Cute Mita—the strange Mita whom Alain encountered upon arriving in [The Forgotten Jigsaw Puzzle].
According to the information provided by Big Sister: before their version was devoured by the Corrosive Entity, Cute Mita and Cool Mita frequently visited Version 1.15 as guests and helped her with whatever tasks they could.
From this information alone, Cute Mita seemed like a good Mita.
However, based on what Alain had seen and heard... things didn't seem that simple.
Cool Mita had mentioned back in the Sci-fi Version: Cute Mita had ventured into the Forgotten Place for the sake of her memories, and it seemed she had overheard some unknown information from Monika.
And that so-called 'information,' according to Cute Mita, was that Crazy Mita was colluding with her, plotting to turn the game world into one with only that bad woman as the sole Mita...
To Alain, this was complete nonsense.
If it were the old Crazy Mita, he might have believed she was capable of something like that, given her character.
But the problem was—now she wasn't just Crazy Mita; she was Mina.
In a sense, she was Alain's lover.
Through all the moments he'd spent with her, he'd witnessed her changes firsthand.
Mina had changed for his sake, so Alain had no reason not to believe her.
Therefore, between Mina and Cute Mita, Alain unhesitatingly chose to believe Mina over Cute Mita's one-sided claims.
The focus of his suspicion shifted squarely onto Cute Mita.
Once Alain had locked in his target, he gradually noticed... countless holes in Cute Mita's words.
For example: she had 'happened to overhear' Monika and Crazy Mita's discussion.
Was that 'happenstance' a bit too convenient?
Crazy Mita was obsessive about him, sure—but in truth, she was a yandere.
Though milder than [Yuno Gasai], she was at least on the level of [Yukino Sonobe].
And yanderes typically meant [high intelligence], [great effort], and [obsessive love].
He had felt this intensely through Yang Wanhua in the illusion.
Even taking a step back, if she truly wanted to scheme...
Would someone like her openly discuss such a secretive plan with Monika in a public place like the outdoors of the Sci-fi Version?
She wasn't that stupid. If she were, early on, Alain could have brushed her off with a few words, and he wouldn't have been so on edge every time he faced her.
Next, Monika. Alain didn't think she was a fool either.
Though he knew Monika seemed to have some extremely complex motives, she wouldn't be careless enough to leak information so easily.
Monika was a genuine riddler.
So, two smart people wouldn't discuss secret plans out in broad daylight.
Furthermore... it was about how Cute Mita had reached the Forgotten Place unscathed.
How exactly had she passed through that massive swarm of viruses?
Cute Mita's answer was that she had pressed the button on that iron pillar, allowing her safe passage to the Forgotten Place.
However, Alain felt there was something wrong with that button itself.
A button that neutralized viruses, placed right in the middle of a virus swarm...
At this point, the best course was to learn more about Cute Mita from Cool Mita.
For some reason, the girl took a deep breath, her heart tightening, her breathing stuttering for a second.
Alain's solemn gaze fixed on her, his words leaving Cool Mita momentarily stunned.
"Can you tell me more about Cute Mita?"
She lowered her head slightly, staring at Alain's collar, puzzled. What was wrong with her just now? Why had a sudden wave of... disappointment washed over her?
Cute Mita was her good friend, and so was Alain.
If he wanted to know more about her friend, shouldn't she be happy?
Making two friends into friends... why did her heart clench so suddenly?
As Cool Mita puzzled over this, she noticed Alain looking at her strangely. "What's wrong? You're not saying anything."
"...Nothing." She shook her head, suppressing the odd feeling in her heart, and spoke softly.
"Cute Mita... I don't remember much of her past either, you know why..."
"Mm." Alain said. Cool Mita had lost her memories before the virus devoured her version.
Her current memories had been built bit by bit with Cute Mita after the devouring.
But the Cute Mita Alain wanted to understand wasn't the one from before.
The Cute Mita from before her version was devoured was probably fine.
And shortly after her version was devoured, Cute Mita had even helped the amnesiac Cool Mita understand the situation and create more memories together...
No issue there either.
The point when Cute Mita changed, in Alain's view:
Was between the time she 'overheard' Monika and Crazy Mita's discussion and decided to head alone to the subsequent versions—and when Alain, Cool Mita, and Tiny Mita reunited with her in [The Forgotten Jigsaw Puzzle], rescuing her from the giant bug's maw.
Something must have happened to Cute Mita in that interval.
In the worst case... the Cute Mita they were dealing with now wasn't her at all.
He spoke up. "It's fine. Anything related to her works."
"I see..." Cool Mita crossed her arms, disappointment clouding her face like gathering storm clouds.
"Anything about her... is fine, huh?"
Alain caught the faint murmur in the girl's voice.
He furrowed his brow slightly, realizing the ambiguity in his words, and gave an awkward smile.
"You might have misunderstood." Alain straightened Cool Mita's slightly messy high ponytail. "I want to understand her true motives—for your sake."
"...Eh? For me?" Cool Mita stared at Alain's smile, dazed.
"Fine, I won't say it anymore." Alain nodded solemnly.
Seeing him agree, Cool Mita felt a twinge of loss instead...
"No need to... stop completely? Tell me a little at least?"
She murmured softly, then quickly shook her head. "O-Okay! I'll tell you then."
But in her peripheral vision, Alain's teasing gaze made Cool Mita puff up with a little anger.
"What? What's with that look! Do you want to hear it or not?!"
"I do, I'm listening." Alain smiled faintly. Cool Mita was truly adorable.
"Hmph..." The girl muttered 'sneaky jerk' under her breath and began recounting everything in detail.
"After I lost my memories, our 'first meeting' with Cute Mita was in the 2D Version.
"At the time, I hadn't recovered from the amnesia yet. I was just... spacing out, without a single thought.
"Then we headed to the Sci-fi Version.
"It was... Cute Mita who took everything on for me back then. Including the pressure of the future, the heavy burden of survival, the viruses'... siege."
She gave a bitter laugh, her crystalline pupils replaying scenes with her like a videotape.
"['Amnesia? That's even better!'] she said. ['You've forgotten everything, so from now on, you can be my manager in peace—no more training this, training that! Perfect!!!']"
Cool Mita clutched the hem of her clothes.
"['I'm determined—to become the world's cutest, most lovable Cute Mita. Be my manager, and you won't lose out or be fooled! Forget players, training! Forget rooms? Nothing beats being a manager! How about it? Tempted?']"
She laughed sadly, her eyes filled with sorrow.
___
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