Takamatsu Tomori.
Regarding this name, Kaito had a deep impression.
In his eyes, this somewhat delusional, short-haired girl gave off the feeling… of a fluffy little animal?
A bit dazed, a bit weak, her whole body emitted a thick aura of "easy to bully," which easily aroused a desire to protect, or to destroy.
Fortunately, he was a proper gentleman, without the bad hobby of breaking beautiful things.
But… why would she appear here? Was she also visiting the aquarium?
Kaito didn't dwell too much on it. After all, the two had only met once and weren't close.
Suddenly walking up to say hello might even disrupt her personal space and make things awkward for both sides. It was better to just act like he hadn't seen her from the beginning.
"Onii-chan, what's wrong?", Mutsumi tilted her head, followed his gaze, and couldn't help letting out a soft "Eh?"
"Tomori, why is she here?"
Kaito was a bit surprised, "You know Takamatsu-san?"
The girl lightly nodded. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "In the past, we were in a band together."
'So that's it.'
Kaito suddenly remembered that the first time he met Takamatsu-san, the other party had shouted the name "Sakiko-chan."
Originally, he was still wondering if this "Sakiko-chan" referred to his hardworking little secretary. Now, with Mutsumi's confirmation, it was finally nailed down.
"Hey hey, what are you talking about?", Not willing to be left out, Mortis squeezed in, hugging her brother's arm while peeking curiously in the direction they were looking, at the short-haired girl in the dark hoodie not far away. Although it was just a back view, from the girl's slender figure, it was easy to tell she was a very attractive beauty.
The cat-stealing radar in her head beeped wildly, but on the surface, the girl put on a nonchalant look and asked curiously, "Is it another girl Onii-chan picked up outside?"
"…Of course not," Kaito flicked her forehead, not too hard or too light, with a slightly helpless tone, "Takamatsu-san and I are just ordinary acquaintances. Using the word 'picked up' is going too far… Speaking of which, what kind of image do you have of me in your head? That you'd instantly jump to that conclusion?"
Could it be that in his sister's eyes, he was some frivolous and unfaithful bad man?
"Ehehe~", Mortis stuck out her tongue. Of course she didn't think her brother was some frivolous, unfaithful bad man. Otherwise, she and Mutsumi would've been eaten clean a long time ago.
Sometimes she was even anxious about how dense her brother was. Clearly, he was a teenage boy in puberty, with two cute and pretty sizters lyi-ng beside him every night, and they didn't put up any defenses against him at all, how could someone his age just sleep peacefully like that.
"Anyway, let's go get tickets first," After grumbling in her heart for a bit, she still changed the subject.
As long as she confirmed the girl wasn't some suddenly appearing cat thief, that was enough. "Ordinary acquaintance" meant this girl named "Takamatsu Tomori" didn't even count as a friend to her brother, so she was no threat and could be assigned to sit at the same table with Kirara.
By contrast, being with brother in their two-person worl—fine, three-person world with Mutsumi was more important today.
Mutsumi was a little hesitant. Since the band disbanded, she hadn't seen Takamatsu Tomori in a long time. Now that they'd run into each other by chance outside, not even saying hello seemed a bit inappropriate?
But it was rare for her to go out on a da*te with brother. She didn't really want to suddenly break that mood because of something else.
Only a few seconds of hesitation passed, when the short-haired girl in the distance suddenly turned her head, as if sensing something. With a thoughtful expression on her face, those eyes that seemed perpetually shrouded in mist looked over from afar.
Mutsumi: "..."
'Alright then, no need to hesitate anymore.'
———
'Kaito-kun?'
The girl gently placed a hand on her chest, her gaze a little dazed.
There are always some people with a kind of magical charm, where just looking at their presence makes your heart beat joyfully, and even the gray world turns colorful.
Just like a dying traveler who struggles toward a sweet spring, or a drowning swimmer clinging to a straw, the little penguin who wanted to become human didn't hesitate to leave the long line she'd been waiting in and ran over like a swallow flying to a nest. Clearly out of breath from running, her eyes still sparkled brightly.
"K-Kaito-kun…"
Kaito nodded slightly. Since the other party had taken the initiative to greet him, he also responded politely, "Takamatsu-san, long time no see."
He thought the girl had rushed over because she saw Mutsumi, so he considerately stepped aside to make space for the old friends who hadn't seen each other in a while.
The little penguin, who had her eyes entirely fixed on Kaito from the start, only then noticed the presence of others.
"Mutsumi, you're here too?"
Mutsumi: "..."
'So, I've been standing here this whole time and you just ignored me?'
Though she felt a bit speechless, she still gently nodded, "Tomori-chan, long time no see."
Seeing an old bandmate again, Takamatsu Tomori was clearly happy.
But when she saw Mortis next to them, this little-penguin-like, dazed girl clearly froze for a second.
'Mutsumi has become two?'
Mortis blinked. Noticing her confused gaze, a mischievous thought suddenly bubbled up.
She tilted her head and put on the same blank-faced expression as Mutsumi. Her light green hair fell gently, and her long lashes drooped softly. In an instant, her whole temperament shifted from mischievous little devil to refined noble lady, no transitional steps needed at all.
"Tomori-chan, long time no see," Even her cold voice matched Mutsumi's perfectly.
Takamatsu Tomori stared blankly at her, then looked at Mutsumi. Her already-not-so-fast CPU started to overheat.
'Is it an illusion? Or a dream?'
The girl rubbed her eyes. When she opened them again, there were still two Mutsumis standing properly before her, and she couldn't tell them apart at all.
"…Don't tease Takamatsu-san anymore," Seeing the girl's expression grow more and more confused, increasingly like a helpless little animal lost in a steel jungle, to prevent things from developing in a worse direction, Kaito gave a cough and knocked on Mortis's head firmly as punishment, then apologized, "This is Mortis. You can think of it as… she and Mutsumi are twins. So it's not that your eyes are playing tricks on you, and you're not hallucinating."
'R-Really?'
Takamatsu Tomori even forgot to blink. After quite a while, she dumbly nodded, she really looked like a silly baby penguin.
'So my acting is that good?'
Mortis, who was still holding her head and yelling "ouch" from Kaito's knock, saw her looking so thoroughly fooled she didn't know which way was up, and her eyes turned with mischief.
Even Mutsumi's friend couldn't tell the difference between her and Mutsumi…
A bold idea suddenly popped up in the young girl's heart.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.