"What?!"
We spent all this time acting all lovey-dovey, only to tell me she is not Ceruno?
"Actually, saying that I am Ceruno is not wrong either..."
"You are confusing the hell out of me."
I flipped the grilled fish over and reexamined the little-animal-like, bewildered girl in front of me.
"Fine, if you are not Ceruno, then just who the hell are you?"
We had already kissed, and we had already hugged.
If you tell me now that she is not my girlfriend, did I come out ahead or take a loss?
"Actually, I really do count as Ceruno... It's just... not the Ceruno you want."
"What on earth are you trying to say?"
I was somewhat displeased, but had not lost my temper yet.
"That little brat Mi Xue was lying to me from start to finish, putting on an act. I thought you were different from her..."
"I don't want to lie to you."
"Then who on earth are you?"
"I am a Simulacrum Personality of Ceruno, but I have all the memories of being Ceruno... So feeling like I am Ceruno is... okay, right?"
She carefully raised her head, and I asked:
"So, are you A-Yao?"
Yet when I said that, she tilted her head in confusion, seeming unfamiliar with that name.
At that moment I understood, she was no longer A-Yao.
A Simulacrum Personality could not come to the New World. I had gone to plead with Terra back then, yet I never expected that A-Yao, who was likewise absorbed by Mi Xue, would still have a day to see the light of day once more.
"...Were you reformatted?"
A-Yao did not wish to be treated as Ceruno, yet the Simulacrum Personality before me was pretending to be Ceruno while getting along with me. Even