All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

Upon returning home, Kotomi was immediately greeted by Aimi's mysterious expression, her eyes brimming with a hidden sense of anticipation.

As soon as Kotomi walked through the door, Aimi approached with her hands hidden behind her back, speaking in a playful and secretive tone:

"Onee-chan~ guess what I'm hiding behind my back?"

Kotomi pretended to think for a few minutes before slowly responding, "A cake?"

Aimi's eyes widened in shock, disbelief written all over her face. "How did you know I had a cake behind my back?!"

Because the cake box sticking out from behind you is already peeking out a little, I'm not an idiot. How could I not figure it out? Kotomi thought to herself.

After her exclamation, Aimi finally revealed her hands from behind her back, holding a small cake box.

Kotomi glanced at Aimi, then at the cake in her hand, tilting her head in curiosity. "Did you suddenly crave cake?"

Normally, Aimi rarely bought sweets on her own.

It wasn't that she didn't like them; rather, she usually waited for Kotomi to buy them first and then conveniently took a share from her. Over time, Kotomi got used to this routine and would always buy an extra portion for Aimi whenever she bought desserts.

The last time Aimi voluntarily bought sweets was at the beginning of the school term.

"No, I just happened to pass by a cake shop on my way home, and they were having a sale. I thought I'd grab one for you... purely by chance! I picked the one with the biggest discount! So don't overthink it!" Aimi spoke hastily, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes darting away in nervous evasion.

Such an obvious lie was easy to see through—even for Kotomi. She squinted her eyes with a smile, as if trying to figure out what exactly Aimi was up to.

Hopefully, she didn't put anything weird in the cake... Kotomi thought nervously.

She quickly racked her brain, trying to recall if she had done anything recently to upset Aimi.

Everything seemed normal between them… sisterly love and harmony, right?

Aimi's sudden gesture of buying her a cake seemed suspicious, but it wasn't for any sinister reason.

Instead...

The cake Aimi bought had a cute little Cupid holding a heart-shaped bow and arrow, surrounded by pink frosting decorations.

If the surface of the cake had been bigger, Aimi probably would've written an "I love you" message on it too.

With such an overwhelmingly romantic theme, it was no wonder Aimi was acting so awkward and bashful when presenting it.

Although Aimi's grand "Conquer Kotomi Plan" was well thought out in her mind, when it came to actually putting it into action, she couldn't help but feel shy.

However, Aimi's unusually timid demeanor stood in stark contrast to her usual self, making Kotomi even more suspicious. Her mind raced with various dramatic scenarios that could lead to a "dark transformation" plot.

Feeling a little overwhelmed, Kotomi gulped nervously, her small hands trembling as she hesitated to take the cake.

Eating it didn't feel right. Not eating it didn't feel right either.

With tears welling up in her eyes, Kotomi looked at Aimi pitifully and asked in a soft, almost trembling voice, "Aimi... did I do something to upset you?"

Aimi Izumi: ????

Aimi stared blankly at her sister, who had suddenly burst into tears. Watching the glistening tears trickling down Kotomi's cheeks, Aimi, still holding the cake with both hands, panicked, unsure of how to comfort her.

This was completely different from what she had imagined!

If Kotomi had remained silent, Aimi might have thought she was crying out of gratitude. But after hearing what she just said, a row of imaginary question marks appeared above Aimi's head.

"Wuwuwu... Even if I often sneak some of your snacks, you don't have to feed me a poisoned cake... wuwuwu!" Kotomi sobbed, her voice trembling, growing more and more aggrieved.

Stupefied, Aimi stood frozen in place, as if her brain had entered a state of suspended animation, drifting in the void of space.

"Oh, so it really is just a cake for me~"

In Kotomi's bedroom, she sat on the floor, letting out a relieved smile after hearing Aimi's explanation, feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

Aimi, on the other hand, looked at her with an exasperated expression, pulling at the corners of her mouth.

"I'm seriously heartbroken. I just wanted to buy you a cake to make you happy because you love sweets so much, and yet you thought it was poisoned? What kind of image do you even have of me in your heart?"

"It's just that you were acting way too suspiciously earlier. Totally different from your usual self. Normally, you'd either remember me halfway through eating or just hand it to me without hesitation," Kotomi chuckled sheepishly while unwrapping the cake box.

However, she hadn't expected the packaging to be so intricate.

Usually, cakes come in simple boxes that you just open from the top, but after peeling off one layer, there was yet another delicately crafted floral paper box inside.

It was clear this wasn't cheap.

Most of the money probably went into the packaging rather than the cake itself.

After peeling off two layers, Kotomi was met with yet another layer of packaging.

Her expression darkened. Is this some kind of Russian nesting doll?!

It took considerable effort, but after much struggle, Kotomi finally managed to open the cake box, allowing the tiny cake inside to see the light of day once more.

A single small cake, wrapped in so many layers of intricate packaging—this bakery was undoubtedly a perfectionist's dream.

"This little cake looks really cute; it's like an art piece," Kotomi commented, admiring the cake without realizing the significance behind the Cupid design Aimi had specifically chosen.

She simply thought it was aesthetically pleasing.

It was no wonder Kotomi found it beautiful. There were many bakeries offering themed cakes, but the one Aimi bought from—Tour de Paris—was renowned across Japan, often hailed by gourmet media as "cake artists."

During busy hours, customers couldn't even get in without an advance reservation.

All that talk about discounts? That was just something Aimi made up to fool Kotomi. In reality, she had secretly ordered it during class earlier that morning on her phone.

And to her surprise, Kotomi actually believed it.

This tiny cake alone had cost her 5,101 yen—more expensive than a full-sized cake at an ordinary bakery.

But when she thought about Kotomi, and saw the lifelike Cupid illustration on the cake...

The comment section on the official Tour de Paris website was filled with people claiming that after buying the Cupid cake, their long-time crushes had miraculously confessed to them, and their love lives had been smooth sailing ever since.

Some even posted photos of themselves with their partners at the city office, filling out marriage registration forms after eating the cake.

After reading through the comments, Aimi gritted her teeth and stomped her foot. This is worth it! I'm buying it!

Click.

In an instant, 5,101 yen vanished from her savings account. The already meager balance now felt even more pitiful.

As Aimi eagerly watched Kotomi, anticipating her to take the first bite of the Cupid cake, Kotomi instead pushed the cake back toward her, handing Aimi the fork.

"Hehe, actually, before coming home, I already had a piece of cake. Yui gave it to me, and she made it herself. While it's not like I can't eat another one, dinner is coming up soon, and I want to save some room."

Kotomi grinned as she spoke.

"Yui?! Who's that?! Another woman suddenly appearing out of nowhere?!" Aimi exclaimed, her voice trembling, eyes welling up with unshed tears.

"She's the one I helped tutor for the midterms. Remember? The one with the light peach-colored hair who visited me when I had a cold.

She promised back then that after the exams, she'd bake me a cake as thanks.

After finally tasting it today, I can say one thing—it was worth the wait."

"She's that Yui?! Yui Yuigahama?!" Aimi almost burst into tears.

When Yui visited their house, Aimi had initially thought their relationship was just normal friendship, which was why she had casually accepted Yui as a good person.

But now, realizing that the "good person" she trusted was the same Yui who frequently had Kotomi over for tutoring, her heart sank.

I was so blind! I actually thought Yui was harmless and wouldn't compete with me for Kotomi's attention!

Thinking back to that day when all those girls came over to check on her sister, Aimi realized—out of all of them, only Mashiro could truly be trusted, the only one who definitely wouldn't try to steal Kotomi away from her!

Aimi's inner thoughts were filled with silent agony, her expression turning blank as she sat on the floor, staring at Kotomi in a daze.

In her mind, it was as if Cupid had drawn his bow, aiming his love-tipped arrow at Kotomi, only for it to be blocked by an invisible shield labeled "Yui's cake," bouncing off with a clang.

At that moment, Aimi wanted nothing more than to grab Cupid by the collar and scream, "Can't you at least switch to metal arrows?!"

To which Cupid would respond, "Even if I did, it wouldn't work. What am I supposed to do, borrow the Spear of Longinus from Lilith?"

Just as Aimi hung her head in despair, lamenting her wasted 5,101 yen, she suddenly caught a sweet aroma wafting her way.

Lifting her head, she saw Kotomi holding a fork with a piece of the cake on it, the other hand underneath to catch any crumbs. The forkful of cake was extended toward her.

Their eyes met, and Kotomi smiled warmly, saying, "Aimi, open wide~ I'll feed you some cake."

All the gloom and frustration Aimi had been feeling vanished in an instant.

"Jeez... stop treating me like a kid. Even cake has to be fed to me?"

Her face flushed red, and she shyly muttered under her breath.

The next second, she opened her mouth and eagerly took a bite, her face lighting up with sheer bliss.

Kotomi is feeding me cake with her own hands—this 5,000 yen was so worth it!

I'm definitely buying from this store again!

And just like that, the cake Aimi had bought for Kotomi ended up being spoon-fed to her, bite by bite.

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