Why Not Make Both Twins 'Girlfriends'?-Chapter 8Volume 3 .3 - Flirting and Shipwreck...?
Flirting and Shipwreck…? 3
“Come, have a seat over there.”
“Yes…”
Sakuto sat down on the sunbed where Hanaoka had been lying.
“How are things with the Usami sisters?”
“Yes? Well, we’re on good terms…”
“Hmm. There was a lot going on before summer break, but those sisters have changed since the beginning of the school year. It’s a good trend.”
“Is that so…”
“You’ve changed yourself.”
“Huh?”
“I think that’s a good trend too.”
Tachibana smiled while gazing at Aneko Island, which lay beyond the sea.
A brief moment of quiet and calm passed before Sakuto decided to ask something he had been contemplating for a while.
“Um, Tachibana-sensei…”
“What is it?”
“When you asked me about Chikage’s character assessment… did you already know the truth?”
“Hmm, what truth are you referring to?”
“The truth behind the rumors. That it wasn’t Chikage who was always at the arcade, but Hikari… Did you know that from the beginning?”
Tachibana simply smiled without a word, but if that were the case──
“Tachibana-sensei, you orchestrated things so that Chikage and I would get along… You were there the day the grades were posted, and you saw me being approached by Chikage?”
“Continue.”
“And the guidance about Chikage’s ponytail… You were actually hoping I would step in. It’s strange that you didn’t give the same guidance to Matori-senpai, who also wears a ponytail──”
“──Indeed, I was curious about Usami Chikage. The guidance before was also an attempt to observe her while giving the ponytail guidance.”
Tachibana had said that, but could it be that the “person” being observed was actually me?
If it were a student from another grade, maybe the standards would be more lenient──
“Even Higashino Wakana, who has noticeable twin tails, hasn’t been given guidance… It doesn’t make sense. The guidance was too unreasonable, and as a student counselor, it would only bring risks, yet you deliberately caused a commotion. You knew Chikage would bite back…”
“So what are you trying to say?”
“Did you deliberately cause a commotion because you thought I would step in to help Chikage?”
Tachibana let out a silent chuckle.
“Didn’t I tell you the reason? To see if the rumors about her hanging out after school were true, just observing her… though you interfered along the way.”
“Was that really all there was to it?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s about Hikari. Did you know from the beginning that she was the person behind the rumors?”
When asked again, Tachibana fell silent.
──But thinking about it, it all makes sense.
Tachibana, who was in charge of student guidance and knew all the students in the grade, couldn’t possibly be unaware of Hikari’s absence from school.
If the diligent and exemplary Chikage wasn’t the type to do what the rumors suggested, then it must have been Hikari who had the same face.
“Tachibana-sensei, you were also there the first day I met Hikari.”
“When was that?”
“The day you caught me and scolded me… No, you pretended to come by, pretended to look for a student, but you were actually watching from somewhere as Hikari and I were together──you let us go on playing against each other in the arcade, didn’t you?”
If this speculation was correct, then from the beginning, the rumors about Chikage were known to be about Hikari.
Knowing this, Tachibana took an interest in Sakuto, who was meddling.
If that was the case──
The Hydrangea Festival incident and the Newspaper Club matter were stages set up to deepen the relationship between Sakuto and the Usami sisters.
They were meant to help each other solve the problems they each faced and, in the process, deepen their relationship.
“Behind the scenes, you schemed to make the relationship between me and the Usami sisters what it is now… The Newspaper Club matter was blatant from the start, and looking back on everything, that makes the most sense to me.”
Sakuto looked earnestly at Tachibana.
In response, Tachibana chuckled and looked back at Sakuto.
“That’s quite the deduction. Perhaps you should become a novelist instead of a cat-eared clerk?”
“Ah…! Sensei, I’m being serious…!”
“Well, it’s hard to take a cat-eared speaker seriously…”
Seeing Sakuto turn bright red with embarrassment, Tachibana laughed merrily.
“…Well, I understood how you felt back then.”
“Back then…?”
“When I questioned you in the cafeteria. Whether you had deliberately held back on the test.”
“…”
“Now I feel like I’m the one being paid back for that time──But after all, there’s no evidence. It’s all conjecture, so we’re both third-rate detective novelists, aren’t we?”
Tachibana neither confirmed nor denied, simply maintaining a smile.
“So, what’s the truth…?”
“It’s shrouded in darkness.”
Tachibana said this with a satisfied expression.
Realizing that further questioning would be futile, Sakuto stood up.
“Tachibana-sensei, I’m going back now, okay?”
“Just one more thing before you go?”
“…What is it?”
“Usami Hikari has started coming to school. She’s made friends and found a place in the Newspaper Club, so there’s no need to worry anymore.”
“Huh…?”
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“Usami Chikage has also become more gentle. Being pulled along by her sister’s growth, she’s become more open than before, which is a good trend.”
“Is this a continuation of what you said earlier? If so──”
“What about you?”
“Yes…?”
“During the Hydrangea Festival, you began to follow your heart and emotions. Not just for the Usami sisters but for the Newspaper Club, you took action behind the scenes. As I see it, the forced smiles that once seemed unnatural to you now come naturally. However──”
Tachibana’s expression turned serious.
“──there’s still something that bothers me… Your past.”
“My past…”
“Why did you choose Arisuyama Academy as your second choice instead of your first choice, Yuuki Academy… I want to know the real reason for your choice… Otherwise, she will never be saved.”
“…Huh?”
“To forgive is different from to save. Her heart still seems to be shipwrecked──Look, your past is coming this way.”
Tachibana looked toward the beach house “Karen,” from which Kusanagi Yuzuki was approaching.
Ah, I see, Sakuto thought.
That’s a meddlesome topic.
How much more does she expect me to save her and the past? I think the relationship we have now isn’t bad.
Perhaps in Tachibana’s mind, a whole story has already been completed.
But as a writer, it seems quite troublesome, sloppy, and overly meddlesome──
“Sakuto, Matori-senpai is busy, so he said to call you over.”
“Ah, got it…”
Sakuto smiled as he headed towards Yuzuki.
As they started walking side by side, Yuzuki made a slightly annoyed face.
“…By the way, who was that beauty just now? Were you being hit on?”
It seemed Yuzuki hadn’t realized that the person from before was Tachibana.
“Hm? Who knows? It wasn’t like I was being hit on or anything.”
“Is that so…”
Sakuto gave a smile, but Yuzuki looked somewhat dissatisfied as she tilted her head.
