"Actually... watching Shiyin like this, I sometimes wondered, 'What exactly are we agents fighting for?'... Things like that. At first, my reason for becoming an agent was simply the wish to 'stay alive.' Later, I realized that such a thought was a selfish and arrogant sin, so I never mentioned it to anyone again."
As her words fell, the air fell silent once more.
Yukina remained silent.
"Oh, right. You probably noticed it too, didn't you? What happened back then."
Efnir suddenly stood and walked over to Yukina.
A hairpin lay in her hand.
"This is something called a 'Beacon.' We can only become 'agents' by relying on it, and it only responds to 'Eligible' people who can use it. But... Eligible people are one in ten thousand. Do you know what that means?"
Yukina raised her gaze and met Efnir's crimson eyes.
"It means... agents are unique. They are 'chosen' by fate. Becoming an agent is their 'destiny.' They are the only ones with power, so regardless of the reason, they must fight for humanity's future. Between 'dying unknown as an ordinary person when this world reaches its end' and 'becoming an agent, gaining the power to resist everything, and dying as the final flame burns out,' this world seems to give them two choices. But in this cruel reality, they actually have no room to choose at all... Yukina, if you faced such a choice, and were given the right to decide now, how would you answer?"
Yukina fell silent.
After a long while, she spoke softly.
"Miss Efnir... after saying all that, then surely, back then I also..."
Yukina did not have the courage to continue. Efnir looked at her and finished for her.
"Yes. You had the potential to become an 'agent.' Back then... you were already Fifina."
That explained everything.
Everything that had happened back then... and why Efnir had suddenly acted that way.
To Efnir, the person who had taken away "Fifina" back then must have been utterly hateful.
Yukina lowered her head silently.
For some reason, she was not particularly surprised. Instead, she was lost in confusion.
"But... isn't something like 'aptitude'... decided at birth...? Why am I only now..."
By last year, aptitude screenings had already been completed. Everyone received a test report, and Yukina clearly remembered that she had not possessed the "aptitude" to become an "agent."
Had something been missed...?
"Do you want to know the answer?"
Efnir looked at Yukina, her eyes flickering. Her overwhelming presence made it impossible for Yukina to look away.
Under Yukina's gaze, she slowly raised her hand.
Silver light flashed. The silver-haired girl vanished, replaced by a black-haired young woman.
Yukina looked at the young woman before her and unconsciously held her breath.
Efnir and Yanase Naoto
Yukina carefully studied the young woman's face.
Her features were soft and dignified, quietly serene. A faint glimmer reflected in her rippling eyes, while her long, slightly curled lashes lightly caught the thin sunlight.
She was strikingly beautiful, beautiful enough to make one hesitate to look directly at her.
This was probably Efnir's original appearance. Though she was only slightly taller than Yukina, she gave off an instinctive sense of dependability. Just as Canary had said, someone capable of exerting such pressure was undoubtedly older than Yukina.
As Yukina stared at the young woman before her, aside from being amazed by Efnir's beauty, she also felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
"Do I look familiar to you?"
Yukina nodded instinctively.
Looking into the young woman's eyes, Yukina suddenly felt as though she had seen her somewhere before.
After all, someone this beautiful would leave an impression after being seen even once. Perhaps Yukina had met Efnir in this form sometime before, so it was only natural that she would find her familiar.
But that was clearly not what Efnir meant.
"Then let me just..."
The young woman removed her earrings, skillfully tied up her hair, then used her hand to cover the edge of her hair, deliberately leaving only her features and a lock of bangs visible.
Her pitch-black eyes stared straight at Yukina.
"Yukina, how about this? Can you recognize me now?"
As she called out to Yukina, her voice suddenly shifted from clear to deep.
That incomparably familiar face, and that voice Yukina could never forget—the young woman before her became a young man.
"B-Brother?"
Yukina froze for an instant, then immediately came back to herself.
"No, that's not it... I'm terribly sorry! I'm sorry! It was just that Miss Efnir looked a little like my brother just now, and for some reason I accidentally mistook you for him... Um, I... I didn't mean it that way... It's just..."
Her sudden panic left her unable to speak clearly.
The young woman before her was Efnir. That was supposed to be true, but why had she suddenly felt such an illusion?
For that one instant, it had truly felt as though she had seen her brother.
"Well... you didn't get it wrong."
There it was again—that voice.
Yukina stared blankly as Efnir spoke, seriously and deliberately, one word at a time.
"I am Yanase Naoto, your 'brother.'"
Yukina stood frozen for a moment, then took a huge step back and looked at the young woman before her in panic.
"Huh—?? B-Brother? That kind of thing..."
That had to be a lie, right?
The person before her had a delicate beauty tinged with allure, wearing a face that made hearts stir. Yet this was unmistakably the appearance of the brother she had always longed for.
This person—this voice—there was no way she could mistake it.
But her brother... and Efnir...
"A brother... that's absolutely impossible, right? Your, your figure is obviously different too..."
"Is that so...? For something like that, all I need is a change of clothes and chest binding. Only my height cannot change."
"B-But..."
"If you want confirmation, I can provide any evidence you need."
With things having been said this far, Yukina had no way to keep arguing. She had been completely unprepared for what she was seeing. It was as if her mind had suddenly short-circuited, her thoughts tangled into a mess as she stood there blankly.
"What I said before... this was what I meant."
As though she had expected Yukina's reaction all along, Efnir showed no particular expression, as if she were discussing something completely unrelated to herself.
Her eyes lowered as she looked away. The hand holding up her hair loosened, and black hair like raven feathers fell down over her shoulders. Had Yukina seen her in another setting, she might have praised her inwardly as a "young lady."
But now, she was completely overwhelmed by shock and could not say a word.
"You're surprised, aren't you...? But this is what I had to confess to you. The discrepancy between your aptitude test report and reality was due to the same reason."
"Did you bring me here... because of this...?"
"Yes."
Efnir lowered her eyes.
"I have to apologize to you. It was my fault for hiding it from you for so long..."
That was an admission.
Yukina's eyes widened. She looked at the young woman before her in disbelief, nearly forgetting to breathe.
The air carried a faint scent of antiseptic, an unknown floral fragrance, and the lingering smell of mango, along with an unfamiliar chill. No matter how hard Yukina tried, she could not connect this young woman, who seemed like a refined young lady, with her brother.
"I've always ignored your feelings and selfishly done terrible things. Even now, I do not intend to ask for your forgiveness, nor do I expect your sympathy... Anyway... I'm sorry... But today, when I saw you as Fifina, your struggle and tears made me pick up something I had lost a long time ago... Yukina, I really cannot keep avoiding all of this. I still hope to receive your understanding. Even though this is my first time being an older sister, I still hope we can continue getting along as sisters."
That was not it.
Yukina lowered her head and bit her lip.
All at once, it felt as if countless things had connected.
Why her brother had appeared at the venue, why his phone had been in that room, why Efnir had worn that expression back then, why she had been able to say with complete certainty, "Your brother is fine."
What Efnir had said to her back then had sounded vague and unclear. Looking back on it now, it suddenly became perfectly clear.
So Efnir had been saying those things to her.
Her brother had always vanished without a word.
He often came home injured. Though he hid it well, the faint smell of medicine could not be concealed, just like the scent in this hospital room now.
Her brother had also never accompanied her to Efnir's performances.
Whenever she had been terrified, her brother had not been by her side. Efnir had been there in his place.
Without realizing it, Yukina had thought Efnir had taken her brother's place.
But that was not the truth.
Her brother and Efnir had always been watching over her from places she could not notice.
"Yukina..."
It was her brother's face, but an unfamiliar young woman's voice came from it.
Her heart was a mess. Yukina kept her head lowered and instinctively looked away, staring at the hospital bed.
At this point, she was completely—unable to meet the young woman's eyes.
She wanted to laugh it off with a joke and treat it as a cruel prank, but she could not do it after all.
"Perhaps this is not something easy for you to accept... At first, I had not planned to tell you any of this so seriously. I wanted to tell you normally, but when I saw you, my thoughts became a mess... In the end, all the mental preparation I had made turned into nothing."
Efnir spoke softly, then suddenly smiled.
"But after saying it, it feels as though I've put something down. It's easier than I imagined..."
Yukina stared at her blankly.
This was the first time Yukina had seen Efnir smile since coming here. That smile carried bitterness and relief, along with a faint, almost imperceptible sorrow.
Perhaps...
Efnir could not face all of this completely calmly either.
Yukina's heart wavered. Perhaps they had always been the same.
She had been wrong all along.
Yukina looked at the spotless white floor, raised her hand, pushed the young woman away, and stepped back.
"Um... could you... give me some time...?"
Efnir was slightly taken aback, then smiled bitterly.
"That's fine. If you need time... I was too abrupt, after all. And regarding this hairpin, please think it over and give me an answer afterward. No matter what you choose, please do not force yourself. Until then, I'll keep waiting for you..."
Lap Pillow
In front of the nurses' station, Yukina sat blankly in a resting chair with her gaze lowered, holding her phone in her palms.
The phone screen was already shattered. Cracks spread upward from the bottom like a spiderweb. As her fingertips brushed across the screen, she could faintly feel its sharp edges. Though the screen could still light up normally, the area covered by cracks could no longer register touch at all.
It was the gift her brother had given her for her thirteenth birthday. She had used it for two years without replacing it, and now it seemed to be a model that was nearly obsolete.
After suffering this kind of damage, if she did not get it repaired, it would probably be completely retired.
Before you continue