The Woman Whose Life I Saved Turned out to Be the Mother of the Popular Twin Sisters in My Class

Chapter 31 – Head-on Collision Is Imminent

The night after I talked to Hikari about our Christmas plans, I was staring at my smartphone in my room.

The problem was how to tell Yuzuki, so I just kept typing and deleting messages over and over again.

No matter what I typed, it felt like something wasn’t right, so I couldn’t send it at all. When I checked the time, I saw that an hour had already passed since I started.

Without thinking, I muttered, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Come to think of it, I’ve rarely ever sent messages to anyone before.

Most of the time, it was replies to messages I had received, and if I did send messages, it was only to Shuka, my mom, or other family members.

Since I’ve had little experience sending messages to friends, I find myself endlessly worrying over it.

Every time I re-read my message before sending, something bothers me.

“……”

Realizing that I was worrying too much, I erased the entire sentence and typed again.

“Do you have plans for Christmas?”

It still felt a bit off, but I decided to just go for it and pressed the send button.

And within a second, the message was marked as read.

I thought I would get a reply right away, but the next moment, the screen changed on its own.

It was Yuzuki calling.

“Whoa!”

Surprised by the suddenness of it all, I dropped my phone. I was glad I had it on the bed.

I picked up the phone and swallowed nervously. The thought of talking with a friend over the phone for the first time in a while made me even more tense.

I sent a message to avoid this nervousness, yet here we are. Why didn’t she pick up on that?

“H-hello?”

I made up my mind and answered the phone.

[You took so long to answer the phone]

“I had a lot going on. Anyway, why did you call?”

[It’s quicker to talk over the phone, don’t you think? Though honestly, I was just happy you brought up Christmas, so I couldn’t help but call]

She’s telling me everything.

The voice on the phone is simulated by a machine to closely resemble the person on the other end of the line, so technically, this isn’t Yuzuki’s voice but an artificial one.

I’ve heard this trivia somewhere before, but even knowing it, it still gives me strange chills.

The only voice I could hear over the phone was Yuzuki’s.

“I see.”

I replied bluntly, trying to hide my embarrassment.

[So, about Christmas, right?]

However, Yuzuki continued the conversation without paying any attention to that.

I nodded to Yuzuki’s words and said, “Yeah.”

[Of course I’m free. Actually, I was planning to bring this up in the first place]

I had assumed that was the case since the topic had come up in the library yesterday. That’s why I had seriously thought about it.

[However,] Yuzuki continued.

[I have some plans on the 24th, so let’s go on a date on the 25th]

“Huh?”

A silly voice leaked out of my mouth.

Wait a second. What did she just say?

“What day doesn’t work for you?”

“The 24th. Christmas Eve.”

“And when are you available?”

“The 25th. On Christmas Day.”

I’m sure Hikari had said something similar.

She said she had plans with a friend on the 24th, so she wanted it to be the 25th. And I already said yes.

At the time, I hadn’t doubted for a second that Yuzuki would be free on the 24th.

Even though it wouldn’t be strange if she had plans.

“Are you planning to meet with Hikari on that date?”

“No. Hikari has nothing to do with it. Why are you asking?”

“Um.”

I put the call on speaker and opened my schedule app. It’s not impossible that I remembered it wrong and I was supposed to meet Hikari on the 24th.

…No, it’s zero.

It just became zero right now.

“Yuzuki, it has to be on the 25th?”

[Yeah. I’d feel bad turning you down after you invited me…]

“Yeah, I understand. I wouldn’t want to meet up if it meant you had to cancel your plans.”

[So, is the 25th okay for you?]

“No, the 25th is a bit…”

What should I do?

I hadn’t planned on things going this way, but it was Yuzuki who mentioned Christmas first. I was careless and just thought that Yuzuki would be free.

Because of that carelessness, I approached Hikari first. She has a wider circle of friends, and if I didn’t make plans first, it wouldn’t be surprising if she had already made plans with her friends.

Well, that’s exactly what happened.

It’s turning into a situation where I feel really guilty toward Yuzuki, who brought it up first.

The possible solutions are now…

“By the way, what about the 26th?”

[I don’t have any plans, but… Why not the 25th? I want to have a “Christmas date” with Ao-kun.]

Her tone of voice conveyed her stubborn stance.

Should I keep my date with Hikari a secret, but pretend that I have other plans?

No, I don’t have enough friends to have plans together for Christmas.

I could use Hibino’s name, but it would just make things more complicated. Besides, she’d get mad if she felt it was affecting her. That’s no good.

And I don’t think Hikari can keep the fact about our Christmas date a secret from Yuzuki.

Yuzuki will definitely find out at some point.

If that happens, the guilt of hiding it will only get worse.

“Um… well…”

I have to make up my mind.

It has gotten to the point where there’s no escape.

I already made the wrong choice.

The one time I take the initiative to invite someone, this is what happens. Normally, you don’t expect things to get this complicated, do you?

“Actually——”

I decided to tell Yuzuki everything, leaving nothing out. I didn’t think doing so would solve the problem, but I thought it was the least I could do to make amends with her.

[I see. I understand your thinking, Ao-kun. I know some things just didn’t align timing-wise, and it can’t be helped, but I still can’t accept it. Especially because it’s Hikari you chose.]

“Um, well…”

Yuzuki spoke very calmly.

There were parts where it felt like she was angry, but at the same time, it didn’t seem like that.

I can’t really grasp it, I can’t read her emotions well. That’s why I hate talking on the phone. I’m not good at it, it’s much better to talk face to face.

[No matter what I say to Ao-kun here, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to solve anything. I’m sorry, I’ll hang up the phone for now.]

“…What are you planning to do after I hang up?”

Gulp, I asked timidly.

[Of course, it’s a secret.]

Her voice, trying to sound cheerful, said those words.

Before I could say anything else, the call was disconnected.

I frantically called Hikari.

This wasn’t the time to worry about being nervous.

But Hikari never answered the phone.