Sunlight silently pierced through the gaps between curtains, splashing onto the two girls sleeping in each other's arms on the messy bed, coating them with a layer of warm halo.
Awakened by it, Reiko's violet eyes gradually opened like being pulled by invisible threads, carrying some physiological tears. She immediately raised her hand to touch beside her pillow, her fingertips urgently exploring into the smooth hair.
Searching for that knot she had carefully tied before falling asleep, connecting her and Tsuan.
However, what she touched was only her own silky hair, and... Tsuan's soft black hair. They naturally intertwined, carrying the warmth of sleep... yet empty.
No knot.
No connection.
Nothing at all.
As if last night's clumsy ritual was just a dream she had.
She hadn't been able to hold onto Tsuan—not last time, not this time either.
Her heart felt like it was being viciously squeezed by an icy hand, instantly sinking to the bottom. Enormous disappointment and familiar fear surged like a tide, almost drowning her.
"Tsuan-chan has... disappeared again?"
However, just as the shadow of despair was about to completely swallow her, a clearer, sharper thought struck through the gloom like lightning.
Wait...
Her movements suddenly froze.
If Tsuan-chan had really disappeared... then why was her first thought upon waking, her first action... so precisely reaching to touch that place where the knot should have been?
Why would her fingertips so naturally, purposefully explore among her silver hair?
Disappearance... wasn't like this!
She gradually turned her head... seeking traces left by the person beside her pillow.
Disappearance would be like an eraser, silently wiping away all traces, including the markers set up to fight forgetting itself.
A completely forgotten person, along with all memories about her and everything related, would disappear without a trace.
But this time was different.
She remembered to touch that knot, and she also remembered where the knot should be, and she still remembered who it connected to!
This clear 'remembering' was itself the most powerful evidence!
Joy transformed into a warm flood, instantly breaking through the dam built of fear.
Reiko held her breath, urgently yet carefully turning her head, then raising it.
What came into view was Tsuan's face, close at hand.
The black-haired girl had awakened at some point and was quietly lying beside her, those beautiful crimson eyes gazing at her without blinking. There was no confusion or distance in them, only a gentleness familiar to Reiko that belonged uniquely to Tsuan.
Morning light leaked through the curtain gaps, dancing on her long eyelashes, coating her fair skin with a layer of soft golden edge.
Then, under Reiko's joyful yet incredulous gaze, Tsuan's lips slowly but clearly curved upward.
She didn't need to speak aloud or do anything to comfort Reiko. Because this smile, and the fact of her peacefully existing here, was the perfect answer.
Reiko opened her mouth but found she couldn't make any sound, yet her eyes uncontrollably warmed first.
She suddenly reached out, not to touch the non-existent knot, but to firmly, tightly grasp Tsuan's hand resting beside the pillow.
Warm, soft, truly existing.
Tsuan-chan's...
The black-haired girl felt the force and slight trembling transmitted through her palm, the smile in her eyes deepening. She gently squeezed back, her fingertips consolingly tapping lightly on Reiko's hand.
"I'm here."
Her voice was as light as a sigh, yet clearly fell into Reiko's heart.
Reiko squeezed back forcefully, deeper, as if wanting to etch this existence permanently into her soul.
The sunlight gradually brightened, illuminating the intertwined silver and black hair on the pillow, more gently illuminating the quietly growing, silently spreading intimacy between them.
Just as Reiko was immersed in this hard-won intimacy, even leaning forward slightly with a hint of hazy desire to get closer, wanting to feel that more private softness, wanting their breaths to completely merge, wanting to taste that unique scent belonging to Tsuan so close at hand—
Hiss!
A sudden, clear pulling sensation came sharply from the top of her head, even accompanied by undeniable stinging pain.
As if an invisible thread had suddenly tightened, forcibly dragging her from the romantic clouds back to reality! Though the pain was subtle, it was like a cold needle tip, precisely piercing through all the ambiguity and rising temperature of the moment.
Reiko didn't even have time to react. She only felt her vision blur, and Tsuan so close at hand... that pretty face with hazy affection, like a water reflection shattered by a thrown stone, instantly twisted, blurred, and finally broke apart.
Disappeared?!
Before the enormous panic could explode in Reiko's heart, her vision suddenly darkened, as if the scene had been forcibly switched.
She instinctively blinked hard, trying to dispel this strange dizziness.
When she opened her eyes again—
Tsuan was still before her, only this time... no longer the intimate appearance of smiling and nestling in her arms just now, but...
Tsuan was glaring at Reiko with puffed cheeks, her fingers still tightly gripping the knot on her own hair that had been tied into a complete mess by her.
She had originally wanted to quietly solve this problem herself, then go to the bathroom without waking Reiko... but not only did she fail to untie it, she made it tighter, creating this stubborn knot.
Embarrassed and annoyed, she simply gave up and yanked the stubborn hair knot forcefully twice, dragging Reiko's hair along with it and forcibly waking her up.
"Tsu... Tsuan-chan?"
Reiko was sleepy-eyed, her purple eyes full of confused mist, not yet fully awake from the beautiful dream just now, when Tsuan unceremoniously grabbed her arm and pulled her to sit up from the bed.
"Hurry up and untie this for me!"
Tsuan's soft voice carried obvious annoyance and a trace of barely perceptible embarrassment.
She had thought she could solve this problem herself, but now not only was the problem unsolved, it had become serious enough that she had to swallow her pride and wake up the culprit.
"I really don't know what Reiko was trying to do!"
Tsuan muttered quietly, her cheeks flushed red from embarrassment and annoyance.
"Ah, sorry... Tsuan-chan."
Reiko sighed helplessly, fully awakening. Looking at this little animal before her who was bristling because her hair had been held hostage by her.
She resignedly leaned close, her fingertips carefully exploring the tangle of silver and black hair. Her movements were gentle and skillful, carrying a hint of apology, quickly untying the stubborn knot that had left Tsuan helpless.
With the restraint removed, Tsuan didn't even glance at Reiko, still carrying her not-yet-completely-dissipated embarrassment and annoyance, heading toward the bathroom without looking back, her footsteps slightly heavy, and shut the door with a bang.
Reiko looked at that tightly closed door, rubbing her painfully pulled scalp, her lips involuntarily curving into a helpless arc.
Well, at least...
Tsuan-chan really hadn't disappeared, right?
And... that 'Tsuan-chan' in the dream who smiled at her, nestling obediently...
Reiko unconsciously raised her hand to touch her own lips, as if she could still feel the warmth of that desire to get closer in the dream. Her cheeks uncontrollably flushed red again, even more than before.
The sound of rushing water came from the bathroom. Reiko leaned against the headboard, listening to that sound, the heat on her face gradually fading.
Mm... tonight... I need to take Tsuan-chan to the supermarket.
Reiko leaned against the headboard, listening to the sound of water from the bathroom, her thoughts already drifting to tonight's arrangements.
Vegetables, meat... she silently calculated the shopping list, the 'empty' scene of the refrigerator with nothing but canned goods, eggs, and noodles appearing in her mind again.
She couldn't let her continue eating such things.
Just as this thought settled, a more realistic and somewhat troubling problem emerged:
But... could Tsuan-chan actually cook?
Reiko could almost immediately imagine the scene: Tsuan standing at the stove, holding a gleaming kitchen knife, her crimson eyes full of bewilderment facing unknown ingredients, possibly even with some... wariness toward those flames?
Maybe the next second she'd clumsily cut her hand or set the oil pan on fire!
This imagination made her temples throb.
It seems...
Reiko sighed lightly, but her lips involuntarily curved into a helpless smile.
I'll have to personally teach Tsuan-chan how to cook...
But in the future, it probably won't be just Tsuan who needs cooking lessons... there's also…
○
"Alright, alright, I know, geez, can't you avoid bothering me so early with such trivial matters!"
The Movie Monster, just awakened from the princess's big bed, reached out without looking to extract the item the Cream Monster had delivered into the screen.
It was a quite officially printed "Monster Identity Registration Form."
The form's fields were clear and specific:
Name
Age (or duration of existence)
Birthplace/Place of origin
Current address
Current occupation/source of income
Little Movie held the pen, her gaze lingering on this for a long time. As one of the powerful monsters, she completely didn't need to join this kind of charity organization and seek their help.
Rather, in most cases, this kind of organization would need their help, so it would be very troublesome...
Just as she was slightly frowning at the blank fields, thinking about how to word things, a clean, soft tissue was pushed next to the form by a round hand made of fluffy cream.
She looked up in surprise at the Cream Monster beside her.
The white head without facial features leaned forward slightly, seeming to indicate she should look at the tissue.
Then, its other cream arm reached over, its fingertip condensing a bit of pure white cream that emitted sweet fragrance, with delicate texture, like the smoothest piping bag, beginning to silently write on the tissue.
The cream glided across the tissue fibers, leaving clear and round handwriting:
"If you don't have work, you can receive unemployment benefits from the Dark Moon Society! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧"
What does this mean? Provoking me or insulting me?
"I don't need such things. Considering that yesterday I both ran errands for you and gave you your wages without taking a single cent..."
The 'princess's' gentle features gradually became distorted, then transformed into a knight wearing cold, hard armor in front of the Cream Monster.
"Please, have some basic self-awareness, okay?"
The Cream Monster, who had only wanted to help this new friend, stood dumbly in place. That round, rolling cream head representing its simple happiness visibly drooped down.
The Cream Monster's dejected figure almost melted into the shadows of the movie theater corridor. That slowly moving white outline, seemingly having lost all sweetness, radiated silent grievance. Just as it was about to disappear around the corner—
"Hey! Wait!"
A somewhat stiff voice rang out behind it.
The Cream Monster stopped. That drooping round head extremely slowly turned back a little, not completely lifting, just looking sideways at the Movie Monster who had called it back, now having canceled her knight form and returned to princess appearance.
She avoided the Cream Monster's invisible yet seemingly emotion-transmitting 'gaze,' her eyes falling on the blank "Monster Identity Registration Form" on the nearby desk.
She pointed at the form:
"This thing... is it related to the magical girls' side?"
She was afraid this thing would also file a case with the magical girls' side. If that were the case, that crazy woman could track her down anytime...
Just then, a black cat appeared from nowhere, walking between the two and lazily stretching, licking its paw, answering for the dejected Cream Monster.
"Of course it's related, meow."
The black cat jumped onto the form, lightly tapping the paper with its tail tip.
"After the Dark Moon Society registers the information, we'll also send two copies to the Magical Girl Association and the police station, meow."
"The purpose of doing this, meow, is to let those magical girls protecting the city know you, know that you're a registered monster member with an 'identity,' meow."
The black cat's tone became serious.
"This official registration is the basic guarantee for everyone to coexist peacefully, meow. If you don't fill it out, you might be considered as causing trouble by magical girls while walking down the street, thus encountering many unnecessary problems, meow~"
A dilemma was placed before the Movie Monster. Fill out the form, and the Magical Girl Association would clearly know her location, then be hunted by that woman.
Don't fill it out, and she might be hunted by that woman while just walking down the street someday.
She'd never signed this thing before... except for that woman, no one had done anything to her...? Maybe?
"What if magical girls still attack me directly after I sign?"
The black cat shook its head.
"As long as you don't actively do bad things, magical girls would never attack you proactively, meow~ The premise is, you have to fill it out... meow?"
To completely escape that fear, the Movie Monster created a new identity for herself:
"I'm the Movie Monster's little sister, Little Movie~"
After filling out the form, she felt that still using the princess image wasn't enough to prove she wasn't the Movie Monster... so she could only use magic power to transform into human form between the black cat and Cream Monster.
"My job is helping big brothers and sisters revise scripts to earn money~"
About ten years old, with a slender build. Fluffy silver-white curly hair tied in twin tails, with butterfly bows embedded with miniature film gear clips in her hair.
"Nice to meet you all~"
Her screen-like gray eyes blinked, occasionally showing one or two threads of scattered light in the depths of her pupils.
Small fry.
"Hey~ If there's nothing else, I'll head home first?"
After saying goodbye to the Cream Monster, she drilled back into the screen, feeling proud of her wisdom.
Since both signing and not signing would cause trouble, might as well sign a fake one!
Anyway, no one had seen this version of herself...
"Pupu~ Didn't expect them to believe I'm a new monster~"
Perhaps only in human form could she show her true nature...
"Small fry, small fry~"