Interlude:
Kusuri and Kurumi at the Park
“BEHOLD!” KURUMI SAID TO NOBODY IN PARTICULAR. “The legendary hot dog! They only sell it at a stall at this park, and only when the mood strikes them!” She sat on a park bench one early afternoon, hot dog in hand and mouth drooling. Her eyes sparkled.
“Itadakimasu.” After clapping her hands together, she eagerly sank her teeth into the hot dog.
“Yummyyyyyyyyyyyyy!” she shrieked in pure delight, as she always did.
So far, so good. After Kurumi finished off her hot dog and appeased her stomach, however, the plot took a turn.
Kusuri tottered into the park, camped herself on a grassy patch, and pulled out a test tube.
“This seems like good spot to experiment, aye. Let’s see what happens if Kusuri pours Grass Grow Ginormous Medicine here.”
“Am I the only one getting the feeling that this is a massive red flag?” Kurumi muttered.
Apparently still oblivious to Kurumi’s existence, Kusuri scattered the contents of the test tube all over the grass with a
self-important flourish. The next moment, the grass seemed to sway for an instant before abruptly shooting up like a rocket. If that wasn’t uncanny enough, it twisted and contorted in a very unplantlike fashion. Kurumi watched with an obvious scowl.
“Yikes!” squealed Kusuri, as the grass coiled around her. “G-grass now doing tentacle play!”
“Called it.” she snarked.
Even so, Kurumi ran to Kusuri’s aid. She pulled Kusuri out of the grass, at which point Kusuri applied Grass Get Gentle Medicine. The pair breathed sighs of relief.
“Thanks, Kurumi! You helped Kusuri out of a bind!”
“No problem. But, uh…wouldn’t you have been screwed if you had been by yourself? You ought to exercise a bit more caution.”
“Now to drink this Body Gets Big, Big Shock Medicine and see what happens! Aye!”
What happened next was predictable. “Got big, big shock… C-can’t move…” Kusuri murmured.
Kurumi clutched her head in her hands as she watched Kusuri collapse and start twitching. “What the hell did you expect? Where’s the Medicine-Reversing Medicine?!”
“In breast pocket… Ohhh, zippy-zappy…”
“Is this it?” Kurumi pulled a test tube from Kusuri’s pocket. “Okay, drink up.”
She held Kusuri in her arms like a baby and poured the liquid into her mouth. The effect was dramatic—Kusuri’s twitching instantly ceased.
“Thanks, Kurumi! You helped Kusuri out of a bind! Now for the Become Bird Magnet Medicine!”
Kurumi rolled her eyes. “Don’t you know when to quit?”
Kusuri began to transform. Her child’s body turned into that of a mature young lady. The Medicine-Reversing Medicine had reverted her body to its original form.
“Quit? Why does Kusuri need to do that?” The grown-up Kusuri tilted her head in confusion as she put on her glasses. “Concept of failure does not exist in experiments. Everything is for the sake of collecting data. Trial and error contribute to final result. It is necessary in every field.”
Kurumi blinked, saying nothing for a moment. “The way you always keep soldiering on,” she said eventually. “I kinda…sorta…respect it, I guess?”
“It tickles Kusuri to hear praise from her kouhai. Oh. Hold still a moment.”
“Hm?”
Kusuri reached a hand toward Kurumi’s lips. Despite her confusion, Kurumi did as she was told and stayed put.
“There was ketchup on you, aye… Mmm.”
Kurumi blinked, stunned.
Kusuri wiped the ketchup off Kurumi’s lips and promptly brought her finger to her own mouth. Kurumi’s face turned beet red.
Kusuri, for her part, seemed puzzled by Kurumi’s reaction. “Kusuri always does this sort of thing.”
“Y-yeah, but you’re always in your kid body when you do that… In this form, it’s kinda…”
Kurumi’s heart pounded.
At that moment, however, Kurumi’s stomach let out a cute grumble. It seemed her metabolism had already churned through the hot dog she’d eaten only minutes earlier.
“Argh, I want some meat buns!”
Her current cuisine of choice seemed to have been sparked by a certain something in her purview.
“Then Kusuri will come with you. We’ll buy some together, aye.”
A little while later, the two girls sat on a park bench, stuffing their faces. Parents in the area glanced fondly in their direction.