CH 7

The third period ended and it was time for a well-deserved break to begin.

After the next class, my forty-minute lunch break began, so I decided to send Yumika a message on Line. 

I saw Yumika sitting in the distance, but I knew she was reading a book while wearing earphones and listening to music. She had completely shut out her surroundings and appeared to have an aura of aloofness.

It’s amazing how thorough she’s been since the first day….. (Tl/n: ikr)

I also spend a lot of time listening to music during breaks, so I can’t talk about other people.

▲

“Fujigaya, thank you for being considerate.”

When lunchtime began and we left the hallway, Yumika followed a short distance behind me.

Yumika was quickly becoming extremely isolated.

I knew it would be hard for her to spend her lunch break in the classroom, so I sent her a message from my phone in advance that there was a nice quiet place where we could spend the lunch break.

“Was I intruding?” 

“No. I was just trying to figure out what to do, I am grateful for your help.”

There were several noisy groups around Yumika’s seat, and those groups would congregate to eat during lunch break. It was an unbearable position for me, so I held out a helping hand. 

As we passed through the area where the second-year students’ classrooms were clustered, Yumika closed the distance between us.

“Fujigaya-kun, you’ve lived a splendid life as a loner. You were always playing on your phone by yourself during breaks, and it’s clear that you don’t have any friends.”

“Is that what Nagasawa-san thinks?”

“It’s only my first day. Of course I don’t have any friends.”

Apparently, she was willing to make friends. she wasn’t expressing that feeling in her attitude at all, so I thought she was someone who didn’t need friends and wanted to be alone.

“You can spend your lunch break here, quiet and secluded.”

“Ara, this is a surprisingly nice place.” 

I led Yumika to a little space with benches and desks at the back of the school building.

There were windows nearby, but there was no sign of anyone in the chemistry or home economics classrooms. There was also a roof, so it was okay even if it rained. 

“To know a place like this, don’t you think you’re overdoing it as a loner at this school? It’s enough to make me a little worried.”

“When I was a freshman, I had a hard time staying in the classroom, so I hung around outside, and a senior, now a graduate, told me about it. This is a sacred place that has been passed down through the generations of loners at this school.” 

“Don’t make me a part of this history.”

It was only for three or four months, but I was indebted to Sugiyama-senpai who told me about this place. Sugiyama-senpai said he brought this desk without permission from a classroom somewhere.

Senpai was a plain upperclassman wearing glasses, but accepted spending time here with me without a single unpleasant look on his face.

It looks like he got into the university he wanted, but now that he has graduated from being a loner, I wonder if he’s having a good time….

“Then, if anything else happens, contact my phone. I’m basically playing with my phone, so I think I’ll notice right away.”

“Eeh, you’re going back?”

“I thought you’d prefer to be alone.”

“No, it’s a new school, so I think it would be nice if we could stay together…..maybe.”

“I see, then, I’ll eat here too.”

Yumika wished to be accompanied. I liked spending time here too, so there was no reason to refuse.

Both Yumika and I ate bread bought at a convenience store. The reason was that I could easily eat with one hand. I am sure Yumika thought the same thing. 

Since my mother worked, she didn’t make me bento. Sometimes she cooked for me, but usually I bought lunch with the money she gives me.

“Nagasawa-san, didn’t you skip too much from the first day?” 

“What?”

“You said cold words to those around you, and you strongly brushed off Fukuo-san’s hand. Don’t you want to live your school life peacefully?” 

“…..those people will leave me sooner or later. So, I figured it would be better not to let them get involved in the first place.” 

That way of thinking was the same as mine. However, looking at Yumika’s actions objectively makes me nervous, so I’d like her to settle things more peacefully. 

“When I told you not to touch me, even I was startled.”

“I get goosebumps when boys touch me. I really can’t stand it.”

I don’t get goosebumps when a girl touches me, and I’m more than happy if she’s pretty.

Even though we’re twins, not everything seems to be the same as Yumika’s

“That’s the difference in parental upbringing. I was strongly told by my father not to associate with boys since I was a child, so I have a strong rejection towards boys.”

Yumika’s father is also my father. He might have wanted to take good care of his daughter, but that had become a warped upbringing, and it seemed to plant a strange trauma in Yumika. 

“Aaa!”

The wind blew hard, and the convenience store bag that Yumika had placed on the floor flew to me.

In my haste to grab it, Yumika’s hand and my hand touched, and we both grabbed the convenience store bag with our hands.

“Sorry, I touched you.”

I let go in a hurry. Even though it was an accident, I touched Yumika, who said she gets goosebumps when boys touch her. 

“No way….”

But instead of being offended, Yumika was surprised.

“What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t get goosebumps …… this had never happened before.”

Apparently she’s surprised that I, a man, touched her, and she didn’t get goosebumps.  

“Isn’t it just a coincidence?”

“No, that’s not it…………hey, try touching me.”

“Ha?”

I was puzzled when Yumika asked me to touch her. Touching a beautiful woman makes me nervous, even if she is a twin. 

“I-it’s okay.”

“Guess I don’t have a choice.”

I changed my mind that it’s for Yumika’s confirmation and touched her shoulder.

“How is it?”

“For some reason, it’s okay …… Are you really a man?”

“I-I’m a man.” 

There are a few things that can prove I am a man, but they are not something allowed to be shown, so I had to convince her with my words.

“We’re twins, so you should be fine, right? As long as you recognize them as family, siblings, or relatives, there’s no way you’d refuse.”

“I wonder if it’s because we have the same blood and genes after all. Even if our genders are different, rejecting you, who is my spitting image, could also mean rejecting myself”

Next, Yumika touched my stomach and arms. 

Resistance was futile….

“That tickles.”

“Sorry, touching a boy is new to me, so I couldn’t help myself.”

If anyone saw us like this, they’d think we were a couple flirting. But Yumika looked a little happy, so I accepted without particularly refusing.

After that we talked about classes and such; the lunch break was over in the blink of an eye—