Episode 80. The Moon Swallowed by the Sun (2)

“Alright. I’ll go ahead first, so pack your things and come to the mansion tomorrow.”

“But I have classes tomorrow…”

“Ha, you skipped class right in front of me today, and now you’re using class as an excuse?”

“……”

I bit my lip at my mother’s words.

“…Yes. I understand. I’ll pack my things and come home tomorrow.”

“I’ll be waiting at the warp gate in Valhalla City, so come there.”

With that, as if she had nothing more to say, my mother turned and walked out of the room.

*Click.*

The door closed, and silence fell.

The ticking of the clock echoed like thunder in the room.

“……”

I slumped onto the carpet and stared blankly at the window.

Beyond the transparent window, the shimmering moonlight poured down.

‘They say the moon doesn’t shine without the sun.’

I chuckled bitterly, recalling what my elementary teacher had taught me.

To think that it can’t shine on its own without the sun.

It’s just like me right now.

“…Becoming a man.”

Even if I become a man, my life wouldn’t change much.

After all, except for my mother and a few family members, no one knows that I’m ‘Yurina.’

‘Right.’

Nothing will change.

Just like before.

Just as it has always been.

I’ll continue living as Yuren, as I always have.

“…Dale.”

Why is it?

Why does his name come to mind first at this moment?

“…Ah.”

Only now did I realize.

Only now did it sink in.

“I… I liked Dale.”

Why did my heart feel so heavy every time I saw Dale and Iris together? Why did I feel unbearable loneliness and emptiness when I didn’t see Dale for a few days?

-You did well.

Why?

Why did my heart tremble so much at just a simple word?

Now I know.

I’ve realized it.

“Ha, haha.”

A dry laugh escaped my lips.

“How stupid.”

Dale doesn’t even know I’m a woman, and here I am, making a fool of myself.

‘I decided to live as a man.’

Eight years ago.

When Yuren, who had said, “I’ll get the flowers for you, just wait a bit,” climbed the cliff and returned as a cold corpse.

That day, my life as ‘Yurina’ ended.

‘This is the price I have to pay.’

Ignorance is a sin.

Innocence is evil.

Where else would you find someone as shameless as the sinner who killed my brother with just a few words, claiming, “I have the right to dream of my own happiness”?

“…Let’s wash up.”

I staggered to the shower.

When I took off the pendant, a halo of light enveloped me, and I returned to my form as ‘Yurina.’

Silver hair that shimmered as if woven from moonlight, a chest that, while not as large as Iris’s, was still beautifully shaped, and a slender body honed through constant training.

Though it’s a bit embarrassing to say it myself, the woman reflected in the mirror was undeniably beautiful.

“Yurina.”

I looked at my reflection and spoke.

“This is the last time I’ll see you like this.”

The reflection in the mirror smiled sadly.

“If… if I hadn’t asked my brother to pick flowers for me that day, could I have been with Dale?”

The reflection shook its head.

“Then I wouldn’t have even met Dale, right? Ah, well. If I had entered school at the normal age, I would’ve been a first-year this year, so I wouldn’t have crossed paths with Dale, a third-year.”

If I think about it that way, maybe it’s a good thing I met Dale like this.

Even if I can’t be his lover, at least I can stay by his side as a friend.

“Haha, yeah. Thinking that way makes me feel a bit better.”

When I smiled and looked up.

The reflection in the mirror.

Tears were streaming down Yurina’s cheeks.

“…Huh? Why am I crying?”

I had made up my mind.

I had prepared myself.

I thought it would be okay as long as I could stay by his side as a friend.

Why.

Why, why, why.

Why is the reflection crying so bitterly?

“Dale…”

As I sobbed his name.

-*Ding!*

A clear chime rang from the Hero Watch.

[Did you get home safely?]

“Ah.”

I quickly turned on the Hero Watch and saw a message from Dale.

“Hehe. You were worried and contacted me.”

Just seeing his message made me smile, as if I hadn’t been crying just moments ago.

The fear that had been gnawing at my heart and the sadness that had been choking me were gone.

“I should reply quickly.”

I typed ‘I got home safely’ and was about to press send when…

“……”

A strong impulse welled up from deep within.

Suddenly, the memory of skipping class with Dale and going out to Valhalla City today flashed through my mind.

An experience of rebellion I had never done before, never even thought of doing.

“Tomorrow, I’ll become… Yuren, right?”

That means.

Today is the last day I can be ‘Yurina’ in my life.

“……”

I took in the reflection of ‘Yurina’ in the mirror.

The last day I can be my true self.

The last chance. The last moment.

Then.

“Just for today…”

Even if it’s just a momentary rebellion.

Even if it’s just a one-night dream.

Just for today.

It’s okay to be ‘Yurina,’ right?

“……”

My finger, which had stopped at the send button, moved to delete the message I had written.

With trembling fingers, I typed a new message and sent it to him.

[Dale, can we meet for a bit right now?]

* * *

Late at night, in the school backyard.

The moonlight gently illuminated the eerily quiet backyard.

“This guy… did something really happen?”

Having arrived first at the meeting spot, I sighed and sat on a nearby bench.

“Ugh.”

Regret washed over me for taking Yuren out earlier today.

‘It’s obvious she got scolded by that woman.’

Otherwise, why would she suddenly want to meet this late at night?

Especially with a friend she had spent the whole day skipping class with.

“This is driving me crazy.”

As I sighed, a mix of regret and self-reproach, I felt a presence approaching.

“Yuren?”

“…No.”

A faint, trembling voice answered.

From the distance emerged a silver-haired woman.

Her face, illuminated by the moonlight, was so beautiful that I momentarily forgot to breathe.

“Hello, Dale. It’s nice to meet you.”

The silver-haired woman approached and bowed politely.

“I’m Yurina Helios.”

“…Yurina Helios?”

Yurina Helios? Wasn’t that the name of Yuren’s younger sister who died in an accident eight years ago?

“People think I died in an accident, but there were other circumstances, so the family spread that rumor.”

“Other circumstances?”

“That’s…”

Yurina trailed off.

She smiled sadly and continued.

“I’m a direct descendant of the Helios family, but I bear the ‘Holy Mark of the Moon God.’”

“Ah.”

Now that I think about it, I’ve heard about it.

In high-ranking noble families, if a child is born with a different Holy Mark than their parents, they’re either exiled from the family or declared ‘dead’ to protect the family’s honor.

“I came to observe classes with my mother today… I never thought Dale would skip class with my brother while I was in the restroom.”

“That’s…”

“Ah, don’t worry about my brother. My mother was really angry, but she calmed down after talking to him.”

Yurina shrugged as she spoke.

“That cranky woman?”

“*Hehe.* My mother may seem that way, but she really cares about my brother.”

“Doesn’t look like it to me.”

“Haha, really. My mother… she’s lived her whole life only for ‘Yuren.’”

As she said this, Yurina smiled bitterly.

“I’ve heard a lot about Dale from my brother.”

“About me?”

“Yes. My brother always talks so happily about his friend, so I was curious and begged him to call you here.”

“……”

I looked at Yurina with a complicated expression.

“Ah, do you not believe me? Here, look. My brother and I have different Holy Marks.”

Yurina gently opened her shirt and showed me the left side of her chest.

As she said, her chest bore the ‘Holy Mark of the Moon God,’ not the ‘Holy Mark of the Sun God.’

“…Then where is Yuren now?”

“Ah, my brother stayed in the room to talk with my mother.”

Stayed in the room, huh.

“So what did you want to talk to me about?”

“It’s not that I had something specific to say.”

Yurina shook her head with a faint smile.

“I just… wanted to see what kind of person Dale is.”

“So you called me out at this hour?”

“I’m sorry. I have to return to the mansion with my mother tomorrow. Today was the only chance I had to see you.”

As she said this, Yurina carefully sat down next to me.

“After today… I probably won’t have another chance to see you.”

“…Why?”

I frowned as I asked, and Yurina smiled softly.

“I’ve always been in poor health. The doctor said I won’t live long.”

“……”

“So, before it’s too late, I wanted to tell you this.”

“Tell me what?”

“Dale.”

Yurina turned to me and smiled brightly.

“Please take care of my brother from now on.”

The moonlight bathed her.

“As a precious friend… as a reliable companion… please stay by my brother’s side.”

Yurina slowly stood up.

“Well, I should get going now. If I stay out too long, my brother will scold me.”

As she said this, Yurina bowed politely.

“…It was so nice to meet you, Dale.”

With those final words, Yurina turned and walked away.

“……”

Alone in the backyard.

I thought about the ‘Yurina Helios’ I had just met.

“Yurina Helios…”

Yuren’s younger sister.

Though the world thought she died in an accident eight years ago, she was alive and well.

She had heard about me from Yuren and was so curious that she begged him to call me out this late at night.

“Haah.”

I sighed deeply and held my forehead.

“That Yuren bastard.”

Can’t even lie properly.