Twin-Faced Tower Izermar: Tension?

"Long time no see, Aoko. Hmm... I should say, my dear little sister."

The woman with dark, faded red hair leaned against a tree trunk, a cigarette trailing wisps of smoke between her fingers. The orange-framed glasses would have been difficult to match on their own, yet they unexpectedly suited her perfectly.

"Looks like you've been doing well. You've even put on a little weight."

"So? What do you want?"

Aoko cut her off without ceremony.

"Small talk isn't your style, is it? Or did becoming a puppet turn your whole brain into some kind of mechanical structure?"

"Oh my, that's no way to talk. We haven't seen each other in over ten years, have we? Isn't it only natural for an older sister to show some concern for her younger sister's life?"

Touko's lips curled upward, looking utterly unfazed by Aoko's words.

Aoko's voice blended into the mist, sounding indistinct. It made her think of those distant days from long ago. Though she had long stopped deliberately revisiting them, that past remained in her memory like an abrasion on the brain.

Her grandfather's betrayal of all her efforts, his denial of her very existence—those memories had once been carved into her bones.

Touko took a few seconds to drive away her melancholy, then returned to her smiling expression.

Touko smiled as she reached out and adjusted the rim of her glasses.

"There's no need for that just yet."

"Oh? Are you worried about your sister?"

"Looks like the small talk is finally over."

"That was just a coincidence."

Aoko muttered to herself as well.

"It would be better to take them off completely. Wearing glasses for too long can make you ugly."

"That was the last one."

"Tsk, tsk. If you put it that way, I remember having a