Yamai Exchange
“Ahhh…”
In the early morning, Itsuka Shido leaned back in front of his house and stretched.
It was a pleasant morning. Even though it was cold, it also served to blow away the last bit of drowsiness.
“Okay… let’s go.”
“Well, the doors and windows are locked.”
“Okay!”
Such a voice came from behind in response to what Shido said.
The voice belonged to a girl wearing a junior high school uniform and two white ribbons in her hair tied in pigtails, and a girl in a high school uniform with night-colored hair. It’s Shido’s little sister, Kotori, and his classmate who lives right next door to them: Yatogami Tohka. Three people, including Shido, are now going to school.
“By the way, Tohka, have you seen Kaguya or Yuzuru?”
Just then, Shido asked Tohka.
Yamai Kaguya and Yamai Yuzuru are twin sisters who live in the same apartment complex as Tohka next to the Itsuka household. They also attend Raizen High school like Shido and Tohka but they haven’t seen the sisters this morning.
“No, I haven’t seen them either.”
“I see. Judging how they normally act, they probably went on ahead to see who could get there the fastest.”
Shido chuckled while scratching his cheek and at that moment, the apartment door flew open and two girls walked out.
One girl with a slim build and hair braided up.
The other was a girl with a plump build and her hair tied in three braids.
As far as the five senses were concerned, they were essentially identical to each other even down to their uniforms. The only way to tell them apart was their hairstyles, expressions, and bodies.
Now everyone was here. These are the twin sisters previously mentioned: Yamai Kaguya and Yamai Yuzuru.
“Oh! Kaguya!”
Tohka waved her hand and approached the Yamai sisters.
“Ah, morning—”
At that moment, it wasn’t the girl who was called Kaguya who responded, but Yuzuru, who was standing next to her, raised her hand and cleared her throat in shock.
“Muu?”
Tohka tilted her head in confusion but this time she another look at Kaguya as if she noticed something and twitched her shoulders to answer:
“Greetings…no, Good morning, Tohka. Hehehe, the right hand of this palace is the one that feels pain today.”
“Muuu? Good morning…?”
In the face of the utterly unnatural Kaguya, Tohka tilted her head to the side with a doubt in her face.
At this moment, Kotori started talking to Yuzuru:
“Yuzuru, you are early!”
“Answer—”
This time, it was Kaguya who answered instead of Yuzuru. But she also immediately widened her eyes and quickly looked away.
“Uh… greetings. Good morning, Kotori. I’m really comfortable this morning.”
“Oh, yeah…?”
Kotori was also puzzled by Yuzuru’s strange response.
“…”
“…”
In the face of Tohka’s reaction, Kaguya and Yuzuru shed sweat in silence, taking steps in unison, and quickly embarked on the road to school.
“So, what happened to those two…?”
“Who knows…?”
Shido stared at the backs of their heads and tilted his head in wonder.
“…”
“…”
Kaguya and Yuzuru quickly walked to school that morning. After confirming that no one else was around, they said at the same time:
“──Hehe, it’s really ugly. It’s very shameful to show up so quickly. It’s impossible for a junior like you to imitate this palace of strength.”
“Rebuttal. Yuzuru said this sentence to you originally. Do you really think your response just now was any good?”
“Yuzuru spoke with Kaguya’s voice while Kaguya spoke with Yuzuru’s voice and tone,” they said to each other.
This could be an illusion, but it looked like Yuzuru’s sleepy-looking eyes widened in surprise but Kaguya’s eyes which, by contrast, were always wide were now narrowed. That said, the two weren’t fooling around nor did it seem like they’d somehow exchanged their souls with each other. There was a very simple explanation for what was going on:
That’s right. The Yamai sisters, who looked exactly the same, were now dressed in each other’s clothing.
Kaguya, dressed as Yuzuru, folded her arms while emphasizing her chest and exhaled angrily.
“Hmph! Say what you want! Anyway, it will be you who’ll end up crying!”
“Mocking. Yuzuru will prove it to you. If Kaguya can do it, then there’s no reason that Yuzuru can’t do it either. If you wish to cry for mercy, it’s best to take advantage of the opportunity to do it now.”
Kaguya and Yuzuru glared at each other while growling like dogs ready to fight each other.
◇◇◇
It all started yesterday.
One of the rooms in the Spirit Mansion next door to the Itsuka household held the voices of the Yamai sisters.
“—Eh?! Yuzuru! Your personality is so gloomy!”
“Disagreement. A woman like Kaguya whose body is half made of shame has no right to say such things to Yuzuru.”
“Don’t compare me to Bufferin!”
Kaguya and Yuzuru hurled insults at each other with ferocious intensity that seemed to be reaching a fever pitch. This scene was very rare for the normally harmonious sisters of Yamai. However, it was caused by a trivial matter:
“Furious. After all, Kaguya ate Yuzuru’s cheese so casually!”
“What?! You ate my pudding as well! It’s even!”
That’s right. Just because Kaguya ate Yuzuru’s cheese that she put in the refrigerator and Yuzuru ate Kaguya’s pudding.
If anyone else were to bear witness to such a trivial manner would be dumbfounded. In fact, even Kaguya and Yuzuru didn’t expect to start arguing so aggressively because of such a small thing.
However, once the anger sparks, it burns out of control very quickly.
“Disagreement. The reason that Yuzuru accidentally ate the pudding was because it was the only one in the refrigerator. Unlike Kaguya who knew that there were two packs of cheese in the refrigerator and very deliberately ate Yuzuru’s as well.”
“So I didn’t apologize! No matter what the process is, the fact remains that you ate my pudding, it’s strange to pin all the blame on me alone!”
“Disagreement. Yuzuru isn’t completely without fault, but that was only because Kaguya made a mistake first. Take a step back and consider that, even if it was an accident, Kaguya didn’t admit it honestly!”
“Well…! T-This…!”
“Conjecture. Kaguya must think that as long as Yuzuru admits to making the same mistake that it will decrease Kaguya’s sin?”
“Don’t look down on me like that! I wouldn’t resort to such things! It’s just that… expensive pudding has that kind of taste to it…”
Kaguya looked away awkwardly.
Yuzuru frowned.
“Sudden. Didn’t Kaguya find herself eating the wrong pudding and cheese?”
“Yes but what can I do about it? It’s the first time I bought that brand! Besides, I haven’t eaten the cheese.”
“Don’t mind. Forget it, it’s Yuzuru being silly, thinking that there is a way to communicate with Kaguya. The original problem lies in intelligence, not character.”
“What…!”
When Kaguya heard what Yuzuru said, she glared at her sister viciously.
“Is it necessary to be so uncomfortable? By the way, I’ve always wanted to ask about it: what’s with your vocabulary that you always say those words at the beginning? Do you think it sounds cool? You criticized me just now, but you made a fool of yourself at the same time!”
“Anger. Kaguya is of ill breed, but still has things to say to Yuzuru? This is simply Yuzuru speaking. Uneducated people like Kaguya may not understand it otherwise.”
“What are you doing!”
After Yuzuru finished speaking, Kaguya answered with a different voice.
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The battle between the sisters did not stop and they finally lost their tempers.
“I’ll say! You know what kind of education is not educated? Using that kind of speech: it only makes you sound stupid!”
“Angry. You are so embarrassed. That being the case, it is not difficult for Kaguya to speak normally. Shouldn’t you think that as long as you speak with a bad attitude, you look authoritative? It’s ridiculous.”
“Only, not just! It is the majesty of this palace that comes out naturally! Don’t be rude!”
“Mocking. You seem to change your tone of speech when you suddenly think about it. It’s really easy, at this level, Yuzuru can easily imitate it. Basically, Yuzuru is more versatile than Kaguya. Everything Kaguya does, Yuzuru can do it all and better.”
“What—! This is a heinous lie. How dare you speak so wildly to the Queen of the hurricane?! This sin, even if you serve the lord, this is not enough to atone for it! You are a part of me!”
“Provocation. So, do you want to try it?”
“What do you mean?”
Kaguya was confused when she heard what Yuzuru said.
“Try it…? What are you trying?”
“Explanation. It’s the match ‘who is better at being Kaguya and Yuzuru.’”
“…!”
The mention of a [competition] made Kaguya raise an eyebrow.
However, this is a matter of course. The word “Competition” had a special meaning for the Yamai sisters.
Originally, they were actually a single person with Spirit powers. However, because of an incident that caused the original Spirit Yamai to split in two and give birth to Kaguya and Yuzuru which made them a special case. Sooner or later, they were going to have to come together and become a single Spirit again. At that time, only one person’s consciousness would remain as a result which is to say—survive.
In order to determine who would be allowed to live on, Kaguya and Yuzuru continued to engage each other in various competitions and so far, they’d clashed a hundred times.
“I firmly believe that, if Kaguya can do it, there is no way that Yuzuru can’t. Kaguya can’t be immersed in it.”
“Did all of this come from Yuzuru’s delusion?!”
“I feel malice coming from your talking style!”
Kaguya shouted unconvinced. However, Yuzuru spoke indifferently.
“Required. Now that you say that you can compare yourself to Yuzuru, please prove it to me.”
“So how should we prove it?”
“Answer. It’s simple: tomorrow, Yuzuru will act like Kaguya and Kaguya will act like Yuzuru.”
“What?” When she heard this, Kaguya’s eyes widened in surprise.
“I… become Yuzuru?”
“Confirmation. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the two of us look the same. All we have to change is our hairstyles and behavior to match. Of course—only appearances.”
“Oh… so it’s like that.”
At that moment, Kaguya seemed to be aware of Yuzuru’s intentions and folded her arms thoughtfully.
“So you mean that you want us to try to act like each other all day and prevent anyone else from being able to recognize us?”
“Agreement. That’s it. Even though Yuzuru doesn’t think that Kaguya could hope to pretend to be me and not give herself away.”
“That’s what I should be saying about you! It’ll be impossible for you to pretend to be me.”
After Yuzuru and Kaguya assumed fighting poses against each other, they spread their hands out wide. Then Kaguya untied her braided hair worn on the back of her head. Yuzuru followed Kaguya’s example as she wrapped her braided hair around the back of her head. At the same time, Kaguya narrowed her eyes a little to give a feeling of laziness. Yuzuru, on the other hand, widened her eyes to give a more energetic expression.
The sisters’ actions are perfectly exchanged and give the same impression of the other.
“Oh… you look just like me, Yuzuru.”
“Answer. Kaguya, you really look like—ah.”
“…? What… uh, ah.”
At that moment, Kaguya and Yuzuru looked at each other’s chests, eyes wide open. That’s right: even though their appearances were indeed identical, but now the two were in a state where Kaguya’s face was matched with Yuzuru’s plump chest while Yuzuru’s face was paired with Kaguya’s smaller chest.
Ten minutes later:
“Complaint. It hurts! It hurts! It hurts, Kaguya!”
“Shut up, just bear with it!”
Kaguya was holding a silk wrap around Yuzuru’s chest in her sister’s room.
“Pleading. Hurry up. Some of it was made up by Yuzuru’s acting skills. Leave it to Kaguya to weep over her delayed growth spurt.”
“What a terrible idea that is! If we do that, I won’t be able to change back!”
“Understood. You’re right… So, what about having Kaguya get over her inferiority complex and finally put on a chest pad?”
“…What?!”
Kaguya heard those words and immediately held her breasts.
This was hardly a surprise: because Kaguya and Yuzuru were complete opposites in terms of their breast size: her bra was stuffed with breast pads; just one was not nearly enough to reproduce Yuzuru’s breast size. It was clear that Kaguya hadn’t anticipated needing to use more than one.
“… ow, this is too shameful. How many centimeters do you have?!”
Kaguya gritted her teeth while Yuzuru’s cries of pain echoed throughout the room.
“Recall… Yuzuru remembers that it is about ninety centimeters… but honestly, it is heavy and troublesome. Isn’t it more convenient to be able to move as freely as Kaguya?”
“…”
After Yuzuru finished speaking, Kaguya’s expression softened as she smiled sweetly at her sister.
“Suffer.”
“…! Wailing. It hurts…!”
Kaguya still wore an angel-like expression on her face as she pulled on the wrap more tightly. Yuzuru’s painful cries rang out through the room.
—Which brings us back to now:
“Patience. Well…”
Yuzuru, now dressed as Kaguya, endured the pressure with her breasts bound while doing her best to pay attention to the teacher’s lesson. She was in a math lesson and if she was being honest with herself, she was having trouble paying attention.
However, Yuzuru’s acting as Kaguya was impressive.
While trying to imitate Kaguya’s unfamiliar tone was troublesome, it seemed that so far, at least, no one seemed to realize her true identity yet.
Yuzuru glanced at Kaguya intently and watched as she massaged her shoulders. It seemed like she was sore because she wasn’t used to bearing the excess weight on her chest. Perhaps she felt Yuzuru’s gaze on her; Kaguya promptly stopped massaging her shoulders.
“Inhale. Exhale.”
Yuzuru exhaled quietly through her nose while trying not to move her head and avoid looking at Kaguya.
It seemed that Kaguya hadn’t slipped up yet either but, as far as Yuzuru was concerned, it was really only a matter of time before she gave herself away.
—Just then, the bell began to ring.
“Huh? Ah We’ll end it here for today. Everyone, make sure to review today’s lesson at home.”
The math teacher quickly covered the final point of the lesson before wrapping it up. Yuzuru quickly stood up and saluted and then clenched her fist in an attempt to calm down her nerves.
Since it was possible for teachers to call on students by name to answer questions, it wasn’t something that could be taken lightly, but the most crucial opportunity to win this competition against Kaguya was during the lunch break.
That said, there was no need to be too neurotic: Kaguya followed a daily routine so it wouldn’t be too difficult—
“…!”
Yuzuru gave the matter more thought before her eyebrows shot up.
The reason was simple: someone had put their hands on her shoulders from behind, taking Yuzuru by surprise. She had to be careful not to speak like she would normally as she peaked over her shoulder at the offender.
She spotted a female student with a long fringe. She is a classmate that shared three classes with them: Himukai Eiko. Yuzuru had no idea why her right hand was bandaged. Maybe she’d injured it?
While Yuzuru and Kaguya shared an apartment in the Spirit Mansion and often spent time together during their days off, they don’t spend all 24 hours a day together. Of course, the two had their own groups of friends at school.
Eiko is one of Kaguya’s friends. Although she had nothing to do with Yuzuru, she often saw them together chatting with each other.
While Yuzuru was thinking about this sort of thing, Eiko spoke first:
“The Covenant is here. Let us go, Hermes.”
“Question. …what?”
In the face of an unexpected encounter, Yuzuru couldn’t help but tilt her head in and frown in wonder.
“It’s time for the <Sage meeting>. You should have received a notice about it last week.”
“Oh, uh…”
—What’s with this agreement? Yuzuru didn’t feel like going to this meeting. She could feel her feet freezing and unable to move naturally and did not want to move.
However, as she was pretending to be Kaguya, she couldn’t refuse the invitation. Yuzuru soon found herself being pulled from the classroom by Eiko.
“… Ah, yes, there is a <Sage meeting> today…”
After the bell rang to signal the end of the fourth lesson, Kaguya squinted as she watched Yuzuru get dragged away by her classmate, Eiko (Actually, she now called herself “Onerios”) and scratched her cheek.
“Yuzuru will be okay… I knew about it beforehand and told them that there is no way I could go today—”
Kaguya shook her head vigorously, as if to shake off the thought that had just crossed her mind for a moment.
“No, she deserves it. I want her to experience my power…!”
Kaguya leaned against the back of the chair and exhaled angrily.
While it was true that Kaguya ate Yuzuru’s cheese in such a casual manner, she felt that Yuzuru was being ridiculous. No matter the reason, the fact remained that Yuzuru ate Kaguya’s pudding and then had the gall to call her stupid. Sure, she made a mistake because she ate the cheese, no matter how utterly unkind—
“Ah, there you are, Yuzuru.”
“Huh…?”
Just as Kaguya was pouting, another female student suddenly called out to her.
The other girl wore a short skirt of exquisite length, and the sleeves of the blazer showed a cut-out cardigan. Just staying at the scene will feel a sweet aroma, a sweet and gentle girl.
She remembered her name: Kyung Ai. Kaguya didn’t talk to her very often, but she did occasionally see her hanging out with Yuzuru.
“Hey… Answer. What’s the matter, Ai?”
“Would you like to come here for lunch with Asumi and me? We have something to discuss with you”
“Answer. Okay.”
“Yuzuru-san, what’s wrong with you? It feels like your vocabulary is a little monotonous.”
“…! Answer. That’s all right…”
After being called out like that, Kaguya felt sweat trail down her cheek. She’d just realized that she’d used a different way of saying “answer” compared to how Yuzuru would say it with two kanji.
Yuzuru seemed to be able to do it without any problems but it was suddenly much more difficult for Kaguya to express her actions and mood.
Nonetheless, Kaguya tried her best and continued to say:
“… It’s pitch back. You should grab your lunch, then let’s go together.”
“Hey, suddenly it turns into a feeling of evil? Fear of such a hobby”
“Purgatory. You are more attentive. Then, what are you going to discuss?”
After Kaguya hurriedly replied, Ai twisted her body in a cute gesture and answered:
“I’ve fallen in love with my new boyfriend. I’m worried about getting along with him, and hoping you can give me some advice.”
“…What?”
When he heard what Ai said, Kaguya forgot the vocabulary of the two words attached at the beginning, and Ai tilted her head to express doubt.
“—Thank you everyone for your attendance today. Let us begin our <Sage meeting>.”
It was during the lunch period. A weird figure said so in a mysterious room with blackout curtains.
Since it is in school, there should be students here… But Yuzuru could not find any words other than “strange” to describe this person wearing a black robe and a peculiar mask on her face.
“…”
However, Yuzuru was in no position to judge anyone else’s appearance because she’d also been forced to dress up like that student that everyone had called <Zeus>.
“… Doubt. What the hell is this…”
Yuzuru murmured softly as she looked around the room. Several students dressed like Yuzuru were seated around the round table. Among them was Eiko, who brought Yuzuru here (she mentally corrected herself; her name was “Oneiros” right now).
However, everyone seemed to be indifferent to Yuzuru’s doubt, and each spoke in turn:
“The reason why we are convening today is that the acts of <Organization> have reached a point where it cannot be ignored.”
“Wait… <Zeus>… don’t tell me that…”
“Exactly. The [Trial] as foretold in the [Dead Sea Document] is near.”
“How could this be? Do you intend to awaken the <Beast of the end>?”
“Aren’t you afraid of the <Darkness of the gods>?”
“Ah… if that’s the case then we definitely can’t just sit idly by.”
“Right. But if we want to save the world, <three artifacts> are needed.”
“However, we have to defeat the <Gatekeeper> first before we can recover the artifacts.”
“…”
Faced with the ongoing dialogue in front of her, Yuzuru felt cold sweat trailing down her body. It feels like a lot of difficult words were being used and the content is unintelligible.
Maybe there were doubts about Yuzuru’s behavior, so <Zeus> said:
“<Hermes> what’s the matter? You, who are always so eager to speak, haven’t so much as uttered a single word. It’s unsettling.”
“…! Uh, no, this palace… is fine.”
“? Forget about it. Just go ahead and speak your mind.”
“! Thoughts? No, uh, well…”
Finding herself put on the spot, leaving Yuzuru an incoherent mess. As a result, the other members of the <Sage meeting> cast her a skeptical look.
“Something doesn’t feel right. Are you really <Hermes>?”
“Is the magical hand of the <Organization> already here? You there, please take off your mask!”
“…!”
The other students in their masks began to wonder and Yuzuru felt her shoulders twitch in surprise. She’d finally managed to make it to this point, how could they have figured out her identity here? Yuzuru felt her heart drop in shame as she stood up abruptly and removed the mask and robe as requested.
“Oh! Hahahahahahahahahaha! It seems that <Organization> is nothing to be afraid of! The evil eye of <Hermes> has already mastered the <Three artifacts>!”
“Oh…!”
Yuzuru answered confidently while all of the other masked students’ eyes went wide with surprise.
“Is that right? It’s <Hermes>.”
“Well, so where are they?”
“Well… it all depends on the <Will of chaos>. When space and time converge, the answer will be between zero and one.”
It seemed that Yuzuru herself didn’t have a clue what she was talking about now.
However the group of masked students immediately put their hands to their chins thoughtfully before nodding in agreement and promptly began taking notes.
“U-Uh, so the next step would be the detailed situation around the <Three artifacts>—”
“Well…”
After hearing what <Zeus> said, Yuzuru couldn’t believe what happened. This was hardly a surprise: everything she’d just said was utter nonsense. All she did was think of Kaguya’s speech and tried to mimic it. If anyone decided to pursue it further, it would probably be sloppy. It would be better to say that it was already full of flaws.
However, <Zeus> went on to say some unexpected words:
“—Swords, mirrors, gouyu are really too particular about the original direction. It should be more innovative.”
“…What?”
The situation suddenly changed, and it was completely different from what it was just before, so Yuzuru was at a loss. Other members answered:
“No, it’s important to stick to the basics. It would make more sense to adapt the <Three artifacts> to match the modern world.”
“Yeah, that’s right! Make the readers wonder: ‘should it follow the original setting?’”
“Oh but with all the myths added, will it be impossible to put an ending to it? How should we integrate…”
“On this point, didn’t <Hermes> just point it out to all of us just now? Between zero and one: in other words, the whole world was actually just a video game!”
“…! O-Original! If we do it this way, then the previous settings all make more sense!”
“…Question. What the hell are you talking about?”
Yuzuru’s original explanation was made even more confusing as she asked for an explanation complete with a frown. Everyone in turn looked back at her with their heads tilted and a look of wonder on their faces:
“What is there to say? We’re discussing the setting for our new works.”
“The <Sage meeting> is an occasional inspirational meeting organized by members of the literature and art clubs who are suffering from writer’s or artist’s block.”
“By the way, there will be more frequent meetings closer to the deadline for the newsletter publication or Newcomer’s award.”
“Oh, and thank you <Hermes> for giving us such unexpected ideas for innovation.”
“…Understand. So that’s what it was all about.”
After hearing everyone’s explanation behind their word choice, Yuzuru let out a sigh. After being led to such a strange place in a state of confusion, now everything made sense. It turns out this way of helping suits Kaguya’s personality.
However, this peace of mind lasted for only a second. The group of masked students while taking notes with one hand take another good look at Yuzuru.
“<Hermes> let us write down your next prophecy.”
“You know this world is fictional, so who created it with one hand?”
“Think. Uh, well…”
She could feel the overall attitude becoming more and more positive than before. All the same, Yuzuru’s eyes drifted around the room at a loss for words.
At the same time, a group of girls gathered in a corner of classroom 2-3, chatting lively while eating their bentos.
“── Then, it has to be my boyfriend. I’m too shy to do some intimate moves with others”
“I suppose, but doesn’t it all come out to the same thing?”
“…”
“But we have been dating for almost a month, and he has never kissed anyone else. After watching a movie, shopping, and eating, I asked him where to go next, and he answered that I should return home. I hate hate hate hate that sort of answer! At this point, you should launch an offensive attack to solidify the relationship!”
“This is really annoying… speaking of which, to let the girls ask about the next arrangement is just too ridiculous”
“…”
“But I don’t want to take the initiative. So I want to ask Yuzuru if there is any way to express it gently.”
“Ah!”
Suddenly the topic turned to herself, and Kaguya could not help but yelp in surprise.
“Yuzuru, are you okay? You’re making some strange noises…”
“Yeah, you haven’t said a single word since we started talking, are you sure you’re alright?”
“Falling. I-I’m okay.”
Kaguya’s face was cold and sweaty as she shook her head vehemently to deny everything.
Well just like Kaguya had her own circle of friends at school, Yuzuru likewise also had her own group of friends at school, but she didn’t expect them to discuss such a topic. Of course, Kaguya was a girl as well and so she’d talked about such girls before. However, the conversation was going faster than Kaguya was able to keep up, leaving her unsure of what to do.
“Look, the reason I have my current boyfriend is because of Yuzuru’s advice. I never would have expected the Yamai-style of physical contact to be so effective.”
“That’s true. Speaking of which, you still haven’t said anything yet. Please tell us”
“Uh, t-this…”
Kaguya found herself sweating profusely. What exactly is the Yamai-style of physical contact? Of course, Kaguya was a Yamai as well but she hadn’t the faintest clue of the physical contact they were talking about.
The girls present clearly thought that Kaguya’s attitude was a bit different and soon Ai and the others tilted their heads to one side.
“Yuzuru, what’s wrong with you? Your whole face is red.”
“Yeah it’s a lot like Kaguya…”
“…!”
Kaguya listened and her shoulders shook in shock.
How could she be failing at this stage? She did her best to restrain her fluttering heart and pretended to clear her throat calmly.
“Hellfire. Okay, okay, I’ll teach you how to use the Yamai’s skills.”
“Oh!”
“I was hoping that you would say that!”
In the face of applause from the two girls, Kaguya desperately struggled to find a way to proceed.
After a few seconds, she coughed.
“Abyss. For example, when two people walk together, they inadvertently cling to each other’s fingers…”
Kaguya yelled out despite her burning red cheeks. Ai and Asumi stared at her for several seconds before giggling.
“Oh Yuzuru, what happened to you today? So pure”
“That’s right, it’s really cute! But aren’t there any tricks like the one you taught us before?”
“W-What!”
A more intense way than before…?
Kaguya’s mind worked furiously under the expectant gazes of Ai and Asumi.
◇◇◇
“Sigh. Hey…”
“After the <Sage meeting> ended, Yuzuru stepped out of the room and walked down the corridor.
Although she had to use a lot of difficult words afterwards, she somehow managed to overcome the challenge. But if she continued, there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t blow her cover. If she was being honest, Yuzuru really wanted to read the story and see what kind of story they would come up with.
“Sigh. But…It’s finally over.”
Yuzuru took a deep breath before pulling out her smartphone to check the time. There was still a little bit of time before fifth period began so it would be okay for her to take a little break before class started.
However, just as Yuzuru was about to do that, she heard a voice behind her as she headed for the classroom.
“Oh, what a coincidence, <Magic night>.”
“…?”
Yuzuru blinked as she heard the strange title and tilted her head in confusion while frowning again.
It’s no wonder: she spotted an older senior student but instead of the standard uniform, she favored a punk-themed hoodie under her blazer and tinkling silver jewelry on her arms and neck. She also noticed a large guitar case slung on her back.
If Yuzuru remembered correctly, she was a student of the Godpunk Wind Orchestra with Kaguya’s group at the Pop Music Club. Her name was—something related to fire: <Fire lily>.
It doesn’t sound like her own name but she seemed happy with it nonetheless. Still, she’d just called her <Magic night> which was apparently one of the nicknames that Kaguya occasionally used. Just how many nicknames did Kaguya have?
“Who are you? I don’t know anyone named <Fire lily>.”
“Oh, what are you talking about? Of course, I asked you to write some more new lyrics.”
“…Confirm. What?”
She didn’t have a clue what this student was talking about while Yuzuru stared at her blankly. However, she didn’t seem to realize Yuzuru’s appearance at all as she pulled out a piece of paper and spread it out.
The paper was lined with dense strokes of kanji characters with some strange German characters thrown in as well.
“When I first heard your lyrics, I was really touched. I never thought that someone would write a word that fit my worldview so well.”
“O-Oh, this way…”
She didn’t understand what she said, complete with a handsome pose. Yuzuru could feel a new wave of sweat trail down her cheeks.
“However, I’m sorry. The lyrics of the new song have not been written yet but it should be done within the next day or so. I’ll let you know when I have it finished.”
Yuzuru’s competition with Kaguya was only limited to today. Tomorrow, Kaguya would be able to figure out this problem herself so Yuzuru decided to answer like that.
“Ahaha, what are you talking about <Illusion night>? Your creative ability isn’t that high!”
However, <Fire lily> only laughed as she set down the guitar case slung on her back and pulled a dark guitar from it.
“Spit out words from the lips along with the melody. Come on, let me see the glory of the moment!”
Then she swayed the guitar pick without a second thought and played it on the spot in the center of the corridor. The music suddenly sounded, and the students cast a curious look.
Yuzuru, who usually listened to Kaguya’s speech, probably understood the meaning of her words—in short, it’s to improvise with the melody.
“Confusion. Hey…”
To be honest, it’s embarrassing to be this extreme but Yuzuru is now Kaguya…rather, she was known as <Illusion night> so she had to bite the bullet.
“D-Dark… Purgatory?”
“Dark Purgatory!”
Yuzuru stuttered while trying her best to ignore the guitarist while repeating the lyrics with the melody.
“Heaven…wing?”
“Gu-Guten Tag?” (German for hello).
“Guten Ta—g!”
As a result, this shameful approach to mental retardation continued until a teacher came over to investigate after hearing the commotion.
“Ah, really, why are they talking about that topic…?”
Kaguya sighed as she muttered under her breath as she stood in front of the sink. She poured water into her hands and splashed it onto her face. She could still feel heat radiating from her face.
However, this is understandable as Kaguya has been teaching love “skills” to Asumi and Ai since the lunch break started.
She’d been under a constant onslaught from the two girls in turn, and relying on her delusional powers to put forth a lot of ideas. In the end, Kaguya was able to escape by making a break for the bathroom. The reason Kaguya was so flushed was not because of the lascivious topic of conversation, but rather she was ashamed of the delusional suggestions she proposed.
In short, she finally managed to get through the lunch break without giving away her identity. Kaguya sighed as she wiped her face and hands with a handkerchief and stepped into the corridor.
However, at that moment—
“Aha! I found you, Yuzuru-Onee chan! Where were you?”
“What?”
Hearing the sudden call, Kaguya raised her eyebrows slightly and turned her head.
She spotted a young girl waving at her. It was Hori Ayaka of the costume club. She was also a student that occasionally talked to Yuzuru.
Kaguya felt that she was in trouble again but nonetheless turned to face her.
“Scorching heat. Is there something wrong, Ayaka?”
“What are you talking about? You promised to be my fashion model today! Everyone is waiting for you!”
“Blushing. A-Ah, something like this. I’m so sorry.”
“Okay, so let’s get going right now!”
“Ah! Wait a minute…”
After waiting for Kaguya to finish speaking, she grabbed her hand and dragged her down the hallway. She then opened the door to the housekeeping clubroom and walked in. In an instant, all of the female students in the room focused their gaze on Kaguya.
“Oh, here she is! Where were you, Yuzuru?”
“Eliminate. No, sorry, something came up.”
“Forget about it. We don’t have time to worry about that. Quickly, change into this.”
After saying that, a schoolgirl with glasses passed her clothes that were on the table. It seems to be still in the rough stitching stage. It was a dress made with beautiful fabrics. It felt so comfortable and Kaguya couldn’t help but admire it.
“Okay, please change into it quickly.”
“Mystery. Got it. Then—”
Kaguya was halfway through taking off her uniform when she remembered the difference in chest size and stopped.
That’s right: although Kaguya’s chest was the same size as Yuzuru’s thanks to her chest pads, if Kaguya took her clothes off, then her identity would be exposed instantly.
“Blazing sky. I-I have to go over there to change.”
“Why? Just change into it here…”
The members of the costume club tilted their heads with a look of confusion. Kaguya smiled bitterly as she made her way to the next room with the dress in hand.
She quickly took off her uniform and clumsily put on the dress before returning to the original room.
“Turn around. How does it feel?”
Kaguya twirled and struck a pose at the student’s request, getting an exclamation of approval from the members as they saw her.
“Yuzuru onee-chan is so pretty!”
“Bodies really do come in different shapes and sizes. It’s important that we find the right person to model the dress.”
“Good job, President! This dress will surely help us win the competition!” said the crowd of club members loudly.
However, the bespectacled student called the ‘President’ stared at Kaguya sadly.
“Um…”
“…? What’s wrong, Miss President?”
“It’s nothing. It just feels a bit different from the figure that I saw before…”
“…!”
Kaguya couldn’t help but be shocked by what the President had said.
“D-Domineering. Even without this dress, Yuzuru has always been like this!”
Kaguya stammered with a change in tone while the President groaned for a moment while frowning.
“Hmm… Perhaps I’m just overthinking things…”
The president finally said with her arms crossed. Warm, sweet, glorious relief swept through Kaguya.
“In any case, Yuzuru, can you change into this one now? I want to confirm the size for this one as well.”
“Holy Demon. It’ll be a trivial matter. What do I need to change into next—?”
At that moment, Kaguya gasped at the next outfit. The next outfit that the president was holding was a sexy underwear that would clearly show the shape of the chest.
◇◇◇
—The bell chimed throughout the school.
“Sigh…Ugh.”
Yuzuru, who was physically and mentally exhausted, sighed in the noisy classroom.
A lot of unexpected things happened to her today. She figured that it would be easy to imitate Kaguya but she had no idea that Kaguya was involved in all kinds of things.
“Apology. Kaguya really does work hard…”
Yuzuru whispered softly so that no one could hear her. Maybe it was because of how much time had passed or because of today’s experience, her anger at Kaguya has gradually subsided and in its place, a strange feeling of respect for her sister slowly took over.
It would be ridiculous to think that Yuzuru would be good at the same things that Kaguya was good at just because they were twins. Even if they shared similar looks, those bodies harbored different personalities. That should have been clearer to Yuzuru and Kaguya more so than anyone else.
In short, Yuzuru doubted that she would be able to last much longer if she ended up getting caught by someone else that Kaguya knew. In order to leave the school as quickly as possible, Yuzuru immediately packed up her things to prepare to leave the classroom.
However, just when she was about to leave the school building—
“Kaguya! I’ve been waiting a long time for you!”
A loud voice came from nearby. She looked around and spotted a row of school girls in front of the shoe lockers, waiting for Yuzuru. Everyone was wearing sportswear with the “Raizen High School Women’s Soccer Club” logo.
“…”
There was an ominous premonition in the air. Yuzuru felt that the crisis sensor today was way too high.
As though to confirm Yuzuru’s worst fears, the girl she suspected was the captain of the team moved forward and grabbed Yuzuru’s hand.
“Thank you so much. Really, we really can’t thank you enough.”
“…Question, what exactly are you talking about?”
“Hmm? What are you talking about? Didn’t you promise to help us play?”
“…”
Her worst fears were now a reality. After hearing the captain’s words, Yuzuru’s face burst into a cold sweat.
The members in the rear didn’t notice Yuzuru’s distress as they clenched their fists and said enthusiastically:
“It’ll really help us out a lot! The opponents are regulars in all of the competitions: the high school affiliated with Senjou University…but as long as Kaguya onee-chan goes out to play, we’ll surely win!”
“…What?”
“Hey, let’s talk about motivation. If you lose the game, then the Women’s Soccer Club will be abolished. Don’t be negligent just because you’re Yamai Kaguya.”
“K-Kicked off the…team…?”
“Yeah! But Kaguya onee-chan taught us the slaying formation <Spiritual formation, imperial type>, I’m pretty sure we won’t lose!”
“…”
“Yeah… please, Yamai-san!”
“…Let me go to the bathroom so that I can get changed.”
Yuzuru stared at the sparkling gazes of the club members and soon found herself turning back to go to the locker room to get changed.
“E-Exhausted.”
The end of the day felt like a mountain-sized flood. Once lessons ended, Kaguya collapsed on Yuzuru’s desk.
During the lunch break, because she couldn’t bring herself to change into the underwear the club president presented under everyone’s watchful gazes, Kaguya had to make up excuses until the bell rang and she immediately made her escape. The next chance she got, she would have to remind Yuzuru to check the size of the costumes for the costume club.
Remembering Yuzuru, Kaguya was reminded of the argument she’d had with Yuzuru the previous day and couldn’t help but laugh at how silly they’d both been.
“Yuzuru is really highly valued by everyone…”
Kaguya murmured as she sighed.
She had been too arrogant in believing that there was a way that she could become Yuzuru completely. However, after spending the entire day pretending to be Yuzuru, Kaguya came to realize just how amazing she really was.
…Thankfully, the day was finally over. It looked like Yuzuru had already left and Kaguya had every intention of returning home now as well.
Just as she thought about it, she looked up.
“…Huh?” She frowned suddenly.
It was because there was a female student hiding behind the classroom door. She’d been peeking at Kaguya from time to time. It was one of the girls from her class: Hasunuma Sakiko.
“…Evil Eye. Is there something wrong?”
“Eeek!”
After Kaguya called out to her loudly, Sakiko shook a little bit and fell to the ground, landing on her rear.
“Demons. Are you okay?”
Kaguya quickly rushed over and stretched out a hand to help her up, Sakiko apologized repeatedly as she grabbed Kaguya’s hand to pull herself to her feet.
“Sorry Yuzuru-san, I always seem to be causing trouble for you.”
“Phantom. No, uh ‘always?’”
Kaguya asked with her head partially tilted. Sakiko’s wording was a little strange. Sakiko seemed to confirm Kaguya’s suspicions as she bowed her head to greet her.
“T-Today, I’ll be troubling you again.”
“…Holy War. Just for the sake of clarity, let me ask what’s the matter today?”
After Kaguya asked with sweat on her forehead, Sakiko’s body trembled as she answered:
“U-Um? T-There’s someone I like…Sugiyama-san of class 2… after you listened, didn’t you say you were familiar with him?”
“…Despair…”
She heard Sakiko’s unexpected words and felt her face twitch uncontrollably. She couldn’t help but want to shout: “Why would you promise to help with such things at this point in time, Yuzuru!”
“I-Is something wrong? I’ve followed your instructions and wrote him a note asking to meet up behind the building after school.”
“Abyss. Leave it to me. I’m ready now… let me just go to the bathroom first.”
Kaguya staggered down the corridor, a hand resting on her stomach in an effort to ease the pain caused by the stress from her day so far.
“… Annoyed. This is a headache…”
Yuzuru sat on the toilet in the single room of the women’s bathroom, pressing her head into her hands and thinking hard.
It’s no wonder. After all, she has to help the match, and the outcome of the match is about the survival of an entire club.
She doesn’t know what Kaguya was thinking. The main problem was that she still had the wrap around her chest and so she couldn’t move as freely as she used to. In this state, she didn’t feel confident in being able to deal with a soccer team from a rival school.
Still, she couldn’t back out now. According to the members of the women’s soccer team, Kaguya was a key figure in this game. If she were to go missing, their team would be defeated.
If that happened, the club would be abolished (although she didn’t know why it had fallen to such a point) plus it might ruin Kaguya’s reputation.
“Scream. How good is Yuzuru…!”
It was hell to play and hell to escape. Yuzuru clutched her head more tightly and shouted.
In that moment—
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”
A desperate Kaguya quickly escaped into a toilet stall while retracting her body and thinking hard.
It seemed that Sakiko had gone so far as to ask for her help in confessing to a person she liked. This responsibility was too great which made her feel nauseated.
This was bad. Yuzuru might have some sort of method to approach such an encounter but all Kaguya knew Sakiko’s name and had only heard of Sugiyama from class 2. As a result, there was no way she could formulate a countermeasure on the spot.
What’s more, the biggest problem was that Kaguya didn’t think that she could handle such delicate things like helping people succeed in such things. Going on like this will definitely ruin others talents.
Determined to confess, Kaguya let out an embarrassingly bitter smile.
Ahahaha… it doesn’t matter, I already knew that there’s no way that anyone could love someone like me. Yuzuru-san thank you. I’m sorry for making you worry about me.
The next day, she found a pair of shoes and a suicide note on the top floor of the school buildling—
“AAAAAHHHHH!”
The ever-expanding delusions in her mind frightened Kaguya. Although her thoughts could be considered to be too pessimistic, Kaguya couldn’t bring herself to be able to think calmly.
It was no surprise. Sakiko said that she asked Sugiyama to meet her behind the building after school. If Kaguya continued to stall, Sugiyama might go home before Sakiko had a chance to confess her feelings.
But even if Kaguya went out now…
“Ahhh! How is this fair to me!”
Kaguya leaned back against the toilet and shouted.
Instantly—
Yes, at that exact moment.
“! Response. Just now, that was—”
“! Huh? That voice just now…”
Yuzuru and Kaguya were both holding their heads in separate stalls in the same women’s bathroom and both of them were worried.
When they heard the shout from the stall right next to them, their eyes shot wide open at the same time.
◇◇◇
“President, is it really okay to rely so much on Kaguya onee-chan? She’s been in the bathroom for a pretty long time. Could it be that she might be uncomfortable with the situation?”
“Well…”
When she heard what the young girl said, the captain of the women’s football club raised her arms while frowning.
Today, Kaguya was acting a little strange. Not only was her behavior more gentle than usual, she also seemed to have forgotten the whole game. For a while, she thought that she might have mistaken her for her twin sister, Yuzuru.
However, a brief glance at her chest told her that it could only be Kaguya: Yuzuru’s chest was the size of a soccer ball. Even from a distance, it would be impossible to confuse them.
In that way, it was as the school girl said. Could it be that Kaguya was having second thoughts? If that was the case, it would be a big problem. Today’s battle depends on Kaguya’s participation. Without her, they didn’t have a chance of beating the high school affiliated with Senjou University.
“Hmm…”
“Haha! Hahahahahaha!”
When the president groaned a little uneasily, a loud laugh came suddenly, eliminating her anxiety.
“What…!”
“T-that is!”
“──Look at me!”
When the members were surprised, a figure jumped from the window on the second floor of the school building into the air.
After tumbling in the air, the figure landed on the awning at the entrance and exit of the school building.
“The distant hears the sound! The distant sees! Then praise the high reputation of Hurricane Child Yamai Kaguya!”
Kaguya proclaimed, the blazer over her shoulders billowed in the wind. After seeing her appearing gorgeously, the members stunned and shouted with emotion:
“That’s amazing! Kaguya onee-chan is in great shape!”
“All of our doubts just disappeared!”
“Is it an illusion? I feel her chest shrank!”
“Maybe it was to reduce air resistance?”
The members continued to praise Kaguya with every word uttered. After receiving their sincere praise (some words made her sound a little complicated). Nonetheless, Kaguya raised her fist into the air.
“Very good! Fighters, follow this palace! I will lead you to taste the wine of victory!”
“OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!!”
The members of the club yelled in response to Kaguya’s voice.
“Yuzuru-san,…no it doesn’t matter…”
Sakiko waited for Yuzuru in classroom 2-3 and she felt her fingers tremble in fright: Yuzuru had left for the bathroom almost 20 minutes ago and she hadn’t come back. Sakiko was worried that Yuzuru wasn’t feeling well.
Well, Yuzuru looked a little weird and had a restless look on her face. Plus the two-word vocabulary at the beginning of her sentences felt a little evil… could it be that she was in a bad mood? Or perhaps she was suggesting that the road to confession was a dark and hopeless one?
“…”
Sakiko glanced at the classroom clock and swallowed nervously.
In her position, it was inconvenient to urge Yuzuru but Sugiyama might show up at any moment.
In order to avoid letting the other person worry, Sakiko wrote her own name on the letter. In other words, even if Yuzuru wouldn’t be able to come because of stomach pain or something else, she would still have to go behind the school building herself.
If she couldn’t confess to the person she liked, she would be a girl who has lost the game of love. But if she didn’t even appear at the requested spot, she would be a wicked girl who caused mischief for Sugiyama.
“…!”
Still, just the thought of going by herself, Sakiko trembled once more and was about ready to squat and give up. She couldn’t think of confessing to him like this; just talking normally with him was hard enough.
“Arrive. I’ve kept you waiting.”
As Sakiko held her hands up in prayer, a voice came from the door of the classroom.
“Yuzuru-san! Are you alright?”
“Affirmative. I made you worry, Sakiko. There’s no problems anymore. Yuzuru will teach you the means to make him fascinated by your charm.”
“T-Thank you!”
Yuzuru was very different compared to before: she was much more confident now than she had been when Sakiko first approached her earlier.
After listening to what she said, Sakiko felt a little less nervous. The two-word vocabulary no longer had a sense of malevolence behind and her chest seems to be larger than it was before. Was this the aura of a legendary person?
“Lead. No time to waste. Let’s go, Sakiko.”
“O-Okay!”
Sakiko nodded gratefully as she followed the goddess of victory from behind.
◇◇◇
That night, Shido peaked into the living room while preparing dinner in the Itsuka kitchen. The reason was simple: Tohka, Kotori, and several of the Spirits have gathered in the living room but—
“Oh! Now, I realize just how powerful Yuzuru is again. What can I say? Perfect Superman? I can’t hope to compare to it at all.”
“Denial. Nothing like that. Kaguya is truly excellent. Yuzuru isn’t even an opponent at all. I will pay respect to you.”
“Oh… how could I possibly be as good as you. Ah, I ate your cheese yesterday, I’m really sorry. I bought some more on my way home today and put it in the refrigerator. If I want some, I’ll make sure to ask you first next time.”
“Reflection. Yuzuru is also sorry. Yuzuru bought more pudding on her way home.”
The Yamai sisters were sitting side by side on the sofa like affectionate lovers, clasping their fingers together while speaking sweet words to each other.
Granted, the sisters are usually stuck together like glue but they were particularly sticky tonight. Shido felt sweat trail down his cheeks as he smiled bitterly.
“What’s going on, you two? It’s your turn again.”
After Shido finished talking, Kaguya and Yuzuru made near identical movements while proudly raising their chests.
“That’s for sure. Because my other half Yuzuru is the person who embodies the knowledge of the world.”
“Exaggeration. It makes perfect sense to praise Kaguya’s excellent ability in Megatron.”
“Exaggeration. It is a matter of course to praise Yuzuru’s excellent ability in Megatron.”
After this, they both poked at each other’s arms.
“Hahaha…”
Although he didn’t know what happened between them, the two seemed just as close as ever. When he saw them this morning, he could have sworn he smelled gunpowder—
“Ah, right.”
At that moment, Shido remembered the morning encounter and looked at them again.
“Kaguya, Yuzuru, why did you look like each other this morning? Were you having another contest again?”
“What?!”
“Shocked. Shido, how long have you known about this?”
After Shido finished speaking, Kaguya and Yuzuru were astonished. They thought that they were able to fool everyone into thinking that they were each other.
“Well, of course people would figure it out, right?”
Shido said, looking at the other Spirits. Therefore, Tohka and Kotori who’d met the Yamai sisters that morning nodded in the affirmative.
“Yeah. It looks pretty like that…Especially Kaguya. Wait a minute and tell me how you did it there.”
“Well, although the appearances are opposite of each other, their personalities won’t deceive people.”
“…”
“…”
After hearing what everyone said, Kaguya and Yuzuru looked at each other.
“Ah…! Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! Look! It looks like we really can’t fake it!”
“Broken. Hehehehehehehehehehehehehe! It seems that Yuzuru replacing Kaguya wouldn’t be enough.”
The two laughed wildly at the same time.
“What happened to them…?”
“Hmm…?”
They glanced at the two of them before looking at each other uncertainly.
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