Chapter 19 — Night Encounter, Part 2

 

Inside the glowing lights, I saw tiny figures—just like the fairies from the picture books I’d read.

“Fairies? You’re small, with sparkling wings and cute clothes. Nice to meet you!”

The fairies exchanged puzzled looks.

“Wait… did we sprinkle the language powder on this kid? I don’t remember. He answered us right away earlier, so I forgot.”

“Interesting. When you arrived at this house, we were in the garden. You shone with such a warm, beautiful light—like the sun. Different from other humans. That’s why we waited to talk to you.”

“Everyone else said not to, but we thought you were special. And we were right.”

Normally, humans couldn’t speak with fairies. I was lucky.

I introduced myself and asked for light, so I could see where the little dog was hurt.

“Light? That’s my specialty. Wait a moment.”

The fairy in yellow flew off with the one in green. They whispered together in the corner. I worried—would they refuse? But soon they returned, landing on my shoulders.

“Yuuki, right?”

“Yes! Please, give me light.”

“Then let’s make a contract. We’ll tell you our names, and if you call us, we’ll shine for you.”

“Contract? Like Mashiro? You’ll be my friends?”

“Exactly. We’ll be your friends forever.”

Mashiro frowned. “Do you understand? A contract binds you. It cannot be broken easily.”

The fairies smiled. “We don’t mind. Yuuki is different. And besides, without a contract, we can’t leave the place we were born. That’s boring.”

I nodded eagerly. “Friends, please!”

The first fairy said, “I’m Dil.”

The second added, “I’m Ryuka.”

I bowed. “Dil, Ryuka, please be my friends.”

They glowed faintly, brighter than before.

“See? The contract worked. Our light is stronger now.”

Ryuka raised his hands, chanting softly. The room filled with brilliant light, like daytime.

Now I could see the little dog clearly. Mashiro lifted me onto the bed so I could check. I examined carefully—wings fine, body fine, tail fine, face fine… but on its forehead was a rainbow-colored stone, glittering beautifully.

Then I saw it—the leg. A deep cut, painful looking.

“Mashiro, there’s a wound! Poor thing, it must hurt.”

Mashiro muttered, “We could call someone… but that would cause a commotion. And you’ve already contracted fairies—that alone will cause enough noise.”

I shook my head. “No time! We must heal it now.”

Dil stepped forward. “Yuuki, I can heal. With our contract, I can use my power. This wound will be gone in no time.”

“Really? Please!”

Mashiro growled. “Why do you keep interrupting me…”

But I focused on Dil. He raised his hands, chanting. A soft green light wrapped around the dog.

“Wow… amazing! The wound is gone!”

The leg was healed completely. I checked again—no more injuries.

“Dil, Ryuka, you’re incredible! Thank you!”

The fairies grinned. “Glad we could help.”

The little dog stirred, shifting. It was waking up.