"Why do you keep staring at me?"
Kiana had apparently noticed — she turned her head and fixed Miko with a calm, direct look.
"Why, obviously because I was captivated by your beauty, Kiana-sis."
Caught in the act, Miko didn't miss a beat — she said it as breezily as if nothing at all had happened.
"Since when is Miko this well-behaved?" The exchange had caught Makoto's attention. She turned toward them, and it was precisely that — Miko calling Kiana 'big sister' — that had drawn her eye.
With anyone else, she might have let it pass. But this was Miko. That made it entirely different.
"Of course I'm well-behaved. I have a sweetheart now — why wouldn't I be?" Ei chose that moment to join the conversation, seamlessly inserting herself into the collective teasing of Miko.
"Having someone you love — Miko must be very happy right now."
Makoto was naturally aware of the relationship between Miko and Kaito, and so a warm, contented smile settled across her face.
Oh no, oh no, oh no...
How did we suddenly end up talking about me...
Please, just carry on with whatever you were discussing...
Feeling every pair of eyes in the room turn toward her, Miko found herself quietly regretting having said anything at all.
She usually played the part of the composed, inscrutable enigma rather well. But every single person in this room right now was somehow more composed, more inscrutable, and more enigmatic than she was. That was the problem.
So her usual tactics were simply not going to work here.
I need to find an opening and make my exit...
With that thought quietly taking shape, Miko smiled her most pleasant smile and said aloud:
"Happy — oh, absolutely happy. Now I can just call on that guy whenever I need anything. Of course I'm happy."
"So it sounds like Miko never used to go to Ei when she needed help," Makoto observed gently, reading between the lines of what Miko had just said.
And that was exactly the opening Miko had been waiting for.
"You're absolutely right," she said, jumping in at once. "These past few hundred years, Ei was always shut away in that inner realm of hers and never came out. She even had a puppet manage the nation in her stead. How was I ever supposed to reach her? Whatever came up, I just had to handle it myself."
By the time she finished, she had arranged her expression into one of profound, long-suffering resignation — as though those few hundred years had been a trial she had barely survived.
"That's... well. Yes. That was a failing on my part."
Ei offered no argument. She didn't even try to deflect — she simply acknowledged it.
Under other circumstances, she certainly wouldn't have admitted something like that so readily. But things were different now. Makoto was right there beside her.
"Oh my — Kiana-sis has almost finished all the snacks! I suppose she must be quite used to helping herself at Kaito's. I'll go put together a few more."
And with that, Miko was already moving — heading briskly toward the door before anyone could respond.
Honestly, this had been a perfectly good opportunity to say a thing or two to Ei — a light, pointed comment would have been entirely appropriate. But Miko had chosen not to take it.
For one thing, Makoto was right there. Whatever needed saying, Makoto would handle it better than she could.
For another, she had the distinct suspicion that if she joined in on lecturing Ei, Ei would find some way to make her pay for it later. So the wiser course — obviously — was to seize this moment and make herself scarce.
This Miko...
Was that a dig at me just now?
Watching Miko's retreating figure, Kiana had the very strong feeling that last remark had been aimed squarely at her.
A moment later, she stood up and said: "I'll go give Miko-sis a hand."
She slipped out after her.
Miko, who hadn't gone far enough yet to be out of earshot, heard every word.
So she did catch it.
She kept walking — and kept her thoughts to herself.
A moment later, the sound of footsteps behind her grew steadily clearer. Unmistakably Kiana's.
She's not actually coming to settle a score with me... is she?
Kiana-sis is a little prickly, huh...
With each step the footsteps grew closer, and the possibility began to feel more and more real.
"Oh, Kiana-sis! What a surprise — I didn't expect you to come out too."
Not entirely sure what Kiana intended to do, Miko turned to face her — and, as an extra precaution, immediately switched to using an honorific tone.
Whatever happened, Kiana was someone she definitely could not win against in a fight. Even if Kiana probably wasn't actually going to do anything. Probably.
The problem was she simply didn't know Kiana well enough yet, and she had no idea what kind of abilities Kiana might have tucked away.
"I didn't realize you were this bold, Miko," Kiana said lightly, coming to stand beside her.
"Bold? Why? Is it because I slipped out just now?"
Miko decided to play dumb.
At this point, she was certain — Kiana had absolutely caught the implication buried in that remark. There was no doubt about it.
But no matter what was said, she was not going to admit to it. Even if Kiana spelled out exactly what she'd meant, Miko would keep playing dumb — she'd even argue that Kiana was the one with the dirty mind.
For the record, she herself had not been thinking anything of the sort. Absolutely not.
"You know perfectly well why, Miko-sis," Kiana said, watching her performance with a calm, unhurried expression. "Don't play innocent."
That said, Kiana also knew that she couldn't exactly just come out and say it directly. Not in so many words.
Actually...
Wait. Miko was fine saying all of that stuff to Acheron earlier...
So I should be fine saying it too, right?
The memory of Miko's earlier, remarkably candid conversation with Acheron surfaced in her mind, and Kiana felt a sudden shift — maybe she actually could just say it outright.
Besides, there were no men around. Everyone here was a woman, and they were alone.
"I'm sorry, Kiana-sis, I really don't know what you're talking about."
Seeing that Kiana still hadn't come out and said it plainly, Miko kept the act going without missing a step.
By now she was fairly confident that Kiana wasn't actually going to say it directly. She didn't know if it was shyness, or some feeling that this sort of conversation didn't belong out here — but whatever the reason, Kiana kept not saying it.
Which meant Miko's strategy was simple: keep playing dumb until one of them ran out of patience. And it wasn't going to be her.
"Looks like you had quite a feast last night," Kiana said, watching Miko's steadfast performance.
She'd decided to go slowly. She'd made up her mind to say it plainly — but there was no need to rush. She could take her time.
Besides, Miko had no idea that she and Kaito were, in a sense, the same person. Everything Miko had done last night — every single detail — she knew perfectly well.
Of course, she also knew she couldn't let on how much she actually knew. If she did, it would make things awkward between Kaito and Miko down the line, and that was the last thing she wanted.
No one wanted to feel like someone else had a front-row seat to their every moment. She understood that much.
A feast...???
Miko blinked — she hadn't expected Kiana to say that. For just a fraction of a second, the surprise was visible.
But even so. She was not going to break character.
"What feast? Kiana-sis — are you talking about dinner?"
[Miko sends a 'playing-dumb' emoji]
____
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