's call this my morning wake-up session. Only I treat you this well. I'm online. I've played Barotrauma a few times already, so I'll guide you through it.]
Kotomi Izumi: [Thank you, gentle Kiyoko-onee~]
Kiyoko Matsumatsu: [When we're done, don't forget to send those pretty pictures.]
Kotomi Izumi: [Hehe~]
Kotomi Izumi and Kiyoko Matsumatsu played their game for about an hour.
Under Kiyoko's guidance, Kotomi gradually learned the basic controls of Barotrauma.
"Finally figured it out. Thanks, Kiyoko~" Kotomi said happily.
"Haha… next time, let's just play a game we both actually know," Kiyoko said, gulping down water—not because she was thirsty, but because she felt like a mountain bike that had just finished a steep downhill ride. Pour water on her brakes and they'd start smoking.
Thinking back to Kotomi's hilarious blunders while she was explaining the game, Kiyoko felt like if she didn't cool herself down, her blood pressure would've shattered the ceiling in seconds.
If only she had some blood pressure medication nearby—otherwise, she might've needed to take a pill after every few sentences while teaching Kotomi.
"Alright, I'm done. If you want to keep playing, go ahead. Playing Barotrauma this early in the morning… I didn't feel like napping before, but after this, all I want is to crawl into bed and sleep until afternoon," Kiyoko grumbled, ready to take off her headset and end the call.
"Oh, okay~ I was thinking of switching to another game anyway. But if you're done, I'll stop too. When I get back from Kyoto, let's play Rainbow Six Siege together."
"Sure, have a safe trip~ Oh, right—Kotomi, uh… cough, cough… about those 'pretty pictures' you mentioned earlier, don't forget to send them."
Just thinking about it made Kiyoko's heart flutter. After all, Kotomi had added that extra line earlier—'I'm changing into my pajamas right now~'
The moment she saw that, Kiyoko's mind went wild. Maybe she didn't even need to use videos for her "reward" today.
"Sure thing~ Just a moment," Kotomi replied cheerfully.
After that, Kotomi ended the voice chat, closed Steam, and sent Kiyoko what she had promised—the "pretty ones."
When she heard the LINE notification, Kiyoko leapt onto her bed, grabbed her phone excitedly, and opened Kotomi's messages with eager anticipation.
And then…
Before she could even start her "reward," Kiyoko entered a monk-like calm state.
Why? Because the "pretty ones" Kotomi had sent were videos of her cats, Dragon and Phoenix, rolling around high on catnip—along with a clip of them playing with a feather toy.
Kiyoko Matsumatsu: [This is what you meant by pretty?!]
Kotomi Izumi: [What, you don't think they're cute? My cats are adorable!]
Kiyoko Matsumatsu: [Huh?! Then why did you say you were changing into pajamas?!]
Kotomi Izumi: [Just chatting~ It slipped out, that's all.]
[Ahh~ I get it now. You thought I'd send you a picture of me changing, didn't you?]
Kiyoko Matsumatsu: [Ha! Don't call me next time you want to play!]
Kotomi Izumi: [Alright, alright, Kiyoko—if you really want to see, then just become my mistress. Wouldn't that give you all the access you want?]
Kiyoko Matsumatsu: [Get lost! I'm not settling for mistress status—I want a proper title and a grand wedding!]
Kotomi Izumi: [I'm going to sleep now.]
Kiyoko Matsumatsu: [Unbelievable. You drag me into gaming at dawn, and now you're just going to bed with a simple 'I'm going to sleep now'?]
Kotomi Izumi: [Since you put it that way, why don't you come over and nap with me? I'll save you a spot.]
Kiyoko Matsumatsu: [My mom's calling me for breakfast. I'm not talking to you anymore!]
In the end, Kotomi Izumi came out victorious once again—leaving Kiyoko so flustered she didn't even know how to reply.
...
Before heading to the airport, Arisu Sakayanagi didn't forget to buy a gift for Kotomi Izumi.
"Hey, Atsuki, help me find a store nearby that sells Gundam models."
"There's one in Kumamoto, but it'll take a while to get there."
"That's fine. My flight's this afternoon anyway. We'll stop by the Gundam store first—I want to buy something for Kotomi."
"Miss Izumi likes Gundam models too?" Atsuki asked curiously.
"Mhm, she loves them," Arisu Sakayanagi replied with a gentle laugh. "Though her hands aren't exactly nimble. She's not very good at assembling them, yet she insists on picking the most complex and time-consuming models."
"Well, the ones with higher difficulty and longer build time usually come with tons of parts," Atsuki remarked.
It didn't take long before they arrived at a Gundam store in Kumamoto.
Walking in with her cane, Arisu glanced around at the shelves. She wasn't particularly interested in Gundam herself—but since Kotomi loved them, she had spent the past few years watching several Gundam series, memorizing the names of every model Kotomi liked.
"Atsuki, I'll name the models. You load them all into the cart—along with every related accessory pack."
"Understood."
"First, the MGEX Strike Freedom, MG Aile Strike Backpack, Metal Build Crossbone Gundam Full Cloth, and Unicorn…"
"Miss Arisu, there are two versions of the Unicorn—a PG Unicorn and a PG Perfectibility Unicorn."
"Get both. I want them all—light kits, weapon packs, accessory sets—everything. If one cart isn't enough, get another."
"Right away."
And so, the shop owner and his wife stood there, dumbfounded, watching as a refined young lady with a cane calmly issued commands, while a maid pushed cart after cart, pulling down box after box of Gundam kits, parts, lighting systems, and weapon sets.
The couple had opened the store after marrying, out of a shared love for Gundam—and a desire to avoid overtime work. They had no other employees, just the two of them running the shop for the past two years.
They had never seen anything like this.
Plenty of people came in to browse, but most would leave without buying much. Fortunately, their online store handled the bulk of their income—because in the physical shop, they usually sold maybe one or two kits a day. Some days, not even one. Without online sales, they could barely pay for utilities.
"Um… miss, are you sure you want all of these?" the shopkeeper's wife asked nervously. If the customer changed her mind after taking so many boxes, restocking them would take ages.
Arisu didn't answer immediately—she was still busy recalling which models Kotomi liked most. When she finally noticed the worried tone, she gave a small cough and shot Atsuki a look while pulling a card from her wallet.
Atsuki immediately stopped stacking boxes, took the card from Arisu, and walked over to the owners.
"If there's enough money on this card, please charge the full amount. If not, consider it a deposit."
"O-Of course!" The husband and wife nodded quickly.
Half an hour later, Arisu had picked out thirty Gundam kits—all models she knew Kotomi liked. That didn't even include the extra packs, weapons, stands, and lighting kits.
The payment was processed.
After selling thirty boxes in a single purchase, the owners could hardly stand straight. Still, they carefully wrapped every box in protective foam and respectfully carried them all to the car.
Arisu's Rolls-Royce Phantom was parked back in Chiba—but that wasn't a problem. The Sakayanagi family owned a villa in Kumamoto, built specifically for Arisu. It was normally closed, with a maid team coming in every Wednesday to clean.
Her other car—a Rolls-Royce Cullinan—was parked at that villa.
When the couple saw the Cullinan parked out front, their jaws dropped.
Someone had actually come to buy Gundam models in a Rolls-Royce?
Sitting inside the car, Arisu gazed at the trunk filled nearly to the brim with Gundam boxes and sighed softly.
"It still feels like too little. If only the trunk were bigger."
"Miss Arisu, with Miss Izumi's building speed, these thirty kits—and all the extra packs and tools—will keep her busy for quite a while…" Atsuki said cautiously.
"But it still doesn't feel enough. I want to give Kotomi the very best in the world."
"Atsuki, when we return to Chiba, buy the largest shop space near Kotomi's home. Fill it with every toy she loves. Then, inside, build her a spacious, brightly lit workshop. Get her the best tools too. And don't open it to the public—this will be Kotomi's Toy House. Only Kotomi and I will be allowed to enter."
Arisu smiled as she spoke. This wasn't some impulsive whim. She remembered something Kotomi had once said when they were children.
"Arisu, do you think there's a toy house somewhere in the world? A big, big house filled with all the toys I love!"
Recalling the innocent smile on Kotomi's face when she said that, Arisu's lips curved into a tender smile. In her heart, she whispered:
Kotomi, whatever you wish for, I'll make it come true—one by one.
Because I love you. And I want you to be the happiest woman in the world.
—
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