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"Nene, Nene!" Tsukasa barged into the bathroom, just as Nene herself was picking up the mop by the wall. She let out a little noise of surprise when he immediately latched his arms around her shoulders, legs wrapped around her waist.
"Oi! Hands off Senpai, you bastard!" Luckily Kou was also there, grabbing onto Tsukasa by the back of his clothes and pulling him off the girl. However, Tsukasa didn't budge, as he was clinging really tightly to Nene like a strange sort of parasite.
"You can't tell me what to do!" The ghost stuck out his tongue at the exorcist. Kou grumbled, lifting his staff as it began to spark with lightning.
Kou had found Tsukasa's frequent visits to Nene weird and overall, suspicious. Here was the kid who was responsible for Mitsuba's (second) death, the erasure of his previous memories, and so much more wrong-doing, being somewhat tame and acting more like a… clingy toddler than a dangerous apparition.
And it surprised him that Nene wasn't at all bothered by it, either. In fact, she had been very patient with him, and because of that, Tsukasa had been mostly hogging all of her attention.
Now he understood how Hanako felt.
"Tsukasa-kun, please don't fight with Kou-kun. That's bad." Nene scolded the apparition gently. It would have been great if Hanako was around to lecture him instead, but he was off somewhere today, so it was just her, Tsukasa, and Kou.
"Awww. Okay."
The rest of the job of toilet cleaning consisted of Nene making herself busy with the floors, all while Tsukasa kept himself stuck close to her, like a koala. Kou tried not to let it get to him, really, he did, but it was starting to get annoying.
"You alright over there, Minamoto-kun?" Mitsuba suddenly popped up from the mirror Kou was currently wiping. It was good Tsukasa was too distracted with Nene, or else he would have seen Mitsuba and possibly start some trouble.
"Does it look like I'm okay?" The blond hissed, shooting a side glare at Tsukasa. Mitsuba watched their upperclassman and how unbothered she was with the ghost attached to her. He shook his head.
"Geez, even with radish-senpai, he can't get his hands off." Somehow the sight reminded Mitsuba of how Tsukasa would also do the same with Sakura, not caring if he invaded her personal space. The only difference was Sakura was also as quick to peel him off her, treating him more like a cat than a person.
"What do you mean, 'even'?" Kou squinted his eyes at Mitsuba.
"I mean, doesn't crazy knife do the same thing with radish-senpai? He's always stuck to her like glue everytime I see them." Mitsuba brought up a mental image, which didn't really make Kou feel better about anything at all.
Don't they know the concept of personal space at all? Geez… they really are related.
"Nene, why don't you just become my assistant?" Tsukasa asked from out of the blue, and Kou almost dropped the rag he was holding while Mitsuba awkwardly coughed.
"Eh? Don't you already have an assistant, Tsukasa-kun?" Nene told him, but he shook his head.
"Yeah, but I want you to be my assistant too! Then I'll have two assistants! We'll have so much fun!"
It… doesn't work that way… She thought. How was she to explain that it was practically impossible for her to be his assistant as she was already bound to—
"Honey, I'm home~!!" Hanako had suddenly appeared and automatically glomped ( wow haven't used that word in AGES ) Nene, not noticing his brother still holding onto her as he nuzzled his cheek on hers.
"Amane, that's my line!"
"Wha—Tsukasa?! What are you doing here?!"
"And here comes the chaos." Mitsuba resorted to just watching the situation unfold, holding onto Kou's shirt and preventing him from interrupting.
"Mitsuba, let go! I gotta help Senpai!"
"Nah, let her be! She can handle this. Besides, it's just getting funnier." Mitsuba had to stifle a laugh when Hanako and Tsukasa began to bicker louder.
Kou sighed exasperatedly. Now all he could do was watch his senpai get stuck in a pointless game of "who gets the rights to hug her". He couldn't even imagine the stress she was going through having to deal with not one, but two ghosts who couldn't just keep their hands to themselves.
"Okay, that's enough, you two!" Nene smacked the twins on their heads. They simultaneously yelled, finally getting off her.
"Yashiro!"
"Nene!"
She put her hands on her hips, frowning at the both of them as they sat on the floor in a "I'm-guilty-of-a-crime-and-I'm-sorry" kind of manner. "Don't make me have to scold you again. You two are brothers, and you have to get along with each other. Am I making myself clear?"
"Yes ma'am." Hanako and Tsukasa chorused.
"Wow, radish-senpai can be scary when she's mad." Mitsuba whispered, and Kou nodded. That's Senpai for ya! She's so cool!
"Good. If you two don't be a bother for the rest of the day, I'll make you donuts."
"Really?!" The twins stared at her as if she were some kind of deity, eyes shining at the mention of donuts. Her homemade donuts, to be more specific.
Nene couldn't help but giggle. They were just cute when donuts were in the conversation. Birds of a feather, flock together, as they say.
"Yes, really. But you two have to share, okay?"
"Yay! Nene's the best, Nene's the best!" Tsukasa flapped his arms in the air, full of energy. "Hey Amane! Can't I have your assistant instead?"
"No way. Not in a million years." Hanako bluntly refused, moving over to Nene as he snuck a hug from behind. "Besides, Yashiro and I are bound with the mermaid scales, and you're not, so you're pretty much out of the picture."
"Ooh, harsh." Kou had to admit, that was one heck of a blow. Mitsuba snorted at that, rolling his eyes.
"I'll never understand sibling rivalry."
Tsukasa's eyes darkened at that. "Then… what if I swallowed the same mermaid scales you have? Would that bind me to Nene, too?"
Oh no. He's not thinking about that, right? Nene had a bad feeling about what was gonna happen next.
"No, that's not gonna—"
"Gimme those scales, Amane!" Tsukasa stared chasing his brother around the bathroom, and Hanako had to swivel away from his reach, the two of them circling the entire entire area back and forth.
"You're not getting your hands on them, Tsukasa!"
"Yes I am! Kokujoudai!" The black will-o-wisps shot forward and snatched a white and red bag with a seal attached right from Hanako's pocket.
That's not how this whole thing works. If he swallows that mermaid scale… Will I turn into a fish completely?! The mental image of a permanent fish Nene scared her out of her wits. Hanako already did the job of reducing the effects of the curse, but with Tsukasa included? She didn't know what would happen if he did swallow the scale.
Hanako faced his brother up front, arms up to his sides. If we're being honest, it was like that one scene in that Jurassic Park movie, with Tsukasa being the dinosaurs. "Give them back to me, Tsukasa. You have no idea what you're doing."
"Oh sure, I'll give them back! After I do this." Tsukasa grinned, but to everyone's horror he took out a scale and put it in his mouth, instantly swallowing it up.
Nene squinted her eyes shut, waiting for her inevitable fate as a fish forever. A few seconds pass, and her legs felt like giving up for some reason, making her fall backwards. Fortunately, Hanako was there to catch her.
Well, that was the least of her worries now.
"Senpai! You're—!" She heard Kou exclaim, and opening her eyes, she looked down, expecting to see her legs.
Instead she was met with a light pink fish tail, one that looked glossy underneath the sunlight.
It was like a fever dream, or something else entirely.
"EHHHH?!! WHAT THE— HUH?! WHY AM I HALF-FISH?!" Nene shrieked. If having radish legs weren't worse already, having a fish tail in her human form was torture!
"It seems… you won't turn into a complete fish when you get exposed to water from now on." Hanako answered for her, and he averted his eyes away with a reddening face, much to her confusion.
"Hanako-kun? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." He promptly unbuttoned his gakuran, sliding it off himself and giving it to her, still not looking at her directly. "But you may… uh… wanna cover yourself up."
"Huh? What do you me—" Her mind became blank. Due to her transformation, not only did she get a mermaid tail, her uniform disappeared along with it, meaning…
"Hanako-kun! Don't look at me, you pervert!!" Nene let her fist collide on his head, holding his gakuran up to cover herself.
"I wasn't looking, I swear!"
Meanwhile, Tsukasa didn't seem all fazed, even going as far as hugging her. "Good news is, me and Nene are now bounded too! Isn't that great?"
"I-I guess." She felt something shift, and when she looked at herself, she was back to her school uniform, human legs returned and all. "Oh, I'm back to normal!"
"See, Amane? You're not the only one who can counter her curse's effects anymore. I can do it too!" Tsukasa looked extremely proud of himself. Hanako tiredly narrowed his eyes at him.
"Yashiro's still my assistant, though."
"Hmm, that may be true, but..." Without warning, Tsukasa lifted Nene off the floor, princess carry style.
"She did tell us to share! So I'll go play with her for a while! See ya later, Amane!" He dashed off the bathroom with the poor girl, probably to the broadcasting club.
"Hey, Tsukasa! Give Yashiro back!"
"Senpai, I'll save ya!" As both Hanako and Kou went to follow Tsukasa, Mitsuba sighed, retreating into the mirror to his boundary.
He just hoped Sakura wouldn't get a headache from what's about to come.