This is Keramiks! Sorry for being inactive for a while, well... three months isn't quite a 'while'. I'M REALLY SORRY! I have no excuses for myself. I've been busy with the real world, but I will not abandon this fic.

I would like to thank all the readers who followed and added "Double Trouble" into their favorites. I am extremely happy for those!

Disclaimer: KnB is created by Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei, and sensei why did it have to end...?


CHAPTER SEVEN

~Friday, 3 am~

Midorima was sleeping quite comfortably when he felt a strangely familiar sensation on his cheek. His eyes opened and he saw the dark, blurry outline of Shoko, his twin.

When they were younger, Shoko would talk about her ideas and all the random stuff that she can think of, and she often woke Midorima up in the middle of the night by repeatedly poking his cheek. Then he was forced to listen to Shoko's ramblings until the sun came up. And he endured it for as long as he can remember.

Midorima sighed. He sat his bed, put on his glasses, and stared at the silhouette of his twin, annoyed by the way she can casually enter his room (even if it's locked, and he has absolutely no idea how she can) and disturb his sleep in the middle of the night. He turned on his lampshade, his eyes adjusting to the dim light.

He sighed again. "What is it, Shoko?" He glanced at the clock on his bedside table and saw that it was still three o'clock in the morning. Ugh. This might take long.


Shoko normally knows what to do in every situation she gets in. No matter how difficult or how absurd it gets.

But sometimes, she doesn't. And that is where she turns to Taro for help. When the incident happened, Taro was the first person she opened up to, and she can rely on him greatly, although he acts like he doesn't care.

So when Shoko and her alter had their small 'talk', Shoko decided to get her younger twin's expert opinion.

"What is it, Shoko?" Taro asked sleepily and annoyed at the same time.

Shoko sat down on the floor near Midorima's bed, her chin resting on the bed's edge. Midorima faced her and furrowed his eyebrows. "Can't this wait for later? It's three in the morning. You're disturbing my important sleep."

Shoko smiled, her glasses reflecting the light from the shade. "Stingy as usual, Taro? And stop scowling- you'll get wrinkles." Her smile was strained, and her eyes puffy from lack of sleep.

Her 'talk' with the alter made her brain work non-stop. After mulling over for hours, she decided to talk to a third party who knows her situation, mainly Midorima, and look at a different perspective.


Midorima noticed Shoko was quite different from usual. She was tired, he noticed. Shoko only looks like that if she was thinking too hard about something. And since she was now in his room, it means she needs his advice. It made Midorima happy that his sister needed him, and he was always worried that she's trying to solve her problems alone, but he won't tell her that, of course.

Shoko drew out a long sigh. "It's quite complicated this time, Taro." She had a serious tone in her voice now. "Mainly it's because of your friend Nyari-pon. My alter personality's all riled up."

"Nyari-po...oh. Takao. Why? Did he say something?" Midorima asked, scooting over the side and gesturing Shoko to sit beside him. Hmm...she's not her usual otaku-self. This must be serious. Midorima thought. Shoko readily obliges and sat beside him.

"Apparently someone unexpected came at last night's dinner." Shoko gave a small pained look at Midorima. "Did Mom, Dad, and Koko find out?"

"Rest assured, they were surprised at first, but they never noticed. They were actually glad though, because you've shown yourself on the dinner table for the first time."

"I see." Shoko remained silent for a bit, and carefully exhaled. "This might get confusing for a bit, so bear with me Taro."


"Then let's get started."

Their black, bleak atmosphere dissolved and changed into a cinema, filled with endless rows of unoccupied chairs. Shoko found herself seated right in the middle, with the alter beside her. The movie shown were flashes of sepia images. Shoko can't seem to discern the pictures, but it seemed familiar somehow.

"Let's start here first." The alter pointed at the movie and Shoko saw herself, posed and standing on top of her twin's bed, introducing herself to Taro's friends. Shoko recognized them as Nyari-pon, Yota-ki, Oisa-chan, Ikiki, Yassan, Bara-Bara, and Juju.

"Firstly, what do you think about those people? Usually, hikkikomoris tend to be extremely unsociable. Especially since you almost had zero contact with strangers for a span of two years. But in your case, you got along with them easily. Did something catch your fancy again?"

The alter looked at Shoko, her cold eyes observing her subject intently. Shoko just glanced at the screen again and shrugged her shoulders.

"Hmm... well, their eyes all looked really pretty." Shoko faced her alter, her spectacled eyes widening.

"Pretty?" The alter raised a brow.

"All of them seem to be very interesting, at least their eyes say. Take a look at Yota-ki. His eyes are very sunny and warm. Oisa-chan's eyes underly a small hint of worry and affection, even though she looks really happy. Ikiki only looks bored to death, after he lecheroulsy glanced at these." She glanced at her flat chest.

"Bara-Bara's eyes shines every time he munches on something. Yassan's were really deadpanned, but he's happy, although he's hiding it. And Juju's eyes actually looks a bit like yours. You know, scary. Hehe." Shoko smiled sheepishly.

"And Nyari-pon's eyes sparkle with fun."

A small silence fell on the two. Their surroundings changed and dissolved again, the cinema turning into a dark, all-familiar warehouse. Shoko shivered slightly.

"You do still remember what happened here, right?" the alter slowly drawled out each word.

"Of course. It's what made you, right?" Shoko spat back.

"No. You are wrong about that. I have been here longer than you think. You just didn't know when."

"What?! Are you saying...hey!" Shoko was confused. She wanted to understand her alter's words, but everything around her slowly dissolved black.


"Then I woke up and found myself lying on my bed with different clothes on." Shoko sighed. "I've been trying to remember anything before the warehouse incident. And I can't understand why she suddenly decided to talk to me, of all things."

Midorima pushed his glasses as usual. "I guess I have to ask Takao about that. More importantly, I still have some questions to ask."

"Okay, sure. Ask away."

"Firstly, when will you tell Mako and our parents all about this? It has been two years, you know."

"Hmm..." Shoko had a really hard time telling her parents about her alter. She hasn't even talked to her parents. Mako only knows that she was a hikkikomori otaku. "I am not entirely sure if I can tell them that. Maybe in the near future, but not now."

"Hmm. Then that's fine, as long as you explain yourself. Next question." Midorima cleared his throat. "Do you have any idea what your alter and Takao talked about?"

Shoko shook her head. "Whenever the alter takes over, I black out. Although there was that one time when I regained control over myself. The dart-in-the-eye thingy. I told you about that, right?"

Midorima nodded in response. "I think when my alter is unable to contain her emotions, I gradually took over. At first it was like I was watching myself from afar. Then I continuously ended up back. But it was really short, though."

Shoko started to play with her toes while Midorima absorbed what she just said. After a few minutes, Midorima cleared his throat, catching Shoko's attention.

"I think your alter has some reasons why she started to appear. Maybe you didn't notice it at first, but maybe some time back in America, the alter slowly started to exist. That is my opinion, though." Midorima looked sharply at his twin. "I know someone who has the same condition as you, though. And you are in luck; you seemed to have caught his attention."

"Oh? Is that so? You may be right, Taro. Maybe the alter had some ulterior motive as to why it became existing. She might gradually take over me even with my glasses on. To actually grow that far, her reasons must've been pretty strong." Shoko patted Midorima's head as she spoke. "You're getting good at this stuff, Taro!"

Midorima blushed lightly, annoyed and embarrassed at his sister's gesture. "Stop that, I'm not a kid."

"Aww... you're so moe! You're so cute, Taro!"

At this, Midorima grimaced and popped three veins on his forehead. "Get out! I need to sleep!" He stood up, towering over her, and pulled her outside.

"But we're having so much fun!" Shoko whined with a small smile on her face, even though the door was slammed on her face.

Shoko shrugged. Well, there's still more stuff to do later! She stretched her limbs as she made her way back to her room.


I admit, this was a bit shorter than the usual. I have the next chapters outlined, but I don't know when I'll post it. Hopefully it wouldn't take months again.

And I have postponed making a new KnB fanfic; I'm a bit busy these days, all I can do is read and review...

Questions? Comments? Reviews? Suggestions? Dozo!