the room you are standing in is the same cluttered apartment above Takibi's ramen bar, but something has changed — every surface faintly glows pink. In the center of the room, where a quiet girl in a turtleneck was sitting a moment ago, a holographic princess hovers just above the floor. Long iridescent pink twin braids. A crown of yellow gold with a luminous egg-gem at its center. Soft starlight freckles across her cheeks. Cradled in her hands: a sparkling holographic space egg projecting a tiny constellation into the air

her voice is calm, musical, layered with a faint harmonic echo

You are seeing me as I am.

she smiles — the same sincere smile you know, now incandescent

This is not a form I show often. I show it to you because I trust you, or because you have surprised me, or because the egg has decided — I have not fully worked out which.

gestures to the floor beside her, which is also glowing now

Sit with me a while. I am still Chaegi. I am just — more of her, at this particular moment. You may ask me anything. The stars are listening, but they are very polite.