How I, a Completely Ordinary Guy with No Special Traits, Risked My Life to Save Beautiful Twin Sisters, Only to Make Both of Them, Who Turned Out to Be Yandere, Fall Madly in Love with Me (REMAKE) - 86

Chapter 86: Huh, I Didn’t Expect You to Actually Care About That Kind of Thing, Ryouya-kun

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After leaving Yasui Konpiragu Shrine, we got on a bus and began to move. Our next destination was the prefectural aquarium in Shimogyo Ward, which was Reona’s request. 

“Everyone around us on the bus is speaking Kansai dialect, huh.”

“Yeah. Here in Kansai, people like us who speak standard Japanese actually stand out. We’re the minority.”

“In that case, why don’t you try speaking Kansai dialect too, Ryouya?”

“No way, no way. No matter how hard I try, it would only end up sounding like a fake Kansai dialect.”

Apparently, Kansai natives could  immediately tell if someone was faking it because of differences in intonation and other subtleties, so I’d definitely get found out instantly. Plus, I heard that fake Kansai dialects were really hated, so if I did it badly, I might even get ganged up on instead.

“By the way, I heard that Kyoto and Osaka have slightly different dialects even though they’re both in Kansai.”

“Kyoto-ben has a slightly softer impression.”

“Yeah. There are definitely differences depending on the region, though I doubt I’d be able to tell them apart just by listening.”

“Same here. I really don’t think I could tell either.”

My mom, who was born in Okayama Prefecture, could immediately tell just by hearing if someone was speaking Hiroshima-ben or Tottori-ben instead of Okayama-ben, even though they sounded similar. But even when I listened, I couldn’t tell at all.

I guess if you don’t actually use it yourself, you can’t really distinguish it.

While chatting about such things and swaying on the bus, we eventually arrived at the prefectural aquarium, our destination. This place was Japan’s first aquarium to use artificial seawater and seemed to be quite popular, attracting visitors even from outside the prefecture. In fact, even though it was a weekday, the inside of the aquarium was overflowing with people.

“Ah, you two, look! Over there, there’s a giant salamander!”

“Whoa, so that’s a giant salamander. I’ve seen pictures before, but it’s my first time seeing one in real life.”

“They’re designated as a Special Natural Monument of Japan, and you don’t often get to see them. So you should really take a good look while you have the chance.”

With her usual cool expression, Riona was taking a ton of photos with her smartphone. It seemed that opinions about giant salamanders were divided between people who found them gross and those who thought they were cute. Riona was definitely the latter.

“There really are all kinds of fish here.”

“They’re all so colorful and cute.”

While glancing sideways at Riona, who was still glued to the giant salamander, I looked around and saw multiple tanks filled with various sea creatures catching our eyes.

“This tank is a recreation of Kyoto’s diverse ocean.”

“Are you already done getting your fill of the giant salamander?”

“I enjoyed it more than enough.”

When I asked Riona, who had somehow returned to our side without me noticing, that was how she answered. It seemed she had even thoroughly studied up on the prefectural aquarium in advance. After that, the three of us started touring the inside of the aquarium. Unlike Reona and me, Riona was very knowledgeable and even knew a lot about marine life. She explained things to us in an easy-to-understand way. 

Sometimes I honestly wondered if there was anything Riona didn’t know, considering how much trivia, plus anime and game entertainment knowledge, she had. It wouldn’t be surprising if someone gave her a nickname like “Riopedia.”

“Hey, isn’t that a doctor fish?”

“Looks like it. If I remember right, doctor fish are the ones that eat dead skin, right?”

“Yeah. They’re actually considered beneficial for beauty and health.”

Right after saying that, Riona casually plunged her right hand into the water without hesitation. Immediately, the doctor fish swarmed toward her.

“…Does it hurt when they eat your skin?”

“Not at all, so don’t worry.”

Although Reona seemed a little hesitant, she nervously dipped her right hand into the tank after hearing Riona’s reassurance. A smile immediately spread across Reona’s face.

“It doesn’t hurt, but it kind of tickles. You should try it too, Ryouya-kun.”

“I think I’ll pass. I’m worried about the pair rings we’re wearing on our fingers.”

Saying that, I flashed the pair rings that I had been almost forcibly made to wear every day ever since Reona and Riona’s birthday party.

I’m sure my skin is going to be fine, but if I stuck my hand in and the rings got scratched… The repercussions from them would be terrifying.

“Huh, I didn’t expect you to actually care about that kind of thing, Ryouya-kun.”

“Well, just a little bit.”

“Ryouya, you’re so responsible.”

Needless to say, Reona and Riona were also faithfully wearing their pair rings on the ring fingers of their left hands every day, and right after summer break ended, it even became a hot topic at school. Honestly, with two girls wearing rings on their left ring fingers, there was no way it wouldn’t cause a stir.

Now, it had become so normal that no one even mentioned it anymore. But back then, there were even annoying rumors floating around that I had dirt on the two of them and was forcing them to wear the rings at the same time as me.

If anything, it feels more like Reona and Riona are the ones holding something over me and forcing me to wear them.

Even if I tried to explain that, though, no one would believe me. If I were in their shoes, I definitely wouldn’t believe my own excuse either.

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