I Can Distinguish the Twin Sister - Chapter 9

For students, there are many ways to spend their holidays.

I am not a member of any club, so I don’t have to go to school, and I don’t plan to hang out with my friends Yoshiki and Masashi ―in other words, I am free.

“But that doesn’t mean you have to do that… ”

“It’s okay. It’s better than doing nothing.”

So, I was cleaning, something my mother was supposed to do instead.

Aside from Dad, who is out of the office on holidays, Mom is also busy with housework on weekdays, so she should take it easy at least on weekends.

“You should take a day off at least. Well, it’s just like today is a special day.”

“That’s true, but… Well, okay. I’ll leave it to you.”

“Okay.”

To be clear, I don’t spend all my days off like this.

I’ve mentioned it, but today is a special day, and basically, my mom does most of the house cleaning.

” …fufu ”

“What? ”

My mother smiled at me as I wandered around with the vacuum cleaner, so I turned it off and looked at her.

Then she stood up quickly, stood before me, and hugged me.

I was surprised at the sudden hug, but I accepted the hug because I didn’t expect her to do something meaningless.

“I was so happy. I was really happy to see you being good to your parent.”

“What are you talking about? I just cleaned…?”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s just cleaning – but Akito does it. He’s always working for dad and me, right? ”

No… I think it’s natural to take care of your family.

She patted my head, patted my back gently, and continued.

“You’ve always had to transfer schools around a lot, and I’ve put Akito through a lot of hardship. But Akito never complained. He followed us so obediently… you could have been a little more selfish.”

“No… there was indeed a bit of stress with all the changes. At least I didn’t miss my mom and dad as long as they were around.”

I’m ashamed to say this… but these words are not lies.

No matter what new place I went to, my moms’ words surrounded me. I was never particularly rebellious, but it’s hard to have bad feelings toward a warm family like this in the first place.

[ If you have any problems, tell me right away, okay? ]

[ If you don’t fit in, talk to me immediately, okay? Never keep it to yourself. ]

There are many forms of family in this world.

Good or bad, it varies. But I can say with confidence that I love my mom and dad because they were such a loving family.

“Ah guess what, Akito! I’m going to cook a lot of your favorite meat dishes today! ”

“Oh?”

“Yeah! You should look forward to it! ”

“Okay! ”

So, it looks like we’re going to have a splendid dinner tonight!

After that, my mom wanted to clean the house with me, and she joined in the cleaning after she took the vacuum cleaner away from me.

We managed to finish the job quickly, although there were a few incidents, like kicking over a bucket of water along the way.

“Okay, Mom. I’m going out for a while.”

“Be careful on the way～.”

“Yep.”

The time passed in the late afternoon, and since there was nothing more to do at home, I decided to go outside.

I had several options, but I decided to just hang around for now.

“……Oh? ”

As I was walking along, I spotted Rin’ne-san walking alone in front of me.

I had seen her before in school.. but I had never seen these sisters anywhere else before.

But it was a little refreshing to see Rin’ne-san dressing casually, not in her usual school uniform.

“Well, I’m not here for anything else.”

I had just met her recently, and it was strange to call out to her just because I saw her.

Just as I was about to pretend that I didn’t see her, she stopped moving, looking straight at me as if she was looking for which building I would enter.

One chance… she might not have seen me. I gently took my eyes off her and walked to the side.

” …………… ”

” …………… ”

I could see her eyes moving slowly as I moved.

Oh, she’s totally locked onto me… is this self-consciousness? 　But I think it’s because we talked recently.

The most recent was Senpai’s confession fiasco.

As I was thinking this, Rin’ne-san was walking right by me.

“Hello, Nagase-kun. Are you planning to run away? How could you do that when you just met your classmate? ”

….huh? It’s Rin’ne-san, right?

Her gestures and words are totally Yomi-san, but I see her as Rin’ne-san in front of me…

“Hello… Yomi-san”

That’s the first time I’ve ever seen her like that.

When I mentioned Yomi-san’s name, she giggled and put her hand over her mouth.

“fufu, sorry, Nagase-kun. It’s me―Rin’ne.”

“Ah… okay.”

I was surprised at the unexpectedly quick revelation of the truth.

I wasn’t surprised that I wasn’t wrong, but I just couldn’t understand why she did this.

Smiling, she said, “I knew it,” and said it with conviction.

“Nagase-kun ―you have noticed the difference between us, haven’t you? ”

My heart jumped at the question.

It was nothing to be worried about, but I was still surprised that Rin’ne-san actually pointed it out to me… because there was no moment when she would have noticed it.

“I don’t know how you could recognize us. ”

“That is…”

“I guess it’s true. If I may say so, it was at that Senpai ―when Yomi and I played with each other, I realized that you can recognize us.”

” …that’s it? ”

“When I was dealing with that Senpai, I was looking at you all the time, too.”

…You don’t mean to say that you noticed my slight reaction, then?

For a moment, I wasn’t sure which one it was, but I was confident I wouldn’t make a mistake.

Rin’ne-san, who was staring at me, took a step closer and looked up at me with her beautiful eyes as she continued.

“Have you been… aware of it all along? ”

I nodded my head, thinking that there was no need for me to deceive her anymore.

Rin’ne-san’s eyes sparkled at that moment, and she looked so cute and seemed to be feeling some unconcealed joy that I looked at her and wondered if it was that big of a deal.

But I didn’t want to get her hopes up too high, so I told her.

“I don’t know how I know that… I don’t have a clear reason, and it’s not something I can answer when people ask me why―I can only say I can recognize but not tell the difference. ”

No clear reason, I told her, but… with blinding speed, Rin’ne-san wrapped her hands around mine.

“Until now… no one recognizes us, except our families…No. I’m pretty sure that’s the case… ah, but― ”

“What’s wrong….? ”

Rin’ne-san looked at me again as if she had thought of something.

She was so cute and, at the same time, very beautiful to see up close… and honestly, I was really smitten by her ―although I was surprised soon afterward.

“Nagase-kun. Do you have time now? Uh, I don’t mind if you have something to do.”

“No, not really.”

“Then can I hang with you? Tell me about yourself.”

” …… ”

“About yourself, please tell me.”

Tell you about myself? I probably had an astonished face at this moment.

Rin’ne-san continued to speak to me, who was still looking at her blankly.

“To tell you the truth, I am curious about you. When we talked before, I wondered why you were so easy to talk to and why I’m so… comfortable with you. And above all, I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but you can tell the difference between Yomi and me… and that’s what I want to know.”

“Ah…. ”

She pulls me closer, and I involuntarily take a step back.

But she narrowed her steps as if to say she would never forgive me for stepping back.

“Nagase-kun. I want to spend today with you ―no…? ”

…this, I can’t refuse.

Rin’ne-san tilted her head anxiously, and I had no choice but to nod.

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