This is a story from the past
A twisted story from the past.
♀♂
A Few Years Ago, Raira Junior High
"Liike I saiid~, butler clothes fit Yuuhei Hanejima-san the best!"
"……Deny (No) …… Alcohol (bartender clothes) …… Fashionable (looks the best)……."
"Noo, stupid, stupid Kuru-nee! You can drown in a c.o.c.ktail shaker for all I care!"
The first year sisters Kururi and Mairu were fighting over an extremely meaningless topic during break.
"Both of them are similar though, right?"
The boy who stated that, having not read the mood, was glared at by the two with a look that said, "you don"t even know anything…..". And although he received a shock he had doubt over his own disposition, his heart throbbing at the strangeness of those cold gazes, but that was an entirely separate matter.
"But Yuuhei Hanejima would like both of them, right?"
When a girl nearby said that, the two of them nodded at the exact same timing.
"Of course!"
"…..Of course…."
Hearing that, their cla.s.smates laughed in amazement.
"Really, you two get along well, don"t you."
Kururi Orihara really liked her younger sister and sometimes hated her. Mairu Orihara really liked her older sister and sometimes hated her. There were hardly any times they fought. It was not because they were completely the same. It was because they were completely different that their gears meshed up against each other.
However, the reason for them "sometimes hating" each other was from a common trait. It was pure jealousy for what the other had that they lacked.
Twins being depicted as the symbol of perfect existences was something seen often in myths and folklore. At the same time, there existed myths and folklore depicting them as a symbol of bad luck.
But in regards to the twins being completely treated as opposites, if they complemented each other"s weaknesses, they could become the perfect human being. And simultaneously, that would become the cause bringing forth discord in the family.
If they truly became the perfect being, then they would clearly understand that more than anyone else.
But in regards to the parts only the other had to become the perfect being, even though they were supposed to be born under the same star, why was there someone else existing who had what the other did not? The doubt had turned into discord, and there were even cracks made on the gears that could not be undone.
However, Kururi and Mairu Orihara aimed for that "ironic perfection." Just like playing with their fate and human life itself. Just like rejecting their human-likeliness.
And so they were thought poorly of by their older brother, who claimed to "love humans."
But their brother did not know. That aside from them choosing this lifestyle by themselves, them envying one another on occasion was a very human-like aspect.
Their older brother appeared to see through his younger sisters subtly but did not. And so Orihara sisters really could care less about their older brother.
Rakuei Gym The Youth Group
"Seriously already! Kuru-nee just doesn"t get it! Yuuhei-san would totally fit being the aloof butler wandering the wilderness while wearing those butler clothes with no one to serve for!"
"That wouldn"t be a butler then……"
The coach of the youth group Mikage Sharaku was shocked at Mairu"s tone. The most shocking point was that she was saying that while pounding on the sandbag with countless punches and kicks.
"If you hit that for a reason like that your sister wouldn"t bear it."
"Eh?"
Mikage tilted her head at Mairu"s blank expression.
"…..Weren"t you hitting the sandbag imagining the other"s face?"
"No waay! If I piled up Kuru-nee and the sandbag together, right now I"d hug her tightly and nip at her!"
Seeing Mairu acting bashful as she blushed, Mikage nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, normally that"s disgusting."
"That"s right, isn"t it? It"s pretty dirty and disgusting biting a sandbag not knowing who has touched it!"
"No, that"s not it….."
Knowing it was useless to talk about the sandbag any further, Mikage began a topic from a different direction.
"That Kuru-nee is that adult-like kid that comes to pick you up all the time right? Even though the shape of her face is the same, her appearance and personality are completely different."
"Yeah, we decided it to be that way! We chose on a draw which kind of person we"d be."
"What for?"
At Mikage"s question Mairu puffed up her chest and answered.
"For instance, if I become the world"s best hot-blooded and Kuru-nee becomes the world"s best big-headed, it"ll be the birth of an intellectual muscle if we"re put together! We can become the perfect being like a fast-moving fat person……!"
"So an agile obese body was the perfect being……."
"Well, it"s that; it"s like you sort out your statuses in different directions and then add the two person"s stats together in the end to make a complete circled graph."
It was an extremely rough explanation, but Mikage more or less understood and pointed out the issue regarding that.
"Isn"t that difficult sometimes?"
"……Difficult as in what way?"
"As in you occasionally want to be the quiet girl…….but can"t because you two decided on it……like those kind of things."
"Aah, yeah, there is."
While cackling she began to punch the sandbag again.
"But you know, Mikage-san. The one who also lessens the hardship is Kuru-nee? Well, I may sometimes hate it, but the parts I have come to hate I end up thinking I want to compensate for."
"Huh."
"Since Kuru-nee is soft-spoken and shy I do my part and become talkative and talk in a large voice! Since she is more sly, I have to make that a positive! So you see, I"m always like the healthy eros of naïveté?"
"I can"t see anything but another weakness added to a weakness though….."
Ignoring the words of her a.s.sistant instructor, Mairu increased the speed of her hands and feet as though excited.
"Right! And then, I was about to say something about that bartender clothes better suitable for Yuuhei-san thing!"
Seeing Mairu beginning to hit the sandbag vigorously, her a.s.sistant instructor Mikage thought to herself, "a clean kick as always," before she muttered fed up words.
"Ah, I"m pulled back into that conversation again…."
Ikebukuro – Night, In Town
"Enough already! Stupid, stupid, stupid Kuru-nee! I hate you! I really hate you a bit! But I like you! Ahh, seriously! You"re so cruel, Kuru-nee! You"re terrible! You"re a demon! You"re the devil! You"re Belphegor!"
"……Noisy (You"re annoying)……"
Mairu continued to cry complaints and Kururi murmured complaints. Their fight had been consistently like this, and looking from the outside it could only be seen as them not playing friendly.
They probably knew that.
They had remodeled their personalities in order for them to be the "perfect twins" for more than five years now, so they had to know that seriously fighting and hating the other would end in endless despair as well as simultaneously rejecting themselves.
"Hmm. Well then, how about we talk about something else? How about we talk about something we hit off on and make up? Okay?"
– What do you like on sunny-side up fried eggs?
"Yakinuku sauce!" "…..Grain (Sesame sauce)……"
– Your favorite insect?
"Army ants!" "…..Beautiful (Orchid mantis)……"
– A dog lover? Or a cat lover?
"I"m more of a whipsnake person than a dog or cat person!" "……Spot (Reticulated python)……"
They stated their answer at the same time on the count of three, but more than being subtly off on a general level the two listed off great differences in answers.
"Why, why! Even though we were the same on snakes! Whipsnakes are cute! Why did you pick a reticulated python!?"
"…… Chill (the cold feeling)……Loop (of having it wrap around the neck)……pleasure (it feels good)……."
"Waaah! It"s no good! We don"t match! It"s useless……I"ll break off from the family and become a homeless student at a park uwaaaah."
And then her sister shook her head and said.
"……Safe (it"s alright)….."
"What is alright! You miscreant!"
The older sister replied to her younger sister, who was swaying widely with an emotionless expression.
"…….Self (I will)……Separate (leave the house)……Younger sister (you will)……Warm (be alright to stay home)……."
"You weren"t just a person but an angel!? Uwaaaah, I"m sorry, Kuru-nee~! No, don"t, I don"t want to be separated from you after all! I"ll tolerate the python and think of it as a whipsnake! "
They left the city Ikebukuro while making a fuss over such matters, and when they approached the park on their way home there was a girl around high school age surrounded by ill-bred looking men.
"So, you that Izaya Orihara"s wh.o.r.e or something? Haa?"
"No, it"s a misunderstanding. I"m….."
"You kept looking at that s.h.i.tty b.a.s.t.a.r.d the whole time! Come over here already."
"I think if I was his lover I would not just stare but call out to him though….."
The high-schooler girl"s words were silenced, and one of the low-bred men grabbed her in a rage.
"…….. ……… ……….Shuddup! How dare you make fun of me!"
"St-stop, please!"
The high-school girl tried to resist the man trying to knock her down and then –
"Hey, stop boys! Why don"t you seriously clean up!"
There was a peculiar voice, and when the two looked back there stood a serious looking library committee member.
"What"s that? This kid….."
"The miss doesn"t like that. Bullying isn"t cool, you know? I don"t think it"s cool at all!"
"Shuddup kid! Scram!"
The hooligan tried to hit the back of his fist lightly against the girl"s cheek to chase her off. She dodged the fist in an instant and drove in a hit in the form of a counter like how she jolted the sandbag just previous.
"Gah….."
Mairu then jumped on the fallen man trampled down on the bridge of his nose in succession.
"Gyahh! Bah! Gwah…….!"
Without a moment to give an upright cry, the man continued to be kicked consecutively, but a friend of his took out a knife and sneaked up from behind. He had no intent to kill, he raised his arm overhead prepared to make a cut at Mairu"s arm.
"Hey youu……Aaaaaaaaaaaa!?"
The man"s whole body convulsed, and he collapsed right on that spot.
"Eh!?"
When Mairu turned around, her older sister stood there with a stun gun in hand.
"N-no you can"t, Kuru-nee! It"s my role to do this kind of fighting! You can"t do something so dangerous!"
Kururi spoke clear words to the fl.u.s.tered Mairu, an unusual occurrence for her to do.
"……You"re family, so I can"t let you face something so dangerous all alone."
"……..Kuru-nee……"
"You and I don"t have to be different there."
"……Okay, thank you, Kuru-nee….."
With tears in her eyes Mairu tried to embrace her, but then a voice called out to them from behind.
"Ummm……thank you. You saved me."
The high school girl did not run away and bowed her head to them.
"Aah, it"s fine, it"s fine. Don"t worry about it! I just wanted to test a technique I learned today!"
The high school girl nodded in admiration at the girl making that outlandish statement.
"The students nowadays learn martial arts and have stun guns to protect themselves….Well, there are color gangs recently."
"……Young (It is junior high girl"s)…….application (accomplishments)……"
"But, really thank you."
Mairu waved her hand as the high school girl bowed her head another time.
"It"s fine. Besides, it seems our brother was the cause of it."
"Eh?"
Mairu said in front of the high school girl who was tilting her head, confused.
"Look, the person you were watching is that person over there right? The one in the black fur coat."
Ahead where Mairu was pointing towards there was a man in a fur coat talking to a man in a white gown on the roadside.
"Our brother is a bad person, so you should never get close to him!"
"……Caution (Be careful)….."
"So that"s it….."
After the high school girl nodded in understanding, she began to speak while giving a gentle smile.
"Thank you. But, that"s not him; the one I was looking at was the person next to him."
"Eh? The person in white?"
"Yes. Umm……This can only be said here, but that person is my family."
"Whoa! I see. Yeah, I see that person occasionally!"
Mairu smiled cheerfully and continued.
"That gla.s.ses guy is friends with our brother……Iza-nii. He"s a really good person!"
"…..Buddha (Saint)……"
"Why? Isn"t a friend of a bad person also a bad person?"
"No. Iza-nii is the type of person to be hated by even bad people. Actually, he"s hated by humans, our Iza-nii!"
Mairu said such an outlandish proclamation before adding more to her explanation.
"So he may be a villain of criminals for him to be friends with such a brother like ours, but I don"t think he"s a bad person through and through! It"s only when he talks with that man in white does our brother smile with an honest expression."
"Is that the case….."
After staring at them in surprise, the high school girl introduced herself and gave a farewell.
"Thank you. I"m Kazane Kinomiya. Next time we meet I"ll give you my thanks again!"
"Is that you Kururi and Mairu? Why are you at a place like this?"
A few minutes later, Izaya had noticed their presence and had called over to them with a disappointed expression.
Seeing their brother, Mairu muttered, "siblings huh." She then came to a realization and brought up an idea.
"Hey, Kuru-nee, what do we think about Iza-nii? We"ll go on three!"
In front of Izaya tilting his head in confusion, the two said in succession after counting to three.
"I think I could really care less but……" "……Seldom (Sometimes)……Love (I love you)……!"
Hearing both of their answers, the two took each other"s hands and started turning in a circle right there.
"Ya-ho! We were together! We were together on that, Kuru-nee! Even though our words were different we meshed up the first and last half!"
"…..Same (Synchronized)……"
Seeing his younger sisters in sudden high spirits, Izaya shook his head with a bitter smile.
"……Really you guys are hard to follow."
This is a story from the past.
A twisted story from the past.
However, for Kururi and Mairu that distortion is part of their everyday life, even for their present and future.
As they are two but one gear.
As the gear can easily turn since their distortions mesh together so well-
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