About Becoming a Magical Girl

"Eh?"

A delicate, gentle voice abruptly broke the silence. Yukina turned around and met the gaze of the girl who had entered her field of vision.

The girl held a silver spear as she stood outside the door, her ribbon fluttering in the breeze. She radiated a heart-stirring beauty and nobility utterly at odds with the shattered scenery around her.

Yukina could even make out the star-shaped earring on her left ear.

"Zoning out on the battlefield can really get you killed, you know. Even if this is your First Synchronization, it's about time you woke up from 'that,' isn't it?"

The breeze swept up the girl's hair, and scarlet eyes watched Yukina coldly through the gaps. If the girl herself was like brilliant sunshine after rain, warm and inviting, then her gaze was like moonlight on a winter night, enough to send chills down one's spine.

"Miss Efnir...?"

Yukina stared blankly.

In an instant, she remembered everything—the reason she had come here, and everything that had just happened...

She had come here to find her brother, but... the phone calling out to its owner in lonely isolation, the chaotic ground, the Erosion Entity like a pitch-black swamp...

Her brother... was dead.

He would never appear before her again.

Her heart felt hollow. The bow slipped from her hand, her vision blurred, and warm tears ran down from the corners of her eyes. Yukina numbly sank to her knees as scene after scene from her memories flooded into her mind, turning into sorrowful heartbeats that pounded against her chest.

She woodenly picked up the phone that had fallen to the ground and tried to make another call, only to find that it had been completely broken and could no longer be used.

Her brother had bought her this phone. It had been her birthday present that year.

Her vision blurred through tears, and salt spread across the corners of her mouth.

If only it were her heart, not the phone, that had broken.

"B-Brother..."

Yukina bit down hard on her lip. A sob escaped her throat, and she could no longer hold back her crying. It burst forth like a collapsed dam.

In the silent air, her sobs sounded especially piercing.

Meanwhile—

"..."

Efnir silently stared at the girl kneeling on the ground and crying, her brows knitting slightly.

"What's going on...?"

Shinomiyami Nami had the same question.

When Efnir arrived, she saw neither the anticipated ambush nor any other enemies. The only living being here was the girl kneeling before her. The girl held an ice-blue bow, Fifina's exclusive Order Weapon. Without question, the impostor who had triggered the Order Storm was the crying girl before her.

Of course, making an arbitrary judgment without further observation in a situation like this would undoubtedly make her unfit to be an agent.

But for that very reason, Efnir did not strike immediately, nor did she lower her guard.

Efnir had heard the girl call her "Miss Efnir" loud and clear. The other girl obviously knew her. As an agent idol, being recognized was nothing strange, yet something still felt deeply off.

Efnir raised her spear. Glass shards crunched beneath her feet as she walked toward the girl.

The girl remained kneeling where she was, covering her face as she cried, seemingly not noticing Efnir's movements at all.

"Efnir, please be careful..."

Shinomiyami Nami's worried voice came through the earpiece.

Efnir said nothing. She raised her spear with one hand, and a flash of silver tore through the air. The spearhead passed precisely between the girl's elbows and pressed against her throat.

The crying stopped abruptly.

Efnir narrowed her eyes and used the spearhead to lift the girl's chin, exposing her tear-streaked face.

Beneath her water-blue hair, dampened by tears, the girl stared blankly at Efnir.

The shock in her eyes was undisguised.

Efnir met her gaze coldly.

"You really exposed an opening just like that, without even trying to struggle... Did you come here specifically to die? Do you know your life is hanging by a thread?"

"M-Miss Efnir... what are you saying...?"

The girl's voice trembled. Efnir could not tell whether it was because she had been crying or because she was afraid.

Or something else.

"Hand it over."

"W-What... what thing...?"

The girl trembled as she tilted her head up, her eyes dim as she shook her head in panic.

"I-I don't know what you're talking abou—"

Efnir's gaze instantly turned cold.

Hiss—

The icy spearhead advanced an inch, leaving a spot of crimson on the girl's neck. It was neither too deep nor too shallow, just enough to pierce the skin, but the bone-deep cold of the spearhead had already drilled deep into the girl's heart.

Drip—

A drop of blood rolled down her snow-white neck and blossomed into a vivid red flower across the front of her clothes.

"Hand it over, or I'll kill you."

Yukina blankly tilted her head up, looking in despair at the girl she admired. The pain and cold at her neck seemed to seep through her blood and stab into her heart.

Her chest hurt as though it were about to split apart.

She could barely breathe.

What was all this supposed to mean? She could not understand it at all... Today, she had already lost her brother. Was she going to lose Efnir too?

The faint scent of mango still lingered in the air.

Why was this happening...?

Her father and mother had both left her behind... Even though she had done nothing wrong, now her brother was gone, and even Efnir had cast her aside completely.

Even though she had never properly apologized, even though she had always tried so hard.

She had finally seen the tiniest glimmer of hope, only for it to be crushed to dust.

The person she revered, the person she loved, had both left.

She still knew nothing, had tried nothing, had done nothing wrong, had left nothing behind, yet everything had turned away from her.

Clack—

The phone slipped from her palm and fell to the ground. Yukina's sobs became soundless cries, tears still lingering beneath Efnir's cold gaze as her shoulders trembled again and again.

Efnir noticed the pale-blue phone.

It looked familiar.

"Pick up the phone. Give it to me."

Yukina bit her lip hard and did as she was told, handing the phone to Efnir.

Efnir took the phone into her hand.

Although the screen was shattered, it still retained the warmth of the girl's palm. A faint layer of dust and signs of use covered it. A Magical Girl Avenil phone charm dangled from the bottom, and there was a distinct scratch to the right of the charging port from where it had been dropped once.

This... was clearly Yukina's phone.

But why was her younger sister's phone here? In the preparation room?

An intense, inexplicable palpitation seized Efnir. She clenched the phone tightly and turned her cold gaze toward the girl.

"Where did this phone come from?"

Yukina raised her head at Efnir's question, tears filling her eyes.

Efnir's cold gaze nearly pierced through her.

In Efnir's eyes, she saw agitation, unease, and fear.

"I asked you, where did this phone come from?!"

Yukina shuddered all over at Efnir's demand and the spear that was nearly piercing her throat.

How she wished Efnir would bend down and give her a hug, just as she had when they first met.

There was nothing left...

Her brother was gone, and so was Efnir. Now, she did not even have a shoulder to lean on.

No matter how hard she tried, Yukina could not understand why the gentle Efnir's attitude toward her had changed so drastically, nor why Efnir was asking these questions.

Faced with Efnir's interrogation, she could only answer.

"My brother... bought it for me..."

That was not what Efnir had been asking, but... upon hearing Yukina's answer, nothing else mattered anymore—the girl was Yukina. That was the answer Efnir had received.

The two stared at each other without saying a word, but Yukina saw the layers of coldness peel away from Efnir's eyes, leaving only countless waves of sorrow and resolve, along with tenderness and affection.

The killing intent surrounding Yukina suddenly receded like a tide, and her tears came pouring out with it. She choked back sobs as she tried to wipe them away, but the more she wiped, the more they flowed.

Only her crying remained in the air.

They remained silent for a long time before Efnir suddenly withdrew her spear.

"You..."

As though it took all her strength, she finally forced out the words.

"Are... Yukina?"

Yukina looked at Efnir and slowly nodded.

Then, to her astonishment, Efnir suddenly bent down before her.

And gave her a long-missed embrace.

"I'm sorry..."

Yukina's eyes widened blankly, at a loss.

Intertwined

"Efnir! Please calm down... We still can't confirm that she really is Yukina herself, and Yukina isn't an Eligible, is she? That alone is especially suspicious..."

Shinomiyami Nami's voice came through the earpiece.

Efnir held the sobbing Yukina tightly, feeling as if countless sharp blades were piercing her heart. A suffocating feeling of being torn apart clogged her chest.

Her thoughts were a complete mess, and even breathing was unbearably difficult.

Yukina... should not have appeared here...

But looking at it the other way, if there was anyone in this city who could Synchronize with Fifina and appear as Fifina, then that person could only be Yukina.

Because Yukina was an Absolute Compatible Candidate.

This was Efnir's secret, one that even Shinomiyami Nami did not know—a secret kept by Efnir alone.

Efnir released Yukina. Yukina had stopped crying, only sniffling as she hung her head and knelt there like a withered leaf, her face pale and silent.

Seeing Yukina like this, Efnir felt as though something inside her had been twisted into a knot.

Just now, she had nearly killed Yukina with her own hands...

The future of that near-tragedy sent chills through Efnir. She had sworn to protect Yukina, yet because of her own negligence, Yukina had still been placed in danger.

Efnir took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the turmoil in her heart. She crouched in front of Yukina and looked deeply at the girl before her. Tear tracks covered the girl's face, and her water-blue hair was wet with tears, clinging to her cheeks.

As if she were about to sink into the deep sea.

Efnir raised her hand and gently wiped away the tears at Yukina's eyes, as well as the blood on her neck.

"Yukina..."