Episode 1: Our Encounter (2/2)

<Elliot Amaryllis (♀)>

“Ladies first.”

He said.

“Fuck you.”

I wasn’t mad. I just found it really silly.

How in the world could there be another me in this world? And this guy is a dude too.

“Let’s meet at the teacher’s office.”

He knows me, I know him. I don’t think I need to explain to him what we’re going to do next.

“Got it. Careful.”

Careful?

“Alright?”

I know he probably said it out of habit but…

It was the first time hearing myself being concerned with… myself. It was a bit odd.

I went in first, resisting the urge to turn back to look at him.

I don’t have a good fashion sense, unlike my peers, but I feel that the zit on his right face didn’t look too out of place. Nonetheless it still looked disgusting.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

I greeted the principal and prefect as I would every morning and went on my way. I came to the locker area and found my space.

I don’t know if the contents inside have changed, or that the other me had a different locker elsewhere. Whatever it was, this wasn’t the time to confirm that. We needed to report to Richard-sensei about our blessing.

Everyone upon their 16th birthday, receives a special ability. The abilities enhance, or degrade one’s life depending on individual circumstances. Ultimately, all youths who have celebrated their 16th birthday must report to the government about their ability.

As a student, the process is made simple by simply letting our homeroom teacher know about it.

I expected something like demonic transformation or a boost in intellect. Who would’ve thought that my blessing was meeting another me?

Could it be because I keep imagining myself as a guy? I don’t like the thought of having a d*ck to take care of though.

“Then again, it would be nice if I didn’t have to bother with periods wouldn’t it…”

I heaved a sigh. I continued walking.

Until…

“Elliot!”

I heard someone call my name.

I turned around, and saw my bf.

“Ellis!”

“Happy Birthday!!”

“Thank you!”

Ellis Cole. Bright blonde hair and pretty green eyes. Her features were always well groomed, giving her that mature beauty kind of look.

“Yes, I’m okay. Um, do you remember me?”

I asked. Her expression darkened at my question.

“Yes. I remember you clearly. What happened?”

“W-Well. You didn’t notice? It has to do with my blessing.”

“Blessing? Does it have to do with the text you sent me earlier?”

“Y-Yeah…”

The question I asked was ‘Do you remember talking to another me?’. She should have the chat history of the other me, right? Or was something else going on?

“I don’t know what you mean by talking to another you. Could your blessing be creating copies of yourself?”

“No. It’s not.”

“Then?”

“Do you know about another Elliot who is a guy?”

“A guy version of you?”

Ellis looked genuinely puzzled. She thought about it for a moment before saying:

“Actually, now that you’ve mentioned it, I remember having a dream last night. Disclaimer, it’s a really, really weird dream. I saw myself going out on dates with a guy that looks like you. We did things together all the time. Like hanging out on the rooftop, riding the train together, and studying each other’s horoscopes. Then things went wrong, we broke up and became the worst of enemies.”

What the fuck?

Assuming the dream Ellis had was what happened to the other me… so that’s what happened to Elliot ♂?

Ellis is a beautiful girl. A sweet childhood friend of mine. It made sense why we would’ve become a ship if I were a male. But to think we’d break up…

“It’s just a dream. Just a dream!”

Ellis emphasised.

“O-Oh.”

It’s not just a dream Ellis… should I tell her that?

No… not yet.

“But it felt too real to be a dream though… hm…”

Ellis scratched her hair contemplatively.

“Ellis, could you go back to class first? I have something I need to do.”

“H-Huh? Are you chasing me away?”

It’s currently a hypothesis but, the possibility that memories of Elliot ♂ and I are part of the duplicate category.

“Ellis. I just need to find Richard-sensei for a bit. It’s nothing big.”

“Can’t I come with you as usual then?”

I don’t think it would be good for Ellis to meet Elliot ♂ at this time.

“Trust me Ellis. If you come with me, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“…”

She pouted.

“Do you need me to help you carry your stuff to class then?”

She pointed at the blue bag I was carrying.

“It’s fine.”

“Okay. See you in class then.”

Saying that, she left.

I heaved a deep-deep sigh.

It’s a little weird to think this but… I feel like I just found out a piece of information I can stab Elliot ♂ with.

I entered the teacher’s office. Greeted my subject teachers that passed, and then came before Richard-sensei, who was my homeroom teacher.

“Good morning Richard-sensei.”

“Morning Elliot. What brings you here today?”

“I’m here to report my blessing.”

“Oh. Then, happy birthday to you.”

“Thanks.”

He grabbed a basket full of candy.

“Want some?”

“No thank you.”

“It’s good you refused. Anyways, would you like to talk about it in private?”

“Yes. But hang on a moment, there’s someone else we need to wait for.”

“Someone else…?”

Richard-sensei looked confused.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later that Elliot ♂ entered the staff room.

All eyes.

And I mean, ALL EYES turned to him.

A few silent minutes later, those very eyes shifted to me.

“Elliot?”

Richard-sensei looked like a pigeon who just got shot.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

<Elliot Amaryllis (♂)>

Elliot ♀ entered completely fine. The disciplinary teacher and prefect greeted her as if the most normal thing ever.

Does this mean I’m actually the fake one? No way right? I decided to test my chances.

A few minutes after her, I went up to greet them.

“Morning.”

“Mor… what?”

The prefect was Leon Wright, a senior of mine who joined the same track club as I did. His expression went crooked.

“What?”

I asked back.

“T-Then who was that?”

Leon pointed towards the school building where Elliot ♀ left.

The disciplinary teacher took off his glasses and wiped the frame before looking at me for a second time.

He must be seeing things.

Yeah.

I’m pretty sure memories of me are part of the ‘duplicate’ category. I heaved a sigh.

“We’re both Elliots. I just got my blessing this morning, it’s exactly as you witnessed.”

“I see… please be sure to report it to your homeroom…?”

“We plan to head there right now. Thank you for helping me confirm something.”

So it seems both Elliot ♀ and I are real.

“Damn it. What the fuck.”

If we were both real, then doesn’t this mean I’ll have to live with myself from now on? Like, the hell is this?

Some people would be glad to get themselves a cute waifu to stay with for the rest of their lives but… this is me. It’s ME you know?

I don’t feel a shred of attraction towards Elliot ♀. Her looks are average compared to Ellis and Aria. All I feel is sympathy for her.

“Why exactly am I thinking in terms of whether or not I’m attracted to her?”

I don’t actually think she has a chance to enter my strike zone do I now?

No. No. No.

No way in hell.

It’s only a shower thought.

Yeah.

A shower thought.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

I made my way to the teacher’s office.

The moment I stepped inside, all students and teachers present turned to me.

I found myself becoming a chicken in a den of butchers… but not for too long.

When I shifted my sights to Elliot ♀, everyone’s gaze followed. The earlier noisy staff room had gone completely silent.

“Elliot?”

Richard-sensei’s voice was the mic-drop.

“Let’s talk through things in private—NOW.”

Elliot ♀ stressed.

“Elliot… and Elliot. Follow me.”

Sensei got up and together we followed him into a function room specifically for meetings. We took a seat beside each other.

Richard-sensei who sat opposite us blinked a few times. He massaged his forehead with his index finger.

“Who would like to speak first?”

“Me. Which of us is real?”

Elliot ♀ asked, eyeing me.

She can’t seriously be thinking that she’s the real one?

“I don’t know. Now that I’ve seen you both… I can’t tell.”

Richard-sensei was on the fence. However…

“Then we’re both real.”

Was Elliot’s ♀ answer.

It seems I misunderstood. She asked that to clarify a misunderstanding, not to compete.

“Then that would also mean that the whole universe had become distorted just to accommodate us both.”

Blessings are really broken stuff.

“Does this mean our blessing is part of the problematic category?”

I asked Richard-sensei, hesitantly.

Problematic abilities are those that can cause harm to the self, or the society if not managed well. Blessings weren’t a simple matter. Each person was unique. But as long as they don’t create massive disarray in life circumstances, it would pass as ordinary.

The process of judging what blessing is problematic versus what is not goes through a systematic assessment process.

For example, there exist people with blessings that manipulate time, but they don’t fall under the category of ‘problematic’ due to the limitations set by their own blessing.

Meanwhile, someone who has a blessing as simple as healing wounds, or controlling weather would fall under ‘problematic’. They require special attention because it was something that could significantly affect their life.

“I can’t judge. I may have to submit a report and ask a TALENT agent to assess. Besides what is obvious, are there any additional abilities? Like being able to communicate telepathically, or swap between bodies?”

““At the moment, no.””

Elliot ♀ and I looked at each other with a flat smile.

…At the moment huh…

Richard-sensei nodded.

“Give me a moment to think things through.”

““Alright.””

Gosh. Can you stop saying the same things I do, me?

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

After discussing with Elliot ♀ and Richard-sensei about our blessing, we came to a rough conclusion about how the ‘duplicate’ concept of people’s memory works.

Until the person themselves meets both of us, they’ll only remember one of us. Until then, they’ll assume the memories of the other person as simply a dream.

Ellis, whom Elliot ♀ bumped into and Richard-sensei both said that they had weird dreams last night. The dream gets converted into tangible memory when either one of us appears before them.

With this in mind, we had to be prudent with how we presented ourselves in class.

As such…

“Nice to meet you. I’m Elliot Amaryllis.”

“And… I’m Elliot Amaryllis too.”

We became circus clowns putting up a comedy skit in class.

…Standing before the entire classroom having to reintroduce ourselves just in case anyone can’t link the two memories together.

Everyone was bewildered.

Ellis looked like her soul had been sent to heaven.

And Aria…

She blinked curiously at the two of us. I don’t know why, but I felt relieved by such a reaction.

I sighed. Just to hear my partner sigh with me at the same time.

““Huh?””

We glared at each other in alarm.

““What are you sighing about?””

Were we sighing about the same thing?

“Now then. Since there’s an extra seat at the back, you’ll have to decide between yourself who sits where.”

Richard-sensei said.

The seat he was referring to was the infamous protagonist’s seat. Located at the very back corner with a window view of the school track field below, it had been left unoccupied since the beginning of the semester.

This would’ve been perfect for me if not for the fact that… sitting just beside that spot was Ellis. Plus, I very well prefer my current seat which is situated just beside Aria.

I had no intentions of joining up with my ex, nor any intentions of leaving Aria’s side.

Our lips parted at the same time.

““You sit at the back.””

Fuck you.

“Decide with rock paper scissors!”

I heard someone say from the crowd.

The whole classroom burst into laughter.

“Rock paper scissor loser takes the back!”

It was Oliver.

“Damn it.”

“You better prepare yourself.”

ROCK. PAPER. SCISSORS!

We both shot papers.

““Again.””

We both shot papers again.

And then rock.

Then back to paper.

Then scissors.

Then rock.

Then rock again.

And again.

And again…

The whole class was up in arms, hollering like a bunch of monkeys on fire. Were we having a bloody boxing match with hands or something? It certainly felt like it.

By the tenth tie, Elliot ♀ and I knew it was impossible to get a solution. Yet, because of all the hype, we couldn’t stop.

Paper! Scissors!

“Fu…!”

Almost cursing in front of Richard-sensei, I bit my tongue.

“Hahahahaha! I win! I win!”

Caught up in the moment, the bitch ♀ raised her hand declaring her triumphant victory. The whole class applauded in cheers.

“Winners luck. Elliot… it’s unfortunate but you’ll have to sit at the back.”

“Sorry. But I’m not giving my seat up.”

Elliot ♀ pointed at the back seat, telling me to basically fuck off.

“Tsk.”

I glanced at Aria. She suppressed a laugh when our eyes met.

I wasn’t sure what she thought about the whole skit. I felt both happy and like shit that I was able to make her laugh.

Accepting my defeat, I took my place in the protagonist’s seat.

Ellis didn’t even bother to greet me.

Oliver who sat in front turned to me and said.

“Happy birthday bro.”

“You just had to suggest rock paper scissors there didn’t you?”

“It was an accident. An accident I swear. I didn’t think you’d tie with her twenty times.”

“Does it feel weird?”

“Weird?”

“You just referred to the other me as ‘her’. And you’re treating me as two different people.”

“It feels surprisingly natural if you ask me. It’s like I suddenly had big brain.”

What the hell is that even supposed to mean?

Oliver turned back to the front as daily attendance began. I also looked towards the front.

Elliot ♀ and Aria were… laughing.

A bitter feeling swelled in my heart.

What the hell? We were basically the same person so why do I feel this bitter jealousy?

Hm?

Hold on a second. I’ve denied this earlier in the morning but could it actually be that Elliot ♀ likes…

No.

There’s no way right?

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

“Please open your textbook and flip to page 102.”

Textbook… textbook…

I ran my hand into my bag and dug out my mathematics exercises, but I couldn’t find my textbook. I glanced towards the front.

Oh, I get it now. Elliot ♀ was holding onto it.

Earlier I had the English textbook, and so she had to share it with Aria. It was now my turn to share with someone.

I glanced to my right.

“…”

Her neck slowly turned to me. The stone-cold gaze made me regret even looking at her.

Ellis Cole.

My ex.

She turned back to the front, acting as if she never saw me in the first place. I kicked the chair in front of me.

“What?”

Oliver turned around.

“Can I borrow your textbook?”

“Did you forget to bring yours?”

“No. Mine’s with Elliot.”

“Oh. Sure thing.”

I grabbed my chair and moved to sit beside Oliver. When my mathematics teacher, Irine-sensei saw that, she asked.

“Did you forget to bring your book today Ell…”

She couldn’t even finish speaking my name without being conscious of the other Elliot ♀.

“Sensei, my book is with Elliot… the other Elliot…”

“We only have one textbook shared between the two of us.”

I explained, and Elliot ♀ also followed up.

“I misunderstood. I’ll overlook the matter this time. However, you’re responsible to bring up this issue to your homeroom teacher.”

“Thank you sensei.”

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

Class started, class ended.

It was now recess.

“Thank you teacher! See you next class!”

“Where are you going to eat this time?”

Oliver asked.

“That’s obvious isn’t it?”

Wherever the other Elliot ♀ is going.

I stood up as the teacher’s presence completely disappeared. Moving my chair back to my seat, I almost knocked the leg of the chair against her calf.

She jerked back exaggeratedly and scowled at me.

“…I remember who you are now.”

“Wow. Isn’t that a nice way to greet someone now?”

To Ellis’ spry response, I spoke with sarcasm. Giving me cold shoulders, she left towards the duo. Elliot ♀ and Aria.

“…”

Shit. How am I going to approach Elliot ♀ like this?

“Yo. You okay?”

Oliver waved his hand in front of my face.

“Yeah…”

Do I look okay to you?

“So, where are you going?”

“How about you Oliver?”

“I’m going…”

“…Going on a date with me!”

“Hoh! Calm down girl.”

“Hehe!”

The one who cut into the conversation was Willow Hart. Oliver’s girlfriend.

They got together almost the same time I did with Ellis. Except, unlike my relationship, theirs lasted through the test of time.

Oliver stroked Willow’s bright blue hair.

“It’s weird, completely weird, you know?! You and… you, I think I prefer this you.”

How many times did she repeat ‘you’? Four?

“Oh, and why is that?”

Oliver was the one to ask in my stead.

“Why? Because that one there feels fishy.”

Willow wiggled her finger in the direction of Elliot ♀.

So it seems there are some differences in the dynamic of our class relationships. Does this mean that Elliot wasn’t close with Oliver and Willow?

“Then in your memory, were you two friends?”

“Friends? Aren’t we friends?”

Willow’s question only made me more puzzled. If you were friends with both Elliot then what did you mean by fishy?

“Ah, and they left.”

“I wonder where they’re going.”

Elliot ♀, Ellis and Aria were making merry with one another. A few short seconds later, they left the class. Oliver and Willow, who looked like they had intentions to invite them to eat, sighed disappointingly together.

“I know where they’re going.”

I said.

“Eh? Where? Where?”

I know because I was also Elliot.

“The girls’ bathroom.”

A dead zone for a guy like me.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

I didn’t get to eat with Elliot ♀.

The first reason is that we couldn’t find them. Second, the trio only returned to class after the bell rang. If they were only a few seconds later, they would’ve been caught by Fauz-sensei, our chemistry teacher.

Anyways. The school day proceeded to the end. And soon, it was time to go.

“Bye!”

“See you tomorrow Elliot!”

It was the first time in a long while since I saw Ellis smile like that. She left after leaving her farewells to Elliot ♀.

“I’m going too.”

Aria said.

“Alright. Please take care.”

“I will. Thank you.”

A bright, charming smile blossomed on her face.

It took my breath away.

But I knew I couldn’t just sit still here.

“See you tomorrow.”

I said with all the courage I could muster.

Aria who had been fixated on Elliot ♀ turned to me.

Her dark red hair and passionate light-amethyst eyes met mine. With a sweet expression comparable to that of cotton candy, her lips parted.

“You too Elliot. See you tomorrow.”

I wasn’t sure if it was because of shock or otherwise. Both Elliot ♀ and I stood there until she completely disappeared.

“…”

“…”

Elliot ♀ and I looked at each other.

““You…””

Our voices synced.

We decided not to talk to each other as we walked to the train station.

“…”

“…”

We finally reached home after a long walk back. The evening weather wasn’t too hot, so the journey was bearable.

What was unbearable was ‘myself’.

“Do you have anything you want to tell me?”

Elliot ♀ was the one to pose that question first.

“Are you mad?”

I asked.

“Why would I? How about you?”

She looked at me stunned. Why that expression?

“A little.”

“A little? You mean you’re jealous.”

“Yeah, I’m jealous.”

“Which means you’re mad at me.”

Wow. I can’t believe it. I thought girls were supposed to be more emotional beings. Here for some reason, I, the guy, was the one first to lose my cool. I saw no point in being deceitful to ‘myself’ so I came clean.

“Yeah. I’m a little mad.”

“So, what can I do to make it up? Ellis didn’t want you joining her, even though Aria asked if I could’ve invited you.”

So she had that much consideration. As expected of ‘myself’.

I couldn’t really blame her for winning the seat beside Aria either. The outcome was really up to chance more than anything else.

“Alright. I’ll apologise for being a klutz.”

“Pfft.”

She laughed.

I almost asked her why she was laughing.

“You don’t need to apologise. But hell, even if I said that, you’d do that anyways. Thanks for forgiving me this once.”

“We sure are weird.”

“You can say that again.”

I found myself smiling oddly at this girl called Elliot ♀.

“Well, let’s see if mom is home.”

“Yeah. Let’s.”

I took the secret key under the pot and unlocked the door.

We entered.

The whole house was dark. In that darkness, Elliot ♀ and I took off our shoes before entering.

Then when we reached the living room… the lights snapped on.

I saw a cake and pointy gnome party hats. A loud pop rang out as rainbow confetti descended from the sky.

““Welcome back! Happy birthday Elli…”

We were so surprised we turned into stone statues.

And so did they.

Mom, Luna and Jasper.

Luna Amaryllis, my 23-year-old elder sister currently studying engineering in college. I didn’t know when she came back, but I guessed that she played a part in organising this home surprise.

Jasper Amaryllis, my 12-year-old brother who was still in primary school. He was in his uniform, which probably meant he just returned from class.

And lastly we have Freya Twilight. My mom.

“What the fuck?!”

Elder sister Luna was the first to quack.

“Elliot?! Which… which one of you is the real Elliot?!!”

She screamed at the top of her lungs.

““Calm down, elder sister…!””

Both Elliot ♀ and I said exactly the same thing. It made things worse.

“Uwah?! Mom! What the hell are they?! What the hell are they?! Demon begone! Since when were there two Elliots?!”

“Now, now dear Luna. This is probably some big misunderstanding.”

My mom soothed my sister who acted like an adult baby.

“Elliots?”

Jasper, my incorrigible little brother, was a lot calmer. He was able to make the correct assessment of the situation.

“That’s right.”

I said.

“We’re both Elliots.”

The other me followed up.

““Didn’t you see our message from earlier this morning?””

“Huh? O-Oh yeah, I did. I think I kicked one of you out of the group.”

What the fuck?

““Which one of us did you kick out?!””

““How would I know?!””

Come to find out later, the one elder sister Luna removed from the group was me.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

“Ahem. You’re saying that this is the blessing?”

Mom sat us all down to have a short family discussion.

“I can’t think of any other explanation.”

“Right. If this isn’t our blessing, then I don’t know what this is.”

Elliot ♀ and I looked at each other and nodded.

“Wow. Then I have a brother and two sisters now.”

Jasper didn’t sound excited in the least for the kind of life he would have now that an additional family member had been introduced.

“Shit. One of you must be a demon. There’s no way I have two little brothers!”

Meanwhile, my sister Luna was denying my existence.

“Hm… I’ve always wanted to have more kids. I think it’s a good blessing.”

Mom’s response was… so very typical of her.

“So what does this mean now?”

“Yeah. All of a sudden you have two of us. What about our identities and stuff?”

Legal documents like our birth certificates and IC need to be checked.

“We can always visit the registry office if there are any problems. Why not enjoy the food first? We’re in no rush right?”

Mom’s right. We got worked up for nothing.

Even if this blessing is going to end up under the ‘problematic’ category, it’s not like anyone is going to die tomorrow.

I looked at the cake on the table. My favourite green tea cheesecake.

Correction: Our favourite green tea cheesecake.

Even though I already kind of knew the possibility that mom was planning this surprise… experiencing it while knowing didn’t make the occasion any less special.

““Thank you, everyone.””

Today on the 22nd of April,

Elliot ♀ and I celebrated our 16th birthday together.

It was the start of a new cohabitation. It was also the start of chaos and…

Love.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

“What do we do about this?”

“I wonder…”

Elliot ♀ was already rolling around the bed. I just came in after changing into pyjamas in the bathroom.

“To think we’d actually face a cliche situation like this.”

“I can almost tell what you’re thinking.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

All the rooms in the house had already been used up. Even if Elliot ♀ and I were to decide to have separate rooms, the only other option would be the eerie attic. There was no way I’d let her sleep there… unless some big renovations were made.

We’ve both read novels about this situation. And the outcomes were usually one of two. Split or stay.

“Since there’s no way to split, we can only share the same room.”

She said, lazily looking up at me from her phone.

“Are you fine with that though?”

I’m conscious about sleeping with a girl, though it isn’t that big of a deal. What I’m more worried about is how she feels about it.

She knows obviously I wouldn’t try to assault her (why the fuck would I want to fuck myself?), but something about sleeping in the same room is just…

“You can just take the futon.”

“I won’t be disagreeing with that.”

I didn’t feel like she was being unfair. If anything, she read my intentions completely right. She was probably already aware that convincing me to sleep on the bed while she slept on the floor was pointless.

“Problem solved.”

“How about our items?”

“Are you talking about my menstrual cycle? Funnily enough, I don’t know if I should be embarrassed or shy. I mean, if my guess is on point, you’d think of this as a good opportunity to learn how a woman functions, no?”

It sucks to be read like a book. But I’m likewise doing the same to her.

Just as I’m curious about how girls deal with periods, she’s probably curious about things like having a ‘morning wood’.

Crazy, but true, because she’s me.

I don’t need to make the situation award by telling her thoughts so I kept my mouth shut.

But actions spoke louder than words. Our poker faces turned beet red at the same time.

““Fuck.””