Chapter 10

“Hey, did you know? She’s a twin.”

During lunch, Sumahiko—a classmate who had casually spread his lunch on my desk—froze mid-bite when I casually dropped the question.

Sumahiko, who had been poking at his phone while eating, stopped dead. His expression shifted to something akin to fear, as if I’d mentioned some forbidden topic.

“H-hey, stop it… Don’t say that.”

“What? Why not? What’s the big deal?”

Being a gossip aficionado, Sumahiko’s reaction all but confirmed that he knew something. Still, it was odd. We’d talked about Miki Tachibana before, but the word “twin” had never come up. Unless I’d missed it by tuning him out, which was possible.

“Did she ever mention being a twin before?”

“D-dude, seriously, stop,” Sumahiko said, waving me off like I’d uncovered some cursed knowledge.

His dramatic response was getting on my nerves, so I crumpled up the wrapper from my store-bought bread and acted like I was going to throw it at him.

“What’s your deal? Spill it already, or I’ll chuck this at you.”

“Okay, okay, chill out! No need to flip out. I don’t know all the details, but there’s this unspoken rule, y’know? Like, you don’t talk about the other twin.”

“Why not?”

“Like I said, I don’t know!” he exclaimed, dodging the imaginary missile.

Apparently, this was just how things were. People simply avoided talking about Yuki, not because of any school-wide awareness of the weird stuff she was involved in, but for some other reason Sumahiko couldn’t quite explain.

“Some gossip expert you are, Sumahiko.”

“Hey, listen, her crew’s full of hotheads. I’d rather not stir the pot and end up on their radar, okay?”

It was true that the people surrounding Miki Tachibana were a prickly bunch. I had no intention of getting tangled in their web either.

According to Sumahiko’s “intel,” the older twin was Miki Tachibana, known as “the Princess,” while the younger one was Yuki Tachibana. The two were in the second year, and their titles as “Princess” came from the admiration—or obsession—of those around them.

“Apparently, they were famous even back in middle school,” Sumahiko continued. “Both played soft tennis and were a killer twin doubles team. Like, super strong.”

“Huh, must’ve been a nightmare for their opponents to tell them apart. Do they still play?”

“Nah, they quit. Not only that, but word is, they don’t get along anymore.”

No one had ever seen the twins talking or hanging out together at school. It was a stark contrast to the image of twins being inseparable, which would’ve saved me from this whole misunderstanding in the first place.

“Man, their names are way too similar. No wonder it’s confusing.”

“Yeah, I bet there are first-years who don’t even know they’re twins. Why the sudden interest? Don’t tell me you’ve given up on ‘the real one’ and decided to go for her sister instead. I’m telling you, bad idea.”

“What do you mean by ‘the real one’? They look pretty much the same.”

“Yeah, but the younger one’s got this vibe, y’know? Like a dark aura. She’s hard to approach. Compared to her older sister, it’s like she’s got something heavy going on.”

It seemed that Yuki’s “dark aura” had made her the target of vague unease among classmates, the kind of reputation where people just assumed something was “off” about her without knowing why. 

Given how blunt she was in conversation, I could see how she might rub people the wrong way, making enemies of both guys and girls.

After finishing lunch, I stood to toss my trash.  

Sumahiko, still engrossed in his slow-paced combination of eating and scrolling on his phone, pointed at my bag with his chopsticks as I returned to my seat.  

“Hey, is your phone in your bag? It’s been buzzing nonstop.”  

I pulled my phone out of my bag. Sure enough, the notification popup showed it was from Yuki. She’d tried calling again. Before I could dwell on it, the phone buzzed in my hand with a new message.  

Come to the courtyard.

Right now.

I grimaced. I wasn’t a fan of this kind of clipped, pushy messaging style. It had an urgency that felt overbearing, like I was being herded around in real-time.  

“What the hell…”

“Hm? What’s up?” Sumahiko asked, raising a curious eyebrow.  

“Just stepping out for a bit.” 

Leaving Sumahiko to his puzzled expression, I walked out of the classroom.