Why Not Make Both Twins 'Girlfriends'?-Chapter 7Volume 3 .2 - The Legend of the Twins and the Cat...?

The Legend of the Twins and the Cat…? 2

“This looks interesting!”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to try on a kimono?”

Seeing the twins so enthusiastic, Sakuto suggested,

“Since we’re here, why don’t you try it on?”

“Really? Can we?”

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“We saved money on dinner last night, and we still have time.”

“Then Hii-chan—”

“Yeah! Then Sakuto, you should change with us too!”

“No… I’ll pass, I’ll just wait outside.”

And so, the twin sisters entered the shop, and Sakuto decided to wait outside.

***

While the twins were changing, Sakuto sat idly on a bench in the shade, waiting absentmindedly.

A white cat approached and rubbed its body against Sakuto’s leg.

“Meow.”

“Hm? What’s up… wait, you’re—”

Upon closer inspection, it was the white cat that had been on his stomach that morning.

“Meow.”

“Sorry, I don’t understand cat language… Are you hungry?”

“Meow.”

Then the white cat hopped onto the bench and lay down next to Sakuto.

He tentatively reached out his hand, and the cat did not flee. When he gently stroked from its neck to its back, it squinted comfortably.

“Are you from this kimono shop?”

He asked, but the cat just purred contentedly while swaying its tail gently up and down. He tried pressing its pink paw pads gently, and the cat did not seem to mind.

While stroking its back again, Sakuto faced forward and thought absentmindedly about Chikage from the day before.

(Not good with cats… Mashiro, huh…) (Shiro=white)

If the reason Chikage was uneasy around cats lay there──

“Huh?”

The texture changed.

Was it the hairless belly area… WAIT, it felt like human skin—

“You shouldn’t be stroking a lady’s hand like that.”

Startled by the voice, Sakuto turned and was shocked.

“G…gra-grann…” (O… O, oba, oba…)

Unable to shout “granny (Obāsan)” or “ghost (Obake),” Sakuto just opened and closed his mouth.

The white cat had disappeared, and in its place was the old woman who had vanished suddenly at Imoko Mountain the day before.

Moreover, without realizing it, Sakuto had been gently stroking the back of the old woman’s hand.

Sakuto quickly withdrew his hand.

But when had she—

There had been no sign of her presence… had he really been that distracted?

Sakuto paled and moved away a little from the old woman who was smiling eerily.

“So, what are you doing here?”

“Uh… I’m waiting for two people I’m with who are changing clothes inside…”

“I see, I see. Those companions would be Usami Hikari and Usami Chikage, right?”

“Yes, but… what?”

A chill ran down Sakuto’s spine as he met the gaze of the old woman peering from beneath her swollen eyelids.

Why did this old woman know the Usami sisters’ names?

He tried to recall.

He had met the old woman yesterday, during that time. Indeed, he had mentioned Chikage’s name—

『It can’t be helped, Chikage. If that’s the reason──』

—But that was it.

Hikari’s name hadn’t come up at that time, nor had the surname “Usami.”

Yet how did this old woman know both their first and last names, and how did she know that Chikage was the younger sister—

“—Excuse me, how do you know their names?”

“Oh, it’s a simple matter. Futagoko Town is small, so when there are such cute girls around, they quickly become the talk of the town.”

“Is that so…?”

When he thought about it, that made sense.

There had been interactions with the town’s people at “Karen” yesterday, and rumors could have spread─still, Sakuto felt something suspicious and didn’t let his guard down around the old woman.

“…Excuse me, but you suddenly disappeared from the mountain yesterday. Was that some kind of trick?”

“Ladies have many secrets.”

“Ha… Lady…?”

Sakuto tilted his head in confusion but didn’t have the courage to probe too deeply.

“By the way, didn’t you start to say something yesterday? That it’s dangerous for Chikage to go to that mountain… What did you mean by that?”

“Oh, that… Do you know the legend of this town?”

“Legend?”

“…Well, it’s a story that’s despised, and we have to put an end to it in our generation…”

The old woman’s face suddenly turned dark and grim.

Sensing the ominous atmosphere, Sakuto cautiously asked the old woman.

“Could you… tell me about that legend?”

“It’s not something to stick your nose into out of mere curiosity.”

“No, it’s just that you seemed like you wanted me to be interested…”

“You can just Google it in one go, you know?”

“Google it… No, please tell me the story if you’re going to be so mysterious about it…”

“Hmm… Alright. Then let me tell you the legend of Futagoko Town. But I must warn you, it’s a very sad, sad tale…”

***

──In the early Taisho era, twin girls were born into a certain prominent family.

The elder was named Mitsuko, and the younger, Chikako.

The twins grew up kind-hearted, intelligent, and beautiful, and there was no shortage of suitors wishing to marry them.

One day, after the twins turned fourteen, a stray cat took up residence in their garden.

Without being asked by anyone, the twins took care of the cat.

The stray quickly grew attached to them, and the three were always together.

Two years after the cat came to their home, when the twins turned sixteen, marriage talks finally began.

Mitsuko was to marry into a merchant family, and Chikako into a prominent fishmonger’s family.

However, there was someone who didn’t approve—the cat they had cared for.

With the departure of the twins, the cat would be left alone in their family home, feeling lonely and sad—and the twin sisters, too, lamented living apart from each other.

So the cat returned to the beach where it had been found.

That place was right between the mountain and the sea, watched over by the gods of the mountain and the sea.

The cat begged the gods:

『Please turn me into a human man.』

The cat’s plan was this—

If it could become a human man and make the twins fall in love with it, their indulgent father would surely cancel the marriage arrangements. Then, he could marry both sisters and live happily together with them as before.

The gods of the mountain and the sea then set one condition.

“If it doesn’t work out, we’ll turn your body into a tiny stone. Are you still willing?”

“I am willing. Please turn me into a human—”

The gods accepted the cat’s wish and transformed it into a human man.

Thus, the cat turned into a man and went to the twin sisters.

The twins were mourning the cat’s disappearance, but as the man comforted them gently, they opened their hearts to him.

However, the cat had made a grave mistake.

A dispute arose between the sisters.

Needless to say, it was a fight over the man.

The cat’s plan failed and overwhelmed with sorrow; he returned to the beach at night.

He did this to keep his promise to the gods.

The cat leaped up and was instantly turned into a small stone──

***