Episode 14: Assistance Dog
“Hmm. You look better than I expected.”
“…Yes.”
“If you’ve got complaints, you should voice them, [Momotsuki].”
The examination room.
Kimoto Yuki glanced over the medical chart, then looked at Momotsuki Haruka.
The surgery had changed Haruka’s appearance a little.
Black twin tails.
Both arms swathed in bandages.
A rumpled pink hoodie.
Legs concealed beneath tights, peeking out from under a miniskirt.
“You know how to use a prosthetic magical cyberwear arm, right?”
“…Yes. My right arm was already like that.”
“There’s not much difference between the right and left. The problem is your legs. Those are a little more troublesome. Until you get used to them, you won’t be able to regulate your Magus Engine’s output properly. I remember one magical girl who suddenly jumped ten metres and embedded herself in the ceiling. Her name was [Viola Purple].”
“I know her.”
“That was a nasty incident. Blood pouring from her nose and everything… Oh, right. Sorry, sorry.”
Kimoto Yuki set the medical chart aside.
“Must’ve been quite the ordeal, getting into an accident on your way back from visiting a grave.”
“…………”
“I hereby grant you permission to hold a grudge against me, the person who proposed the outing.”
“Magical girls do not [think] about grudges.”
“That’s a relief.”
“This is an apology gift,” she said.
Kimoto Yuki snapped her fingers.
Then, from behind the examination room curtain…
“Nyah!”
Thud!
“Pigyah!”
Scrape!
“H-hyeuu…!”
Rubbing the spots she’d injured when she fell, once, then twice, then three times, the girl finally appeared.
“…Ch-[Chihuahua Yellow]! Reporting for duty, woof! I have arriiiiived!”
Her face was smeared with blood.
She flashed a cheerful double peace sign.
Her fluffy golden hair glittered beneath the fluorescent lights.
Her round, golden eyes glistened as she tried to endure the pain from her falls.
Her mouth was shaped like the Greek letter omega. She was about the same height as Momotsuki Haruka.
Eight or nine years old, perhaps. A delicate little girl, still wearing the unmistakable innocence of childhood…
“…Doctor.”
“She’s what you’d call a klutz.”
“She’s bleeding from the top of her head.”
“I’m fiiiiine! Really!”
“That’s what she says. She’ll be your attendant… Actually, perhaps assistance dog suits her character better? Anyway, until your newly mechanised body gets used to itself, she’ll be looking after you.”
“Um!”
“What is it?”
“How long am I supposed to keep doing the introduction pose?!”
“…The magical girl manual states that you’re free to stop once you’ve reached a suitable point, Chihuahua Yellow.”
Phewww.
Chihuahua Yellow let out a sigh of relief and dropped her pose.
Kimoto Yuki struggled to suppress her laughter.
Momotsuki Haruka pressed a hand to her aching head. [Thought] was forbidden. She didn’t want to think at all, yet somehow she could already tell that things were going to be troublesome.
“An unadjusted child, is she?”
“A future magical girl. As her senior, and in the role of her big sister, you should teach her a few things.”
“!”
The innocent-looking girl with golden hair snapped into a salute.
Her floppy smile suited her fluffy hair perfectly.
“I’m looking forward to working with you, starting today, Senior Strawberry Pink!”
A charming smile.
She’s going to die, too, anyway. - Momotsuki Haruka drowned the thought as it crossed her mind with strawberry milk.