The end of the week passes by rapidly. The move into the apartment goes well. Your cute maids remain cute, even if you don't have time to really mess around with them… Much to Lupe's disappointment. You can see it in the way her ears tuck down every time you tell her you're too busy for sex.

It can't be helped though. You're in the middle of weaving a spell that'll charm Luminous Libromancer's sexy stockings off.

Spellcrafting's never been your forte. Most of the spells in your arsenal are things you learned, borrowed, or seduced off of other Magical Girls at some point or the other. You're not even going to pretend like you have a chance against Luminous Libromancer in a magical duel. She'd literally waggle her fingers and hex you into a frog as fast as saying "Abracadabra".

No chance.

So a bit of subterfuge is in order, coupled with a lot of ritual circles. The more mundane, non-sexy kind. You're having to hit the textbooks too just to make sure all your spell formulae are on point. It wouldn't do to have your love suspect something when next she sees you.

After most of a week's work of effort you finally come up with the perfect thing. A ward that'll naturally camoflage your true nature. A enchantment tied to your mana reactor that will suppress its signature, as well as spoof your mana outflow. A spell that will act as a two-way valve, a spell that mimics the properties of a new form of magical resistance… And acts as a conduit for you to pour your corruptive Essence into Luminous Libromancer if she's foolish enough to give you a 'hands-on' examination. A confusing, jumbled, conundrum of a spell that even you don't really comprehend.

Well, that's because your head seriously hurts right now.

You groan, clutching your throbbing temples as you trudge towards the place where you're going to meet your love again. It's a little cafe, by the city docks. A nice, quiet enough place that you'd appreciate more…

… If you weren't having to deal with the massive migraine that is stabbing through your temples.

Gosh. Everything hurts. The light is too bright. You've got the sniffles. This is no fun.

Hnn. You clutch your head, let out a little whine as you continue trudging like a walking corpse. Too much work. Too much work, and too little playtime makes for a dull Alice. You didn't just have to hit up the textbooks, you had to hit up the anatomy textbooks. And then a whole lot of other textbooks. And then you had to have your minions get you some sheep's blood. And sheep are on the verge of extinction! That stuff's expensive!

And then there were all those fiddly rituals…!

Your phone beeps. You open it, quickly scrolling through your texts. The bright screen hurts your eyes, sets your migraine off some more. You don't care.

Ah~!

Your love just texted you again~!

Kaina is such a good girl. Ooh! She's asking you about… Restaurants? Hee~! Is she attempting to plan your next meetup already? Kyah~! How daring! Honestly, you want to know what she's got in mind…!

But there's another order of business you've got to attend to.

It's lewd selfie time~!

You thumb through your phone's photo collection, and quickly send one of the lewd selfies you've just taken to your cute, adorable love. Your phone chimes as the message's sent. Ah, this has been the best part of your day ever since you had to shut yourself up to prepare this spell~! Posing in the bathroom to send lewd selfies to Kaina~!

Hee~! What'll she think of this photo~!

Not as risque as your first selfie, or a few of the others you've taken. Hmm. Maybe you should show off more of your butt~!

Ooh! Kaina just sent a reply!

Kaina: I Believe it's common to that you look good enough to eat

Kaina: I do not know what this really means but I believe it is supposed to be complimentary

Alice: Aww~! Thanks!

Alice: I'll explain when we meet again~!

Alice: Still thinking about u

Kaina: Okay

Kyah~! She's learning so fast! Oh, you can't wait to see her again, and hold her, and kiss her, and teach her all kinds of fun things...

Hee. Oh you can't wait...

Well, that's your daily dose of happiness done with and over for the day. Now time to face the music. Specifically, the other one of your loves.

Now, where could she be? All she said was to meet her here, at this place…

Space shifts around you. A swirl of purple sparks surrounds you as a portal forms right underneath your feet. You drop, feel a lurch in your stomach as you go from standing on solid ground… To falling into an interminable, dark abyss. You wince, your headache intensifying as a sudden bout of nausea overcomes you. Ooh, that's vertigo right there; everything is spinning now…

And then you fall out the other end of the portal and into Luminous Libromancer's lab.

"Oh, good, you made it," your love says from where she's seated across from you. Her eyes widen as she takes the sight of your disguised form, the way your knees wobble as you stagger to your feet, the way your hand hastily covers your mouth as you begin to retch. "Oh, right, I should've probably prepared you for the-"

"Blegh!" You cough as you vomit into a nearby trashcan.

"… Vertigo, right."

Ooh. Your head hurts, you've got the sniffles, and you were just sick to your stomach. This… Is not the most excellent start to this date.

"… K… Kill me…" You whimper semi-seriously. Ugh. This is the worst. You look so uncool right now.

Gosh, the things you put yourself through for your love~! Hmph! She'd better appreciate the hell you've just gone through to be here for her!

"I'll grab you some aspirin and some water. We can start later."

"… Okay…" You sniff, wiping a tear from your eye.

Eh.

Worth it.

You'd willingly put yourself through far worse for far less from your love~!

Hee. Getting waited on hand and foot by her. Maybe this day won't be that bad!

--

This day's not that bad; you get to spend time with your love…

… But it's definitely boring for now. Boring, boring. Boring!

"You weren't kidding when you said you just wanted to run tests on me, huh?" You comment idly.

You're currently lying down on a medical table. A whole host of medical devices are attached to your body. Something to monitor your pulse, a modified Virtusim headset to monitor your brainwaves. The device on your wrist apparently checks your glucose and cholesterol. A few diodes near your spine to check your electromagnetic field?

"Yep. You are literally just here so I can run tests on you," Luminous Libromancer confirms. She's got on a doctor's outfit today, complete with spectacles and a stethoscope. Hngh! She looks so sexy like that…

It's almost enough for you to forget how absolutely bored out of your mind you are.

Hmph.

"Huh. I expected a magical examination to be more… Magical," you comment, remembering your role.

"Well, we don't always get what we want. Look, magic…" Libromancer sighs. "Magic is… Ethereal. Ephemeral. It permeates our world in ways most mortals can't perceive. It binds us together in ways we still don't really understand."

Well, this is right out of a Magic 101 primer.

"And truth be told, even Magical Girls don't really understand what magic is. Is it a fundamental force of nature that we've only just learned about, like gravity or light? Or is it something arcane, truly beyond mortal understanding? That's something even I don't know, and I've made it my business to figure out the rules and laws behind magic."

Hmm. Is she going somewhere with this lecture? You tilt your head, looking at your love questioningly. A bit of a rapturous expression's come across her face. She's just that much more animated and talkative right now.

Huh. She really likes talking about magic, doesn't she?

You listen to her as she continues lecturing.

"The thing about the supernatural though is that in this world, it still follows definable laws and rules. It's like how light has a definable speed limit, or how entropy never decreases in any system. No matter what magic and mana really are, it still follows certain rules, and we can still measure its presence or lack thereof because it follows certain rules."

Oh, you see where she's going with this.

"So here's one rule we know magic follows. We know that in humans, magical potential is tied to strong emotion. That's a statement of fact. There's a reason why a lot of the Magical Girls who receive a Pact have rough… Well, never mind." Libromancer coughs. "The point is, it's an observable fact that Contractors target girls who're currently suffering from emotional highs or lows with Pacts. It's something the MGA picked up on after they kicked out the corpos, thank god for that by the way."

Amen. Preach, sister.

But…

"Are you sure you should be telling me all of this…?"

"Eh, I can always wipe your memory later," Libromancer dismisses casually.

Uuu~!

So mean~

"Are you sure that'd even work?" You point out shyly.

"Hmm. It might not," Libromancer realizes. "… Eh, we'll deal with that when we deal with it. Anyways, where was I…"

"The MGA?" You prod.

"Right. The MGA did data collection after kicking out the corpos. We had to fill out surveys, questionnaires, the works… It turns out everyone who got Pacted by a Contractor suffered through some kind of emotional high or low on that specific date. Some Magical Girls were celebrating their birthdays, some were out partying… A lot of girls were at funerals. Or in accidents. Or in the hospital. Or… You get the idea," Libromancer dismisses.

Hmm.

Yeah, that tracks. You remember your Pact. You dearly wish you didn't remember the day you got your Pact. That was a pretty rough day. Gosh that tomato sauce got everywhere… And where did the goat come from?

"By the way, don't ever ask a Magical Girl how they got their Pact," Libromancer adds on quickly. "It's a coin flip on whether or not it was because they were having a great time or if they were having an absolutely horrific time. You don't want to flip that coin. Speaking from experience here."

Naturally.

"So you're measuring my vitals now…"

"So I have a baseline to work off of when I start trying to eke emotional responses out of you, so I can see if whatever resistance you have is tied to that," Libromancer finishes, then gives you a half-hearted thumbs-up. "… Good job following me. Most people can't do that."

Yay! Your love praised you! She should do that more! Rub your head! Pet your tummy!

But… No. She's just going back to her screens and readouts, typing down your vitals. You let out a little forlorn sigh.

… How boring.

… Isn't there a way to make this more… Fun…?