#metaview

That’s why it’s so obvious that something’s wrong this time. After having killed Rika, Satoko should have awakened in a new fragment... but the sensation of the place she’s in now is all wrong. It’s... closer to the feeling she experiences when she wakes up in the world with Eua there, though it’s not quite the same as that. Does Eua have something to say to her before Satoko starts the game?

But when Satoko sees the person who was waiting for her to wake up, she quickly realizes that that’s completely wrong. Because the woman in front of her... dressed in an elaborate, absurd outfit, surrounded by an aura Satoko can’t quite decipher - Satoko has no idea who that is.

“...This is quite unfortunate.” Satoko sits up, and tests the waters by speaking, cautious. But in spite of that caution, the overwhelming feeling that drives her to speak is irritation. “I believe I should have been waking up with Rika by my side, but instead... who are you? Are you an acquaintance of Eua-san?”

Even though she’s a witch now-

Even though it’s been a hundred years-

Satoko still cries out when she sees her brother stumble. She can’t help it. Her stomach flips with a fear she can’t put into words, and she steps towards him, as if afraid that at any moment, he’ll disappear.

Even after he recovers somewhat, Satoko can feel her heart pounding in her chest. It’s racing, and it doesn’t settle down no matter how hard she tries to keep herself calm.

This is... this is unfair. It isn’t right. It has to be a trick. Why would Satoshi wake up after a hundred years, and return to Satoko when she’d already resolved to say goodbye? Why now, why at all? Satoko can’t figure out what she’s feeling - whether she’s shocked, happy, or even angry- it all just feels numb.

She barely remembers his face, or his voice. It’s been literal lifetimes since she saw him last awake, so that shouldn’t be a surprise, but... somehow, as he speaks, it feels as if no time has passed at all.

“Why... are you awake?” Satoko ignores his question as she gives her own, too stunned to even consider how she might come across. “How... how are you here?”

It’s too good to be true. But she wants to believe it so badly. All of Satoko’s life, the world has been a vicious place - a place that has tried its best to beat her down and break her at every turn. And it’s because she knows that the world is a cruel place that she knows how unlikely it is that Satoshi’s really here right now. But... she’s worked so hard. She’s been working so hard, in preparation for this day... And Satoko wants to believe that she’s been granted just one more miracle.

Just one more.

“Nii-nii... Nii-nii!!”

There are several ways that Satoko has imagined their reunion playing out in the past. It was important that she smiled at him, she’d thought, so he'd know she wasn’t angry or upset. She needed to make sure that he knew she was stronger, that she wasn’t going to rely on him anymore - so that he didn’t spend a single moment more dreading a future where she was tying him down. She’d greet him with a laugh, as if nothing had changed, and tell him that she always knew he was coming back. That was her plan.

But Satoko doesn’t do any of that. Instead, she wraps her arms around him and squeezes, embracing him as tight as she can for fear that he’ll disappear again. She cries, tears rolling down her cheeks uncontrollably as she sobs and wails - fingers trembling as they press against his back. Eventually, she manages to speak, but there’s only one thing she can seem to manage to say.

“....Nii-nii..........”

He’s home. That’s all that matters now.