"Wakey wakey, sleepy head!"
Guhhh!
Revan's eyes snapped wide open. The air in his lungs was violently forced out under a sudden, heavy weight that collapsed onto his stomach. Before he could even think, a pathetic, strangled gasp escaped his throat.
Instinctively, he tensed his abs and curled his body forward like a bending ball. But instead of escaping, his face ended up crashing straight into something incredibly soft and plush.
As he desperately tried to gasp for oxygen, a sweet, candy-like scent filled his senses. A vivid, sugary aroma wafted from the very cushions his face was currently buried in. This fragrance... it was the exact perfume worn by his twin sister, Revina. In an instant, the last remnants of his drowsiness evaporated, replaced by a jolt of pure shock.
"Wake up, idiot! It's already morning!" A clear, melodious, yet piercing voice blasted into his ears from mere inches away.
Revan tilted his head up toward the sound. Hovering right above him was Revina, wearing her signature mischievous smirk. Her crimson eyes locked onto his with a playful, wicked glint.
"Ughh..." Revan groaned, finally registering the absurd situation.
Annoyed at having his sweet slumber ruined, he wrapped his arms around her slender waist and yanked her down in one swift motion. Revina tumbled onto the bed with me, and as she fell, she instinctively wrapped her arms tightly around his head to steady herself.
Revina stared down at him, treating him like nothing more than a lifeless body pillow. Annoyed by her twin brother's stubborn lack of response, her slender fingers reached out, pinching his earlobe and giving it a sharp, merciless twist.
"Van!!! Wake up!!!"
"Mmm..." Revan merely groaned, his eyelids remaining tightly shut as if they were glued together.
Seeing his passive resistance, a twitch of irritation formed on Revina's brow. But a split second later, a brilliant, mischievous idea sparked in her mind. Since the ear-tweak failed to yield results, she decided to deploy a more drastic measure.
With a smug pout on her lips, she suddenly wrapped her arms tighter around his head, burying his face even deeper into her chest.
The warmth that had initially tempted Revan back to sleep was instantly replaced by a suffocating softness that completely overwhelmed his senses. His oxygen supply was abruptly cut off. He let out a muffled groan of frustration, pushing against her shoulders as he tried to break free from the soft vice-grip locking his face against her plush contours, desperately scrambling to breathe.
"Kyaaa!! Hahahaha~!" Revina shrieked with a giggle. The hot, ragged puffs of Revan's breath tickling her bare skin sent a wave of electric amusement straight to her stomach.
Driven by her wicked urge to tease him further, she completely ignored his plight. She tightened her embrace even more, turning a deaf ear to his muffled protests.
"Mpppffff... mpffff!" Revan's voice was completely drowned out as he tried to tell her that he was genuinely suffocating.
Yet, his frantic struggles only fueled her amusement, causing her to instinctively squeeze me tighter against herself in a reflexive panic. Realizing that words were useless against this stubborn octopus, Revan shifted his strategy. He drove his fingers into her waist and tickled her underarms, hoping the shock would force her to let go.
But the sheer, chaotic laughter only made her squirm and lock her arms even tighter.
Damn it, she's really trying to kill me, Revan cursed inwardly.
At that moment, he acutely realized that Revina was only wearing a thin, flimsy nightgown with absolutely no bra underneath. Right beside the corner of his lips, a sensitive, prominent peak pressed tantalizingly against his face through the fabric.
Driven by pure survival instinct—and a healthy dose of sheer retaliation—Revan parted his lips. He clamped down, biting playfully yet aggressively on the soft bud, sucking it through the thin cloth while his fingers relentlessly continued their tickle-torture on her waist.
Revina felt a sudden jolt, as if an electric current shot straight through her spine from Revan's unexpected retaliation. A wave of heat rushed to her face, leaving her flushed and breathless as her strength rapidly drained away. The relentless tickling had already pushed her to her limits, but it was that final, shameless attack that completely shattered her defense.
With a mix of frantic laughter and a defeated groan under Revan's double assault, her octopus-like grip finally unraveled. She collapsed onto the mattress beside him, her body still twitching with lingering waves of ticklish aftershocks.
On the other side of the bed, Revan was greedily gasping for air like a starving man.
"Vin...! Were you trying to murder me?!" Revan complained, his voice ragged and breathless as he glared at her. "I am not an otaku whose ultimate dream is to die of suffocation by a woman's cushions!"
"Huh?!" Revina shot back, rolling over to glare right back at him without a single millimeter of guilt on her face. "Aren't you a lonely single guy anyway? You should be grateful for almost fulfilling the dying wish of countless lonely otakus in this world!"
Revan sat up on the bed, pushing his messy hair back as he deadpanned at his sister's utterly absurd logic. He looked at her with the blank, hollow eyes of a dead fish.
Oh, the internet was right, he thought, letting out a long, heavy sigh. Rule number one: Women are always right. Rule number two: If a woman is wrong, refer back to rule number one.
He shook his head, silently yielding to his twin. After all, he knew deep down that Revina was the only family he had left.
Their parents had passed away a year ago, resting in eternal peace after the devastating Dungeon Outbreak. Revan refused to ever be the cause of Revina's sadness. Even though they were exactly the same age, he was technically older by a mere thirty minutes. And that thirty-minute gap was more than enough to trigger his fierce, protective older brother instincts.
As long as she could smile happily and enjoy her life, nothing else mattered.
Hah... the way of an Onii-chan is truly a harsh path. Yare yare... Revan lamented inwardly, feeling like a weary adult trapped in the body of a fifteen-year-old.
"Yes, yes. Thank you for your immense generosity, Your Majesty," Revan replied with a thoroughly exhausted expression. He dragged his tired limbs out of bed and headed toward the bathroom to wash up.
From behind, Revina quietly watched his retreating figure. Revan had a slender, graceful build that almost mirrored a girl's. His long, silver hair cascaded softly over his shoulders—a striking feature that matched her own perfectly. He had once mentioned wanting to cut it short, but Revina had cried so hard back then, as if her own hair were about to be chopped off.
She knew very well that Revan always gave in to her demands, no matter how ridiculous or unreasonable they were. He endlessly pampered her, carrying the heavy weight of responsibility for her well-being solely on his shoulders.
And all because he's older by just thirty minutes! Oh, come on! Revina pouted into the empty room, a sudden wave of playful frustration washing over her. I should have been the older one. I should be the Onee-chan! Where is the justice in fate?! Ah, I really wish I had a cute little brother instead...
But as the bathroom door clicked shut, the playful light in Revina's golden eyes began to dim. Her vision grew slightly blurry as a painful realization settled in her chest. That wish would never come true. Their parents were gone, and the quiet house suddenly felt far too vast. Revan was her entire world now.
"Mom... Dad... I really miss you," she whispered into the silence. A single tear escaped her eye, tracing a warm path down her cheek.
"Vin? Where's the toothpaste? Is it completely empty? Didn't we buy some yesterday?" Revan's muffled voice suddenly called out from inside the bathroom.
The sudden sound snapped Revina out of her spiraling thoughts. Instantly, she suppressed her emotions, wiping the tear from her face as if it had never fallen. She swallowed the lump in her throat, forcing her vocal cords to sound as loud and obnoxious as usual so he wouldn't detect even a hint of her vulnerability.
"Hah?! Didn't you put the groceries in the kitchen yesterday?!" Revina yelled back, throwing off the covers and marching toward the kitchen cabinets. "Did you even check the bathroom? You literally told me last night that you were going to restock it yourself!"
A few moments later, Revina casually strolled into the bathroom without even bothering to knock. She walked in with absolute nonchalance, completely devoid of any shyness or hesitation.
Inside, Revan had just finished rinsing his face. He had pulled his long silver hair back into a loose ponytail to keep it from getting wet.
Through the reflection of the fogged-up mirror, Revina looked undeniably captivating. Her untamed silver hair cascaded beautifully, contrasting with her striking crimson eyes. With her cute facial features and slender physique, she looked less like a normal human and more like a flawlessly sculpted masterpiece of a doll.
Noticing that Revan was staring at her through the glass with undivided focus, Revina fought hard to suppress the smug, reflexive pout that threatened to curve her lips. She secretly relished his look of admiration. After all, what girl wouldn't feel pleased when a guy was completely magnetized by her looks?
Smack!
She playfully slammed the tube of toothpaste against the back of Revan's head, abruptly shattering his daze.
"What are you staring at?" she mumbled, squeezing some paste onto her brush before turning on the tap to wash her face. "Aren't we literal twins? If you want to admire someone, just look at yourself in the mirror."
"Heh?!" Revan scoffed, rubbing the back of his head. "I am a guy, okay? Of course it's different! For starters, I don't have oppai! And my muscles are definitely starting to tone up. My masculinity is about to shine brighter than the sun!"
Revina merely shot him a sideways glance as she brushed her teeth, silently wondering where on earth his ridiculous confidence came from. Their bodies were practically identical—a near 11/12 match in terms of proportions. Even though Revan consistently tried to do fitness routines and lift weights, his body structure refused to change even a single bit. Well, except for his 'little snake', which seemed to be the only thing gaining any muscle. Aside from that? Absolute zero progress.
"Pffft..."
Revina choked back a laugh at her own stray thoughts, foam bubbling slightly around her mouth as she kept brushing.
Feeling thoroughly mocked, Revan pouted. In a fit of petty defiance, he took off his pajama shirt and struck a ridiculous bodybuilder pose in the middle of the bathroom, aggressively flexing his non-existent biceps.
But to Revina, his macho display made him look like nothing more than a low-budget stand-up comedian. She couldn't hold it in any longer. Breaking into a helpless, unbridled fit of laughter, she nearly sprayed toothpaste everywhere.
"Pwahaha! Yes, yes! You are so masculine, Van!" she wheezed through her giggles.
Revan deadpanned at his twin sister, staring at her with the hollow, unamused eyes of a dead fish. At this point, he felt like a circus clown who forgot to put on his makeup.
Letting out a long, defeated sigh, he completely gave up.
Defeated, he grabbed his dirty pajamas from the floor, stripping off the rest of his clothes without an ounce of shame, and tossed them carelessly into the washing machine before stepping into the shower stall.
From behind, Revina just smiled softly, watching his defeated retreat. She realized that these small, trivial interactions always had a magical way of lifting her mood, washing away the lingering grief from earlier.
Once she finished rinsing her mouth, she casually walked over to the washing machine, her hands reaching down to the hem of her own nightgown as she undressed for her turn in the shower.