Chapter 4: Someone Who Might Have Been a Classmate

She wasn’t particularly good at socializing.

To be precise, she wasn’t as good at it as Hikari was.

Though Hikari and Yuzuki had been born into this world as twins, their outward resemblance belied the fact that, deep down, they were gradually walking different paths.

It wasn’t that Yuzuki was bad with people—it was just that Hikari was unnaturally skilled at making friends.

But that didn’t mean Yuzuki felt inferior to her sister.

Hikari had things Yuzuki lacked, but Yuzuki had things Hikari didn’t, too.

"Hmm…"

Monday night.

Kotobuki Yuzuki let out a quiet groan as she flopped onto her bed. Fresh out of the bath, she was bundled up in a fluffy pajama set—a birthday gift from Hikari the year before.

Incidentally, the gift Yuzuki had given Hikari that same year was also pajamas. And, whether by coincidence or some small miracle, they were the same design, just in a different color.

They hadn’t planned it. But sometimes, their thoughts overlapped like this. In moments like those, Yuzuki would remember—Ah, right. We really are twins—and end up laughing at the absurdity of it.

Yuzuki stared at her phone.

On the screen was a video circulating on Twitter—a recording of a boy who had swooped in to help her mother when she collapsed on the street a few days prior.

The boy was wearing the uniform of Ōmaku High, the same school Yuzuki attended. But beyond that, she had almost no information about him.

She didn’t recognize his face.

If she could see his tie color, she might have been able to guess his grade, but for some reason, he hadn’t been wearing one that day. (Though that raised another question—why was he even in uniform on a weekend? But she set that aside for now.)

She wanted to meet him.

Of course, she wanted to thank him. To repay him. But more than that… she wanted to know him.

She’d never seen him before.

Never spoken to him.

He was a complete stranger.

Yet, just thinking about him made her heart race.

The fact that he’d saved her mother from a life-threatening situation was probably the biggest reason for these feelings. But even so, Yuzuki wanted to trust her emotions.

So today, she had tried asking around—classmates, friends. But no luck.

Even Hikari, with her far wider social connections, hadn’t been able to dig up any information about him.

According to her, not just first-years, but second and third-years too had all claimed they didn’t know him.

Weird. Yuzuki frowned.

Was that even possible?

Sure, students from different grades might not know each other. But Hikari had checked with everyone—and not a single person had recognized him.

It didn’t make sense.

Was he just that unnoticeable?

Or maybe a truant?

…Or just a cosplayer?

"…Ah."

Then, it hit her.

In the video, there was a girl talking to him. The audio was too chaotic to make out everything, but at one point, the girl had called him "Onii-chan."

Which meant—he had a little sister.

If she could get in touch with her, she might be able to find him in one fell swoop.

Hikari would probably keep using her social connections to search for him at school tomorrow.

So Yuzuki decided—she’d try reaching him through a different route.

Just because she wasn’t as good with people didn’t mean she couldn’t track someone down.

The next day, after school.

Using the excuse of not feeling well, Yuzuki slipped out of school early, right as fifth period ended.

Her destination? The front gates of a certain middle school.

The girl who called him "Onii-chan."

Last night, Yuzuki had tried piecing together how those two had ended up in that area.

If they’d kept walking a little farther, they would’ve reached the shopping mall. Conversely, there wasn’t much else around—just a shopping district, which seemed unlikely as a destination for a girl that age with her older brother. Not impossible, but she ruled it out for now and focused on the mall.

If they lived far away and had taken the train to the mall, they wouldn’t have been in that spot—the station was right next to the mall. So, they probably lived nearby.

From the video, they didn’t seem to be on bikes. They could have gotten off somewhere else, but that seemed unlikely too. If they had been biking, they could’ve gone farther, but on foot, the mall was the most plausible destination.

The key takeaway? Their home was probably close to that area.

And since the girl in the video looked like a middle schooler, Yuzuki decided to visit the nearby middle schools.

"...This is barely within acceptable limits, right?"

If anyone had been around to retort, "No, this is way over the line," she might’ve stopped. But unfortunately, this was a solo mission.

There was no one to rein her in.

Arriving just before sixth period ended, Yuzuki took a deep breath to steady herself. Even though these were younger kids, approaching strangers was nerve-wracking.

Besides, there was no guarantee the girl even went here. This whole trip might be pointless. In fact, it probably was.

If she asked a passerby, "Do you know this girl from the video?" and got a cold "Nope," it might crush her resolve.

Just imagining that made her shudder—but then, students began streaming out of the building. School must’ve just let out.

With so many people flooding out at once, Yuzuki froze. Who should I even ask?

As she hesitated, more and more students walked past.

Finally, she steeled herself and spoke to the next girl who passed by.

"Um, excuse me—do you have a second?"

"Huh? Oh, me?"

The girl seemed flustered at the sudden approach. She had a chestnut-brown bob cut, with a slight resemblance to Hikari that made Yuzuki feel oddly at ease.

"Do you recognize this girl from the video?"

She immediately regretted skipping the explanations, but it was too late to backtrack now.

"Oh, this video—"

"You know her?"

The girl's reaction gave Yuzuki a glimmer of hope. Her heartbeat quickened—thump, thump—so loud she could hear it.

"Yeah. It's been a hot topic in my class too."

"Then... do you know this girl?"

"Of course. She's in my class."

"If it's not too much trouble... could I meet her? There's something I really need to thank her for."

"Thank her?"

The girl tilted her head in confusion. Maybe Yuzuki should have led with that.

"The woman who collapsed in the video is my mother. Thanks to these two, she’s okay now. So I want to thank them properly."

The girl’s expression cleared in understanding. "Ohhh, so that’s what this is about!"

Luckily, she seemed like a good kid. "Wait here! I’ll go get her!" she said before darting back toward the school building.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Yuzuki took deep breaths, trying to steady her racing heart. Standing in front of a middle school, hyperventilating—yeah, she probably looked super suspicious right now.

About five minutes after the girl disappeared inside...

"Sorry for the wait!"

She was back.

And beside her—the girl from the video.

"This is Akina-chan!"

The girl introduced her with a cheerful flourish.

The black-haired bob-cut girl beside her bowed slightly, her voice quiet but polite.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kirishima Akina."

"......Kirishima?"