“In that case,” Star-trail said, standing up from her lap, “you can just fly over after transforming. The straight-line distance through the air is much shorter than the route on the ground.”
Kizuna immediately sprang up from the edge of the bed, stepping barefoot onto the floor and clenching her hands into fists.
“Can I fly? Can I really fly? I didn't try it during my last transformation—”
“Flight is one of the basic abilities of a Magical Girl,” Star-trail said, leaping gracefully from the bedside onto the windowsill and tapping its tail lightly against the window twice. “Transform first, then come over to the window. I'll teach you how to take off.”
Kizuna took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The light purple mark on the back of her hand lit up in response, and light surged up her arm to envelop her entire body. The hem of her skirt flared out in the draft rushing in from the window.
When she opened her eyes, her pupils had already turned a light shade of purple. She walked over to the window and pushed it open.
The wind rushed inside, blowing her long hair back.
She glanced down, her fingers gently tightening around the grip of her bow. She turned her head to look at Star-trail, her eyes filled with nothing but excitement, devoid of any fear.
“With you here, I won't fall.” After saying this, she stepped onto the windowsill and leaped into the sky.
At the exact moment she leaped, Star-trail turned into a streak of silver light and clung to her shoulder. Its tail wrapped around the pendant of her necklace, and starlight particles trailed upward, carving a line of light through her descent.
“Concentrate your mana beneath your feet. Imagine it as a barrier supporting you,” Star-trail's voice echoed in her consciousness.
Kizuna did as she was told. A light purple glow spread from the soles of her boots, and her entire body floated gently in midair.
She hovered in the air between the inpatient building and the adjacent examination center. Below her, the flowerbeds had shrunk to the size of miniature models. The wind rushed beneath her flared skirt, sending the light purple tips of her hair fluttering backward.
She looked down at her boots suspended in the air; the tiny wings on them were fluttering.
Looking up at the unobstructed city skyline ahead, the curve of her lips gradually widened.
She adjusted her center of gravity, leaning forward slightly, and her body glided forward.
At first, her speed was very slow, like a fledgling tentatively leaving its nest for the first time, but she quickly found her rhythm.
She adjusted her body to align with the airflow, and her flight path transitioned from a rigid straight line into a smooth, graceful arc.
She soared over the roof of the inpatient building and brushed past the exterior wall of the examination center.
“Flying feels so—” Passing through a patch of low-hanging clouds, she felt the cool moisture mist her face. Taking a deep breath, she cried out to the vast, open sky ahead.
Star-trail perched on her shoulder, remaining silent.
This was what a normal Magical Girl's first transformation should feel like.
Was the hospital a no-fly zone?
Would Kizuna get arrested for flying like this?
It silently adjusted their route, guiding her away from several flight paths where patrolling Magical Girls might pass.
As the white building came into view at the end of her horizon, Kizuna slowed down, hovering above the roof of a nearby building.
She looked down at her transformation outfit, then turned to Star-trail. “Do I need to undo the transformation when registering? Or should I go in like this?”
“Either is fine. Inside the Association building, you should use your code name. What word came to your mind when you transformed?”
“Seisou,” Kizuna uttered the word without a second thought.
“Eh? Why is my sister called Meruru, but I'm Seisou?”
She turned to look at Star-trail, her eyes filled with confusion.
Right, why was her sister so special?
Just because she was a big star, she got special treatment?
Just kidding—Meruru was probably a stage name.
A stage name that grew so famous it overshadowed her original name.
Star-trail perched on Kizuna's shoulder, its tail gently swaying behind her neck.
“Meruru is a stage name, specifically chosen for her debut by her idol agency. A normal Magical Girl's code name comes from the very first word that flashes through her mind at the moment of transformation, so of course the styles would be different.”
“Then is the name Seisou pretty?” Kizuna hovered just above the railing line.
“...Yes, it is.”
Kizuna nodded in satisfaction, lightly leaping down from the roof and landing on the plaza in front of the Association building.
The nameplates at the entrance were exactly the same as during her last visit, so low-key that they didn't look at all like an institution governing all the Magical Girls in the city.
Just like before, she used her mana to unlock the entrance, and the blast of air conditioning rushed out to meet her, carrying a faint scent of green plants.
When Kizuna walked up to the registration desk on the third floor, the staff member wearing rimless glasses was still sitting behind the counter.
She was looking down, organizing a stack of electronic forms. The pothos plant by her hand had grown even more lush than last time, its vines now trailing over the edge of the desk.
Hearing footsteps, she looked up. Her gaze first landed on Kizuna's transformation outfit, then shifted to Star-trail on her shoulder.
She set down her stylus and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
She stared at Star-trail for a long time, then looked at Seisou standing in front of the counter, and then back at Star-trail.
Her pupils dilated slightly in shock.
Having worked at the Association's registration desk for nearly ten years, she remembered every single Contract Spirit that came in to register, especially the beautiful ones.
She could absolutely not mistake the silver-white Contract Spirit from last time.
Its contractor was a girl with dark black hair, code name Snowrealm. Just a few days after registering, she had participated in a battle, achieving quite an outstanding record.
Yet now, it was perched on the shoulder of an entirely different girl.
What was going on?
“You are—” Her finger hovered in midair, pointing at Star-trail, her tone laced with uncontrollable surprise. “Star-trail, I remember you. Did you change contractors?”
Star-trail did not answer.
The staff member blinked, took off her glasses, wiped them with her sleeve, and put them back on.
She opened her mouth, wanting to ask, “Aren't Contract Spirits only supposed to have one contractor?” but then felt it would be impolite to question a newcomer's Contract Spirit right in front of her.
Swallowing her words, she looked down and tapped the electronic screen a few times to pull up Star-trail's file.
The screen clearly displayed Star-trail's Contract Spirit ID, lineage classification, and the date of its last registration.
In the contractor column, the name “Snowrealm” was written. She created a new contractor profile, and when she typed Star-trail's ID into the "Contract Spirit ID" column, the system automatically popped up an association prompt.
She stared at the prompt for a moment, took a deep breath, and offered Seisou a standard receptionist smile. “Welcome to the Association registration. Please fill out your basic information first.”
Seisou took the stylus and carefully filled out her basic information on the registration form, stroke by stroke.
When she reached the Contract Spirit section, she glanced sideways at Star-trail and wrote down its name in the blank space.
Although there were many things she wanted to ask... What did she mean by “did you change contractors”?
Did Star-trail actually have another contractor besides her?
And she had said “change,” which meant the other girl had contracted with it before her?
The staff member took the completed form back, her gaze darting between Star-trail and Seisou. Finally, she couldn't hold it in any longer.
“...So you really have multiple contractors? I've worked here for so many years, and I've never seen a single Contract Spirit appear in two different contractor files. This kind of situation—”
Rate on N.U.
