Phew~!

You wipe a bead of sweat from your forehead as you close the incisions you've made in Kisha's back. Flesh knits back together; muscles mend, and skin regrows. Your lovely essence is a wonderful cure-all for situations like this.

Kisha's spine certainly looks nice. You've removed all of the pesky scar tissue, reforged her vertebrae, and regenerated her spinal cord. She'll have to go through more gene therapy treatments later to clear the rest of her chronic conditions, but she should be able to walk again. You even managed to get her immune system to stop overreacting to nanomachine treatment.

This means that there are a lot of lovely upgrades you've been able to install on Kisha. With her consent of course. Like the cyberlink port inserted right at the nape of her neck, a small metallic hole just the right size for a datacable to jack into. A few nanomachine injections to start building datataps and memory banks throughout Kisha's nervous system, some ocular augmentations to give her an inbuilt augmented reality display…

She should really be able to step into the cyber-jockey role you want to give her now.

And, of course, she received the basic augmentation package all of your maids have. Enhanced speed, strength, more resilient organs, more efficient metabolism, strengthened immune system that'll laugh off any bacterium or virus…

Can't forget the new cat ears of course! Or the other touchups you decided to make to Kisha's body! Hee~! Yes, you do good work if you do say so yourself.

It's a pity the whole thing took ten hours. Gosh, you're never doing something like this again!

"Alright dear, time to wake up," you coo at the unconscious girl lying face down on the table. She shivers as you run a finger down her healed, more sensitive spine. Kisha's eyelids flutter when you ease off on the flow of essence you're channeling as she finally stirs awake.

"… Sleepy…" Kisha murmurs then lets out a throaty moan as you gently massage the small of her back. The cute new ears on top of her head twitch as your supple hands ply her new sensitive spots. "Feelsh good~!"

"How are you feeling, dear?" You ask.

"… Mistressh~?" Kisha turns over to stare at you blearily. "You're… You're done?"

"I am indeed!"

"So my… my legs…" Kisha looks down at her lower body, frowns. "Why… Why can't I move… You didn't fix me, did you…?"

Oh?

"Hmm…" You smile innocently, and walk over to Kisha's slim feet. They're bony, almost withered-looking. Not at all the kind of dainty feet a cute girl should have.

But, they're still capable of feeling all kinds of nice things. Probably more so after your, ahem, upgrades to Kisha's legs and spine.

You reach down, grab ahold of Kisha's feet. She moans, her toes twitching as you give her a nice foot massage, rubbing her soles with your thumbs. "Nnh~! What…?"

"Felt that, didn't you~?" You tease, then wink.

"… I can move my toes? I can move my toes! My legs, I…" Kisha's legs twitch now, her knees slowly bending, her tendons and muscles pulling. "I can move my legs again!"

"I did tell you that I'd fix you, stop being so doubting, dear…" You trail off as you notice tears beginning to well in Kisha's eyes. "Oh, gosh, are you going to start crying now?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry it's just… Just…" Kisha begins to blubber. "Nobody's been able to fix me, and it's just… I just… I'm sorry, I'm just too happy right now. Thank you! Thank you so much! I can't… Thank you~!"

You roll your eyes, and reach to the side table to grab Kisha a tissue. Gosh, she's being so dramatic…

"… Thank you," Kisha whispers as she grabs the tissue and dabs at her eyes. "I'm… I'm… I don't know how I can repay you…"

"Pay me back with your body," you reply bluntly. "And your mind. And your soul."

"… Right," Kisha closes her eyes wearily. "… Okay. I'll do it. Whatever you want me to do. I'm yours."

"Good," you reach out to pat Kisha on the head. "Now stop being so serious already and get off the table. But do not try walking. Your muscles and bones are still too weak to support the weight of your body."

"Everything feels… It feels like… How it used to, before…" Kisha stares down at her legs as she swings her body around to sit upright on the medical table. "It doesn't hurt…"

"You think I'd heal you then let you suffer in pain afterward? I'm not like the quack doctors who neglected you," you sniff, then hand Kisha a stack of paperwork. "Here."

"What's this?"

"The schedule you've got to follow for your physical therapy regime," you reply easily. "As well as a diet plan to help you put on more muscle and increase your bone strength. Oh, I've also prescribed some medication to help promote bone growth; one of the maids will see to it that you get it when you leave."

"When I leave…?"

"It's been ten hours my dear. You should have clocked out two hours ago. Unfortunately, you were undergoing a necessary medical procedure so…" You sigh. "Guess you're getting paid overtime on your first day."

"Sveta's not going to be happy…" Kisha bites down on her lip.

"I get the feeling she'll just be happy you're happy," you say as you sit down on the medical table with your new pet. Your hand goes up, and you pat Kisha's shoulder in a consoling, awkward gesture.

"It's really… I'm really fixed then."

"You sure are!" You cheer. "And I made a few improvements to you as well."

"Right… The things we talked about…" Kisha sighs, letting out a squeal as you reach around to fondle her spine. She arches her back, a surprised moan escaping her lips as you trail your finger all the way down the divot in her back, right down to the little dimple just above the fleshy cheeks of Kisha's buttocks. Her ears twitch, her new tail stands up on end. "Nyah~?! Hyan~!"

"I made your back extra sensitive, so you'll feel extra nice when someone pats it like that. Back massages are going to feel heavenly for you from now on," you purr into Kisha's ear. "An upgrade I'm honestly planning on rolling out to the rest of my maids now…"

"Nnh~!" Kisha squirms as you continue to massage her gently, your fingers tracing the contours of her newly healed spine. "Oh, that feels good… Hyah~!"

"And that's not all. Your legs? It'll take less time for you to put on muscle mass and get your bone density up… And they're also going to be just as sensitive," you lower your hand to cup Kisha's thigh, massaging the withered muscle gently. Just the touch of your hand on her leg causes Kisha to jerk.

"Nyah~!" Kisha mewls, beginning to pant. "It feels hot now…"

"You'll find that physical therapy will be more of a fun experience. And there are a few other things as well, but I don't want to spoil the surprise. Because as much as I want to just utterly molest you right now? To really, truly break you in?"

"…?" Kisha looks at you, confusion warring with pleasure in her eyes.

"You need to leave. Now, before your sister comes back to kick down my front door," you say. "Because you have been here for ten hours. Go home. I'll have the maids get your things, okay?"

"… But I wanted..." Kisha says, sounding a bit disappointed.

"More pats?"

Your new pet nods her head sheepishly.

"Those will have to wait, my dear. I expect you'll have a lot of explaining to do to your sister as it stands. I just went in and gave you a set of cat ears after all. Some changes to your hair color, just a bit of a touchup to your bust, and much better skin... Though you still need to moisturize, okay?" You snap out.

"You gave me cat ears?!" Kisha blurts out, looking excited now.

"Go look at yourself in the mirror before you leave," you reach up now to give Kisha a light pat on the head... And to fondle her new ears quickly.

"Hyah~! Nyah~!" Kisha mewls as you pet her head, her eyes briefly closing. A truly blissful smile overtakes her face. "Ah, feels so good to be patted..."

"It does, doesn't it?"

"... Holy shit, Sveta's going to kill me for doing this to myself," Kisha realizes. "… Damnit Sveta. Can't you just… Deal with her, mistress – I mean, miss Alice? So I can spend more time here? And so I don't have to explain..."

Oho. All that essence you poured into Kisha really is having a significant effect on her cognition. Yes, you'll have her properly trained before the week ends at this rate…

"I can't, but maybe you can," you reply cryptically.

"… Eh…?"

"I'll explain it to you later; I have other things to attend to right now. Bye for now~!"

And just like that, you waltz out of the room. Then sigh.

Gosh, that's all that serious business taken care of. You groan, crick your own back, turn your neck and hear your vertebrae pop. Ugh, being stuck in surgery for ten hours is just the worst. You couldn't even take phone calls. One wrong application of essence in the wrong area and you could have fried Kisha's entire nervous system.

You'll have to follow up on Kisha before she truly leaves for the day. You have a few other things you wanted to slip in her direction. A few tasks for her to perform while she's in the confines of her home…

But first you've got to check your phone. You sent Kaina a message earlier saying that you'd be indisposed for the next few hours, but...

Kaina: Alice, it has been ten hours since your last text. Are you well?

Kaina: Alice, please respond.

Kaina: Please respond, Alice. I worry for your wellbeing.

Kaina: When we conversed earlier you told me that you believed the medical procedure you were performing would only take five hours.

Kaina: It has been ten.

Kaina: I am coming over to your building now to check on your physical condition.

Oh, cheese and crackers that's not good.

That's actually the opposite of good. You didn't think Kaina would be this worried if you went off the radar for a while.

She wouldn't… She wouldn't come check on you as Infinity Princess, would she…?

Lupe runs through the door at full tilt, chest heaving, sweat pouring from her brow as she comes to a stop in front of you. "Mistress, the Magical Girl Infinity Princess - "

You flinch now as a wash of mana surges over you, raw and powerful. Only one girl in all of Terminus City has a mana reactor that outputs so much raw energy you can feel it this far away. Only one girl has a magical signature that's this warm and radiant… And intimidating.

Oh gosh, Kaina is about to show up as Infinity Princess!

On the one hand, you're so happy she cares this much! Kyah~! Your love really does care about you!

But on the other hand… This is actually really inconvenient! You don't want your love to poke around your headquarters just yet! It's one thing for you to invite her to your room; it's another thing if she decides to tear up the building to look for you!

"… Infinity Princess has been spotted approaching our headquarters, mistress. What should we do?!" Lupe asks, a faint tremor in her voice.

You can't blame her for feeling fear. You're honestly a bit panicked too.

Your thumbs blur as you mash them against your phone's keyboard, typing out a hasty response to Kaina…

Alice: Sorry~ I got caught up in surgery. Took longer than I was expecting!

Alice: Just got out of the operating room. All good, you don't need to worry about me!

Kaina: I see. And how is your new employee doing? Is she well now?

Alice: Totally! A bit of rehab here, some TLC there, and she'll absolutely be able to walk again!

Kaina: I see. That is good to hear.

Kaina: ... I apologize for the terseness of my earlier messages. I believe i may have overreacted. That was an error. I will endeavor to correct it in the future.

Alice: Nah, it's all good ~ 3

Alice: We still doing our date tomorrow? Looking forward to it~!

Kaina: Indeed. I have picked out several locations with the assistance of my coworker that are suitable for an outing.

Kaina: I hope that these locations are suitable for our next outing together. I, too, look forward to it.

Alice: Gotcha. See you tomorrow then~!

Kaina: See you tomorrow.

Phew!

Crisis averted. You allow yourself to relax as you feel Kaina's magical signature recede.

"I just took care of it; we'll be fine," you sigh.

"Is that so, my mistress?" Lupe asks.

"Yep!"

"I'll go tell the rest of the maids to stand down then," Lupe lets out her own sigh of relief as she walks back out the door.

Well, that was exciting! Gosh, your poor heart! Honestly, you can't even be mad at Kaina for worrying. There are days where you do nothing but worry about her. Your love's so cool. So diligent. She spends all of her days working to save the lives of these wretched meatsacks…

… She's so lonely.

You didn't realize how lonely she was at first. The Magical Girl Infinity Princess seemed too cool to be lonely. But now that you've gotten to know her cute sides as well as her cool sides… There's a subtle sadness in her soul, isn't there?

It's hypocritical for you to complain about clinginess. But Kaina…

… Hey, isn't she clinging to you a bit too much? She dropped whatever she was doing earlier just because she worried about you. Just because you hadn't texted in a while!

Not that you mind that she worries or that she's a bit clingy of course! Your love can cling to you as much as she wants! But there's a bit of quiet desperation in her actions, isn't there? It's as if she thinks you're just about to up and leave her. That you'll disappear at any time. That whatever she has with you is too good to be true.

And that honestly makes you a little sad. Kaina shouldn't ever have to feel this way! You love her, and you never want to leave her! Ever! You want to stay by her side as long as she lets you!

So you'll just have to prove that to her on your next date. That Alice Takanashi is here to stay in Kaina's life!

That's something you, and only you, can do!