Mako sat in the back seat of her mother's car, looking thoroughly miserable.
It wasn't motion sickness.
The real reason was—
The silver-furred cat lying proudly beside her.
Gin.
And he wasn't just a cat.
He was visible only to Mako.Not to her mother, not to the people on the street—no one else could see him.
He called himself a digital lifeform.
(Why are you even coming with me…?)
Just thinking was enough; Gin could hear it.That alone was beyond creepy—at this point, it was simply annoying.
"Can't be helped," Gin replied lazily, his tail flicking. "You and I are connected now. Whether you like it or not, we cannot be apart."
Mako's eyes twitched.
That silver tail—It was attached to her lower back, right at the tailbone.
No matter how much she pulled, it wouldn't come off.
She couldn't feel anything physically, yet the "connection" was undeniably there.
(No, no, no, no—what the heck is this…!?)
Mako grabbed the tail with both hands and shivered violently.
(This is seriously bad, right? Shouldn't I just go back to the hospital—?)
"A fair point. Even I find this situation difficult to explain."
(YOU being confused is NOT reassuring!)
She screamed internally.
(Also… what even is a 'digital lifeform'!?)
"So they say. Merely a name humans decided to give us."
Gin spoke as if it had nothing to do with him, tail swaying softly—almost carelessly.
(Then why is a digital lifeform connected to my body!?)
"No idea. When I came to, it was already like this."
Such a blunt answer.
Mako slumped forward.This had to be the very definition of unfair.
She kept tugging and shaking the tail in a desperate attempt to remove it, but it didn't budge at all.
From the outside, she probably looked like someone doing a bizarre interpretive dance in the back seat.
Her mother, Miyu, kept glancing at her through the rear-view mirror.
"Mako… are you sure you were okay to leave the hospital? Are you still feeling sick?"
"N-no! I'm totally fine! Really! I feel great!"
Mako forced a painfully stiff smile.
The doctors had said she was perfectly healthy.And no one else could see Gin.
The last thing she wanted was for this to turn into something big.
If she stayed any longer, they might actually send her to psychiatry.
(Absolutely NOT happening!!)
Determined, Mako tried even harder to act normal.
"…Really? You've been moving weirdly since a minute ago."
"It's—it's nothing! Seriously! I'm just stretching a little, because, uh, sitting too long makes your body stiff! Yeah!"
Her smile twitched dangerously.
Miyu watched her daughter with clear worry.
Then suddenly—
"Oh, Mako! Want to stop by Houraiken and get some ramen? It's been a while."
The moment the words left her mother's mouth—
"Wait—seriously!? Yes! Let's go!"
Mako's face lit up like a sunrise.
For a moment, she forgot all about Gin, the tail, and her entire crisis.
(…Ramen is justice.)
She whispered this truth deep in her heart.
The hot broth and chewy noodles—They had the power to temporarily banish every problem in the world.
She firmly believed that.
"Hm… and what might 'ramen' be?"
Gin's voice echoed in her head.
(Shut. Up.)
Mako yelled back mentally as she turned to the window with a reborn, radiant smile.
For the first time today,the world looked just a little bit brighter.