All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

"Senpai, does it taste good?"

Kotomi Izumi and Iroha Isshiki sat together on a seaside bench, sharing a cup of milk tea. Iroha said it felt very romantic, and Kotomi also understood that sharing a drink, just like feeding each other a bite, carried a touch of romantic atmosphere.

If there were truly a list of "things that couples in love must do," as Iroha described, these two activities would surely be included.

"It's alright. The taste is pretty good."

Kotomi nodded.

Usually, if she wasn't with friends, Kotomi rarely thought about drinking milk tea. Even when she went to milk tea shops, she would only buy lemonade or ice cream.

"But Senpai, you hardly drank any. Most of it was me," Iroha said, her pretty face clouded with a layer of disappointment. "Could it be... Senpai dislikes me and doesn't want to share the same cup with me? I'm sorry, I was too abrupt and didn't consider your feelings."

Kotomi quickly explained, "That's not how it is! It's just that I'm simply not used to drinking milk tea. Although I really like sweets, I don't drink milk tea often because, when I was a child, every time I drank it, I felt dizzy afterward."

After hearing Kotomi's explanation, Iroha's gloomy expression instantly vanished as if it had never existed, making Kotomi strongly suspect that she had once again fallen for this little devil's "charm."

"Oh, oh~~ I've noted it down. One of Senpai's weaknesses: not used to drinking milk tea, and feels dizzy afterward. Thanks for the intel!"

"Why are you recording such trivial things for no reason?!" Kotomi lightly knocked Iroha's little head again.

Perhaps because Iroha was Aimi's best friend and spent a lot of time with her, Kotomi knocking Iroha's head felt as natural as knocking Aimi's.

The more she did it, the more addictive it became.

"Achoo!"

Having just finished her homework, Aimi Izumi suddenly sneezed, sniffled, and murmured to herself:

"Could it be the air conditioning has been on for too long?"

She turned off the air conditioner with a flick of her hand.

Then, Aimi sat on her chair and pouted her little face in dissatisfaction as she thought about how her sister had gone out to have fun without her again:

"Onee-chan, you idiot! I thought she'd come straight home after sending Sakaeyanagi-senpai back, but she went out on her own without saying a word. Even though she had already informed Mom and Dad in advance, she should have at least told me, her sister!"

Her heart felt uncomfortable. Could it be that her sister had secretly gone to see Megumi Kato behind her back again?!

No, no, I must be too sensitive lately. Megumi Kato isn't in Chiba City right now; she's in Hokkaido. At least this weekend, I don't need to worry at all.

Thinking of this, Aimi Izumi breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that her sister had probably just gone out for a walk to look for inspiration for writing or drawing manga.

After all, her sister was no longer the useless one who needed her care in everything. She was now a somewhat famous light novel author and manga artist.

In the future, her sister would surely shine even brighter than she does now!

But why?

Whenever I think about how my sister will shine in the future, my heart feels both happy and inexplicably lost.

Aimi Izumi looked at the photo on the table of her and her sister from when they were young, her eyes filled with a trace of loneliness.

I really want to go back to when we were kids...

Because only back then, I was the only one around my sister.

Not like now.

After leaving the Outlook Lighthouse, Iroha suddenly acted like a hunter discovering a new target, pointing toward the electric railway line not far away.

"Senpai, let's ride the Enoden! You can't visit Enoshima without experiencing the Enoden."

The Enoshima Electric Railway line connects Fujisawa Station in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture, with Kamakura Station in Omachi, Kamakura City, within the same prefecture.

Riding the Enoden, looking at the clear sky and the sunlight illuminating the surrounding buildings, the railway sometimes feels narrow and long. But it is precisely this narrowness that makes the Enoden a rare piece of tranquility in the city.

Or during the afternoon, gazing out the window at the pastel blue sky, this dreamy and romantic scene seems to serve as the best advertisement for the Enoden.

Many tourists are drawn to Enoshima after seeing the Enoden frequently depicted in illustrations, manga, novels, and anime.

Kotomi checked the location and found that riding the Enoden from here would take them near the cellphone shop she had marked.

"Sure, I've always wanted to ride the Enoden. Since we're already here in Enoshima, we can't miss it. If we did, I'd regret it tonight when I got home. Let's go!"

Kotomi spoke as she grabbed Iroha's small hand and ran toward the Enoden station first. The innocent smile on her face was so captivating that it was hard not to be enchanted.

Just like Iroha was at that moment.

She stared dumbfoundedly at Kotomi's profile. At that moment, it seemed to her that all the surrounding scenery had turned dull and colorless, leaving only one vibrant and beautiful sight: Kotomi's smile.

Compared to saying "the moon is beautiful," Iroha wanted to say, "Kotomi's smile is beautiful."

Because in Iroha's eyes, perhaps all the world's beauty was contained in Kotomi's smile.

Just like the pastel blue sky outside the Enoden's window, woven from countless beautiful dreams.

"Senpai, why isn't your name Tsukiyo?" Iroha matched Kotomi's pace, laughing lightly as she spoke.

"Because Kotomi is the name my mom and dad gave me."

"If your name were Tsukiyo, I could tell you right now: 'The moon is beautiful.'"

Kotomi was amused by Iroha's sudden remark. While running lightly, she couldn't help but laugh, her sweet laughter filling the air around them.

"Then should I reply, 'And the wind is soft and gentle'? But it's not nighttime right now~" Kotomi playfully countered with a mischievous smile.

As they reached the station, Iroha raised her gaze to Kotomi. For the first time, her eyes softened completely as she looked at someone.

It even surprised her that the person who could make her gaze so gentle was Kotomi.

But the shock and surprise lasted only a fleeting moment, followed by unwavering certainty in Iroha's heart.

—Yes, the only person who could make me look at them with such a soft gaze is Kotomi. It has always been so.

"Senpai, I like you."

Rumble—!

At the very moment Iroha spoke those words, the train sped into the station. As it approached and gradually slowed, it stirred up a deafening noise in the air.

The sound scattered every other noise completely.

...

It wasn't until the sound of the train faded that Kotomi turned to Iroha, curiously asking, "Iroha, did you just say something to me?"

There was no need to think much about it—Kotomi clearly hadn't heard a thing earlier. Realizing this, Iroha couldn't help but reveal a self-deprecating smile:

What's with this? A scenario straight out of a romantic comedy. Even at a train station, the timing of the train arriving was just a bit too perfect. Even if it was impulsive, what I said earlier was my true feelings...

I even thought about how I would apologize to Aimi if my confession to Senpai succeeded.

"No, not really. I was just thinking how your light makeup today looks really pretty."

"You already complimented me many times before we even left Chiba City, didn't you? Hahaha... Is it really that exaggerated?"

Kotomi's cheeks flushed slightly. Feeling a little embarrassed, she scratched her cheek with her finger. While she was fairly vain, being praised so openly by Iroha multiple times still made her shy.

That said, Kotomi didn't think there was any exaggeration in Iroha's words. If anything, she felt Iroha's compliments about her beauty were a little understated.

"In my eyes, Senpai is the most beautiful woman in the world. Hmm~ I'm so curious which lucky person will get to marry you someday~," Iroha teased playfully, as if it were just another one of her usual jokes.

But Kotomi fully agreed with her words.

"Indeed, I'm also curious who will be so fortunate to marry such a beautiful and charming girl like me."

Looking at Kotomi nodding earnestly, as if she deeply agreed, Iroha couldn't help but laugh out loud. She knew Kotomi was vain, but she didn't realize just how vain she was.

Even so, Iroha really liked Kotomi's personality. Perhaps, the very thing that deeply attracted her when she first met Kotomi at the Izumi household was this personality that couldn't be easily defined in a few words.

Iroha held Kotomi's hand and smiled brightly. "Let's go, Senpai. Let's ride the Enoden together!"

"Okay."

The two boarded the Enoden. Since the cellphone store they wanted to visit wasn't far from the Outlook Lighthouse, they only rode for two stops before getting off.

Although they took trains regularly, it was perhaps the novelty of riding the Enoden for the first time that made them feel like they hadn't had enough by the time they disembarked.

Kotomi originally planned to head straight to the cellphone store, but Iroha's sharp eyes caught sight of a hill in the distance. She grabbed Kotomi's hand, asking curiously, "Senpai, what's that hill over there?!"

"I don't know either. Do you want to go check it out?"

Having grown accustomed to Iroha's habit of wanting to explore every bit of scenery she spotted, Kotomi had become quite laid-back about it.

After all, the cellphone store wasn't far, and there was no appointment to worry about. Visiting the hill before buying a phone wasn't an issue, as long as they went during business hours.

Besides, it was rare to visit Enoshima. Kotomi also wanted to take in some of the scenery that couldn't be seen in Chiba City.

She thought of it as an early tour of one of the cities she might consider living in after graduating from university.

Kotomi had a list of cities she wanted to live in, though she hadn't decided where to settle yet. After all, she was still just an ordinary high school girl. Even though she liked to plan far ahead, her thoughts rarely ventured beyond anticipating the next summer or winter break at the start of a school term.

Questions like where to settle after university graduation? Kotomi hadn't figured it out yet and didn't intend to think about it this early.

Chatting as they walked, Kotomi and Iroha ascended the scenic hill. It was Kotomi's first time climbing this hill.

"What's this hill called?" Kotomi wondered aloud, looking at the beautiful scenery around them.

"It's called Lover's Hill." Iroha pointed to a nearby sign and chuckled. "No matter how you look at it, this feels like a modern tourist attraction."

"That's true," Kotomi agreed.

Kotomi had long grown used to the common practice of developing scenic locations into tourist attractions, then weaving various stories around them to attract visitors.

"However, this hill does have a deep connection to a legend. It's called the 'The Legend of Enoshima.'"

"You mean that folklore, right?"

Hearing Iroha bring it up, Kotomi gradually recalled the story. Her grandmother had told it to her when she was a child.

Iroha began recounting the tale slowly:

"A long, long time ago, in a bottomless swamp in Kamakura's Fukazawa, there lived a dragon with five heads. The Five-Headed Dragon was ferocious, causing landslides, floods, and tsunamis, and even raining fire from the sky. Sometimes, it would devour children from the village, making life unbearable for the people.

"One day, a celestial maiden descended from the heavens and appeared before the wicked Five-Headed Dragon. The dragon was instantly captivated by the maiden's beauty. He fell in love with her at first sight and begged her to become his wife.

"However, the celestial maiden stood before the dragon and said, 'Reflect upon yourself and think carefully about all your past actions. I will never marry a tyrant.'

"As the saying goes, the Five-Headed Dragon was reborn. During droughts, it summoned rain. In the harvest season, it diverted typhoons. When tsunamis struck, it used its body to shield the village. However, protecting the villagers from every disaster took its toll, and the Five-Headed Dragon's body gradually weakened.

"When its life was about to end, the Five-Headed Dragon promised the celestial maiden that after its death, it would transform into a mountain to continue protecting the land."

Iroha finished her story and pointed to the mountain in the distance.

"I read online that the mountain across from Enoshima, Ryuko Mountain, is said to be the Five-Headed Dragon after its death. They say there's a dragon-shaped stone halfway up the mountain. Senpai, do you think touching the dragon stone might suddenly transport someone to another world or give them superpowers?"

"Forget superpowers; I'd rather have money powers," Kotomi joked with a shrug. "You seem to know a lot. Let me add something else for you: according to the legend, Enoshima itself was formed when the celestial maiden descended. So even though the Five-Headed Dragon has now turned into a mountain, it continues to protect the celestial maiden's island, just as it promised."

"Oh, I didn't know that! Senpai, you're so knowledgeable about Enoshima. I thought I was amazing for being able to recount most of the legend just now."

"Hahaha, my grandma used to tell me the story of the Celestial Maiden and the Five-Headed Dragon when I was little. I could retell it by the time I was in elementary school. But hearing you tell it again now still feels so romantic."

"Ehehe, I just repeated what I read from a book. But Senpai, because of this legend, the hill we're on now is also called 'Lover's Hill' and has become a sacred spot for many couples."

Kotomi looked around and saw that, indeed, there were many couples nearby.

She couldn't help but feel relieved. Thankfully, she had Iroha with her today. Otherwise, coming to Enoshima alone and seeing all these couples would have been absolute torture.

Although she and Iroha weren't a couple yet, Kotomi's first girlfriend—Megumi Kato—was currently in Hokkaido.

"By the way, Iroha, you knew from the beginning that this was Lover's Hill, didn't you?" Kotomi turned her head toward Iroha, smiling slyly.

Caught red-handed, Iroha resembled a mischievous black cat whose prank had just been discovered. She quickly retracted her imaginary claws and laughed sheepishly:

"Hehehehe, if I hadn't pretended not to know earlier, I might not have been able to lure you to this hill."

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