I looked at the red-haired girl, who seemed utterly bewildered.
"You're messing with me, right? Identical twins… don't make me laugh."
…She really didn't believe me, huh?
I sighed. "Well, I can't do anything if you don't believe me. You do you, I guess." I shrugged.
The whole time, Yuuji was clinging to my back, half-hidden behind me. I could feel him gripping my jacket slightly. He always did this when meeting new people—shy with strangers, just like usual.
The woman, however, didn't seem to care. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight slightly.
"Anyway, have you done the report?" she asked suddenly.
…Huh?
What was she talking about? Report?
I blinked at her in confusion. "What?"
"Do you hear me? Hello?" She waved a hand in front of my face, impatient.
"I hear you just fine," I replied, keeping my voice calm, "but I have no idea what you're talking about. Besides, I already told you—I'm not Irana."
The moment I said that, her expression twisted in frustration.
"You piece of—!" She clenched her fists, her fiery red hair making her look even more intense.
Wait… was she actually mad about this?
"You wanna play games with me? Fine."
And then, without warning, she threw a punch straight at my face.
I reacted instinctively, sidestepping with ease, letting her fist cut through empty air.
But then—
"Ah—!"
Behind me, Yuuji stumbled and fell onto the ground from the sudden movement.
I immediately turned to him. "Yuuji! Are you okay?"
I crouched next to him, checking for any injuries, but thankfully, he just looked startled. He rubbed his elbow where he had landed, frowning slightly.
Then I snapped my head back toward the red-haired girl.
"What is your problem? Are you insane?!" I glared at her.
She didn't look the least bit sorry. In fact, she seemed even more irritated, like I was the one who had done something wrong.
"Tch," she clicked her tongue, watching me closely.
Without warning, she suddenly kicked me.
Da heck?!
She was fighting with no honour!
…Then again, I was the naive one for expecting her to have honour.
Pain shot through my side where her kick landed. That one actually hurt. I gritted my teeth, inhaling sharply.
"Geez, that hurt a lot," I muttered, rolling my shoulder. "Listen, girl. I don't know you, and I have no idea what your deal is with my sister, Irana. But if this is how you treat her, then I have no choice."
Before she could react, I launched myself forward, tackling her with full force.
"Wha—?!"
With a solid thud, we both hit the ground, but I had the upper hand. In an instant, I pinned her down, locking her arms beneath me.
She struggled fiercely, thrashing beneath my grip, but it was futile. There was nothing she could do to break free.
Her expression shifted from frustration to shock. "What the—? What happened to my power?"
…Huh?
I feel like I have heard something like this before. But, whatever…
I leaned in slightly, tightening my grip on her wrists to keep her pinned. She kept squirming, but her strength wasn't enough to shake me off.
"Listen," I said, my voice calm but firm. "You want to mess with my sister? Then you're messing with me too." I gave her a pointed look. "Well, in this case, you already messed with me directly."
She gritted her teeth, her eyes burning with frustration. "Tch... Damn it—" She tried to move again, but I pressed down harder, keeping her locked in place.
"What's your problem, anyway?" I continued. "You come at me out of nowhere, throw punches, and now you're acting all confused about your 'power'? You sound like a lunatic."
Her expression twisted into something between shock and rage. "No... This isn't right. My power—why isn't it working?"
I narrowed my eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about, but from where I'm sitting, the only thing not working here is you."
Yuuji, who had been watching from a safe distance, cautiously peeked from behind me. "Onee-chan… is she crazy?" he whispered.
I sighed. "Starting to think so."
The red-haired girl scowled. "Tch… I'm not crazy! My ability—!"
She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening as if realizing something. I had no clue what was going on inside her head, but whatever it was, it looked like she just put two and two together.
I tilted my head. "What? Cat got your tongue?"
Then, I suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind.
"What's going on here? Aria, is that you?"
I froze for a moment before quickly turning my head to see where the voice was coming from. Standing there, her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised in curiosity—and perhaps mild disappointment—was none other than Elizabeth-sensei, one of the teachers from my school.
"Elizabeth-sensei?" I blurted out, my stomach sinking.
This was bad. Really bad. A teacher catching me mid-fight on my day off? I could already imagine the long, exasperated lecture coming my way.
Elizabeth-sensei's sharp gaze flickered between me, the red-haired woman pinned beneath me, and Yuuji, who was gripping the hem of my shirt. The entire situation looked… well, terrible.
I scrambled to explain before she could get the wrong idea. "Um... uh... it's not what it looks like! It was like this—"
Before I could even finish my sentence, Yuuji suddenly cut in, his voice loud and dramatic as he pointed at the red-haired woman.
"This bad woman attacked my Onee-chan all of a sudden!"
Elizabeth-sensei let out a long, weary sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose as if this situation was giving her a headache.
"Aria… care to explain why I found you in the middle of what looks like a street brawl?"
Her sharp eyes then shifted to the red-haired woman still pinned beneath me. Her expression hardened as she addressed her.
"And you… Ariana… you have a lot of explaining to do."
Ariana?
I blinked, momentarily distracted. Her name was Ariana? It sounded so similar to mine… but that wasn't the important part right now.
I loosened my grip slightly, still wary but no longer pressing down as hard. Turning to Elizabeth-sensei, I hesitated before asking, "You know her, sensei?"
Elizabeth-sensei nodded, crossing her arms. "Of course. She's your senior. A second-year."
Wait, what?
I turned my head back to Ariana, who looked just as irritated as before but was no longer struggling. My senior? That meant she attended the same school as me?
I frowned, trying to process the new information. "This troublemaker is a student at our school?"
Ariana scoffed, finally shoving me off her as she sat up, rubbing her wrists. "Tch. So what if I am? You got a problem with that?"
I narrowed my eyes at her. "Yeah, I do. You just attacked me out of nowhere!"
Ariana clicked her tongue. "You were playing dumb and pretending you weren't Irana. Who wouldn't be pissed?"
"Because I am not Irana!" I shot back, exasperated.
Elizabeth-sensei sighed again, clearly growing tired of our back-and-forth. She placed a hand on her hip and gave us both a firm look.
"Enough. Both of you, stand up. We're not going to have this conversation on the ground like children."
Reluctantly, I stood up, brushing the dust off my clothes, while Ariana stretched her arms as if this whole thing had been nothing more than a warm-up.
Elizabeth-sensei's eyes darted between the two of us. "Now, explain. Properly."
I took a deep breath, ready to tell my side of the story.