Why Don't You Make the Twins Your "Girlfriend" Together? Volume 1 Side Story 1
Twin Talk! ① Who does each of them like…?
That evening Chikage was in the kitchen, dressed in comfortable loungewear with an apron tied over it. Stirring a pot of miso soup, she let out a heavy sigh that fogged the air before her.
I wish we could get closer…
Her thoughts drifted back to the day the rankings were posted, to the moment he’d spoken to her in the hallway.
“Today’s special at the cafeteria… I hear it’s a real masterpiece.”
“And what about it…?” she’d asked, her voice betraying none of the turmoil inside.
“Would you like to go with me? I’ll even treat you, if you’d like.”
A wave of regret washed over Chikage.
Why couldn’t I just honestly say I wanted to go back then~…?
At the thought, the ladle in her hand began stirring the soup at double speed.
Takayashiki-kun probably wanted to get closer to me, right? If I had just gone to the cafeteria with him… But if people saw us, they might think we’re a couple, and that could cause him trouble…
Chikage was vaguely aware of the whispers that followed her through the school corridors—rumors about the top-ranking student. She knew she stood out, but since the gossip was about her, she could simply ignore it. It was her own problem to manage.
However, involving others was a different story entirely. The fear that being seen with her might burden Sakuto was a constant brake on any hope of deepening their relationship. It was a frustrating, self-imposed cage, and she was growing tired of her own inability to be honest.
Still, what if people did mistakenly think they were a couple? If Sakuto said he didn’t mind, then that would change everything.
I-If we really became a couple, then there wouldn’t be a problem at all, would there…!?
Wild, wonderful delusions bloomed in her mind, fueled by the memory of his words—
“…So that means I have to be in a couple with Usami-san to invite her to the school cafeteria, huh…?”
That small spark of hope, the idea that he might feel the same way, replayed over and over. And then there was the finishing blow, the moment that had truly sent her heart into a frenzy—
“Phew~, that was close. Are you okay?”
He had held her.
It was an accident—a split-second reaction to keep her from falling—but to Chikage, it felt like an act of divine intervention. No man besides her father had ever held her before. The feeling of his heart pounding against her own had shaken her to her very core. Long after he’d gone, the afterglow had left her standing motionless in the hallway, lost in the memory.
His heart was pounding… for me…
She closed her eyes, a delighted squirm running through her as she hugged the memory close. Just then—
“~What’ve you been doin’ all this time, huh~?”
A playful voice called out from the other side of the kitchen counter.
“Hoeh!? H-Hii-chan!? How long have you been there!?”
“Just a little while,” her sister replied with a cheerful grin. “I’m home, Chii-chan.”
Peeking over the counter was a face identical to her own—her twin sister, Hikari, born a whole fifteen minutes before her.
“W-Welcome home,” Chikage stammered. “I mean, where were you?”
“Hmm… Just kinda wanderin’ around, I guess.”
“I see…”
Seeing Hikari still in her school uniform, Chikage had to physically suppress the sigh that threatened to escape. Hikari had a long history of skipping school, a habit that started back in fourth grade. It seemed high school was no different; she’d put on the uniform in the morning, but her feet rarely carried her all the way to the school gates.
In a way, Hikari lived with a carefree spirit that Chikage secretly admired, but she knew her sister was carrying some kind of burden. Because of that, she could never bring herself to be too harsh.
Still, this wasn’t middle school anymore.
“If you keep skipping, you’ll have to repeat a year, y’know?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine! I’ve been professionally calculatin’ my days off, m’kay?”
“That’s not what ‘professionally’ means… So, where did you really go?”
“Ehehe, I just went to the library for a change of pace—”
“The arcade, wasn’t it?” Chikage cut in, her voice flat.
Hikari’s cheerful expression froze. “How did you know!?”
“Because we’re twins… or rather, because I know your patterns. You’ve been really into games lately, so I just took a shot in the dark.”
Looking genuinely impressed, Hikari clapped her hands together. “As expected of my twin! You see right through me, don’tcha.”
“I’m not exactly happy to hear that, Hii-chan… Honestly…” Thoroughly exasperated, Chikage turned off the stove.
As the sister born fifteen minutes later, she felt it was her duty to at least warn Hikari. All she wanted was for her to get a high school diploma—a safety net for whatever the future held. It was a simple wish, one their parents should have shared. But their parents’ philosophy was to let Hikari do as she pleased. Whether you called it understanding or just being soft, Chikage had long since given up trying to get them to intervene.
And yet, watching her sister, she sometimes couldn’t help but feel a sliver of admiration. She wondered if Hikari, so unlike herself, might one day accomplish something truly great.
As Chikage began plating the food, she glanced over at her sister, who was now sprawled out on the living room sofa, joyfully hugging a large stuffed animal.
“Hii-chan? Did something good happen?”
“Ngh… I’m not really sure,” Hikari mumbled, her voice muffled by the toy. “But somethin’ happened that made my heart pound… hauu~…”
She recalled the memory, kicking her legs in the air before turning to Chikage, her face beet-red.
“Hey, Chii-chan. Are there any guys you’re on good terms with?”
“Eh…?”
One person immediately came to mind, but he wasn’t someone she was on good terms with—he was someone she wanted to be on good terms with.
“N-No, not really… There’s someone I’ve talked to a few times, though…”
“And his name is?”
“Um, Takayashiki-kun,” Chikage murmured, her cheeks warming. “Takayashiki Sakuto-kun…”
The moment the name left her lips, a strange thing happened. Hikari, for reasons unknown, began to happily stroke her own left cheek, a dreamy smile spreading across her face.
Join the conversation