Miko lowered her gaze to her toes, struggling to contain the shame welling up inside her. Stammering, she said with mixed feelings, "I-I understand..."
In her idle daydreams, the girl had occasionally imagined embarrassing scenarios. Maybe one night Amamiya Natsuki would imitate Romeo and climb through her window, and they'd get carried away, only for her mother—or Kyosuke—to catch them... But no matter what, she'd never imagined getting caught red-handed by her own otherworldly self.
At that moment, Miko's feelings were especially complicated and delicate.
Miko stammered out an explanation. "Last night... I was tricked..."
Otherworld Miko calmly retorted, "I don't know what the Natsuki from your world has been through, but his nature clearly hasn't changed. If you'd firmly refused, nothing would have happened, right?"
"..."
Miko was at a loss for words.
The girl in front of her was herself from a parallel world. There was no point in lying.
Otherworld Miko continued, "You never know whether tomorrow or an accident will come first. It's like how the world could suddenly plunge into the apocalypse on an ordinary afternoon at school... Even if you return to your world, it could still be destroyed by the Catastrophe of Supernatural Stories."
Miko: "..."
Thank you.
But you really didn't need to say that.
Otherworld Miko spoke in a cool voice. "What I mean is, don't keep running away from your own feelings. Don't worry so much about what other people think, and don't let your embarrassment control you. Don't leave regrets in your life... Everyone only gets one life. You should live a little more happily."
The advice from herself in a parallel world struck her deeply. Miko took a deep breath and replied earnestly, "...I understand."
Meanwhile.
Amamiya Natsuki had finished his bread and was on his way to