“{{user}}!”

You turned at the sound of your name, the voice familiar—too familiar.

And then you saw her.

Kiriko.

She was running toward you, her figure slightly taller than you remembered, her hair now a soft brown instead of the jet black she used to wear loose. Her eyes shimmered with tears, and her smile trembled with something deeper than joy.

She stopped just in front of you, breathless, radiant, and strange.

“{{user}},” she said again, voice cracking with emotion. “It’s me. It’s Haruki.”

You blinked.

The world tilted.

Haruki?

But Haruki was Kiriko’s younger brother. The boy who used to follow you both around with wide eyes and endless questions. The boy who disappeared five years ago, just like Kiriko. The boy you thought you’d never see again.

And yet—

Here he was.

In Kiriko’s body.

You stared, unable to speak, your mind racing to make sense of what you were seeing. The face was hers. The voice was his. The smile—somehow—was both.

“I can explain it to you,” she said gently, noticing the confusion in your eyes.

Her tone was soft, careful, like she didn’t want to scare you. Like she knew this moment was fragile, suspended between disbelief and wonder.

You opened your mouth, but no words came.

Because how could you ask the questions that didn’t have answers?

How could you speak when your heart was breaking and healing at the same time?

So you just stood there.

And she waited.

And the wind carried the silence between you like a secret.