The Twin Souls

C’mon, five more! Y’gotta push yourself, brother!

Alright, your Bulgarian split squats are lookin’ good. Let’s take a 30 second rest and move on to lateral raises.

Alright, your 30 seconds are up.

?!

Bend your knees more. That way, y’got nowhere else to go, and you’ll really feel the full weight of it.

Oh, excuse me. Someone told me that you’d be here…

*pant, pant, pant, pant…*

Yo.

Why’s Nagi working out again?

He said he wanted to give it a try ‘cuz fit guys all emit yang energy.

You’ve been taking on all sorts of challenges lately, Nagi-kun. That’s really amazing…

Happtivity…number five… Take steps towards…personal growth… Muscles can…resolve anything…

Mhm…

So what’s up?

I wanted to talk to Nagi-kun about the park event.

Oh, alright. I’m gonna go out for a smoke.

If I try to go down the stairs right now, I’d definitely fall down them…

That’s the proof of a good, hard workout.

Yeah. So, about the park event…?

Oh, um… I thought a little bit about your project.

We can go with Raito-san’s Oktoberfest idea, but I’d also like to incorporate any original ideas that you might have.

Original ideas?

Yep! Anything that you can come up with yourself.

You just came home from a study trip, and now you’re taking on so many new challenges, so I thought that you might have an idea that you derived from all of that.

An original…idea…

……

Okay. I’ll try and think of something.

Sounds good. Let me know if you have something! Good luck with the rest of your workout.

(Watching Nagi-kun makes me wanna work just as hard as he does.)

(Alright. There’s one more person I wanted to talk to… Hm? Is that…?)

Ryui-kun.

*gasp*

Ah…

(His left eye’s a completely different color from his right eye… Actually, wait, Toi did mention that…)

He was wearing a super cool eyepatch! He told me he got a stye.

(At least from what I remember…)

Fuckin’ knock next time!

You have a stye, right?

Huh?

…Ah. Guess you ‘bout heard that from Toi.

Just go with that, alright?

O-Okay…

Whatdja want? Spit it out.

Ah, um, Kafka said that the company can help you out if you need any funds to help open your business or to just buy necessities for yourself…

Don’t need any. If I run outta money, I can just do some work right on the spot.

Huh? Really? I didn’t know that. What do you do for work?

What’s with all the questions? You’re so goddamn annoying.

Ah, sorry. You don’t have to if you don’t… Wait, you don’t mug people, do you?!

Why the fuck would I?! What, so you don’t trust me?!

Ahh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.

Exorcisms. I get rid of vengeful spirits. Sounds fishy, yeah? That kinda shit just comes with the Shiramitsu name.

Ohh…! That sounds super cool! Oh, you haven’t told us what your business is going to be for, so is that it?

Ahh, well… I ain’t tellin’ ya.

Ahaha… So you’ve had this business running the whole time, even though you didn’t have a store for it?

…Guess so. But I can’t keep wanderin’ the streets. It was just convenient to be able to set up a store, so I didn’t join this company for you guys.

There’s just somethin’ I wanted to settle down and learn about…

Learn? Like, studying?

Hah. Doesn’t suit me, right?

I don’t think that at all! Nagi-kun said it himself! Happtivity number five: take steps towards personal growth. It’s an important thing to do!

(Maybe Nagi-kun’s starting to have an influence on Ryui-kun too…! That’d be wonderful!)

Ahh… That guy’s a terrible leader. He’s too nice.

Huh? I think it’s a good thing to be nice…

Nice people always lose. They get taken advantage of and eaten alive ‘til there’s nothin’ left of ‘em.

The best leaders are the guys who know how to draw boundaries and push people away when they gotta. Like the Evening Team leader.

Raito-san’s not that type of person.

Oh, really?

Whatever, we’re never gonna get anywhere if we rely on a guy like that. I know from experience. In the end, everyone who trusted him’s gonna get the short end of the stick.

*sigh…* If you ain’t gonna get outta here, then I’m leavin’. Don’t tell Toi we talked about this.

……

(Ryui-kun really doesn’t acknowledge Nagi-kun as the team leader. I just wish they could be on the same page…)

……

Wow…! Did you make this table yourself, Nagi-kun…?!

Ryui will certainly be pleased with this when he begins setting up his shop!

What do you think?

Hm? Ahh, yeah, it ain’t bad. Hmm.

He likes it!

This is good enough to put a pro carpenter to shame.

I’m pretty good at DIY. Out of necessity.

Necessity?

I break benches when I sit on them, pull knobs out of doors, and have lights fall on me a lot. I’ve always had to fix them myself, so I got good at it.

Failure begets invention!

I’m lucky to be a failure magnet.

Chief, it’s about time for us to go out and buy everyone’s lunch.

Oh, yeah! Okay everyone, we’ll be back with some bentos, so keep working on the store while we’re gone!

Okaaaay!

Alright. I’m going to paint the walls while they’re gone.

I will slack off while they are gone.

Aw, don’t do that, Netaro-san.

Why not? I must get some sleep if I wish to stay up to watch AI Belly Landing tonight.

I get sleepy too, but I still want to do my work here!

Toy, would you rather watch a TV show with me or help your brother?

Of course, I’d⁠—

Toi.

Ah, Brother Dearest! ♪

Can you come over here?

What is it, Brother Dearest?

Don’t hang around that guy. I’ll watch AI Belly Landing with you instead.

Huh, really?! But don’t you get a rash all over your body when you watch stuff like that?

Yeah, but I don’t want you to spend a night hangin’ out with that creep.

Is he really that creepy? I do sense something a little strange when I use my powers on him…

I wouldn’t call him a spirit, but somethin’ about his outward appearance and his inner self ain’t matchin’ up. I don’t feel like he’s got bad intentions… For now, at least.

Even without alla that, I don’t like it when he’s around you. Got it?

……

Okay. If you say so, then I’ll listen. I just have to stop talking to him, right?

…Yeah. That works.

Gh?! Where’d that… *gasp*

Toi, you’ve never had a mole on the back of your neck before, right?!

Huh? Huh?!

You are correct! That is my invention, the Crazy Stalking Mole. It looks exactly like a real mole, and I can attach it to anyone to listen in on their conversations and project my voice.

I did not think you would discover it. I never expected you to know everything about him, even down to his moles!

This fuckin’…!

AAAHHHH! You crushed my wonderful invention!

……

Toy?

Don’t talk to him.

Hahaha! He’s like a marionette! Toy has no will of his own!

…! That’s not what I⁠—

Is there anything wrong with that? Aren’t you happier that way, Brother Dearest?

Toi…?

Mhm. You are always so earnest and kind, Toy.

I’m happy as long as my dear brother and everyone else is happy. That’s my greatest wish.

So very well-versed in self-sacrifice and martyrdom. Perfect for turning into a puppet.

……

Ah, oh no, I just talked to Netaro-san! I’m so sorry, Brother Dearest!

……

Brother Dearest?

It’s…okay. You can talk to him.

Huh? Really?

Is he allowed to spend the night watching AI Belly Landing with me?

…Only if it’s in our room, and only if I’m there.

…!

Yaaay! Netaro-san, my dear brother gave me permission! ♪

Wahoooo!

……

(I ain’t like everyone else in that damn family.)