Clone Girls

Right after the training session was over, Vinia and Ticinia were chatting together, wondering what to do.

"Vinia~, what should we do today?"

"Uhm, I don’t know?" Vinia answered back, tilting her head. "Isn’t there something you want to do today?"

"Uhm" Ticinia put her right hand under her shin, thinking. "Oh! Let’s drink some tea with sister Nicia!"

"We can’t do that, sister, did you already forget what sister Nicia told you yesterday?"

"Ah…" Ticinia had forgotten, she dropped her arms and lowered her head, dispirited. Nicia had told her sisters that she wanted to be left alone so that she could concentrate on what she was studying. "But drinking tea with her is so fun…"

Vinia let out a small sigh at Ticinia’s childishness, she sometimes wondered whether she truly was the youngest. 

Ever since they were born, the two clone girls were often together. The two of them were well aware of their differences compared to their eldest sisters, and that was why they enjoyed the company of the other, who could understand how they felt.

"How about sister Ria?" Vinia proposed.

"Uuum… Nope! Sis is busy today." Ticinia answered after giving it some thoughts. She did  not precise however what Ria was exactly doing, as her sister had asked her to keep it a secret from the others. "Maybe we could go explore with Mia and Nia?"

"It’s too late for that." Vinia shook her head. "They already left to explore, besides… This smells like trouble, wouldn’t big sis not be happy if she learned we sneaked out to go somewhere that could be dangerous?"

"Oh no! That’s a no go! I don’t want big sis to get angry after us!" Ticinia reacted strongly, tears starting to form in her eyes already.

Ticinia and Vinia were the most spoiled of the clone girls by Ticia, and she spent a lot of her spare time with the both of them. As a result, the two clone girls cared a lot about what Ticia thought of them. They were scared that, if they did something wrong, they would not receive the attention they craved for anymore.

Seeing her sister like that, Vinia immediately changed the topic. "We can play by ourselves too, right?"

"B-but, you also want to play with our sisters, right Vinia?"

"...Yes, but…" Vinia said sadly, she too wanted to play with her other sisters. Unlike Ticinia however, who had an ease at getting along with all her sisters, Vinia was a bit more shy. She wanted to get along with her sisters, but was always held back by negative thoughts. She was scared, scared about how her sisters thought of her, since she had most of their genetic enhancements, and received a lot of Ticia’s attention, she thought some of them would become jealous and dislike her. Just remembering how Licia looked at her during training made her depressed. Fortunately, some of the clone girls took care of her. Out of all her sisters, and excluding Ticinia who she considered as her best sister, she liked Ria the most. Ria always took some spare time when she could to listen to her troubles, the ones she did not want to talk about with Ticia, and those were mainly about the relationships between all the clone girls.

"Then let’s go see Miria and Tiria!" Ticinia announced, regaining her spirit in an instant.

"You sure?" Vinia frowned, it wasn’t a proposition she expected. Those two weren’t clone girls Vinia was really close with, and they stayed most of the time by themselves, not bothering with the other sisters. All in all, they left the impression of not wanting to be bothered by others while they were in their own world. Would those two really agree to play with their youngest sisters?

"It’s fine! Miria and Tiria care about us a lot! They’ll be really happy to see you!" Ticinia comforted her, there was no doubt in Vinia’s mind that her sister had felt her doubt, and tried to encourage her. Ticinia then took Vinia’s hand, and began to quickly walk, dragging Vinia.

"Let’s go, let’s go!"

"W-wait, Ticinia, slow down!"

Vinia and Ticinia searched for their sisters for a moment with no success, and after asking A-4, they went to Miria and Tiria’s bedroom on the fifth floor. They were the only clone girls who shared a room, Ticia having, for some reason unknown to most clone girls, accepted their wish to share one.

The door was left open, but Vinia could not hear any noises. From what she could see, Miria and Tiria were inside the room, sitting on the couch. From the entrance, only the back of their heads were visible. 

They’re probably taking a nap… Let’s not bother them… Thought Vinia, but as she was about to tell this to Ticinia, her sister had already barged into the room.

"Sisters! We’ve come to play with you!" She exclaimed as she put her head between the two from behind. Miria and Tiria were startled by this sudden wake up call from their usual peaceful world. The two of them yawned in synchronization, before looking at Vinia and Ticinia while tilting their heads, somewhat expressionlessly.

"Vinia"

"Ticinia"

The both of them spoke at the same time, acknowledging the intruders.

"H-hey, uhm, sisters, sorry to bother your nap." Said Vinia, feeling awkward. She hoped her sisters wouldn’t get angry at their intrusion.

""No problem"" Both answered simultaneously, they did not seem to care, and Vinia let out a sigh of relief.

That’s good, they’re not angry. Vinia reassured herself. Now… onto the difficult part…

"Uhm… You see, sisters, we would like to-"

"Sisters, let’s play a game together!" Ticinia revealed the reason they were here before Vinia could explain. 

Ticinia, not like that! Vinia panicked, Ticinia’s way of asking was way too direct. Something Vinia had no confidence in. No wonder she gets on so well with Willia! The both of them are way too frank!

"Uhm sisters, you see, we just-"

"Sure"

"No problem"

"Eh?" Too fast! The both of them had agreed before Vinia could even try to ask by herself.

"Yay!" Ticinia jumped in joy. "See Vinia? I told you they would say yes!"

"Hahaha…" Vinia could only laugh awkwardly at her sister’s happy face. As expected of sister, her cuteness beats all arguments. Vinia thought. There was no doubt in her mind that Ticinia’s irresistible cuteness was the reason for such a fast agreement. But there’s always a side effect to it…

"We have one condition." Miria said, interrupting Ticinia’s celebration.

As expected, it’s coming! Vinia knew where all of this would end up, after all, it was always like this when Ticinia asked something from her sisters.

"Fueh? What is it?" Ticinia asked like she did not know what was coming. In fact, Vinia did not know herself whether Ticinia already knew and was just acting, or if she truly did not know what was coming.

""Let us hug you."" Both Miria and Tiria declared with serious expressions.

"Eh? Of course you can do that! I love hugs!" Ticinia happily said, and Miria immediately moved to hug Ticinia, making the latter giggle happily as Miria sat back on the couch with her ‘charger’.

Meanwhile Vinia let out a small sigh. As expected, it came down to this…

This was nothing out of the ordinary. The clone girls would always try to find an excuse to hug Ticinia, and Vinia, having spent a lot of time with Ticinia, knew this. She was a bit different from her sisters in this factor however. For some reason, it was always Ticinia that first initiated a hug between the two of them, and it was so frequent that Vinia did not feel the need to fill up on ‘Ticinium’, like her sisters.

Now what should I do… Vinia thought as she was left awkwardly looking at her sisters. She guessed this would take some time. Hm? Where’s Tiria?

Just as she noticed that Tiria had disappeared from the couch, she felt somebody suddenly embracing her from behind.

"E-eh?" When she looked around, she came face to face with Tiria. "S-sister? What are you doing!?"

"Hugging you." Tiria answered so frankly that Vinia froze for a second, before quickly rebooting.

"I-I can see that! That’s not what I asked! What I mean is, why are you suddenly hugging me?!"

"You don’t want to?" Tiria asked with a sad expression on her face. Now Vinia felt guilty.

"Ugh, n-no, I… don’t mind…" Vinia answered in a weak voice as she looked away, her cheeks reddening from embarrassment.

"It’s fine then." Tiria nodded, dragging the embarrassed Vinia in her embrace to the couch.

There was silence as time passed, Miria and Tiria hugging their sisters to their heart’s content.

I don’t understand. Vinia asked herself, still not understanding what was happening. I’m not Ticinia, so why am I in this situation now?!  It was when she was still confused that Tiria finally broke the silence.

"As expected, Vinium is also a good charging source."

"Vi-Vinium?!" Vinia exclaimed, this was the first time she heard this term applied to her, not even Ticia used it. Who came up with that!?

"Yup, Vinium." Tiria affirmed, not speaking any longer. It sounded so obvious to her that Vinia did not know how she should take it.

"Hehehe~, right~? Vinium is good, right? That’s why I’m always charging on it!" Ticinia suddenly said while giggling.

"Yes, you found something really good, Ticinia." Tiria praised Ticinia, which sent the girl into another streak of giggling.

What? This term came from her?! Vinia was shocked, she did not expect Ticinia to come up with such a term for her.

"B-but, I’m not cute like Ticinia! I… I don’t have the same abilities!"

"There was never an ability like this in the first place."

"Eh?" Vinia was shocked by Miria’s statement.

"Th-then, why do you always want to give a hug to Ticinia?" She asked Miria.

"It’s simple, Ticinia is just too cute." She answered as she tightened her hug to Ticinia.

"And you, as the youngest of us, are as cute as Ticinia." Tiria concluded as she too, tightened her embrace on Vinia.

"C-cute?" Vinia was confused, what did her sisters mean by all this?! All this time, she thought the reason they hugged Ticinia was because her abilities created an urge to protect and hug her, but Miria strongly denied it without any proof, and Ticinia did not correct her.

"Am I… cute too?" She mumbled to herself, not sure anymore.

"Of course you are Vinia! You’re much cuter than me!" Ticinia suddenly exclaimed, the strength behind her voice shook Vinia.

"E-even though I have most of the abilities of everyone?"

"It doesn't bother us." Responded Tiria.

"Me and Tiria have our own ability that you can’t replicate. Besides, even if you did, we would be happy."

"Yup, yup, exactly what Miria said." Tiria confirmed with a nod, before looking into Vinia’s wavering eyes. "So don’t focus on this too much, Vinia, none of us sisters mind your abilities, we like you for who you are."

"Well, most of us at least." Miria corrected Tiria, and Vinia somehow knew who they were talking about.

"Leaving the others aside, the both of us care about you a lot."

"Yes," Tiria nodded to Miria’s words as her hug tightened again. "After all, you’re the precious little sister we’ve nearly lost."

"Ah." That was all that came out of Vinia’s mouth. Now that she remembered, Ticia had said that in addition to Ria, Miria and Tiria helped during the incident on that day. Her memories of it were vague, but if her ‘big sis’ said so, then it was true.

I see, they don’t hate me, they care about me… There was no need to be so worried. Ria,  Miria, Tiria and most of all, Ticinia, her sisters loved her for who she was and were happy to have her.

A streak of tears fell down Vinia’s cheeks as she accepted all the warmth of Tiria’s embrace. It gave a different feeling than Ticia’s embrace, but it was one she liked a lot.

 

***

 

After a while of hugging each other, the clone girls finally moved. After all, Vinia and Ticinia had come to play.

They decided they would play a game of hide and seek in the training ground, since with the simulation settings, infinite hiding places could be created. 

"I want to be the one searching!"

"But Ticinia, you’re bad at finding people."

"Ugh, b-but I want to do it! This time, I’ll find you all within the set time!"

"Sure, sure, is that fine with the both of you, sisters?"

""We don’t mind.""

They chatted happily about small things as they reached the training ground.

""Ah,"" as they entered however, they were met by two clone girls. One of them was Willia, who happily welcomed them.

"Hey Ticinia! I see you brought Vinia with you! Even Miria and Tiria are there!"

"Willia!" Ticinia exclaimed as she hugged Willia, she really liked her sister. "Were you training?"

"Yup, yup, I was training with Licia over there." Willia pointed to the second clone girl in the room while patting Ticinia’s head.

"Eldest sister!" Ticinia quickly left Willia’s embrace to hug Licia, but contrary to what was usual, Licia showed little interest in the hug.

"03, I believe I told you to call me 01." She answered somewhat coldly.

"Ah, sorry, Li- I mean, 01." Willia corrected herself as she scratched the back of her head.

Vinia frowned at this interaction, she did not like the fact that Licia used their numbers rather than their names. It wasn't always like that, but just one week after they were born, Licia had begun to call them all like that. Vinia hated this, their ‘big sis’ had given them names, and Vinia liked hers. Not being called like that… It felt wrong to her… It was as if Licia wanted to deny something…

Vinia suddenly felt Licia’s stare at her, it wasn’t one she liked. Fortunately for her, Miria and Tiria, who understood what was happening, put themselves in front of Vinia, hiding her from view. She’ll have to thank them later.

"So, what brought you all here?" Willia asked, not reading the mood that was becoming tense.

"We were going to play hide and seek within the simulator!" Ticinia exclaimed, still trying to get attention from Licia. "Do you want to play with us?"

"Sorry Ticinia, I’ll pass, I want to train so that next time, I can show big sis how strong I’ve become!"

"Eeeeeeh~? But it would have been funnier if you came with us…" Ticinia said, pouting. "Why do you want to be so strong anyway?"

"Of course, it’s because if I become strong enough, I’ll be able to help big sis! I’m sure she’ll recognise I’m useful and take me with her outside to work together!" Willia declared in high spirit. The other clone girls felt her determination.

Wow, sister Willia is so motivated… Vinia thought, admiring her third sister’s determination. If I… If I become strong too, will I be able to help big sis too? A small fire appeared within Vinia’s heart.

"Eeeeeh~, you’re so motivated, sister!" Ticinia also seemed to have been touched by Willia’s words. "What about you, eldest sister?" Ticinia asked. Vinia noticed that her sister skillfully avoided calling their eldest sister by the name Ticia gave her while also not using her number.

"... I was training too." Licia answered after some time.

"So the two of you were training together? That’s great!" Ticinia exclaimed again, in fact, from her group, she was the only one who spoke to Willia often, and she also probably was the only clone girl who would try to get so close to Licia.

"Oh! I have a great idea!" Willia suddenly exclaimed. "How about we all train together? That’s fine, right, 01?"

Licia nodded her head.

"Oh, why not, this is fun too!" Ticinia was immediately on board, surprising the others.

"Wait, Ticinia? What about our game?" Vinia asked, poking out her head from behind Miria, she immediately retracted it however when she felt Licia’s gaze, she swore something was wrong with their eldest sister today.

"Ah, come on Vinia, it’ll be fun!" Ticinia quickly left Licia to find Vinia, immediately, her face turned serious, and she whispered to her sister. "Eldest sister’s emotions are bad right now."

"...Really?"

"Yes, that’s why, let’s try to play along, I’m sure it’ll improve her mood. Besides, I want to win this time."

"...Alright." Vinia too became motivated.

Ticinia happily came back to Licia. "Vinia will join us! What about you sisters?"

""We’ll pass"" Miria and Tiria simultaneously announced.

"Well, that’s too bad…" Willia said, somewhat sad. "I would have loved to fight against the two of you…"

They did not respond, instead, they looked at Vinia as she came out, worried looks on their faces.

"Don't force yourself, Vinia."

"Yes, you can still say no, we’ll take your place instead."

"Sisters…" Vinia felt moved, her sisters were with her. They knew her relation with Licia wasn’t good. But she wanted to do it, she wanted to face Licia. "Thank you sisters, but I’m alright."

Before they knew it however, Licia had come up to Vinia. "Hurry up, 12." She tried to grab Vinia’s hand, but Tiria intervened before she could, and grabbed Licia’s arm instead. Both Miria and Tiria surrounded the expressionless Licia and glared at her.

"We warn you, eldest sister."

"If anything happens to Vinia."

""We won’t forgive you.""

"..." Licia did not answer, she just took their glare as her face remained expressionless.

"What are you all doing? Come on! Let’s begin already!" Willia said, not able to read the mood. But thanks to this, Tiria released Licia. Miria and her then sat not far, the both of them had decided to watch if anything would really happen.

Meanwhile, seeing her sisters defend her like this, Vinia felt motivated to do her best yet again, the words Willia had pronounced not long ago still in her head. I won’t disappoint them! Me too, I also want to amaze big sis!

Vinia took position with Ticinia, the both of them would fight against Licia and Willia. The objective of this spar was to have both enemies on the ground at the same time.

"Hyaaa! Bull charge!" As usual, Willia charged head on, she was easily evaded by the two clone girls.

"I’ll take care of her, Vinia!" Ticinia announced and Vinia nodded, she trusted Ticinia on this.

While Ticinia’s fighting abilities were not as amazing as her sisters, her ability to read emotions made her able to compensate for that, something A-4 did not take account of when making his list.

Ticinia continued to evade Willia’s attacks with ease. "Hehehe! You’re doing well, little sis!" Willia was enjoying it even though she could not hit Ticinia.

"Whoops, I nearly got hit~." While Ticinia could avoid Willia’s strikes, it did not mean she could easily strike back! The two of them were trapped in this game of endurance.

Meanwhile, Vinia exchanged strikes with Licia. The two were extremely concentrated, and from the outside, they seemed on par with each other. But this was not the case.

Why!? Vinia exclaimed in frustration within her head. Why can’t I hit her!?

That’s right, from the beginning, Licia had blocked all of Vinia’s strikes with ease while Vinia barely avoided Licia’s strikes. This was strange to Vinia, she was the second best of all clone girls in fighting ability thanks to having the most enhanced genes, and yet despite all of that, Licia, the one who did not receive any specific gene modifications, stood above her. Usually, she would not mind this, but… The look Licia gave her, it irritated Vinia, it was as if Licia felt joy in being the strongest of them all.

"What’s wrong, 12? You’re losing focus." Licia asked, Vinia swore she could see a small smirk on her eldest sister’s face.

"Guh" after another exchange, Vinia finally took a hit to the stomach, then a second one to her side, she was forced to fall back.

What’s wrong with me, why can’t I hit her?  Doubts began to cloud Vinia’s mind as she reminded herself of what Ticia once said to her. Did big sis lie to me? Her ‘big sis’ had affirmed that Vinia could beat all her sisters with her current strength, and yet here she was, not able to beat Licia. It was when she began to think like this that a voice came from behind her.

"Don’t give up sis!  Switching time!"

"Eh?" Ticinia suddenly appeared, striking Licia from the side.

"I’ll take care of eldest sister! You focus on sister Willia!"

"But…" Vinia was hesitant, after all, if she had such a hard time, then Ticinia had just no chance!

"No buts! Go take care of sister Willia, now!" Under the pressure of Ticinia, who usually did not have one, Vinia conceded, she turned to face Willia, who, strangely enough, was waiting for her, a smile on her face.

"Hehe, did you expect me to rush at you? Too bad! Ticinia made me promise not to attack you from behind if I wanted to hug her after this!" Willia declared proudly, which left Vinia speechless. Sister Nicia was right, Sister Willia definitely doesn’t use her brain!

"Well, now I can charge again!" Willia exclaimed, charging with her left shoulder, and the fight continued on. This time, Vinia had the upper hand on her opponent.

On the side, New clone girls entered the training ground.

"Eh? What’s this, a big fight? Interesting~."

"Nia, this is not entertainment, this seems like a serious spar."

"I can see that Mia, don’t worry, I’m not planning on doing any tricks." Nia affirmed, she was very curious about what the results would be, hence, she did not want to meddle with this battle. "I can see Miria and Tiria on the side, let’s join them!"

The two clone girls joined their sisters to the side.

"Hey~, how’s the battle going?" Nia asked as she immediately sat next to Miria.

"Sorry to bother you, sisters." Mia, still with her helmet on, excused the actions of her sister.

"It’s fine, the battle is going as you can see."

"I see, I see~ Not! How do you expect me to know just by telling me to watch!"

Miria and Tiria rolled their eyes at Nia’s protest, but they did not answer. Meanwhile, Mia suddenly yelled.

"Vinia~, Ticinia~! You can do it! I’m with both of you~!"

"Ah! Not fair, Mia! You chose who to support without me! Hey~, little sisters! Since Mia is supporting you! I’ll support you too!"

Sisters… Alright! I’ll do my best! Flames reignited within Vinia’s eyes, to Willia’s delight.

"That’s a good depression you’re making, Vinia, do you also not want to lose?"

"Yes! I can’t disappoint all our sisters!" Vinia exclaimed as she charged, Willia’s smile deepened.

"Hehe, very well! Show me what you-Gebuh!" Willia received a fast kick to the stomach which sent her to the ground in an instant.

"Ah, Vinia took down sister Willia!"

"Hooray~! Now only our eldest sister is left!"

"Don’t be so quick on judging Willia as already out."

"Nua!?" Nia yelled in surprise. "S-since when are you here, sister Nillia!?"

"Not very long, I just arrived." Nillia said matter of factly, looking at the spar rather than Nia. "Look, Willia’s already back."

"Ehehehe…Hahahah!" Willia let out a crazy laugh.

"She entered it."

"Wh-what, what did she enter?" Nia asked, scared of Willia’s laugh.

"Her battle frenzy mode, now nothing can stop her anymore…"

Just like Nillia said, Willia charged at Vinia with new vigor, a crazy smile on her face. What Ticia feared had happened, Willia truly became a battle freak!

Vinia calmly kicked her again, but this time however, Willia continued on as if nothing happened!

"!!!" Vinia was forced to back down if she did not want to get hit, she continued to fall back until her back hit another one. Ticinia had also backed down from Licia, and the two of them were now back to back. The two of them managed to hold back their opponents somehow, Ticinia proving to be very helpful at predicting their sister’s next move. Vinia had full trust in her sister, she listened to what she said, and their coordination became perfect.

Still, they could not take on Licia and Willia’s assault forever. They took some hits from time to time.

"H-hey, shouldn’t we stop them?" Nia asked, seeing the state of the battle, exhaustion was clearly visible on Vinia and Ticinia’s faces. This was the first time the two of them had fought this much.

"Sisters! It’s time to end it! You’re already too exhausted to continue!" Mia exclaimed, but she only answer she got was from Ticinia, shaking her head so strongly as if her life depended on the results of this match, while Licia just sent a glare at Mia, who froze. It seems that both sides did not want to stop yet.

I’m reaching my limits… Vinia noted as she heavily panted. If she was at her limits then Ticinia’s state would be far worse…

"Ticinia…"

"I’m alright!" Ticinia answered as she blocked a strike from Licia. But Vinia knew, Ticinia had far exceeded her limits, just like her. And if they both continued, there would be consequences. Still, none of them wanted to give up. A flame had been lit up during this fight, both of them wanted to at least strike Licia with a good hit. That’s why they refused to end the match despite Mia and the others asking them to stop.

""Let’s get them with our next strike!"" The both of them declared.

Ticinia suddenly dodged Licia’s kick and Vinia grabbed her leg, surprising Licia.

As they did so, Willia who smiled like crazy, also launched a roundhouse kick with her left leg.

*bang*

The kick found its mark, but not to its intended target.

"Gefu!" Ticinia had taken the hit to her head for Vinia! She was sent flying by the sheer strength of the strike.

"Eh?" The shock of hitting Ticinia like this seemed to have woken up Willia from her craze, she immediately froze in place, taking in what she just did…

"Oryaaaah!" Vinia mobilized all her strength, she threw a very surprised Licia at the frozen Willia.

""Gah!"" The both of them hit each other and fell to the ground, not getting up. They had been beaten by this single move.

"Yeah~! They did it! They won!" Nia exclaimed, the clone girls had wanted to intervene since a while ago, but Vinia and Ticinia both wanted to continue. The girls, wanting to respect their youngest sisters’ wishes, did not act.

"Hah, hah…" Vinia panted heavily, she had difficulties staying up. "We… We won, right? Ticinia…" However, Vinia did not get a response from her sister. 

"...Ticinia?" As she looked over at where Ticinia was, she saw her sister lying face on the ground, a small poodle of red liquid forming.

""!!!"" That was when everybody finally noticed that something had gone wrong.

"Oh no, Ticinia!" The first one to go over to Ticinia, surprisingly, was Willia, who just got up. She looked horrified.

"A-A-4! Call big sis now!" Mia called out for help.

"Orders received: Calling owner Ticia immediately. Activating emergency protocols."

Vinia also wanted to go to Ticinia, however, she coughed severely.

"...12?" Licia asked from the side, and for the first time, Vinia saw emotions on her eldest sister’s face. She too was horrified, and her face was as white as the walls of the facility.

Vinia wanted to talk to her, but her vision blurred as she continued to cough, forcing her to kneel. She looked at her hands, they were full of blood. What…? She looked questioningly at Licia, but could not hear well anymore. Her final memory before blacking out was the blurred figure of her eldest sister rushing at her.