Why Not Make Both Twins 'Girlfriends'?-Chapter 12Volume 3 .3 - Cold Memories...?

Cold Memories…? 3

“Um, can I tell you a story?”

As Sakuto carried Chikage on his back along the mountain path, she softly began to speak.

“What is it?”

“Actually──”

Chikage started to recount her recent fantasy.

She told Sakuto about how the grown-up Mashiro had appeared before her, and he listened quietly.

“Ever since Mashiro disappeared, I wanted to become someone who could protect others.”

“Like a hero?”

“Not something so grand, but… I suppose I wanted to be someone strong, kind, and confident.”

Chikage let out a wistful sigh.

“But it seems I still can’t do it.”

“Why?”

“Even now, needing to be carried on your back… I’m no good without Sakuto-kun or Hii-chan… always needing to be protected, it’s pathetic…”

As Sakuto tried to tell her that wasn’t the case,

“Maybe that’s why Mashiro got sick of me and ran away. I deluded myself into thinking Mashiro came to my rescue and even made up such delusions…”

Chikage said with self-mockery.

Sakuto quietly opened his mouth.

“Is that really the case?”

“Huh?”

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

“Chikage isn’t useless at all.”

When Sakuto addressed the tabby cat peeking out from the collar of his T-shirt, it meowed in agreement as if to concur.

“See, even this little guy says so. Thanks to Chikage, this one was saved, and it’s not just him. I think there are many who have been helped by you, Chikage. Not to mention the help at the beach house, but Hikari and I are always being helped by Chikage too.”

“Is that so…?”

Sakuto said with a bright voice, “Yeah.”

But soon after, Sakuto’s expression turned vague, and he pondered.

“You know, about how I managed to find you, Chikage…”

“It was Hii-chan who narrowed down the location, right?”

“That’s part of it, but… I found the exact spot because I heard a cat meowing.”

Sakuto looked at the tabby.

“That meow… it wasn’t from this one at that time.”

“Eh…?”

“That means there was another cat there. I felt like I was being called, so I went, and then there was you, Chikage──”

At that time, Chikage had muttered “Mashiro,” but it might not be entirely a fantasy.

Sakuto let out a faint smile.

“Maybe Mashiro really did come to help you?”

“…”

They were nearing the mountain’s exit.

Several red lights were spinning around. Police cars and ambulances must have arrived.

Before joining the others, Sakuto spoke quietly once more.

“I think… I might understand Mashiro’s feelings.”

“Mashiro’s feelings…?”

Remembering the words of the old woman, Sakuto said,

“It’s a local legend in this town that cats who live with humans for a long time come to have human emotions. Inversely, I think it’s a warning that humans must understand the feelings of cats.”

Sakuto continued, “So… I don’t think Mashiro left because Mashiro disliked you, Chikage.”

Sakuto thought it was a ridiculous fantasy, but as he remembered the dream he had the night before, he said,

“Maybe he just wanted to grow up quickly and run freely through the flower fields, you know?”

“!?”

Suddenly, Chikage remembered the time she put Mashiro in a pet carrier and went to the flower fields with Hikari.

She hugged Sakuto tightly around the neck.

Suppressing a pain that felt like her chest was about to burst, she said,

“…Because I kept him confined to a small space…”

Sakuto smiled gently.

“No… I think he just wanted to play with Chikage there.”

“Eh…?”

“Maybe he didn’t want to stay a kitten, always being protected, and wanted to stand on his own.”

As he said this, Sakuto realized that it was similar to his relationship with Yuzuki.

“Just like you reached out to Mashiro, Yuzuki reached out to me.”

Yuzuki’s small hand might have been a thin spider’s thread descending from the sky.

Yet, in Sakuto’s heart, he still felt it was a hand of salvation.

If he hadn’t taken that hand, there would be no Takayashiki Sakuto as he is now──

“It’s not good to always be protected, to stay as I am… I wanted to change because I feel the same as Mashiro. To become equal with someone important to me, I thought I had to change myself. In my case, I wanted to be a hero who could protect others…”

And then the spider’s thread snapped.

But instead of falling headlong, he realized that he had become not the hero he wanted to be, nor the original robot, but the “ordinary human” he truly wanted to be──reflecting on it now, he felt that not being pulled up was actually the right thing.

Above all, there is “now.”

The slightly unusual, noisy, and fun days with Chikage and Hikari, a new place to belong──

“…Maybe Mashiro has found his next place to belong? I think it’s better to believe that he’s living happily there. A grown-up Mashiro would probably be happier that way, right?”

“Why…”

Sakuto smiled.

“If I were Mashiro… I’d still consider Chikage as someone very important.”

At that moment, Chikage suddenly remembered Yuzuki’s words──

『It’s a bit different from buttoning up wrong… It’s more like I realized I had buttoned up wrong and in my haste to fix it, I ended up buttoning it into another wrong hole. I kept making mistakes, and we ended up drifting apart, and I had to find a new place to belong.』

──The words “next place to belong” overlapped.

Sakuto and Yuzuki were thinking the same thing.

Even though they were apart, their hearts were probably connected.

(Mashiro and I… must have had that kind of relationship…)

It was a shock when Mashiro disappeared.

But Mashiro might also feel distressed if she remained bound by that past.

It might have been a delusion to see Mashiro earlier… but Chikage thought maybe Mashiro had come to tell her that.

Mashiro responded to her voice with a “Meow,” stepping gently on her thigh with his paw, climbing onto her lap and comfortably falling asleep, purring when petted——Mashiro loved her.

Yes, she had received so much from Mashiro.

She might still be timid and anxious, but perhaps she’s gained more confidence than before, enough to not worry about “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.”

Chikage felt that Sakuto had taught her that.

(I will move forward… I have to!)

She also has found her next place to belong. A wonderful place.

Now, here, in the arms of the beloved Sakuto.

And Hikari is there too. Her sister, who always cares for her.

That’s why──

“No matter what happens, I want to be with Sakuto-kun and Hii-chan forever…”

She allowed herself a little indulgence.

“There’s no place more wonderful than here for me. I don’t want to leave… this comfort. Is it wrong to not think about a ‘next place to belong’? Will you and Hii-chan find me burdensome? Will you start to dislike me…?”

When I asked with uncertainty, Sakuto responded with a smile.

“It’s not wrong at all. Actually, I was thinking the exact same thing just now. Maybe I’m also the clingy type?”

Chikage’s heart pounded with excitement.

Then, as if the fog of confusion and dark emotions that had been building up inside her were clearing away, her heart felt lighter.

Ah, how fortunate I am──

Savoring the moment to herself, Chikage pulled Sakuto’s arm closer and closed her eyes contentedly.