Bonus: TS Girl Twins!

On a day off, I sat alone in my room. I wasn’t really in the mood to go outside.

Normally, Nagisa-kun was the one who connected a Connect Link with me, but there was one thing I’d realized.

"Connect Link."

Even in the middle of summer, a long-sleeved arm stretched out toward me. Bandages peeked out from beneath the sleeve, making it seem a little difficult to touch.

When I took her hand, power immediately began flowing into me through it.

"S-So? How is it?"

Anxious yellow eyes looked up at me nervously.

"It seems fine."

"Th-Thank goodness..."

Right now, I was connected to Mahiro through a Connect Link.

Using her skill, Install, Mahiro had incorporated the Connect Link ability into herself and was temporarily maintaining the connection that way.

Basically, because Nagisa-kun’s condition was still somewhat unstable, we’d started discussing whether someone else could temporarily substitute for him.

Mahiro herself was also in a special state as a Megatherion, but unlike Abaddon, it wasn’t as if she couldn’t suppress her overflowing power.

I mean, a Megatherion was practically something on the verge of becoming a Deep Calamity, yet somehow she remained stable.

The hand holding mine felt slightly sweaty. Maybe she was nervous.

"So... Sora-chan, you said you messed up back in middle school, right? What was it like?"

"Ah, that? Didn’t you already see some of it through the Connect Link?"

"Only a little...?"

"I see. Then I’ll tell you."

Come to think of it, had I ever seriously talked about my middle school days before? There were times when I remembered things on my own, but still.

...Well, Haraguchi probably heard about it already. Anyway.

I tried to keep it brief... though it still ended up fairly detailed.

I told her about how I messed up my sense of distance with people and ended up isolated, how I later became close with Yuri... and how she had practically confessed to me. Then I talked about the Third Deep Calamity Disaster as well.

"...Sora-chan really was popular after all."

"Well, I mean... I am an original story character, you know?"

"Yeah. You’re cute."

"...Mahiro, you really affirm everything, don’t you? What do you think about there being an old man inside me?"

"Even if there is, I still think you’re cute...?"

...That’s okay? Is that really okay? Wouldn’t it bother you if there were an old man inside your favorite character?

"The fact that you have weaknesses the original Sora-chan never showed makes you cute..."

"...Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"I-It is! I’m complimenting you!"

A compliment, huh? Calling them weaknesses still felt a little strange. Sure, my mental state was unstable, but still.

"Then what about you, Mahiro?"

"E-Eh? W-What do you mean?"

"Your middle school years."

"Ah... ahh... ugh..."

She lowered her head uncomfortably.

"...You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to."

"It’s not that I can’t... but, um... I..."

From there, she began speaking little by little.

About how she wanted to become cute.

About how she thought she hadn’t messed up her sense of distance with people, yet still struggled to make friends with girls, and how things gradually started falling apart from there.

And then... about how a man had nearly assaulted her. How that incident eventually led her to self-harm.

"S-So... compared to you, Sora-chan, it’s really not that big of a deal."

"What!? No way! Mahiro, your past is seriously heavy!?"

"R-Really?"

"I mean, I’d totally spiral too if I went through that!?"

Wait, hold on. Mahiro’s past was seriously intense, wasn’t it?

Though, I guess I wasn’t exactly one to talk.

...So Mahiro actually thought carefully about personal boundaries and things like that. Wait, does that mean I’m way too careless?

Well, if that’s what led me to meeting Yuri, maybe it wasn’t entirely a bad thing.

"Sora-chan, do you like this Yuri person?"

"Hm? Well, I like her as a friend."

"...Sora-chan really is properly a girl."

"What’s that supposed to mean??"

"Because you like that person. And you also seem to like Shinozaki Nagisa."

"...Wait. Wait, wait, wait."

My brain short-circuited at the sudden statement.

"Eh? Am I wrong...?"

"First of all, Yuri and I are nothing more than friends."

"...But if you spent more time together, it feels like you’d eventually fall for her."

"...I can’t completely deny that, but that’s only hypothetical, okay?"

"Yeah. But you still seem to like Shinozaki Nagisa."

"............Well, um. How do I put this? I can’t exactly say you’re wrong."

"So you do like him."

"~Tch, I said that’s not it!?"

My voice cracked, and my face burned hot.

What the heck? What even was this? Mahiro didn’t seem like she was teasing me. She was asking completely seriously, which somehow made it even harder to answer.

"But earlier, when he touched you, you looked happy."

"I looked embarrassed!"

"And when he hugged you, you seemed kind of happy too."

"Ugh, uuugh. What is this!? Are you trying to mess with me, Mahiro!?"

Without meaning to, I remembered what Nagisa-kun had done to me, and my heartbeat sped up.

"No. I just want you to be happy..."

"...I see."

When that was her reason, it made it hard to argue back.

"Huh? Why do you two look so serious~?"

Click.

Someone entered the room.

Even though her eyepatch was gone, she was still wrapped in plenty of bandages. Iijima Kanon had arrived.

"...Do you need something?"

"I’m here to pick up Mahiro-chaaan! Let’s go, Mahiro-chan!"

"Wah!? So sudden!?"

"Come on now~ Mahiro-chan’s about to get thoroughly fluffed by me~"

...And just like that, Mahiro got swept up by Iijima Kanon and dragged off somewhere.

Seriously, what even was that?

Well, whatever.

Maybe when I really needed to use my power seriously, combining Nagisa-kun’s and Mahiro’s dual Connect Links could actually work somehow.

Honestly, I kind of wanted to test it out too.

While thinking that, I quietly replayed Mahiro’s words in my head.