About Becoming a Magical Girl

"..."

Sister—this stranger who was somehow familiar—could actually say something like that so calmly.

Yukina lowered her head and looked at their shadows, stretched out by the lights at their feet. This was when she should firmly refute her—That's not how it is!

Yet when the words reached her lips, they shattered into pieces.

She still could not face Efnir honestly. She could no longer remember the scenes from her dream very clearly, but within that hazy dream, Efnir's deep gaze still lingered before her eyes. Efnir was her brother—the brother who supposedly no longer watched over her or cared for her. In truth, her brother had never changed. She was the one who had misunderstood and doubted him on her own.

By now, Yukina had no choice but to accept that fact.

But...

Her feelings for her brother and her feelings for Efnir should have been two completely different things, things that could never be confused with one another.

Yet at some point, Yukina had begun to lose track of the difference.

That day a year ago, she had fled in a panic, slipped, and fallen into the water. Efnir had saved her.

The look in Efnir's eyes at the time was still deeply carved into Yukina's heart. She had not yet understood what love was, yet she had been helplessly, deeply drawn to that gaze.

The scenery from that day had been special to Yukina, but now, that special feeling had nowhere to go. This kind of avoidance—Efnir took a step forward, and she took a step back—made it seem as if everything had returned to how it had been.

To that corner of the heart she could not peer into.

The elevator slowly came to a stop, and "1L" appeared on the clean LCD screen.

Yukina suddenly spoke.

"Um..."

"Hmm?"

Efnir turned around, her gentle gaze enveloping Yukina.

At that moment, the elevator doors opened to either side. It felt as though they had suddenly surfaced from the bottom of the sea, and a chaotic tide of noise rushed into their ears.

"Si-sister..."

Yukina's voice was low and thin, so faint that one might miss it without listening carefully.

At last, she tried saying it aloud.

It was easier than she had imagined.

"Should I call you that?"

"It's fine. You can call me whatever you want. A form of address isn't the most important thing."

Efnir smiled brightly. That soft smile was like cloying sugar water, as though it wanted to soak Yukina until she went soft and drowned.

"After all, no matter what, you're my little sister."

Though this was exactly the heavy atmosphere she disliked, Yukina inexplicably recalled the deeply entwined brush of their lips.

Her gaze was drawn to Efnir's jade-white neck, that tender skin seeming to beckon to her.

Precisely because it was Efnir, that sense of closeness and distance had been just right. Once Yukina realized that she and Efnir had unknowingly spent so long living together, she could no longer be satisfied with merely tasting this feeling.

It churned violently up from the depths of her heart, impossible to suppress.

Yukina covered her mouth and hurriedly lowered her head, her lost gaze fleeing from that gentle trap.

"Um... Sister..."

An unfamiliar form of address.

"Don't you need to go back to headquarters? Miss Canary left immediately after bringing me here earlier."

"Probably not... I've already handed the specifics over to Canary and Ayse. Well, if you're interested, you can go take a look. I just happen to have some other things to do."

Had her brother always been this good at smiling?

But that tone made it sound as though they were about to part ways. When, and where, had her brother become like this?

"I want to go..."

Yukina lifted her lashes and spoke.

If it was the place Efnir had entrusted everything to, Yukina wanted to see it no matter what.

"I... want to know more about you too, Sister."

By the time they finished the paperwork at the hospital, night had already fallen. Efnir drove Yukina toward headquarters.

"An 'agent's' sole and most important mission is to fight Erosion Entities... But even so, in reality, it isn't something that can be summed up so simply."

Efnir held the steering wheel with one hand, her eyes wandering between the traffic lights at the intersection and the rearview mirror.

Starlight hung at the edge of the night sky, while the headlights of the cars behind them were somewhat dazzling.

After a pause, Efnir continued slowly.

"Whether it's to more efficiently complete the task of resisting Erosion Entity attacks, or to avoid unnecessary losses as much as possible, agents need to undergo extensive combat training and study related courses outside of missions. Fighting is our mission and our destination..."

Now, Efnir was no longer Yukina's brother, but her sister—the city's chief agent.

If Efnir, as Yanase Naoto, had once held many secrets and kept her distance from Yukina, then now she would no longer choose to continue down that dark path.

She told Yukina many things, one by one.

"But as you've seen, even after countless harsh training sessions, even an outstanding agent like Shiyin can still end up seriously injured or even dead. Such cases are far from rare. So I have similar concerns about Yukina... Honestly, I absolutely don't want you to become an agent. That's also why I didn't want to tell you about these things..."

What agents had to do, why agents existed—even these well-known matters, Efnir did not leave out in the slightest. With the air of someone determined not to conceal anything, she explained everything in detail to Shiomi Yukina in one breath.

Yukina merely nodded quietly and barely spoke.

She did not know how to respond. Listening to Efnir's simple explanation, even though Efnir deliberately or unconsciously downplayed the serious parts, Yukina still touched upon the cruelty buried beneath her words.

Efnir was an agent.

And she was an ordinary person.

Yukina feared that if she opened her mouth, the unease in her heart would spill out.

"Well, sometimes agents also take part in certain research department projects or attend public events. For example, I hold performances regularly, and a senior named Qinglan often attends press conferences... As for the people at headquarters, you should remember Shinomiyami Nami. She's my manager as well as an operative... Anyway, everything I'm doing now could probably count as 'work.' It's just work that I can't easily skip. Once we get to headquarters, I'll show you around. You'll probably understand a little more then. And if you have any other questions, feel free to ask. I'll tell you everything I know."

40, Out of Reach

There was quite a long drive between the Orderkeepers headquarters and the city's United Hospital. The traffic lights flickered as Efnir stepped on the accelerator, and the scenery outside the window began to slide backward once again.

Yukina sat in the passenger seat, gazing out the window.

The cityscape was as it had always been. The lights were concentrated in distant high-rises, while some districts lay in complete darkness.

After the two large-scale Corruption attacks, parts of the city seemed to have begun implementing time-restricted power supplies.

The reconstruction of the city and relief work in disaster-stricken areas required massive amounts of electricity. Power had already been scarce in this era, so the implementation of such special measures was unavoidable.

Yukina drew back her gaze. Sitting in the passenger seat, she looked at Efnir.

Honestly, she was still very unaccustomed to calling her "Sister."

Her brother, Yanase Naoto.

The girl she had fallen for, Efnir.

These two people, both of whom occupied extremely important places in Yukina's life and who had seemed entirely unrelated, had today been stuffed into the same beautiful body.

And had become her "sister."

"Si..."

Yukina awkwardly formed that unfamiliar word, and the girl turned her eyes toward her.

"What is it, Yukina?"

It was an unfamiliar voice, but a tone more familiar than anything. Looking at Efnir like this, Yukina could finally find the faintest trace of what had once belonged to Yanase Naoto in her.

Yukina did not continue discussing agents. That subject was too heavy for her. Under the impact of this sudden, overwhelming reality, she wanted to find some sense of balance between herself and her sister, so she turned to casual conversation.

She took a deep breath, trying to make her voice sound less stiff.

"I was wondering earlier... Sis... when did you get your driver's license?"

If they chatted casually, perhaps it would bring them a little closer together.

That was what Yukina thought.

"This..."

Efnir replied to Yukina while driving.

"Mm, I suppose it counts as a driver's license. Anyway, for work, I got it last year so it would be more convenient to get around... I also got a motorcycle license and a firearms permit, among other things."

Efnir held the steering wheel with one hand while lightly tapping the glove compartment with the other.

The compartment popped open lightly, revealing the object inside—a gleaming silver handgun. Its cold, black muzzle was like a black hole, drawing in Yukina's gaze.

"That's a gun...?"

"If you make up your mind to become an agent, you'll eventually come into contact with all of this too."

Yukina's gaze shifted slightly as something stirred in her heart.

"Guns are for killing people, right?"

"That's right. They're for killing people."

Efnir answered without hesitation.

"But don't worry, Yukina. This gun is only insurance for special circumstances. No matter what, I don't intend to casually take out something that exists solely to kill people."

Efnir gave the silver handgun a meaningful glance before closing the glove compartment. Only then did Yukina notice the small fingerprint recognition button.

"And this car was bought around that time too."

Yukina said nothing, merely made a rough estimate in her heart.

She did not know much about cars.

But regardless of its appearance, just the interior and the almost silent comfort of the ride gave it the impression that it was definitely not cheap.

People capable of buying a car were among the elite few with a certain degree of purchasing power. Cars were expensive due to the considerable cost of manufacturing them, as well as the limited energy output needed to keep them running. This particular car seemed expensive in every possible way.

Her sister could actually support the costs of a car like this on her own.

"Agents earn a lot, so don't underestimate it. And as a spokesperson, I've received support from many places. Even after setting aside the portion I donated, there's still quite a large sum left."

Seeming to realize what Yukina was thinking, Efnir smiled somewhat awkwardly.

"As for this car... I was worried you might become suspicious, so I could never tell you about it. Sorry... I won't hide anything from you anymore."

"I believe you, Sister..."

Yukina spoke softly and looked away. Efnir smiled.

Actually... by now, Yukina no longer knew how to describe this sister who had once been called her brother... She did not know how to face her, and felt more and more that she knew nothing about her at all.

Efnir was peeling away the layers of veil around herself, and every layer revealed someone unfamiliar to Yukina. Ever since Efnir had confessed her identity to her, the image of "Yanase Naoto" had felt intensely out of place in Yukina's heart. It was as though she were meeting this sister for the first time—that was the illusion Yukina had.

That was why she wanted to visit the place where her sister lived as Efnir.

The Orderkeepers headquarters.

Click—

The car suddenly jolted a few times. Yukina pitched forward before she could react and shifted her thighs slightly.

"Sorry, it's a little bumpy. Are you okay?"

Efnir cast her a concerned look. Yukina lowered her head and gripped the seat belt across her chest.

"I'm fine..."

"One stretch of road here isn't very level. It was hit by a Corruption attack last month, and both the road surface and the supermarket beside it were damaged. Since it isn't a main road, no one was sent to repair it after the fallen bricks and rubble were cleared away, so it ended up like this..."

Efnir explained, then suddenly paused and let out an almost imperceptible sigh.