Chapter 723: Kotomi Izumi’s Perfect Love Confession

Kotomi Izumi was also preparing to sleep. Originally, she had planned to watch some TV before going to bed. But after picking up the remote control, she thought about it for a moment and decided to forget it.

It wasn’t because she was too sleepy and wanted to go to bed earlier.

Although Kotomi was a little drowsy, she wasn’t that tired yet. If she turned on the TV, she could easily watch for half an hour before going to sleep afterward.

However, just as she was about to switch on the television, she suddenly remembered that it was already late at night. And once it was late at night, the television would start broadcasting the late-night programming.

What kind of shows were on during the late-night slot?

Anyone who knew, knew.

Besides, this was a couple’s hotel. The TV was almost certainly set up thoughtfully so that the moment it was turned on, the late-night programs would automatically start playing.

Kotomi thought about it, sighed softly, and decided not to watch TV for now.

If Yui were my girlfriend right now, and Yukino were my girlfriend too, not only would I have already turned on the TV—I would even crank the volume to the maximum! Kotomi thought to herself.

Thinking about this, Kotomi couldn’t help imagining the blissful scene of holding Yukino Yukinoshita in one arm and Yui Yuigahama in the other after successfully winning Yukino over.

Kotomi felt that Yukino Yukinoshita still didn’t know that she and Yui had already started dating and become lovers. That meant the difficulty of pursuing Yukino would be greatly reduced.

Once she officially became Yukino Yukinoshita’s girlfriend, she would find a suitable time and tell her:

“Yukino, I love you very much. But actually, even before this, I had already fallen in love with Yui. You and Yui will always be the two people I cherish the most. I don’t want to give up either of you.

“I, Kotomi Izumi, am willing to swear on my conscience that I will love both of you equally!

“My love is simply too intense. If it were placed on only one person, it would become a sweet burden. Only by dividing this sweet and intense love into two portions—one for you and one for Yui—can you both feel only the sweetness without the pressure.”

Perfect!

Kotomi snapped her fingers in her mind, feeling that this line she planned to say to Yukino and Yui in the future was simply brilliant.

As for Megumi Kato, she decided not to tell her first. If she said it to Megumi right away, Kotomi felt that the moment she finished speaking, Megumi might pull out a gleaming kitchen knife.

It had to be gradual—step by step.

First she would tell Megumi: My love is too intense.

After some time passed, she would say: Megumi, I love you very much.

Finally, at the last stage, she would say:

“Megumi, I really do love you. You were the first person I fell in love with. But I also love Yukino and Yui just as much. Love doesn’t follow the rule of first come, first served. But I can swear on my conscience that the love I feel for the three of you is completely equal!

My love is simply too intense. If it were placed on one person alone, it might become a sweet burden. So I want to divide my love into three parts—one for you, one for Yukino, and one for Yui.”

If I say it like that, Megumi will definitely be moved and agree, right? Kotomi thought to herself.

At the same time, Kotomi had already decided that this line could serve as a foundation for the future. Whenever she found another girlfriend, she could just modify it slightly.

When she had a fourth girlfriend, she could say: “My love is simply too intense. Dividing it into three portions is far from enough, so I want to divide it into four. But don’t worry—I can swear on my conscience that my love for the four of you is exactly the same!”

When she had a fifth girlfriend, she could say: “How could deep love possibly be expressed with something as simple as words? My love is too heavy, so I plan to divide it again—into five portions. My love for all of you has always remained the same, and that will never change!”

When she had a sixth girlfriend, she would say her love must be divided into six portions.

When she had a seventh girlfriend, she would say it must be divided into seven portions.

And so on.

Kotomi put down the TV remote. Her mind was no longer on the television at all. Instead, she kept sighing inwardly, amazed at herself.

She was simply too brilliant. Such perfect love confessions—there was probably no one else in the world capable of coming up with them!

Excited by the thought, Kotomi even felt the urge to confess to Yukino Yukinoshita right now—then hold Yui in her left arm and Yukino in her right while declaring:

“You two are both my beloved!”

The more she thought about it, the more tempted she became.

Should she try it?

So she looked toward Yukino Yukinoshita.

Sensing Kotomi’s gaze, Yukino Yukinoshita—who had just rubbed her eyes and was about to sleep—paused in surprise before asking:

“The way you’re looking at me makes me feel like you’re about to say something shocking.”

“N-no, it’s nothing. I just wanted to say… I want to sleep in the middle.” Kotomi instantly chickened out and changed her words.

“Sure.”

Yukino Yukinoshita nodded, somewhat puzzled as to why Kotomi would even ask about something so trivial. Whenever they had slept together before, hadn’t Kotomi always taken the middle spot?

Come to think of it, why did Kotomi like sleeping in the middle so much?

Yukino Yukinoshita had no idea that just a moment earlier, she had almost received a confession from Kotomi.

Confessing love was like laying siege to a city—it relied on momentum. Strike while the momentum was strong, and success was possible. But if the moment passed, the courage quickly faded.

Since Kotomi hadn’t managed to say it in one breath, the momentum had already weakened. She would have to wait for another chance to gather her courage again.

If Yukino Yukinoshita hadn’t spoken first just now, Kotomi might actually have tried saying those confession lines—even if it was only a tentative attempt.

Kotomi had wanted to seize the initiative, but Yukino’s sudden question had unintentionally stolen that initiative away. As a result, Kotomi’s courage to attempt a confession was instantly wiped out.

But thinking about it carefully, Kotomi currently had two girlfriends—Megumi Kato and Yui Yuigahama—and both relationships had started because they confessed to her.

Kotomi herself?

She had never confessed even once.

Although “not taking the initiative, not refusing, and not taking responsibility—sometimes close, sometimes distant” was Kotomi Izumi’s usual style, occasionally she also wanted to be the one doing the confessing.

Next time. Next time I’ll definitely be the one to confess first! Kotomi thought, her cheeks slightly warm as she lifted the blanket and slid underneath.

Yukino Yukinoshita slept on the left, Kotomi Izumi in the middle, and Yui Yuigahama on the right.

This wasn’t the first time the three of them had slept together. But compared with the last time they stayed at school for rehearsal, the change that satisfied Kotomi the most was that the three of them were sharing a single blanket.

Last time, each of them had used their own blanket.

This time they were sharing one blanket together.

This was what Kotomi truly wanted!

After deciding how they would sleep tonight, Yui Yuigahama went to take a shower. Earlier she had been too busy helping Kotomi trim her nails and had completely forgotten about bathing.

Once Yui entered the bathroom, Kotomi Izumi and Yukino Yukinoshita were left alone together.

Kotomi held her phone, reading the manga she had been following recently.

Yukino Yukinoshita closed her eyes slightly as if she were about to sleep.

In reality, she wasn’t sleepy at all.

The person she cared about was right beside her. How could Yukino possibly feel sleepy?

Kotomi Izumi wasn’t really paying attention to the manga either. Even though it was a series she had been following recently, Yukino was lying right beside her. How could Kotomi not have a few thoughts running through her mind right now?

It was rather strange when you thought about it. Kotomi Izumi cared about Yukino Yukinoshita, and Yukino Yukinoshita cared about Kotomi Izumi.

Now that they finally had some time alone together, the atmosphere between them was completely quiet. Neither of them wanted to be the first to speak.

Yukino Yukinoshita felt too embarrassed to say anything, so she continued maintaining her cool demeanor. Even though she was alone with Kotomi right now, Yui Yuigahama was showering in the bathroom just beyond the wall. Yukino worried that if she and Kotomi made any noise—or whispered something to each other—Yui might overhear them.

Kotomi Izumi, on the other hand, wasn’t embarrassed, nor was she deliberately acting cold. She simply didn’t know what to say.

Before, it had felt like countless sentences were piled up in her heart, and she didn’t know which one to start with. Now it felt like countless words were piled up instead. She didn’t know which word to begin with, nor how to assemble that pile of words into a proper sentence.

“What are you thinking about?” Yukino Yukinoshita decided to be the first to speak.

“…Can I say I’m thinking about what to eat for breakfast tomorrow?” Kotomi muttered quietly.

Yukino Yukinoshita was momentarily stunned, then nodded.

“Of course you can. For a little foodie like you, deciding what to eat for the three meals of the day is naturally a very important matter.”

“Have I already become a little foodie in your eyes?”

“You’ve had the label of ’little foodie’ in my mind for quite a long time already.”

At this point, Yukino Yukinoshita let out a rare soft laugh. For some reason, whenever she thought about the way Kotomi ate, she couldn’t decide whether to call it cute or a bit silly. In any case, just remembering it made her want to laugh.

And now she couldn’t help laughing out loud.

After the laughter faded, silence returned for several seconds.

Once again, Yukino Yukinoshita was the first to speak.

“Earlier you said you wanted to write a novel and win the Akutagawa Prize?”

“Yeah. I’ve already thought about what I’d say during exclusive interviews with major media outlets after winning the Akutagawa Prize. I really like watching interviews with different authors. There’s no special reason—I just watch what those writers say while imagining what I would say in interviews with publishers and the media if I ever became a popular novelist in the future.”

At this point, Kotomi scratched her head and laughed awkwardly.

“In short, I’m just fantasizing about what success might look like someday.”

Yukino Yukinoshita thought for a moment. She wasn’t good at encouraging people. In fact, she wasn’t very good at speaking in general. Most of her time was spent reading, and sometimes an entire day would pass without her saying a single word—not even talking to herself.

Strangely enough, although she wasn’t good with words, when it came to teasing Kotomi with sharp remarks, it seemed to come naturally. She didn’t need to think beforehand. The words simply came out.

Which was why Kotomi often joked, “Yukino, were we mortal enemies in our previous lives or something?”

Even though she didn’t know how to properly encourage someone, Yukino Yukinoshita felt that if she wanted to stand behind Kotomi as a woman who trusted and supported her, then she needed to try encouraging her more often.

“Do your best. If you really manage to win the Akutagawa Prize with a single novel, many publishers will rush to collaborate with you, and plenty of media outlets will compete for exclusive interviews. But my suggestion is that you first focus on what’s right in front of you. Rather than imagining future success, it would be better to think about how to take the first steps on the path of writing novels.”

What Yukino meant was simple: if you truly won the Akutagawa Prize someday, it wouldn’t just be one interview. As long as you had time, those media outlets would invite you for multiple interviews. One day it would be this company, the next day another.

For now, though, it would be better to think about how to actually write the novel.

Had she even started writing yet?

Had she decided on a title?

Had she written a synopsis?

Had she finished the first Chapter?

Kotomi naturally understood the implication. She replied quietly:

“I haven’t started writing yet…”

It wasn’t that Kotomi Izumi deliberately didn’t want to tell Yukino Yukinoshita about the novel she was already writing—Sword Art Online.

The main issue was that earlier she had told Yukino that she wanted to write a novel and win the Akutagawa Prize.

If she suddenly said, “I’m already writing a novel, and the first volume has even been published with very high sales,” Yukino Yukinoshita would definitely ask what the title was.

Although the title Sword Art Online wasn’t nearly as embarrassing as some of the other light novel titles Kotomi planned to write in the future, and actually sounded fairly normal, she couldn’t possibly say she intended to win the Akutagawa Prize with Sword Art Online.

Only an idiot would say something like that.

Those things simply belonged to completely different categories.

Kotomi Izumi clearly distinguished between literature and commercial writing.

In fact, if she couldn’t tell the difference between those two things, she wouldn’t have been able to become a consistently bestselling author in Dengeki Bunko.

Winning the Akutagawa Prize was indeed something Kotomi had thought about for a long time. It wasn’t because she had any grand ambition of conquering the literary world. The reason was simple—Ryunosuke Akutagawa was one of the writers she admired.

However, that didn’t mean she needed to immediately write something capable of winning the Akutagawa Prize. At least for now, she had no such plan.

Right now she simply wanted to walk the path of commercial writing, occasionally writing a bit of light literary fiction when inspiration struck.

As for “winning the Akutagawa Prize,” it was really just a topic Kotomi had casually thrown out earlier to keep the conversation going with Yukino.

Even though she did have the idea of winning the prize someday, she was actually quite laid-back about awards.

She didn’t write novels because of some lofty ideal.

Of course, if she wanted to make something up, she could probably craft a moving speech that brought people to tears.

But in reality, Kotomi wrote novels for two simple goals.

One was to make a lot of money.

The other was to become famous.

So that she could build popularity for her future game company—Type-Moon Realm.

“Do you at least have a rough idea? For example, what kind of story you want to write?” Yukino Yukinoshita continued asking. In her opinion, writing a novel was extremely difficult, so it was perfectly normal that Kotomi hadn’t started yet.

“I don’t know,” Kotomi answered immediately, sounding almost a little self-righteous.

Because she truly had no idea what kind of story would be required to win the Akutagawa Prize.

Her mind wasn’t really focused on the prize at all. What she cared about regarding novels right now was whether the second volume would achieve another breakthrough in sales.

And when she would finally earn enough money from writing novels to buy a spacious luxury apartment.

After a moment of silence, Yukino Yukinoshita reached out and gently touched Kotomi’s hair. With rare tenderness, she said:

“It’s okay. After we return from Kyoto, you can come to my house. I have many literary novels at home. If you read more of them, you might find some inspiration. As the saying goes—read ten thousand books, and your writing will flow like magic.”

Because Yui Yuigahama was currently showering in the bathroom, Kotomi Izumi agreed without hesitation.

“Okay!”

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