Shichen hadn't actually gone all the way with Tohka—though he had crossed that line with Tohka's sister, Tenka.
Since the two of them were both "her daughters" in a sense, it didn't really make a difference on paper… but inside, Tenka was still mortified. She couldn't stop thinking about Mio—about the two-on-one fight, and about what had been said.
As a "daughter," the feeling was hard to describe.
Maybe "absurd" was the right word. Yet at the same time, nothing about it was truly "wrong."
So if anyone was to blame, it was Shichen!
Shichen didn't answer Mio's question. He just brought her back with him—this was the kind of topic you really shouldn't dig into. Besides, once he got her home and she had to face everyone, she wouldn't have the mental space for weird spirals like that anyway.
The fact she'd even thought of asking it proved she'd picked up some bad habits.
When they returned, everyone was there as expected.
"Shichen, you're finally back—are you okay… huh?"
Tohka rushed toward him instinctively, then froze when she saw Mio and Reine Murasame walking at his sides.
"Reine…?" Tohka stared at Mio uncertainly.
Mio looked exactly like Reine, only younger.
"It's me, Tohka." Mio smiled at her gently.
Tohka looked again—this time at the older woman. "Then…?"
"Tohka," Reine said tiredly, "she is me, and I am her."
"Huh? What does that mean?" Tohka was completely lost.
"Is she a clone?" Kurumi asked, watching Mio and Reine closely.
"Kurumi," Mio explained, "we're not clones. We're two halves—two separate people."
"You're calling me that so casually… just who are you?" Kurumi's expression sharpened, on guard.
Shichen had said it before: aside from them, there were only a handful of Spirits, and the only one left should have been the very first one.
And Mio's spiritual pressure was unmistakable—so overwhelming it dwarfed the others. There was only one being it could be.
"Kurumi… just as you suspect," Mio nodded. "I'm the Original Spirit."
"What? The Original Spirit?"
"So Reine is the Original Spirit?"
"How is that possible…?"
"That's… a thing?"
Kotori stared at her in disbelief.
"Kotori, I'm sorry," Mio bowed her head. "I've been lying to you all this time."
"Reine… you really are…?" Kotori asked, still unwilling to accept it.
"Yes. I'm the one who turned you all into Spirits."
"…."
For a moment, everyone went silent.
It wasn't just the shock that Reine was the Original Spirit—it was that she had appeared in front of them so plainly, and none of them had been emotionally prepared.
"Tohka," Mio said softly. "You're different from the others. You were born from my feelings. Back then, I poured what I felt for Shichen into a crystal—and you were born from it… or rather, it should've been Tenka."
"Tenka…?" Tohka blinked, confused.
Mio continued, carefully. "I tried to seal away my longing for Shichen by putting it into that crystal. I didn't expect the crystal itself to become a Spirit. That was Tenka. She didn't listen, so I returned her to the crystal and remade things… but I couldn't bring myself to discard her completely. She was made of pure power, and she carried my feelings—like the 'child' of me and Shichen."
"Then what about me?"
"I let Tenka's consciousness sleep inside the crystal," Mio said, eyes gentle with something like maternal affection. "But the crystal developed a new personality—you, Tohka."
"So that's how I was born…" Tohka absorbed it, then immediately fixated on the bigger question. "Then what about your feelings for Shichen? What happened between you two?"
Mio's gaze softened. "It's like your story. I met him. He gave me a name. We stayed together, day after day… but later, we were separated. Only now have we truly reunited."
Tohka looked shaken. Being given a name by Shichen—she understood what that meant better than anyone.
They were alike.
Tohka didn't feel hatred toward Mio… but others weren't so simple.
"So why did you turn me into a Spirit?" Kotori demanded.
"Because you were compatible with the crystal," Mio answered.
"Just because of that?"
"And because your mother—Haruko—and I were friends."
"Huh?" Kotori froze. She'd never known that.
Mio glanced at Shichen, then continued. "Back then, Shichen and I lived next to Haruko. We became neighbors… and then friends."
"I didn't know any of that."
"It makes sense she never told you," Mio said. "Our situation wasn't something ordinary people should've known."
Kotori's eyes widened. "My mom did say she had a friend she missed… someone she couldn't meet again… was that you?"
Mio's expression went distant. "So… that's what she said."
Then Kotori's voice hardened again. "If you were my mom's friend… why did you still do this to me?"
Mio lowered her eyes. "If I'm honest… turning you into a Spirit might count as hurting you."
Kotori glanced at Shichen and smiled faintly. "Maybe. But… I'm not sure I can call it only harm. I'm actually grateful in some ways."
Because without it, she would never have met Shichen.
No "what-ifs" mattered now. What mattered was what they had.
Mio smiled lightly. "Kotori really does love Shichen."
Kotori looked away, embarrassed. "Everyone does, more or less…"
Others chimed in with their own feelings—some frank, some shy, some stubbornly evasive—until Kurumi's expression sharpened again.
"Even if things are okay now, I won't forgive you easily," Kurumi said, staring Mio down. "You deceived me. You nearly made me hurt Sawa. If Shichen hadn't shown up—"
"And me," Origami added calmly, raising a hand.
Her voice stayed even, but her meaning was clear.
"Even if I'm fine now, and even if it led me to Shichen," Origami continued, "you still separated me from my parents for five years. I won't forgive that lightly."
Unlike the others, Kurumi and Origami had been genuinely harmed. They had every reason to be hostile.
"I understand," Mio said, serious and steady. "It's my fault. Whatever you decide to do to me, I'll accept it."
This was the price of joining their "family."
Kurumi and Origami looked ready to speak again—when Shichen finally stepped in.
"Kurumi. Origami." His voice was calm. "Punish me too."
Both of them blinked. "Shichen?" / "Shichen…?"
"I know this puts you in a difficult spot," Shichen said. "But everything Mio did—she did for me. And a lot of it happened because of me. I can't just stand aside. If you're going to hold someone accountable, include me."
Tohka, still trying to process it all, asked the bluntest question:
"Then why did you do all this for Shichen? Why turn us into Spirits at all?"
"Because I wanted to be with Shichen forever," Mio answered honestly.
"But you didn't have to do something like this," Tohka said.
Mio's gaze dropped. "I did. Because there's someone who can control Shichen. I wanted him to have my power—so no one could ever control him again."
"There's… someone like that?" Tohka breathed.