Morning had arrived. In the quiet bedroom, Kazuma slept peacefully without any distractions that would bother him. Suddenly, a small humming noise began to sound inside the room.

“Ngh… Damn it, I told you already. Not today…” He mumbled.

Kazuma rolled over and covered his head over with bed sheets to avoid the bright light and sound that was disturbing his sleep. Then he finally sat up, still tired.

“Ugh. I thought I already set my alarm not to wake me on weekends…”

He looked over and saw that his alarm clock wasn’t ringing. Kazuma scratched his head.

“Then what could…”

A gleam of light from that emanated from his right hand caught his attention. Kazuma stared at his hand for a while, and then looked back at his alarm clock, then back to his hand. While he stared at his hand, his tired trance began to decline. But once he realized what was going on, he started to panic.

“W-w-w-what the hell is this?!” Kazuma shouted.

He shook frantically as he looked at his glowing right hand.

Kazuma tried to get out of bed, but instead he fell down on the floor with his face first. He managed to recover, not minding his injury, and he quickly ran over to Alice.

“A-Alice!” He yelled out.

Alice was woken by Kazuma’s call of her name. She sat up as she rubbed her eyes.

“Hm? What is it Kazuma?”

He quickly crawled over to Alice as he showed his right hand that had a glowing crest with a diamond star-like shape on both his palm and his backhand.

“What did you do with my hand?!” He demanded.

Alice pushed the hand that was in front of her face, and put her hand on Kazuma’s face.

“Calm down. Now what’s the problem?”

“This.” He replied, pointing at his hand.

“Ok, well…”

Alice grabbed Kazuma’s right hand and speculated the glowing crest.

“Strange… this looks like the work of a contract, but where is the other recipient?”

“Whatever it is, hurry up and fix it!”

As she took a closer look at the crest on his hand, her right hand also began to emit a light. She stared at her own hand for a while.

“Huh. Well, what do you know.” She said, showing her hand with the same glowing crest as Kazuma.

“…”

There was an awkward silence. While Kazuma was trying to grasp the situation, Alice stared at her own hand. Kazuma closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and calmly put both his hands onto Alice’s shoulders.

“…Alice.”

She looked at him.

“Hm?”

“What is going on?!” He shouted while he shook her back and forth violently.

“Gaah!” Alice screamed.

At the same time, the crest on their hands stopped glowing and it disappeared. Kazuma let go of Alice and inspected his right hand more closely. Beside from the glowing crest that had appeared earlier, nothing else had seemed out of the ordinary.

“…Strange.” Alice said looking at her hand.

“Uh, so what just happened?” Kazuma asked.

Alice looked at Kazuma.

“A contract, it seems.”

“Contract? I don’t remember signing anything.”

“Well, it’s not a paper that you sign, it’s more of a magical contract.”

“A magical contract? Wait, but I never agreed to anything!”

Alice shrugged.

“I don’t really quite understand it myself, to be honest. I’ve only read about contracts a couple of times, but never seen or had ever experienced one firsthand.”

“Wait, so what does this mean now?”

“Well… if I had to guess, this means you and I are now bonded together?”

Kazuma took a moment to process this.

“Wait—what?! Hold on a moment. ‘Bonded together’?”

“It’s hard to put into words…” Alice contemplated.

“B-But you’re a magician aren’t you? Can’t you fix this?”

Alice sighed.

“Don’t you remember? You saw yesterday that for some apparent reason, that I couldn’t use my magic. But even I could…”

Alice slowly turned her head away from Kazuma.

“I don’t really know how to remove it, per se.”

“Y-You’re kidding right? So I’m stuck like this forever?”

“…Not exactly. This is only a guess, but maybe we can technically still break the contract if something interferes with the connection.”

“R-Really?! Like what?”

“That… I don’t know about either, unfortunately. Still, it’s strange. I wonder what triggered this—”

Kazuma knelt down on all fours as if all hope was lost for him. An intense somber aura emanated around him.

“N-No way…”

Alice unsure of what to do at the situation, tried to cheer him up.

“D-Don’t worry! I read that magicians who form contracts with other people are able to use extraordinary abilities! S-So it’s not all bad right?”

“…”

“A-And it’s not like its life-threatening, so you don’t have to worry about that!”

(“Not only did I take in a magician under my roof, but now I have some contract bound onto me forever?… how could this have happened?”) He murmured.

“Um…K-Kazuma?”

Alice stood there helpless to do anything to cheer up Kazuma. She slowly knelt down towards him and gave Kazuma a pat on the back.

“T-There, there…”

There was a sudden ring at the doorbell, and at that same time Alice jerked.

“S-Someone is at the door?”

Alice peeked out the window and saw that both Makoto and Shinji were waiting at the front door.

“Wha— your friends are here? You didn’t tell me?”

“I didn’t have time, because of this weird contract thing I got caught in!”

Kazuma sighed.

“I’ll…just get the door…”

(It’ll be weird if I wasn’t with him…) Alice thought.

“I-I’ll stay with you so that you don’t do anything rash.”

“Do what you want…” He replied dully.

The doorbell rang again, and Kazuma walked sluggishly to go open the door.

“Coming…”

He opened the door to only see his two friends waiting outside.

“Yo!” Makoto greeted.

“Meowning.” Shinji greeted stoically as he raised his hand.

Makoto turned to Shinji who responded back at him with a stoic expression.

“Did you really have to do that cat joke?”

“Well it was purrfect the meowment.”

Makoto sighed as he shrugged.

“You and your weird moments, Shinji. So anyways Kazuma—”

The two of them saw Kazuma all gloomy, and they both backed up a little to avoid his gloominess from spreading.

“W-What happened to you?” Makoto asked.

Kazuma slowly looked up at his two friends.

“Huh?… Oh… nothing really…”

“D-Do you want us to come back at a later time? Or…”

“N-No it’s fine… come on in…”

Kazuma moved away from the door, and both Makoto and Shinji slowly took off their shoes as they tiptoed carefully into the house.

“S-So uh… where’s that girl? Alice?”

“Over there…” Kazuma pointed at Alice who sat at the couch.

Alice greeted Makoto and Shinji with an awkward wave and smile. In contrast with Alice’s light-hearted greeting, Makoto and Shinji somehow felt like there was a somber atmosphere with Kazuma being all gloomy.

“D-Dude, are you like…ok?”

“It’s nothing… I’ll be back soon…”

The two of them both sat down on his couch and watched Kazuma slowly walked up the stairs until he was out of their sight. Makoto quickly turned to Shinji.

(“H-Hey Shinji…what do you think something happened to Kazuma?”)

(“He looks pretty down.”)

(“It must’ve hit him pretty bad if he’s this down.”)

(“Should we ask him?”)

The two of them thought for a moment.

(“…On second thought, let’s not.”) Makoto suggested.

(“Why not ask Alice?”)

(“I guess, but…”)

The two of them looked over at Alice’s direction for a while, and she jerked the moment she realized that Makoto and Shinji were watching her.

“C-Can I help you…?”

“Why is Kazuma being all gloomy?” Shinji asked stoically.

“Oh ok, I guess being we’re straightforward then?” Makoto added.

“Uh… well…”

Alice was unable to make an excuse right on the spot. But at that same moment, Kazuma had returned downstairs with a game station, a game controller and a box of video games for the system.

“Here you go…”

He put the things on the coffee table.

“Uh, Kazuma? There’s only one controller… and there’s three of us.” Makoto pointed out.

“…Did you bring another controller?” Kazuma asked.

“Not—”

“I have one right here.” Shinji suddenly answered as he pulled a game controller from his jacket pocket.

“Shinji, why do you even have a game controller in your pocket?” Makoto asked.

“…I brought two.” Shinji replied as he pulled out another game controller from his other jacket pocket.

“…Gimme one.”

Alice suddenly stood up from her seat and grabbed Kazuma’s arm.

“Please excuse us for a minute.” She said to the two guests.

Makoto and Shinji saw Alice drag Kazuma upstairs until they were out of sight.

“…They’re the odd couple aren’t they?” Shinji said.

“I guess so. Anyways—what game should we even play?”

He looked through the video games that Kazuma had left behind on the table, while Shinji was setting up the game station to the television.

“Let’s see here… he’s got Taddle Quest, Taddle Fantasy… Man, how could he even afford this many games? He’s got a pretty good collection, but they’re mostly just RPGs, fighting games, and some dating sims.”

“…I’m done setting up the game station here, Makoto. Choose a game and make sure it’s a two player.”

“That’s kind of a hard decision to make since he’s got a lot of those too… what kind of game do you want then?”

“How about a fighting game?”

“A fighting game huh? Alright then…”

Makoto was able to narrow down between a couple of fighting games that Kazuma had, but still couldn’t decide.

“…Nope. Still can’t decide on a game.” He said with his hands up.

Shinji walked over to the table and looked through one of the games.

“Hmm… I can see the problem here since both of these are exceptional fighting games…”

“Eh. I give. Choose whatever you want Shinji, anything’s fine at this point.” Makoto groaned.

“Then… I choose this one.”

Shinji put the game disk into the game system, quickly sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. The game loaded and began playing the opening.

“Oh! Dengeki Bunko, huh? That one is pretty good.”

Makoto leaned over to grab the game controller.

“Hey Shinji, wanna see the best girl?”

“…Don’t we have different standards about that though?”

“I guess you’re right, but we can all agree that Aoi-tan is one of the best! Right?”

“True.”

“But if we’re talking about the game here, that’s a whole other story…”

“…”

“…”

There was an awkward silence between the two friends for a while.

“…I bet your best girl in this game can’t beat mine.” Makoto said.

“I’ll take you up on that.”

Alice had took Kazuma into the bedroom. When they both were inside, she shut the door behind her.

“…Kazuma.”

“…”

There was no response.

“Kazuma!”

This time, Kazuma slowly looked up at Alice.

“…What is it?”

She sighed.

“Come on. Cheer up, ok? I told you that the contract wasn’t life threatening didn’t I?”

“…Is it really?”

“You can count on it.”

Kazuma stared at Alice’s unwavering expression for a moment, and sighed deeply.

“…Well, it doesn’t seem like you’re lying.”

Alice puffed her cheeks.

“Of course, I wouldn’t! What makes you think that?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll take your word for it.”

“Besides, there’s isn’t much you can really do about it anyways.”

“I guess you’re right about that.”

The two of them exited the bedroom and went downstairs. They saw Makoto and Shinji both playing video games as they sat on the couch. Makoto was furiously mashing buttons on the controller, while Shinji was calmly pressing buttons on the controller. The TV had declared that the game was over, and that player 2 had won. Makoto’s back flopped against the couch once he had lost.

“Damn it, I lost again. How are you even this good Shinji?”

Shinji looked at Makoto stoically as he raised his finger.

“That’s a secret.”

“Secret, huh?”

Makoto’s head turned to the left and saw that Kazuma and Alice were watching them.

“Oh, you’re back.”

“So how’s the game going?” Kazuma asked.

“Shinji already beat me a couple of times. And uh, you got over it pretty quick.”

Kazuma scratched his head as he chuckled awkwardly.

“Y-Yeah…”

“Good to know you’re over it. So, how about a two on two?”

“Two on two? How does that work?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking that since Alice is here, we have four people now to divide into two teams now, don’t we?”

“Yeah but…”

Kazuma leaned in closer near Makoto to whisper to him.

(“Does she even know how to play?”)

“It’s fine! It’s fine! We can teach her when the time comes.”

“What’s this Kazuma?” Alice asked as she pointed at the TV screen.

“It’s a video game.”

“A game? Sounds fun, can I try?”

“You know how to play?”

“No, but can I try?”

Kazuma sighed.

(Of course, she doesn’t.)

“Sure thing, here’s the manual.” Makoto said as he gave her the game manual.

“Hey, wait—”

“Its fine isn’t it?”

“That’s—”

Kazuma scratched his head.

“Alright, I guess.”

While Kazuma watched Makoto and Shinji play a round, Alice was intensively reading through the pages of the manual.

(“I see… so you do this…”) She muttered to herself.

At the same exact time that Shinji had beat Makoto, Alice closed the game manual.

“I’m ready.” She said confidently.

“W-Wow, that was fast.”

Alice held her hand out.

“Controller, please.”

“H-Here you go.”

Makoto handed Alice the game controller.

“Would you like to do a training session first?” Shinji asked.

“No need. Let us start the game.” Alice replied.

Both players had locked in the fighters of their choosing. Soon after, the versus screen appeared on the TV. There was a momentary loading screen, and then when the screen had flashed the words: ‘Round One: Fight!’, both Alice and Shinji began mashing the buttons on their controllers intensely.

All Kazuma and Makoto could do now was just watch in silence.

The two players were evenly matched. Alice had begun comboing attacks from midair, while Shinji attempted to block her attacks and poke damage with his short ranged attacks. At times, one of them would be hit and land on the floor, but somehow recover and began their counterattack. Then at one point, Alice had found an opening in Shinji, as she used one of Shinji’s attacks and counter it with her assist character. Once Shinji was hit she began cornering him with combos. Alice then pulled a super move on him, and the round as won. Point for Alice.

The match made Kazuma and Makoto both speechless beyond words.

(“T-This is like…really intense.”) Makoto whispered to Kazuma.

(“Y-Yeah…”)

(“How is she already this good by just reading the entire game manual?”)

(“About that… I thought you said this was a two on two.”)

Makoto shrugged.

(“Eh, forget it. Why not let them have their fun?”)

Shinji took a breath while he gripped his controller. The screen had flashed words for the second round, and the battle continued.. This time, Alice wasn’t as aggressive as the round before, since Shinji pressured Alice more harshly with attacks. This made Alice vulnerable since she had openings that gave Shinji a chance to strike combos at her. Alice tried to use her burst to counter some his attacks, but failed since he used his assist character to catch her off guard. Point for Shinji.

(“It’s a really close game isn’t it?”) Makoto asked. (“I’m betting my money on Shinji. I think he’s got a card up his sleeve. What about you?”)

(“Don’t be silly. This is just a friendly game, after all.”)

(“Still, who’d you think would win?”)

(“…Maybe Alice.”)

Makoto smirked as he raised an eyebrow.

(“Hoh? So you’re betting on that right?”)

(“Just watch the game.”)

And so the final round came. Each player had one win, and the person who won this round would become the deciding victor. The screen had flashed ‘Round Three’ and the final ‘Fight!’ signal was given. Neither player was giving an inch of advantage to their opponent. Every attack would either be blocked, or countered. There were also many attempts to try and poke damage, but in the end, both players were still close to full health, as if they had never took any damage at all. After a moment of stalling around, Shinji decided to go in for the offensive. Alice jumped and landed an attack on Shinji from above. From there, she began to corner him with combos, but Shinji was able to break free using his burst at the last moment. Shinji now with a bit less than half health, he ran towards her and used his assist character to fling Alice into the air and began comboing his attacks in midair. Alice broke free with a burst, and she grabbed Shinji and used her super attack against him. The move after that was when Alice flung Shinji into the air with the kick. With that, the game was done, and Alice was the declared the victor.

Shinji put his controller down on the table.

“…That was a good game.”

Alice smiled.

“It was.”

Shinji held out his hand.

“I hope we can play again sometime. You’re really good at this game.”

Alice shook his hand firmly.

“Likewise.”

“Uh, I don’t mean to interrupt, Shinji…” Makoto said.

“But she technically only read the game manual, and somehow was able to play the game like a pro.”

“I don’t see anything wrong with that. Also, wasn’t this supposed to be a two on two?”

Makoto chuckled awkwardly as Shinji stoically looked up at the clock.

“Looks like it’s about time for us to go.”

Makoto looked at the clock as well and at the same time, his stomach growled.

“You’re right. Man, am I hungry. Hey Kazuma, got any food?”

“Yeah, no. Nice try.”

“Not even your homemade—”

“Just go home.”

Alice and Kazuma accompanied them to see them off, and both Makoto and Shinji waved at them as they left Kazuma’s house.

“…They’re good people.” Alice said. “You’re lucky to have friends like them.”

“…Yeah.”

Kazuma yawned as he stretched.

“Well, since that’s done, I’m going to the supermarket to buy ingredients. Actually, now that I think about it, they might have a sale going on today.”

“The market?! W-What are we going to have? I want curry!”

“Now hold on a moment…”

The hooded figure sat at the top of the roof as he continued to watch the two of them from afar. He bit into an apple and chewed for a while before swallowing.

“…Curry, huh? Now that would be nice.”