It was probably Makoto, wasn't it?
Miko glanced over and figured the sa thing. After all, Ei was right here — so it had to be Makoto.
"Oh, so it's Makoto after all..."
"No. I'm Acheron." Before Miko could even finish the sentence, Acheron cut her off and made the correction.
"Huh?"
Miko tilted her head, clearly not having anticipated that.
Though — if Ei hadn't been standing right here, she would have had no issue with that answer at all. But Ei was standing right there, right beside them. Was that really fine?
Wait...
Could it be that Makoto has changed her mind?
The possibility surfaced suddenly, and Miko felt sothing click into place. If Makoto had decided to co clean, then it actually made perfect sense that she'd say sothing like that — right here, in front of Ei.
But still...
Why now, all of a sudden?
The question turned over in her mind, and her curiosity got the better of her.
Acheron?
Yes... that's Makoto's other na...
But why...
Ei stared at Makoto, expression unreadable, a genuine bewildernt stirring beneath the surface.
A feeling had taken hold of her — a sudden, unsettling intuition that Makoto was about to abandon her own identity entirely, to exist only as this other self. This Acheron.
Is that why Kiana wouldn't tell just now?
The thought arrived, and with it, clarity. That explained it — that was why Kiana had been deflecting, circling around it without ever quite saying what it was.
"Since everyone is here, I may as well say sothing."
Acheron settled herself down beside Kiana, let her gaze move once around the room, and then spoke — unhurried, asured.
"Go ahead. We're all listening."
Kiana gave a nod and helped herself to another snack.
Why...
Why is this happening...
Ei hadn't even heard what Makoto was going to say yet — and already, the feeling had settled in her chest.
She knew she needed to ask. Whatever ca next, she had to ask why.
"Right now, Ei is the only one in this room who doesn't know what's going on, isn't she?"
Miko, who had already pieced together roughly where this was heading, chose that mont to land a small jab — a quiet little act of revenge for having her eavesdropping called out earlier.
Only ? I'm the only one who doesn't know?
Ei registered what Miko had said, and a quiet awareness crept over her — that this situation was more involved than she'd realized.
Still, in a mont like this, there was nothing useful she could ask. And Makoto was clearly about to speak. So Ei held her tongue and waited.
No reaction at all...
Miko watched Ei — sitting perfectly still, not so much as a flicker — and felt a mild, genuine surprise.
She had expected at least a 'why.' Instead, nothing. Not a single word, not even a sound.
"The truth is — Makoto is currently in a soul state. She's only temporarily inhabiting my body."
Acheron cast a brief sideways glance at Miko — who was watching with the unconcealed interest of soone waiting for the best part — and then simply said it. Plainly. Without ceremony.
"What?" Ei finally spoke.
She hadn't been prepared for this. Not for a mont. The person standing before her was not Makoto — not truly.
Makoto is in a soul state?
Currently inhabiting... her body?
Ei stared at the figure before her — the figure that was, and was not, Makoto — and felt herself go completely blank.
What... is this?
What is happening right now?
"In other words — the person you're looking at right now is actually called i. She's not Makoto. Though she does look very much like Makoto, of course."
Miko watched Ei's rare expression of open shock — and stepped in with a helpful explanation.
She felt that Acheron had said it clearly enough, but the shock had clearly hit Ei harder than expected. She hadn't quite co back to herself yet. So yes — the clarification was necessary.
She's not Makoto?
Just... looks like her?
And Makoto herself is currently inhabiting her body — as a soul?
Ei pulled herself back from the shock, piece by piece, and began sorting through what she'd just been told.
Taken together, none of it made sense. The pieces refused to fit.
If the girl called Acheron bore no resemblance to Makoto — or to Ei herself — that would be one thing. But she did. The resemblance was impossible to ignore.
What is this? What does it an?
Just a coincidence?
Not long ago, Kiana had told her that her resemblance to the Sustainer was rely coincidence. The sa thought surfaced now, reflexively.
But Ei knew. This was not coincidence. None of it was.
Though she also knew — now was not the ti to say so.
"Then... where is Makoto?"
After a mont of quiet thought, Ei asked the question that mattered most. She wanted to see Makoto. Right now.
"Let bring her out to see you."
Acheron said that, and closed her eyes.
A breath later, they opened again — slowly. And when the figure before Ei spoke, it was with a different voice, a different weight.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Ei."
"Before... that was still you, wasn't it? The whole ti?"
Ei looked at Makoto — really looked at her, for a long mont — and finally asked.
Honestly, even now, it was hard to tell. Sothing in her had lost its footing.
"Of course it was , Ei. You can't recognize anymore?" Makoto gave a quiet, soft laugh, and nodded — quite seriously.
She could imagine what had happened. The news had shaken Ei more than expected. That was the only explanation for why she'd doubt sothing as simple as this.
"Of course I recognize you. It's just — I was worried..."
"It's alright, Ei. It was the whole ti — not Miss i." Makoto cut her off, and reached out to take Ei's hand, pressing it firmly, with full sincerity. "Every mont of it. . Not i."
"Then why... why like this?"
Ei's hand closed around Makoto's in turn, and she asked the question she needed answered.
Whatever the reason, there had to be one. Makoto wasn't like Miko — she wouldn't do sothing like this just for amusent. There was a purpose behind it. There had to be.
"Because of you, of course." Makoto said it simply, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"?"
That wasn't the answer Ei had expected. For a mont, she couldn't follow.
"Yes. You, Ei." Makoto gave a small nod, and continued: "I've had plenty of ti to look at Inazuma now — really look. And while I understand this is your way of governing it... I still don't agree with it, Ei."
"I know. I haven't... done well."
Ei was quiet for a mont. Then she gave a single, honest nod.
When she had first seen Makoto again — after everything, after all that ti — she had already understood that change in Makoto was natural, even inevitable. She had simply never thought that the sa might be said of everything else around her.
She finally understands...
Ei finally gets it...
Miko stood quietly to the side, listening to the two of them, and felt the warmth of quiet satisfaction spread through her.
But then her eyes drifted to Kiana — who was sitting there, calmly and thodically working through the snacks — and the urge to sweep the whole tray away from her beca almost irresistible.
This was her big sister, supposedly. And yet this woman had not left her even the smallest scrap of dignity.
She'd had Kiana pegged as the cool, aloof type. She had been so, so wrong.
Case in point: just a little while ago, Kiana had been bullying her openly, without so much as a trace of that so-called aloofness.
Not even a little bit.
____
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