Why Not Make Both Twins 'Girlfriends'?-Chapter 12Volume 3 .1 - Cold Memories...?

Cold Memories…?

While Chikage was immobilized in the mountains, at the seaside house “Karen”──

“This is the intersection where Chikage and I split up!”

Yuzuki pointed at the town map that was in the store.

“If we’re talking about a mountain nearby from here… it’s Imoko Mountain!”

Matori immediately told her parents and began making phone calls everywhere.

As the situation started to become serious, Sakuto and the others’ anxiety gradually increased.

Hikari clenched her fists on her knees with force.

“I hate to think it, but what if… bears…”

“It’s not certain yet, Hikari.”

Sakuto placed his hand on Hikari’s fist, but──

『There’s an old saying that says──don’t let the younger sister enter the mountain──they say the younger sister will not return from the mountain』

Suddenly, the old woman’s superstition came to mind.

(It can’t be true…)

Then, a sobbing voice could be heard.

“What should I do, it’s my fault… It’s because I got separated… even though her foot was sprained…”

As Yuzuki began to cry, Matori let out an exasperated sigh.

“What are you talking about? Why would it be your fault? ──Blaming yourself won’t change anything, okay? Besides, thinking it’s your fault is just being overly self-conscious.”

Though Matori spoke those words, she gently took Yuzuki by the shoulders and helped her stand.

Then she signaled to Sakuto with her eyes to take care of Hikari and withdrew to the back.

At this time, Sakuto had already made up his mind──

“It might be scary, but let’s do what we can.”

“Do what, how…?”

“We’re going to rescue Chikage.”

“Eh…?”

“If we’re too late in finding her, it could get worse. We have to find Chikage somehow.”

Saying this, Sakuto looked at Hikari with a serious face.

“We can do it. If it’s us, we can.”

“How…?”

“I need your genius brain, Hikari. Remember when we were locked in the gym storage? Just like that time.”

“But…”

“Hikari, we can do it. Remember what I said at the arcade──?

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『I’m happy to have met and dated both Hikari and Chikage. Maybe it’s not about choosing one over the other sometimes but enjoying the happiness of both options. Every day is fun with the two of you, and I’m always in the best mood.』

──It’s no good if even one person is missing.”

As Sakuto said this, Hikari opened her mouth.

“Like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle… it’s perfect because the three of us are together…”

“Exactly. So let’s save Chikage together, just like that time!”

Sakuto peered into Hikari’s anxious eyes.

Seeing Sakuto’s serious face, Hikari gradually calmed down, wiped the tears from her eyes, and nodded firmly, “Yeah!”

“Alright! Hikari, what should we do?”

Hikari furrowed her brows in thought.

“Umm… right, puzzles! If we gather the pieces… the words, we might have a breakthrough!”

“Got it. I’ll start by telling you everything I can remember──”

Sakuto suddenly closed his eyes.

Under his eyelids, his eyes began to move rapidly, recalling the events of the first day on Imoko Mountain.

He rewound the images like fast-forwarding a video, muttering to himself as he verbalized them.

Imoko Mountain──the old lady──the bear──gunshots──screams──the seaside house──Matori-senpai’s uncle──

“Stop!”

──Sakuto opened his eyes.

“Did you figure something out?”

“It’s a densely vegetated mountain, right? And the rocky areas are covered with moss.”

“Yeah. Matori-senpai’s uncle was hospitalized because of that.”

“If it’s not a bear, maybe she fell. She might be unable to move from there!”

“That’s right, that’s why at that time──”

After Chikage’s scream, there was a sound of something hard-hitting.

That was the sound of a smartphone hitting stones or rocks.

The consecutive sounds were because the smartphone bounced or fell──

“Sakuto, can you remember anything else?”

He closed his eyes again.

Just before the phone call──there was a sound that caught his attention on the other end of the phone.

(Concentrate…!)

He focused on the sounds that were left in his memory, not the images.

The sound was faint. He tried to adjust the volume as if turning it up.

Then, the noise got worse──it was the sound of rain.

The pitter-patter of raindrops on the leaves of mountain trees rang in his ears like tinnitus—

(Concentrate! …This is something only I can do!)

He gritted his teeth, enduring the intense noise in his head.

Then, a sound like a roar or a downpour was faintly heard behind the rain.

Sakuto’s eyes snapped open──

“──I heard it! A river! There’s a river nearby!”

In an instant, Hikari said “If that’s the case” and looked at the map spread out on the table.

There were several rivers flowing through Imoko Mountain.

One of these must be the one, Hikari guessed as she compared them.

“──Sakuto, lend me your smartphone.”

“What are you going to do?”

Hikari lined up her smartphone next to Sakuto’s and explained while operating both devices simultaneously.

“Based on Yuzuki-chan’s story, I think I’ve figured out which part of the river near Imoko Mountain is the closest. Now, we just need to determine the approximate location by considering the time Chii-chan last spoke with us and when Sakuto’s call with Chii-chan got disconnected! It’s an application of Chii-chan’s method!”

That makes sense, Sakuto thought.

Before the search for the cat began, Chikage had talked about the cat’s range of movement, and it seemed Hikari had taken a hint from there.

She was trying to calculate the distance walked on the mountain based on the two call times and narrow down where Chikage might have headed.

Hikari looked at the contour lines on the map and conjured up a 3D image of the mountain in her mind.

The wider the space between contour lines, the gentler the slope, and conversely, the narrower the space, the steeper the slope—if she had sprained her ankle, she would likely avoid steep slopes unconsciously—

“About thirty minutes… at an average speed of 4 kilometers per hour, that’s about 2 kilometers… but considering the unfamiliar mountain paths, her sprained ankle, and the fact she was walking while searching for a cat, she would be even slower——”

Once Hikari had narrowed down the search area, she circled it with a marker, took a photo, registered the same area on the map app, and shared it with Sakuto.

Sakuto instantly memorized what he saw.

“We won’t know until we go there!”

Amazing, Hikari. Now… I’ll go and bring Chikage back.”

“What about me!? I have to go too!”

“No, Hikari, stay here. I want you to keep Matori-senpai and the others updated—”

Sakuto ran off alone into the rain with a flashlight in hand.

(Chikage, please be safe… I will definitely come to save you!)

***