Yukieda lay on her bed and slowly woke up.

She pressed her dry lips together.

She felt like she'd had a terrible nightmare.

She turned her head and saw Shizuku and Mari keeping watch by her side.

The two of them were fully dressed, looking at her with worried faces.

“What happened?”

Shizuku glanced at Mari, then scratched her chin. Her eyes drifted off somewhere else.

“Yukieda passed out on the way back. Mai carried you back.”

She lied through her teeth.

“Y-Yeah, yeah!”

Mari nodded like crazy.

“Is that so...”

Yukieda looked at Mai and got a slightly hesitant answer from him.

Since everyone was saying that...

She still felt like she'd had a truly horrifying nightmare. Like, for example, her daughter being a lesbian or something.

It was so terrifying that Yukieda couldn't help but shiver.

“Maybe I soaked in the hot spring too long. My head's still all fuzzy. But is my constitution really that weak?”

Yukieda muttered to herself.

Shizuku and Mari exchanged a glance, then let out a sigh of relief.

Yukieda hadn't been seriously affected to begin with. She opened her luggage and checked her cookies once again.

They were completely intact.

Good. In a bit, she'd take the cookies to see Master Dai.

She turned back and casually glanced at Shizuku and Mari, her gaze finally landing on Mai.

He was brewing tea. After noticing her look, he gave an almost imperceptible nod.

A resolute expression appeared on Yukieda's face, like she'd made up her mind.

Shizuku, who was pretending to watch TV, had actually been observing Yukieda the whole time. When she saw that determination, she sighed, looking troubled, then shot Mari a resentful glance.

Mari scratched her head with an apologetic smile on her face. She swore that as long as no one touched Yukieda's cookies, she'd do anything.

The two of them exchanged a look with perfect tacit understanding.

“Yukieda-chan, this anime is so interesting.”

Mari smiled and waved her over.

“Yeah, it really feels like the author is trying to tell us something profound.”

Shizuku curled her lips into a smile and patted the cushion beside her.

“I will drive every last one of them out!”

That furious roar came from the TV.

“Um...” Yukieda answered with something completely unrelated. “Say, are you two hungry? I was thinking of going downstairs to see if there's anything to buy. I can bring something back for you.”

The smile on Shizuku's face vanished instantly. Mari still hadn't caught on, but after a quick glance at Shizuku, her expression changed too.

The two of them stood up from the cushions and slowly walked toward Yukieda.

“You two... what are you trying to do?”

Yukieda pressed herself tightly against the wall, like Jerry cornered by Tom.

Shizuku and Mari each grabbed one of Yukieda's arms, holding her between them, and the three of them cheerfully watched TV together.

This was bad. If this kept up, it'd be lights-out time soon.

How was she supposed to get away?

Just as Yukieda was at her wit's end, Mai came over carrying tea and set it down.

“You need to rehydrate after a hot spring.”

“Oh~ Thanks, Mai-kun.”

“Thanks, thanks~”

Mari and Shizuku picked up their teacups and took small sips.

“Ooh~ The flavor's so rich and fresh.”

“The texture is so smooth.”

After giving those deeply satisfied reviews, the two of them toppled over at the same time like stone pillars.

Yukieda stared at the cup in her hand in shock. She hurriedly checked on her daughter and Mari.

She asked Mai in alarm, “What did you put in the tea?!”

“It was just ordinary black tea.”

That was the answer she got.

“I've never heard of black tea that makes you sleepy the second you drink it!”

After confirming again and again that nothing else was wrong, Yukieda finally relaxed. She carried the two of them onto the bedding and thoughtfully tucked the blankets around them.

Yukieda picked up the cookie box. Now, every obstacle had been cleared away.

Just before stepping out the door, she turned back suspiciously and said, “Mai, you're not going to do anything to those two while I'm gone, are you?”

Yukieda had just checked. Right now, Shizuku and Mari were basically no different from being dead asleep.

But before Mai could answer, Yukieda gave a relieved smile.

“Forget it. I trust you, Mai.”

Mai, who had just been about to say something, froze for a moment, then showed a faint smile.

Trust me, huh...

He lightly sipped his tea.

Yukieda heard something in the room fall over, but she couldn't worry about that now.

According to Yukieda's plan, she just had to take the elevator all the way to the top floor.

It should've been as simple as stuffing an elephant into a sedan chair.

“Sorry, you can't go any higher.”

A man in a black suit and dark sunglasses stood in Yukieda's way. An elephant—no, a suited man.

The elevator couldn't reach the top few floors. To go higher, she had to climb the stairs.

Holding the cookies, Yukieda grew anxious.

“But I have something important to do. I want to meet the person inside.”

The suited man shook his head. If the person in front of him hadn't been a cute girl, he would've already called his companions over to throw her out.

“Then could you at least pass along a message? Just say... just say...”

Say what? Even Yukieda didn't know.

The suited man shook his head again and made a gesture for her to leave.

Yukieda walked down the stairs, looking back every few steps, aggrieved and reluctant.

What now?

Should she just beat him up?

But what if Master Dai got upset?

She was asking someone for help here. Fighting her way up the whole building didn't seem very reasonable.

Yukieda decided to go ask Mai for advice, so she returned to the room.

Only to find that Mai had collapsed on the floor too, an empty teacup still in his hand.

“Hey!”

Yukieda shoved Mai.

No response.

Her eyes sharpened.

Smack. Smack.

Mai's cheeks swelled up.

She leaned in again and pried open his eyelids.

No good. This black tea was way too effective.

Yukieda looked gloomily up at the moon outside the window, then unconsciously picked up the teacup.

“Close one. I almost drank it.”

Like she'd touched a burning coal, Yukieda hurriedly threw the cup aside.

No matter what, I have to see Master Dai.

Transform.

After a flash of light, a pure white Magical Girl appeared in the room. Glimmering dust slowly drifted from her body, vanishing the instant before it touched the floor.

Yukieda would have to reach the top floor some other way.

There were outdoor AC units mounted along the outer wall, plus a few protruding footholds. Using them, Yukieda climbed upward like Super Mario.

She probably hadn't been spotted. Yukieda arrived at the top-floor balcony.

On this floor, only this room gave off a faint light.

Yukieda felt her palms grow a little damp. She tightened her grip on the box.

Her heart pounded like a drum. After taking a deep breath, Yukieda walked inside.

“So you've come, Oriuchi Yuki.”

A cold, eerie voice came from inside the room.

Hearing someone call her name, Yukieda jumped in fright at first.

Then she saw it.

Inside the dim, cavernous room, red carpet covered the floor. On an enormous bed, a girl lay on her stomach. She wore a semi-transparent red gauze nightgown and idly kicked her bare white feet.

Even without seeing her face yet, the exposed skin and the line of her waist and back made it obvious.

This girl had to be beautiful.

Yukieda stood by the balcony. The wind on the top floor was strong, making the curtains sway without pause.

The moment Yukieda saw the girl on the bed, the corresponding memories returned to her mind.

She knew that the one on the bed was Master Dai.

“Yes, Master Dai. I am Oriuchi Yuki. It sounds like you already knew I was coming?”

The girl on the bed said nothing.

For some reason, Yukieda felt deeply uneasy, so she lowered her gaze.

Master Dai turned over and sat up, crossing one leg over the other. Only then did Yukieda see clearly that she was holding a handheld game console.

And along with that, she finally saw Master Dai's face in full.

Her hairstyle resembled that of a princess from the Warring States period. Yukieda thought carefully for a moment. It seemed to be called a hime cut.

If Yukieda was like a French doll, then the one before her could only be described as a Japanese doll.

With a flick, a small folding fan appeared in her hand. She raised it to cover her mouth, then looked Yukieda over with curiosity.

She gently swung her fair, tender legs. Most eye-catching of all was the vivid red polish on her toenails.

Yukieda realized she couldn't stay silent any longer, so she first took out the gift in her hands.

“This is for our first—ah, no, our second meeting.”

Yukieda was a little nervous.

At the same time, she wondered why she was nervous. Maybe it was because she cared too much.

The gift box seemed to be caught by an invisible hand. It floated on its own to Master Dai, and the wrapping opened by itself. She picked up a cookie.

There was no doubt this was magical power used to its utmost limit. What shocked Yukieda even more was that Master Dai could do this without even being transformed.

“This smell...”

She sniffed it and spoke in a nostalgic tone.

Without hesitation, she placed the cookie into her mouth and chewed lightly.

Yukieda waited quietly, but Master Dai only tasted one cookie and didn't continue eating.

A satisfied expression appeared on Master Dai's face, and Yukieda secretly rejoiced.

“So, why did you come to my room in the middle of the night?”

Straight to the point, huh...

Yukieda decisively explained why she'd come.

“In other words, you want me to lift the curse... No can do.”