“Hmm, she seems more energetic than I expected.”
“…Yes.”
“If you’ve got a problem, you should speak up, [Momotsuki].”

Examination room.
[Kimoto Yūki] glanced at the medical records, then looked at [Momotsuki Haruka].
The surgery had altered Momotsuki Haruka’s appearance slightly.

　Black twin tails.
Both arms swathed in bandages.
A crumpled pink hoodie.
Legs glimpsed beneath tights peeking out from a miniskirt.

“You know how to use the prosthetic magic cyberware, right?”
“…Yes. My right arm has been like this for a while now.”
“Right or left, it’s much the same. The problem’s with the legs, see. These are a bit of a pain. Until you get used to them, you can’t adjust the Magus Engine output. There was that magical girl who suddenly jumped ten metres and smashed through the ceiling. Called [Viola Purple].”
“I know.”
“That was awful, wasn’t it? Blood gushing from her nose… Oh, ah. Sorry, sorry.”

Yuki Kimoto set down the medical chart.

“What a disaster on your way back from visiting the graves.”
“…………”
“You have my permission to resent me, the one who suggested it.”
“Magical girls do not harbour grudges.”
“That’s a relief.”

This is my apology, she thought.
Yuki Kimoto snapped her fingers.
Then, from behind the curtain in the examination room —thud.

“Nyah!”

Squish.

“Pigya!”

Slide.

“Heh, heh-uh…!”

Rubbing the bruises from tumbling twice, thrice, the girl emerged.

“—Chii, [Chiwawa Yellow]! I’m back, woof, san-joo!”

　Her face wet with blood.
W-peace sign brightly raised.
Fluffy golden hair glistening under the fluorescent lights.
Her round golden eyes glistening, as if enduring the pain of the fall.

A mouth twisted into an omega shape. About the same height as Momotsuki Haruka.
Eight or nine years old. A lovely girl, still retaining that childlike innocence.

“…Sensei”
“The so-called clumsy girl trait.”
“But she’s bleeding from the top of her head.”
“It’s fine! Really!”
“So she says. This child will be your assistant… though ‘assistant dog’ might suit her character better? Anyway, she’ll look after you until you get used to your new mechanised body.”
“Um!”
“What is it?”
“The entrance pose! How long! How long must I keep it up?!”
“…The magical girl manual states you may freely release it once you reach a natural stopping point, Chiwa Yellow-san.”

Chiwa Yellow exhaled softly, ‘Fuuuh’, and broke her pose.
Yuki Kimoto stifled a laugh.
　Haruka Momotsuki clutched her temples. Thinking was forbidden. She didn’t want to think, yet somehow she couldn’t help worrying about what lay ahead —Haruka Momotsuki understood it all in that single instant.

“An unadjusted child?”
“A future magical girl. As her senior, as her big sister, you should teach her all sorts of things.”
“!”

　The innocent, golden-haired girl struck a saluting pose.
A limp smile that suited her fluffy hair.

“Nice to meet you from today on, Strawberry Pink-senpai!”

A cute smile.
This one’ll die too, anyway —Haruka Momotsuki drowned the fleeting thought in strawberry milk.