LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 2: The Same Snowy White
What should I write for the first light novel?
This was the first question before Izumi Kotomi. Although the novels, manga, anime, games, and galgames she was familiar with from her previous life had all disappeared, she felt she needed to carefully consider her first book in this new world.
[If you want to write a light novel, host, I must remind you: although the works you knew in your previous life are gone in this world, some characters from those works do appear here.]
"Really?!" Izumi Kotomi asked excitedly.
[Yes, characters like Megumi Kato, Utaha Kasumigaoka, Yukinoshita Yukino, Mashiro Shiina, and Mai Sakurajima, among others—many beautiful girls originally from ACG works have appeared in the real world. Are you happy? Excited? Keep your excitement in check for now; you'll gradually meet them once school starts in a few days.]
Meeting the beautiful girls from ACG works of her past life was certainly exciting!
However, amidst the excitement, Izumi Kotomi quickly noticed a problem:
"What should I do if I decide to write about them in my works in the future?"
[Don't worry, I'm the God-Level Heroine System~ your strongest support on the path to becoming a god-level heroine! If you plan to write about them, I'll remind you first. For example, if you plan to write "How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend," and the characters appear in real life, I'll alert you. You can then decide whether to write a different story or slightly change the character names.]
The God-Level Heroine System spoke with a hint of pride. Just from her tone, one could easily imagine a little loli with a proud expression, hands on her hips, looking triumphant.
"I see, that's really convenient." Izumi Kotomi nodded.
But, back to the original question, what should her first light novel be?
After thinking for a long time, Izumi Kotomi still couldn't decide. Just then, she noticed it was getting late, and the clock ornament outside the convenience store, which served as both decoration and a timepiece, displayed the current time.
Six o'clock already?!
"Wow! It's so late already!" Izumi Kotomi quickly ran towards her home.
In her memory, although Izumi Akina was a gentle and soft-spoken mother, she could be very strict when she and her sister made mistakes.
How scary was Izumi Akina when angry?
It's not that she would scold loudly. Izumi Akina never raised her voice at the children.
She would simply wear a stern face and reprimand in her usual tone. The fact that one could tell she was angry, even without a hint of rage on her face, was what made it truly terrifying!
The latest time for Izumi Akina to set for her and her sister to be home was 6:30 p.m. If they weren't home by 6:30...
An angry mom was scary!
Izumi Kotomi ran all the way home, taking about ten minutes to arrive, just in time before 6:30.
The Izumi house was a standalone, detached home.
"I'm home."
Izumi Kotomi softly announced after opening the door with her key. Was this her home in this life?
She could faintly hear the sounds of cooking from the kitchen, where her mother, Akina, was preparing food. The bubbling sounds from the pot filled the air with a rich aroma, and the sizzling of frying made her mouth water.
She wasn't sure what her mother was frying, but the aroma from the pot smelled like curry!
Izumi Kotomi walked toward the kitchen. Although she had already seen what her parents looked like in her memories, this was her first "official" meeting with them. It was impossible not to feel nervous.
Izumi Kotomi felt her heartbeat quicken.
Gently pushing the door open, she saw a woman with long white hair styled into a side ponytail, the ponytail draped casually over her shoulder.
A dark blue ribbon tied her hair, adding a touch of detailed beauty, and a mole beneath her left eye gave her a slightly mature appearance.
In her memory, her mother, Izumi Akina, was someone who knew how to dress herself well. This didn't mean heavy makeup, but she had a knack for subtle accessories, like a new hairpin, earrings, or a headband.
"M...Mom, I'm home." Izumi Kotomi hesitated for a moment but finally smiled and uttered the word "mom."
Upon hearing Izumi Kotomi's voice, Izumi Akina turned around with a smile and looked at her:
"Welcome home. Dinner will be ready soon. Tonight, we're having fried pork cutlet curry! Your father is working overtime and will be home late, so the three of us will eat first."
"Dad's been working overtime a lot lately."
"There's nothing we can do about it. Your dad has been a section manager for five years and hasn't been promoted to department head, which makes him feel a bit unwilling. So he wants to work hard while he still can."
Izumi Akina maintained an understanding attitude towards her husband's recent overtime work.
Of course, she would occasionally complain, saying: "Even if you want to work hard, you need to take breaks. I wonder if there's food at his company, and if he's hungry."
"Where's Aimi?"
Izumi Kotomi glanced at the living room but didn't see her sister, Izumi Aimi. It was summer vacation, and her sister liked to lazily curl up on the sofa to watch TV during this time.
Izumi Akina covered her mouth and laughed softly:
"She's cramming her summer homework in her room. I reminded her on the first day of vacation to finish her homework quickly so she could play. But she didn't listen. With only seven days left before school starts, she hasn't touched a page of her summer homework. She has to work day and night to finish it in time."
"Hahaha…" Izumi Kotomi chuckled helplessly. Aimi was in her third year of junior high, preparing for the high school entrance exams next year.
As for herself, having just passed the entrance exams this year, she didn't have any summer homework.
Isn't that nice?
It's really nice!
To avoid disturbing her mother's cooking, Izumi Kotomi left the kitchen first, closing the door behind her with a warm smile.
Just now, when she first saw Akina's long white hair, the God-Level Heroine System told her something.
The Izumi couple originally had black hair. The reason Akina's hair was now white involved something that happened after they adopted Kotomi.
After taking the abandoned baby home from the park, the baby grew healthily, making the Izumi couple very happy. They officially named the baby Izumi Kotomi.
However, when Kotomi started growing hair, the couple realized her hair was naturally white.
Though she was too young to consider this, neighbors would eventually ask. If they told them she was adopted, would Kotomi feel differently if she found out she was adopted?
Because of this, Akina decided to dye her naturally black hair to match Kotomi's white hair.
Later, when Aimi asked why her hair color differed from her sister's, Akina simply said, "Your sister's hair color is like mom's, and yours is like dad's."
The Izumi couple's kindness quietly nurtured both Kotomi and Aimi.
"To be reincarnated with such parents is my luck…" Izumi Kotomi chuckled to herself as she headed upstairs.
Her parents' room was on the first floor, while her sister's and her own were on the second.
Passing her sister's room, the door was closed. Aimi was probably inside, working diligently.
Izumi Kotomi opened her room door, only to find her sister Aimi there instead of working hard on her homework.
Aimi hadn't noticed the room's original owner, her sister Izumi Kotomi, had come in.
Reclining on the bed, Aimi had her long, slender legs outstretched, giggling at a talk show on her laptop, her little feet swinging back and forth. Those feet were so perfect, with delicate ankles and smooth lines.
Moreover, Aimi was very pretty and cute, with black hair cascading like a waterfall, tied with two burgundy ribbons. Her delicate features gave her a pure and innocent look.
—Did this look like she was cramming her homework?
Izumi Kotomi thought to herself, speechless.
She removed her slippers and approached quietly in her white socks.
Aimi was still engrossed in the talk show, occasionally giggling aloud.
Watching her sister's small feet sway, Izumi Kotomi mischievously smiled, reaching out to tickle Aimi's soft soles.
Tickle~
The sensation was so soft, like jelly.
"Ahh!"
Caught off guard, Aimi shot up like a startled kitten, her face blushing as she looked back to see her sister, Izumi Kotomi, standing behind her with a mischievous grin.
"Onee...Onee-chan…"
Caught in the act by her sister, Aimi's delicate face blushed with an enticing pink, her lips pouting.
"I heard from mom that you were studying hard, catching up on your summer homework." Izumi Kotomi glanced at her bed, where a laptop and an open bag of tomato chips lay. She smiled sweetly: "Your way of doing homework is quite special~"
Not only was she caught slacking, but her sister also saw her lazing around instead of doing homework. Aimi's face turned even redder with embarrassment.
"Onee-chan, could you not tell mom about this?" Aimi asked, her face still flushed.
She had intended only to watch the talk show briefly. However, half an hour had passed, and she had opened a bag of chips and started eating.
If mom found out...
Aimi's palms instantly turned clammy with cold sweat.
She was utterly panicking!
Mom, who smiled sweetly while angry, was genuinely terrifying!!!
Looking at Aimi's nervousness, Izumi Kotomi chuckled inwardly, finding her sister even more adorable than imagined.
Izumi Kotomi reached out to her with a smile:
"If you don't want me to tell mom, buy me a pack in Azur Lane."
Though many ACG works from her previous life had disappeared, Azur Lane still existed in this world.
"Buy...buy a pack? But I don't play Azur Lane…"
Aimi shrank back, speaking softly. She didn't play Azur Lane but often saw her sister being scolded by their mom for staying up all night playing it, so she remembered the name of this mobile game.
"No problem, I just want 5,000 gems. Just give me 10,000 yen."
"Oh, alright, but please don't tell mo… wait! You want 10,000 yen?!" Aimi, about to give her money, suddenly realized something was off.
"I remember you've been saving up, so you should have 10,000 yen, right? If you don't want me to tell mom, just hand it over." Izumi Kotomi said with a mischievous smile.
Though she said this, she had no intention of taking her sister's money; she only wanted to tease her slacker sister.
Aimi didn't realize she was being teased by her sister. After hesitating a moment, she reluctantly took out her phone and said pitifully:
"This is all my allowance… Onee-chan, you can't tell mom after I give you the money!"
Saying so, Aimi was about to transfer the money to Izumi Kotomi.
Pfft~
Izumi Kotomi couldn't help but laugh, patting Aimi's soft hair as she said, "Alright, I was just joking with you. I wouldn't really take your money."
"Huh?" Aimi looked at her sister, a bit dumbfounded.
"Don't worry. I won't tell mom about you sneaking into my room and secretly using the computer. In exchange…" Izumi Kotomi said, taking the half-eaten bag of chips and shaking it in her hand: "This bag of chips is mine."
10,000 yen instantly turned into a half-eaten bag of chips.
"Thank you, Onee-chan…" Aimi said, pouting with her face still flushed.
"But speaking of which," Izumi Kotomi sat across from Aimi, glancing at the talk show still playing on the computer, "I remember my laptop has a password. How did you get in?"
Could her sister be a password-cracking genius?!
But Aimi shook her head, seeming to know what Izumi Kotomi was thinking, and said: "You set the password too simply, 333333. Isn't that just your birthday repeated three times? With a little thought, anyone could guess it."
So she wasn't a genius at cracking passwords; it was just that her password was too simple…
Izumi Kotomi couldn't help but twitch her mouth. She had to set the password as simple as possible because she tended to forget it occasionally. Thus, her computer password was her birthday.
Her birthday was March 3rd, which in Japan is Girls' Day.
Because of this special birthday, anyone who knew about it remembered it vividly.