Episode 2: Our Differences (2/3)

“Welcome back.”

“I’m back mom.”

I entered through the entrance and made my way to the living room. The dining room and living room were interconnected, separated by a small partition. Mom who was holding a crock pot of something delicious greeted me.

“Did you see Elliot anywhere?”

“Did something happen?”

“Yeah.”

Mom placed the pot down and smiled. She gestured with her eye.

I heard the sound of water flowing. She was in the bath.

“Thanks.”

“So, what happened?”

“I went too far with my jokes.”

“Oh my. You know you shouldn’t do that to yourself.”

“Mn…”

I wasn’t the best at differentiating a joke from facts. I tend to take things a little too seriously.

I met Jasper on the way to my room and bumped fists with him.

When I got to my room, I saw Elliot’s ♀ bag tossed on top of the bed.

The only time I’d ever do something like this was when I’m in a rush for something.

I heaved a sigh. Looks like I have to apologise to ‘myself’.

Apologising to myself? The thought of it was hella weird. It’s like I’m realising how much we often take ourselves for granted.

An extra table had been placed in our room. Elliot ♀, in all fairness, decided that I would keep ownership of my original desk while she took the bed.

The cupboards which held our clothes had been split into two sides. A masking tape to mark the middle.

She also got herself a new charger. Whereas we each had our own phones, the charger was the only one between us.

I heard the sound of the door hinge. Elliot ♀ stopped just outside. She had one hand holding her hair with the towel, the other against the door knob.

“Sorry.”

I said.

“You know that I don’t have a good temper.”

She said.

It struck me as true and false. My temper had never been great, average at best. But I was able to keep patient and endure.

She probably lost it when I crossed the line.

If I were me, what would I want someone to do to reconcile with ‘me’?

A simple apology, that’s first and foremost.

And after that, it would be…

“I’ll take a shower.”

“I’m using this towel, use the other one.”

“Alright.”

…Time.

If I were made, what I need next would be time alone to calm down.

Right?

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

Jasper, our little brother, looked like he was in pain. His face scrunched up whenever he bit into something hard.

The reason?

There was a loose milk tooth in his mouth. It was already dangling.

Unfortunately, he was too chicken to tear it off. So until it fell off naturally, he would have to suffer the pain that came with it.

“Sister Elliot… brother Elliot. Did you experience the same thing too when you were younger?”

““Yes.””

“Isn’t it annoying? How did you deal with it?”

“Um, it just happens?”

“Wait until the tooth drops. Meanwhile, just chew with the other side.”

“Yeah. What he said.”

“Unless you had two loose teeth on both sides at the same time otherwise… just wait until it drops.”

Her words brought back funny memories.

Having one loose tooth was difficult enough, imagine having two, one on each side of the mouth.

“So you actually experienced this twenty-something-times until it all fell off?”

Jasper’s expression paled.

“It’s not as bad as you think.”

“It’s no different from dealing with a large pimple.”

She’s lying.

Or is she not? I mean, the zit on our faces was still quite an annoying existence. It would continue to stay until it matured, dried off and healed.

Or we could pop it and call it a day.

Just like deciding between letting the teeth drop naturally or plucking it out.

“I trust you.”

“I personally think it’s much more convenient if you just pluck the teeth. Much better to feel the pain now than to have it drag on.”

Mom’s suggestion was rather brutal. But it made sense I guess?

Back when I had the two loose teeth, one on each side of my mouth, I got fed up and had mom pluck both of them out while bawling tears.

“Sometimes you don’t even feel the pain.”

Mom added.

She was also right about that one. The anticipation was worse than the pain. It didn’t actually hurt when she pulled the teeth out.

“Really?”

Jasper narrowed his eyes.

“Yes really. If it’s loose enough, then you wouldn’t feel much when you pluck it out.”

“Okay. I think I prefer to wait.”

Sissy.

“The choice is yours to make.”

Mom smiled.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

“Are you going to pop the pimple?”

We were in our room doing homework when Elliot ♀ asked such a question.

“I don’t know. Are you?”

I guess the question was a sign that she got over her anger.

Still, intuition was telling me that it wasn’t completely resolved.

“If you plan to pop it, I’ll do it.”

“Alright.”

“Let’s go.”

We for some reason went to the bathroom together. There was a face mirror at the sink. We stared at each other’s reflection.

It was a pretty weird feeling, seeing how similar we were in terms of appearance. Only the height difference was the most disparate thing between us.

“Are you sure about this? Why did you suddenly want to pop it?”

I asked.

What happened to confirming our hypothesis that pimples can heal even without us having to do anything?

“Just, fed up.”

“By your appearance?”

“Yeah.”

“You know, it actually doesn’t really matter that much right?”

Her reflection glared at me.

“You seriously don’t understand a woman’s heart at all.”

Was that something I had to consider the next time I talked to her?

“I’m pretty sure that’s not what you’re actually thinking about, right?”

“Then try and guess.”

For the first time since she came into existence in my life, I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

Was this what people referred to as ‘a woman’s heart is hardly understood’?

“I… don’t know.”

“Exactly.”

Huh? What?

“I just feel like it, so, are you going to pop the pimple or not?”

Seriously? How much do I not understand myself? How much do I understand that I don’t understand myself?

???

…Now that’s an oddly correct way to put it.

“You know… let’s just stick to the experiment. What if two pimples come out later if we pop one?”

“…”

“Elliot?”

“Fuck you.”

She grabbed a piece of tissue and squeezed the zit.

Just like that it was gone.

But once it healed it would likely leave a mark because of how big it was. That or if she didn’t remove all the pus then the pimple might come back.

“You and I are not the same.”

She said.

I understood what she was trying to imply.

She had enough of ‘me’.

She didn’t like ‘me’.

So she wanted to be different.

“You wanted Aria right?”

“Elliot, that was a joke.”

“Let’s settle it this way. Sports festival, whichever of us beats the other’s score on the track listens to the loser.”

“…”

“If I win, you will not tell mom. If you win, I’ll give up on her.”

“Hey, you don’t need to go that far.”

This was unlike me.

No. This was just like me.

The days with Ellis where I had to not only put on a mask, but also shackle my heart.

She was trying to deny herself.

I don’t know if she was aware of it.

“Now, now. What was it that you two are keeping a secret?”

“Mom?!”

Out of nowhere, the succubus appeared with her sadistic smile.

“It’s rather late, quite dangerous to roam the halls you know?”

“W-We were just talking.”

Elliot ♀ coughed.

“She wanted to pop her pimple.”

I said.

“Are you not going to then?”

At mom’s words, I looked at myself in the mirror again.

I didn’t know why, I suddenly felt that the zit which had always been a sore for the eyes didn’t look so bad.

“No.”

I think Elliot ♀ had a point.

We were both Elliots but…

Just because we were both Elliots, we had no reason to be carbon copies of each other.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

“Please take a seat.”

Elliot ♀ and I did as we were told.

“Now then, I’ll ask a few questions. I’ll need you both to answer them as best as you can.”

I was feeling incredibly nervous. In front of us was the TALENT inspector.

Remember how a week ago I talked about the issue with ‘problematic’ blessings? If there was ever a situation where one’s abilities would be dangerous to civilization, or oneself, then the person would have to enrol into a special school.

It was an exciting prospect. Yet, if that were to happen, we would be forced to part ways with Aria.

That was a no-go.

Two Elliots in one world wasn’t that big of a deal. Our identities, nation-issued IC and birth certificates were part of the ‘duplicate’ category so it had no effect legally.

The biggest concern here was the shift in the world to accommodate our existence. It wasn’t normal to wake up one day realising that you have a friend who is both male and female. It was also not normal to suddenly have a new individual be part of the government database. Most mysterious was how the integration of the two Elliots came so smoothly and untroubled. Everyone who had known us both for a long time wasn’t troubled by our existence at all.

It was a long questioning session that took up almost an hour. By the end of it…

The inspector lowered the tablet and crossed his legs. The two of us waited for the verdict.

We didn’t lie. We didn’t try to cheat. We came as clean as possible with every question he had posed.

“Elliot Amaryllis.”

““Yes.””

“As of the moment we deem your blessing irregular.”

I felt my chest freeze up.

“However, we don’t foresee any danger to the ability. So you may decide to enrol in Mondai, or remain here.”

Elliot ♀ and I sighed in relief.

This was an even better option actually.

“If you discover some new ability with your blessing, don’t delay in notifying us. Depending on the situation, you may be obligated to enrol into the special school but until then, you may stay in this school.”

“That’s good news.”

Richard-sensei who had been listening in spoke his mind.

“This was an interesting encounter. Thank you for your time, I’ll be leaving for the next student if you’ll excuse me.”

The inspector got up and left.

Elliot ♀ and I high-fived each other.

Richard-sensei shook his head at our reaction.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

“So, how did it go?”

“He told us we can choose to go or not.”

“No way, they had that option? I thought it was usually yes or no?”

“Maybe it’s because there are two Elliots.”

Oliver, Willow and I hung out in class. Meanwhile, Aria, Ellis and Elliot ♀ were nowhere to be seen.

The likelihood of them being at the cafeteria was pretty high. Though, to avoid Ellis I decided that it was best to simply stay away.

On the topic of blessing, Oliver had already received his, meanwhile, Willow’s was still to be known. Her birthday hadn’t passed yet.

Oliver’s blessing was simple voice mimicry.

It was a useless ability that made him a human parrot, or cockatoo. If used well, he could actually become a professional voice actor or singer. Too bad he didn’t have any interest in that field. I don’t know what career he wants to pursue when he grows up though.

“Sports festival is coming up, I’m starting to regret choosing three events.”

Oliver groaned.

“I have five lined up.”

I said.

“Yeah, only because of that bod of yours.”

Thanks for the compliment… yeah.

“Oh. Speaking of sports, Elliot, the other Elliot is also pretty fit isn’t she?”

Willow said, as if to hint at something.

“She’s probably the fastest, or second fastest runner in school.”

Oliver followed up.

There’s a sense of incongruence. Information I didn’t know about Elliot ♀ rolled off their tongue so naturally.

“How many events are you taking Willow?”

I asked.

“Me? One.”

“And what event is that?”

“The fun run relay!”

“That one huh? The hallmark of the sports festival. I wonder what kind of questions they’ll come up with this year?”

The fun run relay is put simply, a relay where after covering a certain distance, there would be a box where you gacha. A task is written on the gacha-ed paper which you need to fulfil in order to proceed.

It’s better explained if you watch the sports festival of any slice-of-life school anime.

“Elliot, you’ve not been around Aria as of late. Is everything okay?”

Willow asked.

“What… do you mean?”

“Oh-ho. Looks like someone is suspicious today.”

Oliver wasn’t going to let me get away with it.

“Did something happen between you two?”

“Uh, no, nothing like that.”

I didn’t know why but Aria often stayed back later these past few days. And with the sports festival coming, Elliot ♀ and I had been staying back at the track club till the evenings to train.

Then after training the two of us would spend some time with Aria. I wasn’t sure if she didn’t mind the fact that we were all sweaty after all that exercise, or if she just put up with it.

Elliot ♀ didn’t smell horrible after running so maybe it was the same for me?

As we were talking, I noticed Aria entering the class much earlier than usual. Our gaze met. With a kind smile, she waved at me. I waved back.

A few seconds behind her were Elliot ♀ and Ellis. They looked too distracted to care about my presence.

“I’m still suspicious of her.”

Willow said, shifting her gaze between Ellis, Elliot ♀ and Aria. It was only after the conversation with Elliot regarding her sexual orientation did I understand what Willow was sensing.

Yes, your suspicion is correct.

But I won’t be telling you about it.