Hayashizaki asked curiously what had happened.
So Yukinoshita Haruno explained everything that happened at the dinner table—how their mother questioned her little sister—without leaving anything out.
The black-haired young man nodded, as if he finally understood. Then, he put on an exaggerated, hurt expression, slowly smoothing out his smirk.
Seeing his face change, the black-haired girl also panicked a little. "It's not…"
She had wanted to explain, but then saw him comfortably enjoying the soft chest of the short-haired beauty next to him. Yukinoshita Yukino instantly felt angry.
A wave of frustration surged through her like a broken dam, crashing again and again inside her chest, nearly shattering her heart. Her brows tightened deeply, her lips turned pale and pressed together tightly.
Why are you just watching? Are you really going to believe everything my sister says without question?
You should know better than that.
I was the first one who met you, the first one to learn jujutsu with you, the first to open up to you, the first to fall for you. Even the mission to change the world line—you entrusted that to me, didn't you?
We were supposed to understand each other without words, our souls connected. Even if we were separated by different worlds, we should still trust each other completely. Isn't that right?
The girl wanted to shout all these questions at the black-haired young man, one after another, but they all got stuck in her throat and never came out. They turned into deep sadness in her eyes instead.
What made it even harder for her to accept was that the other person was her own sister.
Seeing Yukinoshita Yukino's frustrated and wronged expression, both Hayashizaki and Yukinoshita Haruno suddenly felt guilty. They exchanged glances silently.
Hayashizaki: See? I told you not to mess with her. Happy now? You took it too far.
Yukinoshita Haruno: You can't really blame me for this, right? You played along so well. Besides, this whole mess started because of you.
Hayashizaki: So it's my fault again?
Yukinoshita Haruno: Who told you to win over both little Yukino and me?
Hayashizaki: …
With nothing to say, he awkwardly broke eye contact and shifted his gaze back to Yukinoshita Yukino.
But to the black-haired girl watching, their eye contact looked like the older sister flirting with him right in front of her.
A huge surge of cursed energy began leaking from her body, like a layer of blue flames had suddenly ignited around her.
Even the Six Eyes, which gave her control over cursed energy down to the atomic level, seemed useless in this moment.
After the merging of the world lines, Yukinoshita Haruno naturally became a sorcerer too.
But the moment she felt the cursed energy pouring off her sister, she got goosebumps all over. It was like seeing a wild beast. Without thinking, she hid behind Hayashizaki.
It was only now that Yukinoshita Haruno clearly realized what kind of being her once-cute little sister had become.
The confident smile she usually wore was now frozen stiff.
Crap. Would little Yukino really go so far as to crush her own sister just to win a guy?
She reached out and pushed the back of the black-haired young man, silently telling him to hurry up and calm Yukinoshita Yukino down before things got worse.
A cold drop of sweat slid down Hayashizaki's cheek.
He hadn't forgotten—the system still had an active mission to defeat Yukinoshita Yukino. That meant the black-haired girl in front of him was officially recognized as the strongest sorcerer in the world.
Pushed in front of her, Hayashizaki now stood face to face with Yukino, who stubbornly looked up and met his eyes.
By now, Yukinoshita Yukino had realized they were probably teasing her, but the real issue hadn't gone away.
She decided to take this chance to lay everything on the table and settle things once and for all.
Ever since Hayashizaki returned, she had realized what she felt for him wasn't just gratitude or friendship—it was love.
Her heart raced when she saw him. Being near him made her feel safe. There was no doubt about it—it was love.
Now that she had figured out her feelings, all that was left was to see how Hayashizaki felt.
Looking into her clear, shining eyes, the black-haired young man only flinched for a second before calming down again.
"I understand," Hayashizaki said gently.
His ruby-like eyes reflected the beautiful face of the black-haired girl.
Yukino, you're right. Our hearts are connected. Our souls are in sync. So I understand everything you're feeling.
Their eyes met, reflecting each other, as if their hearts were once again linked on the same wavelength.
But… what about the older sister?
The soul link—disconnected.
Hayashizaki quietly turned his head, reached behind him, and pulled out the short-haired woman who was trying to hide behind him.
Yukinoshita Haruno's usual perfect smile began to crack a little when she saw her younger sister looking at her. Her face showed a hint of awkwardness.
Still, she stepped forward, grabbed the black-haired girl's hands, and held them tightly.
She cleared her throat twice, then narrowed her eyes and smiled. "Actually, I didn't come here to steal a man from little Yukino."
"Steal a man...?!" Yukinoshita Yukino felt that her sister's words were way too crude.
"I'm here to join you two." Though a bit embarrassed to say it, Yukinoshita Haruno finally voiced the decision she had thought about for a long time.
And she said it so directly.
As soon as she finished speaking, the black-haired girl froze for a moment, thinking she must have heard wrong. "What did you say?"
"I said I'm here to join you two." The short-haired woman straightened her expression and said seriously.
"You might as well steal the guy from me instead…" Yukinoshita Yukino blurted it out before realizing how shameless her words sounded.
But clearly, she hadn't expected that her sister Haruno could be even more shameless than she was.
Yukinoshita Yukino instinctively thought her sister was just joking again, playing tricks on her like always. But there was something in Haruno's eyes—serious and sincere—that didn't look fake.
She meant it.
Just as Yukino was about to yell and ask what nonsense her sister was thinking, she noticed something else in Haruno's expression—a slight curve at the corner of her lips that quietly revealed a touch of bitterness and a plea for acceptance.
What kind of girl would ever want to share the person she loves with someone else?
Even if that someone else… is her most beloved little sister.
But Yukinoshita Haruno also knew she shouldn't fight her sister over this.
She knew exactly how much Yukino had suffered, how many risks she had taken, how hard she had worked, and how much she had changed.
Yukino was the one who deserved to stand by Hayashizaki-kun's side—not her.
She was just someone who, in this world, saw a vast galaxy and felt a longing for freedom because of Hayashizaki-kun's casual actions. And in another timeline, because of an accident where Hayashizaki-kun ended up inside her body, she broke free from the chains of the Yukinoshita family and felt freedom and life for the first time.
She wasn't like little Yukino, who kept working hard and gave it her all just to become stronger for Hayashizaki-kun.
Logic told her she should step back, give her blessings, and return to the life she was meant to live—becoming the head of the Yukinoshita family.
And that was exactly what Haruno had planned—if she hadn't remembered that other world.
I could've endured the darkness… if I had never seen the light.
If only.
This was the boldest and most rebellious decision Yukinoshita Haruno had ever made in her life. If she couldn't rightfully stand beside the one she loved, then she would just join them.
That is, if little Yukino could accept her.
And the black-haired girl seemed to understand her sister Haruno's feelings. She stayed silent for a while.
But understanding didn't mean she could accept it so easily.
It's just that, ever since Hayashizaki crossed timelines, and part of his soul ended up in Yukinoshita Yukino as well, she had started seeing her sister's past from a completely different point of view.
After realizing how much her sister had done for her, and the sacrifices she had made, it became harder to reject this woman—this sister who had once seemed nearly perfect in her eyes—when she stood in front of her asking not for forgiveness, but for a place.
After a long silence, Yukinoshita Yukino slowly lifted her head and looked at the one responsible for all of this. She asked seriously, "What do you think, Hayashizaki?"
The black-haired young man, who had been standing silently nearby, also fell quiet after being asked.
On the busy Christmas street, people were coming and going. The three of them had been standing in front of the plaza for a while now. Many passersby glanced curiously at them, but none of the three paid any attention.
Soon, Hayashizaki took a deep breath and said seriously, "I'm a greedy guy."
That one sentence was all he said, but it clearly showed what he meant.
When did he start caring?
Maybe it was on the corridor between timelines, during the shift between worlds, when he looked back and heard Yukinoshita Yukino's greetings and calls; or maybe it was at the festival in Hokkaido, when Yukinoshita Haruno waved at him from behind.
Maybe it was Yukino's determined back, always chasing her ideals. Maybe it was Haruno's lonely face as she carried the family burden for her sister.
In the end, he was just a greedy guy. He didn't want to give up on either Yukino or Haruno.
The two girls stared at him, neither one backing down. But in the end, it was Yukinoshita Yukino who gave in. She let out a helpless sigh and said, "You're right. You really are greedy, Hayashizaki."
Realizing the girl had given in, both Hayashizaki and Yukinoshita Haruno quietly breathed out in relief.
But in the next moment, Haruno's eyes widened in shock.
Hayashizaki had no idea what was coming next. The soft, cold wind blew past them, carrying the fresh scent of youth that lingered in the air.
After a long while, Yukinoshita Yukino took two steps back, hands behind her, her pale face blushing all the way to her ears and neck.
She blinked, her navy-blue eyes shining like they had awakened a sixth sense. Even her normally calm voice now had a lovely tremble: "If that's how it is, then I guess I'm first."
Yukinoshita Haruno's stunned eyes moved back and forth between the two of them. In the end, she just stared blankly at the black-haired young man.
Hayashizaki shrugged helplessly, and a grin suddenly appeared on his handsome face. "It's fine. It's my first time too."
"I'm not okay with this!"
Yukinoshita Haruno angrily slammed the bag she was holding right into his face.
It was a cloudy day. The sun was hidden behind the clouds, and the cold in the air showed no signs of fading.
A slight chill gently touched Yukinoshita Yukino's face.
She looked up and saw soft snowflakes slowly falling from the sky, landing on the three of them.
The end
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