Story:

Only now, with the first rush of reunion settling, did Peach properly notice the other changes. The strain Bel’s corruption had imposed on their bodies appeared to have eased. Their posture was relaxed. Their movements were unguarded.

“Have they treated you here?” she asked.

The twins exchanged a puzzled glance.

“Treated us for what?” Ai said.

Peach went still. “The condition you needed the purification rites for. The fevers. The unbearable heat...”

Mai’s fingers tightened gently around hers. “Aunty…?”

There was concern in her face, but no recognition. Behind Peach, Violet stepped away from the doorway.

“Ai,” she said carefully, “do you remember asking us about a cure at Yamato Shrine?”

Ai frowned. “I remember coming here to help stop Bel.”

“Yes. But before that—” Violet stopped.

Peach turned toward her. The witch’s expression had lost its warmth.

Back at Yamato Shrine, Violet had examined the twins at Shiro’s request. She remembered the difficulty plainly: a corruption woven too deeply into their bodies for her to untangle safely. That failure had helped send them searching for another answer, another world’s medicine.

Now the girls before her seemed free of those difficulties.

And neither understood why anyone was asking.

“Euphy,” Peach said quietly, “you remember.”

“I do.”

Kicho moved closer, looking from her sister to the twins.