Though she once ended up embedded in the ceiling, Momotsuki Haruka’s adjustments proceeded smoothly. The limbs of her magical cyberware had become so familiar that she could scarcely recall the sensations of her former flesh-and-blood self. Even if she could have remembered, Momotsuki Haruka would never have looked back.
【Recollection】is forbidden.

　That was simply how it was.
The world became simpler when recognised as such.
Nights without dreams, leisure without looking back – for Momotsuki Haruka, that was simply how it was.
Which is precisely why her rhythm was thrown off.

“Hic…! Ugh, ugh…! Guh… hiccup… hiccup…!”

The sound of sniffling could be heard.
　Beneath the bunk bed. Directly under Momotsuki Haruka’s bed.
The sleeping place of 【Chiwawa Yellow】.

Sleep was being disturbed.
The effects of the sleeping medication had worn thin from repeated administration. Momotsuki Haruka could no longer sleep with drugs. Yet, until now, she had still managed to sleep. Not dreaming remained unchanged. She had undergone training for that purpose.
　But there was an unadjusted child.
Chiwawa Yellow.

The yellow bed, still without a stuffed toy.
A small body curled up on the large sheet.

The role of the stuffed toy resembled a medal. Each time they went out on a mission, each time they achieved something, the authorities gave the magical girls a reward.
　Cosmetics for undercover missions.
Videos of films for training negotiators.
Pocket money, puddings, pretty clothes… and stuffed toys.

Haruka Momotsuki’s bed was overflowing with stuffed toys. Yet on Chiwa Yellow’s bed lay only the basic thin sheet and pillow.
It hadn’t always been so.
Because that had been Viola Purple’s bed.

　Until a few weeks ago, it had been crammed full of books she’d chosen as rewards for her studies, plush toys, and film videos. On the night she died, they vanished without a trace, and the purple sheets were taken too.
Only the wooden frame remains, a bunk bed.
There.

“Higu, uu…!”

Chiwawa Yellow trembled alone.

“Father…! Mother…! Yu-kun…!”

She was shaking.
Sweating.
Her eyes were wet.
Her small hands clutched the thin cloth so tightly they turned white.

　Haruka Momotsuki, without a second thought, placed a stuffed toy beside her.

A pink bear.
Fluffy and soft.
A little worn.

“Ah… uu…?”

Chiwawa Yellow opened her eyes slightly. Before their gazes met, Haruka Momotsuki returned to the top bunk.

“…Thank you. Senpai…”

Ignoring the whimpering voice, Momotsuki Haruka fell asleep.
That’s just how it is.
With unadjusted children.
With future magical girls.

On Momotsuki Haruka’s bed too, a purple, soft, slightly wilted cat plushie lay gathering dust in the corner.