The Love That Watches Over Me

Late at night.

Kotomi Izumi's bedroom was completely silent.

No one knew how long it had been since Kotomi fell asleep—

Click.

Accompanied by the sound of a key turning, the door to Kotomi's bedroom was quietly opened, just as always, by Aimi Izumi. Aimi tiptoed into the room, carefully and silently closing the door behind her.

She sat gently on Kotomi's bed and slowly lifted the blanket covering her...

Aimi Izumi was already very skilled at doing these things to Kotomi while she slept. And that was to be expected. After all, she came to Kotomi's room every night—without fail, wind or rain.

After sleeping together last night, Kotomi finally realized that Aimi had been sneaking into her room every night to do all sorts of things to her while she was asleep. In fact, last night, she had nearly felt so good that she almost opened her eyes.

Obviously, if she had just opened her eyes, Aimi might have realized she had crossed the line and stopped doing this sort of thing in the future. But Kotomi didn't open her eyes—even she couldn't explain why. Could it be that, deep down, she actually wanted Aimi to treat her like this?

Kotomi hadn't figured it out last night. Nor did she have the courage to open her eyes. She feared that if she did and exposed Aimi's nightly visits, their relationship would never return to normal.

Last night, as she pretended to sleep and felt what Aimi was doing to her, Kotomi thought:

Even if I don't open my eyes, even if I stay silent, there's still a chance that someday soon, my relationship with Aimi will become something abnormal. But at the very least... before that happens, let me enjoy these peaceful days a little longer.

With that thought, Kotomi resolutely chose not to open her eyes. She forced herself to endure, holding back the urge to cry out from the pleasure until Aimi finished.

Tonight, Kotomi had deliberately gone to bed early. It wasn't just because she had midterms tomorrow, but because she thought—if she fell asleep earlier, then when Aimi came, she wouldn't have to pretend to sleep and endure it like yesterday. If she made a sound, she could always claim it was a subconscious reaction in her sleep.

Kotomi Izumi, once sent a meme by Iroha Isshiki labeled "Passed Out from a Straight Girl's Dumbness," could be surprisingly cunning when she wanted to be.

Just as Aimi began doing those things to the sleeping Kotomi, the owl plushie placed on the desk—facing the bed—seemed to flash a glint in its eye.

A glint just like a camera lens catching the light.

At the Kato household.

"Mom, I'm full. I'm going back to my room to study. Thanks for the meal." Megumi Kato poured the remaining miso soup from her bowl onto her rice, stirred it in, ate it, then put down her chopsticks and stood up.

"You're full already? There's still some grilled meat in the pot. Want me to cut it into small pieces and stick them with toothpicks so you can take it to your room?" Ikemi Kato asked.

"No thanks, I'm full. Thanks, Mom."

"Alright then, go on back and study. Tomorrow's the midterm exam. Make sure to review the parts you're still unsure about."

"I know."

"Oh, by the way, Megumi, I remember your school will hold a sports festival and culture festival after the midterms, right?"

Megumi paused slightly at her mother's words, then stood up completely and replied as if nothing had happened:

"Yeah, that's right. The teacher said it's important to relax a little after exams."

Hearing that, Ikemi Kato put down her chopsticks, looked directly at Megumi, and said seriously, without room for negotiation:

"If that's the case, then you don't need to attend the sports festival or the culture festival. I'll inform your teacher and excuse you. Just stay home and study quietly."

Megumi's elegant brows furrowed slightly. She took a deep breath and asked:

"Why? I want to be like the other students too. Even if I don't participate in any events during the sports festival, I still want to sit in the stands and chat with my friends, cheer them on. Even if I don't have anything to do during the culture festival, I still want to hang out with my friends, even if it's just to eat some snacks together."

"Those culture festival snacks are all deep-fried, right? High in fat and calories—not good for you. Well, this isn't even about health."

At that, Ikemi Kato slapped the table and spoke sternly:

"You're in high school now, and you still haven't settled down to study with full focus? Do you have any idea how much time is wasted by events like the sports festival and culture festival, even if they're held separately?"

"I don't know what your school is thinking. Other high schools are using every available day for class. Even after midterms, there are still finals! High school is the last time students should be relaxing, and yet your school is holding sports festivals, culture festivals, field trips—all these wasteful activities."

"Megumi, ever since you were young, I've taught you that wasting time is the same as wasting life. How can you bear to waste several precious days participating in things like the school sports festival or culture festival? Competition, Megumi, it's all about competition! While others are still studying hard, how can you afford to slack off? These days are precious for studying. What if someone surpasses you during this time?"

"Do you know how much more competitive the college entrance exams get every year in Japan?"

"Three years from now, when you're taking your entrance exam, how fierce do you think that competition will be? Are you 100% certain you can get into a top university? Even if you do, are you confident you can earn a master's degree? And that's not the end goal—you must at least get a PhD from a top university!"

"I've already laid out the path for you. At the very least, you must get into a top domestic university. If you can study abroad, even better. Ever since you were little, I haven't demanded perfection in everything. I only ask one simple thing—put all your energy into studying. Nothing else matters, and nothing else should even be on your mind!"

"Listen carefully, Megumi. I know you're tired, and I know you want to let your guard down sometimes. But until you become a PhD, you cannot relax. I almost became a PhD myself. I know the pain of being so close to success, only to fail. I don't want you to feel that same disappointment."

"You must fulfill this dream for me. If you become a PhD from a prestigious university, then no matter how hard or exhausting it has been for me, no matter that I gave up my own dreams to help you study—it will all be worth it!"

Watching her mother go on and on, Megumi let out a silent sigh. It felt like every word her mother said turned into an invisible but heavy stone in the air, pressing down on her shoulders and making it hard to breathe.

The Kato family wasn't ultra-wealthy, but ever since her great-grandparents' generation, they had never lacked academic elites.

Getting into a top high school or a first-tier university was just standard practice. It was only worth mentioning if someone made it into a prestigious university. Among her relatives, there were numerous who had become master's or PhD holders at elite domestic and international universities.

In such a family of high achievers, Ikemi Kato—having missed her chance to earn a PhD from an Ivy League school—placed all her heavy expectations onto her daughter.

She had always demanded strict academic performance from Megumi, though she also gave her anything she asked for in return.

But at the same time: sports festivals? Not allowed. Field trips? Not allowed. Culture festivals? Not allowed. Want to rest during vacation? Only after finishing all your scheduled cram school sessions!

It's not wrong for a mother to want her daughter to succeed in academics. Education really can change one's fate. But in Ikemi Kato's case, it wasn't just about wanting her daughter to do well in school—it was more like forcing her to live out the dream she couldn't achieve herself.

A dream once unfulfilled—to earn a PhD from a prestigious university.

Megumi knew her mother's dream. She also knew why her mother pushed her so hard in her studies. When she was younger, she used to obey obediently, thinking that scoring high marks would make her mother happy.

But now, she had grown up. And hearing her mother say she couldn't attend the school sports festival or culture festival, she said nothing in response. Of course, she wasn't going to agree. She simply gave Ikemi Kato a calm look, then turned and walked back to her room.

Mom, you're so pitiful... When will you learn how to talk things over with me?

Megumi quickened her pace, returned to her room, and didn't bother studying. She simply lay on her bed, picked up her phone, and began flipping through her gallery—tens of thousands of photos secretly taken, all of the same person: Kotomi Izumi.

In every photo, only Kotomi remained. Everything and everyone else around her had been carefully cropped out by Megumi.

"Ah... No matter how frustrated I feel, just looking at Kotomi's pictures makes it all better. Kotomi is my goddess. Anyone who dares try to come between me and her... has only one end—death."

By the end, Megumi's voice twisted upward, full of menace. It was a tone completely unlike her usual gentle voice, laced with madness.

She glanced at the time on her phone, then let out a gentle laugh and calmly reached for her fully charged tablet. She opened an app with a gray background and a telescope icon.

Launch.

When the app launched, it didn't show her own room as a typical camera would—instead, it streamed a live video feed of Kotomi's bedroom!

Two miniature hidden cameras were broadcasting an ultra-clear image of Kotomi sleeping peacefully on her bed, shown right there on Megumi's tablet screen.

"Kotomi really is too cute... Sleeping so soundly without the slightest guard up. It makes me want to rush over there and eat her up in one bite."

"Honestly, I thought she would place the owl plushie somewhere else. I was just thinking that even if I gave it to her recently, I wouldn't be able to watch her 24/7 through the camera right away. I was planning to find a time to visit her place and adjust its position."

"But she went and put it right on her desk the moment she got it, perfectly facing her bed. Heh... If I weren't the one who hid the camera so well, I'd almost suspect Kotomi had figured out the owl's eyes were cameras and deliberately placed it there."

"What a silly, adorable little penguin... But that's exactly why I gave her this gift. I need to be able to watch her every move at all times if I'm going to protect her completely."

Zooming in, she watched Kotomi naturally roll onto her side in her sleep. Staring at that sweet sleeping face on the screen, Megumi whispered like she was right beside her.

She wanted to crawl into the screen and kiss that sleeping face.

"The resolution is amazing. I should've given this to her sooner."

"Huh? That's... Aimi?!"

"Why is she sneaking into Kotomi's room in the middle of the night? Wait—what is she doing lifting Kotomi's blanket? What does she think she's doing?! Stop it! Get your hands off her! She's mine, Kotomi is mine!"

"Don't touch her! Damn it! Take your hands off Kotomi!!"

Megumi clutched the tablet tightly, her emotions collapsing into a frenzy. Her cries sounded like a mix between a scream and a growl—but she was powerless. She could only watch as the scene unfolded on the screen, watch as Aimi...

A long time passed.

The screen finally showed Aimi leaving Kotomi's room, seemingly satisfied.

Megumi's tablet screen was now covered in cracks.

Head lowered, pupils unfocused, she stared in silence at Kotomi's sleeping face on the broken screen. Her cheeks were flushed, her face glowing with the faint smile of someone in blissful dreams.

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