Chapter 2

“I knew it, our May must be a genius.”

My cheeks were squished mercilessly. Sabina held my face tightly with both hands and stretched it out without a care in the world. Seriously, my sister must think my cheeks are made of bread dough!

“Shtop it.”

“Oh my goodness, how can you be this smart?!”

“I shaid shtop it!!”

With my cheeks clamped in her hands, I protested in a muffled, distorted voice. But my sister just grinned from ear to ear and kept showering me with compliments. The icy expression she usually wore around other people was nowhere to be found.

“Whose this cute little familiar, hmm?”

“Ah, cut it out!!”

Unable to handle the embarrassment any longer, I finally dashed away. Of course, I loved my sister more than anyone else in the whole world! But being bombarded with praise like this was just too embarrassing!

Humping my shoulders, I crossed my arms and huffed. My sister let out a soft chuckle, and before I knew it—

“Gotcha, May!”

She swiftly scooped me back up into the air.

“Uh, wait?! I—I told you to stop!”

“Getting angry with such a cute little face isn’t scary at all, you know?”

Bursting into laughter, my sister lifted me up high toward the ceiling. After rocking me back and forth a few times, she pulled me tight against her chest again. I glared at her as if I were merely tolerating it, but in the end, I wrapped my arms tightly around her neck anyway.

To be honest…… I wasn’t annoyed at all. I was just 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 turned my head away.

Then, my sister looked at me, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“But really, how did you do it? You’ve always found humanization so difficult before.”

Having her hit the nail on the head made me flinch. And for good reason, because she was right. Whenever I had tried to humanize before……

“Ahahaha! May! Your ears popped out!”

“…….”

Either my cat ears would suddenly pop out, or my tail would wag behind me because I forgot to hide it. It used to look so ridiculous. And my sister would always laugh her head off watching me.

“Um, well, that is……”

My voice trailed off, and I subtly avoided her gaze.

H-How on earth was I supposed to explain this? That I actually came back from the future? That she died there?

‘Even I wouldn’t believe that.’

She would definitely just think I had a nightmare!

Oh, whatever! Squeezing my eyes shut, I yelled at the top of my lungs.

“I just! I wanted to hold hands and walk around with you, Sister!!”

The moment the words left my mouth, my face flared up. Wow, I feel like I’m going to die of embarrassment! What kind of childish reason is that?!

And my sister……

“……Oh my.”

She stared at me blankly for a moment, and then suddenly pulled me into a fierce hug.

Gasp.

She squeezed so hard that it literally knocked the breath out of me.

“Sister, I can’t breathe!”

I frantically patted her back.

But right then.

“Sister loves our May no matter what you look like,” she whispered softly. “But…… seeing you work so hard like this.” A tender voice laced with a gentle smile tickled my ear. “It makes me so happy.”

“…….”

At those words, I looked up at her with wide, clear eyes. Then, I replied firmly.

“No.”

“Hmm?”

“You and I are family.”

No matter what anyone said, we were each other’s one and only family. So.

“It’s only natural that I work hard, too.”

“……”

Meanwhile, at my response, my sister’s face visibly melted into pure mush. Then, looking as though she simply couldn’t contain herself anymore—

“Eeeek!”

She showered me with a barrage of kisses all over again.

Fine, sister, do whatever you want……

With a face that had completely attained enlightenment, I accepted her intense display of affection.

***

A little while later.

After giving the top of my head one final, resounding peck, my sister stepped back and stood up.

“Come to think of it, I have something to give 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 the sound, a small box flew right through the open doorway. Catching it deftly, she held the box out to me.

“Here, take it.”

I looked down at the box with a puzzled expression. It was a gift box beautifully wrapped with a ribbon. Sabina offered a bright smile.

“Want to open it?”

“Yes!”

Nodding, I untied the ribbon. As I carefully lifted the lid, the object inside was……

‘Huh? This is……’

Recognizing the item, my eyes widened. Inside the box lay a dainty choker-style necklace. Hanging from a glossy red cord was a violet mana stone that perfectly matched the color of my sister’s hair.

Sabina smiled warmly.

“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 lightly added, “I made it in advance because we absolutely must avoid the unfortunate mishap of your clothes disappearing every time you humanize.”

A lump formed in my throat. I had received this exact magic tool in my past life as well. To be precise, it was the year I turned fifteen. When I succeeded in humanizing for the very first time, my sister had personally fastened it around my neck.

‘……That means she made this necklace a long, long time ago.’

While waiting for me to succeed in humanizing. Always, always……

As I stared blankly at the necklace, my sister beamed and asked me, “Shall I put it on you?”

“Yes!”

I nodded quickly and promptly turned around to sit with my back to her. She fastened the necklace around my neck.

Click.

The sound of the clasp locking together echoed. I gently toyed with the mana stone dangling against my skin.

‘My sister has loved me for such a long time.’

……The sheer joy of that realization made my heart flutter.

Just then, she asked me carefully, “How is it? Do you like it?”

“Yes!”

I broke into a wide grin. Only then did she seem relieved, mirroring my expression with a soft smile of her own. Seriously, I’m one lucky cat!

***

Sabina rested her chin on her hand, watching Maybel with a suspicious gaze.

The white cotton puff of a familiar was currently engaged in a fierce staring contest with the food bowl placed in front of her. She was thudding her tail against the floor, making her dissatisfaction crystal clear.

‘May has been acting a bit strange lately.’

A few days ago, ever since she suddenly woke up from her sleep, sobbing uncontrollably as she clung to Sabina, Maybel had refused to leave her side. Normally, whenever Sabina approached, May would hiss or swiftly walk away with an endearing touch of sass. But now, she was practically a gentle little lamb.

And that wasn’t all. Just yesterday, she had suddenly succeeded in humanizing all on her own!

“Myao? (Why are you looking at me like that?)”

Sensing Sabina’s gaze, Maybel looked up at her, the sharp outer corners of her eyes tilted upward in a chic, feline glare.