The Result to the Equation

[IWASE EIJI]

To a certain point, it was getting lonely For once, Eiji was not in the mood to work on robots. He sometimes hit some baseballs when he was feeling a bit down but he was not in the mood for that either. And yet, anyone who'd see him sitting alone at the park would not think he was down. Pensive, maybe, but not depressed.

He had not talked to ENOMOTO HIROKI much lately. He didn't visit him at the house or at the school not tried to contact him at other moments.While part of him missed the guy, he also knew he was in this situation because of him. Eiji told Hiroki he wanted to conduct an experiment on whether or not he could feel something different than what his sister felt for someone they both knew, and to recognise whether they were truly his feelings should he feel the same. He was done with the experiment. And... That's it. Well, not really.

His sister could tell there was something going on. Eiji had always been the one who had it harder at hiding how he felt. She didn't get why her brother wouldn't think these were his feelings but she was shocked to hear they mgiht have grown a crush for the same person. She felt betrayed and annoyed, knowing that her brother met Hiroki through her, that they never would have known each other had it not been for her. Of all the people he had to be confused about, it had to be him? But something annoyed her even more than her twin possibly having feelings for the guy she also liked. It was the fact he was not interested in doing anything about it upon knowing exactly how he felt. Eiji wouldn't have been able to hide the conclusion to his experiment to Akemi not even if he tried. He thought she would be relieved to know that he wouldn't do anything about it, that he was not going to pursue Hiroki. But that's what angered her.

Since then, she had been giving him the cold soulder treatment. She barely talked to him. He had no way of knowing whether or not she treated Hiroki the same way since Eiji had not contacted him since. But he hoped it changed nothing to their relationship and that she was not angry at Hiroki too. Hiroki was Akemi's friend and Eiji would leave it at that. He would be polite towards Hiroki when meeting him but he should not go after him. Not when his sister was so upset right now. Akemi told him there was no point in talking to Hiroki right now, not when Eiji would not confess. While he could understand a part of her reasoning, he found it irrational. He didn't think it should change anything. There was no reason for her not to ask Hiroki out. Her brother had never been a threat anyway. He hoped she actually confessed to Hiroki, or at least not avoided him the same way Eiji seemed to. Except that Eiji didn't see it that way. Hiroki was always Akemi's friend first, it made sense to him to know spend as much time with the guy now that his experiment was over.

It was why Eiji was at the park, alone, right now. He needed time to think away from the bad atmosphere. He hoped it would soon resolved itself and that Akemi would talk to him again. Because he didn't know what else he could do...

[ENOMOTO HIROKI]

Hiroki didn’t know what had happened between the twins but between practicing for the play and his social life, he hadn’t seen Eiji-kun in a while and quite honestly, he was starting to miss the guy. He didn’t think it was because he had potential feelings for the other guy but more because they were friends and he liked seeing the guy outside the school. He did notice a small change in Akemi’s reactions towards him but he couldn’t quite get why. He didn’t know that both of the twins might share feelings for him as he could be quite dense at times. It took Akemi to tell him she liked him for him to realize what had happened, unfortunately for the girl, he did not share the feelings and asked if she still wanted to be his friend. She seemed to accept their faith as it was. He felt a bit bad and started wondering if it was the reason why Eiji didn’t show up at his place.

He was heading towards the mansion after another practice for the play and decided to pass by the park as it would be a better view than walking in town. By doing that, he notice Eiji and smiled at it. Without any other thoughts, he headed towards the guy who looked pensive. “Eiji-kun!” he chirped happily as he quickened his pace. Suddenly, all of his worries disappeared.

“What have you been up to? Were you working on other projects?” he asked, tilting his head to the side, unaware that it made him look cuter. He never liked looking that way but he kept doing subconsciously things that made him that way.

[IWASE EIJI]

Eiji hoped his sister was not avoiding Hiroki as well. It would be really cruel to the boy if the two of them stopped seeing him at the same time. It wasn't like Eiji had anything against him. Akemi was mad at him for thinking he may like Hiroki just because he assumed she liked him too. He did not give her the results to his experiment, but assured there was nothing more to it. He didn't think there would ever be. He had no reason to keep offering gifts to Hiroki, to compliment him, to try and make Hiroki act cute to see how that affected him. Would Akemi be mad at Hiroki for putting the two of them in that place? Hiroki would be at a loss, and probably quite hurt. Yes, Eiji really hoped she did none of that.

His head perked up when he heard his name being called out. He was pulled out of his thoughts only to get the guy stuck in his head right now standing in front of him.

He didn't look too sad. Akemi mustn't have pushed him away then. He didn't even start with asking him why he stopped talking to him. Hiroki was always too nice. Eiji remained silent for a moment, staring at Hiroki. He had to answer him though. "Not really, but I was busy with cram school," he said. It was true that Eiji was studying hard right now. He had some of the best grades in his year but he always wanted to improve and learn beyond what the school offered them. He had to be prepared if he wanted to go to the best university possible.

He realised he barely talked and was stilllooking at Hiroki so he turned his gaze away before that would seem awkward. "And you must have been with the play. I know Akemi is working hard for it."

[ENOMOTO HIROKI]

Hiroki tended to be optimistic in general and while he wondered if Eiji stayed away from him because of his twin sister, he was willing to believe what he had said about robotics. He knew that his friend wanted to get into the best schools possible and he couldn’t blame him; that’s what they all wanted in the end and it was also the reason he was in Miyazaki as well. He was part of the best and was glad that people started to recognize his talent and not just because he could look cute and like a girl. He’d hate being hired only because of his looks. Looks might be part of a job but this wasn’t all about it.

“I see.” He said to his friend, nodding at him when he was close enough. At least, things were seemingly going to be back to normal now…hopefully. He only wished that Akiko wouldn’t give him cold shoulders after that. He knew how it could be to be rejected by someone. He could relate to her to a certain extent and he thought that it had the potential to turn them into a great friendship.

He nodded when he asked about the play. “Yes, we’ve been working very hard on it, I just finished doing that, and I was heading home.” He explained sheepishly to his friend. “What were you doing here, on your own?” he asked, noticing that Eiji was looking elsewhere; he truly started to puzzle him!

[IWASE EIJI]

To people like Hiroki and Akemi, if they wanted to pull an extra effort to prove themselves, it meant working, in theatres, commercials, any kind of gig possible. It meant seeking agents if they didn't have one, going to auditions. Or watch work and take notes of what those other artists did. To Eiji, it was cram school. Maybe the other two could be successful without being the best students in their year, charisma and look also went a long way in their work, but Eiji needed to study. If he wanted a chance of getting into the best universities, he needed the best grades possible. Because an average university also meant he would get an average work afterwards. The top businesses in engineering and robotics were not likely to hire someone who graduated from a basic university, regardless of their grades.

Of course, it was not the only reason why he avoided Hiroki as of late. If Akemi was mad at him because of the boy, perhaps not seeing him would calm her down. The two would have to see each other a lot. It made Eiji wonder if she gave Hiroki the cold shoulder as well. That would make things awkward. Would Hiroki bring it up to him? Perhaps, but he might also not want to bother him with it. And certainly, he would not start talking to him by bringing it up.

Hiroki's expression changed and he wondered if that wasn't the reason why. Was he trying to find a way to bring it up to him? "I was just resting a bit from work," he answered. Eiji was fine being on his own. Well, not really, but he learned to since his sister was no longer in the same school as him. "Akemi didn't make things hard for you, did she?" he asked Hiroki. He was hoping his sister would not punish him for what was going on.

[ENOMOTO HIROKI]

Hiroki didn’t exactly notice anything different into the twin’s behavior other than the fact that Eiji was seemingly too busy to spend time with him. It had him wondering about the reasons and he never got to talk of him when he was with Akemi as she tended to avoid the subject whenever he was bringing up the other boy. He understood that she might not always want to talk of her sibling and he couldn’t blame her; he didn’t always talk of his either even if he was fond of them. Though, the fact that she had asked him out opened his eyes on her end. He did feel bad for rejecting her but she seemed to have taken it well. She claimed she wanted some space before she’d feel comfortable talking to him again.

“Oh okay.” He simply said in response to Eiji then Akemi was brought up to their conversation and he shook his head. “Quite honestly, I think I’m the one who’s making things hard for her, is she alright?” he asked Eiji. He might have known then again, who knows since he inquired about her. Did he hear of her asking him out? Was it why he questioned him? He couldn’t exactly tell as Eiji wasn’t the type of person who would openly express his feelings.

Deep down, he started wondering whether it was because of that Eiji stopped talking to him and he hoped not, he started freaking out internally.

[IWASE EIJI]

Eiji frowned, quite puzzled by what Hiroki said about his sister. Why would he be the one making things hard? Well, maybe he was, but he didn't come to talk to Eiji in a way that led him to believe Hiroki knew what was going on. Plus he asked if Akemi was alright. If he knew the twins fought with each other over him, he wouldn't be asking Eiji that, right? At least not without asking how he was doing too. Unless it was Hiroki's way of showing his preference. Not that Eiji would have minded. He had always been ready to leave Hiroki to his sister.

"Why wouldn't she be? What happened?" he asked, still not getting what Hiroki was going on about. To him, it would make sense that Akemi might dislike Hiroki a little, although he figured her anger would be more directed at him than her friend. He even expected her to say Hiroki was hers or something, because they had known each other for longer. Sure, Hiroki could ask how she was doing if he turned her down, but he wasn't sure if that could be considered like making things harder. No, in the end, Eiji figured they were not thinking of the same thing here and he needed to sort things out to make sure they were talking of the same thing. "We've barely talked lately. She's... been avoiding for a while now."

[ENOMOTO HIROKI]

Hiroki didn't know that being friends with twins could be complicated, let along when it involved feelings. He had no ideas that they had fought for him and for the fact that he rejected Akemi, well, he felt bad, of course but he needed time after what happened with Amaya's cousin. He frowned however when Eiji asked about Akemi. "Well..." he said slowly, unsure how to bring it up. Was it weird to talk to your friend and tell them that their sister asked you out and you said no? Did it sound cruel? He wasn't cruel! He thought that he had said no in the nicest awy possible.

He understood that he might have been harder on her than he had thought. Especially now that she didn't talk to her twin. "She has? I thought you two were close." he said, starting to feel bad now. He didn't know it would have caused awkwardness between the siblings! He missed spending time with his and he bet that Eiji-kun would find it hard as well, not getting to speak to Akemi as much as he wanted. "You see the thing is that she asked me out and I told her that I wasn't ready to get in a relationship, I hope that she didn't get it hard. I didn't want to hurt her feelings." he started saying to Eiji, rubbing the back of his head. He thought of Akemi as a good friend and same was with Eiji, he just didn't know that he might be the cause of a conflict between them.

[IWASE EIJI]

Eiji could see Hiroki's discomfort before he even started to trail off his words. Something did happen with Akemi then. What? For Hiroki to look like this, Eiji could guess. He must have turned her down. Wouldn't that make her come back to her brother then? She was angry at him, and he thought it was for liking the same guy she did, but she said she was even more so for his silly idea that he liked him because she did and wouldn't do anything because of that. Unless she was still mad precisely because she got rejected by her crush. Maybe she was mad because she wouldn't have told Hiroki she liked him had she not been upset at her brother and now she expressed her embarrassment and frustration to him.

Eiji accidentally gave Hiroki a way out from talking as he explained the two of them were at odds at the moment. He wanted to know why. As he said, the twins used to be close. Didn't Eiji even told him they once thought they'd did if they were too far apart? Had things changed since then! "It had to do with you, actually," he admitted. It might be mean to word it that way, but it was also the truth. He didn't know what else he could say however, since he already made up his mind that he would not ask the boy out. He wanted to know if he could like someone his sister like too with it not being precisely because his sister liked that person. He wanted to know if they could share the same feelings for someone while it being genuine and not just one mirroring the other.

Eiji pondered over what Hiroki said. He didn't quite turn her down as he said he was not ready. Sure, if he liked her, maybe he could have asked her to give him time, which didn't seem to be what he said or at least he didn't mention it here. So Hiroki was not ready to date anyone. "In that case, she shouldn't worry about me," Eiji said, more to himself than Hiroki.

He looked at the other boy, who seemed saddened by the situation. "I wouldn't worry. I'm sure she'll get over it fast enough. She might just be upset at me if she thinks I'm the one who forced her to confess to you." But that was for him to worry about, not Hiroki.

[ENOMOTO HIROKI]

Hiroki was a bit confused, why did it have to do with him? What did he do? He didn’t think he do anything wrong! He spent time with Akemi at their school and they worked on the play while he also enjoyed Eiji’s company when he wasn’t. He did know that Eiji was going on an experiment, and he wondered if it was about this too. All of this started giving him a bit of a headache, as he started fretting over the idea that he might be the cause of their twin bond breaking apart. “I’m the reason why you two aren’t as close?” He asked, feeling even more worried now. “I didn’t want to be rude to Akemi either, I don’t think I’m ready for a relationship and I don’t share Akemi’s feelings, but I’d like to remain friends. I don’t know if she’d allow that.” He said, feeling guilty now.

“Why would she worry about you? Because we hang out together?” He figured this was what he got for befriending the two of them! Looks like he might have to do something about that and hopefully they’d want to be his friends still.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt her feelings even if it must have.” He said, clearly showing worries. “Why? Did you force her to confess to me?” He wasn’t sure he was following it all. What were they about? Then, what Hideo said the other day ran through his head. Did Eiji like him? It couldn’t be that! Hideo always had the wrong idea when it came to romance! At least, that’s what he’d like to think it would be reassuring but he started to wonder even more he remembered of Eiji’s experiments...

[IWASE EIJI]

It might have been a bit unfair of Eiji to have phrased it like that. True, in a way, Hiroki was responsible, but only because he was the one both twins were interested in. It was this interest, its level and what both were willing to do about it that was really the cause of Akemi ignoring her brother right now. And that, Eiji could argue was entirely out of Hiroki's control. "She found out about my research and was not happy about it, even when I said I was done with it. So while it has to do with you, it's not in a way you should feel guilty about. She might be even angrier at me if you start feeling that." It was hard to tell. There was a time Eiji could swear he knew exactly how his twi sister felt, but it grew harder and harder with time.

It kind of hit Eiji in the face, to hear Hiroki say he didn't like his sister. Ultimately, it shouldn't affect him, but he thought that, if the boy said it like that to Akemi, it must have hurt a lot more than simply being told he was not ready for a relationship. Would she want her brother around though? Eiji supposed he should let her talk about this with her girl friends, and just hint that he was here if she needed him. Eventually she would walk into his room while he worked like she used to as if nothing happened. He could only hope.

As he told Hiroki, Akemi was aware now of his experiment and had not been too pleased about it. But if Hiroki was not ready to go out with someone, he wouldn't have time for him either. Not that Eiji thought about asking the boy out anyway, but it was all the more a reason not to. "I told her I was done with it, that she didn't have to think about it. She didn't like that answer." He didn't get why. There were so many people who could be in love with Hiroki, she didn't have to wait for them all to confess to do so herself, in case he might have gone for one of them had he known he had the chance. Eiji couldn't get her logic in there.

Hiroki looked worried and Eii felt bad to have put him in that situation. There was nothing the boy could do. He cared too much. He looked away as Hiroki asked him what he did and shrugged. "I don't think so, but she might have felt that way." If so, being turned down when she didn't want to do it in the first place would not only hurt but also be humiliating. "She'll get over it," he repeated.