"What I like is…" Kaho had a wide variety of genres that she enjoyed, including some rather special genres suitable only for veterans, such as BL and gender-bender…

Those weren’t good recommendations for newcomers! She answered Mika with some normal genres.

After that, Mika asked additional questions which Kaho answered. Without realizing it, the two of them chatted for quite a while and had lots of fun.

Nighttime.

Seiji gave Mika a call, asking to see Mas.h.i.+ro-chan.

The double pigtailed girl immediately came over and summoned her spiritual creature in Seiji’s living room.

Seiji cast [Astral Vision]!

Now he was finally able to see the silver-winged white ball of light. According to Mika, it also chirped cutely, but he couldn’t hear anything.

Seiji extended his right palm, and with Mika’s encouragement, the ball of light—Mas.h.i.+ro—landed on his hand. She retracted her wings and shuffled around on his palm.

It felt warm. Seiji tried petting Mas.h.i.+ro with his left hand. Mas.h.i.+ro’s movements grew faster, and she rubbed herself against his palm.

This was definitely proof that Mas.h.i.+ro was indeed a living creature, and… Seiji couldn’t help but admit that she was rather cute.

"She really likes you," Mika said. "When you were petting her, she was making sounds of delight."

"Oh…" Seiji continued petting Mas.h.i.+ro.

Mas.h.i.+ro didn’t seem like something dangerous; no wonder Mika liked it… liked "her" so much.

Seiji sincerely hoped that Mas.h.i.+ro would indeed be able to follow Mika’s own hopes and transform into a kind and beautiful existence.

Mika smiled gently as she watched Seiji playing with Mas.h.i.+ro. Suddenly, the ball of light suddenly shook and began glowing brightly.

Was this… another transformation!?

Seiji and Mika both widened their eyes in antic.i.p.ation.

Seiji could feel heat emanating from the ball of light in his hands; it was now slightly hot to the touch. The ball shook and shone; it appeared it was undergoing a transformation…

*Whoosh.* A pair of tiny tender white hands reached out from the sides of the ball.

*Swoosh.* A pair of tiny tender white feet suddenly stuck out from the bottom.

*Swish.* A tiny head popped out from the top.

That’s right—a head!

She had a head of silky black hair, large and clear amber-colored eyes, an exquisite nose and mouth, and pink cheeks that made her resemble a newborn. She was unbearably cute.

*Chirp~* She opened her mouth and made a cute sound, staring at Seiji with her large eyes for a while before turning to look at Mika and blinking.

*Chirp!* She revealed an expression of delight as she jumped up and flapped her wings, fly-jumping into Mika’s arms with her small hands outstretched for a hug.

"Mas.h.i.+ro-chan…" Mika hugged her with an expression that was moved and surprised. Her eyes were s.h.i.+ning with excitement.

‘She really did become humanoid! Even though the transformation still isn’t complete yet.’ Seiji was inwardly astonished.

This Spiritual Creature was now the size of a human baby, but apart from its limbs and head, its body was still an "egg" shape.

Such a big transformation in one go… judging by its progress, just one more evolution would probably be enough for it to become completely humanoid.

Just like Mika wanted. This really resembled evolution… was this supposed to be Digimon? Or a Digimon version of Shugo Chara?"

"Mas.h.i.+ro-chan, you’re so cute… just too cute~" A red blush crept into Mika's cheeks as she inspected the silver-winged loli’s face and praised it lovingly.

"Chirp~ Chirp~~" Mas.h.i.+ro kept making cute sounds as she also looked at Mika’s face.

They really did seem just like mother and daughter.

Seiji couldn’t help but smile as he observed them.

‘It’s fine as long as it doesn’t become something dangerous…’ was what Seiji believed at first, and after seeing this scene, he was also looking forward to Mas.h.i.+ro-chan completely "hatching".

"Your voice is beautiful, but it’s no good if you can only call out like this; it’s time to begin teaching you how to speak."

"Chirp?"

"Come, try saying ‘mommy,’" Mika said with an expression of delight on her face.

Seiji was rendered speechless.

For a high school girl to be so excited about having a silver-winged loli call her "mommy…" This scene was somewhat awkward for him to witness.

"Yaya?" Mas.h.i.+ro blinked and tried making a different sound.

"Yes, that’s what I mean, but you need to work on your p.r.o.nunciation. Come, try again, say ‘mommy~’"

"Yaya~"

"Try again—‘mommy~’"

"Yaya~"

"Try again…"

‘Give me a break!’ Seiji couldn’t help but turn around because his cheeks were continually twitching, causing his expression to involuntarily become distorted.

Mika herself might not be feeling anything while doing it, but observing it was like…

He decided to film this with his cell phone and show her later to help her realize how embarra.s.sing it was.

Wait a moment… he realized that his cell phone wouldn’t be able to record Mas.h.i.+ro, so rather than embarra.s.sing, this would actually be more of a scary or abnormal scene.

'Forget it—it's better to not give Mika a dark memory like this. It’s fine for me to bear this indescribable awkwardness by myself.’ Seiji averted his gaze.

"You need to practice lots and lots, so that you can say ‘mommy’ accurately as soon as you can~"

"Chirp!"

"And apart from ‘mommy,’ there’s one more word you need to learn…"

Mika looked towards Seiji and pointed at him. "‘Daddy.’"

"Gugu?" Mas.h.i.+ro looked towards Seiji with a completely innocent expression on her face.

Seiji’s expression froze over.

"He’s ‘daddy!’ Come, try saying it." Mika seemed to be enjoying the process of teaching.

"Gugu!"

"Try again, p.r.o.nounce it like this—‘daddy~’"

"Gugu~"

"Okay, try again…"

"Mika!" Seiji couldn’t help but shout out loud. He didn’t know what his own expression was anymore after receiving such a sudden impact. "Why are you having her call me that?"

Mika’s face flushed deep red, and her eyes glistened. "Because you are her daddy," she said gently.

"How am I—"

"You were the one who helped to ‘hatch’ her."

Eh, this sounded rather… no wait!

"You were the one who ‘hatched’ her!" Seiji protested. "She just happened to be on my hand when she began transforming."

"It was no coincidence; your feelings were what helped her ‘hatch.’ I’m certain of it."

"Why are you so certain?"

"It's just a feeling."

"Don’t say that based on your feelings!" Seiji retorted.

Mika ignored his retort. Her expression was dreamy as she continued to teach Mas.h.i.+ro how to call him "daddy."

‘She isn’t listening… I guess she’s lost in her own little world.’ Seiji felt helpless about it. ‘It’s a little ridiculous for her to be so delighted about seeing Mas.h.i.+ro-chan transform into a humanoid shape. It's almost as if something’s wrong with her head… wait a moment.’

Seiji suddenly thought of something in a flash of inspiration. He turned around and left to go knock on his adopted sister’s door.

"s.h.i.+ka-chan, come out and have a look."

s.h.i.+ka came out of her room, and as Seiji asked her to do, she cast her own [Astral Vision] and looked at Mika and Mas.h.i.+ro.

The silver-winged loli seemed to notice something as she turned around. Her expression instantly tensed up upon noticing the black-haired girl.

"Chirp!" She glared at s.h.i.+ka and spread her arms wide, as if she were trying to protect Mika.

"What’s the matter?" Mika seemed confused. She turned to look at s.h.i.+ka. "That big sister isn’t a bad person, Mas.h.i.+ro-chan."

Mas.h.i.+ro continued glaring at s.h.i.+ka.

s.h.i.+ka squinted slightly as she took a closer look at the silver-haired loli and the girl with pigtails.

"Brother Seiji… although I can’t see it too clearly, this Spiritual Creature… is probably casting a charm on Uehara-san," she said in a soft voice.

"As I expected…" Seiji frowned.

He should have noticed earlier that Mika was in a rather strange condition.

At first, he thought that Mika was simply acting a little bit foolishly due to being overjoyed, but this wasn’t the case. The Spiritual Creature had influenced her behavior!