Brother and Sister? (Two-in-One)

Looking at the image in the mirror, the girl tilted her head and reached out to tap its surface.

Ripples shimmered across the mirror at her touch. The image before her eyes suddenly became a swirling vortex, and then the whole world began to turn upside down.

She didn't know how much time passed, until...

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" A handsome white-haired boy tapped the girl on the forehead, rousing her from her daze.

"Who... are you?" The girl looked around, then stared blankly at the boy before her, who seemed both familiar and unfamiliar.

Hearing her answer, the boy raised his left hand without a second thought and rapped her on the head.

"Ow! What did you hit me for?!" The girl clutched her head and glared at him.

"Why do you think I hit you?" The boy shot her an exasperated look. "Who am I? I'm your brother! What, are you too embarrassed to admit you know me?"

The knock and his words instantly brought back the girl's lost memories. They came to her naturally, as if she had lived here for years.

Her name was Mira, and the boy before her was Yuri. He really was her older brother, and they were members of the Fire-Bellied Toad, one of the kingdom's top ten mage guilds...

Yuri looked hesitantly at the girl, who still hadn't spoken. His little sister was wonderful in every way: clever, lively, and adorable, though she occasionally liked to tease him, just as she had today.

But... hadn't she been "silent" a little too long this time?

Just as he was about to speak, Mira suddenly slipped her arm through his right arm as naturally as could be and said with a grin, "I was joking, brother. Come on, let's go home."

"Ah, yeah... let's go."

Seeing her react just as she normally would, Yuri secretly breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, a little awkwardly.

One day

After finishing a job, Mira was on her way back to the guild to hand it in and register its completion.

As she passed an alley, she happened to overhear a conversation.

"I really don't know why the guild master keeps that Devil around. We'd be better off kicking him out."

"Exactly. Because of him alone, a lot fewer people come to our guild with requests now."

"He's only got the nerve to stay in the guild because he has a genius for a little sister."

"How about we beat him up? It's not like he'll fight back."

"Sounds good to me. Or we could find somewhere quiet and kill him..."

The man's words came to an abrupt halt.

Mira stood blocking the mouth of the alley, black energy seeming to rise from her body as she glared fiercely at the guild members before her.

"You guys, what were you just saying about my brother?"

When they saw it was Mira, they recoiled several steps in fright.

But then they remembered they outnumbered her, and with their dignity as her seniors on the line, they forced themselves to say, "W... were we wrong?"

"Your brother's a monster, a Devil!"

"Not only did he kill his own father, he also drove his mother away. He's a complete and utter..."

Boom!

A pitch-black sphere of light grazed their scalps and flew past, blasting down the wall behind them in an instant.

"If I hear you say anything like that again, I'll kill you."

Mira delivered the vicious threat and turned to leave, while the frightened men collapsed to the ground.

In the evening, at dusk.

Mira left the guild as usual and headed home.

But the moment she stepped through the gate, she saw Yuri waiting nearby, his conspicuous white hair gleaming in the sunlight.

Come to think of it, although they were biological siblings, their hair colors were completely different.

Yuri's was white, while Mira's was black. Some people had even made fun of it, but she'd beaten them up.

Mira stepped up to him and said brightly, "Brother, what are you doing here?"

Instead of answering, Yuri asked expressionlessly, "Did you get into a fight?"

Mira lowered her head, not daring to meet his eyes. "I... I didn't..." she said, her voice lacking conviction.

"Liar. The guild master told me everything!" Yuri's tone grew sterner.

Mira flinched and shrank back. "They started it..." she muttered.

"And you're still making excuses!"

Yuri glared at her, visibly irritated. "Look at you, so full of yourself. You even hit your guildmates. Think knowing a few spells makes you so great?! Who are you going to hit next, the guild master?!"

Mira hung her head in silence. "..."

"How many times have I told you not to argue with people over me?! Don't argue with people over me!! Why won't you listen?!!!"

"But, but... they called you a Devil, and a monster... I couldn't hold back, so... so..."

As her brother scolded her, Mira felt deeply wronged. Her shoulders shook, tears welled in her eyes, and her voice trembled with sobs. She couldn't get a complete sentence out.

"Sigh..."

Seeing her like this, Yuri couldn't stay angry, however furious he'd been. He could only put a hand on her head and ruffle her hair. "You weren't hurt, were you?" he asked with a helpless sigh.

"N... no... waah—" Mira looked up and saw the concern flash in Yuri's eyes. Unable to hold back her tears any longer, she let them stream down her cheeks.

After a long while, the sobbing beside him gradually subsided. Only then did Yuri say gently, "All right, stop crying. Let's go home."

"No!" Mira pouted and turned her head away, her eyes red-rimmed and a few tears still clinging to their corners. "Not unless you carry me on your back."

Yuri was speechless. "You're not hurt, so why should I carry you..."

Mira scratched her head and said guiltily, "I just remembered, I actually twisted my ankle by accident."

"Give me a break. If you'd twisted your ankle, how did you walk out here?" Yuri exposed her lie without mercy.

"Oh, I don't care. I want you to carry me!"

With that, Mira jumped onto her brother's back, acting spoiled.

Yuri could do nothing about it and ultimately gave her what she wanted.

Mira lay contentedly on Yuri's back as he carried her toward the end of the road.

In the fading light of the setting sun, amid the gauzy evening breeze.

The shadows of the two orphans leaned against each other, stretching long, long across the ground...

Mira was the Fire-Bellied Toad's genius girl, the brightest rising star even in the entire kingdom.

Powerfully gifted and exceptionally beautiful, she was the most popular and prominent figure in the guild.

Yet this perfect girl had a brother whom everyone despised. Everyone considered him the only blemish on the girl's perfect halo.

But Mira alone knew that her brother was nothing like the person others said he was...

When they were little, they lived in a less than happy family.

Their father, who possessed "Devil Power," often turned into a Devil and beat and cursed their fragile mother and the two young children.

On the worst occasion, he had even tried to draw a blade on them.

Seeing his mother and sister in danger, Yuri, the eldest son in the family, naturally couldn't stand by and do nothing.

In his desperation, he grabbed the magic blade first and stabbed his father, catching him off guard and leaving him lying in a pool of blood.

Blood soaked Yuri's right hand and hair. He stared blankly at the scene before him, murmuring over and over, "I didn't mean to... I didn't mean to..."

Having killed someone, Yuri was terrified. He tried to seek comfort from those around him, but when he looked up, he saw his mother staring at him in fear, as though he were a monster.

In an instant, his emotions fell still... cold as a corpse buried in the snow.

When Yuri woke the next day, his hair had turned white, and his right hand had become a bloody, grotesque Devil Bringer.

Rumor had it that because he'd killed his father, he'd been cursed, inherited the Devil Power, and become a Devil.

Unable to bear the rumors and afraid of her young son, their mother chose to leave. Only his sister, still too young to understand, stayed by Yuri's side.

He often wondered whether, if not for him, Mira would at least have had a complete family...

Yuri leaned alone against the railing on the guild's rooftop, gazing quietly at the distant sky.

A flock of birds flew past. One was shunned because his feathers were a different color, and only a young bird followed close behind him.

The young bird refused to leave his side, but he wanted to leave... otherwise, sooner or later the flock would abandon the young bird because of him too.

He didn't want to see something like that happen again.

"Brother, it's time to eat."

A gentle call came from behind him, and Yuri snapped out of his wandering thoughts... abruptly pulling back the upper half of his body, which had slipped over the railing without his noticing.

At lunchtime, Mira had brought food for two to the guild rooftop to find her brother.

He was always here and rarely even went to the guild hall, so she brought the food to him.

Yuri didn't actually want to come to the guild, but he worked here as a handyman. The head had taken them in when they were little, so he had no choice but to come.

Fortunately, even though no one liked him, no one dared attack him openly in the guild, allowing him a few moments of peace.

Mira watched her brother hide his right hand beneath his loose sleeve and eat with his unaccustomed left hand. Her heart ached for him.

"What's wrong?" Feeling his sister staring at him, Yuri looked up and asked in puzzlement.

"Oh, nothing." Mira immediately changed her expression to an obedient smile and cupped her cheeks. "Brother, let me feed you."

Yuri stared at her with dead eyes. "Are you having another episode?"

"I'm serious!" Displeased with her brother's response, Mira snatched his bowl and chopsticks without waiting for an answer, picked up a piece of food, and held it to his mouth. "Aaah~~~"

Yuri rolled his eyes and swallowed it in one bite.

"Well? It's good, right?" Mira said with a proud grin. "Your little sister made it herself."

"It's all right."

Yuri looked unimpressed as he ate every last bit of food in the bowl.

Yuri and Mira's home

"Mira, bring me my clothes," Yuri called after his bath, opening the bathroom door a crack.

He vaguely remembered bringing clothes in with him, so why had they suddenly disappeared?

"Coming."

The girl, who had been waiting for quite some time, hugged a bundle of clothes and tiptoed to the bathroom door, giggling to herself.

Some people said that opportunity only ever came to those who were prepared.

Others said that if there was no opportunity, you should create one.

Mira understood the principles behind both sayings... and had combined them!

Ambush her brother and peek at him through the crack in the door—nice!

Just as Mira excitedly approached the gap in the open sliding door, ready to peek inside, an arm suddenly reached out.

At the sight of it, Mira immediately lost all interest. Her eyes narrowed, a fierce glint flashing in them.

She stared fixedly at the slender arm. It was covered in countless bruises and scars, some old... and some new.

And this was only one arm.

"Mira, did you bring my clothes?" Yuri asked, waving his arm.

"I brought them, brother. Here."

Mira replied in her most ordinary tone and handed the clothes to Yuri in the bathroom. Then she silently walked away from the bathroom... and a terrifying aura suddenly radiated from her body.

In an alley not far from the guild.

A figure suddenly flew backward into a wall, then slowly slid down and slumped unconscious on the ground.

Judging by the rise and fall of his chest, he was still breathing faintly.

Around him were some twenty other young men in much the same state, lying on their backs or facedown on the ground. They were all badly hurt... but none of them were dead yet.

Mira picked up a battered, bruised blond youth who appeared to be the leader of the group.

Pressing a pitch-black sphere of magic against his head, she glared at him and threatened, "If you don't want to die, tell me the truth. Why are you giving my brother trouble?"

"Big sis Mira, let's talk this out! Let's talk!" The blond youth clearly knew Mira. Trembling with fear, he said in a panic, "We didn't mean to. Someone took a dislike to him and came to us because they wanted to teach him a lesson."

"You know we're just small fry. We didn't have a choice, so we could only put on a show to get by."

"Who told you to do it?" Mira demanded sharply.

"Uh... well, big sis Mira, you know there's a code in our line of work. We can't just reveal our employer's identity." The blond youth looked troubled. A moment later, a pitch-black sphere of magic grazed the top of his head and blasted a huge crater nearby.

"I'll talk, I'll talk! Caso put us up to it!" The blond hurriedly revealed the person behind it, afraid his head would burst open if he spoke too slowly.

This big sis... this boss wasn't joking when she got vicious.

She might look like an admirable, well-behaved girl everyone envied, but in secret, she was also the boss of this neighborhood.

Whenever anyone picked on her brother, she came after them. Without exception, she beat them all up, then warned them not to tell her brother what had happened that day.

In the end, given her status and strength as the Fire-Bellied Toad's genius girl, no one dared retaliate.

Of course, that went without saying...

Even an ordinary A-Class Mage couldn't beat her, let alone those who only dared stir up trouble behind the scenes.

As for those who could beat her... sorry, but for the sake of that Devil brother of hers, this lady really would risk her life fighting them.

If anything really happened to the genius girl of a major guild, that would be real trouble.

So no one dared be that outrageous, at least not openly.

And so, the people who gave her brother trouble gradually grew far fewer. Most only dared spread rumors behind his back.

The next day, Caso, recognized as the Fire-Bellied Toad's second-greatest genius, was spotted with a battered and bruised face. According to a rumor, someone had put a sack over his head.

Everyone talked about it, wondering which great figure had done the deed. Whoever it was had dared to beat up a Magic Council member's grandson, and had beaten him badly at that.

The first person to cross everyone's mind was naturally the notorious, universally despised "Devil," but then they remembered how he never fought back when hit or answered back when insulted...

They all shook their heads and dismissed the idea.