Chapter Text
It was a Friday morning before classes and the Momobami twins walked through the academy halls together. Friday was the one day a week where Sayaka was too busy with preparations to come greet her girlfriend at the school gates in the morning, so it was Ririka's unfortunate task to keep her sister company.
Other students shied away from them as they moved down the hallways. Few people wanted to cross paths with the two of them, the Vice-President's mask giving her an aura too menacing to approach, while the President herself was a proven danger to society. No one dared to even look at them.
“I know it's kind of late to ask, but could we switch today? It's been ages,” Kirari asked suddenly.
“I've made plans to hang out with Mary during lunch break today. Plus, knowing you, you've probably skipped out on doing your paperwork again or something, and now you just want me to do it. I'm not falling for that again,” Ririka said and turned a corner. “Let's go down this way,”
Kirari smiled knowingly. Lately, Ririka insisted on taking a detour past the second-years' classrooms, and Kirari indulged her. She found it interesting to watch her sister's development as a person, and her proximity to a certain second-year student was a key part of that.
Kirari herself had been in a relationship with her secretary, Sayaka, for a few months now. They had had their ups and downs, mostly because of Kirari's volatile nature, but Sayaka's sheer determination to stay in the relationship was more than strong enough, and sometimes, with Kirari's antics, that determination was very much needed.
“Come on, Ririka. I want to ditch school and go parachuting or something, I'm so bored today.”
Ririka scoffed.
“Sure, as if my record hasn't suffered enough from your boredom already. What would your girlfriend say to you jumping out of an airplane though?”
“What Sayaka doesn't know, won't hurt her,” Kirari said with a funny smile. There was a lot of things Sayaka was better off not knowing.
“Whatever, I still don't want to switch. At some point she'll realize I'm not you, and then I will have to tell her where you are. And something tells me she isn't going to be very happy if I tell her that you're plummeting out of the sky somewhere.”
Since they had become girlfriends, Sayaka had somehow become even more protective of Kirari. Sayaka could burn pretty hot, a fact Ririka was all too aware of, having witnessed dozens of people getting tased for approaching Kirari too brazenly. Her sister loved to provoke any sort of reaction from her girlfriend too, her need for entertainment being all-consuming. Ririka preferred not to get involved.
“I'm certainly not going to be the one to tell Sayaka. She might actually kill me if she found out I let you do something that dangerous without telling her. So the best thing for me would probably be to rat you out.”
Kirari gasped dramatically and faked a look of betrayal.
“Is she buying your loyalty with fast food or something?”
“She might be.”
She definitely was. Sayaka had started buttering up Ririka early on in an attempt to get on good terms with her girlfriend's twin. Ririka had always been a bit wary of Sayaka, ever since they first met when Sayaka applied for the secretary position and the younger girl subconsciously sensed that it wasn't really Kirari that she was talking to. Up until that point, Ririka had always felt secure in the role of her sister, but the addition of Sayaka into their lives had chipped away at one of the walls she had built to hide herself behind. She had never quite been able to imitate Kirari's affection for the secretary either, and that had made Ririka act colder towards Sayaka than what the secretary deserved.
Kirari giggled at Ririka's admitted corruption and sent her girlfriend a message to see where she could find her.
“She's such a clever girl. I want to eat her mind with a spoon.”
“How very normal of you,” Ririka answered dismissively.
They were getting closer now, and she was hopeful that she could catch a glimpse of Mary to last her until lunch break when they would gamble together.
Kirari was checking her phone when they reached the second year cherry blossom classroom.
“Sayaka is in my office still, so I'm gonna go get my good morning kiss before math class, which I now sadly have to attend.”
She looked over her shoulder at Ririka, who had stopped, her eyes fixed on something beyond the door frame. Kirari backed up two steps and looked to see what her sister was staring at. Inside the classroom, Mary was sitting in Yumeko's lap, her arm around the other girl's shoulder, her fingers twirling the dark hair. Their faces were turned the other way, but they were obviously laughing about something.
Kirari's eyes moved back to her sister, who suddenly started walking again, down the hallway in the direction they had been going. She caught up with Ririka as they turned the corner at the end of the hall. Kirari's mind was already buzzing with machinations.
“I have a fun bet proposal for you, dear sister.”
Suddenly bored no longer, Kirari wore a mischievous grin, and Ririka was ready to refuse her before she had even finished the sentence.
“No, thank you.”
They walked a bit further. Ririka frowned underneath the mask, seeing Mary and Yumeko like that made her heart ache. Her mind grew heavy with disappointment. She wished she had been the one with Mary in her lap, the two of them laughing together.
Kirari kept glancing at her sister.
“Come on, hear me out at least.”
“I said no. I'm not in the mood for your games right now,” Ririka said sharply and rolled her eyes.
She needed to shake her sister, she couldn't deal with her when she was like this. A bored Kirari was as dangerous to her mental health as seeing any number of PDAs between Mary and Yumeko.
“Why don't you go bother Sayaka or something.”
Kirari giggled at the suggestion.
“I'm definitely going to go 'bother' Sayaka soon, but I want to tell you my bet proposal first.”
Ririka ignored her. They were approaching an intersection of hallways which would separate them., she would only have to deal with her until then. Kirari looked around and found that they were alone. It was a perfect place to plant a seed in her sister's mind.
“If you win I'll kick her out.”
“Huh?” Ririka looked up, her confused face hidden behind the mask. “Who?”
“Yumeko. If you win the bet, I'll kick her out of school.”
Ririka stopped in her tracks to look at her properly. Kirari's eyes sparkled with anticipation. She knew she was dangling an alluring reward in front of her freshly spurned sister. The implications of such a scenario seemed to bounce around in Ririka's head. Kirari wished she could see the look on her face.
“...And why would I want that?”
Kirari giggled. Ririka couldn't possibly think she was ignorant of her infatuation with Saotome, but it was amusing that she still tried to hide it.
“Maybe for the same reason you insist on walking past a certain classroom every morning, even though it takes you three minutes longer than usual.”
Ririka blushed underneath the mask and walked away hastily before her sister could continue. Kirari watched her with a sly smile, the seed was successfully planted. Now all she had to do was sit back and watch it grow. In a good mood, she looked at her wristwatch and turned to walk towards her office. There might still be time for a quickie before class.
Lunch break was almost over and Ririka watched as Mary was counting up their winnings from a decently sized gamble. She was glad her mask was hiding her face, seeing Mary all giddy about winning made Ririka smile with affection. It had been just the two of them against five players but the other five hadn't been able to compete with their wits and daring. Ririka had blushed as Mary dragged the other players with a drawn out “Baka” at the end. Her heart skipped a beat whenever she looked at her – Mary was just so amazing. Ririka wanted to be closer to her and dreamed of being brave enough to touch her, run her fingers through her hair or even...
The memory of the display from the morning came back and the feeling in Ririka's heart soured. The victory started to taste a bit like ashes in her mouth. She knew she wanted more than this. Much more.
“Here's your share.”
Mary brought Ririka out of her thoughts by smacking a wad of cash at her mask. Ririka quickly accepted the money, knowing that Mary would be cross with her if she didn't. She had tried to let Mary take all the winnings before, but that had only come across as pity, something that infuriated the second-year. Ririka absentmindedly stacked the money on the table into a small pyramid, not even bothering to count what amounted to chump change for a girl from a family as wealthy as the Momobamis.
“You seem out of it today. Good thing those guys were really stupid. Rich and stupid.”
Mary laughed and looked really proud of herself, sitting back in her chair with her arms crossed. Ririka regarded her in silence. She racked her brain for something cool or funny to say but came up empty, as always. She clenched her fists under the table in determination. The bell would chime soon and she wanted to at least make some sort of impression before she had to leave.
“Uh, what are you doing this weekend?” Ririka asked.
She didn't know where she was going with it, but she supposed it was a normal enough question to ask a friend. Mary uncrossed her arms and scratched her head, contemplating.
“I don't know, I have a ton of homework. Some of us need to do actual schoolwork to stay in this hellscape of a school, you know.”
Ririka nodded her head a little in acknowledgement and stared at the desk. She felt she had somehow managed to piss Mary off with her wealth again. She wanted to tell her how much she admired her for being so hard-working and ambitious, but she felt afraid that it might come across as patronizing. She sighed inaudibly, feeling useless.
“There you are, Mary-san!”
Yumeko had poked her head in the door and beamed at her friend. Ririka was staring daggers at her from behind her mask as Yumeko floated across the room to throw her arms around Mary's neck and push her face against her bosom.
“Oh my g...” Mary's voice was muffled as she struggled against the embrace, finally pushing Yumeko away with great effort. “I swear you're gonna suffocate me some day.”
Yumeko giggled.
“I mean, if you're into that, then sure.”
The screech of a chair disturbed them as Ririka stood up abruptly.
“I'm sorry, my class is about to start.”
She gave them a curt bow and exited the room before anyone could even say a word. Mary stared after her with curious eyes.
“What was that about?”
“I don't know, but she forgot her money,” Yumeko noted.
Mary gasped.
“I can't believe it, that's five million yen!” She gnashed her teeth with annoyance and stuffed the money in her bag. “Fucking rich people...”
Hey moneybags
You left your cash
Ririka stared at the message on her phone and cursed at herself for forgetting her share of today's gamble. She had panicked and left too quickly, and now she had messed up with Mary again. Staring at the message, her mind blanked in an attempt to make up an excuse. She sighed. Anything she said would probably only backfire at her again anyway.
Ririka wondered what would Kirari say if she was somehow in this situation. Probably something like, 'Buy yourself something pretty ;)'
That was definitely out of the question though. If she tried to emulate her twin while interacting with Mary, it would spell the end of any hope Ririka harbored of turning their relationship into a romantic one, that is it if didn't spell the end of their entire friendship altogether. Mary hated Kirari with a passion.
She exited the message app and turned the screen off. The teacher went on about something, but Ririka hadn't been paying attention. None of the teachers would reprimand her for using her phone in class anyway, her proximity to the President meant that she could have them fired at any time if they bothered her.
She picked up a pencil and opened her notebook. Normally she would draw some doodles of various animals, but her mind was out of it today. Subconsciously, her hand started to write the first kanji of Mary's name, only to blot it out the moment she realized what she was doing. Anxious, she continued until a quarter of the page was covered in a jumble of lines. She stared at the mess and felt like it was a true representation of herself.
No wonder Mary liked Yumeko more than her, she mused, depressed. The only reason Mary was even friends with Ririka in the first place was because she had forced her into it with a plot against Yumeko's life.
Unbidden, she heard Kirari's voice in her head, saying she would kick Yumeko out of the academy. Ririka chewed on it for a while and found that she wasn't entirely above using dirty tricks like that again. It would be devastating if Mary was to ever find out she was the one behind it, but Ririka trusted Kirari never to betray her like that.
She tried to put the thought away and pay attention to the teacher, but the notion kept creeping back to her, promising the solution to her problem when the rest of her brain stayed silent.
There wasn't anything wrong with hearing Kirari out, Ririka thought. If she didn't like the subject of the bet, or found a better solution herself, she could just refuse her again. No harm, no foul.
She pulled out her phone again and sent Kirari a message.
What's the bet?
An answer ticked in not a minute later.
Come see me in my office later.
Kirari had hoped to spend her afternoon gambling, but Sayaka had other plans for her today. The president was way behind on her paper signing duties, and at this point it was getting in the way of her secretary work. Therefore, Sayaka had begged Kirari to spend a few hours doing paperwork this afternoon.
The work itself was really boring, so Kirari enjoyed every opportunity to annoy her girlfriend while doing it. She loved it when Sayaka was riled up enough to start bossing her around, something the younger girl would normally never do.
Signing away at reports and life schedules, Kirari wondered how to make Sayaka offer her rewards for her work, having already made her girlfriend both beg and be strict with her. The secretary seemed locked in on boss mode today, however, as they were way too far behind on the council work.
Kirari hoped that Ririka would swallow the bait she had set for her, so that she could wager the remaining paperwork in the bet. It would have to be something that Ririka would think that was possible to achieve, but in reality a surefire bust. Kirari had been considering something for a while now, something that was would both involve Ririka and piss off Sayaka at the same time.
Speak of the devil, Kirari thought when Ririka knocked on the door a few minutes later. Lazily, she put down the badly written report from the beautification committee she had been skimming and called for her to enter. The masked girl came in and bowed politely to Sayaka.
“Darling, can I have a few minutes alone with my sister? I have something I need to discuss with her.”
Sayaka looked at her suspiciously, but nodded.
“Sure, I need to order some food for us anyway. I'll be back in ten minutes.”
Sayaka unexpectedly walked up to Ririka, grabbed her arm and looked severely at her.
“Don't let the president leave this room. Restrain her if you must, but she cannot escape.”
Ririka was confused and a little scared at Sayaka's direct order, she had never told her what to do before. She watched silently as the secretary exited the office and shut the door behind her, throwing one last warning glare through the crack as she did so.
“... What was that about?” Ririka asked as soon as the door was closed.
Kirari giggled and got up from her chair, she needed to stretch her legs. She walked over to the windows and looked out while she waited for Ririka to follow her.
“We're playing a game, don't worry about it.”
Kirari didn't need Ririka to know just how much paperwork she had to finish, lest there was a chance that she would see through her design. Ririka joined her by the window and stared down at the students leaving the academy for the weekend.
“Yeah, I don't want to know about your games,” Ririka said. She had walked in on enough of them already.
“I thought as much. You're here for the bet.”
Ririka nodded. She had decided to at least hear what it was about before rejecting it. She heard her sister giggle and felt a shiver down her spine. Betting with Kirari always meant throwing yourself into the torrential winds of her schemes. Ririka had to make sure there were no loopholes for Kirari to cheat her way out of her end. Yumeko was, after all, one of her favorite fishes to watch, she wouldn't let go of her easily.
“So, you'll have Yumeko Jabami thrown out of Hyakkaou Academy – forever – the day after I win the bet we are about to make?”
“You wound me, Ririka. It's like you have no trust in me at all,” Kirari said with a smirk. “Yes, that is correct. If I win, however, you have to do my paperwork for the student council the next two weeks.”
Ririka considered it. She wasn't exactly fond of doing boring paperwork either.
“I want to hear what the bet is before agreeing.”
“Of course.”
Kirari turned and leaned against the window sill, looking at her sister with a strange smile.
“As I said this morning, it's been a while since we last switched. Do you think you're even capable of doing it anymore?”
Ririka was taken aback. If the bet was about her posing as Kirari, her win could be easy enough to achieve. The part of her that was Kirari was always lurking around in the back of Ririka's mind, having been imprinted on her throughout the years. Being Kirari was easier than being her new self, even if it had been a few weeks since the last time they had done a proper switch. For Ririka, becoming Kirari was as simple as taking one mask off and putting another mask on. The question therefore felt like a challenge.
“Yes,” Ririka answered simply, confident in her abilities.
“Are you sure about that?”
“I am.”
“Even with Sayaka?”
Ririka hesitated. With Sayaka it was different. Not only did she have an uncanny ability to tell the twins apart, she was also Kirari's girlfriend, which meant that there was another layer of deception involved, one which Ririka had not trained for during all these years.
“Not so sure, huh?” Kirari giggled at Ririka's pensive look.
“You want to see if I can trick Sayaka?”
“Mhm.”
“For how long?”
Ever since Sayaka had known about the twin thing, she had been able to tell them apart within a few minutes. The time aspect was therefore crucial to the possible success of the wager.
“Let's see,” Kirari said. “I bet that you can't trick her for long enough to kiss her without her realizing you're not me.”
Ririka blinked in surprise. A deep blush erupted under the mask.
“Y-you're out of your mind. Sayaka is going to murder me. She might murder you!”
“Please, she won't murder me. I've done worse to her, to be quite honest,” Kirari said and shrugged. “She knows I like to keep her on her toes. And for what it's worth, you'll never be able to trick her anyway, so it's a moot point.”
Ririka turned away from her.
“I haven't even kissed anyone before,” she said quietly and blushed harder at the idea.
“I know, and I think it's time you did.”
“But she's..! She's your girlfriend!”
“She's a good kisser, I'm just saying.”
Staring at Kirari as if she had lost her mind, Ririka couldn't even begin to form a retort, so she turned and walked away, ears burning from the thought of kissing anyone, much less her sister's girlfriend.
“Sorry that I can't offer you Saotome instead,” Kirari shot after her with a malevolent grin and enjoyed the sight of her twin's shoulders tensing up as she walked out the door without looking back.
The door slammed and Kirari wondered briefly if she should make an escape before Sayaka came back. She had always wondered what her girlfriend's saturation point for shenanigans was. When would she have had enough? It would make an interesting case study, but for the time being, Kirari found that she should behave nicely and do her job. She sat down again and finished skimming a couple more reports before Sayaka returned a few minutes later.
The secretary was pleasantly surprised to find that Kirari hadn't bailed on her, even though Ririka had failed to keep a watch on her. Delighted, she walked over and planted a kiss on top of her girlfriend's head.
“One more,” Kirari said and pointed to her lips.
Sayaka shook her head and walked away before she could relent, not wanting to give Kirari a chance to initiate anything more.
“You can have whatever you want, but only after you're done with the paperwork.”
"Oh?"
Sayaka sent Kirari a stern look, only the impact was slightly lessened by her blush. Kirari turned back to her work with a sly smile. Rewards were on the table, just like she had wanted.
Ririka hastened down the hallways, ears burning from her sister's remarks. Wanting to go home immediately, she found her phone and sent a message to their driver, asking to be picked up ASAP. Unfocused, she suddenly found herself in the same hallway as Mary and Yumeko, going in the same direction. She saw them before they could see her, however, so she hid quickly behind the corner, observing them silently.
Mary seemed to be wearing Yumeko as a backpack, the black-haired girl draped over her shoulders. They walked like that for a couple of steps before Mary shoved Yumeko off of her. Yumeko giggled and tried to hold Mary's hand, although whether she succeeded or not, Ririka couldn't tell, she had turned away from them and leaned against the wall around the corner.
Ririka bumped her head softly against the wall. She couldn't help but feel like she had lost a war before she had fought even a single battle. Being Mary's friend was great and more than Ririka had ever even hoped for, but after spending time with her she had realized that mere friendship wasn't enough.
Kirari was right, like she annoyingly always was, the one Ririka wanted to kiss was Mary.
She had daydreamed recently what her first kiss would be like, Mary kissing her in excitement after winning some huge gamble, both of them elated and happy. Even thinking about it now, the thought made Ririka's heart tingle and swoon. The thought that it might never come to be was depressing, but the thought that it would be because of Yumeko was aggravating. She frowned as her resentment of Yumeko flared up.
Maybe she was romanticizing the idea of her first kiss too much, she thought suddenly. Just because her first one wasn't with Mary, didn't mean she would never have a first kiss with her. Maybe it would even be good to have some experience. Mary had been surrounded by girls ever since enrolling at the academy, Ririka found it probable that at least one of them at some point had kissed her. Yumeko had probably done so.
Experience or not, what would help her the most was to get rid of the competition, a voice in the back of her mind said, and she couldn't tell if the voice was her own or Kirari's. Ririka nodded in contemplation. She certainly wasn't above it, messing with Mary and Yumeko's relationship like that. It could mess with Kirari and Sayaka's relationship too, but Ririka thought that was Kirari's problem. She was, after all, the one who proposed this ludicrous bet in the first place, so it really ought to be her who would take the brunt of Sayaka's wrath.
The only question then was whether or not she could do it, trick Sayaka for long enough to kiss her. Ririka felt confident that if the circumstances were right, she could definitely do it. She would have to discuss with Kirari what they would be. She could do that tonight when it was just the two of them.
A message ticked in from the driver, he was outside the gate. Ririka turned the corner and walked out to the car, sending another message to her sister in the process.
Let's discuss it again tonight.