---

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"Ane-san, you came, ssu ka?"
"Well, yeah."
"Is this person Grandma?"
The older of the sisters, Ai-chan, asked her mother for confirmation.
"No, ssu. This is, uh, Great-Aunt. That's right, ssu ne?"
"You can just call me Mai-chan, no need to be formal."
"Mai-chan? Mayu and Ai, gwah-sheen! It's like Nee-sama's name and my name got smooshed together, ney."
Mufufu, the younger sister, Mayu-chan, giggled. I thought their faces looked alike, and now even their way of speaking seemed similar too.

"Hmm, could this be..."
"E. T.!"
I held out my index finger. Mayu-chan, as if she understood, brought the tip of her index finger to meet mine.
Our fingers were different sizes, so if I made mine receptive, they connected easily.
"Mmm, just as I thought..."
"What are you two understanding each other about?"
Ai-chan's cool gaze reminded me of Nee-sama from long ago. When I waved, her expression turned puzzled.
She can see me properly, huh.

Tou-sama asked, peeking into the elevator.
"Is Kaa-san awake?"
"Yes, quite unusually."
"Well, that's probably good."
That "probably" slipping in there is what's so wonderful about Kaa-sama.

With everyone in tow, we all got on the elevator. This old apartment building's elevator wouldn't move unless a resident's card key was inserted. Tou-sama once said something like, "It's a pain when you're trying to sneak in, isn't it?" That was a long time ago too.
Somehow, before I knew it, I was getting older.
"Is Tou-sama feeling something like this too, I wonder?"

"I don't know what 'this' you're referring to, but of course, I am. Because my daughter said so."
Ha, ha, ha, he laughed, just the sound of it. Tou-sama was quite indulgent with his family.
Next to that Tou-sama stood I, the former high school girl, and her two daughters, all in a line.
Our heights decreased bit by bit, like a staircase. I wondered if that was alright, and smiled at the differences.
One by one, we ascend with time. Just being able to ascend at all is a lucky find.

The elevator arrived. The sisters were restlessly looking around the uninteresting hallway outside. The younger one, well, I had a feeling she'd probably be restless no matter where she was.
Because she's like me.
A room in an old apartment building, our family home. We entered. At the entrance, there were two pairs of shoes.

"Excuse us for intruding!"
After neatly arranging their taken-off shoes, the sisters stepped up into the house. The hallway leading from the entrance was tranquil and, even with summer approaching, somehow chilly. I hadn't been here in a while, but as always, Tou-sama had kept it tidy and hadn't neglected the cleaning. Kaa-sama might cook, but she was a stranger to tidying and cleaning.

It's clean.
Tou-sama said, "Because I was asked to clean the room, you see."
"By whom?"
"From my daughter."
"Ah."
Just like the old days.
I had no memory of asking for such a thing. In that case, it must have been the other neat freak.

When we all headed to the living room, Kaa-sama was sitting alone on the sofa. Her frame was slender, her shoulders thin. The oversized pajamas on her small body emphasized a childlike quality. Perhaps she was a little sleepy; her eyes were vacant and lax.
It was hard to believe she was the same age as Tou-sama. As if she had discarded the very concept of growth, she hadn't changed.

Kaa-sama's expression softened when she saw Tou-sama, but she quickly returned to a stiff, expressionless face. That was the usual Kaa-sama. She then impassively looked at the other faces, one by one. Mayu-chan, whose eyes met hers, dropped her school backpack and approached.
"You're Grandma, desu ne?"
"Oh my?"
She slid in front of Kaa-sama and peered at her face. Kaa-sama remained silent; instead, Tou-sama pointed out the mistake.
"That's not right. She's Great-Grandma."
"This one's also absurdly young,"
Ai-chan also drew closer, looking up at Kaa-sama with apparent interest. To be able to approach *that* Kaa-sama without any caution—the youthfulness of children is dazzling. That said, neither Nee-sama nor I had ever been hurt by Kaa-sama. She hadn't bought us enough things to say we were spoiled, but perhaps that had been enough.

"Great-Grandma, ossu ossu!"
When Mayu-chan greeted her so openly, Kaa-sama moved. Her expression hardly changed. Yet, she gently stroked her great-grandchild's head. When Mayu-chan looked ticklish, Kaa-sama lowered her gaze as if looking down.
For Kaa-sama, who had completely lost any sense of adjusting her strength, it was a gentle gesture. Did she understand who this person was? Was she feeling something special? It was impossible to tell from Kaa-sama's demeanor.

"Hmm, what do you think, ney?"
"She looks happy, ssu ne."
The former high school girl came to my side and nudged me.
"That one over there is much more so."
Where she indicated with her chin, Tou-sama was sitting on a chair, resting his chin on his hand, and looking off in a completely unrelated direction.
"Ah, you're right."
He was probably making an expression he couldn't let others see.
It really did seem to be a good thing that Kaa-sama was awake.

I feel fulfilled. Like watching a small boat, adrift at sea, luckily reach the shore.
Only one thing remains.
"It's lively, isn't it? Whose children are they?"
"Huh?"
But then.
As if it were nothing, Nee-sama entered the room.

Her long hair worn down, an unhealthy pallor, a small scar on her face.
All of it made her look younger than her actual age.
My Nee-sama: the same age as me, having lived through the same amount of time, yet a difference in our apparent youth and age was beginning to show.
Her impression was becoming the same as Kaa-sama's.

Nee-sama walked right past me and her own daughters as if we were ghosts, heading towards Kaa-sama and her great-grandchildren. Even when she was in the room just moments ago, she hadn't sensed me at all. I playfully poked her cheek, but there was no reaction.
Mayu-chan and Ai-chan stared intently at Nee-sama.
"Is this Grandma for real this time?"
Nee-sama, who couldn't even recognize her own daughters, couldn't possibly grasp the existence of her grandchildren.
I was on edge, worried she might make them vanish again.

"Let's be friends, ney."
Mayu-chan stepped forward, holding out her hand as if for a handshake.
Nee-sama seemed to regard it dubiously, but in the end, she let out a soft breath and took the hand.
A small hand and a large hand connected.
As if my past self and Nee-sama's present time were overlapping.
She had discarded the words she'd held onto since birth and was just staring intently.

"She looks happy, ssu ne."
Being poked in the side, I understood how Tou-sama had felt earlier.
"You're much more so."
Where is "over there" anyway?

"No, no," the former high school girl waved her hand from side to side.
"This time, Ane-san, you're not losing out either, ssu kara."
"...You're right."
"What's with that?"
I don't know if being honest is a virtue, but for now, the air was thick with a feeling that one couldn't help but be so.

The former high school girl was staring intently at me from nearby.
"No, it's just, the fact that you, Ane-san, were truly *that* 'Ane-san'... the surprise just hits me again sometimes, ssu yo."
"Eh? You didn't know that when you called me that?"
"Nope, not at all. I just thought you were a kind older sister from the neighborhood who looked out for people, ssu."

To someone who is, formally speaking, my niece, I've roughly explained my background.
However, I'd kept quiet about her father being arrested and about what I had done. Though she might have figured it out by investigating on her own.
"I was surprised when I first heard it, but you can surprisingly accept things, ssu ne."
"Humans are adaptable creatures, after all."
That itself might be a byproduct of happiness, like we were just saying.
Even having someone before you who carries the blood of an enemy you wanted to kill so badly, and being mostly able to forgive that.

Nihehehe, the former high school girl laughed shyly, her eyes crinkling into lines.
"What about you? Are you happy?"
Her daughters were meeting their grandmother (Ayu), though Ayu's recognition was incomplete. Did she (Itsuki) have any particular feelings about it?
The former high school girl, when asked, thought for a moment with a "Hmm," and then...
"It's like, 'I'm glad I'm alive,' ssu ka ne."
I realized that I was smiling.

The sisters and Nee-sama sat side-by-side on the sofa. Kaa-sama, who had been sitting there first, tumbled onto the floor, and Tou-sama, seeing this, went to pick her up. As Tou-sama awkwardly supported her with just his left arm, Kaa-sama laughed like a child.
The smile she showed only to Tou-sama was purified, brimming with radiance.
That was Kaa-sama's truth.

The warped Kaa-sama, and Nee-sama, broken in the same way.
Nee-sama will surely remain broken for her entire life.
Things that are ruined pierce each other as they overlap, creating something new. Warped, fragile, unstable. Nee-sama will live and die embracing a world that's convenient for her. I will never be a part of that scenery.
And yet.
A child resembling Nee-sama, and a child resembling me. Just seeing them sitting side-by-side, getting along, is enough for me, already.
Gushi shi, I sniffled, then called out to the younger sister.

"Hey there, Mayu-ko-chan."
"Aye, aye!"
"I want you to ask Grandma something for me."
"Aye, aye?"
I whispered my request to her. The little sister readily agreed with an "Aye, aye, aye!"
She jumped onto Nee-sama's lap. Nee-sama, though taken aback, let a faint smile soften her cheeks.

"Hey, hey, Grandma!"
"I'm not that old yet, you know. Well, fine, what is it?"
"Um, well. Nee-sama, did you really not think that I was the culprit?"
I asked, as if testing something that had been bothering me for a long time.
Borrowing that small mouth, to ask Nee-sama.

Nee-sama first tilted her head, and then...
"Of course not. Who would ever suspect such a little sister?"
Nee-sama lied with a perfectly straight face.
Not to her grandchild.
But turning towards me.
Even if it was a coincidence, even if it was a fleeting moment of sanity.
I couldn't help but laugh so hard I thought my stomach would flip.
Nee-sama was such a magnificent liar, one I could never hope to match.

Afterword
Simply put, the theme of this work is "to live." Something like "...exploring it through the lives of contrasting twin sisters"... well, there's nothing particular like that. I don't think I've ever really written while thinking about such things.
With this book, I wonder if there are people who've picked up one of my books for the first time in a while? Maybe there are. It'd be nice if there are. It's been a while. I'm still working as an author.
Ten years ago, I started my journey as an author.
And I'm still walking now. Walking is tiring, but I don't dislike it.

Hello, I'm Iruma Hitoma. So, this is *that* Mii-Maa thing. In Dragon Quest terms, it feels like a "2." Though the notation is "11." This is also like Dragon Quest, isn't it? We get along well. I tried writing this while vaguely recalling how I think I used to write about ten years ago. Since it's just a whim, there might be discrepancies with past works or published short stories, but please don't worry too much about it. By the way, though it casually has "11" attached, there's no continuation. There's no 20th-anniversary commemoration either.

Come to think of it, it's been a while since I saw Hidari-san's illustrations, hasn't it? Probably.
No, wait, this afterword is being written before the illustrations are finalized...

I think to myself a little, "I've done well for ten years."
It starts after 10 years have passed. I feel like there's some kind of connection there.
Of course, there's no ulterior motive.
I'll keep doing my best.
Thank you very much for your purchase.
Iruma Hitoma

Iruma Hitoma
Life, Human Questions
Illustration / Hidari
"Irukuma, congratulations on your 10th anniversary!" "Yeah, thanks." "By the way, about 'Mii-Maa 11,' since it's coming out because it's the 10th year, does that mean when it's the 2nd year, 'Mii-Maa 2' will come out?" "Mofu..."

Hidari
Lives in Yokohama City, Gemini. A freelance illustrator primarily working on character designs for anime, games, etc. Loves radio but lives a hermit-like life, out of touch with current trends.

Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan 11
Beyond XX is Love
Iruma Hitoma
Dengeki Bunko
Published July 7, 2017
© HITOMA IRUMA 2017
This e-book was produced based on the following:
Dengeki Bunko "Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan 11: Beyond XX is Love" First edition published June 9, 2017
Publisher: Satoshi Gunji
Publishing: KADOKAWA Corporation
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Attn: Hidari-sensei

First Appearance
"There Were Sisters Who Weren't Very Alike" / "Dengeki Bunko MAGAZINE Vol.55" (April 2017)
Additions and corrections have been made for this bunko release.
"Ever," "Remember," and "Sister" are newly written for this volume.
This story is a work of fiction. It has no relation whatsoever to any real individuals, organizations, etc.