Oh no...
How had she forgotten to tell Kiana not to use that title in front of Ei?
Feeling the weight of Ei's puzzled gaze, Miko found herself in an acutely awkward position, the thought surfacing only now.
She'd been so focused on going to find Ei that the whole thing had simply slipped her mind.
Though, if she was being honest with herself, she also knew that Kiana had said it at least partly on purpose.
Even if she had warned her beforehand, there was no guarantee Kiana would have listened.
Oh well...
It's already done. No point worrying about what anyone thinks now.
Steadying herself with that quiet internal pep talk, Miko t Ei's questioning look and said breezily:
"It's perfectly normal for Kiana to call 'little sister' — she's older than , after all."
She finished the line with a light, unhurried smile.
As long as I don't look embarrassed, the embarrassnt belongs to everyone else.
"That's right," Kiana chid in at that mont, opening her mouth to add her piece. "It's only natural for Miko-sis to call big sister."
Not that she'd missed the flicker of expression that had crossed Miko's face just a mont ago. She had a fairly good idea what had been going through Miko's head — sothing along the lines of being caught off guard, then rapidly recalibrating. The usual Miko.
"I hadn't realized the two of you had grown this close."
Ei withdrew her gaze from Miko's composed, smiling face, and let it settle instead on the girl before her — that face, so familiar and yet so unsettling.
She said it quietly, almost to herself.
There was simply no getting around it. The girl standing there was the very image of the Sustainer.
Not identical, perhaps. But close enough that it set off every instinct she had.
And it wasn't just the degree of resemblance — even a slight likeness to the Sustainer would have been cause for concern. The Sustainer was no ordinary existence. Everything connected to Her warranted the utmost scrutiny.
"Well, of course we are," Kiana replied, with the easy confidence of soone stating the obvious. "We're both Kaito's girlfriends. That alone is more than enough reason to be close."
Beside her, Miko quietly let out a small breath of relief.
For one terrifying mont while Kiana had been speaking, she'd genuinely feared that Kiana was about to bring up what had happened between her and Kaito yesterday.
It might not have been a big deal to anyone else. But for Miko, it was an entirely different story.
Whatever else could be said — she simply did not want that particular subject ntioned out loud.
"Alright, why don't we all go inside and sit down?" Miko said, noticing that the three of them were still standing around in the entryway. "It's not great to be out here the whole ti."
As she said it, she was already moving — heading into the room first.
The reason she went ahead, of course, was to brew tea for Ei.
She could have simply used the cup she'd already poured for Acheron earlier, but on reflection she decided against it.
She was Ei's familiar, after all. The least she could do was make a proper effort — and besides, getting caught cutting corners would only cause unnecessary trouble.
Right.
Snacks.
The thought landed in her mind out of nowhere, and imdiately sparked an idea.
She turned back toward Kiana and Ei, who were just coming in behind her, and said with a bright smile:
"You two go ahead and sit — I'll go put together a few snacks. Soone here has quite the fondness for them, you know."
And with that, still smiling, she slipped past the two of them and disappeared from the room.
"I'd bet anything it's the Raiden Shogun," Kiana's voice drifted out from behind her before she'd gone far.
Obviously.
She even has bring them to her sotis...
Miko quietly acknowledged the observation in her heart as she walked.
She'd very nearly said it out loud — but thought better of it at the last second.
There were other things happening right now. Better not to get in the way.
— Back in the room.
"If you know Miko well," Ei began, looking at Kiana, "then you must know that she tends to..."
"Talk absolute nonsense?" Kiana finished the sentence for her before Ei could get there herself.
Since the whole point of today was to convince the Raiden Shogun that she was not the Sustainer, Kiana was putting on her most animated, easy-going self. She had no idea how the Sustainer actually behaved day-to-day — but she was fairly certain it wasn't like this.
"...A fitting description," Ei said after a brief pause.
She had to admit, Kiana's phrasing was apt. Remarkably apt, actually — it suited Miko perfectly.
What she hadn't expected was how lively Kiana would be. It was nothing like the impression she'd ford the first ti they'd t.
And behaving like this — she really did not look like the Sustainer.
But...
Could such a coincidence truly exist in this world?
Ei lifted the cup Miko had poured for her and took a slow sip, and found that she genuinely could not work it out. The truth of the matter refused to co into focus no matter how she approached it.
In the end, she did not believe this was simply coincidence.
A person could look like anyone. But looking like the Sustainer — that was a different thing entirely. That was sothing that shouldn't happen.
Ei would sooner believe that soone had been born looking like Makoto than accept that soone could simply happen to look like the Sustainer. The latter was, as far as she was concerned, impossible.
"Are you sitting there wondering why soone could look so much like the so-called Sustainer?"
Noticing that the Raiden Shogun had been staring into her teacup in silent contemplation for so ti, Kiana decided to be the one to say it.
She knew the Raiden Shogun might not bring it up on her own — so soone had to.
Hm?
Ei ca back to herself, glancing sideways at the girl. The surprise was evident.
She set down her cup and said:
"I won't pretend otherwise — yes, that is precisely what I was thinking. I know you'll say you aren't the Sustainer. But I cannot bring myself to believe that soone could simply resemble Her by coincidence."
Since Kiana had taken the initiative to raise the subject, Ei saw no reason not to be equally direct in return. She stated her position plainly.
"Do you have so kind of grudge against the Sustainer?" Kiana asked, once Ei had finished.
"No."
Ei hadn't anticipated the question. She paused for a brief mont, then slowly shook her head.
"Then what's there to worry about?" Kiana said.
She knew full well that saying this would only make the Raiden Shogun more convinced she was the Sustainer. But she said it anyway.
There was no other move. Ei had already made clear that she found it all but impossible to believe Kiana was not the Sustainer — so rather than keep fighting that battle, it was better to change the terms of it entirely.
"With anyone else, perhaps I wouldn't be concerned," Ei replied, asured and unhurried. "But the Sustainer is different."
And even as she said it, she could feel Kiana's last remark pulling at her conviction — pulling her further toward the belief that Kiana was, in fact, the Sustainer. Or at the very least, soone with a profound and fundantal connection to Her.
Wait.
Hold on.
Could it be...
...Is Kiana the Sustainer's daughter?
She wasn't sure whether it was the matter of Kaito that had set her thoughts running in this direction — but the possibility surfaced in Ei's mind with sudden, startling clarity.
After all, Kiana looked like the Sustainer — but not entirely like the Sustainer. If she were the Sustainer's daughter, that would make a certain kind of sense. Even if the idea of the Sustainer having a daughter made no sense at all.
But then — nothing about this situation made sense. There was simply too much of it that defied reason.
And yet, here they were.
____
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