Love is indivisible by twins. - Vol 1 Chapter 1.8

Brought to you by Noir

“I understand. I was in the wrong. I beg you, just please don’t say anymore.

“It’s fine till you understand. Well, now that I’ve sharpened up Jun-kun’s spirit enough, let’s go a little further down the Thames. Can nyu see the MI6’s headquarters?”

“… It’s the first time I’ve ever called Arakawa being called the Thames river by someone.”

That’s all I can say. It’s not like this. No matter how much time passes, a man can’t compete with his first love, right? 

On the way home from the nearest station, there is a coffee shop we like. We used to kill time there when we had nowhere to go. But it’s already six o’clock in the evening. My father is coming home, and if I’m thinking of eating dinner at home, it’s not a good idea to fill my stomach here. If possible, I want to talk more nonsense with Naori to ease the tension. 

Reluctantly, I turn my feet to the usual park. It’s a place of beginnings and a place of endings. I hate following Rumi’s advice, but I thought this was the only place to start anew. 

By the time we reached the park, it was already dark. The boundaries around us began to blur, leaving only the areas lit by the streetlights with sharp outlines. The air is stiff and slightly chilly. 

The three of us played together countless times, but now we sit on a park bench that feels small. Sitting next to her, Naori puts her feet up and opens and closes the toes of her sneakers. Each time, there was a thunderous sound, and I felt like I was being rushed for some reason.

“Aren’t you feeling cold?”

“You’re awfully kind, aren’t you? What-what? Do you have a favor to ask from me? I can’t lend you any money, though?”

Naori bends her body while looking at Jun.

“No, look, don’t your legs feel cold?”

When you sit next to her, as your gaze lowers, your eyes are eventually drawn to her legs that peek out from her skirt. 

The color of the skin lying between the knee socks and skirt can only be considered an eye guide. 

To put it in Naori’s terms, girls’ bare feet are like a Datura for high school boys.

“Ridiculous! Don’t underestimate a high school girl who exposes her legs to the limit, even in winter. Even knowing when to start wearing tights is after knowing the risk of your life–that’s a kind of bargaining they go through.”

“Certainly. Come to think of it, it’s true. Seriously, the girl’s guts are really worthy of admiration. I wonder why every girl sticks out their bare legs like that. Isn’t it simply chilly and cold?”

“Have you never seen a scene where a girl uses a lap blanket in the classroom to cover herself up? I think you don’t have a good observing eye. What do you think are your thoughts about that, Detective-Kun?”

“Please don’t call me that… But now that you mention it, I do see them using a lap blanket to cover themselves up.”

“Don’t they? In the harsh winters, those lap blankets are similar to gods. We just can’t live without it.”

“If you just make the skirt longer in winter—”

“You really don’t understand, now do you? That’s not the problem in the first place. Even anime characters have the same length of skirt maintained throughout the year, right? They don’t even change the length depending on the season? In other words, that’s ‘what’ it means. Speaking of skirts, the recent characters are amazing, having chubby legs. I somehow feel some sort of security seeing them.”

“Is that what you think while watching them… I never thought of that while watching an anime…”

“When I see those ankles, modeled so delicate that their bones might break up so very easily, I’m overwhelmed by the gap between that reality and fiction. But well, doesn’t even Jun-kun, Don’t you also find this part of my thighs that is pushed out by the rubber of my thigh highs quite attractive?” 

Here~

Saying so, Naori lifts up some of her skirts and shows her bare legs just above the thigh highs to him properly.

“This is what fetishism is, right? Look at this very closely. This is the reality. This is what happens to blood flesh when it gets constricted. Very different from fiction! This is the era that gives emphasis to such things. Go on celebrate and worship them.”

Please stop. That scene is seriously destructive. Don’t go out of your way to openly show me what was just peeking through at times … But honestly, it’s definitely a blessing for the eyes. True.

“I understood it. I understood it verily so, please bring back your skirt down. I am utterly defeated. Naori is the very Irene.”

[TL notes: Irene is a character in Sherlock Holmes. Irene Adler. She outsmarts him and even evades his traps. Sherlock Holmes would respectfully call her ‘The Woman.’]

“You fool. Don’t link me up to a Holme’s fictional character!”

“I thought I gave you the best compliment I could ever.”

“You cynic… For coming up with someone who is far away from what I am… I won’t forgive you that easily.”

Naori puffs up her cheeks and wrinkles the tip of her nose. Really, she’s just like a child.

“… Say”

“Nn?”

“… Why don’t we go out with each other?”

I don’t quite understand myself why I said such a thing at that time. 

Maybe it was because I was thinking about that all the time, and when I realized, I had just blurted that out.

End Of Chapter