"Hmm… They've been taking a while." Kichi sat alone in the living room. Only the television being switched on to a random channel had kept him distracted from the stress. "I hope everything turns out well." He wasn't a fan of not being able to influence the direction of what was going to happen. Realistically the boy understood he likely wouldn't have had a positive impact on things.
Meanwhile, the things going on inside his room had taken a turn. Whether it was for the better or worse had yet to be determined.
"T-talk about it?" Said Airi. The twins stiffened up when they felt the older girl's hands on them. At their age, these kinds of conversations were the type they wished to avoid. Mostly because it was awkward and teenage girls hated awkward. "W-what is there to talk about? We're all good now."
"Y-yeah." Aoi backed her up. "We're not mad anymore, so it's not a big deal anymore."
"That's just kicking the can down the road." Kougi responded, letting go to allow them to turn around and face her. "I mean, at some point this is going to come back up again. What's the point in waiting for when things go bad?"
"But how would doing anything now help?" She replied. If there was one thing that scared Aoi the most. It would be making a decision one can't take back. If they took care of this so-called problem, then it would lead to many different outcomes. Would she be prepared to even date someone like Kichi? What if she wasn't the one to date him? Could she even handle dealing with having to watch her sister date someone she also liked?
In the world of online manga, it was considered controversial to have the dreaded NTR tag. A lot of people don't like the idea of someone they love cheating on them. To be fair, this isn't one of those situations since it wasn't as though Kichi was her boyfriend. Just that the pain of seeing him with someone else was similar to the concept.
"What are you going to make us do?" Airi also shared some of those fears. In her mind, she couldn't bring herself to admit her feelings to the boy himself. She might be outgoing, but this was a different kind of openness she hadn't learned to deal with at this age.
"Relax, I'm not going to make either of you confess to him." Kougi assured him. Obviously she knew why she would be fine with keeping them away from him. Even though she could live with him dating someone down the line when they were older. The girl just wanted to be selfish just a little bit longer as she wanted to enjoy her youth.
Or perhaps maybe she didn't want either of them to have her brother. After all, can someone really just trust someone they barely know to someone they care about? Surely the best way to to give him the best was to be the one for him. "But I don't want you two to end up divided over some average boy like him."
"That's good." The twins both shared a sigh of relief. At least the worst outcome for them wouldn't have to occur now. Though there was still a level of dread over what idea this older girl had.
"I just want you two to talk to each other directly right now over this." She directed them. "Be honest, and try to be understanding, okay? That's all and we can go back to him."
"Okay…" Said Airi as the pair turned to look at one another with unease. They didn't want to do this, but it was unnecessary. "So… You really do like Kichi?" She asked.
"A little bit." Aoi responded quietly. Her voice was barely loud enough that a pin dropping would drown it out. "You like him too?" Was her next response.
"I do." She answered, still unsure of wanting to say it out loud. Even though they knew they were in the privacy of the boy's room. It felt as though speaking without care would mean he would overhear them saying the truth. "A-A little bit too, yes." The pair returned to silence for a short moment as they tried to gather what to say next. "So I don't know what to do."
"I don't want you to be sad." Aoi told her. The two of them were aware that liking the same boy meant one of them was going to have their heart broken. The worst part being that losing didn't mean not hanging around him or avoiding him for the rest of high school. If he ended up with one of the twins, that meant he'd still be a part of their life as they attempted to move on from their lost chance of romance. All the while watching their sister have a great time in her youth.
"I-I don't want you to be sad either." She quickly replied. "You've always done a lot for me, and I'd hate to make things harder on you." Over the years, she realized she had already put that girl through many things. Mostly just social interactions that went beyond her comfort zone in an effort to help her grow as a person.
"You've already sacrificed more than you have to just for me." Aoi responded, tears in her eyes. The pair embraced each other as they cried for a bit in expressing their care for one another despite their shared feelings for one boy.
"Aww…" Kougi couldn't help but make a comment on this sight. It wasn't a sad moment, but one she viewed as completely adorable to see some girls younger than her act in this manner. Perhaps it was the big sister inside her that liked seeing it. "Come on now, don't leave me out of this." She rushed to them and hugged the two together tightly.
"O-okay, we get your point." Aoi struggled to speak as much as she struggled to breath now that this older girl had her grip on them. "We're fine now, just let us go."
"Looks like most things are taken care of now." She said as she let go. "I guess we never figured out what you're going to do now that you both know." Indeed since this was a new experience for the two. There was no way either of them knew what would make for the best course of action. "I understand it's not easy to want to basically take him away from the other." Kougi did give them some advice to keep in mind. "But I think it's a good idea to try and be honest about your feelings. Just try your best and at the end of the day, accept whatever his feelings will be."
She knew that to be the best advice for these girls. In fact, it was said almost as an expectation rather than something either of them needed to be told. However now that also meant she needed to make some changes in her own strategy.
"You're right." They both said in unison. As difficult as it would be to compete with each other. Things would be fair if they both tried and allowed him to make the decision at the end. But they were both still not wishing to confess just yet, so for now they were going to feel things out and take things one step at a time.
After their conversation was finally sorted out, the three of them left his room to go meet Kichi inside the living room. He had been sitting with little to do. But since his mind was filled with bad thoughts, it was not time spent being bored.
"You're finally back." He quickly leapt out of his seat and rushed on over to the girls. "Is everyone all right?"
"Oh yeah, there's no problem at all." Kougi brushed him off and took his spot on the couch. She laid out, taking up all the space to not allow anyone to sit down with her. "Obviously I had to come in for the rescue because my little brother can't handle a small tiny little argument." The girl was also a bit full of herself, but that was just to throw him off from the truth.
"What exactly was wrong anyway?" He asked the twins. Immediately they both froze up and came up with various excuses to not have to answer honestly. "Uh, it's fine. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Kichi gave up on trying to learn what was the cause of all this. He could respect they wanted some privacy and hoped they'd do the same for him one day in the future.
"It looks like it's getting pretty late." Aoi looked at the clock and realized it would be nearing him for dinner. "We should get going."
"Right." Airi excitedly grabbed her sister's hand so they could stay next to each other on the trip home. He smiled in seeing her be much closer to her sister once again and took it as her silent sign that things were all peachy keen again.
"It was nice to seeing you two." He said to them as he opened the door for them to leave. "I'll see you at school later."
"Goodbye!" The two waved at him and were soon off in the distance towards their house. Kichi sighed as he closed the door, knowing his next fate.
"All right…" He said, turning his attention to Kougi. "What do you want me to do?" He asked.
"Hmm…" She pretended to think it over as she pondered his question. "Nothing yet, but don't worry. I'll make sure to call in that favor soon enough. Maybe even… This weekend?" Kichi didn't like hearing those words leave her mouth. He had dodged a catastrophe with the twins. However things were only getting started for his troubles.