“What?” Kichi was so taken aback by her response that he could hardly respond to her at all.

“I get it, we both looks the same and all.” She continued her tirade. “But that doesn’t mean we’re the same person. I’m so tired of everyone assuming that.” It was a common occurrence in their lives. While it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, Aoi knew it had to be a cause for disappointment for many.

Airi was a cheerful, bubbly girl. People like hanging out with her. So how come Aoi wasn’t like her at all? They were twins, right? Clearly cut from the same cloth. “Doing something like that in public, that’s not who I am at all!”

“Okay okay, just try to calm down a little.” He said, worried someone might hear her yelling and come investigate what might be going on. “You can tell me what you want then.”

“Oh gosh, she really is mad now.” Said Airi. It seemed a bit inappropriate to continue prod that bear now that it was awake. But she did know her sister better than anyone else, so what she said mattered.

“There you go again with trying to make it even somehow.” She responded to Kichi’s inquiry. “Do you really think it’s easy to treat us equally by bringing it up like that?”

“Of course I don’t think it’s easy.” He defended himself. She had given him counters he hadn’t expecting for something where he was trying to be nice. “That’s why I’m trying.”

“It’s not about that.” She quieted down a bit, appearing to be much calmer too. “You’re trying and… That makes me happy.” Admitting something so personal made her a lot shyer too. Much more than when she would insult him regularly.

“Hey that’s good.” Said Airi in response to hearing her sister soften up a bit. “She’s a total tsundere, so getting her to say you make her happy is a big step!”

“Don’t just call me something based on anime!” This drew Aoi’s ire once more. To be fair, most people don’t like being called things just because someone saw it on TV or read it in a book. So that didn’t mean her anger was special about her. “I’m not a tsundere!”

“Anyway…” Kichi had to give them a moment so that they could return to the subject at hand. “Since you’re not that mad about what I did with Airi, then what do you mean about treating you the same?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” She replied. “Come on, you should know me better than that. Just because we’re twins doesn’t mean I want you… Doing what you did with Airi to me.” It caused her a bit of discomfort to realize that her own sister would be so bold. Perhaps they didn’t know each other as well as they thought they did. Though to be fair, it’s not as if either had dated a boy to allow the other knowledge on what they would do in such a relationship.

“You are pretty reserved.” It took until now for him to realize this fact. Of course Aoi wouldn’t want him to touch her. His time with Kougi and Airi had clouded his judgment on what girls wanted on outings like this.

“It’s not just that though.” She continued on. “You can’t expect just asking and giving what we want straight up makes any sense. If you k-kissed me.” She stuttered on the idea of going pass what they had yet to do as a couple. “Does that mean you have to kiss Airi or else you’ll forever be a bad boyfriend?”

“That’s what I thought when I made that promise, yes.” He answered, which only caused her to face palm at his stupidity. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Do you realize how unromantic that sounds?” She responded. Aoi then put on an unflattering impression of Kichi for her next statement. “Like, geez, I just kissed your sister, let me give you one too.”

“I don’t sound like that…” Hearing her pretend to be him made Kichi feel a bit self-conscious. Hopefully that wasn’t an accurate impression on how he sounded to the girls.

“Fair is fair, but we’re not your kids or your pets or something. We’re your girlfriends.”

“When she says it like that.” Said Airi. “I agree with her. It kind of ruins the mood if you do it because you feel obligated, not because you want to.”

“I get it now.” He smiled, realizing the truth in their relationship. Kichi had been too worried over juggling twins as girlfriends that he forgot what the point in even having a girlfriend was. It reminded him of his own date with Kougi, however immoral that was. She made her attempts to tempt him not simply because she wanted him to do it, but because she also wanted him to be the one to make the actions. So that he wouldn’t be forced to cross a line he wouldn’t be willing to cross. Albeit she definitely teetered on the edge when it came to those temptations.

“Now that’s all taken care of.” Aoi was happy to have settled their differences. It was a conversation she didn’t want to have, but knew it to be necessary for them all going forward. “I guess we should all be heading home now.”

“Actually, there’s one more thing I want to do first.”

“What now?” Asked Aoi, who was at this point tired and wanted to move on.

“Airi, could you give me and Aoi some privacy?” Before telling them, he asked the other girl to allow him something special.

“Sure.” She gave them a salute and began to walk away.

“Hey wait a second.” Aoi wasn’t as receptive to the idea as her sister. Since she still had no clue on what he planned, she worried about being left alone. “Airi, don’t let be behind.”

“Don’t worry.” He stood her in way, preventing escape. “You’re always thinking I’m going to do something bad.” It was unfortunate that even at this point, she still didn’t trust him.

“When you act like this, kind of hard for me not to have my guard up.” She backed up against the railing, which he took as an opportunity to lean in closer. Kichi placed his hands onto the railing, using his arms to trap her on both side.

“You’re really cute when you’re nervous.” He said. “Has anyone ever told you that?”

“N-no.” She answered. “Can’t say they have.” Aoi couldn’t tell where he wanted to go with this. His actions somehow simultaneously made her think he was creepy, but knowing it was him also allowed her some sense of confidence this would end well for her as well.

“I think that’s because you’re always cute.” This was when he landed his killing blow. Or more accurately described as his move on her as Kichi leaned in and locked his lips with hers. They engaged in their first kiss together on this outlook. At first, she nearly instinctively pushed him away. Her hands got on his chest, but there was no force back from her. Instead, she felt her arms relax down to their sides as she accepted his kiss.

They stayed like this for a long while, soaking in a memory that only happened once as they were no longer pure. To be honest, Kichi hadn’t been pure for a long time by this point, but this would be the first time he ever kissed someone on the lips willingly and of his own accord. Which made it taste much different from the times he had done so before.

Finally, they separated. Even though neither wanted this moment to end, it did need to reach its conclusion.

“What was that for?” She asked. “I already said you don’t need to make it even.” Even though it was her honest feelings, Aoi did kick herself for finding yet another way to ruin the mood. If only she could just shut her mouth and accept what happened for now.

“It’s my thanks.” He said. “You were right. I was trying to do something that didn’t make any sense when you think about it.” If he had continued with his line of thinking, the boy had to question if their relationship would even last. “Let’s go home now.” He let go of the railing allowing Aoi room to move around once more.

The pair left the outlook and when they rounded the corner, they saw Airi standing against the wall waiting for them.

“That didn’t take long.” She greeted them. “What did you need to take care of?”

“You don’t need to worry about it.” Aoi told her, trying her best and somewhat failing to hide her small smile. “Just talked about some stuff.”