I Can Distinguish the Twin Sister - Chapter 15

　 The day I met Yomi-san, it was nighttime after dinner.

　My father was going to be home late for work, and after Mom and I had finished dinner, I took out the album again.

　What caught my eye was a picture of the two kids with me in between them.

( …Ah… right. Somehow… I somehow remembered it. )

　As if the nostalgia I felt at that time is the key, and even the sight of those kids in the park is pushing the lid of my old memory open.

( I think it was…that department store. I can’t remember exactly where, but I met these crying kids.)

　――I think it was on a holiday when kindergarten was off, and I went out with my mother…

　That’s when I saw these kids walking around crying and approached them. That’s when I tilted my head.

( Why? …Is there something wrong? )

　I approached them and asked them what was wrong. These children were crying because they said they had lost their parents ―as if it was connected to the dream I had seen before… I just wanted to reassure these children, or rather, I wanted them to smile and laugh, so I bent down my body weirdly as hard as I could to get them to laugh.

[ I’m Akito! Hnng ! Hmn ! Hnnn ! ]

　…Wow, I remember doing something stupid.

　I was sure that I had done this for some reason, and the memory came back to me ― it felt like the adults around me had been smiling and laughing at me, so I felt embarrassed at once, even though it was already almost ten years ago.

“…No way, these kids are…? “

　Of course, there is no guarantee that everything I remember is correct.

　I thought that maybe… these two kids might be Rin’ne-san and Yomi-san.

” …….. “

　I close my eyes and concentrate, hoping to remember a little more…

　They look like a boy, and… they look so much like each other.

[ I’ll never make a mistake! I promise! ]

[ Real? ]

[ Really? ]

　My voice from my childhood and the voices of these young children come back to me in a mixture of subtle noises.

　Unfortunately, this is all I can remember at this stage.

　As I unconsciously stroke my fingers on their smiling faces in the picture, my mother sits down next to me.

　She looked at me while I was looking at this photo again, but then she looked at the photo and squinted her eyes as if she had a flash of inspiration.

” …Ah, that’s right! Right! “

“What is it?”

“Actually, there’s something that’s been bugging me ever since I saw this picture. It reminded me of something.”

　I quickly turn to my mother and urge her to continue.

　She puts her hand to her chin and slowly, slowly opens her mouth to recall the past.

“I know you three went to different kindergartens, but at some point, you became good friends with them and used to get together and play in the park or something. I think I met their mother at that time too…. “

“What else? “

“Ummm… I don’t know. I don’t think we were together for that long. I think it was right before we moved out of town.”

“….hmm.”

　I can’t say that my memory is that good, and I can’t say that my mom’s memory is that good, either.

　So I can’t say that what she told me is correct, but if she’s not mistaken, I didn’t stay with these kids that long.

　Well, maybe that’s true, too, if I can only remember fragments of them.

“But isn’t that a step forward? You can remember a few things now.”

“Certainly….”

　But only a little bit. There was a frustrating feeling that if I had something more, I could remember all of it.

　The memory I recalled even more when I talked to my mother was their crying faces… Even though we didn’t spend that much time together, I still couldn’t get the expressions on their faces out of my mind.

　After that, I took the picture back to my room.

　I put it on my desk and looked at it for a while, but I couldn’t remember anything more than that, so I let out a light sigh and lay down on my bed.

“……? “

　My nose felt strangely itchy, and I played with my phone for a while, then turned off the light and went to sleep.

* * *

“…fufu♪ “

“What’s wrong? “

“It’s nothing~.♪”

　The atmosphere at the Aragaki house has changed.

　It is not a really rare scene, but a scene of the sisters together, with Yomi visiting Rin’ne’s room.

　Rin’ne is very protective of Yomi, and although Yomi sometimes lashes out at Rin’ne, this has not caused any deterioration in the relationship between the sisters.

“Did something happen outside today? “

“Why? “

“Because you’re in a good mood.”

“Well, you know, there is something…”

　Yomi doesn’t hide that she seems to be in a good mood, even though she doesn’t say why.

　Rin’ne doesn’t sigh at her, and she is happy to see her cute little sister enjoying herself, so from her point of view, she only smiles at her.

( She really is a cute girl. She smiles more than ever these days.)

　Like Rin’ne, Yomi does not feel that her daily life is too cramped.

　Even if many boys look at them with desire-filled eyes, even if they are persistently mistaken for each other, even if they are told of feelings they don’t want… they have come to terms with the fact that it is what is inevitable.

　So if there had been no change, Yomi would not have smiled like this more often, and Rin’ne would not have enjoyed this moment so much.

( It’s thanks to him… isn’t it? )

　He is…yes, Akito was a big factor.

　The encounter between Rin’ne and Yomi to Akito is a very similar fateful encounter, as Akito is there when a boy confesses to Rin’ne and Yomi.

　What is he doing now, what is he thinking now? …Rin’ne seems to be a maiden in love who thinks about such things, but she is not in love with him. ―that’s for sure.

( But still… how can he really recognize us? )

　How Akito can tell them apart is a real mystery.

　After getting to know him and talking with him for a while, she is sure that he is not just guessing and making up stories.

　Above all, both Rin’ne and Yomi trust Akito enough not to doubt him.

　She is sure that something is obviously going on between her and Akito because they have such feelings that even they don’t understand.

( I’m sure that time will solve itself… Somehow, I have a feeling that it will. )

　Rin’ne had a feeling that something would come up soon.

　Putting this behind her for the moment, Rin’ne called out to Yomi.

“Yomi?”

“What? “

“Come here for a minute.”

“Uh?”

　Rin’ne thumped on the bed where she was sitting.

　Yomi tilted her head to the side, confused to see what was going on… and then, in one motion, Rin’ne pulled Yomi into her, tugging on her arm.

” Come! “

” Whoa !? “

　They both fell onto the bed, and Rin’ne hugged Yomi as hard as possible.

　Yomi, who at first wondered what she was doing, quickly calmed down, clinging to Rin’ne as if she were a kitten in her arms.

“What the heck is this…?”

“It’s good to do this once in a while. Lately, Yomi hasn’t been spoiling me.”

“That’s…”

　Yomi looked like she wanted to say something but swallowed her words.

　Rin’ne also noticed this, but she made this suggestion as an older sister who was thinking of her younger sister.

“Why don’t you sleep with me today? “

“Huh? “

“It’s decided. Onē-chan wants to sleep with you today.”

　Rin’ne continued to stare into Yomi’s eyes.

　She looked at Rin’ne’s eyes and saw that Yomi was determined not to back down, so she sighed and nodded in resignation.

“Okay. I’m going to sleep here today… is that okay? “

“Yes♪.”

　Rin’ne looks happy, and Yomi looks a little dejected… but it is not long before they fall asleep.

　And, whether it is because they are asleep together or not, they have the same dream.

* * *

　It was a world that reminded them of strange and nostalgic memories.

　In the gray world, Rin’ne is standing in front of a building ―Yomi is next to her, but because of the ambiguity of the dream, she does not think too much about it.

” ……ah “

　Hearing Yomi’s voice, Rin’ne looks beyond her gaze.

　Three young children are walking around ―Rin’ne and Yomi’s eyes widen, and they fix their gazes on the scene. It’s as if they can’t see anything else, as if they can’t think of anything else.

[ I’ll never make a mistake! I promise! ]

[ Real? ]

[ Really? ]

　It was a nostalgic exchange.

　They remembered that they had indeed had such an exchange before ―the boy continued with a smile that was brimming over.

[So wherever you are, I’ll find you! Well, I don’t know when we’ll see each other again. But I’ll come back to see you both! ]

　Then the boy’s image blurred.

　Rin’ne and Yomi reached out their hands… and woke up.

” …… “

” …… “

　They reach for his hands, and what they find are each other’s hands.

　Their hands were intertwined, and both Rin’ne and Yomi were crying without knowing it.

“…Onē-chan “

“Yomi “

　Unfortunately, they don’t remember much of the content of the dream.

　――Still, the doors of memory within them have already begun to open.