“I knew it—our May must be a genius.”
My cheeks were squished mercilessly. Sabina grabbed my face with both hands and stretched it out without a single care in the world. Seriously, my sister must think my cheeks are made of fresh bread dough!
“Stop it.”
“Oh my goodness, how can you be this smart?!”
“I said stop it!!”
With my cheeks still clamped tight in her hands, I protested in a muffled, distorted voice. But my sister just grinned from ear to ear, showering me with praises. The cold, aloof expression she usually wore around other people was completely gone.
“Whose little genius familiar are you, hmm?”
“Ah, cut it out!!”
Unable to handle the sudden embarrassment, I bolted away. Of course, I loved my sister more than anyone else in the whole world! But being bombarded with praise like that was just too much for my heart to take!
Humping my shoulders, I crossed my arms and huffed. My sister let out a soft chuckle, and before I could even blink—
“Gotcha, May!”
She swiftly scooped me right back up into the air.
“Wait, huh?! I—I told you to stop!”
“Getting angry with such a cute little face isn’t scary at all, you know?”
Bursting into laughter, she lifted me high toward the ceiling, rocking me back and forth before pulling me tight against her chest. I glared at her as if I were only tolerating it, but in the end, I wrapped my arms securely around her neck anyway.
To be honest, I wasn’t annoyed at all. I was just terribly shy.
“Our May succeeded in humanizing all on her own. I’m so proud of you.”
“H-Hmph!”
She gently patted my back. I let out a fake cough and deliberately turned my head away.
Then, her eyes sparkled with mischievous curiosity. “But really, how did you do it? You’ve always found humanization so difficult before.”
Having her hit the bullseye made me flinch. And for good reason—whenever I had tried to transform in the past…
“Ahahaha! May! Your ears popped out!”
“…….”
Either my furry cat ears would pop out at the worst possible second, or my tail would wag uncontrollably because I forgot to hide it. It used to look utterly ridiculous, and Sabina would always laugh her head off watching my blunders.
“Um, well, you see…”
My voice trailed off as I frantically avoided her gaze. H-How on earth am I supposed to explain this? Should I tell her I traveled back from the future? That she died in a fire?!
Even I wouldn’t believe a wild story like that. She would just think I was still half-asleep from a nightmare!
Oh, whatever! Squeezing my eyes shut in total desperation, I blurted out the first excuse that popped into my head:
“I just! I wanted to hold hands and walk around with you, Sister!!”
The moment the words left my lips, my face flared bright red. Wow, I want to die of embarrassment. What kind of ridiculously childish reason is that?!
And Sabina…
“…Oh my.”
She stared at me blankly for a second, and then suddenly pulled me into a fierce, suffocating hug.
Gasp.
She squeezed so hard it literally knocked the wind out of my lungs.
“Sister, I can’t breathe!” I patted her back frantically.
Right then, her voice softened into a tender whisper right beside my ear. “Sister loves our May no matter what you look like. But seeing you work so hard like this…” She smiled gently. “It makes me so happy.”
“…!”
Hearing those words, I looked up at her with wide, clear eyes and replied firmly.
“No.”
“Hmm?”
“You and I are family.”
No matter what anyone else said, we were each other’s one and only family in this wide world. So—
“It’s only natural that I work hard, too.”
“…!”
At my earnest response, my sister’s face visibly melted into pure mush. Looking as though she simply couldn’t contain her overflowing affection a second longer—
“Eeeek!”
She showered me with a brand-new barrage of kisses all over again.
Fine, Sister, do whatever you want…
With a face that had completely achieved enlightenment, I helplessly accepted her intense display of love.
A little while later.
After giving the top of my head one final, resounding peck, Sabina stepped back and stood up.
“Come to think of it, I have something for you, May.”
“A present?”
“Yes. I made it a while ago, wondering if you might be able to use it someday…”
Snap!
She flicked her fingers. Along with a sharp click, a small gift box flew through the open doorway. Catching it deftly, she held it out to me. “Here, take it.”
I looked down at the box with a puzzled expression. It was wrapped neatly with a bright ribbon. Sabina smiled warmly. “Want to open it?”
“Yes!”
Nodding eagerly, I untied the ribbon and carefully lifted the lid. Inside lay…
Huh? This is…
Recognizing the item instantly, my eyes widened. Resting inside the velvet lining was a dainty choker-style necklace. Hanging from a glossy red cord was a violet mana stone that matched the exact shade of my sister’s hair.
Sabina smiled softly. “I figured our May would be switching between your cat and human forms quite often from now on.”
“…Sister.”
“It doesn’t matter when you’re a cat, but when you’re human, you need to be properly dressed, right?” She added with a light chuckle, “I made it in advance because we absolutely must avoid the unfortunate mishap of your clothes disappearing every time you humanize.”
A thick lump formed in my throat. I had received this exact magic tool in my past life, too—specifically, on the day I turned fifteen and successfully humanized for the very first time. Back then, she had fastened it around my neck with a proud smile.
…That means she made this necklace a long, long time ago.
While patiently waiting for me to unlock my human form. Always, always keeping me in mind.
As I stared blankly at the trinket, my sister beamed. “Shall I put it on you?”
“Yes!”
I nodded quickly, turning around to sit with my back to her. She gently fastened the necklace around my neck.
Click.
The sound of the clasp locking echoed softly. I reached up, lightly touching the cool mana stone dangling against my skin.
My sister has loved me for such a long time.
The sheer warmth of that realization made my heart flutter wildly.
Just then, she asked carefully, “How is it? Do you like it?”
“Yes! I love it!”
I broke into a wide, brilliant grin. Only then did she look truly relieved, mirroring my expression with a gentle smile of her own. Seriously, I’m the luckiest cat alive!
Meanwhile, Sabina rested her chin in her hand, watching Maybel with a deeply suspicious gaze.
The fluffy white ball of fur was currently engaged in a fierce, unblinking staring contest with the food bowl placed on the floor, thudding her tail against the ground to make her absolute dissatisfaction crystal clear.
May has been acting a bit strange lately.
Ever since she woke up a few days ago sobbing uncontrollably and clinging to Sabina for dear life, she had practically refused to leave her side. Normally, whenever Sabina approached, May would hiss or gracefully trot away with a sassy flick of her tail. But now? She was acting like an overly attached, gentle little lamb.
And on top of all that, she had suddenly mastered humanization out of nowhere!
“Myao? (Why are you looking at me like that?)”
Sensing Sabina’s intense scrutiny, Maybel looked up, the sharp outer corners of her deep blue eyes narrowing in a chic, defensive feline glare.