“Blood ties! Since you’re so sure, and you keep saying we’re really close, then there has to be some blood relation between us, right?”

After hearing Shizuku’s words, Yukieda kept nodding. Her waist-length silver hair trembled nonstop.

Right, how did I not think of that? What could prove the bond between me and my daughter better than blood?

But on second thought, Yukieda’s brows drew together slightly. A trace of unease showed in her beautiful golden eyes. She glanced at her own small, delicate palm.

But... with the body I have now, am I really blood-related to Shizuku?

There shouldn’t be a problem, right? Mr. Kenji said this body was altered through special means. My blood shouldn’t have changed, should it?

Shizuku sat across the table, watching the girl in front of her without pause. Seeing her shifting expressions, she became even more convinced that this was one pretty little liar.

But what exactly was she trying to scam her out of? Money? She wasn’t some human trafficker, was she? Or maybe... she wanted to trick her out of a house?

“What? You don’t dare?”

“No, what would I have to be scared of!”

After saying that, Yukieda felt a little guilty again.

It just so happened that the next day was the weekend. Yukieda and her daughter agreed to go to the hospital the following morning for a simple blood relation test.

As Yukieda untied the large apron around her body, Shizuku asked curiously, “You’re a student at Shiratsuru High too?”

“Yeah. I just transferred in today.”

Yukieda didn’t miss a single chance to get closer to Shizuku.

“That I didn’t expect. I thought you were a middle schooler.”

Yukieda’s smile froze on her face.

Then Shizuku continued, “You’re this young and you still dare call yourself my older sister? Are you lying to me? If you tell the truth now, it’s not too late.”

Yukieda lowered her head. “No. I really do have a very deep connection with you... but I can’t explain it.”

“It’s fine. We’ll know tomorrow whether you’re telling the truth. Oh, right. I still don’t know your name.”

“...Oriuchi Yuki.”

“Listen carefully, Oriuchi Yuki. I won’t allow anyone to make a joke out of my father. If you dare lie to me, then you’d better never show up in front of me again.”

As Shizuku spoke, she folded her arms across her chest, lifting her full bust completely. Her expression was extremely serious. Yukieda looked miserable and nodded.

Yukieda returned to the apartment in low spirits. She didn’t have much luggage. A little tidying up was enough to count as settling in.

After washing up, she changed into simple clothes and sprawled on the big bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

No matter what, she had seen her daughter today. Her condition was... okay. The only regret was that she couldn’t reveal her identity to her. At that thought, the girl on the bed started grinding her teeth again. That damned spell—how could it have such absurd power?

Yukieda tossed and turned on the bed. Her sleepwear had come loose from all the rolling around, but she didn’t care about that now. She lay there trying to fall asleep. She forced her eyes shut and tried not to think about anything. Her long eyelashes kept trembling, betraying the restlessness in her heart.

What if? What if something goes wrong with tomorrow’s test, and my daughter starts hating me? That would be the second-scariest thing in the world.

Like a little fan snapping open, Yukieda’s eyes flew wide. She picked up her terminal.

“Good evening, Mr. Kenji. This is Oriuchi.”

—

The next day, Yukieda sat uneasily in a hospital hallway seat, waiting for the report. Beside her, Shizuku kept her head lowered, quietly playing on her mobile terminal.

Maybe because she was going out after so long, Shizuku was dressed especially neat today.

How was this going to turn out? Even though she’d managed to reach Mr. Kenji last night, there had seemed to be a woman shouting beside him, and it was especially loud. Had he even heard her clearly? Or maybe he’d forgotten? Come to think of it, Mr. Kenji had never actually agreed. He’d only given her a perfunctory response.

Yukieda suddenly felt her mouth go dry. She stood up, walked to the vending machine, and scanned it with her terminal. Two drinks popped out.

When she returned to her seat, she saw the doctor holding a sheet of paper and saying something to Shizuku.

Yukieda’s heart started pounding. She was wearing loose casual clothes today, but even so, she still felt a little short of breath.

With heavy steps, Yukieda carried the two drinks over and said in a deliberately casual tone, “Well? How is it?”

Her tone was light, but her expression was stiff. She was even a little shorter than Shizuku. She wanted to see the report in Shizuku’s hand, but she had to stand on tiptoe.

Yukieda suddenly regretted wearing sneakers today. But height-increasing shoes really did feel weird.

Shizuku toyed with her long black hair, let out a sigh, and looked over with slightly angry eyes.

Yukieda was almost scared to tears. So she’d guessed right. This body of hers had absolutely nothing to do with her daughter. She felt like she could barely hold onto the drinks in her hands.

Then Shizuku took one of the drinks from Yukieda and twisted the cap open with force.

Her golden eyes trembled as they stared at Shizuku’s hands. What was she going to do? Pour the drink over her head?

“Gulp, gulp.”

Yukieda watched her daughter tilt back her face, exposing her snow-white neck, her throat bobbing as she drained the drink in one go.

“Miss Yukieda, this is your report.”

The doctor’s gaze swept over Yukieda’s face and neck without leaving a trace. Her clothes seemed extremely baggy, and with how short she was, from his angle he could even vaguely glimpse scenery deeper inside.

Yukieda took the report. It was an A4 sheet covered in symbols and numbers she couldn’t understand. She recognized every character on its own, but put together like this, she had no idea what it meant.

Thankfully, she still recognized the last line.

Test subjects:

Oriuchi Yuki, Misho Shizuku, direct blood relatives.

“Haha.”

Yukieda felt sure her laugh sounded awful, because people around her kept looking over, as if they’d never seen a human before.

Shizuku was wearing a skirt today. Not an especially short one. Black over-the-knee socks wrapped around her slender thighs. She stared out the window in a daze.

“I never thought my father was that kind of person. He actually had an illegitimate daughter. All these years... I’m sorry, Yukieda.”

“It’s okay. Actually... Father is a very honest person. H-he treated me very well too.”

Well, obviously. It’s not like I’d treat myself badly.

Yukieda’s mind spun as she hurried to think of something nice to say about herself, but the more she tried, the emptier her head became.

“Forget it. Don’t I know what my dad is like? He’s a workaholic. Even though the company is local, he hardly ever comes home. And even when he does, he leaves early and comes back late. I hate him the most.”

Yukieda’s expression dimmed. Even the patients’ family members who had been watching her seemed to empathize.

“But if he could come back to life and apologize to me, I’d forgive him.”

Shizuku added that softly.

Yukieda felt even worse. She really wanted to tell Shizuku right now, I’m your dad.

A thousand words turned into one sentence.

“Let’s go back.”

The doctor stood by the window and watched the two girls leave the hospital.

Then he picked up his terminal and dialed a number.

“How did it go?”

A bold man’s voice came from the other end.

“The result: no relation.”

“A fish that’s crawled out of the sea onto land—can you still call it a fish?” After saying something vague and unclear, the man on the other side sounded utterly unconcerned. “Destroy it.”

“Mm. Also, that woman—I mean the one called Shizuku. Her compatibility with a Magical Girl is also extremely high.”

The other end fell silent for a rare moment. “Forget it. One in the family is enough. We can’t have the whole family dragged into it.”

The call ended.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

“Excuse me, is this where the testing is done?” an old woman asked, holding a form.

“No, the lab is upstairs.”

“Alright, thank you.”

The old woman was surprised to find that the hallway, which had been full just moments ago, was now completely empty.

By the time they came out of the hospital, it was already noon. The two of them didn’t choose to take the train. Instead, they wandered around nearby.

“A foreigner? So cute!”

Yukieda felt a little troubled. Her hair seemed too eye-catching. But more than that, she was worried about the girl beside her. Yukieda secretly studied her daughter’s face.

Her daughter was naturally very pretty. Pure black long straight hair. It was just that her gaze was a little cold. Yukieda wanted to say something to her, but hesitated.

Thinking about it carefully, she had actually rarely said much to her daughter. Ever since her daughter got a little older, their conversations had been limited to daily greetings. Only on very rare occasions would they exchange a few extra words. So when my daughter called and said she wanted a gift, I...

“Oriuchi, are you really my older sister? But you’re even shorter than me, and your face looks so young. Most importantly, we look way too different, don’t we?”

Looking at the white elf in front of her, Shizuku curled a strand of black hair by her ear and compared it back and forth, sinking into conflict.

Yukieda let out two guilty little laughs. “It’s right there in black and white. How could I be lying to you? I really do have a very deep connection with you!” As she said that, her eyes drifted unnaturally into the distance, and she spotted a parfait shop.

I remember... Shizuku really liked those.

“Come on, look over there. My treat.”

As they spoke, the two of them headed toward the parfait shop one after the other.

“Do you even have money? How about I pay? Don’t go spending carelessly,” Shizuku’s voice rang out at just the right moment, and Oriuchi’s face darkened.

“I’m not a kid. I really am older than you. And you—do you even have a source of income? If you’re short on money, you can tell me. Besides, even if you look older than me, you actually can’t take care of yourself at all. And another thing, you even drink alcohol. You’re not even an adult yet. How did you even buy it? Mm—”

Yukieda was still talking when a parfait was suddenly stuffed into her hands.

“But I really can’t say it out loud. Calling a little kid ‘big sister’ and all. Let this one be my treat. I was suspicious of you before, after all. Anyway... that’s just how it is.”

Shizuku walked ahead. Yukieda couldn’t see her face, but judging by her daughter’s personality, she was probably very embarrassed right now.

“It’s okay. You can call me by my name. Just call me Yukieda.”

She was about to keep talking.

Bzzz. Bzzz.

A vibration came from the pocket of her loose sports jacket. Yukieda pulled out her terminal, and her expression instantly turned serious.