Chapter 3
We started taking end-of-term tests the next day, and during homeroom at the end of the last day of testing, we got our results back from day one’s tests.
I’d had to study for cram school too, so I’d been worried about how I’d done on my regular school tests. I hadn’t had as much time to study for them as I’d used to, but my results were roughly the same as always.
When giving back our results, the teacher in charge of our class would announce the highest-scoring student in each subject. There weren’t any subjects that I was far better at than everyone else, so I’d never had my name announced that way. Usually, the same people held the top spots every time, so it wasn’t an announcement to get excited about.
Right now, the home economics test results were being given out. With vague subjects like that one, the top scorer changed every time.
“The top scorer was Kurose-san with ninety-four points. Congratulations on first place,” said the teacher.
Kurose-san went to the front of the class and happily accepted her test paper.
The day after we’d stopped being friends, Kurose-san had come to school normally. Nothing had been different about her after that either. While I didn’t think she hadn’t been affected by her encounter with a molester, she’d still managed to get good scores on her tests. I was glad that things hadn’t changed with her.
“Wow, amazing!”
“I only got thirty points...”
Then, without warning, amid the sound of my classmates chatting, a clear, cheerful voice resonated through the classroom.
“Way to go, Maria! I’m proud of my little sister!”
“Huh...?”
I could tell that our classmates who’d heard Runa’s words didn’t take her seriously. There was just an air of confusion in the room, as though they were wondering if Runa and Kurose-san really were on such good terms.
Runa stared at our classmates in puzzlement. “What? You guys didn’t know? Did I never say it? Maria’s my twin.”
“What, seriously?” asked Tanikita-san. “You’re kidding, right?”
Runa shook her head. “It’s true! Our parents are divorced, so that’s why our surnames are different. Right, Maria?”
From how Kurose-san looked, she was either astonished or overcome with emotion. She nodded, her face beet red. I could tell she was flustered at suddenly being the center of attention.
“Really?!”
“No way, right?!”
“For real?!”
Amazed voices instantly started coming from all over the classroom—there was a bit of pandemonium spreading.
As for Kurose-san, she stood there with flushed cheeks and a dreamy expression on her face despite being in the center of it all. Her eyes looked moist too.
Even after school, after all the test results had been returned, there was still an excited air in the classroom.
Runa sat next to Kurose-san, and the two were surrounded by extroverted girls. Those who couldn’t join in, like myself, looked on from farther away at the twins of the hour.
Tanikita-san was sitting in front of Kurose-san. “I did think there was something strange in the air between you two, but if you’re related, it makes sense,” she said, folding her arms and nodding. “Runy was acting too friendly with Kurose-san, and it made Kurose-san confused. And you gotta consider what happened during the first school term. Like, how are you supposed to be on good terms? But Runy wanted to have Kurose-san in her group for both the cultural festival and the school trip, and Kurose-san accepted both while looking like she was against the idea... I had a lotta questions about what was going on between you two, you know.”
Several girls nearby nodded, showing that they felt the same. I had often seen Runa talk to those particular girls in our classroom.
“Until now, I couldn’t tell what Runy was thinking, and I didn’t know if Kurose-san was a good or a bad girl, so I couldn’t really get to know her better. I did actually want to talk to her, though.”
Kurose-san was still shrinking in embarrassment.
Tanikita-san then spoke directly to her without hesitation. “I always wanted to ask—is that a Twister pen you’ve got there? One of those they sold last year together with the acrylic standees.”
Tanikita-san was pointing at a silver ballpoint pen sitting on Kurose-san’s desk. Kurose-san used that one all the time, and it had some logo on it. Now that Tanikita-san mentioned it, it did look like merch. I’d never paid much attention to it, though.
“You know Twister?” asked Kurose-san timidly.
I’d heard that word somewhere before... If memory served me right, it was a soshage popular with girls.
“I absolutely do! I used to be a Disney fan too! There’s some bad blood between Disney fans and Twister fans, though, so I was done and left that fandom because I like Twister too.”
“I-I see...” Kurose-san was completely overwhelmed by Tanikita-san’s energy.
“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to be a bit of a geek by any chance, would you?”
“Huh? Y-Yeah, I am...”
“For real?! Hey, can I call you Mia?” Tanikita-san asked.
“Mia...?”
“It’s what I wanted to call you if I got to know you better!”
As Kurose-san remained gobsmacked by Tanikita-san, Runa watched over her sister, all smiles.
“Hey, Kurose-san, you went to a girls’ school before, right? Tell us what it was like!”
“Your hair is so pretty! What shampoo do you use?”
After Tanikita-san had started it, other girls around them started striking up conversations with Kurose-san one after another. Flurried as she was, Kurose-san happily tried to reply to them all.
“Maria’s hair is really pretty! My hair’s been getting so damaged since I started dyeing it, so I’m jelly,” said Runa, rousing the crowd further, which prompted Kurose-san to fidget awkwardly in return.
Kurose-san was surrounded by classmates, and as I watched, I remembered what she’d been like when she’d first transferred here.
What was different now, however, was that she wasn’t forcing herself to get people to like her by imitating Runa. Instead, she was being her true self—a stubborn girl who was a bit shy and had geeky hobbies.
And now she had Runa beside her.
Thus, Runa’s Friendship Project had transformed into a Sisterhood Project—and now it had been successfully completed.
There was no role left for me. Perhaps Kurose-san would never smile at me again as we weren’t even friends anymore.
But that was for the best.
Seeing her reserved smile as she was surrounded by our classmates filled me with emotion.
She’d obtained the precious thing that she must’ve always wanted deep down.
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