Why Not Make Both Twins 'Girlfriends'?-Chapter 9Volume 2 .2 - A Cafe with Angels...?

A Cafe with Angels…? 2

“To be honest, it’s not that fun right now…”

Her expression clouded over.

“You know how there are those awkward hierarchies in groups, right? So, it’s tough trying to fit in. I was invited to a study session today, but I had a part-time job, and I was actually relieved I couldn’t go.”

Yuzuki’s troubles seemed to revolve around her relationships with those around her.

However, the subtle hierarchies she mentioned were something he honestly didn’t quite understand.

Was it about the small struggles for who was on top among friends?

“Having to deal with that sounds tough. Even though you have friends…”

“But it’s also relaxing in a way.”

“Why? Didn’t you just mention it as a source of worry?”

“That’s true for now… But I’ll have someone to consult when I’m in trouble, right? Hanging out can be fun too. There are annoying times, but it’s not always like that.”

“Hmm…”

While listening, he tried to relate Yuzuki’s story to the Newspaper Club.

Perhaps the Newspaper Club was similar. Despite some hassles, maybe they felt comfortable with each other.

“A place where you belong huh…”

“A place where you belong?”

“Ah, no… I was just thinking aloud about something else. Actually, I’m not a member but I’ve been helping out at the Newspaper Club, and it kind of feels similar.”

“Newspaper Club? Why would you do that, Sakuto?”

Sakuto explained how he came to help the Newspaper Club.

Without mentioning that it was for the Usami sisters, he said it was something the student guidance teacher asked him to do—

“—Isn’t it strange? I’m always alone, but now she’s telling me to cultivate the soil. Remember Tachibana-sensei from the hydrangea festival?”

“That’s… isn’t it because you’re smart, Sakuto?”

“No, it seems more like they just wanted to dump the work on someone…”

Yuzuki suddenly smiled.

“That’s just an excuse. Sakuto, that teacher must have believed that you would manage somehow.”

Yuzuki beamed with a smile.

“Because whether it’s sports, studies, or anything else, you’ve always been able to do everything on your own, Sakuto.”

“…I’m bad at cooking though? In fact, I’m not very good with household chores in general…”

“That’s not what I meant.”

He didn’t really mean it as a joke, but Yuzuki smiled at him.

“Since you can do everything on your own, maybe she’s telling you to try your hand at something more challenging… something without a clear answer?”

“If that were the case, I wish she’d said so from the start. I would have politely declined…”

“You’d decline?”

“Well, yeah──But I see, so that’s how it is…”

He realized it was a setup to make sure he couldn’t refuse.

The matter of the Newspaper Club that had been thrust upon him, or rather dumped on him, was far from over.

‘For the sake of Hikari and Chikage and the sake of our future, I must do something about the Newspaper Club.’

The plot is already in place and he laid an important groundwork today.

All that’s left is to cooperate with the Newspaper Club activities from tomorrow and see through to the end of term ceremony.

And then there’s another important issue──

“Since I have the chance, there’s something I want to ask you, Yuzuki.”

“What is it?”

“What do you think of a girl who’s always smiling?”

“…Are you talking about Hikari-chan?”

“…You figured it out?”

Sakuto gave a wry smile.

“Hikari-chan… She’s kind of like you were in junior high school, Sakuto.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

Mitsumi had said something similar the other day, and it seemed Yuzuki had felt the same way somehow.

“She doesn’t let others get too close, that kind of thing.”

“Hmm…”

“We talked a bit during the Hydrangea Festival. I thought she was a scary girl because she was confronting Shun-kun, but she turned out to be very easy to talk to and was considerate. She was cute, smart, and cute…”

“Uh, why did you say ‘cute’ twice?”

Ignoring Sakuto’s question, Yuzuki continued with a ‘…but you see.’

“What’s different from Sakuto is… I think it’s her expression.”

“Expression?”

“It’s hard to explain, but the smile she showed me felt like a wall, not one that came from the heart… While you avoided people with a blank expression, Hikari-chan keeps her distance with a smile.”

That was something Sakuto had also felt.

Hiding her true feelings behind those words and beneath that smile──that thought had become stronger after the incident in the back alley the other day.

“Also, even though she was easy to talk to, Hikari-chan hardly spoke about herself. It felt like she was letting me do all the talking. Now I think about it, I don’t really know anything about Hikari-chan. The only impression that’s left is that we talked with smiles…”

He could somewhat understand that. The smile Hikari directed at the Newspaper Club was like that.

He had felt it when Hikari was interviewing Mitsumi. It seemed like a pleasant conversation, but in reality, she was focused on letting Mitsumi talk comfortably.

If it hadn’t been Mitsumi──the only impression left would probably have been of a girl who’s pleasant to talk to, a girl with a lovely smile.

In the end, it seemed that Mitsumi had realized Hikari’s true identity──

“Why did you think her smile could be like a wall?”

“Her attitude seems completely different when she talks with me or Shun-kun, and when she talks with you or Chikage-chan… With you, it’s like… more natural? With us, it feels like a sociable way of smiling.”

“Is that so…”

A sociable smile and a smile from the heart──the distinction between these public and private smiles is probably not something that can be understood by someone who isn’t involved with Hikari.

At that point, he finally began to grasp the true meaning behind Tachibana’s words──

『Then there’s Usami Hikari. She’s troublesome in her own way. She hardly ever reveals her true feelings.』

──I see.

I brushed it off casually, but Tachibana-sensei had seen through Hikari.

『By the way, Takayashiki, have you come to understand that when the soil is cultivated, a place for one to belong will emerge』

The ‘soil’ she mentioned and the ‘place to belong’… is it about a place for Hikari?

A place where she can feel at ease, even without me or Chikage.

That’s why──

『It’s not just for the sake of Usami Chikage. Don’t forget that.』

This wasn’t a request. This was a warning.

There’s more that he should be doing for Usami Hikari──

“──Sakuto? You’re making a scary face, what’s wrong?”

“Ah, no… Thank you, Yuzuki. That was very helpful.”

And with a wry smile, Sakuto leaned back against the sofa’s backrest.

“In the end, am I just playing into that person’s hands…”

“What are you talking about? Who’s ‘that person’?”

“Never mind, it’s nothing. But, thanks to you, I feel a bit more clear-headed…”

Then Yuzuki frowned.

“Again, leaving me behind…”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“…Never mind.”

＊ ＊ ＊

After about an hour, Sakuto decided to settle the bill and leave the cafe.

Yuzuki was handling the payment indifferently when she suddenly asked, “Which one?”

“The receipt is fine. I don’t need an invoice.”

“Not that, I mean about the Usami sisters. Hikari-chan and Chikage-chan, which one is it?”

Oh, that’s what she meant──but he couldn’t just answer.

What exactly does she mean by ‘which one’?

Yuzuki glared at Sakuto with a look of displeasure.

“You’re dating one of them, right? Chikage-chan or Hikari-chan?”

“No, it’s not like that, not either one.”

He couldn’t very well say he was dating both of them, so he evaded the question.

“But you do have a girlfriend, right?”

“Why all of a sudden… What makes you think that?”

“Because… come on, just tell me.”

With a sigh, Sakuto scratched the back of his neck.

“I do have a girlfriend.”

“Wha…! So, is it one of those two after all…?”

“…that’s a secret.”

Yuzuki puffed up her cheeks in frustration after Sakuto said that with a smile.

“…By the way, Shun-kun said he wants to meet and talk to you again, Sakuto…”

“I never want to meet him again. What does he want?”

“That’s harsh… Shun-kun isn’t such a bad guy, you know?”

Sakuto furrowed his brows.

“He might put on a good face for someone he’s close to, but he says awful things to others… That’s just the kind of person he is, and I don’t want anything to do with him anymore.”

There was also the matter with Chikage.

Sakuto didn’t know why Shun wanted to meet, but in his heart, he still hadn’t fully forgiven Shun for hurting his precious girlfriend.

“If you could forgive me, then maybe you could forgive Shun-kun too…”

“That’s a different story. Yuzuki, you’re an important childhood friend to me. That’s why──”

“That honestly doesn’t make me happy. Being childhood friends isn’t that special…”

“…I see.”

Sakuto smiled, but it was partly to mask a slight sense of his loneliness.

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“Well, maybe I’ll meet him when I get the chance──”

As he said this, Sakuto left the shop with a carefree smile on his face.

While thinking that maybe he shouldn’t give Yuzuki the letter that Hikari was holding onto for him, and perhaps it would be better to dispose of it──