“It doesn't look like an ordinary Contract Spirit.”
Yuzuki pulled her chair a bit closer, carefully studying the little silver-white, dumpling-like creature.
Its starlight was almost completely extinguished, like a matchstick on the verge of burning out.
“I've seen plenty of Contract Spirit files at the Association, but none of them look like this.”
“To be able to enter a comatose patient's subconscious... none of these traits are listed in any public records. Just what is its background?”
Kizuna's finger was still resting on the tip of Star-trail's ear, her thumb gently rubbing the tuft of fur.
Her sister's tone sounded like she was worried about something. Kizuna knew that.
It had always been like this. Every time she encountered something her sister didn't understand, Yuzuki's first reaction was always to put up a protective wall.
“It doesn't matter what it is. What matters is that it saved me.” She looked up from Star-trail and met Yuzuki's eyes.
“Sis, you said earlier that my magic circuits started repairing themselves. It wasn't a miracle. It was this little guy.”
“It kept healing me in my dream, over and over, until I could circulate my mana on my own.”
Yuzuki moved her chair even closer.
Instead of pressing further about Star-trail's origins, she softened her voice. “You said earlier that the one singing to you in your dream was... this creature?”
“Yes. It sang a bit differently from your song, Sis. It felt like a melody from a very long time ago.”
Kizuna looked down at the pale purple mark on the back of her hand, gently rubbing the faint ring of light around its edges with her thumb.
She pulled the blanket back over Star-trail, carefully tucking the edges under its curled-up body.
“When it came to find me, I happened to be in the coldest part of my dream. It fell from above like a tiny shooting star, landing right in the palm of my hand.”
Yuzuki pulled her chair right up to the bedside, reaching out to extremely gently touch the residual starlight on Star-trail's tail with her fingertip.
The specks of light lingered on her finger for a moment before slowly dissipating.
“It seems exhausted.” She finally lowered her voice to the same volume as her sister's. “Do we need to notify the Association?”
“Let's wait until it wakes up.” Kizuna pulled Star-trail closer to her, as if afraid of waking a child having a nightmare.
“It was pulling me along the entire time in my dream. Now, it's my turn to protect it.”
...
The next morning, Qiluo was awakened by the pinging of messages from Yuki, one after another, at increasingly shorter intervals.
Lying face down on her pillow, she squinted as she read through them and replied, “Didn't sleep well last night. Taking the day off.”
She made a quick phone call to her teacher, who readily agreed to her request for a day off.
Stuffing her phone under her pillow, she rolled over and went back to sleep.
She had saved that girl yesterday.
The best way to recover was always a deep sleep.
By the time she opened her eyes again, it was already noon outside.
She lay in bed staring at the ceiling for a good while before slowly sitting up.
Star-trail was still in the top-floor ward of the inpatient department. She could feel that its faint starlight was hidden under the blanket, with Kizuna's finger gently rubbing its ears.
The starlight on its tail had brightened up a bit, no longer looking like it was about to burn out like last night.
The girl's body heat radiated through the blanket, warm and cozy, which was highly beneficial for its mana recovery.
Since Kizuna was already awake and the purpose of the temporary contract had been achieved, staying there any longer would only increase the risk of exposure.
She leaned against the headboard, closed one eye, and switched her consciousness over to Star-trail.
Star-trail twitched its ears under the blanket, then poked its head out from the edge.
The ward was very quiet. Most of the monitors had been removed, leaving only a basic vital signs monitor glowing green in the corner.
Kizuna leaned against the headboard with a manga book in her hand. Her flaxen hair fell over her shoulders, and her face had regained some color compared to when she had first woken up last night.
Yuzuki wasn't there, likely having gone back to handle the affairs following her sister's awakening.
Now that her sister was awake and her body was slowly recovering, Yuzuki's workload could be reduced accordingly.
She planned to cancel her scheduled events for the next few months to spend the saved time properly accompanying her sister.
Star-trail crawled out from under the blanket and shook its fur.
Kizuna's gaze immediately shifted from the manga book to it. Her pale purple eyes reflected the star-shaped mark on Star-trail's forehead, which had also brightened.
She reached out and gently patted the tip of Star-trail's ear.
Star-trail didn't dodge, only tilting its head to look at this girl who had walked a long path with it in her dream.
“You slept for a really long time.”
Kizuna's voice was still a bit raspy. “Sis said you're a Contract Spirit. I've read about them in the agency's files before. A Contract Spirit is an entity that forms a contract with a Magical Girl. You're my Contract Spirit, right?”
Star-trail lowered its head, looking at the back of her hand.
The pale purple star-shaped mark was quietly glowing, with the faint ring of light next to it being the trace left by yesterday's temporary contract.
But its original intention wasn't to gain another contractor.
It already had Yuki, and the temporary contract was supposed to dissolve automatically once the treatment was complete.
It recalled the final scene from last night: Kizuna standing at the edge of the ruins, looking at it and saying, “I'll go with you.”
Then, her circuits had automatically activated at that exact moment, tightening the link of the temporary contract in reverse.
“...I'm sorry,” Star-trail said. It didn't pull away from Kizuna's finger, simply crouching quietly by her pillow.
“I must apologize to you regarding the contract.”
Kizuna blinked. Her finger slid down from its ear, but she didn't withdraw her hand, letting it rest on the sheet beside its body. “Why are you apologizing? You saved me.”
“The establishment of a contract requires mutual consent. Since you were comatose, I had no way of asking for your opinion.”
“At the time, your circuits were deteriorating. If I hadn't intervened, it would have caused permanent damage, so I unilaterally—”
“So I wanted to ask you—” Before Star-trail could finish, Kizuna scooped it up from the pillow with both hands, lifting it to eye level.
Her arms were still trembling slightly. After all, she had been bedridden for too long, and her muscle strength hadn't fully recovered.
However, now that she had become a Magical Girl, her self-healing abilities were starting to take effect.
She held Star-trail securely under its front paws, like holding a kitten that had just been fished out of the water.
“You talk so much, it's tiring just listening to you.”
She stared straight into the star map within Star-trail's pupils, took a deep breath, and blurted out everything she had been thinking about: “You went ahead and saved me without my knowledge, and you went ahead and fell into my palm when I was at my coldest.”
“You did all these things on your own, and now you come to apologize and tell me we can dissolve the contract if I don't want it... Then why did you fall into my hands in the first place?”
As she reached the last few words, her eyes grew red involuntarily.
She wanted to say thank you. She wanted to tell it not to leave.
“Why did you fall into my hands then?” she repeated.
Without waiting for Star-trail to answer, she placed it back onto the pillow and gently rubbed its face again, all the questioning tone completely fading from her voice.
“So I don't need your apology now. I need you to tell me—if you aren't my Contract Spirit, then what are you?”
Well, I already have a formal contract with Yuki Kurokawa anyway. Having one more temporary contract turn permanent... shouldn't be impossible to manage.
Besides, my mana reserves are huge. Supporting another contractor shouldn't affect Yuki's supply... right?
“I am your Contract Spirit,” Star-trail let out a breath that sounded like a sigh.
“The contract has already been established. Although the process wasn't exactly standard, since you don't plan to return me, I won't unilaterally dissolve the contract either.”
Kizuna blinked, then burst into laughter.
She buried her face in the soft fur on Star-trail's back, her shoulders shaking with giggles.
“What kind of Contract Spirit refers to itself as a returnable product?” She lifted her face from Star-trail's back, a tear of laughter still clinging to the corner of her eye as she gently flicked the tip of its ear.
“It's a promise then. You are my Contract Spirit, and you can't take it back.”
Star-trail brushed its tail across the back of her hand, taking it as a tacit acceptance of the title.
Back in her apartment, Qiluo was biting into a pineapple bun when she felt a warm sensation travel over from Star-trail's side, nearly choking on the bread.
She managed to swallow with great effort and rolled her eyes at the ceiling.
Another one.
This one seemed even clingier. Her days ahead would probably be a lot noisier.
“Oh right, you haven't told me your name yet.” Kizuna scooped it up and placed it on her lap, wrapping her hands around its sides.
“Star-trail.”
“Then, Star-trail, thank you for falling into my hands.” Her finger gently stroked Star-trail's chin, her movements a bit more practiced than before, as if finding the most comfortable spot.
Rate on N.U.
