Green Hair Extensions

All of ten seconds pass between the moment the Skype call button is clicked and the moment the other line picks up, and yet in that small sliver of time, during which everyone attempts to push their way into the camera's view, Gnome somehow gets shoved against the computer table twice, Sylph manages to dig his knee into Efreet's side, Muzét accidentally knocks over the webcam which Undine has to then readjust, and Mimi, as always, ends up uncomfortably squished in the middle of all of them just as her twin's face pops up on the video chat screen.

"Play nice, everyone," Milla chuckles from the other end, and somehow manages to instantaneously calm the raging chaos that is their crazy family with that single command.

Oh sure, they'll all listen to her.

"Hey Milla!" Gnome waves excitedly in greeting, as if it's been months since he last saw her. It's not, they call Milla every two weeks just to check up on her over at boarding school, but honestly, none of them are really that satisfied with only being able to see Milla on a screen when she's in her dorm room. "How are finals going?"

"They're coming along. How about Mimi's?"

"Finished, actually," Mimi supplies, allowing herself a small grin at her freedom. The upside of going to normal old Nia Khera High rather than some super selective boarding school like Fennmont is that senior year is a total breeze—show up for two tests on Friday, another on Monday, and high school is officially over.

Milla grins. "Congratulations. I still have my work cut out for me."

"Indeed," Muzét chimes. "It can't be easy having both finals and your business talk in the same week."

"Oh yeah, that talk is tomorrow, isn't it?" Sylph scrunches up his face and leans in closer to the camera. "Hey, everything still okay for that?"

That's Milla for you, eighteen and still in high school but already a rather successful entrepreneur in her own right, enough so that she's actually invited into the same sorts of business conferences that big name companies attend. Admittedly, their father's name might have had some influence on that (the Maxwell Corporation is worth millions), but Milla doesn't need nepotism to be a legitimately savvy and successful businessperson who could get in on ability alone. Mimi herself isn't interested in business enough to understand all the details, but she does understand that the upcoming presentation Milla's planning to give at the business talk is something Milla really cares about—

"Actually, I won't be able to make it to the business talk."

...Wait, what?

Milla says that with such utterly simple bluntness that Mimi almost falls out of her chair, because even though she really should be used to her twin's straightforward attitude by now, Milla just never ceases to surprise. The Four Great Caretakers (inside joke) and Muzét are a buzz of worry, their "whats" and "why nots" coming from all directions, and while Mimi doesn't voice them herself, she feels them just the same. She knows that business conference was pretty exclusive, knows that Milla had to work hard to get a spot in there, and Milla would never drop a chance like this so easily.

Yet Milla just shrugs and answers their confusion with, "I have my history final at the same time."

Undine frowns. "Didn't you work that out with your teacher?"

"I did. I told him I couldn't take the test tomorrow so he agreed to let me take it today instead." Milla crosses her arms over her chest. "But when I showed up to take the test today, it wasn't there. Mr. Nachtigal says it was a mistake, but I'm fairly certain he just has it out for me."

"Sounds like a dick," Sylph mutters.

"He is," Milla agrees easily, "but now if I don't take his test when he wants me to, I'm not passing history. There will be many other business opportunities, but it wouldn't be wise to lose my diploma over something like this."

That's actually pretty surprising, because a few months ago, Mimi thinks Milla might have just entirely ditched the diploma to go for that meeting, but apparently her priorities have changed somewhat since then. Still, Mimi knows her sister well and she knows that Milla is more troubled by this than she's letting on. Her twin may be really good at that whole "keep moving forward" thing, but Milla's been preparing for this meeting for months, and no doubt she's bummed about missing it.

"...Wait," Efreet speaks up, murmuring slowly. "How about if Mimi takes the test?"

...Huh?

Onscreen, Milla's eyes actually light up at the suggestion. "Hmm, that could work, actually," she contemplates aloud. "I really only need about ten percent on the final to pass the class."

"Wait wait wait!" Mimi yells, before this idea can go any further. "You want me to take the test for her? That's fraud."

"Well, not if you don't get caught," Undine says.

Gnome nods. "Yeah, and you're twins! You've switched places with her before, remember?"

Mimi does, yes, and she won't pretend that she isn't still rather fond of those memories, because when they were kids there was always something liberating about pretending to be Milla, about acting the part of someone much more outspoken and determined than Mimi herself actually was. But they haven't actually pulled the switching places prank in years, not since Milla went off to boarding school when they were fifteen, not since Milla decided to get her hair dyed with that green streak that now frames the left side of her face and serves as a way for people to tell them apart.

And anyway, switching places as a joke and switching places to commit identity theft are two very different things.

Mimi shifts in her seat to give a sweeping glare towards all of The Four, though honestly it's more in disbelief than it is in reprimand. "You guys are awful pseudo parents, you know that? What kind of caretakers encourage their charges to cheat?"

"Mimi, if you don't want to do it, I won't force you."

That one comes from the computer speakers and Mimi instinctively turns to the screen to see Milla staring at her with an earnestly apologetic gaze but in that moment, Mimi can feel all her protests dying on her tongue. What they're proposing is crazy and it's definitely cheating and it all relies on Mimi being the one to pull it off, but if she's being honest, she knows that going to that meeting is important to Milla.

How can Mimi turn her down when she's her only hope?

"...I never said that," Mimi sighs in defeat, then points viciously at the camera and does her best to stare Milla down through the computer screen. "I'll take your stupid test. Just make sure that's the best damn presentation you've ever given."

Milla looks taken aback for a moment, as if surprised that Mimi actually just agreed, before she smiles. "I will. Thank you."

"So," Undine cuts in, "we'll drive Mimi down to your school and then drive you down to the business talk."

"Think you can be there by noon? The test is at one."

"We'll try our best," Efreet says.

"Then I suppose I'll see you all tomorrow." Milla shifts and reaches for her mouse. "In that case, I'll be signing off—"

"Milla!"

The outburst is loud and ecstatic and it takes Mimi a moment to realize that it came from the other end of the call, and in the next moment, a brunette girl bursts onto the screen, squealing in delight and tackling Milla right in her seat. Mimi vaguely recalls having been introduced to this girl in a few previous Skype calls—her name is Leia, she's a freshman, she's Milla's roommate—and Milla, still a little wide-eyed from surprise, just sits there as Leia drapes all over her and continues babbling:

"Milla, you're amazing! I knew how to do everything on the math final! Thanks so much for helping me, oh, thank you thank you thank you-!"

And as Leia leans up, to Mimi's utter surprise, she kisses Milla smack on the lips.

...Well, judging by the almost instinctual, habitual way Milla's hand comes up to cup Leia's cheek, this isn't the first time the two of them have kissed, but the fact that Milla has clearly been in a romantic relationship with her roommate for a while now is something that Mimi never actually knew before. Nor did anyone else, if the way The Four and Muzét are all gaping in complete shell-shocked silence is any indication. But as Leia pulls away from the kiss, her gaze seems to stray to the camera—and then her eyes go wide with horror as she notices them for the first time.

"...Oh my god, did they just see that?"

Milla chuckles a bit under her breath. "They did. And they will pester me about it later." She reaches for the mouse again...

Sylph sputters, "H-hey wait—!"

Too late. The video chat goes black as Milla hangs up, leaving everyone to gape at the screen and try to process the memory of what they just witnessed. Muzét is the first to really recover, sitting back with a smirk and drawling, "My my, Milla's finally becoming a woman." She shoots Mimi a sideways glance. "I wonder when little Mimi's gonna catch up with the rest of us sisters."

"How did this become about me?" Mimi sighs. She knows Muzét is only teasing but frankly, her lovelife or lack thereof is none of her sister's beeswax. "Besides, I'd rather not sleep around like you do."

It's a pointed jab and Mimi grins when it causes Muzét to gasp melodramatically, hands flying to her mouth in mock indignation. "How could you say such a thing? I do not 'sleep around'!"

"Yeah? Tell that to those five people you screwed last week." And that's not even an exaggeration. Mimi may not know all the details (nor does she want to) but she has a pretty good idea where Muzét goes on those nights she doesn't come home—and on the nights she does come home, she drags a different person into her bedroom with her each time.

Muzét narrows her eyes, her smile playful and dangerous. "Oh, that is it!" She lunges for Mimi, hands outstretched and posed to prod her in the sides, and the younger sister shrieks as she only barely manages to evade the fingers that seek to tickle her.

"Don't you dare!" Mimi warns frantically when Muzét looks ready to pounce at her again, but to her luck, Undine speaks up and saves her.

"Stop playing around, you two! We need to pack and get ready to pick up Milla tomorrow. We don't want to be late."

As it turns out, they're pretty damn late.

It's not like it's a problem with planning—they left home at five in the friggin morning in anticipation for what they expected to be a six-hour drive—but apparently Efreet takes a wrong exit on the highway somewhere, at which point Undine reviews the map and takes the wheel to try and get them back on track. Somehow that only ends up getting them even more lost, so Gnome tries driving for a while until somebody remembers that Gnome doesn't actually have a license and Efreet gets back in the driver's seat. Sylph turns on the GPS and they try to follow that for a while until Muzét shrieks rather moodily, "That voice is so damn annoying!" at which point the device is turned off because it's a universal rule that you do not test Muzét when she's moody. Ever.

And by the time they make it to Fennmont High, it's a good half hour past noon and Milla is already waiting by the gates in full school attire.

Muzét flings the door open as they pull up to let Milla step inside, then doesn't hesitate to capture her little sister in a big bear hug and cry, "Oh, it's so good to see you again!" Milla just pats Muzét's arm and smiles.

"Good to see you as well," she says, and gives a sweeping glance to everyone in the van. "All of you."

The reunion is shortlived though, once Undine tells Muzét to "Let her go already, we still need to hurry!" and Efreet orders the twins to head to the back to change Mimi into Milla's clothes.

Honestly, Mimi isn't all too keen on stripping herself down in the back of a van, but thankfully all the back windows have been covered by mirror panes (bless Gnome for having connections in the furniture business). Milla, on the other hand, is almost appallingly shameless, yanking off her own skirt and shirt immediately, and Mimi just waits until her twin is fully undressed before she slips out of her own simple sundress within seconds.

Milla's outfit is honestly a lot more complicated than it ought to be. It's a standard school uniform, sure, but when Milla does the inner shirt buttons, she only does them to just down past Mimi's breasts (and Mimi flushes a little when she realizes that it feels a little loose in the chest area) and then doesn't even button the outer jacket at all. Her skirt, which has a slit in the hem, is haphazardly fastened by two belts, and Milla proceeds to fit Mimi with obviously non-regulatory leggings, combat boots, a tie that looks to have been half splashed with pink dye, and the finishing touch: a spiked collar that loops around Mimi's neck.

"...You dress like a punk," Mimi remarks dryly, eying herself carefully in the largest mirror once Milla's done. She may not go to Fennmont but somehow, Mimi gets the feeling that this is all one huge dress code violation, and she's surprised Milla gets away with wearing it every day.

"Ivar helped me with it. He said it looked better this way."

Mimi rolls her eyes. Ivar's their childhood friend, the son of the Maxwell Mansion's head maid, and it just figures that this would be his work. The year after Milla went to boarding school, Ivar insisted on following her there, and though he still claims it's because Milla needs someone to look after her while she's away from The Four, Mimi's pretty sure it's just because he's had a puppy crush on Milla ever since he was seven.

"Well, he's not wrong," Mimi admits, because when worn like this, the outfit is actually pretty damn hot. Actually, Mimi thinks this is the hottest way to wear a school uniform that could ever possibly exist.

Milla pulls out a garment bag from her backpack and starts dressing herself in a suit, so Mimi climbs up a few seats so Sylph can do her hair. He has a second job as a hairstylist and that's for good reason, because in just a couple minutes, he has Mimi's hair tied back with bands and the green hair extensions are applied so perfectly to her bangs that when he hands Mimi a mirror, it's Milla's exact likeness that stares back at her.

Milla herself gives Mimi a once over before nodding in approval.

"Perfect," she proclaims, and shifts her backpack into Mimi's arms. "Everything you need should be in there. There's a map so you can find the testing room, and you'll need to show my ID to get in."

"Got it."

Mimi slips the pack over her shoulder as she steps out of the van, and as the door starts to slide shut behind her, she hears Sylph start with a teasing tone, "So, Milla, about your girlfriend..." The door closes with a click and the van starts to drive off before Mimi can hear the rest, but she has a vague idea of what's about to go down in there and snickers to herself.

Considering all she's doing for Milla's sake right now, it's only right that she enjoy a little schadenfreude.

Finding the test building is easy enough and the test itself is a clockwork performance of get in, don't talk to anyone, bubble in, get out. Mimi's not familiar with the material so when she turns the test in, she's pretty sure the best possible grade she got was a D, but it's still definitely enough for Milla to pass her class and that's all that matters. Milla herself would probably have gotten a B or better if she was here, sure, but if anyone asks later, Milla could just claim she was just having a bad day.

So when Mimi leaves the testing room, it's with the feeling of a job well done and every intention of just finding some empty corner on campus where she can spend the next seven hours or so on her phone until her family comes to pick her up. But as she's charging down the hallway and towards the building's exit, her brain barely registers someone calling "Milla!" from behind her, and it takes yet another such call for her to fully register that oh yeah, she is Milla right now, so Mimi stops in her tracks and looks back over her shoulder to see a boy running up to her.

"Jeez, didn't you hear me the first time?" The boy pants once he reaches her, bending over to catch his breath, and Mimi takes the opportunity to quickly study him. He seems rather young but he's wearing the school's uniform; his black hair is pulled back by a couple of red hairpins, and when he looks up, his eyes are shimmering playfully at her through thin-rimmed glasses.

Mimi tries to recall if Milla ever mentioned knowing someone like this, but only draws a blank.

"...Sorry about that," Mimi forces her voice to sound deeper like Milla's, and only barely stops herself from stuttering because this is a total curveball. She doesn't know who this boy is, doesn't know how he's related to Milla, doesn't even have a name to call him by, so she'll have to tread with caution here.

"Why so focused?" The boy cocks his head. "Do you have somewhere to be?"

"Oh no, I'm just...hungry." And Mimi curses herself for answering too quickly, because she should have just said that she did have somewhere to be so that she could get this guy out of her hair.

"Of course you are," the boy says, rolling his eyes like he's used to it, and now Mimi's kinda worried because if he knows about Milla's insatiable appetite, he's probably more familiar with Milla than all her history classmates were. "Anyway, sorry I didn't text you, but I figured since you were here anyway, I might as well pick you up."

Mimi tries to choose her next words carefully so she can get away from him. "Thanks for your consideration, but there is really no need for you to—"

"Oh come on, Milla," he just cuts her off with a grin, "don't tell me you wanna eat alone."

Mimi really wishes she could turn him down, but before she can even think of saying anything else, he grabs her by the hand—and ohhhh-kay, that's a relatively intimate gesture. Evidently, he's a lot closer with Milla than she first thought, so Mimi just forces herself to smile back at him, pulling her hand out of his and making a show of reaching both hands back to adjust her hairbands.

Turning him down would seem really suspicious, though, so for now she's stuck following this guy through an empty parking lot towards what's presumably going to be a restaurant. As Mimi walks, her mind races and whirls in a panic, trying desperately to come up with some excuse that will allow her to get away from him soon—

"You're still upset about missing that business meeting, aren't you?"

"H-huh?" His words catch her off guard and her voice automatically rises to its normal pitch before Mimi swallows her panic and forces it to sound deeper again. "Oh...no, it's fine."

"Don't lie. You're not acting like yourself." The boy smiles up at her in a way that's probably supposed to be comforting but all it does is put Mimi even more on edge, especially when he grabs her hand again and starts leaning in really really close. "I'm sorry you're missing it. But just try to cheer up, okay?"

And before Mimi knows what's happening, the boy grabs her by the necktie and pulls her down to touch his lips to hers.

Mimi freezes up, her mind just about shuts down, and the moment she can think again, she shoves the boy away with all her might.

"W-what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Mimi gasps that out, wiping furiously at her lips with the back of her hand, utterly bewildered because she could have sworn Milla was dating Leia and this guy, whoever he is, is most definitely not Leia. Yet the boy himself looks just as confused, his eyes wide and his mouth agape and his expression hurt as if he's just been fundamentally rejected...until slow realization comes over his face and he's left looking positively scandalized.

"...Oh my god," he mutters, and buries his face in his hands. "You're not Milla, are you?"

Well, shit.

"The number you have reached is currently unavailable. Please leave your message at the sound of the beep."

Beeeeep.

"WHAT THE HELL, MILLA?! YOU NEVER MENTIONED YOU HAD A BOYFRIEND TOO!"

"Milla, I can't believe you had your twin take your test for you! That's illegal!"

"Wait, that's what you're upset about?! You kissed me!"

"W-well yes, that too of course—"

"It was my first kiss, you asshole!"

"I-I'm sorry, okay? How was I supposed to know you were her twin?"

"Well, how was I supposed to know you were her boyfriend? God, is there anyone else I should know about? Any more people in her little harem gonna run up and smooch me?"

"I-it's not a harem, it's just me and Leia—"

"HEEYYYY! Milla, Jude, wait up!"

"Speak of the devil..."

"Oh shit—No! You've got the wrong girl, stay away from me—!"

Beeeeep.

Obviously, Milla received the angry voicemail, because when Mimi's family comes to pick her up seven hours later, the first thing Milla does is hand her twin a whole box of apology chocolates (and considering it's Milla, the fact that she didn't eat a single one herself proves her sincerity). Mimi accepts the offering, but she's still not fully appeased.

"You could have at least told me about him beforehand," Mimi grumbles, joining Milla in the back of the van to slip out of her skirt.

"I'm sorry. I didn't foresee that Jude would come pick me up."

"Well I didn't foresee that he'd attack my lips!" And hell, they're still tingling unpleasantly from the memory of that unwanted kiss.

"But he did at least apologize, no?"

"Well...yeah. He bought me dinner and desert," Mimi admits, then frowns and gives Milla a curious look as she remembers: "And he said that he met you when you almost drowned him in the pool last semester."

Milla chuckles, "He told you about that, huh?"

Oh, he and Leia told Mimi all sorts of stories while she was waiting to be picked up, like about how Jude (somehow) became friends with Milla after the drowning incident and then proceeded to introduce her to Leia, who's apparently his childhood friend; about how Leia became Milla's roommate in the spring semester after Leia's old roommate, Agria or something, got expelled from school; about how the three of them had been this weird package deal of friendship and mixed attractions up until just a couple weeks ago, when Milla initiated her first kiss with each of them and helped them both come to terms with their feelings so that they both started dating her and each other.

Mimi decides that at some point in the future, when they're not both in their underwear and hurrying to change clothes, she'll get Milla to tell her side of that story as well. But once Mimi is back in her sundress and she's helped her twin get her whole convoluted excuse of a school uniform back on, Milla immediately moves for the door and Mimi follows her with watchful eyes as she steps out of the van to meet Leia and Jude, who are waiting just outside.

Jude gives Milla a once over and sheepishly scratches the back of his head. "It, uhhhh...it really is you this time, right?" He seems really embarrassed and ashamed that he can't tell, that he has to ask, but Milla just smiles gently and ducks in to kiss his lips, then quickly moves to Leia to do the same

"Is that a sufficient answer?" Milla asks once she pulls back.

"Good enough for me!" Leia proclaims, and proceeds to drape herself over Milla's shoulder, kissing her cheek before turning to Mimi in the van and looking back and forth between the twins. "Man though, I don't blame you Jude. They look so alike, I would have kissed her too."

"Would you please stop reminding me about that?" Jude groans, clutching at Milla's other arm and burying his face in her shoulder.

Mimi groans too, loudly, with every intention of conveying her disgust at the barf-worthy display of affection she's witnessing, and moves to close the door so she won't have to witness it anymore. But Milla abruptly stops the door with her foot, and before Mimi can react, her twin has already disentangled herself from both her lovers and is stepping forward, leaning in to plant a kiss on Mimi's cheek.

"Thanks for the help, Mimi," Milla whispers into her ear, then pulls back with a slightly smug smile that has Mimi half-tempted to slap her right there. But Milla escapes before she can, then takes Jude's and Leia's hands in her own and walks off with them, so Mimi makes a face at Milla's back and viciously slams the door shut and tries to ignore the way her cheeks are flushing hot. Muzét giggles from her side and Mimi turns to yell at her, but when she's greeted with the sight of her older sister sitting in the lap of a complete stranger, she ends up squawking instead.

"Wha—when the hell did he get here?!"

"He's been here the whole time," Muzét drawls. "Sheesh, pay attention, Mimi."

"B-but how...who...?"

"He was at Milla's business talk," Sylph supplies, huffing, sounding no more thrilled than Mimi is to meet Muzét's newest plaything.

"Erston Outway, CEO of Rieze Maxia Enterprises," the man grunts in greeting. "Your twin sister made a most compelling business proposal."

Mimi gives him a once over, notes the way Muzét's knee is digging into his thigh, and her hands are traveling up and down his chest, and her whole body is pressed flush against his.

"Oh, and I suppose my older sister made a most compelling bedroom proposal?!"

"As a matter of fact—"

Muzét purrs and cuts Mr. Outway off with a heated kiss and some calculated straddling that seriously borders on lewd, and Mimi recoils before giving up and slumping back into her seat. The van starts to move again, and amidst The Four's chaotic yelling at each other and the roar of the engine, Mimi chucks another chocolate into her mouth and bites down on it hard as the stupid, stupid green hair extensions cling to the skin of her cheek.

Worst. Sisters. Ever.