Chapter 36: Choice

“Is that you, Yukina? Please, come in.”

A delicate, pleasant voice came from inside.

Yukina paused, then gently pushed the door open.

It was a single-person hospital room.

Unlike the closed-off, oppressive environment outside, the room had a massive, floor-to-ceiling panoramic window.

Sunlight streamed in from a corner, and from here, one could see the bustling cityscape of Seikyo City.

The white room had a faint chill, and the air was filled with the faint scent of medicine and an unknown flower.

From Yukina’s angle, she could just see a corner of the white hospital bed and some unknown white flowers placed in a corner.

Yukina averted her gaze and looked at the girl sitting by the bed—Ephnel.

Ephnel had her back to Yukina at the moment, seemingly focused on the person on the bed.

Her silver-white hair cascaded over her shoulders like moonlight, like a waterfall, captivating Yukina’s gaze.

They had only just suddenly grown closer today.

Only that.

But just looking at her, it felt as if her very heartbeat was being pulled along, cheering and leaping.

‘I really want to run over and hug her.’

The sudden impulse made Yukina’s cheeks flush.

“You don’t have to be so formal. Come over here.”

“S-Sorry for the intrusion…”

Coming back to her senses, Yukina hastily looked away, closed the door behind her, and carefully walked past the entrance.

The full view of the hospital room came into sight.

The large panoramic window took up half the room.

The bed was placed in the center, toward the back, flanked by various instruments she didn’t recognize.

On a nearby table were several bouquets of flowers, some already a little wilted.

Yukina also noticed a violin case, half-hidden by a flower basket.

The occupant of this room was probably a violin enthusiast, and had quite a few friends, judging by the number and freshness of the bouquets.

Yukina shifted her gaze and saw the person lying on the bed.

It was a delicate and quiet girl.

But…

Completely different from what she had imagined, the girl on the bed had her eyes tightly shut, and the sleeve of her right arm was empty.

She… had lost her right arm.

Like a doll wrapped in pale white gauze, she slept quietly.

Yukina stared at the girl, covering her mouth, somewhat frightened.

“Miss Ephnel, she…”

Yukina’s eyes flickered, unsure of the source of the unease that suddenly washed over her.

“She is Fuurin Shion.”

Ephnel’s voice was soft, like a withered autumn leaf, falling into Yukina’s heart.

Fuurin Shion.

The name on the door plate was a beautiful one that suited the girl’s appearance.

Yukina looked at Fuurin Shion, but Ephnel’s next words left her stunned.

“Well, you might not know her by that name, but you should know her codename. She is ‘Fifina’… In the battle five days ago, she was critically injured and eventually went into shock from excessive blood loss. She still shows no signs of waking up. The doctors say she might never wake up again…”

“Eh? She’s… Miss Fifina?”

Yukina was completely unprepared for this sudden revelation.

Her eyes widened, and she froze.

Of course, Yukina knew about the massive Erosion Disaster five days ago.

It was all over the internet, but the specific details were never released.

Yukina never would have thought that this girl named Fuurin Shion was Fifina.

…

Yukina stood there in a daze.

Her lips moved, but suddenly she couldn’t speak.

She was Fifina, Ephnel’s partner.

When… had this happened…

No wonder…

No wonder Ephnel had that look in her eyes back then.

Her heart suddenly felt as if it had been clenched by something.

Yukina looked at the sleeping girl on the bed and subconsciously averted her gaze.

Yukina suddenly felt that perhaps she shouldn’t have come here.

“You don’t have to look so sad. Casualties are a part of any battle. It’s only natural…”

Ephnel spoke softly, her gaze lowered.

Her calm tone, however, made the air feel oppressive and heavy.

“For Shion, perhaps she was prepared for this day long ago. Her efforts saved thousands of lives. I believe she fought until the very end for that moment. Now, her time as ‘Fifina’ has come to an end. I’ve thought about whether I should take this opportunity to let her rest… If we Agents go a certain amount of time without resonating with our ‘Beacon,’ we gradually lose ourselves. Both our memories and this power will slowly return to zero. Maybe, when she wakes up, all of this will have become a dream…”

A butterfly hair clip lay quietly in Ephnel’s palm.

As if hiding from something, Yukina couldn’t see her expression through her cascading silver hair.

“But, as I thought… it’s me who can’t let it go… Shion lost her parents long ago. I only found out about this recently. For her, perhaps there’s no place to return to, no one to rely on. She always had a dream, to continue playing the violin. She practiced every day in her spare time and won an award at school. She was such a hardworking girl. And yet…”

Ephnel spoke in a calm tone that Yukina couldn’t comprehend at all, her head hanging low.

“Miss Ephnel…”

Looking at Ephnel like this, Yukina felt at a loss.

She raised her hand, then let it fall again.

Ephnel… looked so lonely… Her heart felt as if it were being squeezed.

But to suddenly hug her at a time like this would probably be repulsive… Her relationship with Ephnel likely hadn’t reached the point where she could take such liberties.

In the end, her restless heart settled down.

“Um… Miss Ephnel… are you okay?”

“I’m fine. And… you can just call me Ephnel. We don’t need to be so formal with each other.”

“Um… okay…”

Yukina didn’t know what to do with her hands, looking at the girl on the bed with a sour feeling.

On TV and the internet, she would occasionally hear news of Agents being injured or killed in the line of duty, always reported alongside disaster information.

Back then, those casualties were just numbers, passing through her mind… This was the first time she had come into such close contact with it.

She pursed her lips, unable to help but wonder.

Would the person lying here one day be Ephnel…

This thought circled in her chest, like cotton clogging her throat, making Yukina feel like she was suffocating.

“Does this… happen often?”

“Perhaps. This is probably what it means to be an Agent.”

Ephnel took a long, slow breath and spoke.

“The average service time for us Agents is only one year and eight months. This data comes from a statistic of all retired or KIA Agents in the Human Federation. Among the samples provided, forty-nine percent of service terminations were due to being killed in action, thirty-three percent were due to going missing, and the rest were forced to retire due to major mental or physical trauma.”

Yukina’s eyes widened, and she said nothing.

She didn’t know if she should speak at this moment, or what she should say if she did.

If an outsider like her were to bring up such topics, it would seem overly somber.

In the end, why had Ephnel suddenly started talking to her about these things?

No matter how slow Yukina was, she was beginning to realize the classified information involved in Ephnel’s words.

None of it was something that could be casually discussed with others.

Yukina didn’t consider herself to be a special person.

Was it because of that hug?

Or was it…

That hair clip.

What did Ephnel want to say to her?

The question lingered in her mind, circling endlessly.

Neither of them spoke, and the air fell silent.

The monotonous, indifferent beeping of the monitoring equipment echoed in the room.

A long, soft tube connected the IV bag to a needle inserted in Fuurin Shion’s left arm.

“Actually… looking at Shion like this, I sometimes wonder, ‘what are we Agents really fighting for’… something like that. In the beginning, my reason for becoming an Agent was the simple wish to ‘survive.’ Later, I realized that such a thought was a selfish and arrogant crime, so I never mentioned it to anyone again.”

Her voice trailed off, and the air became quiet once more.

Yukina was silent.

“Right, you probably noticed it too, back then.”

Ephnel suddenly stood up and came to stand in front of Yukina.

In her hand lay the hair clip.

“This is called a ‘Beacon.’ It’s what allows us to become ‘Agents,’ and it only responds to an ‘Accommodator’ who can use it. But… ‘Accommodators’ are one in ten thousand. Do you know what that means?”

Yukina lifted her gaze and met Ephnel’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 this power, so for whatever reason, they must fight for the future of humanity. Between ‘living in obscurity, dying as an ordinary person at the end of the world’ and ‘becoming an Agent, gaining the power to resist everything, and dying as a final burning flame,’ it seems the world has given them two options. But in this cruel reality, they actually have no choice at all… Yukina, if you were faced with such a choice, if you were given the power to choose right now, how would you answer?”

Yukina was silent.

After a long moment, she spoke softly.

“Miss Ephnel… you’ve said so much. As I thought, back then, I also…”

Yukina didn’t have the courage to continue.

Ephnel looked at her and finished the sentence for her.

“Yes, you have the potential to become an ‘Agent.’ At that time… you were, in fact, ‘Fifina’.”

With that, everything made sense.

Everything that had happened back then… and why Ephnel had suddenly acted the way she did.

To Ephnel, the her who had taken “Fifina” away at that time must have been truly hateful.

Yukina lowered her head in silence.

For some reason, she wasn’t particularly surprised, but rather fell into a state of bewilderment.

“But… this ‘aptitude’ thing… isn’t it something that’s decided at birth… why only now…”

Until last year, the screening for “aptitude” had already been completed.

Everyone received a test report.

Yukina distinctly remembered that at that time, she didn’t have the “aptitude” to be an “Agent” at all.

Was something missed…

“Do you want to know the answer?”

Ephnel looked at Yukina, her eyes shining with a presence that made it impossible for Yukina to look away.

Under Yukina’s gaze, she slowly raised her hand.

A silver light flashed.

The silver-haired girl disappeared, and in her place stood a black-haired girl.

Yukina looked at the girl before her, unconsciously holding her breath.

…