Episode 4: Our Relationship (1/2)

<Elliot Amaryllis (♂)>

The first memory I had of Elliot ♀ was that of waking up to a new day.

Perhaps remembering the shock of that day, every morning since then, I unconsciously associate waking up with this odd feeling of anticipation.

I opened my eyes, shut my phone up, and stretched my arms in the air.

I turned towards the window, the light diffusing first through the sky-blue fabric, illuminating the room in a beautiful ocean hue.

I then glanced up towards the bed.

There on top was the other me still tucked in the blankets.

We never bothered to alter our sleep schedule. So, our phones rang at the same time.

But today… her alarm didn’t ring for some reason.

I recalled yesterday. The events that transpired right after the culture festival.

The tears she cried.

The heartbreak she experienced from her first official rejection.

Thinking about it made my already blurry head blurrier. The shock was probably much worse for her than it was for me.

I had already gotten over my crush on Ellis. And even if I hadn’t, there was no turning back since I was the one to initiate the breakup long ago.

My situation was different from Elliot’s ♀, who instead initiated a confession that wasn’t met with a reply until now.

Somewhere deep down perhaps she still hoped for her love.

“Elliot, morning—”

I shook her shoulders.

“Morning—”

She uttered but didn’t try to get up.

“You still plan to sleep—?”

“Mn…”

She replied with a murmur.

“Alright. I’ll take a bath first then.”

Grabbing my change of clothes, I left the room.

As I touched the bottom of the stairs, I was hit by an incredible smell coming from the kitchen.

What’s this?

Curiosity over breakfast bubbled up.

Whenever dad was home, mom would prepare some of the most extravagant meals.

I moved to the kitchen to investigate. The sound of something sizzling in a pan became increasingly apparent. I saw mom and dad, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with matching kitchen aprons over the cooking counter.

“Morning mom, dad.”

I greeted languidly.

“Oh, morning son.”

“Morning Elliot dear.”

They looked so happy.

“The other you is not awake?”

“She said she wanted to sleep a little more.”

“Ara… something happened yesterday didn’t it?”

Of course, mom would’ve noticed. Mom is mom after all.

“Yeah. But I think she’ll be alright.”

“Yes, yes. Of course. You’re her after all.”

That sounded weird.

Weird-weird kind of weird.

I peeked at the ingredients at the counter.

“Wow, so burgers?”

“Yup son. Burgers.”

“And cheese.”

“And pickles.”

“And onions.”

“And love.”

They looked at each other, and then burst into laughter. A heartwarming sigh of my parents getting along as a cute couple.

I had a hunch that Elliot ♀ would threaten to kill them if she saw them like this.

I left the kitchen after a glass of water before going to the bathroom.

…

Elliot ♀ and I stared at each other.

Half-open pyjamas, her bra and panties were showing.

Why don’t I find that amusing I wonder?

She wasn’t saying anything, so I thought maybe I should speak?

“Why didn’t you lock the door?”

I asked.

Blinking, she seemed to struggle to answer.

I didn’t expect to find her here in the bathroom, didn’t she say she wanted to sleep in? Worse yet, in the middle of taking off her pyjamas.

Was her head not working straight? Didn’t I say earlier I would be taking the bath first? She should’ve known better than to cut the queue right?

Or was my head not working straight? The normally open bathroom door was closed, yet I didn’t knock when forcing the door open.

Her eyes swam around for a bit before she proceeded to take off the rest of her clothes. Stripped down to her underwear, she looked at me again.

Now I was even more confused.

If I were a girl, I wouldn’t do this.

As a guy, even I’d hesitate to show her my upper body.

She was ‘me’, right?

So why was she acting out of place?

Should ‘I’ be embarrassed?

If she wanted a compliment, then shouldn’t she be already aware that her body figure was not bad for a girl her age…

“I forgot.”

Forgot?

So this is her answer?

What the hell?

“Nevermind.”

I turned around and walked out of the bathroom.

I saw nothing.

Click.

The door was locked the instant my foot left the partition.

I walked a few more steps and smashed my head into the nearest wall.

“What the fuck…”

Did I actually just walk into that bullshit?

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

The juices practically oozed from the patty.

My oily fingers crumbled into the heavenly-smelling sesame seed bun.

Overflowing with the essence of beef, onion rings, cheese, pickles, white sauce and garlic powder.

With the juices quite literally spilling out from each bite, working through the succulent burger was both a mess and a delight.

A mighty favourite of our household. Mom’s take on the American burger.

Of course, this ain’t America.

Anyways.

Jasper, my little brother, was eating the burger with a fork and knife. His excuse was that he didn’t want to get his hands dirty. Probably the weirdest person sitting around the table right now.

“Jasper, you can just wash your hands after this, you know?”

“I’ll wash my hands even after using utensils.”

He wasn’t buying into mom’s persuasion.

“Hey, how many burgers do we have left?”

I asked.

I wasn’t blind to see that there were three more burgers.

“Three.”

Elliot ♀, probably catching the hidden meaning behind my words, said with a suspicious smile.

“Then let’s make quick work of them.”

“You take one, I take one, mom take one.”

Elliot ♀ and I quickly finished the current half-burger in our hands, then reached for one more each.

“What?! No! Mom! I’m reserving that for me!”

“Fufu. First come first serve as they say.”

With her signature yandere-like laugh, mom touched her cheeks with one finger and picked up the last burger.

“NOOO!!!”

Eating burgers with a knife and fork was nice without the mess. But it had the compensation of speed.

“Open your mouth dear.”

“Um, okay… ah…”

Mom affectionately fed dad with her hands. Sticking her fingers in and out of his mouth then puts the saliva-coated finger into her own mouth.

Seeing Jasper in absolute horror as he watched the situation play out in real time made for quite a pitiful spectacle.

But uh…

We both lost our appetite seeing our two parents flirt so…

“Here. I was just joking. Two was enough for me.”

“Same.”

Elliot and I decided to be ‘nice’ and put the burgers we took on Jasper’s plate. They were completely intact, we hadn’t nicked them even one bit.

He heaved a sigh.

But the relief didn’t last for long.

“Wait, you expect me to finish two more?”

“Yup.”

“Good luck Jasper.”

“Ugh! You bully!”

Oh yeah, he has a loose tooth too, doesn’t he?

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

It had been three hours since we started our holiday homework. Having not accomplished even half of the additional mathematics exercises, we both became our own lazy potatoes slouching on the sofa.

I received this sudden text from Ellis.

‘Help me with something. Can you check if Elliot is alright? She didn’t pick up my call yesterday.’

“Elliot.”

“What?”

Elliot ♀ looked up from her phone.

“Did Ellis say anything to you?”

“No, why? Did she text you?”

“She asked me if you’re alright. I suppose you’re not, right?”

“I’m fine.”

She thought about it a little more and added.

“Tell her I’m bawling out my eyes and don’t want to talk with her ever again.”

That’s some serious shit.

“How should I reply to her then?”

“Pass me your phone.”

I handed it off.

All she sent was an animated gif of a frog shaking his head very, very sadly.

“What the fuck?”

“Let’s see what she sends back.”

She stuck her body close to mine as we both stared at a single screen.

I suddenly felt self-conscious.

Why did she smell so good? Did she wash her hair today?

A few seconds later, Ellis responded.

‘Okay.’

“What the fuck.”

She cursed. And then her phone rang. It was Ellis’ number.

“W-What the hell?! No, you pick up the phone and tell her to fuck off!”

“Hey?! But she’s calling you, not me. You won’t achieve shit if you keep avoiding her like this!”

“But it’s only been a day since I got rejected! Does she have no sympathy?! Don’t people stop seeing each other immediately if they break up?!”

“Fine, fine!”

I pity this hopeless me…

I answered the phone.

“Hello?”

[“Hello? Elliot?”]

“Yes, this is Elliot speaking.”

Elliot ♀ kept pressing her index finger to her lips. Shush! She says soundlessly.

How desperate.

[“Why are you… isn’t this her phone?”]

“Yeah, but she told me to answer it for her because she’s scared.”

I stood up from the couch.

Elliot ♀ narrowed her eyes.

[“Then where is she right now?”]

“She…”

She’s right here, scowling at me.

“She ran away. So for courtesy’s sake, I picked up to tell you not to worry. She’ll be fine in a few more days, hopefully.”

[“Sorry for calling like this suddenly. I feel bad that I only gave her the answer through a personal letter, not face-to-face.”]

“No, it’s fine. I think you can still do that when you see each other again.”

[“Alright. Help me look after her until then, thank you and sorry.”]

“Got it. Don’t worry.”

[“…”]

“…”

[“Well, enjoy your holiday…?”]

“Y-Yeah, you too.”

End call.

I heaved a sigh.

To think I’d talk to my ex like this.

“So, what did she say?”

“She’ll confess to you when Golden Week is over.”

“Don’t lie to me you fucker.”

“Hey, I didn’t say that confession means ‘yes, I love you’, okay?”

“Wow, you dickhead. Be considerate of my feelings here?”

“You know you don’t mean that.”

“And you also know you shouldn’t treat girls like this.”

“What feelings?”

Interrupting us suddenly was Jasper holding onto his handheld game device, the Switch.

…When did he get here?

“Yeah. Apparently, your brother here just broke up with his ex.”

Elliot ♀ snickered.

Jasper looked between us alternately.

A suspicious raised brow.

A cognitive realisation.

Elliot ♀ pressed her hands to her mouth seconds too late. Trying to downplay the other person, she ultimately screwed herself over.

“You both like the same person?”

It had less of a relation to me as I’m not exactly gay, but a whole different story for Elliot ♀, the lesbian-in-hiding.

Elliot ♀ was in hot soup.

“You better not tell mom about this!”

Meanwhile Jasper… being vigorously shaken by Elliot, seemed rather enlightened by the information.

Elliot’s ♀ threat was nothing before the biggest yuri fan in the house.

“Wow… I have an elder sister who swings that way…”

“Jasper!!”

Yup. He’s a goner.

Dad came down from upstairs all of a sudden. Elliot ♀ and Jasper parted ways as if the fight never happened to begin with.

“We’re going to the buffet on top of Gilgamesh Tower to have dinner.”

He announced.

“Gilgamesh Tower?”

“Yup. It’s been a while since we went there. So let’s enjoy a family dinner.”

Jasper and Elliot looked at each other. One had twinkling eyes, the other looked deranged.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

The buffet restaurant was located on the topmost floor of Gilgamesh Tower’s shopping complex. A popular tourist spot located at one of the highest vantage points the city could offer.

“I wonder if you two are going to eat the exact same thing?”

Outside the buffet restaurant, Jasper asked curiously.

Elliot ♀ looked at me.

“What will you be getting?”

“I don’t know. A little bit of everything?”

“Same.”

“Hm…”

Jasper’s suspicion may be proven true.

“But I’m definitely getting marshmallows and chocolate.”

“Same here. But with ice cream.”

“What? You do that with ice cream?”

“And marshmallow.”

“…”

“…”

Our creative minds were going wild.

“Luna won’t be joining.”

Mom put down her phone and sighed.

“What? Why?”

“She left us all because of a man.”

My mom sighed for a second time.

Left us because of a man…

I think I saw a dark shadow over Elliot’s ♀ face for a second there.

“Dear me, I can’t help but wonder if the man she picked is as wonderful as you, my dear.”

Mom snuggled up to dad coquettishly.

“H-Honey, we’re out in public. You can do this all you want in the bedroom…”

“Promise?”

My mom’s eyes lit up eerily.

“P-Promise.”

I heard my dad gulp.

With a stony face, Jasper plugged two fingers into his ears.

Hallelujah.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

For our first buffet run, we came back with lobsters, raw oysters, eggs Benedict, cold ham, sausages, french fries in cheese and salad. It was a more Western selection.

For the second run: grilled octopus rings, teriyaki chicken, fried rice, fried noodles, duck meat, dumplings and miso soup. A more Asian-based diet.

And the third was our round-up. Shortcakes, fruits, ice cream, yoghurt, and chocolate-dipped marshmallows.

I was just about to finish the last of the fruit yoghurt when I heard Elliot ♀ burp. She fell back on her seat and groaned while rubbing her belly.

“Fuck. I knew I shouldn’t have competed with you.”

As a girl, she had a smaller stomach.

“Same…”

But well, my tummy wasn’t in too much of a good shape after eating so much either.

We were both in puberty, so we could stuff a lot into our bellies. Yet despite this, we weren’t the biggest eater in the family.

That title would go to mom. She was still going after her 5th plate of green curry.

Dad was already finishing up his meal with some late-night coffee.

As for Jasper…

“How’s your teeth?”

“I plucked it out.”

“Uh…? What?”

“I plucked it out before I came here.”

Seriously?

No wonder he was eating so quickly.

Elliot ♀ took a piece of tissue and wiped the side of his mouth—the ketchup stain. He frowned.

“Ahem.”

Dad faked a cough.

We turned our attention to him.

“Well, how should I begin…”

“Begin?”

“About us?”

“Yes, regarding you two.”

I wonder what he wanted to say? He’s been holding off on the topic since yesterday.

“I’m not talking about if it’s weird knowing that I have both another daughter and son. It’s more a matter of having the addition of a new family member.”

He said.

With two Elliots, it wasn’t a situation as simple as ‘we had become two’. The family had also grown by one.

In that case, should Elliot ♀ be counted as one of my siblings?

“You see, your father and I had wanted a lot of kids for a while now. But unfortunately, your mom’s baby factory isn’t cooperating too well.”

Mom said seriously.

“No, no, no. That’s not what I want to tell the kids.”

“Ara? But I’m really happy that our family is bigger now. Seeing those two together makes me feel like I gave birth to twins.”

“Honey…”

Seriously. Mom and dad never fail to inspire me with their boundless love.

“Oh dear~ Alright, alright. Enough of the jokes, I’ll go get some more food.”

Chuckling after teasing dad, my mom went to get even more food.

““…””

Dad sighed.

“Well, what I mean to talk about is our financial state.”

“Huh?”

“Suddenly having another child adds to the cost. I know some people say it’s too early to discuss family finances with their children, but I want to make clear that I don’t mean to blame anyone. At this rate, I’m not sure if it’s possible to send both of you overseas.”

Elliot ♀ and I was confused.

“Overseas? Why overseas?”

“Dad, can’t we just study locally if that’s the case?”

I mean, it’s not as if we need to study abroad right?

“Oh, is that so?”

Huh? What?

“I thought you wanted to study overseas? You told me about that in the past, didn’t you?”

Where did he get that idea?

Elliot ♀ and I looked at each other.

““Oh.””

Yeah right! That was so long ago! We did tell dad once that it would be nice to study abroad.

But well… the whole studying far away thing became a void idea when we fell for Ellis.

Of course, that wasn’t something we’d ever tell anyone.

Dad scratched his head awkwardly.

““Sorry dad.””

We’ve worried him unnecessarily all this time, haven’t we?

“Thank you for thinking about us.”

“But it’s fine if we just study here. It’s no different actually.”

“It’s not like we really wanted to go overseas.”

“It’s only a childish wish. You don’t really need to follow through with it.”

“Or should we try and get a scholarship?”

“Scholarship for what course?”

“Right…”

Things still feel far off. We were only in our first year in senior high school. There was still a whole year to decide our future path.

“I still feel that it’s my responsibility to provide for your education.”

Dad said with a wry smile.

“We’ll come to it when we come to it.”

“We’re still young after all. Our thoughts might change.”

She was right.

After experiencing what we had, it was quite clear to us that we were still naive about the world. Be it in love, or regarding what would be best for our future.

“You two are legit creepy.”

Jasper said with a scowl.

“Creepy?”

“How so?”

“Jasper, mind your words.”

Dad chided.

“But… I, they… they always say the same things all the time. They’re weird!”

Actually, Jasper might be right.

Though I can’t actually read Elliot’s ♀ mind, to them, it probably looked as if we could since we were in sync most of the time.

Then again, this is just who ‘we’ are.

“Actually, aren’t we really just identical twins? The only difference between you and me is that one got the Y chromosome, and the other got the X right?”

Elliot ♀ said.

“Is it really that simple though?”

I don’t know a lot about genetics, but shouldn’t the change of a single chromosome cause a big variation?

“Crazy.”

In any case, Jasper was probably just exaggerating how abnormal we were.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

When we were younger, Elliot ♀ and I wanted to go overseas provided a certain condition was met.

It was a kind of childish promise we made to ourselves.

The condition was as follows: if we ever acquire a particular blessing that could be useful in busting crime and saving people, we would try and become an SPF.

Much less a proper university programme, it was a polytechnic course.

It was every stupid chunnibyou’s dream to become a superhero. Yes, you heard that right.

SPF is the abbreviation for Special Police Force. Policemen trained for their special abilities, not limited to combat, detective work, or infiltration.

If the word ‘hero’ was actually used as a title for these people, I’m sure half the populace would’ve died from cringe. So, SPF was the realistic equivalent. It sounded much more professional too.

Blessings come in many forms. The usefulness of blessings and the various abilities granted didn’t differentiate between good and bad people.

Thanks to the many film-dramas, manga, documentaries and peer influence as a child, we were somehow inspired to become one of those ‘heroes’ someday.

Alas, the kind of blessing Elliot ♀ and I got had the furthest thing to do with protecting humanity from crime.

And naively, back when we were with Ellis, we knew that if we went overseas, we’d miss her a lot so… we kinda just gave up on the whole idea.

We can still be beneficial to humanity in some other field. Well, just maybe not as a mechanic.

“Dad, maybe call the tow truck.”

“I don’t think anyone here knows how to fix the wheel back.”

We were on the way back after a filling dinner when one of our tyres completely blew up.

It wasn’t the normal kind of ‘pop’. Rather, this one entire section of the rubber came right off. What the hell did dad even drive over?

It was late, it was dark. Our only saving grace was that dad managed to pull over before we got into an accident.

We had a spare tyre, car jack, and cross-wrench in the bonnet, so dad tried to perform self-repair.

My phone battery was running out, I don’t know how long we could keep its flashlight on for.

“Dear, give me a try.”

“Sure…”

My dad wiped the sweat off his forehead. A black smear now decorated his skin.

Mom nudged the cross-wrench with her wrist. Once in position, she forcefully stepped on it.

Crack.

“There.”

The bolt had come loose. Dad fell sullen.

She wiped her forehead. Just like dad, now had a black mark on her face exactly where dad had it.

“Oh dear… don’t be sad.”

“I’m not sad.”

“But you’re avoiding me?”

“Not on purpose…”

“I love the imperfect you dear.”

Dad raised his head timidly to look at mom. She patted his head. Both looked into each other’s eyes for a while and…

…Fuck this flirting bullshit I want to go back home and sleep.

“One of six bolts down…”

Mom muttered.

As dad was trying to loosen the second bolt, a fancy car pulled over.

Suddenly, a man wearing a suit came out. His uniform was adorned with various badges.

All of us raised our guard.

Many cars just sped by without paying any mind. So why did this guy stop?

“Excuse me, you seem to be in trouble?”

“Um, yes, as you can see. Flat tyres…”

“Yes, I see that.”

I don’t know if my eyes were pulling pranks, but I thought I saw the shadows solidify into some odd mass.

“Could I try?”

“It’s fine sir. Thank you for your help, but we can probably manage things…”

One by one, using the cross wrench the bolts came off magically.

“Can I have the spare tyre?”

“Umm… huh…?”

My dad couldn’t say a thing after seeing that. He just rolled the new tyre over.

The tyre, held by the shadow hands was put into place, the bolts were sewn on swiftly.

“You might need to check with a mechanic, but for now I think this should be enough to get you home.”

“Um, your name sir?”

“Oh, I’m Sirus. Sirus Wells.

“Thank you, Sir Wells.”

“You’re welcome. It just happened that I was passing by. I couldn’t just leave a stranded family in the middle of the road so late in the night can I now?”

Beep. Beep.

His watch flashed red.

“Looks like I have to go. Take care on the road.”

Quickly, he left with a dashing smile.

As we stood there dumbfounded while his car drove away, I couldn’t help but think how amazing it was to have his blessing.

“He must be a SPF.”

“Probably.”

Lucky us.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

“You hear anything?”

“No.”

“That’s good then.”

“I’m not taking my earbuds off though.”

“Me neither.”

““Hallelujah.””

Both of us were wearing cotton earbuds, but our voices could still be heard slightly.

We returned home fairly late, so I doubt that those would still have the energy to do ‘that’ right? RIGHT?

Well, in case something like that does happen, then the earbuds will serve to protect our minds from mental damage.

Our room was dark, the only light being moonlight pouring in from the window.

We used to have a night light in the past. But after it broke, we simply got used to sleeping in pitch-black darkness.

“Elliot.”

“What?”

It seems that both of us couldn’t really sleep after what dad told us after all.

“Do you regret it?”

“Regret what?”

“This blessing. Me.”

Do I regret it?

I should be the one asking her.

“No.”

It can’t be helped that what we hoped for, an ability to kick butt, didn’t happen. But even so, there was nothing unhappy about having another companion that completely understands you.

“Thank you.”

“I should be thanking you.”

“Then what do you want to be when you grow up… now that becoming an SPF isn’t possible?”

“Well, I don’t know. You?”

“Maybe a full-time housewife.”

“What the hell?”

Her saying that was completely out of my expectations.

“I’m joking, I’m joking. I don’t know what I want to do either but… if you happen to find something, do tell.”

“You’re thinking if one of us finds an interest in one career, the other will too?”

“Most likely. We are the same after all.”

We are the same.

Maybe one day in the far future we would think back to this moment and laugh at just how absurd it was for us both to know each other like the back of our heads.

I’m sure as we progress in life, we’ll split in our own ways and eventually become our own different personalities.

I wonder what kind of person she’d become?

The thought of it felt… kind of melancholic for some reason.

Knock. Knock.

“W-What’s that.”

Elliot’s ♀ body sprung up from the bed.

“Hm…”

I got up sullenly and made it to the door. Elliot ♀ remained seated with eyes locked in my direction.

“Who is it?”

I asked.

“It’s me.”

It kinda sounds like Jasper.

I opened the door.

“Hello.”

Oh, it is Jasper.

Him, his blanket, pillow, and oversized carrot plushie.

“What’s wrong?”

“They’re too noisy.”

““…””

Oh, so the earbuds were effective after all.

Hallelujah!

“So you two actually sleep like this?”

“Like how else did you expect it?”

“I was hoping to catch you two in the act.”

Wow, what a jerk.

“Can I sleep here then?”

“No way.”

“Whatt…. please??”

We were joking. But take that as a lesson never to say lewd stuff about me and Elliot ♀.

Jasper took the futon side with me.

With him around, Elliot ♀ and I couldn’t continue our conversation.

Well, whatever. It wasn’t like we were discussing anything of grave importance.

“…”

“…”

“…Aren’t you guys bothered by the noise?”

“I don’t hear it.”

“We’re wearing earbuds.”

“…Crazy.”

You’re the crazy one for not preparing safety measures to safeguard your mind.

A few seconds passed in silence. Jasper suddenly got up and threw his carrot plushie down in frustration.

“Give me the cotton earbuds.”

He demanded.

“Beg for it. Twerp.”

=

AN: The story is already complete, here: https://www.dotturndotcreative.com/alawm