Entwine - reversal

The hand I extended was kept in this position the entire time, but I didn’t follow my question with additional explanation. Without knowing the implications connected with becoming my thespian, I didn’t want to make any groundless predictions. Neither did I want to lure her into it by pretending to have a strong spirit that wasn’t easily corrupted nor hide behind the horde of excuses that were dancing around the tip of my tongue - I kept everything sealed inside and waited for Vio to make a decision based solely on the short time we had spent together.

“You’re not going to say anything?”

Asked Vio, the slight surprise painted over her face quickly gave up the place to complex disappointment.

Please, take my hand.

It might have been over dramatization of a simple quarrel, but for me, it was something more. If she didn’t accept the weak me here and now, then only more of such fights would follow in the future. This was a test of our bond, if it would be broken so easily then in my eyes it would become worthless and unneeded. Just another burned bridge added to the ever-growing collection.

“Nothing? Heh, so be it. Stay in this position like a fucking idiot and have a good night.”

She turned back but didn’t resume her walking yet. I wanted to scream to stop her, but that would ruin the meaning behind this test.

Vio… don’t go… was everything really pointless?

Exactly sixty seconds later she moved. One single step which felt like the opening stage of a wide rift between us, followed by another.

I hated it - this one bridge I wanted to save.

“I don’t believe in myself, so please believe in me instead...”

This silent whisper couldn’t possibly reach her ears, I watched as the camo backpack she wore disappeared around the corner.

It hurts, it never hurt that much before. Fuck it!

I slapped my cheeks hard and started to run after her. No tests were needed, whatever by force or by pleading I would make her listen to me!

She is my younger sister after all, this is a bond that can’t be brok-

“Umpff!” “Kyaa!”

Right behind the corner, literally without even making a one step more, Vio had been standing with crossed arms, but now she was being squashed under me as I had run straight into her after taking the turn at full speed. Following the initial shock and the cold sensation of the snow was a wave of comprehension and relief.

“Vio… I think that we’re testing each other too much.”

“Uuu... it hurts… get off me already you mentally challenged retard.”

I stood up and extended my hand to lift Violet as well. She didn’t hesitate and grabbed it immediately, but as soon as she was back on her legs she slapped my face even harder than I usually did.

“That’s for that grin.”

Before I could answer, she took one of my free hands and put it on her head.

“You better pat me well, I’m pretty pissed off right now.”

I really felt like an idiot for trying to twist our single fight into a grave 'be or not to be' situation. In accordance with her wish, I used all my patting knowledge that had been acquired and tested on small animals to a good use. The feeling of her curly blonde hair flowing through and underneath my fingers was very pleasant.

“Sorry Vio.”

“You know what part pissed me off the most? That you didn’t believe in me. I finally became a true member of our team and you became jealous, really? Am I the only one who thought that we will be combining our power together?!”

She started to raise the volume of her voice to which I reacted by putting more affection into my patting. It resulted in her closing eyes and breathing deeply to cool down.

“But… we will save this talk for later, I admit… there was a fault on my side as well… let’s talk about it when we will be back home, but for now we have to retrieve this magical phone of yours. And remember what you just did, it felt really good.”

Looks like I wasn’t the only idiot who nearly allowed the whole situation to change into a grave one.

“You mean this?”

I recreated the few last moves of my hand. I had to admit that this patting idea was a good one, it quickly allowed us to get rid of the awkwardness and transformed most of the negative feelings into pleasant ones, but both sides had to want to use this method first or it would only add oil to the fire.

“This! This one behind my ear.”

“Got it, by the way Vio, how old are you?”

“Thirteen, why?”

“How come you’re sometimes so much more mature than me?”

A small mocking smile drifted to her face.

“Heh, I’ve swapped one dumb brother for even dumber onii-chan. My crazy sister has been testing the limits of my mental endurance under the guise of ‘training’ since I was little and Vincent… thanks to him I saw some things that no girl should see at my age, except for my classmates. So, the experience I guess, but… I prefer to be a girl my age. I’m counting on you to spoil me onii-chan!”

Hiding behind her actions and words was a meaning that she yearned for someone to pat her head gently, for someone to believe in and for a place where she could feel useful, needed and safe.

“First, you will have to regain at least a half of the innocence a girl your age should have.”

“What do you mean? I’m innocent like a fucking fairy compared to the dick eaters in my school.”

She supported her words by showing me her 'fuck-you' finger as well.

“Yeah, you’ve proved your point, innocent as fuck.”

I tousled her hair a bit more violently, to temper this behavior.

“And onii-chan… sorry for not taking your hand, but it’s the guy who should be chasing after the girl, not the other way and it was your fault to begin with.”

She seemed to be fine with me using more force, but I saw her aiming for my arm with her eyes, I decided to return to gentle mode before she decided to take a bite off it.

“I support gender equality, this time I chased after you, next time you will chase after me. I will try to rein in my jealousy, but can’t promise anything.”

“Yeah, though I’m not looking forward to more of my emo-nii-chan.”

“Believe me, having a minefield as a younger sister is not easy to deal with as well.”

She removed my hand from her head, signaling an end of the reconciliation phase, and pulled me towards the cemetery. One part of our fights that I actually liked was that they came suddenly, thundered threateningly, but were gone in a flash. Way better than a long period of avoiding each other and letting the wounds to fester for days.

“Let’s go and get it over with, I would love to jump under a warm quilt and sleep like a log.”

“Same, though I lack a bed for the night.”

“Do not anger me anymore onii-chan and you may be surprised, by the way, what’s a thespian?”

Oh, I nearly forgot about it.

Walking next to her, with her hand in mine, I looked for the right way to express the meaning behind this word. A sudden tug from Vio made me think that she was growing restless and wanted to receive her answer faster, but I was wrong.

“Careful.”

“Thanks.”

She simply slipped on the snow and used our connected hands to support herself.

Ultimately, I decided to simply say it straight.

“I think it’s a part of my passive ability.”

“Ah, so that was it. Silly me. You misinterpreted my words for a challenge and decided to test how quickly you can make me angry. I should have… screw it, I will say it bluntly... tell me what passive and how many other things you’re hiding? Be honest.”

In the middle, she dropped her sarcastic tone and used an upset one. While taking the risk of braving another storm I did as she wanted me to.

“The secrets I have can be counted on the fingers of one hand. But the passive ability is different, I don’t understand it myself that’s why I didn’t say anything about it. That’s my honest answer.”

“Alright, tell me all you know about this passive, let’s think about it together.”

Despite the lazily falling snow, the weather remained only slightly cloudy.

“You’re not angry?”

On reflex, I asked a really stupid question, even if I was expecting her to be angry it shouldn’t be said like that, but again despite the late night’s hour, the weather remained slightly cloudy.

“You don’t get it, do you? I don’t like it, but it can’t be helped, it’s not as if I’m telling you everything myself and I’m not in the mood for another fight. I will instead treat it as a challenge for myself and make you reveal everything with time. But don’t hide things like your passive ability, it’s a part of our joined force after all.”

Vio was slightly contradicting herself and I could see more clouds gather above her head, but the feeling of not wanting to argue anymore was most certainly genuine. I was also running low on such emotions like anger and wanted to return to our impish banter sooner than later.

“It’s called The Conductor and it’s described as ‘The thespian is not performing. The gazer’s eyes are closed. Many others are waiting to come.’, when I had used Three Answer earlier it told me to ask you to become my thespian. That’s all I know, so what do you think?”

Vio scratched her nose with one finger while her cheeks blushed slightly, for a moment I was convinced that it was a sign of a positive reaction to my proposition, but that wasn’t it.

“Onii-chan… sorry, I know that I’ve just said to think about it together, but I’ve got a question first... what’s a thespian? I mean the word itself, I don’t know its meaning, don’t make me ask about it for the fourth time.”

“A fancy word meaning ‘an actress’ or ‘an actor’.”

“So you’re asking me to become your actress?”

“What do you think? Worth taking the risk or let’s forget about it?”

“Give me some time to think.”

“Sure.”

After that, we walked in silence, but the mood was relaxed and Vio turned back on her central heating reducing the harsh effects of winter's cold wind. Only now I felt that everything connected with the conquest of our mana spots was finally falling into place. Before I had this constant nagging feeling as if I was one step away from a catastrophe.

Now, all I needed was for us to be lucky enough to grab Luna without any problems.

I started preparing a list of things to do for tomorrow, or more like for later today since it was already long after midnight, there were four main objectives:

- Surviving the oncoming tsunami of deliveries.
- Registering Vio in TET headquarters.
- Obtaining new tickets & mana spot information.
- Calling our father.

And some minor ones:

- Being on the lookout for the moth-creatures and Rora’s gang.
- Playing with Luna and Vio.
- Investigating Yuni and Nero.
- Avoiding random brain explosions.

“Not a porno one I hope?”

This line spouted suspiciously by Vio was totally out of context with my thoughts and shut down my thinking process, forcing me to restart.

“The thespian, it sounds a bit erotic, it doesn’t mean a porn actress by any chance?”

“No, nothing like that. Just a normal one.”

I think.

The cemetery could already be seen in front of us, so we stopped on the side of the pavement to finish this conversation first.

“You were able to cancel your contract with the fog girl after conquering a mana spot, right?”

“Yeah.”

This answer was apparently the last push required as she nodded definitely, looked me straight into eyes and said:

“I want to become your thespian.”

‘A suitable volunteer has been found, the thespian performance ‘Cheeky Blazing Sister’ will begin after procuring the volunteer’s genetic sample.’

A genderless, neutral voice resounded in my head and seeing that Violet was frantically looking around, searching for something in vain, I could bet that she heard it as well.

“A genetic sample, huh? Vio, do you want to continue?”

Cheeky Blazing Sister is that Violet's stage name?

What should I do... drink her blood? Kiss her?

Violet understood the meaning behind this voice and nodded.

“Close your eyes Vio, I will do it fast.”

“Ehh?! No!”

“So we don’t do it after all? Your choice, but I’m a bit disappointed.”

“We can’t, we’re blood-related...”

“It’s just one small kiss, simply touching our lips together should work. Almost like a kiss on a cheek or on a forehead.”

“Yeah, but…”

It would be nice to see her face slowly turning red like a piece of heating steel.

“Do you want to draw a drop of blood from your finger instead?”

“Wait, give me a minute to prepare.”

Oh?

Violet put one hand on her heart as though it was beating really fast and tried to regulate her breathing.

“Alright, do it, but only a peck and don’t you dare to use your tongue.”

“I will have to scoop a little of your saliva.”

“Just a bit…”

She closed her eyes and significantly moved the lips forward, expecting impatiently my next action. I put my hands on her shoulders and leaned down to compensate for the difference in our height.

Damn, she's super cute like that. But, I can’t even say that she’s red like a lobster, her lips are obviously plucked forward like a kissing newbie and does she think that I didn’t notice that she’s observing me from behind those almost closed eyelids? If only this was the moment where all her innocence was discovered... but it's not.

When my face was about twenty centimeters from hers, I made a quick evasive move to the side to avoid the incoming spit she tried to shot straight into my face and used this chance to plug my pointing finger inside her mouth.

“Genetic sample obtained!”

And payback for the lingerie accident!

Not giving her an occasion to bit me - I pulled the finger out when she was still confused and didn’t understand that I had predicted her plot.

I made sure that she had a good view as I triumphantly licked my finger.

Violet clicked her tongue and looked at me amused but was unwilling to accept this loss without taking the last shot.

“Uwwaaaa~ grossss… licking your own little sist-”

‘A suitable volunteer genetic sample confirmed, the thespian performance ‘Cheeky Blazing Sister’ will now begin and will last for the next 168 hours.’

It itched, every centimeter of my body itched and started releasing thick, tar-like red smoke, creating a tight shell around me.

Oh… shit…

I felt as the changes were occurring everywhere in my body.

My short, black hair turned curly, long and blonde. The sharp lines of my handsome face were smoothed out and shifted into incomparably more cute and lovable ones. My slightly muscular arms and long legs were swapped with slender, smoother and shorter version. I lost a good chunk of my height and weight. Now I was standing with Violet eye to eye. All of my clothes became too big, the belt slid down the waist which was now slimmer and infinitely more feminine. Something precious shrunk till it was completely lost, feeling me with dread. In its place, a secret unexplored area appeared. A pair of cute, pointy, small apples grew on my girly chest.

And a myriad of other small changes occurred inside and outside my body until a perfect Violet’s clone was standing in front of flabbergasted real Violet who froze with her eyes wide open, unable to produce any sounds.

As if adding a finishing touch, the knowledge about Violet’s active and passive skills was inscribed inside my brain. I could now use them the same way she did.

“So… I’m the actress playing your role. Huh, I did not expect that.”

A new extra major point was added to the list of things to do:

- Learn how to survive a week of living as Violet's perfect twin.