Private Eastern Brisshal The Perfect Housewife Can Also Teach Crazy Kitkats, After All!

[Harukami]

An abandoned house in Eastern Brisshal's lush forest. It was small and cozy, but covered with dust. Inside, the purple-haired mage could be seen through the window, cleaning the glass after having dusted all the furniture. She appeared to be talking to someone.

Harukami had recently gained the ability to use spirit magic. This magic was special- it let her talk to the spirits of the deceased, and to harness their power the way she did the power of the gods. While cleaning, she was having a very one-sided conversation with an invisible entity only spirit mages could see- a little human girl, likely aged ten or eleven.

"You really should have done your chores," Harukami mumbled to the spirit. "It looks like this house hasn't been cleaned since well before you died."

Walking out of the house, she began to sweep the porch. It was a good thing she'd started carrying cleaning supplies in her inventory- she seemed to need them often lately. Not far away, a rabbit came towards her, peeking in at her work. She knelt down to tap her lap, getting the small animal to sit on her lap and let her pet it. "That's a good boy. Just relax- I can take a break from cleaning."

Noticing a cut on the rabbit's leg suddenly, Haruka moved to grab her staff and touch it gently against the wound. A soft, warm light enveloped the rabbit on her lap, healing the bleeding scratch and giving some vitality to the rabbit. "Much better," She chirped. Her eyes glanced up towards the sky. "It sure is nice out today... Too nice to be bleeding and in pain. Still, with such nice weather, I can't help but feel a little restless. I wonder if there's something else I can do next?"

@Kit @Kat

 

[Kit]

Down the road, two girls wandered with linked hands. One, a bright white with some tasteful pink thrown in, the other dark black with some bright green, but otherwise carefully crafted to look near-identical in every way.

In her mind, Kit was striding in perfect lock-step with her sister, and she was the perfect mirror of her. In reality, Kat was almost dragging her forward with her eagerness. Still, Kit was first to notice the secluded building.

"Nee-nee, look! A cottage! People live in cottages!" Maybe that was a little obvious to be said aloud, but then again, she hadn’t known what a palm menu was. Well, that was fine! Kit was the older sister anyway, so some teaching had to be expected on the road to perfect twinship!

"We should go check it out, right Kat~?"

She’d appear perky enough on the outside, but inside, Kit was thinking up a storm. This was the sort of quaint place crazies lived in. In fact, if the Big Bad Wolf lived here, it wouldn’t look out of place. As Kit stepped up with Kat, she instead noticed… well, this lady certainly wasn’t the wolf she was worrying about.

…or was she…? You never knew what kind of creeps played this game…


@Kat
@Harukami

 

[Kat]

This was just so, exciting! Of course, only because Kat was with Kit. Otherwise taking a walk in a completely new fantasy world she had never been to before with fantastical fantasy elements would have been boring. Yup! Yet, among all the trees they saw so far, was suddenly a C-

"Nee-nee! Look, a cottage! People live in cottages!"

"Woah! Nee-nee, you're amazing." She responded to Kit's powerful perception skills. If not for her, would Kat have missed it?! Likely.

"Right, Kit. Let's go check it out. Maybe it's... h-h-h-haunted!?" Kat stopped, and was now instead dragged further by Kit instead! Luckily for Kat, it seemed like the Cottage was inhabited(?) by a purple-haired woman and a- "Bun!" Kat called out. Before clearing her throat.

She loved small fluffy animals! They were just the cutest thing, ever! But right now, she was with Kit. And here was a stranger, which meant they had to nail the perfect greeting. All twin-like, too!

"Nice..." ... There were seconds of silence after Kat's greeting, despite clearly not having finished her sentence. Yet, after giving her twin-sister Kit a short nudge, Kit continued to talk. "...cottage."

...

That was not what Kat was thinking! But it was indeed a nice cottage now that she thought about it, so maybe this was exactly what she would have thought next!? Regardless, Kat was determined to save this! "...you have." The sentence seemed unfinished, as if it was missing a 'there'! Yet, nothing came as Kat was thinking hard about what to say. After another few awkward seconds of silence. Kat continued. "Would you like to teach us(?)" Yes! The last sentence, they spoke perfectly. And while it seemed like Kit was expecting Kat to clarify more about WHAT to teach, Kat gave her twin-sister just a big hug of success!

Ultimately, this was the sentence Haruka was faced with. Spoken in a very butchered-up and awkward manner:
"Nice cottage... you have... would you like to teach us..."


@Kit
@Harukami

 

[Harukami]

To Harukami's surprise, two young girls appeared before her. They spoke simultaneously and appeared very similar to one another. One had light hair, one had dark- with eyes matching highlights depending on the girl. The way they looked so similar; they were almost like twins- even to the point they mimicked each other fluidly!

The similarities made her feel at ease, but also a little bit lonely. To herself, she stated out loud, "They make me think of my own twin sister. It's too bad 'Tsuko's not here..." Shaking it off, she watched as the bunny prepared to dart off into the distant forest, but pet it and reminded it they weren't scary.

"There there," she told the rabbit. "I doubt they want to harm you." She looked up at the girls from her stance on the ground, smiling. But they were people. Like the rabbit in her lap, Harukami was scared of strange people she didn't know. So, her stutter came back as she spoke to them.

"W-Would you two like to pet it? H-He won't hurt you, so..." She smiled a bit softer, looking at the rabbit again and tickling behind its ears. But then, the girls asked an interesting question. "T-Teach? W-What is it you want to know?"

@Kit @Kat

 

[Kit]

NO, Kit did NOT want to pet this horrifying (albeit cute) creature! Hadn’t the shy lady ever seen Monty Python? These were killers! Maybe not in the real world, but this wasn’t the real world! That thing thirsted for blood, she just knew it.

… But then Kat stepped forward.

"Nuuuuuu…" Kit whined quietly, dying a little inside. Well, okay, fine! Sometimes, sisters had to make sacrifices for sisters!

Kit slowly inched forward after, hesitantly placing one finger on the back of the fluffy surface. It raised its head. "Gah!" Kit stepped back abruptly as it made its attack. It didn’t… yet. No doubt it was waiting for the opportunity though.

"Uuuuuuu…" Kit whined, blushing at the shame of being unable to cuddle it. Her sister (and this lady, for that matter), was fearless, touching an animal so readily like that!

Kit would instead pretend like she’d stepped back to explain what they wanted to be taught. "We need a teacher to show us how to play Terrasphere!" Kit half-lied, enthusiastically. "We only know how to do this…"

Kit held out her hand (AWAY from the furry monster) and opened her palm menu, pretending like she hadn’t figured out it was only visible to her.


@Kat
@Harukami

 

[Kat]

YES! Kat absolutely wanted to pet the Bunbun! Giving the stranger a nod, she didn't need to be asked twice! Stepping forward together with her twin sister and petted the bundle of floof. "It's so fluuuffffyyyyy!" This VRMMO thingy really was just so... realistic! Could she pet penguins too?! And pandas!? What about a platypus? They looked so dorky!

Kat wondered for a moment why her twin-sister was only touching the cute animal barely with one finger before already retreating.

"We need a teacher to show us how to play Terrasphere!"

Yes. Of course. It made sense.

They could pet a lot more cute animals later. Gosh, Kit truly was such a dependable older twin! Who knew how much time they had to play today anyway!?

Kat, now too, stepped back and cleared her throat, collecting herself. "Yes! It's called a, um, palm menu! But not the tree! And I think we can only see ours? We're absolutely new to this kind of stuff! Right, Kit? Right, Kat!" Being the social butterfly of the two, Kat had also picked up on Haru's earlier words.

"You have a twin, too!?" She didn't look like she had a twin though.


@Kit
@Harukami

 

[Harukami]

"Huh? How to play?" Haruka was a bit unsure what they wanted to learn from this statement. On the one hand, they showed her they knew how to open the palm menu- but on the other hand, they weren't exactly being forthcoming about what they wanted to learn about the game.

Still, she knew how confusing this game could be at first. So, she decided to do her best to help them. After all, she'd been lucky enough to find help herself. Surely fate had decided to put them on each other's path.

"Y-You sound surprised. Twins may not be the m-most common, but they're not t-that rare, are they?" Harukami smiled a bit before adding, "Etsuko d-doesn't play Terrasphere, though. She's at school right now, s-studying to be a nurse. I-I don't have classes today, so... Here I am."

Letting the rabbit leave, Harukami stood up and dusted off her dress. "Before we s-start lessons, though... Let's introduce ourselves. M-My name is Harukami. What are your names, and what do you want to start off with? H-Have you picked your skillset yet?"

@Kit @Kat

 

[Kit]

Kit visibly relaxed as the animal left the vicinity (though it could just be watching from the shadows…!). She didn’t have much time to relax, though.

This lady had a twin too!? No way!!

Raising her hand nervously to her mouth, Kit murmured, "She’s a rival!" in Kat’s general direction, though it wasn’t quite as quiet as she’d thought it was.

Indeed, this innocent-looking ‘Harukami’ was no doubt secretly judging the both of them! Every move was on display and up for comparison against this mysterious ‘Etsuko’ character, and Kit was a winner! No: Kit and Kat were winners!

Kit shimmied over to Kat and shifted her weight to perfectly mirror her sister’s pose. She moved her arms almost in perfect sync with Kat as she motioned with her speech. When Kat tilted her head, Kit tilted her head; when Kat glanced to the side, Kit glanced to the side. She’d show her just how perfect their twinship had become!

They had no equals! There was no way they’d be outdone by—

"Etsuko d-doesn't play Terrasphere, though."

Aha! A smug look crossed Kit’s face (temporarily breaking from the perfect twin mirroring, but she just couldn’t help it!). What kind of twin didn’t spend 24 hours a day in lockstep with her other twin!? A terrible one, surely. They’d basically won on that point alone! Sweet victory!

More importantly, Harukami initiated their first great challenge! Kit had instant regrets. She’d been so excited about their perfect sync that she’d neglected to practice— or even discuss —the super important "Twin Introduction!"

She glanced to the side at Kat, hoping desperately that their minds were still as one, as she turned back to Harukami.

"I’m Kit."
"I’m Kat."

Okay, so far so good. And now, with a bow, they’d say…

"Nice to meet you~!" | "Nice cottage~!"

Despair.

What was going on in that head of hers!? Maybe they weren’t synced up yet after all. But hey! Kat was at least committed, right? Right…?

"Uhm… skills! Yes, let’s start with those! Uhm… right… Kat…?" Kit sounded a lot more anxious than before. Having an audience took things to a whole ‘nother level…


@Kat
@Harukami

 

[Kat]

So, she had indeed a twin! Though hers did not play the game. "Such a shame!" She blurted out, randomly. But it was still, wonderful! Kat got all fuzzy and warm inside as Harukami talked about her own experiences again.

This girl was indeed quite fortunate to have experienced the niceness of twinship from the moment she was born! Unlike Kit and Kat. Yet, it was precisely because of them starting only now that the two picked the Magia race. Yet, ultimately, the two would still die one day, no?

It was then that she could hear Kit speaking about this Harukami person being a rival. ... Oh. Was she? Kat never even had considered the foreign twin-girl competition. KitKat was already (nearly) perfect, and some other twin wouldn't change that.

If anything, and going by the stuttering, Kat felt a little bit sad for the stranger.

Nonetheless, she suddenly spoke up about introductions.

Introductions...
Kit's eyes widened for a moment.
They never really practiced...

"I'm Kit."
"I'm Kat."

They nailed it! Next, Kat found Kit bowing. Right. Right. Yes! They could finally fix their shame of earlier. Following her twin sister's perfect display of twinship, Kat bowed, too. Now was the 'Nice to-', wait no. Her sister was all hot about that Cottage! Was this, Twinpalethy?

"Nice to meet you~!" | "Nice cottage~!"

... Just don't think about it. They still had until old age to get complete in synch. If anything, Kit must have thought the same as herself and ALSO switched up! Woah.

"Right, Kit! My skillset?" Our skillset? "I'm a good talker, can play the piano and the guitar AND also draw! What can you do!?" She cuddled Kit for a moment. "Nee-nee! Does being a good twin count as a skill, too?"


@Kit
@Harukami

 

[Harukami]

Harukami hadn't heard the competition in the girl's voice at all- and if she had, she would have just been confused by it. Having been with Etsuko her whole life, Haruka was certain she knew her sister better than anyone. They talked about everything! Well, until Terrasphere came into the picture. This game was Haruka's training ground to become her own person. Though, it was honestly a surprise she still played the game with that story about it being a death trap...

No! First and foremost, this was a game. She could warn the girls about its dangers a little later, so that if they chose to continue, they at least knew the basics. After all, they might not want to learn from the person who told them the suspicious stories this game had about it. Haruka had yet to (knowingly) meet someone UI locked anyway...

"You two are so cute!" She chimed, remembering when she and her sister would speak in unison as children. There was no stumbling or stuttering with that statement either. Was she getting comfortable with them now?

"N-No," she stated, "Those are great skills b-but... Um... P-Press on the button that says 'Mastery' in your palm menu. Y-You can choose three to start with. They give you your skills. Like..." With a deep breath, the young woman clutched tightly on her staff, creating a ball of light in the air above her outstretched hand. "This light is made using Divine Magic. I-I also have the ability to use Pyromancy, which is f-fire magic, S-Spirit magic, and B-Beast Arts."

Hopefully they understood her with all that stuttering. "T-They're divided into four types. Some are defensive, s-some are offensive, a-and some are supportive. There are even m-masteries that can adjust t-the way your normal ones work..."

@Kit @Kat

 

[Kit]

Kit felt a rush of joy as Harukami took the admittedly botched introduction well, and felt as much embarrassment as Kat began to list her ‘skills.’

Oh boy.

"Being a good twin definitely counts, Kat!"

Firstly, Kit could do… absolutely none of those things (aside from being a good twin). Second, that was not what Harukami was talking about. It was obviously not what she was talking about. Did she really have zero understanding of RPG skills?

Thankfully, Harukami was quick to correct them, allowing Kit to continue pretending like all of this was very new to her. She glanced inquisitively at Harukami’s light orb and nodded her head slowly as she continued to explain the mechanics of the system. She then glanced at the menu as instructed.

"Kat, look at all the skills~! We have to pick the same ones, right~?"

She poured through the list of masteries for a while and quickly found herself lost in the sea of stats…

"Which role archetype do you think best suits us as twins? Are there any particularly strong action combinations we should take? There are also these expertise and save statistics to factor in, do they play an important role? Are there any meta tactics we should keep in mind as we decide these, or are they statistically balanced?"

For the first time in several minutes, Kit looked up from the menu, a sweat drop forming on the side of her face. "O-or we could just pick some fun looking ones…!"


@Kat
@Harukami

 

[Kat]

"Look at all?" Kat tilted her head slightly, as she followed the motion of the other people a few times. What was this she was supposed to look at? Mastery? Um... Settings had an S in it! Maybe there... Pain? 20%? On? Off? Eh.

It seemed like she was in a completely wrong place! Unlike Kit, who easily absorbed the knowledge Harukami imparted on the two! Gosh. Kit was really so smart. Taking a moment, Kat collected herself before clicking on the back button, at least that one was uniformly designed everywhere!

Right. Mastery. Oh! it was nearly at the very top. Now Kat felt even more embarrassed. At least now it made more sense!

"Right! There are so many of them, too!" She agreed as she saw all of these, categorized just as Haru told them. Particularly drawn to this 'Alter' Category, before her attention was drawn to Haru's magic.

"Wow..." Kat was also awestruck. "That is absolutely amazing! And, so real, too! Right, Kit? Can you make a rainbow, too? What about flight?! Or maybe turn this cottage into a castle!?"

And then... Kit started talking. A surprising lot. Once again, very smart though. Expertise? Save statistics? Meta? Balanced!?

"..." Just like her twin, a sweat drop formed on Kat's face, too. All twinmetrical.

"Yes."


@Kit
@Harukami

 

[Harukami]

Harukami had yet to figure out these two weren't actually related. They just reminded her of herself and her sister at their age. Back then, she and Etsuko were always together- but not always doing the same things. Haruka had always been timid in comparison to her sister, after all.

But that was neither here nor there, Haruka reminded herself. Instead, she agreed with Kit. "Y-Your sister is right. Being a good sibling is very important. M-Make sure to always take care of each other, okay?"

When the twins were talking about choosing the same skills, Haruka became a bit confused. Kit obviously understood games like this better than Kat based on the flow of conversation- so didn't Kit know the difference between different builds? Why did they have to be the same?

"I-I'd say pick what's fun for each of you, but try to balance them out. D-Don't just choose all attack if you can help it. B-Being able to p-protect yourself is very important!" Especially with the three death rule, she thought to herself. But it wasn't time for that yet. "W-When I was your age... I always p-played a supportive role to my sister. M-My sister always played a fighter. For twins playing together, i-isn't teamwork very important?"

@Kit @Kat

 

[Kit]

"Of course!"

As Kit spoke in unison with Kat, her eyes widened and she shared a look with her new twin sister, releasing a happy giggle-fit that sounded almost drugged with delight.

Once the high of twinship had settled down, Kit nodded enthusiastically, happy to be called siblings by their rival. There was no way Kit wouldn’t do ANYTHING for Kat… even though they’d only really met two hours ago for the first time. But she’d never been won over to someone so fast! They were soulmates, and now twin sisters! Nothing would ever come between them!

Kit appeared to be half-listening to Harukami’s advice, however, as she sifted through the menu with care. One word managed to break through, though…

"Protect!" Kit turned to Kat, taking her hands in her own. "We have to protect each other! It’s perfect! The two of us can be a two-person turtle team~!" Kit turned back to Harukami, "You know, for our rival, you do have some great ideas! Thanks for the help~!"

She seemed to be completely ignoring the advice about not picking the same thing, however. After all, twins with exactly identical combat styles were definitively the coolest!


@Kat
@Harukami

 

[Kat]

"Of course!"

Kat managed to say in unison with Kit, as Harukami spoke about taking care of each other. Though as Harukami suddenly went on about playing support, Kat had to avoid frowning. Which was easy enough to do, but Kat barely frowned!

Different skills? Eh. But playing support for the other? That... in a way, it did sound nice. But also, it sounded like a somewhat boring role. Wouldn't it be way cooler to be standing together, rather than alone!? One in front the other behind? That way, Kat knew that there was at least one person that had a genuine smile, rather than a fleeting fake one.

And one person was more than enough.

"Turtles are cute!" Kat spoke in delight upon Kit's suggestion. "You have the greatest ideas, Kit." She gave her sister a nod. "I'd like to have the same skills as you do! Not only can we, uh, protect ourselves, but each other too! Double protection...!" Sure there was an argument for diversity, but there was just as much one for doubling down on things!... Though Kat did wonder if this Protect was just a word or something more. Like one of these so-called skills, expertise, or an instrument.

Regardless, Kat turned once again to Harukami. "Thank you very much!"


@Kit
@Harukami

 

[Harukami]

Haruka smiled nervously to the two kids in front of her. Well, they ignored her idea for the most part, but at least they took her advice about the importance of taking care of one another. She was still confused as to why the Kit and Kat combo were calling her a 'rival'. What were they rivals in? She didn't think being a twin was a competition- she'd only told them about her sister to show she could relate to them. Now, she was starting to wonder if she really could.

"Y-You girls are wonderful for protecting each other," Haruka said with a smile. They made her think of her sister that way. Etsuko was always so protective of Haruka. That was part of why Haruka came to this world in the first place- to be able to learn to protect herself from the world that Etsuko had always guarded her from.

"Once you pick your first three masteries, you'll be able to upgrade them over time. T-This game is very open ended. You can combine skills in many ways from different masteries. I-I'm still learning to do that myself, but... Trial and error can be a lot of fun."

She'd wait patiently for the girls to pick their masteries, before teaching them about the skill menu. She also wanted to teach them about the social settings, inventory and investigation mode. To Haruka, knowing the absolute basics was vital. This lesson also would help her, though. With how forgetful she could be, it was a good refresher on what was available to her in the palm menu.

@Kit @Kat

 

[Kit]

Kit stepped back abruptly at Harukami’s words, as if she’d pulled a sword and held the blade to her throat. "Wonderful…" Did she just… complement her!? Kit had never been complemented before! Usually, it was just "Get away from me!" or "Stop making stabbing gestures at me with that fork!"

This was everything she’d wanted from this new partnership! From this new life and this new identity! Though admittedly, Kit was prepared only to impress Kat, now, their twinship was so powerful, it was even impressing other people!

All this came out as Kit staring wide-eyed at Harukami, as if she’d just uttered some unmentionable slur that had completely taken her off-guard. Several long seconds passed, before she finally shook her head clear and laughed awkwardly.

"Ahah! AHAHAHA! YES! Yes! Uhm… thanks, I err… you. Harukami… you…" A sweatdrop formed on the side of her head as she pressed on the next topic to pretend her awkwardness hadn’t just burst forth in full force.

"Kat, it looks like this ’Aura’ mastery is perfect for us, right? We can protect each other with our defensive auras~!"

She selected it along with Kat.


@Kat
@Harukami

 

[Kat]

As Kit seemed to suddenly somewhat space out, it left Kat to wonder. ... Maybe she had to go for little twinsies? Did the doorbell ring? Could one even remove the VR gear without logging out? What would happen if someone forcefully removed it!? Questions over questions to which Kat had no answer.

Yet, despite that, she knew what she had to do.

As Kit was standing there — staring wide-eyed at Harukami — Kat's eyes, too, widened. Though it certainly looked more forced than what Kit was doing. In fact... maybe even a bit creepy?! It wasn't an expression Kat had practiced that much, after all.

"Ahah! AHAHAHA! YES! Yes! Uhm… thanks, I err… you. Harukami… you…"

"...you are a very kind woman!"

Ah, so that was the reason why Kit was freaking out. Right, she had forgotten that Kit was a social lemon! Yet, Kit was the most honest gal Kat had ever met, and that was all that mattered.

...Unlike this exchange of empty words.

"Aura?" Kat tilted her head. She had heard Aura a few times before. Like, an animal? And astrology stuff! She wasn't really into that whole fate stuff - though couldn't deny her meeting Kit certainly must have been guidance from the heavens.

"Yes, Aura! Let's do that, Kit!"

Kat had no clue what Aura was about.


@Kit
@Harukami

 

[Harukami]

"Y-You're welcome?" Harukami yipped. She felt a little off being thanked for something so simple. And then, she was called a 'very kind woman'. All this for speaking her mind? These two girls definitely knew how to make someone feel worried and flattered at the same time. But, if they were going to thank her for a simple thought, she could do the same... Right? "And, um, thanks. I think you're both sweet too."

The two girls then began to discuss the ability 'aura'. Haruka hadn't looked very closely at that yet, but began to contemplate if it would suit her with her three unique and barely related magics. To Harukami, they had all been chosen because they had to do with things she considered special- but really, what did fire have to do with spirits in western culture? Probably nothing. She was sure it was only her that thought fire, gods and spirits all played a part in each other.

"W-What other kinds of skills do you girls think you'd like? You can start with three masteries... I-I think you can get up to five total, in the end, too. I have four, so I'm almost maxed out." She giggled, realizing she'd spent far too much time in this game as of late.

@Kit @Kat

 

[Kit]

Kit simply nodded as Harukami thanked them in return. She had absolutely no clue the conversation was getting a bit awkward, or that Harukami appeared a bit nervous. That said, she tilted her head in confusion as she was thanked for… uhh… well maybe it was calling her kind? Kat sure had a way with flattery! Maybe she needed to learn that too…

"Oh, so you unlock more over time?" Kit echoed Harukami’s explanation. "That helps a bit, knowing we can learn some more about how things work before we finalize things."

Kit turned to Kat. "If we start with three, how about I pick one, and you pick the other!" She’d already kinda selected Aura, but that one was so obvious, it basically didn’t count. "Okay, I’ll go first! How about… Crush Weapons! Being able to crush your enemies to dust is a valuable skill in any world~! Right, Kat?"

Despite having said such a mildly psychotic thing, Kit smiled brightly. "If anyone ever hurt you, I’d need something big to hit back with!"


@Kat
@Harukami