Chapter 85

Ｒe​áⅾ o​n K​ａt‌Ｒ&e;adin​&g;Ｃ&a;ｆe

**Isn’t This Just Way Too Identical?**

“Wow, this keyboard and mouse are the exact same ones we have at home!”

“Well… if they were made by the same person, I guess that makes sense.”

“Wait, aren’t these the ones made by the shop owner near the intersection?”

“…Yeah, you’re right.”

I smiled as Koyuki marveled at the keyboard and mouse sitting on my desk.

Come to think of it, the keyboard and mouse the shop owner once said they’d made must’ve been Koyuki’s.

Looking at it like this, we really were oddly connected.

Like it was fate or something.

“But if there’s only one set of keyboard and mouse, how are we going to play together?”

“Well, I’ll just use Toya’s computer.”

“You sure? Isn’t it more comfortable to use the gear you’re used to?”

“Mm… Technically, this was originally my setup.”

I only started using the smaller keyboard and mouse because my body got smaller. Based on experience, the bigger—no, not bigger, just standard-sized—gear was more familiar to me.

Psychologically, I felt more comfortable using it. Though it wasn’t ideal physically anymore.

But hey—Koyuki had been in the hospital for a long time. It made more sense for her to use what was easiest.

I could manage even if it was a little uncomfortable.

‘…Or so I thought.’

Maybe I’d just gotten too used to the custom keyboard and mouse made to fit my tiny hands. Or maybe I, too, had been in the hospital too long.

Either way, as soon as we started gaming with each other’s setups…

My character didn’t move the way I wanted. Mistakes were frequent.

I tried to concentrate—but when even pressing keys and clicking became something I had to focus on, of course my gameplay focus suffered.

“Wow, Yeoreum, you’re really bad at games.”

“…Yeah, I used to be fine with this size setup.”

“Ack—wait! I was joking! Totally joking! If I’d used that gear, I would’ve been way worse! Don’t make that sad face!”

They say true gamers don’t blame their tools.

I wasn’t calling myself a true gamer or anything, but I’d been at it a long time. Complaining about gear wasn’t cool.

Besides, back when I was in my original body, I’d done streams like “gaming with a giant keyboard.”

Huh. Come to think of it, I did pretty well even with oversized gear back then. Why am I so bad now?

“Yeoreum?”

“Ah, sorry. Got distracted for a sec.”

Hmm… If the keyboard’s the problem, what if we played a game that only needs a keyboard?

That thought brought to mind a certain game—”Hands and Feet,” the one I played with Inari.

Just remembering it still made my body tremble, but Koyuki was good at games, and she was my twin.

‘…Maybe we should just stream while we’re at it.’

It was kind of a spontaneous thought.

Like, I’d been hospitalized so long—I felt this urge to make up for lost stream time.

But resisting that kind of impulse—that’s what makes a real pro, right?

So for now, I decided I’d just enjoy gaming with Koyuki.

“Oh, is that… the thing?”

“Ah.”

Just as I reached out to start the game, Koyuki double-clicked a folder on the desktop with Ichinose Natsu’s model inside.

W-Wait! I was only _thinking_ about streaming, I didn’t mean we were actually _going_ to!

I moved to stop her hand, but froze as Natsu’s 3D model popped up on the screen.

Well, no point now. What’s done is done.

Besides, the model was based on Koyuki anyway. So it shouldn’t be a problem if she saw it.

“I heard Minori made something amazing, but… wow. So this is it. Woooow.”

“Pretty well-made, huh?”

“Yeah. So well-made it’s kinda creepy.”

…That was a compliment, right? No? That totally wasn’t a compliment.

Koyuki let out this broken laugh, like a switch had been flipped.

Was she angry? No, it felt more like she was… overwhelmed.

Looking closer, I saw her ears had turned bright red.

Ah. Embarrassment. That made more sense now that I was paying attention.

“W-Why the heck did she make it a twin-tail?! There are so many better hairstyles!”

“…”

“Sorry for shouting, Yeoreum. But still… ugh. Minori’s perv-power is seriously something else. Why did she make it _this_ accurate?”

Hearing her say that gave me a weird feeling.

If Toya had made a model that looked exactly like me… yeah, I’d be freaked out too.

Especially if it matched my height, body, every little detail.

At that level, it really did border on obsession.

Not that I’d say that out loud.

“Hey guys, soba’s ready—oh? What’s with the mood in here?”

“Ah, it’s nothing!”

“…Hmph.”

As I admired the detail of the Natsu model and Koyuki looked on in horror, the door opened and Ragu-sensei stepped in.

At once, I flailed my hands, and Koyuki turned her head with a huff.

Ragu-sensei blinked, clearly confused.

She scanned our expressions like she was trying to figure out what was going on… but came up empty.

Maybe she thought we’d gotten into a fight? But there was no real reason for us to fight.

“You two didn’t fight, huh…”

“Hmph.”

“Don’t tell me Koyuki’s mad because of me?”

Wow—she’s actually pretty sharp.

I mean, with Natsu’s model blown up full-screen, that’d be the obvious assumption.

And Ragu-sensei had lived with Koyuki long enough to read her pretty well.

Honestly, she probably understood why Koyuki was upset better than I did.

Sometimes, experience trumps being twins.

“They say you should give twins the same things… I already made a bunch of outfits and expressions for Natsu’s model, so making a separate one for Koyuki should be no problem.”

“That’s not why I’m upset, you dummy Minori!”

…Okay, maybe Ragu-sensei _wasn’t_ so great at this after all.

Seriously.

—

“…Yeoreum, something happen?”

“Ah, you don’t know… A lot happened.”

“What’s with that tone? It’s hilarious!”

Toya leaned in, curious. I gave a vague, dazed reply.

I’d tried to mediate between Koyuki and Ragu-sensei, but something inside me felt like it had been poked, so I gave up and just decided to eat my soba.

Apparently, I wasn’t supposed to say anything until Ragu-sensei figured it out herself. Talk about pride.

Maybe that’s just how the two of them communicated.

“Mmm, the soba’s really good.”

“Right? Must be because Ragu-sensei helped make it.”

As I slurped up the noodles, Toya beamed with delight.

Honestly, ever since Koyuki got here, Toya’s been smiling twice as much.

I guess having someone who looked just like me around made her happy.

“Koyuki, seriously not going to tell us why you’re mad?”

“Hmph, I don’t care. That pervy Minori who keeps staring at people’s bodies…”

“…I wasn’t staring at Ichinose-san’s body or anything like that.”

“What?! So you were staring at _Yeoreum_ like that?! You perv! Creep! How could you?!”

Koyuki slammed her chopsticks down—but she was too weak to make that TV-drama-level _smack_ sound.

Still, she had one weapon that worked perfectly: teary eyes.

Eyes that looked genuinely hurt.

Even I, her twin, almost fell for it.

If I weren’t her twin, I’d probably be panicking like Ragu-sensei.

“…Aren’t you going to stop this?”

“Mmm, this soba’s great.”

“You already said that, Yeoreum.”

“Koyuki’s just messing around. Don’t worry too much.”

Maybe she was a little upset at first, but by now, it was definitely just teasing.

Turns out Koyuki’s a real little trickster.

I’m not that mischievous myself, so it was fun seeing how we were similar, yet different.

Guess that’s what different upbringings do.

“I swear I wasn’t being creepy, Koyuki! I just thought it was amazing how the sizes matched perfectly—it was just curiosity!”

“Well, the world calls that a pervert, dummy Minori!”

“…So you were looking at _me_ that way too?”

“No! Ichinose-san! It was pure, innocent curiosity!”

Now that she said it… yeah, she _did_ give me kind of intense stares.

And when we first met, her gaze was a bit scary too.

I never imagined she was comparing my and Koyuki’s body sizes in her head though…

…Ugh. That _is_ kinda creepy, now that I think about it.

“Toya, you could take down Ragu-sensei in a fight, right?”

“Huh? Um? Why?”

“…Don’t ask.”

You’re better off not knowing.

**Ragu-sensei is.**