Right after I realized Ariel had completely fooled me.
For a moment, I stood there blankly staring at the ceiling as Star Plaza came to life amid a loud mechanical noise.
Starlight began to shine across the dark indoor ceiling.
Of course, there was no way the stars of the night sky could be visible this far underground.
It was simply an artificial night sky created with indoor lighting.
What did they call this again? A planetarium?
Back when it was a game, I could not even look around inside. It had just been a single illustration, so I had wondered why it raised Affection at all.
But seeing it like this, it was a far more romantic place than I had expected.
Except the person here with me now was Sati, whose Affection toward me was currently at its worst.
"...This is stupid. I'm going back."
Disgusted by Ariel's little scheme, Sati said it was stupid and started to leave, making no attempt to hide how much she hated this.
"I'll go. You stay and rest for a while before heading back."
When I stepped in front of her as though I were about to leave Star Plaza first, Sati frowned and looked up at me with an unhappy expression.
She looked ready to throw a punch and tell me not to meddle where I was not wanted, but she struggled to force out a few more words.
"You like this place."
Star Plaza was the place that raised Affection the most when I visited it with Sati.
Each Replica had specific Affection facilities they preferred, and out of them all, Sati liked Star Plaza the best.
Before reaching a certain Affection level, Sati did nothing but snap at me throughout the game. But one of her Star Plaza Affection lines was:
"Do you think someday, we'll get to see the night sky like this outside?"
I remembered it as a fairly memorable Affection event.
When that event had occurred, I remembered choosing the line, "I'm sure we will."
Considering our relationship now, though, even that hopeful line felt meaningless.
Just as I resolved to leave first so Sati could stay here and rest without worrying—
"...You can."
A quiet voice came from behind me.
"What?"
I stopped at the voice, so low it practically crawled across the floor, and asked her to repeat herself.
Sati, who had her head slightly lowered and was looking indifferently to the side, spoke again.
"I said you don't have to go."
"No, but..."
Even after she said I did not have to leave, I wondered if she was only saying that out of pride, so I tried to run away again.
But then—
"I said just stay!"
Sati's voice rang out thunderously. I jerked in surprise, turning around with a dumbfounded look and blinking at her.
There stood Sati, teeth clenched, her head lowered as she trembled with tightly balled fists, as though she had been deeply wronged.
"You and Ariel! It's so obvious that both of you are only worrying about me, and every last bit of it is driving me insane!"
Then Sati began finally pouring out all the anger she had been unable to express before.
My habit of deliberately not calling her by name because I thought I was being considerate, and even Ariel constantly watching Sati's reactions.
Apparently, none of it sat well with her. Sati poured out her complaints as if she were saying that every single thing about it drove her crazy.
"You're the one who did something wrong, so why am I the only one who has to feel this way!? You're the one who abandoned us and left back then...!"
Then, unable to continue, Sati hung her head.
She did not show me her face, but her choked-up voice made it easy to imagine how twisted it must have been.
Her anger before had been aimed at me for abandoning Ariel. This time, she was voicing her dissatisfaction with the entire situation as it stood.
"I'm sor—"
"Don't apologize either!"
I tried to offer an apology, at least, but even that was cut off at once by Sati's shout.
"If you apologize, it'll feel like I'm the only bad person..."
Had she felt that, between Ariel and me getting along fairly well, she was the only one incapable of accepting the situation?
After saying that, Sati covered her face with her palms and began to sob as though she had been wronged.
Her attitude had been dissatisfied but defiant, so I had thought, She's accepted it somehow.
But from Sati's perspective, she must have felt that she alone was being heartless, and she could not endure the self-loathing welling up inside her.
I could not offer her comforting words, nor could I pat her shoulder or back.
If I did something like that now, I would only be stripping away what little pride she had left.
All I could do was give her time and wait for her to calm down.
That was everything I could do right now.
"...I thought I'd never get to see this again."
Some time later, Sati lay on a cushion and spoke wistfully.
The long-neglected cushion was frayed, its stuffing poking out, and covered in dust. The instant Sati lay down on it, a cloud of dust rose up.
Even that swirling dust was lit by the lights, adding to the atmosphere of the space-like scenery.
I remembered that Affection event where Sati, who had only ever acted prickly, smiled innocently as she said that even if this night sky was fake, if I was here, surely we would see the real one someday.
Those events came to mind now, but we probably could not return to the way we were back then.
"Back then, I really felt like we could do anything."
Lost in thought, Sati continued the conversation by herself.
I remained silent in the face of that empty, drifting monologue.
The sound of skin brushing against the cushion rang softly.
Sensing that Sati had turned to face me, I kept my eyes fixed ahead, pretending to be composed so I would not look her way.
"...Why did you suddenly come back?"
Sati's brief question came from a couple of seats away in the theater-like seating.
"I told you. I don't know what happened either."
I thought it was an absurd excuse myself, but I quietly answered the voice that wanted an answer.
"Liar."
Unlike Ariel, Sati could not realistically believe something like that had happened.
Even when I told her the plain truth, she decided it was a lie and abruptly turned away as if sulking.
"But it's not a lie."
I said that to the back of Sati's head, but no answer came. A long time passed.
We remained there in silence for dozens of minutes, but neither of us seemed inclined to get up and leave.
"...Then."
"Yeah?"
Then Sati's brief word broke the silence.
When I turned toward the sudden voice, Sati spoke without turning around.
"Are you planning to disappear without a word again?"
Sati was asking if I intended to vanish without saying anything again.
There was a faint loneliness in her hunched back.
I wanted to firmly answer, "No," but I was in no position to promise either way.
If I were the protagonist of a story, I would have given her some impressive answer here. Unfortunately, I could not.
"...I don't know."
"What kind of answer is that?"
After all that deliberation, that was the answer I gave her.
I was not shameless enough to casually make a promise I could not be certain I would keep.
Seeing that I could not offer certainty, despite the serious look on my face, Sati rubbed at her wet eyes and spoke softly.
"It really looks like you don't know what happened."
"That's what I've been telling you from the start."
Only then did Sati seem ready to believe me.
As I lowered my head wearily, saying I had told her that from the beginning, Sati gave a faint smile and opened her mouth.
"Were you always this kind of person?"
"W-What do you mean?"
I hesitantly asked her back as Sati suddenly laughed and commented on my personality.
"No, it's just... I think you've grown up a little."
Sati shifted again, turning her back to me as she muttered those words.
"What are you talking about?"
"Hmph. Enough. Go back already."
When I tilted my head at the vague explanation, Sati gave a short snort and coolly told me to go back already.
As I awkwardly stood and left, I let out a quiet laugh at the different feeling behind that same little "hmph."
After leaving Star Plaza, I walked down the street.
‘Ariel was definitely behind this, right?’
Things had worked out well in the end, but I decided to find the mastermind behind this little scheme first.
"Ah, Leader! How did it go?"
When I went all the way to her personal maintenance room and knocked on the door, Ariel came out with a bright smile and asked how it had gone.
The very person behind the scheme had apparently been spending her time leisurely in her personal maintenance room.
"How~ did~ it~ go~?"
I knew Ariel understood the relationship between Sati and me, yet she had arranged that meeting anyway. I could not decide whether she was admirable or sly, so I immediately stretched out both hands and pulled her cheeks as hard as I could.
"What clever little brain came up with that idea? I really thought my head was going to get blown open."
"Unguhh."
As I remembered that dizzying situation and tugged at her cheeks, Ariel let out a pitiful groan.
Setting aside the fact that she had spent Power Stones on Star Plaza without asking, things had worked out in the end, so I decided to let her off this time.
"Ugh... Did you make up?"
"Thanks to you. Though I really thought I was going to die."
When I let go of the cheeks I had been holding, Ariel rubbed them and asked whether we had made up.
I reluctantly gave her an affirmative answer, saying it was thanks to her, but I could not help adding that I had genuinely nearly died.
"Hehe, that's a relief..."
Upon hearing that we had made up, Ariel seemed to relax at last. The tension drained from her shoulders, and she began smiling brightly.
That smile was so weak it looked almost pitiful, and I could only sigh helplessly as I placed a hand on her head.
The process had been a little much, but the result was good, so whatever.
"Next time, talk it over with me before you do something like this, okay?"
"Yes!"
When I said that with my hand resting on her head, Ariel answered brightly and clearly.
As I stroked her hair, which had grown a little rough, I found myself wanting to protect that innocent smile.
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