About Becoming a Magical Girl

About Becoming a Magical Girl Author: BrokenYuri

Synopsis:

[Lightly depressing, gender-bender yuri 1v1, a little angst with sweetness]

He was an agent, and also an idol. He had once been an "older brother," but now he could only dress as a man, struggling to preserve the last shred of dignity he had as one.

Until... he saw his younger sister standing before him with an exaggerated cheering sign, her eyes sparkling.

He was dumbfounded.

I'm your big brother!

Volume One: Song of the Other Shore

1, A Magical Girl

The morning air carried a damp chill.

Listening to the alarm ringing from his sister's room, Yanase Naoto calmly turned on the stove, holding his phone to his ear with one shoulder.

A woman's voice came from the other end of the call:

"...You worked hard yesterday. Are your injuries any better?"

"It's nothing serious. Thanks for asking."

Naoto took an egg from the refrigerator and tapped it against the back of a knife. The egg slipped from its cracked shell and pooled in the frying pan, soon beginning to sizzle.

He poured half a spoonful of cooking wine around the edge of the pan, deftly flipped it once, sprinkled on some salt, and watched it turn from translucent to golden.

"Um... Doctor Nishiki asked me to pass the diagnostic records on to you. Shall I bring them over later?"

"No need. I'll return to headquarters tonight and pick them up then. More importantly, how is Maesakagawa doing now? Have there been any discoveries besides those two survivors?"

"No... and the follow-up work hasn't been going well either." The woman sighed. "Without the Boundary Stele, our people can barely move an inch. Qinglan and the others have returned after their investigation, so it'll probably be postponed for now... Forget it, let's not talk about that. Right, stay home and recover properly for the time being. Leave the rest to Qinglan and the others. But if possible, I'll still have to ask you to keep looking after Shion. You know, that child's emotions don't seem very stable, so..."

"I understand. Leave this side to me." Naoto glanced back. "But my sister is about to wake up..."

"Oh~ I understand," the woman said with a laugh. "Talk later, then~"

"Mm."

With that, he hung up.

Naoto set down his phone and sighed silently. Rustling came from the room beyond the living room; his sister was already awake.

In this large household, there were only him and his sister. Their parents had not returned home in two years. During that time, caring for his school-going sister had become both his duty and habit as an older brother.

His relationship with his sister could not exactly be called good—not because they treated each other badly or found one another difficult to get along with, but because the two of them had grown far apart from the inseparable pair they had been as children. The distance between them had slowly turned into estrangement over the many unavoidable events of the past year or so.

His sister had been very attached to him when she was little, but ever since Yanase Naoto began working "over there," the siblings had gradually stopped communicating much. Unlike Yanase Naoto, who had dropped out of university midway through, his sister served as a student council officer at school. She excelled academically and was an outstanding honor student.

Naoto occasionally comforted himself—children always went through a phase like this while growing up. It was probably a good thing for his sister to stop relying on him as her older brother. But he also understood that all these changes had really happened because of him. He simply could not yield on this matter, no matter what.

He slid the omelet onto a plate, then brought out grilled tomatoes, sausages, bacon, a fruit pudding, whole-wheat bread, and oat milk mixed with crushed nuts, honey, and red dates. In this fallen age, with human society forced into a corner merely to survive, such ingredients rarely appeared on a dining table anymore.

He took his sister's mug from the cabinet.

Although his sister used it as an everyday drinking cup, the mug looked more like an ornamental piece. It was exquisitely made and still quite new, one of the pieces of "merchandise" his sister had brought home some time ago. A chibi illustration of "Magical Girl Efnir" was printed on its side, alongside flamboyant words written in cheering colors.

Yanase Naoto frowned as he turned it over in his hands, then shook his head and set it down.

He knew a little about his sister's hobbies outside school. She liked "Efnir" very much and always paid special attention to anything related to "Efnir." Even things that did not suit her usual style were treated as treasures.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with his sister liking whatever she liked, and Yanase Naoto was not the kind of person who meddled in other people's affairs. It was just... how should he put it? The feeling was a little complicated.

"Magical Girl Efnir" was not some currently popular animated idol among students. She was a real person, someone with influence in every aspect of this city. Her official codename was "Agent: Ephnel."

"Agents," formerly known as "special agents," were generally also called "superheroes." They were one of the terms that had entered the public eye in recent years alongside the revelation of the White Hole Erosion phenomenon. In this era, every city had no fewer than ten agents in order to maintain stability and resist the disasters brought by White Hole Erosion. They were all managed by an organization known as the Orderkeepers, the bright stars who had taken hold of humanity's future in this age.

Every agent had a unique codename, and all of them were women. They wielded powers beyond scientific explanation, almost like magic. Fighting Erosion Disasters and protecting cities from being devoured by erosion was their most important and only duty.

Occasionally, they also cracked down on crime.

Because their actions were difficult to define, and because the nature of their work made them impossible to restrain by ordinary standards, they were also called Punishers, Vigilantes, Lynchmen, and many other names.

In short, because this world was threatened by erosion, people needed agents. That made the agents' status something special.

And "Efnir" was one of the agents who had been active in this city over the past two years. Her official codename was "Ephnel," and she was known as this city's "chief" and strongest agent. Because of the unique style of her combat outfit, she had been given the nickname "Magical Girl." She was not merely an agent idol, but a hero in the citizens' eyes—though people called her "Magical Girl" more often because of her appearance.

Yanase Naoto's younger sister, Shiomi Yukina, was a die-hard fan of Efnir. She collected many things related to Efnir: jackets, keychains, cups, backpacks, notebooks... Most were merchandise distributed or sold by Efnir's Fan Club.

That was right. Although Efnir was an agent, she also served as the Orderkeepers' spokesperson and promoter in this city. Her immense strength and active performance had earned her considerable popularity among the public. At some point, she had become something like an idol, and before anyone knew it, people had spontaneously formed something like a Fan Club. Shiomi Yukina was one of its members—indeed, one of its key members.

These were all well-known facts...

But in truth, Efnir herself had quite a few complaints about it. Whether it was joining the agents and fighting, or somehow becoming an "agent idol," none of it had originally been her choice.

That was a secret unknown to most.

As for why Yanase Naoto knew all this...

It was because Efnir was him.

Though difficult to admit, he truly was the very Efnir his sister was so obsessed with, without a doubt.

Now, he was dressed as a man in order to maintain his identity as her older brother.

It all began more than a year ago. Yanase Naoto, who had entered university at the time, was caught up in a White Hole Incident caused by large-scale erosion. He unexpectedly became a girl. As a woman, he became a rare compatible individual able to resonate with Order Force. Through that constitution, he resonated with Order Force for the first time and "transformed," becoming Efnir. After that incident, the Orderkeepers approached him and recruited him as an agent active in this city. From then on, he officially took on the agent codename Ephnel.

And so, his other identity, Ephnel, was born.

2, Not Siblings

It took Yanase Naoto a long time to gradually become accustomed to life as an agent.

Over two years, he started as a rookie agent and climbed step by step until he became the city's foremost agent—the so-called chief. Day after day, fighting the Erosion Entities that had invaded Xijing City was his most important duty.

When he had not been assigned a mission, he dressed as a man to preserve his former identity as an older brother and continued playing the role of "Yanase Naoto." Put simply, he was putting on an act in front of his sister. Now that he had become a girl, he looked somewhat too delicate among men, and deliberately lowering his voice only made it sound strange. The disguise was not flawless, but excuses could still get him through it.

No one had ever suspected that he was an agent, because... agents who could resonate with a Beacon and gain power could only be women. Thanks to that, as long as the secret that "Yanase Naoto is a girl" was not exposed, he did not have to worry about his identity as an agent being discovered by his sister.

That was his life. It had continued without much disturbance for nearly two years. At first, simply carrying out missions exhausted all his strength, let alone considering his sister's feelings. Only later did he finally become able to handle missions with ease.

As for becoming active as an "agent idol," that had only happened in the past few months.

In the era of the end, people needed faith and spiritual pillars. The organization also urgently needed a spokesperson accepted by enough people. Thus, a plan to create a hero was finalized. At the time, Efnir had increasingly shown the potential to become this city's strongest agent, a rising star who had rapidly emerged among the agents. His outstanding appearance and comforting friendliness made him the unanimous choice for that "symbol." Yet what surprised most of the planners was that, after Efnir had been placed before the public as a hero, things immediately developed into something resembling an "idol" model.

So the planners went with the flow and simply had Efnir try several offline publicity projects modeled after idol activities. They were enormously successful. In the end, Efnir was called an idol nearly as often as she was called a hero. It could be said that Efnir becoming an agent idol had merely been an accidental stroke of luck, but both the process that led to that accident and the results it achieved had exceeded expectations. As for Efnir, he had never developed much of a real sense of being an idol. To him, all of it was more like carrying out missions.

Still, the image of a "fighting idol" was truly popular in this era. It was, in fact, a highly successful "accident."

"Phew..."

Looking at the chibi version of himself printed on the mug, Yanase Naoto let out a soft sigh and carried the cup to the table.

A bandage was stuck to his face, and a thick layer of bandages wrapped around his waist. Those injuries had been left by yesterday's bloody battle and were slowly recovering under the power granted by Order Force. With an agent's recovery ability, injuries like these would heal in less than a week. But the sharp pain of the wounds and his mental exhaustion would not simply disappear.

He really wanted to sleep, but when he remembered that this was one of the rare times of day he could have breakfast with his sister, he suddenly felt full of energy again.

Thinking of his sister, he hummed softly while leisurely pouring oat milk into the mug and setting it on the table. The final step of breakfast was soon complete. The fragrance filled his nose, and only after arranging the bread, sausages, and grilled tomatoes into an appealing pattern did he nod in satisfaction.

Making a mouthwatering breakfast was one of his rare pleasures. It was only that his sister had not commented on Yanase Naoto's cooking in a long time, which left him feeling slightly disappointed.

He rubbed his brow and took a deep breath. If he were at headquarters, he would probably be humming a song under his breath right now. But doing something like that at home might expose his identity, so he could only hide his delight in his heart. He arranged the cup and spoon, took off his apron, and walked to his sister's bedroom door. He raised his hand, just about to knock, when the door opened from within.

A girl in a snow-white nightgown appeared before him.

His younger sister, Shiomi Yukina.

Her raven-black hair reached her waist. She had clear eyes, softly moist lips, curled lashes, and a high nose bridge. Though her figure had not fully matured, it was already slim and graceful, lovely and elegant.

In Yanase Naoto's eyes, Yukina was a flawless princess—delicate and noble.

Unfortunately, this princess was not particularly fond of him. As for the reason... it was probably complicated.

"Yo. Morning, Yukina."

He lowered the hand he had raised to knock and greeted her. Though he was in a fairly good mood, he did not let too much of a smile show on his face, offering only a faint smile.

Shiomi Yukina stood at the doorway, without a trace of morning drowsiness.

"Mm... morning."

She replied in a voice as gentle as early autumn rain, yet utterly flat, without the warmth Yanase Naoto had hoped to hear.

Shiomi Yukina walked straight toward the bathroom.

Their brief morning exchange had probably come to an end there. Though saying it would only make Yanase Naoto sigh, he had to admit that the way they interacted now did not resemble siblings at all. They were more like roommates bound by some contractual relationship. Yanase Naoto showed no particular expression at the change in Yukina's attitude toward him over the past two years, because his sister's attitude had not changed overnight. He had deliberately caused it all with his own hands, and he had nothing to defend himself with.

"Breakfast is ready. There are grilled tomatoes and oat milk you like. Come eat after you wash up."

"Mm..."

Yukina entered the bathroom, and the door clicked crisply shut.

Yanase Naoto pressed his lips together and went to sit at the dining table.

Ever since that accident more than a year ago, he had begun deliberately putting distance between himself and his sister. Gradually, his sister stopped clinging to him and became as neither warm nor cold as she was now.

Yukina was actually the daughter of one of his parents' friends from far away. Her parents had died in an "accident" when she was very young, and the still-childish Yukina had been sent to this city to live with Yanase Naoto's household. They were not related by blood, but they still called each other siblings.

A few years ago, Yanase Naoto's parents had insisted on going abroad, claiming they had "important matters" to attend to, and simply left him and Yukina behind in the country.

3, Strangers

Yanase Naoto and his sister were not biological siblings.

Therefore, Yanase Naoto was mindful of his place. He had never acted from the position of an "older brother" to tell Yukina what to do.

Most of the time, Yanase Naoto simply remained gently silent, quietly and dutifully playing the role of her "older brother." He took care of his sister, supported her, and stayed by her side. In return, Yukina was sensible and attentive, expressing her gratitude and concern for Yanase Naoto in her own way as a younger sister.

They had been very close as children, close enough to make others envious. But that way of getting along ended more than a year ago.

Yanase Naoto was an agent, and the combat and training assignments from the organization kept him too busy to manage. After he was made a spokesperson, regular meet-and-greet events made it even harder for him to spend time with Yukina. Yukina was a student council officer, busy with her studies and school matters, so she too struggled to find much free time. Their schedules often missed each other, and there were times when they barely saw one another throughout an entire week. Their lives no longer intersected, leaving them with even fewer shared topics.

Neither of them had a personality suited to conversation. They did not speak much over the course of a day to begin with, and on top of that, Yanase Naoto had repeatedly left his sister alone when she needed him because of work. He had been invited to her graduation ceremony and school festival, only to break his promises and fail to attend.

Yanase Naoto always remembered that day. While he was fighting an Erosion Entity as an agent, his sister had faced its pursuit alone. In the end, the one who arrived was not her "older brother," but Efnir.

If Efnir had arrived one minute later, Yukina would likely have become a cold corpse. The situation had been that urgent. So in Yukina's heart, the place of the dependable "older brother" she had always relied on had, to some extent, been replaced by Efnir, who had saved her that day.

Incidents like that accumulated like falling snow, forming a layer of ice between them. The once inseparable "siblings" had become cohabitants living under the same roof, no longer filled with laughter.

Part of it had been Yanase Naoto's deliberate doing, and part of it had been unavoidable.

On the day Yukina had her accident, he had truly never expected his sister to suddenly leave home alone and ultimately encounter an Erosion Disaster. As for the other times, Yanase Naoto had been forced by the demands of his missions on one hand, while on the other... he guarded a secret about Yukina that even Yukina herself did not know. He deliberately avoided her, dismissed the people secretly protecting both himself and Yukina, and transferred Yukina to Youcheng Girls' Academy in the West District. All of it was to ensure that Yukina would be completely cut off from the world he belonged to. Over the past year or so, that estrangement had been remarkably effective. It had not taken much effort before Yukina stopped following behind him, calling, "Big brother, bro."

In any case, although there had been many objective factors involved, the bitter result had ultimately been caused deliberately by his own hands. There was nothing to complain about, and Yanase Naoto understood that well.

But when it came to his own circumstances and choices, he had no room to say much.

Yanase Naoto had never regretted doing this. Even if it destroyed his relationship with his beloved sister, he had already resolved himself to it more than a year ago, when he first picked up Ephnel's spear.

No longer dwelling on useless thoughts, he let out a languid breath. Weariness surged from his spine to the top of his head.

The wound at his waist stung as though chili water had been poured over it. It was a penetrating injury left by yesterday's battle.

"Tch..."

He clicked his tongue softly.

Such an injury was not light for an agent, but neither was it severe. It would heal in about a week.

For agents, medicine was only a negligible aid. There was not much difference in where they recuperated, so Yanase Naoto had not chosen to remain at headquarters to recover, and the doctor had not forcibly kept him there.

More importantly, Efnir disliked the oppressive atmosphere of headquarters' medical department. Compared with sitting blankly in a hospital room, returning home was much more comfortable. At least his sister was here. As long as he saw Yukina, Yanase Naoto felt that everything he did was worthwhile.

To Yanase Naoto, his sister alone was more important than anything else by countless times. She was simply that irreplaceable to him.