Story:

"They were so small, Yui. And now..." murmured Shiro.

"Now they're coming home to the shrine that raised them," Yui said, tapping her back gently.

"The worst is over, Aunty. You overcame it. From here, you just walk beside Ai and Mai while they recover—and then ordinary life. That's all that's left. That's allowed."

"...Ordinary life," Shiro repeated, as if tasting the words. "Yes. I'd like that."

But the rehabilitation journey was to be far from straightforward.

That evening, Chitose-san emerged from Ai and Mai's room with her face darkened like a sky before a storm.

She answered no questions, only gathered her sleeves and went straight to the archives—where she would spend the entire night among the shrine's oldest histories, candle burning low, searching the records for anything that had ever cured what now lived inside the twins.

Shiro watched her go, and felt fate's fingers tighten, once again, around everything she loved.