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

Chapter 7 – It Means I Like You

Luckily, Kotobuki Hikari hadn’t spread the word in the classroom that I was the man in the video.

I don’t know if she had taken me into consideration, but it seems that yesterday they had decided not to tell anyone about it.

Maybe Shuka had added a comment. If she was capable of thinking that much, she shouldn’t have revealed my true identity in the first place.

But then the problem is, it doesn’t explain why Kotobuki Hikari hugged me first thing in the morning and then said, “You’re our hero.”

In the end, the bell rang soon after that, and the homeroom teacher came, so I could put off any questions from my classmates.

However, I’ve been feeling their gazes on me for a while now. Some were simple curiosity, but others were sharp, almost like a blade. Seriously, it’s kind of scary.

I’ll have to run to the bathroom as soon as homeroom ends. I’ll return just before the class starts, attend class, and then dash to the bathroom again.

“Well then, homeroom is over,” Naruse-sensei, the homeroom teacher, announced.

The female teacher has long, fluffy walnut-colored hair and wears a neat suit. Despite her fluffy demeanor, she can be quite strict when she needs to, but she’s also kind, which is why she’s popular with our classmates.

As the teacher announced this, I stood up from my chair and tried to head towards the door.

However…

In front of me stood two male students. Judging from their good builds, I could guess they played some kind of sport.

If that’s the case, I have no chance of winning.

When I shifted my gaze from the back door of the classroom to the front, they reacted slightly.

Not only that, another male student joined the defense.

He firmly guarded the path I was about to take. At this point, I had no way out.

“Hey, Kirishima.”

“Let’s talk for a bit.”

Their tone was anything but friendly as I found myself surrounded by these athletic guys with larger builds than mine.

With nowhere to run, I gave in to their demands.

“What do you want to talk about?”

When I played dumb, their expressions got even more tense. Ah, it seems like an explosion is about to happen.

The tension in the air felt like a bomb squad on the verge of defusing an explosive.

“You already know what we want to know. I’m talking about Hikari-san. What did she mean by you being her ‘Hero’?”

A male student frowned and glared at me. He had a striking appearance with his short, dark-brown hair, but that was completely overshadowed by his attitude.

Now, what should I do?

I don’t want to tell the truth.

Because if possible, I would have preferred that the incident fade away without anyone finding out. I have no choice but to accept that the Kotobuki sisters found out, but I want to avoid it spreading any further.

How should I cover things up?

“Well, um, right, I picked up her wallet yesterday. She just exaggerated it.”

I was flustered, but somehow I managed to come up with a plausible excuse.

The male student’s expression, which had been furrowing his brow, gradually softened with an air of “Oh, I see.”

Nice, it looks like I can get through this.

Just as I was starting to feel relieved…

“That’s not true.”

Kotobuki Hikari barged in.

Hearing her words, the men all turned their gazes in her direction.

“My mother… mug”

Before she could say anything unnecessary, I quickly covered her mouth. I felt like she was about to tell the whole truth without understanding my intentions. If she did that, there would be a terrible secondary disaster.

“Mmmph!”

Kotobuki looked at me with eyes that seemed to want to ask, “What are you doing?”

But I can’t let go of my hand now either.

“Hey, why are you holding Hikari-san’s mouth even though you’re just a mob? I’ll kill you!”

“No, but…”

At that moment——

Lick.

——I felt something soft on my palm.

“Whoa!”

I hastily let go of my hand.

Kotobuki Hikari showed a look of triumph. She just licked my palm!

“Let me explain! Kirishima-san is…”

“Kotobuki-san, I need to talk to you for a bit, so could you come over here?”

I interrupted her and forcefully led her by the hand out of the classroom.

“Seriously? An introvert like him is alone with Hikari-san?”

Let’s just ignore the voice I hear from behind for now.

◇

Omaku High School doesn’t have an open rooftop. I think most schools have the same rule for various reasons.

So, if you walk up the stairs to the rooftop and reach the landing in front of the door, you’ll hardly see anyone there.

Because so few people come, it’s only used by couples to get cozy, or by people who decide to eat alone.

It’s also the perfect place to talk about secrets you don’t want anyone to hear, like this time.

“You brought me to such a deserted place. Could you be planning to confess your feelings to me?”

…These twins.

I looked back at her, who had been following me with an expectant look on her face.

There were no students who would go out of their way to come here with only a short time until the first period began, just as I expected.

“Sorry to break it to you, but I can’t meet that expectation.”

“So, what kind of talk is this?”

Hikari frowned.

I’m sure she can guess what I want to talk about. Or maybe she’s just dense.

But now that I’m seeing her close like this, she looks really pretty, as expected of Kotobuki Yuzuki’s twin.

Compared to Yuzuki, who represents beauty, Hikari gives off a cute impression, but there’s no difference in the fact that she’s well-groomed.

She has semi-long brown hair with waves at the ends, creating gentle curls.

Her facial features, which still have a slightly childish look, only add to her cuteness.

Her figure is slender compared to Yuzuki. She’s slim, and while she does have some chest, it’s really not much compared to Yuzuki. But when compared to Yuzuki, it’s easy to say that most girls don’t have much either. Just how big is Yuzuki’s?

“It’s about what happened the other day.”

“Thank you so much for that. Thanks to you, Kirishima-san, my mother was saved. I can’t express my gratitude enough.”

When I started talking, Hikari bowed her head as if she’d just remembered something. Her dynamic movements reminded me of an athletic girl.

“Oh, no, it’s fine. I heard it from Yuzuki too, so that’s enough.”

“Kirishima-san…”

Hikari slowly lifted her head.

Her large, sparkling eyes, like jewels, captured me.

“…When did you become close enough to call Yuzuki by her first name?”

“I said her first name because it would be confusing if I called her by her family name.”

“So does that mean you’ll call me Hikari too?”

“No, I can distinguish between Kotobuki and Yuzuki, so it’s not necessary. It’s just a matter of convenience.”

Then, Hinari shot her hand up sharply. Her expression was unusually serious.

“That benefits Yuzuki! That’s sibling inequality!”

“Why did you come to that conclusion?”

“Anyway, please call me by my name too.”

“No, but…”

I was about to say something but swallowed my words.

To put it simply, we don’t have enough time.

I have to come to an agreement with Hikari in this short time. In any case, I have to make sure that she doesn’t reveal that I’m the man in the video.

Right now, it doesn’t matter what I call her.

“…Okay. I’ll do that, so can we continue?”

“Of course.”

She smiled.

I was impressed by how much she looked like Yuzuki when she smiled. As expected of sisters.

“Still, why are you so particular about what I call you…”

I muttered to myself.

It wasn’t really a question directed at Hikari, it was just something I needed to express to process my own thoughts.

So, I wasn’t looking for an answer and didn’t expect one either.

“Because it makes me happy to be called by my name by someone I like.”

“Well, I suppose that’s true for most people. Wait, what did you mean by that?”

When I asked timidly, Hikari blushed a little and twisted her body as she looked up in my direction.