Clone Girls

*Bang*

*Bang*

“Hit.”

“...Hit.”

“You touched the arm while I hit the head. Looks like it’s my win again. Want a rematch?” Nicia said, a smile filled with some bit of superiority on her face as she looked at her sister.

“...I’ll win this time.” Lidia replied, her face and tone as unemotional as always, but Nicia knew better. Lidia was growing frustrated over her continuous losses.

“Fufu, sure, we’ll see about that.” Nicia replied, not able to hide her pride in her marksmanship. She had to admit, she had taken quite a liking to seeing Lidia like that. It was sort of a revenge for all the times Lidia flaunted to her…

You smirked at me when you got some free time to pamper Ticinia, serve you right!

Right now, they were at the long distance shooting range. In her free time, Nicia often went here. She had taken a liking to sniping and often practiced it as a hobby. It helped her change her mind from all the medical duties she took upon herself.

Her improved eyesight allowed her to hit the target with each shot, which got her a good amount of admiration from both teachers and other military students.

She often met Lidia there, the latter was also practicing her sniping, although with a different kind of weapon.

If Nicia’s weapon could be said to be the traditional laser sniper rifle, Lidia’s weapon was a shorter rifle with a scope. It was less precise from a long distance, but it could fire faster.

Lidia was a sharpshooter rather than a sniper, yet despite that, when she saw Nicia at the shooting range, she asked for a friendly competition.

The original void of any thought suggestion ended up in an eternal match. Each time the two of them met at the shooting range, they would end up competing, yet despite Lidia’s great performance, she always lost by an inch.

Usually their small matches would bring about a lot of curious and admiring public, but this time around, Nicia wanted to practice in tranquility, so she asked Atrax-ia to book one the shooting range for herself.

She had just not expected Lidia to be already there, having sneaked in with a similar thought in mind…

Lidia immediately asked for a match, which Nicia accepted without a second thought.

“Hey Lidia, Nicia.”

A voice suddenly called from behind as the both of them silently took aim, waiting for the next target to appear.

“Mh? Willia? You came out of your room?” Lidia frowned slightly.

“How rare of you to come to the sniper’s shooting ground, do you need something?” Nicia asked. Both of them were not paying much attention to their fidgeting older sister.

“U-uhm, yes, actually…” Willia hesitated, which was unlike herself. This made Nicia sigh. 

Ever since the ‘confession day incident’, Willia had been shutting herself in her room. Her behavior was weird, but everyone thought she needed some time to herself and that she would come back to normal.

“What’s the matter? Ah, don’t mind us shooting.” Nicia said, focusing on her scope. According to her calculations, the target should appear very soon…

Time slowed down for her as she entered hyper concentration. She was sure it was the same for Lidia. Their target was about a kilometer away. Pretty close in terms of sniping, which meant Lidia had the advantage. Both would shoot nearly at the same time, aiming for the head.

But then…

“P-please help me become a mature woman!”

*Bang*

*Bang*

Just as the target finally came out and both Nicia and Lidia were about to shoot. They heard a sudden weird plea from behind them. Both shot, but missed due to the surprise.

“W-what did you just say!?” Nicia got up and exclaimed in disbelief, looking at the third Null.

What’s going on in this musclehead’s brain!?

*Bang*

Lidia however calmly took aim again and shot the target.

“Hit. Looks like I won this time around.” She said as she stood up, a small smug look on her face.

“Wait, that doesn’t count Lidia! Willia distracted me!” Nicia panicked.

“You still lost.”

“Wait, where are you going!? Don't leave me to deal with Willia alone!? Ugh!”

And just like that, she left, leaving behind her a frustrated Nicia and a bewildered Willia.

Damn it! Now she’s gonna flaunt her win every time we talk about sniping! Ugh!

“...D-did I say something wrong?” Willia said in a shaky voice, unlike her usual self. She looked more like Mia right now.

“Haaa…” This made Nicia calm down somewhat. As expected, something was wrong with Willia but it’s not like she was doing anything with ill will. In fact, she was just being herself.

“You better explain yourself, Willia.” Nicia said, smiling while hiding her anger. Willia nodded, feeling the pressure.

“Uhm, well… Since t-that incident, I-I’ve been reflecting…” She began, blushing slightly. “Boys and girls… there’s a difference between them, right?”

“Obviously.” Nicia rolled her eyes. Her sister should know that as well since it was part of their implanted knowledge, so it was more of a confirmation.

“A-anyway, all this made me think, uhm, perhaps mom and Riley were right?”

“Right about what?”

“A-about me being too much of a tomboy…”

“Uhuh?” Nicia nodded as she began tidying up her gun, still feeling frustrated at herself for her ‘loss’. Meanwhile, Willia continued to fidget, struggling with her words.

“T-that’s why… help me Nicia!”

“Help you at what?”

“B-becoming more girly!”

“Eh?” Nicia froze at Willia’s shout, nearly dropping her rifle. She had not expected such a request! “No, why are you asking me about this? Can’t you ask Rika or Riley?”

“N-no, this is too embarrassing!”

But it’s not embarrassing to tell me? Nicia though, releasing a sigh at her older sister’s silliness.

“What about the others? Why don’t you ask for their help?”

“W-well, I can’t find Nillia, the twins have gone on a stroll and Nia’s together with her friend…”

“What about Ticinia and Vinia?”

“There’s no way I’d ask them, my pride as their older sister is at stake!”

“...Was there any to begin with?”

“Wha-!? That’s so cruel!”

Nicia released another sigh. Now that was more like Willia.

I guess I wouldn’t ask for their help either in her place. They should rely on us, not the other way around, that way we can spoil them.

“As for Eldest sister and second sister, I’m guessing you didn’t ask them because they’re too busy right now.” Nicia said next as she finished tidying up her rifle.

“Well, that’s the case for Ria, but not for Eldest sister…” Willia admitted, scratching her cheek.

“Why didn’t you ask her then?”

“Isn’t she also a tomboy? Besides, if I asked her for any advice on clothes I’d end up wearing hoodies all day. That’s not very girly…”

“...” Nicia could not argue with that. She had once gone shopping with Licia and the story ended with her not being able to refuse her eldest sister’s ‘gift’: a hoodie with cat ears design. 

There’s no way I’m wearing that in front of anyone else but mom, even if Licia asks.

“And for Lidia, well, she just fled so…”

“Haaa, I get it, I’ll help you.” Nicia sighed in defeat.

“Eh? R-realy!?” Willia asked back with hope in her voice, to which Nicia nodded.

Looks like, once again, I’m the only one left to take care of that musclehead… Not that I hate it.

Sure, Nicia sometimes felt a bit irritated by Willia’s ‘dumbness’, but more than that, she liked taking care of her sisters.

Besides, this could be fun…

“Are you free this afternoon?” Nicia asked Willia.

“Y-yeah! Totally!”

“Alright then. Fufufu…You should prepare yourself mentally…” Nicia said before leaving, a smile on her face that sent shills down Willia’s back.

Before leaving, Nicia heard her sister mumble.

“...Did I make the wrong choice?”

My, it's already too late, musclehead.

The ladylike smile on Nicia’s face sent shivers to those who met it…

***

“I should have expected this…”

Nicia sighed, giving her older sister a helpless look.

“W-what do you mean? These are my best clothes!” Willia said, looking over herself. She turned around, trying to show how good her jersey was. This only made Nicia put a hand on her own forehead in exasperation.

“Indeed, but that’s for training. If you went around in this getup then of course guys would get the wrong idea…” She said judgefully.

“I-it’s fine, I always made sure to keep the zipper closed with the guys!” Willia defended, but then Nicia pointed towards her sister’s chest, still harsh.

“Looking at your current assets and how much you buddy up with your gang, that doesn’t help much.”

“Ugh…”

Now Willia looked away in embarrassment, unable to come up with a counterargument.

“I-I won’t do it anymore…” She mumbled while fidgeting, still looking away.

Good Grief… Nicia held back another sigh, she felt so tired despite having a good amount of sleep last night, as well as the fact she had drank coffee…

Well, at least she’s not going around in more revealing clothes...

Had Ticia worn more revealing clothes, the chances of Willia, or any of the other Nulls for that matter, doing the same would have skyrocketed. This would have brought more than a good amount of headaches in and off itself…

“I can teach you some mannerism, but not how much distance you have to keep with guys. That’s something you’ll have to decide yourself.”

“I’m not sure I understand, but ok…”

“For now, just go wear your uniform.”

Willia nodded and went back to her room. Nicia stared at the door of her older sister’s room for a few seconds, before sighing. Today might be fun, but it would also be tiring…

Her glance caught the mirror placed in the hallway and she looked at herself, ensuring nothing was wrong.

Today, she wore a simple dress, medium heels and light makeup, nothing unusual from her other days when she went out with her sisters.

She was quite proud of her makeup. She and Ria had learned it directly from Rika, who was surprisingly quite strict about it. She did not allow them to use makeup until the result was perfect.

Really… Sometimes, she really does act like mom, but in a complementing way, mom doesn’t care about makeup after all.

Nicia couldn’t help but smile wryly. Sometimes, she wondered how Rika thought of them. From her and her sister’s viewpoint, Rika did more than Ticia asked of her when she took care of them. So much so that if someone were to ask them if they have a second parental figure, Rika would immediately come to their mind.

Well, unlike most of my sisters, I don’t necessarily ship mom and Rika, but I can’t deny it would be nice to recognise her as a ‘second mother’.

Just then, she heard the noise of a door opening. She turned and saw Willia, now wearing her usual grey military uniform.

For now though,I’ll take care of this musclehead in their place.

“So, what are we doing today?” Willia asked, tilting her head.

“Shopping.” Nicia replied.

“Eh? Why? Didn’t you say you would teach me?”

“And that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’ll teach you the importance of shopping for ‘girlish clothes’ and other necessary stuff.”

“Erm, okay, you’re the boss today, haha…”

Seeing Nicia’s insistence, Willia acquiesced, laughing awkwardly while scratching the back of her head.

The two of them then went to the nearest shopping center. Unsurprisingly, they caught a lot of gazes on the way…

“Uhm, is it okay for us to go without the ECGs?” Willia asked on the way, conscious of the people’s gazes.

“It is.” Nicia replied. “Don’t worry, I’ve received Rika’s approval.”

“O-oh…”

Well, technically, the ECGs are there, they’re just following us from a distance.

Since Nicia and her sisters were now older, they were allowed to go around without an ECG following them. They still acted as bodyguards from a distance though, filtering anyone they thought suspicious and ready to intervene if something happened.

For smaller, less ‘dangerous’ moments though, they would let the Nulls deal with it. They needed to get a bit of experience with life and social interactions, is what Rika told them. Nicia was in agreement with her, which is why she often went out either on her own or with Ria from time to time.

After a short walk, they reached the commercial district. Borkian Prime had some magnificent alleyways with luxury good shops everywhere the eye could see. That was only a facade though. A city this big couldn’t just have luxury goods to support its population. While some shops DID sell luxury goods, most of them sold common goods. The fancy facade was just a way to put on a show of wealth of the Borkian state to the foreigners and its own citizens.

Nicia already had a store in mind. She walked confidently towards her destination, followed by a clueless Willia.

As they entered a shop that looked no different from its neighbors, the salesperson welcomed them.

“Welcome! Oh my, another one?” The salesperson said, raising an eyebrow for a slight second. Nicia knew she did not mean anything by it, this wasn’t the first time she or one of her sisters came here after all, and they had judged this shop to be the most professional, friendly and cost effective shop around here.

“Hello, I’ve come here to get clothes for this idiot.”

“H-hi…”

Willia waved her hand hesitantly when her younger sister presented her to the stylist. She seemed intimidated, for some reason.

“Mmmh… I see, I see… What kind of clothes are you looking for?” The stylist immediately switched into work mode without any questions.

“Simple ones, if we go for something drastic I’m afraid she won’t survive.”

“E-eh?”

“Understood, please wait for a bit.”

Once Nicia had made her statement, the stylist went away, leaving Nicia with her confused older sister.

Nicia frequently went to this store with Ria, Nillia, Mia, Ticinia and Vinia, so she knew what to do. She guided her still confused sister to the waiting room where they sat and waited. Some articles or ads were available to read, so as usual Nicia took a new mode catalogue and flipped its pages, looking for new clothes while Willia stared at the ceiling, still lost.

“Erm, Nicia, what are we doing?” Willia suddenly asked.

“Don’t worry, third sister, the lady is a specialist at her job. Just enjoy your time here.” Nicia said back, not bothering to glance at her sister.

“Erm… with what? Those books don’t look that interesting…”

“...”

Well, of course. You’re not interested in that…

Nicia sighed, closed the catalogue she had in hand and looked at her sister.

“Then I don’t know? Just bear with it, it’ll take just a few minutes. Count the number of stars on the wallpaper to pass time maybe?”

“Oh! That’s a great idea! Nice Nicia! One, two, three-fithty, seventy… there’s one hundred and twenty three stars, Nicia!”

“...”

I forgot she was actually good at maths...

Now Nicia felt a sense of inferiority as her sister happily reported the number of stars. Nicia decided to willfully ignore her sister now for her own sanity.

“Sorry for the wait!”

After a while of silence, the store’s stylist came back with a bunch of clothes in her arms.

“Let me have a look.” Nicia said, getting over to the stylist while Willia now sat in silence. “Mmmh, not bad, as expected of this store.”

“Thank you for your kind words.”

“Third sister, come over here.”

“O-okay…”

At Nicia's call, Willia came over, looking slightly scared for some reason.

She looks like a small animal. Nicia smiled, now that was something her mother would probably wish to see. Unfortunately, Ticia wasn’t here and there weren’t any cameras, so this was a scene only private to her.

“Here, go and change into these clothes over there.” Nicia said to her sister, handing her a few bags of clothes and pointing towards a changing cabinet.

“Erm, ok…” Willia hesitated.

“What? You’re not gonna say you need some help are you?”

“O-of course not!”

With those words, Wilia hurriedly entered the changing room, leaving Nicia and the stylist together. Nicia asked for some clothes for herself.

“I-I’ve finished changing…”

After a while, Nicia finally heard back from Willia. Her older sister’s voice was weak and full of embarrassment.

Very slowly, a hand opened the separation of the changing cabinet.

Willia came out wearing a simple dress with red tones.

“Hmmm, as expected, it suits her well.” Nicia said, inspecting her sister’s clothes. She nodded in satisfaction.

“Thank you for the praise.”

“Well then, next one.”

“E-eh? I have to change to another set?”

“Yes.” Nicia nodded, before smiling.  “What? were you expecting to have to do it only once? Not a chance.”

“Uuuuh…” Willia went back inside, a defeated look on her face.

And so, Nicia made her sister wear various outfits. Most of them were simple in design, and each time, Nicia nodded in satisfaction before telling the stylist to put the clothes in their bags.

After some back and forth, the stylist suggested applying light makeup on Willia’s face, to which Nicia agreed. Neither of them asked Willia’s opinion, but it was not like it would matter to them, as they were already in their own world.

And so, once the make-up session was finished, the stylist and Nicia looked at their creation…

““...””

“W-what is it? D-do I look bad?” Willia asked while fidgeting, unable to support their silence. The stylist looked in awe, while Nicia had frozen for some reason.

“...It looks like I’ve underestimated your power, Willia.” Nicia finally let out, sighing as she put her hand on her forehead.

“Eh?”

“Just look at yourself.” She pointed towards the wall's mirror. Willia followed her gaze and gasped.

“T-that’s me?” She asked. The young woman in the reflection wore a simple white shirt with light frills and a blue skirt. Her lightly toned legs were covered with black stockings, putting them in valor. Her hair looked still as messy as ever yet her demeanor and light make up would make any men nearby look at her.

“Who else? There’s only two of us sisters here.” Nicia said back ironically. She put herself behind her older sister and put her hands on her shoulders. “So what do you think? Do you like it?”

“I-I do…” Willia admitted somewhat embarrassedly.

“Great! Now we can proceed with the payment.” Nicia said happily as she put some distance between herself and her sister. “Ah, keep the clothes you currently have on.”

“Eh? I have to keep them on?”

“Of course, we’re going to stroll around now.”

“Eeeeeeh?”

Nicia’s mood went up seeing her sister’s reaction. She couldn’t wait but see what other reactions her sister would have today.

She talked with the stylist a bit more, asking her to add a swimsuit for herself. This was to try swimming a bit as she had learned it was healthy. She had heard other academy students speak about ‘going to the beach’, she knew from her implanted knowledge what it was, but never experienced it, which made her curious.

Maybe this would be the occasion for a small family outing in the future. I know mom and the others are busy these days, but it’d be nice if we could have a day for ourselves, just like old times…

“Here is the receipt.”

“Thank you.” Nicia looked at the new icon indicating mail on her connected watch and watched the price, nodded, and paid. Willia on the other hand had turned pale after seeing the number of zeros.

“T-that much!? Erm, N-Nicia, that’s kind of you to offer to pay everything, but I can pay-”

“Don’t worry about that, I’ve got it covered.” Nicia reassured.

“B-but the clothes are for me…”

“It’s a gift from me and Rika. Oh, and Nia I guess.”

“Why Nia?”

“Because I’m using her reparation money.”

“Oh…”

Besides, I’m probably the richest out of all of us. Nicia thought in her head. Aside from the monthly allowance she received from Rika, she was also gaining her own money by doing some part-time work at the academy’s public hospital. Real time practice was necessary for medicine, but the more you worked there, the more money you received as compensation. Nicia had begun to work seriously there ever since her mother, Ticia, went away on her expedition.

Well, some people sometimes cause a ruckus, but that’s another matter.

As for Nia's compensation money, this was a small amount of money Nia agreed to give her after messing up her makeup set for a prank. Willia knew of that story of course, since she was one of the recipients of the said prank…

Now then, on to the next destination.

In a good mood, Nicia led her older sister by the hand. They went here and there, sightseeing. Willia actually rarely ever went out from the academy, so this was a first for her too. She was curious, and Nicia could tell she was enjoying their time together.

But she’s reaching her limit. She noted, observing her sister’s behavior.

Willia was fidgeting, her gaze wandering around as if bothered by something, or rather, as the slight blush on her cheeks revealed, she was embarrassed.

Nicia had expected as much. Willia had just become aware of people’s gazes on her. If you considered the fact that both of them were attractive, not to mention their striking white hair with distinctive black tips, then of course people would look at them.

Ok, let’s have a snack then.

“Willia, would you like some ice cream?” She asked her sister.

“Eh? Ice cream? Yeah, sure!” Willia immediately became happy, reminding Nicia of her sister’s simplemindedness.

They stopped at a refined cafe nearby, it was one of the cafes Riley had recommended to Nicia a while back. The quality was top notch for a decent price.

Nicia asked for a black espresso with a scoop of mint flavored ice cream. Willia took a cup of orange juice, a serving of apple pie and three scoops of ice cream, one vanilla and two chocolate, all served with whipped cream.

“Hmmm! Delicious!”

Nicia silently sipped her coffee while watching her sister eat her ice cream in delight. Watching her put a smile on her face.

“You enjoy sweets too much.” She said sarcastically.

“Eh? But don’t you also enjoy them?”

“I do.”

“Then why didn’t you take more? Want some of mine?” Willia tilted her head. She raised a spoon full of ice cream towards Nicia, who shook her head.

“No thank you, I care about my line. Where do you even put all these sweets anyway? Your second stomach?”

“But I only have one stomach though?”

“...Forget it. I think I know where it went anyway.” Nicia sighed, now giving her sister a sharp look.

“Eh? Why are you looking at my chest?”

“Haaaa…”

It doesn’t matter anyway, we’ll all end up looking like mom in the end. Willia’s growth just happened faster than mine, yes, that’s it. She said to herself, like she was reciting a mantra.

Despite knowing she would end up looking like her mother, Nicia felt a sense of defeat, knowing that the only one she was beating in the chest area at the moment was Ticinia…

Which reminds me, I don’t think I ever saw mom do a diet or such. She can eat a lot too and yet her figure doesn’t change. Does that mean genes have something to do with it? Would we all be immune too? I need to investigate this. My own stomach is at stake here…

With such thoughts in the back of her mind, Nicia enjoyed her time at the cafe for an hour, talking about different subjects with Willia.

“Shall we begin to head back?” Nicia said, getting up. She had already paid the addition behind Willia’s back.

“Yeah, sure.” Willia nodded happily.

They continued their stroll, enjoying the nice weather of the afternoon.

However…

“...Hey, Nicia…” Willia whispered, her face suddenly turning serious.

“I know.” Nicia nodded back, the same expression on her face.

Ever since they left the cafe, a group of individuals had been following them. Even Willia was not dumb enough to not know what this meant.

Humans truly never change huh? Nicia thought, releasing a nearly inaudible sigh as she reflected on human nature. By now, she had expected people to better know not to mess with them, but apparently, some people were just bluntly ignorant, or just outright stupid.

It is what it is.

“Shall we?” She said to her older sister, a small, bewitching smile on her face.

“Heck yeah we shall!” Willia replied with a huge smile.

They both went into a small alleyway where there was less traffic. In a non suspicious way, they navigated through the streets until they arrived at a small impasse where nobody was around.

That was the moment their followers chose to act.

A group of men appeared from the entry of the impasse, blocking it completely.

“What’s up misses? Are you perhaps lost?” The one at the head asked, a sneer on his face.

“We’re not.”

“How about having some fun time with us?”

“Oh, we’re going to have lots of fun together!" Willia said back excitedly, a crazed smile on her face.

“It’s just… It’s probably not the one you’re expecting…” Nicia added, her smile eerily cold.

“Ha? What the heck do you mean by th-bweh!?”

“W-what the-!?”

Before the man could even finish his words, a brick crashed into his face at a fast speed, surprising the other men.

“Haha! Come on! Give me what you’ve got!” Willia said, cracking her knuckles before taunting the men.

“Aaaand she’s back to normal…” Nicia could not help but sigh, a wry smile on her face.

The group of thugs were infuriated by the actions rather than scared.”

“What’s up with that bitch?”

“Let’s teach her a lesson!”

“Who’s gonna teach a lesson to who?”

““Huh?””

While they were focusing on Willia, Nicia had made her move. She had approached the men and struck the closest one to her with swift strikes. She struck a blow in one man’s legs, and struck another one directly in the eyes, piercing them with two scalpels she had taken out from who knows where.

“W-what the-? Why can't I put strength in my legs!?”

“Gyaaaaaaaah! My eyes!”

“Whoa! Nice move Nicia! hup!”

“Bwah!?”

Willia gave her little sister a thumbs up, before giving a sidekick to the man that was about to hit her from the side. The man flew over to the wall, remaining stuck to it as the wall cracked everywhere around the impact.

“Damn it! Why are they so strong!?”

The remaining men began to make space between themselves and the two clone girls.

“Mmmh, those thugs aren’t very fun to beat up. Even my underlings can do better.” Willia commented, a bored look  on her face.

“Obviously. By the way, you better not destroy your outfit or mess up your makeup.”

“You’re telling me that now!? Ugh, fine! This makes for a good challenge anyway!”

My goal wasn’t to raise her fighting spirit, but I guess this is fine. Nicia thought as her sister immediately got close to someone with a smile back on her face. Still, I do hope she will take care of her clothes.

They continued to beat up the thugs. Both were merciless against their enemies. Licia and Ria had told all of their sisters not to hold back. They needed to show they were still a menace despite more than half of their manpower away. This was a show of force to all involved, even if those thugs were not from any involved parties.

Of course, this incident would need a bit of cover up, but as far as they were concerned, they had the local police in their bag and Atrax-ia would make sure to flood the media with positive-turned articles.

At some point in the fight, Nicia had expected one of them to take out a weapon, a knife if not even anything else, and yet the men did not have such things.

Perhaps they had really not expected such resistance from a ‘prey’...

Only three men were left standing up, with one being sent to dream land by Nicia with a hand chop to the back of the neck.

“Another one down, two left.” She said as she looked at the remaining two.

“D-don’t come near us!” One of them said, his eyes filled with fear and tears.

“What are you scared of? You’re the one who tried to do something to us first, so don’t try to get away from it without consequences.” Nicia replied with her usual ladylike smile on her face, unlike usual, however, the men in front of her were not charmed, but terrified.

“Hieeeek!”

Just at the same time however, Nicia heard some ruckus. They all looked towards the entrance to the impasse and saw another group of men coming in.

“Over here boss! Help us!” One of the ruffians shouted, catching the group's attention.

Nicia released a small sigh.

“Good grief, why do things always escalate with you?”

“What do you mean by that? It’s not my fault we encountered the gang ruling this area! Now that it’s come to this, gotta neutralize it!”

“Haaa… Well, it’s not like they’re much of a problem anyway…”

“Haa? Did you just insult us?”

Her comments seemed to have provoked the new group.

“Boss, can I have her?” One of them asked a muscular looking man with a beard and a scar on his right eye, who nodded.

“Sure, I prefer bigger chests anyway.” He said while looking at Willia’s chest.

This struck a nerve for Nicia.

“... Third sister.” 

“Ah, y-yes?”

“Would you mind leaving that man to me?”

“Erm, sure, do as you please…”

Nicia was still smiling, but the aura around her had completely changed. A vein could be seen on her forehead. Somewhat overwhelmed by her little sister’s aura, Willia quickly agreed, sweat on her forehead.

“Hmph! You’ll have to pass through me fir-Buefuh!?”

She gave the man a roundhouse kick in the jaw. The man took the brunt of Nicia’s heel. He faltered,before receiving another hit that sent him to the ground. Not losing any time, Nicia crushed the man’s sensitive parts under her heel.

The men around her froze in terror as they looked at the still smiling Nicia.

“Uwaah… You’re brutal, Nicia…” Willia grimaced, before she herself necksnapped the nearest person to her.

“Sometimes, the healing isn't as rewarding as the hurting.” Nicia replied back, now looking at the thug’s boss.

“You bitch!” He yelled, but then Nicia threw something at him. He raised his arms in defence, only to see the thrown object remain stuck to his arms.

“Guh! W-what? A syringe? Ugh!?”

““B-boss!?””

The boss immediately lost strength in his legs.

“You… What did you do to me…?” He glared at Nicia, who simply smiled back.

“Oh, nothing much, I just made sure you wouldn’t be able to touch any women later on. Good luck trying to raise that thing up from now on. Too much medicine can become poison after all.”

Oh, what was it Nillia said I should do in these kinds of moments? Ah right, laugh haughtily with a hand in front of my mouth.

“Ah ha ha ha!”

““...””

“...Why are you laughing like that, Nicia? It’s creepy…”

Everyone looked at her with deadpan eyes, even Willia seemed grossed out. Nicia blushed in embarrassment and cleared her throat.

Ok, I’ll never do that again. Note to self: don’t follow Nillia’s weird ideas.

As Nicia opened a brand new dark history and immediately closed it, the boss of the thugs boiled with anger.

“You-! You’ll pay for this! Kill her!” He exploded. His men immediately caught their senses back and swarmed the two nulls.

“...This is getting anoying…” Nicia let out a sigh as she fought. She was running out of medicine on herself and didn’t have her sister’s stamina. Still, they had enough room to talk. These people were grunts with no fighting experience. They were easy to take down, but it wasn’t very fun even for the battle-crazed Willia. Though she wouldn’t complain about that.

“How many of them are there? Should we call the ECGs?” Willia asked.

“No, it’s still manageable, isn’t it?”

“Well yeah.”

““Whoooooah!””

““Eh?””

Just as both resoluted themselves to deal with it themselves, they heard shouts coming from behind the thugs. 

Apparently, another group of men had just entered the fight.

“Comme on! Let’s deal with these guys!”

“You won’t bully girls on our watch!”

“We shall conquer this area in the name of our great boss!”

“Wha-!? Another gang!?”

“Why now of all times?!” 

“B-boss!” The thugs began to panic. They looked toward their boss, as if asking if they could retreat, but he was having none of that.

“Ugh! What are you all looking so indecisive for? Make them suffer! This is our territory!”

A three way brawl began with the thugs in the middle.

“Eh? These guys…” Willia tilted her head, bewildered as she saw who were the people from the third group.

“Aren’t they your subordinates?” Nicia asked, a frown on her face, to which her sister nodded. Nicia recognised quite a few faces among them. There were even some women.

Why are these guys even here?

“Comme on! Let’s destroy those guys! In the name of our great boss Willia!”

“...” Nicia looked at her sister with a judgeful look.

“D-don’t look at me like that, I didn’t ask them to do anything!” Willia blushed in panic, claiming her innocence. “Hey guys!” She shouted towards her gang members.

“Eh? Aren't those the boss’s sisters!?” One of them looked their way, surprised.

“How dare you attack the boss’s sisters, we’ll make you pay!”

““Ooorah!””

Their motivation grew for some reason, making Nicia baffled.

…I guess idiots tend to converge to one another…

“Nono! Stop taking my fun partners away!?” Willia shouted in both anger and confusion, but the gang members did not seem to recognise her.

“You don’t need to bother with these small fries, we’ll take care of them for you!”

“Yeah right! Just stay here and-buh!?”

Willia grabbed one of them by the collar.

“What the fuck guys!? Why are you taking my amusement away!?” She yelled angrily.

““Eh? B-boss!?””

“What? You didn’t recognise me? Your boss? Shall I drill you some more?”

““Nonono!””

All of the gang member’s faces became white at Willia’s words and they panicked.

“I mean, boss! How do you expect us to recognise you when you look like this?”

“Exactly! No one told me Boss could be this pretty!”

“Eh?” Willia suddenly froze in place like a statue. The gang members began to grow rowdier as they realized it was Willia.

“What the heck? Boss was already gorgeous, but now she looks even more pretty?”

“It makes me want to devote myself to her even more!”

“Wha-? Eh? Whaaaa?” Willia’s face became as red as a tomato.

 “Oh dear…” Nicia sighed, seeing her sister short circuit. “You guys, how about you focus on the fight for now?”

“Oh, it’s our Guardian Angel!”

“Roger that, Guardian Angel!”

“Wha? When did I even get a nickname like that?” Nicia frowned. She asked herself what she did to receive such a nickname…

“Actually, for better differentiation between each of you sisters of the boss, we gave you nicknames!”

“Pretty cool, right?”

“O-oh...” She simply nodded to the gang member’s enthusiastic explanation. The gang members then went back to beating up the thugs, leaving a dazed Nicia and still short-circuited Willia behind.

After a sigh, Nicia looked at her sister. She waved a hand in front of her eyes.

“Hey, Nicia to Willia, do you copy?”

“Eh? Ah… N-Nicia…” Willia rebooted. 

“You sure have some good subordinates huh?” Nicia commented with a wry smile.

“Uhm, yeah, they’re a good bunch. I’d kick their butts otherwise.” Willia replied, still looking embarrassed, but smiling.

“It’s getting late, how about we wrap this up and go home and enjoy some dinner with the others?”

“Yeah! Let’s do that!”

“Oh, and before I forget. Willia?”

“Yes?”

“Did you enjoy today?” Nicia asked with a serious look on her face just as Willia was about to go back into the brawl. Willia scratched the back of her head.

“Well, it was a bit embarrassing at first, but it was fun! Let’s do some girly things together from time to time!” She smiled, her sister smiled back.

A lot of things happened, but I’m glad we both had fun. Nicia thought. She would have felt guilty and sad if Willia ended up disliking today’s outing. Her goal had been to make Willia act normal while getting used to girly clothes. It now looked like she had mostly achieved that goal.

Willia will need a bit more time to get used to blunt compliments on beauty, but we can deal with that another day.

“Of course, how about inviting the others too next time?” She suggested a beaming Willia.

“Oh! A family outing? Heck yeah, let’s do that once mom is back!”

***

Later, during dinner.

“Hey Nia?”

“Mmh? What is it Willia?”

“Thank you for your monetary contribution.”

“Eh? What? What monetary contribution? Did I get scammed?”