Migi’s glare brooked no room for arguments. One by one, the rest of their classmates begrudgingly filed out the door, several of them shooting longing glances back at Hidari, only to be met by a scowl from Migi.
Eventually, it was just him and his sister alone in the testing room. Hidari noted, with a pang of disappointment, that Gen had already left.
“Well, that’s too bad.” The blue-eyed boy murmured, frowning at the seat Gen had been in. “I was hoping to talk to him for a bit.”
“About what?” Migi scoffed, folding her arms and glaring at the seat. “The best strategies for cracking your head open during revolution simulations?”
“That was a one-time thing and he still passed on his second try.” Hidari sighed, walking towards the door with his sister. He gave a nod and a smile to Mr. Buscher as he walked by, the tired man simply nodding back to him as he looked over his notes for the next class.
Hidari looked back at his sister, the two of them walking side-by-side down the hallway as they headed towards battle strategy. “Gen is an admirable person, Migi. For more than battle strategy and combat ability. I really like him.”
“Oh please.” Migi rolled her eyes, giving her younger brother a critical frown. “You only noticed him because he hangs around your inferiority complex.”
“Kenox.” Hidari scowled, letting his mask break for just a few seconds to shoot his sister a glare. “And I do not have a complex about him. If anything, he has a complex about me.”
“Whatever.” Migi shrugged, lacing her hands behind her head. “You’re both way too obsessed with each other.”
“We’re not obsessed.” Hidari quickly put his smile back on as they passed another group in the hall, offering them a wave. “We’re…competitive. Rivals. That’s all.”
“Rivals in what?” Migi suddenly snickered, grinning slyly at Hidari. “He’s got you beat in basically every subject. Oh, and he actually hit puberty.”
And with that snide comment, the switch was flicked.
“Ha! It’s not my fault that my gorilla of a sister stole all the testosterone between the two of us when the time came.” Hidari shot, his blue eyes locking on the sharp features of Migi’s face pointedly. “By the way, how has your body been developing lately? Be careful. I think your beard’s coming in, even if your boobs aren’t.”
“You little brat!” Migi snarled, raising a fist in the air threateningly. “You better be more careful about the words that silver tongue of yours comes up with.”
“Well, it’s not the tongue that comes up with the words, but the brain behind it, my dearest sister.” Hidari fluttered his eyelashes at the ticked-off girl, shooting her a nasty smile. “Though I know it’s hard for you to tell the difference since your own brain is somewhat out of sorts.”
“Out of sorts?!” Migi repeated, grabbing the front of Hidari’s shirt with a snarl. “Say that again, I dare you.”
“Oh my bad, my bad.” Hidari apologized, widening his eyes innocently at the growling girl. “I meant out of order. But don’t worry! I hear they’re serving pig brains in the cafeteria this Friday. You could probably pick up a better one then.”
“Too bad they aren’t serving pig testicles.” Migi shot back with a sickly-sweet smile of her own. “If they were, maybe you could finally grow a pair.”
“Even if I did, I’m sure they wouldn’t be as impressive as yours.” Hidari slammed his forehead against his sister’s, giving her a strained smile as their heads collided. “Didn’t the nurses call you back for the male body exam again this week?”
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“Only after they asked how my baby sister is doing!” Migi grinned like a maniac in response, grinding her forehead against Hidari’s just as hard. “They were so interested in hearing about you.”
“How thoughtful of them! I’ll be sure to send my regards!” Hidari snarled through his smile, eyes flashing lightning at his sister.
“Please do! Send them an ID with your real gender on it, too. Maybe they’ll finally remember if they keep getting reminders!” Migi was practically yelling at him now, and it was only because of some small miracle that no one else had seen them in the halls.
This thought crossed Hidari’s mind as Migi’s voice rang in his ears with her last statement, and his face immediately lost the snarl, relaxing into a calm expression instead.
“We should stop.” He said gently, pulling his head away with a low sigh. “Someone could walk down the hall any minute. And at this rate, we’ll be late for class.”
“Like I care.” Migi rolled her eyes, placing her hands in her pockets as the two of them resumed their walk, falling in line side-by-side as though nothing had happened. “It’s battle strategy. I’m passing with flying colors no matter how late I am.”
“Speak for yourself. I’m currently scraping by with a 65%.” Hidari said breezily, smiling lightly at her as he swept gracefully around the next corner. “But did you study for the battle strategy exam today? Last time, you said you were aiming to break Gen’s record. I don’t think you’ll be able to do that just by walking in blind.”
“I studied, I studied.” Migi scowled, huffing at Hidari’s concern. “You were on my case about it all last night. How could I not have?”
“I’m only looking out for you.” Hidari placed a comforting hand on Migi’s shoulder as they walked. “I can’t wait to see how you do. No matter what score you get, you’ll always be the best in my mind.”
“Thanks, Dari.” Migi’s angular face relaxed the tiniest bit, the blonde-girl shooting her brother a grateful look. “Love you, too.”
There probably weren’t many people who could easily comprehend the relationship between Hidari and his sister.
Not many families in the past few generations were able to support more than one child, so most families stopped after having a single kid. Siblings were extremely rare, and usually only occurred if a set of twins, triplets, or the like were born. Some families would even choose one child out of the set to keep alive in such cases, keeping to the unspoken “rule of one”.
Hidari and Migi had been fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to be born in a village where most adults were infertile or incapable of child-bearing. As such, out of the entire community, the two of them had been the only children born in over two decades.
The entire village had come together to support their parents, thrilled by the miraculous birth, and thus both Hidari and Migi had been raised through their youth. When they’d finally moved away for schooling, they’d quickly discovered the incomprehensibility of “sibling love” to the kids around them.
Sudden screaming matches followed by casual conversations, literal fist fights followed by private jokes, incessant taunting followed by staunch support. These were completely normal aspects of the twins’ relationship, but they were utterly bizarre to everyone else. It only baffled people further to see how Hidari was an angel to everyone he met, but would readily jump his sister in an alleyway if given the chance. And it almost terrified people to know that Migi would gut any stranger who looked at her wrong, but would dote on and protect Hidari against anything that could so much as prick his finger.
Their personalities changed around each other, switched back and forth like night and day, and no one could understand it. Not without having a sibling themselves, of course, or a best friend of a similar ilk.
Over the years, the twins had learned it was just easier to hide some aspects of their relationship than explain them. For example, digging at your sibling’s deepest insecurities almost daily, yet still not loving that sibling any less than before. It weirded people out, so they kept it to themselves.
Hidari was willing to bet that if anyone in this school heard half the things he said to his sister as soon as they were alone, they’d either think he’d been possessed by an alien life form or that he suffered from multiple personality disorder.
Honestly, that didn’t feel far from the truth, sometimes.
“No problem.” Hidari smiled at his sister, bumping her shoulder lightly as they finally came to a stop before the door to battle strategy. “But speaking of the exam, do you have any last-minute tips that could miraculously help me pass it with higher than a 70?”
Migi paused and turned to look him dead in the eye. “Pray it’s a group exam and partner with me.” She said flatly, pushing open the door and walking in without another word.
Hidari sighed again, running a hand through his hair as he stood in the doorway. “Yeah. That sounds about right.” He muttered, planting a soft smile on his face before striding into the classroom.
“Hidari!”
“Hidari, you’re here!”
“Hidari, are you ready for the exam?”
“It’s been so long, Hidari!”
“You look wonderful!”
…Was the day over yet?