Chapter 140: Plum Yukina

“Eh? N-not at all…”

The nurse smiled sheepishly and paused.

The air was quiet for a moment. She lowered her gaze, took a deep breath, and stepped back.

From somewhere outside the door, she suddenly produced a large bouquet of flowers and a wrapped gift box, handing them to Ephnel.

The sudden gesture stunned Ephnel for a moment.

“This is…?”

“Um… we heard you were being discharged. This is from us to you.”

The nurse, a little stiffly, forcefully pushed the bouquet into Ephnel’s hands, hesitated, and said in a small voice:

“Although it was prepared in a hurry… we hope you’ll accept it… W-we wish you a full and speedy recovery!”

Ephnel was a little surprised by the bouquet and gift and reached out to accept them.

For a moment, she didn’t know what to say.

“Thank you all… We’ll see each other again when we have the chance.”

“Although I’d love to see you again, I’d rather you not have to come back here. After all, it’s not a place worth remembering.”

The nurse grinned sheepishly.

“Once things are over here, I’ll definitely go to one of your concerts to cheer you on! Well then, Lady Ephnel, goodbye!”

The nurse was full of energy, waving her hand.

Ephnel also smiled.

“Bye-bye, say hello to them for me…”

It wasn’t until after they left the hospital and got into a taxi that Yukina, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

“Naoko…”

“Hm?”

“You’re really popular, you know…”

“Am I… Maybe it’s because I’m an Agent…”

“That’s not the reason.”

Yukina glanced at the bouquet in her hand.

Ephnel also suddenly felt that her explanation was a bit unconvincing and gave an embarrassed smile.

In fact, Ephnel had never been very aware of these things.

Whether she was an Agent or not, or that idol girl of Seikyo City, whether she was worthy of the title of “hero” people called her, what she had to do had never changed.

She did it simply because she felt it was necessary, and only gradually did she realize that her position had changed.

This had little to do with her being an Agent.

In that incident over a year ago, when Ephnel wasn’t yet an Agent, she had done similar things.

Ephnel hadn’t finished speaking when her gaze suddenly fixed on something outside the window.

“Futaba… san?”

“Eh?”

At that moment, Yukina also followed Ephnel’s gaze outside and saw a figure that was both unfamiliar and somewhat familiar.

It was a slender, black-haired girl.

Although it was just a fleeting glimpse, her beautiful face had left an impression on Yukina.

Then she suddenly remembered that this girl was the one she had seen at the second-hand shop in the shopping street next to the school a few days ago.

At that time, Yukina had thought this girl was one of Ephnel’s fans, but now it seemed that her dear sister knew this girl?

For no reason, a sour feeling suddenly welled up in Yukina’s heart.

“You know her, Naoko?”

“Mm…”

Ephnel took a deep look at the girl before slowly retracting her gaze.

She just gave a simple “mm” and then fell into silence.

Seeing this, Yukina felt even more sour.

Outside the dark window, the view of the road was wide.

The shadows of the trees on the sidewalk were dragged backward as the car moved forward.

Yukina looked out, but the girl’s figure was long gone.

Yukina glanced over and saw that Ephnel was still pondering something, a nostalgic expression on her face.

Her cheeks immediately puffed out sourly.

She looked at Ephnel sideways and asked in a low voice, “Naoko, who… who is she? What… what’s your relationship?”

“She’s… a friend, I guess?”

Ephnel was still thinking about other things and didn’t know how to explain for a moment.

She had thought Yukina might know her, but on second thought, Yukina was in school every day back then, so it was possible she didn’t.

“What’s her name?”

“Futaba Eri…”

That was the girl’s name.

Yukina silently repeated it in her mind a few times.

Ephnel seemed to care about this girl named Futaba Eri differently than she did about ordinary people.

Yukina could sense a subtle difference in Ephnel’s gaze.

She became even more concerned.

Even though it was just a fleeting glimpse from inside the car, the figure of the girl who was left far behind in an instant still left an impression on Yukina.

Her raven-black hair was like ink splashed on that corner of the scenery—quiet and serene, reserved yet high-profile, like a cold, beautiful, and stubborn snow plum blooming in solitude.

A girl like that would turn heads wherever she went.

Yukina knew she was no less attractive than that girl in terms of appearance.

But unlike her own reserved personality, that girl’s aura, radiating from the inside out, seemed unique and brilliant.

Seeing that girl and then Naoko’s subtle expression, a sense of crisis suddenly rose in Yukina’s heart.

“Are she and Naoko… good friends?”

“Mm… not really. Well, actually, I don’t know if we can be considered friends myself…”

Unaware of the turmoil in Yukina’s heart, Ephnel gave a wry smile.

Actually, Futaba Eri was Ephnel’s classmate from her university days.

At that time, she was the highly admired, unapproachable beauty of the class, and also a very capable and strong competitor to Ephnel in many aspects.

Ephnel’s overall grades were always first, while she was always close behind, occasionally even surpassing Ephnel in a subject or two.

She was a formidable opponent who could replace her if she wasn’t careful.

‘But if we were to compete now, I would definitely lose, wouldn’t I?’

It had been almost two years since she had studied.

However, in fact, until Ephnel dropped out, her relationship with Futaba Eri was limited to just nodding acquaintances between classmates.

Or even less than that.

Ephnel herself was the type who didn’t talk much, running between her classes, the student council, and her club every day.

Her schedule was completely different from her classmates’, and she wasn’t even very familiar with her roommates.

And Futaba Eri had “strangers keep away” written all over her face, even more so towards Ephnel, who had consistently outranked her in their studies.

In Ephnel’s short time at university, she had no memory of ever speaking to her alone.

At most, they had had simple conversations due to their respective student council duties.

The change happened after that.

During that Erosion incident, Ephnel had saved her, led her away from the pursuing Erosion Organisms, and took shelter with other scattered classmates.

In the end, Ephnel had drawn away the Erosion Organism by herself, and by accident, had become what she was today.