Chapter 54: Accident

Two seats away, a few girls were gathered together, discussing something animatedly.

Yukina caught a word that piqued her interest.

“Seriously? Ephnel-chan would do something like that… I can’t imagine it…”

One of the girls covered her mouth, her expression one of astonishment.

“No, it’s not that I hate it or anything, it’s just that of course I’d be surprised to hear something like this…”

“Me too… In fact, I think she’s so cool…”

“Huh!? No… that’s not right. What’s wrong with your head?”

“That’s so rude. I’m being serious.”

The girl had a starstruck look on her face, her hands clasped together as if in prayer, solemnly gazing at the ceiling where there was only a single fluorescent light tube.

“Think about it. You’re her younger sister, she’s your older sister. On the surface, you live an ordinary life as sisters, laughing and warming each other’s hearts. But behind the scenes, she dons armor like a knight and stands behind you, clearing the path for you. How about that? Don’t you feel like Cinderella all of a sudden? So romantic, right?”

“No, no matter how you look at it, that sounds like a really cruel story, doesn’t it?”

“Well, I’m not her fan, but I think this is what makes her seem like a real person, don’t you think…?”

“That may be true, but…”

“Hey, hey, it’s been so long since she posted that status, and Ephnel hasn’t released any other information. It seems like she has no intention of responding to it any further…”

“Maybe she never will again.”

Another girl was fiddling with her phone, a strange expression on her face.

She turned her phone around for the others to see.

“It’s an official announcement from the Order Organization, just released this morning. I skimmed the contents, and it’s basically about one thing: Ephnel has been suspended.”

“—Ehhh???”

The group of girls suddenly burst into an uproar.

Yukina listened quietly, burying her face in the crook of her arm.

“A very cruel story, huh…”

She murmured, lowering her lashes.

So this was how others saw her and her sister.

The time was half past eleven; the morning classes were about to end.

Yukina squinted slightly, taking notes on the lecture content.

Small, delicate characters spread neatly across the page.

“Are you going to the cafeteria for lunch?”

“I brought a bento, so I’m not going today.”

The rustling whispers of the students at the next table reached Yukina’s ears.

“Hey, hey, don’t pass it over there, please!”

“Sorry, sorry, my bad.”

Outside the window, the voices of people playing basketball on the court could also be heard clearly.

The sound of a pen scratching across paper, the sound of pages turning, the sound of fabric rubbing, the sound of people zoning out, the sound of birds chirping, the sound of the wind blowing, the sound of leaves rustling.

She could hear it all with perfect clarity.

Were classes always this noisy?

Yukina frowned, feeling a little annoyed.

She put down her pen and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

Perhaps it was because she hadn’t rested well last night…

In fact, her chest had been feeling a bit uncomfortable since the morning.

The feeling was very slight, almost imperceptible, coming and going like the tide.

That’s why her mental state was poor, and she couldn’t concentrate in class, always getting distracted by other things.

But the scent of snacks someone had secretly taken out lingered at the tip of her nose, and she could clearly read the contents of a note being passed several seats away with just a glance.

The feeling was strange, baffling.

Rather than not having rested well, it felt more like she was still immersed in that brief time after she had transformed into Fifina yesterday.

Does this happen after syncing?

Yukina didn’t know.

Perhaps her sister would know, but her sister wasn’t here right now.

“Alright, that’s all for this class. I have an announcement to make.”

At that moment, the young Japanese literature teacher, who was also their homeroom teacher, closed his textbook, put down the chalk, and spoke.

“Last week, the parent-teacher conference was unexpectedly interrupted due to the Erosion disaster. After discussion by the committee, we have decided to hold the parent-teacher conference again. The time is set for the day after tomorrow, which is Wednesday, at three in the afternoon. Therefore…”

“It’s finally here… I knew we couldn’t escape it.”

“So annoying. My dad finally made time to come last time, but it got canceled. Now we have to do it again…”

Before the teacher could finish, the students in the class started whispering among themselves, so much so that Yukina didn’t even hear the rest of what the teacher said.

“Parent-teacher conference, huh…”

Yukina gazed out the window and murmured.

Will Onee-chan come this time?

The afternoon physical education class was volleyball practice.

With final exams approaching, the students in the class were a bit more motivated, and the practice match was a lively back-and-forth.

“Blue team scores.”

The teacher blew the whistle, raised his left hand high, and looked towards Yukina’s side, blowing the whistle again.

“Rotate.”

Yukina shuffled her feet and stood at the net, bending slightly.

She saw Hanasou Kotone on the other side, smiling at her.

As if to say, “That was a nice shot.”

Yukina returned a slightly helpless smile.

That last shot was indeed beautiful, but Yukina, who could only occasionally make such good plays, was different from Hanasou Kotone, who could consistently perform at that level.

Usually, the winning team was always Hanasou Kotone’s, without a doubt.

Yukina only ranked slightly higher than Kotone in academics; Hanasou Kotone’s athletic ability was far superior to Yukina’s.

In Yukina’s opinion, her last shot was a complete fluke; even she hadn’t expected to be able to pull off that move.

And…

Yukina had also considered that her own extraordinary performance might be related to the changes in her body she had noticed that morning.

Her five senses had become sharper.

Naturally, her physical abilities had also improved slightly.

It was like playing a game with cheat codes that boosted her stats.

Just thinking about it this way made it hard for Yukina to feel happy.

The teacher blew the whistle again, cutting off Yukina’s thoughts.

The serve.

Thwack—

The ball shot straight over her head, then bounced again with a thud.

“I got it!”

A teammate beside her shouted, took a step forward, and received the ball.

The other team didn’t back down, and the ball flew back over.

Although it was at a very tricky angle, in Yukina’s eyes, the ball seemed to float slowly like a balloon.

She pursed her lips, and in the instant her breath hitched, she stepped forward and leaped high.

Her vision miraculously cleared the net.

Yukina raised her arm and spiked the ball with all her might.

Thwack—

A huge sound exploded in her palm.

Even though the force she used was about the same as usual, the result was vastly different.

The sensation from her palm at that moment spread rapidly through the muscles of her arm.

Yukina herself was startled by the power she had unleashed in that instant.

The ball slammed down at a speed that was hard to track with the naked eye.

At the same time, the girls’ screams erupted in her ears.

“Ah—Hanasou-san!!”

“Hanasou-san!! Are you okay!”

“Teacher…”

That ball had been received by Hanasou Kotone.

But in her haste, she had only managed to accurately pinpoint the ball’s landing spot.

Without having adjusted her posture, she had raised her arms at an improper angle.

The result was that the rapidly spiked ball rebounded at an equally frightening speed and hit her right in the jaw.

Yukina stood frozen, watching Hanasou Kotone collapse unconscious and the other students rush over in a panic, stunned.