"Ah!" Maru jumps, paling. The words had completely slipped her mind until this very moment, and she regrets them immediately. She waves her hands before her frantically, as if to bat the very memory of it away. "No, no, that was just 'cause of the timing--!"

Ah, but that's not the greatest reassurance either, is it... she stops and takes a deep breath.

"... I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking when I said that. It was a really cruel thing to say, wasn't it..." Her back snaps upright then, new resolve in her eyes: "But, um, Yoshiko-chan wouldn't be Yoshiko-chan without it, and I love Yoshiko-chan! So you don't have to change at all!"

That felt like a better thing to say, at least to Maru, but she seals it with a quick kiss to Yoshiko's lips just to be sure.

"Okay?"