Kazumi finally asked the question that had been lingering in her heart for a long ti. She had always considered Kotomi as family, but did Kotomi feel the sa?
Or did Kotomi just see her as a re system, an auxiliary tool?
Seeing Kotomi montarily stunned, Kazumi couldn't help but let out a bitter smile. She thought that perhaps this question was too foolish. Maybe she had been overthinking it from the start.
Kotomi's surprise at the question was understandable.
Just as Kazumi was about to loosen her grip and pretend she had been joking to avoid making things awkward—
She heard Kotomi's voice, responding in a matter-of-fact tone:
"Aren't we already family?"
"Eh?" Kazumi was caught off guard, staring at Kotomi in shock, montarily unable to process what she had just heard.
"Even though you're lazy, unreliable, and as a system, you're pretty much the definition of useless—especially with that potato server of yours that disconnects all the ti."
Saying this, Kotomi gently pinched Kazumi's soft cheek and, with utmost seriousness, continued:
"But... you will always be my best partner. Especially after what you did for —killing Isshiki Yuuha. From that mont on, you were more than a friend. I've always considered you family."
"So... you've always thought of as family, huh...?" Kazumi muttered to herself in relief, feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. But then—
"Wait a second!"
She suddenly snapped out of it, eyes wide as she blurted out:
"How do you know it was who killed Isshiki Yuuha?! You should have been asleep at the ti...!"
Kazumi frantically tried to recall that night's details. She had carefully waited until she was sure Kotomi had fallen asleep before erging, sneaking the unicorn hamr from under her pillow.
After dealing with Iroha, she even replicated the hamr exactly and placed it back under Kotomi's pillow to avoid suspicion.
By all logic, Kotomi shouldn't have noticed anything unusual—let alone figured out that Kazumi had been the one behind it.
Unless...
Seeing Kazumi's sudden realization, Kotomi couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"You're only figuring it out now, silly Kazumi? That night, I never actually fell asleep."
"After all, I had just been stalked by a murderer. Who could sleep peacefully after that? I was just lying there with my eyes closed, tossing and turning.
"And that so-called 'coincidence' where Shikama Shika got crushed by the power pole—that was your doing too, wasn't it?"
Hearing Kotomi calmly expose everything she had done that night, Kazumi was dumbfounded.
She had miscalculated—completely. Kotomi had been awake the whole ti.
Thinking back to her "stealth operations," her whispered words...
Even as an advanced system, Kazumi couldn't stop her cheeks from turning bright red with embarrassnt. She awkwardly scratched her head and said:
"I-I didn't expect you to know everything. You're way too sly—pretending to sleep like that!"
"Uh... in any case, I might have been too impulsive at the ti. If it put you in a difficult position, I sincerely apologize.
"I'll leave my system abilities with you... and then I'll leave your side."
The mont Kazumi finished speaking, Kotomi lightly flicked her forehead.
"What are you thinking? When did I ever say I wanted you to leave? Is it because your potato server is too trashy and you want to bail?"
"I'm telling you, you've used up so many of my Fa Points—if you try to run away, even to the ends of the earth, I'll track you down with ropes and a sack!"
"Kazumi, what color sack do you like?"
"You... you really don't mind? Putting aside Shika, Isshiki Yuuha is technically Isshiki Iroha's mother, right?"
"But she not only wanted to kill , she also wanted to kill her own daughter. I can't wait for Yuuha and Shika to go to hell.
And you, my silly little Kazumi, always scheming to swindle my Fa Points. But when it cos to actually doing a good deed, you don't even co to for credit?"
Kotomi playfully pinched Kazumi's soft cheeks.
So soft.
"Hehe~" Kazumi let out a relieved laugh, allowing herself to be pinched without resistance.
"Kazumi, rember this—you'll always be my family."
"Then... can I ask for more Fa Points from you in the future? Since we're family now, family mbers shouldn't have to get discounts, right—ow! Have rcy, no hitting!"
Kazumi quickly covered her head in defense after being smacked again.
"I was trying to have a touching mont with you, and you just had to ruin the mood."
"No worries, I can create the atmosphere again."
Kazumi cheerfully responded and then threw herself onto Kotomi's back, wrapping her arms around her neck and whining playfully:
"Kotomi, since you said I'm your family, what kind of family am I exactly? Family mbers have different titles, right?"
"Well... I've always wanted to be your dad," Kotomi said with a straight face before adding, "or I can be both your dad and mom."
Hearing this, Kazumi imdiately turned around, ready to take off her little shoe and smack Kotomi with it.
"Spare my face!" Kotomi quickly pleaded. "As for the exact title, I don't really know. If I call you my sister, you're too unreliable. If I treat you as my little sister, I'm afraid you won't be able to compete with Aimi."
"Don't worry, I think your little sister is just a noob with an inflated ego."
The mont she finished speaking, Kazumi got another smack on the head.
"If you two actually compete, it'll be the case of 'two noobs debating under the sun.'"
Despite being a noob herself, Kotomi sure had the nerve to say that about Aimi. Was this what they call 'noobs pecking at each other'?"
Hearing Kotomi say that, Kazumi puffed up with pride and declared:
"Then I'll be your little concubine! Let's aim for ten chubby sons and ten obedient daughters in the future!"
Izumi Kotomi's foot slipped, and she fell off the swing with a thud, tugging at the corner of her mouth in frustration.
"Twenty? Do you think I'm a pig? Besides, I can't afford it! One is enough, two at most! Pfft, no, wait, why are we suddenly talking about having kids?!"
After saying that, Kotomi and Kamizuki exchanged glances, and both couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Kamizuki then lifted the ti freeze, and the flow of ti around them returned to normal.
A short while later, Yui Yuigahama returned with two bottles of drinks, handing the grape juice to Kotomi.
After parting ways near the park, Yui walked toward her house. With no howork today, she planned to relax after cooking dinner for Yuka and their mom.
The shop was almost ready, and next month, the Dango Cake Shop would reopen for business.
"Maybe I should jog to school every morning for the next few days," Yui muttered to herself. "Need to exercise more so my arms won't ache again from making all that bread."
As she spoke, she unlocked the front door with her key.
The mont she stepped inside, she saw her little bundle of energy, Yuka Yuigahama, waiting eagerly at the entrance.
"Onee-chan! You're ho!"
"Yeah, did you wash your hands properly after getting ho?"
Yui took off her shoes and bent down slightly to chat with Yuka.
"I did! But never mind that—Onee-chan, did you give the cake to Penguin Onee-chan?!"
While Yui was making the purple yam volcano cake for Kotomi, Yuka had been standing by, drooling with anticipation. However, upon hearing that it was for Kotomi, she resisted the temptation, even though her mouth was practically watering rivers.
She could easily be considered the second most concerned person, after Yui, about whether Kotomi had eaten the cake or not.
"She ate it," Yui sighed, a smile spreading across her face. "At first, I hesitated about whether I should muster the courage to give it to her. When she accepted it, I felt so happy, but then when she was about to eat it, I got all nervous. And when she said she liked it, I was overjoyed!"
Yui let out a long breath, her smile gentle and content.
Hearing this, Yuka stared at her sister for a while, then said, "Onee-chan, bend down a little more."
"If I bend any more, my back might break," Yui chuckled, eventually sitting down next to Yuka.
Yuka stood on tiptoes, patted Yui's shoulder with her tiny hands, and in an exaggerated, drama-like tone declared:
"Onee-chan, you're in love!"
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