Chapter 189

Ｒｅ​ａ​ｄ ｏｎ Ｋａ​ｔＲ​ｅａｄ​ｉｎｇＣａｆｅ

TonaYui. (6)

“…What is this?”

“…It’s not what I think it is, right?”

After the late-night broadcast ended.

Koyuki and I exchanged troubled looks as we stared at the something Toya had brought in.

This… it’s that, isn’t it? You know, that thing.

…Looks like it.

“Yeo-reum, Koyuki. How about trying it on?”

“… …”

“… …”

What do we do, Koyuki?

Hmm, I think it’s best if we just run.

…Yeah, me too.

We quickly made up our minds and tried to bolt, but Toya wasn’t the only one in the room.

“Heh heh, you’re not getting away!”

“I-Inari!”

“You didn’t seriously think I’d let you leave like this, Nacchan?”

“Grr…!”

Whether she read our minds or just sensed our intentions, Inari had quietly stepped in front of the door.
If things stay like this, we’re done for.

I glanced at Inari, hoping to find some gap to slip away, but for once, she wasn’t leaving any openings.

Darn it, how could this happen?

“Got—you—!!!”

“Eek?!”

In the split second I froze up, Toya ambushed me from behind.

I barely registered the moment her hands snuck around my sides before I felt my body hoisted up.

Koyuki… already gave up, huh.

Even if Inari didn’t interfere, Toya—holding me as well as Koyuki—could easily overpower both of us.

“All right, time to get changed.”

“W-Wait…! Let me at least change on my ow—”

“Nooope~♡”

“Hyaah!?”

H-Hey, don’t strip my clothes off without warning!
Sure, you help me change every morning, but that’s only because I’m half-asleep and not thinking straight!

But I’m fully awake now…!

Regardless of my fierce resistance, Toya showed no sign of stopping.
Determined to get me into whatever was in that bag, she doggedly pulled off my clothes and dressed me.

And so, after a bit of time…

“You look so cute~♡”

“Ugh… c-can’t… breathe!”

Toya, practically bursting with heart-shaped bubbles, hugged me tight.
H-Hold on! I can’t breathe! Tap, tap, tap!!

I frantically patted her arm, and only then did she loosen her grip enough for air to get through.

Phew. I get that she’s excited, but it’d be nice if she dialed it back just a bit…

“So, Yeo-reum, how is it?”

“…It’s comfortable.”

I twisted my waist and felt something big swish near my butt.
A tail.

And not a normal cat or dog tail.

Stuck to my backside was none other than… a dinosaur tail!

“Natsu-saurus!”

“C’mon, gimme a ‘Roaaar~!’ Roaaar~!”

“Do I look like a kid?!”

I’m the one wearing the outfit, but those two are the ones going wild.
Inari had her phone out, snapping loads of pictures of me in this state.

It’s late at night, so I hope we’re not being too loud.
Anyway, stop taking so many pictures!

“Hehehe, Nacchan~♪”

“Hey, Inari, could you not cling to me too? I can only handle so much.”

“Why single me out?!”

“You’ve got Koyuki, haven’t you?! Koyuki!”

“Yeo-reum?!”

I pointed at Koyuki, who’d been hoping to stay out of the spotlight, and she squealed like she’d just seen a spider.

Heh, as if I’m gonna be the only one wearing a dino pajama.
She was bound to end up wearing it eventually, but something about how she was lying low bugged me…

I mean, if the twins are in dinosaur PJs, how can she just sit there quietly? She ought to hurry up and change too!

“U… Uu, Uuuu…”

“It’s just an outfit, Koyuki.”

“I-It’s embarrassing…”

Koyuki, squatting on the floor, used the tail at her backside to hide her face.

She’s shy about the strangest things.

Though I’m embarrassed too, I’m not so flustered that I’d hide my face like that.

“You look adorable, Koyuki!”

“Uh… th-thank you…”

Koyuki fidgeted at Inari’s compliment.
Though she’s never been super wild, she’s also never been this bashful.
It was my first time seeing her so shy, so I watched with a curious fascination, exclaiming “Ohh, ohh,” in my head.

Maybe it’s because we’re not alone—there are two other people here.

“She’s never acted like this before. It’s kinda weird.”

“…It’s just because it’s not her usual clothes.”

Still looking grumpy, Koyuki slapped her thighs a couple of times.
All right, I’ll let her have that.

She’d raised quite a fuss about not wanting to wear it, but once she finally put on the pajama, it was so soft and cozy she didn’t want to take it off.
I figured Toya wouldn’t bring us anything cheap, but I never guessed it would be this nice.

“Now that I think about it, this feels pretty nice.”

“Yeah, really nice.”

Squish, squish…

“And the tail’s so plump-looking.”

“If it were a real tail, I might have taken a bite by now.”

The thick, jiggly tail that swayed with our every movement was seriously mesmerizing.
We ended up touching each other’s tails, poking at them like a couple of kids.

Honestly, you can’t just say this is childish.
It’s not our fault—this dinosaur pajama’s tail is alluring enough to captivate even perfectly sensible adults.

“All right, why don’t we get to bed now?”

“Yaaawn, yeah… I am getting sleepy.”

After all that excited squealing and gaming, drowsiness was hitting me hard.
Plus, the pajamas were so soft and warm that I couldn’t fight off the sleepiness anymore.

Really, if I closed my eyes right now, I’d probably doze off wherever I was.

I curled up, hugging Koyuki’s tail, and immediately felt a wave of sleepiness wash over me.

‘Mmm, we worked hard today… But hey, I got my 10-win streak, so I can sleep easy…’

Thump—

“Hey, I’m the one going to sleep after ten losses.”

“You lost ten in a row, sure, but I did too at one point. Besides, if I got ten wins, doesn’t that mean you got ten wins, too?”

“Tch, only when it’s convenient for you do we count as twins, huh?”

Koyuki slipped her tail out of my hand and lay down facing me.
Seeing her like this, we really looked identical.

I say that a lot, but it’s still amazing every time—like looking into a mirror.
Now that we’ve got matching dino pajamas, it’s even more uncanny.

Well, except for the slight difference in color, anyway.

“Let’s sleep together, Yeo-reum.”

“Sure.”

Even with an empty bed, Toya’s place was still right beside me, as usual.
She’d set up blankets and pillows with such care, like she was a mom doting on her child.

She gently lifted my head and rested it on her arm, which made me feel all warm—like a mom tucking me in.

I’d never really felt that kind of familial warmth before—ow.

“Stop with the weird thoughts.”

“…Right. That was silly. I’m overthinking.”

“Silly Yeo-reum. If you’re tired, just go to sleep already.”

“Mm. Good night, Koyuki.”

“…Night, Yeo-reum.”

If I kept letting random thoughts swirl, neither of us would fall asleep, so I forced myself to stop thinking and shut my eyes tight.
I’d been so sleepy a moment ago, but now that my eyes were closed, I couldn’t quite drift off.

It wasn’t that I was wide awake—it was more like I was too tired to fall asleep properly…?
A weird in-between state.

‘Maybe I’ll count sheep or something.’

One sheep, two sheep, three sheep…
One devil, two devils, three devils…
One fox, two foxes, three foxes…
One ibis, two ibises, three ibises…
One bunny, two bunnies, two bun—

—

“Looks like those two are out already.”

“Yeah, they must’ve been exhausted.”

Normally, Inari and I bicker all the time, but with two people sleeping right in front of us, we weren’t about to start a fight.
Well, more accurately, we were too busy comparing how adorable the sleeping pair looked to care about each other.

“When you see them like this, they really do look identical.”

“Well, they are twins.”

Usually we can tell them apart by their expressions or speech, but now that they’re asleep and silent, it was surprisingly hard to tell which was which.
If not for the weight difference in my arms, I probably wouldn’t have known either.

Knowing that I’m the only one who’s aware of that little distinction made me feel secretly happy.

That small difference between Koyuki and Yeo-reum…

‘Yeo-reum weighs just a bit more, yep.’

Not because she eats more than Koyuki or anything.
It’s purely the fruit of Yeo-reum’s own efforts.

Simply put, one’s been working out, and the other hasn’t.

‘You haven’t given up, huh, Yeo-reum?’

Her dream to share the stage with me one day.
She hasn’t forgotten or abandoned it; she keeps pushing herself toward it.

Whether it’s daily life or streaming, she always gives it her all.

Seriously… She’s changed so much and yet hasn’t changed at all.
And of course, she’s still constantly changing.

“Mmm, Toya…”

“Pfft…”

She must be dreaming about me, because Yeo-reum’s lips just mumbled my name.
I may have told her my real name, but I’m still just Toya.

I prefer being called Toya, anyway, because that was the name I used during my happiest times, and… well, it’s the name that makes me happiest even now.

For someone like me, who once didn’t know what happiness was, to be living so happily with the person who taught me…
It’s amazing how life can turn out—

“You’re practically dying of joy over there.”

“…Shut it, Inari. Go to sleep.”

“Oh, come on. You’re the one being sappy, Toya.”

Ugh, that fox is so annoying.

Always butting in at every opportunity.

I wanted to complain more, but with these two already asleep, we decided not to bicker.
Anyway, our banter is more for fun than anything.

No need to wake them up just so we can snark at each other.

So—

‘Good night, Yeo-reum.’

—Here’s hoping tomorrow’s another happy day for all of us.

—