All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

Never mind, let's watch the video first.

Just as Kotomi was about to take the device that looked like a smartphone from Kazumi, Kazumi reminded her, "Kotomi, do you really want to see this?"

Kotomi shrugged with a cheerful smile and said:

"Of course, why not? It's just baby me being abandoned in the park by my biological parents, right?

I'm actually quite curious about why they abandoned me. Was there some kind of compelling reason?

Or... am I actually some kind of born prodigy, destined to be an invincible protagonist from birth?

Or maybe I come from a mysterious, powerful family and was left behind to escape from enemies hunting me down?"

After speaking, Kotomi accepted the device and pressed play.

The scene of her abandonment by her biological parents slowly unfolded before her eyes.

It was a sunset evening.

A man and a woman walked into the park. The woman was holding a small cardboard box in her arms, seemingly afraid that whatever was inside might make noise. The box had been tightly sealed with tape ever since they left home.

These two were Kotomi's biological parents, but their faces were obscured, as if drawn over with crayon by a child, making it impossible for her to see what they looked like.

After confirming there was no one around, the man spoke to the woman: "Alright, let's just leave her here."

The stylishly dressed woman nodded without a trace of reluctance on her face. Instead, she let out a relieved smile:

"Finally, we can get rid of this money-draining burden. Now I don't have to listen to Mom constantly nagging me about how useless I am for not giving her a grandson."

"My mom has always wanted a grandson. When she found out it was a girl, do you think she was happy? Honey, don't be upset with Mom. Girls are just a financial burden. Once they grow up, they're like water spilled out of a basin. If we leave her here and pretend nothing happened, you can recover, and then we'll work hard to have a son!"

"I'm not mad," the woman replied.

She ripped off the tape sealing the box. Inside lay a pale, tiny baby girl wrapped in a thin, slightly worn blanket—a stark contrast to the lavish clothes of the couple standing above her.

"Oh geez, I nearly suffocated this little brat. I told you before we left home that it takes at least an hour to get here. I should have poked a few holes in the box for air," the woman complained, glaring at her husband.

The man, however, seemed indifferent and chuckled, "If she suffocates, that's even better. We could just bury her somewhere. Having this daughter has been an embarrassment in front of my relatives! If I had known earlier, I should have let Mom strangle her at birth."

"Are you trying to commit murder?" The woman rolled her eyes at him.

Perhaps sensing the fresh air, the tiny Kotomi, no bigger than a kitten, slowly opened her eyes and stared intently at her parents with large, beautiful pink eyes.

"Honey, what if this little brat wakes up?" the woman asked.

"Tsk, just toss her over there. Leaving her here instead of dumping her in the garbage already makes us kind-hearted enough."

"True," the woman agreed.

She casually tossed the cardboard box into the slide castle. With a thud, the box landed heavily on the ground.

The impact made the tiny Kotomi cry out in pain. Her fragile little head had hit the inside of the box.

Her parents showed no sign of comfort or hesitation. Instead, they turned and walked away quickly—not because they were soft-hearted, but because they were afraid someone would see them.

Little Kotomi cried until she was exhausted and passed out. That night, it rained heavily, but fortunately, the roof of the slide castle shielded her from the downpour.

Had it not been for that roof, she might have been soaked and frozen to death by the chilly night air.

Morning came and went. Perhaps because of the rain the night before, the park remained deserted the entire day.

The tiny Kotomi slept until evening, only waking up due to hunger, crying weakly, but her cries grew fainter with her weakening body.

Until night fell, and the streetlights flickered on around the park.

A newlywed couple, returning home after buying groceries, happened to pass by the park, chatting and laughing.

They were none other than Izumi Kaneyoshi and Izumi Akina, her adoptive parents.

And at that time, Izumi Akina's long hair was still a beautiful, silky black.

"Dear, I think I heard something."

"Hmm? It does sound like a child crying. Could it be coming from the park?"

"A child alone in the park at this hour? We need to find them quickly. If it's a lost child, it's too dangerous to leave them alone so late."

Izumi Akina gasped in surprise, and together with Kaneyoshi, they walked into the park to search for the source of the crying.

Most people, upon hearing a child crying in a park at night, might have been scared, their minds flooded with countless ghost stories.

But the Izumi couple felt no fear at all. After a brief moment of surprise, they entered the park without hesitation, determined to find the crying child.

"Dear, come over here."

Izumi Kaneyoshi discovered a small cardboard box inside the slide castle, where the crying sound was coming from.

When he saw that the box contained an abandoned infant, he quickly took off his coat and carefully wrapped it around the tiny figure, holding her gently in his arms.

Tonight's weather was cold, the temperature had dropped suddenly. A thin, old blanket could hardly provide any warmth.

"A baby? The crying... it sounds like a girl!" Izumi Akina was astonished. Seeing the small cardboard box, she immediately realized the baby had been abandoned.

Feeling an overwhelming sense of pity, Akina gently held the tiny Kotomi in her arms, awkwardly mimicking the way she had seen people hold babies on TV. She softly cooed:

"Shh, baby, don't cry~ It's okay, it's okay~"

Hearing the voices of Izumi Akina and Kaneyoshi, little Kotomi gradually stopped crying and looked up at them with her innocent pink eyes.

"Dear, how about we..." Akina looked at Kaneyoshi hesitantly.

Izumi Kaneyoshi smiled and nodded. "Let's adopt her. No—starting today, she is our daughter."

"Yes!" Akina nodded firmly.

The couple took the little Kotomi to the hospital for a checkup. After thorough observation, they found that she was not ill, just extremely hungry.

They fed her formula milk, and the nurse who prepared and fed her remarked that she had never seen a baby with such an appetite.

It took all of the nurse's experience and effort to carefully pry the milk bottle away from the baby's tiny hands to prevent her from overeating.

After spending the night under hospital observation, the next morning, the Izumi couple left the hospital, with Akina reluctant to let go, holding Kotomi tightly in her arms.

"Dear, look, she's smiling at me! She's so cute! Our daughter is truly the world's greatest treasure!"

"I'm trying to think of a good name for her... I've been up all night but still haven't decided." Izumi Kaneyoshi, with dark circles under his eyes, sighed. He had spent the entire night thinking of a name.

As the couple struggled to come up with a suitable name, a street-cleaning truck passed by the intersection not far from them, spraying water while playing a long, classical piano tune.

Izumi Kaneyoshi and Akina exchanged glances and, in perfect unison, said:

"Let's name her Kotomi! Izumi Kotomi!"

The video ended, revealing the memories of how Kotomi was abandoned and then found by the Izumi couple.

After watching the video, Kotomi sat silently for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter:

"Hahaha! I thought I was some hidden family's lost saintess, but it turns out the reason I was abandoned was so simple. Wow, sometimes, imagination really is unreliable."

After saying this, Kotomi sat on the swing, gripping the chains tightly. She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling violently.

"What did I do wrong for my biological parents to hate me so much? Just because I'm a girl...?"

Kazumi gently embraced Kotomi from behind, resting her delicate chin on her shoulder, whispering softly:

"You did nothing wrong."

"You're right," Kotomi replied in agreement.

Faced with Kotomi's sudden emotional recovery, Kazumi was surprised. She had prepared a lot of comforting words in her heart, but before she could say any of them, Kotomi had already bounced back?!

"You recover way too fast," Kazumi remarked in amazement.

"Hehe, I don't think there's any reason to be too upset. Sure, it's an uncomfortable feeling, but when I think about it, I have family now. Dad, Mom, Aimi... I have so many people who love and cherish me. Just thinking about that, there's no need to dwell on the past."

Kotomi wiped away the lingering tears at the corners of her eyes, her smile warm and bright like sunshine.

Looking at Kotomi's radiant smile, Kazumi hesitated for a moment, then tightened her embrace and whispered softly:

"Then... Kotomi, do I count as your family?"

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