“Eh!?” The twins responded in unison to that inquiry. If Kougi didn’t know by now, she definitely could tell from their reactions what the truth was.

“Wh-what are you talking about?” Airi continued on in panic. “Who said this had anything to do with Kichi?”

“Yeah, and why would I like him like that?” Aoi played it cool by pretending to be her usual self. It was the perfect cover in her eyes. No one would suspect a girl who opened hated on a boy to actually have a crush on him. “He’s an idiot, pervert, and weird.”

“Heheh, well sometimes that kind of stuff doesn’t matter when you’re in love.” Kougi replied with the knowledge of experience. “And it’s kind of cute to see you two try and deny it.”

“But we’re not denying anything!” Airi continued to plead her case. “Sure, Kichi’s cute and funny and stuff…” She had listed out things that failed to help her case in convincing the other girl she wasn’t interested in the boy. “But we’re just friends. I’m sure that’s what he’d say.”

“So you’re saying that you wouldn’t say that?” If Kichi were here, he’d be glad his sister wasn’t turning her teasing nature towards him for once. Though he might disagree with doing it to the twins who weren’t used to this kind of behavior. She didn’t care though. All Kougi wanted to do was make them squirm a bit so they’d admit the truth on their own. “Now now, let’s just sit down and talk about it.”

She went over to his bed and sat down. Kougi motioned them to do the same thing, but neither of the other girls wanted to join her. They were too scared on what she would do to them if they walked into her obvious trap.

“We’re good.” They both responded to her in perfect sync once again. If her goal was to get them back to acting like twins, it certainly was working. However her job was not finished yet.

“Look, I know you two are still growing up.” She began talking, acting as though she was much older than them instead of the actual difference being barely a year. “So it’s not easy to express these feelings you have.”

“I think it’s pretty easy for Aoi to express her feelings.” Said Airi. “She’s always saying mean things without being scared of someone yelling back at her.” While it could’ve been put in kinder manner. That was something the twin could agree on.

“Yeah, and Airi’s always bouncing around so carefree.” Said Aoi. At this point, the twins were in a tag team trying to throw Kougi off the trail. “If anything, I think we might be too expressive of our feelings.”

“Ah, that’s what we all say, right?” She wasn’t going to let them go easily at all. There was nothing else in her mind but total victory. “But come on, we’re still young. Sometimes the way we feel make us embarrassed. Sometimes we’re worried what other people will think.” From her personal experience, it was more than just simple judgment. The legal issues were also another thing to worry over.

“I mean, let’s say one of us did like a boy.” Airi let her guard slip for a bit. “But not Kichi or anything! Just any regular boy. What would you tell us to do?” Aoi nudged her sister in the side, upset with asking a question of that magnitude.

“Well, it’s not always so easy to get a boy’s attention, is it?” Kougi couldn’t say she had much experience with other boys. Ignoring the Kichi part of that equation. The boy wasn’t wrong when he’d fire back at her with saying the boys in her class weren’t interested in someone like her. It just hadn’t happened yet, but she could make some guesses on the reasoning for that. “Some hints don’t hurt, but some of those guys can be real dense.”

“You can say that again.” Aoi commented, remembering the numerous manga and visual novels she had read which contained such tropes. It was frustrating to watch and she couldn’t believe that real life would work in that manner. Of course the more she talked with others, the more accurate the fiction appeared.

“You know Aoi, attitude means a lot if you want someone to fall in love with you.” Now it was time to turn her attention to the other twin. Kougi used that short sentence as a crack to slip into. “Some might like acting hard to get, but some will probably give up before they even try.”

“Wh-who said I wanted Kichi to like me!?” Aoi responded, then quickly realized her blunder. “I-I mean… Who said I wanted anyone to like me?” The boy’s older sister giggled as she neared the killing blow. These twins were a joke even compared to Kichi.

“Something tells me the two of you hiding something~!” She said in singsong fashion. There was no point in playing dumb, not that she had up to this point. All Kougi wanted was to hear them admit it out loud themselves. Even though neither wanted to as that would mean admitting it to each other as well. “I’ve heard from a little birdy of mine that Kichi’s been interested in some girls lately. He’s all grown up now, of course his hormones are just getting the best of him.”

“Kichi likes someone!?” Airi took the bait, officially now in the trap set by the older girl. “I… I can’t believe it.”

“Aw, it’s okay.” Kougi guided her towards her body for a caring pat on the back. “You just wanted him to like you, right?

“Mmhmm.” She nodded her head as she got up close for a hug to relieve the pain she felt.

“Well don’t worry since I don’t think he’s into any girls right now.”

“Ehh!?” Hearing that news shocked the life back into her as she realized what she had just admitted. “Y-you mean that he’s not taken?”

“As far as I’m aware, yep.” Kougi laughed. It was nice seeing their distraught faces when something embarrassing came up. “And I can’t believe you like Kichi.” She continued to point and laugh for a bit before Aoi spoke up.

“Airi you idiot.” She said, giving a good whop on the back of the girl’s head. “How could you let her get to you?”

“Don’t act all tough.” Kougi turned her sights back onto her. “You like Kichi too, right? That’s why you two were so upset about hiding your time with him.”

“Hmpf, guess it’s too late to pretend otherwise.” She pouted and glared at her sister. While she was mad about having lost her secret to the two girls here. It was no longer that rage which consumed the twins just minutes ago.

“Aoi, I didn’t think you even liked him…” Airi was in disbelief over this situation. “I always thought you were just trying to stick around for my sake.”

“I was… At first.” Even Aoi couldn’t believe it herself. While she wasn’t aware that her sister might’ve liked the boy, she didn’t expect herself feeling the same way with the same exact boy. It certainly described what many would call a conundrum.

“I’m glad you two have finally admitted the truth to each other.” Kougi put on a more serious face as she continued on the conversation. This was no longer a time for jokes as she wished to help them out. Those two were family and she didn’t want them to dislike each other. After all, she would be miserable if her and Kichi were on bad terms.

That said, the fact they were romantically interested in Kichi also meant another important thing. These two girls weren’t just rivals with each other, but also with her. Now they were unaware of her feelings, and there was no way Kougi would want to admit having these incestuous feelings for her brother. “I get why you wouldn’t want to bring it up.”

“Yeah, I don’t like talking about this kind of stuff.” Even though Aoi had never held any romantic feelings for boys before. She already knew that it was a subject she wished to never open up to anyone about, not even her sister. With this thought process, she figured she’d be miserable if she had a crush on anyone. Her only hope with love at that point was just some random guy, whether she actually liked them or not, confessing to her.

“Well, now that we know. I’m not mad at you anymore, Aoi.” Airi felt much more calm now that the truth was out. A heavy weight her shoulders was lifted after this. Aoi also felt the same way even though for her it was replaced with the feeling of anxiety like that of having to talk in front of the whole classroom. “Anyway, we should go talk to Kichi and tell him everything’s better now.”

“Ah ah ah.” Right before the either of the twins were able to get to the door, Kougi put a hand on each of their shoulders, stopping them. “Don’t think you’re getting off so easily. We’re not done here yet.”