Chapter 52: Interweaving

“Let me hold you for a bit…”

Yukina’s voice was soft, like a feather taking flight, and the gentle tremor that washed over Ephnel’s heart immediately robbed her of the strength to refuse.

That warm, moist breath was so close, blowing against Ephnel’s neck, suffused with Yukina’s unique, sweet scent.

Ephnel kept her eyes squeezed shut, her hands with nowhere to go, clenched tightly, her heart feeling like it was about to leap out of her chest.

But Yukina made no further moves, simply holding Ephnel tightly and growing quiet, which allowed Ephnel to relax a little.

Ephnel wanted to ask, but she didn’t know how to begin.

In the end, she could only pretend to be asleep.

And Yukina, in the darkness of the night, quietly watched the girl before her, who was both her sister and the object of her unrequited love.

‘Ephnel is different from me,’ she told herself.

Her feelings for Ephnel, even with the element of kinship mixed in, had never changed from their original adoration.

In fact, due to a certain entanglement and fermentation, they had become even more irrepressible.

But Ephnel was different.

She didn’t seem excited, nor did her heart race.

There was a huge temperature difference between her and Yukina, who stood on “that side.”

A difference in temperature fogs up glass; it’s the same between people.

“Goodnight, Onee-chan…”

Yukina held Ephnel gently.

“Goodnight…”

Her voice was almost off-key as Ephnel replied.

After that, there was complete silence.

Ephnel and Yukina, with entirely different matters in their hearts, slowly drifted to sleep amidst their intertwined yet divergent thoughts, accompanied by the deepening night.

…

Yukina was woken up by her alarm clock.

“Yukina…”

“Time to get up.”

A familiar yet unfamiliar voice lingered by her ear, carrying the faint scent of fried eggs.

“If you don’t get up soon, you’ll be late for school.”

Opening her eyes, still groggy, Yukina saw Ephnel standing by her bed, already neatly dressed.

“…”

She didn’t know what time she had fallen asleep last night.

Yukina rubbed her eyes, sat up in bed, and stretched her arms out in a lazy yawn.

Drowsiness and fatigue churned in her chest, a stuffy and somewhat uncomfortable feeling.

She clutched her chest, moved to the edge of the bed, and slipped her feet into her slippers.

She lifted her gaze to look at Ephnel.

Inadvertently, Yukina noticed the dark circles under Ephnel’s eyes.

The perilous matters of last night’s bed-sharing still hung in her chest.

Yukina still remembered falling asleep while hugging Ephnel, but she had no idea when Ephnel had gotten up and left.

“Breakfast is ready.”

Ephnel was holding Yukina’s school uniform.

She had come to wake Yukina up, but ended up meeting her gaze by accident.

Yukina’s languid, sleepy face and moist, hazy eyes made Ephnel’s breath catch.

The events of last night rushed back to her.

The touch of those restless hands still seemed to linger on her waist, Yukina’s breath felt as if it had brushed against her ear, and the strange sensation made her cheeks burn.

“I’ll… I’ll just leave the uniform here… Get up quickly, breakfast will get cold…”

Ephnel flusteredly placed the uniform on Yukina’s pillow, used the remote to turn off the air conditioner, and then fled the room.

Yukina sat quietly on the bed, watching Ephnel’s retreating back, a faint smile gracing her lips.

…

The faint aroma of breakfast drifted through the air.

Yukina stood at the sink.

After brushing her teeth, she put on her school uniform and began to comb her messy hair.

“Hah…”

She sighed and rubbed her chest.

It felt a little tight.

Without giving it much thought, Yukina finished getting ready and went to the living room.

On the dining table, breakfast and drinks were neatly arranged.

Yukina didn’t sit down.

Instead, she subconsciously searched for Ephnel and saw her standing by the window in the bedroom.

With a whoosh— she pulled open the curtains.

The sunlight from outside poured into the room like water released from a floodgate, instantly brightening the space.

Ephnel pushed open the window, letting in the refreshing morning air.

She stood on her tiptoes, lazily raised her arms, and stretched her body enjoyably, letting out a cute little whimper.

As if possessed, Yukina slowed her steps, her gaze fixed on Ephnel’s back.

Ephnel saw her too and averted her gaze, looking a bit unnatural.

“The weather’s pretty nice today. Later… I’ll take you to school.”

“Mm…”

Yukina squinted, dazzled by the figure at the window, and nodded without much conscious thought.

…

The two of them got ready and left the apartment.

The car was parked downstairs, in a garage she had seen many times.

Yukina snuggled into the passenger seat, her lips pursed, her gaze on Ephnel as subtly questioning as a wife checking up on her husband.

“So… this is our family’s garage…?”

She had never known this before.

The garage was directly beneath their apartment building.

She would glance at it every time she came home or went out, but to suddenly be told that this was her own family’s garage… Yukina found it a bit hard to adjust to.

The feeling was like being suddenly told that a beautiful girl you were used to seeing was actually your older sister.

Yes, she was talking about Ephnel.

Having experienced so many strange things all at once, Yukina was almost completely immune to the emotion of surprise.

“Mmm… I figured we might use the car occasionally, so I got it along with the apartment when we bought it…”

Ephnel explained as she slowly drove the car out.

Stare—

Yukina gazed fixedly at Ephnel and spoke, word by word.

“—Bought? Onee-chan, didn’t you say before that we were renting this place?”

“Well, about that…”

Ephnel gave a sheepish smile.

Although she had let it slip on purpose, Yukina really didn’t let up on these things for a second.

At this point, there was nothing left to hide.

“We bought it… There was an available unit, and it looked pretty good. Plus, we needed to move to a safer neighborhood at the time, so I bought it.”

She said it so casually, as if it were nothing.

This area was a mid-to-high-end residential complex; the price naturally wouldn’t be low.

Renting would have been manageable with the money from her aunt and uncle, but buying it was obviously impossible with just that fixed income.

“Onee-chan, you… you’re actually really rich, aren’t you?”

“If we’re comparing to the average person, then yes, I am pretty well-off…”

Ephnel didn’t deny it, smiling without a care in the world.

In fact, all Agents were quite wealthy.

And since Ephnel drew two salaries, it was only natural that she was even richer.

Even after setting aside the portion allocated to city management funds and donations, the amount of money left in Ephnel’s hands was still ridiculously large.

“Are you an idiot, Onee-chan…?”

Yukina pouted and muttered.

It wasn’t that she was dissatisfied, just that she felt a bit pitiful for having been kept in the dark all this time.

That must be it.

“Oh, right, this is for you.”

Ephnel, holding the steering wheel with one hand, took out a phone and handed it to Yukina.

“Your phone is broken, and I asked someone about it earlier. It seems it’s not easy to fix… But I’d be worried if you didn’t have a phone at school. Can you use this one for now until I buy you a new one?”

Yukina took the phone and held it in her hands.

She recognized it at a glance as the phone Ephnel used daily.

The phone’s surface was clean, with slight signs of use on the screen and sides.

Her fingers unconsciously stroked the phone.

Since it had just been taken from Ephnel’s pocket, it still carried a faint residual warmth.

Ephnel glanced over and smiled, a bit embarrassed.

“It’s a bit old… just functional enough. Make do with it for now, I hope you don’t mind. I’ll take you to buy a new one tonight when we have time.”

“No.”

Yukina put the phone away, pouted, and refused flatly.

“If we buy a new one, we’ll have to choose and all that. It’s too much trouble, I can’t be bothered. I’ll just use this one.”

She lowered her gaze, a barely perceptible smile on her face.

…