Chapter Five

Reunion X Sisters

“I’m Shigure Satou, and I’m transferring here from Shueikan High in Fukuoka. I might be a little bit behind compared to everyone else, but I look forward to becoming friends with you guys.”

It was right before the start of homeroom. Shigure stood in front of the blackboard and introduced herself to the rest of the advanced placement class.

Incidentally, she still wore Shueikan’s uniform, only the school emblem had been changed to Seiun’s. Since I had bought the standard uniform without much thought, I hadn’t been aware of it, but Seiun—a private school—didn’t have very strict rules about clothing and accessories. So long as the color, emblem, and fabric coverage met a certain standard, we were relatively free to wear whatever we liked.

Apparently, Shigure had altered her old uniform to meet said standards in order to save some money. She’d mentioned yesterday that her previous home had also used an old balanced flue. Since she and her mother used to live alone, they probably hadn’t been very wealthy. I can imagine that’s where she’d picked up all of her incredible household skills and penny-pinching techniques from.

With introductions out of the way, the teacher quickly instructed her to sit next to me. This had nothing to do with the fact that we were stepsiblings—our seating order was done alphabetically. In fact, no one had even mentioned the idea that we might know each other. I wondered if Shigure had spoken to the teacher beforehand.

“Satou, you went to Shueikan? That’s amazing!”

“I can’t believe you decided to come here. Sure, Seiun’s got some cred in the area, but we’re basically soggy, off-brand corn flakes compared to Shueikan.”

“Right? Not even living alone would’ve stopped me from staying at Shueikan.”

During the break between first and second period, our classmates swarmed to Shigure like moths to a flame, barraging her with questions. Even so, no one indicated any suspicion about our relationship. I guess it was like she’d said the day before—Satou was an incredibly common name, so no one was any the wiser. Instead, Shigure’s former school became the main topic of conversation.

Even as a resident of Kanagawa, I knew about Shueikan High—a famous school in Kyushu. Compared to Seiun, a slightly brainy school in the area, Shueikan pretty much existed in a different dimension. Believe me when I say it was considered elite in every sense of the word—I mean, that school was renowned on a national level.

Given this was an AP class, plenty of its students were conscious of academic backgrounds. As a result, they couldn’t contain their curiosity about a school known on a country-wide basis. After a while—during the break after third period, to be precise—the conversation shifted from Shigure’s former school to the girl herself. That was when things took a turn.

“Still, it feels like I’ve seen you around our school before, Shigure,” one of my female classmates mentioned.

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I wonder why.”

“There’s a girl in the drama club who looks a lot like her. Could that be it?” another ventured.

“Oh, right! The girl who played that small role in last year’s cultural festival. Her acting might be way over the top, but she’s still pretty cute. Well, that explains the déjà vu.”

Oh, crap.

Shigure’s physical resemblance to Haruka had finally cropped up in the discussion, and she quickly jumped on the topic with a curious gleam in her eyes.

“How interesting,” she said. “I’d love to meet her. Do you know what class she’s in?”

“Nah, I have no idea. Does anyone else know? Uh, no one at all?”

“Not many AP students join a club.”

“And regular classes are in the new building. Outside of friends from middle school, we don’t interact with them much. But talk about uncanny—the more I look at you, the more you two look like the exact same person...”

I overheard the exchange while practically on the edge of my seat.

At this rate, Haruka and Shigure would cross paths sooner rather than later. Seeing as Shigure had been the one to suggest hiding our connection as siblings, I highly doubted that she would let our little secret slip. Still, I couldn’t be absolutely certain. I needed to explain the situation to my girlfriend, stat. I had no intention of hiding anything, but I couldn’t let Haruka find out about our living situation without me around. If that happened, there was no chance in hell would I be able to smooth things over.

But I seriously needed to chill. We’d already agreed to meet up during lunch break, so I had no reason to panic.
Calm down.

All that was left was coming up with a way to break the ice. As I started to rack my brain, a message arrived from Haruka.

“Something urgent came up, so I can’t see you during lunch >< Sorry!”

Absolutely seething in the chat.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a panicked mess at this point, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. Haruka wasn’t the type to flake out on me at the last minute over something trivial—whatever was going on, it must’ve been really important.

With a heavy sigh, I sent her a stamp showing that I understood.

There was no point in worrying myself sick about it, so I shifted the gears in my brain. I’d talk to someone else first.

Fourth period ended, signaling the beginning of lunch break. Once the bell had rung, I shot up out of my seat, practically sprinting toward the furthest desk by the window, where my disgustingly-handsome friend Tomoe Wakabayashi sat. I needed to get there before the usual gaggle of girls formed a barrier around him, repelling losers like me.

“Tomoe, mind joining me for lunch?” I asked.

“Sounds good. Should I call Takeshi, too?”

“Yeah, that would be great.”

X X X

Tomoe Wakabayashi and Takeshi Takeda were both friends of mine from middle school.

Takeshi was a junior who attended regular classes, and he was also my former partner in the forever alone club. Standing at 175cm, his bulging muscles were visible even beneath his uniform. As the ace of the weightlifting club, he preferred chugging down protein shakes to having three square meals a day. According to the guy himself, he’d started working out to attract girls. Unfortunately, his innate geekiness had led to disaster. After becoming obsessed with weight training, he’d drastically deviated from his original goal, crossing the line from “shredded” into “The Holk’s Japanese cousin.” It should probably go without saying that girls actively avoided him.

Similar to me, Tomoe Wakabayashi was a junior in AP. He had the tall, slender build of a model, and was also incredibly thoughtful—he’d bleach his hair just enough to avoid getting on our nerves. He also had the best grades in our class. That, combined with his immaculate features, refined style, and thoughtful diligence, made him irresistible to women. You could drop him off in the middle of some podunk nowhere, and girls would still find a way to flock to him in 10 minutes flat, like moths to a ridiculously handsome flame.

I might have felt jealous of Aizawa, our class’s braggadocious player, but I had nothing but respect for Tomoe. After all, he never distinguished between men and women, between the popular crowd and losers; he seemed to have fun with everyone. Plus, he strove to make the time he spent with others enjoyable. I could never emulate the sincere, selfless way he acted with absolutely everyone. If a guy like him wasn’t adored, there would be some sort of problem with the world itself. For that reason, I couldn’t bring myself to be envious of the guy.

Though I did have other friends, I spent most of my time with these two. Back in middle school—and, hell, even now—they would frequently crash at my place, and we’d take advantage of my dad being away for work to stay up until the crack of dawn.

Due to how close we were, they would find out about Shigure eventually. That’s why I’d invited them to lunch. We chose a secluded spot outside, next to the cafeteria, and I promptly spilled my guts about everything that had occurred since I’d arrived home yesterday.

“That’s rough, buddy,” Tomoe responded after hearing the whole story. He looked up at the clear blue sky—a reminder of summer’s imminent approach—and continued, “Hiro, what the hell did you do in your past life?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” I lamented. “As the real victim of this whole mess, all I can do is curse my ancestors. I do plan on settling things one way or another, though. Hey, at least there’s a silver lining—they may look identical, but their personalities are worlds apart. Since they’re so different, I’m sure I’ll end up forgetting about everything else sooner or later.”

“Unlike Haruka, there’s definitely more to her than meets the eye,” Tomoe noted.

“You’ve barely interacted with her, and you can already tell?”

“Being hounded by all those questions must have been exhausting, but from her expression, you’d think she was having the time of her life. Not only was she super friendly, but she also had perfect control of her face. That’s someone you have to watch out for.”

Tomoe was a great judge of character. Unlike me, he hadn’t fallen for her act.

“Shigure wants to keep our sibling relationship a secret while she gets used to her new environment,” I explained. “But since you guys are always coming over to my place, I couldn’t exactly keep the cat in the bag for long. That’s why I called you here today—I’d appreciate it if you guys could keep this under wraps.”

“No worries, I understand the situation. If this got out, the dudes around here would definitely start using it as fap material.”

“D-Do you have to use that phrase?”

“How else do you want me to say it? Something to add to the spank bank? Material to beat their meat to? Oh, speaking of meat—your side dishes look delicious!”

“Stop turning everything into a dick joke!” I protested, quickly stuffing a piece of fried meat into his mouth to shut him up.

“You’re just really bad with dirty jokes,” he laughed, still savoring the meaty morsel. His expression quickly grew serious, though. “By the way, do you plan on telling Haruka about this?”

Honestly, not many people had actually realized we were dating yet. It’s not like we were hiding it or anything, but due to our slow progress, no one had picked up on it yet. I mean, we’d just held hands for the first time yesterday. These two were an exception, though. I often turned to them for help, and they lent an ear when I gushed about Haruka and offered advice when I expressed my worries. It was precisely because he knew about our relationship that Tomoe was worried about me.

“Well,” I said, preparing to give the answer I’d thought up last night, “I’d feel horrible if I kept quiet about it. Couples shouldn’t hide things from each other, after all.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t tell her,” Tomoe jumped in, quickly and sternly rejecting my idea.

“Wh-Why? I mean, she won’t exactly be jumping for joy at the idea that I live with her spitting image, but wouldn’t keeping it a secret be even worse? Plus, I’m not exactly doing anything worth feeling guilty about, so there’s no reason to hide the truth.”

“The only person who’d feel better about explaining everything would be you, though, Hiro,” he replied simply.

Huh?

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“Haruka’s a great girl. I’m sure if you talk to her about it, she’ll understand that you’re not in the wrong here. But enduring something and not worrying about it are two entirely different things. Just think about it—her doppelganger is living with her boyfriend while she’s home alone. She won’t be able to handle that.”

“But we’re siblings through our parents’ marriage. I wouldn’t do anything to my little—”

“She’s only been your little sister since yesterday. Do you seriously expect Haruka to say, ‘Oh, you won’t do anything with her? Whew, that’s a relief!’ Plus, I imagine you got pretty worked up during your first night together. You can’t expect me to believe otherwise.”

“You’re not wrong, but—”

“You and Haruka only just held hands yesterday. A romance that’s built on nothing but pain won’t last.”

“Hrm...”

I reflected on Tomoe’s words and realized he was at least partially right—I had been too fixated on proving my innocence, and I hadn’t considered Haruka’s feelings at all. If I told my girlfriend about Shigure, I would be freed from the guilt of hiding something. But once she knew the truth, how would Haruka feel?

Of course, I had no intention of confusing the two girls, and even if I did, those emotions would be directed toward Haruka through Shigure—the opposite would never happen. Still, regardless of my intentions, Haruka’s feelings were a different matter. Would she be able to simply believe my words without harboring the slightest bit of unease? No, our relationship probably wasn’t strong enough for that yet.

“Well, if you can’t bring yourself to lie, I won’t force you to,” Tomoe followed up. “But at this stage, I think that the truth would be too devastating. I mean, even when a patient needs surgery, you still need to observe their condition first before you come to a decision. Going under the knife requires perfect timing. Everything has a time and place, you catch my drift?”

“Yeah, you’re probably right about that...”

From Haruka’s perspective, ignorance would be bliss. But if we looked at it realistically, it would be tricky to keep it a secret for too long. We were a couple—the most intimate of relationships—so it would be inevitable that she’d find out eventually.

“What do you think I should do, Tomoe?” I asked.

“For now, it’s imperative that you explain the situation to Shigure. Have her avoid you at school. In the meantime, you should develop your relationship with Haruka and start slowly opening up to her. That’s all you can do, really.”

“Develop our relationship? Until what point?”

“At the very least, until you’ve had sex.”

“‘At the very least’?!” I sputtered.

“Even if you get that far, your situation is still dangerous as hell. I know one thing’s for sure, though: no matter what, you need to keep a lid on this until your dad returns in a year. The fact that you’re living alone together makes things pretty rough as-is. It’s a ‘one strike, you’re out’ kinda deal.”

Yeah, he was right. Even if I casted the idea of having s-s-se... se... ahem. Even if I casted the idea of having coitus aside for the time being, I had to wait until my dad came home. Living on our own together versus living with our parents gave off an entirely different impression. I nodded to show I got his point.

My other friend, Takeshi, had been staring at me concernedly for a good while, so I turned to him and asked for his opinion.

“What do you think, Takeshi?”

“May I speak my honest opinion?”

Damn, that’s quite the intense expression. I could feel his sincere, heartfelt concern for me. Man, I had some truly great friends.

“Please,” I said. “Tell me whatever you’re thinking.”

“Understood. Hiromichi, I believe that what you lack... is none other than testosterone!”

Pardon?

“Testosterone is the male hormone that increases muscle mass and gives one a masculine physique,” Takeshi explained with flourish. “Furthermore, testosterone is the source of will-power and decision-making skills, affecting both the mind and body. Thus, low testosterone will cause a man’s self-confidence to dwindle! That is the true culprit behind your indecisiveness! ‘But what is the solution?’ you may ask. You must exercise until you collapse! Increasing muscle mass will serve to increase your testosterone! Muscles are the solution to everything in this world! Now, cast aside your worries, and raise the barbell, young Johnny!”

Yep. Asking Takeshi for dating advice was a mistake, as always.

“But Hiro, those two do look eerily similar, don’t they?” Tomoe asked.

“Yeah, they do. I’m still shocked by that,” I replied.

“Dude, you’re taking this way too lightly. At first, I just thought, ‘Wow, some people really do look alike.’ But when I observed Shigure more closely, I realized she’s pretty much identical to Haruka—right down to the smallest details. This goes way beyond mistaking one person for another. Could the two of them be—”

Just as Tomoe was about to hesitantly broach the topic, someone else cut him off.

“Oh, Hiromichi!” a girl called out, appearing in front of our table.

“Sh-Shigure?!”

“Why are you so surprised?” she asked. “We sit next to each other, don’t we? And you must be Wakabayashi from our class, right?”

“You catch on quick,” Tomoe noted. “I don’t remember introducing myself.”

“Well, you’re pretty famous around here. All the girls in our class were bragging about you. They kept gushing things like, ‘I doubt there are any boys as handsome as him at Shueikan.’ But this is my first time seeing the bodybuilder. Mind if I ask your name?”

“Y-You would like to know my name?!” Takeshi cried, leaping out of his seat. Due to an excess of his beloved “male hormone,” he was even more, uh, enthusiastic around women than I was.

“I am Takeshi Takeda—a junior in regular classes! I-It is a pleasure to meet you!”

“I’m Shigure Satou. I just transferred into the junior AP class. It’s a pleasure to meet you, too,” Shigure replied with a pleasant smile, feigning innocence all the while.

“Hnnng!” Takeshi huffed and puffed through his nose, as if he were a manic bull. Then he turned to our friend and whispered in his ear. “T-Tomoe, this young lady asked for my name. C-Could this mean that she f-fancies me?”

“Could you be any more shameless, you gigantic wad of protein?” Tomoe replied in an exasperated tone.

“Oh, you’re in the middle of lunch,” Shigure said. “Sorry for interrupting.”

“No worries,” Tomoe assured her, pointing at the remaining seat of the four-person table. “Are you having lunch, Shigure? Feel free to sit with us if you’d like.”

I figured he was trying to create an opportunity so we could ask for Shigure’s cooperation. Unfortunately, she shook her head at the invention.

“No thanks,” she replied. “I’m actually looking for someone right now. Speaking of which... Takeda, you’re a junior in the regular class, right? Do you know a girl named Haruka Saikawa?”

“Shigure!”

At that moment, someone loudly called out to her. It was a voice I knew all too well—after all, it belonged to the person I adored.

Don’t tell me...

I wanted to reject the idea instinctively, but it turned out that my assumption had been correct. I turned toward the voice to find my girlfriend—Haruka Saikawa—heaving and covered in sweat.

“Sh-Shigure,” she gasped between heavy breaths. “Is that really you, Shigure?!”

“Big Sis...”

“Shigure! Aaah! Waaaah!” Haruka cried, running over and squeezing the other girl hard enough that I was genuinely worried her head would pop off.

I froze in place, staring at my girlfriend’s bawling figure. To say I was confused would be an understatement—I mean, how did they know each other? But, more importantly, what had Shigure just called Haruka?

She said, “Big Sis.” Those words definitely left her mouth, right?!

“Sorry about that,” Shigure apologized, glancing at me. “You can probably tell just by looking at us, but Big Si—I mean, Haruka and I are twin sisters. We were split up when our parents divorced.”

X X X

“I’m sorry,” Haruka sobbed. “As soon as I saw your face, I lost it.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize about that,” Shigure replied. “Still, talk about a major shock. When I heard there was a student who looked just like me, I considered the possibility and went looking for you. Turns out it really was you, Big Sis.”

“I heard about that, too—that there was a transfer student who looked just like me. I thought you might’ve come back home, so I searched everywhere for you. And now I’ve found you, Shigure. There’s so much we need to talk about... b-but whenever I look at your face, I feel so overwhelmed, a-and...” Haruka trailed off and burst into tears again.

“There’s no need for the waterworks,” Shigure scolded her affectionately. “Even after all these years, you’re still such a crybaby, Big Sis.”

“Shigure... I’m glad you’re doing well,” Haruka sniffled.

“Yeah, I feel the same.”

The two sisters exchanged an intimate embrace. They had been torn apart at a tender age because of their parents’ divorce, and they had finally been reunited after years apart due to circumstances that could only be called miraculous. Truly, it was a beautiful sight to behold—no words could have done it justice.

Yeah, and maybe I could actually enjoy it if I wasn’t actively shitting my pants!

“Well then,” Tomoe spoke up. “I don’t want to intrude on a family reunion, so I’ll be leaving. Let’s head out, Takeshi. I’ll see you later, Hiro. Keep your chin up.”

“Wait!” I pleaded to him in a whisper. “Whatever you do, don’t abandon me here. As the ridiculously good-looking side character, you exist to advise me—the shit-out-of-luck protagonist. Now, slap that trademark smug grin on your face, and tell me what the hell I need to do! Yesterday, I wound up with a little stepsister who looks just like my girlfriend! But my girlfriend is also my stepsister’s older sibling! As the brother-slash-boyfriend in this situation, what in God’s name am I supposed to do about this?!"

“No clue. Ridiculously good-looking side characters can only do so much. As the protagonist, you need to find the balls to figure this one out on your own. Don’t drag me into the blood-soaked trenches of your messed up family tree,” he whispered back.

“Stop screwing around, and do your job! Hey, Takeshi, say something!”

“Hmm,” Takeshi mused quietly. “Those two young ladies look very similar. I wonder—could they possibly be twins?”

“Do you only have one brain cell?!” I yelled.

“Oh!” Haruka blurted out, finally aware of my presence. “I-Is that you, Hiromichi?”

“H-Hey there,” I stammered.

“D-Don’t look at me,” Haruka responded between cries. “I don’t want you to see me making such an ugly face.”

She hid behind Shigure, her tear-stained face turning bright red. It was clear she was embarrassed by her reaction to the whole ordeal.

Aw, she’s so goddamn cute. Now, can someone book me a flight to Mars?

“Big Sis, do you know Hiromichi?” asked Shigure.

“Y-Yeah, I know him. In fact, we’re lovers,” she confessed.

“LUBBERS?”
An astonishing sound—like that of a chicken being strangled—had escaped Shigure’s mouth.

“How do you know Hiromichi, Shigure?” Haruka asked.

At the bottom of the ninth, Haruka pitched a decisive, lethal question.

If I see Shigure with that malicious smile on her face again, I’ll—

“Hiromichi and I are both in AP class together,” Shigure explained.

“Oh, you’re in AP, as well?” Haruka asked. “That’s amazing. You’ve always been such a brainiac.”

Huh? Did Shigure just lie? I’m not hearing things, am I?

“Sorry, but the two of us have a lot to talk about,” Shigure told me. “If you don’t mind, I’ll be borrowing my sister for now.”

“Hiromichi, I’m sorry about standing you up today,” Haruka added. “You’re being so nice about this.”

“No, it’s... it’s all good,” I stammered. “The circumstances are what they are.”

“Thanks. I’ll definitely make this up to you,” she promised.

The two girls waved goodbye and entered the cafeteria. As soon as they’d left, the tension drained from my body, causing me to slump down into my chair.

“That went better than expected...” I mumbled.

“True, but she was the one who figured the situation out and worked with you,” Tomoe responded. “She’s a smart gal, and she’s not as terrible as you made her out to be. She can clearly tell what lines should never be crossed.”

“Yeah...” I gave a half-hearted reply.

“If she’s that perceptive, she’ll know it’s best to distance herself from you. I mean, it shouldn’t be too hard to hide the truth for a while once you guys are on the same page, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I guess...”

It was true—Shigure had saved my sorry ass. Since she’d already gotten so much teasing in during the span of the two days I’d known her, I figured she’d torment me into oblivion if she found out about Haruka. On the contrary, she treated others much better than I’d imagined.

Well, that’s a huge freaking relief.

Despite the massive weight off my shoulders, I still felt a murky unease pressing on my chest. Being honest about everything wasn’t true selflessness—sometimes, it was nothing more than self-satisfaction. I’d come to understand Tomoe’s position quite well.

That being said, was lying to Haruka and making Shigure do the same really the right thing to do? As a brother and boyfriend, could I be proud of myself? Being so dishonest with both of them had given rise to an ill-defined sense of discomfort. Or was keeping this secret proof of my worth as a man? Honestly, I had no idea.