Chapter 36

“Alright, then why don’t Yuki and Miki take a bath together?”  

“”Huh?”” 

The two replied in perfect unison.  

They both turned toward me with matching expressions that seemed to say, What the hell is he talking about?  

“No need to look at me like that… Didn’t you used to bathe together when you were kids?”  

“We didn’t. It’s impossible.”  

“When we started middle school, Yuki was scared to bathe alone and dragged me in with her.”  

Their stories didn’t align, but Miki’s version seemed more believable here.  

“Well then, it’s fine, isn’t it? A chance to reminisce and bond, now that you’ve made up.”  

I laid down the suggestion preemptively to divert their attention before things got weird. Personally, I thought it was a pretty solid idea.  

Yuki made a complicated, almost sour face, while Miki shot me a cold, unimpressed glare.  

“So, Hoshi-kun, this is your fetish, huh?”  

“What are you saying?”  

“I mean, I like yuri in 2D, but in 3D, it’s a no-go for me. TS can work in 2D, though.”  

“Um… What are we talking about right now?”  

Even as Miki looked smug, her cryptic remarks left me completely at a loss.  

Yuki walked behind the couch, brushing her fingers casually through Miki’s hair, her face an unreadable mix of emotions.  

“Fine. I’ll take a look at how much Miki has grown after all this time.”  

“Oh? Are you serious?”  

Miki shot up and glared at Yuki as though accepting some unspoken challenge. For her part, Yuki didn’t glare back but instead wore an unsettlingly sly smile as she leaned close to whisper in my ear.  

“You know, back in the bath one time, Miki actually…”  

The words were so explicit that my brain instinctively censored them.  

There’s no way the so-called school princess did anything like that. Yuki was probably just messing around again.  

But Miki immediately panicked, pressing Yuki for answers.  

“What? What did you say?”  

“You know what I’m talking about. That time when you suddenly…”  

“W-What!? Why would you bring that up, you idiot!”  [TL: Knight-kun telll meeeee]

Miki’s face flushed a shade of red I had never seen before. So it was true… That didn’t do much to stop the vivid and unfortunate imaginings now running rampant in my head.  

Yuki gave the flustered Miki a push on the back, guiding her out of the living room. Just as they reached the doorway, Yuki turned and smirked.  

“If you feel like joining, Knight-kun, the door’s open.”  

“Sure, sure. Just you two behave yourselves, alright?”  

“Oh? So you really want us to get along, huh?”  

“It’s better than you fighting all the time.”  

“Hmm, getting along, huh…”  

The way she repeated the phrase gave it a suspicious undertone, but of course, I had no ulterior motives.  

The two of them left the room, and soon afterward, I heard high-pitched voices echoing faintly from the hallway.  

“What are you doing, Yuki!?”  

“Are you feeling it, you closet pervert?”  

“Oh, what’s this? Want me to do what I did before?”  

The living room door was left wide open—whether intentional or not. Judging by the sound, the door to the area in front of the bathroom was likely open as well.  

I got up, quietly closed the living room door, and returned to the sofa, where I turned up the TV volume and laid down.  

—

“Seriously, could you guys not do stuff like this?”  

Roughly an hour later, I found myself once again sandwiched between the two of them on the sofa.  

Both of them were fresh out of the bath, wearing only towels wrapped around their bodies, covering them from the chest down. A faint steam rose from their skin, and the air was filled with the scent of shampoo.  

They both had towels wrapped around their heads as well, making it impossible to tell who was who just by looking. Same faces, same build.  

“So, who’s who?”  

They grinned in sync as they said it, as if reading my mind. Clearly, this had been their plan all along.  

“Yeah, no thanks. Can we skip this?”  

“Hmm? Trying to dodge the question?”  

“You’re not going to mess up, are you?”  

Pressure closed in on me from both sides. It didn’t look like they’d let me go until I guessed right.  

Fortunately, I did know a surefire way to tell them apart—Yuki had a small birthmark near her left eye. Hard to fake.  

…Or so I thought, but both of them had strategically covered their left eyes with their hands. They’d anticipated this.  

“What the hell is this, an eye test?”  

“That’s right, an eye test. You know what’ll happen if you get it wrong, don’t you?”  

So this was my test. My eyesight might be 20/10, but that wouldn’t help me here.  

I stood up, looking down at the two seated on the sofa.  

They sat still, not moving a muscle, their posture impeccable. Their silence and unblinking stares were honestly kind of creepy.  

I needed clues, so my gaze shifted from their faces to their bodies.  

The slimness of their arms, the tone of their skin—completely identical. Their skin, glistening in the light from the ceiling, had a pale sheen. The damp cleavage visible through their towels glistened faintly. No discernible difference in size. Their elbows, raised to keep their hands over their eyes, drew attention to their collarbones and underarms.  

“Hey, he’s totally staring at our boobs.”  

“Is he checking out our armpits? What a perv.”  

Their accusations, though unreasonable, cut through the silence. Despite their earlier resolve not to speak, their patience seemed to have run out.  

But thanks to that, I now had my answer.  

“This one’s Yuki, and that one’s Miki.”  

I pointed at them one by one. I had no doubt about it.  

The way they spoke, their subtle mannerisms—they were clues. Maybe it was a skill I’d picked up over time, but it was enough to identify them.  

Still, if they hadn’t said a word and stayed completely still, I wasn’t sure I could have told them apart.  

“Ding ding, correct! Congratulations!”  

Yuki grinned triumphantly and pointed at my face, while Miki, clapping softly, looked up at me curiously.  

“How’d you know?”  

“Well, I mean, I just know. Comes with being around you two so much.”  

“Ohhh?”  

Miki’s eyes sparkled as she gazed up at me, her expression soft and pleased. Unfortunately, from my vantage point, her neckline created quite a distraction.  

I looked away to avoid staring, only to be confronted with Yuki’s neckline in the opposite direction.  

“Let me guess—you recognized me through the power of love, and then eliminated Miki through the process of elimination.”  

“Look, whatever it is, just go get dressed already, will you?”  

“Not so fast. First, here’s your prize for getting it right.”  

Before I could react, the two of them stood up simultaneously and positioned themselves directly in front of me. Their coordinated movements hinted that this had all been planned in advance.  

I had a very bad feeling about this.  

With matching smirks, Yuki and Miki reached for the folds of their towels at their chests.  

In one synchronized motion, they released the fabric. The damp white towels slid to the floor without resistance.  

[TL: I bet they have some swimsuits or something on, what do you guys think? Or maybe they’re actually……hope so]