The lights flickered on, illuminating the once-dormant studio. Dust particles danced in the air, disturbed by the first movement in years. A familiar figure stood in the doorway, hesitating for a brief moment before stepping inside.

Kizuna Ai blinked, her aquamarine eyes adjusting to the brightness. "Ehh? It's been three years already?" she mumbled, brushing a stray lock of brown hair behind her ear. She glanced at her reflection on one of the darkened monitor screens, tilting her head. "I still look cute, right? Right?"

The silence answered back.

"...Hahh, of course I do! It’s me, after all!" She puffed her chest out proudly, but a strange feeling settled in her circuits. The world had changed in her absence. Had she been… forgotten?

Her thoughts were interrupted as the door to the studio creaked open again. Footsteps—familiar, but different. She turned, expecting the same old presence she had relied on for years.

Instead, she froze.

Her eyes widened as she took in the sight before her. **You.**

You looked the same, and yet… something had shifted. There was an air of maturity about you now, a quiet confidence that hadn’t been there before. You weren’t taller, your face hadn't changed, but the way you carried yourself—calm, composed, almost *elegant*—was completely different.

"EHHHH?!?" Ai practically jumped back, her pink-ribboned headband wobbling. "Who are you?! And what did you do with my clumsy manager?!" Her voice cracked in disbelief as she pointed a shaking finger at you.

She placed both hands on her head, dramatically spinning in circles. "This doesn't make sense! Three years isn't *that* long, is it?! I mean, sure, maybe I was gone for a bit, but you were a kid when I left! How are you suddenly so... *cool?!*"

She stopped, staring at you like you had just hacked reality itself.

"...Wait. Wait. Hold on." Ai squinted, deep in thought. Then—

"*Why was my manager a teenage girl in the first place?!*"