Lucy × Rumi

"So... the two of us would be dating just one guy. Lee Ho-yeon."

"Mm... achoo!"

The truth was, Lucy would have been happy with anything, as long as Rumi was part of it. And if Ho-yeon were in the mix too... she couldn't quite picture it, but it didn't sound bad. Being friends with him had already been fun. Being lovers would be even... better. Yeah. Obviously.

But the worry lodged in one corner of her heart refused to leave. If what Rumi said was true, then it was fine. All Lucy had to do was swallow a little embarrassment, and everything could go back to the way it was — no, better than before. The problem was if it wasn't genuine.

What if... they're just forcing themselves?

What if it was all an act? What if the two of them were putting on a show just because they felt sorry for her? She knew Ho-yeon and Rumi were kind people. That was exactly why Lucy had to consider the worst possibility. If she found out later that they'd only done it out of pity, she didn't think she'd ever be able to get back up.

"...Rumi. Just rest for now. I'll go home and think about it."

"Mm. I love you, Lucy."

That smile of Rumi's. It definitely wasn't a lying smile. But Lucy couldn't stop seeing the two of them in front of that motel, the image circling behind her eyes. Could she really fit herself between them?

"I love you too. Give me your smartwatch. I'll get it fixed and bring it back."

"Okay, okay."

Lucy tidied Rumi's room, prepared a meal she could eat on her own, and slipped out of the dorm. Back in her own room, she threw herself onto the bed.

What was she supposed to do?

She rolled back and forth, turning it over and over, but she couldn't decide. All she had to do was say yes. But something — pride, embarrassment, she couldn't tell which — wrapped itself around her and wouldn't let go. The biggest problem was that she couldn't stop seeing them kissing in front of that motel.

"The two of them, at a motel..."

A man and a woman going to a motel. There could be any number of reasons, but the reasonable assumption was that they'd gone there to sleep together. And they'd even kissed right out front. That made it pretty much certain.

"Does it feel good...? Of course it does, right?"

Lucy had no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠experience with men, which only made her more curious about that kind of thing. Whenever her friends started talking dirty, she was always the one listening with rapt attention.

"Rumi..."

Every time she pictured Rumi and Ho-yeon kissing, peeling each other's clothes off, a strange feeling flooded her chest. At the same time, she felt her body growing hot. A throbbing started deep in her belly, and her hand slipped between her legs of its own accord.

"Hnn..."

Rumi kissing Ho-yeon. And herself. Rumi pinned beneath him. And herself. They were twins who looked identical except for their hair, so projecting herself onto Rumi came almost too easily.

"Ru-Rumi... ah. Ho-yeon..."

A jolt ran through her.

It was the first time she'd touched herself since Felix had kidnapped her. She'd never done it much to begin with, so her fingers moved awkwardly — but even that clumsy stimulation against her sex was enough to send a sharp climax ripping through her.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"...What am I even doing."

After fidgeting her fingers a while longer, Lucy stopped. She felt pathetic, drowning in lust when she was supposed to be thinking this through. She sighed, sat up, and glanced at Rumi's smartwatch sitting on the desk. Then her eyes drifted to the mirror beside it, and she took in her own reflection.

Long, naturally straight blue hair spilling all the way down to her shoulder blades. Lucy's hair had been blue since she was quite young. She'd dyed it that way so people could tell the two of them apart — they looked far too much alike otherwise. After that, telling them apart had been easy.

A thought flickered through her mind.

People told Lucy and Rumi apart by their hair color. So if she cut her hair and dyed it black... would Ho-yeon even recognize her?

"There's no way... he'd be able to tell."

It had been about two months since she'd met Ho-yeon. That didn't mean her feelings for him were lacking just because the time was short. It just meant they hadn't actually seen each other that many times. Even friends who'd known them for over ten years couldn't tell Lucy and Rumi apart without the hair color. Ho-yeon recognizing her would be next to impossible.

"I could just ask him myself."

There was no need to sit here agonizing like an idiot. She'd dress up as Rumi, then go ask Ho-yeon directly. That way she'd know if they were being sincere.

Sunday morning.

After checking on Rumi and telling her she was still thinking about the Ho-yeon situation, Lucy left the dorms and walked into the salon she'd booked in the academy shopping district.

"You look gorgeous, miss."

"Th-thank you..."

Once the stylist was finished, Lucy checked her face in the salon mirror. Her long hair lay scattered across the floor, and that distinctive blue had become black.

...Rumi's face.

Even looking at it with her own eyes, it was so much like Rumi's she could barely believe it.

Lucy left the salon and walked down the street. It felt strange without the hair that used to brush her shoulders, but she'd get used to it soon enough. On the way to the hospital, the shopping streets around the academy were crowded with Victoria Academy cadets.

Then, from the other end of the street, her friends started coming toward her.

"Oh! Those guys..."

No. Wrong. Right now she wasn't Lucy. She was Rumi.

Lucy shook her head, then cleared her throat. They were twins with similar voices, so if she just paid a little attention, she could do Rumi's.

"So anyway~ over there... wait, is that Rumi?"

"Hey, Rumi? Where you headed?"

They'd spotted her first, so Lucy opened her mouth.

"Ahem... ah, hello."

She bowed. Lucy dipped her head the way Rumi would, greeting them demurely.

"Where's Lucy? You're by yourself?"

"Lu-Lucy's at the dorm. I'm just out shopping..."

Lucy talked with her friends, getting a feel for it bit by bit. And ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠once she thought she had it down perfectly, she cut the conversation short.

"I-I should get going. I'm running late..."

"Ah, got it. See you later~"

"Yes. Goodbye."

She bowed. Lucy dipped her head and smiled to herself. Friends who'd known her for years hadn't recognized her — which meant she was sure Ho-yeon wouldn't either. The problem was this pounding heart of hers, but Lucy didn't have the luxury of worrying about that.

She found an open workshop, dropped off Rumi's smartwatch, and headed for the hospital.

Sunday morning.

I was checking public opinion on my smartwatch, same as always, when a system window suddenly popped up in front of my face.

"Huh?"

A quest, out of nowhere? It had been a while since the last one, and the timing was completely random.

"...What kind of quest is this."

It wasn't like the system was wrong... but dropping this on me out of nowhere was a little much. And the objective was a complete mystery.

"These fucking bastards pulling this shit again..."

I was about to rebel against this fresh round of absurdity when a knock came at the door. It wasn't time for a regular checkup, so it had to be a visitor.

"Come in."

The door opened, and the first face I saw was Rumi's. She stepped into the hospital room wearing the familiar cadet uniform. Yesterday she'd looked terrible from that cold, but—

"Ho-yeon..."

"Rumi? Are you feeling better?"

"Y-yes..."

Rumi shuffled in, shrinking into herself, and sat down in the chair. I tried to pull up her status window.

Status window.

But unlike usual, nothing appeared.

"Hmm..."

"Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing."

It really wasn't coming up. What the hell was this thing thinking?

"Come to think of it, how's Lucy doing? She hasn't been answering any of my messages. Is she that sick?"

"Ah, ah... she's fine. She's probably just sleeping."

"That's a relief, then."

Rumi sat there primly, fidgeting with her mouth. Looked like she had something she wanted to say.

"Something on your mind?"

"...I, um, I talked to Lucy about it. About the three of us dating..."

"Ah. Yeah, yeah."

So she'd finally done it. I hoped it had gone well.

"B-but... Lucy seemed a little negative about it. I think... she thinks we're lying to her."

"Well... I can't blame her for misunderstanding."

Even I wouldn't have bought it right away. I'd figured Rumi would be able to talk her around, but I guess it hadn't gone that smoothly.

"So what now? Should I try talking to her myself?"

I turned my head, thinking it over — and found Rumi staring ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠straight at my face. Like she was waiting for a particular reaction.

"What's up?"

"What do you think, Ho-yeon...? About Lucy reacting that way."

"I think it's completely understandable. What matters is how we convince her."

Coming from a piece of trash trying to have both of them when he was just one guy, I didn't have much room to talk.

"B-but still. She doesn't believe us, so... don't you feel betrayed? Or like you knew this would happen, or..."

"Not even a little. You're acting weird today, Rumi. Is the cold still hanging on?"

The way she was talking, it was like she wanted to tear Lucy down. Normally, if Rumi came to visit, you'd get a two-hour Lucy-praise session as the baseline. Today was off. There was an awkward, hard-to-pin-down sense of wrongness.

Status window.

Still nothing. And a hypothesis formed in my mind. Was this... what the quest had been talking about?

I tossed out a question to test the waters.

"Come to think of it... you remember we were going to get dinner together tonight, right?"

"Y-yes. Of course I remember."

"Hmm. I see."

Obviously, we'd never made any such plans. The Rumi who'd come by yesterday had been in no condition for that, thanks to her cold. There was no way she would've agreed to dinner. So why would she say she remembered?

Because the person sitting in front of me wasn't Rumi.

I tensed for a second, then slowly worked through it. If this were an enemy disguised as Rumi, Combat Sense would've sent a signal. But Combat Sense hadn't so much as twitched. Mana Perception was the same. If she'd hidden her appearance with magic, I would've been able to tell.

A sting—

I gritted through the pain, wrung out some mana, and focused Mana Perception as hard as I could. Still nothing. Which meant the person in front of me wasn't disguised by magic or an artifact. This was their real appearance.

"W-what's wrong?"

"It's nothing. Rumi."

And there was only one person in the world who could pull something like this off. Twins the setting itself had certified as identical.

I didn't know why, but the person sitting in front of me had to be Lucy.